VOL. 37 | NO. 24 | Friday, June 14, 2013
Mayor seems sure we’re getting on board; VU professor explains why we shouldn’t
For every person charged up over the arrival of The Amp, there seems to be another blowing a fuse over Nashville’s latest alternate transportation plan.
The Metro Transit Authority’s plan for a bus rapid transit installation on Nashville’s East-West Corridor has two fundamental problems:
REAL ESTATE
Too many buyers, not enough houses.
Top May 2013 residential real estate transactions for Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson and Sumner counties, as compiled by Chandler Reports.
REALTY CHECK
The real estate market had an enemy of herculean strength in the Great Recession. One measure of how the market has recovered is the activity in the higher end, or properties that sell for $1 million or more.
NEWSMAKERS
Linda Norman, DSN, R.N., who for 22 years has spearheaded curricular innovations at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN), will become the school’s new dean, pending Board of Trust approval.
GUERRILLA MARKETING
Every brand needs a Web presence to survive in the digital age, but how do you know that Web investment is actually performing?
THE WORLDLY INVESTOR
This has been the weakest job recovery on record. The 175,000 new jobs created in May did slightly exceed analyst estimates, but also slightly trailed population growth.
SMART STUFF 4 WORK
Anthropology is the study of humankind. Among other things, anthropologists try to figure out how groups of people have worked together throughout history in ways to increase the odds the group will survive and prosper.
I SWEAR
Finishing what I started last week, here are more “humorous” quotes I came up with for use in a “new” puzzle game – and which the editors rejected. That I ultimately came up with 30 deemed acceptable now seems miraculous.
KAY'S COOKING CORNER
Pinterest has been around a few years, and although it’s going full speed ahead, it’s not as popular as Facebook. A lot of people still don’t know what Pinterest is, and others have decided they don’t have time for another social media outlet.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam began the year by dismissing what he called misguided predictions that the new Republican supermajority in state government would devolve into infighting.
MIDSTATE
SMYRNA (AP) - A maintenance technician has been killed at the Nissan auto assembly plant in Smyrna.
FRANKLIN (AP) - The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued an emergency recall of compressed gas cylinders commonly used for propane stoves and other propane-fueled equipment.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state labor chief says cutting services at state jobless service centers shouldn't make it harder for out-of-work Tennesseans to find jobs.
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - Mayor Karl Dean will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony today for an expanded library, regional community center and park space at the city's new mixed-use complex in southeast Nashville.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
SEATTLE (AP) — For the activists who led the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Washington state last fall, Jamen Shively was one of their biggest fears: an aspiring pot profiteer whose unabashed dreams of building a cannabis empire might attract unwanted attention from the federal government or a backlash that could slow the marijuana reform movement across the country.
For the first time in seven years, most U.S. homebuilders are optimistic about home sales, a sign that construction could help drive stronger economic growth in coming months.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Is the era of ultra-low interest rates nearing an end?
NEW YORK (AP) — Investors are in a game of wait-and-see with the Federal Reserve. On Monday, they guessed that the Fed will continue trying to prop up the economy, and sent stocks higher.
NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil fell slightly after it climbed to a high for the year Monday, as the market waits to see the results of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google has resolved a shareholder lawsuit blocking a long-delayed stock split, clearing the way for the Internet search leader to issue a new class of non-voting shares later this year.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Lowe's plans to expand its California presence with an acquisition of Sears spinoff Orchard Supply Hardware Stores for about $205 million in cash.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple says it received between 4,000 and 5,000 requests from U.S. law enforcement for customer data for the six months ended in May.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — An outside group supporting President Barack Obama's agenda plans to air a series of ads this summer promoting Obama's health care overhaul.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans' hopes to reclaim the White House in the 2016 elections hinge on whether they support — or sabotage — the immigration overhaul being debated in the Senate, two lawmakers who helped write the proposal warn.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top officials from the Obama and Bush administrations say the government's newly exposed secret surveillance programs have been essential to disrupting terrorist plots and have not infringed on Americans' civil liberties.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Approval of a massive farm bill — and the cost of a gallon of milk — could hinge on a proposed new dairy program the House is expected to vote on this week.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is taking a security, foreign policy and economic agenda to Northern Ireland for a meeting with heads of the leading industrial nations.
FRIDAY, JUNE 14
NASHVILLE AREA
NASHVILLE (AP) - They are long, low, sleek and sexy.
NASHVILLE (AP) - Tennessee State University is joining researchers at other public universities to study sustainable strawberry production.
STATE LEGISLATURE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The speakers of the state House and Senate said Thursday that they will seek a review of no-bid elements of an outsourcing deal with a real estate firm that has counted fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam as one of its investors.
STATEWIDE
NASHVILLE (AP) — The director of Tennessee's Division of Consumer Affairs is asking residents to beware of air condition repair-scam artists this summer.
MIDSTATE
MURFREESBORO (AP) — Middle Tennessee State University's student farmers market opens to the public on Friday.
COURTS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that companies cannot patent parts of naturally-occurring human genes, a decision with the potential to profoundly affect the emerging and lucrative medical and biotechnology industries.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has come up with a new regulation banning demonstrations on its grounds.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Chrysler Group LLC says it is freezing the pension of roughly 8,000 U.S. salaried employees at the end of the year.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ending a choppy week lower after disappointing reports on the U.S. economy.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil rose to the highest level since January amid concerns about a possible escalation in Syria's civil war.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A rise in food and gas costs drove a measure of wholesale prices up sharply in May. But outside those volatile categories, inflation was mild.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factories barely increased their output in May after two months of declines, a sign that manufacturing is providing little support for the economy.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund said Friday that the U.S. economy is on sounder footing than it was a year ago but is still being restrained by government spending cuts and tax increases.
NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft's Office software package is coming to the iPhone for the first time Friday, offering people the ability to read and edit their text documents, spreadsheets and slide presentations at the doctor's office or at a soccer game.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A battle between grocers and potato growers has been silently hitting shoppers' pocketbooks, according to a U.S. wholesaler accusing America's spud farmers of driving up prices while spying on farmers with satellites and aircraft fly-overs to enforce strict limits on how many tubers they can grow.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed U.S. mortgage rates rose for the sixth straight week, putting the average rate on the 30-year loan just shy of 4 percent.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wondering what the U.S. government might know about your phone calls and online life? And whether all of this really helps find terrorists? Good luck finding solid answers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — It's called the Affordable Care Act, but President Barack Obama's health care law may turn out to be unaffordable for many low-wage workers, including employees at big chain restaurants, retail stores and hotels.