VOL. 39 | NO. 39 | Friday, September 25, 2015
REALTY CHECK
It was reported in this column on August 11 that $1 million-plus homes in Davidson County were lagging behind the previous year and sales of $2 million-plus were few and far between. What a difference a month makes.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Two games in, it is still a bit too early to declare Marcus Mariota the franchise savior for the Tennessee Titans.
UT SPORTS
Tennessee’s Butch Jones will coach the biggest game of his three-year tenure with the Vols – and probably the biggest of his entire coaching career – at Florida on Saturday.
NEWSMAKERS
Burr & Forman LLP has added C. Tucker Herndon as partner in its Nashville office, building upon the firm’s continued expansion in Middle Tennessee. Herndon’s arrival follows the addition of 15 attorneys in early 2015 to its Nashville office, which has more than doubled its attorney count to 26 attorneys.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Acura’s least expensive sedan, the ILX, has luxurious upgrades for 2016, including a quieter interior, a handsome LED-accented exterior and improved performance - all at a reasonable price.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
It’s a sad fact of life: Your boss expects you to work.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Most companies have historically used marketing to drive brand awareness and generate sales leads, relying on seasoned sales teams to close these deals by identifying the prospect’s needs, recommending strategic solutions and creating a sense of urgency.
I SWEAR
Court’s in recess, and there goes the judge. In New England, the Patriots again start the season as the Tom Brady Bunch. In New York NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has crow for breakfast. Case closed.
CAREER CORNER
Over time, one theme keeps coming up in the questions I receive from readers. After spending years going to school to receive a master’s or doctoral degree, many recent graduates find themselves with a long resume.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Social media has taken over the food business. Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook have thousands of recipes, copycat recipes, tips and food-hacks.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's new mayor has delayed implementation of the city's new local hiring requirement approved by Nashville voters.
MIDSTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brentwood-based Tractor Supply Company Inc. has reached a settlement with federal regulators over the illegal sale of 28,000 off-road vehicles and small engines that failed to meet Clean Air Act requirements.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is acknowledging that the Supreme Court should step into the latest battle over the president's health law.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates eased slightly this week, continuing at low levels that could entice potential homebuyers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Spending on U.S. construction projects rose in August to the highest point in more than seven years, fueled by home building and government projects.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — General Motors plans to cut $5.5 billion in manufacturing, purchasing and administrative costs during the next three years, helping to finance a big push into autonomous cars and car- and ride-sharing services.
Major automakers booked double-digit sales gains last month in the U.S. market, helped by strong growth from key brands like Jeep and a later Labor Day holiday.
DETROIT (AP) — United Auto Workers union members have rejected a proposed contract with Fiat Chrysler in a rebuke of union leaders who had praised the deal.
BERLIN (AP) — A Volkswagen engine factory said Wednesday it has dropped one shift a week and the company's financial services division imposed a temporary hiring freeze as the world's largest automaker grapples with an emissions-rigging scandal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Applications for unemployment benefits rose last week, but Americans are seeking jobless aid at historically low levels consistent with a healthy job market.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks headed lower Thursday, a day after the market wrapped up its worst quarter in four years.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra is cutting about 1,500 jobs, or approximately 30 percent of its global, office-based workforce, and moving its headquarters to Chicago from Omaha, Nebraska.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some non-violent drug offenders could get reduced prison sentences under a bipartisan Senate package that would overhaul the criminal justice system and encourage rehabilitation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense policy bill is one of the few bipartisan measures in Congress that has readily become law for more than a half-century. Not so fast this year, as President Barack Obama threatens to veto the bill moving through the House amid a bitter dispute about government spending.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Inside Volkswagen's only U.S. assembly plant there's little hint of the diesel emissions cheating scandal embroiling the German automaker around the world. Sparks fly off robotic welding arms, new versions of the Passat sedan roll off the line and workers install equipment to build a new SUV billed as a key to reviving the company's growth prospects in America.
DETROIT (AP) — It appears that United Auto Workers union members have voted down a four-year contract deal with Fiat Chrysler.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In stock car racing, there's an old adage: If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. You could say the same sometimes for auto makers up against stricter environmental rules.
FREMONT, Calif. (AP) — Electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors has mastered the sporty two-seater and the elegant sedan. Now, it wants to conquer the family hauler.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — TiVo wants to help you skip TV commercials. With one press of a button on the remote, TiVo's new digital video recorder will skip the entire commercial break.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Fears about China's slowdown and a coming U.S. interest rate hike have sent global stock markets into a fidgety freefall.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose across the board Wednesday following big gains in Asia and Europe, a buoyant end to the worst quarter for the market in four years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Buoyed by strong consumer spending and steady home sales, U.S. businesses added jobs at a healthy pace in September, according to a private survey.
