KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Sunday March 7 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

Central Falls to fire every high school teacher - (www.projo.com) The teachers didn’t blink. Under threat of losing their jobs if they didn’t go along with extra work for not a lot of extra pay, the Central Falls Teachers’ Union refused Friday morning to accept a reform plan for one of the worst-performing high schools in the state. The superintendent didn’t blink either. After learning of the union’s position, School Supt. Frances Gallo notified the state that she was switching to an alternative she was hoping to avoid: firing the entire staff at Central Falls High School. In total, about 100 teachers, administrators and assistants will lose their jobs. Gallo blamed the union’s “callous disregard” for the situation, saying union leaders “knew full well what would happen” if they rejected the six conditions Gallo said were crucial to improving the school. The conditions are adding 25 minutes to the school day, providing tutoring on a rotating schedule before and after school, eating lunch with students once a week, submitting to more rigorous evaluations, attending weekly after-school planning sessions with other teachers and participating in two weeks of training in the summer. The high school’s 74 teachers will receive letters during school vacation advising them to attend a Feb. 22 meeting where each will be handed a termination notice that takes effect for the 2010-’11 school year, Gallo said.

Greece Outlaws Cash Transactions Above 1500 Euros, Unveils New Taxes - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) In an attempt to rein in the shadow economy and collect more tax revenue, Greece outlaws cash transactions greater than 1500 Euros. Please consider Greek Finance Minister unveils tax reform, wage policy. "From 1. Jan. 2011, every transaction above 1,500 euros between natural persons and businesses, or between businesses, will not be considered legal if it is done in cash. Transactions will have to be done through debit or credit cards" "There's tax relief for incomes up to 40,000 (euros)" "Taxable income based on the new scales will include capital gains from the short-term trading of stocks" "Deposits in banks outside Greece are exempted from audits of their origin if they are repatriated within six months of the passing of the tax bill and are taxed with a 5 percent rate" "Wages of board members in unlisted state companies will fall by 50 percent" "The budget bill for allowances and compensations will be cut by 10 percent"

Buy It Now: Everyone in Greece will quickly figure out that the time to make major purchases is now. So expect to see sales plunge starting January 1, 2011 as demand for everything priced above 1500 euros shifts forward.

Jackson healthcare union: Widespread layoffs expected - (www.miamiherald.com) Word about plans for widespread layoffs in Jackson Health System is expected Tuesday, says a website of a union that represents several Jackson healthcare professionals. Jackson Health System's union for nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals is warning members that it expects to be notified of widespread layoffs at a 20-minute meeting starting at 9:40 a.m. Tuesday. ``We expect to receive lists of affected areas and employees,'' Local 1991 of the Service Employees International Union says on its website. ``It is important to remember that our union contract requires that we receive at least 21 days notice of layoffs, which means no one in our bargaining unit can be laid off before March 9.'' The public hospital system, with 12,000 employees, is one of the largest employers in South Florida. About 4,500 are members of the SEIU. Another 5,000 -- mostly hospital support and office staff -- belong to the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. AFSCME spokesman Joe Reed said Monday his union's leaders had also been summoned to a meeting Tuesday.

What Union Leaders Really Think - (www.nypost.com) Oops. An Albany cop-union boss just let the protect-and-serve mask slip. Albany Police Officers Union President Chris Mesley says that, regardless of the faltering economy, a no-raise new contract is unacceptable. And to hell with the public. "I'm not running a popularity contest here," Mesley said. "If I'm the bad guy to the average citizen . . . and their taxes have go up to cover my raise, I'm very sorry about that, but I have to look out for myself and my membership." Mesley added: "As the president of the local, I will not accept 'zeroes.' If that means . . . ticking off some taxpayers, then so be it." Such gloves-off thuggery is unlikely to come from, say, United Federation of Teachers President Mike Mulgrew. His first concern is always "the children," don't you know. Just ask him. But make no mistake: Mulgrew and his union-boss colleagues hold the people who pay the bills in the same contempt expressed by Mesley. Their behavior proves it. Witness the transit workers' recent arbitration-approved 11.5 percent wage and benefits hike -- even as the state and the MTA are practically broke. Or the howls that came last summer from the police and firefighters unions when Gov. Paterson vetoed the annual reauthorization of higher pension benefits for new employees. The message? Sacrifice is for suckers -- not unionized government employees. Thus do taxpayers end up working longer and harder to pay for the guaranteed salaries and plush benefits of union members. Mesley admits that he understands that. He just doesn't care.

Landlord foreclosed. Do you have to go? - (money.cnn.com) Renting a home that is going through foreclosure? If so, don't be fooled: Lenders can't kick you out; they have to honor the terms of your lease. Of course, that doesn't mean that some lenders' representatives aren't trying to scare people away. Sandra Pearson has lived in her rented townhouse in Santa Maria, Calif., since July 2007. But last October, the single mom -- whose 17-year-old son suffers from epilepsy and autism -- was served with a vacate notice. The owner of the home had lost it to foreclosure and the servicer, First Federal Bank, wanted Pearson out. She showed them her lease, which runs through June 2010, and proof of on-time payments and thought everything was cleared up.

9,500 Shuttered Stores In Sacramento Area: "Everyone Perfectly Content With Less" - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) An empty shell occupies 9,500 addresses across the Sacramento region – one closed business for every six still open, according to a Bee analysis of U.S. Postal Service data. That's more dormant businesses than in 17 entire states, including Utah, Arkansas and New Mexico. And it's vivid along Main Street in Woodland, where Jill Caunedo happily ran a bagel and coffee shop – until about two weeks ago. "Thirty percent of all the businesses (on Main Street) are vacant," Caunedo said, adding that she is left to sell her former cafe's equipment for a quarter on the dollar. Caunedo, the former cafe owner, tries to remain upbeat, but she also sees little reason for optimism. This recession, she said, changed people, made them realize they could do without things like professionally prepared lox slices and mocha lattes. "Everyone," she said, "is perfectly content with getting by with less." The words "perfectly content" might be a bit of an exaggeration. However, from millennials, to boomers to recent graduates deep in debt with no job, and even for those lucky enough to have a good job, content or not, "everyone is getting by with less, with no plans to change."

OTHER STORIES:

Online Robbery: Hackers Steal $50,000. Bank Says "Tough Luck" - (moneywatch.bnet.com)

Interview with Paul Volcker: Bad banks need euthanasia, not rescue - (www.transcripts.cnn.com)

Coming Soon: 5 Million More Foreclosures - (www.ritholtz.com)

Foreclosures to Keep Pressuring House Prices - (online.wsj.com)

Shadow Inventory of Houses to Take Nearly 3 Years to Clear - (www.housingwire.com)

California foreclosure filings increasing - (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com)

California Prime Jumbo Loan Defaults Rise to 11.3 Percent - (www.financemymoney.com)

$100,000 pension club taking California down - (taxdollars.freedomblogging.com)

Developers dump northern Colorado land back on market - (www.denverpost.com)

U.S. looks to reluctant foreign investors to help fund the housing market - (www.washingtonpost.com)

Foreigners cut Treasury stakes; rates could rise - (www.miamiherald.com)