It is a rite of passage: Each spring, students begin internships, start waiting tables on patios or knock on doors for work as painters or landscapers.

No doubt, landing those jobs got more difficult through the recession and have stayed tough since. Last summer, the average number of hours worked at all student jobs was among the lowest since data-keeping began in 1977.

A first indication of this season's hiring activity will come on Friday, when Statistics Canada releases its summer labour market for students in tandem with its labour force survey.

It's shaping up to be a summer of discontent for many young people as Quebec's demonstrations show.

Not only is it is more difficult to find well-paying jobs, but also tuition costs are outpacing inflation and student debt is ballooning.

Nearly a million young Canadians were neither in school nor holding down a job last year, a Statistics Canada study found last week for reasons ranging from having babies to being on sick leave, doing volunteer work or feeling too discouraged to look for work.

The survey found that 13 per cent of the nearly seven million Canadians between the ages of 15 and 29 weren't in school nor at work last year.

Last year, the jobless rate in May for students in their early twenties was 15 per cent, an improvement from 2010's 16.5 per cent.

For the whole summer of 2011, among all students the unemployment rate was 17.2 per cent higher than the previous year and above 2006 to 2008 levels.

Statscan tracks the job market for students from May to August, for people aged 15 to 24 (who must have been attending school, full time, in March and plan to return to school in the fall).

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Summer of discontent shaping up for students

From NeighborhoodNotes.com: If you were a tourist, you'd probably be surprised to discover that Portland, a city with such a reputation for rain, is home to so much al fresco dining and drinking. But it makes sense. When the sun is out, so are we. And, whether we're ready to start the day or call it a day, we often flock to one of our city's many superb outdoor patios. So, next time the sun is shining, here are some patios that you should visit. Interurban This small, saloon-slash-gastropub specializes in two things: small plates of well-made food and strong drinks stirred by people who know what they're doing. For instance, that big ice cube in your glass? That's not their way of glomming on to the latest trend; thats their way of making sure your bourbon stays cold without getting watered down. Seriously, ask the bartenders about their ice program, and how they aspire to have ice that's as transparent as a clean window, all in the service of keeping your drink colder, longer. Forecast: This patio seats approximately 40 or 50 and is split in two levels, including a deck with five large brushed metal tables and a built-in, wooden banquette. The best time to grab a spot is during weekend brunches, otherwise you're leaving it to chance, especially if the weather's warm and sunny. READ THE REST at NeighborhoodNotes.com:

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Six Portland patios that are great for outdoor dining, drinking

A nearly $50 million project will soon bring 143 new units of affordable housing to the Flushing community, as well as additional retail space.

A nearly $50 million project will soon bring 143 new units of affordable housing to the Flushing community, as well as additional retail space.

Last week, the citys Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Mathew Wambua, the citys Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Marc Jahr, project developer BRP Companies Managing Partner Meredith Marshall, and Macedonia AME Church Senior Pastor Reverend Richard McEachern announced they have closed on $49.6 million in construction financing for the Macedonia Plaza mixed-use development.

Located at 136-50 37th Avenue, Macedonia Plaza will add 143 newly-constructed units of affordable housing. This project, which will be developed by BRP Companies, will transform an underused municipal parking lot into a thriving community hub with affordable low-income apartments, community facility space and economic opportunity through the addition of new retail space.

Macedonia Plaza is part of Mayor Michael Bloombergs New Housing Marketplace Plan (NHMP). The NHMP is a multi-billion dollar initiative to finance 165,000 units of affordable housing for half a million New Yorkers by the close of Fiscal Year 2014. For every dollar invested by the city, the NHMP has leveraged $3.41 in private funding, amounting to a total commitment to date of more than $19.4 billion to fund the creation or preservation of over 130,700 units of affordable housing across the five boroughs. More than 12,519 units have been financed in Queens.

Financing the transaction that allows Macedonia Plaza to be built is another important step in fulfilling the Mayors New Housing Marketplace Plans goal of creating or preserving 165,000 home by the close of the 2014 fiscal year, said Wambua. To date weve financed the construction or preservation of more than 130,700 homes, and every one of those units represents a family in need. In BRP Companies and Macedonia AME Church we have dedicated partners who are helping to bring affordable, sustainable housing to the Flushing community, and an opportunity for stability to hardworking New York families.

Macedonia Plaza will be constructed on approximately 30,000 square-feet of the current municipal parking lot, which was conveyed to the developer at a nominal cost to help subsidize the affordability of this development.

When complete, Macedonia Plaza will be 14 stories tall with 143 affordable apartments;113 of the apartments will be available to low-income families earning not more than $48,140 for a family of four. Nearly 30 of the apartments will be available for low-income families earning not more than $31,540 for a family of four. There will be one apartment reserved for the buildings superintendent. The unit distribution will include 27 studios, 58 onebedroom apartments, 55 twobedroom apartments, and two threebedroom apartments. It is anticipated that construction will be complete in the spring of 2014.

