For John Black, executive director of the Smyrna/Rutherford Co. Airport Authority, the phone call back in 2002 was memorable, to say the least. A representative of Southwest Airlines was on the phone. The airline was floating a trial balloon to see if they could start commercial traffic at the Smyrna airport. More

The cost of buying the nation’s largest hospital chain can evidently put a dent in profits. Nashville-based HCA Inc., the largest U.S. hospital chain, said Thursday that second-quarter earnings fell 61 percent because of costs to finance its $33 billion leveraged buyout. More

LP appoints vice president More Nashville Symphony announces external affairs department Sterchi promoted to vice president Comdata announces vice president of legalization Three join McNeely Pigott & Fox

A Charlotte, N.C., company plans to launch a new magazine in Nashville next week. Style Publications Inc., which publishes the recently launched Chattanooga Style magazine, will soon mail out more than 15,000 copies of the quarterly, 88-page STYLE 615 to high-income homes throughout the Middle Tennessee area. More

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Call it one more sign that Nashville’s red-hot housing market could be slowing down. Or filling a demand, depending on how one sees it. More

Guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Freddy Weller has always loved country music and preferred recording it to songs in any other genre. While he’s consistently made fine country singles and discs, he may be better known to rock and pop fans for his nearly six-year stint with Paul Revere and the Raiders. More

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce has cut the size of its board of directors almost in half, from 69 to 34, and has re-crafted its committee structure in an effort to give lay Chamber members more leadership opportunities in Chamber policymaking. More

Sales of existing homes in the U.S. fell more than forecast last month, a sign that residential real estate remains mired in its worst recession in 16 years. Sales last month were down 11.4 percent from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday in Washington. More

Local cigar shops are saying a U.S. Senate proposal that would skyrocket the cost of retail cigars would put them out of business. And one member of Tennessee’s Senate delegation is lining up behind them. More