VOL. 45 | NO. 28 | Friday, July 9, 2021
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Nashgeddon! It’s coming! During the pandemic, as traffic slowed, the woes and moans of the drivers dropped into eerie silence. With the decrease in cars skirting about the roads and bridges of the county, travelers were once again happy, safe in their little COVID hideaways traveling down the highways.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage rates continued to fall this week, tracking a decline in yields on Treasury securities as the bond market continues to signal concerns over the strength of the recovery from the pandemic recession.
NEWSMAKERS
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP has made several hires to strengthen the firm’s corporate practice in Nashville. They are:
BRIEFS
Tennessee’s sports betting volume declined to its lowest level since the first month of legalized wagering in the state.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
There’s some hesitancy from the public regarding the future of self-driving cars. For example, A survey by Autolist reports most shoppers are split about whether having self-driving capability on a vehicle makes it safer.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Start small, plan big. You don’t have to have much for the former, just a little love and a place to launch. The latter, though, that takes some work. You have to see the goal, hold your confidence tight and know yourself well.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Hey, internet: Remember millennials? Many of us have graduated from our lattes and leisurely brunches to become parents with jobs, car loans and perhaps even a mortgage.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has extended the contracts of nine coaches, including Tony Vitello, who took the Volunteers to their first College World Series in 16 years.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Few economists predict we’ll return to the double-digit price increases of the late 1970s and early 1980s. But knowing some of the ways consumers coped back then – and how things are different now – can help you formulate a plan to deal with rising prices.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Bum Phillips, Jeff Fisher and former general manager Floyd Reese will be the newest members of the Tennessee Titans' ring of honor.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee health officials will not acknowledge that August is National Immunization Awareness Month per an order from the state's health commissioner, emails show.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The federal government will not alert Tennessee when unaccompanied migrant children are brought to the state to be placed with sponsors, officials with Gov. Bill Lee's administration told lawmakers on Tuesday.
STATEWIDE
SMYRNA (AP) — Tennessee Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Gentry, who was the senior enlisted leader responsible for nearly 10,000 Army National Guard soldiers in the state, has retired.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI made numerous serious errors in investigating sexual abuse allegations against former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar and didn't treat the case with the "utmost seriousness," the Justice Department's inspector general said Wednesday. The FBI acknowledged conduct that was "inexcusable and a discredit" to America's premier law enforcement agency.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission says it's accepting applications for a circuit court judge in the state's Third Judicial District, which encompasses Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties.
BANKING
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Wells Fargo had its most profitable quarter in two years, easily beating Wall Street estimates as the global economy continues its rapid improvement in the wake of the virus pandemic.
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup profits jumped more than five fold from a year earlier, helped by an improving economy that resulted in fewer bad loans on the bank's balance sheet.
NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America's second quarter profit more than doubled from a year earlier, as the consumer banking giant was able to move more loans onto the "good" side of its balance sheet as the pandemic wanes.
TOURISM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans hoping to travel abroad this summer may have to delay their plans if they need new or renewed passports.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is telling owners of some older Chevrolet Bolts to park them outdoors and not to charge them overnight because two of the electric cars caught fire after recall repairs were made.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Congress eyes an infrastructure package, a coalition of transportation agencies and Amtrak on Wednesday released a 15-year plan of rail improvements for the congested Northeast Corridor that would boost daily train routes and significantly speed travel on Acela express lines.
Delta Air Lines is reporting a $652 million profit in the second quarter, helped by hordes of vacation travelers in the U.S. and money from taxpayers, positioning the airline for stronger results once business and international flying recover from the pandemic.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines said Tuesday it expects to report roughly break-even results for the second quarter thanks to $1.4 billion in special items, mostly federal pandemic aid that covered most of the airline's payroll costs.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — With COVID-19 on the rise again and many nursing home staffers unvaccinated, families still lack easy access to crucial Medicare immunization data that will help them pick the right facility for their loved one.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's latest nationwide business survey found that the economy strengthened further in late May and early June, despite supply-chain bottlenecks that led to price hikes.
Stocks ended a wobbly day on Wall Street with mixed results Wednesday as investors weighed the latest corporate earning reports and the Federal Reserve chair's comments on inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that inflation, which has been surging as the recovery strengthens, "will likely remain elevated in coming months" before "moderating."
