VOL. 39 | NO. 21 | Friday, May 22, 2015
When Steven Baldwin started his freshman year at Austin Peay State University in 2012, he had a smart, carefully considered plan for his future.
Career counselors at many Tennessee colleges and universities say interest from corporate recruiters is higher than they’ve seen it in years.
VIEW FROM THE HILL
Is it Kabuki theatre or a transformative process? That question comes to mind in the aftermath of the legislative session as the General Assembly passed a bill “repealing and replacing” Common Core, a set of K-12 education standards, by adding another layer of review and pushing the governor’s process for completion to 2017, along with adding a $400,000 expense.
IN THE WEEDS
Like a proper Southern hostess, Daisy King of Miss Daisy’s Tearoom had trouble turning on the “closed” sign. If guests wanted to snag a table after hours, she couldn’t help but oblige.
REALTY CHECK
The act of getting a home under contract in our current residential real estate market environment is considered by most buyers as a significant achievement.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate transactions, April 2015, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of existing U.S. homes slipped in April due mainly to relatively few listings and rising prices, providing evidence of the housing sector's uneven recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged slightly lower this week after rising for three straight weeks.
NEWSMAKERS
Commercial real estate veteran Tom Frye, who spent the last 14 years as managing director of CBRE before retiring last year, has joined Baker Storey McDonald Properties, Inc.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
More Americans are choosing Acura’s MDX mid-size, luxury sport utility vehicle this year than the competing crossover SUVs from BMW, Mercedes and Audi.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
The old adage, “nothing happens until a sale is made” couldn’t be truer.
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
Prior to the summer of 2011, if you were a follower of the Memphis Grizzlies, you could forget about the team by the end of April.
I SWEAR
A recent episode of “Inside Amy Schumer” parodies the 1957 Sidney Lumet movie “12 Angry Men,” with a “jury” of dudes deliberate whether Schumer is “hot enough” to be on TV.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Have you been lucky enough to see the “As Seen on TV” infomercials of the lady with her “dump cakes?”
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Discount retailer Dollar General has named a new chief executive officer.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Ryan Haynes has resigned his seat in the House following his election as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans signed contracts to buy homes in April at the fastest pace in nearly nine years, evidence that steady job growth is strengthening the real estate market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week to their highest level so far this year as new data showed strength in the housing market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Renters are on the rise in America's biggest cities, but many tenants are scrambling to keep up with growing rent bills and shrinking vacancies, according to a study being released Thursday.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The head of the Federal Communications Commission is proposing that the government agency expand a phone subsidy program for the poor to include Internet access.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of GoPro jumped to a five-month high Thursday after the company's CEO said the company is getting into the drone and virtual reality business.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Another first quarter of the year. Another reversal for the U.S. economy. Another expectation of a rebound to come.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, though the overall level remains low and points to a healthy job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks were modestly lower in midday trading Thursday, following a steep sell-off in the Chinese stock market and the approaching deadline for cash-starved Greece to make a debt payment.
LONDON (AP) — Worried that their reputations will be tarnished by their links to FIFA, major sponsors are demanding that soccer's global governing body clean up its act, with Visa even warning it is prepared to jump ship.
WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS investigators believe the identity thieves who stole the personal tax information of more than 100,000 taxpayers from an IRS website are part of a sophisticated criminal operation based in Russia, two officials told the Associated Press.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
STATEWIDE
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is hiring 6,000 full-time workers to staff up across its more than 50 distribution centers in the U.S., including centers in Murfreesboro and Chattanooga.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A flap over a new logo being introduced by Gov. Bill Haslam's administration is providing an opportunity for the state Senate to renew calls that the House recite a special pledge to the Tennessee flag.
TECHNOLOGY
A newly-discovered glitch in Apple's software can cause iPhones to mysteriously shut down when they receive a certain text message.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - The rival group to the United Auto Workers union at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee brands itself as local, independent and free of outside influence or political agenda.
DETROIT (AP) — By the end of the year, nearly every major automaker will begin offering Apple's CarPlay or Google's Android Auto, two systems that effectively turn a car's dashboard screen into a smartphone.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling nearly 423,000 cars and SUVs in North America because the power-assisted steering can fail while they're being driven.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended higher Wednesday, recovering the most of their losses from the day before, as Greece appeared closer to resolving its latest debt issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Those automated phone calls during the dinner hour, late at night or to your wireless phone can be so frustrating — and the government is taking note.
