An Anaheim man suspected in the home-invasion robbery of a French Valley home in May was arrested Thursday after a freeway chase on Interstate 10, police said.

California Highway Patrol officers, assisting Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigators, used spike strips to stop the suspect's vehicle near Banning.

Donovan Marcus Cavin, 34, of Anaheim, was booked into Southwest Detention Center in French Valley on suspicion of home invasion robbery, evading arrest and conspiracy, jail records show. Bail was set at $150,000.

A suspected accomplice in the May 16 home invasion case, which involved two masked men tying up two female victims and robbing a French Valley home, was arrested shortly after the incident.

Investigators sought out the suspect arrested Thursday after getting a tip he was in Blythe, according to a news release written by Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Kevin McDonald.

On the way to Blythe around 7 p.m., investigators saw a car that matched the description of the suspect's car and a chase ensued, McDonald said.

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FRENCH VALLEY: Home-invasion suspect collared after I-10 chase

MEADVILLE It was close, but thanks to local residents, Hospice of Crawford County has won $10,000 worth of free flooring in a nationwide contest for a planned Hospice House.

We won by 40 votes, Gina McCauley, program director for Hospice of Crawford County, said in a news conference Friday announcing the win.

Hospice of Crawford County and Foulks Flooring America won the $10,000 prize of carpeting/flooring in the recent Flooring America Stainmaster Carpets nationwide Improve Your Home, Improve Your Hometown contest.

Hospice of Crawford County plans to open Hospice House, a residential home on North Wayland Road between Meadville and Titusville, for patients with life-limiting illnesses. The new home is undergoing renovation and is expected to open in November, McCauley said.

Hospice of Crawford County was chosen as the non-profit beneficiary to win the donation since Foulks was voted the winner in the special online contest that took place from April 9 to May 20. Foulks was the top vote-getter among the 550 Flooring America stores across the U.S. Each store had a designated charity or non-profit organization.

McCauley said the staff at Hospice of Crawford County was deeply humbled by the massive outpouring of support the agency received in the flooring contest.

Truly, the dream of a hospice house would still be a dream without the active participation and support of our community, McCauley said. We gratefully thank all of our supporters for their ongoing support of our hospice program.

The contest was an opportunity for Stainmaster Carpet, in partnership with Flooring America, to acknowledge the importance of small business owners, charities and non-profits in the communities where they operate, said Mike Foulk.

We chose Hospice of Crawford County because of its remarkable commitment to our community, said Foulk. Hospice House will be a wonderful place for patients, and relaxing for them.

Voters in the internet-based contest had to be 18 years or older and only one vote per email address was accepted. While final vote totals werent revealed, Meadville, with 13,388 residents, won by 40 votes by topping Evansville, Ind., with 117,429 residents and Columbia, Mo., with 108,500 residents, as well as beating out sites in major markets such as Chicago and St. Louis.

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Hospice wins $10K flooring prize

INDIANAPOLIS, June 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Unique Home Solutions, a leading home remodeler in Indianapolis, has been awarded a 2012 Guildmaster Award for exceptional customer satisfaction. GuildQuality, an independent customer satisfaction surveying company, has powered the Guildmaster Awards since 2005 to celebrate service excellence in the building, remodeling, contracting, and real estate professions.

Unique Home Solutions was one of the nearly 200 home builders, remodelers, developers and contractors throughout North America recognized for their superlative performance by GuildQuality. When Unique Home Solutions applied for a Guildmaster Award, they verified that they had provided GuildQuality with a complete and unabridged customer list. In addition, Unique Home Solutions achieved a recommendation rate of greater than 90% from their clients surveyed through GuildQuality.

"We are honored to have been awarded the GuildMaster Award. The reason it means so much to us is because it was solely based on our customer's feedback. We strive to not only give our customers a quality product, but a lifetime of quality workmanship and quality customer service. Winning this award means we are meeting these expectations, and we will use this award as motivation to continue providing our customers with the service they deserve," said Bob Dillon, President of Unique Home Solutions.

For more on the 2012 Guildmaster Award winners and qualifications, visit http://www.guildquality.com/guildmaster/.

About Unique Home Solutions

Unique Home Solutions is Central Indiana's largest home remodeling company specializing in interior and exterior remodeling. As an employee owned and operated company, Unique is proud to have served over 25,000 satisfied customers in our 29 years in business. Unique provides Indiana homeowners with custom designed energy efficient solutions for the home, from the top of the roof to the basement floor. For more information on Unique Home Solutions, products or services visit http://www.UniqueHomeSolutions.org

About GuildQuality

GuildQuality's community of quality includes the best remodelers, homebuilders, developers, and home services contractors in the United States and Canada. By using GuildQuality's independent surveying, members collect objective feedback from their customers and use that feedback in their pursuit of continuous improvement in the quality of their service.

