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GROAN! BALLARD TALKS OF SELLING OFF PARKS: Indianapolis Mayor Mayor Greg Ballard told the Indianapolis Star editorial board that he might sell city parks (Tully, Indianapolis Star). The city’s budget process, which is marked by lagging revenue and more needs than there is money for, might be even more painful. The parks, Ballard said, are "really just a drain" on the city’s $1.1 billion annual budget because they must be maintained but produce no revenue. "I love green space as much as the next person," Ballard said. But, he added, the city needs "to see what value we can get out of" those pesky little parks.
BAYH ‘AGGRESSIVELY WRONG’ ON WAR SAYS CRITIC: As the Senate debate on the use of force against Iraq neared its climax in October 2002, Senator John McCain turned on the floor to Senator Evan Bayh to ask what had led him to take such “a visible, as well as important” role in seeking Congressional consent for military action (Hulse, New York Times). Mr. Bayh, a cautious Indiana Democrat, acknowledged it had not been an easy decision. .jpg)
“There is reluctance in my heart, as I know there is in the other senators, to contemplate the use of force,” Mr. Bayh said, adding that he concluded “we were simply left with no other credible alternative to protect the safety and well-being of the American people.” Six years later, Mr. Bayh is one of the leading candidates to be the running mate of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama, associates of Mr. Obama say. But Mr. Bayh’s advocacy for the war could complicate his prospects for getting on the ticket. Mr. Bayh, 52, is a telegenic moderate Democrat, a father of twins entering their teens, an experienced politician who in 2006 briefly flirted with a presidential run before endorsing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The son of a senator, Mr. Bayh was a popular two-term governor who could make Indiana, typically rock-solid Republican in presidential contests, a competitive state and appeal to blue-collar Democrats who have been slow to embrace Mr. Obama. Mr. Bayh’s support of authorizing force in Iraq stands in sharp contrast to Mr. Obama’s oft-stated view that he showed the good judgment to oppose the conflict from the start. After his vote, Mr. Bayh in early 2003 joined Mr. McCain as an honorary co-chairman of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which made regime change in Iraq its central cause. “He was not only wrong, he was aggressively wrong,” said Tom Andrews, national director of the Win Without War coalition, referring to Mr. Bayh. “In my view, he would contradict if not undermine the Obama message of change, turning a new page on foreign policy and national security.” Eli Pariser, the executive director of the antiwar group MoveOn.org, said that Mr. Obama had a variety of factors to weigh in making a choice and that he was not ready to say that Mr. Bayh should be ruled out because of his views at the start of the war. “We are not going to get into which particular person is good or bad,” Mr. Pariser said. “We hope that emphasizing Senator Obama’s judgment against the war is something they consider in making their pick.” Mr. Bayh’s political allies say he now concedes his vote on the war was a mistake, the product of personal assurances from George J. Tenet, the central intelligence director, to Mr. Bayh, a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, that Iraq possessed unconventional weapons.
BAYH, TPAW TO DO ‘FACE THE NATION’ SUNDAY: Perhaps the best way to think about the vice presidential sweepstakes is as an extended — and very public — job interview (Cillizza, Washington Post). If the job you are applying for is vice president of the United States, then your best chance to show your stuff is on the closely-watched Sunday talk shows. Succeed in advocating for the nominee and/or pushing back against attacks on him by your rival guest and boost your stock. Bomb out and watch the buzz around you — and your chances at being the pick — peter out. This is clearly a high wire act that nearly every candidate mentioned seriously as a potential pick by either John McCain or Barack Obama has performed over the past few weekends and will continue on until the choices are made. In the last two weeks, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) has stopped by "Meet the Press" and "Fox News Sunday," Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) has appeared on "Face the Nation" as have Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I). Govs. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) and Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) as well as former Gov. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.) have stopped by the "This Week with George Stephanapoulos" set. (We know we missed a few appearances. It was not intentional. We love all vice presidential candidates and all Sunday shows equally.) And now comes word that Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) — the vice presidential frontrunners for their respective parties — will square off this weekend on "Face the Nation."
