Updated: May 25, 2012 11:25PM

Designer wins awards

Normandy designer John Long received an Honorable Mention for the Remodeling Excellence Award from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry Greater Chicagoland for a kitchen renovation he completed in Chicago.

The recognition was in the Residential Kitchen $30,000 to $60,000 category.

Long allowed the kitchen to be completely transformed in a contemporary way the clients didnt believe seemed possible at first, based on the original structural layout and perceived limitations of the home. In addition to the NARI recognition, Long also received a First Place award in the same competition for an exterior renovation he completed in Glen Ellyn.

Normandy Remodeling of Hinsdale, formerly known as Normandy Builders, is a design/build remodeling firm. It has earned the title of Remodeler of the Year by Professional Remodeler Magazine, as well as the distinction of GuildQuality Guildmaster Award in 2008-12.

Long has more than 30 years of professional experience, knowledge of architectural style and construction. He attended Eastern Illinois and Indiana universities, and the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in technology education. In addition, he is National Kitchen & Bath Association-trained.

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New plans for a large hotel and office building at San Antonio shopping center were met with more shock than support in a planning commission meeting last week.

"To realize we're potentially constructing the tallest structures in Mountain View, I was pretty surprised by that," said Environmental Planning Commissioner Chris Clark.

Developer Merlone Geier has proposed a 12-story, 167-foot-tall office building and parking garage as part of phase 2 of its redevelopment of San Antonio shopping center, an area that encompasses Beverages & More, Ross and Jo-Ann fabrics. To put that in perspective, the city's tallest building at 444 Castro St. is 145 feet tall.

The project also includes a 150- to 200-room hotel, 2,858 parking spaces and 66,000 square feet of ground floor retail facing a park along the Hetch-Hetchy right of way. Merlone Geier is already under construction on phase 1 of the project just south of the site, including a new Safeway, three apartment buildings and dozens of new retail spaces.

Residents packed the council chambers and expressed concern about the project's size and design and about several small businesses, including the Milk Pail Market, at the corner of San Antonio Road and California Street on property that Merlone Geier hopes to buy. The businesses face the possibility of having tall buildings towering in the background.

"I would trade the Milk Pail for this whole development," said resident Stephen Freiberg. "It's much more important to my family and the people that I know."

Merlone Geier's Mike Grehl said the 741,000 square feet of office space were necessary to subsidize the construction cost of the hotel, noting the city's longtime desire to have a full-service hotel and how the need for a $30 million city subsidy killed efforts to put one next to Google's headquarters several years ago. The developer says several hotel operators are already interested in operating the "high-quality, four-star hotel."

"A building that would be the tallest in Mountain View is, quite frankly, an equivalent gulp moment to a $30 million subsidy," said commissioner Todd Fernandez.

Commissioner Clark said he'd support heights up to seven stories, but "I think this is just over the top in terms of heights that are acceptable," echoing the sentiments of other commissioners. "This just doesn't seem like Mountain View."

He later added that the proposed uses would be "a good mix."

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San Antonio center to include Mountain View's tallest building?

Mold infests fire station

Brown, Roxanne

CLERMONT

ROXANNE BROWN | Staff Writer

roxannebrown@dailycommercial.com

Eight Clermont firefighters and EMS technicians are bedding down elsewhere after mold was discovered inside Fire Station 3, which was opened two years ago, city officials said Wednesday.

"Immediately, when we became aware of the problem, the city had the firefighters moved," said Barbara Hollerand, assistant to the city manager.

Three of the station's five firefighters are sharing a $69 room at the neighboring Hampton Inn hotel, while the rest of the personnel, including three EMS techs, are sleeping at Fire Station 1, which is located at 439 W. Highway 50, Fire Chief Carle Bishop said.

"The rest of the time, they are going about their daily duties in their assigned area and essentially, nothing else has changed," Bishop said, adding that the station has been deemed safe to work out of and is still being used during the day, with the exception of the bathrooms and a sleeping area.

