The Nashville Business Journal reports that average Tennessee health insurance premiums increased 10% in 2008.

Among other interesting statistics, the article also says "On average, U.S. employers contribute 10.3 percent of payroll toward the cost of health benefits."

Michael Silence reports:

Bankruptcy court confirms to me it was filed yesterday.

So, will this affect their IPO?

The KNS has an update on the LED billboard "impasse" today.

The same issue is playing out in Nashville. Mike Byrd at the Enclave blog has been following it closely.

This is starting to sound like the AT&T cable bill. Wonder why the billboard industry hasn't gone to the Tennessee legislature to ask for statewide regulations allowing LED billboards?

UPDATE: Frost calls on UT to comply with billboard law

In a recent Newsweek, The Last Word, column George Will wrote:

You [Obama] favor eliminating the cap on earnings subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax, which now covers only the first $102,000. A Chicago police officer married to a Chicago public-school teacher, each with 20 years on the job, have a household income of $147,501, so you would take another $5,642 from them. Are they undertaxed? Are they rich?

Doesn't George know that social security is not paid jointly?

Knoxville News Sentinel:

One company, Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., will include the cable networks HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living Network and Great American Country and online comparison shopping sites Shopzilla and uSwitch. The other, E.W. Scripps, will have 10 broadcast television stations and newspapers in 15 U.S. markets, the News Sentinel, Rocky Mountain News in Denver and The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

The deal will give E.W. Scripps shareholders one share of the new Scripps Interactive company for each share of E.W. Scripps stock, minus a 1-3 reverse split for E.W. Scripps stock.

I'm not real good at math, but does this mean the Scripps board puts the value of their cable/interactive business at three times the value of their broadcast TV and print business?

At any rate, we hope it's not too lonely out there for the newspapers being pushed out to sea on the ice floe. If Scripps goes, Knoxville will be left with, what, the Journal and Knoxville Voice? Not that there's anything wrong with those fine publications, but still.

RoaneViews notes some changes in their website advertising, and wonders if they are rethinking their business plan.

If it doesn't work out for them over there in Roane County, maybe they should take a look at Rhea County.

UPDATE: KAG has more.

Internet Fraud Loss For 2007 Tops $239 Million

Sounds low to me. I would have guessed ten times that.

$3.57/gal at the entrance to the Montgomery Village low income housing development.

$3.49/gal (8 cents cheaper) near the middle class Arrowhead Subdivision.

Nashville is Talking:

One of the backers of the proposed Bible Theme Park USA in Murfreesboro is a very successful businessman but was once more known for his photographs of cover girls and "Pets of the Month" for Penthouse Magazine.

You can't make this stuff up.

or a kinder, gentler vandalism.

A New York food company is recalling more than 286,000 pounds of meat and poultry because it might be contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes.

Thirty-five different products that "were sent to food service and retail establishments nationwide" are listed in the recall.

That's a lot of meat/poultry product. Personally, I'm not familiar with these products. Of course, if deli chains use these products I might be in trouble and not know it.

Without one-time charges, GM's overall losses were $350 million for the quarter, with a loss of $812 million in North America. GM's North America market share also dropped from 22.5% to 21.7%.

The biggest hit:

The one-time items included a $1.45 billion charge to reflect a change in the value of GM's 49 percent share in GMAC Financial Services. Young said the company revalued its stake because of losses in GMAC's residential mortgage division.

Maybe GM should stick to their knitting. And start making cars people want.

The good news is that North American losses are attributed to "plummeting" truck and SUV sales as buyers move to lighter vehicles which are less profitable. The bad part of the good news is that GM will cut 3500 jobs as they scale back truck and SUV production.

Nashville Business Journal:

Countrywide Financial Corp., which is being acquired by Bank of America Corp., reports a first-quarter net loss of $893 million, or $1.60 per diluted share.

The report says their provision for bad loans increased 888% to $1.5 billion. Yikes!

