VOL. 42 | NO. 2 | Friday, January 12, 2018
University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro favors trimming the system’s Board of Trustees and altering the executive selection process, agreeing with Gov. Bill Haslam’s efforts to streamline the governing body.
PREDATORS
There are plenty of reasons to feel good about the Predators as they ready for a return from a one-week layoff.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Your house may be trying to kill you. In order to understand how, it is time to revert to high school chemistry class or wherever the periodic table may have been first introduced to you.
NEWSMAKERS
Ryan Levy has been named managing shareholder at Patterson Intellectual Property Law. He also serves as the co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group.
BRIEFS
Nashville-based law firm Branstetter, Stranch & Jennings, PLLC and Doyle APC of San Diego have filed a class action lawsuit against Intel Corporation for alleged design flaws in Intel’s computer processors.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
It’s often said that Americans don’t like hatchbacks, but nothing could be further from the truth.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
It’s a brand-new year. So where will your ad dollars go? The tried-and-true has worked for you, but is that where you’ll stay?
CAREER CORNER
In the age of oversharing online, it seems searching for a job is one of the last topics anyone wants to share.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
The start of a new year is a time of both reflection and motivation. Many of us develop a goal list for the upcoming year, and those goals often have “stops” and “starts” associated with them.
NASHVILLE AREA
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has narrowed its hunt for a second headquarters to 20 locations – including Nashville – concentrated among cities in the U.S. East and Midwest. Toronto made the list as well, keeping the company's international options open.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Three performers at last year's Route 91 Harvest Festival where a gunman opened fire on fans will perform a tribute at this year's Grammy Awards to honor victims killed at live music events this past year.
REGION
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Several Southern states were dealing Thursday with the lingering effects of a slow-moving winter storm that dumped up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow in central North Carolina, dusted the Deep South and killed at least 10 people.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interest rates on long-term home loans rose this week to the highest level in months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Groundbreakings on new homes fell 8.2 percent in December, with builders ending 2017 by slowing down their construction of single-family houses.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stock indexes edged lower in early trading Thursday, pulling back slightly from the market's latest record highs. Losses by health care stocks and other sectors were outweighing gains by technology companies. Energy stocks also fell as crude oil prices declined.
PARIS (AP) — The Catholic church is going digital in Paris.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted Thursday his views on a border wall with Mexico have not evolved, pushing back against his own chief of staff's comments to lawmakers.
LOGAN, W.Va. (AP) — A former coal company CEO who served a one-year prison term on charges related to the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in four decades is kicking off his U.S. Senate campaign with a town hall meeting for voters.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's White House is relying on a sweeping interpretation of executive privilege that is rankling members of Congress on both sides of the aisle as current and former advisers parade to Capitol Hill for questioning about possible connections with Russia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For all his errant swings at the facts, President Donald Trump sometimes gets it just right.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker has taken steps to follow through on a promise not to pursue school voucher legislation this year.
REGION
ATLANTA (AP) — A thin layer of snow and ice across the South closed highways, schools and government offices and sent cars sliding off the road Wednesday, while a blast of cold air broke records as far south as the Gulf Coast.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee education officials plan to increase teacher preparation program outcomes across the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — An audit suggests that Tennessee lawmakers require updates on the 9,000-plus rape kits statewide, including almost 7,000 in Memphis, that were awaiting testing in July 2014.
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Great Smoky Mountains National Park says it is raising fees for front-country campgrounds and picnic pavilions by 10 to 25 percent.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — While his teammates enjoyed some time off with a bye week, Juuse Saros kept working. It paid off for the Predators on Tuesday night.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's more than 10,000 drunken driving deaths a year are "entirely preventable," according to a government-commissioned report released Wednesday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
REAL ESTATE
U.S. homebuilders are feeling slightly less optimistic about their sales prospects, even as their overall outlook remains favorable ahead of the spring homebuying season.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen had record sales of 10.74 million vehicles last year, but its bid to remain the world's largest carmaker was disputed by rival Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.
