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Question: Killer who murdered brother with a potato peeler attacks fellow inmate at Cardiff prison

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A young killer jailed for stabbing his brother with a potato peeler has been an extra sentence for attacking a fellow prisoner.
Jazzie Watson, 21, violently beat the inmate behind bars at Cardiff prison where he is serving a life sentence for the chilling murder of his younger brother.
Watson was jailed two years ago for stabbing 17-year-old brother Shamus McNama to death with a potato peeler following a family argument.
He appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to assaulting fellow prisoner Brian Ward, and was sentenced to four months.
His latest sentence will be served concurrently meaning it won’t extend his whole-life term for murdering his younger sibling.
(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)
The brothers had brawled when Watson disapproved of the way Shamus spoke to their mum during a row about taking her car without permission.
The boys exchanged punches and wrestled before Watson grabbed the small peeler and repeatedly knifed his brother 10 times at their home in Stothard Road, Lockleaze, Bristol.
Shamus - described as “inseparable” from his sibling - was studying bricklaying at college and was due to become a father.
He died at Southmead hospital, Bristol, while Watson went on the run - but he later handed himself over to police later the same morning.
Watson pleaded guilty to murder at Bristol Crown Court, where Judge Neil Ford QC said he had acted “in an extremely violent way with a knife in an explosion of temper.”
The judge said: “You have taken the life of your half-brother, who you loved. You have deprived your mother of a son and your siblings of a brother.
“You have also added to your own mother’s grief by ruining your own life. The anguish which you have caused is immeasurable.”
Watson was jailed for life with a minimum of 11 years and three months.
His mum, Paula McNama, 45, surprisingly later said she would stand by him “100 per cent”, and called her younger son’s murder a “horrible and stupid tragedy”.
She said: “I am there 100% for him. His life will never be the same again and I still love him so much.
“He has got to carry this with him - that was his little brother and a mistake has cost him dearly.
“He knows what he did was wrong, but his biggest punishment is losing his younger brother.”

Marcus Ramshaw, Jamie Drewery and Ryan Riley pay tribute to their friend after a hit-and-run in South Shields
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It’s been an Easter weekend of tragedy in the North East .
Loved ones of 20-year-old Lewis Knapp have been left heartbroken after he was killed in an alleged hit-and-run on Saturday.
Dad-of-two Calvin McLellan lost his fight for life eight months after being put in a coma by teen thug Connor Jary.
And Paul Gascoigne’s sister relived the harrowing moment she held her son’s lifeless body after his death from an accidental drug overdose.
Here are more stories you might have missed.
Friday
26 families part of organ scandal
As many as 26 families have been hit with the news that the organs of their deceased loved ones were stored for years without their knowledge.
Northumbria Police has now admitted the extent of the blunder, which saw body parts from victims of unexplained deaths kept for more than 20 years after their families believed they had laid their loved ones to rest.
Mum avoided jail for smuggling drugs into prison for her son
A mum narrowly avoided her own stint behind bars after trying to smuggle drugs into a troubled prison for her son.
Melissa Percival was caught carrying cocaine and buprenorphine when she was searched as she visited HMP Northumberland in the days before Christmas.
Saturday
Dozens of victims in sport child sex probe
Dozens more alleged victims have come forward since a police probe into historical child sex abuse at North East sports club began, we revealed.
Northumbria Police launched Operation Tide in December last year after several high-profile cases of ex-pros waiving their anonymity to speak out.
South Shields man killed in alleged hit-and-run
A 20-year-old man died following an alleged hit-and-run in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Lewis Knapp was allegedly hit by a silver Vauxhall Vectra on Anderson Street in South Shields at 4.30am.
Sunday
Tragic final hours of Gazza’s nephew
The mum of Paul Gascoigne’s nephew told of the harrowing moment she cradled her son’s lifeless body, as she set up a foundation in his name.
Jay Kerrigan was battling mental illness when he took morphine tablets in a desperate bid to escape the torment.
(Photo: © Press People One use only, no reuse without permission)
Dad-of-two died months after being put in a coma by a teen thug
Calvin McLellan lost his fight for life eight months after being floored by then 17-year-old Connor Jary.
Mr McLellan, from South Shields, was brutally attacked near a taxi rank in August last year by Jary who later boasted “sent him snoring, hahaha”.
Monday
Spice-addled prisoner attacked guard with a table leg
High on Spice and illicit booze, a prisoner attacked a guard with a table leg whilst serving time at troubled HMP Northumberland.
Drunk Daniel Newton was caught by the prison officer beating a fellow inmate with the weapon before he then turned it on the guard.
Veteran allegedly murdered at military barracks said to be from the North East
A veteran who was allegedly murdered on a Yorkshire military base is thought to have originally been from Washington.
Craig Guy, 34, was discovered with fatal injuries at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, at around 11.30pm on Friday 14. He is believed to have been stabbed.


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Question: ‘Way too far’: Sick Facebook group slammed

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The group describes itself as a forum for "bloke-related discussion and banter". Picture: Facebook
The group describes itself as a forum for "bloke-related discussion and banter". Picture: Facebook
PEOPLE with disabilities, amputees and bashed cyclists are being savagely ridiculed in an Aussie men's banter group with more than 180,000 members.
Now, some of the controversial Facebook group's members say comments on the page have gone too far after people with Down syndrome were slammed as "freaks" in a vile thread.
Aussie Man Cave has more than 500 member requests a day. One of the administrators told news.com.au that almost anything goes on the page and its members are merely using their right to free speech.
A spat between members began earlier this week when a video of people with disabilities dating was uploaded with the caption "At home with Mr and Mrs Potato".
Some members attacked the video's poster and the no-holds-barred comments which quickly began to stack up under the controversial post - saying those ridiculing the couple had "no morals" and they were "taking it too far".
The page also includes posts where violence towards cyclists and "lefties" is condoned and laughed at.
Chris* of Bankstown generally loves the freedom of the group, but feels these type of attacks went "way too far" and that a "sick minority" is bringing the page down.
He joined the closed group after his mates showed him a few funny videos on the page of drunken people falling over.
"It's pretty funny stuff and there's always something being uploaded," he said. "I knew there was going to be some offensive stuff on there, but I think people just whinge about anything these days so I didn't really care."
However, there were a few posts among the lewd pictures of women, memes mocking the Greens and videos of Aussie blokes doing stupid things, that caught his eye for all the wrong reasons.
"The right-wing stuff is fair game, but there is a sick minority of people ruining it by just taking it way too far with videos taking the p*ss out of disabled people, amputees and overweight kids," he said. "They just have no respect for others."
A video of a cyclist being attacked was praised by some members. Picture: Facebook
The member who posted the video mocking the couple with Down syndrome has since been removed from the group, but he had one last message for his haters.
"For all the sooks, snowflakes and whinging little b**ches plaguing Man Cave now, this ones for you!!!" he posted before sharing one last video of an expletive-laden parody song.
Several other videos have also caused a spat between members of the controversial page in recent days.
One post features a video of an elderly man being viciously pushed off his pushbike by man in a passing car.
The bloke who posted it said the attacker should be the prime minister of Australia and dozens of others chipped in celebrating the attack.
"If this video doesn't prove normal people's dislike for Lycra glad (sic) road toads nothing will!!!" one commenter wrote. "Start abiding by the road rules or f**k off into a bush!!!!! Lol."
However, not everybody condoned the video.
"If it was your family member, child etc you'd be trying to find the guy to bash the s**t out of him. Idiots," wrote one commenter.
"This guy could have seriously been hurt," wrote another. "He could have kids waiting at home or could be the main carer in his household and if he is seriously injured because someone thinks this s**t is funny."
Another contentious post earlier this week showed far-right protesters in Portland, Oregon, launching a savage assault on demonstrators from the Left-wing anti-fascist group Antifa.
"Likes" and laughing face emojis came flooding in and the comments thread began to fill up with remarks such as "look them lefties get hooked haha classic".
Jye*, an administrator for Aussie Man Cave, said the group started out as a "casual meeting point where people can come in and rant, rave, complain or talk about something good".
He said the video of a couple with Down syndrome had been taken down, but those posting offensive comments calling them "freaks" were not removed from the group.
"Part of free speech is the right to voice your say over something offending you," he said.
However, he said the three administrators of Man Cave did "have to draw a line somewhere".
"Nudity is deleted instantly and repeat offenders are banned on the spot," he said. "This is a Facebook rule, not ours, but we have to enforce it if we want the group to keep existing.
"Anything with cruelty to animals is taken down instantly and usually the original poster is banned.
"Outside of that, we do remove hideously offensive or cruel videos, but as it's run as a team these are generally things that need to be done as a group decision, particularly if I'm offline. Unfortunately these group decisions do take a while.
"I've seen some horrific videos in there, and I'm quite proud of the fact I've taken them down instantly. Again I'm not against free speech, but I'm not a fan of harm or cruelty."
However, he was concerned about some of the things that were posted.
"I don't agree with them at all but I don't feel I should delete posts based on my personal feelings, outside of the obvious boundary-pushing posts," he said.
"Man Cave is for everyone, but people need to understand somebody might post something that they don't like and, if it isn't awful, it'll likely stay.
"People are significantly more outspoken behind a keyboard; this is just a part of social media."
And, just in case you were wondering, women are allowed to join the group.
"Chicks are welcome but only if they are cool as f*** and respect that this is a blokes group with blokey topics and banter," the group's rules read. "Annoying sooky drama queens are booted immediately."
* Surname has been omitted at interviewee's request

