Tips To Qualify For a Low Mortgage Rate

By Terence Loose | Yahoo! Homes – Thu, Nov 1, 2012 3:49 PM EDT

 If you want to qualify for a low mortgage rate, here are a few tips on how to do it.

Photo: Thinkstock

Are you thinking about buying a home or refinancing the one you've got, but worried you won't qualify for a low mortgage rate?
Well, they say knowledge is power, so you may want to read about what the experts say you'll need to qualify for today's best rates.
And if you have any doubt that today's rates are low, consider that Mortgage News Daily, an organization that provides housing news and analysis, reports that as of September 25, 2012, "we've never seen rates move lower this quickly from all-time lows to 'even lower all-time lows.'"
That rate, they say, as of September 25, 2012, is 3.33 percent for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a 52-week low.
[Want to save on your mortgage costs? Click to compare rates from multiple lenders now.]
Of course, that rate is for those with qualities such as excellent credit, sufficient equity, job stability, and a few other things that impress lenders, as we'll explore below.
But if you fall short on any of these, don't give up. We've asked experts to weigh in with tips on how to correct any "issues" you might have.
Read on to see if you have what it takes to qualify for a historically low mortgage rate and save money for the next, oh, 30 years or so.

Criteria #1: Excellent Credit Score

Do you have wonderful relationships with your credit card companies? You know: never fighting, no nasty letters exchanged, never any penalties? If so, you probably have a great credit score as well, which is the first thing a lender will check, says Don Frommeyer, president of the National Association of Mortgage Professionals (NAMB).
"A good credit rating is absolutely vital to qualifying for a low rate," he says.
But what's a good credit rating, you ask? Good question. According to Chris L. Boulter, president of Val-Chris Investments, Inc., a California company specializing in residential and commercial loans, you'll need a rating of at least 720 on the Fair Isaac (FICO) scale, which Boulter says is the scale most banks use. The scores run from a low of 300 to a high of 850.
[Got a good credit score? Click to compare mortgage rates now.]
If your credit score is lower than 720, don't worry. You can still qualify for a loan, but it may be offered at a higher rate, says Boulter.
Tips to Qualifying: Not quite where you want to be on the scale? Here are some steps to improve your credit score:

• Pay your bills on time. According to the FICO website, prompt payments are one of the biggest factors in determining your score.
• If you are having trouble making payments, FICO suggests calling creditors to work out a payment plan, or using a credit counseling service.

Criteria #2: Stable Job History

Stability: it's a word that lenders place a lot of emphasis on…especially when it comes to your job.
In fact, Boulter says one way to qualify for a good rate is to be with the same company for at least two years. And if you've changed jobs, lenders want to see that you are still working in the same industry.
"It shows stability," says Boulter. And stability, he says, translates into a "reliable borrower who will pay us back."
[Think your job history will qualify you for a good rate? Click to compare mortgage rates now.]
But what if you've had a disruption in your employment? The good news: you could still qualify for a mortgage. The bad news:  it just might be at a higher interest rate, says Boulter.
Tips to Qualifying: Want the lowest rates? Here are a few pointers:

• If you are self-employed, make sure your job title on your tax return reads the same each year.
• If you were recently promoted or have been in the same job or industry for five years or more, make sure you point that out to your potential lender, says Boulter.

Criteria #3: Sufficient Income

You'd think that banks would want to lend everyone money; after all, they make more money when you pay them back with interest.
But that's the thing: banks need to be sure you can actually afford to pay them back. One way they gauge this? By ensuring you have sufficient income for the mortgage you want.
Of course, lenders realize that people have many monthly expenses, from food and clothing to car loan and credit card payments. So the bank is going to use what they call a debt-to-income ratio to calculate whether you are a good risk for borrowing their money, says Boulter.
To do this, they'll look at certain monthly expenses, such as your new mortgage payment, property taxes, homeowners insurance, credit card payments, car insurance payments, etc. All of this together cannot add up to more than 40 percent of your gross monthly income. Lower is better for getting the best rates, says Boulter.
[Got a sufficient income? Click to compare mortgage rates now.]
Tips to Qualifying: Wondering how to improve your debt-to-income ratio?

• If you're self-employed, consider writing off less in your taxes so you effectively "earn" more money.
•  Pay down credit cards to lower your monthly payments.
•  Shop for less expensive houses to lower your monthly mortgage payment.

Criteria #4: Good Down Payment

Think of your down payment as collateral for your loan.
If you put more money into a down payment, the less risk the lender has of losing money should you stop paying back your loan, also known as defaulting.
So, the higher your down payment, the more at ease lenders will be about lending you money, and the more inclined they'll be to offer you their lowest mortgage interest rates, says Boulter.
But how much is enough?
"Banks want to see a 20 percent down payment," says Boulter. That's the minimum for qualifying for the best rates, he says. It also gets you out of another expense: private mortgage insurance (PMI), which lenders often require if your down payment is less than 20 percent. PMI helps to insure them against you defaulting and costs $50 to $100 a month, according to the Federal Reserve System, which oversees national monetary policy and the banks.
[Ready to put down a good down payment? Click to compare rates from multiple lenders now.]
Tips to Qualifying: Here are a few ways to make a larger down payment:

• Consider taking money out of other, under-performing investments to increase your down payment; Boulter advises seeking a financial expert's advice before such a move, however.
• Shop for a less expensive home with the same down payment. That effectively increases the amount of your down payment.

Criteria #5: Adequate Assets

Your bubbly personality might be a great asset at cocktail parties, but it's not going to get you anywhere with a lender. They want to see assets that can be turned into cold hard cash relatively quickly, if you want to qualify for the best interest rates, says Boulter.
"[Lenders] want to know that you can pay your bills and your mortgage should you hit a bump in the road," says Boulter. These bumps he's referring to can include anything from unemployment to unexpected medical expenses.
So how big of a bump do you need reserves for? Boulter says lenders want you to have four to six months worth of reserves - that is assets that are in cash or can be quickly converted to cash. Some examples include stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts.
Tips to Qualifying: Check out these tips on how to increase your assets:

• Though they are not considered liquid, Boulter suggests listing assets such as jewelry, artwork, cars, etc., when applying for a loan. It can't hurt.
• If it's possible to do so without a penalty, convert investments to cash and bolster your savings account. But, says Boulter, this should be done only after consulting a financial expert.

