Wal-Mart wants to build a Supercenter in Virginia within a cannonshot of where Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant first fought, a proposal that has preservationists rallying to protect the key Civil War site, described as “hallowed ground” in a the letter from 253 scholars and others. Wal-Mart and its supporters point out that the 138,000-square-foot store would be right behind a bank and a small strip mall, a full mile from the entrance to the site of the 1864 clash.
Converter cash is running out
The Feb. 17 transition from analog to digital television broadcasts looms and as many as 8 million households are unprepared, but the government program that subsidizes crucial TV converter boxes is about to run out of money. To subsidize the purchase of converter boxes, most of which cost between $40 and $80, the government has been letting consumers request up to two $40 coupons per home. But any day now, the government expects to hit a $1.34 billion funding ceiling set by Congress, which it hopes will provide more.
Wikipedia meets fundraising goal
The nonprofit foundation that runs Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia of user-contributed articles, said Friday it has met its $6 million fundraising goal for fiscal 2008. The Wikimedia Foundation said it has raised $6.2 million. The money will go toward improving the software Wikipedia runs on as well as upgrading the servers and Internet bandwidth that accommodate the site’s traffic. Wikipedia consistently ranks among the 10 most- visited Web sites in the world.
Investment group buys IndyMac
A seven-member group of investors has agreed to buy the remnants of failed lender IndyMac Bank, a symbol of the housing boom and bust, for $13.9 billion, federal regulators said Friday. IndyMac, which specialized in loans made with little down payment or proof of assets, was seized by the government in July after a run on the bank as the U.S. housing market collapsed. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said a holding company led by Steven Mnuchin, co-chief executive of private equity firm Dune Capital Management, agreed to buy IndyMac in a deal reached Wednesday and expected to close by early next month.
Money firms less, banks seek more
Commercial banks borrowed slightly more, while investment firms drew less over the past week from the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program. The Fed report, released Friday, showed commercial banks averaged $86.6 billion in daily borrowing over the week ending Wednesday. That was up from $86.3 billion logged in the week that ended Dec. 24.
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