News - Friday, January 16, 2026

Hatchling chickens, newborn humans and startup businesses all have one thing in common: they need the right conditions and ample space to grow.

In the case of entrepreneurs bringing businesses to life, they must also be nimble and adapt to market conditions.

When Jennifer Lea opens her mind’s eye to her earliest memories, she finds herself on the rust-red soil of the Central African Republic, a deep-red sun fixed overhead like an all-seeing gaze, sprinting after a soccer ball as a horde of her brother’s friends races behind her.

Economic uncertainty driven by trade policy, persistent affordability challenges and elevated interest rates continue to weigh on the housing market, even as parts of the broader economy remain resilient, according to a national housing economist who addressed local builders this week.

The documentary “Labors of Love” will be screened in person at the Jewish Cultural Center at 3 p.m. as part of the Chattanooga Jewish Documentary Series. The 79-minute film, presented in English, explores the life and legacy of Henrietta Szold, a visionary and often under-recognized American Jewish leader who founded Hadassah, a Jewish women’s philanthropic organization. Beginning in 1912, Szold helped forge a vital link between American Jewish women and communities in Palestine. Tickets are $12. A small reception hosted by the local Hadassah chapter will precede the screening. Tickets, information

After a nationwide search, the Tennessee Aquarium has selected Mary Ann Beil as its new chief financial officer.

Beil will assume the financial responsibilities long held by Gordon Stalans, who has served as the Aquarium’s CFO for more than 30 years. Stalans will continue in his roles as vice president, chief operating officer and chief information officer as Beil begins her tenure.

Hamilton County property sales and mortgage activity remained strong in December 2025, with hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate transactions recorded during the final month of the year, according to the county’s latest sales and mortgages report.

December closed the year on a steady note. The latest report from the National Association of Realtors shows another month of gradual improvement in existing-home sales nationwide, the third increase in a row. Locally, more homes came to market and buyers kept moving, which created a setting in which shoppers had a bit more to consider and sellers still met qualified interest without the rush of earlier years.

As your parents grow older, it might be time to talk with them about financial and aging issues, which could involve difficult conversations.

You’ll want to be careful how you approach this. Mention ahead of time that you’d like to talk with them about their future plans and reassure them that you want to understand their wishes so their affairs will be taken care of as they would like.

The Hunter Museum of American Art has announced a slate of major exhibitions and installations for 2026 that will spotlight immersive contemporary work, historical memory and innovative uses of reclaimed materials, alongside significant loans from a nationally recognized museum collection.

The presence of balloons normally signals a joyous occasion. That’s not the case for the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team this season.

The UT coaching staff has been using balloons to help the Vols cut down on turnovers. During practice, 10 balloons are stationed near the court. Any time the Vols commit a turnover, one of the balloons is popped. After the 10th balloon is popped, the players all run.

The Tennessee Titans are nowhere near the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Yet, there are Titans influences on all 14 rosters of the playoff teams.

Between active players on the 53-man rosters, practice squad players and those on injured reserve, would you believe there are 54 players with at least some past tie to the Titans in this postseason? That’s enough to field a full active roster with an extra guy for a practice squad. 

As the Tennessee Titans coaching search is now officially in week two (or week 14, if you count from the day they fired Brian Callahan), the main point in the whole process has been how wide a net that general manager Mike Borgonzi has cast in searching for his guy.

Affordability is a hotter topic than ever in 2026. Many people are struggling to manage rising costs and live within their means, making it harder to justify splurging on things they want but don’t need. That applies to car shopping decisions too. 

MCLEAN, Va. (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate is now down to its lowest level in more than three years.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate eased to 6.06% this week, down from 6.16% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 7.04%.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge Thursday cleared the way for a New York offshore wind project to resume construction, a victory for the developer who said a Trump administration order to pause it would likely kill the project in a matter of days.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the outlines of a health care plan he wants Congress to take up as Republicans have faced increasing pressure to address rising health costs and a jump in insurance premiums after lawmakers let subsidies expire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country's oil.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump's "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean."

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kaiser Permanente affiliates will pay $556 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the health care giant committed Medicare fraud and pressured doctors to list incorrect diagnoses on medical records to receive higher reimbursements, federal prosecutors said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Thursday was the final day to select an Affordable Care Act health insurance plan across much of the country, as the expiration of federal subsidies drives up health costs and lawmakers remain locked in a debate over how to address the issue.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The president was barely a year into his administration when a health care debate began to consume Washington.

On Capitol Hill, partisan divides formed as many Democrats pressed for guaranteed insurance coverage for a broader swath of Americans while Republicans, buttressed by medical industry lobbying, warned about cost and a slide into communism.

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered a contrasting view of manufacturing in Detroit Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump defended his tariff strategy in the Motor City.

Whitmer, a term-limited Democrat who is in her last year as governor, said in a speech at the Detroit Auto Show that the administration's tariff strategy has hurt American auto manufacturing and is benefiting Chinese competitors. It's a message she has repeated over the past year as economic uncertainty has rippled across the automobile sector.

NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk's Grok keeps getting into trouble, and this time, more of the world's governments are trying to intervene.

First launched in 2023, Grok is Musk's attempt to outdo rivals such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in building an AI assistant powered by a large language model, which is trained on vast pools of data to help predict the most plausible next word in a sentence. It's the main product of Musk's AI startup, xAI, which has been merged with his social media platform, X. Much like ChatGPT and Gemini, Musk's company has also folded AI image generation capabilities into the chatbot.

NEW YORK (AP) — A surging stock market and a flurry of deal making padded the profits of Wall Street's two big investment banks, which both saw a double-digit jump in profits in the fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs's net earnings rose 12% from a year earlier, posting a profit of $4.62 billion, or $14.01 a share. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley said it earned $4.4 billion, or $2.68 per share, compared to a profit of $3.71 billion, or $2.22 per share, compared to a year earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Several Middle Eastern allies of the United States have urged the Trump administration to hold off on strikes against Iran for the government's deadly crackdown on protesters, according to an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.