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No break for downtown patios

NEWS: Residents slept though Cyclone Yasi, but not this storm as it ripped through neighborhoods in less than fifteen minutes.

The aftermath of the Townsville tornado. Picture: Chisholm Scott Radford Source: Townsville Bulletin

A scene following the storm in Townsville. Picture courtesy Sky News. Source: Supplied

Scenes from the Townsville tornado. Picture: Daniel Bateman Source: Townsville Bulletin

FORTY homes are damaged and nine residents had to be treated for injuries, some suffering cuts and abrasions, after a mini-tornado packing 110km/hr winds tore through Townsville early today.

Two elderly residents in the hardest-hit suburbs of Vincent and Garbutt had to be taken to hospital for medical issues while a blackout cut power to 17,000 homes in the north Queensland city.

Widespread flooding is reported from Cairns to Yeppoon with heavy rain predicted for the rest of the day

One aerial image taken by the EMQ helicopter in Townsville revealed the scale of destruction; in scenes reminiscent of "tornado alley" in the United States, houses are completely blown apart, walls disintegrated, and a total of 25 homes were without roofs.

A picture taken from above Townsville after a mini tornado swept through on Tuesday. Picture: Department of Community Safety

Source: Supplied

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Tornado injures nine, flattens 40 homes

By Bob Okon bokon@stemedianetwork.com March 19, 2012 10:12PM

Updated: March 19, 2012 10:12PM

JOLIET The city will use a 35-cent a month cable fee that will be added later this year to remodel the council chambers and redesign it to be more video friendly.

City Manager Thomas Thanas presented the plan Monday to the Joliet City Council, which approved it unanimously.

The council chambers would be more versatile and better equipped to present information to people who watch city proceedings from home on TV once it is remodeled, Thanas said.

When it (the room) was designed it was long before PowerPoint was thought of and long before interactive was considered, he said. The chambers would be better equipped to deliver visual presentations to viewers in their homes, he said.

The plan also would put portable seating into the council chambers, which then could be rearranged for different proceedings such as bankruptcy court. Thanas said other users also could help pay for the remodeling.

I think its a great idea to work with multiple users, said Councilman Don Fisher. This large space in city hall remains dormant 90 percent of the time.

The fee was put into the 10-year franchise agreement negotiated with Comcast in 2011. The 35-cent per customer fee is expected to generate about $100,000 a year over 10 years.

The money is to be used for technology upgrades in the council chambers and at the studio of Joliet Community Television.

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New cable fee will fund remodeling of council chambers

News 12 at 6 o'clock / Monday, March 19, 2012

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- If you build it, they will come. That is the idea behind a plan to build new dorms and parking decks at Augusta State University.

"Change will come," said Dr. Ricardo Azziz. "We can't continue to do the same thing that we have done before and expect new results."

Some agree with the plan.

"I think freshman dorms are a great idea," said Professor Steven Weiss who is convinced the move would attract more students. "Another advantage of student dormitories on campus is that they create a new kind of campus environment."

Sources tell News 12 the construction would be focused on the Walton Way campus along Arsenal Avenue. School leaders want to replace the surface parking.

"Initially I would say it is kind of a scary thought," said Mayor Pro Tem Joe Bowles who lives in the surrounding Summerville neighborhood. "It [at first]sounded like a crazy idea. My concern is there are a lot of homes that surround Augusta State and the impact on the property value if you build a parking deck right in somebody's backyard."

"This is a large parking deck and as you can see it is very well landscaped," said GHSU communication director Jack Evans. "This is actually one of the greener, better-looking parts of the GHSU campus."

Evans is also president of the Summerville Neighborhood Association.

"We don't want traffic flow problems," Evans said. "We don't want eyesores."

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First On 12: Azziz to meet with Ripken Group, wants ASU dorms, parking decks

Photo by Johnny Jackson Air temperatures in near downtown Hampton reached regularly the upper 70s by mid-morning most of last week, as flowers and trees continued their early bloom.

Automobiles and porches throughout the Southern Crescent are coated like powdered donuts in a bakery, as flowers blossom and tree foliage blooms into full canopies on this official first day of spring. But the pollen-dusted outdoors, glowing a green-yellowish hue in the sunshine, is giving allergy sufferers fits.

Some Dos and Donts to follow during the pollen and mold season for allergy sufferers:

Do keep windows closed at night; use air conditioning, which cleans, cools and dries the air.

Do minimize early morning (outdoor) activity when pollen is most usually emitted (between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m.).

Do keep your car windows closed, if you drive to work or school, while out shopping, etc.

Do stay indoors when the pollen count or humidity is high and on windy days when dust and pollen are whipped about.

