AP IMPACT: Weak rules cripple appraiser oversight
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- As soaring home prices set the stage for America's great housing meltdown, a critical step in making sure those home sales were a fair deal - the real estate appraisal - was undermined from within....

Inflated appraisal nearly cost family its home
HOPE MILLS, N.C. (AP) -- After 25 years as a doorman on Manhattan's Upper East Side, Carl Petrone was ready to retire from the cold winters and his daily commute....

Questions and answers on hiring an appraiser
Questions and answers on how consumers can ensure they are getting an honest appraisal when buying or selling a home, refinancing an existing mortgage or taking out a home equity loan or line of credit:...

TV remains top source of news even as online grows
NEW YORK (AP) -- Fewer Americans are reading newspapers and are instead getting their news online, but television remains the leading source of news in the country, according to a survey released Sunday....

Kosher meatpacker struggles after immigration raid
POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) -- Three months after the nation's largest immigration raid, chickens and beef carcasses are again moving down the line at Agriprocessors' sprawling kosher meatpacking plant, but managers acknowledge that business still isn't back to normal....

Oil's down, stocks are up, but uncertainty remains
NEW YORK (AP) -- The past four weeks on Wall Street have been quite a welcome contrast. Stocks have risen, the dollar has strengthened and oil prices have plummeted....

Qwest, unions keep talking; workers remain on job
DENVER (AP) -- Qwest Communications International Inc. and members of its largest union were working on scheduling time Sunday to sit down for further negotiations after a labor contract expired....

Small town Iowa struggles after immigration raid
POSTVILLE, Iowa (AP) -- A vague unease whispered through this tiny town in northeastern Iowa, where the rolling hills are a study in vivid colors - red barns, white clapboard houses, and vibrant green cornfields plowed with almost architectural precision....

Breaking up big banks questioned as losses mount
NEW YORK (AP) -- America's biggest banks have suffered unprecedented losses from the ongoing credit crisis, and that's made some investors question whether the big financial conglomerates should be broken up in order to survive....

Former DirecTV head named LA Times publisher
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Eddy Hartenstein, a former head of DirecTV, will become publisher of the Los Angeles Times, the newspaper reported Saturday....