VOL. 42 | NO. 35 | Friday, August 31, 2018
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
All the products fit for human consumption that line the shelves, refrigerators and freezers of grocery stores have expiration dates. When the consumer purchases these items, they see the date clearly marked along with a price and when the buyers check out, they pay the price and take the food home with no argument, bargaining or negotiation.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates ticked up this week as borrowing costs are meaningfully higher than a year ago.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Entering his eighth professional season, Blaine Gabbert has had many labels attached to his NFL career.
We’ll take a little different tack this week, since, for one, the preseason finale with the Minnesota Vikings will have already been played when this is published, and the season opener with the Miami Dolphins doesn’t take place until Sept. 9.
UT SPORTS
Kids don’t usually go rushing to school on Mondays to gush about watching an offensive linemen play football on TV. That status is mainly reserved for more glorified positions like quarterback or wide receiver.
NEWSMAKERS
Attorney Talley K. Wood has joined Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison as an associate, announced founding member Tom Sherrard.
BRIEFS
Construction executive David Frazier has acquired Hardaway Construction Corporation, which has served Middle Tennessee for 95 years, and will serve as its new CEO.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The Toyota Prius may be synonymous with hybrids, but shopping for a gas-electric car is no longer a choice between that and a handful of also-rans. Today, more than a half-dozen hybrids return 45 mpg or more while offering impressive space, cutting-edge tech and more conventional shapes that don’t flaunt their eco credentials quite so blatantly.
CAREER CORNER
I recently heard a stand-up comedian make a joke about dating. They compared the experiences that men have versus women when they go on a Tinder date.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Declining Facebook engagement, diminishing organic reach and decreased impressions. Do these sound familiar? You aren’t alone. Facebook’s algorithms are a moving target for today’s marketers.
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has written his city a six-figure check and removed his properties from a state program that provided him $520,600 in property tax breaks since 2011 for producing hay, The Tennessean reports.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee State Review Board will consider several proposed nominations to the National Register of Historic Places later this month.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee center Brandon Kennedy will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament in practice.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LONDON (AP) — The European Union has approved Apple's acquisition of song-recognition app Shazam after a months-long investigation found it wouldn't hurt competition in the music streaming market.
HEALTH CARE
NAHSVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's largest health insurer will stop covering OxyContin prescriptions as part of an effort to combat opioid addiction.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Several major hospital groups Thursday launched their own generic drug company to tackle chronic shortages and high prices.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Under pressure from U.S. safety regulators, Ford is recalling about 2 million F-150 pickup trucks in North America because the seat belts can spark and cause fires.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are little changed after two days of losses as investors hope for positive developments between the U.S. and its two biggest trading partners, Canada and China. Industrial and retail companies are rising while technology companies are slipping again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies grew at a faster pace in August as business activity and new orders rebounded.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Three Baltic countries have lashed out at retail giant Walmart for selling online T-shirts and other products with Soviet Union emblems on them, and demanded that the goods be removed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added 163,000 jobs in August, a private survey found, a decent gain that suggests that employers are confident enough to keep hiring.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department on Thursday affirmed last month's report that U.S. productivity increased at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in the second quarter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration may be about to slap tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods, escalating a confrontation between the world's two biggest economies and likely squeezing U.S. companies that import everything from handbags to bicycle tires.
BEIJING (AP) — China is ready to retaliate if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with a tariff hike on Chinese goods and is confident it can maintain "steady and healthy" economic growth, a government spokesman said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials and Canadian negotiators worked into Wednesday night, trying to strike a deal that would keep Canada in a North American trade bloc with the United States and Mexico.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An opinion piece in The New York Times by an anonymous senior administration official claiming to be part of a "resistance" working "from within" to thwart President Donald Trump's "worst inclinations" set off a wild guessing game inside and outside the White House on the author's identity.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressured by Democrats with Donald Trump on their minds, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh rejected repeated requests at Wednesday's Senate confirmation hearing to reveal his views about a president pardoning himself or being forced to testify in a criminal case.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Entertainer, actress, singer and songwriter Dolly Parton will be honored at the 2019 MusiCares Person of the Year tribute event next year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee education officials are reviewing whether a Nashville schools complied with reporting requirements when educators were disciplined or placed on administrative leave last school year.
HEALTH CARE
A company whose prescription opioid marketing practices are being blamed for sparking the addiction and overdose crisis says it's helping to fund an effort to make a lower-cost overdose antidote.
