VOL. 44 | NO. 13 | Friday, March 27, 2020
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
As an early-warning coronavirus screening, Kayne tested our new temporal thermometer on my forehead for evidence of a fever. Initial results – 87.6 degrees – showed I was apparently freezing to death
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Rick French, a veteran real estate agent with more than 40 years of experience, was a leader in demonstrating protocol at the advent of the COVID-19 epidemic, requiring booties, gloves and eyewear to be worn during showings of his listings.
GUEST COLUMNIST
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order Friday that gave much-needed relief and guidance on how governing bodies may conduct meetings electronically in light of a need to contain the spread of coronavirus.
NEWSMAKERS
The Mid-South Commercial Law Institute recently elected Stites & Harbison PLLC attorney Erika Barnes as one of five new directors of its 25-member board of directors. She will serve a five-year term.
BRIEFS
Due to Covid-19 virus, the Davidson County Clerk’s Main Office and Green Hills branch will be closed to the general public, but some branch offices will be open.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Tires are of vital importance since they are the only part of the vehicle that makes contact with the road. Yet motorists often neglect their condition and age, and the results can be catastrophic.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Saving and investing for retirement might actually be easier than deciding how to safely spend what you’ve accumulated.
CAREER CORNER
If you were to look for a new job, where would it be? Very often, when we’re searching for a new job, we look in our immediate area. We look for something within driving distance of our home.
NASHVILLE AREA
Mayor John Cooper today announced that more than $1,931,600 in disaster loans have been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration for Davidson County businesses and residents with losses resulting from the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding on March 3. Seventy-six disaster loans have been approved statewide in the amount of $5,078,200 for affected survivors.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Lee says "legal challenges" are preventing Tennessee's top health officials from releasing location information on where coronavirus deaths have occurred in the state.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Knox County's judges have ordered the sheriff's office to book and release all arrestees charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies in an effort to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while Memphis has canceled all out-of-custody court dates in April.
MEMPHIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has extended a deadline for funding requests by rural communities and businesses seeking to improve high-speed broadband internet access.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The American Red Cross announced Monday that it once again was extending the deadline for emergency financial help for Middle Tennessee residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed earlier this month by several deadly tornadoes.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — In Sandwich, New Hampshire, a town of 1,200 best known as the setting for the movie "On Golden Pond," broadband is scarce. Forget streaming Netflix, much less working or studying from home. Even the police department has trouble uploading its reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a grim reality of surging coronavirus cases, President Donald Trump is making premature assertions about relatively low death rates in the U.S. and revising history about how seriously he viewed the threat, including the need for ventilators.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Like forecasters tracking a megastorm, White House officials are relying on statistical models to help predict the impact of the coronavirus outbreak and try to protect as many people as possible.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The two doctors spread out their charts on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
The coronavirus has dealt a financial blow to millions of Americans and now April's bills are coming due.
The IRS and the Treasury Department say Americans will start receiving their economic impact checks in the next three weeks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence tumbled this month to its lowest level in nearly three years as the impact of the coronavirus on the economy began to be felt.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is intervening once again to try to smooth out the world's lending markets, this time by lending dollars to other central banks in exchange for Treasurys.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments on Tuesday related to the global economy, the work place and the spread of the virus.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon fired a worker who organized a walkout at a New York warehouse to demand greater protection against the new coronavirus, saying the employee himself flouted distancing rules and put others at risk.
DALLAS (AP) — The Treasury Department wants airlines to say how they will compensate the government for $25 billion in grants used to keep employees on the payroll during the coronavirus outbreak.
Andy Hunter, founder of a new online sales outlet for independent booksellers, had seen a crisis building well before the coronavirus pandemic shut down many of the country's stores.
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's, Kohl's and Gap Inc. all said Monday they will stop paying tens of thousands of employees who were thrown out of work when the chains temporarily closed their stores and sales collapsed as a result of the pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The World Bank is estimating that the cornavirus outbreak will cause economic growth to slow significantly this year in China and other East Asian-Pacific countries, throwing millions into poverty.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in the 19 countries that use the euro currency sagged to 0.7% in March from 1.2% February as the virus outbreak and an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia rippled through the economy.
REAL ESTATE
BALTIMORE (AP) — U.S. home price growth was showing signs of acceleration in January, a sign of the solid demand that existed before the coronavirus outbreak caused millions of job losses and tossed the U.S. economy into a likely recession.
