VOL. 43 | NO. 29 | Friday, July 19, 2019
Too much supply, too little demand as boomers downsize
Everyone loves Grandma’s mahogany-inlaid sideboard. Stories were told of the horrors of moving it when she wanted to polish the floor. Its underbelly was a favored hide-and-seek spot.
There’s not always gold in them thar hills, and finding an original copy of the U.S. Constitution behind a thrift store painting is more the stuff of legend than reality.
There are some variables in how estate sales come to be, but for the most part they are commission-based. A seller will come into the home, assess the contents, work up a general value and then sit with the client to settle on a commission.
In the world of estates and antiques, there are always niche markets. Costume jewelry, particular types of furniture and appliances and collectibles of all kinds can always find a home.
MEDIA
The Nashville Ledger has won four first-place awards in the annual University of Tennessee/Tennessee Press Association newspaper competition.
JOE ROGERS: MY TAKE
Tennessee legislators may have dodged a bullet. Mississippi legislators definitely did not. Maybe you’ve seen some of the resulting headlines lately. They’re intended to attract attention, and they do a good job. They sure got mine.
JIM MYERS: CULINARITY
“Upscale dive bar,” it read. The press release made its way across the media landscape last week, its language regurgitated without question or irony. The reaction on social media, however, was swift and comical, mocking the simple three-word description of a new “watering hole” coming to Charlotte Pike.
RICHARD COURTNEY: REALTY CHECK
During the first couple of hundred years of the country’s existence, there were various contracts used by buyers and sellers of real estate to help them agree on the terms and conditions of sales.
REAL ESTATE
Top residential real estate sales, second quarter 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
Top commercial real estate sales, second quarter 2019, for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week after three weeks of holding steady, tipped higher by expectations that the Federal Reserve could reduce interest rates soon.
NEWSMAKERS
Samuel D. Lipshie, a partner in Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Nashville office, has again been named by Who’s Who Legal as among the world’s leading sports and entertainment law practitioners. He is listed in the Who’s Who Legal: Sports & Entertainment 2019 directory.
BRIEFS
Baker Donelson has been named by Working Mother to its 12th annual “Best Law Firms for Women” list. This is the third consecutive year the firm has been included in this prominent list, which recognizes firms that utilize best practices in recruiting, retaining, promoting and developing women lawyers.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
Genesis is a new but growing luxury automotive brand that’s been winning over consumers with great value and high quality.
BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW
Find a penny, pick it up. The rest of that little ditty promises luck but whatever. You don’t see a penny as worth much, but how do you perceive money as a whole? In the new book, “Women with Money” by Jean Chatzky, the answer to that question may lead you to a better relationship with your wallet.
PERSONAL FINANCE
Retirement coach Sara Zeff Geber visited several Northern California assisted living facilities to interview “solo agers” – people either single or coupled who don’t have children to help them as they grow older.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Well done, America. Credit scores across the nation are going up. On the other hand, knowledge of how credit works is declining.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — Health officials are accusing a Tennessee Republican lawmaker of engaging in unethical conduct as a physician and are urging the state to take disciplinary actions.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Police say a Tennessee officer wasn't wearing his seat belt when he was hit by a fleeing driver and killed.
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville International Airport saw more than 17 million passengers pass through its doors during the last fiscal year.
SPORTS
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Defending Southeastern Conference champion Alabama is the favorite to once again beat Georgia in the title game in a preseason media poll.
TENNESSEE TITANS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Former Tennessee Titans All-Pro defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth has recovered enough to receive treatment outside a hospital as his search for a new kidney continues.
VANDERBILT SPORTS
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — Derek Mason is striking an optimistic note about his sixth season at Vanderbilt, like most coaches this time of year.
PREDATORS
DETROIT (AP) — A police report says the death of former Nashville Predators captain Greg Johnson was an apparent suicide, the Detroit News is reporting.
AUTO INDUSTRY
CHATTANOOGA (AP) — A Volkswagen plant in Tennessee is getting a new chief executive who in the coming months will work on an $800 million expansion and oversee two vehicle launches.
WARREN, Mich. (AP) — When you first lay eyes on the new 2020 Corvette, a modern version of the classic American sports car isn't the first thing that pops into your head.
BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France (AP) — Renault's chairman expressed confidence Thursday that the French automaker's alliance with Nissan remains on track following the appointment of a new board at the Japanese firm in the wake of the scandal involving Carlos Ghosn, who had chaired both companies.