PHOENIX (AP) — Early, partial results from a historic gene editing study give encouraging signs that the treatment may be safe and having at least some of its hoped-for effect, but it's too soon to know whether it ultimately will succeed.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facebook and Twitter executives assured Congress on Wednesday that they are aggressively working to root out foreign attempts to sow discord in America, and they pledged to better protect their social networks against manipulation during the 2018 midterm elections and beyond.
COURTS
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Insurance giant State Farm on Tuesday reached a $250 million preliminary settlement in a federal class-action lawsuit claiming the company funneled money to the campaign of an Illinois Supreme Court candidate.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology companies dropped Wednesday as Facebook and Twitter executives testified before Congress. Consumer-focused companies like Amazon and Netflix also slumped.
Nike has unveiled its first "Just Do It" ad narrated by Colin Kaepernick, a spot scheduled to air during the NFL season opener on Thursday night as well as during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and other major sporting events.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit widened for the second straight month in July, reaching the highest level since February, as imports hit an all-time high. The deficit in goods with China and the European Union set records.
SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie Bezos have made their largest political donation to date, giving $10 million to a nonpartisan political-action committee devoted to helping military veterans running for Congress.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon says it has ordered 20,000 vans for its new delivery program in which contractors around the country can launch businesses that deliver packages for the online retailer.
NEW YORK (AP) — Uber is aiming to boost driver and passenger safety in an effort to rebuild trust in the brand.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh touted the importance of an independent judiciary as his confirmation hearings began with strident Democratic criticism that he would be President Donald Trump's man on the high court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An incendiary tell-all book by a reporter who helped bring down President Richard Nixon set off a firestorm in the White House, with its descriptions of current and former aides calling President Donald Trump an "idiot" and a "liar," disparaging his judgment and claiming they plucked papers off his desk to prevent him from withdrawing from a pair of trade agreements.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he is "the exact opposite" of Bob Woodward's portrayal of him in a new book.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Marsha Blackburn has named Pilot Corporation founder Jim Haslam II and construction company leader Steve Smith as her Senate campaign's finance chairmen.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Non-citizens suspected of living in the U.S. illegally won't be held in a Tennessee jail past their scheduled release dates, despite federal requests to keep holding them.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — The top spokeswoman for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has been promoted to serve as his director of communications.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Sales of new American muscle cars are falling, raising questions in Detroit and elsewhere about whether a nostalgic, high-horsepower cruising culture that dates to before the 1950s is in peril.
DETROIT (AP) — From new top-selling pickup trucks to an essential range extension for an electric car to the most popular SUV in the country, the 2019 model year for new vehicles has something for everyone.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — If you already subscribe to digital services like Netflix to binge on TV shows and Spotify to groove to an endless mix of music, the auto industry might have a deal for you: Subscribe to your next car as well.
BERLIN (AP) — A lobby group representing European automakers says EU proposals for cutting emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide could result in manufacturing job losses.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spending on U.S. construction projects ticked up 0.1 percent in July, led by an increase in homebuilding and the publicly funded building of schools and highways.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh promised Tuesday to be a "team player" if confirmed to the closely divided court, declaring that he will be a "pro-law judge" who won't decide cases based on his personal views.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is set for a week of marathon hearings before the Judiciary Committee, where senators will drill down into the judge's background, writings and legal philosophy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks finished lower Tuesday as losses for health care and technology companies canceled out gains for banks. Another gain for Amazon briefly brought its market value to $1 trillion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Why do it? Nike has touched off a furor by wading into football's national anthem debate with an ad featuring Colin Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback who was the first athlete to kneel during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest police brutality against blacks and hasn't played a game since 2016.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Tuesday became the second publicly traded company to be worth $1 trillion, hot on the heels of iPhone maker Apple.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories grew at a faster pace in August as American industry continues to show robust health.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nike's stock is falling in early trading on Tuesday following an announcement that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has a new deal with the athletic clothing and footwear maker.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump encountered bipartisan criticism on Tuesday for complaining that his own Justice Department's indictments against two Republican congressmen were endangering the GOP's midterm election prospects, with one Republican senator saying of Trump's attack, "We can't normalize that."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump started his Labor Day with an attack on a top union leader, lashing out after criticism from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing his disregard for the Justice Department's independence, President Donald Trump tweeted that federal indictments against two Republican congressmen placed the GOP in midterm election jeopardy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just two months before the midterm elections, bipartisan legislation to try to prevent foreign hacking into U.S. election systems is stalled in Congress as the White House and some Republicans worry it could exert too much federal control over the states.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He's suggesting the Department of Justice put Republicans jeopardy ahead of midterms with recent indictments of two GOP congressmen.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Joe Biden is hearing from plenty of supporters who would like to see the former vice president make another run for the White House.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrats know who their voters are. They just have to figure out how to get them to the polls in November — and that's where the puppies come in.