BAYH STOOD UP TO LIEBERMAN: Bayh is widely perceived as too nice a guy to deliver an attack — too cautious and too calculating about his own political future to go to the wall to defend Obama (Cillizza, Washington Post). His supporters insist that characterization is flawed and provide as evidence Bayh’s recent one-on-one with Lieberman (a skilled debater no matter what else you might think of him) on "Fox News Sunday" late last month. In the clip, Bayh’s supporters argue, he effectively parries Lieberman’s attack that Obama favored a strategy of "defeat and retreat" in Iraq despite the fact that Bayh himself was an aggressive advocate for the war at the time. For Bayh, proving he is tough enough to stand up to a sustained assault on Obama — and his record — and willing to throw a few punches is the task confronting him this weekend.
DEMS EYE 60 SENATE MAJORITY: Senate Democrats, who once pooh-poohed the idea of winning a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the fall election, are growing increasingly willing to float the possibility as November nears (Cillizza, Washington Post).. The latest evidence of Democrats’ increasing optimism comes in the form of a fundraising Web video sent out by Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chuck Schumer (N.Y.). The fundraising appeal notes that Republicans filibustered more than 90 times during this Congress — the most in history — and that the 2008 cycle offers a unique chance to build a lasting Democratic majority in the Senate. "We need your help because we have so many red states where we have a once in a generation opportunity," says Schumer in the video. While both sides tend to use hyperbole in their fundraising pitches, it’s clear that Democrats are now talking much more openly about the possibility of 60 seats.
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Indiana Governor
THOMPSON WOULD CREATE HEALTH POOLING: Healthcare policy took center stage Tuesday for Jill Long Thompson, who announced at McGinty Conveyors on Indianapolis’s Westside a proposal to create a quasi-governmental agency to administer a small business health insurance pool (Nees, Howey Politics Indiana). The plan would offer tax incentives, financed by last year’s three-cent increase in the cigarette tax, in the form of a credit or deduction to businesses with fewer than fifty employees to participate. She said she would also create an online "connector" for participants to comparison shop for insurance, reverse a Daniels administration decision to require children on Hoosier Healthwise to apply monthly, instead of annually, for benefits, and revive a loan forgiveness program to encourage health professionals to work in underserved rural areas of the state. "It would be less than what they are now paying to administer their own health insurance programs, because it would be spread over so many," she said during a campaign appearance on the west side of Indianapolis. “There is already a deduction that is allowed on the federal tax code, which gets carried through the state income tax. This would be beyond what is currently allowed,” she said (Terre Haute Tribune-Star).
GOVERNOR’S WORKING ON IT: In 2007, at Gov. Mitch Daniels’ urging, the Legislature increased the state cigarette tax by 44 cents — up from 55.5 cents per pack — to fund the Healthy Indiana Plan or HIP, which offers low-cost health coverage to low-income Hoosiers. The Daniels administration points to its signature health care achievement—the creation of the Healthy Indiana Plan—which provides health insurance to some 130,000 Hoosiers. Still, during 2006, nearly two million Hoosiers continued to go uninsured. Daniels’ re-election campaign spokesman Cam Savage said Daniels’ HIP plan provides coverage to 132,000 Hoosiers previously without health insurance, and the program has a provision to enable small business pooling (Evansville Courier & Press). "The Department of Insurance is currently developing a program that will assist small businesses in pooling together to purchase insurance and get a better premium rate," he said in a statement.
DANIELS AIMS TO STEER MONEY INTO CLASSROOMS: Gov. Mitch Daniels says schools must find a way to increase spending in Hoosier classrooms, and he will propose actions to free resources for student learning (Howey Politics Indiana). Daniels will ask the next Indiana General Assembly to require that schools work through the Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA) to purchase goods and services unless they can show they can get better prices another way. A 2006 law encouraging collective purchasing has had some success, but the governor believes much more must be done. The governor also said he will work with the legislature and the State Board of Education to provide incentives to schools that are doing a good job of spending efficiently or are making progress toward their dollars to the classroom goals. For example, those schools might receive preference in the competition for Department of Education discretionary grants and programs. "Only 61 cents of every dollar spent in our schools makes it to the classroom, even under a liberal interpretation of what counts," said Daniels. "Each 1 percent of improvement would mean over $100 million new dollars to hire more teachers, pay them better, make class sizes smaller, reduce the cost of textbooks, and so on. That’s a huge opportunity, and we must seize it." According to 2005-06 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, fewer than half of those who worked in the state’s K-12 system were teachers. Indiana is 48th in the nation for its ratio of teachers to total staff and 45th in the ratio of in-school administrators to teachers working in those schools. Daniels also wants to help teachers who reach into their own pockets to buy needed supplies for their classrooms by giving them a break on their state income taxes. The governor proposes to help teachers by offering them a $50 credit annually on their income taxes for supplies they’ve purchased for their classrooms. "This is a modest proposal, but we want to do whatever we can to support teachers and their commitment to students," said Daniels. "As schools refocus their spending away from overhead and into the classroom, we hope eventually to make out-of-pocket teacher spending unnecessary."
