VOL. 45 | NO. 31 | Friday, July 30, 2021
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, second quarter 2021, for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage rates were mixed last week. The key 30-year home loan remained below 3% for the fifth straight week amid continued concern over the surging delta coronavirus variant and the progress of economic recovery.
BOSTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Thursday it will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday, arguing that its hands are tied after the Supreme Court signaled it would only be extended until the end of the month.
NEWSMAKERS
Consuelo Wilkins, M.D., MSCI, is the 2021 recipient of the Marion Spencer Fay Award from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
BRIEFS
Integrated Biometric Technology, LLC officials announced today that the company will establish new operations and locate its corporate headquarters in Franklin.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
With car prices at record highs and inventory getting thinner, shoppers might be tempted to rush through a deal this summer without giving it much thought. But what happens if you later have buyer’s remorse, whether it be from too high of a car payment or realizing your new car isn’t actually what you wanted?
PERSONAL FINANCE
Most advice about retirement planning focuses on how to save enough money to replace your paycheck.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Soil, sun, water and seed: The ingredients of a garden are simple, but the final product is never guaranteed. Willing a plot of land into a vibrant state of bloom takes intention, know-how and no small amount of trial and error.
AUTO RACING
NASHVILLE (AP) — Helio Castroneves exhausted himself sprinting down Indianapolis Motor Speedway in celebration and then tacked on another -- a fourth at Indy! -- fence climb that left the Brazilian wanting more.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country star Garth Brooks said he will be reassessing whether to continue his stadium tour because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
NASHVILLE AREA
Metro Government is requiring face coverings inside Metro Government buildings beginning Thursday, Aug. 5.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials on Wednesday announced plans to use $500 million in federal COVID-19 recovery money to boost broadband internet access and subsidize some low-income subscribers.
CROSSVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced that technology startup Whisper Aero will build its operations and locate its headquarters in Crossville.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Gov. Bill Haslam will serve as a prominent backer of a campaign to put Tennessee's law prohibiting a company and a union from requiring workers to pay union dues or fees into the state Constitution.
COURTS
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government sued United States gun manufacturers and distributors Wednesday in U.S. federal court, arguing that their negligent and illegal commercial practices have unleashed tremendous bloodshed in Mexico.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Michael Andretti has a 21-year-old son with zero interest in obtaining a driver's license. Rideshare apps get him where he wants to go.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors posted a healthy $2.8 billion second-quarter profit Wednesday, but its cautious outlook for the rest of the year spooked investors.
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota reported Wednesday a record 897.8 billion yen ($8.2 billion) profit for the fiscal first quarter, underlining the Japanese automaker's resilience even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
TOKYO (AP) — Honda returned to profitability in April-June, recording a 222.5 billion yen ($2 billion) profit, as better sales and costs cuts added to the Japanese automaker's bottom line.
ENVIRONMENT
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Tuesday it is moving ahead with a new environmental review of oil and gas leasing in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after the Interior secretary said she found "multiple legal deficiencies" in a prior review that provided a basis for the first lease sale on the refuge's coastal plain earlier this year.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3, as the Biden administration sought to quell intensifying criticism from progressives that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic.
MEDIA
Facebook has shut down the personal accounts of a pair of New York University researchers and shuttered their investigation into misinformation spread through political ads on the social network.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. nursing home industry's resistance to forcing workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for fear that too many of them might quit began to crack this week when its biggest player announced its employees must get the shot to keep their jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden called on resistant Republican governors to "get out of the way" of vaccine rules aimed at containing the more transmissible and dangerous COVID-19 variant. He backed city and private mandates requiring people to be vaccinated to go about some daily activities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration drew up a strategy to contain one coronavirus strain, then another showed up that's much more contagious.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Wednesday, pulling the S&P 500 index below the record high it had set a day earlier.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the U.S. services sector, where most Americans work, increased to a record pace in July even as businesses continued to face supply-chain challenges and problems in finding enough available workers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Robinhood's stock is flying again Wednesday, jumping so much that trading was temporarily halted three times in the first half hour after the market opened.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department announced Wednesday it will raise $126 billion to finance the government in a series of auctions next week by employing emergency measures to keep from broaching the newly imposed debt limit.
