U.S. bank failures hit 18-year high in '10
WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. bank failures hit an 18-year high in 2010 and 2011 could be another bad year, figures from federal regulators indicate.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported 157 banks failed this year, up from 140 in 2009 -- and the largest number since 1992, when the economy was straining under a crisis precipitated by a series of savings and loan scandals, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
As of Sept. 30, there were 860 banks on the FDIC list of so-called problem banks -- which face threats to "continued financial viability." That's the largest number since 1993, the Post reported. Typically, about 20 percent of problem banks can be expected to fail.
The U.S. Treasury said it has begun to keep a close watch on boards of banks that have repeatedly failed to make dividend payments on bailout loans. The loans made through the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, begun in 2008 during the waning months of the George W. Bush administration, include the stipulation that the Treasury Department can appoint board members to banks that miss six or more dividend payments, the Post reported Tuesday.
The number of so-called deadbeat banks in the third quarter rose to 19, the Treasury said.
As the nation's largest banks have mostly repaid their TARP loans, the list of deadbeat banks is made up of smaller, community banks.
The chief investment officer for TARP, David Miller, said the Treasury could begin nominating new bank board members in 2011.
While the potential losses from delinquent TARP loans is small compared with the overall size of the program, about 20 percent of the banks given loans have missed deadlines for dividend payments.
"It just shows the weakness of the government's selection process and the weakness of the banking sector in general," said Linus Wilson, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Louisiana, who has studied TARP data.
Freezing weather hits central Florida
ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Record-breaking low temperatures across central Florida are threatening crops in the region, authorities said.
The National Weather Service said the temperature in Sanford, Fla., dropped to 28 degrees early Wednesday, breaking the 1977 record of 29 degrees, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.
Daytona Beach recorded 27 degrees at 5 a.m., breaking the 1977 record of 31 degrees, the newspaper said.
The blast of arctic cold put Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties under a hard-freeze warning until 8 a.m., authorities said.
Officials warn the wintry weather is also raising the risk of wildfires, as the hard freeze, a lack of rainfall, low humidity and breezy conditions could spark brush fires.
Residents should not burn yard debris or anything else until conditions are safer, Division of Forestry spokesman Timber Weller said.
December is shaping up as the coldest month on record based on average of daily low temperatures, forecasters said.
JFK passengers endure long delays
NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport reopened Tuesday after the blizzard, but four international flights have had long delays, officials say.
NY1 cable reported the Port Authority said two Cathay Pacific flights, one British Airways flight and one Iceland Air Express flight were affected.
One passenger said his unnamed flight was delayed in Toronto for 9 hours, then delayed on the tarmac for another 11 hours after flying to JFK.
The report said passengers aboard the flight claimed they were given little food or water, and said airline representatives told them the airport did not have enough gates to allow the delayed flight to arrive.
Meanwhile, CNN reported that passengers aboard that unnamed Toronto flight were finally unloaded at JFK Tuesday afternoon. "There were a lot of people on the plane crying," passenger Christina Edgar said.
Port Authority officials said they have had trouble moving airport baggage after many private contract bag handlers did not show up to work, NY1 reported. About 10,000 bags were stored at the airport waiting for the manpower to move them.
The Port Authority said the planes were stranded because the airlines brought them in without checking with terminal operations to see if there was a place to put them, adding that another three planes arrived at LaGuardia Tuesday without checking for space with airport authorities, CNN reported.
Federal judge dismisses Joe Miller lawsuit
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Alaska Tuesday upheld the state's high court and dismissed Republican Joe Miller's lawsuit over Sen. Lisa Murkowski's Nov. 2 write-in win.
U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline's 14-page order said Miller had no federal issues to resolve, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Beistline said he wouldn't second-guess the Alaska Supreme Court, which rejected all of Miller's legal claims Dec. 22 and found ballots were counted properly. Murkowski won the election by more than 10,000 votes.
"This is pretty great news," Murkowski said. "It means that I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that next week Alaska will have two senators in the United States Senate and there would not be any lapse that could have happened had certification been held up very much longer. This signals clearly that this election is done and Alaskans are ready to move on and I'm ready to get to work."
Miller was unavailable for comment, the newspaper said.
Murkowski is scheduled to be sworn in Jan. 5.
