VOL. 126 | NO. 249 | Thursday, December 22, 2011
A local economic development agency granted a 15-year tax freeze to Valero Energy Corp. in return for the company spending more than $298 million in planned investments and upgrades at the Memphis refinery.
City Council approves $16 million for Overton Square plan
It may have been a murky day in Memphis, but neighborhood stakeholders didn’t let the afternoon rain dampen their support of the Overton Square redevelopment project during the Memphis City Council’s final meeting of the year.
NASHVILLE (AP) – With Amazon and Tennessee finally in agreement over the collection of sales taxes, the online retailer formally finalized its plans to open two new distribution centers in Murfreesboro and Lebanon that are expected to create 1,300 new jobs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Tiera Washington's workload doubled during the holiday rush at UPS' largest air hub, where seemingly endless streams of packages are sorted and shipped as the peak season puts the package delivery company to the test.
While the city sleeps quiet as a mouse the night before Christmas, Christmas night is one of merry-making in Memphis.
The federal government filed a lawsuit Tuesday, Dec. 20, against FedEx Corp. that seeks civil penalties of a little more than $1.5 million plus interest.
The Tennessee Supreme Court has created a website targeted especially for people who can’t afford a lawyer and need help with civil legal matters.
Shareholders of Medco Health Solutions Inc., parent company of Memphis-based Accredo Health Group Inc., on Wednesday, Dec. 21, approved a proposed $29.1 billion merger with Express Scripts.
MEMPHIS LAW TALK
Melanie Dunlap, an attorney with Harris Shelton Hanover Walsh PLLC, is a lifelong horsewoman whose love of horses does not end at the doors of her law office.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
Ray’s Take Odds are you will encounter financial emergencies in your lifetime. They could range from the relatively minor – like damaging the family car – to something as devastating as complete home destruction. You simply should expect that the unexpected will happen and, at a minimum, have six months’ worth of living expenses set aside in savings or money-market accounts you can readily access.
Again it is the time of year that reminds me of Christmas programs. Such as the one recounted by John Irving in “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” The one directed annually by Rev. and Mrs. Wiggin. The one that made Owen mad because “the smaller children were disguised as turtledoves. The costumes were so absurd that no one knew what these children were supposed to be; they resembled science-fiction angels, spectacular life-forms from another galaxy, as if the Wiggins had decided that the Holy Nativity had been attended by beings from faraway planets.”
REGIONAL
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) – Tecumseh Products Company, manufacturer of refrigeration and air conditioning products, has announced a modernization of its Tupelo operations.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
Bank of America agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations that its Countrywide unit engaged in a widespread pattern of discrimination against qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers on home loans.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Many states that posted big population gains in the 2010 census are now seeing their decade-long growth fizzle, hurt by a prolonged economic slump that is stretching into larger portions of the South and West.
NEW YORK (AP) – Europe took the financial world on a stomach-churning ride in 2011.
NEW YORK (AP) – The holiday shopping season is wrapping up to be bigger than anyone expected. Now, retailers are holding their breath and hoping consumers will keep spending in the final days before Christmas.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
WASHINGTON (AP) – In a win for organized labor, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday approved sweeping new rules that would speed the pace of union elections, making it easier for unions to gain members at companies that have long rebuffed them.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from flying while dangerously fatigued were issued Wednesday by the Federal Aviation Administration, a move safety advocates have been urging for more than two decades.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The number of Americans who bought previously occupied homes rose last month. But the National Association of Realtors says it overstated about 3.5 million sales during and after the Great Recession, showing the housing market remains much weaker than previously thought.
NEW YORK (AP) – Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd announced he would take a leave of absence from the hedge fund he runs Wednesday, less than a week after being charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.
HEALTH CARE
NEW YORK (AP) – Drugstore operator Walgreen Co.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings fell more than 4 percent due in part to a slow flu season and its decision to leave the Express Scripts Inc. pharmacy network next month.
SPORTS
MEMPHIS (AP) – With Marc Gasol signed and Rudy Gay healed, the Memphis Grizzlies are thinking and talking big.
MEMPHIS (AP) – The Memphis Grizzlies have tendered an offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Dante Cunningham.
DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The Chicago Bulls have made it official: Reigning MVP Derrick Rose has agreed to a five-year contract extension.
NASHVILLE (AP) – Chris Johnson says he originally feared he had hurt his right ankle badly, but says he expects to be able to play Saturday as Tennessee tries to keep its faint playoff hopes alive against the Jacksonville Jaguars.