Nashville Business Alliance Political Action Committee Makes Candidate Endorsements For Mayor, Vice Mayor, Metro Council Races

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Nashville Business Alliance Political Action Committee Makes Candidate Endorsements For Mayor, Vice Mayor, Metro Council Races

NASHVILLE (July 10, 2019) – The Nashville Business Alliance Political Action Committee announced today its slate of endorsements for Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Metro Council who would support policy, programmatic, and procedural shifts to ensure minority and women business owners have an equitable opportunity to thrive.

The political action committee was a major supporter of the historic Equal Business Opportunity program. The program, which went live on Friday, requires Metro Nashville to implement race- and gender-conscious subcontracting goals, based on market availability, for all Metro contracts. The PAC hopes the endorsed candidates will champion the Equal Business Opportunity program, and other changes to support small business owners.

“We believe each of these candidates will help us reach our ultimate goal of economic equity, procurement inclusivity, and strong business development for minority and women-owned businesses,” said Pinnacle Construction co-founder Michael Carter, who also serves as president of the political action committee. “We are excited about Nashville’s future, and we are thrilled to offer our support to these fine individuals.”

The Nashville Business Alliance endorsements are as follows:

MAYOR

David Briley

VICE MAYOR

Jim Schulman

METRO COUNCIL AT-LARGE

Berkley Allen

Fabian Bedne

Sharon Hurt

Bob Mendes

Zulfat Suara

COUNCIL DISTRICT 1

Johnathan Hall

COUNCIL DISTRICT 2

Kyonzte Toombs

COUNCIL DISTRICT 3

Elise Hudson

COUNCIL DISTRICT 4

Robert Swope

COUNCIL DISTRICT 5

Charles Flowers

COUNCIL DISTRICT 6

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 7

Emily Benedict

COUNCIL DISTRICT 8

Nancy Vanreece

COUNCIL DISTRICT 9

David McMurry

COUNCIL DISTRICT 10

Zach Young

COUNCIL DISTRICT 11

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 12

Erin Evans

COUNCIL DISTRICT 13

Russ Bradford

COUNCIL DISTRICT 14

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 15

Jeff Syracuse

COUNCIL DISTRICT 16

Ginny Welsch

COUNCIL DISTRICT 17

Colby Sledge

COUNCIL DISTRICT 18

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 19

Freddie O’Connell

COUNCIL DISTRICT 20

Mary Carolyn Roberts

COUNCIL DISTRICT 21

Ed Kindall

COUNCIL DISTRICT 22

Gloria Hausser

COUNCIL DISTRICT 23

Mina Johnson

COUNCIL DISTRICT 24

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 25

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 26

Jeremy Elrod

COUNCIL DISTRICT 27

No Endorsement

COUNCIL DISTRICT 28

Tanaka Vercher

COUNCIL DISTRICT 29

Delisha Porterfield

COUNCIL DISTRICT 30

Sandra Sepulveda

COUNCIL DISTRICT 31

John Rutherford

COUNCIL DISTRICT 32

Cheryl Mayes

Joy Styles

COUNCIL DISTRICT 33

Martez Coleman

COUNCIL DISTRICT 34

Terry Jo Bichell

COUNCIL DISTRICT 35

Dave Rosenburg 

To learn more about the Nashville Business Alliance Political Action Committee, visit nashvillebusinessalliance.com. For more media inquiries, contact Ashley Northington via e-mail at ashley@denorbrands.com.

ABOUT NASHVILLE BUSINESS ALLIANCE

The purpose of the organization is to advocate for public policy and private sector support of minority and women-owned companies seeking to do business with government agencies and private businesses by expanding contracting opportunities and increasing the procurement dollars spent with these businesses.