In fury and despair, patients harmed by Lasik eye surgery told federal health advisers Friday of severe eye pain, blurred vision and even a son's suicide. The advisers recommended that the government warn more clearly about the risks of the hugely popular operations.
...
And while the vast majority benefit — most see 20-20 or even better — about one in four people who seeks Lasik is not a good candidate. A small fraction, perhaps 1 percent or fewer, suffer serious, life-changing side effects: worse vision, severe dry eye, glare, inability to drive at night.

Eye surgery so I don't have to wear glasses sends chills up my spine, but then I'm not one to have ever worn contact lenses either.

Be careful out there. Don't be sold. Do your homework.

EW Scripps 1Q earnings up on higher ratings, ad sales

Regal Entertainment Group swings to 1st-quarter loss

Brunswick's 1Q Net Down 71% As US Boat Demand Falls

But the big story of the day:

Ford reports $100 million earnings: Ford Motor Co. reported an unexpected first-quarter profit as Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally cut jobs in North America and tripled earnings in Europe, a sign that his turnaround plan may be working. The world's third-largest automaker earned $100 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a deficit of $282 million, or 15 cents, a year earlier.

You could plant a garden, or you could buy futures in local farm produce according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

"Right now is the time for people who care about locally grown foods to buy their produce for the coming season," says Tennessee Department of Agriculture marketing specialist Jon Frady.

With Community Supported Agriculture, a farmer contracts with other people in the community to provide those individuals with a portion of the farmer’s harvest. CSA's not only help consumers save money, they also help farmers plan their crops and buy the necessary seed and fertilizer.

Depending on the arrangement, you might go out to the farm to get your produce, or meet the farmer at a community drop-off site.

Consumers typically purchase a share or a half share of a producer's harvest in advance. A full share averages about $25 per week depending on the type of produce, and will usually get you a half-bushel box of produce per week, or once every two weeks for a half share.

A spring-summer CSA share typically lasts about 25 weeks, from late May until early November. The type of produce will vary depending on the season.

Some customers can also request farm fresh eggs, milk, and other local foods to be included with their share. Some area farmers pool their products to provide customers with a complete range of local foods.

To locate a CSA near you, visit the CSA farms directory at the Tennessee Department of Agriculture's Market Development website.

The nearest one to the Knoxville area is Green Man Farm in Grainger Co.

U.S. rice futures soared to an all-time high Wednesday as investors bet that surging world demand will continue to pressure already dwindling stockpiles.

Apparently some people are very picky about their rice. Imported jasmine, basmati and long grain white rice seem to be the choice for the rice aficionado.

Relentless demand from developing countries and poor crop yields have pushed rice prices up 70 percent so far this year, raising concerns of severe shortages of the staple food consumed by almost half the world's population.

The steep increases have followed similar jumps in the price of wheat, corn and soybeans that have added to Americans' growing grocery bill and led to violent food riots in poor countries including Haiti, Senegal and Pakistan.

Lucky me. I'm more of a potatoes person. Potatoes can be grown in my back yard.

Existing home sales decline:

Sales of existing homes fell in March as a severe slump in housing showed no signs of abating. The median price of a home fell compared with the price a year ago.

According to the report, sales were off 19.3% as compared to a year ago, and median prices were off 7.7%.

I was really pleased this morning to find an interview with Julie and Kevin posted on Design Sponge, a fantastic blog that covers artists and designers from around the world.

I spotted a Honda Insight in Alcoa yesterday. Even though I could not see any hybrid label I knew by the look (different, weird, ugly, whatever) it had to be a hybrid. Honda stopped making the Insight in 2006.

This summer Honda is introducing the FCX Clarity hydrogen car to the U.S. Initially it will only be available in selected locations in California, i.e. Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine.

Honda has to make fueling stations readily available. They are also working on home energy stations. Although, I suppose it could be a problem in the future to be dependent on natural gas.

Check out the reviews from The New York Times and USA Today.

What are US car companies doing? I still can't find a Ford Escape Hybrid and they seem to be even less available than they were a couple of months ago in the larger market areas, e.g. Atlanta, Orlando, etc.

Knoxville News Sentinel:

Mercy Health Partners will build a new downtown hospital on the site of the current Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee on Blount Avenue.

[..]

Demolition of older buildings on the site, which are located closer to Henley Street, could begin in the fall. But Ashin said the health system must still meet tough financial benchmarks before moving forward.

