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If you're interested in building or buying a new home, consider yourself lucky if you don't live in the Northeastern United States: new research from the National Association of Home Builders shows that median home prices on the Atlantic Coast are 52% higher than the U.S. average. And while the NAHB reports that this difference is due to more expensive tastes and high local labor costs, the research shows exactly how disparate the country's new home construction market has become as the economy continues to recover. By analyzing government data on speculatively-built homes--or residences constructed on a builder's land, which are sold in one deal with the property -- the NAHB found the median sales price of a single-family home in the U.S. to be around $86 per square foot. In contrast, ...

When a hungry Portland, OR resident named Steve Huckins ordered a pizza, he expected a Pizza Hut delivery person to show up at his door, not two Portland police officers with the pizza in hand. The couple had ordered their dinner, and found themselves waiting longer than expected. They decided to call the Pizza Hut to tell them that they never received their order. "So [my wife] goes, 'well we didn't get the pizza,' so [the manager] says, 'well we'll make one and I'll hand deliver it and give it to you for half price," said Steve Huckins. Just as the couple sat down to eat the replacement pizza, there was a knock at the door. Huckins answered, and found two Portland police officers standing on his doorstep, with the original pie in hand. The officers explained that the pizza delivery pe...

A dentist from Williamston, North Carolina recently had his license revoked after over-sedation ultimately led to a patient's death, reported the South Carolina newspaper The State. The N.C. Board of Dental Examiners announced that Zachary J. Harrison will not be allowed to practice for a period of one to 10 years. Before performing a dental procedure on 71-year-old James T. Williams, Harrison gave his patient 10 milligrams of Midazolam, a drug used for sedation. However, the board found that Harrison failed to take into account a number of critical factors before administering sedation, including the patient's age, weight and medical history. They also found that he did not gradually increase the dose of Midazolam, which is a requirement in North Carolina. It was not until over 20 minut...

A bizarre car theft saga played out in an auto repair shop in Bainbridge Island, WA last week, when a woman allegedly took another person's car from a local auto repair shop and tried to pay the bill for its repairs with counterfeit money. Oddly, that's the most normal thing about the case. According to employees at the shop on Olympic Drive, Cristina Javon Chavez, 38, walked into the lobby on Wednesday and took a pair of car keys from the counter. An employee stopped her when she tried to leave, at which point she claimed she was picking up a car for the owner, a 25-year-old Bainbridge Island woman. When Chavez claimed the owner of the 1998 Nissan Maxima was her daughter, the employee pointed out that she didn't look old enough to be the owner's mother. Allegedly, Chavez then tried to...

Last week Warren Buffett brought a little bit of hope to the citizens of Detroit, declaring that he believes the city is going to be better off after recently declaring bankruptcy, reported Fortune Magazine. While the city of Detroit recently reached the end of the line in terms of financial stability, Buffet asserted that it can look forward to more new jobs as soon as five years down the road. While the city is just wrapping up the second week of its bankruptcy trial, the process actually began over a year ago. Detroit has been in a long downward spiral for years, ever since the auto industry began its decline. The city has always had strong ties to the auto industry, and when automobile manufacturers hit a rough patch, people started to leave Detroit in search of new opportunities. The...

America's car-making capital is also the capital of something else -- high auto insurance rates. According to a September 14 USA Today article, drivers in Detroit pay 165% more than the national average rate of car insurance, a Bankrate Insurance report recently discovered. The second-highest car insurance rates in the country can be found in New York City -- but drivers in the Big Apple still pay a fraction of what Motor City motorists pay, as New York auto insurance rates are only around 36% more than the national average. Miami came in third, where residents pay 34% more than the average American driver. Meanwhile, the lowest car insurance rates can be found in Charlotte, N.C., Cleveland and Pittsburgh, USA Todayreports. “Factors that would be taken into consideration would be the a...

The Big Apple recently passed legislation that created harsher punishments for "bad apple" landlords. Landlord harassment has been an ongoing issue in New York City, and tenants who choose to fight back are often deterred be lengthy legal processes and road blocks. However, the City Council has taken another step towards prosecuting egregious landlords. New legislation was recently passed that doubles the maximum fine for landlords who are found to have harassed their tenants. Additionally, a public list of offenders will be posted on the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development website, for all to view. Under the new law, the maximum fines for landlords who are found guilty of harassing tenants have increased from $5000 per unit to a cool $10,000. For repeat offenders, ...

After collecting about 7,330 petitions online -- nearly 15 times as many as he'd hoped for -- high school senior Draven Rodriguez has compromised with Schenectady High School. Instead of using the portrait he hoped to as his yearbook photo, which featured him and his cat Mr. Bigglesworth looking dreamily up into the distance with lasers and transparent profiles in the background, he'll have a more conventional one, but will pose for another photo with his cat, his principal, and her Chihuahua, which will get to go into the yearbook. "We reached a compromise that everybody's happy about," principal Diane Wilkinson said. The new photo will be placed on the principal's yearbook page, along with a message that advocates animal rescue and adoption. It will also feature the same lasers and tra...

In family law courts, it is not completely unusual to see men and women choosing to represent themselves instead of hiring an attorney. In amicable, uncontested divorces, there may simply not be a need: some former spouses are able to shoulder the emotional weight of the process and negotiate agreements regarding their finances, children, and property. However, others go through the process alone because they are unable to afford legal representation. And with the still-improving economy, some courts are reporting that this is increasing: Connecticut state courts especially say that more defendants are choosing to defend themselves instead of hiring a divorce lawyer. In a lecture she delivered at the University of Hartford in April, Connecticut State Supreme Court Chief Justice Chase T. R...

Officials in Michigan's Ypsilanti Township are mulling over plans to reclaim an abandoned home that poses a health risk to neighboring homeowners. According to a report from MLive, a home thought to have been abandoned by its previous owners following foreclosure has had a water leak coursing throughout the home for at least two months. Subsequently, an estimated 88,000 gallons of water is thought to have saturated the home, although the majority has since leaked out through the basement.While this may seem like an issue for the lending institution that foreclosed on the property, the resultant mold infestation in the home poses a public health risk. Mike Radzik, director of Ypsilanti's Office of Community Standards, describes the infestation as "advanced and severe." The Home May Be Ab...