News - Friday, November 7, 2025

“Tariffs are taxes,” the economist said.

“Tariffs win wars,” the freight executive said.

Between those two lines stretched the argument that defined “Navigating Tariffs: From City Hall to Global Markets,” the Nov. 3 panel at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

During an Oct. 28 evening celebration at The Granfalloon, members of the Southeast Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women bestowed one of the Chattanooga legal community’s most meaningful honors on someone who’s spent much of her career working behind the scenes.

For all the tributes that poured in during the Lioness of the Bar celebration, Carrie Brown Stefaniak saved one of her most personal acknowledgments for later. In an email written after the event, she reflected on the people who have shaped her life the most – her siblings – including her sister, whom she called her “earliest mentor.”

Jerry Summers will tell you he’s “not as arrogant and obnoxious as some people think,” and then prove it with stories – about missing the last shot in a state basketball tournament, turning down an offer to play for the New York Mets or losing his UT law scholarship.

It’s often said that some people are simply born for certain professions. In Brian Erwin’s case, real estate is in his blood. Beginning with his grandmother, May Erwin, and his parents, Elaine and David (who served as association president), Brian continues the proud family tradition of serving the real estate needs of the greater Chattanooga community.

Title sponsor Little Debbie will bring three days of music and family fun to McDonald Farm in Sale Creek. This year’s concert lineup features Diamond Rio, Brandon Davis, Amber Carrington and Jason Crabb. Fairgoers can enjoy amusement rides (included with admission), a rodeo, the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, agricultural exhibits, fireworks and the return of Racing Pigs. On-site parking is free, and children 10 and younger receive free admission. Special pricing is available for veterans, active military, seniors, first responders and teachers. Nov. 7-9.  Tickets

The Chattanooga Area Food Bank is leading a large-scale emergency response across Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia as the federal government’s suspension of November SNAP benefits takes effect.

Serving 20 counties, the organization began ramping up operations in mid-October to cushion the impact of the government shutdown and ensure families maintain access to food. President and CEO Melissa Blevins says the Food Bank’s network of more than 200 partner agencies is working to meet surging demand.

City officials, project partners and community members gathered Oct. 30 to celebrate the “topping out” of Espero Chattanooga, a $21 million supportive housing development that will provide affordable homes for people with serious mental illness.

The faces may change, but the expectations remain the same for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team.

The Vols graduated their top four scorers and have only one returning starter, yet the talent pipeline heading to Knoxville remains abundant. Headlined by newcomers Nate Ament and Ja’Kobe Gillespie, UT is poised to stay in contention for the SEC regular-season title and make another postseason run.

Just a shade over the halfway point of his rookie season, it’s time to make an early evaluation on Cam Ward.

The Titans took Ward first overall in the April draft and are, of course, banking on him to be the one to lead the franchise out of the wilderness and back into respectability. 

Compact luxury crossovers are ideal if you’re seeking a compelling blend of utility and style without having to pay full-size luxury SUV pricing. The BMW X3 has been a front-runner since the original model’s introduction in 2003, but it continues to face stiff competition from the Mercedes-Benz GLC.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump's administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.

The decision by the conservative-majority court is Trump's latest win on the high court's emergency docket, and it means his administration can enforce the policy while a lawsuit over it plays out. It halts a lower-court order requiring the government to keep letting people choose male, female or X on their passport to line up with their gender identity on new or renewed passports. The court's three liberal-leaning justices dissented from the unsigned order.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is speeding up the implementation of new rules that would give the agency tasked with protecting federal government facilities greater authority to charge people for a broader array of offenses on or off those properties.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland officials sued President Donald Trump's administration Thursday for blocking the previously-approved construction of new FBI headquarters just outside the nation's capital.

Gov. Wes Moore joined other Maryland leaders to criticize the plan to move the FBI's headquarters several blocks from its current home in Washington to the Ronald Reagan Building complex, instead of to Greenbelt, Maryland, which had been selected by the Biden administration for a modern building after years of planning.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Justice Department employee who threw a sandwich at a federal agent during President Donald Trump's law enforcement surge in Washington was found not guilty of assault on Thursday in the latest legal rebuke of the federal intervention.

DALLAS (AP) — Boeing will not face a criminal conspiracy charge over two 737 Max jetliner crashes that killed 346 people, after a federal judge in Texas on Thursday granted the government's request to dismiss the case.

