VOL. 47 | NO. 32 | Friday, August 4, 2023
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Sales will likely be down for July when monthly sales numbers are released next week by the Greater Nashville Realtors, as showings have skidded to the proverbial halt.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose again this week, bad news for Americans seeking to upgrade or buy their first home.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The seven-game losing streak that capped off the Tennessee Titans’ 2022 season and subsequent offseason activity also generated frequent use of a word NFL teams don’t like to hear: rebuild.
One of the key components that allowed the Titans to add a final major piece for this season was Kevin Byard’s change of heart about restructuring his pay for 2023.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Being ejected from consecutive training camp practices cost Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Jamarco Jones his job Thursday.
NEWSMAKERS
John Southwood, CPA, has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC, as director of financial operations.
BRIEFS
Gov. Bill Lee isn’t saying whether his proposal to keep firearms away from dangerous people has enough support inside Tennessee’s Republican-dominant Statehouse to survive the upcoming special legislative session.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The midsize sedan market lacks the diversity of models it once did, yet what remains is a competitive set of vehicles. Honda’s Accord has been a long-standing fixture in this class and for 2023 it receives a full redesign that introduces added legroom, greater fuel efficiency and new styling elements.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
A teammate asked you for a favor last week and, of course, you said yes.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Travel planning can be a real chore. Booking flights, deciding on the right hotel and building an itinerary might be fun for some, but others dread it. That’s why some travelers are opting for an unorthodox travel strategy that eliminates the planning stage altogether.
CAREER CORNER
In the past few years, I’ve had the honor of working with a number of professionals who are part of Gen Z. They’ve been honest, principled people who care about the world around them. I have been impressed with their awareness of current events and how strongly they feel about social issues.
PERSONAL FINANCE
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to protecting yourself from financial scams is thinking you’re too smart to be duped by one.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping list of public safety issues he wants lawmakers to address during an upcoming special session prompted by a shocking Nashville school shooting earlier this year that resulted in the deaths of three children and three adults.
EAST TENNESSEE
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Tennessee judge dismissed the case against a woman who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the slaying of a man who was bound with duct tape and robbed when she was 13 years old.
COURTS
Special counsel Jack Smith's team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump's Twitter account, and a judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for missing the deadline to comply, according to court documents released Wednesday.
Former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik has met with investigators from special counsel Jack Smith's team, a signal after last week's indictment of former President Donald Trump that the probe into allegations he worked to overturn the results of the 2020 election is ongoing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump and his legal team face long odds in their bid to move his 2020 election conspiracy trial out of Washington, arguing the Republican can't possibly get a fair trial in the overwhelmingly Democratic nation's capital.
WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday kept up his attacks on special counsel Jack Smith and vowed to continue talking about his criminal cases even as prosecutors sought a protective order to limit the evidence that Trump and his team could share.
DALLAS (AP) — A judge has sanctioned Southwest Airlines, writing that the airline twisted his words and disregarded his order in the case of a flight attendant who claimed that she was fired for expressing her opposition to abortion.
TRANSPORTATION
Facing a shortage of air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it will let airlines continue to limit flights in the New York City area into October without penalties that they would normally face for such reductions.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Honda reported Wednesday that its April-June profit more than doubled on healthy sales of its motorcycles and cars, as the Japanese company also received a perk from favorable exchange rates.
BURLINGAME, Calif. (AP) — Electric bus and truck maker Proterra says it is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from a federal court in Delaware.
HEALTH CARE
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has shuttered 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts, six months after a research report warned that drug stores in Mexico were offering foreigners pills they passed off as Oxycodone, Percocet and Adderall without prescriptions, authorities said Tuesday.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Hanging up that phone call? The location of Apple's red end-call button is set to slightly move with upcoming iOS 17 updates to the phone app, so be wary of your thumb's muscle memory.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Several news organizations, writers and photographers groups are pushing to be involved in creating standards for the use of artificial intelligence, particularly as it concerns intellectual property rights and the potential spread of misinformation.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped Wednesday, as Wall Street braced for a highly anticipated report on inflation that's on the way.
NEW YORK (AP) — TV late-night comedy scribe Greg Iwinski, 38, was still only an aspiring writer when Hollywood writers held their landmark strike in 2007-2008.
You know ESPN the sports media giant. Now brace yourself for ESPN Bet, a rebranding of an existing sports-betting app owned by Penn Entertainment, which is paying $1.5 billion plus other considerations for exclusive rights to the ESPN name.