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Question: India aims to revamp health scheme, lower costs after criticism

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NEW DELHI: India's health ministry has trimmed its cost estimates for extending its main public health program by 25 percent after criticism from a federal think-tank over inefficiency and slow progress, according to government documents seen by Reuters.
The new estimate of US$25 billion for a three-year extension of the flagship health program, down from an initial figure of about US$33 billion, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes a multi-pronged agenda to revamp health services.
Planned reforms include streamlining spending and bureaucracy, slashing prices of life-saving drugs and medical devices, and nudging companies such as PepsiCo to make more healthy products.
To extend the National Health Mission to 2020, a think-tank led by Modi and the finance ministry in March told health officials to rework the original proposal with "realistic" budget expectations and to incorporate lessons from neighbors such as Nepal and Bangladesh, the documents show.
In response, the health ministry has resubmitted a plan with lower cost estimates and a list of targets to be achieved by 2020, including strengthening health infrastructure and reducing tobacco use.
The finance ministry, which will review the plan for approval this month, did not respond to a request for comment. The federal think-tank, NITI Aayog, declined to comment.
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India's National Health Mission is one of the world's largest public health programs. It provides free drugs and treatment to millions of rural poor and helped to eradicate polio.
But the public health system is in a shambles and India ranks poorly on key indicators - more than a million children die every year before reaching the age of five.
After focusing on maternal and child health for years, the program will broaden priorities to tackle a growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, according to the documents.
The ministry has proposed increasing spending to treat such ailments from about US$150 million this year to US$1.5 billion in 2019-20, according to the new proposal which includes spending contributions from states.
The annual funding for strengthening the health system, including ramping up infrastructure and the work force, will more than double to about US$3 billion in 2019-20, the documents show.
The new funding estimates are in line with a goal of raising health spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2025, from 1.15 percent, a health ministry official said.
CRITICISM, REVAMP
The NITI Aayog was at first against the continuation of the National Health Mission, according to a record of government meetings reviewed by Reuters.
During a March meeting to discuss the proposal, the NITI Aayog's health adviser said the program needed a "course correction" and needed to improve standards.
The adviser, Alok Kumar, also pointed out that despite investment in the program, public facilities were not attracting enough patients, documents showed.
Because rural hospitals in India are often dilapidated and suffer from a shortage of doctors, it is not uncommon for people to shun them and travel long distances in search of quality healthcare.
In the reworked plan, the ministry has prioritized out-patient departments, and aims to reduce premature mortality from cancer or heart ailments by a tenth and cut tobacco use by 7 percent by 2020, the documents showed.
Kumar pointed out in the March meeting that Bangladesh and Nepal had performed "better with even lower resources". Kumar declined to comment.
Data from World Health Organization shows that Nepal, for example, had an under-five mortality ratio of 35.8 per 1,000 births, compared with India's ratio of 47.7.
Health officials acknowledged in the meeting that results had yet to achieve levels of neighboring countries.
(Editing by Tom Lasseter and Robert Birsel)

A look at the headlines in the sector right now:
2017’s first trading day ends in decline following a drop in banking stocks: Lending rate cuts by public banks and low-cost housing schemes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi hurt sentiments. Total deposits in Jan Dhan Yojana accounts rise to Rs 87,000 crore 45 days after demonetisation: The Income Tax Department said it was investigating areas and bank branches where the largest sums of money had been deposited under the scheme. Ahead of GST Council meet, Opposition parties in touch over state powers, compensation formula: Several states have demanded full control over the movement of goods and services as well as businesses with an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore and less. Patanjali biggest disruptive force in India’s FMCG sector in 2016, finds Assocham-TechSci report: The Baba Ramdev-promoted company saw an annual growth of 146%, with a turnover of $769 million for the 2016 financial year, according to the study. Service charge at restaurants is voluntary, clarifies Centre: The government directed states to advise hotels and restaurants to display the notification at their premises. Samsung will reveal the results of the Galaxy Note7 investigation this month, says report: The South Korean manufacturer had said it would probe all possible causes that led to its product catching fire. Infosys replaces general counsel with ‘mutual agreement’: The firm’s Deputy General Counsel Gopi Krishnan will replace David Kennedy till a new candidate is hired.


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Question: Judge to weigh agreement that would allow museum's art sale

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If you want to be able to cope with life’s little surprises you have to first know exactly where your money is going.
Gail Vaz-Oxlade: Hiding your head in the sand is no way to get on top of debt
Take stock of your debts and devise a plan to pay them off while saving as much on interest as you can.

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Included in the noon newscast:
— Governor signals support for bill eliminating requirement for concealed weapons permits to carry handguns in SC.
— Gov. McMaster also suggests staffing issues to blame for recent prison inmate murders.


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Question: The Congressional Budget Office is expected to weigh in on what - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

The Congressional Budget Office is expected to weigh in on what President Trump's health plan will cost, and lawmakers have asked the Justice Department to produce evidence that President Obama tapped phones at Trump Tower.
Lawmakers are pressuring the President to prove it - or take it back. "The President has one of two choices, either retract or to provide the information that the American people deserve," said Senator John McCain, (R) Arizona.
Pressure is coming from both sides for President Trump to prove that President Obama tapped phones at Trump Tower.
The justice department and FBI are supposed to produce a paper trail by today - but lawmakers doubt they'll say anything. "It could reveal what we do and what don't know and how we know those things. And that's not something that we want our adversaries to understand," said Senator Tom Cotton, (R) Arkansas.
Democrats insist it's important for the president to be credible if there's an international crisis. "The question is, would people believe him? Would American people believe him? Would people around the world believe him? And that has real-world consequences," said Rep. Adam Schiff, (D) California.
The FBI is on Capitol Hill for a hearing next Monday.
Today: "The Obamacare nightmare is about to end," said Vice President Mike Pence.
The Congressional Budget Office is due to report what the Republicans' health plan will cost. "I firmly believe that nobody will be worse off financially," said HHS Secretary Tom Price.
Estimates suggest 15 million people could lose coverage. "The Republicans cannot just force this down our throats. It's going to knock a lot of folks off, hurt long-term care, hurt good working-class folks," said Senator Cory Booker, (D) New Jersey.
Healthcare is still fueling town halls with a repeal vote scheduled next week.
Tracie Potts, NBC News.

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A Look Back At 2016. Then A Look At The Coming Week. - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com Will take a few paragraphs for a look back at 2016 and how it compared to our climatological extremes and normal values.
Start the conversation, or Read more at NewsOn6 Tulsa.


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Question: Husband and wife watch live on phone as thieves break into home

Story highlights The burglars took a TV and other electronics
No arrests have been made
(CNN) What's worse than having your home burglarized? Helplessly watching it happen live on your phone.
A Kansas City firefighter and his wife experienced this on New Year's Eve when two men broke into their home while they were away.
Ryan Koehler and his wife Kelsey watched the entire burglary on a phone app.
"I was like, oh it's just the dog walking around," Kelsey Koehler told CNN affiliate WDAF . "And that's when I saw them kicking the door, and I literally just started shaking."
A text sent to their phones let them know there was movement in the house, then they watched it all via a security camera in the living room.
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A 96-year-old great grandmother says she thought she was going to die when she found an intruder in the bedroom of her St Albans home.


