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Thursday, October 28, 2010
News The Government’s Incredible Shrinking Mortgage Mod Program
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 12:04 PM
From Karen Weise at ProPublica:
The U.S. government's effort to help struggling homeowners is approaching a standstill, and the number of homeowners in ongoing mortgage modifications could start shrinking in several months if current trends continue, according to a ProPublica analysis of Treasury Department data.A year and a half into the program, the number of homeowners defaulting on their modified loans has been fast approaching the number of new modifications. In September, for example, banks modified almost 28,000 loans, but nearly 10,000 homeowners fell out of the program because they defaulted on their modified payments. Taken together, the programs' growth has slowed by almost a quarter each month since May.
The administration launched its foreclosure-relief effort last spring, looking to help 3 to 4 million homeowners by modifying their mortgages to have affordable monthly payments. Only 467,000 homeowners are in modifications that are still ongoing.
Alan White, a law professor at Valparaiso University, said the problem isn't the rate at which homeowners are redefaulting, which is low compared to other modifications, but rather the shrinking number of new modifications given out by banks. "We need to be modifying 10 times as many a month," he told us.
Across the country, over 5 million mortgages are more than 60 days overdue or in foreclosure, according to Lender Processing Services.
Banks have had a poor record of modifying mortgages under the government program. (Check out our graphical breakdown of each bank's performance.)
Homeowners report Kafka-esque experiences of lost paperwork, miscommunication and dashed hopes in trying to get help preventing foreclosures. We've recently chronicled homeowner experiences in a series of profiles and a questionnaire. Investors who own mortgages are dismayed as well. The Treasury Department has yet to penalize a single mortgage servicer since the program launched last spring.
Learn more about ProPublica, and read more of their investigative stories, here. And, check out their bank-by-bank graphic.
Guess which one leads the pack in canceled mortgage modifications? Yep: Charlotte's own Bank of America with 187,189 canceled so far.
Here's PBS' Newshour, earlier this week, on the same topic:
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Oct. 28, 2010 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Needtobreathe at The Fillmore
• Last Comic Standing Live at Belk Theater
• Carnival of Carnage for a Cause at Ri Ra Irish Pub
• Noche De Chupacabra at Halo
• GUTS: Pumpkin Carving Contest at The Square Uptown
News / Biz Pictures, summary from last coal ash hearing
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 11:59 AM
Yesterday was the last of a series of public hearings held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding its proposed coal ash regulations. The hearing was held in Knoxville, Tenn., about 30 miles from the coal ash spill that got everyone's attention. But it was quite different from Charlotte's hearing.
For one thing, the venue was fancier and larger. In Charlotte, when you walked into the Holiday Inn down by the airport, you couldn't help but encounter people involved in the hearing. In Knoxville, the hearing was at a huge Marriott hotel near the city's downtown district. If you didn't go there specifically for the hearing, you'd never have known one was going on. The hearing was held downstairs, out of sight.
Also, while Charlotte's 13-hour hearing was backed for many hours, the Knoxville hearing looked empty. What I discovered was people were coming in, commenting and leaving. In Charlotte, people hung out — sometimes for hours. At both hearings, a couple hundred people spoke. Also at both hearings, comments were divided somewhat evenly — as far as I could tell — on both sides of the issue.
Right after arriving at the hearing, I spoke with a representative from the EPA who told me the families affected by the coal ash spill in December 2008 were warned away from the hearing by their attorneys and that many of them had moved away. Additionally, he said the message at the hearing, with few exceptions, was on repeat. To summarize: Those who work for companies that create or use coal ash want lenient regulations and everyone else wants stronger regulations.
Another thing that was different at yesterday's hearing: The hotel allowed environmentalists to rent a room. While the Holiday Inn in Charlotte originally told environmentalists they could rent a room, they changed their tune and rented the same space to coal industry lobbyists instead. And in Knoxville, environmentalists were able to hold a small Halloween-themed protest outside of the hearing. In Charlotte, the planned protest was quashed by the Holiday Inn. The company has yet to explain why.
One more thing: At yesterday's hearing there was a screening of the documentary "Perry County." That's the county in Alabama where the sludge from the coal ash spill in Tennessee is being dumped. It's one of the poorest in Alabama.
With that, I can't report any new news out of yesterday's hearing — other than the fact that they're finally over and we'll hear back from the EPA ... well, the when part is unclear. But I can show you the photos I took both at the hearing and near the coal plant that created the disaster.
From what I saw, everything looks normal in Kingston, Tenn. (That's the town surrounding the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal plant.) But, there are a lot of for-sale signs in front of expensive-looking houses. And my GPS freaked out once I passed the "locals only beyond this point" sign, coloring the roads hazard yellow.
If you were unable to attend the hearings, but would still like to comment, you can sign the North Carolina Conservation Network's petition or send in your own comments. The deadline is Nov. 19. The Catawba Riverkeeper has created a few easy buttons for you at the bottom of this linked page.
Read more about yesterday's hearing from the Knoxville Sentinel.