NEW YORK (AP) — In a world flush with free information, some young people are still willing to shell out for news they read.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that global growth will likely be weaker this year as the world economy confronts a host of problems, including a refugee crisis in Europe, an economic slowdown in China and a pending rise in U.S. interest rates.
GENEVA (AP) — Slumping imports in China, currency market swings and falling commodities prices have led the World Trade Organization to cut its forecast for global trade in 2015 by half a percentage point.
NEW YORK (AP) — Starting Thursday, Target will now match its online prices with more than two dozen online competitors including Amazon.com and Walmart.com.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is sending legislation to President Barack Obama that would head off the threat of a government shutdown at midnight Wednesday.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - A Nashville judge has ruled against John Jay Hooker, who is terminally ill and wants to die by assisted suicide.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) - A nonprofit co-founded by country music legend Charlie Daniels has donated $50,000 to help equip a new veterans center at Middle Tennessee State University.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The next two days will be critical in deciding the fate of a new four-year contract between Fiat Chrysler and the United Auto Workers.
FREMONT, California (AP) — Tesla Motors' first SUV is finally on the road. Tesla will officially unveil the Model X Tuesday night at its California factory.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Fresh out of college, Brian Torcellini dreamed about getting a job writing about surfing.
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen's commercial vehicles and cars from its Spanish unit SEAT are among the 11 million fitted with a diesel engine that can cheat on emissions tests, the company said Tuesday.
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen says that 11 million diesel vehicles from several of its 12 brands are fitted with a system that can help them cheat through emissions tests.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose at a solid pace in July, as would-be buyers competed for a diminished supply of available housing.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are closing mixed as the market stabilizes a day after a big drop.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says borrowers are reporting widespread problems with the companies servicing their student loans.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is testing an Uber-like service for delivering its one-hour Prime Now packages that will enlist people to deliver packages for Amazon with their own cars.
NEW YORK (AP) — A dozen corporations, including Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Coca-Cola Co., are joining a new coalition to push for LGBT rights in the workplace in places beyond the U.S. and Western Europe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers were feeling more confident again this month, good news for the U.S. economy.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Traditional power companies are getting into small-scale solar energy and competing for space on your rooftop.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set to pass a spending bill to prevent the government from shutting down this week over the opposition of the most conservative Republicans in the chamber.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a court-ordered deadline, the Obama administration is preparing to finalize stricter emissions limits on smog-forming pollution linked to asthma and respiratory illness.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump touts his tax overhaul plan as a boon for middle-income Americans, but it would also be likely to help the wealthy — including people like himself.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
NASHVILLE AREA
The San Francisco-based mobile app and transportation company will invest $5.1 million and create 380 new jobs in Davidson County.
Nexstar Broadcasting, attempting to drive to wedge between Media General and Meredith Corp., offered nearly $1.9 billion to buy Media General on Monday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A prominent educator and author known for engaging educators in dialogue about improving schools for urban children will speak at Tennessee State University in Nashville on Tuesday.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday that he's still supportive of Tennessee's pre-kindergarten program despite a study that shows academic gains made by some of the children enrolled fade in early elementary grades.
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is opening the door to putting off a gas tax increase in an election year, but warns that officials need to stop "kidding ourselves" about Tennessee's growing list of unfunded road projects.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple says it sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Plus phones in the three days since its iPhone launch, topping last year's early sales mark.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Seven more companies including electric car maker Tesla Motors could be facing recalls because they use air bag inflators made by Takata Corp., according to letters they received last week from U.S. safety regulators.
BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors on Monday opened an investigation against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn to establish what his role was in the emissions-rigging scandal that has shaken the world's largest automaker.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in August, as pending sales slumped amid broader concerns about the U.S. stock market and global economy.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Ongoing worries about the health of the Chinese economy and another big sell-off in drugmakers pushed the stock market back toward its lowest level of the year.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell has abandoned its long quest to become the first company to produce oil in Alaska's Arctic waters, darkening the nation's long-term oil prospects and delighting environmental groups that tried to block the project.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer spending rose at a healthy rate in August, while income growth slowed after a big jump in July.
NEW YORK (AP) — Grocery chain Whole Foods is cutting about 1,500 jobs over the next eight weeks as it looks to lower prices and keep up with competition.
