Tabula rasa.
DURING THE SUMMER OF 1970, between colleges, as I liked to say back then, I worked for my uncle Max, a landlord in Philadelphia. It was West Philadelphia to be exact, and Max's tenants were a mixture of the poor and the privileged--black people who had lived in the...

Head to southwest hills for new development.
Byline: REAL ESTATE By Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard Wend up Hawkins Lane from West 18th Avenue into Eugene's southwest hills, turn right on Hallmark, and you'll soon find yourself poised at the edge of the Aerie Park planned unit development. Owner and developer George Ropchan...

Philippians.
PHILIPPIANS. By Peter Oakes. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. xv + 231. Cloth, $100.95. In this engaging and persuasive study Oakes models a method for investigating the social make-up of early Christian communities by focusing his attention on the early Pauline community at Philippi. Drawing...

Rising values: public housing teardowns have spurred nearly $2 billion in home sales. But officials say the market was already revved up.
He was certain once he saw the horses, rabbits and dogs. It was 25 years ago that Larry Burns and his wife, Pat, decided they wanted to buy property in the neighborhood where Burns and his fatally grew up as renters--near the Cabrini-Green public housing development. They looked at...

Sorting out ambiguities of new Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac forms.
ON MARCH 24, 2005, FANNIE MAE RELEASED FINAL MODIFICATIONS TO 11 REPORT FORMS IN THEIR ANNOUNCEMENT 05-02. Their primary objectives with the modifications were to communicate their expectations for the property valuation and appraisal reporting process, clarify the appraiser's accountability for the quality of his or her appraisal, and...

Nobody's safe: in Illinois, middle-class families fall through the cracks of health care, causing a rising number of bankruptcy cases.
It was that pain again. Rose-Marie Shaffer popped a couple of Aleve as she had done every night for the previous week and got ready for bed. The longtime nurse assumed the nagging ache in her arm was from using the computer too long at work. At 11:10 that...

John's Hearth flames on once again.
It was almost like old times. The curving bar and the red-leather chairs and bench seat said "John's Flaming Hearth" as loudly as the familiar flame-topped logo on the door and menus. Last Friday night was the first time since a badly bungled foray into...

Big-box ordinance survives Wal-Mart's attack: LB ordered to pay for demolishing building without adequate notice.
The City of Long Beach must pay a mortgage holder $273,500 in damages plus attorney fees for demolishing an apartment building without providing adequate notice to the lender. Although the city went through an extensive process before demolishing the dilapidated building, the city sent all but the...

Helping homeowners.
Robert R. Lavelle is still the executive vice president of Dwelling House Savings and Loan in the Hill District of Pittsburgh at the age of 89. His son, Robert M. Lavelle, has been with the firm for 32 years and is now president of the small financial institution in...

CERCLA: convey to a pauper and avoid cost recovery under section 107(a)(1)?
I. STATUTORY LIABILITY FOR COSTS UNDER THE COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE, COMPENSATION, AND LIABILITY ACT OF 1980 A. Categories of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), (2) with the goal of cleaning up disposal sites...