TOKYO (AP) — Sony's April-June profit rose 9% to 211.8 billion yen ($1.9 billion) as the Japanese electronics and video game maker continued to benefit from a sales perk from the hit "Demon Slayer" animation film.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Wednesday it's looking into the apparent disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whisky given more than two years ago to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan. Pompeo knows nothing about the gift or an inquiry, a representative said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people before a key vote expected this week that would push a long recognized national priority much closer to the finish line, after years of talk.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 3
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has sent nearly half a million dollars to farmers who have vaccinated their cattle against respiratory diseases and other maladies over the past two years.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's top health official said Monday that the state sees no signs that the resurgence of COVID-19 is slowing, though she saw hope in a recent bump in vaccinations.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The first Tennessee state-level data showing student academic achievement since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows declines in proficiency through all subjects and grades, Gov. Bill Lee's office said.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Bridgestone Americas has announced plans to buy a company that provides fleet management software for $391 million.
WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. (AP) — A global auto parts supplier has broken ground on a $51 million project adding 250 jobs at a rural Kentucky plant in an expansion tied to auto industry plans to ramp up electric vehicle production.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee was hit Tuesday with a second legal challenge aimed at overturning a slate of bills targeting transgender people that Gov. Bill Lee signed into law earlier this year.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Federal prosecutors are seeking to retry a former University of Tennessee researcher accused of hiding his relationship with a Chinese university while receiving research grants from the federal government.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen briefed House Democrats Tuesday on the administration's efforts to prevent widespread housing evictions after a moratorium lapsed, but lawmakers protesting outside the U.S. Capitol said more needs to be done, intensifying pressure on President Joe Biden to act.
TRANSPORTATION
Spirit Airlines canceled nearly half its schedule for Tuesday, the third straight day of extremely high cancellation numbers at the budget airline.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — BMW reported 4.8 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in net profit in the second quarter, rounding out a strong earnings season for Germany's three big automakers as global auto markets continue to recover from the pandemic — particularly when it comes to luxury cars.
MILAN (AP) — Automaker Stellantis on Tuesday said Tuesday it achieved faster-than-expected progress on synergies and record margins in its first six months as a combined company, despite suffering 700,000 units in lower production due to interruptions in the semiconductor supply chain.
ENVIRONMENT
HONG KONG (AP) — China will stick to its goal of having its carbon emissions peak by 2030 and will release more complete reduction plans soon, the country's climate change envoy said Tuesday, even as U.S. and British officials urged it to do more to limit global warming.
MEDIA
LONDON (AP) — Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Jennifer Sherlock went out with a few men she met through dating apps. The dates were "weird," she said, and not just because they were masked, socially distanced and outdoors.
HONG KONG (AP) — China's biggest gaming company, Tencent Holdings, said Tuesday it will limit gaming time for minors and ban children under age 12 from making in-game purchases after a state media article called games "spiritual opium."
VIRUS OUTBREAK
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Tyson Foods will require all of its U.S. employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19, becoming one of the first major employers of front-line workers to do so amid a resurgence of the virus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has donated and shipped more than 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 60 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia, the White House announced Tuesday.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Irman Pahlepi is back at work in Jakarta's Dr. Suyoto public hospital, immediately resuming his duties treating COVID-19 patients after recovering from an infection himself — for the second time.
BEIJING (AP) — China suspended flights and trains, canceled professional basketball league games and announced mass coronavirus testing in Wuhan on Tuesday as widening outbreaks of the delta variant reached the city where the disease was first detected in late 2019.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks shook off a wobbly start and ended higher Tuesday as traders weighed another big set of company earnings reports.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said that investors need more protection in the cryptocurrency market, which he said is "rife with fraud, scams and abuse."
The union that tried — and failed — to organize Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama may get a do-over.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The governing body of the International Monetary Fund has approved a $650 billion expansion in the agency's resources to support economically vulnerable countries battling the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn it has caused.
PepsiCo will sell Tropicana and other juices to a private equity firm in a $3.3 billion deal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people before a key vote expected this week that would push a long recognized national priority much closer to the finish line, after years of talk.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package unveiled by the Senate includes more than $150 billion to boost clean energy and promote "climate resilience" by making schools, ports and other structures better able to withstand extreme weather events such as storms and wildfires.
MONDAY, AUGUST 2
NASHVILLE SC
TORONTO (AP) — Robert Castellanos scored the tying goal for Nashville in his MLS debut in a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC on Sunday night.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Titans first-round draft pick Caleb Farley took his first training camp snaps on Monday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's search for a solution to their kicking problems continued Sunday when the Titans claimed Sam Ficken off waivers from the New York Jets and waived undrafted free agent Blake Haubeil.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
The New York Mets failed to sign their top pick from last month's amateur draft, Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker, by Sunday's 5 p.m. EDT deadline, over concern about his medical scans.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — The Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee fully reopened Monday ahead of schedule following repairs to a crack that had shut down the span since early May.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee state trooper testified Monday that he saw his former colleague on the force yank the mask off a protester last summer during the COVID-19 pandemic, refuting the former officer's denial before a judge advanced the misdemeanor assault charge against him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With no Supreme Court opening to slow them, President Joe Biden and Senate Democrats are putting judges on federal trial and appellate courts at a much faster clip than any of Biden's recent predecessors, including former President Donald Trump.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Air travel in the U.S. is hitting new pandemic-era highs, and airlines are scrambling to keep up with the summer-vacation crowds.
MEDIA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter has signed a deal with The Associated Press and Reuters to help elevate accurate information on its platform. Twitter said Monday that the program will expand its existing work to help explain why certain subjects are trending on the site, to show information and news from trusted resources and to debunk misinformation.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
LONDON (AP) — Britain opened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers from the U.S. and European Union on Monday as travel industry leaders urged the government to further ease restrictions and allow people to enjoy the benefits of a successful COVID-19 inoculation program.
REAL ESTATE
BOSTON (AP) — Evictions, which have mostly been on pause during the pandemic, are expected to ramp up on Monday after the expiration of a federal moratorium as housing courts take up more cases and tenants are locked out of their homes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was "unable to find legal authority for a new, targeted eviction moratorium" and asked that states and local governments put in policies to keep renters in their homes.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed mixed on Wall Street Monday after a day of choppy trading.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department has unveiled plans to borrow $673 billion in the current quarter while employing emergency measures to keep the government from an unprecedented default on the national debt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed for a second straight month in July amid ongoing supply-chain problems.
Digital payments company Square Inc. says it has agreed to acquire Afterpay, which provides a "buy now, pay later'' option for merchants, in an all-stock deal valued at about $29 billion.
BEIJING (AP) — China's manufacturing growth in July slowed to its lowest level in 15 months as export demand weakened and factories coped with disruptions in supplies of raw materials and components, two surveys found.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sought to speed up consideration of a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package Monday, promising that Democrats would work with Republicans to put together amendments. GOP senators cautioned that they needed time to digest the massive bill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An array of progressive and pro-White House groups plans to spend nearly $100 million to promote President Joe Biden's agenda over the next month to pressure Congress while lawmakers are on their August recess.
FRIDAY, JULY 30
UT SPORTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers' tradition of making a move on draft night continued Thursday as they moved up to select Tennessee guard Keon Johnson after making a trade with the New York Knicks.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trying to rebound after a crushing end to their season, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Tennessee freshman Jaden Springer with the 28th pick of the NBA draft on Thursday night.
