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Broward teachers up the ante |
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Sunday, 28 September 2008 |
According to a report in the Sun-Sentinel the Broward Teachers Union is
escalating its pressure on its contract battle with the Broward School
District in the effort to obtain new wage contract for the county’s
teachers. The new pressure being applied include interrupting town hall
meetings on Monday and placing repeat phone calls Tuesday to Broward
School Superintendent James Notter and School Board Chairwoman Robin
Bartleman to demand a raise.
If it sounds annoying, that’s the idea. “We are looking to disrupt the
system itself in order to get attention,” said union president Pat
Santeramo on the union’s latest tactics in the ongoing contract
negotiations.
The union has been restive in recent months as it pushes for increased
salaries for teachers. Earlier this month the union staged a protest in
front of the district’s Fort Lauderdale offices where they built a pile
of old shoes to indicate that they have give their “soles” to the
district schools. The union members also jammed district administrator
and board members’ e-mail inboxes and fax lines.
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Voter registration for felons |
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Sunday, 21 September 2008 |
Following initiatives taken by Florida Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Legislature to change state laws to enable the state’s felon to have their voting rights restored, two civic rights organizations are ensuring that felons are registered by October 6, in order to vote on November 4.
According to reports, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida have launched a voter registration campaign on Monday to get the majority of the state’s estimated 112,000 convicted felons, whose rights have been restored, to be registered to vote.
The registration attempts by the groups include the launching of an advertising campaign, with the message, “Our nation’s future is at stake. Your voice should not be silenced by your past." The ads are to be displayed in minority communities and public buses in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and elsewhere across the state. The ads are in English and Spanish. |
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Wall Street woes impact on South Florida |
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Sunday, 21 September 2008 |
For two successive weekends there have been great shocks in the American economy. The first was the takeover of the mortgage guarantee companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by the Federal government on Sunday, September 7; then the decision by Lehman Brothers, an American financial icon of over 150 years, to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, September 14.
Early Monday morning, Bank of America, who along with Britain’s Barclays Bank had been contemplating purchasing Lehman Brothers, had instead purchased Merrill Lynch, another iconic financial institution in America since 1914. As if that was not enough, later on Monday it was announced that America International Group (AIG) the biggest private and commercial insurance company in the country, reeling from its insurance of risky mortgage-backed securities against default, was also on the brink of bankruptcy, forcing the government’s intervention.
The tumultuous problems faced by these financial giants, mostly resulting from failed investments in the beleaguered mortgage industry, sent shock waves through the national economy, which saw Wall Street have its worst day in over 7 years on Monday with the DOW index falling by over 500 points. Also, consumer confidence has plunged with many people concerned about their financial future. |
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New rules for Florida drivers |
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
A new set of driver’s license rules slated to take effect next month
will ultimately make it more difficult for drivers here to get a new
license or renew the old one.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) has laid
down the law on documentation requirements for proof of identity, which
the Director of the Division of Driver Licenses Sandra Lambert is
calling a way to increase security. She said, “Upcoming changes are a
result of recent statutory requirements and department efforts to
increase security.”
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Mortgage default rates worsen in Florida |
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Sunday, 14 September 2008 |
A recent report by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that more than 75,000 new homes are at risk of being foreclosed on by mortgage lenders, adding more bad news to the foreclosure crisis in the state.
The percentage of homes that were in foreclosure in Florida, amounted to 6 percent higher than any other state in the country and approximately twice the national average of 2.75 percent.
At the end of March Florida’s foreclosures stood at 4.61 percent, and that was a great cause for concern, but the situation worsened during the second quarter of the year, coinciding with increased unemployment rates in the state. Translating the percentages to actual numbers, approximately 213,000 homes in the state were being foreclosed on. At the same time the report indicated that another 273,000 homeowners were at least one month late in their mortgage payments. This is an increase of 25,000 late payments over the first quarter of the year.
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