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Question: Dennis Edwards, lead singer for The Temptations, dead at 74

By Andreas Preuss CNN
(CNN) -- Dennis Edwards, the former lead singer for The Temptations, whose gritty voice carried some of the biggest hits of the Motown era, has died, according to his booking agent Rosiland Triche. He was 74.
Edwards, who would have turned 75 on Saturday, died Thursday night in Chicago after suffering from a long illness, Triche told CNN.
Triche described Edwards as "the ultimate showman."
The Grammy Award-winner's voice was prominent on hits including "Cloud Nine," "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "I Can't Get Next to You."
"He inspired millions around the world. We shall remember him," the Rev. Jesse Jackson tweeted. "So talented. He is above #CloudNine, going higher."
Edwards joined The Temptations in 1968, replacing lead singer David Ruffin, just as the group launched its funk-psychedelic sound. He left and rejoined the group several times over the decades.
His 1984 solo record, "Don't Look Any Further," reached No. 2 on the R&B charts, according to Billboard Magazine.
TM & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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Bruce Langhorne, the guitarist who inspired Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man,” has died at the age of 78 as a result of kidney failure.
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Read more here:: Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man, Bruce Langhorne, Dead at 78


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Question: 6 strokes, a coma and 38 leg surgeries later, student crosses stage to collect diploma

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When Jack Clarke was 8 years old, doctors told his parents that he'd likely never walk or talk again.
On Sunday, he walked across the Drake Knapp Center stage to accept his diploma during the Valley High School graduation ceremony.
One of those cheering him on was Valley Principal Tim Miller. The principal and the student have been eating lunch together off and on for six years — since their time together at Stilwell Junior High.
"He is just such an amazing young guy and has a great love of life," Miller said last week. "He's got such a positive outlook on everything he does and transfers that joy to others."
Clarke's medical problems arose in elementary school after a shunt used to drain excess fluid from around his brain — he was born with a condition called hydrocephalus — became infected.
"Everything that could go wrong went wrong," said his mother, Melissa Clarke-Wharff.
Clarke had six strokes in two weeks and spent a month in a coma.
The second half of his third-grade year was spent at an inpatient medical facility. He doesn't remember much of that time, but he does remember the physical therapy he had to endure while attending fourth-grade classes part-time.
"It about emotionally about broke me," his mother said. "I got my motivation and strength from Jack. I saw he was working for this as well. I just didn’t believe that he wasn’t going to be able to walk."
He eventually had 38 leg surgeries to help him regain mobility.
When is was time for Clarke to move to junior high, his family met with Miller, who was principal of Stilwell at the time.
"I saw Tim’s commitment to Jack. He said, 'This kid's got it, and we're going to bring it out of him,'" Clarke-Wharff said
That's when Miller and Clarke first began spending their lunch period together.
"Every lunch, he was there," Clarke said. "I didn’t really know anybody else besides him. He would mingle with the students. I just found that so cool how he was able to do that."
Miller was transferred to Valley High during Clarke's eighth-grade year. But the friendship and lunches resumed two years later on Clarke's first day at Valley High.
The principal said he sits in the cafeteria each day to be accessible to students. He wasn't in the lunchroom just for Clarke, but Clarke was the bonus, he said.
"All the credit goes to Jack," Miller said. "He has a magnetism about him. Anything that people have done to help him, they’ve done because of the way he is."
That help — from family, friends, teachers and doctors — went a long way to getting Clarke to Sunday's graduation ceremony.
The Valley graduate is heading to Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny next fall.
And he's already got some lunch dates planned this summer with Miller, who is retiring at the end of June.
"We'll see each other one way or another," the principal said. "We said we were going out together."
© Gannett Co., Inc. 2018. All Rights Reserved

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Question: Synovus Financial's (SNV) CEO Kessel Stelling on Q1 2018 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

