VOL. 45 | NO. 31 | Friday, July 30, 2021
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate sales, second quarter 2021, for Davidson County, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mortgage rates were mixed last week. The key 30-year home loan remained below 3% for the fifth straight week amid continued concern over the surging delta coronavirus variant and the progress of economic recovery.
BOSTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Thursday it will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday, arguing that its hands are tied after the Supreme Court signaled it would only be extended until the end of the month.
NEWSMAKERS
Consuelo Wilkins, M.D., MSCI, is the 2021 recipient of the Marion Spencer Fay Award from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
BRIEFS
Integrated Biometric Technology, LLC officials announced today that the company will establish new operations and locate its corporate headquarters in Franklin.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
With car prices at record highs and inventory getting thinner, shoppers might be tempted to rush through a deal this summer without giving it much thought. But what happens if you later have buyer’s remorse, whether it be from too high of a car payment or realizing your new car isn’t actually what you wanted?
PERSONAL FINANCE
Most advice about retirement planning focuses on how to save enough money to replace your paycheck.
MILLENNIAL MONEY
Soil, sun, water and seed: The ingredients of a garden are simple, but the final product is never guaranteed. Willing a plot of land into a vibrant state of bloom takes intention, know-how and no small amount of trial and error.
UT SPORTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers' tradition of making a move on draft night continued Thursday as they moved up to select Tennessee guard Keon Johnson after making a trade with the New York Knicks.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trying to rebound after a crushing end to their season, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Tennessee freshman Jaden Springer with the 28th pick of the NBA draft on Thursday night.
SPORTS
Southeastern Conference university presidents voted Thursday to invite Texas and Oklahoma to the league and create a 16-team powerhouse on the field and at the bank.
STATE GOVERNMENT
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee lawmaker who battled COVID-19 for nearly eight months is encouraging the public to "consider getting vaccinated."
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennesseans will be able purchase back-to school supplies, clothes and computers tax free starting this weekend.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper says a spending bill includes $3 million that would chip away at the $120 million price for a project to help reconnect a historically Black Nashville neighborhood divided by Interstate 40's construction in the 1960s.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hours before a nationwide eviction moratorium is set to expire, Congress raced Friday to try to extend the ban in a long-shot effort to prevent millions of Americans from being forced from their homes during a COVID-19 surge.
NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday, after President Joe Biden's administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Since early 2020, banks across the U.S. have been banned from foreclosing on homes as part of the federal government's efforts to assist families feeling economic pain caused by the pandemic. On Saturday, the ban will end, potentially putting thousands of families at risk.
TRANSPORTATION
DALLAS (AP) — Nearly one in five flight attendants say they have witnessed physical incidents involving passengers this year, and their union is calling for criminal prosecution of people who act up on planes.
ENVIRONMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The bipartisan compromise on infrastructure cuts in half President Joe Biden's call for $15 billion to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging outlets, raising the stakes as the administration seeks to win auto industry cooperation on anti-pollution rules to curb climate change.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is requiring that all workers at its headquarters as well as managers who travel within the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 4.
New evidence showing the delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be more dangerous than other versions has prompted U.S. health officials to consider changing advice on how the nation fights the coronavirus, internal documents show.
Do I need to get tested for COVID-19 if I'm vaccinated? Yes, if you've been around someone who has COVID-19.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan expanded a coronavirus state of emergency to four more areas in addition to Tokyo on Friday following record spikes in infections as the capital hosts the Olympics.
TOKYO (AP) — Coronavirus infection cases have reached daily records in Tokyo, which is now playing host to the Olympics. The Japanese government has declared the capital and several other regions under a "state of emergency" during the entire Games. With such a global sporting event unfolding, what does that mean? Here's a rundown.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has announced sweeping new pandemic requirements aimed at boosting vaccination rates for millions of federal workers and contractors as he lamented the "American tragedy" of rising-yet-preventable deaths among the unvaccinated.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key points in President Joe Biden's plan to increase COVID-19 vaccination among federal employees and encourage more Americans to get shots:
Hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been saved from the trash after U.S. regulators extended their expiration date for a second time, part of a nationwide effort to salvage expiring shots to battle the nation's summer surge in infections.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes fell Friday, with much of the downward weight coming from a stumble for high-flying Amazon.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wages and salaries rose at a healthy pace in the three months ended in June as employers competed to find enough workers to fill millions of available jobs.
WASHINGTON (AP) — American consumers increased their spending by 1% in June — a dose of energy for an economy that is quickly rebounding from the pandemic recession but is facing new risks led by the delta variant of the coronavirus.
NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon Mobil swung back to a profit and topped expectations during the second quarter as demand for fuel recovered from lows reached earlier in the pandemic.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe emerged from a double-dip recession in the second quarter with stronger than expected growth of 2.0% over the quarter before, according to official figures released Friday, as restrictions eased, consumers started spending built-up savings and major companies showed stronger results.
