| Fairfax Chairman: County Should Buy Foreclosures for Housing
The chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors wants the county to buy foreclosed properties and sell them at below-market prices to families in need of affordable housing. Gerald Connolly's idea is aimed at creating affordable housing and helping protect neighborhoods in danger of decline because of foreclosures. Connolly, who is running for Congress, made the proposal Friday night in his annual State of the County speech. The idea is likely to get consideration for the board, where Connolly leads an 8 to 2 Democratic majority. Connolly says the money would come from an existing program that allocates nearly $23 million annually to preserve affordable housing. He told WTOP Radio that he expectss broad support from the board of supervisors. Fairfax County has see a jump in the number of home foreclosures in the past several months.
Real Estate Uncertainty Sparks Boom
With interest rates rising, the share market falling and uncertainty plaguing the real estate market, real estate agencies and franchise groups are spending more money on relatively affordable online advertising. This shift is bringing new revenue to popular New Zealand real estate website—allrealestate.co.nz. According to US-based classified advertising expert Peter Zollman, executive editor of the Real Estate Advertising Report, a similar shift is taking place in the US, where the economy has been troubled for several months. .
Drug safety recalls linked to tight approval deadlines at FDA
WASHINGTON -- Vioxx, Bextra, Rezulin, Baycol. Looking at drugs yanked off the market, Harvard researchers found a disturbing pattern: Medicines approved right on deadline by the Food and Drug Administration are more likely to cause safety problems later than those cleared with more time to spare. Congress set strict deadlines for the FDA to speed the arrival of new medications, but critics have long complained that the ticking clock spurred a dangerous rush to judgment. The Harvard analysis of decades of drug approvals, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine, provides the first scientific evidence supporting some of those complaints. The FDA challenged the findings with its own statistics. Still, the study sparked calls to re-examine the balance between speed and safety.
Sarasota Businessman Guilty In Money Laundering Case
TAMPA - A federal jury relied on overwhelming evidence to convict Sarasota businessman Daniel Prewett of federal drug and money laundering charges Wednesday. Prewett, 57, former owner of Jackson Hewitt tax preparation franchises and two Sarasota nightclubs, could be sentenced to at least 10 years at a hearing on June 6, prosecutors said. A video of Prewett's meeting with a paid government informant in his tax office was critical to the case and captured Prewett describing three options for laundering $100,000. "Since I'm sending this from my company to your company, or one of my companies, how do you want me to code this to you?" Prewett asks the man, a paid confidential source for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The jury deliberated for three hours before handing down the guilty verdict.
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