http://taxingtennessee.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-fight-local-tax-hikes-and-win.html

Eastman Kodak Co. has agreed to pay $21.4 million to settle legal action brought by black workers who claim the photography products maker paid and promoted them less than their white co-workers.

Read more via Kodak to Pay $21.4 Million to Settle Race Discrimination Lawsuit – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com.

If 100 college freshmen enter four-year Tennessee colleges this fall but only 45 graduate within six years, what is the X factor that kept so many students from donning a cap and gown?

That’s a real-life word problem the state’s education leaders are trying to solve. Tennessee’s overall college completion rate is so dismal that only two states, Arkansas and Louisiana, fare worse.

via Tennessee’s college graduation rate is third worst | tennessean.com | The Tennessean.

More fallout from a still deteriorating housing market

Soaring U.S. unemployment and a shrinking economy drove delinquencies on credit card debt to an all-time high in the first quarter as a record number of cash-strapped consumers fell behind on their bills.

Read more via Credit card delinquencies at record high – Consumer news- msnbc.com.

Fraudsters are hacking into corporate job sites, e-mailing as a potential employer, and creating fake job sites to collect personal data

Read more via Identity Thieves Target Job Seekers – BusinessWeek.

Sperm banks and donor agencies say the recession is prompting a surge in calls from people who hope to make money by donating their sperm or eggs.

…..Compensation varies by region, state and donor agency. At Oregon Health & Science University Fertility Consultants in Portland, sperm donors get $100 per collection and can donate twice a week, says lab director David Battaglia. Egg donors, who undergo an outpatient extraction procedure, can get $5,000 for a donation, he says.

Read more via Sperm, egg donors increase during recession – USATODAY.com.

Consumers need to keep their guard up as financial institutions increasingly impose new fees and charges.

Banks and credit-card companies have gone on the offensive in advance of new consumer protections the Obama administration is asking Congress to enact. For many consumers, that could mean an unexpected financial sting

Read more via Ten Ways Banks Take Your Money – WSJ.com.

Senate aides said the penalties, estimated to raise around $36 billion over 10 years, would be modeled on the approach taken by Massachusetts, which now imposes a fine of about $1,000 a year on individuals who refuse to get coverage.

Read more via Senate Bill Would Fine People More Than $1,000 for Refusing Health Care Coverage – Political News – FOXNews.com.

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. This slide set illustrates this trend by mapping the increased prevalence of obesity across each of the states.

In 2007, only one state (Colorado) had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; three of these states (Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.

Troubled days are ahead for those with ARMs as new foreclosures are waiting to crash. This time the sub-prime crisis could pale into insignificance causing the housing crisis to get prolonged and intensify.

Read more via New Foreclosures Waiting to Crash | Government Repo Homes News Center.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disclosed the locations of 44 “high-hazard” coal-ash piles in 10 states on Monday, after previously saying they were keeping the locations secret to prevent them from becoming targets of terrorism

Read more via EPA names locations of hazardous coal-ash piles – USATODAY.com.

List of potential high-hazard coal-ash sites

Small towns in Louisiana must give state all revenue from highway speeding tickets issued for driving less than 10 MPH over the limit.

Read more via Louisiana Legislature Passes Speed Trap Reform.