In recent years many grandparents, treasured for the unconditional love they bestow, have taken on the added responsibilities of providing food, shelter and discipline for their grandchildren. Nearly 626,000, or 6.8% of all California children under age 18, live in grandparent households and rates within counties range from 3%-11%. Often with multiple health problems of their own, grandparents may suffer severe emotional and economic stress when confronted by the costs and tasks of raising children who themselves may have emotional, learning or physical disabilities. Also, 294,969 grandparents are sole caregivers.
Are you a grandparent raising your grandkids? Or were you raised by a grandparent?
Be Cautious About Giving Info to Census Workers
With the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U..S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race, and other relevant data.
The big question is – how do you tell the difference between a U.S.. Census worker and a con artist? BBB offers the following advice:
** If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge and driver’s license before answering their questions. However, you should never invite them into your home. Answer questions thorough a screen door if possible, and keep your screen door locked.
** Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. REMEMBER, NO MATTER WHAT THEY ASK, YOU REALLY ONLY NEED TO TELL THEM HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVE AT YOUR ADDRESS..
While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range,YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations. Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau.
AND REMEMBER, THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS DECIDED NOT TO WORK WITH ACORN ON GATHERING THIS INFORMATION. No Acorn worker should approach you saying he/she is with the Census Bureau.
Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail, or in person at home. However, the Census Bureau will not contact you by Email, so be on the lookout for Email scams impersonating the Census.
Never click on a link or open any attachments in an Email that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Fastest Growing Cities by State
Arizona: Buckeye
Number of households: 18,112
Pct. Chg: +10% since 2008 (+261% since 2000)
Average household income: $52,927 (–6% since 2000)
Why: Buckeye is one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Arizona and has seen a large influx of Asian residents, especially Vietnamese, according to Gadberry. While many new housing units are planned, the price of real estate in Buckeye has dropped nearly 12% since 2008, according to Trulia, and thousands of properties are in the foreclosure process.
California: Lincoln
Number of households: 21,997
Pct. Chg: +10% since 2008 (+250% since 2000)
Average household income: $90,608 (+16% since 2000)
Why: Lincoln, a suburban development 30 miles from Sacramento, is the fastest-growing suburb of California and the third fastest-growing town in the U.S. New office buildings, shopping centers, housing developments, and custom home properties have gone up in recent years as a part of the local development plan, according to ZipRealty.
Georgia: Braselton
Number of households: 13,929
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+118% since 2000)
Average household income: $113,664 (+67% since 2000)
Why: Gadberry Group noted Braselton, a suburb of Atlanta, as a remarkable high-growth area due to increases not only in population, but also average income and average household net worth ($532,628). Companies operating here such as Sears Logistics, Tractor Supply, Mitsubishi, and Progressive Lighting have helped to generate jobs.
Indiana: Avon
Number of households: 11,521
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+73% since 2000)
Average household income: $97,355 (+35% since 2000)
Why: Avon has experienced rapid growth since the 1990s due to its convenient location 10 miles from Indianapolis, where health care, social services, and education are the leading industries, according to Simply Hired.
Iowa: Urbandale
Number of households: 16,402
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+44% since 2000)
Average household income: $93,655 (+12% since 2000)
Why: Urbandale, within an hour’s drive from Kansas City and Minneapolis, has a lower unemployment rate than the national average. The insurance and finance industries are major employers.
North Carolina: Wake Forest
Number of households: 17,803
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+118% since 2000)
Average household income: $82,771 (+18% since 2000)
Why: Not far from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle, Wake Forest has attracted residents with excellent quality of life, public schools, and health-care resources. Gadberry also notes the high percentage of children and ethnic diversity here.
South Carolina: Fort Mill
Number of households: 10,474
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+91% since 2000)
Average household income: $72,090(+23% since 2000)
Why: Companies such as Continental Tire and music distributor Muzak are located in Fort Mill, near Rock Hill, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C. While many financial companies moved into the area during the housing boom, they have mostly pulled out, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Tennessee: Spring Hill
Number of households: 11,814
Pct. Chg: +10% since 2008 (+183% since 2000)
Average household income: $92,347 (+44% since 2000)
Why: Spring Hill saw the fourth-largest increase in number of households on Gadberry’s list, driven largely by the jobs created by GM’s plant, which manufactured Saturn vehicles until 2008, when it started making the GM Traverse.
