VOL. 40 | NO. 19 | Friday, May 6, 2016
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, first quarter 2016, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, following the Federal Reserve's decision not to raise its benchmark interest rate.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
The 109th General Assembly is done – almost – for the year. Here’s a look at the winners and losers.
LEGISLATIVE PROFILE
Those who wondered how Raumesh Akbari would do in following legendary Memphis legislator Lois DeBerry now have a much clearer picture.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
In the 2014 NFL draft, Tennessee defensive lineman Daniel McCullers was picked in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
There have been players who have dropped before in the NFL Draft. But Laremy Tunsil’s free fall might be the first-ever to be born of social media.
NEWSMAKERS
Baker Donelson has elected 15 new shareholders across the firm, including three attorneys in its Nashville: Julie A. Boswell, Claire Cowart Haltom and Austin Shaver.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
It’s not flashy, but the Subaru Forester has the second-lowest price for a compact SUV with traction-improving all-wheel drive. This year, it adds new safety and entertainment features that connect drivers with emergency services and link more easily to mobile apps.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Correctly analyzed, data can be a catalyst for predictable, incremental growth and transformative change in your organization.
CAREER CORNER
Job seekers often spend quite a lot of time perfecting their resumes. From tiny details such as the font to the experience and education sections, a resume can be mulled for days, weeks or months.
I SWEAR
Counsel: “Have you razed many houses since you’ve worked for the city?”
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Americana darling Jason Isbell leads the nominations for the Americana Music Association's Honors and Awards with three nods for album of the year, artist of the year and song of the year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A new market inside the doors of the Tennessee Supreme Court in Nashville celebrates the building's inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Bill Gibbons is stepping down as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety this summer, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam announced Wednesday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan Motor Co. is investing 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion) to take a 34 percent stake in scandal-ridden Mitsubishi Motors Corp. in what Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosn said is "a win-win" deal intended to repeat the success of his Nissan-Renault alliance.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since February 2015, more sobering news for the labor market after a disappointing April jobs report.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart is sharpening its attack on Amazon.com. The world's largest retailer is trimming its free-shipping pilot program from three days to two for members, and cutting a dollar off the membership price, which is now $49 per year.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are edging higher Thursday morning as companies including agribusiness giant Monsanto are climbing on reports of possible buyouts. Retailers got more bad news as department store Kohl's reported disappointing first-quarter results.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The head of the Vatican's scandal-marred bank says it's now "impossible to launder money" there after a years-long cleanup that saw norms imposed to fight money laundering and tax evasion.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - The city of Franklin has agreed to take steps to limit pollution of the Harpeth River from its sewage treatment plant.
STATEWIDE
In the second major grant announcement during its 50th Anniversary year, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded $1,054,900 to the support of a variety of arts and culture projects in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee general fund tax collections are beating projections by nearly $700 million through the first nine months of the budget year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Symphony has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen's board of directors has recommended shareholders formally approve the work of the company's top management team for last year despite the scandal over cars rigged to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. is projecting a 35 percent plunge in profit for the fiscal year through March 2017, as the perks of a favorable exchange rate fade, and it reported a 4 percent drop in profit for January-March on-year at 426.6 billion yen ($3.9 billion).
TOKYO (AP) — Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automaker under investigation for lying about fuel economy data for some models, said Wednesday such tampering is suspected in all of its vehicles sold in Japan.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A rout in retail stocks pulled U.S. indexes down on Wednesday. Macy's, the largest U.S. department store chain, slashed its annual profit forecast after it reported a steep drop in earnings. Office Depot and Staples took big losses after a judge blocked their plans to merge.
Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways still rank highest in the annual J.D. Power survey of passengers on the nine largest North American airlines, and the firm says overall traveler satisfaction with the industry is at a 10-year high.
NEW YORK (AP) — Internet giant Google said Wednesday it will ban all ads from payday lenders, calling the industry "deceptive" and "harmful."
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's is acknowledging that there will be no consumer splurge anytime soon.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Disney said Tuesday it is shutting down its Disney Infinity line of video games, saying the changing market is too risky.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress on Wednesday launched a fact-finding mission into the loosely regulated world of fantasy sports games — a multibillion-dollar business that seemingly advertised everywhere during the pro football season.
TUESDAY, MAY 10
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — By canceling its conference in Tennessee next year, the American Counseling Association wants to put other states on notice that new LGBT laws can carry consequences, the group's leader said.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Reagan Day fundraisers have been a staple of GOP politics ever since the Great Communicator made a point of promoting the 11th Commandment - thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican. But in the conservative suburbs east of Nashville, the event has become too poisonous to be held this year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The nonprofit foundation of First Tennessee Bank is giving $500,000 to fund a program that helps at-risk youth in Nashville gain admission to and graduate from college.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Nashville next week for the Democratic presidential campaign of his wife, Hillary Clinton.
