VOL. 43 | NO. 20 | Friday, May 17, 2019
TIM GHIANNI: STREET LEVEL
The “77 Sunset Strip” board game makes me smile, even as I’m immersed in commercial death throes while wandering the sprawling building on Eighth Avenue South where yet another longtime business – one where 73-year-old owner Pat Morris has toiled day and night to create something special – is going to close.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
The Nashville real estate market is nothing if it is not baffling.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, April 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell slightly this week, marking a third straight week of declines as a continued inducement to purchasers in the spring homebuying season.
SPORTS
There was never any concern about finding leaders. The Lipscomb softball team had eight seniors returning this season, and they were all hungry to win titles and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in their careers.
Jerry Stackhouse has excelled at the highest levels of basketball.
NEWSMAKERS
Baker Donelson has elected 11 new shareholders across the firm, including Chris Douse in the Nashville office.
BRIEFS
Lipscomb University’s College of Education has been awarded a $2.49 million grant from the Kern Family Foundation to develop an innovative leadership development program for principals focused on character, academic excellence and business acumen in the rising generation of leaders.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
A number of automakers have offered free maintenance programs for more than a decade as a way to sweeten the deal on a car lease or purchase. But in recent years, automakers have begun to reel in their plans by shortening the term, reducing the scope of coverage or eliminating them altogether.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Retirement experts frequently recommend working longer if you haven’t saved enough. But you might not realize just how powerful a little extra work can be.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Necessity is not the mother of invention. Childhood. There you are: that’s the mother of invention.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Shopping can be a form of relaxation, an entertaining way to spend time or even a hobby. But it can turn into an expensive habit.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A handful of lawmakers are throwing their name into the race to be Tennessee's next House speaker.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A key Republican leader who is next in line to take over the Tennessee House said on Wednesday he believes the women who have accused a Republican member of sexual misconduct.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — JJ Bleday had five hits, Mason Hickman threw six stellar innings and top-seeded Vanderbilt cruised to an 11-1 win over No. 8 seed Auburn on Wednesday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan's former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, appeared in a Japanese courtroom Thursday for a hearing ahead of his trial on accusations of financial misconduct.
BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have fined auto parts and technology company Bosch 90 million euros ($100 million) over its role in the diesel emissions scandal that erupted at Volkswagen in 2015.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
BEIJING (AP) — China held the door open to resuming talks in the tariff war with Washington on Thursday, but lashed out at limits on access to key technologies that it said might hurt global supply chains.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The CEO of Deutsche Bank says he is ready to make "tough cuts" to improve the struggling bank's profitability and raise a "disappointing" share price as negative headlines continue to plague Germany's biggest bank.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A dozen times, Rep. Ayanna Pressley asked the witness for a yes or no answer on housing policy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump dropped the pretense of working with congressional Democrats on Wednesday and sent a clear message that his re-election campaign will be centered on condemning overzealous investigations rather than advancing a robust domestic policy agenda.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May was hunkered in 10 Downing St. with close allies on Thursday as she considered whether to give in to relentless pressure to resign, or fight on to save her Brexit plan and her premiership.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Looming questions remain after Tennessee's House Speaker Glen Casada promised to resign from his leadership position, an unprecedented move meant to contain political scandals inside the Republican-controlled Statehouse.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Political commentator and former congressional candidate Steve Gill has been ordered to pay his ex-wife $170,000 by June, or spend 10 days in jail.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — A fort built by freed slaves during the Civil War in Nashville has received an international designation for its significance to the history of slavery and African Americans.
UT SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Judd Ward bunted home the go-ahead run and hit a two-run homer Tuesday as No. 8 seed Auburn defeated No. 9 seed Tennessee 5-3 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have agreed to terms on a contract with their top draft pick Jeffery Simmons, the 19th selection overall out of Mississippi State.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Going into the final year of his rookie contract, Marcus Mariota hasn't changed anything about how he prepares for this season.