The total development cost for the Macedonia Plaza project is $49.6 million. HDC is providing a $26.3 million first mortgage and $9.3 million in tax-exempt bond subsidy through its Low-Income Affordable Marketplace Program (LAMP). HPD is providing $5.1 million in city capital funding and $1.7 million in federal HOME funding. Hudson Housing Capital is providing $1.8 million in tax credit equity, and BRP Companies has allocated $5.4 million for this project.

In additional to the affordable residential component, the Macedonia Plaza development will include approximately 6,287 square-feet of new retail space, and 2,767 square-feet of community space. It will also incorporate green building practices and amenities consistent with the citys mission to produce affordable, healthy and sustainable housing.

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Flushing set to get affordable housing, retail space

01-06-2012 22:27 I was looking around on a few old backup hard drives and found this old video of a restoration project we did in 2009. This is the only video of this job I can find. If I find more I will post it. Cross is the name of the customer. This home is over 100 years old and is in a historic neighborhood where strict restoration standards are required. The perfect project for artisans 🙂 Music; SOLO ACOUSTIC GUITAR by Jason Shaw is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 United States License.

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Archive Digging - Cross Restoration of 2009 - Video

02-06-2012 04:16 Finally!!! I am more than happy to announce that this will be my last video (EVER) in NY... The last 5 years as a New York-an have been frustratingly beautiful, full of torture and pain, oops I mean love and grace. One things for sure, I know I'll never be the same...yay!!! See ya wouldn't wanna be ya.

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He Lives: Testimony about Restoration

If you can't prevent a home repair crisis, the best you can do in advance is to know the tradesmen you can trust, or at least how to find one. The Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona maintains a free list of accredited businesses. The rating is based on the number of complaints and how they were handled.

The Arizona Registrar of Contractors maintains a public list of contractors, their license status, how long they have been licensed, and information on complaints open and closed, including those that were resolved, withdrawn, resulted in discipline or were affected by a contractor's bankruptcy.

Know good tradesmen

Make your own emergency services list by trading names with friends and neighbors who have experience with specific firms or individual tradesmen.

Better yet, use your experience with quality tradesmen who've done your home's preventive maintenance during less critical moments. Besides possibly avoiding some emergencies, their routine maintenance work will give you a better idea of their workmanship than comparing the size of ads in a crisis.

Also, when a freak storm hits blowing off roofs or a snap hard freeze bursts pipes all over the city, contractors can be backed up for days or even weeks. So, it can't hurt to call a company with whom you're already a customer in good standing.

"A lot of times what happens is if I've got a customer, if something happens, even if I can't get out there right away (to do the repair), I might be able to put a band-aid on it to buy a little time until I can get out and do a repair," says Mike Blass, owner of Blass Roofing.

Consider a restoration firm

And when he's too swamped, Blass said he recommends calling a company like Better Way Services, one of several emergency and restoration services companies that do whatever needs to be done, quickly.

"They'll even take your furniture out of your house and put it in storage," says Blass. "If there's a storm or broken waterline, whatever, a home and some kind of catastrophe, day or night, I don't care, they send somebody out. ... "

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... Home-repair crisis averted

As the McHenry Mansion undergoes restoration after December's fire, it seems appropriate to answer a reader's question about Modesto's most celebrated home.

It is a logical query: "How did the city get the McHenry Mansion? Did they buy it, and, if so, how much did it cost?"

A brief historical review is needed.

Two years after Oramil McHenry's death in 1906, his widow, Myrtie, remarried. The groom was lawyer William Langdon, whom the newspapers described as "the fighting district attorney of San Francisco County."

After Langdon's term of office expired, he and Myrtie McHenry moved back to Modesto and into the downtown mansion. Eventually, he became a local Superior Court judge, and the couple had two children. They also were raising young Merl McHenry, whose father was Oramil.

The McHenry period ended in 1919 when the family moved to the Bay Area. Langdon had just received an appointment by the governor to be the first presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeals, in San Francisco.

Although the McHenrys left town, they retained ownership of the mansion and controlled its use.

The building soon became a Seventh-day Adventist sanitarium, and there still are people living in this area whose relatives were born in the McHenry Mansion and were treated for illnesses there.

That period ended in 1923 when it was reported that Langdon had converted the building into what the newspapers called a "first-class apartment house."

Eventually, it had 14 apartments, each with a kitchenette and bath.

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BARE: Modesto's McHenry Mansion has passed through many hands

WASHINGTON -- An ambitious San Joaquin River restoration plan once again divides the House and Senate.

On Friday, the Republican-led House took up an annual energy and water spending bill that pointedly omits any funding for restoration of the once-teeming California river. The Senate's bill, by contrast, steers $12 million toward efforts to restore water and salmon to the channel below Friant Dam east of Fresno. Caught in the middle are the farmers and federal officials trying to make the restoration work.

"The proposed construction activities will be starting in the near term, so the funding needs will be increasing," Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Authority, said Friday.

The river funding dispute will have to be negotiated as part of a final bill that provides about $32 billion for an assortment of energy, Bureau of Reclamation and Army Corps of Engineers programs. It's a nationwide package with special relevance for the Central Valley, serving irrigation and environmental purposes.

