VOL. 35 | NO. 25 | Friday, June 24, 2011
REALTY CHECK
“How’s the real estate market?” Pause. “Things lookin’ up?”
GET A JOB!
If you are not happy with the state of the country or your own community and want to make a difference in determining the direction of future legislation, take a look at a career as a lobbyist.
The Tennessee Justice Center has honored Nashville law firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, PLLC as Pro Bono Firm of the Year.
I SWEAR
Philip Martin, columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, began his Sunday piece awhile back with a quote from The Winner’s Manual: For the Game of Life by Jim Tressel:
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
A smokin’ hot summer!
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Circuit Court Judge John J. Maddux Jr. of Middle Tennessee has been honored for outstanding judicial service.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Producers of faith-based movies have a message for Hollywood studios: Make the movies and customers will pay to watch them.
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — A thief who took a laptop computer from the car of a medical billing company employee got personal information on more than 1,500 patients.
STATEWIDE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Volkswagen loaded the first rail shipment of 2012 Passats built at the automaker's new plant in Chattanooga, and a spokesman said Wednesday they are destined for dealers who will show them off to prospective customers until selling starts in late September.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Laws that create tougher tenure requirements for teachers and crack down on terrorism are among a number of new measures that take effect in Tennessee on Friday.
New laws taking effect Friday in Tennessee will:
NATIONAL BUSINESS
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — An executive convicted of orchestrating a $3 billion fraud as chairman of one of America's largest private mortgage companies was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was mostly unchanged last week, evidence that the weak economy is struggling to generate jobs.
BANGKOK (AP) — Oil hovered below $95 a barrel Thursday in Asia after Greece's approval of a harsh austerity plan eased concerns about a spreading financial crisis in Europe.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — U.S. food prices may ease later this year now that farmers have planted the second-largest corn crop in nearly seven decades.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Embattled photography pioneer Eastman Kodak Co. is nearing the end of a high-stakes patent-infringement fight with smartphone giants Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — John Russo's chemical lab in North Kingstown has been growing in recent years, even despite a deflated economy, and he expects to add another 15 to 20 positions to his 49 employees over the next year.
Mazda sees growth with lean gas engines, not EVs
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Standard & Poor's executive says the agency will give the U.S. government its lowest credit rating if lawmakers fail to raise the borrowing limit and the United States defaults on its debt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In prodding Congress to act swiftly to avoid a government default on its financial obligations, President Barack Obama has Isaac Bassett and a long history of procrastination conspiring against him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blistering rebuke of Republicans, President Barack Obama on Wednesday pressed lawmakers to accept tax increases as part of a deal to cut the nation's deficits and avoid a crippling government default. "Let's get it done," Obama challenged, chiding Congress for frequent absences from Washington.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will be working next week, cancelling a weeklong July 4 break at a time the government is struggling to avoid a first-ever default.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Older adults of the same age and income with similar medical histories would pay sharply different amounts for private health insurance due to what appears to be an unintended consequence of the new health care law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia exercised a rarely used power last fall to let Philip Morris USA and three other big tobacco companies delay making multimillion-dollar payments for a program to help people quit smoking.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — State officials announced a new job creation effort aiming to build Tennessee businesses from the ground up.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville newspaper about homelessness sued the wealthy suburb of Brentwood on Wednesday over the right of its vendors to distribute there.
NASHVILLE (AP) — United Neighborhood Health Services in Nashville has received a $300,000 grant to fight diabetes.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Individuals who have received help from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program since last July must wait until Oct. 1 to reapply for benefits.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose sharply in May, pushed higher by an influx of spring buying.
Oil prices rose above $94 a barrel Wednesday on hopes that Greece will approve a crucial austerity package and after a report showed a drop in U.S. crude supplies, suggesting improved demand.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is cutting gas prices by 10 cents a gallon for three months to help consumers worried about their spending amid a sputtering economy and busy summer travel season.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — General Mills Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 51 percent on stronger sales but was hampered by higher ingredient costs.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Innovation turned Eastman Kodak Co. into one of the world's most recognizable brands. Imitation by its rivals might help keep the picture-taking pioneer from fading into history.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will recall about 82,200 hybrid SUVs in the U.S. due to computer boards with possible faulty wiring.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and congressional lawmakers reached a deal Tuesday to propel three coveted free trade agreements toward a vote on Capitol Hill, though the ultimate fate of the pacts with South Korea, Colombia and Panama remained uncertain.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blunt challenge to Republicans in Congress, President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that elimination of selected tax breaks for oil companies and the super-wealthy must be included in any deficit reduction plan.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is strongly criticizing a Republican proposal that would prioritize interest payments on the nation's debt and cut spending rather than raise the borrowing limit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund is urging U.S. lawmakers to raise the nation's borrowing limit. It warns that inaction could lead to a spike in interest rates that would harm the U.S. economy and world financial markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plan to meet with Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday, the latest step in debt negotiations with Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's labor dispute with Boeing Co. is turning into a political headache for President Barack Obama, giving his Republican rivals a fresh opening to bash the administration's economic policies.
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Court of Appeals is considering whether to allow Fisk University to sell a 50 percent share in its modern art collection to keep the school afloat.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Southwest Airlines is reducing daily flights to seven cities from the Nashville International Airport this fall and winter as part of seasonal changes to its schedule.
NASHVILLE. (AP) — Nissan Americas has donated four new Titan trucks and one Armada to the Nashville Zoo, continuing a company tradition.