TECHNOLOGY
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm unlawfully squeezed out cellphone chip rivals and charged excessive royalties to manufacturers such as Apple in a decision that undercuts a key part of its business.
BEIJING (AP) — China is cutting taxes on its fledgling software and integrated circuit industries as U.S. export controls threaten to handicap Chinese tech companies.
LONDON (AP) — British and Japanese mobile phone companies said Wednesday they're putting on hold plans to sell new devices from Huawei, in the latest fallout from U.S. tech restrictions aimed at the Chinese company.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — The United Auto Workers union filed a new petition Wednesday seeking to hold a vote on its representation of workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant, the same day the National Labor Relations Board dismissed a previous petition on a technicality.
DETROIT (AP) — A new automatic lane-change feature of Tesla's Autopilot system doesn't work well and could be a safety risk to drivers, according to tests performed by Consumer Reports.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche is handing off to his successor after 13 years at the helm warning that the company will need to cut costs to invest in new technologies that are transforming the industry.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long-running research projects credited with pivotal discoveries about the harm that pesticides, air pollution and other hazards pose to children are in jeopardy or shutting down because the Environmental Protection Agency will not commit to their continued funding, researchers say.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Wednesday, weighed down by a mixed batch of corporate earnings from big retailers and lingering uncertainty over the trade spat between the U.S. and China.
NEW YORK (AP) — An escalating trade war between the U.S. and China could mean higher prices on a broad array of products from toys to clothing. But some retailers will be less equipped to handle the pain than others, leaving consumers to carry the load.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With negotiations on hold and tariffs piling up, the United States and China appear to be bracing for a prolonged standoff over trade.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials at their recent meeting believed the central bank could remain "patient" in deciding when to adjust interest rates, though some officials thought future rate hikes might still be needed.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May dug in Wednesday against a growing push by both rivals and former allies to remove her from office as her attempts to lead Britain out of the European Union appeared to be headed for a dead end.
NEW YORK (AP) — An aggressive campaign at Target to let customers do more online is paying off.
LONDON (AP) — British Steel has been ordered into compulsory liquidation after talks with the government failed to secure a bailout, Britain's Insolvency Service said Wednesday.
NATIONAL POLITICS
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge refused Wednesday to block congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from two banks that did business with President Donald Trump, making it clear it wasn't a close call.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The curtains in the Cabinet Room were drawn. The Democrats were waiting. And President Donald Trump came and went in three minutes, never stopping to sit down or shake hands.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers gave final passage to legislation Wednesday that would allow President Donald Trump's state tax returns to be released to congressional committees that have, so far, been barred from getting the president's federal filings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Wednesday that President Donald Trump is "engaged in a cover up," but she tamped down some Democrats' rush toward an impeachment inquiry, telling lawmakers during a closed meeting to be persistent but patient in their showdown with the White House.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday he has no idea who wrote a confidential Internal Revenue Service legal memo that says that tax returns must be given to Congress unless the president asserts executive privilege.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker is blaming the Trump administration for the deaths of five immigrant children in U.S. custody — an assertion that's led to a heated argument at a congressional hearing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Months before the FBI raided Michael Cohen's office and hotel room, investigators were examining the flow of foreign money into his bank accounts and looking into whether the funds might be connected to a plan to lift Russian sanctions, according to court filings unsealed Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Democrats are calling — and more loudly — for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after his latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Easing some of the escalating tension between Congress and the White House, the House intelligence committee postponed efforts to enforce a subpoena against the Justice Department on Wednesday after officials agreed to hand over a cache of documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller's Trump-Russia report.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reality has set in during the three weeks since President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders agreed to work together on a $2 trillion infrastructure package to invest in roads, bridges and broadband.