HEALTH CARE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee saw its highest number of drug overdoses last year as surrounding states saw drops in the ongoing opioid crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is upholding the Trump administration's expansion of cheaper short-term health insurance plans as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act's costlier comprehensive insurance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidates campaigning on "Medicare for All" are wrestling with how to pay for the dramatic overhaul of the American health care system.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has told federally funded family planning clinics it is considering a delay in enforcing a controversial rule that bars them from referring women for abortions. That comes after clinics had vowed defiance.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The 92-year-old had a painful tumor on his tongue, and major surgery was his best chance. Doctors called a timeout when he said he lived alone, in a rural farmhouse, and wanted to keep doing so.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Federal authorities say a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor and others have been charged in Ohio with conspiring to distribute millions of painkiller pills.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats and Republicans joined in a rare show of unity Wednesday, voting overwhelmingly to repeal an unpopular tax on generous health insurance that's a symbol of former President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
UnitedHealth is raising its profit expectations for the year after earnings rose almost 13% in the second quarter, topping most expectations.
TECHNOLOGY
BRUSSELS (AP) — In yet another European Union move against a U.S. tech company, the bloc's antitrust chief on Thursday fined chipmaker Qualcomm $271 million, accusing it of "predatory pricing" to drive a competitor out of the market.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top Senate Democrat is calling on the FBI to review a Russian company's trendy smartphone app that transforms faces from photos into younger and older images of the person, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has cleared telecom operator Vodafone's acquisition of Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania but has imposed some conditions.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — Nashville's Major League Soccer stadium has hit a snag under the latest development in the legal battle surrounding the project.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court panel sided with the Trump administration Friday in a mining pollution dispute, ruling that state and federal programs already in place ensure that companies take financial responsibility for future cleanups.
DENVER (AP) — About 10,000 live-in childcare workers from around the world will be paid an average of $3,500 each under a class-action settlement that alleged exploitation of the mostly young women who perform the jobs.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The heat goes on: Earth sizzled to its hottest June on record as the climate keeps going to extremes.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer mock commando raids to test nuclear power plants' defenses against terrorist attacks. Fewer, smaller government inspections for plant safety issues. Less notice to the public and to state governors when problems arise.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks gave up an early gain and are closing broadly lower, giving the market its first weekly loss after two weeks of gains.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Eugene Scalia has a decades-long record of challenging Labor Department and other federal regulations, as well as a famous last name. The combination proved irresistible to President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that negotiators have reached an agreement on the core elements of a deal to increase the government's borrowing cap and set a $1.3 trillion overall level for the agency budgets that Congress passes each year.
NEW YORK (AP) — How much is too much for streaming video?
CHANTILLY, France (AP) — Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven rich democracies issued a stark warning on Thursday that cryptocurrencies like the Libra digital money recently unveiled by Facebook should not be allowed before "serious regulatory and systemic concerns" are addressed.
NEW YORK (AP) — The first two new Toys R Us stores — one in Texas, the other in New Jersey — will open in November as part of a small comeback of the defunct iconic toy chain in the U.S.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's exports declined in June as shipments of goods were hit by trade disputes between China and the U.S., the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is flipping interest-rate theory on its head as he tries to blame the Fed for holding back growth.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who will question former special counsel Robert Mueller next week plan to focus on a narrow set of episodes laid out in his report, an effort to direct Americans' attention to what they see as the most egregious examples of President Donald Trump's conduct.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Long before President Donald Trump turned up the heat on four Democratic congresswomen of color, saying they should "go back" to their home countries, hateful rhetoric and disinformation about the self-described squad was lurking online.
NEW YORK (AP) — Court records released Thursday show that President Donald Trump took part in a flurry of phone calls in the weeks before the 2016 election as his close aides and allies scrambled to pay porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair.
BRUSSELS (AP) — British lawmakers were meeting with the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator on Friday, seeking an iron-clad guarantee that the 1.3 million U.K. citizens in the bloc won't have their rights removed and their lives disrupted if Britain leaves the EU without a deal.
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats approved legislation Thursday to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, to $15 an hour, but the bill has almost no chance in the Republican-controlled Senate.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Republicans are criticizing the chants of "send her back" by the crowed at a rally with President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren is proposing new regulations on the private equity industry, pitching constraints designed to end what she decries as "legalized looting" by investment firms that take over troubled companies.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is heading for a showdown with President Donald Trump after the House voted to block his administration from selling billions of dollars in weapons and maintenance support to Saudi Arabia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is slamming the Democrat-controlled House's vote to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas related to a decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With tweets and a vote, President Donald Trump and House Democrats established the sharp and emotionally raw contours of the 2020 election campaigns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump falsely accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of expressing pride in terrorists and misrepresented the record on the economy and health care in his freewheeling North Carolina rally.