 

Senior Citizens Are Dying Poor, Hold On To Your Savings

By Fast Company Staff

Illustration by David Cowles

Retiring comfortably is no longer something we can count on. It’s not new information, but a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research really puts it into perspective:

More than 46% of senior citizens in the U.S. die with less than $10,000 in financial assets.

A version of this article appears in the November 2012 issue of Fast Company.

More colleges charging $50,000-plus a year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A growing number of colleges are joining the once-elite club of schools charging more than $50,000 per year. For the 2012-13 academic year, 151 colleges charged annual tuition, fees, room and board totaling more than $50,000, according to College Board data analyzed by the Chronicle of Higher Education. That's up from 123 schools last year, 100 schools the year before and only 58 schools the year before that. One college even priced out of the $50,000 range this year, charging more than $60,000. Sarah Lawrence College, in Bronxville, N.Y., boasted a $61,236 sticker price -- which includes tuition, fees, room and board -- after hiking costs by 3.5% this year. Selective liberal arts colleges like Wesleyan University, Vassar College, Williams College and Bowdoin College were among the most expensive schools, as were Ivy Leagues like Harvard University, Stanford University and Dartmouth College. In addition to being the priciest schools in the nation, at least 146 of the 151 schools charging $50,000-plus increased their costs this year. But hikes weren't reserved for just the most expensive schools. Among the more than 3,000 schools in the Chronicle of Higher Education's database, more than half increased tuition, fees, room and board this year. Costs at Angelina College in Texas surged 46%, followed by a 26% jump at University of West Alabama and a 22% increase at University of Alaska-Southeast. Overall, 40 schools raised costs by 10% or more.

Retirement Guide: 5 Years Left? Do This Now

By Donna Rosato | Money – Mon, Oct 22, 2012 1:24 PM EDT
According to Money
 
This story is part of Money magazine's Retirement Guide 2013, where you'll find strategies to guide you through the last stretch, starting at 10 years out, then five years, one year, and, finally, your first year of leisure.
With just five years left before you retire, you need to begin solidifying your plans. Make sure you're still on track, but also nail down where you'll live (the largest expense in retirement) and how you'll meet your health care needs (the second biggest).
What to do
See if you need a course correction. A lot can happen between years 10 and five that could necessitate a change in plans -- including an illness, a job loss, or an extended bear market. Or maybe you just haven't managed to accrue the nine-times-salary savings that would be ideal at this point.
You're not out of luck: You may be able to retire on less than you'd hoped or get to your goal by working longer.
A one-time review with a financial planner who charges by the hour (find one at napfa.org) can be worth the $1,000 or so investment to help you figure out where you stand.
At a minimum, plug your info into T. Rowe Price's Retirement Income Calculator (troweprice.com) to see your chances of retiring with your desired income.
Examine health care costs. Better include an estimate for health insurance and out-of-pocket care costs in your income-needs projections.
If you'll retire before Medicare kicks in at 65, you could have a big expense ahead. For a 62-year-old couple with one spouse in ill health, premiums run up to $2,300 a month on the individual market, according to eHealthInsurance.com.
Exchanges created under the 2010 reforms may reduce costs, but you'll still pay more than you do now. Have an independent agent (find one at nahu.org) price plans for you.
You may also have the option to buy into your work plan for 18 months through COBRA; ask HR what that will cost. "COBRA may be the better option," says Cheryl Fish-Parcham, a policy expert at Families USA. It's not priced by age and has no exclusions.
Keep in mind, Medicare isn't a free ride either: Premiums and out-of-pocket costs average $4,600 a year, AARP reports. Approximate your outlay at Medicare.gov.
Plan for LTC -- ASAP. With a year in a nursing home topping $78,000, "long-term-care costs can drain your savings faster than a bear market," says wealth planner Jeff Townsend.
Insurance can offset costs, but premiums are as much as $4,000 a year -- and rising -- for a couple in their early sixties.
So buy only if your assets total $250,000 to $1.5 million, says San Diego financial planner Gil Armour. Below that, you're likely to exhaust your money fast enough to qualify for Medicaid; above it, you can pay your own way.
If you are going to buy, do so now because the older you are, the higher the premiums. Go with an insurer that does a lot of its business in LTC and gets an A or a B+ credit rating.
Make plans to get out of the house. Now that your kids are grown and your work life is winding down, do you really need that big home in the good school district→
A Brookings Institution paper found that housing near a high-scoring public school costs an average of 2.4 times more than housing near a low-scoring one. So simply moving to a town nearby could slash your costs and free up cash for your nest egg.
Downsize, and you'll bank even more.
Have another locale in mind? Find out what it will cost to live there, down to all the taxes, says Chicago planner Cicily Maton: "You might notice real estate taxes are lower, but that could be offset by higher income or sales taxes."
Practice your retirement job. Begin laying the foundation for any work you'll do in retirement. Ease the transition by getting credentials you need now or using relevant volunteer work to reorient your resume.
Want to consult? Get launched before you lose contacts in the field or your experience starts to look stale, says Art Koff of RetiredBrains.com. Start picking up assignments on the side so that you'll have steady clients at the ready when you're about to leave your job.
 
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Retiring  By Jeanine Skowronski

 

 

 Unpaid debts will contribute to your monthly expenses and play a huge part in how much money you will need to have on hand before you go ahead and leave the workforce. This is not to say that your house needs to be paid off in full before you retire.

