VOL. 43 | NO. 16 | Friday, April 19, 2019
SPECIAL EMPHASIS: RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE/HOME REMODELING
Like the location but hate the house? Buy anyway and make it yours
Christian and Wendy Seem loved the home they found in a quiet Brentwood neighborhood. It was larger than the house where they were living nearby, the yard was almost twice as big and it had a full basement.
People in the real estate industry have an expression that explains why Middle Tennessee commutes are getting longer and the main arteries more crowded.
When she’s in the mood for a casual meal, Nathalie Burack can step out the door of her new townhome and stroll down the street for a gourmet hamburger. A shop selling spirits, wine and craft beer is opening nearby, along with a popular Mexican restaurant and a nail bar.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The law of supply and demand is taking a beating in the Nashville real estate market. Inventory is on the rise, with 11,276 properties on the market compared with 8,521 at this time last year. Yet the price of a single-family home has increased from $297,915 to $305,000 during that same period. Condos have followed the trend, rising from $218,600 to $223,000.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, March 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates increased this week, though they remain lower than a year ago in a positive sign for home sales.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
The South prides itself on being welcoming, my native Mississippi going so far as to officially bill itself as “the Hospitality State.” In general, it serves us well.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee lawmakers are sending Gov. Bill Lee a bill that would limit community oversight boards that investigate police misconduct, but maintain reduced subpoena power for them.
The latest legislative iteration in the move to receive billions in federal TennCare funds as a block grant would curb new federal mandates, add flexibility for the state to control pharmacy costs, set a floor for federal funding and remove previous requirements for state legislators to approve any TennCare deal that Gov. Bill Lee negotiates.
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
After smiling at the white-haired stranger, King David lowers the top half of his body into a dark-green dumpster a few feet outside Nissan Stadium – the ultimate field of dreams for those whose egos are being massaged by single-minded politicians during the three-day NFL Draft rodeo and bacchanalia.
What’s happening, when and where:
TENNESSEE TITANS
As Nashville prepares to host its first NFL Draft, talk of who the Tennessee Titans will take with the 19th pick in that draft has taken a backseat to lost cherry trees, fear of downtown gridlock, how to get up front for the Tim McGraw, CeCe Winans and Dierks Bentley concerts and what celebrities will be spotted around town.
The Tennesseee Titans could go any number of ways in the first round of the draft this year and are certainly not in control of their own fate at No. 19.
PREDATORS
In a Predators season plagued by inconsistency, Ryan Johansen remained steady. Never injured, always reliable. Productive the whole way.
The Predators finished the regular season with the league’s worst power play, converting just 12.9 percent. Things didn’t improve in the first three games of the playoffs as Nashville went 0 for 8.
NEWSMAKERS
Nashville-based Cumberland Trust recently added David Liles to its estate administration team as a trust administrator. In his role, Liles supports the administration of post-mortem estates and helps clients and beneficiaries understand the steps of the estate settlement process.
BRIEFS
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has won the 2018 Chapter 11 Reorganization of the Year ($50 to $100 million) Award from M&A Advisor for the firm’s role in the Chapter 11 case of Vanguard Healthcare and its 17 subsidiaries.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The midsize truck segment has been gaining in popularity in recent years. Now there’s a new player in the segment to further stoke a truck lover’s desire: the all-new 2020 Jeep Gladiator.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Twenty-four years ago, I knew so little about travel rewards that I took an around-the-world trip without signing up for a single frequent traveler program. Those lost points and miles still haunt me.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Parents are often more than happy to offer financial advice to their children. They like to feel needed and want to make sure you’re on solid financial ground. But it’s important to turn the tables and ask about their financial plans, too.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A top Tennessee lawmaker says Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III's decision to not issue a legal opinion on a contentious voucher-like proposal signals it's likely unconstitutional.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee senators have voted to double several campaign contribution limits.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee proposal to tweak how the state intervenes in charter school authorization cases is headed to Gov. Bill Lee's desk.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee troopers arrested five protesters at the state Capitol after a 30-hour long sit-in outside Gov. Bill Lee's office.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A resolution that would change the Tennessee Constitution to say God is the source of liberty for the state's citizens has cleared the House.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The mother of a woman who was killed in a shooting at a Tennessee Waffle House last year has filed the latest lawsuit over the attack.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal judge has denied a request from a Tennessee lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct to publicly name the student who has filed a lawsuit against the Republican.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse has hired Adam Mazarei to his coaching staff, adding an assistant who spent the past six seasons with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.
NASHVILLE (AP) — New Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse has added longtime Pac-12 assistant David Grace to his staff as associate head coach.
HEALTH CARE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Middle Tennessee saw over 12,500 postings for jobs in health care technology last year. That's according to a report released Thursday by Middle Tennessee State University and the Greater Nashville Technology Council.
