VOL. 48 | NO. 25 | Friday, June 21, 2024
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
When he was on the campaign trail for what became a successful run at mayor of Nashville, Freddie O’Connell announced that he would make an effort to keep Nashville residents from leaving. That statement seemed to run counter to reports from the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Corporation that cited Nashville was adding scores of denizens each day – at one time 100 people and lately 87.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home loan borrowing costs eased again this week as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage declined to its lowest level since early April.
NEWSMAKERS
The Les Paul Foundation, created to share the legacy of Les Paul through the support of music education, recording, innovation, exhibits about Les Paul and medical research related to hearing, has awarded its annual Les Paul Spirit Award to musical artist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Peter Frampton.
BRIEFS
Metro Nashville Public Schools and a network of Nashville-based college access organizations will host FAFSA completion clinics at more than a dozen locations through July to help recent MNPS graduates and others maximize their financial aid options this summer.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buying a hybrid vehicle makes more sense than ever. The latest models are just as powerful – More so in some cases – as related gas-only models and have such small price premiums that it’s easy to start saving money while reducing your vehicle-based carbon emissions.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
You can see the CEO’s office from the outside of your workplace. You’ve actually been in that office, so you know what it looks like inside. Big, expansive desk. Cushy, expensive chair. Ankle-deep carpet. The CEO got there through regular means over the course of his career – something you’d like to do.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The first time families returned to The Covenant School in Nashville after a shooting last year that killed six people, they were gathering in the chapel when someone noticed a rainbow outside.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — The Tennessee attorney general's office said Tuesday that it has turned over its investigation into the failed sale of Elvis Presley's home Graceland at a foreclosure auction to federal authorities, a newspaper reported.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's top election office has sent letters to more than 14,000 registered voters asking them to prove their citizenship, a move that alarmed voting rights advocates as possible intimidation.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears poised to allow emergency abortions in Idaho when a pregnant patient's health is at serious risk, according to Bloomberg News, which said a copy of the opinion was briefly posted Wednesday on the court's website.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has a dozen cases still undecided, including ones that could reshape the law on everything from abortion to social media. The justices are also still weighing whether former President Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution in the election interference case against him, roughly two months after hearing arguments. Though the justices typically issue all of their rulings by the end of June, this term they are expected to continue into early July.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court overturned the bribery conviction of a former Indiana mayor on Wednesday, the latest in a series of decisions narrowing the scope of federal public corruption law.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most U.S. adults plan to watch some element of Thursday's presidential debate and many think the event will be important for the campaigns of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — What people remember from Joe Biden and Donald Trump's first debate four years ago are likely the interruptions, the shouting and the "will you shut up, man?"
YOUR MONEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — An independent watchdog within the IRS reported Wednesday that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases, delays that are "unconscionable."
AUTO INDUSTRY
Shares of Rivian soared 40% before markets opened Wednesday after Volkswagen vowed to invest $1 billion in the struggling electric vehicle maker immediately, and a potential total of up to $5 billion as part of a software development agreement.
General Motors on Tuesday named a veteran technology executive with roots in the video game industry to steer its troubled robotaxi service Cruise as it tries to recover from a gruesome collision that triggered the suspension of its California license.
ENVIRONMENT
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming.
Iowa public utility regulators on Tuesday approved a controversial carbon dioxide pipeline for transporting emissions of the climate-warming greenhouse gas for storage underground in a win for Summit Carbon Solutions' project after setbacks in other states and opposition from landowners around the Midwest.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — As he campaigned for the presidency, Joe Biden promised to spend billions of dollars to "save the world" from climate change. One of the largest players in the solar industry was ready.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden pardoned potentially thousands of former U.S. service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday that he is "righting an historic wrong" to clear the way for them to regain lost benefits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that troops who were convicted under an old military policy criminalizing consensual gay sex would receive full pardons — a move that could restore their discharges from military service to an honorable status and pave the way for benefits.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks drifted to a mixed close near the all-time highs they set last week. The S&P 500 index edged up 0.2% Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1%. The majority of stocks in the S&P 500 fell. FedEx helped offset the losses with a gain of 15.5%. The package carrier reported results for its latest quarter that easily beat forecasts. Rivian soared more than 23% after Volkswagen said it would invest up to $5 billion in the struggling maker of electric vehicles.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California initiative to once again make shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders is developing into a contest over whether the state's Democrats are tough enough on crime to hang on to their seats in Congress.
Nvidia shares rebounded Tuesday, halting a three-day skid that had surprised many investors and wiped away more than $400 billion in market value.
