The credit crunch will make it harder for many families to pay for college this fall, particularly if their children plan to attend high-cost private or out-of-state schools.

Federal student loans remain available, but the caps on how much students can borrow have lagged far behind college costs. Freshmen, for instance, can’t borrow more than $3,500 in federal loans. And other sources of funding are drying up:

It’s getting harder to qualify for private loans. In a recent survey, 43% of private colleges said one or more lenders on their “preferred lender” list have stopped offering private student loans. Lenders that are still offering private loans have tightened their lending standards. To get a private loan, most students will need a co-signer with excellent credit.

[Read](http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/college/2008-04-06-student-loans-credit-crunch_N.htm “Read the Article”) (USA TODAY)

As consumer confidence in the economy falls, bundles of unsold NASCAR tickets grow.

Ticket sales are soft at several International Speedway Corp.-owned tracks, which include Martinsville Speedway. Tickets remain for Sunday’s Goody’s Cool Orange 500.

Track president Clay Campbell, noting the economy, said Wednesday that ticket sales “have been soft this year versus years in the past.”

Martinsville offers free daily parking. Its lowest grandstand ticket, at $42, is among the sport’s most inexpensive. Even so, large gaps of empty seats Sunday would likely lead to questions about Martinsville’s hosting two cup races a year — something it has done since 1950.

[Read](http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/156098 “Read the Article”) (Roanoke Times)

The city of Baltimore has lately seen skyrocketing foreclosure rates and slumping home prices. The housing shake-up led the city to sue its largest lender — Wells Fargo — over allegations that it gave black homebuyers higher loan rates than white buyers.

[Read, Listen, and/or Watch](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june08/baltimore_03-25.html “Read, Listen, and/or Watch”) (PBS Online NewsHour)

If you’re seeing your grocery bill go up, you’re not alone.
From subsistence farmers eating rice in Ecuador to gourmets feasting on escargot in France, consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India.

The world’s poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk. Clashes over bread in Egypt killed at least two people last week, and similar food riots broke out in Burkina Faso and Cameroon this month. But food protests now crop up even in Italy. And while the price of spaghetti has doubled in Haiti, the cost of miso is packing a hit in Japan.

In decades past, farm subsidies and support programs allowed major grain exporting countries to hold large surpluses, which could be tapped during food shortages to keep prices down. But new trade policies have made agricultural production much more responsive to market demands — putting global food reserves at their lowest in a quarter century. Without reserves, bad weather and poor harvests have a bigger impact on prices.

[Read](http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/24/food.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories “Read the Article”) (AP via CNN)

Camden, Alabama is a classic rural southern town, and the county bills itself as the “hunting and fishing capital of Alabama.” The main industries here are logging, farming, and, more recently, business related to the Hyundai plant which opened in 2005, but the county is poor – household income of $26,000 is nearly half the national average. And people have to travel a long way to work.

The combination of low wages and long travel times means the people of Camden, for the second year in a row, spent a higher portion of their income on gas than anyone else in the country, according to a study from the Oil Price Information Service, a research firm that tracks data for AAA. In Camden, drivers put 13% of every paycheck right into the gas tank. In wealthy towns around New York City, people spend less than 2% of their income on gas.

For local businesses, an extra dollar spent in the tank means one not spent at the restaurant or hardware store. But not every business is struggling. A worker behind the counter at the local bait and tackle shop says they’ve had a bumper year. Evidently, folks will hunt and fish no matter what the economy’s doing – maybe even more so if they’re out of work.

[Read](http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news/economy/camden_alabama/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories “Read the Article”) (CNN)

Import competition finally nailed Vaughan Furniture’s last factory.

About 275 people will lose their jobs in Galax, VA, with layoffs beginning around May 20.

[Read](http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/155127 “Read the Article”) (Roanoke Times)

Despite the economic downturn and fears of recession, major charities say their fund-raising has not fallen off.

Some 64% of the organizations that have responded so far to the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual survey on fund-raising have reported bringing in more money in 2007 than the year before.

[Read](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/us/14charity.html?ex=1363147200&en=841ee7c69e9c5eb0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss “Read the Article”) (New York Times)

Facing foreclosure, some homeowners set fire to their own homes.

[Watch the Video](http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/03/14/lawrence.burning.homes.cnn “CNN”) (CNN)