TOKYO (AP) — Sony's April-June profit slipped 17% from a year earlier, as worries grew about revenue damage from a strike in the movie sector, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — WeWork is warning there's "substantial doubt" about its ability to stay in business over the next year because of its financial losses and its need for cash, among other factors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service has reduced its volume of shipments by aircraft by 90% over two years, putting the service on course to save $1 billion in annual transportation costs, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sign of growing strains between the world's two biggest powers, President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that would block and regulate high-tech U.S.-based investments going toward China. It covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ohio voters rejected a proposal that would have made it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution, including one measure set for the November ballot that would guarantee abortion rights in the state.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the Iowa State Fair Saturday, a time-honored rite of presidential candidates working for support in the state's leadoff nominating caucuses next January.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson, the lone Democratic member of the " Tennessee Three " who narrowly survived a Republican-led expulsion effort, has launched an exploratory committee as she considers running for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn in 2024.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A security guard charged with second-degree murder over a 2018 fatal shooting outside the Nashville restaurant where he was working headed to trial Monday, a case that hinges on whether he was justified to fire at a man involved in a shootout outside the business.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is reinstating a regulation aimed at reining in the proliferation of ghost guns, firearms without serial numbers that have been turning up at crime scenes across the nation in increasing numbers.
Donald Trump's legal team told a judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against him on Monday that prosecutors' proposed protective order aimed at preventing the public disclosure of evidence is too broad and would restrict his First Amendment rights.
TRANSPORTATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials said Tuesday they have referred 22 more cases involving unruly passengers on airline flights to the FBI for possible criminal charges.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn is departing after 13 years with the electric vehicle and solar panel maker.
HEALTH CARE
Eli Lilly's diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which is widely used for weight loss, raked in nearly $1 billion in second-quarter sales, or more than $200 million above what Wall Street had expected.
ENERGY
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand's government said Tuesday it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy.
ENVIRONMENT
PHOENIX (AP) — President Joe Biden will announce a new national monument to preserve land around Grand Canyon National Park and limit it from mining, White House officials said Monday.
BANKING
ROME (AP) — Italian bank stocks plunged Tuesday after the Cabinet approved a proposal to apply a 40% tax on some bank profits this year to help consumers and businesses cope with higher borrowing costs.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology company SoftBank Group Corp. continued to rack up losses for the fiscal first quarter as technology investments soured amid a market downturn.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past year, inflation in the United States has tumbled from 9% all the way to 3%, softening most of the price pressures that have gripped the nation for more than two years.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower on Wall Street as worries about the banking system and the global economy inject more caution into financial markets worldwide.
NEW YORK (AP) — The company whose name became synonymous with remote work is joining the growing return-to-office trend.
NEW YORK (AP) — Campbell Soup is set to buy Sovos Brands, the maker of Rao's pasta sauces.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced changes to labor rules that could give higher wages to construction workers on federal projects.
NEW YORK (AP) — A new class of meme stocks has sprung up during the stock market's surprise recent rally, raising concerns about investors' willingness to take on bigger risks amid a still uncertain economy.
Revenue declined at UPS in the second quarter and the package delivery company lowered its full-year revenue expectations by $4 billion, primarily due to a tentative labor contract reached late last month with its 340,000 unionized workers.
MONDAY, AUGUST 7
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are taking another step to help their minority assistant coaches land NFL head coaching jobs.
AUTO RACING
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kyle Kirkwood says he felt calm on the final restart, probably more than someone in his second IndyCar Series season should.
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) — Nashville-based Trucking company Yellow Corp. has declared bankruptcy after years of financial struggles and growing debt, marking a significant shift for the U.S. transportation industry and shippers nationwide.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge tossed out former President Donald Trump's countersuit against the writer who won a sex abuse lawsuit against him, ruling Monday that Trump can't claim she defamed him by continuing to say she was not only sexually abused but raped.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's defense attorney says the former president never asked Mike Pence to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to "pause" the certification of votes to allow states to investigate his claims of election fraud. Those baseless claims had already been rejected by numerous courts.
