VOL. 44 | NO. 7 | Friday, February 14, 2020
Lee tackles history and a VU program in disarray as interim athletic director
Candice Storey Lee has professed a burning passion for Vanderbilt and its athletics department, a fervor that has flamed for a quarter-century since she played for the women’s basketball team, and she fully understands the significance of her new role at the university and in college sports.
Statistically, Candice Storey Lee didn’t have a remarkable career while playing for the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team from the late 1990s through the early 2000s.
Title: Vanderbilt’s new interim vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and interim athletic director
There’s a sign underneath the Hawkins Field outfield scoreboard that reads, “National champions 2014 and 2019.” It’s a reminder of how high the bar is set for Vanderbilt under coach Tim Corbin, who was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
It’s worrisome when officials try to turn their private religious principles into public policy. Turns out it can also be worrisome when they ignore those principles.
JIM MYERS: CULINARITY
Love, love, love, love. Love. Love. Love. Valentine’s Day is that time of year when food writers struggle to find another hackneyed turn of phrase to lionize the intersection of food and love.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Home sales increased a staggering 15.7% in January compared to January 2019, sales data from the Greater Nashville Realtors reveal.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans and coach Mike Vrabel have finalized the coaching staff for 2020 with two intriguing moves.
The two biggest questions the Tennessee Titans face as they head into the offseason are their plans are for running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have started working on their long list of pending free agents by agreeing to a one-year extension with tight end Anthony Firkser.
UT SPORTS
Emblematic of their 2019 season, the Tennessee Vols made a strong closing run to complete their 2020 recruiting class.
NEWSMAKERS
Henry Leventis, former federal prosecutor and director of litigation for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville, has joined Bone McAllester Norton PLLC. He comes to the firm with more than 15 years of civil and criminal litigation experience.
BRIEFS
Genesco Inc. has announced plans for its new corporate headquarters in Nashville at 535 Marriott that will occupy approximately two thirds of the facility’s 310,000 square feet of space. Relocation is targeted for a early 2021.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Once exclusive to heavy-duty pickup trucks, diesel-powered engines have recently come to full-size light-duty trucks, as well. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 are among the most popular vehicles sold in America, and each one now offers a diesel engine.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Losing a job is almost always traumatic. Job loss in your 50s can be devastating – and devastatingly common.
CAREER CORNER
In this month of love, we spend some of our time reflecting on those who are special in our lives. It’s also a great time to reflect on our job and whether or not we love doing it.
MIDSTATE
Nashville is growing, but most of it isn't, the latest released Census data show as counties across the state and nation prepare for the 2020 U.S. Census count this spring.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have their first three-game winning streak since October and appear to finally be finding their way under new coach John Hynes as they try to fight their way into the playoff picture.
EDUCATION
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Tennessee university plans to offer discounted tuition starting this fall to students from nine surrounding states.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Courts are not properly screening out unreliable psychological and IQ tests, allowing junk science to be used as evidence, researchers have concluded. Such tests can sway judges or juries and influence whether someone gets custody of a child or is eligible for bail or capital punishment.
ENVIRONMENT
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said Monday that he plans to spend $10 billion of his own fortune to help fight climate change.
TRANSPORTATION
LONDON (AP) — Europe's busiest airport suffered the knock-on effects Monday of technical issues that disrupted travel over the weekend.
AUTO INDUSTRY
A German court has temporarily halted the site preparation for Tesla Inc.'s first electric car factory in Europe.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg met top European Union officials on a visit to Brussels on Monday, days before the bloc is expected to release new proposals on regulating artificial intelligence.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Denver (AP) — In this post-impeachment era of divisiveness and deadlock in the nation's capital, Uncle Sam has a message for top U.S. technologists:
Home goods retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc. said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection.
TOKYO (AP) — The Japanese economy shrank at an annual pace of 6.3% last quarter as growth was battered by typhoons and crimped consumer spending.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is misrepresenting the Justice Department's handling of the legal case of his confidant, Roger Stone.
FRIDAY, FEB. 14
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $9 million on high-speed broadband internet projects in 10 Tennessee counties, including Montgomery, Rutherford, Williamson and Wilson.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Spirit Airlines and Tennessee officials say the low-cost carrier is moving its operations control center from Florida to the Nashville area.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Craig Smith scored three times, Juuse Saros made 31 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Thursday night.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Automaker Volkswagen has offered 830 million euros ($900.8 million) as a settlement for owners of diesel vehicles that used software to mask excessive emissions.
TECHNOLOGY
MUNICH (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appealed Friday to an audience in Germany for countries to steer clear of Chinese tech giant Huawei as they build their next-generation cellular networks, adding her voice to pressure from the Trump administration.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog plans to launch a nationwide probe into how telemarketers may be getting hold of seniors' personal Medicare information, a red flag for potential fraud and waste.
