VOL. 43 | NO. 37 | Friday, September 13, 2019
JIM MYERS: CULINARITY
The pawpaws ripen in the heat, fall to the ground and, in short order, sprint from soft to rot. This time of year they demand attention.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Somewhere in all the excitement of Sunday’s season-opening 43-13 victory in Cleveland, a very important, but perhaps under-appreciated occurrence took place that, if it keeps up, could help the Tennessee Titans throughout the 2019 season.
The Titans stunned the Cleveland Browns in the season opener and now return home on a day that will be special even before the ball is kicked off against the visiting Indianapolis Colts.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are honoring their past by retiring the Nos. 27 and 9 of Eddie George and the late Steve McNair.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Residential real estate is loaded with myths and misinformation. Well meaning, well heeled, highly educated men and women of brilliance often utter sentences that make responses difficult.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week but remained at historically low levels.
UT SPORTS
Stephanie Bible had just picked up her first set of hearing aids at a location near the University of Tennessee campus. She was only 4, suffered from partial hearing loss and had already gone through cancer treatment.
NEWSMAKERS
Baker Donelson’s Nashville law office announces that seven of its attorneys have been named Lawyers of the Year by the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America.
BRIEFS
Nashville’s 6th & Peabody, the 30,000-square-foot entertainment complex at 423 6th Ave., has officially opened.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Breaking up can be hard to do if the other party doesn’t want to let you go. People who move out of high-tax states may learn this the hard way — through a residency audit.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Many college-bound students, whether it be a freshman leaving home for the first time or a grad student needing more reliable transportation, require the purchase of a vehicle. To help out, Edmunds has identified five common requirements for college drivers and recommended a slightly used vehicle for each.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Carrie Underwood, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay and Thomas Rhett will be honored as the country's top stars at the 10th annual CMT Artists of the Year television special.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — Comcast's NBCUniversal said Tuesday that its upcoming streaming service will be called Peacock, in an homage to NBC's logo. It will become the home for some of the company's most popular shows, including "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office."
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Contract talks between General Motors and the United Auto Workers were set to resume Tuesday as a strike by more than 49,000 employees extended into a second day.
HEALTH CARE
NEW YORK (AP) — Purdue Pharma gets its day in court Tuesday after the OxyContin maker filed for bankruptcy and negotiated a potential multi-billion dollar settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factory output increased in August at a solid clip, reversing a sharp drop in July, as production of metals, machinery and chemicals all rose.
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese envoy will head to Washington on Wednesday to prepare for trade negotiations.
TOKYO (AP) — Officials in Japan appeared wary over the prospects for a trade deal with the U.S. after President Donald Trump said he was prepared to sign a pact soon.
HONG KONG (AP) — AB InBev, the world's largest brewer that produces Budweiser and Corona, on Tuesday revived plans to list its Asian business in Hong Kong but halved the size of its initial public offering to $4.8 billion.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — As they investigate President Donald Trump, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will hold their first official hearing in what they are calling an impeachment investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The good news is that it doesn't look like a bitterly polarized Washington will stumble into another government shutdown.
LONDON (AP) — The British government and its opponents faced off Tuesday at Britain's Supreme Court , arguing in a high-stakes legal drama over whether new Prime Minister Boris Johnson broke the law by suspending Parliament at a crucial time ahead of Britain's impending departure from the European Union.
MONDAY, SEPT. 16
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A bodybuilder from Nashville, Tennessee, has won the 2019 Mr. Olympia competition and the title's $400,000 prize.
REGION
EPES, Ala. (AP) — More than a century in the making, the 234-mile (376-kilometer) Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway was supposed to fulfill a dream of "orderly growth and prosperity" when it opened in 1985, snaking its way through the poor, rural Deep South.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota finds himself needing a strong performance on a short week to help erase a struggling performance in the Titans' home opener.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Colts keep changing quarterbacks, not that it matters when they play the Titans.
UT SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee linebacker Jeremy Banks was arrested early Sunday morning after a records check during a traffic stop revealed he had an active warrant for failure to appear on an earlier charge.