The mold was found when some heavy furniture was moved in order to clean some rugs. According to information obtained from the city manager's office, the company that built the firehouse hired a firm to look a into the problem.

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Mold infests fire station

25-05-2012 10:34 A recent fatwa issued by a Wahhabi mufti calls for destruction of all churches in the Arabian Peninsula. He issued the fatwa in late March 2012 in response to a Kuwaiti lawmaker who asked if Kuwait could ban church construction in Kuwait. The fatwa paves the way for adding an article to the new Kuwaiti constitution that forbids building of new churches. Ahl al-Bait assembly condemns the fatwa saying that it is contrary to both Shia and Sunni traditions, and has no precedence in Islamic jurisprudential schools. The assembly also slams the "deadly silence" of Muslim scholars in the face of such fatwa that distort the image of Islam. It also criticizes international human right organizations as well as Western and Christian governments for their support of Saudi regime and Wahhabi doctrine. The chairman of a group of European Catholic Bishops slams the Saudi Mufti by saying that his fatwa "shows no respect for the religious freedom and free co-existence of religions". This week's Islam and Life asks: What is the view of Islam on building Christian churches in Muslim lands? Watch this video on our Website: Follow our Facebook on: Follow our Twitter on:

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What is view of Islam on building Christian churches in Muslim lands?-Islam and Life-05-24-2012 - Video

25-05-2012 12:48 Professional grade personal 2-way radios are now available for church, construction, hospital, manufacturing, retail and school users with prices starting at under $150. This new generation of micro-sized communicators are available in both VHF and UHF versions. One model even offers a long range headset or speaker-microphone option with a range of up to 30 feet away from the radio !

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On-Site Personal 2-Way Radios - Video

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- According to building permits that have been issued from January 2011 through this month from the Jackson County Planning Department, as well as from planners from the surrounding municipalities, there are few church constructions under way.

The newest church building going up in the county is The Greater Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Pascagoula.

Antioch's sanctuary burned to the ground on Aug. 26, 2010. The smoke could be seen for miles around. The fire apparently started in a storage area on the north end of the building.

In November 2011, a groundbreaking for a new sanctuary was held at 1028 Denny Ave., the original site of the church.

Architect Dennis Cowart of Ocean Springs, who designed the new metal building, said the two-story sanctuary will feature stadium seating and be wired for up-to-date technology.

The new construction will include 10 Sunday school classrooms, two fellowship halls, meeting rooms, a board room and a choir rehearsal room.

The new building will cost about $3 million and is being constructed by TCM Construction of Long Beach.

In the city of Ocean Springs, aside from small additions to a few churches, there are no new churches being built.

In the city of Moss Point, a building permit was issued in September 2011 for the construction of Greater First Baptist Church on 6313 Plymouth St.

In the city of Gautier, "there are no churches under construction at this time," said Babs Logan, a planning technician with the city.

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Outlook: Greater Antioch's new church rising in Pascagoula

POSTED: 5:09 pm MDT May 25, 2012 UPDATED: 6:30 pm MDT May 25, 2012 AFTON, Wyo. -- The LDS Church announced the site for its Star Valley Wyoming Temple on Friday.The temple will be east of U.S. Highway 89 on the Haderlie Farm property south of Afton.Our (Latter-day Saint) community members are elated at the prospects of a temple in our valley, said Afton Mayor Loni Hillyard in a news release from the church. I view the temple as an asset and am certain it will have a positive effect on our entire community. We look forward to working with the architect and Church representatives as they move forward on this project.The temple was announced at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conference in October 2011.The church said Friday that temple construction is expected to take two years. When built, the temple will serve church members in western Wyoming. Members now travel to Idaho Falls and Rexburg to attend the temple.We truly believe this new temple will be a great asset not only to members of the Church but also to the people of the surrounding community, who will benefit from the peace and beauty a temple brings, said Jerry Hansen, local spokesman for the church. Temples are where members participate in the highest sacraments of our faith where we make and renew promises to God and to our families.The church has 137 temples, with 29 planned or under construction.LDS leaders haven't supplied details on the building itself yet. Doug Anderson with the LDS Church Media Department told the station earlier this month that he doesn't know if it will be built as a full-size version like the ones in Idaho Falls and Rexburg or on a smaller scale. View the discussion thread.blog comments powered by