“If you have a low interest rate [on your mortgage], you’ll have to ask, ‘Do I want to pay this off in full?’” Kinsey says. On the other hand, if the mortgage is more substantial, you may want to consider taking money out of your investment portfolio so you don’t have to worry about it moving forward. The point is, whichever option you do chose will have significant impact on your cash flow.

If you have other debts on the books, such as high credit card balances, you may want to look into what other factors may be behind the balances so you can get them paid off as much as possible before you abandon a steady paycheck.

 

Lance Armstrong's Demise

Lance Armstrong Stripped of Tour de France Medals 

By NEAL KARLINSKY (@NealKarlinsky) Oct. 22, 2012 

The global governing body of cycling today said it will officially strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him from the sport for life, marking an epic downfall for the cyclist once lauded as the greatest of all time but now at the center of a doping scandal.

"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," Pat McQuaid, the president of the International Cycling Union, known as UCI, said today at a news conference in Switzerland. "This is a landmark day for cycling."
The UCI's decision comes days after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency banned Armstrong from the sport for life for alleged use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. The USADA issued a 200-page report Oct. 10 after a wide-scale investigation into Armstrong's alleged use of performance-enhancing substances.
The agency said its investigators interviewed 26 people with direct knowledge of Armstrong's alleged doping, including 11 teammates, and collected 1,000 pages of evidence accusing him of cheating.

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Lance Armstrong addresses participants at The... View Full Size

Lance Armstrong Leads Cancer-Fighting Charity Gala Despite Scandal Watch Video

Lance Armstrong Dropped by Nike, Quits Charity Watch Video

Lance Armstrong Steps Down as Livestrong Leader Watch Video

McQuaid accepted the USADA's sanctions and said he was "sickened" by the evidence in the report, pointing to testimony from one of Armstrong's former teammates David Zabriskie, in which he details how he was allegedly coercing into doping.
Armstrong tried to fight the USADA ban in court, but told the USADA in August that he wouldn't fight the doping charges against him. He has maintained he never cheated.
Armstrong made two appearances this weekend at the Livestrong Foundation's 15th anniversary charity gala, but did not concede much in the way of an explanation or apology for the alleged doping that cost him his medals and lucrative sponsors.
"People ask me a lot, 'How are you doing?' And I tell them, 'I've been better but I've also been worse,'" the cancer survivor said. "This mission is bigger than me. It's bigger than any individual."
Armstrong stepped down as the chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the cancer charity commonly known as Livestrong that he founded in 1997, a year after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 25. He resigned last week to "spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy."
Nike, Anheuser-Busch and Trek Bicycles are among the companies that severed ties with the cycling star last week in the wake of the scandal. Oakley sunglasses cut ties with Armstrong today after the UCI decision.
As Armstrong's sponsorships and reputation have fallen off a cliff, the silence surrounding his alleged doping methods over the years has begun to crack. In the USADA report, teammates describe years of systematic doping, using banned substances and receiving illicit blood transfusions.
A former competitor, Stephen Swart, testified in a deposition that Armstrong bribed him to throw a race with a $1 million prize. Swart said he was offered approximately $50,000 to allow Armstrong to win.

Lance Armstrong Steps Down as Livestrong Leader Watch Video

McQuaid accepted the USADA's sanctions and said he was "sickened" by the evidence in the report, pointing to testimony from one of Armstrong's former teammates David Zabriskie, in which he details how he was allegedly coercing into doping.
Armstrong tried to fight the USADA ban in court, but told the USADA in August that he wouldn't fight the doping charges against him. He has maintained he never cheated.
Armstrong made two appearances this weekend at the Livestrong Foundation's 15th anniversary charity gala, but did not concede much in the way of an explanation or apology for the alleged doping that cost him his medals and lucrative sponsors.
"People ask me a lot, 'How are you doing?' And I tell them, 'I've been better but I've also been worse,'" the cancer survivor said. "This mission is bigger than me. It's bigger than any individual."
Armstrong stepped down as the chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the cancer charity commonly known as Livestrong that he founded in 1997, a year after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 25. He resigned last week to "spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy."
Nike, Anheuser-Busch and Trek Bicycles are among the companies that severed ties with the cycling star last week in the wake of the scandal. Oakley sunglasses cut ties with Armstrong today after the UCI decision.
As Armstrong's sponsorships and reputation have fallen off a cliff, the silence surrounding his alleged doping methods over the years has begun to crack. In the USADA report, teammates describe years of systematic doping, using banned substances and receiving illicit blood transfusions.
A former competitor, Stephen Swart, testified in a deposition that Armstrong bribed him to throw a race with a $1 million prize. Swart said he was offered approximately $50,000 to allow Armstrong to win.
The USADA also accuses Armstrong of trying to intimidate witnesses. Former Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts said Armstrong and his inner circle tried to turn her into a villain with her bosses and smear her reputation personally when they heard she was investigation doping allegations.
"I don't really think there's any politician, celebrity or athlete who has really put together the machinery to suppress reporting about them like Lance Armstrong has," Roberts said.

Global News Blog

For fans like me, Lance Armstrong doping saga spoils memories

Peter Ford, who covered Lance Armstrong's winning streak at the Tour de France for the Monitor, writes that Armstrong's doping has 'tainted some of my happiest memories of reporting in France.'

By Peter Ford, Staff Writer / October 22, 2012 

• 

This file photo shows Lance Armstrong, center, waving from the podium in July 2002 as he holds the winner's trophy after the 20th and final stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Melun and Paris. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life by cycling's governing body Monday.

Peter Dejong/AP/File  Peter Ford

 

Paris Thirteen years ago, on an idyllic summer’s afternoon, I stood by the side of a road in the cheesemaking region of Cantal and watched Lance Armstrong speed by, tucked into the peloton, on his way to his first victory in the Tour de France.
It was 1999. A year earlier the Tour had been in tatters, devastated by a doping scandal that had seen police and judges raiding riders’ hotel rooms in the middle of the night, seizing drugs. Armstrong’s successful arrival on the scene after overcoming cancer “is symbolic of the way the Tour de France is emerging from its own battle against disappearance,” said the tour director at the time.
His victory would be “highly symbolic of the combat he fought against death, and that we are fighting against doping,” promised Jean-Marie Leblanc.

