Clipmarks | dewitte's clips

Sheriff must obey eviction orders: suit

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:06:55 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

A mortgage lender wants a Cook County judge to force Sheriff Tom Dart to get back to the business of evicting people from foreclosed homes.

On Wednesday, Dart announced his eviction moratorium, saying he's willing to face contempt-of-court charges for not following court eviction orders.

Accredited Home Lenders filed a lawsuit Thursday to get Dart to obey an order that calls for the eviction of Shirley McFarland of Dolton from her foreclosed bungalow.

"Sheriff Dart may have concerns about the orders that he is charged with enforcing, but he simply cannot refuse to carry them out. The orders of the court must be enforced," attorneys for Accredited Home said in a statement. "This lawsuit is necessary to ensure that."

Dart told Kinnaird that too often his deputies are evicting renters who have not been given notice the property is in foreclosure.

Tags: mortgage, eviction, sheriff, foreclosure

Va. man charged with sexual abuse of coma patient

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:25:11 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.wavy.com

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - A 48-year-old Chesapeake man has been indicted on a charge of aggravated sexual battery in the sexual abuse of a comatose female patient at a nursing home.

Mark Albright is accused of the abuse of a patient at Chesapeake Health and Rehabilitation Center, where he was employed as a licensed practical nurse.

A police affidavit filed in Chesapeake Circuit Court shows an employee entered the room of a 43-year-old patient to conduct nightly medical duties and allegedly observed Albright with his mouth on the woman's breast.

Police said the patient, who was in a coma and unresponsive, had been at the center for about a year. Albright is no longer employed at the center. Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr says a trial date has not been set.

Tags: coma, sex, assault

States’ Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:33:08 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.

Michigan and Colorado are removing voters from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election, which is not allowed except when voters die, notify the authorities that they have moved out of state, or have been declared unfit to vote.

Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio seem to be improperly using Social Security data to verify registration applications for new voters.

Tags: election, voters, voting

McCain, Palin turn to risky politics

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:08:09 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.suntimes.com

If John McCain loses the election, he'll have Sarah Palin to thank. His VP pick may be good for a few laughs on "Saturday Night Live." She may have sold a warehouse of eyeglasses.

But her recent acid-tongued attack on Barack Obama in which she accused him of "palling around with terrorists" is not only a turn-off, but dangerous.

Dana Milbank reported that the press was taunted by the crowd after Palin blamed the mainstream media for her abysmal performances in interviews.

"At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African-American sound man . . . and told him, "Sit down, boy."

Palin cited a New York Times article that described Ayers as "part of a group that quote 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol

That brought a loud "Kill him!" from an unidentified man in the audience.

Tags: mccain, palin, election

Keating Economics: the Making of a Financial Crisis

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:03:07 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: my.barackobama.com

"Keating Economics: the Making of a Financial Crisis" is a documentary that shows why John McCain's failed philosophy and poor judgment are a recipe for deepening the economic crisis.

[Video]

Tags: keating, mccain, election, crisis, banking, s&l

Stocks Fall Sharply on Credit Concerns

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:07:11 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The selling on Wall Street began at the opening bell on Monday and only intensified as the day went on. Shares moved sharply lower as the banking crisis tightened its grip on the global economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell below 10,000 for the first time since 2004 after losing more than 500 points in the first hour. The index has lost more than 1,100 points — or about 10 percent — in slightly more than a week.

Shortly after noon, the Dow was down 524 points or 5 percent.

The broader American stock market was down more than 5.7 percent, as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, its worst decline since last Monday’s 8.8 percent drop. At the same time, oil dropped below $90 a barrel.

The precipitous declines on Wall Street came a day after European governments were forced to scramble to save several major banks and lenders from collapse. The moves reinforced the global reach of the current crisis and alarmed depositors and regulators in the United States and abroad.

Tags: stock, wallstreet, mortgage, crisis

Citigroup Says Judge’s Order Suspends Wachovia Deal

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:21:40 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Citigroup announced late Saturday that it had persuaded a New York judge to temporarily block Wells Fargo from acquiring Wachovia, firing the first shot in what could be a prolonged legal battle.

Citigroup has accused Wells Fargo of wrecking its plan to acquire Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.2 billion, or $1 a share, in a deal arranged by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Four days after that deal was struck, it fell apart when Wachovia agreed to Wells Fargo’s offer to pay seven times as much for the entire company.

Citigroup contends that the deal with Wells Fargo violates an agreement that prohibited Wachovia from having any sale or merger discussions with anyone other than Citigroup until Oct. 6.

A person briefed on the situation said that Citigroup was seeking $60 billion in damages from Wells Fargo for interfering with the initial transaction.

Tags: wachovia, citigroup, wells fargo, banking

Palin hits Obama for 'terrorist' connection

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 01:44:23 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

ENGLEWOOD, Colorado (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday slammed Sen. Barack Obama's political relationship with a former anti-war radical, accusing him of associating "with terrorists who targeted their own country."

Palin's attack delivered on the McCain campaign's announcement that it would step up attacks on the Democratic presidential candidate with just a month left before the November general election.

"We see America as the greatest force for good in this world," Palin said at a fund-raising event in Colorado, adding, "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

Palin made similar comments later at a rally in Carson, California.

