More than 300,000 residential units sit empty across Florida, 64,588 properties were in foreclosure last month, second only to Nevada, and real estate prices are still plummeting. Nonetheless, state lawmakers are making it easier for developers to add even more. Gov. Charlie Crist now has a bill on his desk, which he said Wednesday he “probably will” sign, that would ease government oversight and exempt many areas from a requirement that says builders must pay for road improvements if traffic generated by their projects exceeds the local capacity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/us/21florida.html?ref=global-home

The buns came off in a battle between the nation's two biggest hot dog-makers as Downers Grove-based Sara Lee Corp. Wednesday sued its local rival for false advertising. Sara Lee, maker of Ball Park franks, said that Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc., purveyor of Oscar Mayer hot dogs, is running ads that claim one particular Oscar dog trumps the taste of Ball Park's entire line. One of those ads appeared in May 20 USA Today in conjunction with a giveaway of up to $1 million in Oscar Mayer hot dogs.
The full-page USA Today ad claimed that Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks beat Ball Park and ConAgra Foods' Hebrew National hot dogs in a national taste test. B ut in a footnote, the ad notes that the Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef frank is being compared to the "leading beef hot dogs" made by its rivals. The Sara Lee suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, says the ad is false and misleading because in large type it implies one Oscar Mayer dog bested the taste of all Ball Park dogs. But the footnote, "in very small type," says that Oscar Mayer compared its hot dogs to "the leading beef franks" of its main rivals. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu-hot-dog-suit-0520-may21,0,3237841.story

Metropolitan Sandusky, home of Cedar Point amusement park, was the easiest place in the nation to swing a home purchase in the first quarter of 2009, according to a new study conducted for the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo & Co. Nationwide, housing affordability jumped 10 percentage points during the first quarter of 2008 to its highest level since the study began 18 years ago, the Home Builders said. Metro Toledo ranked 25th. Study authors said that 90.2 percent of homes were affordable to families with the median income of $61,800. The median selling price was $78,000 in the recent quarter. In a separate survey of metro areas with at least 500,000 people, Toledo ranked ninth, just behind No. 8 Buffalo, and No. 7 Cleveland. Indianapolis was first, with the most affordable housing by its area residents. http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090520/BUSINESS05/905200329 Find the Housing Opportunity Index here: http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=135


D.C. Circuit Holds Office of Administration Is Not An Agency, Not Subject to FOIA
Follow up to previous postings on missing White House emails during Bush administrations, today's news release: "Today, in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) v. Office of Administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion upholding the district court's conclusion that the Office of Administration (OA) is not an agency and therefore is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). CREW brought this lawsuit under the FOIA to uncover documents related to OA's response to the discovery that millions of emails had gone missing from White House servers. Although OA had a history of responding to FOIA requests--in fact the office’s own website included regulations for filing FOIA requests with OA--after CREW sued OA suddenly claimed it was not an agency and was not required to produce any of the requested documents. The district court sided with the Bush administration, finding that OA was not an agency because it performed only administrative support functions and did not exercise substantial independent authority. In today's ruling, the D.C. Circuit agreed with that decision."

Remarks by President on National Fuel Efficiency Standards
Remarks: "...While the United States makes up less than 5 percent of the world's population, we create roughly a quarter of the world's demand for oil. And this appetite comes at a tremendous price--a price measured by our vulnerability to volatile oil markets, which send gas prices soaring and families scrambling. It's measured by a trade deficit where as much as 20 percent of what we spend on imports is spent on oil. It's measured in billions of dollars sent to oil-exporting nations, many that we do not choose to support, if we had a choice. It's measured in a changing climate, as sea levels rise, and droughts spread, forest burns, and storms rage."
Statement: Automakers Support President in Development of National Program for Autos

A preserved fossil of a small lemur-like creature from 47 million years ago was
unveiled on May 19 at the American Museum of Natural History, The skeleton is the best-preserved primate in the fossil record, with 95 percent of the creature's bones still intact, and even the contents of its guts preserved to reveal what it ate before it died.
The unveiling coincides not only with the publication of a scientific paper, but also with the release of a new book about the fossil—"The Link," (Little Brown and Company, 2009)—and a documentary also called "The Link" and set to premiere on the History Channel May 25. See pictures and story at: http://www.livescience.com/animals/090519-fossil-scene.html

Feedback from Toledo muse reader: I highly recommend the book In Defense of Food, by Michael Pollan. Bill Moyers had the author on his "Journal" program. It will inspire all to move to the garden!

On May 20, 1609, the publisher Thomas Thorpe made an entry in the Stationer's Register that said: Entred for his copie under the handes of master Wilson and master Lownes Wardenes a booke called Shakespeares sonnettes, (books by this author) and soon after (we don't know the exact date) Shakespeare's sonnets were published. Many people think that Thorpe published them without Shakespeare's consent. The 1609 collection contained 154 sonnets, only two of which had been published before.
May 20 is the birthday of Honoré de Balzac, (books by this author)born in Tours, France (1799). He devoted most of his life to a huge cycle of novels and plays that he called La Comédie humaine,or The Human Comedy. He wanted La Comédie humaine to address all aspects of French society in the 19th century. He often wrote for at least 15 hours at a time, and he would keep it up for weeks on end. He wrote about everyone and everything By the end of his life, he had written almost 100 novels and plays, and created more than 2,000 characters. He said, "I am not deep, but I am very wide."
The Writer’s Almanac

IN TOLEDO: Thursday, May 21, from 6-9 p.m., the Arts Zone and Warehouse District in downtown Toledo will come alive as its galleries and artist studios open to the public. The Arts Zone/Warehouse District Third Thursday Art Walk is a great opportunity to browse and purchase affordable local art, while getting to know the artists and galleries of the Arts Zone, the Warehouse District, and the surrounding area. The Art Walk, presented by the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo (ACGT) and artists, galleries, and arts enthusiasts of the Arts Zone and Warehouse District, will continue on Third Thursdays through September. Participants for the May 21 event include: MMK Gallery, 20 North Gallery, Sur St. Clair, the studio of Jack Wilson, offices of Paul Sullivan AIA, the Little Gallery, South Wing Gallery, Olive Street Studios, Calvin Babich Creations in Stone, Studio 356, Secor Studios, The Ford Gallery and Madhouse Gallery. Maps with information about each venue will be available at each of the stops along the walk.