MURFREESBORO (AP) — The experimental vehicles program at Middle Tennessee State University has been honored by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home prices in major U.S. cities have risen for the first time in eight months, boosted by an annual flurry of spring buyers.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A private research group is reporting that U.S. consumers' confidence declined to a seven-month low as job worries increased.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil climbed more than 2 percent Tuesday ahead of a vote in Greece to approve tough new financial reforms that would shore up its beleaguered economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has been chosen to lead the International Monetary Fund. She will become the first female managing director of the global lending organization.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — News Corp. is aiming to sell its struggling social network site MySpace this week and will likely lay off more than half of the staff, according to a person familiar with the matter.
TOKYO (AP) — Sony Corp. Chief Executive Howard Stringer credited "very loyal" PlayStation Network gamers for flocking back to the service in big numbers, as he sought Tuesday to reassure shareholders following a series of embarrassing hacker attacks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors have seen grenade launchers, M4 rifles and secretly recorded videos of military suppliers working on a deal to funnel money to an official of an African nation they wanted to buy their weapons.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — At least they're still talking. While President Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders have publicly dug in their heels on critical debt-limit negotiations, Obama's spokesman said Tuesday the president and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell will continue discussions.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has added a couple of high-profile constitutional challenges to its lineup of cases for next term: One looking at governmental regulation of television content and the other dealing with the authority of police to use a GPS device to track a suspect's movements without a warrant.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Businesses facing a growing threat of cyberattacks against their websites will now have more tools to protect themselves and harden their Internet sites against hackers.
MONDAY, JUNE 27
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam says the functions of the Tennessee Regulatory Agency might better be performed by the state's executive branch.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ned McWherter, one of the most powerful Tennessee Democrats during his quarter century in public life, never got caught up in any of the FBI undercover investigations that pushed another governor out of office early and led to several prison sentences and suicides for others in his party.
CHATTANOOGA — As the Tennessee Valley Authority continues to repair storm damage that temporarily knocked out some electricity distribution, the utility insists its transmission system is not fragile.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Farewell and good riddance to the first half of 2011 — six months that are ending as sour for the economy as they began.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in a year, Americans have stopped spending more.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices wavered near $91 a barrel Monday as concerns about the Greek debt crisis waned. The market is waiting to see if Greece receives a new round of international aid.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that it is unconstitutional to bar children from buying or renting violent video games, saying government doesn't have the authority to "restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed" despite complaints that the popular and fast-changing technology allows the young to simulate acts of brutality.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former Citigroup vice president embezzled $19.2 million from the bank in a one-man "inside job" involving a series of secret money transfers, federal prosecutors said Monday.
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) — As America's nuclear power plants have aged, the once-rural areas around them have become far more crowded and much more difficult to evacuate. Yet government and industry have paid little heed, even as plants are running at higher power and posing more danger in the event of an accident, an Associated Press investigation has found.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is telling American automakers that it would like cars and light trucks to average 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama plunged into deadlocked negotiations to cut government deficits and raise the nation's debt limit as the White House expressed confidence Monday that a "significant" deal with Republicans can be reached. But both sides only seemed to harden their positions as the day wore on, with the White House insisting on some higher taxes as part of the package and the Republican leadership flatly refusing to consider them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It might be time for another midnight ride by Paul Revere, this time warning "the creditors are coming."
FRIDAY, JUNE 24
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Country Music Association says its recent four-day festival in Nashville generated approximately $30 million in direct visitor spending for the city.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A lawsuit challenging the right of the Davidson County Sheriff's Office to enforce federal immigration law can be expanded to also target the federal immigration agency, a federal judge has ruled.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Genesco Inc. has purchased British footwear company Schuh Group Ltd. for about $112.6 million, saying the deal gives it a retail presence in the United Kingdom and better insight into global fashion trends.
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — As University of Tennessee system trustees Thursday approved a $774 tuition increase in Knoxville, students and parents on the campus said paying more for college is just part of financial pain everywhere.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Board of Regents has approved tuition hikes of between 8 and 11 percent, with the actual increase for each student depending on how many credit hours that student is taking.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans could be charged up to nearly $70 more for traffic tickets under a new state law that takes effect next month and is intended to fund crime lab services for law enforcement agencies.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A new web application shows where hundreds of Civil War activities occurred in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is touting his administration's dedication to social media, but he also acknowledges that not every one of his 40,000 followers on Facebook are actually supporters.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Criminal Court Judge James C. Beasley Jr. has been elected president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil settled slightly higher Friday as investors weighed the latest economic data and the planned release of 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market.
If weak financial results from big tech companies are sign of what's to come, stock indexes are in for a tough summer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sour reports Thursday on the number of people who sought unemployment benefits and buyers of new homes illustrate what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged Wednesday: Many factors weighing on the economy are proving to be more chronic than first imagined.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A published report says federal regulators are preparing to issue subpoenas to Google and other companies as authorities gather information for a broad antitrust probe into the Internet search leader's business practices.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Oracle Corp.'s latest quarterly results Thursday underscore the critical role its software business plays despite its push to become a more well-rounded technology vendor by selling computer servers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Author J.K. Rowling has joined the 21st century on her own special terms.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping directly into stalled debt talks, President Barack Obama is inviting the two leaders of the U.S. Senate to separate meetings Monday, shifting the negotiations to the highest levels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts to find a bipartisan agreement blending huge budget cuts with a must-pass measure to increase how much the government can borrow have entered a new phase after Republican negotiators pulled out of talks led by Vice President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Desperate to boost employment and their bleak poll numbers, the White House and Democrats in Congress are turning to a Republican idea for stimulating the economy: tax cuts.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are starting to pay more attention to the candidates who hope to take on President Barack Obama next year, and so far that's been a good thing for Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.