VOL. 40 | NO. 27 | Friday, July 1, 2016
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Standing by the Islamic Center on 12th Avenue South, I finally stumble upon patriotism, a dose of the old red, white and blue, a reason to celebrate America, to, for a moment at least, swell with Yankee Doodle pride in this savage summer of slaughter.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
We know about all the national championships, all the victories and even the exceptional graduation rate.
My parents were big fans of Pat Summitt. They loved the Lady Vols. They reveled in the program’s glory days.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
More than 150 years ago, we fought our nation’s bloodiest war, a conflagration that claimed 620,000 lives, almost as many as were killed in all other American war efforts combined.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
All title companies were not created equal. Luckily, most in Nashville are quite good after the Recession buried some of the borderline firms and the new TRID regulations sent a few more packing last November.
NEWSMAKERS
Michael Brody-Waite, former CEO of InQuicker.com, will be The Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s new CEO.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The Kia Optima for 2016 is roomier than its predecessor and more fuel efficient than ever, and it still won’t break the bank.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Your website is a first look into your company. It’s a reflection of your company’s culture as well as your leadership. But simply having a website isn’t enough. It must have a purpose – and if that purpose doesn’t yield measurable results, this could be the first sign that your website no longer fits the needs of your company.
CAREER CORNER
The Fourth of July is just around the corner. It’s so close you can almost smell the fireworks and taste the barbecue.
I SWEAR
In the past three columns, I’ve told how, in February 2002, I had a major reminiscence of my role in saving the life of a heart attack victim-in-denial 20 years earlier. In March, I received annoying emails about how to survive a heart attack while alone. In early April I dreamed of my heartland being under attack.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
I have mentioned in a few of my past articles that I don’t dream very much. Or, if I do, I don’t often remember them.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Officials have declared a state of emergency in Tennessee after heavy rains caused flooding in several areas overnight and more rain is forecast.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's health care plan would make 18 million people uninsured, but also lower premiums significantly for policies purchased directly by consumers, according to an independent study released Thursday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week to new lows for the year, pushed down by financial tumult in Europe.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Many motorists are clogging their car's engine by not using gasoline with enough added detergents.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies added 172,000 jobs last month, according to a private survey, a sign that hiring may have recovered after a slowdown in April and May.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are little changed Thursday as chemical companies trade higher, but investors sell utility and phone company stocks, safe assets they've favored in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. A payroll survey showed that employers hired more workers in June after a slowdown in the months before.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that U.S. workers still have job security despite recent tremors in the global economy.
BEIJING (AP) — Wal-Mart faces protests by employees in China over what they say is a drastic change in work schedules as the company overhauls its struggling business amid an economic slowdown and competition from e-commerce.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Chattanooga's Erlanger Health System are joining forces.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery won't sue the federal government over its refugee resettlement program.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Department of Education has offered a two-year, $60 million contract to Questar Assessment to administer standardized testing to students.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A spokesman for Republican Sen. Bob Corker says he has withdrawn his name as a possible running mate for Donald Trump.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — More than 500,000 hoverboards are being recalled after some of the motorized scooters overheated, burned riders and damaged property.
GENEVA (AP) — The United States, Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Israel are getting the biggest bang for their buck in economic and digital innovation, according to a survey released Wednesday by the organizers of the Davos economic forum.
Federal officials said Tuesday that they are expanding tests to speed up airport lines and improve security.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks changed course and turned higher Wednesday, with drug and consumer companies leading the way. Investors were willing to take a few more risks than the day before, but they remained cautious, and demand for bonds and precious metals stayed high.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers expressed uncertainty last month about the outlook for the U.S economy because of a sharp slowdown in job growth and the threat posed by a potential vote in Britain to leave the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services firms expanded last month at the fastest pace since November, good news for the U.S. economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fear and uncertainty about the global economy are leading investors to embrace the relative safety of U.S. government debt and slashing yields to record lows.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — With one-third of its rail fleet out of service, Philadelphia's main transit agency predicts Wednesday's commute could be even more hectic with more people returning to work following the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
TUESDAY, JULY 5
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Nashville-area church pastor and his associate have been indicted on charges accusing them of securing grant money for an addiction treatment program that did not exist.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has 31 new state troopers. They took their oaths of office late last week at a cadet graduation ceremony in Nashville.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A medical implant that slowly dissolves into the body could be the answer to long-standing safety concerns with devices used to treat clogged arteries.
