March 3 at 10:28 a.m.
Filed under:
Bank failures,
Banking,
Government,
Updated
By Becky Yerak
The failure of Chicago-based ShoreBank was blamed Wednesday on poor risk management by its directors and officers, and its losses to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will be worse than originally expected.
Politically connected ShoreBank, which was known for lending in poorer neighborhoods, “failed due to insolvency brought on by the board and management not implementing adequate risk management practices,” according to a report issued Wednesday by the FDIC’s Office of Inspector General. Get the full story »
By Katherine Skiba | Federal officials on Wednesday announced a $4.5 million pilot program to help small and medium manufacturers in Illinois and three other Great Lake states use supercomputing technology to speed product design.
The public-private partnership will assist firms in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, officials said. Get the full story »
March 2 at 1:41 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Mortgages,
Real estate
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
The Obama administration vigorously defended its Home Affordable Modification Program Wednesday, which faces sharp criticism by Republican lawmakers who want it axed.
Repeatedly saying that the housing market remains fragile, Treasury Department officials touted the fact that while the 2-year-old program is not meeting its initially much-publicized — and now unrealistic — goal of saving 3 million to 4 million families from foreclosure, the 25,000 to 30,000 families each month who are receiving permanent loan modifications is cause for it to continue. Get the full story »
By Tribune staff report
Three movie theater companies will pay more than $275,000 in civil fines after being accused of violating federal labor laws by allowing dozens of teenagers in nine states, including Illinois, to perform dangerous jobs and work hours longer than allowed by law, the Department of Labor said Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour division said about 160 minors at 27 theaters operated by Milwaukee-based Marcus Theatres Corp.; Regal Cinemas Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn.; and Wehrenberg Inc. of St. Louis violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Get the full story »
March 1 at 2:17 p.m.
Filed under:
Environment,
Government
By Dow Jones Newswires
Businesses that emit greenhouse gases will have more time to report their emissions after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extended a deadline Tuesday.
The EPA announced that it would extend the deadline, originally March 31, saying it would take more time to test the online system to collect data. The agency said it expected reporting to begin in late summer but did not set a new deadline. Get the full story »
March 1 at 12:53 p.m.
Filed under:
Government
By CNN
The U.S. government could save tens of billions of dollars a year by streamlining a bloated federal bureaucracy, according to a report Tuesday from the Government Accountability Office.
In its first annual report on the subject, the GAO reviewed a wide range of federal programs, agencies, offices and initiatives to identify where the government is duplicating goals or activities. Get the full story »
Feb. 28 at 12:39 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Economy,
Government,
Mortgages
By Los Angeles Times
Almost three years after a series of government bailouts began, what many feared would be a deep black hole for taxpayer money isn’t looking nearly so dark.
The brighter picture is highlighted by the outlook for the bailouts’ centerpiece — the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
“It’s turning out to cost one heck of a lot less than what we all thought at the beginning,” said Ted Kaufman, a former U.S. senator from Delaware who heads the congressionally appointed panel overseeing TARP. Get the full story »
Feb. 28 at 8:15 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By Reuters
U.S. consumer spending rose less than expected in January as households took advantage of the largest increase in incomes in more than 1-1/2 years to rebuild their savings, government data showed on Monday. Get the full story »
Feb. 25 at 2:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Policy
By CNN
Washington has started getting ready for a possible government shutdown.
Federal agencies are working on plans for shutting down and deciding how many workers they need to perform essential operations. Get the full story »
Feb. 25 at 7:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By CNN
The economy grew much slower than originally thought at the end of 2010, according to new estimates released by the government Friday.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, was revised sharply lower to an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent in the three months ending in December. The initial reading had been for a 3.2 percent growth rate in the period. Get the full story »
By CNN
Lawmakers scolded the FDA for still not knowing what or who was behind the contamination of the Baxter International’s blood-thinning drug Heparin, nearly three years after launching its investigation.
“It has been almost three years since the the FDA linked deaths and serious allergic reactions of patients to supplies of Heparin that came from China,“ Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg Wednesday. Upton said the House Energy and Commerce committee, which he chairs, will conduct its own probe into the matter. Get the full story »
By Gregory Karp
Elizabeth Warren, the point person creating an agency to protect consumers of financial products, said she was surprised there are efforts afoot in Congress to kill or disable the agency before it’s born.
Warren, in Chicago for a speech at Northwestern University, told the Tribune in an interview Thursday that it’s crucial the agency is created and that its funding remain independent from the political process. She also held an olive branch to community banks and credit unions wary of more regulation. Get the full story »
Feb. 24 at 2:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Food,
Government
By Reuters
U.S. consumers could see food costs spiking to levels seen during the food crisis of 2008 on higher commodity and energy prices, the Agriculture Department said on Thursday.
Food prices are forecast to rise 3.5 percent this year — nearly double the overall inflation rate. The lion’s share of the increase is expected in the second half of 2011, when the recent uptick for commodities, such as corn and soybeans, makes its way through the food system. Just last month, USDA forecast an increase of 2.5 percent in 2011. Get the full story »
By Emily Bryson York
The City of Chicago and Vernon Hills Police Department are among 16 new government and education customers for Microsoft’s cloud computing program, the company announced at its Public Sector CIO Summit Wednesday.
“Public sector organizations are looking for enterprise-grade cloud solutions, and that means providing high levels of security, functionality and support,” Curt Kolcun, vice president of U.S. Public Sector at the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant said in a statement. “We’re seeing government and education organizations of every size and dimension using Microsoft cloud solutions to help reduce costs and increase productivity in support of their missions.” Get the full story »
Feb. 22 at 2:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Pharmaceuticals,
Regulations
By Reuters
U.S. health regulators have warned Sanofi-Aventis SA’s U.S. unit for failing to submit reports of possible serious drug side effects in a timely manner.
In a Jan. 28 letter made public Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said an early response from the drugmaker and its “promised corrective actions are inadequate to address the deficiencies.” Get the full story »
