VOL. 44 | NO. 49 | Friday, December 4, 2020
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates edged lower this week, reaching record lows for the 14th time this year against the backdrop of the pandemic-ravaged economy.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Analogy has Titans champing at the bit
Two weeks ago, a day or so after the Tennessee Titans had lost for the third time in four games, they watched film.
There was a time when a Titans-Browns matchup would have been a battle of NFL dregs. But times have changed, and now both are solidly in contention for playoffs berths.
NEWSMAKERS
James E. Crowe Jr., M.D., a physician-scientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who has pioneered development of human monoclonal antibodies as potential treatments for viral diseases, has won a 2020 “Golden Goose” Award.
Lipscomb University’s College of Business has named longtime Tractor Supply Company executive Greg Sandfort a CEO-in-residence beginning in January.
BRIEFS
Tennessee is one of four states selected to participate in a pilot program for delivery of the Pfizer Inc. COVID-19 vaccine now under development.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Once a novel concept in dealership marketing, Black Friday car deals have become as common as the TV deals at your local big-box store. While the savings on new cars aren’t that dramatic – no 70% off fire sales here – they do generally make mid to late November a good time to buy a car.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Financial therapist Lindsay Bryan-Podvin of Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializes in helping people deal with their anxieties about money. But since the pandemic started, Bryan-Podvin has been hearing more about guilt than fear.
CAREER CORNER
A reader recently asked at what point in a career should one have reached ideal potential. In other words, when should one stop moving up and seeking more money and a better title?
MILLENNIAL MONEY
If you’re fortunate enough to be able to donate money this year, plenty of causes need your attention.
TENNESSEE TITANS
3:29pmNASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee wide receiver Adam Humphries has been cleared from concussion protocol after missing four games and should be available Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
3:30pmCLEVELAND (AP) — Nick Chubb's runner-up finish to Tennessee's Derrick Henry for the NFL rushing title last season still irks the Browns.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
4:05pmThe Southeastern Conference has announced a revamped schedule for Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, including Vanderbilt's game at No. 11 Georgia that could not be played as scheduled on Saturday because of coronavirus concerns.
MIDSTATE
7:22amNASHVILLE (AP) — A California company that makes gutter guards plans to invest $5.4 million into a Tennessee expansion that is expected to create 85 new jobs.
STATE GOVERNMENT
7:22amMEMPHIS (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday that he intends to get a coronavirus vaccination when "the time is right," expressing confidence in the vaccine's ability to safely combat the virus that has killed more than 4,700 Tennessee residents.
AUTO INDUSTRY
2:47pmDETROIT (AP) — Nissan said Friday that it will no longer support the Trump administration in its legal fight to end California's ability to set its own auto-pollution and gas-mileage standards.
COURTS
2:49pmWASHINGTON (AP) — A California psychologist convicted of tax evasion was at the center of a mysterious, recently disclosed Justice Department investigation into whether White House officials were illegally lobbied to obtain a presidential pardon.
2:47pmWASHINGTON (AP) — In the midst of a pandemic, the Supreme Court said Friday it will take up the Trump administration's stalled plan to allow states to require low-income people to work to receive health care under Medicaid.
ENVIRONMENT
9:13amTOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged a 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) fund on Friday to promote ecological businesses and innovation to achieve his goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2050.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
11:29amBURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — By late morning on Oct. 28, staff at the University of Vermont Medical Center noticed the hospital's phone system wasn't working.
7:18amLONDON (AP) — America's top infectious disease expert has apologized for suggesting U.K. authorities rushed their authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine, saying he has "great faith" in the country's regulators.
7:20amStates drafted plans Thursday for who will go to the front of the line when the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine become available later this month, as U.S. deaths from the outbreak eclipsed 3,100 in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring.
7:19amSIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Americans couldn't resist the urge to gather for Thanksgiving, driving only slightly less than a year ago and largely ignoring the pleas of public health experts, who begged them to forgo holiday travel to help contain the coronavirus pandemic, data from roadways and airports shows.
7:17amWASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden said Thursday that he will ask Americans to commit to 100 days of wearing masks as one of his first acts as president, stopping just short of the nationwide mandate he's pushed before to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
3:56pmWall Street closed out a solid week for stocks Friday with more record highs as traders took a discouraging jobs report as a sign that Congress will finally move to deliver more aid for the pandemic-stricken economy.
3:26pmWILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is predicting a "bleak future" if Congress doesn't take speedy action on a coronavirus aid bill, amid a nationwide spike in the virus that's hampering the nation's recovery.
3:28pmWASHINGTON (AP) — After numerous fits and starts and months of inaction, optimism is finally building in Washington for a COVID-19 aid bill that would offer relief for businesses, the unemployed, schools, and health care providers, among others struggling as caseloads are spiking.
2:48pmWASHINGTON (AP) — Evidence was abundant in the November jobs report that the U.S. economy's tentative recovery is sputtering as coronavirus cases accelerate and federal aid runs out.
12:48pmWASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave an optimistic assessment of the prospects for a mid-sized COVID-19 relief bill and a separate $1.4 trillion governmentwide spending bill on Friday, teeing up expectations for a successful burst of legislative action to reverse months of frustration on pandemic relief.
9:13amWASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit widened 1.7% in October to $63.1 billion. The politically sensitive gap in the trade of goods with China and Mexico grew.
12:47pmWASHINGTON (AP) — With the viral pandemic accelerating across the country, America's employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month, adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown.
7:24amDALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines warned nearly 7,000 workers on Thursday that they could lose their jobs unless labor unions accept concessions to help the airline cope with a sharp drop in travel caused by the pandemic.
