Tennessee’s airports are proposed to get $82.5 million in direct state funding with a projected additional $13 million from the state’s Transportation Equity Fund in Gov. Bill Lee’s budget proposal.
That includes $59.5 million in recurring budget along with a proposed $23 million in one-time funding.
Read the full story
The Memphis Police Department (MPD) says it has no leads following a viral video of two men driving a car erratically on the interstate over the weekend, stopping traffic.
The video has been circulating the internet since it was posted by KWAM Radio in Memphis on Sunday night. At least one person stood in the highway filming the incident.
Read the full story
A FedEx plane was forced to crash land late Wednesday night at the Chattanooga Regional Airport after its landing gear failed.
According to the Chattanooga Fire Department, the Boeing 757 with three crew on board dramatically skidded from off the runway before coming to a stop.
Read the full story
Amid what it is describing as a “weaker demand environment,” Memphis-based FedEx has announced that it will close 29 freight locations as part of its plan to cut more than $1 billion in expenses.
In the closing of the locations, the company will furlough certain employees for at least three months.
Read the full story
A Tennessee bill that passed Senate committee Tuesday would reduce the aviation fuel tax cap on commercial companies down to $1 million, which would have an additional $10.6 million impact on the state’s Transportation Equity Fund.
The decreased taxes led to Gov. Bill Lee putting $83.2 million in this year’s budget amendment for the state’s airports with $26.3 million in funding coming from the equity fund. That’s up from $50 million of state funding in the 2021-22 budget.
Read the full story
FedEx in Humboldt is constructing a new distribution facility that will be eight times larger than its existing plant. Announced by the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce, the purchase of just over 59 acres in the Gibson County Industrial Park greatly expands the distribution center’s footprint.
Read the full story
Investigators are examining a possible connection between the shooting and the body of a man found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Sullivan County, New York, a law enforcement official said.
Read the full story
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN-04) praised FedEx and Nike for their efforts to pressure the Washington Redskins into changing the team’s “harmful” name and mascot.
“I have been working on this for almost a decade because I believe all people, including Native Americans, should be treated with dignity and respect – and not dehumanized as mascots,” McCollum said in a statement.
Read the full story
Christmas season is in full swing as people try to buy and send presents to loved ones all over the country. Here are the deadlines for major shipping carriers.
Read the full story
The CEO of FedEx challenged New York Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger to a public debate Sunday after the publication reported that the company didn’t pay any federal taxes in 2018.
Read the full story
FedEx filed a $212 million building permit Tuesday for a new package sorting facility and hub in Memphis, MyNorthwest reported.
Read the full story
The federal government is giving the Memphis International Airport $15 million in taxpayer money for improvements and for economic development. This, despite The Tennessee Star’s past reporting showing fewer and fewer people use the Memphis Airport now versus how many people used it slightly more than a decade ago. According to localmemphis.com, the Feds are handing out $49.3 million to Tennessee’s airports. “Memphis received the second most out of all the airports in Tennessee. Overall, airports in the state received $49.3 million,” localmemphis.com reported. “More than $15 million will be used to construct an airport de-icing pad for planes in Memphis. It will also go to the airport master plan and a miscellaneous study.” According to the website, quoting Federal Aviation Administration members, the money “will help the local economy.” As The Star reported last year, the Memphis International Airport has had a dramatic decrease in the amount of traffic that goes through there. In a report that came out last year, the New York Times described the Memphis airport as “a glaring casualty of an airline merger that transformed the American aviation industry but cost the Mid-South’s most important city its status as a hub.” As the Times went on to say,…
Read the full story
Members of the Tennessee House reportedly voted this week to give FedEx $21.3 million in corporate welfare over the next seven years for a new hub expansion in Memphis, according to various news outlets. Specifically, this type of corporate welfare is in the form of tax breaks. House members voted to make this happen on a 96-2 vote. State senators still must approve a bill of their own, according to the Memphis-based TV station WREG. “The bill initially dealt with lease or rental price reporting to the commissioner of revenue. But the legislation by Republican House Speaker Glen Casada was overhauled to include $16.1 million in state and $5.2 million in local sales and use tax exemption directed at building materials for the FedEx project,” WREG reported. “Republican Rep. Mark White of Memphis says the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.” According to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, if the legislation is enacted into law then Tennessee would lose $16 million in tax revenue. The local government would lose $5.1 million. “FedEx paid more than $110 million in state taxes in 2018 and will still pay $30 in sales tax for its hub modernization improvements,” The…
Read the full story
Tennessee officials may decide this week to give $10 million in corporate welfare to FedEx, the state’s largest employer, according to various news outlets. When asked, the people at FedEx told The Tennessee Star that, yes, they are seeking corporate welfare. “FedEx considers all available state and local financial incentives when evaluating potential facility projects,” said spokesman Jonathan Lyons, in an emailed statement. “As a matter of policy, we do not publicly discuss specifics of a project until all the details have been finalized. We are thrilled about being a part of this important development for downtown Memphis.” According to U.S. News & World Report, members of the State Funding Board may decide the matter Friday. There, they will reportedly discuss a new Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development report on that and other matters. “A $10 million FastTrack Economic Development Grant has been proposed for the establishment of a headquarters by FedEx Logistics in the former Gibson Guitar factory in downtown Memphis,” U.S. News & World Report said. “The board also is set to vote on a $1.2 million grant for JNJ Express trucking company to turn an abandoned shopping center into its new headquarters. Both Shelby County…
Read the full story
The Haslam Administration is doling out over $113 million in tax CUTS to some of Tennessee’s largest corporations to justify over $350 million in tax INCREASES on working Tennesseans. According to the Times Free Press, just 24 large manufacturing companies will each receive tax breaks of over a million dollars a year under the Haslam plan. Those two dozen companies will reduce their tax burden by over $57 million and receive OVER HALF of the proposed $113 million in Franchise and Excise tax reduction. Tennessee law doesn’t allow the state to release the specific identities of the 24 companies that will benefit most from the Franchise and Excise tax cut. However, according to the Times Free Press certain companies that fit the profile of those who are most likely among the 24 sharing in the $57 million tax break include Nissan, Volkswagen, and General Motors. “This whole tax scheme appears to be built upon a foundation of special treatment for the Governor’s friends while sticking it to ordinary working Tennesseans,” according to State Rep. Judd Matheny. “Before the plan moves one step forward there needs to be full and complete disclosure of who exactly stands to benefit, and how…
Read the full story
The Haslam administration and their pro-tax allies in the Tennessee General Assembly have increasingly relied upon a “user fee” argument to disguise the actual impact of their proposed gasoline and diesel fuel tax increase plan. The bill, now under consideration in the current session of the Tennesssee General Assembly under its “new and improved” name, the IMPROVE Act “Tax Act Cut of 2017,” proposes to fund an additional annual infusion of $350 million for road and bridge construction through what is now a 6 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 10 cents per gallon diesel tax increase. Former Reagan official and respected economist Art Laffer specifically dismissed the “user fee” claim in testimony before the House Transportation Subcommittee last month. “The talk about the gas tax being a user fee is not correct,” Laffer testified. “It’s a tax pure and simple.” Nevertheless, in 2015 the Haslam administration promoted and passed a huge “user fee” jet fuel tax break to Memphis-based FedEx, whose Chairman Fred Smith sits on the Board of the Governor’s family business Pilot/Flying J, shortly before embarking on the effort to impose a huge fuel tax increase on Tennessee drivers. The special tax break on aviation…
Read the full story