AUTO INDUSTRY
MARYSVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Honda is slowing production of Accord and Civic cars as U.S. buyers continue to favor SUVs and trucks.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's top automaker Toyota, auto parts maker Denso and internet company SoftBank's investment fund are investing $1 billion in car-sharing Uber's technology unit.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's top court said Thursday it has rejected an appeal by former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn's lawyers against his extended detention after his fourth arrest on allegations of financial misconduct.
TECHNOLOGY
LONDON (AP) — Google said Thursday it will start giving European Union smartphone users a choice of browsers and search apps on its Android operating system, in changes designed to comply with an EU antitrust ruling.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Some of Samsung's new, almost $2,000 folding phones appear to be breaking after just a couple of days.
MEDIA
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Enquirer is being sold to the former head of the airport newsstand company Hudson News following a rocky year in which the tabloid was accused of burying stories that could have hurt Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
ENVIRONMENT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has given the Environmental Protection Agency 90 days to justify why a widely used but dangerous pesticide should stay on the market.
LONDON (AP) — Climate protesters are once again trying to shut down parts of London to urge residents to do more to protect the Earth from rising temperatures.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans burned a record amount of energy in 2018, with a 10% jump in consumption from booming natural gas helping to lead the way, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home construction slipped 0.3% in March, as housing starts are running below last year's pace in a sign that inventory could be a challenge for would-be buyers.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Potheads have for decades celebrated their love of marijuana on April 20, but the once counter-culture celebration that was all about getting stoned now is so mainstream Corporate America is starting to embrace it.
BEIJING (AP) — China downplayed the political implications of its global Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, saying Friday that it aimed to boost multilateralism amid protectionist trends in the U.S. and elsewhere.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new North America trade agreement would give the U.S. economy only a modest boost, an independent federal agency has found.
The major U.S. stock indexes capped a holiday shortened week with slight gains Thursday, reversing some of the modest losses from a day earlier.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There's some tech jubilance in the air on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley as a pair of newly public companies — Zoom and Pinterest — saw their stocks soar on their first trading day.
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon and Walmart on Thursday kicked off a two-year government pilot program allowing low-income shoppers on government food assistance in New York to shop and pay for their groceries online for the first time.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales surged in March at the fastest pace since late 2017, as spending on autos, gasoline, furniture and clothing jumped.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level in nearly half a century.
NEW YORK (AP) — Earth, meet Polo. Polo Ralph Lauren on Thursday launched a version of its iconic polo shirt made entirely of recycled plastic bottles and dyed through a process that uses zero water.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena Friday for special counsel Robert Mueller's report as Congress escalates its investigation of President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after celebrating the release of the Mueller report as "a good day," President Donald Trump struck a defiant tone Friday, unleashing tweets saying claims in the report by former administration officials that he tried numerous times to stop or influence the probe were "total bullshit."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sought the removal of special counsel Robert Mueller, discouraged witnesses from cooperating with prosecutors and prodded aides to mislead the public on his behalf, according to a hugely anticipated report from Mueller that details multiple efforts the president made to curtail a Russia probe he feared would cripple his administration.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's now up to Congress to decide what to do with special counsel Robert Mueller's findings about President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Don McGahn was barely on speaking terms with President Donald Trump when he left the White House last fall. But special counsel Robert Mueller's report reveals the president may owe his former top lawyer a debt of gratitude.
WASHINGTON (AP) — To Donald Trump, the start of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation looked alarmingly like the end of his presidency. So he tried to stop it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — At the moment two years ago when Donald Trump learned a special counsel had been appointed to investigate his campaign and Russia, the president responded with profane fury — and something resembling panic.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It may be special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation report , but the spotlight Thursday belonged just as much to the attorney general who made it public.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his attorney general are distorting the facts when it comes to special counsel Robert Mueller's report in the Russia investigation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sweeping two-year investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller identified numerous contacts between President Donald Trump's campaign officials and Russians. But the evidence that his team uncovered during the Russia probe that shadowed Trump's presidency didn't rise to the level of a chargeable crime, he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller's long-awaited report outlined Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. But Mueller did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government, and he made no conclusion on the question of whether the president obstructed justice.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election identified 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump. Mueller said in his report that he could not conclusively determine that Trump had committed a crime or that he hadn't.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Mueller's 448-page investigative report into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election includes 23 unredacted pages of Mueller's written questions and Donald Trump's written responses, the only direct exchange between the special counsel's office and the president.
WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly two years of waiting, America is getting some Trump-Russia answers straight from Robert Mueller. But first: Another declaration of "no collusion" by President Donald Trump's attorney general.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller says President Donald Trump's efforts to influence the Russia investigation "were mostly unsuccessful," but that was because the people surrounding the president "declined to carry out orders to accede to his requests."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel's Trump-Russia report will be out on Thursday for all to see. But not all of it.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he plans to introduce legislation to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 nationally.