11-27-2024  8:15 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

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NORTHWEST NEWS

Oregon Tribe Has Hunting and Fishing Rights Restored Under a Long-Sought Court Ruling

The tribe was among the dozens that lost federal recognition in the 1950s and ‘60s under a policy of assimilation known as “termination.” Congress voted to re-recognize the tribe in 1977. But to have their land restored, the tribe had to agree to a federal court order that limited their hunting, fishing and gathering rights. 

Forecasts Warn of Possible Winter Storms Across US During Thanksgiving Week

Two people died in the Pacific Northwest after a rapidly intensifying “bomb cyclone” hit the West Coast last Tuesday, bringing fierce winds that toppled trees and power lines and damaged homes and cars. Fewer than 25,000 people in the Seattle area were still without power Sunday evening.

Huge Number Of Illegal Guns In Portland Come From Licensed Dealers, New Report Shows

Local gun safety advocacy group argues for state-level licensing and regulation of firearm retailers.

'Bomb Cyclone' Kills 1 and Knocks out Power to Over Half a Million Homes Across the Northwest US

A major storm was sweeping across the northwest U.S., battering the region with strong winds and rain. The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks through Friday and hurricane-force wind warnings were in effect. 

NEWS BRIEFS

Vote By Mail Tracking Act Passes House with Broad Support

The bill co-led by Congressman Mfume would make it easier for Americans to track their mail-in ballots; it advanced in the U.S. House...

OMSI Opens Indoor Ice Rink for the Holiday Season

This is the first year the unique synthetic ice rink is open. ...

Thanksgiving Safety Tips

Portland Fire & Rescue extends their wish to you for a happy and safe Thanksgiving Holiday. ...

Portland Art Museum’s Rental Sales Gallery Showcases Diverse Talent

New Member Artist Show will be open to the public Dec. 6 through Jan. 18, with all works available for both rental and purchase. ...

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Oregon Announces New State Director and Community Engagement Coordinator

“This is an exciting milestone for Oregon,” said DELC Director Alyssa Chatterjee. “These positions will play critical roles in...

Oregon tribe has hunting and fishing rights restored under a long-sought court ruling

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) — Drumming made the floor vibrate and singing filled the conference room of the Chinook Winds Casino Resort in Lincoln City, on the Oregon coast, as hundreds in tribal regalia danced in a circle. For the last 47 years, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz...

Schools are bracing for upheaval over fear of mass deportations

Last time Donald Trump was president, rumors of immigration raids terrorized the Oregon community where Gustavo Balderas was the school superintendent. Word spread that immigration agents were going to try to enter schools. There was no truth to it, but school staff members had to...

Arkansas heads to No. 23 Missouri for matchup of SEC teams trying to improve bowl destinations

Arkansas (6-5, 3-4 SEC) at No. 23 Missouri (8-3, 4-3, No. 21 CFP), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (SEC) BetMGM College Football Odds: Missouri by 3 1/2. Series record: Missouri leads 11-4. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Arkansas and Missouri know they are headed...

Arkansas heads to No. 23 Missouri intent on winning in Columbia for the first time in seven tries

Arkansas coach Sam Pittman delivers a presentation to his team every Monday about the upcoming opponent. It's a breakdown of rosters and schemes, of course, but also an opportunity for Pittman to deliver a motivating message to his team. Like the fact that the Razorbacks have never...

OPINION

A Loan Shark in Your Pocket: Cellphone Cash Advance Apps

Fast-growing app usage leaves many consumers worse off. ...

America’s Healing Can Start with Family Around the Holidays

With the holiday season approaching, it seems that our country could not be more divided. That division has been perhaps the main overarching topic of our national conversation in recent years. And it has taken root within many of our own families. ...

Donald Trump Rides Patriarchy Back to the White House

White male supremacy, which Trump ran on, continues to play an outsized role in exacerbating the divide that afflicts our nation. ...

Why Not Voting Could Deprioritize Black Communities

President Biden’s Justice40 initiative ensures that 40% of federal investment benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, addressing deep-seated inequities. ...

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEWS

Illinois court orders pretrial release for deputy charged in Sonya Massey's killing

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois appellate court ruled Wednesday that a former deputy sheriff charged with the death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman shot in her home after she called police for help, should be released from jail pending his first-degree murder trial. ...

Democrat Derek Tran defeats GOP Rep. Michelle Steel in Southern California swing House district

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democrat Derek Tran ousted Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel in a Southern California House district Wednesday that was specifically drawn to give Asian Americans a stronger voice on Capitol Hill. Steel said in a statement that “like all journeys, this one is...

White supremacist prison gang leader accused of attacking two California prison officers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A white supremacist prison gang leader is accused in the attempted homicide of two officers at the California State Prison in Sacramento, authorities said Tuesday. Ronald D. Yandell, a leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, allegedly attacked two officers...

ENTERTAINMENT

Book Review: 'How to Think Like Socrates' leaves readers with questions

The lessons of Socrates have never really gone out of style, but if there’s ever a perfect time to revisit the ancient philosopher, now is it. In “How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern World,” Donald J. Robertson describes Socrates' Athens...

