VOL. 126 | NO. 189 | Wednesday, September 28, 2011
One of the city’s landmark shopping centers is in the midst of major transformations.
Early voting activity mixed across city
The overall numbers through the first two weeks of early voting seem to indicate a low overall turnout including Election Day in the set of city elections to be decided Oct. 6.
This fall’s slate of speakers coming to the city thanks to the Economic Club of Memphis includes a cyber-security expert, a prominent New York Times business columnist and a former government official who was an early supporter of “Reaganomics.”
Dr. Marie Chisholm-Burns has been named dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, making her the first African-American appointed to the position in the college’s 113-year history and only the second African-American to be named a dean in UTHSC history.
Chancery Court Clerk Dewun Settle resigned Tuesday, Sept. 27, the day after a Shelby County Commissioner called for a broader investigation of embezzlement allegations in the clerk’s office and a week after an internal county report raised questions about why he didn’t report the problem sooner.
Former interim Shelby County Mayor Joe Ford has been charged with theft of property under $10,000, according to a warrant issued Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Kent Stone has joined Metropolitan Bank as a mortgage specialist.
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
Advertising opportunities are plentiful. It can be tough to discern the medium most likely to generate a strong return. Apples-to-apples comparisons are virtually impossible.
I recently read an article in Forbes asking, “Can Entrepreneurship be Taught to Big Business?” It seems that several business schools are trying to find a way to develop a term called “intrapreneurship,” or corporate entrepreneurship.
STATEWIDE
Leaders at Tennessee's two higher education systems are looking to take advantage of historically low interest rates as a means of funding as much as $1.5 billion in new construction projects on college campuses across the state.
KNOXVILLE (AP) – Medical equipment supplier Hill-Rom Company Inc. has agreed in a fraud investigation to pay a $41.8 million settlement that federal prosecutors said is a record civil fraud recovery by the U.S. attorney's office in Knoxville.
NASHVILLE (AP) – State officials are reminding local governments that they must develop or revise their debt management policies to conform with standards issued by the State Funding Board.
NATIONAL BUSINESS
WASHINGTON (AP) – Consumers earned less and spent less for a second straight year in 2010. The government report released Tuesday, Sept. 27, offered a deeper look at how Americans have adjusted their spending after the worst recession since the Great Depression.
NEW YORK (AP) – Consumers' confidence remained weak in September after dropping to a post-recession low during the month before. That's left economists to wonder just what it'll take to get Americans feeling good about the economy again.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Drugstore operator Walgreen Co. said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings jumped 69 percent, boosted in part by a gain from the $525-million sale of its pharmacy benefits management business.
NEW YORK (AP) – Google wants to buy solar panels for your house.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – The OnStar automobile communication service used by 6 million Americans is changing its policies after privacy issues were raised over keeping former customers connected and collecting data on driving habits.
WASHINGTON (AP) – More than half of U.S. cities have cut staff, canceled construction projects or raised fees this year, according to a report from the National League of Cities that catalogs the vast damage from shrunken property- and income-tax revenue.
NEW YORK (AP) – Amazon is expected to unveil a tablet computer Wednesday, Sept. 28, picking a fight with Apple Inc. and its iPad. The iPad has many challengers, but analysts say Amazon's could be different – it has a chance to be more than a wannabe.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced Tuesday that one of its key executives, Eduardo Castro-Wright, will retire in 2012.
NATIONAL POLITICS
WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Obama administration's appeal of lower court rulings in favor of immigrants who were seeking to avoid being deported.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court prepared for its fall session Tuesday by announcing seven new cases it will hear next year, including one that will determine whether private lawyers hired as outside counsels for governments can be sued.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday refused to extend the sale timeline for failed solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra LLC, which received a half-billion-dollar federal loan guarantee and was once touted by President Barack Obama in support of his administration's economic policies.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said he opposed the Fed's latest attempt to boost economic growth because he fears it won't work – and it could scare consumers and squeeze bank earnings.
WASHINGTON (AP) – In agreeing to an emergency spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, Congress achieved the bare minimum while finessing a fight over whether emergency disaster aid ought to be paid for with cuts elsewhere in the budget.
REAL ESTATE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The depressed housing market flashed a positive signal in July, with home prices in most major U.S. cities rising for the fourth straight month
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Federal Housing Finance Agency failed to adequately oversee settlements between mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and Bank of America, a government watchdog said Tuesday.
HEALTH CARE
WASHINGTON (AP) – Weary of getting pounded over the new health care law, Democrats are hitting the reset button for next year's elections.