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Film / Film News / News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 11:59 PM
Conviction - Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell
Saw 3D - Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor
Stone - Robert De Niro, Edward Norton
Film / Film Reviews / News DVD Pick: The Descent
Posted By Matt Brunson on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 2:50 PM
By Matt Brunson
THE DESCENT (2006)
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Neil Marshall
STARS Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza
With rare exception, Hollywood has long lost its ability to create memorable or meaningful horror flicks — look no further than the recent releases My Soul to Take and Case 39 for glaring evidence. But with Halloween just around the corner, those interested in checking out a modern-day monster movie would be well-advised to rent The Descent, a terror tale so accomplished that it made my 10 Best list for 2006.
Boomer with Attitude / News Dem commissioners: flaming heaps of gall & b.s.
Posted By John Grooms on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Uproarious laughter and derision rained down last night on a few Democratic county commissioners when they told a group of voters at a west Charlotte forum that education is one of the county’s top priorities. Actually, that’s what should have happened; instead, the polite crowd settled for rational argument. Either way, in a year when the county commission slashed school spending, leading to a massive community uproar and the dust-ups at school board meetings over school closings, it takes spectacular, flaming heaps of gall for commissioners to claim education as a top priority. We’ve written about this time and again, but if education was really a top priority (which it should be, considering that the county spends over half its budget money on CMS), the commissioners would have at least taken a serious look at raising taxes to save the schools from draconian cuts. They didn’t, however, because, plain and simple, the Democrats on the commission didn’t have the political courage to do the right thing when the chips were down.
Rather than treat the commissioners’ hilarious claim as anything other than butt-covering nonsense, however, let’s instead try to imagine how much crap would have to be slung for other notables to reach the stellar standard of bullshitting achieved by county commission Dems yesterday. Here’s a sampling:
Michael Smith, president, Center City Partners: “I am dedicated to making sure the entire city, not just uptown, snags a lot of investment money during this economic downturn.”
County Commissioner Bill James: “I plan to open a new, diversity-driven theme park in Mint Hill called ‘Homo, Black and Muslim World.’”
Jerry Richardson, owner of Carolina Panthers: “We will win the Super Bowl by next season at the latest, and I’ll spend all the money needed to get to that goal.”
U.S. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: “I promise that when Congress reconvenes, GOP senators will unite in support of a single-payer healthcare system for all Americans.”
Pres. Obama: “My No. 1 goal is to make sure the fatcats who nearly wrecked the world economy pay a heavy price for their recklessness.”
Ken Lewis, former CEO of Bank of America: “Yeah, what Obama said.”
Christine O’Donnell, U.S. Senate candidate, Delaware: “When I go to the Senate, I will propose a public awareness campaign to increase citizens’ understanding of witchcraft and masturbation.”
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 12:16 PM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Oct. 27, 2010 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Plants and Animals at Neighborhood Theatre
• Miss All Hallows Eve Pageant at Scorpios
• BiG K.R.I.T, Smoke DZA, and Curren$y at Amos' Southend
• The London Broil Show at Duke Energy Theatre
• Explicit Content Stand-up Showcase at Closet Nightclub
News Today: Last coal ash hearing in Tennessee, thanks to citizens
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 11:58 AM
For reasons unknown, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chose the states to hold public hearings on its proposed coal ash regulations, the agency left out Tennessee. This is dumbfounding since the coal ash spill in that state launched the issue onto the national stage. Well, the citizens protested and the EPA caved. So, nearly a month after their last coal ash hearing, and about six weeks after Charlotte hosted a similar hearing, the people of Tennessee have an opportunity to voice their opinions about the agency's proposed regulation.
The proposed regulations offer two options:
Subtitle C, will re-label coal ash as "special," or hazardous, waste; will be enforced by the state and federal government; require new coal ash ponds to be lined and monitored; will require old ponds to be retrofitted with liners; and, once the coal companies close the plants that produce the ash, both the state and federal government will monitor them.
Under Subtitle D, the regulations will be enforceable through citizen lawsuits; monitoring will be conducted by coal companies themselves; new and old ponds will be lined; and the word "special" will be avoided.
Check out the differences for yourself here.
If you weren't able to attend the hearings but would still like to submit your comments to the EPA, you still have time ... but not much. The last day the agency will accept public comments is Nov. 19. The Catawba Riverkeeper has created a Web page to help those who want to comment but who aren't sure what to say or how to go about submitting them. Here it is. This is your opportunity to say whatever you want to the EPA regarding coal ash impoundments.
This is a big deal for North Carolina because our state has more high-hazard coal ash ponds than any other. "High hazard" means that if the dams holding the ponds in place should collapse — as one nearly did near Wilmington last month — that people could die. And, two of the unlined, high-hazard ponds near Charlotte (there are at least four, all of which are owned by Duke Energy) drain into our main drinking water reservoir, Mountain Island Lake.
Further reading: Is coal ash poisoning our drinking water?
Here's some aerial footage from the coal ash disaster in Tennessee, which occurred shortly before Christmas in 2008, pushing homes off their foundations and uprooting a railroad, roads and more. More than a billion gallons of the sludge gushed out of the broken dam.
