VOL. 36 | NO. 30 | Friday, July 27, 2012
REALTY CHECK
I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree, or so the Joyce Kilmer poem goes. Yet, when homebuyers have their homes inspected prior to the closing, they seldom have the trees inspected. Every other aspect of the home is inspected and re-inspected these days.
NEWSMAKERS
Dr. Rahn Kennedy Bailey, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Meharry Medical College, will be installed as president of the National Medical Association (NMA) on July 31 during the NMA 2012 annual convention and scientific assembly in New Orleans.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Let’s face it. Prospects have a language of their own. Sometimes they say one thing when they really mean another. Shocking, right? The language differences between sellers and buyers are akin to those between men and women – often worlds apart. Fortunately, prospects have a few go-to responses that, once decoded, will put you on an even playing field.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
It is my understanding that if you want to master a surgical procedure you follow a relatively simple three-step process: you hear about it, you see it, and you do it.
I SWEAR
Years ago, V Jeffers of Portland, Ark., became fascinated with the Monarch Butterfly, the most recognizable of non-detested insects.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Everyone knows a “rose is a rose is a rose, is a rose is a rose,” but when is it not? When it’s a peach. If you don’t already know, peaches are from the Rose family (Prunus) and are classified as a “stone fruit” or “drupe.”
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) - Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley are hosting the Country Music Association Awards for a fifth time.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A provision the Tennessee Supreme Court initially included in an overhaul of conduct rules for state judges was changed before the code took effect.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Months of bruising primary campaigns seemed to be taking their toll on voter morale on Election Day.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Education is revising teacher licensing standards.
MEMPHIS (AP) — Discount-store operator Fred's Inc. said Wednesday that a key revenue figure edged up in July, boosted by markdowns aimed at increasing customer traffic. The company also raised its earnings guidance for the second quarter, citing a tax settlement with the state of Tennessee.
NASHVILLE AREA
MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. is locking up more illegal immigrants than ever, generating lucrative profits for the nation's largest prison companies, and an Associated Press review shows the businesses have spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying lawmakers and contributing to campaigns.
NASHVILLE (AP) - A few hundred Nashville residents were told to leave their homes after a natural gas line ruptured in a neighborhood.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — A big loss in Europe dragged down General Motors' second-quarter profit.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week after falling to new record lows in each of the past 13 weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Companies placed fewer orders with U.S. factories in June from May, signaling further weakness with manufacturing.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers showed some spending muscle in July, once summer clearance sales and the hottest July in 50 years got them in the mood.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits rose last week, though the data was likely skewed higher by seasonal factors.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Thursday the bank would make a new effort to buy government bonds to drive down the high borrowing rates squeezing the continent's indebted governments. And he urged leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro to use their bailout fund to do the same.
NEW YORK (AP) — The European Central Bank on Thursday laid some of its game plan for tackling the continent's debt crisis, but markets wanted much more.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil is falling after the head of the European Central Bank disappointed investors by failing to take immediate action to prop up the eurozone economy.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nearly 220 counties in a dozen drought-stricken states were added Wednesday to the U.S. government's list of natural disaster areas as the nation's agriculture chief unveiled new help for frustrated, cash-strapped farmers and ranchers grappling with extreme dryness and heat.
TOKYO (AP) — Sony's red ink worsened in the April-June quarter and it lowered its full-year earnings forecast as it battles a strong yen and declining sales of liquid crystal display TVs and video game machines.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of Medicaid health care service providers still got paid by the government even though they owed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes, congressional investigators say. A legal technicality is making it harder for the IRS to collect.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate failed Thursday to pass legislation to protect the U.S. electrical grid, water supplies and other critical industries from cyberattack and electronic espionage despite dire warnings from top national security officials about the potential for devastating assaults on American computer networks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is taking up legislation to help drought-stricken livestock producers in one of its final acts before adjourning for the August recess.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Republican state lawmaker has apologized for circulating an email that spreads a rumor that President Barack Obama is planning to stage a fake assassination attempt to stop the November election.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Earl Taylor has been named the new executive director of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, which is responsible for setting rates and service standards for privately owned utilities.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Mednax Inc. said Monday it has acquired a Knoxville-based physician group that provides anesthesia services across the eastern portion of Tennessee.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Richard Land, the highly visible top ethics official for the Southern Baptist Convention, announced Tuesday that he would retire next year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gaylord Entertainment has issued separation notices to 310 employees pending shareholder approval of a deal to sell its hotel brand and the rights to manage its four hotels to Marriott International, Inc. for $210 million.
