| Tri-county foreclosures soar
The number of foreclosures in the tri-county area soared in 2007, with more than 500 households losing their homes. According to RealtyTrac, a California-based company that compiles nationwide real-estate statistics, foreclosures in the tri-county surged from 195 in 2006 to 531 last year, a 172 percent increase. RealtyTrac defines a home as being in foreclosure if a default notice has been sent, an auction sales notice has been posted or if the bank has repossessed the home. Alabama foreclosures jumped 82 percent last year, to rank the state No. 37 in the country. Nationwide, foreclosures were up 75 percent in 2007, with 405,000 homes being repossessed, according to RealtyTrac statistics. Despite the increases, foreclosures still represent a small portion of households.
Overcrowded Escondido high schools to get worse
In all, the district has accumulated a total of about $6.8 million in developer fees and interest during those five years."We like to have developer fees ... but I don't know if it's ever enough," Trustee Kurt Marler said. "Does it pay for new schools? No. ... That's why we go out from time to time for bonds."District officials said the small magnet campus the district wants to build in the western portion of the city would cost about $37.3 million. They said campus upgrades would cost an additional $41.9 million and that track and field improvements and renovations to the district's headquarters and adult education center would cost about $25.9 million in combined bond and state-matching funds.The campus improvements would include permanent new classrooms, to be used for science and performing arts courses.
April 16 shootings voted top story of 2007
Marc Gilbert, the managing editor of the Killeen Daily Herald agreed that the ranking of the tragedy is understandable. Although the biggest news in Killeen, Texas has consistently been the war in Iraq due to its close location to Fort Hood, Gilbert said that the war's media importance has been waning in the minds of editors across the nation. According to Mitch Weinstock, the national editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune, April 16 was definitely the biggest one-time news story of the year. He noted that it is difficult to compare such a tragedy to ongoing ordeals such as global warming. To keep in mind the contenders for the annual vote, Affleck and a fellow reporter keep a running list of each day's top stories, also considering larger trends. "We compile a list of stories that received a lot of attention, and we send it out in an advisory to all the news editors and news directors at newspapers and broadcast stations around the country who are members of the Associated Press," Affleck said, adding that the AP then invites those publications to compile their own top-10 list.
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