Google to begin work on data center
Google is preparing to break ground on its first data center in Alabama nearly three years after Google first announced plans to build the $600 million data center.
The tech giant, part of parent company Alphabet Inc., will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Jackson County facility Monday. Google chose a more than 350-acre Tennessee Valley Authority site in Bridgeport, Ala., near Scottsboro on a portion of the former Widows Creek coal power plant site.
It will be the 14th data center site globally for Google and only the second new center in the U.S. since 2007. Google projects the center could employ up to 100 workers.
TVA opens more dams to visitors this Saturday
Spring has officially arrived, and the Tennessee Valley Authority will be opening visitor centers Saturday at its first dam, its tallest dam, its longest dam and several other facilities around the Tennessee Valley.
The public can visit centers at TVA’s tallest dam, Fontana, which towers 480 feet and forms part of the Appalachian Trail, near Bryson City, N.C.; Norris, TVA’s first dam that was completed in 1936 along with a planned community that became a national model near Knoxville; and Kentucky Dam, TVA’s longest dam at more than 8,800 feet that forms the largest reservoir in the eastern United States, near Paducah, Ky.
In addition, informative display panels at Wilson and Guntersville dams in Alabama are accessible by the public year-round, as is the Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage facility visitor center near Chattanooga and visitor centers at both South Holston and Fort Patrick Henry dams in northeast Tennessee.
TVA retiree volunteers serve as guides at Raccoon Mountain, Fontana, Norris and Kentucky to answer questions about TVA, the history of the facilities and the surrounding areas.
Mortgage rates drop this week
Long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, benefiting potential homebuyers with the spring buying season underway.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 4.40 percent from 4.44 percent last week. The benchmark stood at an average 4.10 percent a year ago.
The decline followed scant movement in long-term rates last week and a months-long stretch of increases in January, February and early March as interest rates generally rose.
The average rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans declined to 3.87 percent from 3.90 percent last week.
Trade gap rises to decade high
The U.S. trade deficit rose for the sixth straight month in February, reaching the highest level since October 2008 and defying President Donald Trump’s efforts to rebalance America’s lopsided trade with the rest of the world.
The Commerce Department said Thursday the trade gap – the difference between what America sells and what it buys in foreign markets – widened to $57.6 billion in February from $56.7 billion in January. Exports of goods and services hit a record $204.4 billion; imports set a record $262 billion.
The news comes amid a U.S. trade dispute with China that has rattled global financial markets and raised fears among U.S. farmers and businesses that depend on access to the Chinese market. The trade deficit in goods with China narrowed in February to $29.3 billion from $36 billion in January.