DANIELS ANNOUNCES NESTLE JOBS: Nestlé USA announced Tuesday that it would expand its 880,000-square-foot facility in Anderson to more than 1,000,000 square feet, adding 135 jobs to the 300 at the facility in the process (Anderson Herald-Bulletin). Gov. Mitch Daniels, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, state Rep. Terri Austin, D-36, and state Rep. Scott Reske, D-37, joined Nestlé representatives and Mayor Kris Ockomon for a small conference Tuesday morning at the Anderson factory. Michael Strong, facility manager, said there were two main reasons why the company decided to expand in Anderson. “First, it’s a highly technical facility,” he said, explaining that manufacturing lines could be changed quickly. “Second, we’re really proud of the team we were able to assemble here with a highly skilled work force,” he said. Daniels said this was the fourth announcement from Nestlé about investment in Indiana in two years — twice in Anderson, once in Greenwood and once in Fort Wayne. “Nestlé is the kind of company, the kind of people we want in the state,” he said. “This is a global company, and they have a world of choices.”
LG DEBATE TODAY: Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and Democrtic nominee Dennie Oxley II will debate at 3 p.m. today at the Indiana State Fair. The debate will take place at the Indiana Farm Bureau Cafeteria.
FARM BUREAU APPEAL FOR DANIELS: The annual policy meeting for the Indiana Farm Bureau is Aug. 22-23. At this meeting Farm Bureau decides upon which candidate they will be endorsing for governor (Howey Politics Indiana). Betsy Villwock has sent an e-mail to members, saying, "Please write your local Farm Bureau President encouraging him or her to support Gov. Daniels for another four years!"
Presidential
PORTMAN BELIEVES McCAIN WILL WIN INDIANA: Arizona Sen. John McCain brought in reinforcements Tuesday, as a former Ohio congressman sometimes included in Republican running mate speculation hit the Hoosier State in support of McCain’s presidential bid (Kelly, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette). Rob Portman served the southwestern portion of Ohio from 1993 until 2005, when he was appointed U.S. trade representative. He also served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Bush for about a year before returning home to Cincinnati in 2007. He has been campaigning for McCain in Ohio, a traditional swing state, but Tuesday he stumped for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in Indiana. “Hoosiers probably haven’t followed the race too closely yet,” Portman said while visiting the Indiana State Fair after an earlier economic roundtable. “Just like most Americans it’s summer time, we’ve got the fair going on, and there are a lot of fun and interesting things to do. But as they begin to focus, I think he’ll do really well in Indiana.”
CALL ISSUED TO McCAIN WOMEN: Judy Singleton, Jennifer Ping, Joyce Smith and Sandi Huddleston are co-chairing the Women for McCain effort in Indiana (Howey Politics Indiana). "Our goal is to get 150 women signed up to be part of this grassroots effort in the next 10 days so that we can have a press conference soon to alert other Hoosier women that we are supporting Senator McCain for President," Huddleston said in an e-mail to GOP women. Please email Megan Robertson at mrobertson@mccain08hq.com and give her your name and contact information so you can receive updates and information. Megan is from Indiana and is the Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin Regional eCampaign Director and Political Projects Director. She is working with our own Jennifer Hallowell who is the Regional Political Manager in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin for the McCain campaign.