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish toymaker Lego said Wednesday it had asked a Utah-based gun company to stop producing a product that makes a pistol look like it is covered with the famous multi-colored building brick.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation at the wholesale level jumped 1% in June, pushing price gains over the past 12 months up by a record 7.3%.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday unveiled sweeping new legislation to help meet its pledge to cut emissions of the gases that cause global warming by 55% over this decade, including a controversial plan to tax foreign companies for the pollution they cause.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators say Berkshire Hathaway's $1.3 billion deal to buy a natural gas pipeline from Dominion Energy that fell apart this week should have never been attempted because a similar deal drew strong opposition in the past.
LONDON (AP) — Official figures show inflation in the U.K. rising to its highest level in nearly three years because of increases in the prices of food and motor fuel.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate's top Democrat is backing a bill that would strike down a longstanding federal prohibition on marijuana, embracing a proposal that has slim chance of becoming law yet demonstrates growing public support for decriminalizing the drug.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is falsely describing the circumstances of Ashli Babbitt's death as he foments conspiracy theories about the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6 and all the "love in the air" that day.
WASHINGTON (AP) — They are two tiny Caribbean states whose intractable problems have vexed U.S. presidents for decades. Now, Haiti and Cuba are suddenly posing a growing challenge for President Joe Biden that could have political ramifications for him in the battleground state of Florida.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats announced late Tuesday that they'd reached a budget agreement envisioning spending an enormous $3.5 trillion over the coming decade, paving the way for their drive to pour federal resources into climate change, health care and family-service programs sought by President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden stepped up his bid to push his multitrillion-dollar domestic plans through Congress Wednesday, lunching with Senate Democrats a day after party leaders announced a compromise for pouring federal resources into climate change, health care and family service programs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The committee charged with helping Republicans wrest control of the House in 2022 raised $45.4 million over the last three months, a record quarterly haul during a year without a national election.
TUESDAY, JULY 13
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Pekka Rinne made sure to stick around Nashville longer than usual after the season ended with the Predators' first-round playoff exit.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials have fired the state's top vaccination official, who had been facing scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers over her department's outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers against COVID-19.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Electrify America, an electric vehicle charging network funded with money paid by Volkswagen as punishment for its emissions cheating scandal, says it plans to more than double its number of charging stations throughout the United States and Canada.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Russia-based criminal syndicate behind a devastating series of recent ransomware attacks was offline on Tuesday, but cybersecurity experts said that it was premature to speculate why and that there was no indication of a law enforcement takedown.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Bezos' rocket company has gotten government approval to launch people into space, himself included.
For 21 years, the software company Kaseya labored in relative obscurity — at least until cybercriminals exploited it in early July for a massive ransomware attack that snarled businesses around the world and escalated U.S.-Russia diplomatic tensions.
PARIS (AP) — France's competition regulator fined Google 500 million euros ($592 million) on Tuesday for failing to negotiate in good faith with French publishers in a dispute over payments for their news.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare on Monday launched a formal process to decide whether to cover Aduhelm, the new Alzheimer's drug whose $56,000-a-year price tag and unproven benefits have prompted widespread criticism and a congressional investigation.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
The U.S. has seen a string of COVID-19 outbreaks tied to summer camps in recent weeks in places such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas, in what some fear could be a preview of the upcoming school year.
LONDON (AP) — After Dr. Ifeanyi Nsofor and his wife received two doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in Nigeria, they assumed they would be free to travel this summer to a European destination of their choice. They were wrong.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Tuesday, bringing major indexes slightly below the record highs they set a day earlier.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government's deficit for the first nine months of this budget year hit $2.24 trillion, keeping the country on track for its second biggest shortfall in history.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prices for U.S. consumers jumped in June by the most in 13 years, extending a run of higher inflation and fueling concerns that the rapidly rebounding economy is making goods and services increasingly expensive.
NEW YORK (AP) — Goldman Sachs had the second-best quarterly profit in the firm's history in the quarter ended in June, helped by a strong performance in its investment banking division that more than made up for a decline in trading revenues.
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase said its second quarter profits more than doubled from a year ago — a reflection of the improving global economy and fewer bad loans on its balance sheet. But the bank's revenues fell noticeably in the quarter, due partially to the fact that interest rates have fallen sharply the last three months.
BRUSSELS (AP) — In what European Union nations hope will be a tipping point in economic recovery from the pandemic, finance ministers from the the bloc have approved the EU-funded recovery plans of a dozen of the 27 member states.