SPORTS
Southeastern Conference university presidents voted Thursday to invite Texas and Oklahoma to the league and create a 16-team powerhouse on the field and at the bank.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker who battled COVID-19 for nearly eight months is encouraging the public to "consider getting vaccinated."
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans will be able purchase back-to school supplies, clothes and computers tax free starting this weekend.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper says a spending bill includes $3 million that would chip away at the $120 million price for a project to help reconnect a historically Black Nashville neighborhood divided by Interstate 40's construction in the 1960s.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours before a nationwide eviction moratorium is set to expire, Congress raced Friday to try to extend the ban in a long-shot effort to prevent millions of Americans from being forced from their homes during a COVID-19 surge.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday, after President Joe Biden's administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Since early 2020, banks across the U.S. have been banned from foreclosing on homes as part of the federal government's efforts to assist families feeling economic pain caused by the pandemic. On Saturday, the ban will end, potentially putting thousands of families at risk.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Nearly one in five flight attendants say they have witnessed physical incidents involving passengers this year, and their union is calling for criminal prosecution of people who act up on planes.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The bipartisan compromise on infrastructure cuts in half President Joe Biden's call for $15 billion to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging outlets, raising the stakes as the administration seeks to win auto industry cooperation on anti-pollution rules to curb climate change.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is requiring that all workers at its headquarters as well as managers who travel within the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 4.
New evidence showing the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be more dangerous than other versions has prompted U.S. health officials to consider changing advice on how the nation fights the coronavirus, internal documents show.
Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 if I'm vaccinated? Yes, if you've been around someone who has COVID-19.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency to four more areas in addition to Tokyo on Friday following record spikes in infections as the capital hosts the Olympics.
TOKYO (AP) — Coronavirus infection cases have reached daily records in Tokyo, which is now playing host to the Olympics. The Japanese government has declared the capital and several other regions under a "state of emergency" during the entire Games. With such a global sporting event unfolding, what does that mean? Here's a rundown.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced sweeping new pandemic requirements aimed at boosting vaccination rates for millions of federal workers and contractors as he lamented the "American tragedy" of rising-yet-preventable deaths among the unvaccinated.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key points in President Joe Biden's plan to increase COVID-19 vaccination among federal employees and encourage more Americans to get shots:
Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been saved from the trash after U.S. regulators extended their expiration date for a second time, part of a nationwide effort to salvage expiring shots to battle the nation's summer surge in infections.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes fell Friday, with much of the downward weight coming from a stumble for high-flying Amazon.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wages and salaries rose at a healthy pace in the three months ended in June as employers competed to find enough workers to fill millions of available jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers increased their spending by 1% in June — a dose of energy for an economy that is quickly rebounding from the pandemic recession but is facing new risks led by the delta variant of the coronavirus.
NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil swung back to a profit and topped expectations during the second quarter as demand for fuel recovered from lows reached earlier in the pandemic.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe emerged from a double-dip recession in the second quarter with stronger than expected growth of 2.0% over the quarter before, according to official figures released Friday, as restrictions eased, consumers started spending built-up savings and major companies showed stronger results.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's economy grew by 1.5% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period, picking up after a sharp first-quarter fall but less strongly than expected.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department, in a reversal, says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump's tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate advanced a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan on Friday with a bipartisan group of senators helping it clear one more hurdle and bracing to see if support can hold during the next few days of debate and efforts to amend it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top congressional Democrats will huddle with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday, looking to salvage their effort to enact federal voting legislation that could counter state laws restricting access to the ballot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday announced his picks for four key religious freedom roles, including Khzir Khan, the Muslim-American father of a slain U.S. soldier who became an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump throughout both of his campaigns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the results of the 2020 election "corrupt" in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Joe Biden and the senators laboring over a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package, there's just one question left: Can enough Republicans get to yes?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months into Democrats' unified control of Washington, most Democrats are on board with President Joe Biden and where he's trying to take the country — even if they're divided on how to get there.