Tags: mccain, palin, obama, terrorist

Wells Fargo agrees to buy Wachovia, Citi objects

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:28:26 GMT

clipped by: dewitte
clipper's remarks: Oh, for chrissake. Walk-all-over-ya bank is up for grabs again.

Clip Source: www.wtopnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) - Wachovia says it agreed to be acquired by San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. in a $15.1 billion all-stock deal. But Citigroup now demands that Wachovia abide by the terms of its earlier deal to buy Wachovia's banking operations.

The clash sets up a battle over who will win Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia.

The Citigroup deal would have been done with the help of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., but the Wells deal would be done without it. The head of the FDIC said the agency is standing behind the agreement it made with Citigroup.

Citigroup says its agreement with Wachovia provides that Wachovia will not enter into any transaction with any party other than Citi or negotiate with anyone else.

Tags: wachovia

Next-door neighbor killer faces life without parole

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:26:43 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.wtopnews.com

WASHINGTON - Prosecutors will seek life without parole Friday for a man who broke into a 77-year-old woman's home, sexually assaulted her, strangled her and stabbed her, leaving a knife protruding from her chest.

A D.C. Superior Court jury last spring found Robert Pettus, 22, guilty of the Sept. 4, 2004, killing of Martha Elizabeth Byrd in her Hilltop Terrace home. Pettus was Byrd's next door neighbor.

On her nude body he left a note that said: "You souldins {sic} Have cheated on me." A day later Pettus was driving around in the victim's Cadillac Deville.

In a memo on sentencing, prosecutors say Pettus "has not accepted responsibility for his crimes, consistently makes excuses for his behavior, has shown no remorse."

Tags: pettus, byrd, dc, murder

McCain abandons efforts to win Michigan

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:35:20 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: ap.google.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major concession, Republican John McCain has abandoned efforts to win Michigan, a Democratic-leaning battleground state the GOP presidential candidate had hoped to capture. Republican officials with knowledge of the strategy said the GOP nominee is removing staff, curtailing advertising and canceling visits to the Midwestern state, which offers 17 electoral votes.

Resources will be sent to Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and other competitive states.

News of McCain's decision came as Democrat Barack Obama prepared to take the stage for a rally at Michigan State University, his third event in the state in five days. If he knew about McCain's plans, Obama didn't mention it and continued to criticize his rival's economic policies as just a continuation of the Bush administration philosophy.

"My opponents' philosophy isn't just wrongheaded, it reveals out how out of touch he really is," Obama told more than 15,000 who gathered on a chilly fall afternoon.

Tags: mccain, michigan

U.S. bailout rejected; fear seizes markets

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:06:27 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry in a shock vote that sent global markets sliding as European authorities scrambled to prop up a slew of banks.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI> posted its biggest point loss ever while the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC> plummeted 9 percent -- its biggest daily loss since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000. Latin American stocks tumbled 13 percent, their biggest decline in more than a decade.

Even before the vote, Asian and European markets had plummeted on fears the crisis was spreading, while U.S. regional lender Wachovia became the latest big bank to succumb to the crisis.

And global money markets were frozen even as central banks poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system to persuade financial firms to stop hoarding cash.

Tags: stocks, bailout

Woman wakes up, should have smelled the coffee

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:07:29 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.wtopnews.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - It wasn't just the caffeine that gave an Iowa woman an extra jolt after she had her morning coffee. It was also the bat she found in the filter.

The Iowa Department of Public Health says the woman reported a bat in her house but wasn't too worried about it. She turned on her automatic coffee maker before bedtime and drank her coffee the next morning.

She discovered the bat in the filter when she went to clean it that night. The woman has undergone treatment for possible rabies.

Health officials say that the bat was sent to a lab but that its brain was too cooked by the hot water to determine whether it had rabies.

Tags: bat, coffee

House votes down massive bailout measure

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:42:17 GMT

clipped by: dewitte
clipper's remarks: Oh, Noes!! - Kristmas Kancelled - Krap Klaim Kiddies!

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

Debate prior to balloting showed deep reservations about $700 billion plan

WASHINGTON - The House on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue package, ignoring urgent pleas from President Bush and bipartisan congressional leaders to quickly bail out the staggering financial industry.

Stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor.

When the critical vote was tallied, too few members of the House were willing to support the unpopular measure with elections just five weeks away. Ample no votes came from both the Democratic and Republican sides of the aisle.

Tags: bailout

Citigroup Buys Banking Operations of Wachovia

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:46:37 GMT

clipped by: dewitte

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Citigroup will acquire the banking operations of the Wachovia Corporation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Monday morning, the latest bank to fall victim to the mortgage market.

The F.D.I.C. said that the agency would absorb losses from Wachovia above $42 billion and that it would receive $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants from Citigroup.

“Wachovia did not fail,” the F.D.I.C. said, “rather it is to be acquired by Citigroup Inc on an open bank basis with assistance from the F.D.I.C.

Federal regulators had pressed for the sale on Sunday night. The sale would further concentrate Americans’ bank deposits in the hands of just three banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, whichever bank acquired Wachovia would control more than 30 percent of the industry’s deposits.

Together, those three would be so large that they would dominate the industry, with unrivaled power to set prices for their loans and services.

Tags: wachovia, citigroup