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Closing Arguments: Your Thoughts on Four Dollar Gas

June 09, 2008 10:31 PM

The average price for gas in this country is now over four dollars a gallon. But it’s not just the United States that's hurting. Tens of thousands of truckers in Spain, France and Portugal are protesting fuel prices by blocking roadways, even smashing windshields. It's hard to believe it could get any higher -- but what do you think?

June 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (141)

Realty Check: Yes, You Too Will Get Old Someday...

June 09, 2008 5:06 PM

And when you do, you'll want your house paid off. 

To me, that's the greatest lesson to take away from unseemly story of Ed McMahon.  But it was a lesson that smacked me upside the head back when I was a local reporter in Baltimore in the late '80s and early '90s. I did a story about a feisty old lady named Emily Holloway who, with her super cute mutt Buddy, took her cameras down some of Baltimore's scummiest alleys and up some of Charm City's most elegant boulevards, to document the city.  After airing her story, I got to know Emily pretty well.  Maybe too well, because I learned she was having financial problems and started helping pay her bills. 

See, Emily waited until she was in her 60s to buy a house – incredibly she was a renter 'til then.  So there she was in her 70s, still paying a mortgage.  She was in constant fear of having her heat and utilities and phone disconnected... Her friends were pitching in to make sure that didn't happen, and I joined them.  Got a few of my friends to donate their time and money as well.  (She was even getting film and developing supplies from one of the great a photojournalists at the Baltimore Sun.  What can I say?  She was compelling!)  Through some quirk in the Social Security system Emily was only getting a little over $400 a month -- barely enough to cover her mortgage, certainly not enough for utilities.  She made a little extra hanging her extraordinary photographs on the fence at Johns Hopkins University and selling them.   

In 1992, I moved to Dallas for a new job, the city where my father was raised and where my grandmother still lived.  She was in her 80s, still living alone in her own house, and, compared with Emily, she was rich.  She wasn't really – Grandmama Brown had spent her life catering small luncheons for the grandees of The Big D, including Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus fame.  But she sure didn’t get rich from that.  No, she was sitting pretty because her house was paid off (and Texas abates taxes for the elderly), so Grandmama Brown's $720 a month Social Security check covered all her expenses, with enough left over to tithe ten percent to her beloved church.  (Actually, "left over" is the wrong term – she paid that first!) 

Emily's situation scared me – who wants to be well past their working years, still struggling to pay for the roof over their head?  Who wants to depend on virtual strangers to keep the lights and heat on? 

The average American moves every seven years... Okay, so your job or other life events keep you on the move – but can't you have that one Forever House?  The one you can always return to.  Maybe you rent it for a few years while real life carries on.  But there's peace of mind knowing that, someday, you can go home again. 

And when you do, what a relief to know that you'll have a FREE (well, almost free) place to call your own. 

P.S.  Neither Grandmama Brown nor Emily is with us anymore, but their life lessons live on...

-Vicki Mabrey

June 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)

Closing Arguments: Can He Win It?

June 06, 2008 11:10 PM

No, we don't mean Barack Obama.  We don't mean John McCain.  We mean the horse Big Brown. He won the Kentucky Derby and he won the Preakness. Will he win tomorrow's Belmont Stakes? It would make him the first Triple Crown champion in 30 years.

Do you think he can do it?

June 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (11)

Realty Check: Guess Who’s Knocking on Ed McMahon’s Door?

June 06, 2008 4:01 PM

Vicki Mabrey Reports:

Countrywide, his home lender, that's who.

Did anyone see Ed McMahon and his wife on TV last night? Because Ed and his wife Pam are behind on their mortgage. Does anyone else find it jaw-droppingly amazing that Ed McMahon is facing foreclosure?

Ed McMahon, for crying out loud – Johnny Carson sidekick, the Ryan Seacrest (before there was a Ryan Seacrest) of Star Search, pitchman for all kinds of stuff, including that million-dollar Publisher’s Clearinghouse check. Yes, that Ed McMahon is $644,000 in arrears on his $4.8 million dollar mortgage.

Okay, forget that he's made millions (I know, I heard him on TV last night blaming it on a couple of bad divorces, and saying, "If you spend more money than you make..."). Think for a minute about the fact that this is an 85-year-old man saying he needs to heal from a broken neck so he can work again to afford to pay his mortgage!

What??!?!

See, in my view, at 85, even if you love work so much you never want to retire, you should not have to work because you’re still cracking a big nut like a mortgage. I'd like to have my house paid off so I would essentially be living free. Maybe not free of property taxes and insurance, but certainly we should be mortgage free in our 80's. And 70's. And hopefully in our 60's.