TUESDAY, MAY 21
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's embattled House Speaker Glen Casada announced Tuesday he plans to resign from his leadership post following a vote of no confidence by his Republican caucus amid a scandal over explicit text messages.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's state veterinarian's office is investigating an outbreak of a blood parasite in a group of racing quarter horses.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — New Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse has added Memphis high school coach Faragi Phillips to his staff.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home sales slipped 0.4% in April, as would-be homebuyers face affordability challenges and a limited supply of starter houses.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Three Democratic U.S. senators are expressing concerns about delays to an election over whether Volkswagen maintenance and production workers in Tennessee should unionize.
DETROIT (AP) — Faced with a slumping stock price and questions about demand for its vehicles, Tesla has lowered the U.S. base prices of its two most expensive models.
DETROIT (AP) — Maven, General Motors' car-sharing service, is being shut down in about half of the 17 North American markets it operates.
TECHNOLOGY
The United States is delaying some restrictions on U.S. technology sales to Chinese tech powerhouse Huawei in what it calls an effort to ease the blow on Huawei smartphone owners and smaller U.S. telecoms providers that rely on its networking equipment.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The "Medicare for All" plan embraced by leading 2020 Democrats appears more lavish than what other advanced countries offer, compounding the cost but also potentially broadening its popular appeal.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Technology companies helped power stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Tuesday, snapping the market's two-day losing streak.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday that the central bank is closely monitoring a sharp rise in corporate debt but currently does not see the types of threats that triggered the 2008 financial crisis.
The airline industry's U.S. trade group is predicting another record for summer travel.
LONDON (AP) — In a major concession, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday offered U.K. lawmakers the chance to vote on whether to hold a new referendum on the country's membership in the European Union — but only if they back her thrice-rejected Brexit agreement.
ATLANTA (AP) — Home Depot is reporting better than expected profit and revenue for the first quarter despite a damp start to 2019.
NEW YORK (AP) — The outlook for department stores got murkier Tuesday after J.C. Penney and Kohl's reported fiscal first quarter results that showed they struggled at the start of the year.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it is willing to provide the House intelligence committee with documents from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, as long as the panel agrees not to take any action against Attorney General William Barr.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers clashed Tuesday over the Trump administration's move to send hundreds of Transportation Security Administration employees to the U.S.-Mexico border, and one airport official warned it could lead to long checkpoint lines this summer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top leaders of both parties in Congress made better-than-expected progress Tuesday on two must-do items on the legislative agenda: averting automatic budget cuts and meeting a deadline later this year to increase the government's borrowing limit.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Democrats are calling — and more loudly — for impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump after his latest defiance of Congress by blocking his former White House lawyer from testifying on Tuesday.
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors aren't quite finished investigating campaign finance violations by President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, told Congress it was Trump's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, who suggested he tell lawmakers that the negotiations for Trump Tower Moscow ended in January 2016, even though they continued for months after that.
MONDAY, MAY 20
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee House Republicans have cast a vote of no confidence in House Speaker Glen Casada, who remains ensnared by a spate of scandals.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden says eight years of a Donald Trump presidency will "fundamentally" change the character of the country.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Department of Health is warning the public to order vital records from approved sources to avoid scams or excessive fees.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Vanderbilt's BB Bleday has been named the Southeastern Conference player of the year and Tim Corbin has been selected the coach of the year.
Vanderbilt's blazing second half of the season has turned the Commodores into one of the favorites to win the Southeastern Conference tournament this week in Hoover, Alabama.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Vanderbilt University Medical Center is starting a part-time addiction clinic so those who overdose on drugs have a place to go after leaving the emergency room.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday that a judge must decide whether a dispute between drugmaker Merck and patients who alleged they were injured by its bone-strengthening drug Fosamax can go forward.
TECHNOLOGY
Huawei could lose its grip on the No. 2 ranking in worldwide cellphone sales after Google announced it would comply with U.S. government restrictions meant to punish the Chinese tech powerhouse.
BEIJING (AP) — The number of foreign companies that feel compelled to hand over technology in exchange for Chinese market access — an issue that sparked President Donald Trump's tariff fight with Beijing — has doubled since two years ago despite official promises to end such pressure, a business group reported Monday.
