truesee's Blog

Associated Press

2:01 PM EDT

March 21, 2010

Couple buy neighbor's home at tax sale so he can stay

Couple help neighbor stay in home, then get help to fix their house

Francesca Jarosz

Indy Star

March 20, 2010

From the front row of a public auditorium, Debbie Harrell fixed her eyes on a screen that showed the houses up for auction at the Marion County tax sale.

When the list that included the home behind hers flashed onto the screen, her heart began to pound and her stomach tied in knots. She knew this was the moment that could determine whether her neighbor would get to remain in that house.

Harrell called out the house's auction number, held up her bid card and hoped that no one else would offer more than her $6,000 limit. When the bidding closed a few seconds after she offered the $4,274 minimum, she jumped out of her seat, flailed her arms and exclaimed, "I got it! I got it!"

The room filled with applause.

Harrell's winning bid marked a huge step in her effort to save her neighbor, Mark Reeves, from losing his home. His white-sided Southeastside residence with a leaking roof went up for tax sale after his landlord stopped paying property taxes.

The house was one of about 7,200 properties offered as part of a tax sale that started Thursday and resumes Friday. So far, about 1,100 have sold.

Harrell and her husband, Clint, opted to help Reeves despite their own financial struggles. Now, they must wait a year to give the landlord a chance to reclaim the property before it becomes theirs.

But already, their kindness is being reciprocated.

Friday, a woman who read about their charity in The Indianapolis Star and wanted to remain anonymous called with an offer to send the couple $1,000 for their bid to save the home. A nonprofit group, Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership, offered to fix the floor in the Harrells' home, which is collapsing in places.

"Sometimes your faith in people gets a little low," Harrell said. "But something like this really raises your spirits. I can't believe there are so many nice people out there."

The Harrells' effort also helped restore Reeves' faith. Harrell said he called her in tears after hearing she had won the bid.

"My friends that I've known for over 30 years -- they knew my problem and they never even offered to help me," Reeves said. "It's hard for me to (understand) that there are people out there like the Harrells. They're not in much better shape than I am."

Harrell, 57, took the money out of her husband's 401(k) retirement account to finance the bid. She is on disability, and he lost his job at a steel company in November.

If they secure the property, the Harrells said, they intend to help Reeves set up an account so he can pay property taxes. They don't plan to charge him rent.

Reeves, who can barely read or write, sold the home in 1994 without full understanding of the transaction and has been paying $125 a month to James Chalfant, who purchased the home and recently has stopped paying property taxes.

Chalfant said he intends to work with Reeves' lawyer to help him get the house back. However, Chalfant would not explain how he could do that.

But he thinks government programs could assist Reeves in making the payment.

Typically, about 70 percent of tax-sale properties are reclaimed within a year, said Cindy Land, administrative deputy with the Marion County treasurer's office. After the last sale, in October 2008, about 65 percent of the properties were reclaimed.

Harrell knows Chalfant could take back the house, but that doesn't worry her. For now, she has accomplished her goal: providing some security that her neighbor has a place to live.

"I'm just glad that Mark's not going to have to live in his van," she said. "The house is a pretty run-down shack, but it's home to him."

A sad story: Mark Reeves explains to neighbor Debbie Harrell how his home ended up on the tax sale list. Harrell and her husband, Clint, are trying to buy their neighbor's house to save him from becoming homeless. - Danese Kenon / The Star

First step: Debbie Harrell plunks down $1,000 to get her paddle for the property tax auction so that she'll have a shot at bidding on the house behind hers. - Danese Kenon / The Star

Sex.Com: Most Wanted Domain Too Hot To Be Sold

NEW YORK (AP) 

 

The suitors for Sex.com have been put off for now.

An auction for the much-sought-after domain name was canceled Wednesday after three creditors filed a petition forcing the owner into bankruptcy.

Mike Mann, an investor with all three creditors, said the petition was filed to stop the auction. According to the petition, the creditors have a combined $10.1 million claim.

Selling the domain name at an auction was not going to enhance its value, Mann said.

"It's gone way up in value," he said. "It's the most valuable domain in the world. They were throwing away the world's most valuable domain asset."

