“Roughly one in seven of the 52 million households with mortgages” is in trouble, reports the New York Times. That includes homeowners who have missed a payment, as well as those in foreclosure or awaiting eviction.
Mortgage delinquencies continue going up, 9.38 percent of all mortgages in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 8.22 percent in the same time last year. That puts the seasonally adjusted rate over 10 percent for the first time.
In the Twin Cities, “the Minnesota Housing Partnership reports that in the fourth quarter of 2009, mortgage delinquency rates reached 8.1 percent in Minnesota, the highest rate since these figures began to be recorded in the late 1970s.”
If the foreclosure rate has stabilized, it’s probably because housing prices are still low enough and the market slow enough that it’s not profitable to foreclose.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher named her running mate: John Gunyou, who served as finance commissioner in the administration of Republican Governor Arne Carlson and is currently Minnetonka’s city manager. Both Carlson and Gunyou have been critical of current Governor Tim Pawlenty’s handling of Minnesota’s budget shortfalls and current budget crisis.
Both Mark Dayton and Matt Entenza, the other two DFL candidates for governor, said they would name their lieutenant governor picks next week.
Shane Bauer’s mother finally got to see her son again – and so did the other two mothers of U.S. hikers imprisoned in Iran for 10 months. “On Wednesday night, they landed in Tehran wearing full-length black chadors, carrying roses and emphasizing the humanitarian nature of their mission,” reports the NYT. What’s next is anyone’s guess.
Arlington High School’s class of 2010 will be the last graduating class, as fewer than 70 current juniors named the school as their first choice for next year. In April, the district proposed closing the school, but responded to student and community protests by agreeing that current juniors could stay and graduate from Arlington, so long as at least 150 remained.
Arlington senior Mariah Davis reported on the student movement to save Arlington after the initial school board decision.
Mary Turck
News Day 