Whites-only sign lands a man in jail. Police in Niagra Falls, N.Y., have arrested a 52-year-old former longtime city worker who hung a “Whites Only” on a drinking fountain at the Department of Public Works earlier this month. Authorities say that James Curtis was nabbed at his home Friday morning. Later in the day, police announced that he had been arrested on charges of second-degree aggravated harassment, which is classified as a hate crime. Curtis, who worked for the Department of Public Works for 26 years, is scheduled to be arraigned in Niagara Falls City Court this morning. WGRZ-TV in New York reports that investigators were able to track Curtis down by analyzing handwriting samples.
Virginia’s foreclosures triple
The number of foreclosures in Virginia tripled last month over the same period last year. In Prince William County, the jurisdiction with the highest foreclosure rate in the state, one in every 103 houses is in a state of foreclosure, including default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions, The Washington Post reports. Loudon County is second in line with foreclosures that rose from 378 to 581 – a 54-percent spike, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors filings throughout the country. Loudoun’s foreclosure rate works out to about one of every 169 house. In the more affluent Fairfax County, the foreclosure rate was significantly slower – one of every 226 houses – but still high enough to evoke concerns. In Arlington County’s, one in every 1,357 houses was in a state of foreclosure. Statewide, some 5,745 foreclosures were filed last month. Virginia has the 10th-highest rate in the country last month, RealtyTrac reported. The number of homes in the United States facing foreclosure in July jumped 55 percent from the year before. “Bank repossessions . . . continued to be the fastest-growing segment of foreclosure activity in July,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “The sharp rise in [bank repossessions], combined with slow sales, has resulted in a bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale.”
