VOL. 41 | NO. 26 | Friday, June 30, 2017
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
San Francisco resident Terry Karlsson relishes her hometown’s reputation for embracing “multi-cultural diversity.”
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Nashville, 2017, and the air is filled with pollen, songwriters and homebuyers.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
What does Phillip Fulmer’s hiring as special advisor to University of Tennessee president Joe DiPietro have to do with Vols football coach Butch Jones?
NEWSMAKERS
Polsinelli, an AmLaw 100 law firm, has added Matthew White as an associate. White is a member of the firm’s national Corporate and Transactional Practice Group, bringing additional experience in private equity, and mergers and acquisitions to Polsinelli’s Business Department.
BRIEFS
A new Art-Deco-era designed boutique hotel, with specialty shops, a working printing press and bars and restaurants, will open in downtown Nashville in late 2017 near historic Printer’s Alley.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Say goodbye to your money. You need that new gadget, so adios. New bling is too irresistible, so ta-ta. Upgrade that device, see ya later, salary.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
BMW’s X4 is either a compact SUV or beefy hatchback, depending on how one sees it. Its new top-of-the line X4 M40i, though, is all sports car – at least the way it drives.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
You’re probably thinking a lot about how your marketing looks. You’ve created a compelling brand, made videos to showcase your best work and even tried Facebook Live to document exciting events.
CAREER CORNER
Sometimes in your career, things don’t always work out the way you plan them. I first learned this lesson in college. I went to one of those fancy, private schools to study computer engineering in the late 90s.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson has appointed Lee Pope as the state's new open records counsel.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added a modest 158,000 jobs in June, a survey found, a sign that hiring has decelerated but remains healthy enough to lower the unemployment rate over time.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly more Americans applied for jobless aid last week, but the number of people seeking benefits has stayed near historic lows that point to a robust job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — "Wayne Tracker" cannot be forced to testify under oath. He does not exist.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in May, and the politically sensitive trade gap with China also slid.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The first time a new country songwriter named Kacey Musgraves saw one of her songwriting heroes, John Prine, she had an unusual proposition when she approached.
SPORTS
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State University is suing former assistant football coach Bob Shoop for breach of contract, alleging he owes the university nearly $900,000.
MIDSTATE
FRANKLIN (AP) — A film writer and producer says he is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee next year.
AUTO INDUSTRY
HELSINKI (AP) — Volvo plans to build only electric and hybrid vehicles starting in 2019, making it the first major automaker to abandon cars and SUVs powered solely by the internal combustion engine.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes were mixed Wednesday as energy companies skidded along with oil prices, but technology stocks rose and reversed a portion of their recent losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is figuring out when to start unloading much of its $4.5 trillion in bond holdings — a major turning point for an economy still healing from the 2008 financial crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories fell for the second straight month in May.
LONDON (AP) — Economic growth across the 19-country eurozone was even higher than previously thought during June, according to a closely watched survey Wednesday, in yet more evidence of momentum in the single currency bloc.
NATIONAL POLITICS
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Competing visions of world trade are set to collide at the Group of 20 summit of world leaders in Hamburg, Germany, this week.
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is standing by her suggestion that Europe can no longer entirely rely on the U.S. as she prepares to host President Donald Trump at the Group of 20 summit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has long warned that Russian organized crime posed a threat to democratic institutions, including "criminally linked oligarchs" who might collude with the Russian government to undermine business competition.
MONDAY, JULY 3
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The revival of a beer to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Knoxville World's Fair was only meant to be on the market for six months. But heavy demand has brewers considering making it a permanent offering.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee state Rep. Karen Camper has been elected president of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Republican state Sen. Bill Ketron is giving up his seat in the Tennessee General Assembly to run for mayor of the state's fifth-most populous county.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is pressuring wavering senators to back a Republican bill to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama's health care law but is holding open a repeal-only option if Republicans can't reach agreement over the July 4 recess, Trump's top legislative aide says.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. sales at General Motors and Ford each fell about 5 percent last month, but the three largest Japanese automakers — including Nissan — reported sales increases.
NEW YORK (AP) — The first Tesla Model 3 electric car for the masses should come off the assembly line on Friday with the first deliveries in late July, the company's CEO says.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending was flat in May with home construction falling again, as buyers face climbing prices and a shortage of available properties on the market.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday as banks continued to climb along with interest rates, and energy companies rallied again with oil prices. Better-than-expected auto sales and a strong report on U.S. factories also boosted stocks.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A company that owns 10 Jimmy John's sandwich shops in the Twin Cities was within its rights to fire six union workers who circulated posters critical of the company's sick-leave policy, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories expanded at a robust pace in June, a likely sign of strength for the U.S. economy as new orders, production and employment each improved.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — No, the U.S. national debt was not made in China. Or by Canada, or Europe or other trading partners.
FRIDAY, JUNE 30
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators took care of an area of concern and added to an area of depth Saturday, signing center Nick Bonino away from the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins with a $16.4 million, four-year contract and acquiring defenseman Alexei Emelin in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two juveniles are no longer charged with starting the Tennessee wildfires that killed 14 people in November, a law enforcement official said Friday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rising and declining taxes, an abortion ban and an option to use metal detectors or allow arms in public places are among the many new laws taking effect in Tennessee on Saturday.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The complexity of a federal fraud case against former employees of a truck stop chain owned by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam could cause the trial to take up to six weeks, attorneys told the judge Thursday.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A state panel is considering moving the Tennessee State Fair to a new location after more than 100 years.
NASHVILLE (AP) — President Donald Trump is nominating a law professor at Belmont University to be U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump barged into Senate Republicans' delicate health care negotiations Friday, declaring that if lawmakers can't reach a deal they should simply repeal "Obamacare" right away and then replace it later on.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Republicans may try preserving a tax boost on high earners enacted by President Barack Obama in a bid to woo party moderates and rescue their sputtering push to repeal his health care overhaul.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged to lower this week, as the benchmark 30-year rate reached a new low for the year.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A scaled-back version of President Donald Trump's travel ban is now in force, stripped of provisions that brought protests and chaos at airports worldwide in January yet still likely to generate a new round of court fights.
KNOXVILLE(AP) — The families of three people killed when their vehicles crashed into a guardrail end have filed lawsuits that alleged the "defective" Lindsay X-LITE system caused their relatives' deaths.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street closed out the final day of the second quarter with slight gains after a broad rally faded in the last few minutes of trading Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said Friday it will amass a 700-million-share stake in Bank of America, making Buffett the largest shareholder in two of the nation's largest banks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department said Friday it wants salary level to count in deciding who is eligible for overtime pay. But it's holding off setting the maximum pay a worker can get and still qualify.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans enjoyed a healthy increase in income last month but didn't spend much of the gain.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nike said it will sell some of its sneakers through e-commerce giant Amazon, part of a plan to make its swoosh-branded products available in more places online.
NEW YORK (AP) — Why is Amazon spending nearly $14 billion for Whole Foods?
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett's company is likely to become Bank of America's largest investor soon because the bank received approval to boost its dividend.
PARIS (AP) — The cyberattack that has locked up computers around the world while demanding a ransom may not be an extortion attempt after all, but something more sinister: an effort to create havoc in Ukraine, security experts say.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's government stalled Twenty-First Century Fox's takeover of the Sky pay television and broadband network Thursday after regulators said the deal could give Rupert Murdoch and his family too much influence over the country's media.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he hopes a special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign and Russia can "come to an end sooner rather than later."
NEW YORK (AP) — If President Donald Trump were anyone else, he'd be fired, or at least reprimanded, for his latest tweets attacking a female TV host, social media and workplace experts say.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Poor and southern U.S. counties will get hit hardest by global warming, according to a first-of-its-kind detailed projection of potential climate change effects at the local level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said Thursday it is taking steps to expand oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans as President Donald Trump continues to push for U.S. "energy dominance" in the global market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will hold a high stakes meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when he attends the G-20 summit in Germany next week, the White House said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The drop-dead deadline for Congress to increase the government's borrowing authority and avoid a devastating economic default is early to mid-October, says a government estimate released Thursday that delivered another challenge to Republican leaders.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of wrangling, tighter restrictions on travel to the U.S. from six mostly Muslim nations take effect Thursday evening after the Supreme Court gave its go-ahead for a limited version of President Donald Trump's plans for a ban. Visa applicants from the six countries — and all refugees — will need to show close family or business ties to the United States.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican-led Senate committee on Thursday backed an aviation bill that omits one of President Donald Trump's goals — turning air traffic control operations over to a private company.