Texas: Atascocita
Number of households: 23,917
Pct. Chg: +8% since 2008 (+108% since 2000)
Average household income: $99,272 (+26% since 2000)
Why: Atascocita, 18 miles from Houston, boasts golf courses and country clubs. Residents can also boat and fish in nearby Lake Houston, a manmade lake. According to Gadberry, the number of Hispanic households increased by 278% since 2000, making it the largest-growing segment of the population.
Utah: South Jordan
Number of households: 13,622
Pct. Chg: +9% since 2008 (+82% since 2000)
Average household income: $108,300 (+37% since 2000)
Why: Development in this city, 10 miles from Salt Lake City, was fueled by the availability of land and large lots, planned communities, and a charming rural atmosphere. The new Daybreak Community development is expected to attract many more residents.
Reporting from Washington – U.S. workers and the Obama administration finally got some good news on the job front Friday as the unemployment rate unexpectedly tumbled out of double-digit terrain for the first time in four months.
In addition to the jobless rate’s drop to 9.7% in January from 10% in December, the Labor Department report offers a number of signs pointing to a turnaround in the employment market and a continuing, gradual recovery in the overall economy. Among those signs was the first increase in factory jobs in three years.
A sharp decline in the number of people working part time involuntarily was “the most promising news out of today’s report,” said John Challenger, chief executive of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “Overall, we are definitely heading toward a job market recovery.”
The positive news was tempered by newly revised data showing the country lost a staggering 8.4 million jobs in the last two years — about four times the net job losses in the recession of the early 1980s and 1.2 million more than previously estimated.
The severe destruction of jobs since December 2007, when the latest recession officially began, means that it will take years for millions of distressed families — and the economy as a whole — to climb back from what is being called the Great Recession.
“The crater we have is just incredible,” said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank in Washington.
Jay-Z is suing investment firm Highland Capital Management LP in a dispute over loan guarantees for a failed hotel deal, repots Bloomberg.
The rapper, born Shawn Carter, claims Highland and co-defendant NexBank SSB are attempting to “bleed” from him funds in excess of those he and two other men pledged to pay when they guaranteed the non-principal obligations of a company planning to build a hotel in Manhattan’s west side neighborhood of Chelsea.
Highland and NexBank acted in bad faith when they declined to clear Carter and his fellow guarantors of their obligations after receiving a deed in lieu of foreclosure on the property, according to the complaint, which was filed Thursday in federal court in New York.
The rap star is seeking a declaratory judgment that he has met those obligations. He’s also seeking damages of more than $3.7 million for the additional interest and other costs incurred while still being held liable under the agreements.
Nina Devlin, a Highland spokeswoman, said “Highland Capital Management believes the claims asserted by Mr. Carter are meritless and will vigorously defend itself and intends to pursue the obligations owed to Highland’s investors.”
Their romance may be over, but Jermaine Dupri and Janet Jackson are reportedly set to collaborate on new music for her upcoming album.
Producer and songwriter Bryan-Michael Cox told RapUp.com that he’ll join Dupri to complete work on the disc, which has been in production for a several months. “It’s going to be hot,” Cox said. “That’s all I can say so far.”
The new project, Jackson’s 11th studio album, is a follow up to her 2008 release “Discipline.” So far, the singer has worked with producers Kendrick “WyldCard” Dean and Rodney “Darkchild” Jenkins.
In October, Jenkins told MTV that the new album will reflect the emotional changes that have happened in her life over the past year.
“You gotta understand, she lost her brother. She was in a relationship for seven years that’s over now. There’s things that she told me that I didn’t even realize,” Jenkins said. “You know, certain [things] like self-esteem that I didn’t even realize that she dealt with for years that you know … She’s working on her book and she’ll deal with that in her book, but also in songs, certain songs we’re dealing with that head on.”
This week, Jackson joined dozens of other artists for a remake of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity song co-written by her brother Michael Jackson. She sang her brother’s original lyrics under the direction of Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie.