NEW YORK (AP) — One of the co-founders of an Atlanta-based venture capital firm that supports women of color has stepped down as chief operating officer as the company battles a lawsuit that has become emblematic of a conservative backlash against corporate diversity programs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegal border crossings dropped more than 40% during the three weeks that asylum processing has been suspended, the Homeland Security Department said Wednesday.
TUESDAY, JUNE 25
UT SPORTS
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Winning the national championship validated what already was increasingly obvious. Tennessee is the standard bearer in this era of college baseball.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tony Vitello jumped into the stands to share a group hug with the legion of Tennessee fans who invaded Omaha. His players ran a lap around the warning track high-fiving them. Kavares Tears squatted in right field taking in the moment with a towel over his eyes.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — As Tennessee prepares to become the second U.S. state to enact a ban against adults helping minors get an abortion without parental permission, a state Democratic lawmaker and reproductive rights activist on Monday filed a legal challenge alleging the statute is unconstitutional.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A Manhattan judge on Tuesday modified Donald Trump's gag order, freeing the former president to comment publicly about witnesses and jurors in the hush money criminal trial that led to his felony conviction, but keeping others connected to the case off limits until he is sentenced July 11.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 500 people — some linked to transnational cartels and organized crime rings — have been charged with gun trafficking and other crimes under the landmark gun safety legislation President Joe Biden signed two years ago Tuesday.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — Lawyers for Donald Trump on Tuesday asked the judge presiding over his classified documents case to prevent prosecutors from using as evidence boxes of records seized during an FBI search of his Florida estate.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A federal prosecutor in the classified documents case of Donald Trump clashed with the judge Monday as he faced skeptical questioning over a request to bar the former president from making threatening comments about law enforcement agents involved in the investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — News that the U.S. Justice Department has reached a plea deal that will lead to freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange brings a stunning culmination to a long-running saga of international intrigue that spanned multiple continents. Its central character is a quixotic internet publisher with a profound disdain for government secrets.
ELECTION 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — After months of casting President Joe Biden as a shell of a man incapable of putting two sentences together, Donald Trump has changed his tune days before their first debate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It could be a well-rehearsed zinger or an offhand, too-loud sigh.
NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Biden and Donald Trump won't be alone at Thursday's debate. Moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper of CNN will be on camera, too, and there's a lot on the line for their network as it fights for relevance in a changing media environment.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It could be a well-rehearsed zinger or an offhand, too-loud sigh.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has emerged as a serious contender to be Donald Trump's running mate. He's one of the president's most loyal and vocal backers and brings executive experience, business savvy and close connections to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump wants their money to help finance his third run for the White House.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. surgeon general on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the fast-growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country.
AUTO INDUSTRY
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnamese automaker VinFast, for a short time the third-most valuable car company in the world, has a big problem: It just can't sell enough cars.
ENERGY
One method of making electricity cleanly to address climate change has been quietly advancing and on Tuesday it hit a milestone.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Microsoft violated European Union antitrust rules with "possibly abusive" practices by tying its Teams messaging and videoconferencing app to its widely used business software, the bloc said.
TRAVEL
The number of air travelers moving through U.S. airports hit a record Sunday, and the new mark might not last through next weekend.
HONOLULU (AP) — Alicia Humiston bought her condo in Lahaina after she visited Maui and fell for its rainforests, lava fields and the whales that gather offshore. She travels there about three times a year and rents out her unit for short periods when she's not in Hawaii.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press says it is setting up a sister organization that will seek to raise money in support of state and local news reporting, as the crisis in that sector shows little sign of abating.
BANKING
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of 50 people and firms across across Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands that have been acting as a "sprawling shadow banking network" for Iran's military were hit with economic sanctions Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
ECONOMY
American consumers lost some confidence in June as expectations over the near-term future fell again.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A rebound for Nvidia propped up a weakened Wall Street Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is partnering with hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion to boost sales for its 10th annual Prime Day discount event.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.N. officials told Israel they will suspend aid operations across Gaza unless urgent steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers, two U.N. officials said.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union launched membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday, a decade after Russian troops seized the Crimean Peninsula to deter the country from moving closer to the West, part of a chain of events that set the two neighbors on the path to war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee said Monday it was reviewing separate accusations against two Republican congressmen from Texas that allege they violated ethics rules by using campaign funds to pay membership dues at private social clubs.
MONDAY, JUNE 24
SPORTS
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tennessee's prodigious home run prowess arrived too late in Game 1 of the College World Series finals.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The San Jose Sharks acquired forward Egor Afanasyev from the Nashville Predators on Sunday for forward Ozzy Wiesblatt.