A group of prominent business leaders launched the organization last fall. Those businesspeople include: Michael Carter, Co-founder of Pinnacle Construction Partners, LLC; Jerry Maynard, Chief Executive Officer of The Maynard Group; Lee Molette of Molette Investment Services; Turner Nashe, Executive Vice President of Global Tel*Link; Harvey Hoskins, Managing Partner of Hoskins and Company PC; and Jacky Akbari, former Director of Governmental Relations and Workforce Development of the Nashville Career Advancement Center.

Buffalo PAC Endorses Mayor Briley

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Buffalo PAC Endorses Mayor Briley

NASHVILLE – A group of African American business leaders has endorsed Mayor David Briley for re-election, citing his commitment to equity for minority businesses.

“As a founding member and former chairman of the Buffalo PAC, it brings me great pleasure to announce our endorsement of Mayor David Briley,” said PAC member L. Vincent Williams. “Mayor Briley has shown his commitment to minority businesses through his leadership in passing the landmark Equal Business Opportunity ordinance for contractors. He has moved forward on issues that are important to minorities and to the entire Nashville community.”

The Equal Opportunity Act requires benchmark goals for minority – and woman-owned businesses to be included in every city project, because Mayor Briley believes Nashville’s prosperity should contribute to every community. Passed in the council last spring, the law took effect Friday.

“The Buffalo PAC is a group of Nashvillians who banded together to try to make their community a better place,” Mayor Briley said. “It means a lot to me and to my campaign to have their support.”

This is the latest in a string of public endorsements of Briley’s campaign that includes support from Bill Freeman, Howard Gentry, Brenda Wynn, Charles Robert Bone, Mike Curb and more. Early voting runs July 12-27, and Election Day is Thursday, Aug. 1.

About Buffalo PAC

Founded in 2007, the Buffalo PAC includes business and professional leaders from Nashville’s African American community, and the group identifies and supports candidates who demonstrate commitment to improving public education and economic opportunity.

Facebook and Twitter have not been invited to White House social media summit, sources say

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Facebook and Twitter have not been invited to White House social media summit, sources say

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

(CNN) — The White House has not extended invitations to Facebook and Twitter to attend its social media summit on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said.

The people, who spoke to CNN Business on the condition of anonymity, suggested it was not surprising. They said they believe the summit would amount to a right-wing grievance session and was not aimed at seriously discussing some of the issues facing large technology companies.

A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment.

The White House announced the summit in June, describing it as an event to bring together “digital leaders for a robust conversation on the opportunities and challenges of today’s online environment.”

The White House has not yet publicly disclosed who it has invited.

But the Washington Post reported last week that the White House has asked to the event a number of right-wing luminaries who have been extremely critical of social media companies. Some of these individuals have claimed, often without real evidence, that companies like Facebook and Twitter harbor bias against conservatives and censor their speech. The companies have denied those claims.

Republican lawmakers and conservative media personalities have for years lobbed claims of anti-conservative media bias at Silicon Valley companies.

But President Trump has poured fuel on the fire, attacking large technology companies on a regular basis and suggesting they need to be regulated by the government.

In a meeting earlier this year with Jack Dorsey, the Twitter chief executive, Trump asked about his follower size. The president has suggested, without evidence, that Twitter makes it difficult for his supporters to follow him.

In May, the White House launched an online tool in which people can report instances of perceived social media bias.

Republican lawmakers in Congress have also held hearings over the past year in which they have questioned social media executives about their company practices.

Such hearings have often strayed far from being fact-based conversations. At one hearing last year, Republicans invited the pro-Trump social media duo “Diamond & Silk” to testify. The duo spent the hearing spreading misinformation about social media companies. At other hearings, Republican lawmakers have cited information from right-wing sites like The Gateway Pundit to make their points.

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‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ blows away box office expectations

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‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ blows away box office expectations

By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business

(CNN) — “Spider-Man: Far From Home” made an estimated $185 million at the North American box office over its six day holiday opening.

That blew away industry expectations. The film was initially projected to make $125 million from Tuesday through Sunday, according to Sony, which co-produced the superhero film with Marvel Studios.