THURSDAY, JULY 29
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators are keeping forward Mikael Granlund around with a much longer contract than the one he signed last year.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court to taking part in the raid at the U.S. Capitol.
NASHVILLE (AP) — An attorney who helped reach a $35 million settlement with an opioid manufacturer over the company's role in the epidemic in Tennessee said Thursday that his team accepted the drug maker's "last, best and final" offer, arguing the agreement avoids the possible complications of a jury verdict.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Seven unemployed Tennessee residents have filed a lawsuit over Gov. Bill Lee's decision to opt out of the federal unemployment benefits programs earlier this year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission says three people have applied to be a circuit court judge in the state's Third Judicial District, which encompasses Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's auto industry showed more strong results Thursday as Volkswagen's earnings and profit margins beat pre-pandemic levels and the company raised its profit outlook for the year despite an ongoing shortage of key electronic parts that is plaguing the industry as a whole.
MEDIA
Scarlett Johansson is suing the Walt Disney Co. over its streaming release of "Black Widow," which she said breached her contract and deprived her of potential earnings.
Come, young ones: Gather around the glow of the smartphone's screen for a tale of a distant time when we watched TV on big boxy machines, and switched channels when we were bored.
TECHNOLOGY
HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless network maker and 5G technology provider Nokia reported substantially improved second-quarter profit Thursday, citing the help of its new operating model and booming sales of 5G equipment.
ENVIRONMENT
CRANE, Texas (AP) — Rusted pipes litter the sandy fields of Ashley Williams Watt's cattle ranch in windswept West Texas. The corroded skeletons are all that remain of hundreds of abandoned oil wells that were drilled long before her family owned the land. The wells, unable to produce any useful amounts of oil or gas, were plugged with cement decades ago and forgotten.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Masks, which had started to disappear from store shelves, may be front and center again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is announcing strict new testing, masking and distancing requirements for federal employees who can't — or won't — show they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus, aiming to boost sluggish vaccine rates among the millions of Americans who draw federal paychecks and to set an example for employers around the country.
LONDON (AP) — International governments and companies have pledged more than $4 billion to educate 175 million children around the world and prevent a generation's chances being blighted by the coronavirus pandemic.
LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca said Thursday that it intends to seek U.S. authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of this year, offering a new timetable for the much-delayed application.
SEATTLE (AP) — Three schoolteachers in Washington state who sued chemical company Monsanto over exposure to materials in fluorescent lights have been awarded $185 million.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Thursday turned in a mixed bag of results for its fiscal second quarter, coming up short of Wall Street expectations in revenue but beating on profits.
Stocks on Wall Street bounced back from a two-day slide Thursday, placing the S&P 500 on pace for its second straight weekly gain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession. The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy contracted by a slightly smaller amount last year than previously reported and grew slightly more in 2019 and slightly less in 2018.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits slid last week, another sign that the job market continues to recover rapidly from the coronavirus recession.
An initiative from philanthropists Melinda French Gates, MacKenzie Scott and the family foundation of billionaire Lynn Schusterman awarded $40 million Thursday to four promoting gender equality projects in tech, higher education, caregiving and minority communities.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An emergency spending bill passed by the Senate 98-0 on Thursday would bolster security at the Capitol and repay outstanding debts from the Jan. 6 insurrection. The $2.1 billion bill would also increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan, acting with sudden speed after weeks of fits and starts once the White House and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on major provisions of the package that's key to President Joe Biden's agenda.
Key details of the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden took quick action after his inauguration to start shifting federal inmates out of privately run prisons, where complaints of abuses abound.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stinging from the disappointment of Bernie Sanders' loss in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, supporters pumped millions into the powerful advocacy group Our Revolution to keep the progressive fight alive and prepare for another swing at the White House.