Iraq War
HOOSIER SOLDIER LAID TO REST: Staff Sgt. Brian K. Miller was remembered Tuesday as a man’s man — he loved fishing, riding dirt bikes, the Colts and the military — but also as a soft-hearted family man who cooked Hamburger Helper for his family and watched scary movies with them (Higgins, Indianapolis Star). Miller, an Indiana National Guard soldier in Iraq, was killed Aug. 2 when the vehicle he was riding in rolled over while on a mission near Baghdad. He was 37. He leaves a wife and two children. More than 200 friends, family members and admirers attended his funeral in the gymnasium of Pendleton Heights High School, Miller’s alma mater. A slide show preceded the service, showing Miller and his family camping, jet-skiing, dressed for Halloween. "Sergeant Miller was a respected leader," said Capt. Douglas Rapp, his commander in Iraq. "He had a quiet professionalism and a dry sense of humor. I never heard him once complain." Miller’s conversation was frequently about his family, Rapp said. "I can’t tell you how happy I am for you to have had a father like yours," Gov. Mitch Daniels said from the podium, addressing Miller’s children, Nikki and Austin, ages 13 and 10.
Congress
LUGAR EYES OIL IMPORTS: “Americans spent 10 times as much on imported oil in the month of June than all the investment in new U.S. ethanol producing capacity for the entirety of 2007,” U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar said today (Howey Politics Indiana). Trade data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today showed that the U.S. spent $45.207 billion on oil imports for the month of June, up from $40.36 billion in the month of May, also $20 billion more than was spent in the month of June 2007 ($26.723 billion). Investment in new U.S. ethanol capacity during 2007 was $4.47 billion according to the Renewable Fuels Association. “Oil imports also accounted for 80 percent our $56.8 billion trade deficit for the month,” Lugar said.
VISCLOSKY TO TOUR STORM DAMAGE: U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., is scheduled to tour areas of the region today that were hit by last week’s tornado and severe storms (Times of Northwest Indiana). Visclosky on Tuesday announced he drafted a letter to President Bush supporting Gov. Mitch Daniels’ request for a disaster declaration for Lake County by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The letter is being circulated to all members of the Indiana congressional delegation for signatures and will be sent to the president Thursday. "A disaster declaration from the SBA would help Northwest Indiana’s communities cleanup and recover from the devastating storms," Visclosky said. "I hope it comes quickly so that we can put this difficult time behind us."
Education
ACT SCORES HOLD STEADY: This year’s class of Indiana high school seniors averaged scores on the ACT college entrance exam similar to last year, keeping the state above national marks (Times of Northwest Indiana). The average score for Indiana’s class of 2008 was 22.0 on a 36-point scale, the same as last year, according to scores released Wednesday. The national average score was 21.1 for this year, down slightly from 21.2 last year.
GARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS LOSE CREDIT CARDS: Administrators from the Gary Community School Corp. must hand in their credit cards to the district’s business office by tonight, according to a decision made by the Gary School Board on Tuesday (Times of Northwest Indiana). Prompted by the results of a Times investigation of local School Board and superintendent spending, Gary School Board members voted unanimously to strip administrators of their corporation-sanctioned cards. Administrators were ordered to turn in their cards within 24 hours. "The people voted us in for accountability," said Ken Stalling, new to the board this year. "We have to establish accountability." A Times analysis of credit card statements and reimbursement forms published earlier this month found that Gary Superintendent Mary Steele-Agee charged 28 percent of the corporation’s nearly $57,500 total between May 2007 and May 2008. Steele-Agee charged numerous items for a total of $15,814, including two $50 tours of New York City.
RANDOLPH SCHOOL TRUSTEE REFUSES TO RESIGN: Despite the request of his fellow Randolph Central School Board members, a man recently arrested in a Muncie prostitution sting declined to resign from the board Tuesday night (Muncie Star Press). Dana Cox, 68, 311 N. Sheridan St., Ridgeville, attended the school board meeting but said nothing about his Aug. 2 arrest, even after board President Fred Pries made a motion to censure Cox, who has served 18 years on the board. Cox declined comment after the meeting. The meeting, held at Deerfield Elementary School in Ridgeville, Cox’s hometown, attracted about a dozen residents, in addition to news reporters. The board invited public comment regarding its statement of disapproval of Cox’s actions. Two people, Orville McCord and Peggy Hummel, spoke in his favor. McCord said he didn’t believe what had been printed in the newspaper and added, "I’ve known Mr. Cox all my life and he jokes with people." Hummel thought the board was in a hurry to convict Cox, who has yet to face formal charges. "It’s hard for me to understand how we can censure Mr. Cox for something we don’t know he did," Hummel said. "Censure seems like we’re in a hurry to find him guilty."
