Blacks, Latinos Use Subprime Loans to Buy New Homes
Across the nation, black and Latino homebuyers accounted for 49 percent of the increase in homeowners from 1995 to 2005, says Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, but they were more likely to use subprime loans that feature higher-cost products for buyers with impaired credit. Those loans are now going bad at an alarming rate. Concentrated foreclosures in neighborhoods of color could reduce property values. The NAACP, National Council of La Raza and other civil-rights groups recently called for a six-month moratorium on subprime home foreclosures. Read more.
Women 4 Times More Likely to Get Multiple Sclerosis Than Men
By 4-to-1, women with multiple sclerosis (MS) outnumber men with the disease, research shows. It is not clear why MS rates seem to be increasing only among women, but the observation could help researchers find for the cause or causes of the disease. "We have to ask ourselves, 'What has been going on over the last 50 years or so that would affect women more than men?'" Gary Cutter tells WebMD. Read more.
Audit Finds Millions in Disability Waste, Fraud
It would be nice to get an extra $96,000 in addition to your salary, wouldn't it? That's what happened to a Washington, D.C., Department of Corrections employee, who received $96,558 from the government's worker-disability program even though the worker could return to his job. Now an audit of the government's worker-disability program shows it disburses more than $1 million a year in improper compensation, including payments to workers long after they have returned to the job. Read more.
Gospel Channel Could Replace Black Family Channel
Gospel Music Channel is in talks to replace Black Family Channel in cable TV lineups that reach millions of viewers. BFC would disappear from cable if the deal goes through, according to a person familiar with the situation, while Gospel would gain a bigger audience. Additional details about the possible agreement weren't available, including financial terms and what role BFC leaders might retain with Gospel. Both networks are based in Atlanta. The person said a deal could be reached this week, reports The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
NASCAR Needs Diversity for Its Life
For years, NASCAR has lived off the southern, white-male fan base, but the second consecutive season of declining TV ratings has the car-racing league's officials talking diversity. Four years after NASCAR launched a program called Drive for Diversity to produce elite drivers of color and female drivers, it has no blacks or women competing regularly in either of its top circuits, the Nextel Cup and Busch series. "If we don't get diversity right, this sport will not achieve what it needs to achieve from a popularity standpoint," NASCAR CEO Brian France said in February. Read more.
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