Difference between revisions of "User:RahalMccall69"

Revision as of 04:08, 30 September 2014

@@@ Given the meeting was held <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Cheap-Gucci-Outlet-Hobo-Men-Wallet-Rainboots.html>Cheap Gucci Outlet</a> in North Waco the same night Baylor University invited one and all to a free concert and fireworks show at its new $266 million stadium, I didn鈥檛 expect more than a few people to show, but some 60 to 70 fired-up, even angry residents attended, eager to do something about scandalous payday lending practices. Some wanted to know why the Waco City Council hasn鈥檛 followed the example of other cities in Texas and passed an ordinance at least moderately regulating such businesses.

Payday and auto-title loan stores 鈥?usually the businesses have the word 鈥渃ash鈥?in the name 鈥?often victimize the unwitting poor by appealing to their occasional need for fast cash, such as when car repairs crop up. The problem is the loans are marketed on a two-week or monthlong basis with astronomical interest rates or fees so high that the borrower often can鈥檛 pay the loan back. He can end up paying in interest or fees many times the value of the original loan. Talk about your cycles of poverty.
Citizens for Responsible Lending, which formed last winter, has some three dozen members and first met with city leaders in January, says at least 29 such loan businesses operate in the Waco area, with annual percentage rates of up to 500 percent and loan terms that pull borrowers into even greater debt.
What鈥檚 more, watchdog groups such as Texas Appleseed and the Texas Catholic Conference say payday and auto-title loan outfits in Waco have a reputation for some of the most punitive collection practices in the state. Jennifer Allmon, associate director of the Austin-based Texas Catholic Conference, learned of a Waco man so in debt to an auto-title loan company that he gave up his regular lodgings and moved into a homeless shelter long enough to save money to pay off the loan.
His mistake: telling lenders about it.
鈥淎nd they showed up and repossessed his vehicle with all of his possessions and he went to the homeless shelter and lost not just his truck but everything he owned,鈥?she said. 鈥淭hey were able to get assistance through an attorney to get his truck back, but the contract had a stipulation that all possessions in the truck were the property of the auto-title loan company, so he never got back his clothing, his furniture and his bedroom set. And, you know, it鈥檚 something to be willing to live in a homeless shelter to pay your debts.鈥?
Ann Baddour of the public interest law center Texas Appleseed dismisses the argument that such businesses help people in emergencies, especially given the outlandish annual percentage rates ranging from 200 to 600 percent: 鈥淎 product that <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Cheap-Gucci-Handbags-Diamond-Watch-Mens-Watches-Ring.html>Cheap Gucci Handbags</a> is designed for people to fail is not an answer. People may get the money they need on Day One, but on Day 30 they鈥檙e worse off than when they walked into the store.鈥?
Baddour and Allmon say they鈥檙e not out to eliminate such businesses but to ensure they鈥檙e regulated to keep more people from falling for the lure of quick cash with treacherous strings attached. However, payday loan industry lobbyists with deep pockets have blocked reforms, such as capping how high interest rates can go. One proposal discussed locally: alternative lending products offered through credit unions and community lenders or financial assistance through nonprofits or church groups.
Local advocates of reform say state Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, who represents some economically struggling areas of Waco and Bellmead, has promised to back some sort of reform. And, they note, state Rep. Charles 鈥淒oc鈥?Anderson, R-Waco, sits on the Texas House Investments and Financial Services Committee and, thus, could be pivotal in such reforms. They say Anderson has asked for more information.
Community organizer Alexis Christensen of Waco Community Development says state data indicate <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Gucci-Sale-Online-Ladies-Watches-Flora-Designer-Eyeglasses.html>Flora Gucci</a> some $10.5 million is drained from the local economy each year because of such businesses in the Waco area 鈥?and that regulating these businesses, whether through city ordinances or action by the Legislature, would complement the mission behind Prosper Waco, our city鈥檚 impressive anti-poverty coalition.
She鈥檚 got a point. As a recent survey of our poverty problem by the prestigious W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research confirmed this year, it鈥檚 hard to get to work in Waco when you lack a car. And it鈥檚 tough coming home when you haven鈥檛 paid the rent.

