VACATION NIGHTMARE: Woman sues Maryland resort town in carbon monoxide poisoning deaths of husband and daughter, charging emergency crew with lax response.  Yvonne Boughter of Lebanon, Pa., claims four hours went by before a fire and rescue squad arrived at her Ocean City hotel, despite several 911 calls for help. The tragedy occurred three years ago. Here is a report on the $20 million lawsuit.  

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK: Anne Arundel fire fighters get a call for a  cockatoo on the loose and it’s no joke. The wayward pet took refuge in a tree in a Pasadena neighborhood, well beyond the reach of its panicked bird-sitter. Said a fire department spokesman, “these types of calls are tricky.”  

JUDGE COULD RULE AS EARLY AS TODAY IN CITY’S BIAS SUIT AGAINST WELLS FARGO BANK: Bank seeks dismissal, describes complaint as lacking merit and, filed by a city “thirsty for revenue.”
U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg is set to rule on whether the 2008 complaint can go forward. The city claims the bank routinely steered black lenders toward pricey subprime loans and touched off a wave of foreclosures that have cost the city millions.
Related link: The Chicago Reporter has released another study of lending practices in Baltimore, as well as Chicago. This one shows that Wells Fargo borrowers of all races and income levels got high-cost mortgages more often for properties in black areas. In Baltimore overall, according to the study, borrowers earning at least $200,000 received high-cost loans from Wells Fargo less than 6 percent of the time during 2007. But those same well-qualified borrowers got high-cost loans at a much higher rate—10 of 21 loans, or nearly 48 percent—for properties in metro Baltimore’s predominantly black census tracts, in west and northeast Baltimore.