News & Events

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Press Room

State News Headlines

January 5, 2007

The following headlines are compiled as an internal service for state Attorney General offices only. This list is not exhaustive and is a snapshot of news from around the country compiled through the use of various search engines.

Cuomo’s Opening Moves Echo Spitzer’s Reform Ideas

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo began his first full day in office yesterday by meeting with officials who could play a pivotal role in investigating any state corruption cases in Albany. This opening step signals that he intends to join in Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s calls for major reform of the capital’s political culture. Mr. Cuomo met first with P. David Soares, the Albany County district attorney, whose investigation last year of State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi’s use of public employees as chauffeurs later prompted Mr. Hevesi to resign and plead guilty to a corruption charge. The two discussed collaborating on corruption cases, which could give muscle to Mr. Soares’s efforts to pursue investigations despite his skeleton staff. Full Article

Watch for scams, Gulf Coast homeowners told

Officials along the Gulf Coast are warning homeowners that they will likely face a wave of contractor scams in the coming months as they begin collecting billions of dollars in government grants to rebuild what Hurricane Katrina destroyed. Mississippi has hired six investigators to target schemes aimed at recipients. Louisiana will send out vans to warn consumers about scams and take complaints. Both states are filling the airwaves with warnings about common schemes, and regularly warn aid recipients to research contractors and put work agreements in writing. The grant programs in both states will distribute as much as $10.5 billion in aid to homeowners and could trigger thousands of building projects in areas already struggling with a shortage of qualified contractors…"This is federal taxpayer money, and we're going to have zero tolerance for any fraud, abuse or corruption," Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. says. He says his office now gets 125 contractor fraud complaints a week, and the number is increasing. Full Article

Some consumers run into big problems with auto title lending

Strapped for cash, James Haga of Marion, Va., took out a $1,600 loan last year, using his truck as collateral. In August, when he couldn't keep up with the escalating balance, Haga's Ford was repossessed.

Total cost for the loan? A $13,000 auto, plus $4,500 in payments.

I was at home in the shower getting ready to go to work, and I went out to get my truck and it was gone," says Haga, 44, whose loan carried an effective 300% annual interest rate. Adding to his worries, Haga's girlfriend, Brandy Smith, 31, is carrying a similar, $700 loan. Haga is one of thousands of consumers who have turned to auto title lenders for quick cash and ended up with big problems. Under the loans, sometimes called auto equity lines of credit or auto pawns, individuals offer fully owned cars or trucks as backing for loans of several hundred to several thousand dollars. Lenders take the title to the vehicle and, often, a duplicate set of keys. Full Article

Wis. warns of identity theft after tax-form misprint

The Social Security numbers of 171,000 Wisconsin taxpayers were printed on the labels of tax booklets to be mailed out, prompting state officials to warn of possible identity theft. Wisconsin Department of Revenue officials first notified taxpayers and post offices of the misprint Friday night, after it heard from people who had received forms that day. State officials asked post offices to set aside any forms that hadn't been delivered, department spokeswoman Meredith Helgerson said. Full Article

Gansler Vows 'All-Out Assault' on Bay Polluters

Douglas F. Gansler, Montgomery County's longtime prosecutor, pledged an "all-out assault" on those who pollute the Chesapeake Bay as he was sworn into office yesterday as Maryland's first new attorney general in two decades.

In the Senate's marbled chamber in Annapolis, where the outgoing Republican governor administered the oath of office, Gansler, a Democrat, ticked off a list of the estuary's environmental woes. He cited swimming bans at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis and declining oyster harvests, saying, "Some fish don't even know if they're boys or girls anymore -- it's gotten that bad. Full Article

Law would require DNA samples of anyone jailed

Douglas F. Gansler, Montgomery County's longtime prosecutor, pledged an "all-out assault" on those who pollute the Chesapeake Bay as he was sworn into office yesterday as Maryland's first new attorney general in two decades.

In the Senate's marbled chamber in Annapolis, where the outgoing Republican governor administered the oath of office, Gansler, a Democrat, ticked off a list of the estuary's environmental woes. He cited swimming bans at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis and declining oyster harvests, saying, "Some fish don't even know if they're boys or girls anymore -- it's gotten that bad. Full Article

Leslie R. Kershaw
Communications Assistant
Office: (202) 326-6027
Fax: (202) 408-8061
Email: lnelson@naag.org

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