VOL. 42 | NO. 31 | Friday, August 3, 2018
REAL ESTATE
Residential real estate sales, Second quarter 2018, of $1 million of more for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
Commercial real estate sales, Second quarter 2018, of $1 million of more for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose for the second straight week, continuing to dampen prospects for potential homebuyers.
NASHVILLE AREA
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has awarded the contract for the I-440 Reconstruction Project with the low bid submitted by Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. at $152.9 million.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Hard-luck pro baseball player turns to coaching rising stars
From the exterior, the low-slung building among the industrial warehouses and the like on Allied Drive bears no resemblance to Kevin Costner’s famous Iowa cornstalk-surrounded “Field of Dreams.”
TENNESSEE TITANS
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Dick LeBeau era with the Titans was linebacker Brian Orakpo, who piled up 24.5 sacks in LeBeau’s system over the past three seasons.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans will be working out veteran safety Eric Reid in their search for a potential replacement after losing Johnathan Cyprien for the season with a torn left ACL, according to a person familiar with the visit.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee safety Johnathan Cyprien will miss the season with a torn left ACL, and coach Mike Vrabel says veteran Eric Reid is among the safeties the Titans want to look at as a potential replacement.
NEWSMAKERS
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest non-profit law firm, has promoted Shaina Thompson to family law lead attorney for its Nashville office.
BRIEFS
Brentwood-based LBMC, PC., has been named as a 2018 Top 50 accounting firm by INSIDE Public Accounting.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
While automakers still offer inexpensive utilitarian-trim levels of small cars, they are increasingly creating high-end, luxury-like versions, as well. With its newly redesigned Jetta, for example, Volkswagen is betting that a surprising range of gadgets and features will get buyers into the showroom.
CAREER CORNER
I hear from many job seekers who have a concern about what they find once they’ve landed a new job. The problem’s not with their starting salary, health care or even vacation time. It’s the office setup.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
The art of storytelling is more important than ever, as evidenced by the Content Marketing Institute’s benchmark research for 2018, which predicts 91 percent of business-to-business and 86 percent of business-to-consumer marketers plan to use content marketing in their campaigns.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — The superintendents of the state's two largest school districts have declared "no confidence" in TNReady after problems emerged with the standardized assessment.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee broadcaster who was recently inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame has died. He was 77.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automakers Suzuki Motor Corp., Mazda Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co. have admitted using falsified emissions data to inspect their new vehicles after the government ordered the industry to review its procedures.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seeking relief from the pressures of running a publicly held company with a $72 billion buyout of the electric car maker, but he may be acquiring new headaches with his peculiar handling of the proposed deal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Major U.S. indexes are little changed Thursday morning as technology stocks rise while energy companies and banks slip. Bond prices rose, sending yields lower, after the Labor Department reported that wholesale prices were little changed in July, a sign inflation pressures weakened slightly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. wholesale prices were unchanged in July after two months of large increases, a sign inflation pressures may have softened.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tribune withdrew from its $3.9 billion buyout by Sinclair, ending a bid to create a massive media juggernaut that could have rivaled the reach of Fox News.
Rite Aid and the grocer Albertsons called off an agreement to become a single company with the deal facing shaky prospects in a shareholder vote.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City moved Wednesday to regulate the explosive growth of Uber and other app-based ride services with a temporary cap on new licenses for ride-hailing services.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a border crisis in Pennsylvania. The radical left is surging in New Jersey. And Nancy Pelosi is a threat to New York.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New sanctions against Russia will be imposed later this month for illegally using a chemical weapon in an attempted assassination of a former spy and his daughter in Britain earlier this year, the United States said.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New York Rep. Chris Collins was one of the first House members to back Donald Trump for president in 2016 and quickly became a ubiquitous surrogate for the future president on cable television.
NEW YORK (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Christopher Collins of New York was arrested Wednesday on charges he fed inside information he gleaned from sitting on the board of a biotechnology corporation to his son, helping family and friends dodge hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses when one of the company's drugs failed in a medical trial.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is touting Bill Lee as his prospective successor in a first statewide TV ad by the Republican Governors Association.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Surveillance camera footage released Wednesday of a fatal police shooting in Tennessee appears to show a white police officer chasing a black man and opening fire as he runs away from the officer.
ATLANTA (AP) — Southwest Airlines has begun nonstop flights from Atlanta to a Tennessee city.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Writer and producer Colby Wedgeworth leads the Dove Awards with eight nominations while artist Tauren Wells has seven nominations, including song of the year and new artist of the year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Ronnie Dunn of powerhouse country duo Brooks & Dunn and singer-songwriter K.T. Oslin will join the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A 14-year veteran of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been chosen as deputy director of the agency.
