Tennesseans Hesitate to Buy Electric Cars

Nissan’s electric car, the Leaf, hit the market almost six months ago, but so far only 79 have sold in Tennessee. Sales have topped 2,000 in the six other states where it’s available. Tennessee’s small numbers come despite big incentives.

Today not a single Tennessee Republican voted to authorize President Obama’s military effort in Libya. But some of them stopped short of pulling funds from that NATO-led mission.

Governor Bill Haslam says it’s too soon for his administration to be claiming all the credit for big jobs announcements around the state. In the last month hundreds of new jobs have been touted in Cool Springs, Hendersonville, and Nashville.

As expected, the Tennessee Board of Regents voted today to raise tuition at its campuses by an average of more than nine percent. It’s the largest increase since 2005. But to put it in perspective – as one Regent said – it’s only about the cost of an iPhone…per semester.

Lipscomb University has announced it will open a school on aging.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses sent out a press release yesterday announcing that businesses could soon be audited to see if they’ve hired illegal immigrants.

President Barack Obama’s plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan have generated a lot of reaction today-both good and bad. But Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is noncommittal.

Governor Bill Haslam today attributed dramatic tuition hikes to a longterm rise in healthcare costs. Haslam spoke at a board meeting of the University of Tennessee, whose flagship campus in Knoxville is raising tuition by almost 800 dollars a year.

Governor Bill Haslam says despite big tuition hikes expected this week, Tennessee colleges are still a good deal compared to similar schools. Haslam is attending meetings today and tomorrow for state systems eyeing increases around 10 percent.

Nashville-based Genesco has made a leap across the Atlantic Ocean with the acquisition of a shoe retailer in the U.K. Genesco announced Thursday morning it will pay a total of nearly $200 million for a much smaller company based in Scotland called “Schuh.” [like ‘shoe’]