Think you know Europe? Take our geography quiz.

It turns out that Mr. Armstrong beat the Tour de France organizers just as he had beaten death. Today the International Cycling Union (UCI), accepting evidence gathered by the US Anti-Doping Agency that Armstrong was a serial drug-taker, stripped the US “champion” of all his titles.
Even back in 1999, people suspected something was wrong. “Armstrong is very strong, too strong, incredibly strong,” commented one French TV journalist the evening that the US rider won a punishing stage in the Alps.
But that could be dismissed as sour grapes, as an American charged into a sport long dominated by the French and swept all before him, “winning” a record seven Tours.
And we all wanted to believe in Armstrong, from the UCI – for whom he was a magnificent money-spinning mascot for his sport – down to the lowliest spectator standing by the side of the road who admired his comeback courage.
Well, not all of us. My (French) wife never believed Armstrong was clean. She never believed that any of the top riders were clean. In argument after argument over the years I called her cynical, pointing out that my hero had never failed a drug test. Now I know that she was just clear-eyed.
Everybody who followed Lance during his “glory days” will have his or her own way of feeling disappointed now that the truth, it seems, is out. (Armstrong has not acknowledged any guilt but says he will not challenge the USADA report.)
For me, the news has tainted some of my happiest memories of reporting in France. I used to love covering the Tour, driving halfway up an Alp one July afternoon, parking my car near a steep hairpin bend, picnicking sociably with whomever I found parked next to me (and there were always crowds of families waiting for the Tour to come by), sleeping in the car, and then the next day enjoying the hoopla of the publicity caravan before the riders themselves came by, just an arm’s length away, thighs straining, sweat pouring from their chins, teeth gritted.
It was an annual treat for me, the most fun I have ever had at work. And watching these men at the outer edges of endurance even inspired me to take up cycling myself: I had a go at one of the Tour’s mountain stages in 2005 and I spend my weekends now cycling up and down mountains. (You can imagine what my wife thinks about that….)
Lance Armstrong, whose feats excited a lot of interest in American newspaper readers, was my passport to this kind of fun, and now that we know he was cheating, it feels almost as though I was piggyback cheating by having that fun.
Even at the time though, I realize, I could not entirely ignore my wife’s doubts. That evening in July 1999, as I dictated my article over the phone to my editor, I ended it with something the spokesman for Credit Lyonnais bank, the Tour’s leading sponsor, had told me.
“We cannot be certain that a scandal won’t drop on our heads,” he said. “I have just one hope: that the rumors about Lance Armstrong are not true.”

Thanks to:

 Beijing Bureau Chief
Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor’s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.

Buy a Ring, Get a Free Gun, Jeweler Offers

Buy a ring, get a gun is the brainchild of an Iowa jeweler trying to entice deer-hunting husbands-to-be. Anyone spending at least $1,999 on an engagement ring gets a free rifle. 

An Iowa jeweler is offering free rifles for husbands-to-be who spend at least $1,999 on an engagement ring at his store near Iowa City. Jeweler Harold van Beek told KCRG near Cedar Rapids that he wanted to "do something for the boy who doesn't like to hunt for diamonds but likes to hunt for deer." The deal at Jewelry By Harold in North Liberty starts Thursday and will run through the end of October. The rifle offer is subject to Iowa laws on gun ownership. Those barred include felons and addicts.

You can buy a ring and get a free gun at an Iowa jewelry store called Jewelry by Harold — a promotion that certainly brings new meaning to the term “shotgun wedding.”

The promotion covers engagement rings that cost at least $1,999, reports International Business Times. As long as you purchase a ring for $1,999 or more, you can get a voucher for a free gun. Harold van Beek, owner of Jewelry By Harold, stated:

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. So say: I’m hunting deer, and here is a diamond ring, dear.”

The buy a ring, get a gun promotion only lasts until October 31 and has some restrictions, including the fact that the purchaser must be eligible to own a gun in Iowa (a rule that discounts convicted felons and drug addicts).
Van Beek explained that he was inspired to run the promotion after seeing a similar deal in Georgia. Market Watch notes that the owner of Jewelry by Harold stated:

“We hope people know about the crazy jeweler in North Liberty that does crazy things. Fun is more important than anything else, we try to put some fun in it. Hunting season is coming up, I thought this is cool, so let’s do something for the boy who doesn’t like to hunt for diamonds, but likes to hunt for deer.”

The free gun voucher will allow the purchaser to receive a Remington 870 hunting shotgun, which usually retails for less than $500. The voucher can only be redeemed at Fin and Feather in Iowa City. The rifle is popular with military and police organizations, who have purchased Remington 870s in the past.
Would you take advantage of the buy a ring, get a free gun promotion at Jewelry by Harold, or is Harold van Beek going too far to try and make a sale?

Eddie Yost, the Washington Senators’ ‘Walking Man’, dies at 86

( THE WASHINGTON POST ) - Former Washington Senator ballplayer Eddie Yost was a star of the 1950s. He was known as “The Walking Man\" because of his ability to draw walks.
 Associated Press:

BOSTON –  Eddie Yost, nicknamed "The Walking Man" because of his penchant for drawing bases on balls during an 18-year major league career, has died. He was 86.
The Boston Red Sox say Yost died Tuesday morning in Weston, Mass., but did not announce a cause.
After his playing days, Yost was a third base coach for the Red Sox, New York Mets and Washington Senators.
Primarily a third baseman from 1944-62, Yost drew 1,614 walks — a total that still ranks 11th all-time. He spent his first 14 seasons with the original Senators, garnering All-Star honors in 1952, and also played for the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels.
Yost led the AL in walks six times, including a career-high 151 in 1956, and on-base percentage twice. He batted .254 with 139 home runs and 683 RBIs, but patience at the plate lifted his on-base percentage to an outstanding .394.
The Red Sox say Yost is survived by his daughters, Felita and Alexis, and son Mike.