MILAN (AP) — Car sales in Europe topped the 15-million mark for the first time in a decade in 2017, the fourth straight year of higher registrations, the association of European carmakers said Wednesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
A broad rally on Wall Street propelled the Dow Jones industrial average to close above 26,000 points for the first time Wednesday.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is planning to build another corporate campus and hire 20,000 workers during the next five years as part of a $350 billion commitment to the U.S. that will be partially financed by an upcoming windfall from the country's new tax law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that the economy was growing at a moderate pace at the start of the year, with the majority of business contacts optimistic about prospects for 2018.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve says U.S. industrial production rose 0.9 percent in December, pulled higher by a surge in utility output, another sign of health for the American economy.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said Wednesday there's "very, very strong" sentiment among Democrats in the chamber to oppose GOP-drafted legislation to keep the government's doors open, comments that could indicate the chances are increasing that the government could shut down at midnight Friday night.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate Banking Committee has voted for a second time to approve President Donald Trump's nomination of Jerome Powell to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hard-line conservatives are threatening to scuttle Republican leaders' plans to prevent a weekend government shutdown and saying GOP leaders lack the votes to push their proposal through the House.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 16
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville officials are expected to vote on holding a public referendum on Mayor Megan Barry's $5.4 billion proposal to build an extensive transit system.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee wildlife officials are seeking public comments on regulations for the 2018-19 hunting season.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — The expected wave of litigation against the Federal Communications Commission's repeal of net-neutrality rules has begun.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK (AP) — General Motors will take a $7 billion write-down in 2017 tied to the U.S. tax overhaul, but expects strong sales in North America and China to sustain its profit through 2018.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Losses by industrial and technology companies helped pull U.S. stocks lower Tuesday, pulling the market back from its latest record highs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Travel industry representatives sounded an alarm Tuesday over declines in international tourism to the U.S. and announced plans to reverse the trend.
NEW YORK (AP) — Big U.S. banks have been reporting billions of dollars in paper losses this month as they are forced to come into compliance with the new tax law. And while the losses are massive, they were largely expected, and bank executives say the new tax law will be good for banks as well as the economy in the long run.
NEW YORK (AP) — Swiss food and drink giant Nestle is selling its U.S. candy business to Italy's Ferrero for about $2.9 billion in cash. Ferrero will take over iconic chocolate brands Butterfinger and Crunch bars, as well as the sugary Nerds, SweeTarts and FunDip.
GENEVA (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver the closing address at the elite World Economic Forum conference in Davos next week, which focuses on "finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests," forum organizers announced Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City created or preserved more than 24,500 affordable homes last year, breaking a record for the nation's biggest city, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has decided to reconsider a key set of rules enacted last year that would have protected consumers against harmful payday lenders.
WASHINGTON (AP) — This is a record not to be coveted: Donald Trump is wrapping up a year in office with the lowest average approval rating of any elected president in his first year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump turned his Twitter torment on the Democrat in the room where immigration talks with lawmakers took a famously coarse turn, saying Sen. Dick Durbin misrepresented what he had said about African nations and Haiti and, in the process, undermined the trust needed to make a deal.
MONDAY, JANUARY 15
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans and Mike Mularkey couldn't agree on how to build off the team's first playoff berth since 2008 and become a true NFL contender.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans won more games inside the AFC South, won the franchise's first playoff game in 14 years and reached the divisional round for the first time since 2008.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Mike Mularkey says right tackle Jack Conklin tore his left anterior cruciate ligament and likely will start training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Honda Accord was crowned North American Car of the Year while Volvo XC60 took the top prize in the utility category and Lincoln Navigator for trucks.
DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. says it's doubling its investment in electric and hybrid vehicles and plans to introduce 40 by 2022.
DETROIT (AP) — The competition for full-size pickup truck customers in the U.S. is as rough-and-tumble as ever, with Ram and Chevrolet rolling out brawny-looking new models that are larger, lighter and more efficient than their predecessors.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Global stocks mostly fell on Monday as the dollar weakened across the board, pinching the outlook for export-driven regions like Europe. The U.S. market remained closed for a holiday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers late last year rushed $1.5 trillion in tax cuts into law — the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code since 1986.
NATIONAL POLITICS
ATLANTA (AP) — Martin Luther King Jr.'s children and the pastor of an Atlanta church where he preached decried disparaging remarks President Donald Trump is said to have made about African countries, while protests between Haitian immigrants and Trump supporters broke out near the president's Florida resort Monday, the official federal holiday honoring King.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Buoyed by a string of Republican retirements and President Donald Trump's persistently low approval rating, Democrats are increasingly hopeful about their chances for a midterm election wave that would give them control of the House and deliver a blow to the president.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country star Carrie Underwood teamed up with Ludacris to co-write a new song, "The Champion," which will open the Super Bowl on Feb. 4 airing on NBC.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell has filed legislation to pursue TennCare work requirements for able-bodied adults without young children.
STATEWIDE
PARKERS CROSSROADS (AP) — James A. Jones saw enough cars stranded along the icy highway to know it was time to pull over as a winter storm blasted parts of Tennessee and Kentucky with sleet, freezing rain and snow Friday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee hasn't done enough to prevent teachers accused of sexual misconduct from getting education jobs in other districts, state auditors say.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher has been named the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame's 2018 professional athlete of the year.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Developers say they're halting plans for a project in Tennessee after archaeologists discovered what they believe are graves on a site near a Civil War fort built by slaves.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A top lawyer in the Tennessee attorney general's office has been nominated to become the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense.
