Obama will move on plan for fixing economy. President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the $700 billion-plus economic stimulus bill today. Following weeks of debate about the size and scope of the plan, the bill was passed late last weekend. Among incentives included in the package are individual, government-issued checks to taxpayers based on household size, along with homeowner tax credits. One goal of the package is to encourage spending and investment from consumers who’ve been handicapped from boosting the business economy by lack of disposable income.

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Mental problems rise among Black male teens. A significant increase in mental illness and behavioral problems among African-American male teenagers demonstrates the need for new approaches to treatment and better understanding of the complex challenges facing these youths, according to a policy paper issued by Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, an advocacy group based at Morehouse School of Medicine. The paper, titled “The Secret Epidemic: Exploring the Mental Health Crisis Affecting Adolescent African-American Males,” outlines numbers that show that mental health problems are rising among members of this at-risk group, that their access to treatment facilities is relatively low, and that treatment strategies must be revamped to address the socioeconomic issues they face. “Our research found that many young Black males are treatable, but they are going undiagnosed because of failures in America’s health-care system,” said Dr. Henrie M. Treadwell, director of Community Voices, a nonprofit seeking to improve health services and access to health care. “Our entire society feels the impact of this failure. Suicides and homicides have increased for this group, and the residual effect is impacting communities across the country. This problem must be addressed.” Dr. Claire Xanthos, a health services research specialist, wrote the paper, which cites studies showing that Black males ages 15 through 19 die from homicide at 46 times the rate of their White counterparts and that from 1980 to 1995, the suicide rate for Black adolescents rose from 5.6 to 13 per 100,000 of the population.

Sign of times? It’s free speech; but did an Obama sign in a man’s front yard go too far? Get more at You(th) Vote.

Whites-only sign lands a man in jail. Police in Niagra Falls, N.Y., have arrested a 52-year-old former longtime city worker who hung a “Whites Only” on a drinking fountain at the Department of Public Works earlier this month. Authorities say that James Curtis was nabbed at his home Friday morning. Later in the day, police announced that he had been arrested on charges of second-degree aggravated harassment, which is classified as a hate crime. Curtis, who worked for the Department of Public Works for 26 years, is scheduled to be arraigned in Niagara Falls City Court this morning. WGRZ-TV in New York reports that investigators were able to track Curtis down by analyzing handwriting samples.

Virginia’s foreclosures triple

The number of foreclosures in Virginia tripled last month over the same period last year. In Prince William County, the jurisdiction with the highest foreclosure rate in the state,  one in every 103 houses is in a state of foreclosure, including default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions, The Washington Post reports. Loudon County is second in line with foreclosures that rose from 378 to 581 – a 54-percent spike, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors filings throughout the country. Loudoun’s foreclosure rate works out to about one of every 169 house. In the more affluent Fairfax County, the foreclosure rate was significantly slower – one of every 226 houses – but still high enough to evoke concerns. In Arlington County’s, one in every 1,357 houses was in a state of foreclosure. Statewide, some 5,745 foreclosures were filed last month. Virginia has the 10th-highest rate in the country last month, RealtyTrac reported. The number of homes in the United States facing foreclosure in July jumped 55 percent from the year before. “Bank repossessions . . . continued to be the fastest-growing segment of foreclosure activity in July,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “The sharp rise in [bank repossessions], combined with slow sales, has resulted in a bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale.”