ICE intensifying its raids again

Federal immigration officials vowed Aug. 22 to intensify efforts to track down illegal immigrants after scrapping a trial "self-deportation" program that attracted only eight volunteers.
Though the 2 1/2-week effort produced few volunteer deportees among illegal immigrants who are under court orders to leave the country, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said his agency will arrest more of them this year than last - and still more next year as more agents are assigned.
Yesterday ICE raided a manufacturing plant in Mississippi and detained 595 workers from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru. The investigation into the workers had apparently been underway for more than a year, after ICE was tipped off by a union official connected to the Howard Industries plant. Of the 595 workers, about 475 were sent to an ICE processing facility, about 20 minors were sent to a refugee facility and the other 100 were fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets and released.

don't bother trying to figure it out

Want to know what's going on with the housing market? Well, try making sense of three articles on the business section of the DenverPost online:

NEW YORK—A widely watched index released Tuesday showed home prices dropping by the sharpest rate ever in the second quarter, but the data for June suggest the severity of the housing slump may be waning.

WASHINGTON—Sales of new homes posted an unexpected gain in July as heavily discounted properties enticed cautious house hunters to become home buyers.
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 515,000 units, the most since April.

WASHINGTON — Home resales rose in July, surpassing expectations, as buyers snapped up deeply discounted properties in parts of the country hit hardest by the housing bust.
However, the number of unsold properties hit an all-time high, the latest indication that the worst housing slump in decades is far from over. Prices nationwide are not expected to hit bottom until early next year.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales rose 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units, up from June's downwardly revised rate of 4.85 million units. Sales had been expected to rise by 1.6 percent, according to economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.

New housing statistics

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential
construction statistics for July 2008:
BUILDING PERMITS
Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000.
This is 17.7 percent (±1.3%) below the revised June rate of 1,138,000 and is 32.4 percent (±1.5%) below the revised July 2007
estimate of 1,386,000.
Single-family authorizations in July were at a rate of 584,000; this is 5.2 percent (±1.4%) below the June figure of 616,000.
Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 318,000 in July.
HOUSING STARTS
Privately-owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000. This is 11.0 percent (±9.0%) below the
revised June estimate of 1,084,000 and is 29.6 percent (±5.1%) below the revised July 2007 rate of 1,371,000.
Single-family housing starts in July were at a rate of 641,000; this is 2.9 percent (±10.9%)* below the June figure of 660,000. The
July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 309,000.
HOUSING COMPLETIONS
Privately-owned housing completions in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,035,000. This is 8.7 percent (±10.0%)*
below the revised June estimate of 1,134,000 and is 31.7 percent (±6.6%) below the revised July 2007 rate of 1,515,000.
Single-family housing completions in July were at a rate of 791,000; this is 7.2 percent (±9.3%)* below the June figure of 852,000.
The July rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 229,000.

OSHA's working on weekends

There is a push on to conduct as many inspections as possible before OSHA’s fiscal year ends on September 30th. Both Area Offices here in Colorado have put their compliance teams on split schedules so they are working seven days a week. The teams working Saturday and Sunday are simply driving around Colorado looking for job sites with workers present so they can stop and conduct inspections. Mike Rosser from Corporate Safety Services warns: If you have employees working weekends, we cannot have a “OSHA’s not working today” attitude. Let all of your foremen/supervisors know of this issue.

Come run with us

Things have been very busy at the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute. In the past two weeks we've been through our three-year strategic planning process, held a Clay Shoot, had some very prestigious announcements about some of our member companies, and are preparing to hold our second annual Run Around the Block 5k.
Colorado Construction magazine named RMMI member companies C. Morgen Masonry and Eatherton Masonry the no. 1 and 2 Masonry Subcontractors in Colorado. Colorado Biz magazine named RMMI member company (and workers comp provider) Pinnacol Assurance the no. 2 best large company to work for in Colorado. We're very proud of these members, who represent the quality of all our member companies.
Coming up on Sunday, Sept. 7, the Run Around the Block 5k promises to be even better than last year. The race will be at Sloan's Lake in Denver, on a very flat course. The 20' in elevation change over the entire 3 miles is basically attributed to two bridges over streams that enter the lake. The race is open to everyone! Register at http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1609012