Do take your vacation during the height of the pollen season to a place more pollen-free (such as a beach).

Dont mow lawns or be around freshly cut grass; mowing stirs up pollens and molds.

Dont rake leaves (it also stirs up molds).

Excerpt from:
Spring has sprung: Blooming flowers, green trees, bring pesky pollen

18-03-2012 20:23 A quick peek at the new LCBC church being constructed in Ephrata, PA, at Rtes 322 and 222. Also a few turns around the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran church across the street.

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LCBC Church Construction in Ephrata, PA - Video

March 19, 2012

By Alanna Malone

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In November 2010, ten city mayors and nine school superintendants met with sustainability experts, architects, and educators at a three-day summit in Sundance, Utah. The goal was to develop an action plan for greening American schools. Toward the end of the conference, Ronald Bogle, president and CEO of the American Architectural Foundation (AAF), committed to a future workshop that would continue the dialogue.

Bogle recently made good on that promise. From March 7 to 9, the AAF collaborated with the USGBCs Center for Green Schools to host the National Green Schools Design Summit in Washington, D.C. This time the agenda examined real issues from five city school districts. We wanted to take the lessons learned from Sundance and expand on them, says Graham Stroh, AAF program manager. Theres a lot of power in bringing these groups together.

The participating cities were: Bismarck, North Dakota; Charleston, South Carolina; Philadelphia; Sacramento, California; and Salt Lake City. Charlestons Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Sacramentos Mayor Kevin Johnson, and Salt Lake Citys Mayor Ralph Becker had all been at Sundance and were grateful for the opportunity to attend the summit in D.C. Being a part of this group as a follow-up to Sundance is a privilege, said Mayor Becker.

On day one, the city contingents began by presenting one or two problematic case studies from their districts. City and school leaders were then grouped with architects for design charrettes to create tailor-made solutions for each project. On day two, each group presented their results during 15-minute presentations, which varied greatlyfrom broad overviews for district-wide sustainable strategies to specific design enhancements for school buildings.

Salt Lake City shared a plan for a community-learning center, to be built between a middle school and elementary school and combine three programs: adult learning; daycare; and a dental, vision, and mental health clinic. Though the project is currently out to bid, the team learned so much about sustainability and systematic thinking during the workshop that they may put it on hold to reconsider some of the design elements. The Charleston group worked with the architects to revamp the layout of a planned learning center, breaking it into separate mixed-use structures that reflect the historic and local freedmans cottage style. We came with a complicated problem, and we solved it, said Mayor Riley. Likewise, the Philadelphia team presented a strategic plan for one troublesome school that will transform an unseemly chain link fence into a public art project, create a sunflower field in a vacant lot, and help form partnerships with local businesses for school programs.

Tamara Uselman, the superintendant for Bismarck Public Schools, sees broader applications for the suggestions of her teams architects: What we learned is going to have a huge impact across the state.

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Architects, Mayors, and Educators Convene for Green Schools Design Summit

Morrisville, NC (PRWEB) March 19, 2012

CASTO, one of the countrys leading real estate organizations, announced today that Phase II construction of the mixed-use lifestyle center, Park West Village, will begin. Park West Village is located at the southwest corner of Cary Parkway and NC-54/Chapel Hill Road.

Another 200,000 square feet of retail space will commence this month, stated Shannon Dixon, VP of Development, Leasing & Asset Management for CASTOs Southeast operations.

Joining Park West Village is a 55,000 square foot, state-of-the-art 14-screen cinema, operated by Stone Theatres, formerly Consolidated Theatres. This location will be one of several new theatres opened by the founder of Consolidated Theatres, Herman Stone. Mr. Stone commented on his choice of this location by saying, The Raleigh market has always been a strong market and when it came time to choose one of our first locations after the sale of Consolidated, it was key for us to find the best site with great demographics, upward movement in population and a strong developer. Park West hit on all three for us. The architecture of the project will lend itself to unique design for the theatre with a prominent water feature at the entrance; a signature item consistent with Stone Theatres throughout the eastern United States.

Additionally joining the project includes Gander Mountain and The Wine Guy Bistro. Gander Mountain, the outdoor superstore, will occupy 52,000 square feet. The Wine Guy Bistro, based out of Columbus, Ohio, will be 6,000 square feet and plans to offer wine samplings with a retail wine shop and great, savory food selections.

About Park West Village Ideally situated at the heart of one of the most desirable locations in the country, Park West Village is a new 100-acre mixed-use development that includes a town center district, a community center with sought-after major retail anchors, upscale casual restaurants and a movie theater, all of which will be mixed with residential, office and hospitality. For more information, please visit http://www.parkwestvillage.net.