Washington Post:

Eddie Yost, the Washington Senators’ third baseman of the 1950s whose extraordinary ability to coax walks made him a pest to opposing pitchers and an anomaly in baseball history, died Oct. 16 at an assisted-living facility in Weston, Mass. He was 86. His daughter Felita Yost Carr confirmed his death but could not cite a specific cause, other than a “bad heart.”
Mr. Yost, who first joined the Senators as a 17-year-old in 1944, became one of the most popular players on a team with a hopeless record of futility. During his 12 seasons as the starting third baseman from 1947 through 1958, the team had a winning record only one time.
But, along with hitters Mickey Vernon and Roy Sievers, Mr. Yost was a rare bright spot for the Nats, as the team was often called.
Although Mr. Yost compiled a mediocre lifetime batting average of only .254, his uncanny batting eye enabled him to draw walks almost at will, earning him the nickname “The Walking Man.” One opposing manager fined his pitchers $25 for each walk given up to Mr. Yost but had to stop the practice when his pitching staff ended up hundreds of dollars in debt.
“He reached the point where the umpires said if he didn’t swing at a pitch, they wouldn’t call it a strike,” said Phil Wood, a longtime Washington broadcaster and baseball historian.
Mr. Yost led the American League in walks six times and had eight seasons with more than 100 walks. By contrast, no member of the 2012 Washington Nationals had more than 67 walks.
His ability to draw walks and score runs — and to avoid swinging at bad pitches — was not always appreciated in his time. When Mr. Yost retired in 1961, his 1,614 walks ranked fourth in baseball history, after Hall of Fame sluggers Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Mel Ott. Mr. Yost is now 11th on the all-time list.
After Mr. Yost’s only All-Star season in 1952, Senators owner Clark Griffith said, “I wouldn’t swap him for Mickey Mantle straight up, and to prove it, I’m paying him almost twice as much as the Yankees are paying Mantle.”
Washington’s cavernous Griffith Stadium, with its 400-foot left-field foul line, greatly reduced the power numbers of the right-handed-hitting Mr. Yost. Through the 1953 season, he had hit 55 home runs — 52 of them on the road.
His 28 home runs while leading off games were a major league record until broken by Bobby Bonds in the 1970s and later by Rickey Henderson.
Edward Frederick Yost was born Oct. 13, 1926, in Brooklyn and played baseball and basketball at New York University before signing with the Nats in 1944. After two years in the Navy, he returned to the Nats in 1946 and never played in the minor leagues.
In the offseason, he attended NYU and received a master’s degree in physical education in 1953.
In Washington, Mr. Yost was the team’s iron man, playing in 829 consecutive games from 1949 to 1955, the most since Lou Gehrig’s then-record 2,130-game streak ended in 1939. After the 1958 season, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers, then in 1961 joined the new Los Angeles Angels, becoming the first player to bat for the expansion team.
Mr. Yost succeeded Bob Feller as the American League’s player representative in the 1950s, testified before Congress on baseball’s antitrust exemption, and helped increase the minimum salary and pensions for players.
He later was the third-base coach for the Senators, New York Mets — including the World Series-winning “Miracle Mets” of 1969 — and Boston Red Sox. In retirement in Wellesley Hills, Mass., he enjoyed repairing clocks and carousel horses.
His wife of 45 years, Patricia Healy Yost, died in 2007. Survivors include three children, Felita Yost Carr of Hollis, N.H., Michael Yost of Huntington Beach, Calif., and Alexis Yost of Wellesley, Mass.; a sister; and two grandsons.
Mr. Yost’s career on-base percentage of .394 ranks higher than many players with gaudier batting averages, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Honus Wagner and Pete Rose. His remarkable knack for drawing walks was a mystery that opposing pitchers never solved.
“Those pitchers aren’t walking me because they feel friendly toward me,” Mr. Yost told The Washington Post in 1953. “The opposite is more true. They’re careful not to lay them up there for me. They pitch to me like I’m a .400 hitter.”

(Reuters) - Former Major League third baseman Eddie Yost, whose ability to collect bases on balls during a career with three teams including the old Washington Senators earned him the nickname "Walking Man," has died at 86, according to a report on MLB.com, the league's official website.

Yost, who died Tuesday in Weston, Mass., led the American League in walks in six of the 18 years of his professional playing career, including 1950, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959 and 1960, MLB.com said.

The bulk of Yost's playing days were spent with the Senators, for whom he played 14 seasons. He also played two seasons each for the Detroit Tigers and the California Angels, MLB.com.

For the Angels, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Yost was the first batter to appear at the plate for the franchise in the team's 1961 debut as an expansion team, MLB.com said.

Yost retired from playing in 1962, and then spent more than two decades as a coach with the Senators, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, MLB.com said. He earned a World Series ring as the Mets' third-base coach in 1969, the season that earned the team the name the "Miracle Mets."

Yost retired in 1984.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Paul Thomasch)

Jerry Sandusky sentenced to at least 30 years in child sex abuse case

By MARK SCOLFORO | Associated Press |

Penn St. ex-assistant Jerry Sandusky sentenced to at least 30 years in child sex abuse case

Jerry Sandusky sentenced to at least 30 years 

Jerry Sandusky was sentenced Tuesday to at least 30 years in prison _ effectively a life sentence _ in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno's downfall.

