VOL. 44 | NO. 4 | Friday, January 24, 2020
– if we can afford it
The Twenties could be the greatest decade in Nashville sports history. Recently named 2019’s Sports City of the Year by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, Nashville is on a hot streak that includes the Titans going to the AFC Championship game and hosting an NFL Draft that brought a record 600,000 fans to Lower Broadway.
Have we reached a tipping point, an oversaturation of professional sports entering the Nashville market?
Nashville is the 2019 Sports City of the Year, as chosen by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. Let that sink in for a minute. Not New York. Not Los Angeles. Not Boston, St. Louis or Miami. Nor Chicago, Dallas or Washington.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
They look out of place because they are, in both setting and time, two forlorn mid-19th century structures inharmoniously situated behind a Region’s Bank and within sight of the Home Depot that created the problem. They’re orphans, log and wood-shingle outbuildings locked behind a chain link fence that’s both protector and prison.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
Sitting on a needing-paint picnic bench behind his iconic South Nashville giant-hamburger-to-go joint, the native Iranian almost cheers when I bring up the topic of the general whose execution-by-drone has stirred the pot in his native land.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The Greater Nashville Realtors made it official last week in announcing that 2019 set the record for the most overall sales in real estate history in the Greater Nashville area. With 42,356 total sales, the area topped last year’s sales of 39,514, even with inventory disappearing in David Copperfield fashion.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, December 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
Top residential real estate sales, 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week to their lowest level in three months, deepening the incentive for prospective homebuyers although they face eroded affordability as prices continue to climb.
TENNESSEE TITANS
The Tennessee Titans’ season came to an abrupt and conclusive end with Sunday’s 35-24 AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Such is the harsh reality of January football. But in their quest of going from “good to great,” – their words not mine – this group of Titans players and coaches say the 2019 season was not so much an end to a magical run but perhaps the beginning of bigger things and better expectations for a franchise that wandered 17 years in the wilderness between title game appearances.
Marcus Mariota walked quietly into the sunset off the same field where his most memorable and lasting moment as a Tennessee Titan took place. At Arrowhead Stadium, where just two years ago Mariota completed a batted pass to himself for a touchdown in a Titans playoff upset, the former No. 2 overall pick ended his five-year run with the Titans on Sunday, not with a bang but with a whimper.
UT SPORTS
Charles Davis was in the middle of the broadcast when his cellphone began buzzing.
MEDIA
When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less.
NEWSMAKERS
Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP has elected 14 new partners, including 10 in Nashville. New Nashville partners are:
BRIEFS
FB Financial Corporation, parent company of FirstBank, and Franklin Financial Network, Inc., parent company of Franklin Synergy Bank, have jointly announced their entry into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Franklin will be merged with and into FB Financial.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Your options for a new electric vehicle in 2020 are more diverse than ever with an EV for nearly every vehicle type. But increased choice also makes it harder to choose. Edmunds has selected five top EVs that you’ll want to consider.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
It could go either way. Your client could say “yes” to the campaign you’ve developed and, if he does, well, your year is set practically as soon as it’s begun. Or, he could wrinkle his nose and send you back to the drawing board with your head hung.
PERSONAL FINANCE
If you’ve saved a lot for retirement, or your parents have, you could be affected by recent changes in the rules about retirement distributions.
CAREER CORNER
There are many ways to communicate. There’s old-fashioned in-person talking, talking on a landline at home or work and talking on a cellphone. Then, there’s email and texting.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Money’s a gas. Unless you need to borrow some from your parents. Then it’s a conversation many adults will avoid at all costs, even if it means paying for groceries with couch nickels.
TOURISM
Nashville’s tourism industry broke another record with 16.1 million visitors in 2019, an increase of 6% compared to 2018’s 15.2 million visitors, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced today.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials are seeking out organizations to sponsor a program that serves free meals to children over the summer.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to put in place a policy connecting the use of public benefits with whether immigrants could become permanent residents.
ENVIRONMENT
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Supporters of a regional pact that would tackle transportation emissions are struggling to win over several New England governors concerned that the climate change initiative will increase gas prices.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. sales of newly built homes fell 0.4% in December, cooling slightly after low mortgage rates fueled gains for much of 2019.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is spending $2.2 billion to refurbish an underused Detroit factory so it can build a series of electric and self-driving vehicles, eventually employing 2,200 people.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in years, Federal Reserve officials will hold their latest policy meeting this week feeling broadly satisfied with where interest rates are and with seemingly no inclination to change them anytime soon.
With tens of millions of Chinese ordered to stay put and many others avoiding travel as a new virus spreads, tourism around the globe is taking a heavy hit during one of the biggest travel seasons in Asia, the Lunar New Year.
