WASHINGTON —  The U.S. Department of Justice’s U.S. Marshals Service issued the following news release:     A Savannah man wanted by the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department was arrested by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Oklahoma City, Okla., on June 26, 2009.  

Michael Allen Dimsdale, 29, was being sought a state warrant for Possession of Firearms by a Convicted felon, issued on June 24, 2009 in Savannah, GA.  The case was turned over to the U.S. Marshals, Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest. The Task Force conducted an extensive investigation to try and find him in the Savannah area and in South Carolina.

On Sun., July 26, 2009, the Savannah Marshals generated leads that placed Dimsdale in Oklahoma City, Okla.   This information was passed to the Marshals Fugitive Squad in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Fugitive Squad immediately responded to the area in which Dimsdale was supposed to be staying.

Dimsdale was staying in a local motel and the Marshals had to use force to make entry into the room.  Dimsdale was taken in to custody and taken to the local jail to await extradition back to Georgia.  

Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 36, 000 federal fugitives.  More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined.  

The Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force has three offices: Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah. The task force covers the whole state of Georgia. The Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of investigators from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Marshals Service.

The task force objective is to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug crimes, sex offenders, and other felonies. 

Last year, U.S. Marshals Task Forces arrested more than 58,600 state and local fugitives on felony charges.  

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov/.

WASHINGTON, July 17 — The National Association of Home Builders issued the following news release:    Nationwide housing starts and permits posted substantial gains in June as home builders responded to improved market conditions and the impending expiration of the first-time buyer tax credit, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. 

Commerce reported a 3.6 percent gain in overall housing starts to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 582,000 units and an 8.7 percent gain in permit issuance to 563,000 units.  

"The upcoming expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit on December 1st is encouraging some builders to get homes started now so that they can be completed in time for clients to take advantage of this attractive buying incentive," said  NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla.  

However, there is still much concern about the difficulty of financing new-home production and continuing weakness in the job market.     

"Today’s report was in keeping with our forecasts for some glimmers of improvement on the single-family side in the second quarter, and also with the results of our latest builder surveys,"  said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. 

Many remain very cautious, however, in the face of the severe tightening of credit for acquisition, development and construction financing and increased instances of low appraisals tied to improper use of distressed properties as comps, both of which threaten to derail a housing and economic recovery going forward.   

Single-family housing starts rose for a fourth consecutive month in June, posting a 14.4 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 470,000 units, while single-family permits rose for a third consecutive month, posting a 5.9 percent gain to 430,000 units. Meanwhile, the multifamily side, which characteristically displays greater month-to-month volatility, posted a 25.8 percent decline in starts following an unsustainably large gain in the previous month, to 112,000 units.  

Multifamily permits rose 18.8 percent to 133,000 units from an abnormal low in May.   Regionally, housing starts were mixed, with the Northeast and Midwest posting big gains of 28.6 percent and 33.3 percent, respectively, and the South and West posting declines of 1.4 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively.   However, the declines in both the South and West were entirely driven by dips in multifamily production.   Permit issuance was up across the board in June, with the Northeast posting a 5.4 percent gain, the Midwest a 3.

The following is a listing of federal (military) contracts recently awarded:  $92.80 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors

WASHINGTON, July 19 — Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors, Manassas, Va., was awarded a $92,801,701 federal contract by the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command for engineering services and support of the AN/BVY-1 Integrated Submarine Imaging System (ISIS) and for the production of 10 AN/BVY-1(V)1 integrated control and display cabinets.

Places of performance will be in Atlanta, Ga.; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Fairfax, Va.; Johnstown, Pa.; Manassas, Va.; Middletown, R.I.; Northampton, Mass; Waterford, Conn.; and Woodbridge, Va.  

MILITARY $86.31 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Blackbird Technologies    

WASHINGTON, July 19 — Blackbird Technologies Inc., was awarded a federal contract valued at up to $86,311,454 by the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic, Charleston, S.C., for tagging, tracking, and locating equipment. 

MILITARY $8.66 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Verizon Business Network   

WASHINGTON, July 19 — Verizon Business Network Services Inc., Ashburn, Va., won an $8,660,515 federal contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Agency, North Region, Fort Dix, N.J., for information technology network services for the U.S. Army Reserve Command.     

MILITARY $7.09 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Computer Sciences    

WASHINGTON, July 19 — Computer Sciences Corp., Arlington, Va., was awarded a $7,090,670 federal contract by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., for advisory and assistance services for the Missile Defense Agency’s Sensors Directorate. Place of performance will be in Hunstville, Ala. 

