Foreclosures drop a bit in Miss.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, said that in April, foreclosure-related actions were taken against 361 properties in Mississippi. Those actions ranged from an initial notice of default to outright repossession by a lender.
Last month, 149 properties were scheduled for a foreclosure sale. Lenders took back 212.
The rate of foreclosure actions - affecting one in every 3,551 housing units - was down 2.7 percent from March and 2.2 percent from April 2010. That ranked Mississippi 45th in the nation.
RealtyTrac said that national foreclosure actions dropped 9 percent from March and 34 percent from April 2010 - mostly because of legal questions about paperwork.
Number of home foreclosures on the rise in La.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The number of Louisiana homeowners facing foreclosure is on the rise.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures nationwide, said that in April, foreclosure-related actions were taken against 2,289 properties. Those actions ranged from an initial notice of default to outright repossession by a lender.
Last month, 1,349 housing units were scheduled for a foreclosure sale. Lenders took back 635.
The rate of foreclosure actions - affecting one in every 858 housing units - was up 11.8 percent from March and 23.8 percent from April 2010. That ranked Louisiana 22nd in the nation.
RealtyTrac said that national foreclosure actions dropped 9 percent from March and 34 percent from April 2010 - mostly because of legal questions about paperwork. April was the seventh straight month of national declines and brought foreclosure activity in the depressed U.S. housing market to a 40-month low.
"The slowdown continues to be largely the result of massive delays in processing foreclosures rather than the result of a housing recovery that is lifting people out of foreclosure," said RealtyTrac chief executive James Saccacio.
Nationally, 219,258 properties received a foreclosure-related notice last month. Lenders took back 69,532 U.S. properties in April.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
In Texas schools, a picture's worth 1,000 calories
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A $2 million project being unveiled Wednesday in the lunchroom of a Texas elementary school will use high-tech cameras to photograph what foods children pile onto their trays - and later capture what they don't finish eating.
Digital imaging analysis of the snapshots will then calculate how many calories each student scarfed down. Local health officials said the program, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in a U.S. school, and will be so precise that the technology can identify a half-eaten pear left on a lunch tray.
Researchers hope parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools. The data also will be used to study what foods children are likely to choose and how much of if they're eating.
READ MORE
Digital imaging analysis of the snapshots will then calculate how many calories each student scarfed down. Local health officials said the program, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in a U.S. school, and will be so precise that the technology can identify a half-eaten pear left on a lunch tray.
Researchers hope parents will change eating habits at home once they see what their kids are choosing in schools. The data also will be used to study what foods children are likely to choose and how much of if they're eating.
READ MORE
No single answer to housing for tornado victims
Thousands of Southerners who lost everything last month to a pack of killer twisters will need new homes after they move out of shelters and relatives' spare bedrooms, but the types of housing they find will vary widely depending on where they live.
The communities that caught the brunt of the tornadoes range from rural crossroads in Mississippi to mid-sized Alabama cities like Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. Places like Smithville, Miss., had few rental houses or apartments to begin with; hard-hit Birmingham has a much larger stock that's ready for almost immediate occupancy.
Unlike after Hurricane Katrina, when crews set up thousands of nearly identical campers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency all over coastal Mississippi and southern Louisiana, officials say different areas hit by the tornadoes will require varying solutions.
The National Weather Service and state emergency officials are still tallying how many homes were destroyed when waves of tornadoes mowed through the South, killing hundreds in seven states as entire neighborhoods were wiped out in some areas. Alabama took the hardest hit: The state said 236 people were dead at last count, and 42 of the state's 67 counties have been approved to receive disaster assistance.
In Mississippi, state emergency management spokesman Jeff Rent said officials will help tornado victims secure mobile homes from FEMA in hard-hit Monroe County, where 15 people died and dozens of homes and businesses were damaged. The challenge is finding suitable sites for the mobile homes, especially in hard-hit areas like Smithville, which was littered with debris, Rent said. In Bertie County, N.C., residents left homeless by a mid-April tornado outbreak are living in FEMA trailers.
READ MORE
The communities that caught the brunt of the tornadoes range from rural crossroads in Mississippi to mid-sized Alabama cities like Tuscaloosa and Huntsville. Places like Smithville, Miss., had few rental houses or apartments to begin with; hard-hit Birmingham has a much larger stock that's ready for almost immediate occupancy.
Unlike after Hurricane Katrina, when crews set up thousands of nearly identical campers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency all over coastal Mississippi and southern Louisiana, officials say different areas hit by the tornadoes will require varying solutions.
The National Weather Service and state emergency officials are still tallying how many homes were destroyed when waves of tornadoes mowed through the South, killing hundreds in seven states as entire neighborhoods were wiped out in some areas. Alabama took the hardest hit: The state said 236 people were dead at last count, and 42 of the state's 67 counties have been approved to receive disaster assistance.
In Mississippi, state emergency management spokesman Jeff Rent said officials will help tornado victims secure mobile homes from FEMA in hard-hit Monroe County, where 15 people died and dozens of homes and businesses were damaged. The challenge is finding suitable sites for the mobile homes, especially in hard-hit areas like Smithville, which was littered with debris, Rent said. In Bertie County, N.C., residents left homeless by a mid-April tornado outbreak are living in FEMA trailers.
READ MORE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)