The film has made $580 million globally in its first 10 days of release. Spidey’s big opening was great news for Hollywood because the summer movie season was in desperate need of a win.

June was a particularly rough month at the domestic box office with multiple sequels, including “Men In Black: International,” “Dark Phoenix” and “Toy Story 4” underperforming in recent weeks.

“Spider-Man gave this summer the jolt it needed,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, told CNN Business. “‘Far From Home’s’ ability to win over audiences is further proof that audiences are just looking for good movies, sequels or otherwise.”

“Far From Home,” which cost $160 million to make, had strong critical reviews. It holds a 92% score on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

The film likely had a sizable box office bump thanks to it being the follow up to “Avengers: Endgame,” which shattered box office records in April.

The big opening for “Far From Home” solidifies two important things going forward for the superhero genre and Marvel, Robbins said.

“Moviegoers aren’t burnt out on Spider-Man or superhero movies, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe clearly has promising life beyond the end of their first era in ‘Endgame,'” he said.

The big windfall for “Far From Home” could help turn things around at the box office for the rest of the summer, and maybe even the rest of the year, according to Robbins.

“There’s plenty of reason to remain bullish on summer’s second half with ‘The Lion King,’ ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ and ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ around the corner,” he added. “A record year may not seem likely at this point in time, but we also shouldn’t write off the possibility of a major turnaround with these heavyweight titles and other possible sleepers still on deck.”

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Apple may have found a fix for the MacBook keyboards everyone hates

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Apple may have found a fix for the MacBook keyboards everyone hates

By David Goldman, CNN Business

(CNN) — Apple may soon give up on one of its most maddening design changes. The new MacBook keyboard will revert to the sturdier, clickier keys of old, a prominent analyst reports.

MacBooks since 2015 have featured a “butterfly” keyboard mechanism that saves about a millimeter of space from older designs — a big deal when Apple’s thinnest laptops are just 13 millimeters tall. But the butterfly keys had some critical flaws: They were easily broken. The keys traveled less than traditional keyboards, so typers weren’t confident the computer registered each keystroke. And dust and grit could get underneath the keys, rendering them useless.

Enough Apple customers complained about the mushy, sticky keys that the company redesigned them — twice. In the latest iteration, released on the MacBook Air last year, Apple included silicone film around each key to keep out dirt. But it didn’t work: Customers still complained, and Apple publicly apologized in March, acknowledging that MacBook owners were still having trouble with their keyboards.

Apparently Apple is ready for a change, too. The company is reportedly planning on introducing a new MacBook Air later this year with a traditional “scissor” keyboard, according to prominent Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities, who has a strong track record of predicting Apple innovations. He said Apple will put the new keyboards in MacBook Pro computers when the company refreshes that lineup next year. 9to5Mac first reported the coming change.

Most keyboards use a hinge that looks like a scissor. When you press down, the scissor opens up. When you release the key, springs help the scissor “close.” The scissor-style keys provide a decent amount of travel when you press a key, giving you the confidence the computer registered your keystroke. And they’ve proven very durable.

The disadvantage is scissor keys have relatively thick hinges. As gadgets get thinner, tech companies are looking for ways to save space. But Apple’s space-saving solution didn’t cut it, so it went back to the drawing board.

In typical Apple fashion, the company isn’t simply reverting to its old-style keys. Instead, it’s inventing something new: keys made out of glass fiber to make them extra durable. The keys will feature the same travel distance as previous scissor-style keys, and they’ll be cheaper to manufacture than the butterfly keys, according to Kuo.

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Kanye West’s new song ‘Brothers’ has fans wondering if it’s about Jay Z

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Kanye West’s new song ‘Brothers’ has fans wondering if it’s about Jay Z

By Chloe Melas, CNN

(CNN) — “We’ll be brothers forever.”

