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Texas Dairy Queen announced it named Tyler's Darrell Forster the 2008 Bruce Allred Humanitarian of the Year.

Allred was a DQ operator and humanitarian who died in January 2005.

The award is given to a DQ operator or supplier, nominated by his or her peers and judged by the DQ board of directors and Allred's wife, Jan. The recipient must meet stringent criteria, which include character, unwavering integrity, professional excellence, a willingness to freely give financial assistance to those in need and the willingness to selflessly give of time in a humanitarian effort.

Forster started at DQ more than 30 years ago. Mentored by his father-in-law, Charles Norwood, he learned the value of helping others early and embraced his passion to make a difference.

Dairy Queen information described him as quick to counsel his employees who are going through difficulties or hardships and to offer tuition assistance to anyone who has worked with him for two or more years, even if the person no longer works for his company.

Forster's efforts include worked with Mother Frances Hospital's Children's Miracle Network, the national DQ charity, and as a Red Cross and Goodwill board member. He and his wife, Charlene, are members of Green Acres Baptist Church.

Forster serves as a deacon and leads eighth-graders in a small group ministry, along with attending summer youth camps. He has also traveled to Belize, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey and Costa Rica on mission trips.

The Forsters' three daughters who also serve in helping professions as a teacher, a veterinarian and a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) case manager.

Forster is the son-in-law of Eva Norwood of Tyler and the son of Lindy and Sylvia Forster of Port Lavaca.

Housing Market

Some say Texas is somewhat isolated from the storms in the national housing market, but Dr. Mark Dotzur, Texas A&M University Real Estate Center chief economist, said it is not completely immune.

"The difficulties in the mortgage market are impacting buyers in all 50 states, including Texas," said Dotzour, speaking at the Economic Policy Conference of the National Association of Business Economics last week in Washington, D.C.

The economist was on a panel discussing the regional differences in the housing markets across the country.

Dotzour noted that home prices are still increasing in most Texas metro areas, foreclosure rates are much lower than the national trends and the inventory of unsold homes in Texas is at 5.7 months, well below the national average of 10.1 months. However, he also noted that the most recent numbers from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight show the rate of price increases in most Texas metros to be getting smaller.

Earlier that day, when asked by Bloomberg's Kathleen Hays about the efficacy of further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, Dotzour said he "wasn't a big fan of government intervention, but since they are going to intervene in a big way, they should do something that might actually help solve the problem."

Dotzour said that the recent "helicopter drop" of $150 billion would not help the housing situation and would only exacerbate inflation.

"If they really want to help solve the housing problem more quickly, we need to see a tax credit for people to buy a home," he said. "We've got excess inventory that needs to be soaked up."

He also noted that the 10-year treasury rate is moving back down to the 3.5 percent range because of the continued fear of the credit markets. When the rate gets near 3.5 percent, a short window of opportunity opens for existing homeowners to refinance their homes.

"I thought that window had closed a few weeks ago as the 10-year moved back toward 4 percent," Dotzour said. "But news of continued difficulties in the banking system has caused the rate to move lower again."

Comptroller Seminar

Comptroller Susan Combs' office will offer a free seminar to assist local taxpayers with their state taxes, 6-8 p.m. March 18 at the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce, 315 N. Broadway Ave.

"Operating a business has many challenges, but figuring out your taxes shouldn't be one of them," Combs said. "Whether you are a new taxpayer, or one who has been in business for many years, this seminar will help you understand the laws that apply to you and your business."

At the seminar, taxpayers can learn about sales tax forms, taxability issues, taxpayer responsibilities and services and information available from the comptroller's office to assist taxpayers. Comptroller representatives will answer questions and provide assistance to attendees.

For more information, call the comptroller's Tyler field office at 903-534-0333.

Business Editor Greg Junek may be reached at 903-596-6280, or by e-mail at business@tylerpaper.com.