INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 4, 2014) While the impact of this prolonged winter on homes and other buildings may be more obvious, experts tell FOX59 the effect on your yard could be problematic as well.

Even though grass goes into a dormant state to survive Mother Natures wintry blasts, Larry Davis of Davis Superior Lawn Care and Snow Removal said problems could exist on the periphery. Specifically, all the road salt on your street and ice melt in your driveway and walkway could kill off the edges of your lawn.

Salt is detrimental to vegetation, Davis said. But its not a little salt, its a lot. So since we have had this extended winter, weve had more snow, more salt [and] so we may have a little runoff.

Another potential impact of the seemingly longer winter wont be felt until summer, he said. Davis explained what really kills grass is drought and weeds. A shorter spring season leading into the summer drought season means less time for weed control and potentially more problems come August.

Once spring truly begins, Davis recommends getting started on treatment right away, focusing less on fertilizer and more on the weeds.

So you want to go low nitrogen and high in weed control, he said.

Link:
Prolonged winter impacting your lawn

Richard Fisher of Marion County, Ohio, first received a colon cancer diagnosis about seven years ago at the age of 68. After he noticed some blood in his stool, a colonoscopy revealed he was in the advanced stages of the disease.

"The doctor told me he didn't care if I got treatment or not because either way I only had six months to live," the retired farmer and construction worker recalled.

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Fisher said he felt the doctor wrote him off, mostly because of his age. It seemed like he never considered that someone approaching 70 would be able to survive the aggressive treatment needed to bring his condition under control, Fisher said.

After the initial shock wore off, the Fisher family took action. One of his three daughters had a friend who worked at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus. She put in a call and got him an appointment.

Right from the start, Fisher said he knew he was in the right place. The medical team immediately began his treatment. First he had surgery, then intensive chemotherapy.

There were a lot of highs and lows during that first phase of care, Fisher admitted, but he got through it. He was virtually cancer-free for almost two years before the initial drugs lost their potency. The Ohio State team then switched him to a new chemo drug that allowed three more years of good health. Once those stopped working about two years ago, he opted to try experimental treatment as part of two separate clinical trials.

"In the seven years I've had treatment, no one at OSU has ever given us a time limit like that first doctor," his wife Martha Fisher said. "It's wrong to tell anybody, even if they're 70, 80 or 90 that you have a time limit on your life."

Treating Older Patients

Dr. Richard Goldberg, one of Fisher's doctors, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist and physician in chief at OSU, said doctors are beginning to realize that just because someone has celebrated a lot of birthdays doesn't mean they can't withstand the rigors of cancer therapy.

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For Colon Cancer, 70 is the New 50

MORRIS Pop tabs are in high demand in Morris right now, as two area boys set out to make and break records for collecting the highly sought-after tabs for Ronald McDonald House.

Seven-year-old Luchiano Eberhard, son of Jeff and Jamie Eberhard and 6-year-old Dakota Goff, son of Kevin and Kara Goff, are on a mission to raise money to help families who stay at the home while their loved ones are at Advocate Hope Childrens Hospital.

They turn pop tabs into money, Eberhard said.

Once the children collect 1 million pop tabs their name goes on a green leaf that is placed on the wall surrounding a tree, inside the Oak Lawn Ronald McDonald house. The house is designed in the theme of a house in the woods, and it has an accessible treehouse for kids of all ages to enjoy regardless of disability.

Its such a really neat goal, said Kelly Evans, senior house director at the Oak Lawn location. They get excited to get their name on a tree.

Evans has just ordered the leaf with Eberhards name on it for the tree, as he reached 1 million pop tabs, which is equivalent to 761 pounds of the little aluminum tabs.

Goff already is over 2 million and has an orange leaf representing that milestone surrounded by the green leaves of other children.

Goff was the first to hit 1 million at Oak Lawn and has the collection room named for him, Dakotas Pop Tab Closet.

I feel glad to help kids, Goff said.

There is a bit of irony involved in the fact that neither Eberhard or Goff drink much pop and have to resort to getting tabs off of other items in their house and from people in the community.

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Morris youth collecting pop tabs for charity

March 4, 2014 City gets bid on parking garage repairs Work could start in May

By Ken de la Bastide The Herald Bulletin The Herald Bulletin Tue Mar 04, 2014, 07:34 PM EST

ANDERSON The city of Anderson has taken under advisement bids from three companies for planned repairs to the downtown Plaza Parking Garage.

The Anderson Board of Public Works received bids Tuesday and is awaiting a review by city engineer Mike Spyers. The work is expected to be completed by 2016 and will be phased in over three years.

M.K. Betts Engineering of Anderson submitted the lowest bid at $630,782. Glenroy Construction bid $733,755, and Structure Tec CSD Corp. submitted a bid of $657,782.

The downtown parking garage has not undergone a major rehabilitation since it opened in 1980, but the work is planned to begin this year. The five-story parking garage at the corner of Main and 11th streets is slated to receive major rehabilitation over the next three years.

