Maryland homeowners who want federal help to add energy-efficiency improvements are going to have to wait for a while, as Cody Calamaio reports in the Montgomery County, MD Gazette.  The same holds true for would-be green home repair projects around the country. The federal program, called Property-Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, was introduced as part of the Energy Department’s stimulus package, and it seems like a promising idea.  The basic concept is to offer homeowners a government-backed home equity loan of up to $25,000 that can be used for financing insulation, new windows, white roofs, or solar energy installations.  PACE is supposed to bring the energy savings for each consumer close to the amount they’ll have to pay each month for the loan.

But the PACE program allows private lenders who use the government’s guarantee to place a lien on a property if homeowners don’t pay, and it’s caused concerns among mortgage financing companies around the country, including everyone’s favorites, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Since they give the largest loans, they want the first lien.

The DOE says they still support PACE, but “residential PACE financing programs with a senior lien priority face substantial implementation challenges in the current regulatory environment.”

In other words, don’t expect anyone to lend you money to weatherize your house until they get this figured out.  The next step, according to the DOE, is to make PACE loans subordinate to mortgages, which is probably what they should have done in the first place.

The Chicago Public Schools will use federal education aid to return class sizes to their normal level, reports the Chicago Sun-Times’ Rosaland Rossi. Illinois gets $400 million in education money from a bill Congress passed last week to help states make education and Medicaid payments. About $105 million of this will go to Chicago and CPS head Ron Huberman says he will use the money to return the average class size to 31 from 33 students. CPS will also restore some of its money for bilingual education.

It’s an appropriate “student-first” measure to talk about federal education funding in terms of class size, but it doesn’t tell teachers how many of them will be laid off. “It was not immediately clear,” Ross writes, “whether all laid-off high school teachers would automatically be called back to their old slots.”

Also, the state has yet to go through the proper procedures so CPS can spend this money. Last week, Springfield’s State Journal-Register reported that the Illinois General Assembly had to convene a special session to approve the funding. However, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn doesn’t think there’s a need for the General Assembly to get together. It’s not clear if Quinn understands the legislative and bureaucratic procedures needed to obtain federal assistance. However, cash-strapped districts probably won’t let the state dither on grabbing this money.

Another week, another Illinois bank put into FDIC receivership. Late last Friday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation took over Palos Bank and Trust Co., in the southwest Chicago suburb of Palos Heights. The Associated Press reports that First Midwest Bank of Itasca, Illinois will take over the bank’s $467 million in assets and share losses with the FDIC on $343 million in debt. The FDIC takeover comes a week after the feds seized Chicago’s Ravenswood Bank and also arrives amid talk that prominent Chicago lender ShoreBank will fail. Nationally, the FDIC has taken control of 110 banks this year compared to 77 at this time last year. Illinois alone has seen 14 bank failures in 2010.

The AP has an interesting explanation for the increase in bank takeovers: losses on loans made for commercial property and development. In the recession, and a “recovery” that’s seen no rebound in consumer spending, companies vacate shopping malls and office buildings and then stop their mortgage payments for these properties. Bank failures were once viewed as a direct result of the subprime mortgage crisis. Now they’re part of the wider economic malaise and an increasing number of lenders require FDIC intervention.

Washington Post

FDA considers revoking approval of Avastin for advanced breast cancer – Rob Stein reports on agency’s decision after follow up studies on high-cost drug that won fast-track approval show little if any benefit and potentially dangerous side-effects; cancer activists split on decision, which some see as harbinger of cost consideration under new health care law, Roche fighting to keep its most profitable drug on the market

Waste from BP oil spill cleanup has gulf residents near landfills concerned – Krissah Thompson reports on concerns about waste from oil spill and clean-up, deemed not “hazardous,” possible effects on environment, proximity to low-income, minority communities; EPA Administrator Jackson defends transfer to local landfills

In venture with Temple U., Park Service combats looming shortage of rangers – Lorraine Mirabella reports that U.S. Park Service is reaching out to urban students through internship program to fill imminent vacancies due to retirement of law-enforcement rangers in national parks

New York Times

Petraeus opposes a rapid pullout in Afghanistan – Dexter Filkins reports on interviews with Gen. Petraeus in which he provides wiggle room for president’s July 2011 pullout date, describes huge military and political challenges in the region, says progress is being made

Some states are lacking in health law authority – Robert Pear and Kevin Sack report that where state insurance commissioners don’t have legal authority to enforce consumer protection standards under new health law federal regulators will step in according to HHS Secretary Sebelius, situation complicated by states suing to overturn law

Wall Street Journal

Housing ills cloud debate on Fannie – Nick Timiraos reports that review of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, deferred until housing market was stabilized, set to begin tomorrow, could stall in wake of “shaky” market conditions

Food firms jarred by sugar-beet restriction – Scott Kilman reports that last year’s court decision, overturning government’s OK of genetically-engineered sugar beets because Agriculture Dept. hadn’t considered environmental effects of “weed killer tolerant” plant on future crops, has food companies concerned about sugar supply

Jonah Lehrer looks in the Wall Street Journal at why, contrary to popular belief, people who are well-liked can rise to power, and how they often become less likable (and less competent) when they get the corner office.  He throws in perhaps a few too many different psychological experiments to make a robust case, but his basic point is that power corrupts:  it corrupts judgment, tolerance for other opinions, and patience with subordinates.  Calling this the “paradox of power,” Lehrer notes that

people in power tend to reliably overestimate their moral virtue, which leads them to stifle oversight.  They lobby against regulators, and fill corporate boards with their friends.