HEALTH CARE
BOSTON (AP) — OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has embarked on a multibillion-dollar plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the nation's deadly opioid crisis by transforming itself in bankruptcy court into a sort of hybrid between a business and a charity.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — More than 49,000 members of the United Auto Workers went on strike Monday against General Motors, bringing more than 50 factories and parts warehouses to a standstill in the union's first walkout against the No. 1 U.S. automaker in over a decade.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to 127 million Australian dollars ($87 million) to settle an Australian class action stemming from the 2015 diesel emissions scandal, the German automaker and a lawyer said Monday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Airlines, cruise lines and other companies in fuel-dependent industries dragged U.S. stocks lower Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabia's biggest oil processing facility sent crude prices soaring.
NEW YORK (AP) — They're simple, cheap and now the most popular way for many people to invest in the U.S. stock market: index funds.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For a second straight time, the Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates this week to try to protect the economy from the consequences of a global slowdown and President Donald Trump's trade war with China.
NEW YORK (AP) — Small manufacturers and retailers are losing confidence in the national economy yet remain upbeat about their own prospects.
Global energy prices spiked Monday by 15% after a weekend attack on key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia caused the worst disruption to world supplies on record.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The weekend drone attack on the world's largest crude oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia that dramatically cut into global oil supplies is the most visible sign yet of how Aramco's stability and security is directly linked to that of its owners — the Saudi government and its ruling family.
LUXEMBOURG (AP) — Boris Johnson was booed by protesters and berated by Luxembourg's leader on a visit to the tiny nation Monday for his first face-to-face talks with the European Union chief about securing an elusive Brexit deal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City prosecutors have subpoenaed President Donald Trump's tax returns, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Oversight Committee says it is investigating whether Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao acted improperly to benefit herself or her family's shipping company.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. tried to build its case Monday that Iran was behind the fiery weekend attack on key Saudi Arabian oil facilities that raised new war worries and sent energy prices soaring. Iran denied responsibility, while President Donald Trump said the United States was "locked and loaded" to respond if necessary.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The country described by the Democrats running for president is mired in child poverty, riven with economic unfairness and broken in its approach to health care, crime and guns. The country presented by President Donald Trump is roaring and ascendant , shattering all economic records for performance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Democratic presidential candidates have lined up to call for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the face of a new, uninvestigated allegation of sexual impropriety when he was in college.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 13
EDUCATION
NASHVILLE (AP) — Top education officials say they are preparing to implement Tennessee's newly enacted voucher law a full year ahead of schedule while unveiling key requirements surrounding the program.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — John Cooper has won the election for Nashville mayor, giving the growing southern city its third mayor in less than two years.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — P.K. Subban now is with the New Jersey Devils, and Matt Duchene finally is a member of the Nashville Predators.
COURTS
MEMPHIS (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the security of voting machines in Tennessee's largest county and calling for a switch to a handwritten ballot and a voter-verifiable paper trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court in Washington on Friday threw out a 5-cent hike to the price of a first class "Forever Stamp" along with other adjustments made in January to the price of first-class mail.
BOSTON (AP) — "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison for paying $15,000 to rig her daughter's SAT scores in the college admissions scandal that ensnared dozens of wealthy and well-connected parents.
For months, the judge overseeing national litigation over the opioids crisis urged all sides to reach a settlement that could end thousands of lawsuits filed by state and local governments.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that a lawsuit against opioid makers can move forward, overturning a lower court that had dismissed the claims.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has blocked Tennessee's new restrictions for registering voters from taking effect on Oct. 1, saying Thursday that any benefit of the law won't likely outweigh its potential harm.
FRANKLIN (AP) — A Tennessee woman has pleaded guilty to attempting to poison her children with a mixture of NyQuil and antidepressants.
STATEWIDE
KNOXVILLE (AP) — A 97.5-ton rock that's often painted by students to promote events at the University of Tennessee was covered by an anti-Semitic message on the anniversary of the terror attacks.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — A federal magistrate judge has banned two men found guilty of bear poaching from hunting anywhere or entering any national forest for two years.