Escom LLC paid a reported $12 million to $14 million for the domain name in 2006, but the company was unable to repay the debt. The lender ordered the foreclosure sale.

The opening bid: $1 million.

Richard Maltz, vice president of David R. Maltz & Co. Inc., which was handling the auction, said there was "considerable interest" in the domain name sale.

Maltz declined to give specifics on the interested parties. One of them was People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which sent a letter to the lender's lawyer asking him to urge his client to donate the domain name to them.

Males who consume meat, eggs and dairy products often suffer sexual side effects, according to PETA.

"Donating the domain to us is a win-win situation for everybody: Your client will enjoy an enormous tax write-off, and people will learn how to help spice up their love lives while helping animals," wrote Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman.

Like Mann, domain name experts believed Sex.com was going to be undervalued at the auction.

Jerry Nolte, owner of Domainer's Magazine, said that the site is worth between $14 million and $18 million, but that "the domain market has gone down significantly from what it was two years ago," though he said it is starting to rebound.

Kathy Nielsen, director of sales for domain marketplace Sedo, estimated it would go for $6 million. She said there wasn't enough notice for interested parties to do due diligence.

"It's a great name to build a business on," she said, adding that sex is one of the top search terms on the Internet.

Mann said Escom was never given a chance to make its money back. The Sex.com site front page features links to things like "love horoscopes," "story of the day," "youtube video of the day" and "classifieds."

He wants Escom to be able to build the asset, though he acknowledged the domain name will probably be sold.

ERICA WERNER

Associated Press Writer

Friday, March 19, 2010

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on health insurance reform during his event at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va, Friday, March 19, 2010.

It was a bold response to skyrocketing health insurance premiums. President Barack Obama would give federal authorities the power to block unreasonable rate hikes.

Yet when Democrats unveiled the final, incarnation of their health care bill this week, the proposal was nowhere to be found.

Ditto with several Republican ideas that Obama had said he wanted to include after a televised bipartisan summit last month, including a plan by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma to send investigators disguised as patients to hospitals in search of waste, fraud and abuse.

And those "special deals" that Obama railed against and said he wanted to eliminate? With the exception of two of the most notorious — extra Medicaid money for Nebraska and a carve-out for Florida seniors faced with losing certain extra Medicare benefits — they are all still there.

For the White House, these were the latest unfulfilled commitments related to Obama's health care proposal, starting with his campaign promise to let C-SPAN cameras film negotiations over the bill. Obama also backed down with little apparent regret on his support for a new government-run insurance plan as part of the legislation, a liberal priority.

But was it all the president's doing?

In the cases of the insurance rate authority, the Republican ideas and the special deals, it came down to Obama making promises that Congress didn't keep. He can propose whatever he wants, but it's up to Congress to enshrine it into law.

Arguably, the president could have foreseen that outcome, and was making a low-risk p.r. move by floating proposals — dismissed by critics as insubstantial anyway — whose demise he couldn't be blamed for.

While the White House worked hard to trumpet Obama's plans for the rate authority, his embrace of bipartisanship and his opposition to special deals, the administration hardly advertised the lack of follow-through. Understandable, certainly, but perhaps not the new way of doing business that Obama promised to bring to Washington.

Removing the special deals ran into opposition from powerful lawmakers including Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Max Baucus, D-Mont. The rate-limiting authority and the Republican ideas were left out of the legislation because the bill is going to be considered under special filibuster-proof Senate rules that prohibit provisions that don't have a budgetary impact, and those ideas don't fit in.

"There are a number of proposals that the president wanted to incorporate into the legislation including additional Republican proposals, but the parliamentarian ruled against allowing those proposals to be included," said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. "We would like to enact those proposals in separate legislation in the coming months. In the meantime, some important Republican measures remain."

Of the four main Republican ideas Obama endorsed, only one made it into the final bill — a proposal embraced by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa to bump up payments to primary care physicians under Medicaid. A proposal to expand the use of health savings accounts was rejected out of hand by congressional Democrats, while a plan to increase funding for medical malpractice reform projects was also determined to be undoable under fast-track Senate rules.

Coburn's spokesman, John Hart, complained that Democrats "found time to buy votes with earmarks but couldn't include bipartisan ideas endorsed by President Obama." House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, had dismissed the GOP ideas Obama endorsed as "bread crumbs" sprinkled atop the health bill — and now even most of those bread crumbs are blown away.

