VOL. 41 | NO. 32 | Friday, August 11, 2017
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mae Beavers is banking on the idea wealthy candidates won’t be able to buy voters in 2018.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
When purchasing a condo, the principle of caveat emptor – “let the buyer beware” – should be executed to the fullest and not solely for the construction of the unit or even the financial condition of the homeowner association, although both should be weighed heavily.
REAL ESTATE
July 2017 real estate trends for Davidson, Williamson and Rutherford counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates were unchanged to slightly lower this week, continuing a pattern of little movement in recent weeks.
DAVID CLIMER: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
The Titans have been searching for years for an answer at cornerback. They think they found two answers during the offseason.
TERRY McCORMICK: TENNESSEE TITANS
Tennessee Titans rookie receiver Corey Davis limped off the practice field last Thursday with a hamstring injury.
The preseason isn’t at all like the NFL regular season. Beginning sometime about halfway through the third quarter, you’ll hear names like Manny Abad, Denzel Johnson and Giovanni Pascascio called and wonder aloud, “Who are these guys?”
NEWSMAKERS
Centerstone, a national behavioral health care provider, has named retired United States Air Force Col. Thomas W. Mahler Jr. chair of its board of directors for Centerstone Military Services.
BRIEFS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The majority owners of the Minnesota Vikings are joining a group trying to bring a Major League Soccer team to Nashville.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Have you ever looked at your organization’s marketing spend and wondered, “What do I have to show for this?”
CAREER CORNER
I think we can all agree the job search process can be grueling.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Jo Walker-Meador, a matriarch of country music who led the Country Music Association for nearly three decades, has died. She was 93.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials are offering a new grant to develop agribusiness in the state.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homebuilders pulled back sharply on construction of apartment complexes in July, causing housing starts to tumble to a three-month low.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump will make this month's payments to insurers under the health-care law he wants to repeal and replace.
UnitedHealth Group will change leaders next month, promoting long-time executive David Wichmann to replace CEO Stephen Hemsley, who has led the nation's largest health insurer since 2006.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose slightly Wednesday as Urban Outfitters and Target helped retailers rally. That was enough to cancel out more losses for energy companies.
NEW YORK (AP) — Six months into her tenure as head of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon sees a split among small business owners — they are increasingly optimistic, she says, but many are held back by their inability to get loans or find the right workers for jobs that are staying open.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers were worried last month about inflation, but for two opposing reasons.
NEW YORK (AP) — With corporate chieftains fleeing, President Donald Trump abruptly abolished their White House business councils on Wednesday — the latest fallout from his combative comments on racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States won't settle for cosmetic changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the top U.S. trade negotiator said, as negotiations to rework terms of the pact began.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on e-commerce giant Amazon, saying Wednesday that the company is "doing great damage to tax paying retailers."
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific is laying off 500 managers and 250 other workers to reduce costs and eliminate about 8 percent of the railroad's managers.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 15
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — Immediately after a jury determined that Taylor Swift had been groped by a radio station host before a concert in Denver, the singer-songwriter turned to one of her closest allies — her mother — and later said she hoped the verdict would inspire other victims of sexual assault.
HENDERSONVILLE (AP) — A former attorney in Tennessee has been arrested and indicted on theft charges.
MIDSTATE
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — The 101st Airborne Division is celebrating its 75th anniversary with events at Fort Campbell this week.
REAL ESTATE
U.S. homebuilders are feeling more optimistic about their sales prospects, reflecting a pickup in demand and positive expectations about further growth the rest of this year.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Premiums for a popular type of individual health plan would rise sharply, and more people would be left with no insurance options if President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to stop "Obamacare" payments to insurers, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A judge is letting a lawsuit continue that claims Tennessee is breaking federal law and endangering people with bleeding disorders like hemophilia by reimbursing less for prescription blood-clotting drugs through its Medicaid program.