The Anderson Redevelopment Commission expects to spend approximately $1 million on the rehabilitation work through 2016. Structural work will be done on the all concrete facility. Portions of the garage will remain open during the upgrades.

The Plaza Parking Garage has approximately 275 spaces. Work was done on the structure in 1994 when concrete ramps were sealed and waterproofed.

The board received one bid for mowing of the city-owned properties and along street right-of-way.

Select Lawn Services submitted a bid of $10,984 for mowing during each cycle and $15,365 per cycle for hand trimming and application of herbicides. A cycle is each time the mowing has to take place, dependent on weather conditions. The bid was referred to the city engineering department for review.

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City gets bid on parking garage repairs

Video Introduction - Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc.
With the aim of making Toronto and its surrounding communities more liveable, sustainable and beautiful, Scott Torrance highlights the expertise and experien...

By: Viewlake Communications

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Video Introduction - Scott Torrance Landscape Architect Inc. - Video

A landscape engineer and architecture company will hold an open house the morning of March 6 to gather students and staffs input on new patio designs for the Hub.

By the time classes begin in the fall, students will be able to use an expanded an improved patio area already located on the west side of the Hub. Ames-based company Bolton & Menk will hold an open house on the patio from 9 a.m. to noon, weather permitting. Otherwise, the open house will be held in the library.

The existing is pretty worn down and does not satisfy the needs of how active the interior is now with the new Caribou and the new food services, said Sam Kessel, landscape architect for Bolton & Menk.

Chris Strawhacker, landscape architect for Iowa State who is helping facilitate the project, said the maintenance is an issue for the space. The new space will include more paved space, easier for snow removal and for students walking through the area.

More importantly, the open house will provide students with the opportunity to influence the three design concepts and advocate for their own needs of the patio space.

People can stop and look over [the plans] to give feedback to the designers, Strawhacker said. Theyre going to provide their input on what they like, what they dont like about the different concepts. The design team will take those ideas and kind of build them into one final concept.

Different design concepts will be displayed at the open house, and students will be able to speak directly to designers. Kessel said it is important to them to get the students opinions.

Within each concept we have different elements, and we are looking for students input on what they like and dislike how it will fit their needs the best, Kessel said. We want to be able to show their input in the design.

The three design concepts differ in terms of shapes, Kessel said. One of the designs focuses on rectangular shapes, another on arches. Each concept includes increased seating areas and new plant material.

Kessel said one design has a leaning rail and standing tables to bring a coffee shop atmosphere to the patio.

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Summer renovation will improve patio at the Hub

Bjarke Ingels, founder of the architectural group, BIG, that won the Kimball Art Center's architectural design contest in 2012, responded by email to The Park Record's questions about the revised design.

Park Record: The previous design was drawn from the Coalition Mine Building, What inspired the most recent design, was there something specific that triggered this shape?

Bjarke Ingels: We have attempted to create a design that draws from the sloping topography of Main Street and the encounter between the modern functionalist architecture of the Kimball Garage and the regional vernacular style of the mountain architecture. Our competition design evoked the "ghost" of the Coalition Mine Building, our new design is proportioned to remain within the constraints of the existing rules and regulations. The encounter between horizontal floors and the sloping site has created some really interesting spaces within the museum as well as created its external character -- a simple volume lifted to reveal the life and art within.

PR: How do you feel about the Kimball Art Center's decision not to pursue the design that won the competition?

Bjarke Ingels: We have worked with Kimball long and hard to find a way to create a constructive dialog with the city in the hopes that we could realize the intentions of the competition design. Once it became clear that we needed to stay within the existing regulations we simply had no other alternative than to take a step back and deal with the new situation. The Kimball and BIG did the only thing possible, and now I think we have arrived at a design that can be just as striking a contribution to Part City's streetscape, if only a lot more intimate in scale than our first sketches.

PR: Did you consider pulling out of the project in Park City when the original design was rejected?

Bjarke Ingels: Robin Marrouche and her entire board are a really passionate and devoted client and the Kimball plays a key role in the cultural landscape of Park City at a crucial location at the heart of the town. A great client for a great program on a great spot in a great city. Of course we can get something incredible out of such a setup even if we have had to start over as a necessary part of the process.

PR: What are some of your company's most recent projects?

BI: We are equally busy on both sides of the Atlantic right now. We have been selected to do a master plan for the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., attempting to improve the cultural facilities around some of the most historically precious parts of the Smithsonian campus. Meanwhile, we have just won the competition for the "City of the Human Body" a science center and museum in Montpelier in southern France that celebrates all aspects of the human body ranging from medicine and anatomy to dance, sculpture and other artistic expressions.

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Architect Bjarke Ingels describes revised design

Our plan was fairly simple. Check the weather map and find the warmest place in North America and fly there.

Phoenix edged out Southern California, and it was too far to Florida; so off we went.

The Valley of the Sun suffers from sprawl even more than Los Angeles. Scottsdale, found on the eastern edge of the valley, is where most resorts are located.

