VOL. 40 | NO. 24 | Friday, June 10, 2016
Renata Soto’s work empowers immigrants and unifies the city
If Renata Soto needs encouragement in a world filled with fear or distrust of immigrants and refugees, she need only look as far as the people coming to Casa Azafrán to find their place in America.
Conexión Américas Executive Director Renata Soto doesn’t dwell on the state Senate’s rejection of a resolution honoring her as chair of the National Council of La Raza.
When Renata Soto talks about the evolution surrounding Casa Azafrán, she can’t help but mention the variety of cuisine in South Nashville.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
By the time the antique dealer from Leiper’s Fork finishes digging and winching to freedom the bronze statue that Tammy Wynette had installed decades ago in the red dirt of this Oak Hill front yard, I had talked about The Beverly Hillbillies, admired the office and desk where Louise Scruggs spent a day chasing Bob Dylan for me and culled through Earl Scruggs’ record collection with the thoughtful guidance of one of Nashville’s best upright bassists.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Anyone considering selling a home in the near future should be aware of some new trends and take heed as things pertain to inspections.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
Adam Nickas, the new executive director of Tennesseans for a Responsible Future, is looking for a sweeping plan to catch some 280,000 people who fall into a health-care coverage gap across the state.
NEWSMAKERS
Truxton Trust announces Kimberly (Kim) J. Knight, CTP, AAP, has joined the firm as senior vice president, Treasury Management sales officer.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Ford’s jack-of-all-trades Focus hatchback has been upgraded for 2016 with a racy RS model, new safety features and a more responsive voice-recognition system for making phone calls and sending texts.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
When Dick LeBeau entered the NFL as a player in 1959, the Houston Oilers were just a glint in Bud Adams’ eye.
I SWEAR
I was 50 when I died. April 21, 2002. I can’t forget the date.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
It seems 2015 was a big year for new logos. Several companies, including IHOP, OpenTable, Turner Broadcasting, Spike TV and Google made some sort of change last year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen plans to ramp up its offerings of electric vehicles as it fights to bounce back from a scandal over diesel cars rigged to cheat on emissions tests.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week for a second straight week amid continued global economic concerns.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week, but to a low level that indicates employers are still cutting relatively few jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose a moderate amount in May, driven up by rising energy costs and the biggest increase in shelter costs in more than nine years.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were declining for a sixth day Thursday as investors continued to brace for next week's vote on whether Britain would remain a member of the European Union. Japanese stocks plunged 3 percent after the Bank of Japan decided not to increase its economic stimulus efforts.
SHANGHAI (AP) — Walt Disney Co. opened Shanghai Disneyland, its first theme park in mainland China, with a lavish celebration Thursday featuring Communist Party leaders, a children's choir, Sleeping Beauty and other Disney characters.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's says it has reached a tentative deal with the union representing workers at its flagship store in New York City, avoiding a strike.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam still isn't ready to endorse Donald Trump after a New York meeting he helped organize with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools board has voted to sue Tennessee for a greater share in education funding.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Nashville International Airport set a record this week for the highest number of single-day departures in its history.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Southern Baptist Convention on Tuesday urged Christians to stop displaying the Confederate battle flag, recognizing that it is perceived by many as a "symbol of hatred, bigotry and racism" that offends millions of people.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — A top engineer at Toyota says the Japanese automaker plans to get as bullish as its rivals in pushing plug-in hybrids with the introduction of its new Prius Prime.
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — During a visit to the Philadelphia Auto Show, 9-year-old Ed Welburn was spellbound by the 1959 Cadillac Cyclone, with its big fins and rocket-like front cones. Then and there, he vowed to become a designer for General Motors Co.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Premiums for popular low-cost medical plans under the federal health care law are expected to go up an average of 11 percent next year, said a study that reinforced reports of sharp increases around the country in election season.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates unchanged in light of an uncertain job market and offering no hints of when its next rate hike might occur.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market fell for a fifth straight day Wednesday as investors set aside the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and remained focused on next week's vote on whether Britain will remain in the European Union.
NEW YORK (AP) — Workers at Macy's flagship store in New York City are threatening to strike if contract negotiations fail.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Falling auto production fueled a broader decline in U.S. industrial output in May, a potentially worrying sign that manufacturers face economic challenges.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices charged by U.S. producers rose at the fastest pace in four months, driven higher by the biggest monthly increase in energy prices in a year.
TUESDAY, JUNE 14
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has named longtime state prisons official Tony Parker as the new commissioner of the Department of Correction.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Lincoln "Chips" Moman, a Memphis producer, musician and songwriter who helped Elvis Presley engineer a musical comeback in the late '60s and then moved to Nashville to record Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and other top country performers, died Monday in LaGrange, Georgia. He was 79.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd has announced that Hunter Industrial, a division of the Hunter Fan Company, is opening new operations in Nashville.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) - Middle Tennessee State University is offering leadership training to adult learners already in the workforce.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the government's "net neutrality" rules, preserving regulations that force internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T to treat all online traffic — everything from Netflix and cat videos to games and downloads — equally.
NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court on Tuesday upheld "net neutrality" rules that treat the Internet like a public utility and prohibit blocking, slowing and creating paid fast lanes for online traffic. They have been in effect for a year.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is working to make its iPhone and other gadgets smarter, responding to competitors' recent moves by building more artificial intelligence into its Siri digital assistant, photos, maps and other online services.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks in the U.S. and other global markets fell for a fourth day Tuesday as jittery investors await for the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates and worried about Britain's expected close vote on whether to leave the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite a hiring slump, American consumers remain confident about spending — a reassuring sign for the U.S economy.
LONDON (AP) — The price of oil is unlikely to rise much further after rallying almost 90 percent since January, as the global market shows signs of stabilizing, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is trying to make it easier for students who have been misled or defrauded by their colleges to have their loans forgiven.
MONDAY, JUNE 13
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Nashville International Airport officials have issued a travel alert warning passengers flying out of Music City that crowds could get big at the airport.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — In a surprise move, Microsoft said Monday that it is buying LinkedIn for about $26.2 billion, a deal that could bring subtle but significant changes for the professional network's more than 430 million members.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from 20 states seeking to block a federal rule targeting mercury pollution from taking effect while the government revises the rule to account for compliance costs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Puerto Rico can't use a local law to restructure the debt of its financially ailing public utilities as it tries to overcome a decade-long economic crisis, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's all about the data.For months, the Federal Reserve has said that once economic data showed a consistently healthy economy, it would be time to resume raising interest rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street with materials, technology and industrial companies among the hardest hit in a broad sell-off touching all market sectors.
Airlines are doing a better job of sticking to their schedules, and consumer complaints are falling.
Troubled blood-testing startup Theranos says it will continue serving customers through independent retail locations a day after the nation's largest drugstore chain severed ties with the company.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With sales of Apple's flagship iPhone slowing , the spotlight is on the company's hunt for its next big thing. Apple's annual software developers conference, which kicks off Monday, will be its next big opportunity to show the world what's coming next.
FRIDAY, JUNE 10
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State prison officials say they are keeping a controversial shift schedule that critics have blamed for understaffing and violence.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — When Ferguson, Missouri, exploded two years ago with racial unrest that spread across the nation, the newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention was moved to action.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — The television series "Nashville" is getting a second life.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors will add at least 700 engineering, software development and urban mobility jobs at three sites in Canada.
DETROIT (AP) — Electric car maker Tesla Motors is denying allegations that there are safety problems with its vehicle suspensions.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks skidded Friday in a wave of selling that wiped out most of the market's gains from earlier this week. A drop in oil prices took energy companies sharply lower. Investors were also troubled by a poll showing Britain may be more likely to leave the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government's budget deficit shrank sharply in May because of a calendar quirk. But even with latest improvement, the deficit for the first eight months of this budget year is larger than last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — DuPont and Dow Chemical said Friday that they will hold separate shareholder meetings next month to vote on their merger.
HAVANA (AP) — Six airlines won permission Friday to resume scheduled commercial air service from the U.S. to Cuba for the first time in more than five decades, another milestone in President Barack Obama's campaign to normalize relations between the Cold War foes.
NEW YORK (AP) — Gawker Media has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, about three months after pro wrestler Hulk Hogan won a $140 million lawsuit against the online gossip and news publisher.
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — After speaking to more than 100 people in Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon and Tennessee who represented themselves in family court, researchers are calling on lawyers to provide cheaper services and courts to offer more support.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The attorney for a nuclear engineer accused of helping a Chinese energy company build nuclear reactors with U.S. technology says the government's case involves "novel and untested legal theories."
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State election officials say they intend to audit the finances of embattled state Rep. Jeremy Durham.
STATEWIDE
COOKEVILLE (AP) — In a move that will transform higher education in Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill that overhauls the governing boards of some of the state's universities.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A three-day winning streak for U.S. stocks ended quietly Thursday. A decline in bond yields sent bank stocks lower, while utilities and phone companies moved higher.
NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of travelers are signing up for the government's expedited airport screening programs, only to face another wait.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday weighed a rare bipartisan bill to help ease Puerto Rico's financial crisis and bring relief to the U.S. territory of 3.5 million Americans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials failed to force a recall of peanut butter and almond products for three months after advanced DNA testing confirmed salmonella contamination, government investigators reported Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Calling the rising cost of drugs "unsustainable," congressional advisers on Wednesday recommended major changes to Medicare's popular outpatient prescription program, now 10 years old.