VOL. 42 | NO. 21 | Friday, May 25, 2018
Ex-health care CEO finds success turning discarded railroad scraps into high-end furniture
Ever wonder what happens to old boxcars or railroad ties that somehow don’t get used? Answers are tucked away on Willow Street near downtown Nashville, where some railroad materials end up in a museum and others become specialty furniture and a constantly changing array of other objects.
One after another, many of the nation’s top sporting events are finding their way to Nashville. News that Music City is playing host to the 2019 NFL Draft really came as no surprise, considering the city’s other recent sports successes here.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
A year-old law enabling Tennessee colleges and universities to keep secret the “proprietary” fees they pay money managers for handling risky investments is likely to be reviewed this year.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
The world’s most passionate devotee of Duane Allman, Big Daddy and Big Dud – the latter two being the same guy – stands by the pavilion 100 feet or so from Mill Creek in Flat Rock (or Woodbine, both names work) and smiles.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Chris Elizer is a Realtor with Keller Williams in Lewisburg and has been in the real estate business since the Great Recession. Yes, he entered the industry as it lay dying.
REAL ESTATE
April 2018 real estate trends for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
Top commercial real estate sales, April 2018, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates rose this week, continuing at their highest levels in seven years amid the peak home buying season.
NEWSMAKERS
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Cornelia A. Clark will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s prestigious Justice Frank F. Drowota III Award.
BRIEFS
Belmont University and Columbia State Community College have announced a partnership that allows Columbia State associate degree students to earn a bachelor’s of business administration degree from Belmont’s Jack C. Massey College of Business.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
You’ve heard of Tesla Autopilot, but perhaps not always in a good way: The semi-autonomous driving system is now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board for the role it may have played in a March fatal accident near Mountain View, California.
CAREER CORNER
We all have bad days. Whether you woke up on the wrong side of the bed or someone cut you off on the way to work, it can make getting through the day difficult.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
As technology has continued to evolve in the last decade, marketers have been closely watching and anticipating the progression of geomarketing, or the application of location intelligence to effectively market products and services to consumers.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. (AP) — A drummer who contributed to the legendary Muscle Shoals sound has died.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville Mayor David Briley declared victory after an election Thursday to serve out the term vacated by former Mayor Megan Barry, who pleaded guilty to a felony and resigned after an extramarital affair with her bodyguard.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Flinching when he heard himself described as a man who used power to prey on women, Harvey Weinstein was arraigned Friday on rape and other charges in the first criminal prosecution to result from the wave of allegations against him that sparked a national reckoning over sexual misconduct.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee judge pleaded guilty Thursday to corruption charges including scheming to have drugs planted on a woman after he was investigated for helping her with her legal trouble in exchange for sex.
MEMPHIS (AP) — The Sons of Confederate Veterans says it has filed a notice of appeal of a judge's ruling that the removal of three statues of Confederate leaders in Memphis, Tennessee, was legal.
HEALTH CARE
The highest pay packages go to CEOs at health care companies. For the second time in three years, chief executives in the health care field led the S&P 500 in terms of total compensation. The typical CEO in the industry made $14.9 million last year, which means half earned more than that, and half made less.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A proposal to create government price controls in California for surgeries, hospital stays, doctor visits and other health care services died Friday when it failed to clear a key committee, but the author says he plans to bring it back next year.
TECHNOLOGY
BRUSSELS (AP) — Facebook said Thursday it will not compensate users in the scandal over the misuse of their personal data by political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
PARIS (AP) — China's biggest tech company says the industry needs to tackle users' privacy concerns and the risks posed by advancing technologies.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — The autonomous Uber SUV that struck and killed an Arizona pedestrian in March spotted the woman about six seconds before hitting her, but did not stop because the system used to automatically apply brakes in potentially dangerous situations had been disabled, according to federal investigators.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Energy companies and oil prices took their worst losses in months Friday on reports OPEC countries plan to produce more oil soon. Stock indexes finished an indecisive week with small losses.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned Friday that the Fed's independence from political pressure must be respected if it is to succeed in controlling inflation, maximizing employment and regulating the financial system.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods fell in April amid weaker demand for aircraft. But a key category that tracks business investment rose after sliding in March — a sign of health for American industry.
LONDON (AP) — Lawmakers scrutinizing Britain's exit from the European Union said Thursday that progress in trade talks with the bloc is "highly unsatisfactory," and that the country may have to stay in the tariff-free EU customs union for years after Brexit.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un may be the deal that got away.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is twisting the words of his predecessor's national intelligence director as part of his stepped-up effort to trash the credibility of the special counsel's Russia investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that President Donald Trump's budget plan won't curb the spiraling deficit as it claims.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a dramatic diplomatic turn, President Donald Trump on Thursday called off next month's summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, calling the cancellation a "tremendous setback" for peace and stressing that the US military was ready to respond to any "foolish or reckless acts" by the North.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed into law a measure that loosens key restraints for banks imposed after the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession. Savoring the legislative triumph, he called it "the next step in America's unprecedented economic comeback."
NEW YORK (AP) — The words "Donald Trump" are not heard anywhere in HBO's new documentary on Sen. John McCain, which debuts on Memorial Day. That's not a coincidence.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Thursday passed a $717 billion defense policy bill that would give the military a 2.6 percent pay hike, the largest in nine years.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — "Toxic" political infighting is preventing U.S. President Donald Trump from improving relations with Moscow, Russia's former ambassador in the United States and a long-time Trump campaign contact told The Associated Press on Friday.