Articles of Interest 4-19-08
200 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
State Committee kicked off it’s meeting yesterday. We held our county chairs meeting, which was followed by our favorite Friday night “Pizza and Politics” event…a great venue for folks to mix and mingle. As always, a great start to our meeting.
The formal State Committee meets this morning…more on that tomorrow.
Governor Granholm starts her junket to the Middle East…not on her dime! Maybe she should just go down to Indiana and figure out why Michigan companies have moved “south” over the “border”. No, we are NOT talking about Mexico. What an embarrassment.
So, what’s the deal behind the Indiana billboard…check out the numbers below.
The Top Ten Reasons that Mitt Romney dropped out of the Presidential Race. A must see.
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THE REST OF THE STORY:
Posted by Nolan Finley on Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 5:21 PM
Indiana's got the numbers on Michigan
I heard Gov. Jennifer Granholm on WJR's Paul W. Smith show this morning poking fun at Indiana's billboard campaign to recruit Michigan's jobs and residents.
Compare the economic performance posted by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, to what Granholm's done, and you wonder where the punch line is.
Like Michigan, Indiana is a manufacturing state, heavily dependent on the automotive industry.
Yet Indiana's unemployment rate is 4.6 percent, below the national average, while Michigan's is 7.2 percent, the highest in the nation.
Manufacturing employment dropped 5.9 percent in Michigan over the past year; the decline in Indiana was 1.8 percent.
Both states suffered a drop in new housing starts, but in Indiana, the decrease was 8.6 percent, compared to 31.7 percent in Michigan. Over the last decade, Indiana has had an 8.1 percent gain in population, compared to 2.9 percent in Michigan. Last year, Indiana continued to gain residents -- .7 percent -- while Michigan dropped by .3 percent.
The poverty rate is lower in Indiana; the return on federal tax dollars is higher.
And the tax burden in Indiana is nearly $500 less per resident.
Indiana has good reason to see Michigan as a fertile recruiting ground.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
Energy package passes House, faces Senate fight
Posted by David Eggert The Associated Press April 18, 2008 06:04AM
LANSING -- The state House on Thursday passed a wide-ranging package of energy legislation that ultimately would affect how much it costs to flip a light switch, wash clothes and charge an iPod in Michigan.
The bipartisan bills, which may face obstacles in the Senate in coming months, would require power companies to sell more green energy, limit the amount of competition faced by the state's major electric utilities and set up programs helping residential and business customers save energy. Customers also would have to pay the actual cost of the electricity they use.
Skubick: Archer making rounds for '10
Ex-Detroit mayor taking steps toward gubernatorial bid
April 18, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
When the notion was tossed out, capitol correspondents summarily dismissed it. Everyone respected the guy, but the first blush consensus was Dennis Archer would never run for governor. First blush impressions are not always right. Let's be clear: The former mayor of Detroit has not announced he is running; he has not decided he is running; and in the end he may not run. However, he is doing everything a qualified candidate for governor should do, just in case he decides to run.
And that means jumping in the car and making the rounds to huddle with various groups. The mere logging of miles is an indicator someone is serious - and Archer has the miles on his tires. Archer wants input from the townships, the Michigan Municipal League, the county association, the prosecutors, the sheriffs, the teachers' unions, you name it.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pokes fun at his plight with L. Brooks Patterson
By COREY WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (AP) -- Detroit Mayor Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has taken time out from city business and his legal fight in a text-messaging sex scandal to poke fun at his current political troubles.
Kilpatrick and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson exchanged lighthearted quips Friday morning at a meeting of regional leaders.
In response to a question from a 9-year-old about what classes it takes to become mayor, Kilpatrick said: "First, a solid background in law."
Detroit mayor: Rev. Wright should be judged on life's work
Corey Williams • Associated Press • April 18, 2008 • From LSJ.com
BIRMINGHAM - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick defended Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. on Friday, saying Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's controversial former pastor should be judged by his life's work.
