VOL. 45 | NO. 36 | Friday, September 3, 2021
REAL ESTATE
McLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average long-term mortgage rate was unchanged from last week as the economy continues to show encouraging signs even as hospitalizations from the delta variant of the coronavirus remain elevated.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Next man up. It’s a saying the Titans and other NFL teams are fond of using as it relates to injuries and backup players stepping into starting roles once injuries occur.
One thing about the Tennessee Titans that might be different this year than any other in a long time is just how steep the competition has been for roster spots.
With the Titans not having a game until Sept. 12 when host Arizona opens the season, we will wait on the traditional four downs until next week. Instead, this week we will look at four areas of concern heading into the regular season.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel returned to work Wednesday after a 10-day quarantine for COVID-19, and the Titans' virus outbreak may be easing up over the next few days.
BRIEFS
Kepro, a health management and technology solutions company with offices in Nashville, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire eQHealth Solutions, LLC.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Automakers are constantly introducing new models and nameplates to their lineups to meet consumer preferences and to keep their lineup fresh. With that comes the need to cycle older models out.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Every few days, my 8-year-old son, Neal, asks if he can “earn something” on Roblox, a popular online video game platform. That’s his way of suggesting I buy him Robux, the platform’s currency, in exchange for him doing a chore or extra academic assignment.
CAREER CORNER
Working from home has been a benefit that has developed over the last year and a-half. It has allowed us to see that we can work outside of the normal work building and still be productive.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Business is not one size fits all. The needs of your office are not the same as those of your competitor’s.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
This Labor Day, some Americans will have extra cash on hand for holiday weekend shopping.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee panel has approved $65 million in state incentives for Oracle Corp. as the company plans to bring 8,500 jobs and an investment topping $1 billion to fast-growing Nashville over the coming decade.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A company that produces supplies for biopharma companies plans to set up a new facility in Tennessee that is expected to create 1,400 jobs.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. said Wednesday that he is running for Tennessee governor.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The academic press that published a Pennsylvania state senator's book about World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York has asked him to review a list of factual errors and sourcing issues in the book and the press' director said Tuesday it plans to publish a corrected version sometime next year.
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee system has extended a mask requirement at its campuses amid the state's continued spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations due to the delta variant.
COURTS
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys sketched dueling portraits of fallen Silicon Valley star Elizabeth Holmes as her trial got underway Wednesday, alternatively portraying her as a greedy villain who faked her way to the top and a passionate underdog whose spent years trying to shake up the health care industry.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Lawsuits have drawn mixed results in opposite ends of Tennessee for Gov. Bill Lee's order that lets parents opt out of school mask requirements, with a federal judge in East Tennessee declining to block the directive after another judge paused the order specifically for the state's largest county, which includes Memphis.
A judge ended parts of a lawsuit against several newspapers that was brought by a podiatrist accused of providing poor care to veterans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The justices are putting the "court" back in Supreme Court.
BOSTON (AP) — The first trial in the "Operation Varsity Blues" college admissions bribery scandal will begin this week, with the potential to shed light on investigators' tactics and brighten the spotlight on a secretive school selection process many have long complained is rigged to favor the rich.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia's highest court on Wednesday made a landmark ruling that media outlets are "publishers" of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former NFL players Clinton Portis, Tamarick Vanover and Robert McCune pleaded guilty for their roles in a nationwide health care fraud scheme and could face years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Solar energy has the potential to supply up to 40% of the nation's electricity within 15 years — a 10-fold increase over current solar output, but one that would require massive changes in U.S. policy and billions of dollars in federal investment to modernize the nation's electric grid, a new federal report says.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has hired a former executive from Apple and Tesla to be the company's head of advanced technology and new embedded systems, a critical post as the auto industry moves to adopt vehicles powered by electricity and guided by computers.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The summer that was supposed to mark America's independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were last March.