COLLEGE GROVE (AP) — Tyrrell Hatton won the inaugural LIV Golf Nashville event Sunday, easily holding off Jon Rahm and two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau for the Englishman's first victory since January 2021 at Abu Dhabi.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
BOSTON (AP) — Big record companies are suing artificial intelligence song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that the AI music startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey.
MEMPHIS (AP) — The Memphis Music Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of 25 luminaries at a rousing ceremony 12 years ago, honoring legends spanning generations and genres, from Elvis Presley to ZZ Top to Three 6 Mafia.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday jumped into the fight over transgender rights, agreeing to hear an appeal from the Biden administration seeking to block state bans on gender-affirming care.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge from Republican-controlled states to a horse racing safety law that has led to national medication and anti-doping rules.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to intervene for the second time in a dispute between Hungary and Holocaust survivors who want to be compensated for the property confiscated from them during World War II.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider reviving a critical approval for a railroad project that would carry crude oil and boost fossil fuel production in rural eastern Utah.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents prosecution of Donald Trump is hearing arguments Monday on whether to bar the former president from public comments that prosecutors say could endanger the lives of FBI agents working on the case.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is using the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade to argue that Donald Trump is "guilty" of rolling back women's freedoms and setting off a nationwide health care crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris says "everything is at stake" with reproductive health rights in November's election as the Biden campaign steps up its focus on contrasting the positions taken by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump on the issue before their debate this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Planned Parenthood will spend $40 million ahead of November's elections to bolster President Joe Biden and leading congressional Democrats, betting that voters angry at Republican-led efforts to further restrict access to abortion can be the difference in key races around the country.
WASHINGTON (AP) — From his home office in small-town Kentucky, a seasoned political operative is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the policies of Republican Donald Trump, a highly unusual and potentially chilling effort that dovetails with broader conservative preparations for a new White House.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — MSNBC is inviting its fans to a one-day "Democracy 2024" event this September with live panels and a dinner with stars like Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes and Ari Melber, part of the company's entrance into the burgeoning field of events journalism.
HEALTH CARE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Four months after seeking asylum in the U.S., Fernando Hermida began coughing and feeling tired. He thought it was a cold. Then sores appeared in his groin and he would soak his bed with sweat. He took a test.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced new steps to increase access to affordable housing as still-high prices on groceries and other necessities and high interest rates have dramatically pushed up the cost of living in the post-pandemic years.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Car dealerships in North America continue to wrestle with major disruptions that started last week with cyberattacks on a software company used widely in the auto retail sales sector.
BANGKOK (AP) — China and the European Union are open to holding talks on the EU's recent decision to sharply raise tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles, officials from both sides say.
TRANSPORTATION
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new federal rule finalized Monday aims to ensure first responders can find out what hazardous chemicals are on a train almost immediately after a derailment so they can respond appropriately.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Another slide for Wall Street heavyweight Nvidia kept U.S. indexes mixed Monday, even as the majority of stocks rallied.
LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators on Monday leveled their first charges under the bloc's new digital competition rulebook, accusing Apple of preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options outside its App Store.
ATLANTA (AP) — United Parcel Service said Sunday it agreed to sell its Coyote Logistics division to RXO for just over $1 billion — less than it paid for the freight-brokerage company in 2015 — to focus more on its core package-delivery business.
FRIDAY, JUNE 21
UT SPORTS
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Until he saw messages flying back and forth on the 1990s-era LSU players' group text thread late this season, Skip Bertman didn't realize the Tennessee team of 2024 was making a serious run at the Holy Grail of the college baseball record book.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LONDON (AP) — Taylor Swift fans enjoy parsing the singer-songwriter's lyrics for references to her romantic life and insights into her state of her mind.
REGION
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is maturing, like the fine whiskeys it showcases.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal gun control law that is intended to protect victims of domestic violence.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump is hearing arguments Friday on a long-shot defense effort to get the indictment thrown out based on the claim that the prosecutor who brought the charges was illegally appointed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Thursday rejected longtime Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon's bid to stay out of prison while he fights his conviction for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol attack.
ELECTION 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the general election nears, Democrats are keen to remind union voters in Pennsylvania that pensions for many workers have been preserved as part of a coronavirus pandemic-era aid package that keeps on giving.
MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said in an interview posted Thursday he wants to give automatic green cards to foreign students who graduate from U.S. colleges, a sharp departure from the anti-immigrant rhetoric he typically uses on the campaign trail.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in May for the third straight month as rising mortgage rates and record-high prices discouraged many prospective homebuyers during what's traditionally the housing market's busiest period of the year.