Music Review: The Breeders' Kim Deal soars on solo debut, a reunion with the late Steve Albini

When the Pixies set out to make their 1988 debut studio album, they enlisted Steve Albini to engineer “Surfer Rosa,” the seminal alternative record which includes the enduring hit, “Where Is My Mind?” That experience was mutually beneficial to both parties — and was the beginning of a...

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7

Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 1-7: Dec. 1: Actor-director Woody Allen is 89. Singer Dianne Lennon of the Lennon Sisters is 85. Bassist Casey Van Beek of The Tractors is 82. Singer-guitarist Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult is 80. Drummer John Densmore of The Doors is 80....

U.S. & WORLD NEWS

Fossilized dinosaur feces and vomit help scientists reconstruct the creatures' rise

NEW YORK (AP) — Using fossilized feces and vomit samples from Poland, scientists have reconstructed how...

The Australian Senate debates the world's first social media ban for children under 16

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian Senate was debating a ban on children younger than 16 years old from...

White House pressing Ukraine to draft 18-year-olds so it has enough troops to battle Russia

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its...

Agribusiness-friendly states in Brazil try to undo forest protections

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Several states in Brazil are trying to rid themselves of rainforest protections, bowing...

US sanctions more allies of Maduro over alleged post-election crackdown in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The United States has imposed sanctions on an additional 21 allies of Venezuelan...

Middle East latest: Displaced people return to south Lebanon as ceasefire appears to hold

Thousands of displaced people started returning to their homes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in the first hours...

Les Christie

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Borrowers who lost homes to foreclosure during the housing bust are starting to buy again.

Since the housing bubble burst, 4.8 million borrowers have lost their homes to foreclosure, and another 2.2 million gave them up in short sales, according to RealtyTrac. While many are still struggling to recover financially, a growing number are starting to bounce back -- and they are looking for a new place to call home.

Susan Edwards and her husband, Dave, lost their Palmdale, Calif., home in 2010 after Susan's severe arthritis made it impossible for her to work her medical device sales job.

The medical bills soon piled up and the couple could no longer afford their $2,300 monthly mortgage payment. In addition, their home's value had plunged 40 percent below the $325,000 mortgage balance.

"We were living under such pressure," she said. "We looked at the numbers and knew we had to default."

After the foreclosure, Susan's credit score had taken a 70-point hit; Dave's score fell even further.

By paying all of the bills on time, they nursed their credit scores back to health. And in December, two years after they lost their old home, the couple was able to buy a new home with a loan backed by the Veteran's Administration. VA-insured loans can be obtained just two years after a foreclosure, according to the Mike Frueh, director of the VA's Loan Guaranty Program.

The new house is a lot like the Edwards' old one, with one big improvement: The mortgage payment is $1,150 a month -- roughly half the amount they used to pay.

"[After bankruptcy], foreclosure is one of the things that hits your credit score the hardest," said Anthony Sprauve, a spokesman for FICO.

Foreclosures and short sales usually knock about 85 to 160 points off a credit score. Scores suffer less if you pay at least the minimum on all your other bills on time and only allow your mortgage payments to go unpaid, said Jon Maddux, the CEO of YouWalkAway.com, which offers advice to defaulting mortgage borrowers.

Once the damage is done, it can take three to seven years for a score to fully recover. But some lenders are willing to work with borrowers earlier than that.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for example, require defaulters to wait five years -- and have a minimum credit score of 680 and put 10 percent down -- before they can purchase a home again. If they don't meet that criteria the wait is seven years, at which point the foreclosure is expunged from a person's credit report.

If defaulters show that extenuating circumstances caused the foreclosure -- such as a health issue that prevented them from working, a layoff, a divorce or other one-time event -- the wait may be reduced to three years.

The Federal Housing Administration allows banks to issue FHA-insured loans to borrowers three years after a foreclosure or a short sale in which the borrower was in default.

Tony and Ginger Read, who live with their three kids outside of Boise, Idaho, took four years to rebuild their credit after they sold their home in a 2008 short sale. Tony had been laid off and the couple had already sold their camper and other valuables in a fruitless effort to keep their home. Eventually, a broker convinced them to sell.

"It was the hardest thing we ever had to do but we couldn't afford the payments," said Ginger.

Tony now has a job supervising a sand and water pumping crew for the fracking industry and the couple's credit score has regained more than half of what it lost.

In January, they were approved for a 4 percent interest FHA loan on a $280,000 house in Fruitvale, Idaho. They close April 12.

Mike Edgar, the broker who worked with the Reads to sell their home and buy a new one, has worked with several clients to help them repair their credit and, when they're ready, buy new homes.

In 2012, he worked with 15 "boomerang" buyers, about a quarter of his sales. He expects that number to double in 2013.

Tim Duy, a business manager in Verrado, Ariz., and his wife Christina, lost their house in April 2011. They're eager to become homeowners again, but for now they're concentrating on repairing their credit. The foreclosure, which knocked Duy's credit score down 200 points to below 600, has since rebounded to 730.

Meanwhile, the couple window shops. "We're in the penalty box for another year, maybe," said Duy. "I see houses just what we want selling for $185,000. I would jump all over that if I could."

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