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LDS Church Announces Star Valley Temple Site

DAVID HALLETT/Fairfax NZ

LOWERED: Christ Church Cathedral continues to come down despite efforts to stop it being demolished

A poll of 359 Cantabrians found the region torn over the fate of Christ Church Cathedral with a majority favoured demolition.

However, the comments from those polled revealed it was a tussle between our hearts and our heads. The former reflecting our emotional attachment to the iconic heritage building, the latter understanding that repairs for the cathedral would be costly and potentially dangerous.

You can read their comments here:

Reasons from those who think the Christ Church Cathedral should be demolished:

I don't like the idea of a church being the centre of the city. 30 - 59, Male

It seems too far gone. It seems to be a bit of a risk. 18 - 29, Male

I am anti-religion. 18 - 29, Male

The ground is not solid underneath the building, any quake that happens would ruin the building again. 18 - 29, Male

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Christ Church Cathedral - readers' comments

Collection buckets with Aryanna Schneeberg's face sit on countertops of businesses in Campbellsport.

The seven-year-old girl was struck in the back with an arrow while walking on Main Street Sunday evening. She's undergone surgery at Milwaukee's Children's Hospital and is listed in good condition.

What happened to the little girl is the talk of the town and beyond.

"Even in Fond du Lac, where the coverage was there, too, my neighbors were talking about it, too, that poor little girl that got hit by the arrow. So it has made quite a bit of news across probably I think the whole state," Bill Carey from Fond du Lac said.

People tell us it's not only that someone was shot by an arrow that has people talking but who it happened to.

"I thought it was a freaky thing. I mean you don't hear of an arrow just coming out of nowhere and hitting a little girl," Candy Hahn of Campbellsport said.

"I couldn't believe it. Well, you don't think for a town like this, things can happen like this," Keith Boettcher, who also lives in Campbellsport, said.

The randomness of the incident led investigators to offer a reward for help solving this case.

We're told it's an offer that's bringing in leads.

"We've received some support from the community, some information from the community that we're continuing to follow up on," Detective Nate LaMotte of the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department said. "And that was the reason that we did it the way we did it right now is that we need to get some stuff out to the community to get them involved in this, because that's what's going to assist in this investigation."

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Girl Shot by Arrow has the Community's Support

Belmond Hospital Administrator Nancy Gabrielson gave members of BIDCO a pictorial tour Monday night of the new $26 million addition at the Belmond Medical Center.

The audience was able to see photos of four floors, from the basement to the roof, and just about everything in between.

Gabrielson said the final touches are being put on the facility. The elevators are finished and working. The helicopter stop on the roof has passed inspection. The initial cleaning has been done, but a more critical cleaning remains before patients can move in and the emergency and operating rooms can be put into service. There are several small jobs being finished, and several state inspections must be completed before the building can be occupied. While the kitchen is being finished, meals are being brought in from the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond.

We hope to move patients into the new facility by the end of May or first part of June, Gabrielson said. But Ive learned not to get to get my hopes up because there are always delays. We still plan to have our public open house sometime in June. We will be taking down most of the fence around the building and getting the parking on Main Street opened back up.

Gabrielson said extra volunteers are being sought for the next few months to work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (hours are flexible). These volunteers will show visitors where to find things in the new addition.

A financial report from the first three quarters of the current fiscal year show that business at BMC continues to be strong. There have been 1,644 patient days in the hospital compared to 1,110 for the nine-month period one year ago. There have been 316 surgeries compared to 267 last year. Gross revenue is up over 18 percent.

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Hospital addition nearly finished