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A Portuguese hacker is claiming responsibility for leaking confidential documents implicating the billionaire daughter of a former prominent African leader in alleged murky international business deals.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — China is the second-largest arms producer in the world behind the United States but ahead of Russia, a Swedish arms watchdog said Monday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressure is increasing on senators to call John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial after the revelation that a draft of a book by the former national security adviser undercuts a key defense argument — that Trump never tied withholding military aid to Ukraine to his demand the country help investigate political rival Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Mitt Romney says it is "increasingly likely" that other Republicans will join a call to compel former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in the Senate impeachment trial after reports that a draft of his book undercuts a key defense argument.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stated falsely Monday that House Democrats never called his former national security adviser to testify in their impeachment inquiry. Actually they did.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's impeachment trial enters a pivotal week as his defense team resumes its case and senators face a critical vote on whether to hear witnesses or proceed directly to a vote that is widely expected to end in his acquittal. The articles of impeachment charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
FRIDAY, JAN. 24
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee has become the latest state to assure continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if those organizations exclude LGBT families and others based on religious beliefs.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — The normally private Taylor Swift premiered an intimate documentary Thursday at the Sundance Film Festival in which the pop star discloses a past eating disorder, chronicles her inner battle over speaking forthrightly about politics and says her victorious 2017 sexual assault court case was a dramatic turning point in her life.
COURTS
MURFREESBORO (AP) — A Tennessee attorney is giving away free divorce representation to one client for Valentine's Day.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee officials say unemployment rates continue to sear near record low levels.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Saying that California violated a federal law, the Trump administration Friday threatened the state with a potential loss of federal health care funds over its requirement that insurance plans cover abortions.
TECHNOLOGY
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The company that controls the dot-org online universe is putting the registry of domain names up for sale, and the nonprofits that often use the suffix in their websites are raising concerns about the move.
LONDON (AP) — London police say they will start using live facial recognition cameras in operational deployments, in a major advance for the controversial technology.
ENVIRONMENT
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Friday brushed off criticism and mockery from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, saying that his comments have "of course no effect" on her and fellow campaigners.
AUTO INDUSTRY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is making a concession on its proposed minimum fuel economy requirement for new vehicles, but environmental groups and a key Democratic senator complain it does not go far enough, and still falls well below the requirements set under the Obama administration.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart says it's testing higher wages for new hourly positions at 500 of its U.S. stores as part of an overall strategy to better empower its staff.
MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump will hold a signing ceremony for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement on Wednesday, according to the White House.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic House prosecutors launched their final arguments Friday at Donald Trump's impeachment trial arguing the president will persist in abusing the power of his office ahead of the 2020 election unless Congress intervenes to remove him from office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon disclosed on Friday that 34 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injury in Iran's missile strike this month on an Iraqi air base, and although half have returned to work, the casualty total belies President Donald Trump's initial claim that no Americans were harmed. He later characterized the injuries as "not very serious."
WASHINGTON (AP) — At first, President Donald Trump stated inaccurately that no U.S. troops were injured in the Iranian missile attack against them in Iraq. Then he prematurely minimized those injuries as doctors tried to determine how severe they were.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For a few gripping minutes, Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead impeachment prosecutor against President Donald Trump, had made the restless Senate snap to attention.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the otherwise scripted impeachment trial, it was a rare spontaneous moment: Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of President Donald Trump's chief defenders, stopped Rep. Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor, to shake his hand and compliment him on his arguments for Trump's removal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats argued that President Donald Trump sought a phony investigation of a political rival and pursued a discredited conspiracy theory about Ukraine, while restless senators played with a new toy Thursday during Trump's impeachment trial.
THURSDAY, JAN. 23
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says he wants to enact some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, which would include banning women from undergoing the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News is moving aggressively to boost its streaming service with the belief that these products will change the news business over the next decade the way cable channels CNN, Fox News and MSNBC did a generation ago.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration lifted federal protections Thursday for some of the nation's millions of miles of streams, arroyos and wetlands, completing one of its most far-reaching environmental rollbacks.
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that climate protection may become a matter of survival for Europe and the entire planet.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — The three big U.S. airlines that own Boeing 737 Max jets don't expect the grounded plane back in their fleets until after the peak summer travel season, and that promises to lead to thousands more canceled flights and higher costs well into another year.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks are closing mostly higher Thursday as gains in technology and industrial companies offset declines elsewhere in the market.
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The United States, the European Union and what will soon be post-Brexit Britain have all raised the prospect of concluding trade deals between themselves by the end of this year, setting up an intense few months of negotiations.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank has decided to launch a top-to-bottom review of how it steers the economy for 342 million people in the 19 countries that use the euro currency.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pressing through a second day of impeachment arguments, House Democrats scoffed at President Donald Trump's claims that he had good reasons for pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political foes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are sharply divided along party lines about whether President Donald Trump should be removed from office, and they doubt the Senate impeachment trial will do anything to change their minds, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday imposed new visa rules aimed at restricting "birth tourism," in which women travel to the United States to give birth so their children can have U.S. citizenship.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats pressed into the second day of arguments in President Donald Trump's impeachment case focused intently on the charge of abuse of power, which top prosecutor Adam Schiff said would leave senators with no choice but a finding of "guilt and conviction."
WASHINGTON (AP) — House prosecutors faced fidgeting senators as they rolled out their case against President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the trial's previous session having lasted a fatigue-inducing 13 hours. Trump was busy himself, returning from an international business conference but finding time to send 120-plus tweets that included trial commentary and criticism.