BOSTON, March 11 / V-Newswire/ — Dozens of consumers, repossession agents and bystanders have been killed, injured or traumatized in self-help repossessions done under state laws that allow automobile dealers and lenders to take cars without court action or the involvement of law enforcement.

That is the key finding of a report issued today by the National Consumer Law Center, which compiles and analyzes existing state laws and regulations on automobile repossessions, and catalogues recent repossessions that resulted in violence, fatalities, injuries, arrests or trauma. In four of the incidents, repo agents took cars with children under the age of eight inside.

“Not a single state guarantees automobile owners a day in court before a repossession,” said John Van Alst, a lawyer for NCLC and principal author of the report. “Only a handful of states have even minimal consumer protections such as requiring that repo agents have licenses, bonds or insurance.” …..Click here to read more

BMW's Electric Car

NORTHBROOK, Ill., March 10 / V-Newswire/ — Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global leader in safety testing and certification, has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to support Project Get Ready, an initiative to aid U.S. cities preparing for widespread adoption and use of electric vehicles (EVs) in their communities.

As a technical advisor, UL will contribute its technical judgment and expertise to the on-going process of sharing information, lessons learned and best practices among the various project’s stakeholders.  UL’s engineers will answer questions about EVs and EV infrastructure as well as review and provide feedback on drafts of key documents RMI distributes to project stakeholders.  These stakeholders represent at least 20 different U.S. cities that are pioneers in the adoption of cleaner transportation.  Project Get Ready leverages the Internet to share key learnings and experiences through an interactive database that captures the collective knowledge of participants.

According to RMI, the potential impact of the project promises to be enormous: by 2015, approximately 1 million EVs are expected on the road with five times that many expected by 2020. Use of EVs in Asia and Europe is expected to grow at a similar pace.  Being able to charge EVs safely is critical for the adoption and proliferation of EVs and EV infrastructure in the United States and around the globe.   …..Click here to read more

Among Women, Facebook Dominates and Twitter is Growing Rapidly; But Study Reveals Important Differences in Social Network Usage

NEW YORK, March 10/ V-Newswire/ — Women have truly integrated social media into every part of their lives, from friends and family, to networking, to shopping. A recent SheSpeaks study revealed 86% of women are now using popular social networks, a 48% increase compared to one year ago. In addition, social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have emerged as key drivers of purchase intent among women, with one-half (50%) of social media users reporting they have purchased products because of information on social networking sites, and 40% reporting they have used coupon codes found on social networks.

The second annual Social Media Study of the national SheSpeaks membership, yielding more than 1,500 responses, revealed the most dramatic increase in social media use was among women 50+ years of age, whose participation grew from 31% in 2008 to 70% in 2009. Social media participation was up across all age groups this year, with participation among younger women up 10% compared to 2008. In addition, more women are frequently logging into social networking sites since 2008, with 36% more women reporting they log in at least once per day (73% vs. 53%). …..Click here to read more

– Consumers who’re eager to convert to solar energy, have found that they can use a good self-help guide to install the solar system themselves at far less cost. But how does a consumer determine which guide is any good? This study provides the answer

BROOKLYN, NY, March 10/ V-Newswire/ — A new research study by a major internet investigative organization, has uncovered an emerging new major trend in the source of the electric energy generation and usage by consumers in the United States and globally, which has now become even more accelerated since the current global economic recession, and that consumers are gradually but increasingly gravitating in their preference, and in their overall direction, to converting to solar energy for their electrical power source. …..Click here to read more

CHICAGO, March 10 / V-Newswire/ — With what appears to be the worst of the recession behind us, many corporate meeting planners are still challenged with delivering quality meetings on reduced budgets.  While companies recognize the importance of face to face interaction, everyone is looking to do meetings in a more cost effective way.  One company in Chicago may have some answers.  Cadence, Inc., a meeting planning and event production company based in Wheeling, Illinois has assembled the following top ten tips for cost reduction in 2010: …..Click here to read more

Rand Soellner Architect, a top custom home architect, discusses Green Home Architects strategies, the economy and providing reasonable energy efficient home design and recycling techniques

North Carolina, March 10 / V-Newswire/ – Rand Soellner Architect is promoting “Going Green 4 Less” : a strategy to help custom home architects be Green Home Architects, selling the idea of using energy efficient home architects design systems, materials and methods, as well as recycling choices for sustainable home architecture. People are having a hard time staying afloat these days. In this trying economy, Green Home Architects have to present reasonable “Green” solutions, or clients won’t pay for them. Being politically correct can’t compare with paying one’s mortgage and putting food on the table. …..Click here to read more

ATLANTA, March 9/ V-Newswire/ — In an effort to empower consumers to improve their financial well-being, Equifax launched Equifax Debt Wise(TM), an innovative product that uses information from the Equifax Credit Report(TM) to enable consumers to create a plan for paying off their debt faster–without paying more in monthly payments than they already do! The average subscriber can save over $30,000 in interest and get out of debt 15 years quicker by following their Fast Pay Plan.

Since Debt Wise’s launch, the program has helped thousands of consumers map their path to debt freedom. Sixty-two percent of respondents in a recent Debt Wise subscriber survey believed that the product helped them change how they pay off their debt; 65% would recommend it to others.

“Consumers are in a financial crisis. Many of them are struggling to make minimum payments on bills that seem impossible to pay off, emptying retirement funds or tapping their home equity to get out debt,” says Steve Ely, President, Equifax Personal Information Solutions. “They are well beyond treading water; they’re drowning in their debt. That is why having a plan for getting out of debt–a plan that they can actually stick to–is so important.” …..Click here to read more

Organic rankine cycle using Honeywell’s 245fa refrigerant turns heat from solar panels into electricity

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., March 9 / V-Newswire/ — Honeywell’S (NYSE: HON) Genetron® R-245fa refrigerant is being used to help homeowners generate electricity from the sun’s heat while offsetting energy costs.

Honeywell’s energy-efficient refrigerant is being used in an organic rankine cycle (ORC) called the 35Z Micro Power Plant, manufactured by Germany-based Turbolina GmbH & Co. KG. The 35Z Micro Power Plant has a unique design that uses water heated by thermal solar panels to evaporate the refrigerant, which in turn drives a turbine to generate electricity. Because no fuel is burned to create the electricity, the unit does not produce any carbon dioxide emissions. The remaining heat from the 35Z can be used to supply heating and hot water. …..Click here to read more

WASHINGTON, March 9 / V-Newswire/ — The National League of Cities (NLC) and Cities of Migration (CoM) are collaborating to promote the successful integration of immigrants into local communities in the United States and internationally. The NLC-CoM partnership represents a new opportunity for success stories from U.S. cities to reach an audience of global city leaders, integration experts and local stakeholders from the public, private and community sectors.

The strength of the NLC and CoM collaboration will be the joint commitment to a common agenda for inclusive communities and urban prosperity. Among the many activities in the partnership, NLC and CoM will engage in information exchanges, hold joint education efforts, and develop integration programming and learning materials. In particular, the two organizations will use webinars to bring national and international city and community leaders together for virtual city-to-city learning exchanges on good integration practices and strategies for local success. …..Click here to read more