That’s the chorus of Kanye West‘s new song with Charlie Wilson titled, “Brothers.”

The song debuted this week during the Season 2 premiere of Irv Gotti’s BET series, “Tales.”

But the song was cut off, so Gotti took to Instagram to post the full song and even jumped in on the fan theories as to who West might be rapping about.

“There is a lot of speculation right now on who is Kanye West rapping about on the song Brothers. So here is the song. That BET cut off because of there [sic] way of airing episodes. But it was always meant for the audience to hear the whole record,” he wrote on Instagram. “Listen. And decide for yourself if you think Kanye is rapping about Jay Z or Virgil. But Ye’s brothers. And also let me know if you liked the episode and song. We did it for yall. My hip hop culture. -IG”

Fans are debating whether the song is about his estranged relationship with rapper Jay Z or Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s wear collection.

Check out the song and decide for yourself.

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Holy Triad 2019 to be hosted at Cathedral of Praise

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Holy Triad 2019 to be hosted at Cathedral of Praise

The Tennessee 4th Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction is hosting the Holy Triad 2019 July 15 – 20 at Cathedral of Praise in Nashville, Tennessee. The 5 day event includes an Auxiliaries In Ministry Convention, a Women’s Conference, and the 32nd Holy Convocation.

Revival Fires Evangelistic Services, an Oratorical Contest , 3 on 3 Basketball, a Spelling Bee, and a Sunday School Workers’ Workshop are some of the activities the conference is offering participants.

Conference Speakers include:

  • Pastor Jason Scales of Believers Faith Fellowship Church COGIC
  • Pastor Frank D. Stevenson, Jr. of Friendship MBC City of Grace
  • Evangelist Barbara Sago of Victorious Faith Ministries
  • Bishop Milton R. Hawkins of Temple of Deliverance COGIC
  • Bishop Oscar L. Meadows Emanuel Temple COGIC
  • Bishop Jerry L. Maynard, Sr. of Cathedral of Praise COGIC

Lead by Jurisdictional Bishop & Prelate Bishop Jerry L. Maynard, Sr., the Tennessee 4th is a jurisdiction in the Church of God In Christ (COGIC) denomination with over 3 dozen churches. Bishop Maynard is also the Vice-Chairman for the General Assembly for COGIC and the Senior Pastor at Cathedral of Praise.

To learn more and to register please visit: https://tn4cogic.org/triad/

The Super Bowl of Music Events happened in Music City

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The Super Bowl of Music Events happened in Music City

The city of Nashville is rapidly growing. With events like the CMA Fest and NFL Draft here over the past few months, plenty are seeing this city as one of the “it” cities across the nation. The buzz created with the NFL Draft has some even thinking that Nashville could eventually host a Super Bowl. While that may be up in the air, we could be looking at one event that could become the Super Bowl of events in Music City.

The sixth Annual Celebration of Legends gala happened this past Thursday at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville. Plenty were there to have fun celebrating Gloria Gaynor, Doug E Fresh and George Clinton and the event had a great effect on one guest according to National Museum of African American Music CEO Henry Hicks. “I was so proud of the NMAAM team in pulling off what one guest called “the Super Bowl of music events,” said Hicks

Think on that for a second. The Super Bowl of music events happening right here in Nashville, Tennessee. Where else can you find an event in Nashville where you get the glitz and glamour of the Academy Awards, performances like you’re at a music awards show and have Black people decked out in their best wardrobes? And to top it all off, where else can you get all this and have world-class performers and legendary musical artists?

The Celebration of Legends gala is putting itself on the map as one of the best events to attend and with each year it keeps getting better and for Hicks, the ascension of this event could not be going better. “Since the museum is less than a year from opening, this was a significant celebration and what better way to do it this year than with disco (Gloria Gaynor), hip hop (Doug E Fresh) and p-funk (George Clinton),” explained Hicks.