COURTS
GREENEVILLE (AP) — The top executive of a one-time leading manufacturer of boots for the U.S. military has been sentenced in a "Made in USA" scheme.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is set to execute its first inmate since 2009, barring last-minute intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court or some unexpected change.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee commission has forwarded three names to Gov. Bill Haslam for consideration for a circuit court vacancy.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the looming execution of a convicted child killer after the Tennessee Supreme Court and governor decided against a delay.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon, known for bringing items to shoppers' homes, is adding a curbside pickup option at Whole Foods for Prime members.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — A mysterious economic development project code-named "Project Rocket" is advancing in Atlanta's suburbs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — A late gain for U.S. stocks slipped away Wednesday as a four-day winning streak ended. Energy companies sank along with the price of oil.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Architects and engineers are still in; accountants, doctors and lawyers remain out — mostly. New rules floated by the Trump administration lay out what kinds of businesses can take a 20 percent deduction against income taxes under the new tax law.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Sinclair broadcasting company says it's in talks with Tribune Media on how to overcome regulatory hurdles to its $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune's 42 TV stations.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics plans to spend a whopping $22 billion over the next three years on artificial intelligence, auto components and other future businesses as the company maps out its strategy under the restored leadership of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong after he was freed from prison.
NEW YORK (AP) — Disney's upcoming streaming service won't try to compete directly with Netflix and Amazon, but will focus instead on quality — namely original programs from Disney's "Star Wars," Pixar and Marvel brands.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Christopher Collins of western New York state was arrested Wednesday on charges he fed inside information he gleaned from sitting on the board of a biotechnology company to his son, helping themselves and others dodge hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses when bad news came out.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The steady march of new "right-to-work" laws in Republican-led states hit a wall in Missouri, where voters resoundingly rejected a measure that could have weakened union finances after national and local labor groups poured millions of dollars into the campaign against it.
Democrats didn't walk away with a clear win Tuesday night. But they didn't have to. They essentially battled Republicans to a draw in a central Ohio congressional district that should have been an easy win for the GOP. Even a too-close-to-call result was a sign of Democratic momentum and offered clues for how to run in November.
LONDON (AP) — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended his company's decision not to ban right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his "Infowars" show, as many other social media platforms have done, saying he did not break any rules.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The steady march of new right-to-work laws in Republican-led states hit a wall in Missouri, where voters resoundingly rejected a measure that could have weakened union finances after national and local labor groups poured millions of dollars into the campaign against it.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 7
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn is keeping President Donald Trump at the center of her Senate campaign in her second TV ad.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville Police on Monday said they arrested 19 of the several dozen demonstrators who blocked entrances to the Tennessee headquarters of private prison operator CoreCivic.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has a new state conservationist. State officials say the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sheldon L. Hightower is replacing Kevin Brown as the eighth state conservationist to serve in Tennessee. Brown retired in January 2018.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution for a convicted child killer after the Tennessee Supreme Court and governor decided against a delay.
HEALTH CARE
Carl Icahn is urging Cigna shareholders to reject the health insurer's attempted multi-billion dollar takeover of Express Scripts, saying it's paying too much for a company with a shaky future.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is considering leading a buyout of the electric car maker in a stunning move that would end the maverick company's eight-year history trading on the stock market.
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety investigators are looking into complaints of fires that may have been caused by the seat belts in Ford F-150 pickup trucks.
DETROIT (AP) — Cars and trucks with electronic driver assist systems may not see stopped vehicles and could even steer you into a crash if you're not paying attention, an insurance industry group warns.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed for the fourth straight day Tuesday as strong earnings continued to pull the market closer to the all-time high it set in late January.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans increased their borrowing in June at the slowest annual pace in three months as the level of credit card debt fell slightly.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted slightly more openings in June than the previous month, resulting in more available jobs than unemployed people for the third straight month, signaling a solid economy.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The European Union's foreign policy chief encouraged companies to do more business with Iran despite new U.S. sanctions, saying Tehran had upheld its commitments under the deal to limit its nuclear program.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sanctions that kicked in early Tuesday against Iran are meant to pressure Tehran's government into retreating from its support for international terrorism, its military activity in the Middle East and its ballistic missile and nuclear-related programs, President Donald Trump's national security adviser said.
NATIONAL POLITICS
As summer vacationers start to pack up and head home, Congress is considering a sweeping tally of proposals that could affect travelers, from dictating seat size and legroom to rolling back rules that require airlines to advertise the full price of a ticket.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Be careful what you wish for.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The West Hollywood City Council is powerless to remove President Donald Trump's star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
MONDAY, AUGUST 6
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Police on Monday arrested some of the several dozen demonstrators who were blocking the entrances to the Tennessee headquarters of private prison operator CoreCivic.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Offensive tackle Drew Richmond gave a two-word analysis of Tennessee's dreadful 2017 season, and that was twice as long as defensive tackle Shy Tuttle's synopsis.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected an antitrust lawsuit brought against publishers by what was once one of the country's largest wholesale magazine distributors.
