Obama and the Black Farmer: Something for Nothing.

Obama Wants $1.25 B to Compensate up to 66,000 African American Farmers for USDA Discrimination in 1981-96; Census Says African American Farmers Peaked at 33,000 in Those Years


President Barack Obama is requesting $1.15 billion from Congress—to add to a $100-million earmark he pushed through Congress in 2008 when he was a senator—to create a $1.25 billion federal fund to settle discrimination claims by what the Justice Department says is 66,000 African Americans who “farmed or attempted to farm” and were allegedly the victims of discrimination committed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during the period from Jan. 1, 1981 to Dec. 31, 1996.

During that 16-year period, however, the number of African American farm operators in the United States peaked at 33,000 in 1982, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 1992, says the Census Bureau, the number of African American farmers had fallen as low as 19,000. (There were 2.24 million total farmers in the United States in 1982 and 1.93 million in 1992.)

A "farm operator," according to the Census, is "a person who operates a farm, either doing the work or making day-to-day decisions." Farm operators include both individuals who own farms and who rent them.


Read More: Obama Wants $1.25 B to Compensate up to 66,000 African American Farmers for USDA Discrimination in 1981-96; Census Says African American Farmers Peaked at 33,000 in Those Years

2 arrested in child-porn case

A mother and son were arrested on child pornography charges Tuesday.

Keyes Pierce

Keyes Pierce, 28, was charged with four counts of possession of child pornography. His bond was set at $1 million, or $250,000 per count, by Municipal Judge Dale Danks Jr.

Lisa Pierce

Pierce's mother, Lisa Louise Pierce, 52, who lives in Florence, was charged with one count of accessory after the fact of possession of child pornography. Her bond was set at $50,000.

Both were being held at the Madison County Detention Center in Canton.

They were arrested after Madison police and members of the state attorney general's Internet Crimes Against Children unit served a search warrant at 388 Sundial Road in an investigation of alleged possession of child pornography.

CL

Canton Flea Market Today

If you have business in Canton today, reschedule.

The Flea Market will be from 8-5. Held on the second Thursday in May and October, it began in 1965 as an art show on the grounds of the Courthouse. It now takes up several streets, and attracts many thousands of visitors.

AP: 700 MS homes in foreclosure in 3rd quarter

Lenders took back the property of just over 700 Mississippi homeowners during the third quarter of 2010, a national company that tracks foreclosures reported Thursday.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac said that although foreclosure action picked up overall, there was a slight decline from August to September.

RealtyTrac said that in addition to the repossession of 727 homes, another 705 property owners received a notice of a pending foreclosure sale during the July-through-September period.

One in every 885 homes received some sort of foreclosure-related notice during the third quarter. Mississippi ranked 46th nationally in the rate of foreclosure actions, RealtyTrac said.

Third-quarter foreclosure filings in Mississippi increased 40.1 percent from the second quarter of 2010, but decreased 35.5 percent from the third quarter of 2009.

RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said he expects to see a dip in lender repossessions in the fourth quarter, not because of an improving economy, but because some major lenders have stopped foreclosures amid questions about documentation.

On Wednesday, officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia launched a joint investigation into allegations that mortgage companies mishandled documents and broke laws in foreclosing on hundreds of thousands of homeowners.

The states’ attorneys general and bank regulators will examine whether mortgage company employees made false statements or prepared documents improperly. Employees of four large lenders have acknowledged in depositions that they signed off on foreclosure documents without reading them.

RealtyTrac said the Mississippi foreclosure rate dropped 10.9 percent from August and 63.3 percent from September 2009. Last month, there were 260 homes repossessed, while 264 were set for auction by lenders.

Those actions affected one in every 2,418 Mississippi homes, ranking the state 45th in the United States.

RealtyTrac reported that 930,437 properties in the United States were hit by a third-quarter foreclosure action, affecting one in every 139 homes. Nationally, 288,345 properties were repossessed.

The highest foreclosure rates in the third quarter were recorded in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, Idaho, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Illinois and Hawaii.