VOL. 45 | NO. 44 | Friday, October 29, 2021
Big wins, favorable schedule flip the story line
With back-to-back home wins against what was supposed to be two of the best teams the AFC has to offer – Buffalo and Kansas City – you can expect the Tennessee Titans to begin getting some long-sought – at least in the eyes of fans – national recognition.
With Derrick Henry’s work Monday Night Football came the type of attention that rarely finds its way to the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans have a golden opportunity to all but lock up the AFC South if they can win at Indianapolis Sunday. The Titans are 5-2 and already have a win against the Colts Sept. 26. That game was played when Colts QB Carson Wentz was hampered by two ankle sprains, and the Titans were able to take advantage and cruise to an early season win. In the rematch, the Titans can really gain the upper hand with a win or breathe life back into the Colts’ season with a loss.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Swapping out a bunch of players for new ones combined with others playing better has made a world of difference for the Tennessee defense.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
Here we are, 28 years down the road, same situation, no better off. I wrote about it then, for The Tennessean. My lead now could be the same:
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The 2021 real estate market is a paradoxical mélange of sales juxtaposed with contract terminations, some houses selling in minutes while some homes linger on the market for months.
UT SPORTS
The infinity ring hidden under white athletic tape is a constant source of inspiration during games for Tara Katz. The University of Tennessee junior outside back never removes it from her left hand.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Sophomore quarterback Harrison Bailey is leaving Tennessee after finding himself third on the depth chart under first-year coach Josh Heupel.
NEWSMAKERS
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has hired Van P. East III to the firm’s real estate practice group as a partner in the Nashville office.
BRIEFS
LifePoint Health and Kindred Healthcare have announced plans to establish a new health care company operating under the name ScionHealth upon closing of their previously announced transaction.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The Volkswagen Taos and Chevrolet Trailblazer are two of the latest in a growing crowd of extra-small crossover SUVs. These entry-level crossovers provide plenty of utility in a relatively small package and offer many features found in larger SUVs. Cutting back on size doesn’t mean cutting back on convenience.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Some of the early signs of dementia are financial, forgetting to pay bills, for example, or having trouble calculating a tip. People who develop dementia also are more likely to miss credit card payments and have subprime credit scores years before they’re diagnosed, a study published last year in medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine finds.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Well, this is not working. You can clearly see a problem, and everyone online agrees with you. It’s not working and the fix, duh!, is painfully obvious. So, now where do you take this idea of yours? To a network TV show or a corporation, a laboratory or a bank? Or, as Katrine Marçal explains in her new book, “Mother of Invention,” it might depend on your gender.
CAREER CORNER
Happy Halloween! In celebration, I want to share a frightening job interview story.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
There are some things no one wants to think about until they have to, like caregiving for your parents as they age and figuring out what happens to your finances when you die. But planning for these events now can spare you and your loved ones a lot of hassle later on.
NASHVILLE SC
CINCINNATI (AP) — C.J. Sapong and Randall Leal each scored two goals and Nashville beat Cincinnati 6-3 on Wednesday night to clinch a playoff spot.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's state veterinarian this week reminded horse owners to protect their animals from West Nile Virus after a horse in Weakley County that contracted the disease had to be euthanized.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The building that houses the new Tennessee State Museum now bears the name of former Gov. Bill Haslam.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee senator who was recently indicted on charges that he violated federal campaign finance laws announced Wednesday that he will step aside as chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen lowered its forecast for deliveries to customers Thursday and reported a decrease in operating profits for the third quarter as the global shortage of semiconductors disproportionately hit the company's business in China despite strong demand for its cars there.
DETROIT (AP) — The global computer chip shortage cut into third-quarter profits at both Ford and crosstown rival General Motors, with both companies having to temporarily close factories, pinching supplies on dealer lots.
MEDIA
LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers grilled Facebook on Thursday over how it handles online safety as European countries move to rein in the power of social media companies, with the tech giant's head of safety saying the company supports regulation and has no business interest in providing people with an "unsafe experience."
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Is it OK to go trick-or-treating during the pandemic?
A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Truck driver Andriy Melnik never took the coronavirus seriously. With a friend, he bought a fake vaccination certificate so his travel documents would appear in order when he hauled cargo to other parts of Europe.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell to a pandemic low last week as the job market continues to recover from last year's coronavirus recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hampered by rising COVID-19 cases and persistent supply shortages, the U.S. economy slowed sharply to a 2% annual growth rate in the July-September period, the weakest quarterly expansion since the recovery from the pandemic recession began last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — ExxonMobil's chief executive said Thursday that his company "does not spread disinformation regarding climate change" as he and other oil company chiefs countered congressional allegations the industry concealed evidence about the dangers of it.
Starbucks said Wednesday it is raising its U.S. employees' pay and making other changes to improve working conditions in its stores.
TOKYO (AP) — Sony reported Thursday that its profit fell 54% in the last quarter, mainly due to a one-time tax-related gain that inflated last year's number.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics on Thursday reported its highest quarterly profit in three years as it continues to see robust global demand for its computer memory chips.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank decided Thursday to keep its pandemic stimulus efforts unchanged even as consumer prices spike and central banks in other parts of the world look to dial back support as their economies bounce back from the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden traveled to Capitol Hill early Thursday to make the case to House Democrats for a dramatically scaled-back domestic policy package, $1.75 trillion of social services and climate change programs the White House believes can pass the 50-50 Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After months of talks with Democratic lawmakers, President Joe Biden outlined Thursday a $1.75 trillion framework to support families and education as well as protect against global warming.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland defended a Justice Department memo aimed at combating threats and violence against teachers, administrators and other school officials while Republicans insisted that he rescind the directive. He signaled no plans to do so despite their criticism
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden promised to show the world that democracies can work to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As he prepares to push that message at a pair of global summits, his case could hinge on what's happening in Washington, where he is rushing to finalize a major domestic legislative package.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Democrats signaled a deal is within reach on President Joe Biden's big domestic bill but momentum fizzled and tempers flared late Wednesday as a paid family leave proposal fell out and a billionaires' tax appeared scrapped, mostly to satisfy a pivotal member of the 50-50 Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden and Democrats try to get a roughly $2 trillion package over the finish line, a new poll shows that fewer than half of Americans approve of how they have handled the spending bill. And many say they know little to nothing about it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has focused some of its early work on the planning of the rally at which President Donald Trump told his supporters to "fight like hell." The rally, held that morning and planned by former White House and campaign aides, became a staging ground for hundreds of supporters who marched to the Capitol, pushed past police and broke inside.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian officials praised their "steel friendship" with China during talks on Thursday with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi amid fears in the West that by heavily investing in the Balkan state, Beijing is trying to exert its political influence in that part of Europe.