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SC woman burns down house the night before Foreclosure

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:53:42 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Police say a South Carolina woman torched her house the night before the bank was due to take possession in a foreclosure action, according to WYFF-TV.

The Greenville News reports that Andrea Propes, 29, was charged with second-degree arson.

She's free on $100,000 bond.

Earlier postings:
• Some 'embittered homeowners' deal with foreclosure by vandalizing, looting
• Report: Foreclosures jumped 79% last year
• Cats and dogs are hidden casualties of foreclosure crisis

Third-graders plotted attack on teacher, police say

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:20:51 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.ajc.com

A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said Tuesday.

The plot by as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia was a serious threat, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said Tuesday.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said. "We feel like if they weren't interrupted, there would have been an attempt. Would they have been successful? We don't know."

The children, ages 8 and 9, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, Tanner said.

They could be expelled, but a prosecutor said they are too young to be charged with a crime under Georgia law.

Ted Turner: Global warming could lead to cannibalism

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:18:11 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: www.ajc.com

Failure to address global warming will have us all dead or eating each other by mid-century.

So says Ted Turner, the restaurateur, environmentalist and former media mogul whose controversial comments have earned him the nickname "Mouth of the South."

If steps aren't taken to stem global warming, "We'll be eight degrees hotter in 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow," Turner said during a wide-ranging, hour-long interview with PBS's Charlie Rose that aired Tuesday.

"Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals," said Turner, 69. "Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state — like Somalia or Sudan — and living conditions will be intolerable."

"We're too many people; that's why we have global warming,"

Admitting that he's "always suffered from foot-in-the-mouth disease," Turner added, "I've gotten a lot better, though. It's been a long time since anybody caught me saying something stupid."

In San Francisco, Health Care Shows Up on Restaurant Bills

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:13:03 GMT

clipped by: BobbyDelray

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Eating out in San Francisco? Besides the tip, you’ll have to figure in the cost of health care.
The city’s health-care mandate is now showing up as a surcharge on some restaurant bills, MarketWatch reports.

Since the beginning of the year, San Francisco businesses have been required to offer health insurance to employees or pay a fee to the city to fund health care.

Some restaurants are passing the fee on to consumers in the form of a health surcharge, which shows up on the bill as a flat fee ($1 per person, or so) or as a percentage (like sales tax).

Other state and local governments have been keeping an eye on the situation. If the court winds up ruling that only the feds can set benefit requirements, it could force would-be health reformers in statehouses and city halls around the country to reconsider their plans.