EDUCATION
WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for opening more charter schools has dropped significantly among Americans, but there's less opposition to expanding private school voucher programs, as the Trump administration continues its push for school choice, according to a survey released Tuesday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Preliminary data show U.S. motor vehicle deaths and injuries were down slightly in the first six months of 2017, although they were still significantly higher than they were two years ago, the National Safety Council said Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes finished Tuesday close to where they started as technology companies and household goods makers rose. But weak reports from sporting goods and auto parts retailers left a lot of smaller companies with steep losses.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon is criticizing President Donald Trump's initial response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, at a white supremacist rally.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers went out shopping in a big way in July, pushing up retail sales by the largest amount in seven months.
ATLANTA (AP) — Americans are plowing money into their homes at an astonishing rate, new, used and even those not yet built, creating for Home Depot a frenzy of loyal customers.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — First it was the leader of a major U.S. pharmaceutical, then the CEO of an athletic gear company, and before the day had ended, the chief executive of a $170 billion tech giant. Three of the nation's top executives resigned from a federal panel created years ago to advise the U.S. president.
NORWOOD, Ohio (AP) — Herbie Mays is 3M proud, and it shows — in the 3M shirt he wears; in the 3M ring he earned after three decades at the company's plant in suburban Cincinnati; in the way he shows off a card from a 3M supervisor, praising Mays as "a GREAT employee."
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of four minority House caucus groups have written a letter to President Donald Trump calling for the removal of White House staff aides Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It took President Donald Trump two days to do what both Republicans and Democrats said should have come fast and easy.
MONDAY, AUGUST 14
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — Jurors on Monday began weighing dueling lawsuits over Taylor Swift's accusation that a former radio host groped her during a 2013 meet-and-greet after attorneys for both sides pointed to a photo as proof that the alleged assault either did or did not happen.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Diane Black has named two prominent former politicians from either end of Tennessee as co-chairman for her gubernatorial bid.
MURFREESBORO, (AP) — Four longtime journalists will be inducted Tuesday into the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame.
SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Coach Mike Mularkey hopes his Tennessee Titans got just the wake-up call needed from an ugly loss to open the preseason, especially from some mistakes that were quite the eye-opener.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — It may not equal Social Security and Medicare as a "third rail" program that politicians touch at their own risk, yet Medicaid seems to have gotten stronger after the Republican failure to pass health care legislation.
BOSTON (AP) — The industry that makes medical devices from artificial hips to miniature pumps for IV drips is looking for a fallback plan to repeal a widely reviled sales tax that almost met its end in GOP health care legislation.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she thinks the internal combustion engines that are the mainstay of her country's auto industry will eventually have to be phased out.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rallied Monday as technology companies and banks helped companies regain a lot of the ground they lost last week, although the calm that has defined the market this year wasn't quite restored.
NEW YORK (AP) — A top Federal Reserve official suggested Monday that the Fed will likely announce next month that it will begin paring its bond portfolio — a step that could lead to slightly higher rates on mortgages and other loans.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump lashed out at the CEO of the nation's third-largest pharmaceutical company after he resigned from a federal advisory council, citing the president's failure to explicitly rebuke the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia.
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline jumped 8 cents nationally over the past three weeks, to $2.40.
A leading neo-Nazi website is losing its internet domain host after its publisher posted an article mocking the woman who was killed in a deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia.
BEIJING (AP) — China's government appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday to avoid a "trade war" ahead of what the White House says is a possible announcement of an investigation into whether China is stealing U.S. technology.
NEW YORK (AP) — Target announced moves Monday aimed at helping it shore up two key areas: groceries and delivery.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under pressure all weekend, President Donald Trump on Monday named and condemned hate groups as "repugnant" and declared "racism is evil" in an updated, more forceful statement on the deadly, race-fueled clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Why doesn't President Donald Trump just unequivocally condemn white supremacists?
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11
MUSIC INDUSTRY
DELIGHT, Ark. (AP) — Music superstar Glen Campbell has been laid to rest in his hometown of Delight, Arkansas.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee said he supports spending more public money on private school tuition around Tennessee, and that restrictions should be placed on lobbying by government entities that oppose school vouchers.
GATLINBURG (AP) — Newly released records show failed communication systems hampered the response to deadly wildfires in Tennessee last fall.
