Meredith Corp. will record a special charge of approximately $5.5 million in its fiscal 2010 second quarter, the company announced today. The charge is related to a repositioning of its Special Interest Media (SIM) business, a collection of primarily newsstand publications focused on home improvement and do-it-yourself projects. Meredith plans to produce approximately 90 SIM issues in fiscal 2011 compared to approximately 150 in fiscal 2010. Approximately 45 positions are being impacted as part of the repositioning. Read the full release.

Approximately 3 million homeowners received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009, CNNmoney.com reported, which set a new record for number of people falling behind on their mortgage payments. One in 45 households were in default, or 2,824,674, which was 21 percent more than 2008 and double 2007’s total. Read the full story.

Meredith Corp. announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with Kompas Gramedia Magazine Group to publish and distribute a local edition of MORE magazine in Indonesia. The companies expect the magazine to be available on newsstands in July. It will be published in the local language, Bahasa, and distributed throughout Indonesia’s major cities.

Yahoo! Inc. was targeted by a Chinese hacker attack similar to the one that affected Google Inc., Bloomberg.com reported today. At least 20 other companies were targeted in a series of highly sophisticated attacks during December, Google said this week. Yahoo sold its Chinese business in 2005; Google is considering shutting down its operations in China if the Chinese government censors Google when it ends self-censorship this week. Read more.

The four-week moving average of initial unemployment claims fell to 440,750 last week from 449,750, marking the lowest level of first-time claims for unemployment benefits since August 2008, Bloomberg.com reported. Weekly jobless claims, which are more volatile, rose 11,000, more than anticipated, for the week ended Jan. 9. Read more.

An Iowa Senate subcommittee late Wednesday afternoon signed off on a sweeping 252-page government reorganization and efficiency bill, sending the bill to the full Senate State Government Committee next Wednesday and the Senate floor the week after. According to IowaPolitics.com, the three-member panel listened to comments from dozens of stakeholders affected by Senate Study Bill 3030 for about 90 minutes before declaring that subcommittee work was done. Sen. Staci Appel, D-Ackworth, said after listening to the comments that she didn’t detect any red flags, although changes may be considered in a portion of the bill that would move public notices from newspapers to government Web sites.

KFMG 99.1 FM will cease operations at noon tomorrow, Employee & Family Resources (EFR) announced today. Financial projections outlining the station’s operational expenses and income was the determining factor in removing the station’s on-air operations. EFR will continue to hold the license and its Board of Directors will continue to try and identify a suitable transferee.