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Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) Q1 2018 Results Earnings Conference Call April 24, 2018 8:30 AM ET
Executives
Steve Adams - IR
Kessel Stelling - Chairman and CEO
Kevin Blair - CFO
Kevin Howard - EVP and CCO
Analysts
Brady Gailey - KBW
Taylor Stafford - Stephens
Jennifer Demba - SunTrust
Brad Milsaps - Sandler O'Neill
Nancy Bush - NAB Research
Christopher Marinac - FIG Partners
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Synovus First Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only-mode. And we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation.
It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host Steve Adams, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours.
Steve Adams
Thank you, good morning everyone. During the call today, we will be referencing the slides and press release that are available within the Investor Relations section of our website, synovus.com. Kessel Stelling, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer will be our primary presenter today, with our executive management team available to answer your questions.
Before we get started, I’ll remind you that our comments may include forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and the actual results could vary materially. We list the factors that might cause results to differ materially in our press release and in our SEC filings which are available on our website. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, early developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
During the call, we will reference non-GAAP financial measures related to the company’s performance. You may see the reconciliation of these measures in the appendix to our presentation. Due to the number of callers we have, we do ask that you initially limit your time to two questions. If we have more time available after everyone’s initial questions, we will reopen the queue for follow-up.
Thank you. And I’ll now turn it over to Kessel Stelling.
Kessel Stelling
Thank you, Steve and good morning to everyone. Welcome to our first quarter earnings call. I’m going to walk us through the earnings presentation as usual, and then we’ll open the line for questions for myself or any members. Our total revenues increased 12.2% for the first quarter versus the first quarter last year, while adjusted expenses increased 3.8% year-over-year. The strong operating leverage demonstrates our continued discipline managing expenses which is also evident by the adjusted efficiency ratio of 57.42% for the quarter.
On the balance sheet side, average loans for the quarter increased $816.4 million or 3.4% versus a year ago and average deposits grew $869.2 million or 3.5% versus a year ago. From a credit quality perspective, the non-performing assets ratio was 0.53% flat with the previous quarter and a 24 basis points improvement from a year ago.
And, lastly in terms of capital management and returns, we continue to see improvement in overall capital efficiency with an adjusted ROE of 14.86%, up 480 basis points from a year ago. Adjusted return on average tangible common equity improved to 15.23%, up 490 basis points from a year ago.
Moving to slide 4, total average loan grew $240.8 million sequentially or 4% annualized compared to the same quarter a year ago, average loans grew $816.4 million or 3.4%.
The amounts on the graph represent period end balances. Period end loan growth on a sequential quarter basis was $95.6 million or 1.6% annualized. C&I loans increased $78.3 million or 2.6% annualized during the quarter. The quarter reflects solid performance on our Global One specialty unit up $35 million, as well as our asset base lending unit up $34 million. Remaining C&I portfolio increased slightly despite a seasonal decline in overall line utilization.
Consumer loans increased a $115.5 million or 8% annualized with lending partnership portfolios increasing by $132 million. Consumer mortgages increasing $30 million, while HELOCs decreased $42 million. The growth in portfolio mortgages was primarily in the [indiscernible] position portfolios driven by strong originations in Jacksonville, Savannah, Birmingham, Columbus and Atlanta.
CRE loans declined $99.6 million or 5.8% annualized driven by $51 million decrease in the investment properties portfolio and a $26 million decrease in the non-strategic land and development portfolio. The decline CRE is largely result of the continued higher velocity of payoff activity across the portfolio. While the expected asset sales in loan payoff will likely continue remaining elevated through the end of year. Our expectation is the new construction draws and production will pick up during the second half of the year.
Moving to slide 5 in deposits, total average deposits of $25.79 billion decreased $498 million sequentially, but it increased $869 million or 3.5% versus a year ago. Core of the decrease in total average deposit balances was due to the loan of excess brokered time deposits.
Additionally seasonal increases and temporary deposits during the fourth quarter contributed to the first quarter decline. Non-time core deposits decreased a $120 million or 2.3% versus the previous quarter and increased $504 million or 2.5% versus the same period a year ago.
During the quarter, we obtained approval to report our sweep money market product offered by Synovus Securities as a component of core deposits. This product will report it as a brokered deposit through February of 2018, the balances in these accounts totalled $307 million as of March 2018 and result of an increase of $112 million in average core deposits for the quarter due to the reclassification.
Given strong momentum of the second half of the quarter on a period end basis, total deposits increased $106 million sequentially and increased $1.1 billion or 4.6% versus the same period a year ago. Additionally, our deposit ratio remained stable at 95% which is within our targeted range.
Moving to slide 6, net interest income was $274.3 million increasing $5 million or 1.7% versus the previous quarter on [lower day count] compared to the same period a year ago, net interest income increased $34 million or 14.3%. The increase in net interest income is driven by loan growth as well as margin expansion. The net interest margin for the quarter is 3.78%, up 13 basis points from the previous quarter, and up 36 basis points from a year ago. The improvement for the quarter was driven by 15 basis point increase in loan yields due largely to the December and March short term rate increases, a 4 basis point increase in our investment security shield as well as a benefit from the decreased cash position for the quarter.
Effective cost of funds increased 3 basis points sequentially to 53 basis points reflecting a 4 basis points increase in the cost of interest bearing core deposits partially offset by refinancing our $300 million senior debt during the previous quarter which was open and annualized $14 million improvement in net interest income.
The increase of 4 basis points of the cost of interest bearing core deposits to 46 basis points represents roughly 16% data on the December 17 fed funds increased of 25 basis points. We continue to strategically increase deposit rates in various products and segments. However given our overall pricing discipline, the beta on interest bearing core deposit cycle to date is approximately 5%. Page 16 in the appendix includes additional information on the interest rate sensitivity as well as the investment securities and loan portfolios.
Turning to slide 7 and fee income, total non-interest income for the quarter $67 million, down $2.3 million versus the prior quarter and down $4.8 million versus the same period a year ago. First quarters of 2018 and 2017 included the impact from net decreases in the fair value of private equity investments of $3.1 million and $1.8 million respectively. Additionally, the first quarter of 2017 includes net investment securities gains $7.7 million.
Adjusted non-interest income of $70.1 million increased $849,000 versus the prior quarter and $4.1 million or 6.2% versus the same period a year ago. Core banking fees of $36 million increased $303,000 sequentially and $900,000 or 2.6% versus a year ago due primarily to significant growth and gains from sale of SBA loans.
Fiduciary/asset management, brokerage, and insurance revenues of $23 million increased $1.6 million or 7.2% sequentially and $2.7 million or 12.9% versus the same period a year ago, driven by year-over-year 20% growth in brokerage revenues and a 11% growth in trust revenues. Additionally our strategy to acquire key talent in select markets continue to bring new bring customer wins and accelerated growth in the business evidence by 19% growth in assets under management versus the same period last year.
Our family office business unit is off to a solid start 2018 with revenues up 17% versus the same period a year ago, which includes revenue growth from our new offices in Atlanta and Nashville.
Turning to slide 8, total non-interest expense of $195 million decreased $31.4 million or 14% sequentially and decreased 1% versus the same period a year ago. Current quarter includes a $2.6 billion benefit from the reduction and litigation contingency accruals. Additionally, fourth quarter of 2017 included a $23 million loss from the early extinguishment of debt. Adjusted non-interest expense of $198 million decreased $3.3 million or 1.6% sequentially an increase $7 million or 4% from a year ago.
The sequential quarter decrease was driven by $3 million decrease in advertising and $4.4 million decrease incentives partially offset by $4.4 million seasonal increase in employment taxes. Strong operating leverage for the quarter is resulted and adjusted efficiency ratio up 57.42% down 187 basis points from the previous quarter and down 483 basis points from the same period a year ago.
On slide 9, you will see that our loan portfolio continuous to perform well. First graph shows NPA, NPL and delinquency trend. The NPA ratio remained flat versus the prior quarter at 53 basis points and decreased by 24 basis points versus a year ago. The NPL ratio increased by 1 basis point sequentially to 48 basis points and decreased by 17 basis points from a year ago. We are very pleased the past due remained low levels ending the quarter at 22 basis points.
Net charge-offs for the first quarter were $4.3 million or 7 basis points annualized, down from $9 million or 15 basis points annualized in the fourth quarter and $7 million or 12 basis points annualized in the first quarter of 2017.
Provision expense for the quarter was $12.8 million compared to $8.6 million fourth quarter, the increase was in line with our expectations considering the fourth quarter provision expense was at lower levels due to the sales of previously mort assets associated with a large third quarter held for sale actions that we were able to take as a result of the Cabela’s transaction in the quarter, provision expense was $8.7 million in the first quarter of ‘17.
Allowance for loan losses increased 3 basis points to 1.04% sequentially, which represents an $8.5 million increase, compared to a year ago the allowance is up $4.3 million, while the ratio is down by 1 basis point. Coverage ratio remain strong an increase from a year ago as a reserve covers NPLs at 215% or 241% if you excluded impaired loans for which the expected loss has been charged-off. Again loan portfolio has been very healthy led by loan past dues NPLs and charge-offs, the loan was solid, loan loss reserve coverage ratios.
Moving to capital on slide 10, our capital ratios remain strong continue to be well above regulatory requirements, regulatory capital levels benefited from earnings growth, continue DTA accretion as well as the adoption of new accounting standard, which increased capital ratios by 2 to 3 basis points as described in footnote 4 of the slide. You will see that all the ratios increased during the quarter with the exception of the tangible common equity ratio which declined 9 basis points to 8.79% due to the increase in total loans and period end cash balances.
Also as expected, the disallowed DTA continues to decline and is now $67 million. Additionally during the quarter, our capital actions included the repurchase of $27 million in common stock and average price of $49.98 per share is part of our previously announced share repurchase program of up to $150 million, compared to a year ago we reduced our total share count by $3.6 million shares or 3% and only this month, our common stock dividend of $0.25 per share reflected the 67% increased announced earlier this year.
Slide 11 outlines our previously stated 2018 guidance which remains unchanged along with our first quarter results. From the balance sheet perspective, our first quarter results are slightly below our annual guidance, but we expect to see stronger sales momentum in the upcoming quarters that will put us on track to deliver 4% to 6% loan and deposit growth for the year.
We are currently exceeding our net-interest income guidance for the year, but giving the uncertainties around the number of great hikes associated betas on deposits, we are maintaining our guidance at this point. As a reminder our guidance anticipated on March and September rate high. We are up to a great start 2018 for fee income with growth of 6.2% and despite increased volatility in the equity markets and a softer mortgage environment, our investments and deep producing businesses are expected to continue to provide positive momentum that will drive adjusted non-interest income growth in the 4% to 6% range.
We continue to expect the total non-interest expense will increase between 0% to 3% for the year, as we continue to invest in revenue producing opportunities, while continuing to have a keen focus on efficiency and productivity. We previously disclosed the 2018 estimate of 23% to 24% for our effective tax rate, given the larger tax benefit that occurs in the first quarter associated with share based compensation, our quarterly rate was slightly below the range as a result future quarters will be slightly higher than the first quarter, in 2018 effective tax rate is expected to be within the previously stated range.
We do not see significant changes in the credit environment or underlying quality with NPLs, NPAs expected to remain relatively flat for the year. We maintain an expectation for net charge-off ratio in the range of 15 to 25 basis points as recoveries continue to modulate. We also continue to expect the loan loss reserve ratio will may above 1%. And as announced at the beginning of the year, we have authorization for up to $150 million in share repurchases. In 2018, the size and timing of future quarter repurchases, we will continue to be situational and depend the primarily of the level of organic business growth and alternative uses of capital.
As I close out my comments - but I didn’t mention the progress towards our previously defined three year targets, due to the impact of tax reform, our strong revenue growth and our continued focus on more efficient and effective organization. We made significant progress towards achieving those goals in the first quarter of 2018. We all know that one quarter does not make a trend and we continue to have work to do in order to create sustainability on our growth, return, and efficiency goal.
We are also making good progress, implementing key initiatives and enhance the customer experience, improve our competitive positioning and drive growth. Our ATM refresh will wrap up next month, we are expanding our presence through both strategic talent acquisitions and new branch [indiscernible] locations. And, by the end of June, our transition to unify servers brand will be completed in all five of our states. The momentum and energy around this change continues to build among both team members and customers and we are already seeing the benefits of greater brand recognition across our markets.
So, with that operator we will open the line up for questions. And, again we have our senior team here and ready to take any questions that our callers might have.
Question-And-Answer Session
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Our first question today is coming from Brady Gailey. Please announce your affiliation then pose your question.
Brady Gailey
With KBW, good morning guys.
Kessel Stelling
Brady.
Brady Gailey
So, your beat earnings as soon as this morning and at least versus me a lot of it came in the expense sign, I mean, not only did you not see any expense growth, but if you look at core expenses, it actually was down a little bit. So, maybe just some comments on how you think about expense growth going forward, are there some expense signs that will actually continue to see on shrinkage? And then on the opposite, which expense signs do you think will start to see growth from here?
Kevin Blair
Brady, this is Kevin Blair. I will take that. So, you are right. For the quarter we have had $197 million in adjusted expenses, we did receive some benefit this quarter as it relates primarily to the credit expenses, we are down about $3 million on our year-to-year basis, part of that just benign credit environment that we have in our ORE portfolio, but as I’ll make sure that I make mention of the Cabela’s transaction last year as we sold many of those ORE properties and moved loans and the held for sale, it puts us in a environment where we expect to have continued low credit losses.
So, we’ll continue to have that benefit, probably won’t be as strong as it was in the first quarter. If you look at some of the other lines we continue to increase our personal expenses as we share in the earnings presentation last quarter, we are investing in revenue producing FTEs and we’ll continue to do that. So, I think you will see the personal line moving at 5% to 5.5% range. We are continuing to do some of our capital expenditure projects as Kessel mentioned the ATM refresh, the digital refresh, some updates to our loan and server team system, so the depreciation line will continue to grow, where we’ve gotten a little bit of abatement and we hope to continue to have that expense - going forward is in the other categories, whether that be professional fees, whether it be vendor related cost. And, so as we guided at the beginning of the year to have roughly 821 to 845 in total expenses as Kessel mentioned, we renewed our guidance on that range. We just think we’re going to come in much more towards the low end of the range.
So, you will see an increase in the next quarter over the $200 million mark just because of some seasonality, but then after that it may normalize, we do have in the middle of the year in July we have our merit increase process which adds about $8 million in expenses per quarter. So, all that said, I think we are pretty pleased with the first quarter as well, there will be a little bit about increase in the upcoming quarters which will push us back towards that 0% to 1% growth in total expenses, but we think some of the loans we’ve had around efficiency are starting to payoff.
Brady Gailey
All right, that’s helpful. And, then my second question is just on the loan growth. I know you have the range of 4% to 6% on a period end basis loans grew 2%, it sounds like you are more optimistic about the back half of the year when it comes to loan growth. But it looks like CRE continues to shrink and maybe that’s why loan growth is kept at bay a little bit, when do you think CRE stops shrinking and you could potentially see some CRE growth?
Kevin Howard