Jackson’s next film appearance is in Tyler Perry’s “Why Did I Get Married Too?” due in theaters on April 2.
The Academy Awards category for best director has historically been two things: white and male. This year, the five nominees are a slightly more diverse crowd.
Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) is only the fourth woman to be nominated. If she wins, she’ll be the first woman to ever take home a directing Oscar.
Lee Daniels (“Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ by Sapphire”) is only the second black filmmaker to be nominated for best director in the 81-year-history of the Academy Awards. John Singleton, in 1992 for “Boys N the Hood,” was the first.
Bigelow and Daniels would be enough to make the category a fascinating one, but it also bears the intrigue of former spouses being nominated against each other (“Avatar” director James Cameron is Bigelow’s ex-husband), the possibility of the youngest ever best director winner in 32-year-old Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”) and a quiet, soft-spoken fellow by the name of Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”).
Emboldened by the response to President Obama’s face-off with House Republicans last week, the White House is intensifying its push to engage Congressional Republicans in policy negotiations as a way to share the burden of governing and put more scrutiny on Republican initiatives.
Top aides say Mr. Obama intends to follow through quickly on his State of the Union proposal for bipartisan White House brainstorming sessions. Republicans will also be invited to the White House this weekend to watch the Super Bowl, as well as to Camp David and other venues for social visits.
The outreach represents a marked shift in both strategy and substance by Mr. Obama and his allies at a time when Democrats are adapting to the loss of their 60-vote supermajority in the Senate and the president has been losing support among independent voters.
The White House’s goal is to show voters that Mr. Obama is willing to engage Republicans rather than govern in a partisan manner while forcing Republicans to make substantive compromises or be portrayed as obstructionists given their renewed power to block almost all legislation in the Senate.
Universal Pictures is revving up for another sequel to its “Fast and Furious” franchise, with director Justin Lin and original stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker set to return.
Variety is reporting that the studio has closed deals with all three, as well as producer Neal Moritz, to return to the franchise, which has become one of the studio’s most lucrative.
Production will begin later this year for a 2011 release. This time, the storyline finds Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) as fugitives being pursued by relentless lawmen.
Diesel and Walker sat out the third chapter in the series but returned for last year’s fourth installment, which was the highest-grossing “Fast and Furious” film and Universal’s top grosser of 2009. Its box office haul was more than $350 million worldwide.
Let’s face it….times are hard. Millions of people have lost their jobs because of the state of the economy. Some are very fortunate to have employment while those have lost theirs. Losing a job is no doubt a hard hit in many ways. Your confidence is down. Your finances are challenges. One sometimes get discouraged from looking for jobs after awhile due to constant unresponsive resume submittals. Through it all though, we learn to be still live and make it through until things pick up again. Until you get that job with the salary and benefits you seek. U may start collecting unemployment, come up with a side gig to pay the rent or a combination of both.
Women put so much pressure on wanting to find a working man, which we should seeing as how he is supposed to be in a position to be the head or at least working toward it. This appears to be more acceptable but I have heard many brothers cut off a woman instantly when he finds our she isn’t working. She may unemployed but she is holding it together. She’s stretching those unemployment checks to cover the basics, beginning or going back to school for higher education, using already talents or creating new ones to make money on the side to take care of business. Isn’t this admirable? This exhibits her independence and strength in taking care of home. But their not praised for this. These are still great women who have struck hard times and are in the valley for but a moment but not for long. And they discarded because they don’t have a J O B. It’s one thing for a woman to purposely decide to stay home and mooch off of whom ever she can or live on gov’t assistance…I wouldn’t want them either….U want someone with a goals, passion, and drive. There are those women who possess these traits but hit a ditch and are working their way out. They may have just had to start back at square one or step back a few notches. And they don’t ask men for one red cent. They struggles all on their own. And do it with pride. There’s women with great jobs…mid to high paying salaries, big homes and a stock portfolio and they NUTS!!!! Then you have Monique who is has 1 maybe 2 kids, lost her job, collecting unemployment, looking for work and going to school with a great head on her shoulders. And she’s paying her bills regardless of her challenges. Should men give them a chance?