U-T San Diego reporters may soon be sharing their space with cranes and construction crews as newspaper owner and developer Doug Manchester prepares to build a mixed-use development at the newspaper's Mission Valley property, according to notices surrounding the building.

According to the City of San Diego "notice of application," Manchester plans to build 198 residential condominium units, each with parking, 6,470 square feet of retail space, and 234,415 square feet of office space.

Since buying the paper formerly known as the Union-Tribune in November, Manchester has invested in the newspaper's headquarters building, adding a television studio and a restaurant on the lower floor. But many observers thought his primary interest in the newspaper was the real estate, and this move seems to give credibility to that notion.

Neither U-T San Diego Publisher John Lynch nor U-T San Diego editor Jeff Light immediately returned calls for comment.

At least one newsroom staffer was unaware of the project when reached for comment.

The San Diego County assessor values the 12.9-acre headquarters at $51 million, but its tax valuation hasn't changed in decades.

The move to build to add so much office space comes as the market for top-quality office space has tightened in recent months, though the project will likely need years to come to fruition.

Manchester previously confirmed that he paid $110 million to Beverly Hills-based private equity firm Platinum Equity to buy U-T San Diego, and that the paper was earning roughly $30 million by one measure ---- sometimes referred to as a company's EBITDA, an acronym for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Manchester has a long history as a developer in the region, having tried to build hotels in Oceanside and in downtown San Diego, and having built the Manchester Grand Hyatt near the San Diego Convention Center.

The plans for the development at U-T headquarters must still go before the Mission Valley Planning Group and the San Diego Planning Commission, and receive approval from the San Diego City Council.

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DEVELOPMENT: Doug Manchester to build condos, office complex on U-T San Diego land

MOUNT VERNON

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com Staff Writer

MOUNT VERNON -- The three-story yellow wooden Oddfellows Hall just feet from Minnehonk Lake caught the eye of Dutch woodworker, craftsman and designer Erik Groenhout.

click image to enlarge

Erik Groenhout is restoring the former Odd Fellows Lodge in Mount Vernon. The Dutch woodworker is building a production space to build cabinets within the prominent structure on Minnehonk Lake.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

click image to enlarge

Erik Groenhout insects a woodworking tool he sharpened Monday in the interior of the former Odd Fellows Lodge he is restoring in Mount Vernon. The Dutch woodworker is restoring the prominent structure on Minnehonk Lake to open a cabinet making business.

Staff photo by Andy Molloy

Almost two years ago, he and his wife, Rachel, were looking for a home in Maine where he could also practice his craft.

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Dutch woodworker takes on restoration project

Scout at Quarters D

Location: 2675 Rosecrans St. in Point Loma

Contact: (619) 518-8374; scout-home.com

Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Background: According to a 2008 historic structures report by Johnson & Johnson Architects, the four Officers Quarters buildings were overseen by architect Lincoln Rogers, possibly designed by his associate Frank Stevenson and built by contractor R.E. Campbell in 1923. Quarters A was the home for the highest-ranking base officer and Quarters D for the second-highest.

Officers Quarters D, a 1923 house at the old Naval Training Center in Point Loma, came back to life this week as Scout at Quarters D, a home furnishings shop specializing in pre-World War II designs.

It's more than a place to buy fancy wallpaper and a vintage lamp. The $850,000 restoration of the building at 2675 Rosecrans St. signals to passersby that the former military base, now called Liberty Station, continues on its path as a new neighborhood where you can live, work, shop and play.

"This was a part of San Diego people couldn't come to," said Alan Ziter, executive director of theNTC Foundation, which oversees restoration of historic buildings on the site. "It was a forbidden kingdom with guards and gates."

Turned over to the city in 1997, the 558-acre property has become home to some of the cultural and recreational activities normally housed in Balboa Park. Unlike the park, Liberty Station is on its own budget-wise; users, residents and businesses have to cover maintenance and other costs.

Still, Paul Silvera was drawn to the setting and the opportunity to turn a military manse into a showcase for living.

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Officer's house becomes home furnishings shop at Liberty Station

Second-generation craftsman Bob Bigelow recently opened his furniture restoration business in a permanent, downtown Woodland location after seven years of operating out of his home.

Bigelow & Associates Antique Restoration and Fine Woodworking, located at 418 First St., is an outfit that restores all types of furniture, yet has masterful expertise specifically in antique rehabilitation.

"I try to take the least evasive role to preserve the value of the antique, which means I use alternative methods like colored wax and cleaning techniques," Bigelow said about his strategy. "I like things to be restored to their original condition."