COURTS
DENVER (AP) — Taylor Swift's former bodyguard testified Friday that he saw a DJ reach under her skirt a moment before a photographer snapped their picture during a meet-and-greet where the singer says the radio host groped her.
DENVER (AP) — A defiant and occasionally exasperated Taylor Swift insisted during a whirlwind hour of testimony Thursday that a Denver disc jockey grabbed her bare backside and held on for a long time during a meet-and-greet before a concert.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty in a $43 million scheme that caused investors to lose $10 million, which he used to buy vehicles and real estate and start a used car lot.
BRENTWOOD (AP) — A family has filed a $30 million lawsuit against a private Christian school in Tennessee, alleging failure to act after a 12-year-old student was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by teenage boys.
SPORTS
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Former football coaches Robert Neyland and Phillip Fulmer highlight a star-studded Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame induction class.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hard-line conservatives began an uphill fight Friday to force a fresh House vote this fall on erasing much of President Barack Obama's health care law without an immediate replacement, the latest instance of Republican rifts in what's been a fractious week for the GOP.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Message to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans: Stop trying to scuttle the Obama health care law, and start trying to make it more effective.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Actions by the Trump administration are triggering double-digit premium increases on individual health insurance policies purchased by many people, according to a nonpartisan study.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — The future of TV may well be a mishmash of streaming services that could rival the cost of a $100 cable bundle — but that are way more difficult to use.
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is launching a new section dedicated to live and recorded video.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Gains among technology companies helped snap a three-day losing streak for U.S. stocks Friday, though the market ended with its worst weekly loss since March.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sales at established J.C. Penney stores faded again during its most recent quarter, capping a gloomy week for U.S. retailers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices posted a slight gain in July, with higher costs for medical care and clothing offsetting declines for hotel stays and consumer cellphone plans.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — President Donald Trump's push to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement is putting Mexico in a tough spot, threatening the system that has helped turn the country into a top exporter through low wages, lax regulations and proximity to the United States.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A black market for diesel and gasoline has rapidly spread around the nation, with organized crime gangs using fraudulent credit cards to syphon millions of dollars in fuel from gas stations into large tanks hidden inside pickup trucks and vans.
NEW YORK (AP) — It's still a rough time to be a department store. Macy's, Kohl's and Dillard's all said Thursday that a key sales figure fell again in the latest quarter as customers increasingly shop online, at discount stores and elsewhere.
NEW YORK (AP) — Blue Apron posted strong revenue growth in its second quarter, but scaled down marketing efforts and a sequential decline in customers has investors jittery.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service warned Thursday that it will likely default on up to $6.9 billion in payments for future retiree health and pension benefits for the fifth straight year, citing a coming cash crunch that could disrupt day-to-day mail delivery.
NATIONAL POLITICS
LAS VEGAS (AP) — More than a third of U.S. states have created school voucher programs that bypass thorny constitutional and political issues by turning them over to nonprofits that rely primarily on businesses to fund them. But the programs are raising questions about transparency and accountability at a time when supporters are urging that they be expanded into a federal program.
BEDMINSTER, New Jersey (AP) — President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that the U.S. military is "locked and loaded" if North Korea acts "unwisely," escalating an exchange of threats between the nuclear-armed nations.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Threatening to fire a volley of missiles toward a major U.S. military hub — and the home to 160,000 American civilians — may seem like a pretty bad move for a country that is seriously outgunned and has an awful lot to lose.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has spent much of the week feuding with his top Senate partner, suggesting that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might have to rethink his future if he doesn't deliver on the president's agenda of health care, taxes and infrastructure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says fines for illegal pollution have plummeted under President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain of Arizona is proposing a new "strategy for success" in Afghanistan. He's calling for increasing the number of U.S. counterterrorism forces and giving them a freer hand to target the Taliban, Islamic State and other terrorist groups.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just when President Donald Trump's strategy for North Korea was finally starting to show dividends, he threw it a curve.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump resumed his taunts of the Senate's top Republican on Thursday, expressing disbelief that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell couldn't persuade a GOP majority to pass a health care bill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his cabinet often avoid talking about the science of climate change, but when pressed what they have said clashes with established mainstream science, data and peer-reviewed studies and reports.