"I've been to his church. I've heard numerous amounts of his speeches," Kilpatrick said. "I think he's probably one of the greatest orators to walk this earth. If he says something to offend people, he apologizes."
The embattled mayor is facing his own personal controversy in the form of perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice charges that stem from a text-messaging sex scandal.
Dems seek economic aid
New stimulus package would help the auto industry, the unemployed and homeowners.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Michigan's sagging economy and struggling auto industry could get a boost under a second stimulus proposal released Friday.
Thirty House Democrats led by Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to consider a new stimulus package that would extend unemployment benefits, provide assistance to struggling homeowners, give consumers tax credits for buying advanced technology vehicles like plug-in hybrids and increase grants and loans to automakers for research and development of new technologies, among other items.
"It is our sincere feeling that the ongoing economic downturn demands further action," said the letter signed by Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and two others from Michigan: Reps. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee and Dale Kildee, D-Flint.
Ficano proposes a Cobo confab to grind out an expansion deal
April 19, 2008
Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano challenged fellow elected leaders of metro Detroit on Friday to get serious about reaching a deal to expand Cobo Center.
"We're going to wake up one day and say, 'Gee we lost the auto show,' " said Ficano, who wants to extend a tax on motels, hotels and liquor in the three counties to pay for a Cobo expansion. "We lack a sense of urgency in this region."
The three other leaders, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and William Crouchman, chairman of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, said they could talk, but had reservations. All appeared at a morning forum in Birmingham.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
10.1% drop in students will cost DPS $90M
District's loss of 12,000 pupils may open door for more charter schools.
Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Detroit Public Schools lost nearly 12,000 students in the past year, a continued enrollment drop that will cost the district about $90 million next year in state aid.
The district will receive funding for 106,485 students based on state-audited enrollment numbers obtained by The Detroit News. That marks a 10.1 percent decline from the previous year and a loss of more than a third of the district's students since 2000, a year into the state takeover that was intended to turn the district around.
DPS spokesman Steve Wasko noted that the district lost fewer students in the 2007-08 school year --11,908 -- than it did the year before, 12,325. However, the number is a greater proportion of overall enrollment than the number lost last year.
HSC energy bill passes House
Friday, April 18, 2008
THE SAGINAW NEWS
State leaders say the attempt to attract future expansions at Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. operations to Michigan gained traction Thursday when the House endorsed legislation that would give a tax refund on electricity costs.
HSC, the world's largest maker of polycrystalline silicon used in solar panels and electronics, is in the midst of a $1 billion expansion at its Geddes Road operations in Thomas Township. Lawmakers and economic boosters hope to attract future expansions.
PUBLISHED: Friday, April 18, 2008
Guest opinion: Bad Policies Creating a Bad Economy in Michigan
By ADAM SCHAEFFER
Special to The Oakland Press
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was arraigned on criminal charges and will be asked some difficult questions about perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice.
In the midst of this media circus, voters shouldn't stop asking politicians to answer for the criminally bad state of Michigan's economy -- their minimum wage increases in recent years have killed jobs for those most in need of work.
Here's a puzzler to ask your representative that might get him to see the facts: What do Michigan, Ohio, and Rhode Island have in common? Answer: They all have a higher percentage of unionized workers than the national average, have dramatically increased the minimum wage between 2005 and 2008, and are in the top 10 for unemployment in 2008.
Donate Life Month highlights importance of Michigan Organ Donor Registry
By Jennifer Wezensky
Special to the Gazette
PORTAGE -- Born with congenital glaucoma, 9-year-old Madison and Malia Nichols now consider reading and writing two of their favorite activities.
Without even the need for glasses, the Scotts twins are able to see after receiving cornea transplants when they were 4 months old.
Their mother, Heather Nichols, said the transplanted corneas have made all the difference in her daughter's lives.
Health board does the right thing, and asks for help
Friday, April 18, 2008
What are they doing wrong in District Health Department No. 2?
