The Wire: February 2008

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  Cover story: Talking to lender can help win new financing

  As interest-only and adjustable-rate mortgages reset to higher rates, more families each day face the real danger of losing their home due to their inability to pay their mortgage.
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  Bergmann happy with first showing

  VIERA, Fla. — Jason Bergmann got his chance to pitch against Georgetown, and the Washington Nationals starter showed the Hoyas what a Rutgers alumnus can do.
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  Virginia homes sold

  Virginia
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  As an actor, a chameleon in all shapes

  James McAvoy is on the verge of becoming the biggest Scottish leading man since Sean Connery. Whereas Mr. Connery is notorious for keeping his accent in his films, whatever the nationality of the character he’s playing, Mr. McAvoy has proven to be a chameleon who can handle any role — and any accent.
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  Bus crash won't alter driver hiring policies

  Prince George’s County school officials said yesterday that they have no plans to change hiring policies on bus drivers after an accident Wednesday morning in Riverdale.
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  Let the bidding begin

  It’s a good time to be an NFL free agent.
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  'Penelope' audiences may turn up noses

  With a mishmash of accents and setting, “Penelope” is as confused as its titular character when she leaves her home-cum-prison for the very first time.
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  Terps awaken with victory

  WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — James Gist was unstoppable in the first half. Greivis Vasquez was nearly as good after the break.
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  Virginia new homes: Condos rise in Triangle

  Craftstar Homes Inc. is building 126 town-home-style condominiums at Potomac Highlands in Triangle, where residents can enjoy a swimming pool and bath house and a sitting area with a gazebo.
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  Collins re-signs, Brunell likely out

  With Jason Campbell set as Washington’s starter and the backup job with his mentor Al Saunders having just come open in St. Louis, quarterback Todd Collins surprised even himself by agreeing to return to the Redskins less than 12 hours into the NFL’s free agent signing period.
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  Marlins try to swell their ranks

  If the ground shivers and shakes this season at Miami’s Dolphin Stadium, it won’t be because of anything the rebuilding Florida Marlins do.
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  Lapses in FISA judgment

  Yesterday President Bush implored Congress — and, in particular, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — to stop blocking passage of much-needed legislation to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and grant retroactive liability protection to telecommunications companies that helped monitor jihadist communications after September 11. Mr. Bush emphasized that it would be dangerous and unfair to deny telecoms retroactive protection against lawsuits for their assistance to U.S. intelligence agencies. Government officials, he said, told these companies that “their assistance was legal and vital to national security.”
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  Ferrell's 'Semi-Pro' drops comedic ball

  Turns out Will Ferrell can’t just tug on a sports uniform and make a hit comedy out of thin air. Mr. Ferrell’s “Semi-Pro” takes on the world of the American Basketball Association, the rebel league that merged with the National Basketball Association in the mid-1970s. Rather than spoof that era’s basketball mores, or even tweak how the league’s marketing has evolved since then, “Semi-Pro” mistakes foul language for comic inspiration.
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  Briefly

  AFGHANISTAN
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  Race in America, 40 years out

  Forty years ago today, the Kerner Commission famously warned that “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.” To survey the American landscape on this anniversary is to realize that this diagnosis, though imperfect, was more correct than many conservatives give it credit for; that the commission’s remedies, which centered upon massive government intervention on behalf of the economic interests of black Americans, were mostly failures where they were tried; and that, in fits and starts, progress in American race relations, including improvement in black Americans’ economic circumstances, has indeed occurred over these four decades despite this commission’s grim prognosis.
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  Officials recall 24,000 cribs

  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  Clinton questions Obama on NAFTA

  FORT WORTH, Texas — Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton today demanded that rival Sen. Barack Obama say whether a top adviser told Canadian officials that his promise to renegotiate a trade deal was “just campaign rhetoric.”
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  Terps Report

  Last night at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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  Top 5

  Yet another “Macbeth”-with-a-twist opened last night at the Folger Shakespeare Library — this time with a focus on the play’s magic elements, as conceived by the illusionist Teller. This alt-theater production follows last year’s nude production of “Macbeth” by the Washington Shakespeare Company as well as the Synetic Theater’s brilliant wordless “Macbeth.” Of all of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, perhaps “Macbeth” is the most adaptable and resistant to petrification. What could possibly be next?
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  Auto Notes

  Consumer Reports likes new Cadillac
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  Agricultural trade squeals

  European Union officials adamantly refuse to let the World Trade Organization save them from themselves.
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  Bulls remain in transition

  The Chicago Bulls finally appeared to be back.
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  Ford owners urged to heed recall

  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  A weightless 'Major Barbara'

  Billionaire death merchant Andrew Undershaft (Ted van Griethuysen) is Donald Trump with better hair.
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  Funding for schools budget's battle line