About CASTO CASTO, a fully integrated real estate organization since 1926, is a recognized leader in the ownership, management, acquisition and development of commercial shopping centers and multi-family residences, office buildings and corporate parks. CASTOs growing portfolio currently includes over 23 million square feet of commercial property and nearly 4,000 residential units located primarily throughout the Midwestern and southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. CASTO currently has more than three million square feet of retail in development. To learn more about CASTO call (888) 400-0878 or visit http://www.castoinfo.com.

Originally posted here:
CASTO Announces Phases II and III to Commence Construction at Park West Village

South Market District, the proposed apartment and retail project near the future Loyola Avenue streetcar line, will appear before the Industrial Development Board Tuesday to ask for a property tax abatement to help the project get off the ground. The project is coming together a little more slowly than expected, but it has grown in scope since it was announced in December 2010.

The developer, the New York- and New Orleans-based Domain Cos., had originally hoped to build 450 apartments with 125,000 square feet of retail space in a sea of parking lots downtown. But Domain was able to acquire additional land in the area, so it now plans to develop 559 apartments and 178,213 square feet of retail space that it hopes will provide more traction to a burgeoning area of downtown.

Matt Schwartz, a principal in the Domain Cos., said that Domain hopes to close the financing and begin construction this summer on the first phase of the $69.1 million South Market District project. Schwartz hopes to announce the first-phase retailers early in the summer.

The timing for later phases of the project will depend on how solid a response the retailers get. "The demand is certainly there on the multi-family side. I think the demand is there on the retail side. Project timing will really be determined by the pace at which we get retailers to commit to the leases," Schwartz said.

Today's Industrial Development Board meeting is the opening shot for discussion about possible incentives from the city on the project, and evaluating the impact of the project -- and any tax breaks -- on the city's finances.

According to a project summary provided by the IDB, Domain has asked the city to make a payment in lieu of property taxes, or "PILOT," of $114,000 a year for 15 years, for a total of payment of $1,710,000 to the city. The $114,000 per year is slightly higher than the property taxes that are paid on the undeveloped land.

Schwartz said that Domain's actual proposal calls for annual increases in the PILOT of 3 percent or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is greater. That means the amount that Domain is proposing to pay the city is higher than what the summary sheet depicts.

The first phase of the project will be funded with about $8.4 million in equity contributions from the owners, about $55 million in loans, $4.9 million in equity investments from the federal new markets tax credits program, and $806,626 in Louisiana Enterprise Zone rebates.

Domain has also applied to the state for money that could help cover the costs of widening sidewalks along Girod Street to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment. Domain got permission from the city to close a lane of traffic along Girod and make other streetscape changes in the area.

South Market District LLC is 32 percent owned by CKL Associates LLC, which is wholly owned by business man Paul Flower, whose company, Woodward Design Build, will be the general contractor on the project.

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South Market District proposal will appear before Industrial Development Board Tuesday

Posted: 3:38 pm Mon, March 19, 2012 By DanEmerson Tags: David Frank, Jim McComb, Norman Bjornnes, Sherman Group

One of the most successful transit-related retail developments in the nation is Trolley Square in the San Diego suburb of Santee, Calif., said Minneapolis-based retail consultant Jim McComb, who traveled there for a Hennepin County study. The city of Santee acquired land where the San Diego light rail transit line terminates and developed a shopping center with big-box retailers such as Target, PetSmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond. (Submitted photo: city of Santee, Calif.)

Developing successful retail businesses along light rail transit lines is not a matter of build it and they will come. City planners and developers wish it were that simple.

To succeed, any retail location needs a certain amount of traffic passing by plus visibility and convenient access. Those elements are not always present along rail lines, experts say. Planners also preach the message that transit-related retail development doesnt happen overnight.

Its complicated, said Minneapolis-based retail consultant Jim McComb, who has studied transit-oriented retail development nationwide. He has traveled LRT lines in about a dozen cities, including Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Houston and St. Louis.

McComb, president of the McComb Group, points out that a number of LRT lines in those cities were developed along railroad right of way, which tends to be more industrial than residential.

Retail is not going to thrive in those areas, he said.

Those who plan and develop station areas, McComb said, often dont understand the dynamics of what makes a good retail location, which can result in poor performance.

Light rail is not like commuter rail, which typically runs between cities rather than within cities, McComb said. The people who use LRT lines generally live nearby, so those riders do not represent new potential customers. Also, there generally arent large groups of people boarding at each station throughout the day.

But retail associated with light rail can be successful if it is done correctly, McComb said.

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Retail along light rail lines isn’t automatic fit