Hey Brady, this is Kevin Howard I’ll take that. We did see some improvement, I guess, in the shrinkage in the CRE book, I think in the third and fourth quarter we were maybe $200 in one of the quarters and $300 in the fourth quarter and it was less little right at $100 million this quarter. So, we are starting while the payoff for the last year still pretty high, it less than it was the previous two quarters, but also we put on typically the construction loans probably from about May of 2017 to now and they are starting to fund up at a much higher velocity. Our thoughts have been that it would come maybe pretty close to breakeven, maybe not quite there in the second quarter and in the second half of the year that we would see some net growth there, plus the other part of the equation is the non-strategic book that has run down to a very small base successfully after the Cabela’s transaction, so that will be less of a drag on our CRE book, hopefully we’ll be about breakeven there.
So, between those really three components, the payoff velocity, I’m not telling you it’s not - it’s going to be high, but not as much as it has been, it’s our thoughts, the construction going up and non-strategic sort of not being much of a factor. So, net, net, net, we think we’ll be about even for the year that’s our thoughts right now, so yes, you’re right, if it’s negative of a 100 at this point, we hope to have a little bit positive growth between here and at the end of the year to get us at kind of net zero, if you think about it that’s a big lift, because last year we were negative 600 million on the CRE book. So, if we can get somewhere around the breakeven mark that’s a big lift and we do believe we will continue our consumer momentum somewhere probably around the 10% and then somewhere maybe 3%, 4%, 5% on the C&I side, so that gets us to the kind of the end of period, we still got some confidence there that will get to that 4% to 6% range and stay in that area due to kind of all those components.
Brady Gailey
Got it; thank you, guys.
Kessel Stelling
Thanks Brady.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Taylor Stafford, please announce affiliation then pose your question.
Taylor Stafford
From Stephens, good morning guys.
Kessel Stelling
Hi Stafford.
Taylor Stafford
Hey Kevin Blair, I wanted to maybe just start and follow up on expenses. So, I appreciate the commentary for I think Q2 getting back above $200 million and then you get the 1.8 step up from the merit increases, so it sounds like that will come in the low ends. Beyond ‘18, what do you think is an appropriate level of operating leverage for Synovus?
Kevin Blair
We said in the past, we liked it two times and especially during the raising rate environment, so we think for ‘19, we’ll continue to maintain the two times operating leverage. We’ve also said that we think our expenses in the upcoming years will normalize more than that 3% to 4% range just given the fact that we have a little bit of seasoning on our role forward on depreciation. So, all that said, even if we had revenue growths in the high single digits, we still believe that we could come back to roughly at 2 times operating leverage.
Taylor Stafford
Got it, okay. Thanks for clearing that up. And, then my second question is just around the margin, so last quarter you thought that the first quarter margin would be up 4 to 8 basis points excluding the drag from cash and I think you had 30% betas [indiscernible] into that . So, I guess given the December hike and March hike, is that still a reasonable expectation for Q2 post the March hike just that I guess 4 to 8 basis points?
Kevin Blair
Yes, we think got it last and we thought 8 to 12 with accumulative benefit of lower cash, the refinancing of the debt, plus the rate hike, but what we think going forward Taylor in that vein is that for this coming quarter and future quarters that 4 to 6 basis points increase is what we would expect in given our future expectations around rate hikes that would put us somewhere around 12 to 18 basis points for the rest of the year as we close out 2018. Now obviously the betas that we observed during each of those rate hikes will determine yield of an amount, but we’ve said in the past each of our rate hike scenarios, we ramped up the beta, so for this March rate hike we are expecting 40% beta, as Kessel mentioned we only had 16 beta on the December rate hike, so it’s stepping up really materially and then for September rate hike, we had assumed that 50 beta and then thereafter we would assume 60 beta for any future rate hike, but the 4 to 6 basis point is a good rule of thumb for each quarter moving forward.
Taylor Stafford
Great, very clear, I’ll hop out. Thanks, guys.
Kevin Blair
Thanks, Taylor.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Jennifer Demba. Please announce your affiliation then pose your question.
Jennifer Demba
Thank you, good morning.
Kessel Stelling
Good morning.
Jennifer Demba
Question on M&A, couple of larger Atlanta area community banks announced their sale this quarter. Just wondering what your interest is in acquiring or scale in the Atlanta market where you’re already very large given this now a lot of franchise scarcity in terms of larger community banks left in the bank? And, just a general M&A thoughts at this point now?
Kessel Stelling
Yes, Jennifer I’ll note the general M&A thoughts have changed, we’re proud to remain very consistent both with our works and our actions about what we would like to do and where we might like to do it again on strategic transactions that were input that would have good integration, relatively short payback and increase again scale in markets in which we operate to get the kind of cost save you typically would need to get, I mean, we love Atlanta, we are very aware of what is there in Atlanta and what’s there quite frankly throughout other states that we have a lot of interest in South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama.
So, again the appetite hasn’t changed, we’ve focused intensely on increasing our internal returns to give us a currency that would allow us to compete where we wanted to compete. So, again no change in how we view again different markets, we’re pleased with our performance, we are pleased with how our stock has responded, we’ll continue to evaluate opportunities in all of the markets in which we operate.
Jennifer Demba
Thanks so much.
Kessel Stelling
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Brad Milsaps. Please announce your affiliation then pose your question.
Brad Milsaps
Hi, good morning, Sandler O’Neil.
Kessel Stelling.
Brad.
Brad Milsaps
Hey Kevin, just want to ask about falling back up on the margin. The change in loan yield has been pretty consistent with each of that increase anywhere from 10 to 15 basis points, anything that you are seeing in the market or otherwise that affected this quarter that would change that sort of delta with each future fed rate increase?
Kevin Howard
Brad it’s a really good question. We’ve been tracking, not only we track our deposit betas, but we have been tracking our loan betas over the cycles where we had about 54% asset beta sent for 2015 rate hike and so it's been fairly uniform. What we are starting to see and we noted this back in our first quarter call around fourth quarter earnings is we are starting to see some competitive landscape changes as it relates to reprise loans and it largely a function of the tax reform. And for the quarter, our production of new loans came on roughly at 468 and if you look at that relative to our portfolio we are 470 so a little lower but it's stable.
But what we are starting to see across all the asset classes is a roughly 5 to 10 basis points margin compression as it relates to just people giving back yield primarily as I said related to tax reform. So, going forward we still expect to see 50-ish data on the asset side with each rate hike. We do think some of the benefit from tax reform is going to get competed away. So, that 54% will moderate a little bit, but it's still going to leave us an asset-sensitive position, so, we are - as I said to Taylor earlier, we’re still are going to be in the position to benefit 4 to 6 basis points per quarter.
Brad Milsaps
That's helpful. And, just as a follow-up, are you pretty well finished with the remixing of the right side of balance sheet? In other words, the average balance of interest bearing liabilities this quarter pretty much reflects how you want things, would you expect some more runoff into some of the various categories, you kind of repositioned continuing from Cabela’s etc, or is that that pretty much finished?
Kevin Howard
Yes Brad, I think there is still a little bit of tweaking that goes on there as Kessel mentioned earlier about a third of the deposit decline on a sequential quarter basis, was just a seasoning of some of our legacy broker time deposits that will mature and run off. We will continue to do some of that given the $1.1 billion that we acquired in the fourth quarter of last year. We like the rate that came on at 183 and if you think about where rates are today relative to where they were back then we look at those deposits as a very effective funding source for us. So, we will continue to evaluate the wholesale portfolio trying to find some cheaper alternative sources of funding, but I would generally say the categories as they are setting there today on the balance sheet will stay relatively flat.
Brad Milsaps
Great, thank you very much.
Kessel Stelling
Thanks Brad.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question today is coming from Nancy Bush. Please announce your affiliation then pose your question.
Nancy Bush
NAB Research. Good morning, guys. If we can dwell into this loan demand issue little bit, I was very happy that you brought up the issue that the tax reform savings are being competed away. What I’m hearing from the community banks is this that loan demand is much softer than anybody had anticipated at this point that what demand there is CRE demand, and as you said C&I pricing is getting competed away. So, why is everybody so optimistic that this suddenly going to change and loan demand is going to pick up in the coming quarters?
Kessel Stelling
Nancy, I will start and then I’ll let Kevin Howard take the tougher part of your question. When you say we are so optimistic, I mean, we think based on pipelines and sales activities and our ability to take some share that will achieve our range of 4% to 6%, so I really can't speak to those that there are guiding more optimistic that they’re going to get double digit because I’m with you. And, we see some of the same things. There are pockets with good activity and steady activity, but not robust in any particular category and again as you know we have been so disciplined about driving down our non-strategic portfolios not just land, but CRI as a whole that the result for that for us has - have been loan growth and so far at certainly closer below end of our range. I can't speak for others, I’ll let maybe Kevin give you color on where he sees some good activity and give you his own thoughts.
Nancy Bush
Thank you.
Kevin Howard
I will just kind of break it up I mean on the C&I side for us, and again I don't think Nancy we are not just like we are forecasting double digit growth here. We think we can get in that 4% to 6% range if things fall right. We’ve got good momentum here and the thing is we got a low base on something like ABL. We only have about $140 million. We think there is an opportunity to expand that. We grew $30-35 million this quarter. And other area is our premium insurance company we bought a couple of years ago. They have had tremendous momentum growing $30 million to $50 million a quarter pretty consistently. That was an add-on product we had, it's still early with us for couple of years. I don't think we fully utilize that yet with our company. We are growing small business pretty consistent. I think we grew actually we consider small business is $1 million under loans that are scored that grew like $20-25 million, I think we have grown 7 or 8 straight quarters there. It's a lot of singles, a lot of no big home runs in the year. But in the end, the other part is just kind of looking at our utilization; our utilization in our C&I line has been down over the last year, year and half not that much CapEx spend. We think there is a little bit of pin up demand there. I’m not telling you it’s going to be robust, but I think there is some opportunity to see utilization in our C&I increase a little bit, very good economy, I can't tell you tax reform and the good economy has translated into the low growth yet, but it feels like there is some early signs of that.
So, for us just on the C&I again we are not calling out double digit growth but can we get - and I’d like it to be better, it's very competitive but we have invested it heavily. We grew our middle market. We think there is a place there in that $35 million revenue to $200 million that we grew that last quarter $40 million or $50 million. So, there is some good pockets things we have invested in the last four, five years and we have had, we think we can get some respectable numbers there and growth this year. We were 3% close to 3% C&I this quarter and this is our quarter that’s usually kind of not as robust because of seasonality.
So, again we think we can get there and on the CRE side we think we can get there as I mentioned earlier payoffs have been very heavy, but we put on good construction loans over the last couple of years. We are not asking for - that's not going to be robust number. We are looking at just breakeven there this year versus the decline we have had over the last couple of years. And then for us on the consumer side of the equation, we have been able to have good double digit growth there. I don't think it will grow at the pace it did in the last couple of years, but our mortgage company is as strong mortgage company as you can get - are in good positions in the Southeast. We have solid double digit growth there. I don't see any reason why that won’t continue in this economy. So and that in our partnerships, we have had, as you know, our so far relationships have grown over the last couple of years. I don't think that will grow as much as it grew this past year, but still it's an area that we think will be positive. So, there are some definite some things working against this, not on loan demand but in a lot of competition, but I think it's reasonable that we can execute this year and get to where we have got it in the loan growth.
Nancy Bush
Okay. Thank you. Kessel if I could just ask one question. It looks like you’re finally beginning to get some traction in fiduciary and asset management. And, you mentioned hiring of teams. Are you targeting particular markets or is this more opportunistic where you find the team maybe that's looking for home?
Kessel Stelling
It's both because we certainly are targeting the high growth markets and we mentioned revenue growth in Atlanta and Nashville, but we’ve had good success optimistically in other markets that may not be identified as high growth, but there are certainly high opportunity for us as markets where we think our brand plays well, our culture plays well, and we are in attractive platform for successful teams. And that's I won’t get into too many of those markets, but again strong talent additions, Charleston comes to mind is another one where we have had good team additions, but I can name several more again where we saw great opportunity and very intentional from our standpoint and they are paying good dividends.
Nancy Bush
Alright, thank you.
Kessel Stelling
Thank you.
Operator
Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question is coming from Christopher Marinac. Please announce your affiliation then pose your question.
Christopher Marinac
Hi, good morning. FIG Partners in Atlanta, Kessel, Kevin and team I wanted to ask about the expense success you’ve had. What are we not seeing on new investments behind the scenes that are going to [indiscernible]?
Kessel Stelling
I’ll let Kevin Blair go a little further, but you are right. There has been extreme focus and intensity as you know Chris going back to 2010 we just don't take our eye off of that ball going into this year is budgeting season both from a headcount, strong desire to put dollars where we have customer facing ability to include the customer experience. The technology spend will continue to grow, we talk a lot about things like cybersecurity and new loan platforms and new board origination systems, but a lot of emphasis on our customer portal and other investments that will enhance the customer experience over time. Kevin I will let you give a little more color there.
Kevin Blair
So from a perspective of annual CapEx expenditure, because we are running $25 million to $30 million and Kessel mentioned it we are looking at all aspects of investment and we are focusing on the revenue benefit that we’re going to receive in out-year. So, whether it's the digital platforms or the ATM refresh that we talked about here today or if it's going out and looking at ways to find our processes and technology to allow for efficiency or better client experience. I don't think that we are not making any investments that we should be making. Obviously there is a list of a million things we would like to do and we prioritize and decide what we want to do each year, but we are making all the investments. We have talked about we are large enough from scale perspective that we feel like we have what our customers need and we have the ability to continue to enhance those products and functionality with our budget each year to be able to keep up with some of our competitors. So, I think we are doing everything we need to do in order to be competitive.
Christopher Marinac
That's great. Thank you for that background. And, Kessel just a follow-up, I know you gave good feedback on Jenny’s question about Atlanta. If I asked about Nashville, in this Nashville is a market that you cannot get an acquisition, but organically grow and still have the incremental success?
Kessel Stelling
Yes, Chris Nashville is a great market for us. I along with several members of our senior team attended reception there two, three weeks ago. Rob McNeilly is our new market leader and Nashville we have a family office. In Nashville we - one of our best producing mortgage offices is in Nashville both secondary and portfolio product. We have had strong additions to the team. So, we do believe Nashville is a great market where we can grow organically. It's a competitive banking market, we have got good competitors there you know who they are. But we love the city. Our company is committed to the city and we try to show that support like I say, couple of weeks ago with a customer in prospect reception up there. So, just like Atlanta, Nashville has great opportunity for the company from organic growth standpoint.
Christopher Marinac
Thanks guys. Appreciate it.
Steve Adams
Thank you, Chris.
Operator
Thank you. We have no further questions in the queue at this time. Do you have any closing comments that you would like to finish with?
Kessel Stelling
Yes. Thank you. And, I just want to thank everyone for dialing in this morning. Thank you for your continued interest and support of our company as I started the call. I will close the call by saying we’re off to a really good start in 2018 and that's really due to the efforts of outstanding group of team members across our 5 state footprint and great customers who again are attracted to our way of banking and our way of serving customers and communities. We are excited about this transition to the unified Synovus brand. As I said we’ll be complete by the end of June. It's going very well. Our team members are really energized by it. And, I have also gotten lots of feedback from our customers who are excited about seeing the growing presence of the Synovus name again and communities across our footprint. So, stay tuned for what we hope will be a very good rest of the year. We really appreciate all of the efforts again of our team and we look forward to our next earnings, we can report on our continued progress. Thank you very much. Hope everyone has a great day.
Operator
Thank you ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude the conference call.
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Question: Navarrette: 3 immigration ‘solutions’: half-baked, hateful and hideous - and this new one