MEDIA
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook decided Friday to allow a type of paid political message that had sidestepped many of the social network's rules governing political ads.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing slightly higher on Wall Street Friday, as technology shares rise along with lower-risk sectors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing output fell slightly in January, driven lower by Boeing's decision to halt production of its troubled 737 MAX aircraft.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose a modest 0.3% in January, a slight improvement over December, as unseasonably warm weather boosted sales at hardware stores and furniture stores.
LONDON (AP) — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to throw his support behind international reforms that would require Silicon Valley tech giants to pay more tax in Europe.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Imagine a mortgage that pays you the interest, not the other way around. Or a savings account where it's the bank, not the saver, who collects interest.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's effort to remake Medicaid by requiring low-income people to work for health care suffered a serious setback Friday when a federal appeals court ruled it goes beyond what's allowed by law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said Friday there is no investigation into the Army officer who until last week worked at the White House National Security Council and was a key witness in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have declined to charge former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, closing an investigation into whether the longtime target of President Donald Trump's ire lied to federal officials about his involvement in a news media disclosure, McCabe's legal team said Friday.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Trump administration is asking Congress for $1.5 billion over 10 years to create a new national stockpile of U.S.-mined uranium, saying that propping up U.S. uranium production in the face of cheaper imports is a matter of vital energy security.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats frustrated over the Senate's acquittal of President Donald Trump are pushing their oversight efforts toward the Justice Department and what they call Attorney General William Barr's efforts to politicize federal law enforcement.
THURSDAY, FEB. 13
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday defended the rollout of his much-debated school voucher program and downplayed recent anger from lawmakers upset with how the state has prepared to give parents tax dollars to pay for private tuition.
NASHVILLE AREA
Mayor John Cooper today announced an agreement to move forward with the Fairgrounds soccer stadium.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Country singer Darius Rucker couldn't quite believe it when he was surprised this week with the news that his song "Wagon Wheel" was certified eight times platinum, making it one of the top five most popular country singles ever.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Americans shopping for a home this spring may face more competition than they have in years.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates were flat to slightly higher this week after three straight weeks of declines, as the historically low levels continue as an incentive for potential homebuyers.
ENVIRONMENT
PARIS (AP) — France's leader called the battle against climate change and environmental destruction "the fight of the century" Thursday after visiting a melting glacier in the French Alps.
HEALTH CARE
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The CEO of a health care company whose holdings include a hospital in St. Louis is under civil and criminal investigation, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Shares of Tesla rose a bout 1.5% i n trading Thursday morning after the electric vehicle and solar panel maker said it would sell over $2 billion worth of additional shares.
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan, reeling from a scandal over its former superstar executive Carlos Ghosn, sank into red ink in the latest quarter as its vehicle sales fell around the world, and the Japanese automaker slashed its profit forecast for the year.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — McClatchy, the publisher of the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star and dozens of other newspapers, has filed for bankruptcy protection as it struggles to pay off debt while revenue shrinks because more readers and advertisers are going online.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal court has ordered a temporary halt in Microsoft's work on a $10 billion military cloud contract that Amazon was initially expected to win. Amazon sued in November to revisit that decision, alleging that President Donald Trump's bias against the company hurt its chances to win the project.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has added new criminal charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei and two of its U.S. subsidiaries, accusing the company in a plot to steal trade secrets from competitors in America, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow fined Twitter and Facebook 4 million rubles each Thursday for refusing to store the personal data of Russian citizens on servers in Russia, the largest penalties imposed on Western technology companies under internet use laws.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Thursday as investors turned cautious following a surge in cases of a new virus in China that threatens to crimp economic growth and hurt businesses worldwide.
WASHINGTON (AP) — One of President Donald Trump's nominees for the Federal Reserve came under sharp questioning Thursday from senators over her unorthodox economic views, including from two Republicans whose doubts about her nomination could imperil it.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The International Energy Agency expects demand for oil to fall in the first quarter as a result of the virus outbreak that emanated in China. Any fall would represent the first quarterly decline in a decade.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose modestly last month, weighed down by falling gasoline prices.
NEW YORK (AP) — How's your 401(k) doing? President Donald Trump likes to ask that question around the country, sometimes throwing out big gains like 90% or 95%. The average 401(k) did indeed hit a record last year, although its growth was considerably less than that.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is transferring $3.8 billion in recently passed military funding to finance construction of the president's long-sought U.S.-Mexico border wall, angering not just Democrats but also GOP defense hawks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he might end the long-running practice of letting other administration officials listen in on presidential calls with foreign leaders. That's after Trump's impeachment was triggered by his July phone call with the president of Ukraine.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate approved a bipartisan measure Thursday limiting President Donald Trump's authority to launch military operations against Iran.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a bid to revive the Equal Rights Amendment, the House on Thursday approved a measure removing a 1982 deadline for state ratification and reopening the process to amend the Constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sex.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the week since his acquittal on impeachment charges, a fully emboldened President Donald Trump is demonstrating his determination to assert an iron grip on government, pushing his Justice Department to ease up on a longtime friend while using the levers of presidential powers to exact payback on real and perceived foes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump's most trusted and longest-serving aides, is returning to the White House.