County stalls vote on Piñon Canyon expansion, an article from The Gazette, reports that at the National Association of Counties annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C., commissioners from Baca, Las Animas, Bent and Otero counties proposed two resolutions opposing the Army’s use of condemnation.  El Paso County commissioners, fearing the Pentagon could be sensitive to even symbolic resistance, succeeded in temporarily postponing a vote on the resolutions.  El Paso County Commissioner Jim Bensberg said, “When you have a national association adopt a position on what is a local dispute it sends the wrong message to Congress.”  NACo, a lobbying association governed by its member counties, will take up the two resolutions again in July after the Army releases its study on the proposed Piñon Canyon expansion in June.  According to the Army, it needs to increase the 368-square-mile Piñon Canyon site to about 1,000 square miles to accommodate 10,000 more troops being transferred to Fort Carson.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/county_33850___article.html/counties_paso.html
 
Housing: Best time to buy in four years, an article from CNNMoney.com, reports that according to a report from National City Corp. and Global Insight, home prices have dropped so quickly and so far that valuations - the difference between what a home should cost and its actual price - are the lowest they've been since 2004.  The reports shows that more than 88% of the 330 housing markets surveyed showed price declines and improved affordability during the last three months of 2007.  National City's chief economist, Richard DeKaser said, "Housing valuations are almost back to long-term norms."  He called current affordability "the best in the past four years."  The survey covered home valuations during the last three months of 2007, but DeKaser pointed out there's reason to believe that valuations are even more favorable for buyers today.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/04/real_estate/markets_less_overvalued/index.htm?postversion=2008030412
 
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