ENVIRONMENT
BOKOSHE, Okla. (AP) — Susan Holmes' home, corner store and roadside beef jerky stand are right off Oklahoma Highway 31, putting them in the path of trucks hauling ash and waste from a power plant that burns the high-sulfur coal mined near this small town.
AUTO INDUSTRY
DETROIT (AP) — Ford revealed details of its long-awaited restructuring plan Monday as it prepared for a future of electric and autonomous vehicles by parting ways with 7,000 white-collar workers worldwide, about 10% of its global salaried workforce.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is rejecting claims that Europe's car exports pose a threat to the United States after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ruled that imported vehicles and parts imperil national security.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Chipmakers and other technology companies pulled U.S. stocks lower Monday, extending the market's losses into another week.
Meal kit companies face an ultimatum: Adapt or die.
From liberal firebrands Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren to moderates Joe Biden and John Hickenlooper, nearly the entire 2020 Democratic presidential field agrees that the federal minimum wage should be more than doubled, to $15 an hour.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — American whiskey producers feeling the pain from the Trump administration's trade disputes have gotten a shot of relief with an agreement that will end retaliatory tariffs that Canada and Mexico slapped on whiskey and other U.S. products.
NEW YORK (AP) — A key federal regulator says he backs T-Mobile's $26.5 billion takeover of rival wireless carrier Sprint, a crucial step for the deal's approval.
NEW YORK (AP) — Advocates for legalizing marijuana have long argued it would strike a blow for social justice after a decades-long drug war that disproportionately targeted minority and poor communities.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge in Washington ruled Monday against President Donald Trump in a financial records dispute with Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump directed former White House counsel Don McGahn to defy a congressional subpoena, citing a Justice Department legal opinion that McGahn would have immunity from testifying before Congress about his work as a close Trump adviser.
WASHINGTON (AP) — He was known in the Michigan statehouse as "Mr. No" for voting against some Republican legislation. But now in Congress, on the question of whether President Donald Trump should be impeached, Rep. Justin Amash is the lone Republican saying "Yes."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is insisting he didn't borrow from many banks because he "didn't need the money," not because they wouldn't do business with him.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is using "treason" rather lightly as he assails unidentified U.S. officials for investigating operatives of his campaign in 2016. There's no allegation or even suggestion that they committed this punishable-by-death crime, if any crime at all.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A key Democrat said Sunday that Republican Rep. Justin Amash's sharp criticism of what he called President Donald Trump's "impeachable conduct" in the Russia investigation isn't enough to count as bipartisan support to launch impeachment proceedings.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump warned Iran early on Monday not to threaten the United States again or it'll face its "official end," shortly after a rocket landed near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad overnight.
FRIDAY, MAY 17
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Republican lawmaker says Tennessee GOP House Speaker Glen Casada tried to "rig and predetermine" an ethics review regarding his mounting scandals. He's requesting Casada's leadership resignation.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A former top aide for Tennessee's embattled House speaker who resigned after admitting to once using cocaine in a legislative office and sending lewd text messages about women will continue to be paid by state taxpayers until July.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's embattled House speaker is now being accused of violating the state's election laws after spending the past two weeks facing a long list of other scandals surrounding his office.
MIDSTATE
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee district attorney is facing calls to resign after posting several anti-Islam remarks to social media.
UT SPORTS
CHICAGO (AP) — Grant Williams, the two-time Southeastern Conference player of the year, says he's staying in the NBA draft rather than returning for his senior season at Tennessee.
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators finally have the kind of security the former expansion franchise has been wanting for years after agreeing to a new 30-year arena lease that runs through 2049.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have added another wide receiver, agreeing to terms with Jalen Tolliver.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says backyard chickens likely are behind the Salmonella outbreaks in 21 states.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A man convicted of killing his wife decades ago at a camping center he managed in Memphis prayed and sang hymns as he was put to death Thursday in Tennessee.
