VOL. 42 | NO. 24 | Friday, June 15, 2018
SAM STOCKARD: VIEW FROM THE HILL
Will it be trains, planes or automobiles? If you ask state Rep. William Lamberth, Davidson County voters gave a resounding answer on the future of mass transit in this region. Based on their overwhelming defeat of an early May referendum, they don’t want to raise taxes for mass transit, preferring to be more like Atlanta and Los Angeles and less like New York.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
“Someone has grabbed a handbrake and jerked it backward quickly,” say one Nashville-based senior loan officer of the current residential real estate market. A group of top-producing Realtors opted for the “turning off the water hydrant” metaphor.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, May 2018, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped this week after two straight weeks of declines, reaching their second-highest level this year.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
The history of Vanderbilt baseball since coach Tim Corbin took over in 2003 is tremendous.
NEWSMAKERS
The Nashville chapter of The Entrepreneurs’ Organization recently added 15 members to its group of Middle Tennessee business owners, retaining its standing as the largest EO chapter in the United States and the third largest in the world, behind only Tokyo and Mumbai.
BRIEFS
Franklin-based Cumberland Consulting Group has been named to the Healthcare Informatics 100 list for the seventh time.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
One of the most price-effective and time-tested ways to go off the beaten path in a motorized vehicle is to buy a used SUV or pickup and modify it with aftermarket parts to enhance its performance. Well, there’s also something to be said for getting a new vehicle straight from the dealer showroom that’s ready to play in the dirt. And more than ever before, automakers are offering vehicles with those off-road modifications already installed for you.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Listen up. Pay attention. Eyes forward, ears open. You’ve heard those things before in your life, and now you say them to yourself, your kids, and your employees. But do they hear what you say now… or, as in the new book “Note to Self,” collected and introduced by Gayle King, will your words ring back in the future?
CAREER CORNER
A job seeker recently came to me with a problem. They’d been looking everywhere for the right job and finally found it. It was just what they were looking for, and their skills were a perfect match.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The two leading Democrats in Tennessee's open race for governor are meeting for a head-to-head debate.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's new health insurance option offers lower premiums for small businesses and self-employed people, but the policies are likely to cover fewer benefits.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — A surge of construction in the Midwest drove U.S. housing starts up 5 percent in May from the prior month.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — German automaker Audi has named sales chief Abraham 'Bram' Schot as interim CEO following the arrest of Rupert Stadler as part of a probe into emissions cheating.
TECHNOLOGY
Verizon and AT&T have pledged to stop providing information on phone owners' locations to data brokers, stepping back from a business practice that has drawn criticism for endangering privacy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Alexa has a new job: hotel concierge.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — IBM pitted a computer against two human debaters in the first public demonstration of artificial intelligence technology it's been working on for more than five years.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel took aim Tuesday at U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris accord, calling the move "very regrettable" at a time when the overwhelming majority of countries worldwide are trying to limit global warming.
WASHINGTON (AP) — You don't just feel the heat of global warming, you can see it in action all around.
WASHINGTON (AP) — You don't just feel the heat of global warming, you can see it in action all around. Some examples of where climate change's effects have been measured:
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow Jones industrial average is closing with its sixth straight loss Tuesday as worries about a U.S.-China trade dispute hit stock indexes around the globe.
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Tuesday announced retaliatory measures in response to the U.S. move to impose tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and China edged closer Tuesday to triggering the riskiest trade war in decades, a fight that could weaken the world's two largest economies, unsettle relations between Beijing and Washington and crimp global growth.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Tuesday threatened "comprehensive measures" in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariff hike, raising the possibility Beijing might target operations of American companies.
VIENNA (AP) — Iran lashed out Tuesday against U.S. President Donald Trump's call on OPEC to increase oil production and limit global energy prices, saying the cartel "is not an American organization."
NATIONAL POLITICS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's leading U.S. Senate candidates are decrying the separation of immigrant families at the border, with Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn blaming liberals.
DETROIT (AP) — Business leaders are condemning the Trump administration's decision to separate children from parents who are accused of crossing the border illegally.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Calls are mounting on Capitol Hill for the Trump administration to end the separation of families at the southern border ahead of a visit from President Donald Trump to discuss legislation.
Wrenching scenes of migrant children being separated from their parents at the southern border are roiling campaigns ahead of midterm elections, emboldening Democrats on the often-fraught issue of immigration while forcing an increasing number of Republicans to break from President Donald Trump on an issue important to the GOP's most ardent supporters.
