Independent living center planned near Northgate
A Knoxville company on Monday received rezoning approval for property behind Northgate Mall’s movie theaters so it can build an independent living facility.
Sean Chalmers of Dominion Development Group said plans are to construct a 93-unit facility around 2760 Northpoint Blvd.
The company and Ken DeFoor Properties won rezoning of the site to R-4 special zone from the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission. Chalmers said work could start in three to six months.
The rezoning still must have final approval from the City Council when it meets Oct. 9.
Cleveland, Chattanooga cheapest for gas prices
Cleveland, Tennessee ranks No. 9 and Chattanooga is No. 15 among the cheapest cities in the United States for gasoline, according to a survey released Monday by GasBuddy.com
The two Southeast Tennessee cities boast the lowest gas prices in Tennessee or Georgia, although several Alabama cities have even lower fuel prices. Chattanooga gas prices at the start of the week averaged $2.48 per gallon, which was 8.3 cents per gallon below a year ago and 36 cents per gallon below the U.S. average, GasBuddy.com said.
Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said Hurricane Florence may pose fuel-related challenges for areas of the East Coast later this week, “there is little to no threat to refineries at this time and is thus unlikely to bring measurable impact to the national average price of gasoline.”
“Hurricane season aside, gasoline demand will likely drift lower nearly countrywide, putting some additional downward impact on prices in most communities over the next few weeks,” DeHaan said.
Ford won’t make hatchback in U.S.
Ford won’t be moving production of a hatchback wagon to the United States from China – despite President Donald Trump’s claim Sunday that his taxes on Chinese imports mean the Focus Active can be built in America.
Citing Trump’s new tariffs, Ford on Aug. 31 said it was dropping plans to ship the Focus Active from China to America.
Trump took to Twitter Sunday to declare victory and write: “This is just the beginning. This car can now be BUILT IN THE U.S.A. and Ford will pay no tariffs!”
But in a statement Sunday, Ford said “it would not be profitable to build the Focus Active in the U.S.” given forecast yearly sales below 50,000.
For now, that means Ford simply won’t sell the vehicle in the United States. Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automotive Research said that Ford can make Focuses “in many other plants around the world, so if they decided to continue to sell a Focus variant in the U.S. market, there are several options other than building it in the United States.”
In April, Ford announced plans to stop making cars in the United States – except for the iconic Mustang – and to focus on more profitable SUVs.
Consumer borrowing increases in July
Americans increased their borrowing in July at nearly double the pace of the previous month, evidence that confident consumers are willing to take on more debt to support their spending.
The Federal Reserve reported Monday that consumer debt rose by a seasonally adjusted $16.6 billion in July, up sharply from a gain of $8.5 billion in June.
The category that includes credit cards rose by $1.3 billion after shrinking by $1.2 billion in June. The category that covers auto and student loans surged by $15.4 billion after an increase of $9.6 billion in June. It was the largest gain since an increase of $17.9 billion last November.
Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity in the United States. After a slow start this year, consumer activity accelerated sharply this spring. That helped push overall economic growth up to a solid annual rate of 4.2 percent in the April-June quarter, almost double the 2.2 percent GDP gain in the first quarter.