ATLANTA (AP) — Tennessee-based Dollar General Corp. plans a 1 million-square-foot distribution center southeast of Atlanta that will employ 500 people when the plant is fully operational, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced Monday.
HEALTH CARE
Long-term care grew more expensive again this year, with the cost of the priciest option, a private nursing home room, edging closer to $100,000 annually, according to a survey from Genworth Financial.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration will re-evaluate its definition of "healthy," which could eventually change how a range of foods are marketed.
TECHNOLOGY
A Facebook official says the company has found no evidence to back up allegations that Facebook contractors suppressed stories of interest to conservatives in its "Trending" section.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks surged to their biggest gain in two months on Tuesday after the Chinese government moved to stimulate the world's second-largest economy. That gave a big boost to energy, chemicals and machinery companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — There's no trademark on America. Budweiser, now owned by Belgium's AB Inbev, will rename its beer "America" this summer and alter its labels with images and phrases affiliated with the republic.
CHICAGO (AP) — A new poll says more than 40 percent of America's baby boomers stayed with their employer for more than 20 years, a reflection of the growing national trend toward job mobility.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted the most open jobs in eight months in March, but total hiring slowed, providing a mixed picture of the labor market.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kroger is holding a nationwide hiring event to fill 14,000 open jobs across all its supermarket chains, including Ralphs, Fred Meyer and Food 4 Less.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Roy Speer, the co-founder of Home Shopping Network, was a Florida billionaire once listed on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.
NATIONAL POLITICS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — As Congress debates how to help Puerto Rico with its $70 billion debt, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is trying to prod lawmakers into action with stories of crumbling infrastructure on the island and a lack of basic services.
MONDAY, MAY 9
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton and Cam are tied with three nominations each for the 2016 CMT Music Awards.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Bar Association is asking judges to subscribe to the Tennessee Fair Judicial Campaign Code of Conduct leading up to state elections in August.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has agreed to be deposed under specific conditions in civil lawsuits against the truck-stop chain owned by him and his brother, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, according to court documents.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Health is trying to raise awareness about the impact of teen pregnancy in communities across the state as National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month is observed during May.
CLEVLAND, Tenn. (AP) — An atheist group and an anonymous Bradley County woman are suing Sheriff Eric Watson over posts on the sheriff's office Facebook page.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A group of investigative journalists on Monday published the names of thousands of offshore companies at the heart of a massive trove of data on the finances of the rich and powerful that has become known as the Panama Papers.
NEW YORK (AP) — The chairman and CEO of the online lending company LendingClub stepped down after an internal review determined that the company's business practices were violated with the sale of $22 million in loans to people with sketchy credit scores to a single investor.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Uber and Lyft on Monday suspended their ride-hailing services in Austin after voters decided against overturning city requirements that include fingerprinting their drivers.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks finished just a bit higher Monday as gains for drug companies were almost canceled by sharp losses for metals and energy companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Krispy Kreme shareholders got a caffeine boost after coffee giant JAB Beech said Monday it is acquiring the doughnut chain.
NEW YORK (AP) — In an attempt to fend off a takeover by USA Today owner Gannett, Tribune Publishing says it adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders' tax and spending proposals would provide new levels of health and education benefits for American families, but they'd also blow an $18-trillion hole in federal deficits, piling on so much debt they would damage the economy.
FRIDAY, MAY 5
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Roddy Biggs was 13 and depressed, and had been seeing a therapist for six months before he revealed something he had denied even to himself: He was gay.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A police commander in Tennessee has been placed on administrative leave as a new report raises even more questions about how children between the ages of 9 and 12 came to be arrested, with some of them handcuffed, at their elementary school last month.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is taking to Twitter to voice support for the United Auto Workers union at Volkswagen's lone U.S. plant in Tennessee.
WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says working with Google convinced him that self-driving technology is closer than he thought and could be on the road in five years.
DETROIT (AP) — Once again, Tesla Motors is staring down the naysayers.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tesla is fighting in court to sell its sleek electronic cars in Utah, arguing that laws regulating traditional car dealers don't apply to it because its business model is fundamentally different.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright, the man who came forward this week as bitcoin's founder, is backtracking. He wrote in a blog post that he does not "have the courage" to publish additional proof, as promised, that he is the elusive creator of the Internet currency.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers pulled back on hiring in April, adding 160,000 jobs, the fewest in seven months, after a streak of robust monthly gains. The unemployment rate remained at a low 5 percent, roughly where it has been since fall.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed modestly higher on Friday, ending three days of losses, after the U.S. government's disappointing jobs report added to speculation that the Federal Reserve might keep interest rates low for another year.
NEW YORK (AP) — If government regulators get their way, it's going to become a lot easier to sue your bank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government announced sweeping new rules Thursday for electronic cigarettes that will for the first time require the devices and their ingredients to be reviewed, a mandate that could offer protection for consumers and upend a multibillion dollar industry that has gone largely unregulated.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — If there's a War on Coal, it's increasingly clear which side is winning.