SAN DIEGO — No matter which political party they hail from, immigration “solutions” usually come in three varieties: half-baked, hateful and hideous.
You’ll find all of the above as Americans from across the fruited plain refuse to let their ignorance about the issue stop them from putting in their 2 cents about how to solve the crisis at hand: wanton separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
People also have lots to say about the bigger issue — how to secure the border, legalize the undocumented, provide a workforce to do jobs that Americans think are beneath them, etc. Everyone is an engineer, convinced that their plan is best.
A reader asked: “What are your ideas regarding this issue?” Another demanded to know: “TALK IS CHEAP, doesn’t cost a [expletive] thing. What is your fix to ILLEGAL immigration?” Another said: “I would find it helpful to read your thoughts on how to handle the situation at our border.”
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I am often asked for my own solution, and I hate it. While it’s true that my vision is clearer than most because I’m not beholden to either political party, my ideas are no more valuable than anyone else’s. Besides, I’m not selling anything. My goal is to get you to think about what you support or oppose.
Sure, I have a 20-point plan to fix our immigration system. Doesn’t everyone? Ideas, we have plenty of.
What we need is honesty. The immigration debate is broken because it is mired in lies — from the right, left and center. If we don’t talk straight about how we got here, we’ll never create the immigration system that our country deserves.
To get there, Americans will need to:
— Keep refugee families together and give them hearings even if it ultimately means deporting the entire family unit;
— Reform legal immigration not by giving a leg up to the skilled and educated but by tying it more closely to labor needs;
— Limit the family reunification policy to the spouse, children, parents and siblings of a U.S. citizen;
— Resist nativist attempts to cut legal immigration and instead increase it from about 1 million annually to 3 million — which is still less than 1 percent of the total U.S. population;
— Apply asylum laws equally so that brown-skinned refugees from Honduras have the same shot as light-skinned refugees from Syria;
— Secure the border not with a 12th-century wall but with cutting-edge surveillance equipment, tunnel detection and improved roads;
— Deploy National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border sparingly, and only to support Border Patrol agents;
— Continue to deport those in the country illegally but preserve discretion to allow some of the undocumented to stay;
— Create a path to earned legal status (not U.S. citizenship) for illegal immigrants who have lived here for at least 10 years and pass background checks;
— Give permanent legal status to the estimated 700,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in exchange for one year of community service;
— Ban benefits for legalized immigrants and their children (no welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, etc.);
— Allow the legalized to become U.S. citizens, as long as they put in the effort and the process isn’t automatic;
— Scrap unlawful quotas that require immigration agents to deport about 400,000 illegal immigrants annually;
— Stop counterproductive efforts to deputize local police to enforce federal immigration law;
— Create a tamper-proof identification card for all Americans to carry so employers know who is eligible to work;
— Eliminate the exemption in E-Verify that applies to the No. 1 employer of illegal immigrants: the American household;
— Repair the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which bars employers from “knowingly” hiring illegal immigrants, by removing the word “knowingly”;
— Create a “three strikes” law for employers of illegal immigrants: First offense, a warning; second, a $10,000 fine; third, five days in jail;
— Invest in Mexican states that send immigrants by using tax incentives to encourage U.S. companies to create jobs there so fewer people come here;
— Parent better by giving our kids chores, requiring after-school and summer jobs, and creating a work ethic so they take jobs from illegal immigrants.

