VOL. 36 | NO. 4 | Friday, January 27, 2012
Many finding success away from home sales
The real estate market – in case you haven’t heard – hasn’t been doing too well the past few years. Sure, there have been recent signs of improvement, but not enough to bring it back to the glory days of the early 2000s when some Realtors had more leads than they could handle.
The announcement of a new $50 million water and snow park being built by Nashville entertainment giants Dolly Parton and Gaylord would seem to be great news for all of Nashville. More tourists, 450 new jobs and positive national exposure – who couldn’t rally around this news?
REAL ESTATE
Top commercial real estate transaction for Dec. 2011 for Davidson, Williamson, Wilson and Rutherford counties, as complired by Chandler Reports.
REALTY CHECK
Nashville is a price-per-square-foot town. When searching for homes, the general public is obsessed with square footage and the list price and the correlation of the two. It is understandable in some ways, as the cost of materials is more for a 2,000 square foot home versus a structure with only 1,500 square feet.
TERRY McCORMICK
MOBILE, Ala. - Since taking over the Commodore football program, James Franklin has been busy selling the idea that it’s not the “same old Vanderbilt.”
NEWSMAKERS
Natasha Kamrani, a former teacher, attorney, school board member and foundation executive, has been named the new president of the Nashville Public Education Foundation.
GUERILLA MARKETING
Technological advancements have changed the trade show game. The stakes are higher and participation is more expensive than ever. Nice collateral, a giveaway and a winning smile are no longer enough. You must more creatively attract and engage attendees to effectively compete.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
Recently, I rekindled my interest in world history to prepare for a new book project. If you reflect on history, things have unfolded much like the events in the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
I SWEAR
Choosing the word “olio” for use in the title hereof reminds me I’ve resolved this year to read (and try to understand) Lio (the last three letters of “olio”). I’ve struggled with that comic strip and, as a result, had all but stopped reading it.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Hubby and I attend a Bible study on Sunday evenings at a friend’s house. There are about seven of us who meet to discuss a book we are reading. It is supposed to be just a six-week study, but we are stretching it out to about a two-year study. Not on purpose, but because we eat, talk and visit a lot more than we probably should.
NASHVILLE AREA
WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators on Friday closed banks in Tennessee and Florida, lifting to five the number of U.S. bank failures this year following 92 closures in 2011.
MUSIC INDUSTRY
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tim McGraw's long-delayed album "Emotional Traffic" has the attention of Music Row this week as it finally hits the streets.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Anyone who ever doubted the transformative power of Bob Dylan's music need only look to Ke$ha.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Kenny Chesney's steamy duet, "You and Tequila" with Grace Potter, continues to radiate heat.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - A bill would make it easier for lobbyists to wine and dine lawmakers, a move that critics say would be a "step backward" from ethics reforms imposed on the General Assembly after the FBI's Tennessee Waltz bribery sting of 2005.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Sen. Roy Herron announced Thursday that he won't seek re-election in 2012. Instead, he will focus on helping more young people in Tennessee attend college.
NASHVILLE (AP) — Lawmakers concerned about the Occupy Nashville encampment next to the state Capitol are promoting a bill that would criminalize camping on public property across the state.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Facebook could file regulatory papers as early as Wednesday for its highly anticipated initial public offering of stock, according to a newspaper report.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bloggers and activists from China, the Middle East and Latin America said Friday they were afraid that new Twitter policies could allow governments to censor messages, stifling free expression.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy grew late last year at a pace that in normal times would suggest it's healthy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are closing mostly lower on news that the U.S. grew at a slower pace than expected in the fourth quarter.
WASHINGTON (AP) — America may be a technology-driven nation, but the health care system's conversion from paper to computerized records needs lots of work to get the bugs out, according to experts who spent months studying the issue.
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — An accounting change boosted Ford's fourth-quarter net income, but without the gain the company fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to improve primary care doctor payments and start reimbursing physicians for care management it doesn't currently cover as a way boost treatment and save money.
NEW YORK (AP) — Procter & Gamble Co.'s net income fell 49 percent in its fiscal second quarter, hobbled by higher materials costs and a writedown in the value of some of its businesses. P&G also lowered its earnings predictions for the year.
THOUSAND OAKS, California (AP) — Amgen Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter profit fell 8.5 percent as its expenses for taxes and producing and selling drugs rose faster than its revenue.
ROME (AP) — Costa Crociere SpA is offering uninjured passengers euro11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and psychological trauma after its cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany when the captain deviated from his route.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Yo quiero Taco Bell breakfast burrito!
NEW YORK (AP) — J.C. Penney Co. shares soared 15 percent Thursday after the department store chain delivered a 2012 profit outlook that's well above analysts' projections.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett donated stock in his company worth $41.6 million to eight unnamed charities during the second half of 2011.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Why do Mitt Romney and other wealthy investors pay lower taxes on the income they make from investments than they would if they earned their millions from wages? Because Congress, through the tax code, has long treated investment more favorably than labor, seeing it as an engine for economic growth that benefits everyone.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government's plan to expand computer security protections into critical parts of private industry is raising concerns that the move will threaten Americans' civil liberties.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The political committee representing House Democrats said it has raised more than $61 million last year, giving the group a stronger financial footing heading into the November election.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney accuses Newt Gingrich of calling Spanish a "ghetto language." Close, but not quite.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich beat his main GOP presidential rival, Mitt Romney, to the punch by releasing his most recent tax return. But Gingrich still hasn't revealed how he earned most of his $3.1 million.