 

 

A defiant Sandusky gave a long, rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.
The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. Witnesses said Sandusky used the charitable organization he founded for troubled children as his personal hunting ground to find and groom boys to become his victims.
His arrest 11 months ago, and the details that came out during his trial over the summer, transformed Sandusky's public image from a college coach who had been widely admired for his work with The Second Mile charity into that of a reviled pervert who preyed on the very youngsters who sought his help.
Eight of the boys he was found guilty of molesting testified at his trial, describing a range of abuse that included fondling, oral sex and anal intercourse. One of the prosecution's star witnesses, former graduate assistant Mike McQueary, testified that he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a locker room shower.
Sandusky has consistently maintained his innocence and plans to appeal.
In a three-minute monologue aired Monday night by Penn State Com Radio that used some of the same language as his courtroom statement, Sandusky said he knows in his heart that he did not do what he called "these alleged disgusting acts" and described himself as the victim of Penn State, investigators, civil attorneys, the media and others.
"They can take away my life, they can make me out as a monster, they can treat me as a monster, but they can't take away my heart," he told the radio station. "In my heart, I know I did not do these alleged disgusting acts. My wife has been my only sex partner and that was after marriage."
Judge John Cleland sentenced him to 30 to 60 years in prison. Under Pennsylvania law, Sandusky cannot be released on parole before the minimum term is up.
The scandal brought devastation in State College that will take years to fully assess, as Sandusky's victims are pressing civil claims and a January trial is pending for Gary Schultz and Tim Curley, two university administrators charged with failing to properly report suspicions about Sandusky and lying to the grand jury that investigated him.
Soon after the three were arrested in November, the board of trustees fired Paterno, the school's most famous figure and a man who won two national college football championships in the 1980s. Paterno died of lung cancer in January.
Over the summer, an investigation commissioned by the university and led by former FBI Director Louis Freeh concluded that Paterno and other top officials covered up allegations against Sandusky for years to avoid bad publicity.
The scandal also toppled university President Graham Spanier and led to crippling NCAA sanctions against the football team that included a $60 million fine, a ban on postseason play and a reduction in the number of football scholarships the school can award. The NCAA also erased 14 years of victories for Paterno, stripping him of his standing as major college football's winningest coach.
At least four young men have sued Penn State over the way the university responded to disturbing complaints about Sandusky.
Eight legal teams representing at least 20 young men have surfaced, and the school recently announced an effort to settle as many claims as possible by the end of the year.

By MARK SCOLFORO | Associated Press |

 

Las Vegas Casinos Offer Refunds on Seattle-Green Bay Game

Casino offers refunds on Seattle-Green Bay game By KEN RITTER (Associated Press) | The Associated Press

 

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A Las Vegas casino took an unusual step Wednesday and offered refunds to gamblers who lost money when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers on a controversial touchdown at the end of Monday night's game.

  Derek Stevens, owner The D Las Vegas, seized on the attention being paid to the much-derided decision by replacement officials handling the NFL game and became the only casino in Las Vegas to offer refunds.

''I know exactly how it would feel if I was laying the number and I saw what happened,'' Stevens said. He declared himself ''disgusted'' with the ruling and said he just couldn't accept the outcome.

The Seahawks won 14-12 after a Packers defender and Seahawks receiver fought for the ball on a final ''Hail Mary'' pass play. Officials missed an offensive pass interference call and then decided there had been simultaneous catch by the two players. Under NFL rules, that gave Seattle the touchdown and the win.
Nevada gambling regulators said Stevens could make refunds if he wanted.

Another Las Vegas sports book operator worried the move set a bad precedent.
''Whenever there are bad calls we're going to start refunding? Based on what?'' said Jay Kornegay, race and sports book director at The LVH casino. ''We're supposed to pay out winning wagers based on official final scores by the league, in this case the NFL.''

Some offshore online betting outlets have also issued refunds.
Stevens, who has been renovating and rebranding the high-rise downtown casino formerly called the Fitzgerald, said D Las Vegas will refund straight and money-line bets made on the Packers until Sunday - but only on wagers made at his sports book.

State gambling regulations prohibit a sports book from rescinding a wager without prior approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission chairman.

The chairman, Mark Lipparelli, said a refund is different from rescinding a bet. He said that in his four years on the regulatory panel he couldn't remember a similar move.
''It's not a rescission. It's a refund,'' Lipparelli told The Associated Press. ''That's within their discretion.''

Chris Brown Tattoo

Chris Brown gets new tattoo of fighter jetBy Joyce Chen / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The "Don't Judge Me" singer showed off some fresh ink Monday hot on the heels of debuting a new neck tattoo resembling his former lover - and this time, it looks as though Brown has chosen the same spot that Rihanna got her own new tattoo.

 When it comes to tattoos, Chris Brown and Rihanna are clearly on the same wavelength.

 

"About to go in on this #fighterjet #f16 #plane #tattoo on #chrisbrown," tattoo artist John Petro captioned a shot of a tattooed Brown, 23, with the beginnings of a fighter jet etched onto his torso.

 The finished jet, which points nose-first toward Brown's belly button, sits across the singer's abs, just below his chest.

Rihanna's latest ink, of an Egyptian goddess, is similarly etched into her midsection with the wings spread just below the "We Found Love" singer's breasts.
"Goddess Isis - Complete Woman - Model for future generations - #GRANGRANDOLLY," she wrote on her Twitter Sunday. "Always in and on my heart."

 

Earlier this month, Brown showed off another new piece of body art, with a sketch of a woman's face imprinted onto the right side of his neck.

Fans and the media noted that the tattoo bore a striking resemblance to a bruised and battered Rihanna, but

Brown defended his ink against haters on Tuesday.
"I'm an artist and this is art," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead".