As part of a deal to drop the charge, the American aerospace company has agreed to pay or invest an additional $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims' families, and internal safety and quality measures. The agreement also lets Boeing choose its own compliance consultant rather than appointing an independent monitor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump unveiled a deal Thursday with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to expand coverage and reduce prices for the popular obesity treatments Zepbound and Wegovy.

Known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, the drugs have soared in popularity in recent years but patient access has been a consistent problem because of their cost — around $500 a month for higher doses — and insurance coverage has been spotty. More than 100 million American adults have obesity, according to federal estimates.

NEW YORK (AP) — The world's richest man was just handed a chance to become history's first trillionaire.

Elon Musk won a shareholder vote on Thursday that would give the Tesla CEO stock worth $1 trillion if he hits certain performance targets over the next decade. The vote followed weeks of debate over his management record at the electric car maker and whether anyone deserved such unprecedented pay, drawing heated commentary from small investors to giant pension funds and even the pope.

While driving to a new restaurant, your car's satellite navigation system tracks your location and guides you to the destination. Onboard cameras constantly track your face and eye movements. When another car veers into your path, forcing you to slam on the brakes, sensors are assisting and recording. Waiting at a stoplight, the car notices when you unbuckle your seat belt to grab your sunglasses in the backseat.

NEW YORK (AP) — Travelers braced for canceled flights, scrambled plans and holidays stranded in airports as a U.S. government shutdown threatened to snarl trips across the country.

News that the Federal Aviation Administration will reduce air traffic at 40 airports beginning Friday set off a flurry of worry among those planning trips.

NEW YORK (AP) — American shoppers are expected to spend more during this holiday shopping season than last year despite economic uncertainty and rising prices.

The 2025 forecast from the National Retail Federation on Thursday estimates that shoppers will collectively spend between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion in November and December, an increase of 3.7% to 4.2% compared with last year.

President Donald Trump has named Andrea Lucas as chair of the country's top workplace civil rights agency, the agency announced Thursday. The move signals a vote of confidence for Lucas's efforts to stamp out diversity programs, roll back protections for transgender workers and prioritize religious rights in the workplace.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will not seek reelection to the U.S. House, bringing to a close her storied career as not only the first woman in the speaker's office but arguably the most powerful in American politics.

Pelosi, who has represented San Francisco for nearly 40 years, announced her decision Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bipartisan talks to reopen the government intensified on Thursday as lawmakers in both parties felt increased urgency to alleviate a growing airport crisis, pay government workers and restore delayed food aid to millions of people. But resolution still appeared far off amid internal disagreements in both parties over the best way to end the shutdown, now in its 37th day.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist to lead the Philadelphia Flyers past the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Thursday night.

Matvei Michkov and Noah Cates also scored for the Flyers, and Dan Vladar made 23 saves.

Ryan O'Reilly scored and Juuse Saros stopped 23 shots for Nashville, which had its three-game point streak snapped.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Outside linebacker Dre'Mont Jones had a message for the Tennessee Titans and their fans on his way out of town at the NFL trade deadline.

"Cam is the truth too y'all give 'em time, he can be great," Jones wrote on social media about Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned the former Tennessee House speaker and a onetime aide of public corruption charges after the White House said the Biden administration Justice Department "significantly over-prosecuted" both for a minor issue.

BOSTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to block a judge's order that it distribute November's full monthly SNAP benefits amid a U.S. government shutdown, even as at least some states said they were moving quickly to get the money to people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A call to overturn the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide is on the agenda Friday for the justices' closed-door conference.

Among the new cases the justices are expected to consider is a longshot appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples following the court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of flights set for Friday have been cut at major U.S. airports as part of the Federal Aviation Administration's effort to phase in 10% reductions because of the government shutdown.

The FAA is imposing the reductions to take pressure off air traffic controllers, who are federal employees and have been working without pay during the shutdown.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Near the end of his first term, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. The bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

OAK HILL, W.Va. (AP) — Lisa Emery loves to talk about her "boys." With each word, the respiratory therapist's face softens and shines with pride. But keep her talking, and it doesn't take long for that passion to switch to hurt. She knows the names, ages, families and the intimate stories of each one's scarred lungs. She worries about a whole community of West Virginia coal miners — including a growing number in their 30s and 40s — who come to her for help while getting sicker and sicker from what used to be considered an old-timer's disease: black lung.

