VOL. 46 | NO. 38 | Friday, September 23, 2022
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
If only homebuilders – and the rest of us – had crystal balls. Builders who were completing construction on homes in 2020 were thrilled to have finally finished the homes they began in 2019 before the dawning of the age of COVID. They had weathered lockdowns, shutdowns, labor shortages and a fear of the unknown.
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, August 2022, for Davidson County, as compiled by the Nashville Ledger.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates jumped by more than a quarter-point this week to their highest level since 2008 as the Federal Reserve intensified its effort to tamp down decades-high inflation and cool the economy.
UT SPORTS
How long did it take before somebody mentioned the Tennessee Volunteers’ bitter rivalry with the Florida Gators to now-second-year head coach Josh Heupel?
KNOXVILLE (AP) — Coach Josh Heupel learned quickly just what playing Florida really means to Tennessee.
TENNESSEE TITANS
Long-held pigskin wisdom says three things can happen when you throw the football – completion, incompletion or interception.
One of the least-familiar names on the Tennessee Titans’ 53-man roster is cornerback Tre Avery, an undrafted rookie from Rutgers.
The Titans return home on a short week and face the Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, noon CDT, Fox) in a game that could have playoff tiebreaker implications come December and January. The Raiders are in a tough division in the AFC West, and the Titans need to hold serve at home, something they didn’t do against the Giants.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders are in an NFL group no team ever wants to be mired in: 0-2 and stuck at the bottom of their divisions.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan did not practice Wednesday as the Tennessee Titans went through a walk-through session.
GUEST COLUMNIST
When Elvis Presley was found on the floor at Graceland Aug. 16, 1977, his road manager called the Memphis Fire Department, and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene.
NEWSMAKERS
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, Tennessee’s largest nonprofit law firm, has promoted Zac Oswald to senior deputy director of client services.
BRIEFS
Adams and Reese has launched an HBCU/MSI practice, providing support specifically tailored to institutions educating minority populations while expanding on its education practice and representation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutes.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Toyota largely pioneered hybrid vehicles, and its extensive lineup of gas-saving models today is a testament to that. But it’s taken a while for Toyota to finally come out with its first mass-market electric vehicle: the all-new 2023 Toyota bZ4X.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Tourism rebounded this summer in Europe – and Europe wasn’t ready. Pandemic-related staff shortages led to massive lines and flight cancellations at many airports; meanwhile, prices for hotels and taxis soared.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Moving season is almost over. But if you’re one of the many people settling into a new home right now, you might feel like the furniture-buying season is just getting started. And that can get expensive.
WEST TENNESSEE
MEMPHIS (AP) — Building construction has begun at the future site of a factory where Ford and a South Korean company have joined forces to build electric trucks and batteries in rural west Tennessee, officials said Friday.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the creation of a new state park on Thursday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's a Washington mystery that no one seems able to unravel. The Supreme Court apparently still hasn't found the person who leaked a draft of the court's major abortion decision earlier this year.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York's attorney general says her three-year investigation of former President Donald Trump uncovered potential crimes in the way he ran his real estate empire, including allegations of bank and insurance fraud.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stark repudiation by federal judges he appointed. Far-reaching fraud allegations by New York's attorney general. It's been a week of widening legal troubles for Donald Trump, laying bare the challenges piling up as the former president operates without the protections afforded by the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the weeks since the FBI searched Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and seized about 100 documents with classification markings, the former president has insisted he did nothing wrong and argued he declassified the information.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — General Motors says it will spend $760 million to renovate its transmission factory in Toledo, Ohio, so it can build drive lines for electric vehicles.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit auto show has returned after a three-year absence with a roar. And a soar.
ENVIRONMENT
BERLIN (AP) — Youth activists staged a coordinated "global climate strike" on Friday to highlight their fears about the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries hit by wild weather.
MILITARY
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon announced a number of new programs Thursday that are aimed at helping service members who are struggling with housing shortages and steep food and living expenses as they move from base to base.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Markets sold off around the world on mounting signs the global economy is weakening just as central banks raise the pressure even more with additional hikes to interest rates.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is outlining its goals for a new trade deal with Australia, Japan, South Korea and nine other nations meant to signal the country's commitment to working with the Indo-Pacific region at a time of growing Chinese clout.
NEW YORK (AP) — Top allies of former President Donald Trump are creating a new super PAC that's expected to serve as the main vehicle for his midterm spending and could become a key part of his campaign infrastructure should he move forward with a 2024 White House run.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Thursday pushed through a long-sought policing and public safety package after overcoming internal differences on legislation they plan to make central to their election-year pitch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday launched a new effort to show local governments what it can do for their communities, hosting North Carolina officials to highlight funding opportunities and hear firsthand how coronavirus relief, infrastructure dollars and other policies are faring locally.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's new government on Friday announced a sweeping plan of tax cuts it said would be funded by borrowing and revenues generated by anticipated growth, as part of contentious moves to combat the cost-of-living crisis and bolster a faltering economy.
MADRID (AP) — Spain's Socialist-led coalition government is planning a temporary higher tax rate on the richest 1% of the country from next year, in addition to its windfall taxes on large energy companies and banks.
UKRAINE
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Voting began in Russian-held regions of Ukraine on referendums to become part of Russia, Moscow-backed officials there said Friday as Ukrainian and United Nations officials reported evidence of war crimes during the nearly seven-month war in the country.