Bigelow is additionally adept at the rare art of caning, or the weaving of bamboo on a chair with bamboo reed. Caning is either hand loomed or made from a press. According to the craftsman, it takes around 20 years to become proficient in the trade.

"Caning is an artwork and there's very few of us left who do it," he said. "I'm carrying on a tradition my father started."

Bigelow's father, the late Kenneth Bigelow, taught furniture restoration and chair caning at Woodland Adult Education for 20 years. The younger Bigelow learned caning and woodworking as his father's an apprentice, and has "worked with wood his whole life."

"My dad was a real expert in caning," Bigelow said. "He could tell the difference between hand-woven and machine-woven (bamboo)."

Bigelow completed college and graduate work in Computer Assisted

When building the woodworking studio, which opened in February, Bigelow said he set out to design an "old-time workshop." The rustic-yet-modern ambiance is ideal for the intricacies of restoration such as tightening joints, filling holes, sanding, painting, spindle replacement and finish rejuvenation.

The wood artist is open to all projects, whether it's stripping down a piece and applying a new stain, or minor repairs. Bigelow is further equipped to custom design and build furniture upon a customers request and specification, such as a table and chairs set in a unique shape.

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Bigelow, a master in antique rehabilitation, opens new downtown Woodland shop

Bonus ceiling for workers increased CABINET DECIDES BS Reporters / New DelhiOctober 02, 2007 The Union Cabinet today cleared a scheme through which bonus ceilings for both private and public sector workers would be raised. The move will cost the Union government Rs 125 crore and an undisclosed sum for the private sector. This was the first meeting of the Cabinet after two weeks as the PM had been unwell. The Cabinet approved an increase in the ceiling for bonus calculation to Rs 3,500 from the current level of Rs 2,500. In order to bring more workers within the ambit of bonus, the eligibility limit for bonus has also been raised. Now, workers whose basic and Dearness Allowance is less than Rs 10,000 are eligible for bonus. Earlier, workers earning upto Rs 6,000 were covered under bonus act. To pave the way for these two hikes, the government will amend section 2(13) and 12 of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. Section 32(vi) of the act will be deleted to cover the employees employed through contractors on building operations, Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes announced. Bonus corrections were promised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August, 2006. In a meeting with labour Unions, PM had said, I agree that current ceilings were set more than a decade ago. We will soon take a favourable decision on it. Then, at the Indian Labour Conference held in April this year, Labour Ministry again assured that it would raise the bar. However, nothing happened in the intervening period - until the Left parties announced their differences with the centre and the prospects of mid-term election imminent. The Cabinet, further, gave its approval, for signing of an agreement between India and Philippines, on the abolition of visa requirement, for holders of diplomatic and official passports. The Agreement would be signed during the visit of the President of Philippines to India on October 5, this year. The Philippines will become the 36th country with which India has signed this agreement. The acquisition of a new research vessel as a replacement of Geological Survey of Indias aging research vessel- Samudra Manthan, also got the Cabinets approval today. The vessel, for carrying out seabed surveys and exploration of non-living resources, would cost the government Rs 448 crore. Bonus ceiling for workers increased CABINET DECIDES BS Reporters / New Delhi Oct 02, 2007, 00:12 IST

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Bonus ceiling for workers increased

LEDtronics, Inc. 23105 Kashiwa Court Torrance, CA, 90505, USA

LEDtronics, Inc., the industry's most innovative LED lamp manufacturer since 1983, announces a series of T5 tube-style LED lamps as direct replacement for 12V xenon and halogen T3/T4 subminiature glass bulbs from 4 to 15 watts, including Xenon 1205X (5W) and Halogen lamps 774 (8W), 891 (8W, 12.8V) and 773 (8W).

The LEDtronics LEDG4BP-2W series of lamps work with high-frequency power supplies for 12VDC or 12VAC, and consume only 0.8 watts at 12VAC, and 1.4 watts at 12VDC voltage input - this adds up to 90% reduction in power consumption.

These subminiature lamps come with a dual-pin G4 base and are available in 3000K warm white or 5500K pure white light colors. They are a perfect fit in applications such as pendant lamps, under-cabinet lighting, landscape lighting, electric signs, scoreboards, step lights, puck downlights, RVs, boats, car bulbs, ceiling fans and anywhere T3 or T4 halogen bulbs are used. A removable 5.2mm lead spacer is included.

Read the complete Press Release and down-load the high-res product images at; http://www.ledtronics.com/Media/Press...

Webpage to browse the on-line product information for the LEDG4BP-2W Series: http://www.ledtronics.com/Products/Pr...