AUTO INDUSTRY
TOKYO (AP) — Nissan proposed Friday adding Renault's chief executive, Thierry Bollore, to its board, as well as several outsiders, to strengthen its governance following the arrest of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's trade negotiator said Friday Washington won't be demanding any numerical restrictions on Japanese auto exports to the U.S.
DETROIT (AP) — A Tesla Model 3 involved in a fatal crash with a semitrailer in Florida March 1 was operating on the company's semi-autonomous Autopilot system, federal investigators have determined.
TECHNOLOGY
JERUSALEM (AP) — A U.S. think tank that analyzes misinformation online has found that an Israel-based influence campaign busted by Facebook had stumped for the winning candidate in the February 2019 Nigerian presidential elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten people, including five Russian fugitives, have been charged in connection with malicious software attacks that infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide and caused more than $100 million in financial losses, U.S. and European authorities announced Thursday.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Facebook said Thursday it banned an Israeli company that ran an influence campaign aimed at disrupting elections in various countries and has canceled dozens of accounts engaged in spreading disinformation.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Stocks fell broadly on Wall Street Friday as investor jitters over the heated trade war between the world's two biggest economies overshadowed encouraging developments in conflicts between the U.S. and other key trading partners.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bogged down in a sprawling trade dispute with U.S. rival China, President Donald Trump took steps Friday to ease tensions with America's allies — lifting import taxes on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum and delaying auto tariffs that would have hurt Japan and Europe.
LONDON (AP) — Talks between Britain's Conservative government and the opposition Labour Party seeking a compromise over Brexit broke down without agreement Friday, plunging the country back into a morass of uncertainty over its departure from the European Union.
LONDON (AP) — Amazon is investing in British meal delivery company Deliveroo, expanding its reach into food retailing.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks marched higher on Wall Street for the third straight day, erasing most of the plunge they took at the start of the week on worries about the worsening trade fight between China and the U.S.
The Trump administration's plan to restrict exports to Chinese telecommunications powerhouse Huawei for national security reasons doesn't just up the ante in the China trade war.
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart warned on Thursday that higher tariffs on imports from China will mean higher prices.
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union regulators have fined five banks a total of more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for colluding in the trade of large sums of foreign currency.
BEIJING (AP) — China vowed Thursday to "resolutely safeguard" Chinese companies after Washington labeled telecom equipment giant Huawei a security risk and imposed export curbs on U.S. technology sales to the company.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home construction rose in April, led by an uptick in single-family homes.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is missing another deadline to produce President Donald Trump's tax returns. A top House Democrat says he expects to take the administration to court as early as next week over the matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump could only be delighted to have his attorney general in El Salvador, dealing with his biggest issue: illegal immigration. Yet Barr did even better for his boss. In interviews from the Central American country, he's been offering cryptic comments suggesting the Russia probe unfairly targeted Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn told the special counsel's office that people connected to the Trump administration and Congress sought to influence his cooperation with the Russia investigation, and he provided a voicemail recording of one such communication, prosecutors said in a court filing made public Thursday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Thursday that his panel will vote on "enforcement action" against Attorney General William Barr or the Justice Department next week, yet another escalation in the standoff between Congress and President Donald Trump's administration over documents and testimony.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he hopes the U.S. is not on a path to war with Iran amid fears that his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for such a conflict with the Islamic Republic.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia accused Tehran of being behind a drone strike that shut down a key oil pipeline in the kingdom, and a newspaper close to the palace called for Washington to launch "surgical" strikes on Iran, raising the specter of escalating tensions as the U.S. boosts its military presence in the Persian Gulf.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders are receiving a classified briefing on Iran as members of both parties demand more information on the White House's claims of rising threats in the Middle East.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's foreign minister on Thursday said sanctions imposed by the Trump administration are "unacceptable" but that his country is committed to an international nuclear deal that has steadily unraveled amid rising tensions.