Economic Outlook: Geithner steps forward
NEW YORK, March 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced he will unveil the details of a public-private bank bailout strategy Monday.
As mapped out in an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal, Geithner bills the Public-Private Investment Program as an opportunity for investors as much as a public burden, that will take 'a substantial share of real-estate related assets' off bank ledger sheets and, it is hoped, free lending to consumers and businesses.
The program will start with a $500 billion public commitment that could double over time, Geithner said.
The government is trying to get the bounce started, using enough public funding to entice private participation. If it works, that gives the taxpayer substantially more bang for the buck and shares the risk with the private sector. In theory, it also allows the government to dodge the sticky point of pricing assets viewed as nearly impossible to value, Geithner said. Instead, the government will open the door to the market and allow the marketplace to establish price.
Geithner said 'millions of Americans' are already seeing benefits with historically low interest rates on mortgages, which pushed a 30 percent increase in refinancing and a lending program that 'led to almost $9 billion of new securitizations last week, more than in the last four months combined.'
14 die in single-engine plane crash
BUTTE, Mont., March 23 (UPI) -- Federal investigators were traveling to Butte, Mont., Monday to investigate the cause of a single-engine plane crash that killed 14 people, officials said.
Seven children and seven adults died when the Pilatus PC-12 crashed Sunday into a cemetery about 500 feet short of the Bert Mooney Airport, CNN reported.
Media reports earlier put the death toll between 14 and 17.
The airplane was headed to Bozeman, Mont., but was rerouted to Butte after the pilot changed the flight plan, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said. The flight originated in Redlands, Calif.
The plane was carrying children and adults to a skiing vacation in Montana, The New York Times reported.
No one was injured on the ground, Sheriff John Walsh said.
Martha Guidoni told CNN that she and her husband saw the plane crash.
'We were just taking a ride,' Guidoni said. 'All of a sudden, we watched this plane just take a nosedive.'
The Pilatus PC-12 is a Swiss-made plane introduced in 1994 listed as being designed to carry one or two pilots and eight passengers, Flying magazine said in its September issue.
Mount Redoubt erupts, spews ash
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 23 (UPI) -- Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska, erupted three times over two hours, prompting an ash advisory for Susitna Valley, weather officials said.
As winds carried the ash cloud toward Susitna Valley west of Willow, the Alaska Volcano Observatory staff alerted the Drift River Oil Terminal -- downriver from the volcano -- that mud flows and flooding from melting glaciers might be headed their way, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.
The U.S. Geological Survey said mudflows were possible on the Drift and Crescent rivers, and ash likely would fall near and downwind from the volcano, CNN reported
The 10,197-foot volcano is about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage. The National Weather Service said ash wasn't expected in Anchorage or Wasilla.
The AVO characterized the eruptions as 'three large explosions' that occurred over a two-hour period.
Observatory staff members notified the Federal Aviation Administration after the eruption, the Daily News said. An FAA official at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Monday said officials had no immediate plans to close the airport, the Daily News said.
Bill Burton, a USGS geologist, said seismic activity at Mount Redoubt followed by periods of quiet have been observed since January.
Party officials: Gandhi is still candidate
NEW DELHI, March 23 (UPI) -- India's Bharatiya Janata Party says it has rejected advice from the country's election commission to not nominate the grandson of Indira Gandhi for Parliament.
Officials of the Hindu nationalist political party said Monday that Varun Gandhi, grandson of the late prime minister, is still its candidate in the Pilibhit constituency of northern Uttar Pradesh state despite accusations of making derogatory anti-Muslim statements, the Press Trust of India reported.
'He (Varun) is our candidate,' BJP spokesman Balbir Punj told reporters after meeting Gandhi. 'We have turned down the advice (by the election commission) because it is does not have the right to give such an advice.'
Gandhi is facing allegations that he made anti-Muslim statements while campaigning for upcoming elections, but he has denied the claims, saying an apparent recording of his speech has been 'doctored,' the BBC reported.
'Varun Gandhi does not deserve to be a candidate at the present general elections,' the three-member Election Commission said in its advice to the BJP.
Residents brace for Red River flooding
FARGO, N.D., March 23 (UPI) -- Residents in Fargo, N.D., worked to fill more than a million sandbags to protect the city from the swollen Red River, city officials said.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for portions of eastern North Dakota and Western Minnesota through Wednesday, indicating total rainfall of 1-2 inches was expected. The weather service said the rain will run off quickly because of frozen ground, resulting in rapid river rises and flooding.
Forecasters say the Red River could crest between 39 feet and 41 feet by Friday in the Fargo area, Bismarck, N.D., television station KXMB reported. Flood stage is anything above 17 feet.
'So far, we have 310,000 bags filled and ready to go, but that's a long way from the 1.5 million sandbags we need to fight this flood,' Fargo City Administrator Pat Zavoral told CNN.
The National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Administration staff were sent to help, CNN reported Monday
To the south, Wahpeton, N.D., and Breckenridge, Minn., were experiencing major flooding, CNN reported.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty declared a state of emergency in seven counties along the North Dakota border in anticipation of flooding, KMSP-TV in St. Paul, Minn., reported. Pawlenty also activated the National Guard to assist in preparations.