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through the end of the year, expanding a call that has largely fallen on deaf ears.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing lower on Wall Street Wednesday following a Federal Reserve report that shows U.S. economic activity slowed this summer amid rising worries over resurgent coronavirus cases and mounting supply chain problems and labor shortages.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. economic activity "downshifted" in July and August due to rising concerns about COVID's delta variant, as well as supply chain problems and labor shortages, the Federal Reserve's latest survey of the nation's business conditions revealed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers posted a record job openings for the second consecutive month in July — more affirmation that the labor market is bouncing back from last year's coronavirus recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is warning Congress that she will run out of maneuvering room to prevent the U.S. from broaching the government's borrowing limit in October.
NEW YORK (AP) — There will be something missing at two Whole Foods stores opening next year: the rows of cashiers.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Technology companies that led the charge into remote work as the pandemic unfurled are confronting a new challenge: how, when and even whether they should bring long-isolated employees back to offices that have been designed for teamwork.
BEIJING (AP) — An avalanche of changes launched by China's ruling Communist Party has jolted everyone from tech billionaires to school kids. Behind them: President Xi Jinping's vision of making a more powerful, prosperous country by reviving revolutionary ideals, with more economic equality and tighter party control over society and entrepreneurs.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has been beset by public health, military and climate crises in the past month. Not much time has been left for a potential political disaster brewing for his party in California.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republicans in America's largest conservative state for years racked up victories under the slogan "Keep Texas Red," a pledge to quash a coming blue wave that Democrats argued was inevitable given shifting demographics.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country music songwriter Paul Overstreet is hosting a concert this week to benefit victims of Tennessee flooding last month in Waverly County.
COURTS
Just six years ago, Elizabeth Holmes seemed destined to fulfill her dream of becoming Silicon Valley's next superstar. She was the subject of business magazine cover stories describing her as the youngest self-made female billionaire in history, former President Bill Clinton was reverently quizzing her about her thoughts on technology, and then Vice President Joe Biden was hailing her ideas as an inspiration.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Environmental activists protesting car culture disrupted traffic on several highways around Munich before the opening Tuesday of a leading auto show in the German city.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The company overseeing the response to a large oil spill spurred by Hurricane Ida said Tuesday that a containment dome has been placed over a broken undersea pipeline, stemming the flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed mostly lower on Wall Street Tuesday as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday, even as gains for some Big Tech companies nudged the Nasdaq composite barely higher.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden refocuses on his $3.5 trillion "build back better" agenda, the White House is preparing an urgent and aggressively populist-styled message for lawmakers and the American public: Whose side are you on?
NEW YORK (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans lost their unemployment benefits on Monday, leaving only a handful of economic support programs for those who are still being hit financially by the year-and-a-half-old coronavirus pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — American veterans groups and others are pleading for U.S. and Taliban action on a weeklong standoff that has left hundreds of would-be evacuees from Afghanistan desperate to board waiting charter flights out of a northern Afghan airport.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaken by haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and subways and other damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, lawmakers from both parties are vowing to upgrade the nation's aging infrastructure network.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks approaches, Americans increasingly balk at intrusive government surveillance in the name of national security, and only about a third believe that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were worth fighting, according to a new poll.
BOSTON (AP) — Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will survey damage in parts of the northeast that suffered catastrophic flash flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, and use the muddy backdrop to call for federal spending to fortify infrastructure so it can better withstand such powerful storms.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6
SPORTS
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Elijah Walker passed for a touchdown and ran for another score to help Grambling beat Tennessee State 16-10 on Sunday night and win the Black College Hall of Fame Classic.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Two games into World Cup qualifying, a rebuilt U.S. soccer team is in trouble.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Officials are investigating a release of toxic ammonia gas at a Middle Tennessee chicken processing plant that led to the evacuation of more than 200 residents.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Monday that it will not tolerate violence against anyone who is trying to obtain an abortion in Texas as federal officials explore options to challenge a new state law that bans most abortions.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Shaken by haunting images of surging rivers, flooded roads and subways and other damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, lawmakers from both parties are vowing to upgrade the nation's aging infrastructure network.