Members of the board in charge of the public agency for Iosco, Ogemaw, Alcona and Oscoda counties want to know. They've done the right thing, in asking for help from the Michigan Board of Health.
Letters: Forced unionism drag on economy
by The Saginaw News
Friday April 18, 2008, 3:43 PM
Editor, The News:
Federal law permits the firing of employees for failure to pay dues to a union unless protected by a Right to Work law.
A new study by the eminent economists Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore shows once again that forced unionism eliminates job opportunities and cuts employees' real incomes. They point out that "states that permit workers to be compelled to join unions have a much lower rate of employment growth than states that don't."
Automation Alley puts on 'face' in Macomb
By Chad Selweski
Macomb Daily Staff Writer
Macomb has emerged as the first county in southeast Michigan to open a separate Automation Alley office, putting the Troy-based business assistance organization in Mount Clemens, at the center of the county seat.
The new office that debuted Thursday in the county Administration Building will aid businesses with landing new contracts, exporting products overseas and securing knowledgeable workers. The emphasis is on high technology. The bottom line: bring more jobs and employers to Macomb.
Decision on Dow dioxin damage could take years
Friday, April 18, 2008By Jeff Kartjkart@bc-times.com | 894-9639
MIDLAND - Toxic releases by Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. have damaged the environment in the Saginaw Bay area, a federal official says.
And it will take years, until 2010, or maybe 2015, before trustees in a federal process decide how Dow will compensate the area for the ''past, present and future'' losses from its dioxin and furan discharges, said Lisa Williams, contaminants specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in East Lansing.
Midwest quake felt in Grand Rapids
Posted by The Grand Rapids Press staff and wire reports April 18, 2008 06:08AM
A strong earthquake that rattled parts of Southern Illinois and Indiana early this morning was felt in the Grand Rapids area, about 320 miles away.
The quake, given a preliminary magnitude of 5.4, was centered about 6 miles from Mount Carmel, Ill., and about 131 miles east of St. Louis, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck about 2 miles underground at 5:36 a.m., the agency said.
DeVos' RDV buys Charley's Crab property
Posted by Chris Knape | The Grand Rapids Press April 18, 2008 06:30AM
GRAND RAPIDS -- Amway co-founder Rich DeVos locked up another major piece of the downtown riverfront, buying the property housing Charley's Crab restaurant.
Houston-based Landry's Restaurants Inc. plans to continue operating the seafood restaurant overlooking the Grand River on a leased basis.
The 1.7-acre property and 9,000-square-foot building were sold for $5.5 million last month to 63 Market Avenue Holdings LLC, a company registered to DeVos' RDV Corp.
Legislation to Boost Tourism
Posted: April 18, 2008 07:41 AM EDT
With Michigan's sluggish economy, some researchers say tourism may drop nearly 8% this year. A new bill could help promote and regenerate tourism in the state. You may have seen commercials on television- Pure Michigan, it's the state's campaign to promote tourism. Despite the state's efforts, marketing has been a financial challenge.
Dave Lorenz, MDEC: "We have a tremendous four seasons product here, but we've never been able to truly promote all four seasons." Dave Lorenz from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation says the 10 million dollar budget set aside to advertise the state's tourism was cut by 25% in 2007. As a result, the audience pure Michigan intends to reach never hear the message.
A NO to millage for Holland's Tulip City Airport
Friday, April 18, 2008
Holland's Tulip City Airport has cruised for more than 60 years without direct support from local taxpayers. That's how it should stay. We recommend a NO vote on a proposed millage for the airport on the May 6 ballot.
We do so recognizing that Tulip City is an important community asset as a ready-access link to the world for important local businesses such as Johnson Controls Inc., Herman Miller Inc., Gentex Corp. and Haworth Inc. It's also a convenient operational base for nonprofit groups. Wings of Mercy, for instance, transports low-income people for life-saving medical treatment. However, that role hasn't been impaired by the lack of local taxes. In fact, the airport has grown and expanded in recent years.