With the growth of Nashville continuing to skyrocket, the city has a touchdown in the Celebration of Legends gala and will continue to have an event that highlights Black greatness each and every year.

Mayor Briley To Give Additional Raises To All Teachers

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Mayor Briley To Give Additional Raises To All Teachers

Mayor David Briley announced this week that all Metro Nashville Public School teachers and support staff will receive another 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on January 1, 2020, in addition to the 3% COLA the Mayor made possible effective immediately. The result is that teachers and support staff will see a 6% pay increase over last year by the time this school year is over.

The new raises surpass the teacher raises in the substitute budgets presented by council members last month, and it does so without raising taxes. In all, Mayor Briley is allocating more than $30 million in additional funds to Metro Schools this year – more than six times the increase MNPS received in last year’s budget.

“I have been working on the MNPS budget with Dr. Battle and Dr. Gentry, trying to find the best possible way to get recurring dollars to teachers while not penalizing the 40% MNPS teachers who are “topped out” and while avoiding a property tax increase this year – something that would have hurt in-county teachers more than the proposed raises would have helped,” Mayor Briley said. “With this increase in place, we will continue our in-depth talks about comprehensive pay plan restructuring for teachers so the more than half of all teachers who are topped out of receiving meaningful increases will get them in future years.

This announcement is the latest of many from Briley’s administration that has shown strength regarding our school system. Last fall, Briley formed an Education Kitchen Cabinet to address the needs of our 21 priority schools. This spring, he made headlines for standing behind Schools Director Dr. Joseph during turmoil and calling out the politics-driven behavior of school board members. This new plan has the support of MNPS School Board Chair Dr. Sharon Gentry and MNPS Director Dr. Adrienne Battle.

“Mayor Briley’s investment shows a deep commitment to our teachers and staff members, and we thank him for his leadership and support for public education,” Dr. Battle said. “We are only as successful as our amazing staff, and the Mayor’s actions show how he values them. Our goal is that these resources also ensure that we are able to maintain funding for other new strategic investments. MNPS is thankful to partner with the Mayor and Metro Council who are dedicated to the success of our students and staff.”

Briley, who is up for re-election on Aug. 1, declares that this is only the beginning of the work he’ll do to improve the culture and performance of our public schools.

“I am grateful to Dr. Adrienne Battle, the MNPS Board, MDHA and the members of the TIF Study and Formulating Committee, whose hard work and support made this additional COLA possible,” Mayor Briley continued. “I plan to keep at it, and I know we have more great things to come for all students and teachers in our schools.”

Nike featuring Betsy Ross flag canceled after backlash

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Nike featuring Betsy Ross flag canceled after backlash

By Rob McLean, CNN Business

(CNN) — Nike is canceling a sneaker that featured the “Betsy Ross” version of the American flag from the late 18th century.

“Nike has chosen not to release the Air Max 1 Quick Strike Fourth of July as it featured an old version of the American flag,” Nike said in a statement to CNN Business.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that the athletic-wear company delivered the sneakers to retailers, but asked stores to return them to Nike after the company received a complaint from former NFL star Colin Kaepernick. The Journal indicated Kaepernick said he and others found the shoe offensive because of its ties to America’s era of slavery.

Kaepernick could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

The shoe was set to be released Monday for $140, according to Sneakernews.com. The website included photos of a shoe that featured a version of the American flag with 13 stars organized in a circle and 13 stripes. That version of the flag, according to the Smithsonian, was used in the United States from 1777 to 1795.

It is unclear if any of the shoes were sold.

This is the second instance of Nike removing a product in recent days. The company stopped selling some products in China after a fashion designer’s support for protests in Hong Kong sparked a social media backlash.

Nike said in a statement at the time that it had decided to remove some of its goods “based on feedback from Chinese consumers.”

In May, according to footwearnews.com, Nike canceled an Air Force 1 sneaker after an indigenous group in Panama objected to its design.

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