NEW YORK (AP) — Alcoa will split into two independent companies, separating its bauxite, aluminum and casting operations from its engineering, transportation and global rolled products businesses.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican businessman Jay Faison says his party should stop fighting science and start talking solutions to climate change. He has $175 million to invest in politics and policy to help inspire them. And if that's not enough, he's commissioned a survey, released Monday, that he says shows voters agree.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker John Boehner says he's determined to clean up some of the mess of a politically gridlocked Congress in his final month before his successor takes over.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is calling for an overhaul of the tax code that would eliminate income taxes for millions of Americans, while lowering them for the highest-income earners and business.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is expected to approve easily legislation that would keep the government open past a Wednesday deadline as its top Republican leaders stare down a right wing that's angry that party leaders aren't fighting harder to take away taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The longtime headquarters of Elvis Presley manager Col. Tom Parker has been named to a list of endangered Nashville properties.
NASHVILLE (AP) - The Tennessee Titans will be collecting donations of school supplies before their home opener Sunday with the Indianapolis Colts.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A recent analysis shows Tennessee has more than $30 million in unspent funds from a federal aid program for improving the nation's drinking water systems.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen's board appointed the head of its Porsche unit as CEO on Friday, handing longtime company insider Matthias Mueller the task of trying to lead the world's top-selling automaker past a growing emissions scandal.
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen's supervisory board is meeting Friday to discuss who to name as CEO after Martin Winterkorn quit the job this week over an emissions-rigging scandal that's rocking the world's top-selling automaker.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The top U.S. environmental regulator says she wants to make sure Volkswagen's use of software in its vehicles to evade U.S. auto emissions limits was a "one-off," and other models will be tested aggressively to determine if other carmakers are trying to defeat pollution tests.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that it will launch sweeping changes to the way it tests for diesel emissions after getting duped by clandestine software in Volkswagen cars for seven years.
RIDGEVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Volvo is breaking ground on its first factory in North America - a $500 million facility in Berkeley County and about 30 miles northwest of Charleston.
DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai is recalling nearly a half-million midsize cars in the U.S. to replace the engines because a manufacturing problem could cause them to fail.
NASHVILLE (AP) — As an emissions cheating scandal engulfs the German automaker Volkswagen, Tennessee officials are trying to soothe fears about the potential impact on the company's Chattanooga factory, the crown jewel of the state's economic development efforts of the last decade.
BERLIN (AP) — The software at the center of Volkswagen's emissions scandal in the U.S. was built into the automaker's cars in Europe as well, Germany said Thursday, though it isn't yet clear if it helped cheat tests as it did in the U.S.
DETROIT (AP) — If you're driving a diesel-powered four-cylinder Volkswagen, you're stuck with a fun-to-drive machine that's belching unhealthy pollutants from its tailpipe.
HEALTH CARE
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Sticker-shocked patients increasingly wonder why prices for prescription drugs continue to rise in the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government stored sensitive personal information on millions of health insurance customers in a computer system with basic security flaws, according to an official audit that uncovered slipshod practices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a dozen women who received a metallic birth control implant are urging health regulators to pull the device from the market, citing problems including severe pain, irregular bleeding and weight gain.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Somber against a backdrop of grand pageantry, President Barack Obama laid out a fresh threat of sanctions against China for alleged cybercrimes on Friday, even as he and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement not to conduct or support such hacking. "It has to stop," Obama declared.
NEW YORK (AP) — A late slump in health care stocks pushed the market to its third weekly loss this month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Worries about the global economy pushed American consumers' spirits to the lowest level in almost a year, the University of Michigan reported Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at an even faster clip in the spring than previously estimated. But that growth likely slowed in the summer, held back by global headwinds and turbulent financial markets.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday that she expects the Federal Reserve to begin raising interest rates from record lows by the end of the year.
Caterpillar is planning another round of job cuts that could exceed 10,000 people through 2018, as the construction and mining equipment maker adjusts to downturns in key markets that it serves.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The news of House Speaker John Boehner's resignation brought hundreds of religious conservatives to their feet to cheer — and one after another, much of the Republican Party's presidential class joined Friday in their rejoicing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As one of his last moves as House Speaker, John Boehner set the House on course to avoid a government shutdown by advancing a stopgap spending measure free of a dispute over Planned Parenthood's taxpayer funding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With Congress in turmoil, House Speaker John Boehner abruptly informed fellow Republicans on Friday that he would resign from Congress at the end of October, stepping aside in the face of hardline conservative opposition that threatens an institutional crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House GOP leaders have summoned their divided conference for a make-or-break discussion on how to fight taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood without having the battle lead to a government shutdown next week.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The presidential campaign of Republican Carly Fiorina has named state Reps. Mary Littleton and Dawn White co-chairwomen in Tennessee.