Accused killer's statements transfix courtroom
Friday, April 18, 2008By CRYSTAL McMORRIScharmon@bc-time.com l 894-9643
Shawn M. Commire admitted that he made at least one mistake in the early-morning hours of June 5, when what started out as a burglary ended with a bloody killing of an elderly woman.
''If we would have ran and not gone to the garage,'' Commire said, ''we wouldn't be having any of these problems right now.''
It was one of many stunning statements made to Bay City Police detectives Beth Ducolon and Dean Vosler in three interviews in the hourJune 5 death.s following the stabbing and bludgeoning of Rita M. Salogar, 83.
About 35,000 stockholders to get no dividend from Flint-based Citizens Republic
by Melissa Burden | The Flint Journal
Thursday April 17, 2008, 9:35 PM
FLINT, Michigan -- Less than two months after Flint-based Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. slashed stockholders' quarterly dividend by more than 50 percent, the news got worse Thursday.
Now, they get nothing. No dividend will be paid at all for the first quarter and possibly longer.
Citizens Republic announced Thursday that the board of directors had indefinitely suspended the quarterly dividend paid to about 35,000 shareholders as part of its quarterly earning report.
Bachelor's at JCC? Go slowly on idea
Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot April 18, 2008 09:58AM
Categories: Editorial
The following is a Jackson Citizen Patriot editorial for April 18:
The successful pitch Jackson Community College makes to local high-school graduates is this: Start college here on the cheap, stay near home, and get a good education that you can transfer to a four-year school.
Now, here's a wrinkle: How about spending all four years here? That scenario is not so remote when you listen to what's happening in Lansing. A study recently suggested letting community colleges offer four-year degrees, and the group that represents those schools is making a serious pitch for such a change.
Jury dismisses civil claim against Kid Rock
4/18/2008, 9:20 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A jury says a Detroit-area woman isn't entitled to damages over her claim that Kid Rock roughed her up outside his Clarkston recording studio.
The jury of four men and three women was selected, opening arguments were made and testimony started Friday in Oakland County Circuit Court in Pontiac. The panel deliberated 90 minutes before dismissing 29-year-old Kelly Ann Kozlowski's demand for $25,000.
UNION MAKES BID TO SAVE BRIDGE TENDER JOBS
Friday, April 18, 2008By Scott E. Pachecospacheco@bc-times.com | 894-9646
Bay City and its bridge tenders have struck a tentative deal to keep five full-time bridge tenders on the job through 2012.
The tradeoff for the bridge tenders' union is that it would allow the city to use nonunion seasonal workers to fill four other bridge tender positions. And as full-time positions open in the future, those jobs would be filled by seasonal workers. The union, Utility Workers Union of America Local 542, is offering the compromise as an effort to head off renewed interest among some city commissioners to study privatization of bridge operations.
NATIONAL STORIES
Clinton, Obama complain about complaining
Apr 18, 6:35 PM (ET)
By NEDRA PICKLER
RADNOR, Penn. (AP) - Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are complaining about which candidate is the biggest complainer.
The issue is their treatment in debates. Obama is objecting to the questions posed this week in one moderated by ABC News. Many of the toughest questions were targeted at Obama, the front-runner for the nomination, and he's said too much time was spent on political divisions instead of issues that matter to Americans.
Hillary Drops Back
A new Newsweek poll shows Obama pulling away.
By Michael Hirsh | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Apr 18, 2008 | Updated: 3:08 p.m. ET Apr 18, 2008
Despite her campaign's relentless attacks on Barack Obama's qualifications and electability, Hillary Clinton has lost a lot of ground with Democratic voters nationwide going into Tuesday's critical primary in Pennsylvania, a new NEWSWEEK poll shows.