ENVIRONMENT
GRANT TOWN, W.Va. (AP) — It's coal people like miner Steve Knotts, 62, who make West Virginia Trump Country.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is starting his Labor Day with an attack on a top union leader.
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly lower Monday amid worries about escalating trade friction between the U.S. and Canada, who have been unable to agree to a revamped trade deal but will continue negotiating this week.
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday pledged $60 billion in financing for projects in Africa in the form of assistance, investment and loans, as China furthers efforts to link the continent's economic prospects to its own.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31
STATEWIDE
ATLANTA (AP) — United Airlines says it's adding more flights and using bigger planes this fall to carry passengers to college football games across the South and elsewhere in the U.S.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is halting lane closures on interstates and state highways during the Labor Day Weekend.
ELECTION 2018
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen is running a TV commercial that says an attack ad against him by the Koch network is "full of flat-out lies."
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans did their best to protect their starters for the regular season, letting Kirk Cousins and Marcus Mariota lead the cheers from the sidelines.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has dismissed guard Anastasia Hayes from its women's basketball team.
AUTO INDUSTRY
LONDON (AP) — Dyson, the British company best known for its ground-breaking vacuum cleaners, said Thursday that it plans to build auto test tracks as it expands electric vehicle development at a former Royal Air Force airfield.
ENVIRONMENT
DENVER (AP) — The Trump administration is rolling back some U.S. regulations on climate-changing methane pollution, calling them expensive and burdensome, but Colorado says its rules are working — and they have industry support.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks hardly budged Friday as the U.S. and Canada were unable to complete a trade deal, but the two sides intend to continue negotiating next week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has notified Congress that he plans to sign a trade agreement with Mexico — and Canada, if it is willing — in 90 days, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Village Voice, the Pulitzer Prize-winning alternative weekly known for its muckraking investigations, brash political reporting, exhaustive arts criticism and anxiety-laden cartoons, is going out of business after 63 years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has said privately that he won't make compromises with Canada in high-stakes talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.
BRUSSELS (AP) — It could be summer time all year long for countries in the European Union.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett says U.S. stocks remain attractive investments even at today's high prices when compared to bonds or real estate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Canada's top trade negotiator says she's "encouraged" by urgent discussions that are intended to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top trade official says the bloc is in exploratory talks with the United States to see whether it would be possible to reach a limited trans-Atlantic agreement on the tariff of goods.
TORONTO (AP) — Canada's Federal Court of Appeal has quashed the approval of the contentious Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would nearly triple the flow of oil from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer spending rose a solid 0.4 percent in July, the sixth straight month of healthy gains. At the same time, a key gauge of inflation posted its sharpest annual gain in six years, likely keeping the Federal Reserve on track to keep raising interest rates gradually.
Microsoft will begin requiring its contractors to offer their U.S. employees paid leave to care for a new child.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may be the person sitting in front of senators at next week's confirmation hearings, but many of the questions he gets are likely to be focused on another man: President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Justice Department lawyer says a former British spy told him at a breakfast meeting two years ago that Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump "over a barrel," according to multiple people familiar with the encounter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has named the superintendent of Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park to head the National Park Service, a job that has been filled on an acting basis since January 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A business associate of a key figure in the investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, federal prosecutors in Washington said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Increasingly convinced that the West Wing is wholly unprepared to handle the expected assault from Democrats if they win the House in November, President Donald Trump's aides and allies are privately raising alarm as his circle of legal and communications advisers continues to shrink.
"Hope I die before I get old," the Who sang at Woodstock as the 1960s hurtled to their end. Indeed, the decade and its echoes made premature legends of so many — Kennedy to King, Hendrix to Joplin to Morrison. They became emblems of an era, and the packaging of their virtues and vices has never really stopped.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans lined up for blocks outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday to say goodbye to John McCain as officials, relatives and friends paid their tributes inside to the Vietnam hero and longtime senator lying in state under the majestic dome.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday directed the Labor and Treasury departments to work to make it easier for small businesses to band together to offer retirement plans to their workers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump informed Congress on Thursday that he is canceling pay raises due in January for most civilian federal employees, citing budget constraints. But the workers still could see a slightly smaller boost in their pay under a proposal lawmakers are considering.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is wrongly claiming that Google shunned his State of the Union speech but promoted Barack Obama's addresses.