Chris Brown with tattoo artist John Petro. (Johnpetro/via Instagram)

Brown's rep confirmed to E! News that the drawing is a cross between "a sugar skull (associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead) and a MAC cosmetics design he saw," rather than a nod to the explosive night back in 2009 when he beat up then-girlfriend Rihanna.
The pair have had a tumultuous relationship but still remain friends, and earlier this month, even sparked rumors that their romance is back on after the two locked lips at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Rihanna, 24, called Brown the "love of her life" in an emotional interview on Oprah Winfrey's talk show last month, and admitted that they "love each other and we probably always will."
Brown is currently linked to model Karreuche Tran.
jchen@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/chris-brown-new-tattoo-fighter-jet-spot-rihanna-tribute-tat-grandmother-article-1.1157569#ixzz26HgXcdtD

 

The King of Rock & Roll Died 35 Years Ago

As Posted on rocks backpages

By Barney Hoskyns | Rock's Backpages – Wed, Aug 15, 2012 10:15 AM EDT

The King of Rock & Roll died 35 years ago at his Memphis mansion, Graceland. Mick Farren — former frontman with London's beloved Deviants — wrote this heartfelt tribute to Elvis for New Musical Express——Barney Hoskyns, Editorial Director, Rock's Backpages

It was one of the worst storms to hit London since God knows when. The thunder rolled, lightning flashed and the rain hammered into the roof. There's something about a storm that brings a sense of doom. It fitted so perfectly.
When the ITV news flash sign came on the TV screen everyone looked up. When the flash sign was immediately followed by a still of Elvis Presley, a quiet voice breathed, "Oh, my God."
"Reports are coming in that Elvis Presley, the rock and roll singer, died this evening at his home in Memphis, Tennessee."
We all looked at each other in disbelief.
"Elvis is dead!"
It didn't seem quite credible. And yet it wasn't the kind of shock that followed the news of J.F.K. being cut down. There had been so much speculation about Presley's mental and physical health that his death was unpleasantly predictable.
It was almost impossible to know what to think. My first impulse was to pick up the phone and call a couple of people. I tried two numbers, but they were both busy. Obviously other people had reacted the same way. It was the kind of news that demanded to be passed on. Elvis had always been there. For more than two decades he'd maintained a unique position in too many people's lives. Despite all the depressing rumours it scarcely seemed possible that he'd gone, that Elvis Presley was dead at 42.
I guess the only word I can use is numb. Numb, and just very slightly embarrassed at the way I was reacting. It wasn't the ordinary kind of grief that you feel for a personal friend. There was no voice telling me that I'd never see Elvis Presley again. Jesus Christ, I'd never seen him, ever. I didn't even regret that I'd never get the chance to see him. The Elvis Presley I'd have given my right arm to watch was the wild hoodlum in the gold jacket who vanished into the US Army and never returned. I'd mourned his passing many years ago.
I think, to be absolutely truthful, any grief for Elvis Presley has to be bound up with a grief for my own early youth. It's grief for that long vanished innocence, that virgin state in which it was possible to discover rock and roll for the very first time.
The moment when I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of the radio was an experience that's impossible to reproduce. It was a time when the radio didn't add up to much more than The Archers, Journey into Space and The Goon Show. The readily available music was all 'Que Sera Sera', 'Love And Marriage' and 'How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?'
*
After 'Heartbreak Hotel', all that changed. Music had the power. It may have taken another six or seven years for Bob Dylan to articulate it, but right from the start it was obvious that the times were changing. If it needed a confirmation, it was right there in the way Elvis was condemned out of hand by parents and pulpit.
Elvis Presley was far more than just an entertainer. He was something different to Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby. He'd picked up the teenage banner that had been dropped by James Dean. He not only picked it up, but he picked it up and ran with it. From the way he combed his hair to the sneer and the snapping knee, he was the beginning of the rebellion. You stopped thinking about being a chartered accountant and began to wonder if, just maybe, you could be Elvis.
Of course, the passing years brought disappointments. He came back from the army to make all those awful films and often equally awful records. The greatest white R&B singer the world had ever seen decayed before our eyes into a Hollywood clown who appeared to have no respect for his work, his audience or himself.
If it had been anybody but Elvis Presley he probably would have been quietly forgotten, but he was just too big for that. If it was only in the middle of the night, when listening to the old records, the magnetism still came alive in those attempts to recapture the first careless rush. It was a haven of simplicity in a world of 'Visions Of Johanna' and 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby'.
Presley had racked up so much affection in the '50s that it was even hard to blame him for his dire output. More often than not the blame was laid at the door of Colonel Tom Parker. It may not have been logical, but even when he did his worst, it was hard to believe that it was Presley's fault.
*
Elvis-worship lay dormant in a lot of us during the '60s. Just how many of us became noticeable by those who sat up and took notice when, at the end of the decade, it suddenly seemed as though our man was going to make a comeback with records like 'Promised Land', 'Burning Love', his TV special and his return to the live stage at the Las Vegas Hilton. As it turned out, Presley didn't come back to us. His return was for the blue rinse and double-knit set. He was fated never to return to rock and rollers and overgrown juvenile delinquents who had sweated out their adolescence with him.
Once again the decay started. His public behaviour became erratic. It looked as though — instead of coming back — Elvis Presley had dipped his toe into the real world but quickly withdrawn it again. The rumours flowed out from behind the high walls of his guarded mansions. They talked about his custom-built blondes, his drugs, his neurotic eating and violent temper tantrums. His marriage came and went, and the figure who was once a hero turned, bit by bit, into a petulant, overweight pampered child.
It was sad. It was like watching an old friend, whom you hadn't seen in a long time, slowly going to pieces. That may have been sad, but it was only a fraction as sad as the thought of Elvis Presley, maybe the biggest idol the world's seen yet, dying alone and disturbed in his luxury prison. There's just no way that you can help an idol. Maybe, in the final analysis, the world can't support an Elvis Presley all the way to a fulfilled and peaceful old age.
The clichés come thick and fast at a time like this. Some of them are even true. Without Elvis Presley, history would certainly have been different. Jagger might have become an estate agent, Dylan a rabbi, Lennon a bricklayer or Johnny Rotten a judge. He probably was one of the tiny handful of artists who actually affected the course of human affairs. Maybe the load was too much for him to carry. I don't know. None of us can really imagine how it feels to walk around being Elvis Presley every day of your life.

All this isn't what's really important. All I know is that the death of Presley has produced a kind of dull hurt that's hard to pin down. I can't exactly define why or how it hurts. All I know is something that used to be important to me has gone.
I guess that's the measure of the man and what he meant. At least, what he meant to me.
© Mick Farren, 1977
Read dozens more pieces on Elvis — and on artists from Aaliyah to ZZ Top — at Rock's Backpages. 20,000+ articles by the best writers from the finest music publications of the last 50 years.

