| Ex-teachers union leader indicted
The former president of the Camden teachers union was indicted Thursday on charges that she diverted the labor group's funds to her own use, including thousands of dollars that went to gambling. Claraliene Gordon, 66, used a union credit card for nearly $15,000 in personal expenses between September 2000 and August 2006, when she led the Camden Education Association, officials alleged. Gordon tapped the union card at Atlantic City casinos about 25 times "to help finance her gambling habit," state Attorney General Anne Milgram said in a statement Thursday. Gordon, who retired last year and lives in Fayetteville, N.C., could not be reached. Gordon repaid about $7,500 in personal expenses "after being confronted by union officials on a number of occasions (but) she has failed to repay the rest," according to Milgram's statement.
Grant To Help Final 300 Maytag Workers
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Former Maytag workers are getting more help from the federal government. The Department of Labor has announced more than $680,000 in grants to help about 300 workers find jobs when the former Maytag washer and dryer factory closes next month in Newton. Whirlpool Corp. bought Maytag last year and announced it would close its Newton operations and move production to plants in Ohio. About 1,800 jobs will be lost this year. .
President vetoes health and education bill
President Bush, using his veto pen and bully pulpit, contended Tuesday that congressional Democrats are spending money like "a teenager with a new credit card" and funding the spree with tax increases in every bill. Escalating an ongoing budget battle with Democratic-controlled Capitol Hill, the president warned that the spending poses a threat that an economy he called challenged but resilient might not weather. "Higher taxes would mean fewer opportunities for entrepreneurs, a tougher time for workers trying to get ahead, and a greater likelihood of a slowdown across our economy," Bush told a friendly business audience in a converted movie house in this city across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. "They're coming at you with new taxes, and I'm going to do everything in my power to stop them." The president vetoed a $606 billion measure financing federal education, health and labor programs for the budget year that began Oct.
Commercial property braced for further falls as credit dries up
Demand for buying and letting commercial property has fallen to a four-year low as turmoil in the credit market scares off prospective tenants, an industry body revealed yesterday. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is likely to stoke fears that the market is heading for a depression not seen since the early 1990s. Eight per cent more chartered surveyors expect a fall than a rise in demand over the coming three months - the most negative sentiment recorded since the end of 2003. The findings pushed the share prices of Britain’s nascent £25 billion real estate investment trust (Reit) companies to fresh lows, wiping off hundreds of millions of pounds. The sector has on average lost 40 per cent of its value since the start of the year.
HSBC Mortgage Losses Rise in US
HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's biggest bank, reported another big hit from exposure to the U.S. mortgage crisis Wednesday and warned that bad debts could increase if the U.S. housing market weakens further. However, the bank's shares rose 3 percent as it reassured investors that third-quarter profits for its global business were ahead of last year, despite the $3.4 billion (2.3 billion euros) impairment charge at its U.S. consumer finance division, HSBC Finance Corp. The charge was higher than anticipated by analysts and significantly above the $1.9 billion and $2.2 billion booked in the first and second quarter respectively. The division also added $3.4 billion to its credit loss reserves. HSBC said it would close or consolidate up to 260 more HSBC Finance Corp.
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