Let's look at the numbers: The McMahons bought the house in 1990 for $2.6 million. There was a mold problem and they won a $7.2 million court judgment for that. "They had nine lawyers, we had nine lawyers," he said to explain where the settlement funds went. They've had the house on the market for two years for upwards of $6 million – 50+ lookers, 0 takers.

Does anyone else but me think there are lessons to be learned here? You buy a house in 1990 for $2.6 million, 18 years later you should not owe more than you paid for it. Especially when you are 85 years old.

Coming Monday: How I learned the lesson of the debt-free house...

June 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (14)

Closing Arguments: Should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Get a Fair Trial?

June 06, 2008 12:32 AM

Today, accused September 11th conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed appeared in court at Guantanamo Bay – his first public appearance since he was captured in 2003. During the proceedings Mohammed told the military judge that he hoped for the death penalty, saying “I wish to be martyred.”

What do you think about the case? Does Khalid Sheikh Mohammed deserve a fair trial? Should the things he said after being subjected to waterboarding be admissible in court?

June 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (20)

Closing Arguments: How Do You Think Hillary is Handling Her Exit?

June 04, 2008 10:41 PM

We've learned tonight that this Saturday Hillary Clinton will suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama for president.

Last night Clinton stopped short of conceding to Obama – even though he had won enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

What do you think about how Senator Clinton is handling her exit from the race?

If you want to take a look back at all the twists and turns from the Clinton campaign, check out our timeline.

June 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (349)

Closing Arguments: Should Obama Pick Clinton For VP?

June 03, 2008 10:53 PM

It’s official – Barack Obama will be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. He clinched the nomination a few hours ago, passing the magic number of 2,118 delegates.

But he and Hillary Clinton literally fought it out to the bitter end, splitting today’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana.  And in her speech tonight, Clinton stopped short of conceding defeat.

Which brings us to tonight’s Closing Argument: do you think Obama should make Clinton his Vice Presidential candidate?

June 3, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (488)

Closing Arguments: Should Clinton Stay or Go?

June 02, 2008 8:37 PM

Hillary Clinton had a big win in yesterday's Puerto Rico primary, and there are two fights left -- tomorrow's primaries in Montana and South Dakota.

But rumors are swirling that Clinton is dropping out of the race. While campaigning in South Dakota, her husband remarked that “This may be the last day I’m ever involved in a campaign like this.” The Clinton campaign says that she won’t concede.

What do you think? Even if she does well tomorrow, is that reason enough for Clinton to stay in the race? Or should she drop out and concede to Barack Obama?

Take a look back at the Clinton campaign here

June 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (291)

Close Encounters With Canis Lupus

June 02, 2008 12:37 PM

Reported by Ely Brown

Since its reintroduction to the northern Rockies in 1995, the wolf has been the center of a swirling conflict of human interests.  For some, the recent removal of the wolf from the endangered species list represents a stupendous success story – some 1500 wolves now roam across Idaho, Montana and Wyoming up from the original 66 reintroduced to the region starting in 1995.

For others, like some ranchers and hunters, 1500 is too many.  Wolves have attacked livestock and threatened livelihoods.  Some claim elk and deer herds are vastly reduced.  Still others find 1500 to be too few to ensure that wolves will be able to thrive and reproduce successfully.  A group of conservation organizations have initiated a lawsuit to return the wolves to the endangered species list and strict federal control.  But for now, the management of the wolf resides with state fish and wildlife departments.

As part of 'Nightline's' reporting on the debate over removing the wolf from the endangered species list, I spent a day with Jason Husseman, a regional wildlife biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.  Based out of Salmon, Idaho, Husseman's job includes keeping track of the wolves in his area and counting them.  He needs to make sure the number of breeding pairs – two adult wolves who successfully raise at least two pups to the end of the year - stays above at least 10 pairs to comply with the new regulations. 

In the spring, Husseman tracks down the den sites for the packs in his region to document reproduction rates and litter size.  The day before I met up with Husseman, he had taken a flight over the area to try to track down wolves in the area that he had previously radio-collared in order to get a general location for where a particular pack's den might be.  Based on what he found, he thought the den would be about a half-hour hike from a narrow dirt road deep in the forest southwest of Salmon.

Bumping along the dirt roads with Husseman the next morning he explained his strategy for locating the den.  "Hopefully there will be a radio-collared animal there that we can key in on and using the radio telemetry equipment, hike in and try to get ourselves in a position where we can get a look and see if they have pups... Try to get an idea of litter size and hopefully get a look at other adults, see how many adults are in the pack."

