VOL. 40 | NO. 28 | Friday, July 8, 2016
Submerged forest, cold water increase danger, make bodies hard to recover
Jeremy Cross, 36, was canoeing with his 11-year-old son and a family friend when they encountered high winds and rough waters near Hole in the Wall Island at J. Percy Priest Lake.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency compiles data on boating and boating deaths on Tennessee reservoirs and lakes.
The “Hollywood” version of drowning – violent thrashing with head above water and yelling for help – is a dangerous myth, according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project (GLSRP), a non-profit safety advocacy group.
The number of drownings in East Tennessee in the past few months – five since May – has alarmed the region’s population as well as local enforcement agencies.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
A 3-Star Healthy Task Force appointed to propose a method for catching Tennesseans in a health-care coverage gap is taking a politically safe road to reach the same goal as Insure Tennessee.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
We’ve still got a couple of months before the sports spectacle called the Battle at Bristol arrives on the calendar.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest level since May 2013, driven down by financial tumult in Europe.
REAL ESTATE
A strange thing happened last week with the closing of 929 Woodmont Boulevard. Priced at $380,000 – $80,000 more than the 2012 sale price and $130,000 more than the 2005 sale price of $250,000 – the home attracted multiple offers and sold for $25,500 more than list price.
NEWSMAKERS
Maggie Rowland, who has served as a staff attorney at Patterson Intellectual Property Law since 2014, has been named a judicial clerk to Senior Judge John Trice Nixon, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Buick’s first convertible for the U.S. market in 25 years is a stylish, comfortable, soft-top cruiser that’s reasonably priced, seats up to four people and has an expandable trunk.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
It’s no secret that quality of life among team members leads to higher retention and satisfaction. Sales rep satisfaction is directly linked to customer satisfaction, and both impact your bottom line.
CAREER CORNER
Life lessons seem hard to grasp at first, yet so obvious once you get them. I recently spoke with a former client who completely transformed his career. He went from working in university administration to working in corporate strategy at a Fortune 500 company.
I SWEAR
“I didn’t set out to write about the melancholy bewilderment of middle-aged men,” says Chris Bachelder of his fifth novel, “The Throwback Special.” “But that’s where I ended up.” And, IMO, he ended up with a very special book.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
This week my youngest granddaughter came for a visit. At just 5 years old, she is already quickly becoming a cook. She loves to do all of it: stir, break eggs, use the electric mixer, grease the pan – even clean the dishes, and she does quite well with all of it.
MIDSTATE
FRANKLIN (AP) - Officials have announced that Schneider Electric USA Inc. will locate a regional office in Franklin, bringing an additional 250 jobs to the county.
AUTO INDUSTRY
The California Air Resources Board has rejected Volkswagen's plan to recall vehicles with 3-liter diesel engines, calling the proposal incomplete and deficient.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rising to new highs in early trading Thursday after solid earnings reports from several companies. Banks and industrial companies gained the most. The British pound surged while the country's main stock index faltered after the Bank of England held off on cutting interest rates.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at the lowest point since mid-April.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices charged by U.S. producers rose in June at the fastest pace in 13 months, reflecting a big jump in the price of gasoline and other energy products.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has opened a new front in its battle with Google, accusing the technology giant of abusing its dominant position in the online search market to benefit its own comparison shopping and advertising business.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — An investigation of a Tennessee state legislator released Wednesday found he took advantage of his position to sexually harass at least 22 women, including a then-20-year-old college student who told investigators Rep. Jeremy Durham plied her with a cooler full of beer and had sex with her in his office in 2014. Another woman interviewed was a lobbyist who nicknamed Durham "Pants Candy" after she said he rummaged in his pocket before suggestively offering her a dirty, unwrapped mint.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Latest on the investigation that found Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Durham sexually harassed at least 22 women (all times local):
AUTO INDUSTRY
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — Self-driving cars may be all the rage, but when it's a real product, coming soon from Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co., the technology gets toned down. And so don't expect to the driver to disappear for years to come.
DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is turning to weekend car tinkerers and good-guy hackers to expose software vulnerability in its cars and trucks.
TECHNOLOGY
BRUSSELS (AP) — New rules governing trans-Atlantic data transfers were formally approved Tuesday, months after Europe's top court ruled against the previous arrangements amid concerns over the surveillance activities of U.S. intelligence agencies.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended mostly higher on Wall Street after a three-day rally lost momentum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy and hiring continued to expand modestly across most of the United States from mid-May until the end of June, leaving some firms unable to find skilled workers, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says Prime Day was its biggest day ever with orders up 60 percent globally from a year ago. It says sales of Amazon's own electronic devices were particularly strong.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress passed an aviation bill Wednesday that attempts to close gaps in airport security and shorten screening lines, but leaves thornier issues unresolved.
TUESDAY, JULY 12
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Authorities say a veteran Metro Nashville police officer has been suspended for posting a Black Panthers photo as the profile picture on his personal Facebook page.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Nashville chancellor won't block the release of an investigative report on allegations of sexual harassment by state Rep. Jeremy Durham.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam has appointed Mike Krause to head the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has reappointed Mark Gwyn as director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market reached another milestone Tuesday as the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's a new record for stocks, but it sure doesn't feel like it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised fewer jobs and hired fewer people in May — a bad month for the U.S. labor market before a surge in hiring in June.
SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks has increased prices slightly on brewed coffee, espresso and tea latte beverages at company-run stores in the U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — AMC Theatres is buying European movie theater operator Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group from private equity firm Terra Firma in a deal valued at about 921 million pounds ($1.21 billion).
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon's "Prime Day" has returned for a second year with the online retail giant promising twice as many deals as last year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says "the chances are pretty slim" that the Senate will vote on a sweeping trade deal between the United States and Pacific Rim nations this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study.
MONDAY, JULY 11
AUTO INDUSTRY
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, under pressure after a fatal crash involving one of his electric cars, went on Twitter Sunday to say he's working on another "Top Secret Tesla Masterplan." He said he hoped to publish details this week.
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen says it has decided to repay early a pair of loans from the European Investment Bank totaling 975 million euros (nearly $1.1 billion) as the company grapples with fallout from its diesel-emissions scandal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a record high, beating the mark it set last year.
NEW YORK (AP) — If you thought the Brexit vote was scary, check out the full page newspaper ad that recently appeared in The New York Times recounting all the horrors in the present tense, as if they were still unfolding: The vote "topples" the British government, "crushes" the pound and "wipes away" billions in stock market wealth.
NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks is boosting the base pay of all employees and store managers at U.S. company-run stores by 5 percent or more.
LONDON (AP) — Britain is buying nine new Boeing P-8A Poseidon military aircraft in the first big deal announced at the Farnborough International Airshow.
FRIDAY, JULY 8
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.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Promise scholars can perform community service hours with events planned across the state later this month.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Employers shook off two months of weak hiring by adding 287,000 jobs in June, a robust pace that suggests a resilient U.S. economy recovering from a slump early in the year.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks surged Friday, finishing just short of record highs, as investors responded enthusiastically to a strong June job market report.
NEW YORK (AP) — Wendy's said hackers were able to steal customer's credit and debit card information at 1,025 of its U.S. restaurants, far more than it originally thought.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scheduled commercial airline service to Havana from 10 American cities won tentative government approval Thursday, advancing President Barack Obama's effort to normalize relations with Cuba.
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.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" hats proudly tout they are "Made in USA." Not necessarily always the case, an Associated Press review found.