At the same time, Baucus got to keep a provision to give Medicare benefits to asbestos-sickened residents of Libby, Mont., and Dodd still has one that could result in a new hospital being built at the University of Connecticut. Both senators argue their special deals aren't really special deals, because the Medicare provision could apply to other places where public health emergencies are declared, and other sites outside of Connecticut could be eligible for the hospital.

Most of the provisions of the health care bill don't kick in until 2014, so Obama still has time to make good on everything he promised — or try to get Congress to do so.

"To hold the president accountable for every single provision he advocates for is simply unreasonable," said Alec Vachon, a health policy consultant and former Republican Capitol Hill aide. "Some things aren't in there because the members of Congress who have the votes don't want it. Some things aren't in there because congressional rules which Republicans will be enforcing won't allow it. But Democrats will have three years to tinker with health reform before universal coverage goes live." 

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/03/19/national/w131302D40.DTL#ixzz0imN7sFrG

It's official: Marriage DOES make you fat... Men and women twice as likely to be clinically obese after tying the knot

Daily Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 3:23 AM on 20th March 2010

It is often said that marriage makes you contented. Now scientists have discovered the extent to which that happiness translates into extra pounds around the waist.

Married men are three times as likely to suffer from abdominal obesity - or belly fat - as single men, their report shows.

Married women are twice as likely to have those problems as those who remain unmarried.

The Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity concluded that abdominal obesity was the worst health problem among married couples after conducting a survey of 17,341 people aged between 20 and 70.

Tight squeeze: Abdominal obesity - or belly fat - is the worst problem among married couples

Association president Dimitris Kiortsis joked: 'Next time you are wondering what wedding present to buy a friend, perhaps a slimming course might be a good idea.'

The researchers blamed married couples' expanding waistlines on the amount of time they sit together watching TV and eating. And they claimed that dwindling sex lives cut the number of calories that wedded couples lose with exercise.

As the findings were announced at a conference in Athens yesterday, Professor Kiortsis, an obesity expert, said married couples order takeaways and exercise less often than before.

Unmarried people often spend a lot of time keeping fit and making themselves attractive to find a partner.

'But once they get married they let themselves go,' he added. 'The need to hunt for a partner is reduced.'

But it wasn't all bad news for married couples.

Stress and anxiety is reduced in a good marriage,' said Professor Kiortsis. 'There is less smoking and therefore one's appetite increases.'

Last year, a report estimated that 22 per cent of newlywed women put on weight within a year of the ceremony, with the average gain being a stone-and-a-half.

More than half of those who took part in the survey of 3,000 married women, sponsored by yoghurt-maker Yakult, said they no longer worried about their appearance and weight after their wedding day.

 Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1259280/Marriage-makes-fat.html#ixzz0ilJf3Y2k

Letter: Let Obama do the job we elected him to do

March 12, 2010 05:30 am

— To the editor:

Columnist Thomas Friedman wrote earlier this year that we wouldn't need any financial stimulus if the American people had confidence in Washington. I have to agree.

President Obama has allowed me to survive almost two years of unemployment. I, like millions of others, happened to be working in an industry — home renovations — that vanished when the economy crashed.

I think Obama is a man with more intelligence, integrity and strength than we've seen in decades. Our representatives need to exhibit the same integrity, strength and intelligence, and give him a chance. If they don't go beyond their individual needs to address the needs of our country, we won't have an environment to leave our children, an educational system, health care or a financial system.

Forget leaving a deficit for them. The deficit is critical to our financial stability; but saying no to everything paralyzes us and we're losing credibility as a nation. As Obama pointed out, he inherited the bulk of that deficit, anyway! How do Republicans have the nerve to act as if he created it?

I'm actually more afraid of our politicians than I am terrorists. If that's the Republican strategy, which it appears to be, there are millions of people whose lives are being destroyed by it, and that role model for our children will do more damage than any deficit ever will.

Obama is attempting to bring an intelligent, collaborative approach to a shark tank. Competition and self-interest are valued in the current political arena, and collaboration, kindness and working for the general good are considered signs of weakness.