The survey of 1,209 registered voters found that Obama now leads Clinton by nearly 20 points, or 54 percent to 35 percent, among registered Democrats and those who lean Democratic nationwide. The previous Newsweek poll, conducted in March after Clinton's big primary wins in Ohio and Texas, showed the two Democrats locked in a statistical tie (45 percent for Obama to 44 percent for Clinton). The new poll puts Obama ahead among women as well as men, and voters aged 60 and older as well as younger voters.
April 18, 2008, 6:14 pm
Clinton Gets 3 New Superdelegates
By Ariel Alexovich
Hillary Rodham Clinton added a new trio of superdelegates to her tally on Friday. Two former New Jersey governors, Jim Florio and Brendan Byrne, endorsed Mrs. Clinton last year, but they were only selected to be their state’s add-on delegates Thursday.
As such, they have the same voting rights as superdelegates and don’t have to vote with the popular vote winner of their state (although Mrs. Clinton won New Jersey anyway).
Representative Betty Sutton of Ohio also came out in support of Mrs. Clinton. The district she represents is in northeastern Ohio.
Analysis: Time, delegate math working against Clinton
Apr 18, 3:49 PM (ET)
By DAVID ESPO
WASHINGTON (AP) - Time is running out on Hillary Rodham Clinton, the long-ago front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination who now trails Barack Obama in delegates, states won and popular votes.
Compounding Clinton's woes, Obama appears on track to finish the primary campaign fewer than 100 delegates shy of the 2,025 needed to win.
Clinton argues to Democratic officialdom that other factors should count, an unprovable assertion that she's more electable chief among them. But she undercut her own claim in Wednesday night's debate, answering "yes, yes, yes" when asked whether her rival could win the White House.
Clinton Backer Distributes Essay On How GOP Would Link Obama To '70s Radicals
April 18, 2008 11:46 PM
A high-ranking labor supporter of Hillary Clinton is distributing to union leaders and to Democratic strategists a document detailing the radical activities of Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, two former members of the '70s group the Weather Underground, who decades later, in Chicago, crossed paths with Barack Obama.
The document - a three-page emailed essay by Rick Sloan, communications director for the International Association of Machinists as Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) -- takes both literary and political license to outline what Sloan believes would be the thrust of a hypothetical
Republican campaign against Obama focusing on his tangential connection to
Ayers and Dohrn.
The Line: McCain Puts 3 Key States in Play
PHILADELPHIA -- The Fix is on the way back from a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania to check out the lay of the land in advance of the state's presidential primary on Tuesday.
But if it's Friday, it's time for The Line ... some traditions you just can't break.
Roll over a state to see its 2004 presidential election result.
Today we tackle the presidential playing field -- ranking the 10 states most likely to switch from the Democratic to Republican column (or vice versa) in the presidential election this fall. As always, the No. 1 ranked state should be considered the most likely to switch in November. In the parentheses by each state's name is listed the winner and margin from the 2004 election.
Maybe Not 'Bitter,' But Aware of the Loss
In Western Pa., Witnessing a Steady Decline
By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 19, 2008; Page A06
CHARLEROI, Pa. -- Sitting with friends over 74-cent cups of coffee at the McDonald's here, Bob and Michael Jeanmenne can see more than a few things that might affect their moods.
The Monongahela River, which runs cleaner than when they were young (not a good sign); the
Obama's secret weapon: the media
By: John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei
April 18, 2008 08:43 PM EST
My, oh my, but weren’t those fellows from ABC News rude to Barack Obama at this week’s presidential debate.
Nothing but petty, process-oriented questions, asked in a prosecutorial tone, about the Democratic front-runner’s personal associations and his electablity. Where was the substance? Where was the balance?
Where indeed. Hillary Clinton and her aides have been complaining for months about imbalance in news coverage. For the most part, the reaction to her from the political-media commentariat has been: Stop whining.
Hip Hop Infiltrates ‘08 Campaign
By Ariel Alexovich
How does Barack Obama deal with the flak coming at him from his opponents and the media?
