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Consumers Energy today celebrated the dedication of its new $8.7 million, 17,600-square-foot Clare Service Center at an event attended by more than 150 guests and dignitaries. “Consumers Energy is proud to have been an integral part of Clare history for the past 95 years.

Consumers Energy today announced a $20,000 donation to Kalamazoo Valley Habitat for Humanity, making a joint commitment to providing safe and affordable housing to residents. Consumers Energy Vice President John Broschak presented the donation to Habitat officials at a Habitat home on Cameron Street in Kalamazoo, where more than a dozen company volunteers joined state legislators and Habitat volunteers in doing rehabilitation work last month.

U.S. presidential candidates of both parties will join top New Hampshire officials and national experts for a major housing summit on Friday, Oct. 16, at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.

An eleven-count indictment was unsealed today in United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging David Gotterup, also known as “David Gott,” and Jason Green with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners who were attempting to modify their mortgage loans, and related mail fraud counts. The indictment also charged Gotterup with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with a scheme to improperly obtain mortgage loans, and related bank fraud counts, disaster loan fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

EPA Region 7 has reached a proposed settlement that includes a $35,000 penalty to settle violations of the Clean Water Act associated with Wayne County, Mo., landowners Roger and Ken Williams. The property is located near Clubb, Mo

USGBC, GBCI and the Delhi Metrorail Corporation (DMRC) signed a groundbreaking agreement that will greatly accelerate the LEED certification of new and existing metro stations across the country.

Congressman Pete Visclosky announced today that the Porter County Regional Airport will receive a $1,437,732 grant award from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Airport Director Kyle Kuebler stated, “This funding represents the third round of programming, which enables the Porter County Regional Airport to continue the reconstruction of its most critical infrastructure asset, its primary east-west runway

In a letter sent Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice as they consider levying penalties against Volkswagen Group, writing that tax benefits fraudulently earned by the automaker should be recovered. During the period of time in which Volkswagen illicitly evaded emissions standards with special “defeat devices” installed in their vehicles, the company was the beneficiary of two significant clean energy tax programs: the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit and the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit

Two urban parks—one in Oklahoma City, the other in Foshan, China—have been selected as winners of this year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) Urban Open Space Award. Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City and Thousand Lantern Lake Park System in Foshan, Guangdong, China were honored today at the ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing has announced the winners of the annual ULI Housing Awards. Winners for both the Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award and the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Policy Award, selected by jury of renowned housing experts, were honored today at ULI’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco

Collegiate teams involving hundreds of students from around the world have assembled at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif., to showcase their highly energy-efficient, solar-powered houses for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2015. Today’s opening ceremony, headlined by U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz, kicked off the highly anticipated biennial competition that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate houses powered by the sun that are affordable, energy efficient, attractive, and easy to live in

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $100,000 to Advanced Recovery and Recycling, LLC of Onondaga County, New York to continue its development of an efficient technology that recycles circuit board components to reduce electronic waste from going to landfills and incinerators.

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) applauded the unanimous passage today by the Senate Small Business Committee of the Menendez-authored Superstorm Sandy Relief and Disaster Loan Program Improvement Act which would extend, expand and improve access to federal disaster loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Today, a group of Senate Democratic leaders including U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to schedule consideration of a bipartisan bill that would permanently reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is awarding over $3.5 million under HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) to eleven organizations in New York State to fight housing discrimination. The funding announced today will benefit fair housing organizations in Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Westchester, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. It is part of a national award totaling over $38 million. See chart below for a listing of grant recipients and read summaries here of the activities these organizations will conduct with the grants.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06) announced that the Sacramento region has received nearly $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support local and regional food programs

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) today announced that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has listed the Historic Franklin Station Post Office in downtown Napa for sale. The property has been placed on multiple real estate listing databases (link is external).

Tuesday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, announced today that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded a grant in the amount of $11.5 million to American Samoa for environmental protection work.

A Georgia real estate investor pleaded guilty today for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Fulton and DeKalb counties, Georgia.

The House on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation to help homebuyers avoid delays and disruptions when closing on their new homes by a vote of 303-121. The bill, the Homebuyers Assistance Act, provides a four-month grace period for businesses that are working in good faith to comply with a new 1,888-page rule from the CFPB that went into effect Oct. 4