Housing
Golf resort wants increased funding after significant losses
Penny Brown Roberts of the Baton Rouge Advocate used public records to show that “developers of a swanky Texas golf resort have burned through nearly $30 million in a line of credit from Louisiana’s police retirement system and now say they need more money to make good on promised sales.” The pension system has contributed…
Read MoreWashington D.C. drives Baltimore housing boom
Jamie Smith Hopkins of The (Baltimore) Sun used data on home sales to find “clear signs that proximity to D.C. is driving the boom in Baltimore and its five surrounding counties, over and above what extraordinarily low mortgage interest rates have achieved nationwide. This region’s fastest appreciation came in Howard, Anne Arundel and Carroll counties,…
Read MoreMillions misspent by housing authority
Michael Biesecker and Pat Stith of the Raleigh News & Observer reviewed records from the Durham Housing Authority, finding that the agency “improperly spent millions for temporary labor, auto repair, landscaping and legal advice. Other financial records requested by The N&O are missing, officials say.” The authority paid more than $2.3 million for temporary workers…
Read MoreSex offenders living in nursing homes
An investigation by KCRA-Sacramento “found that there are currently 52 registered sex offenders living in California nursing homes and not all are elderly men confined to their bed. Fifty-six percent are under 70.” An alarming number after reviewing a Nevada case in which a 86-year-old man was convicted of sexual assault against a 78-year-old women…
Read MoreRacist covenants still exist
Judy L. Thomas and Gregory S. Reeves of The Kansas City Star studied homeowner association rules in the Kansas City area, finding that “more than 1,200 documents involving thousands of homes still contain racist language banning blacks, Jews and other ethnic groups. For the first half of the 20th century, racially restrictive covenants were routinely…
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