ENVIRONMENT
BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — At a former open pit copper mine filled with billions of gallons of toxic water, sirens and loud pops from propane cannons echo off the granite walls to scare away birds so they don't land.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration rolled back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards Tuesday, raising the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come and gutting one of the United States' biggest efforts against climate change.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says President Donald Trump's impeachment trial distracted the federal government from the novel coronavirus as it reached the United States in January, despite warnings at the time from public health experts and members of Congress about the spread of the virus.
BEIJING (AP) — Huawei's chairman warned Tuesday that more U.S. moves to increase pressure on the Chinese tech giant might trigger retaliation by Beijing that could damage its worldwide industry.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday renewed several waivers on U.S. sanctions against Iran, allowing Russian, European and Chinese companies to continue to work on Iran's civilian nuclear facilities without drawing American penalties.
MONDAY, MARCH 30
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Nashville judge has ruled against two students and a teacher who are attempting to block the proposed merger between Watkins College of Art and Belmont University.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt University in Tennessee named Lorenzo Candelaria as dean of the Blair School of Music.
MIDSTATE
An outbreak of the new coronavirus at a Tennessee nursing home has forced the facility to be temporarily closed for cleaning with dozens of residents and staff members sent into quarantine, Gov. Bill Lee's office and a hospital said Sunday night.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — John Prine is in stable condition after being placed on a ventilator while being treated for COVID-19-type symptoms, his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine said Monday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Country singer Joe Diffie, who had a string of hits in the 1990s with chart-topping ballads and honky-tonk singles like "Home" and "Pickup Man," has died after testing positive for COVID-19. He was 61.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Singer-songwriter Jan Howard, who had a No. 1 country hit "For Loving You" with Bill Anderson and wrote hits for others like Kitty Wells' "It's All Over But the Crying," has died at age 91, according to the Grand Ole Opry.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Outside the black gates at Room In The Inn, more than 100 members of Nashville's homeless community stand waiting for their lunch ticket numbers to be called.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a statewide "safer-at-home" order on Monday to help stem the rapid spread of coronavirus, mandating the closure of all nonessential businesses while urging residents to remain at home whenever possible for the next two weeks.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Siding with public health experts' dire projections, President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to extend restrictive social distancing guidelines through the end of April, while bracing the nation for a coronavirus death toll that could exceed 100,000 people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The two doctors spread out their charts on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bracing the nation for a coronavirus death toll that could exceed 100,000 people, President Donald Trump extended restrictive social distancing guidelines through April, bowing to public health experts who presented him with even more dire projections for the expanding coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, President Donald Trump carved out a trail of groundless assurances about the coronavirus pandemic as health officials, governors and local officials sounded alarm about what was coming — and already here. That sunlit trail now has hit a wall.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A gun rights group is cheering the Trump administration's designation of the firearms industry, including retailers, as part of the nation's critical infrastructure during the coronavirus emergency.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Older people remain most at risk of dying as the new coronavirus continues its rampage around the globe, but they're far from the only ones vulnerable. One of many mysteries: Men seem to be faring worse than women.
REAL ESTATE
BALTIMORE (AP) — Americans signed more contracts in February to buy homes, but the gains are likely relics of a moment before the coronavirus outbreak sent the U.S. economy spiraling into a likely recession.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Some Instacart and Amazon warehouse workers walked off the job Monday demanding greater safeguards against the coronavirus, even as both companies are speed-hiring hundreds of thousands of new workers to handle a surge in delivery orders.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Monday, led by big gains for health care companies announcing developments that could aid in the coronavirus outbreak.
NEW YORK (AP) — When will the money arrive?
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's says it will temporarily stop paying tens of thousands of employees who were thrown out of work when the chain closed its stores in response to collapsing sales during the pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A $500 billion federal aid package for companies and governments hurt by the coronavirus includes rules aimed at ensuring that the taxpayer money is used in ways that would help sustain the economy. But questions are being raised about whether those guardrails will prevent the kinds of abuses that have marked some corporate bailouts of the past.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments on Monday related to the global economy, the work place and the spread of the virus.