The president's not playing a game to win, he's trying to tap the "brain trust" we've sent to Washington and get something done. I hope they can start providing some intelligent alternatives, and let him do it.

Barbara Bowker

Marblehead

Bloomberg apologizes to couple mistakenly 'raided' by NYPD over 50 TIMES

Walter and Rose Martin's address was plugged in as a computer test in 2002 and police didn't try to wipe it out of their system until 2007.

Mayor Bloomberg apologized Friday morning to the elderly couple in Brooklyn that the NYPD mistakenly visited more than 50 times in search of criminals.

"I apologized to the people. I'm sorry that they were bothered," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. "It's a shame it happened."

The Daily News reported this week that the Marine Park home of Walter and Rose Martin was repeatedly visited by detectives because of a computer glitch tied to the address.

The couple's address was plugged in as a computer test in 2002 and police didn't try to wipe it out of their system until 2007 when the Martin's complained about the unwanted door knocking.

But the law enforcement visits continued, leaving 83-year-old Walter and 82-year-old Rose weary and frightened.

After the News highlighted their plight, cops realized not every file bearing their address was purged from computers. Bloomberg said the problem has been fixed.

"You'd think somebody would have caught it before," Bloomberg said. "It got fixed. Sometimes things happen and it's a shame."

He added, "The Police Department certainly didn't do it deliberately. And we are sorry they got bothered. I feel it, you feel it, (Police Commissioner) Kelly feels it, we all feel it. It's a shame it happened."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/19/2010-03-19_bloomberg_apologizes_to_couple_mistakenly_raided_by_nypd_over_50_times.html#ixzz0igAsJOV1

A Boulder woman who was threatened with eviction last spring for gardening outside while wearing nothing but pasties and a thong took her au naturel look to the next level Wednesday, causing a stir with neighbors and police.

Catharine Pierce, 52, took advantage of the nice weather by toplessly tending to her gardens in the front and back yards of her home in the 800 block of Cherry Avenue in north Boulder.

Neighbors and passersby first called police to report the woman, who kept on her yellow thong and pink gardening gloves, about 1:45 p.m.

Sarah Huntley, a police spokeswoman, said an officer sent to investigate told the woman that she should consider putting on a shirt out of concern for the children playing outside the Shining Mountain Waldorf School across the street.

Pierce went inside where her husband, Robert Pierce, 59, called police to complain about the officer's unsolicited recommendation.

Huntley said a police supervisor agreed with the man that his wife wasn't breaking any laws.

Robert Pierce told the supervisor, "OK, well, she's going back outside with her top off," Huntley said.

While Boulder bans public nudity at the shores of Coot Lake -- a popular gathering spot for nudists decades ago -- and state law prohibits exposing genitals, being topless isn't against the law in Boulder.

Huntley said police "can't order her to put a shirt on," but the officer was justified in asking her to reconsider her scant clothing because families were concerned.

"The officer

Robert and Catharine Pierce sit on the porch of their north Boulder home last may. The couple wanted their photo taken with their mouths taped closed because they thought their rights were being violated by threats to evict them over their nudity. On Wednesday, several people called Boulder police because Catharine Pierce was working outside topless. (Mark Leffingwell)

certainly can still advise her to put her shirt on ... based on other factors, such as children in the area," Huntley said.

Police received at least four calls about the topless gardener. Dispatchers began telling callers there was nothing they could do as long as the woman's thong stayed on, Huntley said.

"We have done what we can within the limits of the law as it stands now," Huntley said.

The Boulder City Council, which is considering expanding its anti-nudity law, recently removed a proposal that would have made showing the female nipple in public a municipal offense.

Huntley said the concerns among neighbors point to the need for such a code.

"These are some of the issues we are attempting to address with the proposal of a nudity ordinance," she said.

Tending to her front lawn, Catharine Pierce declined to answer questions. Her husband, however, said they weren't doing anything wrong.

"You don't see us trying to lure children over here," Robert Pierce said. "We stay within the scope of the law."

Asked why his wife works outside nearly nude, he said that's their way of worshipping.

Boulder Housing Partners, which owns the couple's house, threatened to evict the couple last year, saying they were violating the terms of their lease by creating a nuisance with their nudity.

