By Betsy Blaney, Associated Press writer25 May 2011 LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A historic drought has already cost Texas farmers and ranchers an estimated $1.5 billion, and the cost is growing daily as parched conditions persist in much of the state. May is typically the wettest month in Texas, but parts of the state haven’t […]
By Jerry Lackey21 May 2011 Weather disasters across the nation already have wreaked havoc on 2011 agriculture, maybe worse than millions of feral hogs are doing to livestock, irrigated crops, city parks and golf courses. But hold onto your hat, more is ahead as meteorologists predict an active hurricane season from June through November. Croplands […]
By Mark Thompson 24 April 2011 … While working on a recent piece on how to cut $1 trillion from the $7-trillion-plus U.S. defense budget over the coming decade, I stumbled upon a provocative analysis by Roger Stern, an economic geographer at Princeton University. He says the U.S. has “mis-allocated” — others might say “wasted” […]
By Elizabeth Crisp, USA TODAY17 May 2011 JACKSON, Miss. – Addie Mae Payton waits every Thursday for the Meals On Wheels man to bring her lunch. “It’s things like chicken, rice and vegetables that I can heat up in the microwave,” says Payton, 85. “You get full off of it, you sure do.” Even with […]
May 9 (Reuters) – U.S. home values fell in the first quarter at the fastest rate since late 2008, real estate data firm Zillow said on Monday, suggesting that a bottom will not be seen until 2012 at the earliest. Zillow said its home value index fell 3 percent in the first three months of […]
By Matthew Yglesias5 May 2011 Something that I think drives at least some of my disagreements with other liberals about education policy is that I think a lot of middle class liberals implicitly underestimate the extent of really bad learning outcomes. Take this report (PDF) from the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund which notes “that 47% […]
By MARK KAPCHANGA4 May 2011 The International Monetary Fund is warning that poverty levels will rise in Africa, unless the current spike in food and fuel prices is arrested. In its latest world economic outlook on Africa, the Washington-based institution says the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be probably be delayed as […]
By Sarah Goodyear26 Apr 2011 My head nearly exploded at the breakfast table on Saturday morning. I was reading a piece in The New York Times about an Illinois developer who has finally found a way to unload the new houses he has built some 50 miles from downtown Chicago, in a place he has […]
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY 26 April 2011 Americans depended more on government assistance in 2010 than at any other time in the nation’s history, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data finds. The trend shows few signs of easing, even though the economic recovery is nearly 2 years old. A record 18.3% of the […]
By Tami Luhby, senior writer15 April 2011 NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The Detroit Public Schools district is sending layoff notices to all its 5,714 teachers, saying it must determine its staffing needs amid a drop in enrollment. The district is also mailing non-renewal notices to 248 administrators. Detroit has lost one-quarter of its population over […]
