OBAMA NEEDS A NEW COMMERCE SECRETARY

New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson decided to relinquish his nomination as president-elect Barack Obama’s commerce secretary yesterday, just a few weeks to the presidential inauguration. The reason for withdrawing his position was that Richardson is part of a grand jury investigation in which some of his political donors won an enormous state contract. A California based company contributed to Richardson’s political activities and after won a little more than a $1 million dollar transportation contract after that. The investigation is saying that Richardson played part in how much the company was given in the contract. This is the second disruption that has plagued Barack Obama during the period before inauguration, as the first was when Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for trying to apparently auction off Obama’s senate seat. Obama has done a good job in keeping quite with these two incidents, but now he just needs a new commerce secretary.

By: Adrian Gonzalez

JUDGE SAYS LIBRARIES STAY OPEN

With the plans of shutting down 11 Philadelphia public libraries by Mayor Michael Nutter and his administration, Judge Idee C. Fox ordered not to close any libraries without city council’s approval on Tuesday afternoon. This decision was made a day before the libraries were originally scheduled to close. Judge Fox said that closing the libraries would do a lot of harm to the members of the communities the libraries were located in, especially heavy users. Mayor Nutter will appeal the decision but will now need the approval of city council, which will probably be denied. In budget related news, the judge did approve the closure of several fire houses saying that the fire unions did not have sufficient backup information to keep them open. With the $8 million that was to be saved from closing the libraries, the Mayor will now have to work on another plan to save this money.

Happy New Year everyone!

By: Adrian Gonzalez

NUTTER TO SPEAK ON STATE OF LIBRARIES

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will be having a news conference at City Hall today at 1pm to discuss the current situation of the Philadelphia libraries. When first mentioning the state of the economy for the city, there was mention of big budget cuts and one important cut was libraries in the city. Mayor Nutter mentioned closing down city pools and libraries. When the talk of closing libraries was mentioned many parents and city officials were angered and it was not just one library mentioned to close, it is 11 libraries to close. Three city council members are angered because they do not want to allow Mayor Nutter to make the decision to close the libraries without their approval. Nutter has been going to townhall meetings at local high school to discuss the city’s budget deficit and today’s conference will possibly give a brighter look on the state of the city libraries.

By: Adrian Gonzalez

WAL-MART TO HONOR SETTLEMENT RULING

Wal-Mart agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by former employees who complained about the company’s terrible work practices towards employees. Wal-Mart is expected to pay up to $640 million dollar in settling about 63 nationwide lawsuits against the company relating to unfair work-related practices after employees accused the company of not issuing breaks, refusal to pay overtime, and a general mistreatments of workers over the pass years. The final amount to be used in the settlement by Wal-Mart is expected to reduce the companies’ fourth quarter profits or share price by about 6 cents. Wal-Mart has faced harsh public scrutiny over allegations made by many due to its working conditions and officials believe the negative limelight has harmed the company’s reputation and in some cases revenue generation potential, as many individuals view Wal-Mart as exploitative towards its employees.

By: Piayon Lassanah

INQUIRY MADE INTO CORE PHILLY FINANCES

The College Opportunity Resources for Education (CORE Philly) program which was recently closed due to insufficient funding is reportedly under federal inquiry after FBI officials questioned employees of the program regarding the use of its finances. Core Philly is a scholarship program for Philadelphia high school graduates that provide four year financial assistance for college tuition and related expenses. The program was founded by State Representative Chaka Fattah in 2003 and supported by former Mayor John Street, the Philadelphia School District and City Council and received $4million and $6 million a year for four years from the City and School District of Philadelphia respectively.

It is reported that federal investigators made an inquiry about the use of the program finances and Representative Chaka Fattah believes it was made concerning a $700,000 dollars grant made by the Justice Department and that this is a regular procedure for monitoring federal funds and that it may have gained high exposure due to complaints from a disgruntled employee. Chaka Fattah although holding no position in the program operations has helped raised millions of dollars as a result of his legislative position in congress and being a member of the influential House Appropriations Committee but he recently announced the its closure due to budget cuts and its inability to raise money for an endowment fund as only $5 million of the initial $200 million goal has been met. The program has benefited several high school graduates and close friends of mine and it is still the hope of many that the program can be revived by seeking additional sources of funding.

By: Piayon Lassanah

AUTO INDUSTRY BAILOUT APPROVED!

President George Bush announced a plan today to provide General Motors and Chrysler with $13.4 billion in loans and an additional $4billion in February from the Treasury Department Temporary Assistance Relief Program which was established to primarily assist financial institutions and the housing industry. Ford stated earlier that it didn’t need immediate assistance and that’s why it wasn’t included in the assistance package. The plan is expected to temporarily save General Motors and Chrysler which had already planned on cutting jobs due to their troubled financial situation. The financial industry had requested assistance over a month ago went representatives from Ford, General Motors and Chrysler went to Congress but were denied initially and told to come back with a better financial sustainability plan. On a second attempt the House agreed on a plan to assist the companies which was later denied in the Senate and on Thursday President Bush proposed the idea of a structured bankruptcy which sparked fear into many citizens who relied on the industry for Jobs. It is expected that the companies will need more financial assistance and might receive additional aid from President-Elect Barack Obama economic revival plans

By: Piayon Lassanah