The Morningwood News

International Herald Tribune
By Michael Lewis

It was Aug. 24, 2005, and New Orleans was still charming. Tropical Depression 12 was spinning from the Bahamas toward Florida, but the chances of an American city’s being destroyed by nature were remote. An entire industry of scientists who calculate the likelihood of various natural disasters had set the odds: A storm that destroys $70 billion worth of insured property should strike the United States only once every 100 years. From Miami to San Francisco, the nation’s priciest real estate faced beaches and straddled fault lines; its most vibrant cities occupied its most hazardous land. And virtually no one fully understood the true odds.

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Daily News (Los Angeles)
BY GRETCHEN MORGENSON
The New York Times

On its way to becoming the nation’s largest mortgage lender, the Countrywide Financial Corp. encouraged its sales force to court customers over the telephone with a seductive pitch that seldom varied. “I want to be sure you are getting the best loan possible,” the sales representatives would say.

But providing “the best loan possible” to customers was not always the bank’s main goal, say some former employees.

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WCVB TV/DT

Kiosk Allows Credit Card Donations

BOSTON — God is now extending credit at one Boston church.

St. Anthony Shrine in Boston claims to be the first Catholic church in the world to install a kiosk that allows worshippers to make electronic donations.

“I think it’s been a pretty big hit, actually,” Friar David Convertino, the shrine’s guardian and executive director told The Boston Herald.

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The Star-Telegram
By Barry Shlachter

Corn prices have jumped, fueled by ethanol demand, and Texas farmers have shifted their strategies to capitalize on the boom

FRISCO — Under a darkening sky, Cody Standerfer flips on his combine’s headlights and steers it through a field that’s a mere shouting distance from a new housing development and strip center with a doughnut shop, a florist and a stockbroker — on land his father once farmed.

Ethanol-fueled demand for corn is being felt in this corner of Frisco, where Standerfer’s family has planted 400 acres and where the 26-year-old battles traffic every morning to get his big green machine to leased land scattered around Texas’ fastest-growing city.

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The Houston Chronicle
By SARAH VIREN

Times change in the frozen treat business with fewer children on the streets, but this vendor is aiming to lick the market

The first time Stacy Camp drove her ice cream truck onto the wide streets of Spring’s Northhill subdivision and cranked up the music, nothing happened.

The next time it was much the same: rows of houses filled with kids apparently immune to the siren call of ice cream on a hot summer day.

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WCVB TV/DT

Bank Still Plans To Foreclose On Property

EVERETT, Mass. — A property owner in desperate financial straits held a gun to the head of banker who came to foreclose, police said.

NewsCenter 5’s Bianca de la Garza reported that Dean Colantuoni was charged with assault with intent to murder.

Colantuoni was arrested after he allegedly pulled a gun on Phillip Freeham, a bank employee from East Boston Savings Bank who was attempting to foreclose Colantuoni’s property, Stadium Fruit and Flowers, on Monday.

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LA Daily News
BY BARBARA CORREA

First came reports that toxins found in plastic baby bottles and vinyl bibs could make infants sick.

Then researchers said “Baby Einstein” videos - those artfully crafted nature and music DVDs designed to make little Joey the sharpest tot in the playpen - actually made a lot of kids dumber.

And just when parents thought they’d heard it all, the world’s largest toy-maker, Mattel Inc., announced a second massive recall in two weeks. This time, Mattel had to warn consumers about more lead-paint-tainted toys from China and small magnets that pose a choking hazard.

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The Boston Globe
Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. –A man who set off a banking crisis needs 13,000 years to make good his debt to the court.

Joseph Mollicone appeared in Superior Court yesterday because a judge wants to speed up his payments. He’s now paying $75 a month toward a $12 million restitution bill.

Mollicone was convicted of embezzling in 1993, sent to prison and ordered to make payments for his role in triggering a statewide banking crisis.

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KVAL.com
By Elissa Harrington

DOWNTOWN EUGENE - Eugene has picked up the motto “World’s greatest city of the arts and outdoors.” City leaders are trying to figure out if it’s living up to its name.

Today the City of Eugene got a report card in the arts. The cultural policy review was better than most years but it creativity still has room to grow.

Wednesday, officials looked over an annual report for the arts. Required number of productions? Check! High number of attendees?Check! Good economic impact? Big check! In fact, according to today’s spreadsheet, performing arts pulled in more than 6 million dollars last year.

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New York Daily News

Barbie’s not that kind of girl.

The makers of the all-American doll sued chinabarbie.com yesterday, accusing the Hollywood, Fla., company of trying to peddle soft porn across the Internet by invoking Barbie’s good name.

Chinabarbie.com sells memberships to customers eager to view Asian women posing in various stages of undress.

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The Enquirer
By Sue Kiesewetter

FAIRFIELD - When nature calls, there’s no better place in America to take care of business than Jungle Jim’s International Market.

Known beyond Greater Cincinnati for its exotic foods and playful jungle theme, Fairfield’s most-recognized business has been voted to have the nation’s “best” restroom.

Internet voters chose Jungle Jim’s over four other restrooms nationwide - including one in Flushing, Mich. - to win Cintas Corp.’s 2007 America’s Best Restroom Award in what the sponsor said was one of the most hotly contested races since the program began in 2001.

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signonsandiego.com
The Union-Tribune
By Lisa Cornwell
Associated Press

CINCINNATI – Toys and other children’s products recalled because of safety concerns are often resold through online auction sites, putting children at risk, according to a recent study.

EBay Inc.’s Web site prohibits the sale of recalled products, but enforcement efforts don’t seem to be succeeding, said Keri Brown Kirschman, the study’s lead author and an assistant psychology professor at the University of Dayton.

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