MONDAY, JUNE 18
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has picked Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch to become the new director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says an immediate, outside review is looking into accusations that its acting director has misused state funds.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Claude Ramsey, a former Tennessee lawmaker, deputy governor and Hamilton County mayor, has died. He was 75.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A longtime Tennessee lawmaker who had expressed interest in running for House speaker says he won't seek re-election.
STATEWIDE
LEXINGTON (AP) — An electric motor manufacturing company plans to expand its current operations in Tennessee, an investment of $18 million expected to create 300 jobs.
SPORTS
Veteran coach Barry Trotz is leaving the Washington Capitals less than two weeks after leading them to the Stanley Cup.
MIDSTATE
CLARKSVILLE (AP) — Longtime Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt is being remembered again, this time with a plaza and statue in her hometown.
REAL ESTATE
NEW YORK (AP) — The threat of a trade war with Canada has taken a toll on the confidence of U.S. homebuilders, according to index released Monday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is resolving partisan redistricting cases from Wisconsin and Maryland without ruling on the broader issue of whether electoral maps can give an unfair advantage to a political party.
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts' highest court has struck down a proposed "millionaire tax" ballot question, blocking it from going before state voters in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider whether the purchasers of iPhone apps can sue Apple over allegations it has an illegal monopoly on the sale of the apps.
TECHNOLOGY
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Google said Monday that it will invest $550 million in Alibaba's main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is trying to drag the U.S.'s antiquated system for handling 911 calls into the 21st century.
TRANSPORTATION
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway's transportation minister and the head of the Scandinavian country's airport operator took off Monday for a short flight ... aboard a Slovenian-made two-seater electric airplane.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Every workday, about 7,400 trucks mostly loaded with automotive parts rumble across the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Canada, at times snarling traffic along the busy corridor.
BERLIN (AP) — German authorities on Monday detained the chief executive of Volkswagen's Audi division, Rupert Stadler, as part of a probe into the manipulation of emissions controls.
HEALTH CARE
GENEVA (AP) — For video game addicts, it might soon be "game over." In its latest revision to a disease classification manual, the World Health Organization said Monday that compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a new mental health condition.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks shrugged off early losses and wound up with a mixed finish Monday. Household goods companies took some of the worst losses as the S&P 500 index fell for the third time in four days.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Trade liberalization continues to have global momentum despite recent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the European trade commissioner said Monday as she launched free trade negotiations between the European Union and Australia.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The combined powers of superheroes, the Pixar brand and a drought of family-friendly films helped "Incredibles 2" become the best animated opening of all time, the biggest PG-rated launch ever and the 8th highest film launch overall.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set to pass a defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for the military, but would block a White House plan to allow Chinese telecom giant ZTE to buy component parts from the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of children split from their families at the U.S. southern border are being held in government-run facilities. A look at how we got here, what's real and what's not, and what might happen next.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a rising tide of outrage from Democrats and some Republicans over the forced separation of migrant children and parents at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump dug in Monday, again falsely blaming Democrats in the escalating political crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump "hates" to see families separated at the border and hopes "both sides of the aisle" can reform the nation's immigration laws, according to a statement from her office.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is exaggerating the achievements of his Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, claiming the North has destroyed missile launch sites and no longer has "rockets flying over the place."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Sunday the president might pardon his jailed, onetime campaign chairman and others ensnared in the Russia investigation once special counsel Robert Mueller's work wraps up, if he believed they were treated "unfairly."
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller is examining a previously undisclosed meeting between longtime Donald Trump confidante Roger Stone and a Russian figure who allegedly tried to sell him dirt on Hillary Clinton.
FRIDAY, JUNE 15
STATEWIDE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Tennessee House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh expressed support Thursday for eliminating criminal punishment for possessing small amounts of marijuana statewide if elected governor.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — The hundreds of artists appearing at the CMA Fest this past weekend weren't the only ones trying to court new fans. Streaming music providers had a larger presence at this year's festival, hoping to convert country music fans, who have been slower to adopt streaming compared with other genres.
MEMPHIS (AP) — D.J. Fontana, a rock 'n' roll pioneer who rose from strip joints in his native Shreveport, Louisiana to the heights of musical history as Elvis Presley's first and longtime drummer, has died at 87, his wife said Thursday.
