VOL. 46 | NO. 47 | Friday, November 25, 2022
Heisman hopes? Gone. Title hopes? Gone: Season finale at VU loses its luster for Vols
Hendon Hooker climbed the ladder in the southeast corner of Neyland Stadium and began directing the Pride of the Southland Band after leading the Vols to another dominating win in the final home game of his Tennessee career.
While we’re on the topic of the difference a week can make, the Vanderbilt Commodores look to make it three memorable weeks in a row when they face the Volunteers Saturday at FirstBank Stadium on the Vanderbilt campus.
Tennessee's chance at a berth in the College Football Playoff is most likely gone, but the Volunteers can still post the program's first 10-win regular season since 2003. The Vols have won three straight against in-state rival Vanderbilt. The Commodores needs a victory to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2018 in coach Clark Lea's second season. A win would be the Commodores' third straight, all against SEC teams. It's a big turnaround for Vanderbilt after snapping a 26-game skid against league competition earlier this month at Kentucky.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
Emails are flying in from all over the county, each loaded with euphemistic phrases such as “price adjustment,” “new price” and the reigning favorite “price improvement.” By improving the price, the listing agent is referring to a term that Zillow interprets as a “price drop,” and the popular listing site lets the world know that the price has dropped.
REAL ESTATE
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mortgage rates are more than double what they were a year ago, so many homebuyers are looking for ways to put off some of the pain for a few years.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
This Sunday night at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, “A Drag Queen Christmas” will be presented for the eighth consecutive year. And, maybe, the last.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Quicker than Phillips, Fisher
Unless you looked it up, you probably would never know Mike Vrabel just reached a milestone in his coaching career with last week’s win in Green Bay.
The Todd Downing DUI arrest hours after the Green Bay game pockmarked the Titans’ victory in Lambeau Field, taking the focus off the team and putting it onto a preventable distraction.
The Titans return home after playing twice in five days against Denver and Green Bay to try and exorcize a demon from last year – the Cincinnati Bengals. It won’t erase the disappointment of last year when the Bengals came to Tennessee and upset the Titans on their way to the Super Bowl, but it would give the Titans a win against another quality AFC opponent, something that can come in handy come playoff-seeding time.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee offensive coordinator Todd Downing said Wednesday he can't think of anything he's faced in his career "much tougher" than what he's dealing with right now, and the issue is all of his own doing.
NEWSMAKERS
Bass, Berry & Sims has added Betsy F. Knotts as counsel in Nashville, marking the 34th new attorney announced firmwide in 2022.
BRIEFS
GivingMatters.com, an initiative of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, is partnering with GivingTuesday (Nov. 29), a global generosity movement created in 2012 and sparking a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate and celebrate generosity.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The best luxury sport sedans have historically come from European automakers. But there’s one U.S. brand that isn’t ready to fully cede control: Cadillac.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Your entire life is like a gigantic game of “Chutes and Ladders.” Shake the dice, move two steps ahead and you hit a ladder that takes you to higher places on the game board.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Back in 2016, Jamie Clark of Seattle was a software engineer who planned to take a year off work to finish a master’s degree in computational linguistics. One year turned into three and a career change into financial planning.
CAREER CORNER
One of the topics I’m often asked about is personal brand. And, part of your personal brand comes across in the way that you say thank you.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Spouses share a lot, but no matter your relationship status your credit score belongs to you and you alone.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Kentucky doctor and state senator has been appointed commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health, officials said.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee House Republicans have nominated Speaker Cameron Sexton to serve a third term in the chamber's top leadership position.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee state senator accused of violating federal campaign finance laws pleaded guilty to two charges on Tuesday after initially calling the case against him a political witch hunt.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, his longtime accountant testified Tuesday, confirming long-held suspicions about the former president's tax practices.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the imminent handover of former President Donald Trump's tax returns to a congressional committee after a three-year legal fight.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court appeared deeply skeptical Tuesday that former President Donald Trump was entitled to challenge an FBI search of his Florida estate or to have an independent arbiter review documents that were seized from the home.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jurors have gone home for the long Thanksgiving weekend after deliberating most of Tuesday in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot case accusing Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four of his extremist group associates of a violent plot to stop the transfer of presidential power from Republican Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved the first gene therapy for hemophilia, a $3.5 million one-time treatment for the blood-clotting disorder.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it's seeing a big uptick in the number of new customers buying private health insurance for 2023 from the Affordable Care Act's marketplace.
AUTO INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — As millions of people travel the interstates this Thanksgiving, many will encounter patches of traffic at a standstill for no apparent reason — no construction or accident. Researchers say the problem is you.
ENERGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department released new details Tuesday of its long-awaited plan to impose a price cap on Russian oil, but the U.S. and its allies are still finalizing how much they'll pay for petroleum exports that have helped fund the war in Ukraine.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting favored reducing the size of their interest rate hikes "soon''— just before raising their benchmark rate by a substantial three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time.
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street following the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting, which showed Fed officials agreed that smaller rate hikes would likely be appropriate "soon."
NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers holding out for big deals — and some much-needed relief from soaring costs on just about everything — may be disappointed as they head into the busiest shopping season of the year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since August but still remains low by historic standards.
NEW YORK (AP) — On a recent evening in early November, shoppers at the Bryant Park holiday market in New York City were in the holiday spirit well before Black Friday. The scent of pine wafted from candle sellers' booths, people snapped up gingerbread cookies and hot apple cider and ice skaters swirled figure eights around the rink in the center of the market.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York is taking a first-in-the-nation step to tap the brakes on the spread of cryptocurrency mining, under legislation that Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Tuesday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — People in their 80s lead countries, create majestic art and perform feats of endurance. One entered the record books for scaling Mount Everest. It's soon time for Joe Biden, 80 on Sunday, to decide whether he has one more mountain to climb — the one to a second term as president.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions against three more Iranian security officials in response to the Tehran government's continued crackdown on protests after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while being held by the morality police for violating the country's strictly enforced Islamic dress code.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign over management of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, warning that the new House GOP majority will open investigations that could lead to impeachment proceedings.
UKRAINE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is sending an additional $400 million in ammunition and generators to Ukraine, the White House announced Wednesday, and is pulling the gear from its own stockpiles to get the support to Kyiv as fast as possible as Russia continues to target Ukraine's energy sources and winter sets in.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday linked the suffering of Ukrainians now to the 1930s "genocide artificially caused by Stalin," when the Soviet leader was blamed for creating a man-made famine in the country believed to have killed more than 3 million people.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism for its invasion of and actions in Ukraine.