HEALTH CARE
Word spread through an Oregon hospital last month that a visitor was causing trouble in the maternity ward, and nurses were warned the man might try to abduct his partner's newborn.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nicole Leger always thought of the burn pits at military bases in Afghanistan as more like campfires than health hazards. Ordered to dispose of sensitive documents, she would toss the paperwork into the flames while catching up with fellow soldiers, moments of quiet bonding that provided a respite from her riskier work as a hastily trained medic for the U.S. Army.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Jochen Goetz, the chief financial officer of Daimler Truck and credited with its successful spinoff from the automotive giant that makes the Mercedes-Benz, has died, the company said Sunday. He was 52.
TRENDS
When OpenTable CEO Debby Soo joined the restaurant reservation company in 2020, the industry was struggling through the pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks climbed Monday as Wall Street's big rally for the year kicked back into gear following a brief hiccup.
NEW YORK (AP) — Simon & Schuster has been sold to the private equity firm KKR, months after a federal judge blocked its purchase by rival publisher Penguin Random House because of concerns that competition would shrink in the book market.
Tyson Foods Inc. is closing four chicken processing plants as it looks to lower costs.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco on Monday reported $30 billion in second quarter profit, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year that it attributed to lower oil prices.
TOKYO (AP) — Toshiba announced a 2 trillion yen ($14 billion) tender offer on Monday in a move that would take it private, as the scandal-tarnished Japanese electronics and energy giant seeks to turn itself around.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is setting out Monday on a Western swing aimed at showcasing his work on conservation, clean energy and veterans' benefits as he seeks to draw an implicit contrast between his administration's accomplishments and former President Donald Trump's legal troubles.
DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is cooperating with the International Criminal Court and supporting Ukrainian prosecutors carrying out war crime investigation s, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday as he reaffirmed his department's aid more than a year after the Russian invasion.
NEW YORK (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said definitively that rival Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, an acknowledgement the Florida governor made after years of equivocating answers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington has never been a particularly friendly place for Donald Trump. And after pleading not guilty to federal charges that he had tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Trump was quick to show that the feeling was mutual.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia's Foreign Ministry on Monday chided efforts by international officials meeting in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine, saying the talks don't have "the slightest added value" because Moscow — unlike Kyiv — wasn't invited.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4
NASHVILLE AREA
Two-term Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell took 27% of the vote Thursday in a 12-candidate field to grab one of two runoff spots in the Nashville mayoral race. Alice Rolli, the lone conservative contender, received 20% of ballots cast.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the "Tennessee Three," reclaimed their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday left in place a lower court ruling that invalidated a speeding ticket against a Native American man in Tulsa, Oklahoma, because the city is located within the boundaries of an Indian reservation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to trying to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss, answering for the first time to federal charges that accuse him of orchestrating a brazen and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a routine part of a federal court hearing: The defendant was told not to discuss the case with any witnesses without lawyers present.
ENVIRONMENT
SHARON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp's glow. "Another big brown," she said with a sigh.
NATIONAL DEFENSE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army's chief stepped down Friday, leaving the military's two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The job market has cooled over the summer. But it's still strong enough to defy predictions that higher interest rates would tip the United States into recession.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks closed lower following mixed reports about the U.S. job market and profits at two of Wall Street's most influential stocks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts by the Biden administration have been helping create new factory jobs as part of a push to bring high-speed internet to the whole country -- jobs that coincidentally help to back up President Joe Biden's messaging for the 2024 elections.
LONDON (AP) — Global prices for food commodities like rice and vegetable oil have risen for the first time in months after Russia pulled out of a wartime agreement allowing Ukraine to ship grain to the world, and India restricted some of its rice exports, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday he hopes to discuss further strengthening of three-way strategic cooperation with leaders of the United States and South Korea at a summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden at Camp David later this month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has his zingers ("This is not your father's Republican Party"). He's got patriotism ("This is the United States of America, dammit"). He's got a geometry-based explanation on how to grow the economy ("from the middle out and the bottom up").
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court Thursday allowed a rule restricting asylum at the southern border to temporarily stay in place. The decision is a major win for the Biden administration, which had argued that the rule was integral to its efforts to maintain order along the U.S.-Mexico border.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday said U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke last week to North Korean officials during a visit to Pyongyang about increasing the sale of munitions to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3
MUSIC INDUSTRY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Country superstar Keith Urban and Kix Brooks of powerhouse country duo Brooks & Dunn will be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame this year.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the "Tennessee Three," are hoping to once again reclaim their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's legal team is characterizing his indictment in the special counsel's 2020 election interference investigation as an attack on the former president's right to free speech. But the case is not merely about Trump's lies but also about the efforts he took to subvert the election, prosecutors say.
