Tracy Davidson

Depending on extended unemployment benefits to see you through the Great Recession?
You’d better not: The Senate failed to push back the Feb. 28 deadline to apply for this safety net.
Starting Monday, the jobless will no longer be able to apply for federal unemployment benefits or the COBRA health insurance subsidy.
Federal unemployment benefits kick in after [...]

As recalls and manufacturer defects continue to raise questions about Toyota vehicle safety, owners may worry that auto-insurance premiums may be affected, too.
Not necessarily, experts say.
Yes, insurance companies are closely monitoring the developments that led Toyota’s chief global executive to testify before Congress on Wednesday. But experts say the ongoing drama may not result in [...]

The Lower Merion School District, embroiled in lawsuits over laptop cameras and redistricting, faces the possibility of a substantial tax increase for next school year.
The current budget contained the largest tax-rate percentage increase in the region. The preliminary $201.5 million proposal for next year calls for a 4.39 percent tax hike. If that passes in [...]

Toyota officials muddied the water further this week as lawmakers and regulators sought answers about hundreds of the automaker’s still-unresolved unintended acceleration reports, say members of Congress.
In two days of congressional hearings, Toyota sought to assure that electronics are not the culprit and that its recalls in recent months of 8 million vehicles, because gas [...]

Coca-Cola (KO) is acquiring a huge chunk of its biggest bottler so that it can better compete in a world where a penny or two often makes the difference in a consumer’s choice.
The move mirrors one that rival PepsiCo made in August to buy its two biggest bottlers for about $7.8 billion.
The deals by Coke [...]

For construction worker Christopher Allaway, installing metal roofs while teetering on 4-inch-wide steel beams is an adrenaline rush.
“That’s when I know I’m alive,” says Allaway, a 20-year industry veteran who often worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks before he was laid off in July.
Despite enduring the longest hiatus of his life, he has no plans [...]

If you’re a Girl Scout Cookie fan and thought the Lemon Chalet Creme cookies you ate were a bit off — no problem with your taste buds. They were // real lemons. As in duds.
The maker of the Girl Scout cookie line, Kellogg’s Little Brownie Bakers, issued a statement saying some customers [...]

Join Philadelphia’s premiere consumer reporter Tracy Davidson as the key note speaker at the “What Women Want…Health, Wealth & Beauty” seminar. Speaking about the issues that matter to you…the Philadelphia woman! RSVP at www.gantcompany.com or call 215.740.5891
March 30, 2010 From 6:30PM-8:30PM
Gwynedd Mercy College: 1325 Sumneytown Pike in Gwynedd Valley PA 19437 in the Julia Ball Auditorium

You may know that in my pursuit of a degree in pastoral counseling at Chestnut Hill College, I am currently taking a course on Death and Dying. The first class was interesting when the teacher noted that we had already done the hardest part of the class which he says was attending a class on [...]

Chrysler Group LLC is voluntarily recalling about 356,000 Dodge Caravan, Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans globally for a possible problem with the effectiveness of the airbags in certain states.
The action, technically called a safety campaign, affects 2005-2006 model years but because the defect is related to weather, it only applies to vehicles [...]