MIDSTATE
FRANKLIN (AP) - (AP) - Tennessee's top transportation official says that a road construction project that has been on the books since 1986 will finally be completed in November after years of construction and environmental delays.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Volkswagen is boosting production at its sole U.S. plant, though employees will have to spend fewer days a week to achieve that expansion.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors and Ford lost ground to Japanese automakers last month as their rivals made a strong comeback from last year's earthquake.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German luxury automaker BMW AG said earnings fell 28 percent in the second quarter due to higher costs for staff and investments in new technology and warned that a worsening of Europe's debt crisis or a slowdown in China could hurt its business.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that the U.S. economy is losing strength and repeated a pledge to take further steps to boost growth if hiring remains weak.
NEW YORK (AP) — There was more than one story line playing out in the stock market Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing shrank for the second straight month in July, further evidence of an economy growing at a sluggish pace.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Another strong gain in homebuilding pushed U.S. construction spending up for a third straight month in June.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A private survey shows U.S. businesses kept hiring at a modest pace in July, suggesting the job market could be improving after three sluggish months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting Wednesday with a big question looming: Will it take some new action to jolt the U.S. economy out of its slump?
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil climbed to near $89 per barrel Wednesday after the government said supplies have dropped more than analysts expected.
NEW YORK (AP) — Viewer excitement about the Olympics is translating into gold for NBC: The broadcaster now expects to break even on the London Games rather than take a loss.
NEW YORK (AP) — "Battleship" failed to sink Comcast's second-quarter earnings as strong results from cable operations overcame weak returns from the box-office flop.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson Inc. says its second-quarter net income jumped 30 percent on higher U.S. demand for motorcycles.
NEW YORK (AP) — YouTube's inaugural film festival has selected 10 short films that it will send to the Venice Film Festival.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An election-year tax faceoff between Democrats and Republicans in the GOP-controlled House is heading toward a predictable outcome Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Warfighters heading to Afghanistan would receive less training while the Navy would be forced to buy fewer ships if lawmakers fail in the next five months to come up with an alternative deficit-reduction plan, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House gave final congressional approval Tuesday to a bill that would save the slow-paced Senate some time by eliminating the need for confirming nominees to some 170 executive branch jobs and 3,000 military officer positions.
TUESDAY, JULY 31
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Jamey Johnson sang at Hank Cochran's bedside in the hours before his death. Now he's showing his love for the legendary songwriter again.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Surgery has briefly sidelined country star Toby Keith.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — About 100 correctional professionals from across the country are meeting this week in Nashville.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Honda's quarterly profit quadrupled to 131.7 billion yen ($1.7 billion) as the Japanese automaker bounced back from last year's natural disasters with more vehicles sold across all key regions except for Europe.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The world's top central bankers have said they're willing to rescue the economies of Europe and the United States. This week we'll find out if they are ready to act.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended slightly lower Tuesday as investors held back ahead of three critical events this week: policy meetings at both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank and a closely watched report on jobs in the U.S.
Gasoline is at $3.50 per gallon for the first time this summer after a sharp run-up in July.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices fell Tuesday as hopes faded for a new round of economic stimulus in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal regulator is standing by its decision to bar Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from reducing principal for borrowers at risk of foreclosure, resisting pressure from the Obama administration.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans breathed a bit easier about the economy in July, as a better outlook on short-term hiring and lower gas prices offset lingering worries about poor income growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Home prices rose in May from April in every city tracked by a leading index, a sign that increasing sales and tight inventories are supporting a modest housing recovery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans spent no more in June than they did in May, even though their income grew at the fastest pace in three months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve appears to be moving toward announcing some new step to try to energize the troubled U.S. economy. The question is whether it will do so after its policy meeting this week.