Difference between revisions of "User:RahalMccall69"

Revision as of 04:08, 30 September 2014

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-A Missouri state water patrol officer will not face charges in the May 31 death of a handcuffed Iowa man who drowned after toppling off the officer鈥檚 boat at the Lake of the Ozarks, a special prosecutor said Monday.Osage County Prosecutor Amanda Grellner, who was appointed to review the case, said she will not file charges against Trooper Anthony C. Piercy, 43, in the death of Brandon Ellingson, 20, of Clive, Iowa.鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe it rises to the level of a criminal offense,鈥?Grellner said. She said she believes an inquest held last week in Versailles, Mo., was 鈥渇air and impartial鈥?and that the coroner 鈥渢ried to put together a picture as best he could with the information that was provided.鈥漈he Ellingson family鈥檚 lawyer, Matt <a href=http://capstone.edu.sg/images/guccioutlet.onlinesalecc.php>Gucci Outlet</a>  Boles, said he found Grellner鈥檚 decision 鈥渄isheartening.鈥?Ellingson鈥檚 father, Craig Ellingson, 53, has said he plans to file a civil suit in his son鈥檚 death.A jury of six Morgan County residents summoned at Thursday鈥檚 inquest ruled Ellingson鈥檚 drowning an accident. Ellingson was handcuffed behind his back when he toppled over Piercy鈥檚 patrol boat at the Lake of the Ozarks. The life jacket Piercy put on Ellingson after handcuffing him slipped away. Piercy testified that he jumped in the water to try to rescue Ellingson but lost his grip on him.Piercy, an 18-year veteran of the Highway Patrol, also testified that he did not think he was adequately trained in making an arrest on the water, putting on life vests or rescuing people. He volunteered in 2012 to move to the water patrol division.He said he cuffed Ellingson, then buckled the life vest around him. But several of Ellingson鈥檚 friends told investigators in June that Piercy struggled to fit an already-buckled life vest over Ellingson鈥檚 muscular frame without putting Ellingson鈥檚 arms through the vest鈥檚 arm holes.Missouri Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Ronald Replogle said in a statement Monday that all records in the case would be available under the state鈥檚 open records law. However, the patrol鈥檚 custodian of records, Lt. Keverne McCollum, said the records were not immediately available because investigators had not given them to her yet.Replogle also said that the patrol 鈥渨ill continue the review of all procedures related to this incident.鈥漃iercy testified that he stopped the Ellingson family鈥檚 28-foot-long Sea Ray, <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/anel.php> Christian Louboutin Shoes UK</a>  the 鈥淪otally Tober,鈥?near a beachfront bar on the Gravois Arm of the lake after he spotted a Bud Light can being dropped or tossed from the boat. He took Ellingson, who was driving the boat, onto his own patrol vessel and performed tests for intoxication.Piercy arrested Ellingson on suspicion of drunken boating. Ellingson鈥檚 autopsy showed he had traces of cocaine in his system and a blood-alcohol content of 0.268 percent, more than three times the legal limit to drive a boat.After the inquest, a Missouri couple who witnessed part of the incident told the Post-Dispatch that they jury should have heard their accounts.Larry Moreau, 41, of Hartsburg, Mo., said that he, his wife and their 14-year-old son were cruising in their boat at more than 30 mph when they saw Piercy鈥檚 patrol boat pass them. Minutes later, they saw Ellingson treading water near Piercy鈥檚 idling patrol boat and apparently talking to Piercy. Moreau said the life jacket was about 5 to 6 feet away from Ellingson. He said they told investigators that they left because Piercy didn鈥檛 appear to be acting with urgency, so they thought the matter was under control.He and his wife talked to investigators but weren鈥檛 asked to testify at the inquest.鈥淎fter I read what came out of the inquest, I was a little concerned that what we had witnessed didn鈥檛 seem to get included,鈥?Moreau said.A water taxi captain who stayed at the scene and tried to help testified at the inquest. He and a passenger on his boat said they thought Piercy did all he could to save Ellingson.In response to the criticisms from the couple, Grellner <a href=http://www.museosangennaro.com/Public/wdluk.php>Cheap Christian Louboutin</a>  said, 鈥淚 gave far more weight to those who were actually there and stayed and those who had a far more firsthand account than those who left.鈥滱lso Monday, Grellner, in response to a records request from the Post-Dispatch, released the names of the six Morgan County residents who served on the jury. They are Julie Brown, Cecil Banner, Megan Rowland, Brad Bauer, Herbert Keck and Amy Todd.
