VOL. 43 | NO. 8 | Friday, February 22, 2019
Early actions reflect campaign emphasis on vocational education, lifting rural economies
Bill Lee the governor sounds a lot like Bill Lee the candidate as he works to implement the policies he brought to Tennessee voters since the Republican businessman announced that he would seek the state’s top job.
In his first week as Tennessee’s 50th governor, Bill Lee issued four executive orders, the first cementing his commitment to the 15 rural Tennessee counties that are economically distressed. Others addressed ethics, transparency and nondiscrimination in employment.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was 17 when he joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Auburn University, which every spring held an "Old South" party where he and other members dressed in Confederate uniforms.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
The issue before the House subcommittee was whether the annual Robert Spicer Memorial Buck Dance Championship in Dickson County should become the official buck dancing competition of the State of Tennessee.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
The guy cops say “has a good heart” figures that if the five jailed kids had bicycles they might not be charged with murder. And musician Kyle Yorlets, not far removed from being a kid himself, might not have been gunned down for refusing to fork over his car keys.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
As Nashville evolved into the ‘It City,” the only sector that proliferated more than real estate – with its tall, tall skinny houses, apartment buildings and condos – was the restaurant industry.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, January 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates dipped this week to the lowest average in more than a year, providing a possible boost to the start of the Spring homebuying season in March.
SPORTS
Picking the best wow moment for Dylan Windler is difficult because there have been so many. There was Feb. 9 when the Belmont forward scored a career-high 41 points in a win at Morehead State.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Rick Byrd won his 800th career game as Belmont rolled past Eastern Illinois 99-58 on Thursday night.
Garrison Mathews was a good player at Franklin High School. Turns out, he was just getting started.
NEWSMAKERS
Attorney Mozianio “Trey” S. Reliford has joined Neal & Harwell, PLC, as an associate. He has experience in the areas of complex white collar and regulatory defense, securities, antitrust, employment and intellectual property law.
BRIEFS
Adams Keegan, a national managed HR, payroll and benefits provider, has expanded its presence in Nashville by opening a new office near Vanderbilt University at 210 25th Avenue North. The company also has hired Jeff Young as business development manager.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Car shoppers often see themselves as targets of opportunity for dealerships and their salespeople. And while a few dealerships do engage in shenanigans, some damage can be self-inflicted.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Setting smart, achievable goals is important if you want to take charge of your financial life. But many of us are surprisingly bad at choosing the goals that actually matter most to us.
CAREER CORNER
I could write a book about the information I’m about to share. If you’re a parent with an adult child, this is for you.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Google is the Big Kahuna of search engines. It processes more than 3.5 billion searches a day and 1.2 trillion searches worldwide each year, according to Internet Live Stats.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — New Vanderbilt athletic director Malcolm Turner has extended the contract of football coach Derek Mason after the Commodores reached their second bowl game in three seasons.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee environmental officials have awarded $1.9 million waste reduction grants for community projects across the state.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says his upcoming budget proposal will include $40 million to improve school safety.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A top Tennessee Republican has gone on the defensive after detailing what he would do if he were sexually assaulted as he fielded questions on appointing a lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct to oversee an education committee.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators know it's time to show they can be consistent period to period and game to game.
TOURISM
GATLINBURG (AP) — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park saw a record number of visitors in 2018.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville producer Fred Foster, who produced some of Roy Orbison's most popular records and was the first to produce records from Kris Kristofferson and Dolly Parton, has died. He was 87.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a student alleging school officials wrongly distributed T-shirts promoting the Republican.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google said Thursday it will no longer require that its workers settle disputes with the company through arbitration, responding to months of pressure from employees.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Seven Latino workers are suing federal immigration authorities over a raid at an eastern Tennessee meatpacking plant that ended in the arrests of about 100 people.
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Four former account representatives from nation's largest fuel retailer will serve probation for their roles in a plot to cheat trucking companies.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Fourteen people have applied for consideration to be appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals in the Western Division.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home sales fell 1.2 percent in January to their worst pace in more than three years, as persistent affordability problems have put a harsh chill in the real estate market.
