VOL. 35 | NO. 21 | Friday, May 27, 2011

Staging a house for sale with furniture is nothing new. Putting real people in the picture is another story.
For Rent: Spacious four-bedroom executive home in upscale Nashville neighborhood. Monthly rate: Too good to be true.
If you haven’t been a victim yourself, chances are you know someone who has. And while it’s not criminal, many Davidson Country residents view Nashville Electric Services’ tree-trimming practices as a crime against nature.
GREEN BUSINESS
Tiffany Wilmot got into the sustainability game fairly early on, especially for Tennessee.
REALTY CHECK
The Recession of 2008 brought with it new challenges and opportunities for the residential real estate industry nationwide and later in Nashville. The most popular and prevalent of those opportunities is the abundance of foreclosures and pervasion of “short sales.”
GET A JOB!
If you like caring for and being around animals, there are a number of occupations available for consideration. One of the good things about the industry is that it is expected to continue to grow in the coming decades.
Broadcast veteran Deborah A. McDermott, president of Young Broadcasting LLC, has been elected to the board of Nashville Bank & Trust and its holding company, NBT Holdings Inc.
BOOK REVIEW
It’s all about the fit.
I SWEAR
The column/puzzle experiment is over. The heal-the-knee experiment is on.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Memorial Day has always held a special place in my heart since I have uncles on both Mom’s and Dad’s side of the family who served in different wars, and now we have a son who serves in the Arkansas Army National Guard.
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) — Brookdale Senior Living Inc. said Wednesday it agreed to acquire senior living community operator Horizon Bay Realty, and will form a joint venture with HCP Inc. to manage some of those communities.
GOODLETTSVILLE (AP) — Dollar General Corp.'s first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as shoppers continued to head to its stores for bargains.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee proposals that curb teachers' collective bargaining rights and allow direct corporate contributions to state candidates have been signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson has appointed the state's new small business advocate.
NASHVILLE (AP) — State lawmakers in country music's capital have passed a groundbreaking measure that would make it a crime to use a friend's login — even with permission — to listen to songs or watch movies from services such as Netflix or Rhapsody.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel Thursday in Asia after a report showed an unexpected jump in U.S. crude supplies, suggesting demand is weakening.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is tiring again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The best month for private-sector hiring in five years and a pickup in summer jobs helped lower unemployment rates in more than 90 percent of the nation's largest cities in April.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in May at the slowest pace in 20 months, the latest sign that the sharp rise in energy prices is hampering economic growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. builders began work on more home-remodeling projects in April. But increase barely lifted construction spending above its lowest level in more than a decade, a sign that the troubled industry remains too weak to help the economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers spent less on big-ticket home items such as furniture and appliances in May as the housing market continued to slump, but categories such as clothing and luxury items fared better, according to data released Wednesday by MasterCard Inc.
ISSAQUAH, Wash. (AP) — Costco Wholesale Corp.'s revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 13 percent in May, surpassing Wall Street's expectations.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says Washington must demonstrate that it can "put its fiscal house in order" before the country will see the kind of strong economic growth necessary to create new jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Face to face at the White House, GOP leaders complained to President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he had not produced a detailed plan of spending cuts and accused him of playing politics over Medicare as the nation careens toward a debt crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers will lose about $14 billion in the government's $80 billion bailout of Chrysler and GM, the White House said Wednesday, portraying the outcome as good news since the losses are far lower than originally anticipated.