BERLIN (AP) — A major maritime industry association on Monday backed plans for a global surcharge on carbon emissions from shipping to help fund the sector's shift toward climate-friendly fuels.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Divers at the site of an ongoing oil spill that appeared in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida have identified the apparent source as one-foot diameter pipeline displaced from a trench on the ocean floor and broken open.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Ask anyone old enough to remember travel before Sept. 11, 2001, and you're likely to get a gauzy recollection of what flying was like.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Middle East on Monday got its first completely automated cashier-less store, as retail giant Carrefour rolled out its vision for the future of the industry in a cavernous Dubai mall.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The collapse of the Afghan government, a surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the delta variant, devastating weather events, a disappointing jobs report. What next?
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — If Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel's offense is going to work, its got to start on the ground.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Vanderbilt Commodores get a fresh start Saturday night with new coach Clark Lea and a new coaching staff.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday said he has no plans to introduce anti-abortion legislation similar to what Texas adopted earlier this year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Fisk Jubilee Singers, a vocal group at Fisk University whose tradition dates back 150 years, received a $1.5 million anonymous donation to establish a permanent endowment.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The terminated vaccine director in Tennessee has sued the state and says she wants to clear her name.
NEW YORK (AP) — Executives at a New York hedge fund have agreed to pay as much as $7 billion to settle a long-running dispute with the U.S. tax authorities, according to reports Thursday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Daimler on Friday dismissed a "cease and desist" demand from two environmental groups to commit to ending the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2030.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal and state agencies say they are responding to reports of oil and chemical spills resulting from Hurricane Ida following the publication of aerial photos by The Associated Press.
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. weather agency says the world — and especially urban areas — experienced a brief, sharp drop in emissions of air pollutants last year amid lockdown measures and related travel restrictions put in place over the coronavirus pandemic.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NASHVILLE (AP) — As hospitalizations, deaths and COVID-19 case numbers continue to climb in Tennessee, health experts on Friday pleaded with the public to get vaccinated and continue to wear a mask.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's plans to start delivery of booster shots by Sept. 20 for most Americans who received the COVID-19 vaccines are facing new complications that could delay the availability of third doses for those who received the Moderna vaccine, administration officials said Friday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Tyson Foods is offering its front-line workers paid sick leave for the first time, part of an agreement that secured union support for its mandate that all U.S. employees get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and coronavirus vaccine-maker AstraZeneca said Friday that they have clinched an agreement to end a damaging legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the Anglo-Swedish company's shots.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has appealed a judge's ruling that the governor exceeded his authority by ordering school boards not to impose strict mask requirements on students to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Major stock indexes on Wall Street closed mostly lower Friday, though a rally in Big Tech companies nudged the Nasdaq to another all-time high.
DETROIT (AP) — After putting a herd of UAW officials in prison, federal prosecutors said Friday they're sharing additional evidence with a court-appointed watchdog who has authority to pursue other misconduct inside the union.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators said Friday that Kraft Heinz Co. will pay $62 million to settle charges of accounting wrongdoing that led the company to report overly rosy financial results, which were later corrected.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the services sector, where most Americans work, slowed in August after setting a record pace in July.
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring and the clearest sign to date that the delta variant's spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out.
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans have become obsessed with collectibles, bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos of their youth. The frenzy has brought small fortunes to some, but a deep frustration for those who still love to play games or trade cards as a hobby.
Over the past week or so, Apple has eased some longstanding restrictions that helped make its App Store into a big moneymaker for the company. The company has long required app developers to pay high commissions to Apple on the sales of paid apps as well as purchases of subscriptions or digital items inside their apps.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday directing the declassification of certain documents related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a supportive gesture to victims' families who have long sought the records in hopes of implicating the Saudi government.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden could get his first glimpse at the destruction wrought by Hurricane Ida even before he landed in Louisiana on Friday, with blue tarps covering shredded roofs of houses and uprooted trees visible as Air Force One approached New Orleans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At least 50,000 Afghans are expected to be admitted into the United States following the fall of Kabul as part of an "enduring commitment" to help people who aided the American war effort and others who are particularly vulnerable under Taliban rule, the secretary of homeland security said Friday.
PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona man who sported face paint, no shirt and a furry hat with horns when he joined the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge and wants to be released from jail while he awaits sentencing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling for greater public resolve to confront climate change and help the nation deal with the fierce storms, flooding and wildfires that have beset the country as he makes a sojourn to hurricane-battered Louisiana on Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday that Congress should take a "strategic pause" on more spending, warning that he does not support President Joe Biden's plans for a sweeping $3.5 trillion effort to rebuild and reshape the economy.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey says his body helped him make the hard decision to retire from the NFL after 10 seasons, the first nine with the Tennessee Titans and the last with Denver.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Josh Heupel era at Tennessee begins Thursday night, and the Volunteers' latest new head coach finally will debut his high-octane offense against Bowling Green.
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama and The Poor People's Campaign have been chosen to receive Freedom Awards from the National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man has been charged with taking part in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, federal court documents showed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday blasted the Supreme Court's decision not to block a new Texas law banning most abortions in the state and directed federal agencies to do what they can to "insulate women and providers" from the impact.
HEALTH CARE
NEW YORK (AP) — Joan MacDonald's health was in shambles at age 71. She was overweight and on numerous medications with high cholesterol, rising blood pressure and kidney trouble.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The global shortage of computer chips is getting worse, forcing automakers to temporarily close factories including those that build popular pickup trucks.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — A new president and CEO has been named to lead the National Corvette Museum in southern Kentucky.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Automaker Stellantis NV, which was formed earlier this year by a merger involving Fiat Chrysler, said Wednesday it will pay $285 million for an auto-finance company to provide loans and leases to customers through its dealers.
TRANSPORTATION
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that Virgin Galactic cannot launch anyone into space again until an investigation is complete into a mishap that occurred during July's flight with founder Richard Branson.
TECHNOLOGY
The auto industry has raced ahead on an electric wave with more manufacturers joining the race seemingly every day.
LONDON (AP) — Ireland's privacy watchdog has fined WhatsApp a record 225 million euros ($267 million) after an investigation found it breached stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency about sharing people's data with other Facebook companies.
LONDON (AP) — Apple is relaxing rules to allow some app developers such as Spotify, Netflix and digital publishers to include an outside link so users can sign up for paid subscription accounts.
BOSTON (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission has for the first time banned a company that makes so-called stalkerware — software used to surreptitiously track a cellphone user's activities and location — from continuing in the surveillance app business.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says it is investigating reports of possible oil spills resulting from Hurricane Ida after the publication of aerial photos by The Associated Press.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines? They can require vaccination and fire employees who don't comply, or take other actions such as withholding company perks or charging extra for health insurance.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The number of children contracting COVID-19 now makes up 40% of all of Tennessee's cases, according to the state Department of Health.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The stock market recovered from an afternoon stumble and ended with modest gains Thursday, enough to mark more record highs for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
NEW YORK (AP) — Landing a waitressing job or bartending gig at the Lost Dog Cafe in Northern Virginia had never been easy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 340,000, a pandemic low and another sign that the job market is steadily rebounding from the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The U.S. trade deficit narrowed slightly to $70.1 billion in July as economic recovery overseas helped boost American exports while imports declined.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans who have depended on federal unemployment aid as a financial lifeline are about to lose those benefits just as the delta variant of the coronavirus poses a renewed threat to the economy and the job market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have promoted Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, placing her in a leadership spot on the panel as some Republicans are threatening to oust her from the GOP conference for participating.
A monthslong campaign by the Republican Party, fueled in part by the false narrative of widespread fraud in last year's presidential election, has led to a wave of new voting laws that will tighten access to the ballot for millions of Americans.
BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel will leave office as one of modern Germany's longest-serving leaders and a global diplomatic heavyweight, with a legacy defined by her management of a succession of crises that shook a fragile Europe rather than any grand visions for her own country.
BRDO CASTLE, Slovenia (AP) — Still reeling from the European Union's shortcomings in Afghanistan, officials from the 27-nation bloc met Thursday to discuss ways to improve their response to future crises and not be so reliant on the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it's "possible" the United States will seek to coordinate with the Taliban on counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan against Islamic State militants or others.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Far right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are planning to attend a rally later this month at the U.S. Capitol that is designed to demand "justice" for the hundreds of people who have been charged in connection with January's insurrection, according to three people familiar with intelligence gathered by federal officials.