As we drove deeper into the forest he pointed up a steep slope to my right that we were going to scale to begin the search.  "Obviously you need to have a little bit of woodsy skills. Using the wind to your advantage.  Trying not to get upwind from them."  Looking up at that slope I was glad I had had a big breakfast.  "You really have to kind of stand back and look at the situation and put yourself in a place where you are not going to be seen, where they are not going to wind you, which can be pretty difficult."

I was beginning to get the idea this was going to be more than a half hour hike.  Before we started hiking in, Husseman first drove to the top of a nearby hill.  He wanted to verify that there was a radio-collared wolf in the area where he thought the den was.  Waving about a light weight antennae, he dialed up the frequencies for the various collared wolves in the pack on his hand-held radio.  Faint beeps showed the male was way off in another direction.  Stronger beeps in the direction of the possible den got Husseman’s attention.  "Sounds like mom’s there.  That’s a good sign."

By 12:30 p.m. we had parked the truck on the side of the road, crossed a stream flowing with water from recently melted snow, and had started up the backside of the slope he had indicated driving in.  Husseman paused frequently, checking the radio telemetry readings and wind direction.  At times we followed a narrow path lined with wolf tracks going in both directions, but more often we stayed clear of any known path, breaking our own trail up to the rocky, pine-covered ridge.

In an hour, we reached the top and could see down into the valley below.  Husseman’s telemetry was indicating that somewhere down below to our right was the collared female.  We perched on that ridge top, scanning the meadows and open spots below with our binoculars.  Husseman wanted to be quiet, to simply listen.  "Just trying to hear if we can hear the pups playing" he whispered to me.  "They are pretty rambunctious at times and so a lot of times you can listen for them and they will tell you right where they are at."

After an hour or so, and not having heard anything, Husseman made the decision to move on.  With the female down to our right, we headed down to the left, trying to stay downwind of her.  We crept quietly, which was a challenge – the ground was littered with rocks and dried twigs just waiting to be stepped on.

At the bottom, we crossed a wet meadow and began to climb up to the next ridge, thinking we would circle above the possible den site and come down on it from the opposite side.  Progress was slow.  We would walk slowly and quietly for a few minutes,  then Husseman would check his telemetry.  Then we’d walk some more... stop and listen again for any sounds of the puppies... nothing.  Frustration and worries about a wasted day began to mount.  Ticks and flies became more agitating in the heat.

Five hours after we had started hiking, Husseman and I sat on a small open bump of terrain deep in the trees.  We had circled around where the telemetry indicated the radio-collared female wolf was, and indeed there were rub marks in the dirt around us from where wolves had recently lain.

Suddenly, from just in front of us, the playful yips of puppies at play cut through the trees.  I turned to Husseman and quietly gasped "Puppies?"  Almost immediately there sounded a deep, snarly woof.  "Discipline," Husseman translated. 

Now we knew there was a den out there for sure.  "You’re sitting about 75 yards from a wolf pack," Husseman whispered.

Could we get closer?  Could I get a picture of them?   Husseman started guiding us back up a slope we had come down thinking we could look down on them now that we knew more about where they were.  As we crept along, I heard the snap of a stick being stepped on, turned and saw the back half of light colored wolf lope off into the trees.  We froze.  Slowly we lifted our binoculars to our eyes.  And down through the deep brush and branches we could barely make out two adult female wolves with several puppies scampering about.  Too far away for the weak zoom lens on my camera, but for a few moments we saw them playfully nuzzling and nursing, and then they faded back into the undergrowth. 

Frustration gone, exhilaration replacing fatigue, we crept out of the area.  Husseman later explained that he was very concerned that we not disturb the wolves and scare them off this particular den site.  "In years past where they have denned, they have denned right on top of grazing cattle and we have seen livestock depredations because of it.  Having that proximity and that temptation right there generally doesn’t bode well for either livestock or wolves.  Hopefully where they are right now, they are far enough away from cattle that hopefully that will reduce the conflict level."

Conflict.  To some the wolf is a demon, attacking cattle and sheep.  To others a deity, a freer, purer relative of man's best friend.  And to still others, he is simply a creature like all others trying to find its place in the world. 

While the humans work through their conflicts, the wolves will continue to do their thing, and biologists like Jason Husseman will continue to monitor and document their activities.  "When you’ve got a full day invested, try to get in there and get a quick peak, yeah it can be frustrating.  Talking sometimes ten, twelve hours of hiking and sitting in the hot sun and bugs and mosquitoes and what not.  Yeah, it can take a while but it’s usually pretty exciting when you get in there and get to see them."

June 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)