But he counters that “the worst abuses of power can be prevented when people know they’re being monitored.”  Let’s hope the regulators are listening, because after all there’s no shortage of regulatory agencies in the U.S. government.  But sometimes — as we’ve seen in recent coal mine disasters, the BP oil disaster, and the subprime mortgage debacle — they don’t use the power we’ve put in their hands.

Washington Post

Pentagon push to phase out top brass causing much consternation – Craig Whitlock reports on Secretary Gates’ effort to reduce number of generals, admirals, he complains of  “brass creep,” sends message that Defense Dept. is serious about cutting costs

Oil spill shows difficulty the Coast Guard faces as it balances traditional tasks with post-9/11 missions – Joe Stephens and Mary Pat Flaherty report on the Coast Guard stretched too thin to keep up with oil drilling oversight because of added responsibilities as part of Homeland Security Dept.

BP agrees to $50.6 million fine for safety violations in Texas explosion – Sam Hananel reports that Occupational Safety and Health Administration imposed largest fine in its history on BP for violations related to 2005 explosion that killed 15, BP also agrees to invest $500 million to upgrade safety conditions

John Pistole discusses new role as Transportation Security Administration Chief – Joe Davidson reports on agency’s new chief after first weeks on the job who says he will improve counterterrorism efforts with better intelligence and cutting-edge technology

Regulator for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac targets some developer fees – Reuters reports that the Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to limit fees to developers on resale of homes

New York Times

Rare sharing of data leads to progress on Alzheimer’s – Gina Kolata reports on new, collaborative effort between National institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administrations, private industry and nonprofits to reach breakthrough in study of disease, could set trend

Inquiry on Harvard lab threatens ripple effect – Nicholas Wade reports that the federal Office of Research Integrity, which investigates academic misconduct, would not admit or deny it is pursuing case against high profile Harvard professor after college’s own inquiry questioning his work

Wall Street Journal

Bair guards FDIC imprimatur – Erik Holm reports that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is reviewing life insurance disclosures to consumers for misinformation on “retained-asset accounts” backed by FDIC

Over 200 sacred Native American artifacts, held by private collectors and later the Smithsonian Institution and other museums, have been returned to the Yurok people of Northern California. According to Peter Fimrite of the San Francisco Chronicle, it is one of the largest repatriations of ceremonial artifacts in U.S. History.

The necklaces, headdresses, arrows, hides and other regalia from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian are believed to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. The Yurok have lived along the Klamath River in far northern California for over 10,000 years. The sacred cache is part of an ongoing effort around the country to return Native American burial artifacts, ceremonial items and remains taken by white settlers from Indian villages and indigenous sites.

The 1989 National Museum of the American Indian Act transferred stewardship of more than 800,000 Indian artifacts to the Smithsonian and required the institute to consider repatriating them to federally recognized tribes. A tribal leader sent to accompany the items back home from Washington D.C. said the return of the items will help the Yurok preserve their language, culture and religion for generations to come. Why it has taken 21 years for the Smithsonian to consider the return of the items is unclear.  Hopefully the wait for other tribes will be much shorter.

Women who drink beer regularly seem to have a higher risk of developing psoriasis, according to a study published in Archives of Dermatology, a JAMA/Archives journal. The link does not apply to light beer or wines or spirits (liquor), the researchers say. The authors write: Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated skin disease.

Type 2 diabetes patients who underwent bariatric surgery appear to require significantly less medication and incur considerably lower health costs, says a report published in this month’s issue of Archives of Surgery, a JAMA/Archives journal. Bariatric surgery is a surgical procedure on the stomach and/or intestines to help extremely obese people lose weight – it is an option for patients with a BMI ( body mass index) above 40.

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) reports that it performed nearly 20,000 surgical procedures with a death rate of just 0.2% in resource-limited settings between 2001 and 2008, showing that with appropriate minimal standards, surgical care can be provided safely and cheaply, says an article in Archives of Surgery, a JAMA/Archives journal. No more than 4% of the 230 major surgical procedures that are performed globally are done in poor-income countries, the researchers say.

A German pop star, Nadja Benaissa, 28, from the band No Angels apologized for having unprotected sex with three men and infecting one of them – she had not told them she was HIV positive. Benaissa is facing a charge of grievous bodily harm for infecting one man and attempting bodily harm with two other men who were not infected (attempted aggravated assault for unprotected sex with three men). She faces a possible prison sentence of between six months and 10 years.

NICE is currently updating part of its guidance on the use of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Reflecting changes in the licensed indications for peginterferon alfa, today’s draft guidance reaffirms the previous draft issued for public consultation in recommending wider use of these drugs, and, where appropriate, shorter treatment durations, for people with chronic hepatitis C.

NICE is currently developing a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of psychosis with co-existing substance misuse in adults and young people. As part of this process, draft recommendations have been published on the NICE website for public consultation. Psychosis is used to describe a group of severe mental health disorders characterised by the presence of delusions and hallucinations that disrupt a person’s perception, thoughts, emotions and behaviour. The main forms of psychosis are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other affective psychoses.

Shire plc today announced that a Phase 3b study published in Behavioral and Brain Functions found adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who took once-daily Vyvanse® (lisdexamfetamine dimesylate) Capsules CII demonstrated significant improvement in attention.

The Food Standards Agency has updated its list of product ranges that do not contain the six food colours associated with possible hyperactivity in young children. Another two manufacturers producing product lines free of the colours have been added to the list: Minara Foods Ltd and PoleStar Foods Ltd.

A regulatory protein best known for its role in a rare genetic brain disorder also may play a critical role in cocaine addiction, according to a recent study in rats, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.