The appearance drew mixed reactions Wednesday.

Jessica Mulen, a nanny walking three young children along the street, said, "I would assume their parents would have a problem with that" and headed the other direction.

Bill Hanson, a Boulder resident who brought his children to a busy park near the Pierce home, said he first saw the woman with pasties on last year.

"I saw a gal with no top on," he said. "I did a double-take."

Hanson said the scene was a little shocking, but "she seemed kind of casual about it."

Karon Dickinson, who was also visiting the park, said she was OK with the woman's choice.

"I could care less if someone wants to sit out there like that," she said.

She said she didn't know being topless in Boulder is legal, and she might take a cue from the gardener.

"I might do it in my backyard," she said.

Read more: Boulder nudist causes stir with topless gardening - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_14696301#ixzz0ifxhNxrH

Burglar busted after using company's computer

Story Updated: Mar 18, 2010 at 12:43 PM PDT

ENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) - A burglar who spent about five hours on a store's computer after breaking into the business gave police all the clues they needed to track him down.

Investigators say the 17-year-old logged into his MySpace account while at Bella Office Furniture and that made it easy for them to find him.

He also spent time looking at pornography and trying to sell stolen items, all while using the business' computer.

He was arrested Tuesday and charged with first degree burglary. Kennewick police say he helped officers recover a cell phone stolen in the break-in.

Mom of octuplets may lose home to foreclosure

The Associated Press

Updated: 03/19/2010 12:09:08 PM PDT
  Nadya Suleman, the mother of octuplets born earlier this year, walks outside her new house for a video crew in La Habra on March 10, 2009. 'Octo-mom' Nadya Suleman will be moving to the larger house to raise her newborns and six other children. She re-enacted the scene three times for the crew.

(ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)     

LA HABRA — Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman could be kicked out of her Southern California home.

Mortgage holder Amer Haddadin says he is starting foreclosure proceedings on the $565,000 La Habra residence because the family hasn't kept up the payments.

His friend and adviser, Ramsey Masso, said Friday that Haddadin signed over the home to Suleman's father last year.

Ed Suleman, who leased the home to his daughter, was supposed to pay about $4,000 a month and a final balloon payment of $450,000 that was due earlier this month.

Masso says the family was late on recent payments and also missed the balloon payment.

Calls to the Suleman's attorney, Jeff Czech, weren't immediately returned.

Five-Year-Old Takes Mum's 4x4 For Joyride

11:15am UK, Friday March 19, 2010

Mark Langford

Sky News Online

A five-year-old boy took his mother's 4x4 on a four-mile joyride that included a dual carriageway, despite being too short to reach the pedals.

Thomas Chatfield could barely see over the dashboard of the automatic Mitsubishi Shogun as he trundled along at 10mph.

Motorists called 999 and some tried to get him to pull over but he still managed to weave along country lanes, hit two parked vehicles and clip a passing motorist before coming to halt when he went into a wall.

Thomas took the keys from mum Jessica's handbag as she slept at the family home in Tangmere, West Sussex.

"He's a clever boy. He's seen his mum drive loads of times and must have tried to copy her," a family friend told the Daily Mirror.

Neighbour Nathan Parkinson, aged 22, told how he and a van driver friend chased after the Shogun: "I was walking down the road and saw this Shogun.

"I heard a woman shouting behind me that a little boy was driving. I could just see a pair of tiny eyes above the dashboard.

http://www.kxly.com/news/22871552/detail.html

Jails across Florida record every inmate phone call.

Inmates know it: There's a warning at the beginning of every call.

Shortly after being busted last week on drug trafficking charges, Franco Mayernik called his mother from the Osceloa County jail -- and talked his way into another set of drug charges.

Mayernik, a 300-pound convicted robber with tattoos of guns and "White Boy" on his tummy, apparently didn't pay attention to the recorded warning, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

"I listened to the phone conversation and heard his mother ask him if he left anything at Spank's house," a detective wrote in his arrest report, mentioning a St. Cloud residence where Mayernik had been arrested. "Franco told his mother he left two ounces of powder in the cushion on the couch."

Deputies arrived at Spank's place and asked the residents for permission to search the house. They agreed, but one of the residents first wanted to remove her dog from a bedroom, the report stated.