Counties
LAKE CHOPPER VOTE ON HOLD: The Lake County sheriff said Tuesday he hopes a compromise proposed to the County Council will let him buy a new $2.5 million helicopter he believes is crucial for public safety (Times of Northwest Indiana). The council is set to discuss the matter today. Council President Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, signaled her opposition Tuesday to buying any helicopters, arguing the sheriff also is asking for $600,000 to fund past due bills connected with operating the county jail. Council member Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, chided Cid. "This pettiness needs to stop," Franklin said. Cid and the sheriff have been feuding for the past few weeks regarding budgets and spending. The sheriff previously wanted to buy two new helicopters at a cost of $4.2 million, but abandoned the second chopper after the council voted Tuesday morning to empty and abolish a special fund the sheriff had used since 2006 to save money for the helicopters. The sheriff had amassed $1 million in fees he collected from the sale of some 5,000 foreclosed homes. That $1 million now goes into the county’s general fund.
Cities
KOKOMO TRIMMING EMPLOYEES: On Jan. 4, there were 520 full-time employees with the city of Kokomo (Kokomo Tribune). As of Tuesday, there were 492 full-time workers on the city payroll. Tuesday evening marked the official beginning of budget hearings, with city department heads justifying their numbers to the Kokomo Common Council. Led by Councilman Mike Karickhoff, R-At Large, the three scheduled budget hearings aren’t expected to change the numbers a great deal. But the key numbers — the number of city employees receiving pay and health benefits — has already been trimmed significantly by the city administration. The Indiana General Assembly’s property tax reform has in many ways forced city officials into austerity measures. After Monday’s contentious council meeting, Kokomo Fire Chief Scott Kern said the staffing complaints aired by the Kokomo Firefighters Local 396 Union “wouldn’t be happening” if state legislators hadn’t forced the city to make cuts. But Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight has vowed he’ll achieve the $2.2 million in spending cuts mandated by 2010, with or without the help of city unions. Contract talks for all three unions are ongoing, but Goodnight has already asked all city employees to accept at least one year without a raise. Cuts in health care benefits are also being sought. Monday, Karickhoff indicated the council will need to cut about $600,000 from Goodnight’s 2009 budget proposal to make spending match anticipated revenue.
RICHMOND FIREFIGHTERS PUSH BACK: Richmond firefighters say the proposed loss of two firefighters in 2009 could lead to the closing of a city fire station. Ultimately, they fear that proposed budget cuts could jeopardize public safety (Richmond Palladium-Item). "We’ve been asked to shoulder the cuts," firefighter John Owens said Tuesday. "But (with fewer personnel) it will go beyond us. Our citizens will be asked to shoulder some of the burden." Owens is a member of the firefighters’ union’s executive board. This week, faced with the possibility of two fewer personnel in 2009, firefighters are starting what may become a longer-term campaign to let the public know the possible impact. "Our goal is to educate the public about what we do, what we respond to and what we’re responsible for," said firefighter Shawn Staton, head of the firefighters’ union. "We also want the public to know the ramifications of losing personnel." "It could mean closing a station. That’s now a real possibility," said driver/operator Bill McGathey. At issue is House Bill 1001, legislation that has revamped, and reduced, property taxes for residential properties in the city. It also will reduce the amount of tax money coming to cities. The net result in 2009 will be a half million dollars less with which to run the city, said city Controller Tammy Glenn. Glenn said the Indiana State Legislature’s Legislative Service Agency has told her to expect $515,000 less in state funding next year. She thinks the number will be closer to $580,000. The proposed 2009 budget for the city is $17.3 million. "The bottom line is we cannot support the level of fire protection, or police protection, with the current level of funding," Glenn said. "We’ve been chipping away for four years and it’s never hit the fire and police personnel. Next year it will." Fire Chief Mike Crawley said the tentative 2009 budget he submitted came back last week with instructions not to fill two vacant firefighter positions. Also targeted was the $375,000 budgeted for overtime. It was reduced to $300,000.