Represent this text to find a news title for it:

Last week, a woman described only as an “artist” attempted to board a United Airlines flight with her emotional support peacock.
Yes, peacock.
As the Train Yard Troubadour, Stev McBridgeburner, posted on-line, “This is all I need to know about the state of our Union.”
Of course, that didn’t stop President Donald Trump from giving one of the longest “State of the Union” addresses ever to a joint session of Congress, half of whom looked like they were passing a kidney stone while standing in line at the DMV. Early the next morning the other half of Congress – the ones that kept jumping to their feet in rapturous applause – jumped the tracks when their chartered train plowed into a garbage truck, killing the working man who was behind the wheel. It’s hard not to see that tragedy as metaphorical.
Our Union is in some state, alright.
President Trump did all the things presidents always do, bragging on the good stuff – the economy, low unemployment, his tax-cut victory and the crushing of ISIS – while pushing for the stuff he still wants to do – his big beautiful wall, a DACA deal and infrastructure, etc., etc., etc.
Some of these things will happen. Most of it won’t. That’s life.
But all the jibber-jabber on CNN and FOX about proposals and policy will soon be forgotten and what we’ll be left with is the actual state of the union, angry, cynical, and increasingly as divorced from our political institutions as our political institutions are from us.
The latest assault on the truth is the release of the ginned-up “Nunes Memo,” the president and GOP’s latest grenade tossed at the FBI, and oddly, Donald Trump’s own Justice Department.
The Nunes Memo was written by a small group of House Republicans under the direction of California Congressman Devin Nunes. It alleges the Federal Bureau of Investigation had it (and has it) in for Donald Trump.
And there’s just enough evidence to make that plausible.
That’s a problem.
However, Nunes apparently called no witnesses, put no one under oath and never confronted the FBI with his allegations giving them a chance to explain their actions.
That’s also a problem.
No minds will be changed. The people who love Donald Trump will still love him, the haters will continue to hate.
But Trump brought this on himself, right?
The president has surrounded himself with cronies up to their indictments in Russia and still refuses to release his tax returns and end speculation about conflict of interest, vis-a-vis the Russian oligarchs. And he keeps getting into fights with everyone, including the leadership of his own party, his own cabinet officers – and our closest allies – while rarely having a negative word for Vladimir Putin.
But why is it the Democrats only found religion on Russia with the arrival of Trump? Didn’t you guys cheer President Barack Obama in 2012 when he quipped, “The 1980s called and wants its foreign policy back” after Mitt Romney labeled Russia our greatest threat? And where were your allegations of collusion when Obama was caught on tape telling then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, “after the election I’ll have more flexibility?”
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I created a tit-for-tat. I paired Trump’s Russia problems with Obama’s and that makes them moral equivalents so anything Trump did (or does) is OK.
Right?
This is what passes for politics in 2018. Whatever nefarious thing my guy does its OK because your guy did something equally rotten.
It’s like having a kid who sets fire to the garage tell you “what’s the big deal?” because his brother set fire to the bedroom.
And we regurgitate this stuff through social media, putting one of theirs in the cemetery for every one of ours they put in the hospital with every story “Breaking News!” (even if it’s not a story).
The state of the Union? Exhausted.
Doug McIntyre’s column appears Sundays. Hear him weekdays 5-10 on AM 790 KABC. He can be reached at: Doug@KABC.com.


Question: represent the title to find an explanatory news article

Question: New car models drive UK production growth in April

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The number of cars built in the UK in April rose 5.2% on the same month last year, the industry's trade body says.
Some 127,950 cars rolled off production lines, driven by investment in new models, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said.
However, last month's increase came off the back of a double-digit fall in production in April 2017.
SMMT boss Mike Hawes said the rise was not a surprise, and he again warned about Brexit's impact on the industry.
In April last year the timing of the Easter bank holiday hit output. For that reason, the SMMT chief executive said, last month's "growth isn't altogether surprising".
Manufacturing for both home and overseas markets rose by 7.3% and 4.7% respectively, with 103,662 cars built for export in April and accounting for 81.0% of production.
Despite April's rise, the picture so far this year is more gloomy.
Overall output is down 3.9%, with a total of 568,378 cars manufactured in the first four months. Four-fifths of these were exported, as domestic demand fell 10.3% against only a 2.2% decline in vehicles destined for export.
In March, the number of cars built fell 13.3% year-on-year.
The SMMT has warned that the industry is increasingly concerned about the progress of Brexit trade talks, and Mr Hawes returned to the theme on Thursday.
In a statement accompanying the production figures, he said April's rise was due to planned new model investment that "was made on the basis of the free and frictionless trade afforded by our EU membership".
Future growth of the UK car industry "depends upon maintaining these competitive conditions after Brexit", he added. "That's why it is critical that government acts to safeguard our participation in the EU customs union and single market."

UK-listed companies reporting annual results in the second quarter of 2017 notched their best pre-tax profits since 2012, but the outlook is far gloomier, a study published today has found.
The latest Profit Watch UK report from The Share Centre said there was a 41.3 per cent year-on-year jump in pre-tax profits to £22.7 billion as sales and margins improved, with miner Vedanta contributing two-thirds of the growth as it swung to a £1bn profit.
• READ MORE: Markets and economy news
The firms, covering many consumer-oriented, industrial and telecom businesses, saw sales grow 5.7 per cent, marking the fastest rise since 2014. The weaker pound accounted for only one percentage point of the increase.
200 Voices: find out more about the people who have shaped Scotland
Helal Miah, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, outlined a “much murkier” picture ahead, adding: “The UK economy is slowing so even those companies that performed extremely well recently may not continue to do so.”
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Question: US Marshals to help Moss Point police apprehend suspect accused - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

Police are searching for a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a teenage girl on her way to school Wednesday in Moss Point. US Marshals task force will be assisting Moss Point police in apprehending the suspect.

A Hattiesburg man is behind bars in connection to a December shooting that injured one person in the Hub City. Kadarius Nichols, 21, was arrested on Friday, Feb. 10, after a traffic stop in Hattiesburg and charged with one count of aggravated assault.
Start the conversation, or Read more at WDAM-TV Hattiesburg.


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Question: RISE AND SHINE: Your morning news and weather

Catch up on yesterday’s top stories and find out the weather and school closures for today, Tuesday, December 12.
School closures will be updated as more information come in so keep refreshing this page.

Want to make sure you receive the latest local news? We've got you covered! Get the best in local news, sports, community events, with focus on what's coming up for the weekend. Weekly mail subscription offers Choose your news! Select the text alerts you want to receive: breaking news, prep sports, weather, and more.
Start the conversation, or Read more at Kane Co. Chronicle.


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Question: Auto supplier Denso: $1B investment in Tennessee plant

represent the article to find a fitting news title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Automotive supplier Denso announced plans Friday to invest $1 billion and create more than 1,000 new jobs in its main Tennessee facility to meet growing demand for electric vehicle parts.
The investment is aimed at making the Maryville plant the Japanese company's primary manufacturer in North American for electrification and safety systems, the company said.
"This is an investment in the future of Denso, and also the future of transportation," Kenichiro Ito, the chairman of Denso North America, said in a statement. "We are seeing dramatic shifts in the role of transportation in society, and this investment will help position us to meet those changing demands."
The company plans to expand several production lines to produce advanced components for hybrid and electric vehicles. The products are designed to improve fuel efficiency and preserve electric power by recovering and recycling energy. They also will boost efficiency for the entire vehicle by anticipating road conditions through data collected inside and outside the car.
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The expansion in Maryville comes atop a $400 million investment that the company announced in 2015 to consolidate its warehouse operations, a move intended at the time to add 500 jobs.
Denso opened the plant in Maryville in 1988 with about 100 employees. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, then governor, has said the facility in his hometown was a sort of consolation prize after Tennessee lost out to Kentucky for a Toyota assembly plant. Today about 3,200 people work at the Maryville plant, besides another 1,400 employees at another Denso facility in nearby Athens, Tennessee.
The announcement comes as Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam prepares to embark on a trade mission to Asia that will include a pitch seeking to attract a new joint Toyota and Mazda assembly plant to his Southern state.
The Japanese automakers announced in August that they plan to spend $1.6 billion on the new manufacturing plant, creating up to 4,000 jobs. The companies plan to work together on advanced auto technology, such as electric vehicles, safety features and connected cars, as well as products that they could supply each other.
Tennessee is home to assembly plants by Nissan, General Motors and Volkswagen, along with a slew of suppliers. The state has been prepping a sprawling site outside of Memphis in hopes of attracting another auto manufacturing plant.
"We would love to get the Mazda-Toyota plant," Haslam told reporters Thursday. "We think we have leg up in automobile manufacturing because we're so strong in it now, and there is a sense in which there's a real desire to locate near other suppliers."