He just gets. That. Dirt off his shoulder.
Yep, at a campaign stop Thursday in Raleigh, N.C., politics and pop culture collided when Senator Obama encapsulated at least part of why he’s so popular with among the country’s youth. He seeemed to mimic Jay-Z’s sweeping hand gesture from the song “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” while addressing how he moves past campaign stumbling blocks.
Complain, Who Me?
By Jeff Zeleny
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – One day after Senator Barack Obama mockingly criticized the latest Democratic presidential debate for “playing gotcha games,” he has purposefully not waded into another debate over the debate.
“Did you hear me complain?” Mr. Obama said upon landing here, answering a shouted question from a reporter. “You tell me, who’s been complaining about the press for the last six months? You tell me?”
On the Hill
Senators Cross Party Lines to Remove Doubt on McCain’s Presidential Eligibility
By CARL HULSE
When it comes to John Sidney McCain, opinions in the Senate about his presidential qualifications can definitely be mixed. But Democrats and Republicans hope to find unanimous agreement on at least one basic aspect of their colleague’s run for the White House – that he is unequivocally eligible to be president even though he was born in the Panama Canal Zone.
With the arcane Constitutional issue about Mr. McCain’s status popping up in a couple of courtrooms, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected next week to approve and send to the Senate floor a non-binding resolution that seeks to put to rest any question about Mr. McCain and that murky “natural born Citizen” clause.
http://www.observer.com/2008/bill-clinton-extraordinary-candidate-ordinary-surrogate
Bill Clinton: Extraordinary Candidate, Ordinary Surrogate
by Steve Kornacki | April 18, 2008 | Tags: PoliticsBill Clinton
Bill Clinton’s crimes against his wife’s presidential bid, generally in the form of deceptive or merely ill-considered comments that have thrown her campaign off-message, have been well documented.
There was the flap back in November when he claimed that he’s opposed the Iraq war “from the beginning,” even though—like his wife—he was silent while President Bush marched the country to war. And the tirade he directed at a local television reporter before Nevada’s caucuses. And his apparent venture into racial politics, like when he sought to water down the impact of Barack Obama’s South Carolina victory by pointing out that Jesse Jackson had carried the state in his presidential campaigns. And so on.
Heat -- and a Little Light
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, April 18, 2008; Page A27
Once the meaningless inquisition about loose semantics and questionable acquaintances was done, Wednesday night's debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton got interesting.
Granted, it's likely that only the most intrepid viewers made it to the Promised Land of actual substance. For some reason, ABC News moderators Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos -- smart and skilled interviewers who, to put it mildly, had an off night -- spent what seemed like an eon grilling Obama and (to a lesser extent) Clinton about verbal gaffes they had already corrected and problematic entanglements they had already disentangled. You know the litany: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the "bitter" working class, sniper fire in Bosnia, blah, blah, blah.
Deterring the Undeterrable
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, April 18, 2008; Page A27
The era of nonproliferation is over. During the first half-century of the nuclear age, safety lay in restricting the weaponry to major powers and keeping it out of the hands of rogue states. This strategy was inevitably going to break down. The inevitable has arrived.
The six-party talks on North Korea have failed miserably. They did not prevent Pyongyang from testing a nuclear weapon and entering the club. Now North Korea has broken yet again its agreement to reveal all its nuclear facilities.
The other test case was Iran. The EU-3 negotiations (Britain, France and Germany) went nowhere. Each U.N. Security Council resolution enacting what passed for sanctions was more useless than the last. Uranium enrichment continues.
Debate beats 'Idol' in Philly David Brooks bearish on Obama Nancy & Newt
By: Mike Allen
Apr 18, 2008 09:14 AM EST
BREAKING NEWS: The Associated Press has learned that President Bush will name SBA Administrator Steven Preston as HUD chief to oversee the nation's housing policies at a time of crisis in the industry.
