J.W.’s News Update-Tuesday March 29,2011

Good Tuesday-Here are some stories making headlines today:

Domtar Corporation is cutting about 110 jobs & permanently shutting down one of the four Paper Machines at its Ashdown Mill in Little River County in Southwest Arkansas. The cuts will be instituted by July 1, 2011.

The company says this will reduce their annual uncoated freesheet paper production capacity by about 125,000 short tons because of  a demand decline in North America. The plant is located about 20 miles north of Texarkana.

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The Bowie County Commissioners and County Judge Sterling Lacy have issued an outdoor burn ban effective immediately. The ban was issued due to the increasing drought conditions causing a high fire danger across the area. A violation of this ban would be a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $5oo. The outdoor burn ban will be in effect in Bowie County in Northeast Texas for 90 days or until appreciable rainfall occurs to lesson the wildfire danger.

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The newest board member of Texarkana College Board of Trustees is Michael Sandifur. The board met in a special called meeting last night to swear in Sandifur who is filling the seat vacated by Dr. Andrew Curry who moved out of the college's district recently. Sandifur who is a graduate of Rice University Graduate School of Business in Houston, Texas is following in his fathers footsteps. Ben Sandifur served as a member of  the Texarkana College Board of Trustees for 27 years before resigning back in 2007. The term Sandifur is filling will be up for re-election in 2012.

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Bowie County Deputies in Northeast Texas believe they may have cleared up a rash of recent residential burglaries with the arrest of a 22 year old local man last night. Authorities say they attempted to talk to a suspect in the Riverlands Addition just before dark last night, when he sped away. A high speed chase ensued through portions of the Pleasant Grove community until the suspect wrecked his vehicle and was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit.  Charges are theft and evading arrest and the investigation continues today.

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Home Prices continue to fall in most major U.S. cities, and the average prices in four of them are at their lowest in 11 years. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiiler  20 city index shows price declines in 19 cities from December to January of this year. Eleven of them are at their lowest level since the housing bust.

Home Values in Atlanta, Georgia, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Cleveland are now below January 2000 levels. The only market where prices rose was Washington, D.C., where home prices actually gained 0.1 percent month over month. The nation's capital has outperformed every other city in the index. Prices there are up 3.6 percent year over year.