Theater Shooting Suspect Was Graduate Student at Medical School in Colorado

U.S. News on NBC News.com
By Pete Williams, Bill Dedman and NBC News staff

The man suspected of carrying out the Colorado movie theater shooting, wearing an outfit of black ballistic gear, was a 24-year-old Phi Beta Kappa graduate student in neuroscience who started buying his four weapons legally in May.
James Eagan Holmes, from San Diego, was a graduate student in the neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Medical School campus in Aurora, a university spokesman told NBC News. He was in the process of withdrawing from school, the university confirmed.

NBC News

James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting.

"The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that Mr. James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado Denver's graduate program in neurosciences," the university statement said. "Mr. Holmes enrolled at the university in June 2011."

The university website listed one of his courses as the Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders. He was listed on the class website as making a presentation in the spring on MicroRNA biomarkers.
The University of California, Riverside, confirmed that a student named James Eagan Holmes, with the same date of birth, graduated with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience in 2010. He graduated in four years, attending from the fall of 2006 to spring 2010. Public records show that the Holmes living in Aurora had a previous address at a Riverside dormitory.
A student who lived across the hall from Holmes at Cal-Riverside, who asked not to be named, said Holmes completed the honors program and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key honor societies.

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Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Friday that Holmes, born Dec. 13, 1987, is the man who is believed to have killed at least 12 people at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. "We are confident that he acted alone," Oates said. He said he had no way to tell how many rounds were fired, but it was "many, many." Holmes was arrested without any resistance at his white Hyundai car in the theater parking lot, parked just outside the theater's back door. He was wearing a black ballistic helmet, a ballistic tactical vest, ballistic leggings, throat and groin protectors, a gas mask, and tactical gloves, Oates said. The police chief did not address reports that Holmes told officers, "I'm the Joker," referring to the villain in the Batman story. Four weapons were found, Oates said. Two were handguns, made by Glock. Both were 40-caliber. At least one of those was used, the police chief said. One shotgun, a Remington model 870, one of the most popular models. Pump action, single barrel. And one Smith and Wesson AR-15 type rifle, called by some an "assault rifle." These weapons can accommodate large ammunition "clips," but authorities have not yet said what kind of magazines were at the scene. The purchase place and dates are still being traced, and the chief said he didn't know yet if Oates had the weapons legally. Officials told NBC News that all four were purchased legally, beginning in May. Holmes will be arraigned in court on Monday. News organizations have made requests to the judge to allow cameras in the courtroom. The only previous police record for Holmes is a speeding ticket in October 2011, the chief said. Know James Holmes? If you have information, send an email to Bill Dedman of NBC News. NBC's Pete Williams reports the Colorado gunman identified as James Holmes carried two pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun into the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and said authorities are looking into how he was able to get in through the theater's emergency exit. Holmes' family, who live in Rancho Penasquitos, a community in the northeastern part of San Diego, issued a statement through the San Diego Police Department. "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the family and friends of those involved," the statement said. "We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time. Our family is cooperating with authorities in San Diego, California, and Aurora, Colorado. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy." A man believed to be Holmes' father was seen leaving with luggage, escorted by police. A neighbor, Tom Mai, told The Los Angeles Times that Holmes was a shy, well-mannered kid who was very active in the church. He had trouble finding work after college, Mai said, and then went off to graduate school. Holmes attended Westview High School in San Diego, graduating in 2006, the Poway Unified School District confirmed. A woman who said she knew him in high school told NBC News that Holmes was a good person, but oddly always rooted for the villains in superhero movies. "He was a nice guy. Who very much wanted to be liked and wanted," the woman said. "He was a very, very smart guy. I honestly can not believe he could do this. I know, I know, everyone says that. But it is truly devastating to me. "He did not have many friends for someone who wanted to be liked," she said. "He loved all the villains in superhero stuff, which I did point out as odd. Most people enjoy the hero!" Public records indicate that Holmes lived with two roommates, also from California, in the Aurora building where police have found explosives, at 1690 Paris St., Apt. 10. The building is reserved for students, faculty and staff from the medical campus.

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The Denver Post newspaper reported that Holmes, in an apartment rental application he last year, described himself as "quiet and easy-going." A pharmacy student who lives in the building told The Post he called 911 around 12:30 a.m. Friday because there was a song blaring from the stereo inside apartment 10, where Holmes lived. The student, who wanted to be identified only as Ben, said he couldn't make out the song but that it seemed to be the same one playing on repeat. He also said Holmes kept to himself and wouldn't acknowledge people when they passed in the hall and said hello. "No one knew him. No one," he told The Post.

Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies at age 95 in LA

Yahoo.com  THE UPSHOT Yahoo News

Re- Posted on July 8, 2012 at 5:14 PM

 

Ernest Borgnine, who won the best-actor Oscar as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with his family by his side.

A prolific and talented character actor, Borgnine was known for gruff, villainous roles such as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity" and one of the bad guys who harasses Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Borgnine, who earned a salary of $5,000 for playing his Academy-Award winning role as Marty, once said "I would have done it for nothing."

He was also known as the Navy officer in the television series "McHale's Navy," which aired from 1962-66. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series "ER."

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966, according to AP. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

The actor was married five times, including to singer Ethel Merman, who became his third wife in 1964. The marriage barely lasted a month.

Borgnine is survived by his fifth wife, Tova Traesnaes — whom he married in 1973 — son Christopher and daughters Sharon and Diana.

Mike Tyson, Spike Lee are Broadway Bound

“Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.”

This summer, Mike Tyson is taking on a new role, appearing on Broadway in a one-man show called “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.” The former heavyweight champion and director Spike Lee chat with the TODAY team about conquering the stage together.

TODAY   |  Aired on June 19, 2012

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