7:23amBEIJING (AP) — The U.S. government has stepped up a feud with Beijing over security by adding China's biggest maker of processor chips and a state-owned oil giant to a blacklist that limits access to American technology and investment.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
2:48pmWASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House on Friday approved a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, reversing what supporters call a failed policy of criminalizing pot use and taking steps to address racial disparities in enforcement of federal drug laws.
7:17amWASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is adjusting the scope of his agenda to meet the challenges of governing with a narrowly divided Congress and the complications of legislating during a raging pandemic.
7:30amWASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is accusing Facebook in a lawsuit of discriminating against U.S. workers in favor of foreigners with special visas to fill more than 2,600 high-paying jobs.
ELECTION 2020
7:16amWASHINGTON (AP) — National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe says foreign adversaries are using social media and other platforms to amplify allegations of voter fraud. But he won't say which countries are using the issue to try to undermine public confidence in the U.S. democratic process.
7:36amFor a man obsessed with winning, President Donald Trump is losing a lot. He's managed to lose not just once to Democrat Joe Biden at the ballot box but over and over again in courts across the country in a futile attempt to stay in power. The Republican president and his allies continue to mount new cases, recycling the same baseless claims, even after Trump's own attorney general declared the Justice Department had uncovered no widespread fraud.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's path for those convicted of a felony to restore their right to vote has not only silenced Black voters but also contains constitutional and federal law violations, a newly filed federal lawsuit alleges.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court on Thursday indefinitely postponed the execution of death row inmate Byron Black.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a lower federal court to reexamine California restrictions on indoor religious services in areas hard hit by the coronavirus in light of the justices' recent ruling in favor of churches and synagogues in New York.
ENVIRONMENT
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to hold an oil and gas lease sale for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge next month, weeks before President-elect Joe Biden, who has opposed drilling in the region, is set to take office.
GENEVA (AP) — Nestle, the world's biggest food company, said Thursday that it will spend 3.2 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) over five years to improve its climate footprint.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Now that it's clear Joe Biden soon will be president, the fight over automobile pollution and fuel efficiency standards is likely to peter out, and U.S. consumers should see a broader selection of electric and efficient vehicles.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — In the most seismic shift by a Hollywood studio yet during the pandemic, Warner Bros. Pictures on Thursday announced that all of its 2021 film slate — including a new "Matrix" movie, "Godzilla vs. Kong" and the Lin-Manuel Miranda adaptation "In the Heights" — will stream on HBO Max at the same time they play in theaters.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
WASHINGTON (AP) — Three former presidents say they'd be willing to take a coronavirus vaccine publicly, once one becomes available, to encourage all Americans to get inoculated against a disease that has already killed more than 275,000 people nationwide.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine to the right people could change the course of the pandemic in the United States. But who are the right people?
LONDON (AP) — Facebook said Thursday it will start removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, in its latest move to counter a tide of coronavirus-related online misinformation.
The U.S. recorded over 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring, while the number of Americans in the hospital with the virus has eclipsed 100,000 for the first time and new cases have begun topping 200,000 a day, according to figures released Thursday.
BOSTON (AP) — IBM security researchers say they have detected a cyberespionage effort using targeted phishing emails to try to collect vital information on the World Health Organization's initiative for distributing COVID-19 vaccine to developing countries.
WUHAN, China (AP) — In the early days in Wuhan, the first city struck by the virus, getting a COVID test was so difficult that residents compared it to winning the lottery.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
U.S. stock indexes closed mostly higher Thursday after a late stumble pulled the S&P 500 just short of its third straight all-time high.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Optimism about delivering long-sought COVID-19 relief is building on Capitol Hill after additional rank-and-file lawmakers voiced support for a bipartisan, middle-of-the-road plan taking shape in the Senate and as top congressional leaders connected on the topic for the first time in months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed the nomination of Christopher Waller for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, placing another of President Donald Trump's picks on the Fed's influential board after a string of high-profile rejections.
Americans who struggled through 2020 could face more hardship in the year ahead as pandemic related payments and protections come to an end.
VIENNA (AP) — OPEC and a group of allied countries including Russia agreed Thursday to increase oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from January and will meet monthly after that to decide whether to further adjust output.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Irish budget airline Ryanair is ordering more Boeing 737 Max jets just weeks before the plane returns to flying after two crashes that killed 346 people.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell as the nation celebrated Thanksgiving last week to a still-high 712,000, the latest sign that the U.S. economy and job market remain under stress from the intensified viral outbreak.
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The U.S. services sector, where most Americans work, registered its sixth consecutive month of expansion in November.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. said Wednesday it would block imports from a major Chinese producer of cotton goods because of its reliance on workers detained as part of a crackdown on ethnic minorities in China's northwest.
LONDON (AP) — Much like a broken record, Brexit trade talks are rumored to be poised for success on the cusp of a deadline, only to face the same old fundamental differences on fishing rights, legal oversight and fair competition that have dogged the European Union and Britain for months.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In politics, there can sometimes be an upside to losing.
LOS EBANOS, Texas (AP) — The U.S. government has been trying to take Pamela Rivas' land for a border wall since before Joe Biden was vice president.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has named Tina Flournoy, a veteran Democratic strategist and aide to the Clintons, as her chief of staff, the transition team announced Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Up soon for President-elect Joe Biden: naming his top health care officials as the coronavirus pandemic rages. It's hard to imagine more consequential picks.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will award the nation's highest civilian honor on Thursday to former college football coach and political ally Lou Holtz.