Best of #StateReads: Why Louisiana Leads the World in Imprisonment
By Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org
May 16–This week’s collection of #StateReads covers why Louisiana has the highest imprisonment rate in the world, the rise of education advocacy groups that often combat teacher unions in statehouses and questionable investments by the teachers’ pension fund in Texas.
These examples of extraordinary journalism about state government were recommended in tweets using the #StateReads hashtag on Twitter and in email submissions to dvock@stateline.org.
“Louisiana Incarcerated” — The Times-Picayune
“Louisiana,” writes Cindy Chang (@CindyChangTP), “is the world’s prison capital.” The state has twice the number of people in prison per capita as the national average, which means it leads the world, too. The Times-Picayune is running an eight-part series on the factors for the high rate and its consequences. Counties and private prison companies benefit from building new prisons for state prisoners and offer the inmates few services. Meanwhile, a state penitentiary in Angola offers far more generous programs, such as training for vocational skills, but the programs are of little use, because the vast majority of prisoners there are serving life sentences.
“The changing face of education advocacy” — Education Week
Reporters Stephen Sawchuk (@TeacherBeat) and Sean Cavanagh (@EdWeekSCavanagh) examine the sudden rise of groups lobbying state legislators and getting involved in statehouse races to push their recipe for improving schools. Groups such as Stand for Children, StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform champion ideas including increased use of charter schools, performance reviews for teachers and higher academic standards for schools and students. “Though the record of their electoral success is mixed,” Sawchuk writes, “such groups’ overall influence appears to be growing, and it has already helped alter the landscape of education policy, particularly at the state level.” Education Week’s series also looks at how the groups made headway in states and how they are funded.
“Texas teachers’ pension fund invests in casinos, loses $99 million” — The Dallas Morning News
Read More»The Philadelphia Inquirer Karen Heller column
By Karen Heller, The Philadelphia Inquirer
May 16–This may well be Temple’s moment, even with slashed state funding and the search for a new leader. The university has soared in popularity, moving beyond being a commuter school to attracting students from across the state and nation, the tuition a bargain compared with that of private institutions.
During the last decade, undergraduate enrollment exploded by more than a third, students spilling into the surrounding North Central Philadelphia neighborhood of handsome 19th-century brick rowhouses. Currently, 7,000 students reside right off campus — more than live in the dorms.
Real estate speculators, some from New York and California, are feasting on the demand. It’s Northward Ho! Most students left last week at the end of spring semester, but the area’s narrow streets remain clogged with cranes, trucks, Tyvek-enveloped structures, and hillocks of debris, a situation residents say has intensified in the last six months. You’d be hard-pressed to find a neighborhood with a higher volume of construction.
And a neighborhood North Central Philadelphia is. The area, with a rich African American history, is in danger of losing its identity and residents to absentee landlords and transient renters with nominal personal investment in the community. Even the area’s name is a source of friction: Rental properties are draped with “Templetown” banners. Efforts have been made to brand it as “Temple” as opposed to the names residents call home, North Central Philadelphia or the Cecil B. Moore Community.
“This was Philadelphia’s Harlem,” says the Rev. William B. Moore as we tour the myriad construction sites, silt spilling into sewers, bricks tumbling onto the sidewalk, few Dumpsters, four electric meters affixed to housing designated for one family. It’s the Wild North of speculation.
“We’re not against development,” Moore says. “What we’re against is out-of-control development that’s thumbing its nose at the residents.”
Read More»Bank of America names new state president for Maine
By Matt Wickenheiser, Bangor Daily News, Maine
May 16–Bank of America said Tuesday it has named Bill Williamson as a new state president for its Maine banks.
Williamson is a Maine native and Falmouth resident who has been with the company since joining a predecessor institution in 1981. Williamson said Tuesday he was with Fleet Bank when Bank of America acquired it; previously he had worked for Bank of New England and Maine National.
Williamson is a senior client manager in the bank’s Global Commercial Bank, where he works with public and private companies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
Bank of America said in a statement that Williamson will “help integrate Bank of America business lines throughout Maine, allowing the company to reach more individuals, families and businesses while deepening relationships with existing customers. He also will oversee corporate social responsibility activities including philanthropic giving, community development lending and investing, environmental initiatives, diversity efforts, arts and culture projects, and employee volunteerism.”
According to Bank of America, Williamson replaces Betsey Timm, who served as state president since 2004, and state president for a predecessor institution beginning in 1998. Timm will retire in June.
Williamson will have fewer branches to oversee. It was announced on April 24 that Camden National Bank was acquiring 15 Bank of America branches in Maine in a $20 million deal. That was roughly half of Bank of America’s presence in the state.