The House bill, for instance, includes $36 million for restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a 10 percent cut from this year. The bill and its accompanying verbiage also push policies in certain directions. Lawmakers, for instance, are using the House bill to encourage quicker completion of studies for potential water storage projects on the upper San Joaquin River and in the Sacramento Valley, among other locations.

In a similar vein, Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, used a colloquy with subcommittee leaders to urge more flexibility from the Corps of Engineers on policies governing flood-

control levee vegetation. Many California lawmakers insist that the state should not be subject to a strict no-vegetation rule imposed elsewhere.

On the San Joaquin River restoration, more than mere dollars separate members of Congress.

Farmers and environmentalists agreed six years ago on a long-term restoration plan, thereby ending a lawsuit begun in 1988.

House Republicans want to kill the current river restoration program and replace it with a far less expensive plan focusing on warm-water fish instead of salmon. Driving the point home, Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, sponsored an amendment to be considered when the House resumes debate this week that prohibits federal funds from being used to reintroduce salmon to the river in fiscal year 2013.

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House GOP wants to nix San Joaquin's restoration

This is sort of a big deal. (Nick Wass/AP)

Retaining Randy Wittman wasnt exactly a daring move for the Wizards as they continue their efforts to eventually become a playoff team once again. It does, however, carry considerable risk.

The immediate goals for the franchise arent nearly as high as they were when President Ernie Grunfeld signed Flip Saunders to a four-year, $18 million deal in 2009. But even with the team possessing a lower profile than three years ago when the team was trying to squeeze out one more postseason run from the Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler era this still was an incredibly important decision.

By giving Wittman a reported two years, the Wizards have also linked him to the most critical seasons of John Walls career: Wall will be eligible for a contract extension after next season and otherwise would hit restricted free agency in the summer of 2014. The Wizards have to sincerely believe that the third time will indeed be the charm for a coach with a career record of 118-238 and that Wittman can help Wall, the 2010 No. 1 overall pick, maximize his vast promise in Washington.

With a Hall of Famer in Jerry Sloan, Stan Van Gundy, Nate McMillan and Mike DAntoni among the successful retreads on the market, and assistants such as Brian Shaw and Mike Malone also available, the Wizards certainly had other avenues to pursue.

But Wittman was still under contract for next season and owner Ted Leonsis wanted to get a better sense of the coach who had the support of the players after winning eight of the final 10 games. Wittman and Leonsis spent a day together last month, and apparently hit it off. When Leonsis said he was very, very comfortable with Wittman at the NBA draft lottery, the next step was simple.

Wittmans hiring, though, also says a lot about a current trend in the NBA. Allotting big money to big-name coaches is starting to become more rare as the position becomes devalued and more expendable.

After Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers and George Karl, the fourth-longest tenured coach in the NBA is Erik Spoelstra, who is in his fourth season. Phil Jackson, the legendary coach with more championship rings (11) than fingers, was available and intrigued about a possible return to the New York Knicks where he also won two championships as a player. But the Knicks never even contacted Jackson, who earned $10 million in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers.

New York stuck with Mike Woodson, who guided the team to its only playoff game victory in the past 11 years after replacing DAntoni and came at a considerably lower price tag than Jackson likely wouldve commanded.

The price of NBA coaches was starting to come down well before the lockout, but the trend will continue with teams seeking ways to cut down costs under a new financial structure. Now, the Wizards didnt decide to keep Wittman only because of he was going to come cheaper than the alternatives the support of his players in exit interviews and his ability to connect with them was perhaps more significant but it certainly was a factor.

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What retaining Randy Wittman means for the Wizards

COVINGTON, Ind. Flags flutter from porches and line the yards at homes in this close-knit community. Businesses are flying their flags at half-staff in honor of a young man who gave his life while serving overseas.

People who knew Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Witsman describe him as humble and proud to serve his country, as well as friendly and caring.

He had the most contagious smile youve ever seen and gave the best hugs ever, said Hannah Whittington, whos known Witsman for years. He was such a sweet guy.

The 23-year-old Marine was killed in military action in Afghanistan last week. A candlelight vigil will be at 9 EDT tonight on the lawn of the Fountain County Courthouse in Covington. People are asked to bring their own candles.

On Wednesday, friends will place 2,000 flags along the route from Covington to the Vermilion Regional Airport. Witsmans body is expected to arrive at the airport Thursday night, and services are tentatively set for later in the week, said Whittington, who is the girlfriend of Witsmans brother.

Whittington said she expects a large turnout tonight for the candlelight ceremony.

It will be great to see everyones support, she said. The community support has been amazing.

Suzy Strawser of Covington recalled a welcome-home held for the young man last May between his deployments.

He was really proud that people supported him so much. He was such a very humble person, she said Saturday. Now, our small community is making plans to line the streets and place flags out for himwhen he is brought back to Covington. My heart goes out to his family.

Larry Weatherford, owner of WKZS and WSKL radio stations based in Covington, said there was a pall over the town on Thursday and Friday. The parents, Tom and Kayla Witsman, learned of his death on Wednesday.

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City remembers Marine