BANGKOK (AP) — World markets started the week with more losses as countries reported surging numbers of infections from the coronavirus, forcing prolonged shutdowns of travel and business in many regions.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A group of leading economists say Germany, Europe's largest economy, will suffer a deep slump in the first half of this year but should rebound relatively quickly from the disruption of the virus outbreak.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Europe's fractured union came under new pressure this weekend, as Italy and Spain pleaded for urgent European help to withstand the virus ordeal but Germany showed reluctance to plunge into any radical new solutions.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DALLAS (AP) — U.S. gasoline prices have dropped to their lowest levels in four years, and they are almost sure to go lower as oil prices plunge.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is poised to roll back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the United States' biggest efforts against climate change.
ENVIRONMENT
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park is done capturing wild bison for the year after rounding up almost 550 of the wild animals and sending most to slaughter as part of a population control program, park officials said.
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
EDUCATION
KNOXVILLE (AP) — The University of Tennessee Board of Trustees on Friday voted unanimously to appoint Interim President Randy Boyd to a 5-year term as president.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt guard Aaron Nesmith is forgoing his final two seasons of eligibility to enter the NBA draft.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has landed a $476,000 federal grant to support the mental health needs of victims of deadly tornadoes earlier this month.
STATE GOVERNMENT
The coronavirus is pounding state governments with a financial one-two punch, costing them many millions to try to contain the disease just as businesses are shutting down and tax revenue is collapsing. The sharp drop in revenue could jeopardize some states' ability to provide basic services.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — A publicist for Joe Diffie says the country singer has tested positive for COVID-19.
REGION
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Fort Campbell has recorded its first case of the new coronavirus at the Army installation.
ENVIRONMENT
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has announced that Executive Order No. 19, issued March 24 by Governor Bill Lee, suspends requirements for vehicle emissions testing in Tennessee March 12-May 18.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday abruptly waived enforcement on a range of legally mandated public health and environmental protections, saying industries could have trouble complying with them during the coronavirus pandemic.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump attacked General Motors Friday, alleging that the company promised to build thousands more breathing machines than it can deliver for coronavirus patients and that it wants too much money for them.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy, the military service hit hardest by the coronavirus, scrambled Friday to contain its first at-sea outbreak, with at least two dozen infected aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, one of 11 active aircraft carriers whose mission is central to the Pentagon's strategy for deterring war with China and Iran.
PHUKET, Thailand (AP) — From the sun-soaked beaches of Thailand to the foothills of Mount Everest in Nepal, tourists across Asia are finding their dream vacations have turned into travel nightmares as airlines cancel flights and countries close their borders in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
CINCINNATI (AP) — In the battle to keep their New York City restaurant going despite sharp restrictions during the coronavirus outbreak, the owners of Il Posto Accanto are relying on something Beatrice Tosci would have considered sacrilege in normal times.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the millions of Americans living under some form of lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, not knowing when the restrictions will end is a major source of anxiety. Will life events — weddings, funerals, even just simple nights out with friends — be delayed for a few weeks, a few months or much longer?
In some parts of the U.S., authorities say gun shops aren't essential businesses and should close during stay-at-home orders meant to slow the coronavirus. In other places, officials are stopping background checks for concealed carry permits. Elsewhere, city leaders have invoked emergency powers allowing bans on gun sales.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When a federal correction officer geared up for duty recently at a Florida prison complex, he added an N95 mask amid coronavirus fears. He has a sister who had an organ transplant and an elderly mother at home.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund said Friday it is clear that the global economy has now entered a recession that could be as bad or worse than the 2009 downturn.