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
News / Biz Obama administration isn't tough on water polluters
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 11:51 AM
Well, this is just annoying, especially since state and local governments aren't much help either. In fact, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities refuses to detail its emergency plan should our drinking water become compromised. This could be because the company's in the process of expanding the reservoir behind its main drinking water treatment plant on Brookshire Boulevard — which means the reservoir is currently empty. Though, officials say they can't detail the plan due to security concerns. But, wait a minute — isn't it our water and our utility? Don't we deserve to know the emergency plan?
From The New York Times, on the Obama administration's lack of enforcement:
Criminal enforcement of federal water-pollution laws has continued a more than decadelong slide under the Obama administration, despite pledged improvements, according to U.S. EPA data.The government reported 32 new Clean Water Act convictions during the fiscal year that ended in September, down from 42 in 2009. The number of criminal water pollution cases initiated by the agency fell from 28 last year to 21 this year.
Both figures have dropped nearly 60 percent since the late 1990s, their highest points in the past 20 years.
The numbers indicate that the Obama administration so far has been unable to reverse a trend that started under President George W. Bush, when EPA criminal enforcement activity dropped in conjunction with a 27 percent cut to U.S. EPA's overall budget, said William Andreen, an environmental law professor at the University of Alabama.
Read the rest of this article here.
That's full-on annoying. We can't drink promises, Mr. President.
And, as stated before, local and state governments aren't much more help either. From The Chicago Tribune:
It took years for Illinois officials to discover that southwest suburban Crestwood was pumping contaminated water to its residents, in part because the state took village officials at their word that nothing was wrong.Such lax oversight is a problem in scores of communities throughout the nation, according to a new report from the U.S. Environmental Agency's inspector general that urged federal and state officials to conduct more rigorous inspections and adopt tighter reporting guidelines.
The report, prompted by a Tribune investigation, also found there is no way to determine if emergency water supplies that serve more than 58 million people are contaminated or being misused. Oversight is based on trust, rather than routine inspections, the inspector general concluded.
As a result, it's unclear if there are situations like Crestwood in other parts of the country. Investigators could find just two similar problems during the 1990s, one in Minnesota and the other in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Read the rest of this article, by Michael Hawthorne, here.
Clean water is essential for life. Watch: Clean water issues will become more prominent over the next few years.
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
News Local pastor wants to know if homosexuality is a moral issue
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Michael Brown loathes homosexuals, and he wants you to, too. Which is, of course, exactly the opposite of what Jesus would do, but never mind the minor details.
In slightly positive news, Brown's announced he's ready to debate the issue with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who is joining him in his crusade of intolerance to offer the Jewish view on homosexuality and why, maybe — just maybe — we should stop bashing gays. Or, at least, he admits to having gay friends ... which is one step closer to the reality that every human deserves the chance to find and foster love, regardless of what it looks like.
We thought you might like to attend the Nov. 1 debate, so here are the details, copied straight — pardon the pun — from the e-mail invite:
Dear Friends,We invite you to join us for a very special event this coming Monday night, November 1st, from 7:00-9:30 PM, as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and Dr. Michael Brown debate the question, "Is Homosexuality America's Greatest Moral Crisis?" This is a debate that you don't want to miss!
What does the Bible really say about homosexuality? Is homosexual practice worse than other sins? Have evangelical Christians demonized the homosexual community? And does homosexual activism really present a moral threat to America?
This vital debate could not be more relevant, coming just one day before the elections, and in the midst of daily news stories regarding Don't Ask, Don't Tell, same-sex marriage, and the bullying and suicide of gay young people. What should our response be?
The debate will be held at Southern Evangelical Seminary at 3000 Tilley Morris Road, Matthews, NC 28105. Admission to the debate is free; an offering will be received to help cover the expenses. There will be audience Q & A at the end of the debate.
There will also be a live webcast of the debate; go to: http://askdrbrown.org/about-dr-brown/itinerary/shmuley-vs-brown-debate-is-homosexual-activism-americas-greatest-moral-crisis. (The webcast will be free, but online donations will be appreciated.)
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is a bestselling author and media personality, widely known as "America's most famous rabbi." For Rabbi Boteach's article on a Jewish view on homosexuality, published in the Wallstreet Journal and the Jerusalem Post, see http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=191923.
Dr. Michael Brown is a biblical scholar, author, and activist, widely known as the foremost Messianic Jewish apologist. For an article on Dr. Brown's recent lecture on homosexual activism, published in the Christian Post, see http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101019/christians-urged-to-wake-up-to-reality-of-glbt-agenda/.
If you live in the greater Charlotte, NC area, we hope to see you at the debate; for everyone else, join us on the webcast, and please forward this email to your friends.
The AskDrBrownTeam
Of course, we're waiting for Brown to get caught with a dick in his mouth and much prefer the NoH8 campaign to his nonsense:
Further reading:
INS to Deport Married Gay Man (because the agency doesn't recognize their union) — The Daily Beast
Rhiannon "Rhi" Bowman is an independent journalist who contributes snarky commentary on Creative Loafing's CLog blog four days a week in addition to writing for several other local media organizations. To learn more, click the links or follow Rhi on Twitter.