BEIJING (AP) — China's exports surged in June while import growth slowed to a still-robust level as its economic rebound from the coronavirus leveled off.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Tuesday ditched limits on banks to pay dividends to their shareholders that were first introduced at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic as part of a package of measures to shore up the British economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Emerging from a private meeting at the White House, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that he and President Joe Biden are on the same page as Democrats draft a "transformative" infrastructure package unleashing more than $3.5 trillion in domestic investments on par with the New Deal of the 1930s.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will lay out the "moral case" for voting rights as he faces growing pressure from civil rights activists and other Democrats to combat efforts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of left-leaning organizations are asking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to schedule a new vote this month on Democrats' sweeping voting and elections bill, a top priority for the party that Republicans blocked from debate last month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are proposing $3.7 billion in emergency spending to bolster security at the Capitol, repay outstanding debts from the Jan. 6 insurrection and help the federal government defray costs from the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation met immediate opposition from Republicans who floated a much narrower version.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats and immigration advocates are staring at their best chance in years to overcome Republican opposition and give millions of people in the U.S. without legal authorization a way to become citizens.
MONDAY, JULY 12
NASHVILLE AREA
In an effort to fill more than 1,600 open hotel jobs in Nashville, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and its charitable giving arm, the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation, are launching an ad campaign and hiring fair.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
The Country Music Association will host “CMA Summer Jam,” a new, two-night summer concert experience at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater Tuesday, July 27, and Wednesday, July 28. The live event also will be filmed as part of a three-hour prime time TV special airing later this summer on ABC.
ENVIRONMENT
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president, underscoring President Joe Biden's reluctance to more forcefully curb petroleum production in the face of industry and Republican resistance.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine may pose a "small possible risk" of a rare but potentially dangerous neurological reaction, U.S. health officials said Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer says it plans to meet with top U.S. health officials Monday to discuss the drugmaker's request for federal authorization of a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine as President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser acknowledged that "it is entirely conceivable, maybe likely" that booster shots will be needed.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to confirm Monday that all remaining lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted in a week's time while urging people to remain cautious amid a resurgence of the coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Banks led stocks to modest gains on Wall Street Monday, nudging the major stock indexes to more record highs ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings reports from big U.S. companies.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Sunday said it will take "necessary measures" to respond to the U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies over their alleged role in abuses of Uyghur people and other Muslim ethnic minorities.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has put on hold work on plans for a digital levy for the moment to concentrate on finalizing the historic tax decision endorsed by the Group of 20 nations over the weekend, officials said Monday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday called protests in Cuba "remarkable" and a "clarion call for freedom," praising thousands of Cubans who took the streets to protest food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis — one of the island's biggest antigovernment demonstrations in recent memory.
Cubans facing the country's worst economic crisis in decades took to the streets over the weekend. In turn, authorities blocked social media sites in an apparent effort to stop the flow of information into, out of and within the beleaguered nation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will host New York City's Democratic mayoral candidate and other city and law enforcement leaders from around the country to talk about reducing crime.
FRIDAY, JULY 9
NASHVILLE SC
NASHVILLE (AP) — Jackson Conway scored his first MLS goal six minutes after entering as a second-half substitute and Atlanta United tied Nashville 2-2 on Thursday night.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee will visit the United States border with Mexico this weekend to meet with Tennessee National Guard troops.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee farms have plenty of blueberries and blackberries available for picking during the summer months, according to a news release from the state Agriculture Department.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for a government investigation into highly unusual contacts between some of her agency's drug reviewers and the maker of a controversial new Alzheimer's drug.
ENVIRONMENT
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — America remains awash in refuse as new cases of the coronavirus decline — and that has reignited a debate about the sustainability of burning more trash to create energy.
TRANSPORTATION
United Airlines said Friday it will add nearly 150 flights this winter to warm-weather destinations in the U.S. and will also add flights to beach spots in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BEIJING (AP) — China's auto sales rose 27% in the first half of 2021 from a year earlier but still were below pre-pandemic levels, and production and sales fell in June due to global shortages of processor chips, an industry group reported Friday.
MEDIA
The U.S. Postal Service's plan to raise mailing rates could present one more damaging blow to community newspapers already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and advertising declines, a trade group says.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The executive board of the International Monetary Fund approved a $650 billion expansion in resources to support economically vulnerable nations as they battle the coronavirus pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed with solid gains on Wall Street Friday, ending a holiday-shortened week with their third straight weekly gain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says its low interest rate policies are providing "powerful support" for the economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday targeting what he labeled anticompetitive practices in tech, health care and other parts of the economy, declaring it would fortify an American ideal "that true capitalism depends on fair and open competition."
LONDON (AP) — The British economy took another step toward its pre-pandemic level following the latest easing of lockdown restrictions, though the 0.8% growth recorded in May was around half that expected by economists as a microchip shortage hurt car production.