Wall Street closed lower Friday but still notched big gains for the week as investors held out hope that a $2 trillion rescue package will cushion businesses and households from the economic devastation being caused by the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion economic rescue package into law Friday, after swift and near-unanimous action by Congress this week to support businesses, rush resources to overburdened health care providers and help struggling families during the deepening coronavirus epidemic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Thomas Massie has always gone his own way in Congress, ever since he first ran for office inspired by a fellow libertarian-leaning Kentuckian, Rand Paul.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans increased their spending by a modest amount in February but the expectation is that spending will be hit hard in coming months reflecting the shutdown of the American economy by the coronavirus.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to the global economy, the work place and the spread of the virus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared that "I'll be the oversight" as lawmakers were in the final days of drafting what became a $2.2 trillion rescue plan for American businesses. In the end, Congress ensured that won't be the case.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the coronavirus crisis, even doctors can face a cash crunch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The $2 trillion legislative package moving through Congress to shore up the U.S. economy devastated by the coronavirus was carefully written to prevent President Donald Trump and his family from profiting from the federal fund. But the fine print reveals that businesses owned by Trump and his family still may be eligible for some assistance.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26
NASHVILLE AREA
Metro Public Health Department officials on Wednesday launched a COVID-19 telephone hotline with nurses and other public health professionals available to answer questions, provide the latest information about COVID-19, and assist Davidson County residents with the assessment process.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee saw more than 14 times as many new unemployment claims filed last week compared to the previous one, quantifying some of the economic consequences of a global coronavirus pandemic that has shuttered businesses to curb further infection.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee is producing a series of public service announcements designed to encourage social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The campaign has the tag line, "Do your part, stay apart," and features Gov. Bill Lee and first lady Maria Lee plus other prominent Tennesseans.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
From finding ways to help others cope to sheltering in place to canceling events, here's a look at some of the ways the entertainment industry is reacting to the spread of the coronavirus, which most people recover from but can cause severe illness in the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Toyota took steps Thursday to restart North American factories that have been closed to protect workers from the coronavirus.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Department of Health is advising doctors to use diapers and swim goggles to protect their faces if they cannot obtain personal protective equipment due to shortages related to the COVID-19 outbreak, a Tennessee doctor said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that federal officials are developing guidelines to rate counties by risk of virus spread, as he aims to begin to ease nationwide guidelines meant to stem the coronavirus outbreak.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has the biggest megaphone, but it's governors and local officials who will decide when to begin reopening their economies after shuttering them to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Constitution largely gives states the authority to regulate their own affairs.
The number of coronavirus infections closed in on a half-million worldwide Thursday, with both Italy and the U.S. on track to surpass China, and a record-shattering 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in a single week in a stark demonstration of the damage to the world's biggest economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defending early missteps in the U.S. response to the coronavirus, President Donald Trump has repeatedly boasted of travel restrictions on China that he suggests he decided on his own over the objections of health experts and saved "thousands" of lives.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The coronavirus is taking a growing toll on the U.S. military, and commanders and senior officials are bracing for worse. From nuclear missile fields at home to war zones abroad, from flight lines to ships at sea, the Pentagon is striving to shield vital missions even as it faces urgent calls for help on the civilian front.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The contrast could hardly be more stark. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has said that if all of his sweeping, expensive measures to stem the coronavirus saved one life, it would be worth it. President Donald Trump has another view: The costs of shutting down the economy outweigh the benefits, frequently telling Americans that 35,000 people a year die from the common flu.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks marched higher for a third straight day Friday as a massive coronavirus relief bill gets closer to passing Congress and Wall Street took some historically bad unemployment figures in stride.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House will give final approval Friday to the massive $2.2 trillion economic rescue bill with robust backing from both parties, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, a vote that would cap Congress' tumultuous effort to rush the relief to a nation battered by the coronavirus.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 3.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week — almost five times the previous record set in 1982 — amid a widespread economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of the United Nations told leaders of the world's 20 major industrialized nations during an emergency virtual summit Thursday that "we are at war with a virus – and not winning it" despite dramatic measures by countries to seal their borders, shutter businesses and enforce home isolation for well over a quarter of the world's population.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed as it continues to spread across the world. Here is a look at some of the latest developments Thursday related to the global economy, particular economic sectors, and the workplace:
SOAVE, Italy (AP) — Italy has become the first western developed nation to idle most of its industry to halt the spread of the coronavirus, in a potential cautionary tale for other governments, such as the Trump administration, that are resisting such drastic measures.
LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England warned Thursday that the scale and duration of the economic shock stemming from the coronavirus pandemic will be "large and sharp but should ultimately prove temporary."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve would provide essentially unlimited lending to support the economy as long as it is damaged by the viral outbreak.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy grew by a moderate 2.1% in the fourth quarter of last year, but many economists believe that will be the last positive growth seen for some time as the country endures a sharp contraction due to the coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is threatening legal action against local TV stations in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin if they don't pull a Democratic anti-Trump commercial that uses clips of the president talking about the coronavirus outbreak. The campaign says the ad is false.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell and ended the first quarter with a decline of 20%, the market's worst quarter since the dark days of the financial crisis.