AUTO INDUSTRY
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — BMW AG's Korean unit apologized Monday over engine fires that prompted recalls and a probe, seeking to allay concerns over images of cars engulfed in flames.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks finished broadly higher for the third day in a row Monday. Media, retail and technology companies rose, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway led gains for the financial sector.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A multinational agricultural company based in Idaho has acquired gene editing licensing rights that could one day be used to help farmers produce more crops and make grocery store offerings such as strawberries, potatoes and avocados stay fresher longer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump Justice Department says it proved that AT&T's mega-merger with Time Warner will hurt competition, and the judge who allowed the takeover was clearly wrong to conclude consumers wouldn't be harmed.
PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) — With Indra Nooyi exiting PepsiCo as its longtime chief executive, the circle of CEOs in the Fortune 500 is losing one of its highest profile women.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says new measures are ready to take effect to protect European businesses from the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology company SoftBank says its net profit soared more than 50-fold from a year earlier to 313.7 billion yen ($2.8 billion) in the latest quarter thanks to gains in its main investment fund.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday reimposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, saying the U.S. policy is to levy "maximum economic pressure" on the country.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is grossly overstating the extent of U.S. economic and job gains.
NEW YORK (AP) — Major tech companies have begun to ban right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from their services, reflecting a more aggressive enforcement of policies against hate speech following protests on social media.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 3
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason says backup quarterback Deuce Wallace has been suspended this season over a violation of school policy.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Attorney General says an inmate's scheduled execution next week should proceed, saying there's no chance the man's constitutional challenge of the state's lethal injection method will succeed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court has asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to clarify whether a woman serving a life sentence for killing a man when she was 16 can ever gain parole.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee's newly retooled board of trustees has selected a former president of PepsiCo Inc. as its next chairman.
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Basking in the afterglow of an emphatic Republican primary victory in her Senate bid, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn proclaimed it a win for the agenda of President Donald Trump, a statement from Tennessee voters that they want to give him their full support.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Businessman Bill Lee defeated three other Republicans in a bruising primary for Tennessee governor Thursday, setting the stage for a competitive fall contest against former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, who cruised to the Democratic nomination.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn are on a collision course to claim their own slices of history in a critical U.S. Senate race.
MEMPHIS (AP) — The stage is set for spirited races for three open U.S. House seats in Tennessee.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee lawmaker known for being skewered on late-night comedy shows has failed in his bid to return to the state legislature.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Glenn Jacobs, the WWE wrestler known as Kane, has won the bout for mayor in Tennessee's third largest county.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam is touting Republican U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn's candidacy for U.S. Senate, saying the race is about who voters want to control the Senate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Four candidates who have spent tens of millions of dollars of their own wealth fighting over who is more devoted to President Donald Trump face off Thursday in the Republican primary for Tennessee governor.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's proposal for freezing U.S. mileage standards estimates that its action could cost tens of thousands of U.S. auto jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing safety, the Trump administration on Thursday proposed rolling back car-mileage standards, backing away from years of government efforts to cut Americans' trips to the gas station and reduce unhealthy, climate-changing tailpipe emissions.
TECHNOLOGY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple has become the world's first publicly traded company to be valued at $1 trillion, the financial fruit of stylish technology that has redefined what we expect from our gadgets.
April 1976 Apple is founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Security Adviser John Bolton says President Donald Trump has directed a "vast, government-wide effort" to protect American elections after Russian attempts to interfere in 2016.
ENVIRONMENT
NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has dropped a two-year investigation into how Exxon Mobil Corp. factors climate-change regulations into its calculations of the value of its assets, the company said Friday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Friday after the Labor Department said hiring remained solid in July and strong quarterly earnings continued to boost the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of President Donald Trump's priorities, low unemployment, is complicating another: curbing immigration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies grew at a slower pace in July as business activity and new orders slipped.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit widened in June for the first time in four months as exports fell and imports grew. Politically sensitive trade gaps with China, Mexico and Canada all increased.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the U.S. unemployment rate near a five-decade low, companies are looking harder for employees, and in some cases finding them right at their own workplaces.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Friday announced a $60 billion list of U.S. goods including coffee, honey and industrial chemicals for retaliation if Washington goes ahead with its latest tariff threat.
LONDON (AP) — Amazon is facing criticism after its British tax bill fell to a mere 1.7 million pounds ($2.2 million) despite a big jump in sales and profits.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Commerce Department is going ahead with a tax on Canadian newsprint, a threat to the already-struggling American newspaper industry.
BEIJING (AP) — China's foreign minister said Thursday that U.S. threats to hike tariffs run against the trend toward globalization and will hurt U.S. businesses and consumers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is crediting his tariffs with persuading U.S. Steel to open a half dozen new plants. That's not so.
BERLIN (AP) — Experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights are condemning what they describe as "strategic" attacks on the press by U.S. President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ivanka Trump says she does not agree that the news media are "the enemy of the people," breaking with one of President Donald Trump's frequent attacks on the press.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In negotiations over a possible interview by prosecutors, special counsel Robert Mueller's team has offered the White House format changes, perhaps willing to limit some questions asked of President Donald Trump or accept some answers in writing, according to a person briefed on the proposal.