Phili City » Business

Ex-housing official sues Philadelphia newspapers

musiclover — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:18:50 +0000

A former housing authority chief who was fired after allegations surfaced that he used public money to settle sexual harassment complaints has filed a libel suit against the city’s two largest daily newspapers, accusing them of “abusive muckraking attacks” designed to sell newspapers.

Former city housing director Carl Greene’s lawsuit charges that The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News published 246 articles about him in a one-year period, amounting to an “onslaught” of negative coverage that damaged his reputation.

The coverage began with news last year that Greene’s mortgage was in arrears and continued through reports the agency was using $900,000 in taxpayer money to secretly settle four sexual-harassment lawsuits filed against him.

“Because these abusive muckraking attacks on Mr. Greene have continued, and accelerated, to such a malicious and inflammatory level, Mr. Greene’s reputation as a housing authority administrator has forever been destroyed,” the suit said.

Philadelphia factory orders show improvement

hector — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:42:51 +0000

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The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank said its index gauging manufacturing conditions read 17.6 in February. That marks a rise from 15.2 in January and tops a consensus forecast anticipating a reading of 17, according to figures provided by Briefing.com.

The index, which held positive for a sixth-straight month, is also well-above year-ago levels when the gauge slumped at -36.1.

The index results are culled from a survey of manufacturers in the region. According to the report, several specific readings in the manufacturing realm also showed improvement, including shipments, inventories, and prices received. But the report was quick to highlight a reading on new orders, which surged in February to register 22.7 after hitting a mere 3.2 in January.

Philadelphia real estate market improving

PhiliGuy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:11:18 +0000

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Foreclosure filings in January fell almost 10 percent nationally from December, but were still 15 percent higher than January 2009, RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., reported today.

Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida remained the top foreclosure states; Pennsylvania was 34th of 50, while New Jersey was 16th.

“January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity followed by a 10 percent drop in January,” said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer.