Consumers put away credit cards in February

Consumer borrowing plunged more than expected in February as Americans cut back their use of credit cards by a record amount.

The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that consumer borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $7.48 billion in February, or 3.5 percent, from January. Wall Street economists expected borrowing to slide by only $1 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The decline was led by a record drop in borrowing on credit cards, which fell at an annual rate of $7.8 billion, or 9.7 percent. That is the sharpest drop in dollar terms since federal records began in 1968, and the steepest percentage fall since 1978.

New York

NYC hopes gay, lesbian tourists help with deficit

New York City officials are turning to gays and lesbians to help reduce a projected $4 billion budget deficit.

The nation’s largest city unveiled a marketing campaign Tuesday to attract more gay and lesbian tourists from around the country and the world as other U.S. cities compete to strip New York of its title of No. 1 vacation destination for gays and lesbians.

The Rainbow Pilgrimage campaign comes as state and city officials grapple with diminishing revenue resulting from the global economic meltdown, which is forcing many people to forgo leisure travel plans or take so-called staycations near home.

An estimated 47 million people visited the city last year, a record high that generated $30 billion in spending, also a record over 2007’s $28.9 billion, according to the mayor’s office. Gays and lesbians accounted for about 10 percent of those figures.

Wichita

Freeze causes fretting over Kansas wheat crop

A spring freeze has raised fears about possible damage to the Kansas winter wheat crop.

It is still too early to tell, but experts say they do not expect the same widespread freeze damage that devastated the state’s 2007 wheat crop. Temperatures dipped below freezing Monday night across much of Kansas.

Kansas State University Extension wheat specialist Jim Shroyer says damage will likely not be as bad as the Easter freeze of 2007, because the wheat crop is not as mature. More of the tillers that eventually form the wheat grain heads are still safely below ground.

San Diego

Gangster among those charged in housing racket

Two dozen people have been charged with racketeering in connection with a fraudulent mortgage scheme run by a street gang member, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in San Diego federal court.

The group allegedly profited from loans arranged for amounts in excess of the price of the homes, among other tactics. The homes went into foreclosure soon after they were sold, according to the indictment.

The alleged mastermind was Darnell Bell, 38, a member of the Lincoln Park street gang long known to law enforcement for violence and drug sales. Bell, already serving a jail sentence for distribution of cocaine, was arraigned in federal court Tuesday on the racketeering indictment.

Bell used his status as a gang member to recruit phony buyers and to “maintain discipline” among the co-conspirators, the indictment said.

Toronto

Canada will give more help to automakers

The Canadian government on Tuesday said it will provide additional help to the country’s auto industry, but warned that Canadians need to be prepared for the possibility that General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LL. could file for bankruptcy protection.

Industry Minister Tony Clement said $565 million will be provided to help auto-parts suppliers.

Canada will also help consumers by backstopping auto warranties in the event that a carmaker files for bankruptcy. That backstop of warranties matches what the U.S. has done.

From wire reports