Good Friday morning. Jack Feehery, Playbook's youngest reader, turns 2 today. On the agenda: trucks, big balloons, running like a wild man and kissing his dog Sam.
Citigroup Records a Loss and Plans 9,000 Layoffs
By ERIC DASH
Published: April 18, 2008
Citigroup, caught in the midst of the housing slowdown and tight credit market, reported a $5.1 billion loss on Friday and announced that it would cut 9,000 more jobs in the next 12 months.
The bank’s first-quarter results reflected more than $16.9 billion in write-offs and additional loan loss reserves as Vikram S. Pandit moved to reshape the company and clean up the mortgage mess in his first three months as chief executive. It is the bank’s second consecutive quarterly loss as it absorbed heavy blows in all of its four main businesses.
April 19, 2008
Testimony on Under-Age Pregnancies in Sect
By JOHN DOUGHERTY and JOHN HOLUSHA
SAN ANGELO, Tex. — Testifying Friday in the case of 416 children taken from a polygamous compound, an investigator from the state’s child protection agency said there was evidence that 20 or more under-age girls had given birth as a result of sexual contact with older men.
Angie Voss, who is with the state’s Division of Child Protection Services, said that “more than 20 girls, some of whom are now adults, have conceived or given birth under the age of 16 or 17. There is a culture of young girls being pregnant by old men.”
Ms. Voss’s testimony came on the second day of a hearing before Tom Green County Judge Barbara Walther on whether the children should continue to be held by the state or returned to their homes near Eldorado, about 45 miles from here.
Isn't That Special?
By Dana Milbank
Friday, April 18, 2008; Page A03
You know times are tough when the American president and the British prime minister start talking about the good ol' days of the Blitz. President Bush and Prime Minister Gordon Brown found themselves in such a situation yesterday as they faced the cameras in the Rose Garden. Unpopular wars and economic crises have dragged both men to standings not seen since the World War II era: Bush is now the most consistently unpopular president since Truman, and Brown's support has plunged faster than Neville Chamberlain's after he appeased Hitler.
And so it was, perhaps, inevitable, that the beleaguered pair would start off their news conference talking about Winston Churchill and the "Special Relationship."
April 19, 2008
Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar
By CELIA W. DUGGER
JOHANNESBURG — A Chinese ship loaded with armaments for Zimbabwe steamed into the port of Durban this week and set off a political firefight, putting newfound pressure on South Africa — and now China — to reduce support for Zimbabwe’s government as it cracks down on its rivals after a disputed election.
Dock workers at the port, backed by South Africa’s powerful unions, refused to unload the ammunition and weapons on Friday, vowing protests and threatening violence if the government tried to do it without them.
Meanwhile, the Anglican archbishop of the province appealed to South Africa’s High Court to bar transporting the arms across South Africa, arguing that they were likely to be used to repress Zimbabweans. The court agreed, and by late Friday the ship had pulled up anchor and set sail.
Groundings Prompt FAA Safety Overhaul
Committee to Monitor Airlines' Maintenance
By Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 19, 2008; Page D01
The nation's top transportation official yesterday announced steps that she said will improve oversight of airlines' compliance with safety mandates and ensure that last week's mass groundings and flight cancellations do not recur.
The measures included establishing a roving team of officials to conduct comprehensive checks of airline maintenance practices and the creation of a system to better track the status of looming and overdue inspections, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.
Regulators are seeking the changes, Peters said, because "no one was well served by what happened last week" when American Airlines grounded hundreds of jets.
Verdict Out On Impact Of Outreach To Victims
By Jacqueline L. Salmon and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 19, 2008; Page A01
Bernie McDaid says he is changed, not healed.
After praying privately with Pope Benedict XVI, after telling the pontiff that there is "a cancer" in the Roman Catholic Church, after giving the 81-year-old German theologian a loaf of Irish soda bread baked by McDaid's 81-year-old mother, he now thinks the Church will more aggressively fight sexual abuse by priests.