14.9 Million Federal Contract Awarded to Solis Constructors   

WASHINGTON, July 19 — Solis Constructors Inc., Austin ,Texas, was awarded a $14,900,000 federal contract by the U.S. Army’ Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Neb., for the design and building of a chapel complex and religious education facility. Place of performance will be in Fort Hood, Texas. 

$49,415 Federal Contract Awarded to MJL Enterprises   

WASHINGTON, July 19 — MJL Enterprises LLC, Virginia Beach, Va., won a $49,414.50 federal contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection for rifle scopes.  

Great Plains’ Overall Population Increase Masks Sad Losses in Majority of its Counties    

WASHINGTON, July 17 — The U.S. Census Bureau issued the following news release:   Although the population of the Great Plains has grown more rapidly than the U.S. population as a whole since the middle of the 20th century, most of its counties have lost population over the period, according to a Census Bureau report released today. The region’s overall population increase was limited primarily to metropolitan counties.    

The report, Population Dynamics of the Great Plains: 1950 to 2007, details population trends over the period in this vast area stretching across the nation’s midsection using a combination of decennial census data and annual population estimates. The Great Plains stretches across parts of 10 states, from the Mexican to the Canadian border, containing fully 18 percent of the land mass of the lower 48 states and roughly 3 percent of their population.  

According to the report, the Great Plains population more than doubled over the period, from 4.9 million in 1950 to 9.9 million in 2007. Its 102 percent population increase slightly exceeded the 99 percent rise for the U.S. as a whole. Yet at the same time, 244 of the region’s 376 counties saw their populations decline, with 69 of them losing more than half their population.   

While counties in the Great Plains’ metro areas more than tripled in population density over the 57-year period, those outside metro and micro areas experienced a 23 percent decline, becoming even more sparsely populated. As a result, by 2007, the average population density for the latter group of counties fell below the historical standard for a settled area. (A metro area contains a core urban area of 50,000 or more population, and a micro area contains an urban core of 10,000 to 49,999 people.)  

In many of the counties outside metro areas, deaths exceeded births, net out migration was common and there was an older age structure. For instance, among the 261 Great Plains counties with fewer than 10,000 people, most (239) had negative net migration between 2000 and 2007, with more than half (133) also having more deaths than births. Almost 55 percent of Great Plains counties had a 2007 median age of at least 40 years, with most located outside metro areas.  

In contrast, all 34 Great Plains counties with populations of at least 50,000 had more births than deaths, and 23 of the 34 had positive net migration. Not coincidentally, the percentage of the Great Plains population living in metro areas rose from 39 percent in 1950 to 68 percent in 2007. A young population residing in its metro areas resulted in the Great Plains actually having a slightly younger overall age structure than that of the U.S. as a whole.  

Other highlights:  
* Growth in the Great Plains has been concentrated within counties along the periphery of the region in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. Other areas of growth include a corridor of counties running through the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles into the southwestern corner of Kansas and a group of counties in and around the Black Hills of South Dakota.

* Great Plains counties located in Colorado and Texas — one third of the Great Plains counties — gained 4.8 million people and accounted for 96 percent of the total population growth in the region.

* Metropolitan counties in the Great Plains gained population between 1950 and 2007. Their share of the 2007 population, 17 percent, was down from 23 percent but still higher than the metropolitan share for the U.S. (10 percent).

* Twenty of the 25 Great Plains counties in North Dakota lost population over the 1950 to 2007 period, as did 46 of the 58 Great Plains counties in Kansas. * Almost 60 percent of Great Plains counties reached their maximum population prior to 1950, with most of those peaking between 1900 and 1920.

* Four out of five Great Plains counties had a percentage 65 and older that was higher than the U.S. average of 13 percent. McIntosh County, N.D., had the highest percentage of its population 65 and older in the U.S. in 2007: 36 percent.  

The following is the speech made this morning. 

THE PRESIDENT:   "Well, I just first of all want to thank the Children’s Hospital for hosting us today. And I want to thank the participants, Joseph Wright, Brian Jacobs, Yewande Johnson, Michael Knappe, Regina Hartridge, and Kathleen Quigley.   I just had the opportunity to talk to doctors, nurses, physician  assistants, and administrators at this extraordinary institution. We spoke about some of the strains on our health care system and some of the strains our health care system places on parents with sick children.   We spoke about the amount of time and money wasted on insurance-driven bureaucracy."

