11/23/09 12:27 PM

Day 160: Rutland, VT

Downtown Rutland: When Empty Means Opportunity

rutland.JPG While making my initial wander around Rutland, Vermont asking about the recession's local impact, I receive the same basic response from a man pumping gas at the Hess station, a cashier at Hannaford Supermarket, and the scooper at Ben & Jerry's: "Have you seen downtown?" Read More

11/20/09 11:10 AM

Day 157: Sandusky, OH

Ohio Psychic Predicts Multi-Dip Recession

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I'd hoped the psychic would be wearing a colorful flowing gown, headscarf, and jangly gold bangles like the woman pictured on a sign in front of the otherwise nondescript little white house in Sandusky, Ohio. But the psychic who answered the door looked more like a librarian than a gypsy.

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11/19/09 11:52 AM

Day 156: Wayne, MI

Recession Pressure on Labor Rights

diego1.jpgThe US 12 Bar and Grill in Wayne, Michigan has an unusually-timed happy hour. Drink specials start at 9 pm, scheduled to attract local auto workers getting off second shift. For $3, the bartender pours me a full rocks glass of Grand Marnier. I appear to be the only female patron in the bar, which perhaps explains why the guys tolerate my incessant questions about how the recession has affected their industry and labor contracts.

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11/11/09 10:55 AM

Day 149: Kendallville, IN

Have Small Business, Need Health Insurance

moores2.JPG Darwin and Laura Moore know things could always be worse. The aneurysm Darwin had earlier this year may make him now un-insurable and unable to afford scheduled follow-up care, but it could have killed him. The area's 15% unemployment rate made it impossible to land any job, much less one with health benefits, but that steered the couple's path into achieving their dream of owning a small business--even if they had to finance its purchase with credit cards.

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11/05/09 4:26 PM

Editor's Note

On September 24, Recession Road Trip wrote about Charles Zimmerman, a 60-year-old former soldier who, together with his wife, was newly homeless in Sacramento. Zimmerman had been the subject of a post a week earlier that described his efforts to get the military to pay him his pension, which he said had been caught in red tape for years. Now, we reported, in the aftermath of our first post, Zimmerman said he had been approached by an Army official who promised him a check for $972,000, back pay for the 18 years since his retirement.

Shortly after the September 24 post, we were doing follow-up reporting on Mr. Zimmerman's story in preparation for a new post. During this process, we became concerned about some aspects of his account. On October 19, we posted an update (scroll to bold type) describing these concerns and detailing the new efforts we were taking to verify our previous posts. Those efforts are still underway, and we will report back fully when we have satisfactory answers. In the meantime, we can confirm that Mr. Zimmerman did serve in the Army, but not that he has been promised or has received any new pension payments as a result of his service.

11/04/09 10:56 AM

Day 143, Chicago, IL

The Great Wall of Foreclosures

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What began as limited exploration into a small example of possible mortgage fraud in Chicagoland has spiralled out formidable leviathanic tentacles now taking residence across two walls of my hotel room. I've looked progressively more pale and bewildered every time I venture out for sustenance, always stopping by the front desk to re-confirm that housekeeping will not touch my room. I ran out of clean towels yesterday. They probably think I'm cooking meth.

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10/29/09 2:50 PM

Day 138: Osceola, WI

Will Work for Commercial Real Estate Financing

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In nearly five months of driving highways and byways across the country, "Going Out of Business" signs have seemed a standard element of the modern American landscape. I barely notice them anymore, even those hued in sense-shocking shades of florescent with four-foot letters screaming "EVERYTHING MUST GO!". At the 243 T-junction entering Osceola, Wisconsin, I make an uncharacteristically complete stop as my mind demands processing time for the unusual sight of a "Grand Opening" banner.

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10/26/09 4:00 PM

Day 135: Scandia, MN

On Scams, Mortgage Modification, and the Beauty of Bartering

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Since being laid off eight months ago, Deanna Steuernagel and Shawn Burke have become most disillusioned by the frequency with which they've encountered various scams specifically targeting the unemployed. Unscrupulous greed clearly holds no sympathy for the downtrodden. Considering the months of delay tactics Chase Bank has employed on Deanna's loan modification application, forestalling a decision until she completely depleted her savings, it would not surprise her to receive notice that she doesn't qualify for Obama's Hope Now program because this month she finally defaulted on her mortgage. 

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10/23/09 1:00 PM

Off the Recession Road

On "Shoulding" the Homeless

92180901.jpgA piece I recently wrote about a homeless family sparked a flood of angry comments coming to me via multiple routes, which argued what the people "should" have done to prevent their current hardship. Since my natural inclination is to appreciate different perspectives and empathize with individual struggles, I can understand clearly how it provides comfort to pass judgment on the homeless. If you believe there are things someone should have or could have done differently, then that means it could never happen to you.
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10/22/09 2:15 PM

Day 131: Bismarck, ND

"You Have to Go Where the Jobs Are"

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Of all the people I've met on this trip, Ben Robertson may have adopted the wisest and consequently most successful approach to finding new employment following a job loss. Unemployed in Colorado after mass layoffs from the natural gas fields, Ben began researching jobless statistics state-by-state. He and his wife Lily had never considered living in North Dakota before, but with an unemployment rate running roughly half the national average, Ben concluded: "You have to go where the jobs are."

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