Contact: Lindsey Richardt 317-337-9300 lrichardt@uniquehomesolutions.org

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Unique Home Solutions Recognized among the Nation's Best in the Building Industry for their Commitment to Customer ...

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 8, 2012) - Construction Control Inc.("CCI") announced the acquisition of VVV Engineering Ltd.("VVV"), a Burnaby, BC based building science engineering consulting firm.VVV will supplement CCI's growing presence in Western Canada, with its established market position in British Columbia and its strong experience in building envelope, structural and related engineering services.The partnership of these two organizations joins both a similar set of values as well as a wealth of engineering expertise across Canada.

"We are very pleased to have Val Varga and his team join CCI and look forward to working with them," said Dr.Gina Cody, President of CCI."By combining our broad platform of services with VVV's strong local presence in the Greater Vancouver market, we will be better able to serve our clients nationally."

"We are extremely excited about the resources, experience and depth of technical knowledge we now have access to," said Val Varga, Principal of VVV Engineering."CCI is an ideal partner for us as we look to expand in the growing Western Canadian market."

About VVV Engineering Ltd.

Founded in 2001, VVV is an experienced building science consulting firm located in Burnaby, British Columbia.It provides professional engineering consulting services for the residential and commercial sector; specializing in Building Envelope Design, Architectural Envelope Design, Structural Design, Failure Analysis, Materials Inspections, Roofing and Contract Administration for both new construction and rehabilitation projects.

About Construction Control Inc.

Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Toronto, CCI is a multidisciplinary engineering firm that provides engineering services related to the construction and rehabilitation of building structures.With offices across Canada, the company services a variety of established customers, including leading financial institutions, REITs, property managers, condominium corporations and government institutions.With an employee base consisting of experienced engineers, building scientists, and environmental specialists, CCI provides a full scope of engineering services across the life cycle of a building.

Contacts

Dr.Gina Cody, P.Eng., F.E.C. Construction Control Inc. President 905-856-5200 Ext.266 ginac@constructioncontrol.com

Valentin Varga, P.Eng. VVV Engineering Ltd. Principal 604-454-9000 val@vvvengineering.com

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Construction Control Expands Presence in Western Canada, by Acquiring VVV Engineering

GREENSBORO, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Varrow today announced that it received the 2011 EMC Velocity Services Quality (VSQ) Award for the fourth consecutive year from EMC Corporation for achieving outstanding service excellence and customer satisfaction as measured by the EMC Velocity Services Quality (VSQ) program. Varrow was honored with the VSQ award during EMCs Global Partner Summit at EMC World in Las Vegas, NV, which took place from May 21 22, 2012.

The EMC VSQ program is a project-specific survey program designed for partners with Velocity Services designations to solicit customer feedback about the quality of the partners service engagements.

Being recognized by EMC in this way is an honor and also serves as a testament to our hard work and talented team members, said Dan Weiss, co-founder and CEO of Varrow.

Its great to see that we have a number of Velocity Solution Provider Partners around the world who continue to drive and deliver outstanding levels of customer service to their customers. The survey results demonstrate that these partners have embraced and honed their EMC services skills set to maintain high levels of customer satisfaction, said Brian Abernethy, Senior Manager, EMC Partner Services - Americas. As an EMC Velocity Services Quality Award winner, Varrow demonstrates leadership in service delivery quality and exemplifies the attributes to which EMC holds its own Global Services organization.

EMC Velocity Services designation enables a select community of trained and certified EMC authorized partners to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of services ranging from installation and implementation to technical support. These partners provide value-added services to address the most crucial aspects of a customers information technology infrastructure.