"We spoke about the growing number of Americans who are uninsured and underinsured. We spoke about what’s wrong with a system where women can’t always afford maternity care and parents can’t afford checkups for their kids, and end up seeking treatment in emergency rooms like the ones here at Children’s.   We spoke about the fact that it’s very hard even for families who have health insurance to access primary care physicians and pediatricians."

"In a city like Washington, D.C., you’ve got all the doctors in one half of the city, very few doctors in the other half of the city. And part of that has to do with just the manner in which reimbursement is taking place and the disincentives for doctors, nurses, and physicians assistants in caring for those who are most in need.   And we spoke about where we’re headed if we once again delay and defer health insurance reform."  

"These health care professionals are doing heroic work each and every day to save the lives of America’s children.   But they’re being forced to fight through a system that works better for drug companies and insurance companies than for the American people that all these wonderful health professionals entered their profession to serve.   And over the past decade, premiums have doubled in America; out-of-pocket costs have shot up by a third; deductibles have continued to climb."  

"And yet, even as America’s families have been battered by spiraling health care costs, health insurance companies and their executives have reaped windfall profits from a broken system.   Now, we’ve talked this problem to death, year after year. But unless we act — and act now — none of this will change.   Just a quick statistic I heard about this hospital: Just a few years ago, there were approximately 50,000 people coming into the emergency room. Now they’ve got 85,000.   There’s been almost a doubling of emergency room care in a relatively short span of time, which is putting enormous strains on the system as a whole. That’s the status quo, and it’s only going to get worse.   If we do nothing, then families will spend more and more of their income for less and less care. The number of people who lose their insurance because they’ve lost or changed jobs will continue to grow.   More children will be denied coverage on account of asthma or a heart condition. Jobs will be lost, take-home pay will be lower, businesses will shutter, and we will continue to waste hundreds of billions of dollars on insurance company boondoggles and inefficiencies that add to our financial burdens without making us any healthier."  

"So the need for reform is urgent and it is indisputable. No one denies that we’re on an unsustainable path. We all know there are more efficient ways of doing it.   We just — I spoke to the chief information officer here at the hospital and he talked about some wonderful ways in which we could potentially gather up electronic medical records and information for every child not just that comes to this hospital but in the entire region, and how much money could be saved and how the health of these kids could be improved. But it requires an investment.   Now, there are some in this town who are content to perpetuate the status quo, are in fact fighting reform on behalf of powerful special interests.   There are others who recognize the problem, but believe — or perhaps, hope — that we can put off the hard work of insurance reform for another day, another year, another decade.   Just the other day, one Republican senator said — and I’m quoting him now —  If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo."

"It will break him.     Think about that. This isn’t about me. This isn’t about politics. This is about a health care system that is breaking America’s families, breaking America’s businesses, and breaking America’s economy.    And we can’t afford the politics of delay and defeat when it comes to health care. Not this time. Not now. There are too many lives and livelihoods at stake. There are too many families who will be crushed if insurance premiums continue to rise three times as fast as wages."

"There are too many businesses that will be forced to shed workers, scale back benefits, or drop coverage unless we get spiraling health care costs under control.   The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and inefficiencies [sic] to our health care system, and greater stability and security to America’s families and businesses.   For the average American, it will mean lower costs, more options, and coverage you can count on. It will save you and your family money, if we have a more efficient health care system. You won’t have to worry about being priced out of the market."

"You won’t have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin. You won’t have to worry that you won’t be able to afford treatment for a child who gets sick.   We can — and we must — make all these reforms, and we can do it in a way that does not add to our deficits over the next decade. I’ve said this before. Let me repeat: The bill I sign must reflect my commitment and the commitment of Congress to slow the growth of health care costs over the long run.   That’s how we can ensure that health care reform strengthens our national — our nation’s fiscal health at the same time.   Now, we always knew that passing health care reform wouldn’t be easy. We always knew that doing what is right would be hard. There’s just a tendency towards inertia in this town. I understand that as well as anybody."   

"But we’re a country that chooses the harder right over the easier wrong. That’s what we have to do this time. We have to do that once more.    So let’s fight our way through the politics of the moment. Let’s pass reform by the end of this year. Let’s commit ourselves to delivering our country a better future — and that future will be seen in a place like Children’s Hospital, when young people are getting the care that they deserve and they need, when they need it, and we don’t have an overcrowded emergency room just putting enormous burdens on this excellent institution.   I think we can accomplish that, but we’re going to have to do some work over the next few weeks and the next few months.   Thank you very much everyone."