| Disputed Accord in Student Loan Case
Department officials portrayed the settlement reached with the Nebraska Education Loan Network, or Nelnet, as a defeat for the for-profit company. They noted that they were declining to pay an estimated $882 million in additional reimbursement requests that the company has pending under the same loophole, and ending future payments on such loans to other lenders as well unless the lenders can prove, through audits, that they qualify for the funds. Nelnet officials themselves, too, took issue with the department’s finding but said they had settled the case to allow the company to move on. But Congressional and other critics accused the department of going soft on Nelnet and other lenders. They blasted administration officials for failing to fully follow the recommendation of the department’s inspector general, who contended in a September audit report that Nelnet should be forced to repay all funds earned through the loophole, though which lenders were paid a 9.5 percent government subsidy on a certain class of student loans.
Poverty often worsened by payday loans
Community Action Partnership staff members Brenda Hammond, left, and Shirley Paulison recently met with state Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, to advocate for legislation that limits interest rates and restricts the number of payday loans in Idaho. The senator plans to introduce that legislation in cooperation with Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover. .
Mo. student loan agency forgives loans for 510 teachers
Those covered in this most recent effort have federal Stafford loans and are either first-year teachers or provisionally certified to teach math, science or special education.
MOHELA, over the next two years, also plans to forgive many Stafford loans for engineering and pre-engineering students who live in Missouri.
Gov. Matt Blunt has used more than $300 million from the loan authority to pay for college construction projects. ©2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. .
Business Digest
Columbia-based specialty chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. officially opened a regional head office yesterday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fred Festa said in a news release that the Middle East offers opportunities in construction and refining technologies. The new office houses 80 employees from multiple Grace product lines and provides a central resource for customers in the region, the company said. Grace also operates a manufacturing facility at the Jebel Ali Free Zone, a major business hub in Dubai. .
SoftRM Publishes New Audio Music Toolkit
As you know, APE and FLAC are the most popular lossless audio format, SoftRM published 2 toolkits for APE audio format and 2 toolkits for FLAC audio format. 1. Ape Ripper is a tool to split a big APE file to separate MP3 files or split APE file to other format audio files including WAV, MP2, VOX, .
Despite economic turmoil nationally, our area stable
The state's $1 billion payday-lending business continued to grow and headed off a big legal fight in the 2007 General Assembly between supporters of a ban and reforms pushed by the industry. Car-title lenders also remained unregulated after a legislative stalemate. The battles galvanized payday-lending opponents throughout the year, and a Hampton Roads group formed to lead the push for a ban in 2008. Virginians filed suits over unlawful collection practices, and credit unions pushed programs to their members to combat payday lending. The loans were banned this fall to the military, cutting a chunk of the Hampton Roads customer base.
Coliseum Mall Major changes hit the Coliseum retail area, with the Coliseum Mall getting torn down to make way for the new outdoor Peninsula Town Center.
Low Interest Rates Spur Mortgage Refinancing
Homes sales may get a boost when the fed's recent interest rate drop translates into mortgage rates. The cut will make it easier for many people to get into a new home and will also enable people to refinance to avoid future hardship. Several loan officers and mortgage lenders all say the same thing -- now is the time to refinance your home. But before you do, consumers need to understand the process is not cut and dry. Loan officers around the valley say more and more homeowners need to look into refinancing to take advantage of the low interest rate. Different loans can either lower your monthly payment or even shorter your term But it's not that simple. In order to refinance, you have to have decent credit and have some equity built up in your home.
A camera in a pill to detect cancer
The endoscope has its own light source for peering into dark spaces. And even though the camera's single eye sees only one pixel of the image at a time, it combines all the information to create a high-resolution color picture of a map, or even a person's digestive tract." (Credit: University of Washington) Here is a link to a larger version. This research has been led by Eric Seibel, a research associate professor of mechanical engineering in the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HITLab) of the University of Washington, and several of his colleagues in the lab, two research scientists, David Melville and Rich Johnston, and a research engineer, Cameron Lee. Researchers from other departments were also involved in this project. You'll find more information on this project by visiting the Engineering Study of an Endoscope Design webpage.
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