A detective looked inside the bedroom and moticed the resident removing two bags of cocaine from a shoe.

The "snowshoes" were holding 57 grams of cocaine and 2 grams of oxycodone.

The recovery of the cocaine added a cocaine trafficking charge to Mayernik's list of 15 felony and misdemeanors charges from last week.

Photo: Franco Mayernik / Florida Department of Corrections

World 

Five-year-old UAE residents to take driving lessons

 RIA Novosti. Igor Zarembo |

14:1817/03/2010

Five-year-old children in the United Arab Emirates will be able to take driving lessons in a new Traffic City, the National newspaper said.

The police-monitored village will give children and teenagers the opportunity to drive real cars on real roads.

Children from five to 12 will be able to drive cars that run on batteries at a speed of 15km/h. Youngsters aged 13 to 17 will have cars that run on petrol and can travel up to 20km/h.

When a driver commits an offence, he or she will receive a police radio message.

"This will teach drivers to commit to the rules at a young age. They will learn to wear seat belts and listen to police instructions," Major Ahmed al Niyadi, head of media and marketing for the Abu Dhabi traffic police, told the paper.

ABU DHABI, March 17 (RIA Novosti)

Black people must leave, NJ Walmart announcer says

Blacks must leave store, NJ Walmart announcer says, upsetting customers; company investigates

Virginia Tinsley, of Washington Township, N.J., answers a question Wednesday, March 17, 2010, outside a Wal Mart store in Washington Township, N.J., where she and others complained Sunday about comments that came over the store's public address system. Wal-Mart officials are reviewing security tapes after an announcement was made for "all black people" to leave the southern New Jersey store. Shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, a male voice came over the public-address system at the Route 42 store in Washington Township and calmly announced: "Attention Wal-Mart customers: All black people leave the store now." Management later apologized. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Bruce Shipkowski

Associated Press Writer

Thursday March 18, 2010, 1:07 am EDT

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) -- A Walmart store announcement ordering black people to leave brought chagrin and apologies Wednesday from leaders of the company, which has built a fragile trust among minority communities.

A male voice came over the public-address system Sunday evening at a store in Washington Township, in southern New Jersey, and calmly announced: "Attention, Walmart customers: All black people, leave the store now."

Shoppers in the store at the time said a manager quickly got on the public-address system and apologized for the remark. And while it was unclear whether a rogue patron or an employee was responsible for the comment, many customers expressed their anger to store management.

"I want to know why such statements are being made, because it flies in the face of what we teach our children about tolerance for all," said Sheila Ellington, who was in the store at the time with a friend. "If this was meant to be a prank, there's only one person laughing, and it's not either one of us."

Ellington, of Monroe, and her friend Patricia Covington said they plan to boycott the retailer until they're assured the issue has been addressed so it doesn't happen again.

The pair said they were stunned when they heard the announcement and initially believed they had misheard it. But once the words sank in, they grew angry.

"I depended on Walmart for all my needs, because the store has pretty much everything you could want," Covington said. "But until this issue is addressed in a way I'm comfortable with, I can't walk through those doors again."

Officials with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., said that the announcement was "unacceptable" and that they're trying to determine who made it and how it happened.

"We are just as appalled by this incident as our customers," the company said in a statement. "Whoever did this is just wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner. Clearly, this is completely unacceptable to us and to our customers."

This is not the first time the retailer has faced such problems.

There have been several past instances of black customers claiming they were treated unfairly at Walmart stores, and the company faced lawsuits alleging that women were passed over in favor of men for pay raises and promotions.

In February 2009, the retailer paid $17.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in its hiring of truck drivers.

And the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the company in May 2009, claiming some Hispanic employees at a Sam's Club subsidiary in California were subjected to a hostile work environment. That suit alleges managers failed to stop repeated verbal harassment, including the use of derogatory words, against employees of Mexican descent.

However, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has said the company has worked hard in recent years to show it cares about diversity.

Bill Mitchell, a former Walmart employee who was shopping Wednesday at the store, said that he was saddened to hear about the announcement but that "as a black man, I've heard worse things."

As customer Sharon Osbourne, of Williamstown, left the store Wednesday, she called the announcement "appalling, stupid and sad."