TRANSPORTATION
Now there is one more place where cameras could start watching you — from 30,000 feet.
BERLIN (AP) — A leading airline trade group says fatal commercial flight accidents increased in 2018 from a record low set in 2017.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen says it increased operating earnings and sales last year despite troubles getting vehicles certified under new European emissions tests.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A European Union official says "there is full support" from member states to hit back if U.S. President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on cars and car parts.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automakers Daimler and BMW say that trustworthy handling of personal data will be a key competitive advantage in their new joint venture that offers app-based services like free-floating car-sharing in big cities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday broke off talks on vehicle mileage standards with California, increasing the chances of a court battle that threatens to unsettle the auto industry.
MEDIA
PHOENIX (AP) — The editor of USA Today apologized Thursday for an image portraying blackface that was published in the Arizona State University yearbook on her watch.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology and health care companies led U.S. stocks higher Friday, giving the benchmark S&P 500 its fourth straight weekly gain.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo again blasted fellow Democrats on Friday over Amazon's backing out of a deal to put one of its second headquarters in New York City, calling the internet retailer's rejection the "greatest tragedy" he has seen since he's been in government.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said Friday that in light of a slowing global economy and last year's financial market turmoil, the central bank intends to remain "patient" in determining when to make future changes in its benchmark interest rate.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kraft Heinz has disclosed an investigation by federal regulators and will slash the value of its Oscar Mayer and Kraft brands by $15.4 billion.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The British government acknowledged Thursday that trade deals with major countries such as Japan and Turkey will not be in place by the planned Brexit day of March 29, while the European Union's chief said he remains downbeat about Britain avoiding a chaotic departure from the bloc.
The average fare for airline travel within the United States has hit the lowest level since the government started keeping track in 1995, after adjusting for inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration and Chinese negotiators resumed high-level talks Friday aimed at resolving a trade dispute that has escalated uncertainty for corporations, unsettled investors and posed a threat to the global economy.
Health care and energy companies led U.S. stocks lower Thursday, ending a three-day winning streak for the S&P 500 and giving the benchmark index only its fourth loss this month.
WASHINGTON (AP) — To hear the Americans tell it, the Chinese have gone on a commercial crime spree, pilfering trade secrets from seed corn to electronic brains behind wind turbines. China has stripped the arm off a T-Mobile robot, the U.S. says, and looted trade secrets about robotic cars from Apple.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods posted a 1.2 percent advance in December, but much of the strength came from a surge in demand for commercial aircraft, a notoriously volatile sector.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, a sign that layoffs declined and hiring is likely strong.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Top officials of the European Central Bank worried at their last meeting that the slowdown in economic growth might be "deeper and more broad-based" than previously suspected.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has picked Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, as his nominee to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats controlling the House have teed up a vote next week to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, accelerating a showdown in Congress that could divide Republicans and lead to Trump's first veto.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A report from special counsel Robert Mueller about the Russia investigation is not expected to be delivered to the Justice Department next week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday set up new obstacles for women seeking abortions, barring taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from making abortion referrals. The new policy is certain to be challenged in court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller faces a Friday deadline to weigh in on former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's punishment in one of his two criminal cases.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump will let his new attorney general decide whether to release the findings of the special counsel's Russia investigation to the public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it's "looking into" Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's handling of a secret plea deal with a wealthy financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls
WASHINGTON (AP) — William Barr has been attorney general for just one week but is on the cusp of staring down what will almost certainly be the most consequential decision of his long career: how much of the special counsel's findings to make public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge issued a broad gag order forbidding Roger Stone to discuss his criminal case with anyone and gave him a stinging reprimand Thursday over the longtime Trump confidant's posting of a photo of the judge with what appeared to be crosshairs of a gun.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Republican candidate in the nation's last undecided congressional race abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and instead called for a new election Thursday, after investigators detailed evidence of ballot fraud by political operatives working for him.
FLINT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Michigan voters can start casting an absentee ballot without giving a reason.