TOKYO (AP) — Honda reported Friday that its profit for the first fiscal half through September fell 37% from the previous year, as the damage from President Donald Trump's tariffs offset the lift from solid motorcycle sales.

Tokyo-based Honda Motor Co. recorded a 311.8 billion yen ($2 billion) profit for April-September, down from 494.6 billion yen a year before.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Carly Kaprive left a job in Kansas City and moved to Chicago a year ago, she figured it would take three to six months to find a new position. After all, the 32-year old project manager had never been unemployed for longer than three months.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's exports contracted in October, hit by a 25% drop in shipments to the United States, the government reported Friday.

Persisting trade tensions with Washington may get a respite in the final quarter of the year after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed last week to de-escalate the trade war between the two largest economies. But trade friction still appears to be casting a pall on demand elsewhere.

NEW YORK (AP) — Peloton is recalling nearly 878,000 of its exercise bikes across the U.S. and Canada because the products' seat posts can break during use, posing fall hazards.

According to notices published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada on Thursday, the recall covers certain "Peloton Original Series Bike+" units carrying model number PL02. Peloton has received three reports of seat posts breaking on these bikes in the U.S., two of which resulted in fall injuries. There's been no additional incidents in Canada to date.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators are trying to end the government shutdown by preparing a bipartisan package of spending bills that they hope will win new Democratic votes. It is unclear whether their plan will work.

Democrats have voted 14 times not to reopen the government as they demand an extension of expiring health care subsidies, which are not expected to be part of the legislation. Many said Thursday they would continue to hold out until President Donald Trump and Republican leaders negotiate with them on an extension.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is adjusting his messaging strategy to win over voters who are worried about the cost of living with plans to emphasize new tax breaks and show progress on fighting inflation.

The messaging is centered around affordability, and the push comes after inflation emerged as a major vulnerability for Trump and Republicans in Tuesday's elections, in which voters overwhelmingly said the economy was their biggest concern.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday confirmed it had been hacked, potentially disclosing important government data to malicious actors.

The small government office, with some 275 employees, provides objective, impartial analysis to support lawmakers during the budget process. It is required to produce a cost estimate for nearly every bill approved by a House or Senate committee and will weigh in earlier when asked to do so by lawmakers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation Thursday that would have put a check on President Donald Trump's ability to launch an attack against Venezuela, as Democrats pressed Congress to take a stronger role in Trump's high-stakes campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama made a surprise appearance Thursday at a progressive event in Washington, telling the crowd that American voters are rejecting the Trump agenda and offering hope that divisions within the Democratic party can be bridged.

The NCAA revoked the eligibility of six men's college basketball players for allegations of sports betting on Friday in three separate cases at New Orleans, Mississippi Valley and Arizona State.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions released findings from an investigation that concluded Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short, Jamond Vincent, Donovan Sanders, Alvin Stredic and Chatton "BJ" Freeman either manipulated their performances to lose games, not cover bet lines or ensure certain prop bets were reached, or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million and accept the Trump administration's interpretation of civil rights laws in order to restore federal funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.

Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff announced the agreement on Friday, saying it upholds the university's academic freedom while restoring more than $250 million in research funding that the government withheld amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations. He said the government's funding freeze had stalled research, upended careers and threatened the future of academic programs.

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumer sentiment dropped to a three-year low and close to the lowest point ever recorded by the University of Michigan one month into the government shutdown, with pessimism over personal finances and anticipated business conditions weighing on Americans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is making a new offer to reopen the government on Friday as Republicans have refused to negotiate on their demands to extend health care subsidies.

Schumer is offering Republicans simultaneous votes to end the government shutdown and extending expiring health care subsidies for one year. Democrats are also proposing to establish a bipartisan committee to address Republican demands for changes to the Affordable Care Act.

GÜIRIA, Venezuela (AP) — One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet. And a fourth was a down-on-his-luck bus driver.

The men had little in common beyond their Venezuelan seaside hometowns and the fact all four were among the more than 60 people killed since early September when the U.S. military began attacking boats that the Trump administration alleges were smuggling drugs. President Donald Trump and top U.S. officials have alleged the craft were being operated by narco-terrorists and cartel members bound with deadly drugs for American communities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned former New York Mets great Darryl Strawberry on past tax evasion and drug charges, citing the 1983 National League Rookie of the Year's post-career embrace of his Christian faith and longtime sobriety.