ARMSTRONG DEFENDS SPENDING IN COLUMBUS: Cummins Inc. would have looked at other cities to build its new office complex if Columbus had not agreed to help pay for a second downtown parking garage, Mayor Fred Armstrong and a Cummins executive said during a "mid-year State of the City" address (Columbus Republic). Armstrong addressed about 50 people Tuesday during the event, at which he tried to justify the city’s decision to use publicly backed bonds to help build the garage and The Commons. He said the investment, $4 million for the garage and $6 million for The Commons, will help grow the city out of difficult economic times, in which legislation and the flood have reduced property-tax revenues.
LAKE, PORTER CITIES SHOW GROWTH: Merrillville is now the fourth-largest incorporated community in Northwest Indiana and Crown Point, the fastest-growing city, ranks 10th (Post-Tribune). And Griffith has joined Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Michigan City with the region’s biggest losses since 2000. The latest population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau for 2007 presented to the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Policy Committee on Tuesday show fast-growing towns overtaking larger cities, but some of the cities show impressive gains as well. "The data show we are experiencing a steady growth over all areas, and we are becoming a more heterogeneous population," NIRPC data systems analyst Lauren Rhein said. Rhein’s comments accompanied new Census Bureau figures that put the three-county population at 762,469, up 2.8 percent in the last seven years. Lake County’s total grew 1.6 percent to 484,564; Porter County was up 9.4 percent to 160,578; and LaPorte County was down 0.3 percent at 109,787. Fast-growing areas included Lake County along and just south of U.S. 30 as well as Morgan, Pleasant, Washington and Westchester townships in Porter County. Calumet and North Townships in Lake County continued to experience losses, as did most of the cities and towns in LaPorte County. In Porter County, the numbers dropped only in Ogden Dunes and Pines. Leading all communities in percentage growth was Winfield, up 83.2 percent, and Winfield Township grew by one-third, also tops in the region. St. John was second with 40.1 percent, and Burns Harbor increased 40.1 percent. Crown Point was the biggest gainer among cities with 20.7 percent, making it 10th, while Valparaiso (seventh) grew 9.2 percent and Portage (third) grew 9.0 percent. Valparaiso is poised to pass East Chicago in the 2010 national count. Schererville, growing by 15.9 percent, is now eighth-largest, passing up Hobart (ninth), which still increased by 9.7 percent. Among other towns, Chesterton added 19.7 percent, Cedar Lake was up 14.6 percent, Dyer grew by 12.9 percent, and Lowell gained 10.5 percent. Merrillville (fourth) lost a few people from 2006, but managed to pass Michigan City (fifth) this year after besting East Chicago (sixth) in 2005.
Economy
TITAN WORKERS DON’T GET PAID: Employees at Titan Recovery Group in Marion stood befuddled outside the company’s office at 305 S. Adams St. on Tuesday, wondering why they hadn’t been paid for any work they’d done for the previous two weeks (Marion Chronicle-Tribune). Debt-recovery operations had ceased at the office Tuesday. Workers learned that their paychecks, which had been due Friday but had not arrived, would not arrive anytime soon. Jeri Greene, a supervisor at the Marion office, confirmed that paychecks did not come. “If I’m not getting paid, no one else is, either,” she said. She said questions about the future of the company should be referred to Fred Howard, the company’s managing director. Calls to Howard were not returned Tuesday. Telephones at Titan’s offices in Duluth, Ga., were turned off.
NEGATIVE EQUITY IN ONE THIRD OF HOMES: Almost one-third of U.S. homeowners who bought in the last five years now owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, according to Zillow.com, an Internet provider of home valuations (Bloomberg News). Second-quarter home prices fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier, giving 29 percent of owners negative equity, said Zillow, the Seattle-based service that offers values for more than 80 million homes. For those who bought at the 2006 peak of the housing market, 45 percent are now underwater, Zillow said. Negative equity and declining prices are making it difficult for homeowners to sell property for a profit. Almost one-quarter of U.S. homes sold in the past year were for a loss, Zillow said. That contributes to the foreclosure rate because some homeowners can’t absorb the loss and end up surrendering their homes to the bank that holds the mortgage, said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics.
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