LONDON (AP) — The number of people unemployed across the 17 countries that use the euro hit a record high in June, official figures showed Tuesday, in a stark reminder that Europe's debt crisis has ramifications beyond the financial markets.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to ratchet up pressure on Iran, President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered new sanctions on Iran's energy sector and on foreign banks in China and Iraq that the U.S. says help the Islamic republic evade international penalties.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Republican and Democrat on Capitol Hill have announced an agreement to keep the government running on autopilot for six months when the current budget year ends on Sept. 30.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is pressing ahead with a new package of crippling sanctions on Iran, expanding on financial penalties and targeting Tehran's energy and shipping sectors in the hope that economic pressure undercuts its suspected nuclear weapons program.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Carrying out their threat to block appeals court nominees as the fall elections approach, Senate Republicans on Monday blocked confirmation of a U.S. appeals court nominee from Oklahoma despite his bipartisan support.
MONDAY, JULY 30
NASHVILLE AREA
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Hours after sending a gracious yet puzzling middle-of-the-night text message to a former college coach, police say Tennessee Titans receiver O.J. Murdock died in an apparent suicide.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Democrats are looking at Thursday's primary as a critical step in the rebuilding urged by an internal analysis last year.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Highway Patrol is accepting applications for the fall session of the Citizens Trooper Academy.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
BERLIN (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was meeting his German counterpart and the head of the European Central Bank on Monday following a flurry of pledges to save the euro that raised expectations of decisive action soon. Germany, however, appeared to downplay those hopes.
NEW YORK (AP) — A two-day rally that sent stocks soaring last week fizzled out Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — As the temperature keeps rising, so does the price of natural gas.
DETROIT (AP) — Chrysler's almost total reliance on North America used to be a huge weakness, one that sent the company into bankruptcy protection.
NEW YORK (AP) — The latest iPhone looks much the same as the first iPhone, which came out more than five years ago. That hasn't been a problem for Apple — until, now.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the hunt for campaign money, no distance is too far to travel, especially when the race between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is tight and likely to stay that way into the fall.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
MIDSTATE
BRENTWOOD (AP) - LifePoint Hospitals Inc. reported flat second-quarter earnings, as an increase in salaries and benefits along with other operating expenses, countered revenue growth for the rural hospital chain.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Roman Catholics begin a yearlong celebration Saturday marking the 175th anniversary of the Diocese of Nashville.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee will receive approximately $2 million as part of a national agreement to resolve a false claim pricing case with McKesson Corp.
NASHVILLE (AP) - More than 220,000 Tennesseans have voted early or absentee by mail for the Aug. 2 election.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is probing whether Rhea County election officials illegally turned away voters they thought were Democrats.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling nearly 485,000 Escapes and Mavericks to fix sticking gas pedals that can cause crashes.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Faced with Facebook, Starbucks and Angela Merkel, the market chose to focus on Merkel.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday left intact a court judgment that ordered tobacco companies to do corrective advertising about the dangers of smoking.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase has appointed Matt Zames and Frank Bisignano as co-chief operating officers in a broad reshuffling of top management at the bank.
WASHINGTON (AP) — High unemployment isn't going away — not as long as the economy grows as slowly as it did in the April-June quarter.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple has agreed to buy fingerprint reader AuthenTec Inc. for approximately $356 million as the company known for iPhones and iPads looks to strengthen its digital security capabilities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. economy that plodded along in the first three months of the year likely grew even less in the April-June quarter. And most economists no longer think growth will strengthen much in the second half of 2012.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Here's a small consolation: The Great Recession wasn't quite as horrendous as previously thought.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil climbed for a fourth day on expectations of more efforts by government officials and central bankers to help the global economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Delta Air Lines said Friday it will close its regional carrier Comair at the end of September as it switches more of its flying to bigger jets.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's stock hit a new low Friday after it reported lukewarm second-quarter results and didn't give an outlook for the coming months.
BOSTON (AP) — Boston public media station WGBH, the producer of such marquee PBS shows as "Nova" and "Frontline," has acquired Minneapolis-based Public Radio International, the companies said Thursday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leaders said Thursday they expected to take up legislation next week to help farmers and ranchers, particularly livestock producers, hit by the drought that has parched much of the nation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has debated, sniped and voted on the politically fraught issue of tax cuts, and next week the House is likely to do it all over again. Still, Americans won't know until after the November elections how much more of their paychecks will go to the government next year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stepping up their game against health care fraud, the Obama administration and major insurers announced Thursday they will share raw data and investigative know-how on a scale not previously seen to try to shut off billions of dollars in questionable payments.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the agenda for a postelection lame duck session of Congress already stacked high, congressional leaders are considering lightening the load by punting much of the remaining budget work of Congress to next year.