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — If you're carrying a gun, the Publix supermarket chain doesn't want to see it.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — John Prine's winning streak has continued at the Americana Music Association's annual awards ceremony in Nashville, though his two-year reign as Americana artist of the year has ended.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Leaders of the United Auto Workers union have extended contracts with Ford and Fiat Chrysler indefinitely, but the pact with General Motors is still set to expire Saturday night.
DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's road safety agency is investigating complaints that the Nissan Rogue's automatic emergency braking can turn on when no obstacle is in the way.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Environmentalist staged a protest Thursday at the start of the Frankfurt Motor Show, hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that her government and the country's powerful automakers face a "Herculean task" meeting the goals set for combating climate change.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — House lawmakers investigating the market dominance of Big Tech are asking Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple for a broad range of documents including internal communications.
PARIS (AP) — Tech giant Google says it has paid over one billion dollars to French authorities to settle a years-long dispute over allegations of tax fraud.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook is trying to coax "news deserts" into bloom with the second major expansion of a tool that exposes people to more local news and information. But the social network confesses that it still has a lot to learn.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump gets some of his worst marks from the American people when it comes to his handling of climate change, and majorities believe the planet is warming and support government actions that he has sometimes scoffed at.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The S&P 500 notched its third straight weekly gain Friday, even as the major U.S. stock indexes ended the day mostly lower.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to pay $11 billion to a group of insurance companies representing most of the claims from Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018 as the company tries to emerge from bankruptcy, the utility announced Friday.
LONDON (AP) — The London Stock Exchange is rejecting an unsolicited takeover bid from its Hong Kong counterpart, citing "fundamental concerns" about the offer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose moderately in August, driven higher by a jump in auto buying and healthy online sales, evidence that consumers are still spending enough to support growth.
BEIJING (AP) — China will lift punitive tariffs imposed on U.S. soybeans and pork in a trade war with Washington, a state news agency said Friday, adding to conciliatory gestures by the two sides ahead of negotiations.
LONDON (AP) — Officials say British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hold Brexit talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government's budget deficit increased by $169 billion to $1.07 trillion in the first 11 months of this budget year as spending grew faster than tax collections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are struggling mightily to invigorate their economies at a time when growth is slowing, governments remain on the sidelines and the banks' usual stimulative tools appear less effective than in the past.
Stocks rose on Wall Street Thursday after the U.S. and China took steps to ease tensions in their costly trade war, putting investors in a buying mood.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump's nomination of Michelle Bowman to serve a full 14-year term on the seven-member Federal Reserve board.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China traded conciliatory gestures, raising hopes they can de-escalate a standoff over trade that has shaken financial markets and cast gloom over the global economy.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank delivered a new blast of monetary stimulus Thursday to help the shaky economy in the face of uncertainties like the U.S.-China trade conflict and Brexit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices slowed in August, rising by a slight 0.1%, reflecting a big drop in the cost of gasoline and other energy products.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican-controlled Senate committee on Thursday rejected Democratic attempts to cut President Donald Trump's latest border wall request and prevent him from again funding the project without congressional approval. Democrats threatened to filibuster a Pentagon spending bill.
HOUSTON (AP) — Joe Biden parried attack after attack from liberal rivals Thursday night on everything from health care to immigration in a debate that showcased profound ideological divides between the Democratic Party's moderate and progressive wings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden is the Democratic front-runner. And there were moments in Thursday night's debate when he looked the part.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pledged Thursday to protect the Second Amendment, hours after huddling with top advisers to discuss gun control measures he might be willing to publicly stand behind.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican-controlled Senate committee approved a Pentagon funding bill on Thursday, rejecting Democratic attempts to cut President Donald Trump's border wall request and his moves to pay for the project without congressional approval.
The CEOs of more than 100 companies are stepping into the nation's gun debate, imploring Congress to expand background checks and enact a strong "red flag" law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler says there's no confusion about what his committee is doing: It's an impeachment investigation, no matter how you want to phrase it.