VOL. 44 | NO. 3 | Friday, January 17, 2020
Gun sellers, trainers warn against permitless-carry proposal
Even as firearms instructors, gun sellers, gun owners and potential owners get used to a new law that cuts the cost and level of training required for a concealed-carry gun permit, state lawmakers are preparing to push a bill to make it possible to carry a weapon with no permit at all.
Nashville is giving away guns to criminals, and it’s the legislature’s fault. I should probably clarify that statement.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans are the most improbable of the four teams left standing in the NFL playoffs.
The Titans have a chance to win in the postseason as long as they can ride the running of Derrick Henry.
My family keeps telling me the Titans win when I pick against them. The opposite happens when I pick them to win.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Tony Locke, the go-to structural engineer for Realtors in need of structural advice in Nashville, has a dual life with a second calling as a philosopher. Once, he was called to assess a project and noted that the concrete contractor was installing the rebar incorrectly in a sidewalk.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose slightly last week after financial markets that had been roiled by the U.S.-Iran conflict stabilized.
UT SPORTS
For much of the last few seasons, Tennessee’s offensive line has been the subject of ridicule and frustration.
NEWSMAKERS
Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has elected eight new members in the firm. They are:
BRIEFS
Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Nashville have released details on the 143 homes to be available for purchase and scheduled to open in 2022.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Automakers use the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to get creative. Sometimes the results can seem a little too creative – we don’t expect to see connected streetlights or adaptive sidewalks, as some companies have pitched in years past, anytime soon.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Most retirees regret not saving more. A 2018 study by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found 73% wish they’d put aside more money on a consistent basis, and half felt they waited too long to get serious about retirement saving.
CAREER CORNER
One of the most common questions I receive from job seekers is: “What is a headhunter and should I use one?”
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville songwriters are showing up at the Grammys this year, but not just in the country music categories. The city's writing talent has been increasingly tapped to help craft nominated soundtracks, pop songs and R&B albums over the last couple of years.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — The director of Tennessee's Medicaid program plans to leave his job to return to the private sector, TennCare announced Friday.
COURTS
MURFREESBORO (AP) — A grand jury has brought charges in a sex trafficking case against former NBA player and one-time University of Alabama basketball standout Jim Farmer, who was caught up in an undercover law enforcement sting last October.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Vanderbilt men's basketball program has received a $5 million donation from Seattle-based alumnus George B. Huber and his wife Cathy.
PREDATORS
NEW YORK (AP) — Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson has been fined $2,000 by the NHL under the league's rules regarding diving and embellishment.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks have just two wins in 2020, both against the Nashville Predators.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Volkswagen is partnering with the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create the company's first innovation hub for developing new technology in North America, officials said Friday in a statement.
DETROIT (AP) — BMW is recalling nearly 357,000 older vehicles in the U.S. to replace dangerous Takata front air bag inflators.
PRINCETON, Indiana (AP) — Toyota will stop making its Tacoma small pickup in San Antonio next year as it shifts production to Mexico, but the company says no U.S. jobs will be lost.
TOKYO (AP) — The legal team of Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn issued a statement Friday refuting the latest allegations by the Japanese automaker against the fugitive businessman.
MILAN (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is in talks with the Chinese company Foxconn to develop and manufacture battery-powered vehicles, the U.S.-Italian automaker said Friday.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction of new homes surged in December to the highest level in 13 years, capping a year in which falling mortgage rates and a strong labor market helped lift the prospects of the housing industry.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly shooting of three U.S. sailors at a Navy installation in December could reignite a long-simmering fight between the federal government and tech companies over data privacy and encryption.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street capped a milestone-setting week Friday with a few more as modest gains nudged the major stock indexes to all-time highs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of available jobs fell sharply in November, dropping to 6.8 million, a decline of 7.6% from the October level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production fell 0.3% in December, as unseasonably warm weather reduced demand for heating from utilities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to nominate two people to serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, an institution he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting rates deeply enough.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury, faced with financing budget deficits topping $1 trillion annually, is introducing a new 20-year bond.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has assembled a made-for-TV legal team for his Senate trial that includes household names like Ken Starr, the prosecutor whose investigation two decades ago resulted in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz will deliver constitutional arguments meant to shield Trump from allegations that he abused his power.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is claiming Trump was directly involved in the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with quiet ceremony Thursday — senators standing at their desks to swear an oath of "impartial justice" as jurors, House prosecutors formally reciting the charges and Chief Justice John Roberts presiding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The impeachment trial of President Donald Trump has barely started and already journalists are getting a glimpse of how hard it will be cover the event under harsh new media restrictions imposed by the Senate.
THURSDAY, JAN. 16
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The campaign arm for U.S. Senate Democrats endorsed James Mackler on Thursday for an open seat in Tennessee.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans benched Marcus Mariota for Ryan Tannehill in mid-October after a 2-4 start. Finding the No. 2 pick overall from the 2015 draft isn't that hard during their amazing playoff run.
King Henry is running wild in the postseason.
TRANSPORTATION
A government committee reviewing how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new passenger planes for flight has determined that the system is safe and effective but small changes need to be made.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — One of the Japanese lawyers for former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has stepped down from that job after his client fled the country.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Another rally on Wall Street powered stock indexes to more records Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate overwhelmingly approved a new North American trade agreement Thursday that rewrites the rules of trade with Canada and Mexico and gives President Donald Trump a major policy win before senators turn their full attention to his impeachment trial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department will begin restricting news organizations' use of economic data by barring computers from the rooms where reporters receive such data before its public release.
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's largest retail trade group says holiday sales increased 4.1%, the top end of its forecast.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose at a solid pace last month, evidence that Americans were willing to spend during the winter holidays after a sluggish November.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top officials at the European Central Bank say economic growth remains weak though they see a few upbeat signs after the U.S. and China moved toward lowering trade tensions.
DETROIT (AP) — Starbucks is expanding a program that tries to help low-income communities by opening coffee shops and hiring local workers.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany will pay utility companies billions of euros to speed up the shutdown of their coal-fired power plants as part of the country's efforts to fight climate change, the government said Thursday.
BANGKOK (AP) — The trade agreement signed by President Donald Trump and Beijing's lead trade envoy comes amid seismic shifts in supply chains and investment hastened by the tariff war that began in 2018.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate opened the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with quiet ceremony Thursday — senators standing at their desks to swear an oath of "impartial justice" as jurors, House prosecutors formally reciting the charges and Chief Justice John Roberts presiding.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House violated federal law in withholding security assistance to Ukraine, an action at the center of President Donald Trump's impeachment, a federal watchdog agency said Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A close associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is claiming Trump was directly involved in the effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday postponed the sentencing of former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, two days after Flynn moved to withdraw his guilty plea.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is likely to play a modest role when he presides over the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, in keeping with his frequently repeated insistence that judges are not politicians.