+Given the meeting was held <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Cheap-Gucci-Outlet-Hobo-Men-Wallet-Rainboots.html>Cheap Gucci Outlet</a>  in North Waco the same night Baylor University invited one and all to a free concert and fireworks show at its new $266 million stadium, I didn鈥檛 expect more than a few people to show, but some 60 to 70 fired-up, even angry residents attended, eager to do something about scandalous payday lending practices. Some wanted to know why the Waco City Council hasn鈥檛 followed the example of other cities in Texas and passed an ordinance at least moderately regulating such businesses.
+ Payday and auto-title loan stores 鈥?usually the businesses have the word 鈥渃ash鈥?in the name 鈥?often victimize the unwitting poor by appealing to their occasional need for fast cash, such as when car repairs crop up. The problem is the loans are marketed on a two-week or monthlong basis with astronomical interest rates or fees so high that the borrower often can鈥檛 pay the loan back. He can end up paying in interest or fees many times the value of the original loan. Talk about your cycles of poverty.
+ Citizens for Responsible Lending, which formed last winter, has some three dozen members and first met with city leaders in January, says at least 29 such loan businesses operate in the Waco area, with annual percentage rates of up to 500 percent and loan terms that pull borrowers into even greater debt.
+ What鈥檚 more, watchdog groups such as Texas Appleseed and the Texas Catholic Conference say payday and auto-title loan outfits in Waco have a reputation for some of the most punitive collection practices in the state. Jennifer Allmon, associate director of the Austin-based Texas Catholic Conference, learned of a Waco man so in debt to an auto-title loan company that he gave up his regular lodgings and moved into a homeless shelter long enough to save money to pay off the loan.
+ His mistake: telling lenders about it.
+ 鈥淎nd they showed up and repossessed his vehicle with all of his possessions and he went to the homeless shelter and lost not just his truck but everything he owned,鈥?she said. 鈥淭hey were able to get assistance through an attorney to get his truck back, but the contract had a stipulation that all possessions in the truck were the property of the auto-title loan company, so he never got back his clothing, his furniture and his bedroom set. And, you know, it鈥檚 something to be willing to live in a homeless shelter to pay your debts.鈥?
+ Ann Baddour of the public interest law center Texas Appleseed dismisses the argument that such businesses help people in emergencies, especially given the outlandish annual percentage rates ranging from 200 to 600 percent: 鈥淎 product that <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Cheap-Gucci-Handbags-Diamond-Watch-Mens-Watches-Ring.html>Cheap Gucci Handbags</a>  is designed for people to fail is not an answer. People may get the money they need on Day One, but on Day 30 they鈥檙e worse off than when they walked into the store.鈥?
+ Baddour and Allmon say they鈥檙e not out to eliminate such businesses but to ensure they鈥檙e regulated to keep more people from falling for the lure of quick cash with treacherous strings attached. However, payday loan industry lobbyists with deep pockets have blocked reforms, such as capping how high interest rates can go. One proposal discussed locally: alternative lending products offered through credit unions and community lenders or financial assistance through nonprofits or church groups.
+ Local advocates of reform say state Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, who represents some economically struggling areas of Waco and Bellmead, has promised to back some sort of reform. And, they note, state Rep. Charles 鈥淒oc鈥?Anderson, R-Waco, sits on the Texas House Investments and Financial Services Committee and, thus, could be pivotal in such reforms. They say Anderson has asked for more information.
+ Community organizer Alexis Christensen of Waco Community Development says state data indicate <a href=http://www.aec-ist.com/css/Gucci-Sale-Online-Ladies-Watches-Flora-Designer-Eyeglasses.html>Flora Gucci</a>  some $10.5 million is drained from the local economy each year because of such businesses in the Waco area 鈥?and that regulating these businesses, whether through city ordinances or action by the Legislature, would complement the mission behind Prosper Waco, our city鈥檚 impressive anti-poverty coalition.
+ She鈥檚 got a point. As a recent survey of our poverty problem by the prestigious W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research confirmed this year, it鈥檚 hard to get to work in Waco when you lack a car. And it鈥檚 tough coming home when you haven鈥檛 paid the rent.