Briefly
HUD offers mortgages to local tribes
All members of federally recognized American Indian tribes in Spokane, Stevens and Lincoln counties now are eligible to apply for a mortgage loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Previously, HUD’s Section 184 loan guarantee program was available in Eastern Washington only for home purchases on reservation lands.
The program guarantees mortgage loans, much like HUD’s popular FHA program, but is “so much better than even the FHA program,” said Pam Negri, a Seattle-based spokeswoman for HUD. The Section 184 program has a lower down payment requirement and higher loan limits, and because it guarantees 100 percent of a mortgage loan, “lenders apply flexible underwriting criteria,” HUD said in a press release.
The program is growing rapidly as tribes nationwide seek expansions of their “Indian lands,” as the areas of eligibility are known. There were $27.2 million in Section 184-insured loans made in 1003; HUD expects to insure more than $100 million of the loans this year, the agency said.
Itron Inc. signs deal to automate gas meters
Spokane-based Itron Inc. has signed a deal to automate 945,000 natural gas meters used by Piedmont Natural Gas Company.
Terms of the contract were not divulged.
Piedmont, based in Charlotte, N.C., is a major energy utility serving businesses and residents in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The deployment is expected to begin this month and finish in October 2007, according to a statement released by Itron.
The investment lets Piedmont staff collect customer data using Itron’s mobile automatic meter reading (AMR) technology. The AMRs use wireless radio signals to gather data.
Blackberries temporarily lose e-mail service
Blackberry devices across the country were unable to send or receive e-mails for nearly four hours Friday, cell phone carriers Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile said.
The network disruptions started at 8:15 EDT and lasted until about noon. They were related to issues at Research in Motion Ltd., the Waterloo, Ontario-based company that makes the popular Blackberry wireless device.
A Research in Motion spokesperson could not be reached immediately.
The service interruption affected many of Research in Motion’s carrier partners, T-Mobile said.
Blackberries are also offered by other mobile carriers including Sprint Corp., Nextel Communications Inc. and Verizon Wireless.
The popular wireless devices are particularly popular with businesses. Cingular spokesman Mark Siegel said Cingular does not release the number of Blackberry devices in use.
Cingular is a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp.
Martha Stewart’s company names chairman
New York Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. named entertainment executive Charles Koppelman, current vice chairman and company consultant, to succeed Thomas C. Siekman as chairman of the board. The company also expanded Koppelman’s consulting services.
Siekman, 63, a lawyer who served as chairman for less than a year, has been named lead director of the publishing, television and merchandising company, and will preside over all meetings of the board’s independent directors.
The move is the latest executive change to help spearhead a turnaround for the multimedia company, stained from personal legal woes of its namesake founder.
Company founder Martha Stewart, who was released from prison in March after serving five months for lying about a stock sale, said Koppelman’s work with President and Chief Executive Susan Lyne “has given the company a broader, renewed focus on business development and strategic issues.”
Lyne said in a statement that “Charles has developed a keen understanding of the company and its businesses. Charles has already made significant contributions to our business development and strategic planning. I know that his experience and good counsel will help drive our momentum going forward.”
In an interview, Koppelman, 65, said that the change in the chairman position was not a result of clashing of differences, but more about having a better fit. Koppelman is also based in New York, while Siekman is based in Washington, D.C.