TECHNOLOGY
The cybersecurity firm Kaspersky denied Friday that it is a security threat after the U.S. Commerce Department banned the use of its software in the United States.
ENERGY
KRIEGERS FLAK OFFSHORE WIND FARM, Denmark (AP) — In a small boat bobbing in the waves between towering offshore wind turbines, researchers in Europe's Baltic Sea reach into the frigid water and remove long lines stretched between the pylons onto which mussels and seaweed are growing.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Newly-named Washington Post editor Robert Winnett has decided not to take the job and remain in England amid leadership turmoil at the news organization.
TikTok disclosed a letter Thursday that accused the Biden administration of engaging in "political demagoguery" during high-stakes negotiations between the government and the company as it sought to relieve concerns about its presence in the U.S.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It all started at a Denny's in San Jose in 1993.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — On the first day of summer with parts of California sweltering under a heat advisory, a state worker safety board approved standards Thursday that would require employers to protect workers from indoor heat, but would exempt state correctional facilities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump's new proposal to exclude tips from federal taxes is getting strong reviews from some Republican lawmakers, though major questions remain about the impact of the policy and how it would work.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of arrests by Border Patrol agents of people illegally crossing into the United States fell in May to the third lowest of any month during the Biden presidency, while preliminary figures released Thursday show encounters with migrants falling even more in the roughly two weeks since the president announced new rules restricting asylum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Thursday that it will rush delivery of air defense interceptor missiles to Ukraine by redirecting planned shipments to other allied nations, as Washington scrambles to counter increased Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
THURSDAY, JUNE 20
UT SPORTS
DENVER (AP) — Dalton Knecht has always packed one thing with him throughout his cross-country, multi-school basketball journey — a chip on his shoulder.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tennessee fell flat in its two previous College World Series appearances and in between there was the crushing loss in NCAA super regionals as the No. 1 national seed.
NASHVILLE SC
TORONTO (AP) — Sam Surridge scored his second goal of the game in the 90th minute as Nashville beat Toronto 2-1 on Wednesday night for its first come-from-behind victory of the season.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is headed into its final few weeks with about a third of the cases heard this year still undecided, including ones that could reshape the law on everything from guns to abortion to social media. The justices are also still weighing whether former President Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution in the election interference case against him, more than a month after hearing arguments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a tax on foreign income over a challenge backed by business and anti-regulatory interests, declining their invitation to weigh in on a broader, never-enacted tax on wealth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a California woman who said she did not know about a stash of methamphetamine hidden inside her car.
TRAVEL
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines put an unspecified number of employees on leave for their involvement in an incident in which several Black passengers were removed from a flight in Phoenix, allegedly over a complaint about body odor.
TECHNOLOGY
Ilya Sutskever, one of the founders of OpenAI who was involved in a failed effort to push out CEO Sam Altman, said he's starting a safety-focused artificial intelligence company.
MEDIA
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed a bill that would allow parents to block their children from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm, a move to limit feeds critics argue are addictive.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Snapchat Inc. will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by California's civil rights agency that claimed the company discriminated against female employees, failed to prevent workplace sexual harassment and retaliated against women who complained.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Human-caused climate change dialed up the thermostat and turbocharged the odds of this month's killer heat that has been baking the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, a new flash study found.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits slipped last week as the U.S. labor market remained resilient.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Thursday kept its main interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25%, even though inflation has fallen to its target of 2%.
GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss National Bank said Thursday it has lowered its main policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing a drop in "underlying inflationary pressure" despite an uptick in some costs like rents, tourism services and oil products.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes edged back from their records Thursday, weighed down by a dip for Wall Street darling Nvidia, following a mixed set of reports on the economy.
Amazon is shifting from the plastic air pillows used for packaging in North America to recycled paper because it's more environmentally sound, and it says paper just works better.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In Atlanta to promote the Biden administration's efforts to quell the import of illegal drugs into the U.S., Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced new sanctions against members of a Mexican drug cartel accused of trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, meth and migrants through the southern border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence's foundation is launching a $10 million campaign to preserve the Trump-era tax cuts that are set to expire after next year as he presses conservatives not to stray from the fight before the November election.
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed at least a dozen deals with his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday and offered to supply fossil fuels including natural gas to Vietnam for the long term during a state visit that comes as Moscow is seeking to bolster ties in Asia to offset its growing international isolation over its military actions in Ukraine.