A California judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit that accuses Twitter of violating the free speech rights of a leading white nationalist figure by banning his social media account.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have indicted Elizabeth Holmes on criminal fraud charges for allegedly defrauding investors, doctors and patients as the head of the once-heralded blood-testing startup Theranos.
LONDON (AP) — Retired German tennis star Boris Becker is claiming his unpaid role as a sports attache for Central African Republic gives him diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in Britain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is going to jail.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Attorneys are debating whether a Tennessee woman serving a life sentence for killing a man when she was 16 can gain parole. They're arguing before federal appellate judges in Cincinnati who are considering sending the case back to Tennessee.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York's attorney general sued President Donald Trump and his foundation Thursday, accusing him of illegally using the charity's money to settle disputes involving his business empire and to boost his political fortunes during his run for the White House.
AUTO INDUSTRY
BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say that automaker Volkswagen as a whole is responsible for the 2015 diesel emissions cheating scandal, a day after the company said it would accept a one-billion euro fine (1.18 billion dollars).
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks closed out a whirlwind week with a modest loss Friday as markets gauged how much to fret about the Trump administration's decision to step up the trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — "The economy," Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell declared this week, "is doing very well."
NEW YORK (AP) — Citigroup agreed Friday to pay $100 million to settle charges that its bankers manipulated an important interest rate used to price everything from credit cards to mortgages.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Apple says it has reached a multi-year deal with Oprah Winfrey to create original programs for its streaming service.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump brought the world's two biggest economies to the brink of a trade war Friday by announcing a 25 percent tariff on up to $50 billion in Chinese imports to take effect July 6.
BEIJING (AP) — China's government said Friday it will retaliate for U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hike on Chinese goods by immediately imposing penalties of the "same scale" on American goods.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. industrial production slipped 0.1 percent in May, primarily dragged by a drop in manufacturing caused by a major fire at a parts supplier for trucks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — AT&T has completed its $81 billion takeover of Time Warner, one of the biggest media deals ever. A federal judge approved the combination just two days earlier over objections by the Trump Justice Department that it would hurt consumers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has set limits aimed at addressing one of the leading causes of the 2008 financial crisis — the buildup of loans extended by one bank to another among the biggest Wall Street institutions.
Microsoft is working on automated checkout technology that could help retailers compete with Amazon's new cashier-less stores.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund believes the U.S. economy will post solid growth this year and next, helped by a sizable boost from tax cuts. But then it says growth will slide as huge budget deficits drag growth far below the Trump administration's goals.
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Two of the globe's most powerful central banks are gradually withdrawing the easy money policies that helped repair the damage wrought by the Great Recession and push stock markets to record highs. It's a sign of confidence in the economy, but with uncertain consequences for consumers and businesses.
RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The European Central Bank has decided to phase out the bond-buying stimulus program credited with helping the 19 countries that use the euro recover from the Great Recession and eurozone debt crisis.
Worried about an accident when you ride with Uber or Lyft? Now you can get an insurance policy from your phone for the ride too.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose by the most in six months in May, a sign that confident consumers are leading a strong economic rebound after a slow start to the year.
BEIJING (AP) — China's government renewed its threat Thursday to scrap deals with Washington aimed at defusing a sprawling trade dispute as the White House prepared to release a list of Chinese goods targeted for tariff hikes.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A company run by former officials at Cambridge Analytica, the political consulting firm brought down by a scandal over how it obtained Facebook users' private data, has quietly been working for President Donald Trump's 2020 re-election effort, The Associated Press has learned.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ignited eleventh-hour confusion Friday over Republican efforts to push immigration through the House next week, saying he won't sign a "moderate" package. A top House Republican said the chamber would not tackle the issue without Trump's backing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stinging report, the Justice Department watchdog said Thursday that former FBI Director James Comey was "insubordinate" in his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation during the 2016 presidential election. But it also concluded there was no evidence that Comey was motivated by political bias.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey says he disagrees with some of the conclusions of the Justice Department's inspector general about his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Steve King is a Republican congressman from Iowa who's a hard-liner on immigration with a penchant for making racially charged comments. Now he's facing heat for sharing a Twitter post by a Nazi sympathizer from Britain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In some ways, President Donald Trump has brought Tammy Kennedy and her daughter, Sue Ann, together on politics.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department's internal watchdog is expected to criticize the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, stepping into a political minefield while examining how a nonpartisan law enforcement agency came to be entangled in the 2016 presidential race.