News opinion 2008-08-02 Andanh.com

Program will help first-time home buyers Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:17:10 -0500
With an estimated 75 percent of the country’s personal wealth tied to the equity in homes, it is important to increase the number of homeowners. Homeownership is thought to help increase neighborhood property values because of the pride exhibited in homes, cut down on crime and provide a stable home life for children, thus increasing school performance. In Bowling Green, the number of renters still outweighs the number of homeowners, so the city and the Realtor Association of Southern Kentucky are launching an education program to get first-time buyers into the market. The most important aspect of the program will be the pre- and post-credit counseling that will be offered to those buyers. Making sure a person is ready to buy a house is key in ensuring that the percentage of foreclosures here doesn’t rise to the level they have in other parts of the country. The partnership also will involve using educational services offered by HANDS and Housing Authority of Bowling Green that have been successful in getting residents into homeownership. Of the 45 families the agencies have helped, only one has gone into foreclosure and that was due to catastrophic illness. This week, the city of Bowling Green and the Realtor Association of Southern Kentucky were designated as 2008 Ambassadors for Cities, with which came a $5,000 grant. The designation was in recognition of the work the two organizations already do and plan to do in increasing homeownership. We commend the organizations for this award. “With this designation comes an additional responsibility to not only keep up what you are doing but to expand it,” said Dave Gatton of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Bobbie Boyd, Housing Opportunity Advisory Board chairwoman for the National Association of Realtors, said there were numerous good applications for the Ambassador award but what Bowling Green and its partner were doing stood out. “If we had more counseling, both pre and post, we would not be in the situation we are today,” Boyd said of the mortgage crisis. “I hope not only will your program continue to grow but will serve as a model for other cities,” she said. With a buyers’ market in most cities and new federal legislation signed into law this week - which gives up to a $7,500 tax credit to first-time homebuyers - educated and prepared families (thanks to the help of these agencies) may find that now is a good time to purchase a home. — For more information about the homebuyer tax credit, go to www.realtor.org where you can find a summary of the legislation and tax credit chart.

Something’s missing Fri, 1 Aug 2008 11:14:18 -0500
John McCain and Barack Obama seem to occupy different universes. In McCain’s universe, the planets rotate around the sun in a predictable pattern. In Obama’s universe, he is the sun - and we are but minor planets revolving around his brilliant countenance. Rarely have the different orbits of these two men been more vivid than last week. While Obama was enacting the rapture before 200,000 worshipers in Berlin, McCain was grinding out economic policy with fellow earthlings at Schmidt’s Restaurant and Sausage Haus in Columbus, Ohio. Its motto: “The Best of the Wurst!” One is a Sun God - a young deus ex machina who entered the national stage just four years ago; the other is an old soldier rendered witness to the shifting tides. Yet, despite Obama’s amazing miracle tour last week through the Middle East and Europe - and despite McCain’s recent missteps - the veteran is still not losing to the novice. Why not? Given Obama’s star power and incredible political machinery, he should be doing even better than he is. Though he gained a few points in the polls following his Berlin speech - and thanks in part to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s seeming endorsement of Obama’s withdrawal plan - a new Gallup/USA Today poll shows McCain leading by four points among likely voters. The easiest explanation is McCain’s familiarity against a relative newcomer. But another possible explanation may be more instinctual. Obama is too good to be true. Like an “American Idol” winner, Obama seemed to spring from the wings a fully formed celebrity. He knows all the right moves but, like the young superstar, there’s something missing. It’s that intangible but palpable something that comes from paying dues. “American Idol” winners are full of raw talent, but they’re different than veteran performers who put in years showing up for auditions, suffering rejection and absorbing the humility that comes with it. When they finally land the lead role, they’re prepared for it, but know better than to feel smug. They’ve earned it. Being older and working longer don’t necessarily make one better or more capable, obviously. Some people are blessed with greater talent, more intelligence, better looks. But Americans are skeptical of those who skip the line. Obama is like the guy who ignores the “merge ahead” sign, speeds along the outside lane past other drivers waiting their turn, and expects to be let in at the front. Or so it feels sometimes. When critics speak of Obama’s youth and inexperience, that may be partly what they mean. Youth is lovely and inexperience isn’t a character flaw. But Obama keeps sprinting ahead of himself. The presidential-looking seal on his podium was presumptuous. His overseas tour had the feel of a premature victory lap. It was all a little too wonderful, a little too scripted, too managed and smacking of stagecraft. Everywhere he went, Obama was received as though he were the president, not the presumptive Democratic nominee. Clearly, Obama’s crowd-pleasing isn’t viewed as a “problem,” except to the McCain campaign. To team Obama, these are dreams come true, prayers answered, strategies ratified. Yet to skeptical Americans - those not quite ready to declare Obama commander in chief - there’s a deep-brain recoil in the presence of too much too soon. Adoring masses may inspire excitement, but they don’t necessarily inspire confidence. Where exactly does this pied piper lead? That’s the question with no clear answer. Obama’s campaign plane features “CHANGE” in large black lettering, but change to what? A better world as one people? A world where the rise of oceans slows and the planet heals? A moment when we give hope to the world, jobs to the jobless, health to the sick, sight to the blind, mobility to the lame and life everlasting? Amen to that, but how? And at what cost? Obama may be easy on the eye and sonorous to the ear, but those qualities ultimately could hurt him among the less easily seduced. Come November, the more reassuring image in voters’ minds may not be the charismatic figure preaching global unity to a mesmerized Berlin throng, but an old warrior hashing out less cosmic concerns among regular Americans in a German cafe in Columbus.

Readers' views Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT

Use common sense to free court backlog

Forcing lawyers who don't have the time, money or the desire to represent defendants for free doesn't provides an adequate or fair defense.

Each courthouse should have on staff a defense attorney to expedite cases that are overwhelmingly obvious to one extent or the other.

For example, if you have a videotape and four witnesses who saw someone robbing a store and he was caught on the scene while the crime was in progress, that case should be resolved in just a few hours by the court staff.

Chilling memory of the coal hole Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:54 EDT

Coal hole.

For folks who have short memories or who weren't here in the 1980s, that was the unaffectionate nickname for the result of the last attempt at a mega-development at Limestone and Main Street.

So the rest of us wonder: When the CentrePointe demolition dust settles, will downtown be stuck with a hotel hell hole?

Be afraid; be very afraid.

Mitch of La Mancha Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:11 EDT

Back to biscuits, easier days
First off, I need to thank all those who offered tips and recipes on biscuit making.

What’s in a name? Ask a ‘Kyd’
As Juliet said in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”

Chinese Dir