About Varrow

Varrow provides world-class technology solutions through advanced consulting, design, and managed services from the industrys most talented engineers. Our solution focus includes data storage management, virtualization, and disaster recovery. Varrow is certified at the highest datacenter level with Cisco, EMC and VMware. Varrow is vBlock certified, a certified Cisco Datacenter Networking and Storage partner and UCS Advanced Technology Partner, a Premier VMware partner, and was named EMCs Commercial partner of the year in 2009 and 2010. In 2010 and 2011 Varrow was recognized with the VAR 500 award. Varrow was recognized for CRN Tech Elite 250 list, Inc. 500 for 2010, 2011, and 2012. Varrow was #1 on the Triad Fast 50 for 2010 and 2011. In 2012 Varrow was ranked in the CRN Tech elite 250, was one of only 10 VMware Partners in the world to achieve Virtualizing Business Critical Applications (VBCA) Competency, and named the Architectural Excellence - Data Center Partner: South Region by Cisco. Also in 2012, Varrow was also selected as one of 12 VMware Partners in North America to participate in the VMware View Focus Partner Program as well as being named to the 19th annual Solution Provider 500. Learn more about Varrow by visiting http://www.varrow.com

EMC and Velocity are trademarks or registered trademark of EMC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Varrow Receives EMC Velocity Services Quality Award at EMC’s 2012 Global Partner Summit

by KVUE News

kvue.com

Posted on June 8, 2012 at 5:31 PM

AUSTIN -- Friday marks four years since an arsonist heavily damaged the Texas Governor's Mansion.

The blaze in the early morning of June 8, 2008, raised questions about security. Only one trooper was on duty and was not watching any of the security cameras.

An investigation found that seven of the mansion's 20 cameras were broken, and that motion detectors did not work.

In Feb. 2011, surveillance video was released. It shows a lighter flash just before a shadowy figure throws a Molotov cocktail onto the front porch.

Today the mansion remains surrounded by green security fences as restoration work continues. It's expected to cost more than $24 million, and there's no word when it will be completed.

The man believed to have thrown the Molotov cocktail is described as white, 5'10" tall, weighing 175 to 185 pounds, and he has a medium build. His age was not released. KVUE is told he is a Texas resident.

While the mansion is being repaired, Governor Perry's been living in a home in Westlake that costs taxpayers $10,000 a month.

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Restoration continues on Governor's Mansion four years after fire

Thomas and Stacy Carpenter and their three children were prepared to move into their new Habitat for Humanity home on Chester Street just days before last Christmas.

The move was not to be, however, as a fire ripped through the structure, gutting the inside of the building and destroying its roof.

On Friday, after six months of renovations and restoration work, the family finally moved into the home, the Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity's 47th.

During a ceremony dedicating the home, Larry Keisner, chapter construction manager, presented keys to the home to the Carpenters and their children Alyia, 8, Thomas, 6, and Marlin, 4.

"This is a real joyous occasion, especially if you saw this home back in December and (knew) the sadness that went along with it," said Earl Kinter, chapter board president.

The house previously had been occupied by a Habitat family. When that family outgrew the four-bedroom home, it was sold back to the chapter. The chapter had it for only two weeks and was getting ready to hand the keys to it over to the Carpenters just before Christmas when the fire occurred.

Thomas Carpenter said he was picking up a co-worker who lived in the neighborhood the following morning when he saw the burned-out structure.

Carpenter said he could not believe his eyes when he saw the building.

"I said, 'Did I just see what I thought I saw?' Then I said, 'That does not look good,'" Carpenter said. "We were going to move in two weeks."

Instead, they remained at Journey House, a facility designed to allow homeless families to transition into independent living. Journey House was launched about four years ago as an initiative of New Covenant United Church of Christ.

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Habitat homecoming in city delayed no longer

MEDIA RELEASE 09.06.2012

Restoration of historic art gallery epitomises excellence

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tmaki has cemented its place as the countrys top commercial property development for 2012, receiving highest honours at the annual Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards last night.

The Category One heritage building was judged against seven other finalists, classed as the best of the best, to take home the Rider Levett Bucknall Supreme Award in front of 980 guests at a black tie gala dinner at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland. The award was presented by Hon Steven Joyce. Deemed as a very worthy recipient by the judging panel, this property took out Best in Category in both the Coffey Projects Education and Arts Property Award and the Hawkins Construction Heritage and Adaptive Reuses Property Award.

The judges were impressed with the total scope of the project, the attention to detail, the tireless commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders in the delivery of a unique project incorporating stunning architectural and engineering features and delivering a world class, future proofed facility that will provide tangible benefits to New Zealand for generations.

Constructed by Hawkins Construction for Regional Facilities Auckland, the development includes the restoration of two heritage buildings, a new building extension that doubles the available exhibition and public areas, new basement storage and services areas, and a redesigned interface with Albert Park. In total, the project extends over 14,350m2.

This building was constructed from New Zealand kauri for the ceiling of the gallery, German Jura stone for the exterior, American white oak for the floor and specialised glass from Europe, America and Asia.