BOSTON (AP) — Gourmet doughnut shops in Massachusetts and Tennessee have placed a sweet wager on this weekend's playoff game between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans.
COURTS
MEMPHIS (AP) — Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's family and the Sons of Confederate Veterans are challenging last month's removal of Confederate statues from Memphis parks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to wade into the issue of sales tax collection on internet purchases in a case that could force consumers to pay more for certain purchases and allow states to recoup what they say is billions in lost revenue annually.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The cost of borrowing money to buy a home rose slightly this week, but remains historically low.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it is making the first mass-production autonomous car without a steering wheel or pedals.
WASHINGTON (AP) — New government data shows gas mileage for 2016 model year light-duty vehicles sold in the United States made smaller than expected gains in fuel economy over the last year, though new cars are generally sipping less gas and spewing less plant-warming carbon emissions than their predecessors.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is changing what its users will see to highlight posts they are most likely to engage with and make time spent on social media more "meaningful."
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Trying to distinguish your product among the thousands at the CES gadget show is no easy feat, so it helps when music legend Stevie Wonder pays an unexpected visit.
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers are riding high after ebullient U.S. consumers shopped at the healthiest pace in more than a decade over the holiday season. But merchants can't afford to rest easy.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Amazon had a mostly successful debut into live streaming of major sports events, with increased audience and an improved viewing experience in its first season showing NFL games.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's personal lawyer brokered a $130,000 payment to a porn star to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal.
NEW YORK (AP) — Rising retailers pushed U.S. stock indexes further into record territory on Friday, as the market's fabulous start to 2018 carried through its second week.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two of the nation's biggest banks — JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo — indicated Friday that they expect to see significant future benefits from the recently enacted GOP tax bill, through both lower taxes and increased business.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers shopped at stores and online outlets at a solid pace in December, closing out a healthy holiday season for retailers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer inflation slowed in December to a tiny 0.1 percent gain as the cost of energy products tumbled following a big jump in November.
Wall Street's best known investment bank is looking to help you renovate your bathroom.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — State and local governments have been more than happy to play up the amenities they think make their locations the best choice for Amazon's second headquarters. But many of them will not disclose the tax breaks or other financial incentives they are offering the online giant.
LONDON (AP) — After months of spats and false starts, Britain and the European Union ended 2017 by agreeing to have an amicable divorce. In 2018, they have to find a way to live together in the future — and that's when things could get complicated.
NEW YORK (AP) — For some Walmart employees, the day brought news of a pay raise. Others learned they were out of a job.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart, the world's largest private employer, is boosting its starting salary for U.S. workers to $11 an hour and handing out one-time cash bonuses. The company cited tax legislation that will help it save money, but the moves also reflect the tight labor market in which employers are competing for workers.
NATIONAL POLITICS
PARIS (AP) — The same Russian government-aligned hackers who penetrated the Democratic Party have spent the past few months laying the groundwork for an espionage campaign against the U.S. Senate, a cybersecurity firm said Friday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday denied using certain "language" during a private meeting with lawmakers as fury spread over his comments about immigrants. But neither he nor the White House disputed the most controversial of his remarks: using the word "shithole" to describe Africa nations and saying he would prefer immigrants from countries like Norway instead.
LONDON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has decided not to come to London to open the new U.S. Embassy, blaming the Obama administration for doing a "bad deal" to move the diplomatic mission.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of bipartisan senators has reached a deal on legislation to protect younger immigrants brought to the country illegally, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Flake said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rewriting the rules on health care for the poor, the Trump administration said Thursday it will allow states to require "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients to work, a hotly debated first in the program's half-century history.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a confusing morning of tweets by President Donald Trump, the House on Thursday passed a bill to reauthorize a key foreign intelligence collection program with an important tweak: It would require the FBI to get a warrant if it wants to view the contents of Americans' communications swept up in the process.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic members of the House oversight committee asked the Republican chairman to begin a serious investigation into President Donald Trump's conflicts of interests.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the early days of the Trump administration, the head of one of America's largest coal companies sent a four-page "action plan" to the White House calling for rollbacks of Obama-era environmental and mine safety regulations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Opposition to the Trump administration's plan to expand offshore drilling is mounting as Democrats from coastal states accuse President Donald Trump of punishing states with Democratic leaders and a second Republican governor asks to withdraw his state from the plan.