WASHINGTON (AP) — By not naming or charging six alleged co-conspirators in the indictment this week of former President Donald Trump, federal prosecutors may be signaling their desire to expeditiously put the Republican presidential front-runner on trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election.
NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Pence fought the Department of Justice in court to try to avoid testifying against his former boss. But the former vice president plays a central role in a new federal indictment unsealed Tuesday that outlines the first criminal charges against Donald Trump connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
ENERGY
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. gas prices are continuing to rise — giving drivers across the country another headache at the pump.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday sued USASF Servicing, the financial arm of a chain of auto dealerships found mostly in the South, alleging the company committed a laundry list of illegal practices, like disabling borrowers' cars, double-billing customers, and illegally repossessing cars.
DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai and Kia are telling the owners of nearly 92,000 vehicles in the U.S. to park them outside because an electronic controller in an oil pump can overheat and cause fires.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A research scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was named Wednesday to succeed Dr. Anthony Fauci as the nation's top infectious disease expert. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo will become director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the fall. She will oversee the agency's $6.3 billion budget, its research and its response to infectious disease outbreaks.
MEDIA
MENLO PARK, California (AP) — Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta is keeping its promise to block news content in Canada on its platforms in response to a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court imposed a 400,000-ruble ($4,400) fine on technology company Apple for failing to remove material deemed to be "false information" about Russia's military actions in Ukraine.
PARIS (AP) — France's international news agency, Agence France-Presse, says it is pursuing a copyright case against X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, in an effort to secure potential payment for its news content.
RELIGION
CASCIAS, Portugal (AP) — From a university campus to a seaside town, Pope Francis challenged young people on Thursday to make the world a more just and inclusive place, as he focused the second day of his Portugal trip on inspiring young people to use their privilege to combat global warming and economic inequalities.
ECONOMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose slightly last week but remained at a historically low level that points to a robust job market.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England raised its main interest rate Thursday to a fresh 15-year high and indicated it would stay high for some time to bring down persistently high inflation — another potential blow for those seeing their rents and mortgages rise during a cost-of-living crisis.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Thursday posted better-than-expected revenue and profits for the second quarter, sending its stock higher in after-hours trading.
Apple's eked out a slightly higher profit last quarter even though sales dipped during the period, a time during which the iPhone maker became the first publicly held U.S. company in to be valued at $3 trillion.
Airbnb said Thursday its second-quarter profit jumped more than 70% over last summer, to $650 million, as revenue rose on strong bookings for summer-vacation rentals.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped Thursday as Wall Street's red-hot rally for the year cooled a bit more.
Anheuser-Busch Inbev reported a drop in U.S. revenue in the second quarter as Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash over a campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
TOKYO (AP) — Nintendo reported a 52% increase in net profit for the first fiscal quarter on Thursday following the success of its Super Mario movie and the new Zelda video game.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas brought in 400 million euros ($437 million) from the first release of Yeezy sneakers left over after breaking ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as the German sportswear maker tries to offload the unsold shoes and donate part of the proceeds to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
DoorDash set records for total orders and revenue in the second quarter as its grocery and convenience deliveries accelerated and it improved driver efficiency.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — The 2024 election will determine whether Donald Trump returns to the White House. It could also decide if he'll face time behind bars.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump and his supporters are reacting to a third indictment against him with a now-familiar playbook: deflecting with unrelated accusations, distracting with misleading claims about the charges, and demonizing the prosecution.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When Senate Leader Mitch McConnell rose to announce his vote to acquit Donald Trump of impeachment charges in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the Republican assured the public the former president would have his day in court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Focusing on the Bidens rather than Donald Trump's federal court appearance, House Republicans released a transcript Thursday of their interview with Hunter Biden's former business associate detailing overseas financial dealings by the president's son.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress responded to the fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio earlier this year with bipartisan alarm, holding a flurry of hearings about the potential for railroad crashes to trigger even larger disasters. Both parties agreed that a legislative response was needed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities issued a shelter-in-place order and searched Senate office buildings near the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon after a 911 call warned of a possible active shooter. But a floor-by-floor search of the three buildings found nothing, and Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the cause of the security scramble "may have been a bogus call."
BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations' human rights chief on Wednesday warned that Iraq's water crisis could affect other countries in the region.