GENEVA (AP) — A team of experts commissioned by the U.N.'s top human rights body to look into rights violations in Ukraine said Friday its initial investigation turned up evidence of war crimes in the country following Russia's invasion nearly seven months ago.
NEW YORK (AP) — The tide of international opinion appears to be decisively shifting against Russia, as a number of non-aligned countries are joining the United States and its allies in condemning Moscow's war in Ukraine and its threats to the principles of the international rules-based order.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 22
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators have brought back former goaltender Pekka Rinne in a new role as a special alumni adviser.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
Nick Saban wants more of the same from Alabama players in at least one regard.
STATEWIDE
ONEIDA (AP) — Back country permits and free camping are being offered in celebration of National Public Lands Day at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee and Kentucky.
COURTS
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump padded his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misled banks and others about the value of prized assets like golf courses, hotels and his Mar-a-Lago estate, New York's attorney general said Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to permanently disrupt the Republican's ability to do business in the state.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump and his company could face a range of stiff penalties if a court sides with New York's attorney general in a sprawling fraud lawsuit filed against the former president Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a stark repudiation of Donald Trump's legal arguments, a federal appeals court on Wednesday permitted the Justice Department to resume its use of classified records seized from the former president's Florida estate as part of its ongoing criminal investigation.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks would endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is restructuring its vehicle development and supply chain operations, shuffling multiple executives just days after announcing that it would build up to 45,000 vehicles with parts missing due to shortages.
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. because the windows can pinch a person's fingers when being rolled up.
DETROIT (AP) — Some Hyundai and Kia cars and SUVs are missing a "key" anti-theft device, and thieves know.
TRANSPORTATION
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A last-minute deal prevented a railroad strike for now, but many rail workers remain unhappy with working conditions, including some who protested outside their workplaces Wednesday ahead of votes to approve the new contracts.
TOURISM
NEW YORK (AP) — Japan's strict border restrictions will be loosened next month, the prime minister announced Thursday, allowing tourists to easily enter for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
ENERGY
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government confirmed Thursday that it's lifting a ban on fracking in England, arguing that the move will help boost the country's energy security amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
SAINT-NAZAIRE, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a "massive acceleration" of renewable energy development in his country, including offshore wind farms and solar power, via a new plan that seeks to bring lagging France closer to the energy policies of its European neighbors.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, deepening their losses for the week, as central banks around the world raised interest rates to fight inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about half as much, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.4%. Central banks in Europe and Asia increased rates a day after the Federal Reserve made another big rate hike and signaled more were on the way. The goal is to cool down economies by making it more expensive to borrow money. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for Fed action, rose significantly.
NEW YORK (AP) — The CEOs of the nation's biggest banks returned to Capitol Hill for a second day Thursday, and Senate Democrats strongly urged them to do more to help and protect their customers, while Republicans questioned whether banks should weigh in on hot-button social issues.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve delivered its bluntest reckoning Wednesday of what it will take to finally tame painfully high inflation: Slower growth, higher unemployment and potentially a recession.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose slightly last week with the Federal Reserve pushing hard to cool the economy and tamp down inflation.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The COVID pandemic forced most U.S. casinos to close for months, causing payrolls, revenue and earnings to tumble.
LONDON (AP) — Britain's central bank raised its key interest rate Thursday by another half-percentage point to the highest level in 14 years, but it avoided more aggressive steps to tame inflation that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other banks have taken.
NEW YORK (AP) — Home Depot workers in Philadelphia have filed a petition with the federal labor board to form what could be the first store-wide union at the world's largest home improvement retailer.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart and Target plan to begin offering deals and price matching offers earlier this year to keep up with Americans pressed by soaring inflation and looking for ways to ease the potential sting of holiday shopping.
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's central bank carried out the biggest hike ever to its key interest rate Thursday, following the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world in aggressive moves to clamp down on inflation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the same day the Federal Reserve gave a sobering report on the U.S. economy's trajectory, administration officials highlighted how they have kept some of the nation's smallest businesses afloat through the pandemic.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats worked to pass a long-sought policing and public safety package and overcome internal party differences on legislation they hoped to make central to their election-year pitch.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Campaigning for a northwestern Ohio congressional seat, Republican J.R. Majewski presents himself as an Air Force combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, once describing "tough" conditions including a lack of running water that forced him to go more than 40 days without a shower.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators are ordering Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy to testify in the government's investigation of Amazon Prime, rejecting the company's complaint that the executives are being unfairly harassed in the probe of the popular streaming and shopping service.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has a new effort to show local governments what it can do for their communities, hosting North Carolina officials to highlight funding opportunities and hear firsthand how coronavirus relief, infrastructure dollars and other policies are faring locally.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative activist Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, her lawyer said Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed legislation to overhaul the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump's failed attempt to remain in power.
UKRAINE
BERLIN (AP) — In addition to the human cost of the war, Ukraine's efforts to defend itself from Russia are placing a severe financial burden on the country that it can only bear with the help of outside support cost, a top Ukrainian government economist said Thursday.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union appears determined to respond to new Russian attempts to annex parts of Ukraine with more sanctions, but finding a consensus among member countries is becoming increasingly difficult as measures meant to punish Moscow bite into their own economies.
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The three Baltic states say they are not prepared to automatically offer asylum to Russians fleeing mobilization into the military, hoping that discontent with the Russian authorities will grow at home instead.