After that deal closes, Bank of America will be the fifth largest bank in Maine, after TD Bank, KeyBank, Camden National and Bangor Savings, with 5.86 percent market share.
Williamson said the company still has a “very significant presence” in terms of the number of employees, though Bank of America doesn’t disclose headcounts in each state. More importantly, he said, the company has a significant presence on a client and business basis.
“We’re the primary bank to most of the largest businesses headquartered in the state,” he said.
Read More»JPMorgan loss could dominate bank overhaul debate
By MARCY GORDON
WASHINGTON – The $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan Chase should feature prominently Wednesday when lawmakers debate how best to regulate banks big enough to bring down the broader financial system.
The House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on a key tenet of the 2010 regulatory overhaul was scheduled well before the nation’s biggest bank revealed its trading misfire last week.
Since then, news of the surprise losses at the only major bank to stay profitable during the 2008 financial crisis has renewed calls for stricter oversight of Wall Street banks.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that JPMorgan’s loss bolsters the case for tougher rules.
“I’m very confident that we’re going to be able to make sure those come out as tough and effective as they need to be,” Geithner said. “And I think this episode helps make the case, frankly.”
Democratic lawmakers and other proponents say the trades that led to the losses at JPMorgan would have violated the so-called Volcker Rule, which restricts banks from trading for their own profit. Regulators are working to finalize the rule, which was mandated under the 2010 law. It was named after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been among the most outspoken critics of the rule. He says the loss came from a hedging strategy that backfired, and not a bet with the bank’s own money.
The banks have won an exemption in the rule that Dimon notes would allow them to make such trades if they are hedging against risk.
A number of lawmakers who opposed the exemption say it encourages the kind of risk taking that endangers the broader financial system.
Regulators will determine which of the nation’s banks and financial firms are “systemically important financial institutions.” They will be subjected to a stricter level of oversight and requirements for holding capital cushions against risk.
Treasury and Federal Reserve officials will testify at the hearing about what it will mean for some firms to be tagged as “systemically important.” There is little doubt that JPMorgan will meet those criteria.
Some critics and lawmakers want to go beyond the law’s parameters by placing limits on the amount of assets those firms can hold.
Read More»EDITORIAL: Your brains got you this far, now use them to celebrate
By The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
May 16–The next few weeks, we hope, will be among the most joyous in the careers of our high school graduates. We congratulate them on their accomplishment and wish them the best of luck in life.
We fear for some, the days ahead will be among the saddest of their lives.
We know those headlines all too well. “Classmates mourn” they begin. Another young person is gone. Perhaps they didn’t even make it to graduation. Perhaps they died horribly shortly afterward.
We don’t want to spoil the party, but if that’s what it takes to save a life, we will.
To the students, you are no longer kids, you have passed the threshold into adulthood. And with adulthood comes responsibility. Some of you may feel that only by adding alcohol to the mix can you truly appreciate and celebrate this grand event. Don’t.
It’s against the law for you to drink. And it’s against the law for a good reason. Youthful exuberance, the young’s feelings of invincibility and alcohol are a volatile cocktail.
Too many teenagers are notoriously unsafe drivers. That is the reason their insurance rates are so high. And, the more teenagers in a car, the higher the risk of having an accident. And finally, some teens drink. Or take other drugs that impair their ability to drive. Those are the facts. Those are the dangers you, the teenager, will face in the coming weeks.
Only you will face the consequences should you decide to drink and drive, or ride with someone who is impaired. We hope, should you make this mistake, you make it home safely. But we know the odds. So don’t.
If you have a friend who’s thinking about boozing it up, be a real friend and counsel against it. You may not be the most popular classmate of the moment, but that’s the kind of tough choices you have in adult life.
To the parents, you are not the life of the party, no matter how many shots you pour, how many beers you have on ice.
If you supply alcohol to minor children, even your own, you’re a criminal. Should there be a horrible tragedy, and should the trail of booze lead to your door, you’ll have incurred a terrible liability and an awful burden to carry through the rest of your life. So don’t.
Finally, to all of us, should you get a call from a graduate or otherwise encounter one who’s had too many, get that graduate home.
No questions asked.
This editorial represents the views of the Sun Herald editorial board, which consists of President-Publisher Glen Nardi, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Circulation and Human Resources Director Wanda Howell, Marketing and Interactive Director John McFarland and Associate Editor Tony Biffle. Opinions expressed by columnists, cartoonists and letter writers are their own.
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(c)2012 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)
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