We started our intensive research with the Fairmont Princess Scottsdale. Had we known what was in store, wed have booked to stay there the entire week. The Princess, it soon became obvious, enjoyed every amenity anyone could ever want, so there was really no need to go anywhere else.

We made an immediate beeline for the pool. Most locals dont jump in unless its pushing 37 C but we Canadians found 21 C to be most agreeable.

However, the moment the spectacular sun sank behind the palm trees to the west, the temperature dropped like a stone. Thats the desert for you. Suddenly summer turned into winter.

A quick stroll around the property revealed a fantastic light show twinkling on every palm tree, and wonders of wonders an ice-skating rink packed with happy kids. Families sat toasting around fire pits next to the rink as a miniature Zamboni cleaned the ice.

A trolley lugged families around the gigantic 65-acre property.

For those interested, the PGA Phoenix Open is played every winter at the spectacular Stadium golf course next door. Aside from the tournament, Fairmont guests can enjoy the course every day of the year. There are also five swimming pools at the hotel, tennis courts, endless walking paths, and several bars and restaurants highlighted by the deluxe Spanish-styled La Hacienda specializing in high-end Tex/Mex culinary delights.

Under no circumstances should any foodie miss Deseo, hidden in the basement at the Westin Hotel and serving up spectacular Nuevo Latin cuisine.

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Hidden charms of Phoenix

Susan Huckvale Arann seldom swings a golf club, but holds the unique distinction of leaving her mark on famous golf courses.

Ms. Arann of Westerleigh is an award-winning interior designer with more than 30 years of experience and a long list of accomplishments in dressing up many interiors. In addition to adding her magic to Richmond County Country Clubs main clubhouse, as well as the newer golf house on the Todt Hill course, she has left her mark at the South Shore Country Club when it was operated by the Toto family.

But now, after a year, the principal of American & International Designers Inc. unveils her restoration and renovation of the 111-year-old Van Cortlandt Golf Course in the Bronx. She has applied her smooth touch to the structures main clubroom, locker rooms and relocated pro shop.

I was delighted to receive this -- my all-time favorite -- assignment. Its just a beautiful place with tremendous history, said Ms. Arann. It has been a long, but delightful challenge to restore and retouch as much as possible and still maintain that original feeling.

With a broad smile, the Staten Island designer added, I am extremely honored to have done this at Van Cortlandt, which is the oldest public golf course in the United States and add that to my work at Richmond County Country Club, which is the oldest and only private golf course in the City of New York.

Van Cortlandt opened in 1895 on a 1,141-acre plot of parkland as a nine-hole golf course consuming 55-acres. The course was expanded to a 120-acre 18-hole course in 1899. The two-story clubhouse was built in 1902 featuring elements such as a grand staircase leading from the main clubroom to the second-floor locker rooms.

The existing woodwork was removed for meticulous rehabilitation and some was reused to create display cases in the new pro shop and to front the snack bar on the ground floor. A new snack bar was installed in the main clubroom along with an imposing natural stone fireplace, wood-lined tray ceiling french doors, refaced columns and extra windows. Most of the woodwork has been finished with a rich dark stain, together with the comfortable and carefully orchestrated gathering areas, makes the space warm and inviting.

We relied on old photos to maintain the feeling of the historic old structure that has been the site of filming Oliver Stones 1987 movie Wall Street and more recently filming of the HBO series of Boardwalk Empire, said Ms. Arann.

The Bronx layout has played host to countless N.Y. golfers as well as distinguished visitors including Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis and even the Three Stooges.

Van Cortlandt is a city-owned course and is leased to an operating company known as Van Cortlandt Golf LOC.

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Interior designer Susan Arann adds historic Van Cortlandt Golf Course to her resume

FORT MOHAVE The phrase home improvement can mean a lot of different things to different people.

For some, it may mean knocking out a wall to expand a room. Or maybe putting up a wall to turn a wide-open space into two more cozy confines.

It can mean adding a new deck. Or remodeling the kitchen.

Or it can mean something relatively simple, such as changing the lighting, or the paint, or carpeting, or updating appliances.

Painting rental properties, the contractor said as Windham used a color spectophotometer, essentially a computer that identifies the color of a small sample so that a near-exact mixture can be produced to match it.

Every day, people are coming in matching colors, Windham said, suggesting that the prevailing trend in the Tri-state is not to change the color scheme but to freshen it up.

Color is always trending here in Bullhead, said Michael Paul, owner of Tri-State Building Materials and its Ace stores in Kingman, Bullhead City and Fort Mohave. We tend to follow the trend, but not as quickly as maybe Southern California or metro areas.

He said most customers tend to stay on the conservative side when it comes to paint color selection, but occasionally they make requests for non-traditional schemes.

Paul said lighting is also trending, especially with the demise of the incandescent light bulb. Some customers are staying ahead of the times by switching to other lighting sources LEDs, fluorescents and solar-powered lighting.

LEDs are starting to get more affordable, Paul said. Cost is starting to come down, making it more doable for most folks.

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Home improvement has a broad meaning