Businesses based in countries around the globe continue to find a welcoming home in Alabama, as the state’s foreign direct investment (FDI) reached $1.57 billion last year, driving job growth in several industries.
Expansions accounted for the vast majority of the 79 FDI projects announced by companies in 17 different countries. But there were notable new projects, too.
A total of 3,254 new jobs were tied to the overall investment, according to the 2016 New and Expanding Industry Report, which was released last month by Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Commerce.
Overall, the state landed nearly $4.2 billion in capital investment and more than 14,700 new jobs.
“The success of the companies operating in Alabama is a story that’s being told around the world,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“Here at home, that’s meant significant new investments and lucrative jobs for communities across the state.”
FDI has represented a powerful growth engine for Alabama, with foreign companies announcing $7 billion in new capital investment in the state since the beginning of 2013, according to Commerce data.
Austria’s Lenzing is investing $293 million to expand its Alabama fibers plant. (Lenzing) Eissmann Automotive is investing $14.5 million in its seventh Alabama expansion project. (St. Clair EDC) Linz, Austria-based voestalpine Group is investing $11 million to open a plant in Jefferson County. (voestalpine)
Top FDI sources
Austria led the way in FDI during 2016, with a total investment of $666.1 million. That was due mostly to two major expansions of existing companies in the state. Kronospan, a leading manufacturer of wood-based panel products, announced plans to invest $362 million in its Calhoun County operations and add 160 jobs.
Another Austrian firm, Lenzing AG, said it would spend $293 million to expand production of an eco-friendly, botanic fiber at its Mobile County plant. The project is also creating 163 jobs.
A third Austrian firm, auto supplier voestalpine, announced plans for an $11 million manufacturing facility in Jefferson County with 42 jobs.
Other countries that were in the top five for FDI were:
Germany — $213.5 million
South Korea — $155 million
Canada — $145 million
Spain — $131.7 million
In terms of new jobs, German companies announced the largest overall total for Alabama last year, with 1,187.
Those projects included a new plant in Bibb County for automotive supplier MollerTech USA LLC, which plans a $46.3 million investment and 222 jobs.
There was also an expansion in St. Clair County for Eissmann Automotive North America Inc., an automotive supplier that is adding $14.5 million and 200 jobs.
Other top countries for total jobs were:
Canada — 527 jobs
Austria — 365 jobs
South Korea — 347 jobs
France — 333 jobs
FDI and jobs also came from companies in other countries, including Australia, Belgium, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
Canfield recently led a trade mission to Canada, the state’s top international trade partner.
Auto driver
Auto industry projects dominated the entire list of FDI activity.
Another major expansion in this sector was in Jefferson County, where Spain’s Gestamp announced plans to invest $131 million in its metal stamping operations.
In addition, other suppliers for automakers Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota –- and in some cases, the manufacturers themselves –- took steps to expand their Alabama facilities.
Foreign direct investment plays a key role in the U.S. economy, according to SelectUSA, which works to facilitate job-creating business investment in the United States.
About 6.4 million U.S. workers were employed by U.S. affiliates of majority foreign-owned firms in 2014, the latest data available.
In addition, these companies account for $57 billion in research-and-development spending, and their total contribution to U.S. exports is estimated at $425 billion.
In Alabama alone, 92,700 jobs are directly supported by majority foreign-owned affiliates, SelectUSA figures show.
From July 2007 to June 2016, a total of 221 greenfield, or new, FDI projects were announced in the state.
Nearly a quarter of them were by companies based in Germany, which is no surprise, since that’s the corporate home of Mercedes.
Japan, home to Honda and Toyota, and South Korea, home to Hyundai, trailed close behind at 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.


Question: represent the title to find an explanatory news article

Question: Toronto van attack suspect was student, ex-military recruit

A look at the Alek Minassian, who has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 of attempted murder for driving a van into a crowded sidewalk in Toronto on Monday:
A YOUNG MAN FROM SUBURBAN TORONTO, AND A STUNNED FAMILY:
Minassian, 25, lives with his family in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, on a street of sizeable, well-tended brick homes. Police say he had no criminal record before Monday.
His father, Vahe Minassian, wept and seemed stunned as he watched as his son, showing little emotion, make a brief court appearance Tuesday and be ordered held without bail.
When his father was asked later whether he had any message for the families of the people killed and injured, he said quietly: “I’m sorry.”
A “SOCIALLY AWKWARD” STUDENT :
Minassian attended Seneca College, according to his LinkedIn profile; a spokeswoman for the Toronto-area school didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about him Tuesday. Another student, Joseph Pham, told The Toronto Star that Minassian was in a computer programming class with him just last week.
Pham described Minassian as a “socially awkward” student who kept to himself: “He didn’t really talk to anyone.”
Before college, Minassian attended Thornlea Secondary School in Richmond Hill, graduating in 2011. The school declined to discuss him Tuesday, citing privacy laws.
A STINT IN THE MILITARY:
Minassian joined the Canadian Armed Forces last year, but his stay was brief.
The Department of National Defence says he was a member of the military from Aug. 23 to Oct. 25, but didn’t complete his recruit training. He asked to be voluntarily released after 16 days, the department said.
A BITTERNESS TOWARD WOMEN?
Shortly before Monday’s attack on a crowded downtown Toronto street, a chilling post appeared on Minassian’s now-deleted Facebook account saluting Elliot Rodger, a community college student who killed six people and wounded 13 in shooting and stabbing attacks near the University of California, Santa Barbara, before apparently shooting himself to death in 2014.
Calling Rodger “the Supreme Gentleman,” the Facebook post declared: “The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys!”
The 22-year-old Rodger had used the term “incel” — for involuntarily celibate — in online posts raging at women for rejecting him romantically. Like-minded people in internet forums sometimes use “Chad” and “Stacy” as dismissive slang for men and women with more robust sex lives.
Monday’s Facebook post mentions that “Private (Recruit) Minassian” is speaking, and Facebook confirmed that the post was on an account that belonged to the suspect. The social networking site took down his account after the attack, saying in a statement Tuesday, “There is absolutely no place on our platform for people who commit such horrendous acts.”

One of the 10 people who were mowed down and killed by a van in Toronto on Monday has been identified as an investment analyst working for a US-based firm.
Anne Marie D'Amico was the first casualty of the van attack to be identified, after the notification of her next of kin.
D'Amico was employed by the American investment management company Invesco, which also has offices on Yonge Street in Toronto, not far from where police say Alek Minassian, 25, deliberately plowed into pedestrians with a white rental van, killing 10 and leaving 15 others injured.
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First victim: Anne Marie D'Amico (center) has been identified as one of the 10 people who were ran over and killed by a van in Toronto on Monday
Police say Alek Minassian, 25 (left), used a rental van to plow into pedestrians on a busy Toronto street, killing 10 people and injuring 15 others. D'Amico (right) was among the slain
Invesco Canada President Peter Intraligi confirmed D'Amico's passing on Tuesday but declined to comment further out of the respect for her family.
D'Amico's colleague Jon Tam told CBC she was warm and caring, was involved in volunteer work and enjoyed travel in her free time.
'I'll definitely be missing seeing that smile around the office,' he said.
According to a 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility Report issued by Invesco Canada, D'Amico's title at the time was business performance management analyst.
According to the report, she took part in a humanitarian project in the Dominican Republic, as part of which a group of Invesco workers helped build a new house for a local family.
The front end damage of the van that the driver used to hit several pedestrians in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday, killing 10
Police officers stand by a covered body in Toronto after the deadly van attack Monday
'What I didn’t expect was to have such a deep connection to the family and see first-hand how much this new home truly means to them,' D'Amico was quoted as saying about her experience.
A white Ryder van was heading south on busy Yonge Street at around 1.30pm and the streets were crowded with people enjoying an unseasonably warm day when the vehicle jumped onto the sidewalk and proceeded to mow down pedestrians along a mile-long stretch, without making any effort to stop.
The driver, a resident of the Richmond Hill section of Toronto, was quickly captured in a tense but brief confrontation with officers.
'The incident definitely looked deliberate,' Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters at a late-night news conference.
Minassian had not been known to police previously. An online social media profile described him as a college student.
Officials would not comment on a possible motive except to play down a possible connection to terrorism, but social media posts attributed to Minassian painted him as a sexually frustrated involuntarily celibate who admired Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger.
In one post, Minassian referred to the rebellion of 'incels' - a term used to refer to men who have been made 'involuntarily celibate' because women will not have sex with them.
In 2014, Rodger, who was also involuntarily celibate, gunned down six people at the University of California Santa Barbara before killing himself.