A sweeping effort to deter cross-border tax dodges by multinational companies that have cost governments billions tops the agenda as finance ministers from the world's major economies meet in Venice.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two high-ranking Trump political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency engaged in fraudulent payroll activities — including payments to employees after they were fired and to one of the officials when he was absent from work — that cost the agency more than $130,000, a report by an internal watchdog says.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol is expected to hold its first public hearing this month with police officers who responded to the attack and custodial staff who cleaned up afterward, chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Friday phone call that he must "take action" against cybercriminals acting in his country and that the U.S. reserves the right to "defend its people and its critical infrastructure," the White House said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday he wants his chamber to vote on pivotal budget and infrastructure legislation before lawmakers break for their August recess, and warned he may delay that summer break to allow more time for work on President Joe Biden's top domestic goals.
On the face of it, you might think that the QAnon conspiracy has largely disappeared from big social media sites. But that's not quite the case.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a call to "save American democracy," the Biden administration has unveiled new efforts to help protect voting rights amid growing complaints from civil rights activists and other Democrats that the White House has not done enough to fight attempts by Republican-led state legislatures to restrict access to the ballot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan will end on Aug. 31, delivering an impassioned argument for exiting the nearly 20-year war without sacrificing more American lives even as he bluntly acknowledged there will be no "mission accomplished" moment to celebrate.
THURSDAY, JULY 8
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Scotty Pippen Jr. has decided to return to Vanderbilt for his junior season after testing his options for the NBA draft.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A "Campaign for the Vote" historic suffrage marker is set to be unveiled in a park in downtown Nashville.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee State University and two other historically Black colleges and universities will benefit from scholarship and grant programs being started by a medical products company.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Avenatti, the brash California lawyer who publicly sparred with then-President Donald Trump before criminal fraud charges on two coasts disrupted his rapid ascent to fame, faces sentencing in one of those cases Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia Court of Appeals suspended Rudy Giuliani's D.C. law license Wednesday pending the disposition of his New York suspension.
ENVIRONMENT
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Media mogul and billionaire bison rancher Ted Turner is donating an 80,000-acre ranch he owns in western Nebraska to his own nonprofit agriculture ecosystem research institute and says he might do the same with four other ranches in Nebraska's Sand Hills.
TECHNOLOGY
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two billionaires are putting everything on the line this month to ride their own rockets into space.
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — Dozens of states are taking aim at Google in an escalating legal offensive on Big Tech.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Stellantis is a little late to the global electric vehicle party, but on Thursday it pledged to catch up and pass its competitors.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Thursday approved new prescribing instructions that are likely to limit use of a controversial new Alzheimer's drug.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — The vending machine outside Pinch Spice Market dispensing packets of herbs and seasonings isn't a sales gimmick — it helped cater to customers as the company struggled through the COVID-19 pandemic.
TOKYO (AP) — Fans are likely to be banned from the Tokyo Olympics following a state of emergency on Thursday aimed at containing rising COVID-19 infections in the capital.
NEW YORK (AP) — When Pat Curry spotted bite-sized wood-fire rotisserie chicken with portabella mushroom at her local Costco in early June, she felt "giddy." After a 14-month hiatus, free samples were back.
Do I need to take precautions at hotels if I'm vaccinated?
The global death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 4 million Wednesday as the crisis increasingly becomes a race between the vaccine and the highly contagious delta variant.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Major business and union groups have formed a new coalition designed to add momentum for a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package that the Senate is expected to take up this month.
Stocks pulled back from the record highs they've been setting as bond yields continued to fall and investors turned cautious.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer borrowing surged by $35.3 billion in May as Americans, bolstered by a reopening economy and rising job levels, went back to using credit in a big way.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week even while the economy and the job market appear to be rebounding from the coronavirus recession with sustained energy.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has adopted a new approach to managing the economy that would tolerate transitory periods of consumer inflation moderately above its 2% goal — and take greater account of climate change in its forecasting and stimulus programs.
BEIJING (AP) — China's government tried Thursday to quell investor fears about tighter controls on internet companies that caused share prices to plunge, saying Beijing supports their growth.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday will relaunch the council of governors, an advisory board of governors and a number of key Cabinet secretaries and top administration officials focused on strengthening federal and state collaboration on major national security issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday said the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan will conclude on Aug. 31, saying "speed is safety" as the United States seeks to end the nearly 20-year war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said he would "deliver" a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the latest ransomware attacks targeting American businesses, setting up a test of Biden's ability to balance his pledge to respond firmly to cyber breaches with his goal of developing a stable relationship with Russia.
COURTS