BERLIN (AP) — Germany's economy grew by 1.5% in the second quarter compared with the previous three-month period, picking up after a sharp first-quarter fall but less strongly than expected.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department, in a reversal, says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump's tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate advanced a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure plan on Friday with a bipartisan group of senators helping it clear one more hurdle and bracing to see if support can hold during the next few days of debate and efforts to amend it.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top congressional Democrats will huddle with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday, looking to salvage their effort to enact federal voting legislation that could counter state laws restricting access to the ballot.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday announced his picks for four key religious freedom roles, including Khzir Khan, the Muslim-American father of a slain U.S. soldier who became an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump throughout both of his campaigns.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump urged senior Justice Department officials to declare the results of the 2020 election "corrupt" in a December phone call, according to handwritten notes from one of the participants in the conversation.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For President Joe Biden and the senators laboring over a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package, there's just one question left: Can enough Republicans get to yes?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Six months into Democrats' unified control of Washington, most Democrats are on board with President Joe Biden and where he's trying to take the country — even if they're divided on how to get there.
THURSDAY, JULY 29
PREDATORS
NASHVILLE (AP) — The Nashville Predators are keeping forward Mikael Granlund around with a much longer contract than the one he signed last year.
COURTS
NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee man pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court to taking part in the raid at the U.S. Capitol.
NASHVILLE (AP) — An attorney who helped reach a $35 million settlement with an opioid manufacturer over the company's role in the epidemic in Tennessee said Thursday that his team accepted the drug maker's "last, best and final" offer, arguing the agreement avoids the possible complications of a jury verdict.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Seven unemployed Tennessee residents have filed a lawsuit over Gov. Bill Lee's decision to opt out of the federal unemployment benefits programs earlier this year.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Trial Court Vacancy Commission says three people have applied to be a circuit court judge in the state's Third Judicial District, which encompasses Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties.
AUTO INDUSTRY
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's auto industry showed more strong results Thursday as Volkswagen's earnings and profit margins beat pre-pandemic levels and the company raised its profit outlook for the year despite an ongoing shortage of key electronic parts that is plaguing the industry as a whole.
MEDIA
Scarlett Johansson is suing the Walt Disney Co. over its streaming release of "Black Widow," which she said breached her contract and deprived her of potential earnings.
Come, young ones: Gather around the glow of the smartphone's screen for a tale of a distant time when we watched TV on big boxy machines, and switched channels when we were bored.
TECHNOLOGY
HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless network maker and 5G technology provider Nokia reported substantially improved second-quarter profit Thursday, citing the help of its new operating model and booming sales of 5G equipment.
ENVIRONMENT
CRANE, Texas (AP) — Rusted pipes litter the sandy fields of Ashley Williams Watt's cattle ranch in windswept West Texas. The corroded skeletons are all that remain of hundreds of abandoned oil wells that were drilled long before her family owned the land. The wells, unable to produce any useful amounts of oil or gas, were plugged with cement decades ago and forgotten.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
NEW YORK (AP) — Masks, which had started to disappear from store shelves, may be front and center again.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is announcing strict new testing, masking and distancing requirements for federal employees who can't — or won't — show they've been vaccinated against the coronavirus, aiming to boost sluggish vaccine rates among the millions of Americans who draw federal paychecks and to set an example for employers around the country.
LONDON (AP) — International governments and companies have pledged more than $4 billion to educate 175 million children around the world and prevent a generation's chances being blighted by the coronavirus pandemic.
LONDON (AP) — AstraZeneca said Thursday that it intends to seek U.S. authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of this year, offering a new timetable for the much-delayed application.
SEATTLE (AP) — Three schoolteachers in Washington state who sued chemical company Monsanto over exposure to materials in fluorescent lights have been awarded $185 million.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon on Thursday turned in a mixed bag of results for its fiscal second quarter, coming up short of Wall Street expectations in revenue but beating on profits.
Stocks on Wall Street bounced back from a two-day slide Thursday, placing the S&P 500 on pace for its second straight weekly gain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession. The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy contracted by a slightly smaller amount last year than previously reported and grew slightly more in 2019 and slightly less in 2018.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits slid last week, another sign that the job market continues to recover rapidly from the coronavirus recession.
An initiative from philanthropists Melinda French Gates, MacKenzie Scott and the family foundation of billionaire Lynn Schusterman awarded $40 million Thursday to four promoting gender equality projects in tech, higher education, caregiving and minority communities.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An emergency spending bill passed by the Senate 98-0 on Thursday would bolster security at the Capitol and repay outstanding debts from the Jan. 6 insurrection. The $2.1 billion bill would also increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to begin work on a nearly $1 trillion national infrastructure plan, acting with sudden speed after weeks of fits and starts once the White House and a bipartisan group of senators agreed on major provisions of the package that's key to President Joe Biden's agenda.
Key details of the Senate's bipartisan infrastructure plan
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden took quick action after his inauguration to start shifting federal inmates out of privately run prisons, where complaints of abuses abound.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Stinging from the disappointment of Bernie Sanders' loss in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, supporters pumped millions into the powerful advocacy group Our Revolution to keep the progressive fight alive and prepare for another swing at the White House.