TECHNOLOGY
WATERLOO, Ontario (AP) — BlackBerry says it will stop making its Classic smartphone, less than two years after launching it with much fanfare.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slumped Tuesday as investors grew fearful over the health of the British financial system. Looking for safety, they flocked to Treasury notes and pushed the yields on long-term government bonds to all-time lows. Energy companies took the biggest losses as oil prices tumbled.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders at U.S. factories dipped in May, dragged down by less demand for steel, aluminum, furniture, electrical appliances and military aircraft.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England is acting to avoid a repeat of the 2007-08 credit crunch, announcing Tuesday that it is freeing up more loans to businesses and households to help the economy cope with the uncertainty surrounding the exit from the European Union.
NEW YORK (AP) — Almost four years after seeking bankruptcy protection under a barrage of labor issues and rapidly changing appetites, the maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs will take the stage once again as a publicly traded company.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI won't recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while secretary of state, agency Director James Comey said Tuesday, lifting a major legal threat to her presidential campaign. But Comey called her actions "extremely careless" and faulted the agency she led for a lackadaisical approach to handling classified material.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House won't vote on proposed Democratic gun curbs, Speaker Paul Ryan suggested Tuesday as the rekindled election-year clash over firearms showed no sign of resolution.
MONDAY, JULY 4
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
LONDON (AP) — The head of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, resigned Monday as party leader, the latest British political chief to tumble amid the political turmoil following the country's vote to leave the European Union.
BEIJING (AP) — European stock markets slipped Monday, despite gains earlier in Asia, as investors awaited more clarity on Britain's future outside the European Union and a U.S. holiday kept trading volumes thin.
FRIDAY, JULY 1
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam's order for flags to be flown at half-staff following the death of former University of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt is the latest exception to state protocols that normally reserve the honor for members of the military.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam doesn't look like he will be hitting the campaign trail anytime soon on behalf of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee tourism campaign that used technology to customize videos for viewers has earned an award at the 63rd annual Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity in France.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - GOP lawmakers on Thursday for the first time presented details of a more limited approach to Medicaid expansion than was envisioned by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's failed Insure Tennessee proposal.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - The future seemed grim five years ago for a Nashville soda shop that has been serving up ice cream since the Great Depression. Faced with a rent increase, the Elliston Place Soda Shop hung a sign on the door: It would be closing for good.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto sales may be slowing, but they're still expected to set a record in the first six months of this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The first American death involving a car in self-driving mode presents a dilemma: How aggressively to embrace the potentially life-saving technology after a fatal crash. The driver's history of speeding complicates the question.
DETROIT (AP) — It was the crash the auto industry knew was coming but still feared.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A $7.25 billion settlement between merchants and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. over credit card transaction fees was rejected Thursday by a federal appeals court, a ruling praised by a retail trade association as a victory for consumers.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates slid to new lows for the year this week amid market upheaval stoked by Britain's vote to leave the European Union. Rates are at three-year lows at the height of the spring home buying season.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed out a big week with minor gains as markets stage a comeback after a swoon following Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American manufacturing expanded for the fourth straight month in June, hitting the strongest reading in 16 months as the outlook for new orders and production improved.
NEW YORK (AP) — The word suggests compassion, benevolence. It even sounds nice. Goodwill. Mankind needs more of it. But in the financial world, there may be far too much already.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. construction spending fell for a second month in May, with weakness hitting all areas of building.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Financial inequality became even wider in the United States last year, with average income for the top 1 percent of households surging 7.7 percent to $1.36 million.
NEW YORK (AP) — Farmers, lumberjacks and fishermen kill themselves most often, according to a large new study of workers in the U.S. that showed enormous differences of suicide rates across jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the level of jobless claims remains low enough to suggest that most workers enjoy job security.
LONDON (AP) — The race to become Britain's next prime minister took a dramatic, unexpected turn Thursday as former London Mayor Boris Johnson — popular with the public and widely considered to be a front-runner — ruled himself out of contention after the defection of a key ally.
NATIONAL POLITICS
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico faced a historic default Friday as the U.S. territory prepared to enter unchartered waters under the guidance of a newly enacted federal control board to oversee the island's finances amid a dire economic crisis.