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LED Bulbs are offered as xenon and halogen replacements.

Dustin and Patti Lavallee's project to remake their unfinished, dank basement into a full-on, mini apartment landed Dustin in the ER only three times.

Once he was in a hurry to cut something; twice he didn't use protective goggles.

He imparts these lessons learned with the skill of the middle-school teacher he is: holding his hand up to prove his thumb is still attached; pointing to his eyes, which still work.

The project transformed 800 square feet of, well, not much -- other than a washer and dryer as far from the stairs as possible, some water damage along the side wall, a toilet sort of in the middle of nowhere, and a few windows tucked up next to the ceiling.

The one thing the space had was a ceiling high enough for 6-foot-2 Dustin to clear.

The other thing the space had was two owners with smarts, design savvy, patience and pluck.

"You really have to see what it used to look like," Dustin says, walking down the newly re-coated concrete stairs, explaining that there was one load-bearing wall and an exposed furnace and water heater.

"It was icky," he says.

But not any longer.

In a year of weeknights and weekends, the Lavallees created a basement in their Northeast Portland home worthy of renting out -- something they considered until they fell in love with it too much.

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Remodeling a basement into a mini-apartment (with tips on how to avoid the ER)

By MONICA DRAKE - monica.drake@oakpress.com; Twitter: @monica_adele

Students wait in the lunch line at Clarkston High School recently. The Clarkston School District is the subject of a $20 million bond issue that raises annual taxes by 1 mill per year for Clarkston residents. The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON

Residents within the Clarkston School District will have a decision to make on Tuesday, May 8 whether to support the $20 million school bond proposal.

The bond would be used for remodeling, equipping and furnishing school buildings; acquiring and installing educational technology in school buildings; and developing and improving athletic facilities and sites.

Every student and teacher within the school district would have access to a handheld technology device, such as an iPad, according to administration.

The current enrollment of the school district is about 8,100 students. The bond series would provide the district with $10 million in 2012 and $5 million each in 2016 and 2020.

Supporters, who call themselves Clarkston Kids First, stressed that this bond will allow the school district to catch up with surrounding districts.

Clarkston Kids First member Aimee Baker, mother of a fifth-grader and a ninth-grader, said, Were not trying to lead the way. Were just trying to catch up.

George White, former principal of Pine Knob Elementary and former Clarkston High School teacher, said, Were trying to provide an opportunity for our kids to be competitive when they leave Clarkston Schools and go into the work force so they have similar skills and a similar background to move forward.

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$20M school bond issue that includes remodeling and possibly an iPad for every student at forefront in Clarkston WITH ...

The Broadway Historic District of Rock Island is a roughly 30-square-block area between 17th and 23rd streets and 7th and 13th avenues.

The tract includes about 550 Victorian-era homes in the architectural styles of Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Italianate and Second Empire. The earliest home was built in 1854.

About 25 years ago, more than half of the homes in the area below the hill had become rentals, some of them owned by absentee landlords who did not always keep them up and some with tenants who were known to deal drugs. The once-elegant residential neighborhood had fallen on hard times.

In 1988, a core group of strong-willed homeowners organized an association to help revitalize the neighborhood. They dubbed both the group and the area Broadway, which was 23rd Streets original name.

The association has spearheaded many projects over the years, including getting the area listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Other efforts are the annual tour of homes, a website (broadwaydistrict.org), the installation of sign toppers to identify the area and neighborhood unveilings in which neighbors gather to remove synthetic siding from homes.

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What is Broadway?

Marcia Heroux Pounds, Sun Sentinel

8:00 a.m. EDT, May 4, 2012

South Florida roofing company White Star Roofing Inc. has been cited by federal safety agency OSHA for eight safety violations.

OSHA initiated an inspection after a compliance officer noticed potential violations at a work site at 201 Seven Isles Drive in Fort Lauderdale , where the companys workers were putting a new roof on a building. Proposed penalties total $62,400.

In one instance, the company was cited for allowing workers to operate on a steep roof without a harness to prevent a fall.

White Star Roofing, which could not be reached for comment late Thursday, also was cited for seven safety violations that involve failing to train workers on fall-prevention awareness and on using harnesses, or providing other personal protective equipment such as gloves and eyewear on hot asphalt.

Falls are a leading cause of workplace fatalities, and workers deserve a hazard-free environment, said Darlene Fossum, director of OSHA's Fort Lauderdale-area office.

White Star Roofing has 15 business days to respond to or contest the citations.

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South Florida roofing firm cited for safety violations