Pretty big news for South Knoxville.

How the hell does a coal company lose money?

Interest in alternative energy such as wind, geothermal, and solar is spreading beyond so-called "fringe" environmentalists and "tree huggers" to the business world.

If there is any doubt, consider this: U.S. clean energy venture capital investments totaled $2.7 billion in 2007, a 70% increase over 2006. Worldwide investments in clean energy totaled $148 billion, a 60% increase over 2006. Alternative energy is going mainstream.

Shares of First Horizon Corp., parent company of First Tennessee, hit a 52-week low yesterday, and entered the $11 range for the first time since 1996.

From the Financial Times:

According to Thomson Financial, first-quarter earnings in the financial sector are expected to fall 64 per cent in the first quarter, marking the third consecutive quarter of negative earnings growth.

The subprime mortgage meltdown continues to ripple through the economy.

But the deal's not done yet.

If it goes through, the new airline will be called Delta, and Delta's headquarters would remain in Atlanta. Neither airline would close any hubs.

But closing their headquarters in Minneapolis could be a problem for Northwest because of penalties tied to state incentives and favorable airport lease terms in exchange for keeping their headquarters there. And there are several labor issues yet to be worked out. Then it will need the federal government's blessing. And shareholders will have to approve it.

Lots of hurdles, but the companies say they expect to close the deal by the end of the year -- "before the end of the merger-friendly Bush administration."

Analysts say the consolidation will be good for the industry if the new airline, which would be the world's largest, can reduce underutilized capacity to avoid deep discounting price wars that result from too much inventory for not enough passengers.

ORNL Federal Credit Union is hosting a secure Document Shred Day. This event is free and is open to the public.

The event is Saturday, April 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Secure documents such as bank statements and also film and data CDs will be accepted. All shredding will be done 100% on site by a commercial shredding service. Read more for locations...

Blockbuster offers $1 billion for Circuit City

Blockbuster says the offer is intended to "capitalize on the growing convergence of media content and electronic devices."

But neither company has an online digital delivery presence to speak of. Then there's this:

Last week news leaked out that Blockbuster had a set-top box under development that would stream video content directly into homes, which was seen by many as a last-ditch effort to adapt its business.

That's great, except you can already do that with Amazon Unbox and Tivo (which is pretty cool, except for the "one day only" rental aspect). Then there's this.

Knoxville based LAGtv Network is an internet based TV network with international reach.

The brainchild of Shane Latham, LAGtv is a "live internet television station with shows focusing on video games, online tournaments, pro-gamers, casual gamers, product and game reviews."

According to producer and writer Jessie Greene, also of Knoxville, LAGtv broadcasts from its studio in Knoxville. The network’s inaugural broadcast aired on February 1, 2008.

Looking around the site and some of the show archives, the productions are slick and the on-air talent appears to be having a lot of fun even if I don't know what they're talking about most of the time. If you are an XBox 360 fan, I'm sure it will make sense to you and you'll like it.

Apparently gamers can also participate live by way of their XBox 360 video chat and messaging features. Or if your XBox-fu is weak, you can join in the online chat room, send a plain old email, or just call in on the phone. Shows air live every day at 9PM.

LAGtv looks like another high score for Knoxville's reputation as an evolving center for creative broadcast video and internet production. Check it out.

Most folks wouldn't consider buying a home without first getting an inspection. Most purchase contracts have a "subject to inspection" clause.

With mortgages being so complicated these days, maybe they should have a "subject to inspection" clause, too. And maybe a company with a team of real estate lawyers, bankers, and personal finance advisers that reviews mortgages for a flat fee of $200 or so could save home buyers thousands (or their homes).

I wonder how many people even read their mortgage contracts beyond the principle, interest, and escrow payment amounts? One time we actually had a title company employee yell at us in frustration because we wanted to waste their valuable time by actually reading all twenty pages of the thing before we signed it. And even if you read the whole thing, can you understand it?

UPDATE: Oh, wait. Somebody already thought of this. (I ran across a couple of others, though, that work for mortgage companies on commission. They probably aren't the most objective source of advice.)