VOL. 42 | NO. 38 | Friday, September 21, 2018
Some rural jails at twice capacity as counties struggle to build more
When officers do hourly security checks at the Loudon County Jail, they’re often walking into a potent brew of danger.
With a huge percentage of crimes in Tennessee now stemming from drug addiction, some county officials are realizing they can’t just keep adding jail beds. Instead, they’re looking to address the root causes of crime.
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
When it comes to bipartisanship, Tennessee politicians talk a good game. But in the ballot-box battle, they’re all about party.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Santa’s neither worried nor enthusiastic about the Major League Soccer stadium that’s going to be birthed across the street from his smoke-filled, cash-only, beer-and-karaoke oasis on Bransford Avenue.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
There are hundreds, maybe even a few thousand people migrating here from the Northeast as a result of the new federal tax law limiting deductions on property taxes to $10,000 and mortgages to $1 million.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, August 2018, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of existing homes were unchanged in August, as a shortage of houses priced at less than $250,000 — a level considered to be affordable for the middle class — has become a drag on the real estate market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates are up for the fourth consecutive week, with the key 30-year rate reaching its highest level since May.
TENNESSEE TITANS
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then one of the biggest compliments that can paid to an NFL player is to see his own likeness in the Madden Football video game.
1. The Titans quarterback situation. The Titans pulled a lot of tricks last week against Houston, and they will have an even bigger challenge this week on the road against Jacksonville. Marcus Mariota has had some good games against the Jaguars in the past, but the numbness in his throwing arm could linger, especially if there is nerve damage in the elbow. Blaine Gabbert was OK as a game manager against the Texans, but the Jaguars’ defense presents a major obstacle, no matter which QB is under center. Jacksonville defeated New England 31-20 last week to move to 2-0.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Marcus Mariota wakes up every morning hoping his injured right hand feels better.
UT SPORTS
It used to be appointment viewing for every college football fan. It used to determine the SEC champion and factor into the national title chase.
NEWSMAKERS
Bass, Berry & Sims has added Gina R. Shockley and Marc A. Rigsby to its Healthcare Practice Group.
BRIEFS
Pinnacle Financial Partners is the No. 1 bank in the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA by deposit market share, data from the FDIC reveals.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Since the early 2000s, zero percent annual percentage rate auto loans have been an important part of the car-buying landscape. Whether the vehicles were subcompact cars or heavy-duty trucks, zero percent APR offers seemed to be everywhere, particularly around big holiday sale weekends and the fall car-clearance season.
CAREER CORNER
Years ago, when I was finishing graduate school in California, I spent a significant amount of time searching for the right job. I would go to job fairs and networking events as if it were my full-time job.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — A 26-year-old Austin, Texas, man has been arrested on federal charges for allegedly sending threatening letters to pop star Taylor Swift and showing up at her record label in Nashville, Tennessee.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say the state's unemployment rate continues to remain near historic low levels.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Marilyn Lloyd, the first Tennessee woman elected to a full term in Congress, has died. She was 89.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say tax revenues for the first month of the state's fiscal year came in nearly 3 percent higher, or $34.4 million higher than originally projected.
ELECTION 2018
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence on Friday told a crowd of conservatives in Tennessee that a win by Democrat Phil Bredesen would help the U.S. Senate become the center of the Democratic resistance.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean said Thursday that he's disappointed GOP opponent Bill Lee made a surprise cancellation at a forum where the two were set to appear together, but stopped short of accusing the Republican of actively avoiding him.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen said that the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault "has a very credible story." But he said the Judiciary Committee should consider proceeding with a vote if she does not testify under oath.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court is reviving a lawsuit filed by an expelled Tennessee lawmaker seeking to recoup lost lifetime health care and pension benefits.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man who pleaded guilty to bribing a postal worker to deliver a package later found to contain marijuana has been sentenced to 15 months in prison.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The U.S. Court of Appeals says the city of Nashville violated the First Amendment rights of anti-gay preachers at a 2015 LGBT pride festival.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Nissan recalled nearly 240,000 cars and SUVs worldwide due to a fire risk and is advising people to park the vehicles outdoors in rare cases.
TECHNOLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fighting to defend its $81 billion takeover of Time Warner from a government challenge, AT&T is arguing the Trump Justice Department has failed to show that the merger will raise prices for pay-TV programming and for the consumers who watch it.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Wall Street capped a milestone-setting week Friday with a mixed finish for the major U.S. stock indexes and the second all-time high in two days for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
DALLAS (AP) — America's rediscovered prowess in oil production is shaking up old notions about the impact of higher crude prices on the U.S. economy.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May accused the European Union on Friday of creating an "impasse" in divorce negotiations by bluntly rejecting her blueprint for Brexit, sending the value of the pound falling as worries about a chaotic U.K. exit from the EU soared.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Florence is testing the resolve of farmers in the Carolinas, who could face billions of dollars in agricultural damage while still feeling the sting from Hurricane Matthew almost two years ago.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — If you want a straw with your drink or a soda with a kids' meal at a California restaurant, you'll need to ask for them starting next year.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — American Airlines is threatening to prohibit customers from making changes to nonrefundable tickets if Congress makes good on a proposal to crack down on unreasonable airline fees.
NEW YORK (AP) — Reefer Madness has gripped Wall Street.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A rising stock market lifted U.S. household wealth to a record $106.9 trillion in the April-June quarter, the culmination of a decade of economic recovery but a gain that is concentrated largely among the most affluent.
LONDON (AP) — Comcast and 21st Century Fox will settle their battle for control of broadcaster Sky through a rare auction designed to put an end to months of offers and counteroffers from the American media empires seeking a foothold in the European pay TV market.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein denied a New York Times report Friday that he floated the idea of using the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump as unfit for office and suggested secretly recording the president to expose the chaos in the administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump went there.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abandoning his previous restraint, President Donald Trump challenged by name the woman accusing his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault on Friday, declaring that if the alleged attack was so terrible she would have reported it to law enforcement.
MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin has dismissed the latest round of U.S. sanctions that affected an aircraft-making factory as an "unfair" move to undercut Russia as a major arms exporter.
BEIJING (AP) — China said Friday it was "outraged" over U.S. economic sanctions against a Chinese military agency and its director over the purchase of Russian fighter jets and surface-to-air missile equipment, and demanded the U.S. cancel the measure.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Christine Blasey Ford may testify against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after all, her attorney said, breathing new life into the prospect of a dramatic Senate showdown next week over Ford's accusation that he assaulted her when they were in high school.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer says he is providing "critical information" as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is warning foreign adversaries that the U.S. is preparing to step up its offensive cyber capabilities as part of a new government-wide strategy.
State-backed hackers are still trying to break into the personal email accounts of U.S. senators and their aides — and a lawmaker focused on cybersecurity says the Senate's security office should stop refusing to help defend them.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says a spending plan pushed by congressional Republicans is "ridiculous" because funding for a border wall with Mexico that Trump has promised is not included.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans say they're forging ahead in their drive to push Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination through the Senate, even as the woman accusing him of a decades-old sexual attack is threatening to boycott a committee hearing and suggesting she's not being treated with "fairness and respect."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday delayed his own order to declassify and release documents from the FBI's Russia investigation, saying the Justice Department and U.S. allies have raised security concerns about their disclosure.