Its design was developed from a concept related as much to the organic natural forms of the park as the architectural order and character of the legacy buildings. In particular, the building features a series of fine tree-like canopies that define and cover the entry forecourt and atrium areas. These light, profiled forms are inspired by the adjacent canopy of pohutukawa and hover over the stone walls and terraces that reinterpret the sites topography.

A record 82 properties were evaluated as finalists in this years awards - evidence of confidence returning to the industry in the opinion of Property Councils chief executive Connal Townsend. However, less than half of the finalists managed to secure an award 16 Excellence and 21 Merit awards were presented to developments across the country. This included awards given to developments in Auckland (21), Wellington (5), Christchurch (5), Hamilton (2), Tauranga (1), Mt Maunganui (1), Whakapapa (1), Rotorua (1) and Dunedin (1).

Only properties selected as the best of the Excellence winners in each category were eligible to be considered for the Supreme Award a change in process to provide better acknowledgement for the most outstanding property among those awarded excellence in each category, said Mr Townsend. With a record number of properties to evaluate over the last few years, we decided to add a new bar of recognition to help streamline the administration of the competition, he said. This helped by providing a more succinct finalist list for the pre-eminent supreme award, and more importantly, it has allowed the winners to receive the recognition they deserve.

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Restoration of historic art gallery epitomises excellence

TAHLEQUAH Restoring an old home may seem like a dream come true for preservation clubs, but the actual process requires hard work, determination, and an eye for detail.

The process on how the Thompson House became a historical site was Beth Herringtons topic Thursday during Oklahomas 24th annual Statewide Preservation Conference at the Armory Municipal Center.

Herrington said anyone considering a restoration project should have her eyes open, and before she begins, understand the hard facts of what that restoration will entail.

Among the steps are considering whether the site has a family or architecturally historical significance to the community; researching the physical properties of the building to see if can be restored; conducting an analysis of community support for the restoration project; and determining where will the monetary support will come from for maintenance and care of the site.

Herrington also said anyone working on this type of project should keep notes and records on the entire process.

The Thompson House was the home of Dr. Joseph M. Thompson and his family, who lived in it from 1889 to 1935. Thompsons father came to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

According to Herrington, the catalyst for the research process for the Thompson House restoration began when a newspaper article reported the Cherokee County commissioners were asking for bids for the buildings demolition.

This was in the 1980s, she said.

Several community women thought the destruction of the home was a bad idea.

Our first step was to pass a petition around to see if saving the Thompson House had community support behind it, said Herrington.

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Restoration basics

File Photo

by R.L. Nave June 8, 2012

A Utah private-prison firm will take over running the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons from The GEO Group. Management & Training Corporation, based in Ogden, Utah, will also assume management of East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs.

The 10-year deal between MTC and the Mississippi Department of Corrections is worth $430 million, the Salt Lake Tribune reported yesterday. Neither MTC nor MDOC officials have returned our calls for comment at this time. With the Mississippi additions, MTC runs 22 state and federal prisons in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas and, now, Mississippi. MTC is also the nation's largest contractor with the federal Labor Department's Job Corps program, operating 19 Job Corps sites across 16 states.

The announcement raised eyebrows in prisoner-rights advocacy circles, which say private prison companies have a poor track record in the state.

Gail Tyree, a Soros Justice Fellow and an organizer against private prisons across the South, said she was disappointed to hear the news that a different private firm would be getting the contracts.

"Looking at their history, private prisons are giving Mississippi a black eye," Tyree told the Jackson Free Press.

As evidence, Tyree points to the beleaguered Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Leake County. Opened in 2000, Walnut Grove housed youth between 13 and 22 who were tried and convicted as adults. In Nov. 2010, civil-rights attorney Robert B. McDuff and lawyers from the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union sued MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps, other state officials and the prison's Boca Raton, Fla.-based operator, The GEO Group, on behalf of incarcerated young men who alleged ongoing negligence and abuse.

In February 2012, the parties reached a settlement. Under the federal court decree, MDOC agreed to move the boys from Walnut Grove to a facility that would operate on principles of juvenile justice rather than standards of the adult prison system. The decree required Mississippi to offer an array of educational and rehabilitation programs and prohibited the state from putting children in its custody in solitary confinement.

Subsequently, GEO and MDOC agreed to terminate all the company's contracts with the state. Around the same time, MDOC and Corrections Corporation of America, agreed to terminate CCA's contract to manage the Delta Correctional Center in Greenwood. CCA, which ran three state prisons and one federal facility in Mississippi, said it could no longer manage the prison more efficiently than the state could.

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Utah Firm to Manage Three State Prisons