DALLAS (AP) — Exxon Mobil shareholders overwhelmingly rejected several environmental resolutions including proposals to put a climate-change expert on the board and set goals for greenhouse-gas emissions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. banks' earnings rose 6.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as revenues increased, delinquent loans continued to fall and the number of "problem" banks reached a six-year low.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 100,000 taxpayers have had their personal tax information stolen from an IRS website as part of an elaborate scheme to claim fraudulent tax refunds.
TUESDAY, MAY 26
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's administration has sent out buyout applications to more than 2,000 state employees.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A free exhibit showcasing some of the maps available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives is open in the agency's lobby in downtown Nashville through Sept. 12.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court is holding oral arguments before hundreds of high school students in the Girls and Boys State programs.
NASHVILLE (AP) - More than a quarter of the assistant prosecutors in the Davidson County District Attorney's Office have left in the past year since getting a new boss.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans bought new homes in April — evidence that the stronger job market is powering the housing sector.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer confidence rebounded slightly this month as the job market showed signs of improvement.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market endured its worst day in three weeks on Tuesday as investors fretted over Greece's debt crisis and a surge in the U.S. dollar.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for long-lasting manufactured goods fell slightly in April. But a category that reflects business investment climbed for a second month, a hopeful sign that this key sector is starting to revive.
NEW YORK (AP) — As TV watchers increasingly look online for their fix, cable companies are bulking up. In the latest round, Charter Communications is buying Time Warner Cable for $55.33 billion.
Charter Communications Inc. is buying Time Warner Cable Inc. for $55.3 billion and Bright House Networks for $10.4 billion. It is the latest in a series of deals that have reshaped the cable industry.
NEW YORK (AP) — They're not Hollywood stars, they're not TV personalities and they don't play in a rock band, but their pay packages are in the same league.
NEW YORK (AP) — Here are the 10 highest-paid CEOs for 2014, as calculated by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive pay data firm:
NEW YORK (AP) — Taco Bell and Pizza Hut say they're getting rid of artificial colors and flavors, making them the latest big food companies scrambling to distance themselves from ingredients people might find unappetizing.
MONDAY, MAY 25
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - In the typical fray of the legislative session, few paid close attention to a seemingly innocuous bill about recycling computer equipment. That was until federal agents started arresting lawmakers.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The five former lawmakers convicted in the FBI's Tennessee Waltz bribery sting all served sentences for their roles. Here is a look at where they are now:
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks mostly rose Monday on a quiet trading day with Wall Street, London and Hong Kong closed for holidays.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Supreme Court ruling due in a few weeks could wipe out health insurance for millions of people covered by President Barack Obama's health care law. But it's Republicans — not White House officials — who have been talking about damage control.
FRIDAY, MAY 22
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee is coming close to reaching the national goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's unemployment rate has dropped to 6 percent, down from 6.3 percent in March and the lowest rate in seven years.
NASHVILLE (AP) - For a party once accustomed to dominating state politics, the outlook for Tennessee Democrats is bleak.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee is rolling out a new logo that will take the place of dozens of symbols used by state agencies.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A funeral service will be held Saturday for Dr. Harriette Bias-Insignares, the first African-American poet laureate/ambassador of letters for the state of Tennessee.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and FBI executed search warrants at the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office and the sheriff's home on Thursday amid a public corruption probe.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is restarting a rebate program for electric car buyers.
NASHVILLE (AP) - An automotive supplier is investing more than $13 million to build a new manufacturing facility in Giles County that is expected to create 147 jobs.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — General Motors announced Thursday it will spend $439 million to upgrade the Kentucky plant that makes the Chevrolet Corvette sports car.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday she expects to begin raising interest rates later this year — if the job market improves and the Fed is confident inflation will climb closer toward its target rate.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing moderately lower in a relatively quiet day ahead of a holiday weekend.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices were up slightly in April, but overall gains were held back by another decline in energy costs that offset the biggest one-month jump in medical care in eight years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS is refunding a total of $10 million to thousands of tax preparers who paid to take a competency test, the agency announced Thursday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) — Republicans in Congress and GOP presidential hopefuls are threatening tens of thousands of small business jobs by seeking to cut a little-known government agency that guarantees loans to help U.S. exporters, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supporters of President Barack Obama's trade agenda hope to fend off hostile Senate amendments Friday and send a major trade bill to the House, where another fierce debate awaits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' debate over domestic surveillance is scrambling partisan divisions in the Senate as libertarian-minded Republicans defy their leaders to make common cause with liberal Democrats.