| City Council Boosts County’s Stake In Sewage Upgrade
Topsoil is removed as work proceeds Tuesday at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Sewage Authority plant. Harrisonburg City Council voted Tuesday to give Rockingham County 1 million gallons per day of the allotted expanded capacity from the plants upgrade.
Photo by Thomas J. Turney .
The “R” Word and an Economic Stimulus Plan
Home sales have plummeted. Lots of real-estate agents are experiencing their own recession. In southeastern Michigan the auto industry is doing so poorly that if feels more like a depression. Nationwide, not only are there record home foreclosures, but delinquency rates on auto loans and credit card debt are increasing at a worrisome rate. Retail sales are down modestly year over year. If this isn't a recession, it sure seems like one.So what is a politician to do when confronted by these disquieting economic conditions in January of an election year? Ride to the rescue, of course. Thus, on Thursday, January 17, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appeared before a congressional committee to appeal for an "economic stimulus" package. The very next day, President Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson echoed Bernanke's remarks.
Havant take the glory but haves earn the prize
The afternoon had begun in routine enough fashion. More than 6,000 supporters from Hampshire crammed into the Anfield Road end unfashionably early to savour their team's day in the spotlight. As the teams were announced pre-game, the Liverpool supporters joined in the spirit of the occasion, offering a noisy, if slightly patronising, round of applause for the mention of every Havant & Waterlooville name. However, once the tie kicked off, events took a decidedly unpredictable turn. The opening minutes suggested little hope for Havant, a dangerous John Arne Riise cross headed clear by Tom Jordan - son of Joe - and Jermaine Pennant's cross squandered by Benayoun's weak header from six yards. But the merest hint of a Havant counter-attack seemed to send panic waves through the Liverpool defence, most notably the shaky forms of £6.5million centre-half Martin Skrtel and stand-in goalkeeper Charles Itandje.
Change in bankruptcy laws pondered amid home mortgage meltdown
WASHINGTON | After being hooked with ill-advised subprime loans on their homes, many thousands of Americans could end up gaffed in bankruptcy courts next year. Despite a new law to make filings more painful, bankruptcies surged by nearly 40 percent in 2007, leading Samuel Gerdano, American Bankruptcy Institute director, to predict "even higher filings this year, as the heavy consumer debt load is made worse by the home mortgage crisis." Some in Congress want to wade in to try to help prevent more — perhaps as many as 2.2 million — homes from being lost to foreclosure. Nearly 20,000 Missourians risk losing homes, said Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. Sen. Chris Dodd would roll back provisions in the law enacted two years ago to make it harder for people to file for bankruptcy and walk away from their debts.
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