Topic: Pacific Northwest
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
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10 best cities to buy short sale homes
Foreclosures are tough: Homeowners lose their houses and ruin their credit, while banks get stuck with vacant, deteriorating real estate for months before selling it at a considerable loss. Increasingly, banks are finding another way: the short sale. Instead of waiting to foreclose, a bank preemptively sells a home at a deep discount and closes out the underwater mortgage, even if the house sells for less than the value of the mortgage. The result: Homeowners shed their mortgage debt, and banks unload properties more quickly and inexpensively. Here are the Top 10 metropolitan areas with the biggest average discounts on these pre-foreclosure homes, according to online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. Can you guess which city is No. 1?
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Foreclosures on the rise: Is your city on the Top 10 list?
Foreclosures have been huge in cities that rode the real estate bubble in the West and in Florida. But the fastest rise in foreclosures is taking place primarily in far less frothy metropolitan areas of the Southeast, according to a new report by RealtyTrac. North Carolina alone was home to four of the Top 10 fastest-rising foreclosure metros last year. While their foreclosure rates are still quite low compared with most places, these metros and their plight illustrate how the poor economy is driving the housing crisis now.
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Home heating 101: six cold facts on staying warm this winter
Oil prices are high, while natural gas and electric costs have either stayed the same or gone lower. Here is the outlook for the winter home heating season.
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Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 11/23
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Bestselling books the week of 9/9/10, according to IndieBound*
What's selling best in independent bookstores across America.
All Content
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Starbucks $1 reusable cups: Curb trash, get a discount (+video)
Starbucks $1 reusable cups: Starbucks will introduce $1 reusable plastic cups at its cafes starting Thursday. Starbucks already gives customers a 10-cent discount for using reusable cups for refills, but it hopes the $1 plastic cups will increase the habit and reduce trash.
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Let it snow? Christmas may be white in Northeast, southern Plains, Seattle
Snow on Christmas Day marks the start of a week of wet and wild weather through much of the US, including more of the white stuff. Here's where residents will want their shovels and sleds.
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The Simple Dollar
The great (and cheap) outdoorsCamping is an incredibly inexpensive alternative to staying in hotels, once you have some basic equipment, Hamm writes.
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In Pacific Northwest, a welcome break from a very wet week
Flood watches continue in the Pacific Northwest, but the latest storm to blow in via the 'Pineapple Express' has moved inland. Some areas have seen as much as 15-20 inches of rain since Nov. 27.
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Starbucks $450 steel card: class warfare in a coffee cup?
Starbucks $450 gift card is made of stainless steel and will only be available in limited quantities through a luxury goods website. Is the Starbucks $450 steel gift card a sign that Starbucks is going "1 percent" on us? Or is it just harmless, splurgy fun?
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Diggin' It
Winter soil careGardeners who live in California and other mild climates can do their gardens a favor by getting a start now, in early winter, on improving and caring for the soil. That ensures future success.
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Stock market has tumbled since Obama reelection. Are investors angry?
The stock market has gone into a bit of a tailspin since the election. Wall Street's disappointment with the outcome will pass quickly, but concern about the 'fiscal cliff' is mounting.
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Going for the record: Can anything stop 2012 from being warmest ever?
For super-warm 2012 to end up as an average year in the lower 48 states would require an astonishing, and record-breaking, cold snap over the final four months. That's not in the forecast.
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Pussy Riot: the anonymous band behind the high-profile conviction (+video)
Pussy Riot – which has members beyond the three convicted – isn't your typical band that performs songs back to back in a live concert. But the group now has worldwide recognition and is expected to continue recording.
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Stir It Up!
Meatless Monday: Crustless chard quicheA hearty and cheesy quiche, perfect for an easy summer meal.
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2012 shaping up to be hottest on record in US
The first six months of this year have been the hottest in the mainland United States since temperature records began in 1895. What's causing the unprecedented heat?
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Death Valley heat in Kansas? How the end of June got so hot.
Norton Dam, Kan., hit 118 F. on Thursday, and 32 communities from Colorado to Indiana just posted their highest temperatures ever. Forecasters say back-to-back La Niñas are partly to blame.
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Rising sea levels: Is global warming making the US East Coast a 'hot spot?' (+video)
The pace of sea-level rise along much of the East Coast is accelerating three to four times faster than the worldwide average, a US Geological Survey study says. Global warming is the chief suspect.
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West Coast sea levels: New report estimates greater rise by 2100
The estimates from the National Research Council, taking advantage of more recent research, range from 19 to 55 inches. The study is expected to become a common frame of reference that coastal communities can use in planning.
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Change Agent
Buried seed vault guards thousands of crop varietiesThe remote, frozen Svalbard Global Seed Vault stores more than 740,000 sample of seeds that contain genetic treasures such as heat resistance, drought tolerance, or disease and pest resistance.
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Radioactive tuna travels from Japan to US faster than wind
Low levels of nuclear radiation from the Fukushima power plant have turned up in 15 bluefin tuna caught off San Diego. The fish is not harmful to humans, say researchers.
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Solar eclipse: How to safely watch this evening's 'ring of fire'
During this evening's 'ring of fire' solar eclipse, what should be a spectacular display will be seen across much of the American West. Here's how to watch it safely.
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Will Saturday's 'supermoon' destroy the Earth?
No, it won't. You people really need to learn to calm down.
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Diggin' It
Four unusual shade perennials to tryLight up a woodland garden with this quartet of unusual shade-loving perennial plants.
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Diggin' It
Tips for Japanese garden designA trip to the San Francisco Botanical Garden provides good examples for designing a successful Japanese garden.
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Diggin' It
The little tulips: Tulipa tarda proves that less is more.Little species or botanical tulips aren't as showy as hybrids but they grow in every U.S. region and return year after year.
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Electric cars: Big climate aid in L.A., but not Wichita
Electric cars benefit the climate depending on where they're plugged in. In some cities, electric cars do no better than high-mileage gasoline-powered cars.
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Diggin' It
Dirr’s tree and shrub encyclopedia sets a new industry standardMichael Dirr's new 'Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs' is a must-own book for serious gardeners.
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10 best cities to buy short sale homes
Foreclosures are tough: Homeowners lose their houses and ruin their credit, while banks get stuck with vacant, deteriorating real estate for months before selling it at a considerable loss. Increasingly, banks are finding another way: the short sale. Instead of waiting to foreclose, a bank preemptively sells a home at a deep discount and closes out the underwater mortgage, even if the house sells for less than the value of the mortgage. The result: Homeowners shed their mortgage debt, and banks unload properties more quickly and inexpensively. Here are the Top 10 metropolitan areas with the biggest average discounts on these pre-foreclosure homes, according to online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. Can you guess which city is No. 1?
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Peyton Manning future: Is it in the Cards, or with the Dolphins?
Peyton Manning future: Manning has many NFL suitors. But two teams may be emerging as the best fit for Peyton Manning's future services: Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins.
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