  RICHMOND — Differences over state public school funding shaped up yesterday as the main fault line for six senators and six delegates charged with putting a new state budget into its final form.
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  Chrysler offers fifth generation

  Chrysler’s minivan lineup enters its fifth generation for the 2008 model year, now defined exclusively by the long-wheelbase Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan. Five available trim levels, chunkier exterior styling, an innovative interior, a mix of six-cylinder engines and a new automatic transmission re-establish the Chrysler/Dodge family haulers as serious competitors in the segment that they created over 20 years ago.
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  Court overturns Virginia transport tax

  The Virginia Supreme Court this morning declared unconstitutional a regional taxing plan designed to raise roughly $325 million annually for transportation projects in Northern Virginia.
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  Brass, beauty cheer grads

  Lt. Gen. Clyde A. Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, seemed pleased by the turnout at the third annual National Guard Youth Foundation’s ChalleNGe Champions gala on Tuesday night at the JW Marriott Hotel. “Yep, Junior really brings ‘em out,” he said, nodding in the direction of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. while surveying the crowd of about 1,000. “Or else Trisha,” he added after glancing at the table where country singer Trisha Yearwood and Miss AmericaKirsten Haglund were doing their part to keep a lot of Defense Department bigwigs amused.
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  Full plates, tender beef at Greystone

  Greystone Grill joins a list of new restaurants sprouting up along Annapolis’ thriving West Street.
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  Sign museum saves America's memories

  CINCINNATI — An old brick building just north of downtown Cincinnati gives little hint outside of the treasury of nostalgic icons within its walls.
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  Culture Briefs

  Buckley: RIP
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  Daybook

  PRESIDENT BUSH
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  'Boleyn' sisters' dynamic lost in the shuffle

  Behind every great man is a great woman. Behind Henry VIII were many women of varying degrees of integrity. “The Other Boleyn Girl” (based on the best-selling book by Philippa Gregory) muses on several of them, including one whom history has all but forgotten: Mary Boleyn, Anne’s sister and the king’s mistress.
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  Charting the market: January sees more house sales

  January was a better month in which to sell a home than December. Sellers benefited from a modest increase in sales and an inventory that remained about the same. However, the price that sellers got for their homes last month was usually much lower than a year ago.
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  Hit the road, Jack

  The argument most often heard for not enforcing illegal immigration laws is that we can’t deport the estimated 12 million people already in this country. It just isn’t physically, tactically or politically possible, say people who think this way.
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  Is art digitally altered still art?

  I have concluded that reality is no longer relevant, at least in the arts. The reason is that software makes it unnecessary.
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  Checklist

  Regional
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  Mortgage Q&A: Bicoastal couple can't get loan

  Q: Two months ago, I started a new job in Washington and left my old position in San
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  Huet to make his Caps debut

  Cristobal Huet will start in the net for the Washington Capitals tonight in the first step forward for the new-look team and its ongoing goaltender quandary.
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  Luxury home: Customize up to 7 bedrooms at Mason Run

  Keswick Homes, a division of Brookfield Homes Corp., is building an enclave of eight up-
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  Freddie Mac posts big loss

  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  FORUM: What a month

  What a month.
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  BMW lets you have it your way

  The new fourth generation 2007 BMW 3 Series Convertible features a first-for-BMW retractable hardtop with a 3-piece steel roof, that provides not only enhanced safety and security, but improved vehicle dynamics as well.
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  Kenyan leaders share power

  NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s president and the opposition leader signed a power-sharing deal yesterday to bring the country back from the depths of violence and ethnic hatred that followed the disputed presidential election two months ago.
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  Fenty vows to tackle violations at schools

  D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and school facilities chief Allen Y. Lew yesterday pledged to eliminate a backlog of fire and health code violations in D.C. Public Schools by summer and said that all schools will have adequate air conditioning by spring.
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  Dodge Caliber SRT offers bargain priced performance

  As entry-level economy cars go, the Dodge Caliber is another in a gaggle of basic transports vying for our attention. A competitive price, roomy accommodations and decent fuel economy are its (and many others’) primary selling points.
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  Quaranta experiences 'an amazing turnaround'

  After seeing his promising career collapse, former youth phenom Santino Quaranta says he made a vow to his 4-year-old daughter that he would play one more game for D.C. United. The Baltimore native, who joined United when he was just 16 in 2001, is getting a second chance with the club after going through what he calls “an amazing turnaround” in his life.
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  IRS letters to give lowdown on rebate

  ASSOCIATED PRESS
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  Bush weighs in on '08 race

  President Bush yesterday unloaded his most forceful criticism yet of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama for his promise to meet unconditionally with leaders hostile to the United States.
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  Hoyas looking to grab top seed

  The Hoyas hold the trump cards as the Big East’s principal regular-season players prepare to spread their hands down the stretch.