The building has sat empty for more than three years, southwest of Gainesvilles downtown restaurant and nightlife area, but a developer now has its eyes on the Jones B-Side restaurant property.

Trimark Properties in September submitted plans to tear down the abandoned building, 203 SW Second Ave., and in its place build a five-story student apartment building.

There will be 106 bedrooms with more than 6,000 square feet of non-residential space likely to be used as retail space. The plans also mention scooter parking and bike spaces.

The Jones had a temporary closure March 2016 to deal with inspection violations from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The health inspector that month found 11 live roaches.

It closed for good in September 2016 after four years on SW Second Avenue and has sat empty since.

News of the pending redevelopment was met with mixed opinions from people and businesses in the downtown area. Some believe that there should be more affordable housing, instead of just catering to students.

If there was affordable housing with a preschool underneath, that could actually make a difference, Alexandra Wright, a barista at Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate, said.

One of her colleagues agreed.

We dont need another Standard, Soren Brady-Bender said, referring to the 10-story apartment building that radically altered the intersection of University Avenue and U.S. 441 when its construction began four years ago. It opened in 2017.

There are people who are open to the development.

I think thatd be great just for more people to move downtown. Be good for business here as well, said Andrew Kimbler, manager at the Five Star Pizza location across Southwest Second Avenue from the lot.

More foot traffic to around downtown would be nice.

Concerns about parking emerged in conversations with other downtown business employees, too. More people living closer to downtown might mean fewer parking spaces and worsened traffic, Kristie Mitchell said. Shes a manager at Naga Tea, a block and a half north of The Jones location.

I think the hardest thing around here is for parking, Mitchell said. No matter where youre at, the parking situation is crazy.

The project is currently listed as under review on the citys development projects website, with Trimark earlier this month getting approval from the Gainesville City Commission to change Southwest Second Streets status from a storefront street to a local urban zone street for the project to move forward.

The Jones redevelopment, The Standard, and a dozen other mid-rise buildings are notable for the impact theyre having on Gainesvilles modest skyline.

Its one destined to see some major changes in the next few years.

Plans, for example, to build new student apartments on the vacant lot on 403 SW 13th St. are also underway. EDA Inc. has proposed an eight-story building with three levels of parking and five residential stories with 66 units and 182 bedrooms.

Plans call for more scooter parking and bike storage, plus another 9,000 square feet of office and retail space.

Construction on the Southwest 13th Street building should be completed by 2021 in the best-case scenario, according to the neighborhood meeting minutes from July 11. It, too, is under review, according to the citys website.

The vacant lot used to have the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house on it, but it was demolished in August 2018. The new building will stand alongside the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house and across the street from the University of Floridas College of the Art.

EDA Inc. has been involved in major development projects in Gainesville, including the Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel on Southwest 37th Boulevard and The Ridge apartment complex on Southwest 24th Avenue.

Across the intersection from The Jones property, the citys process of turning Lot 10 into a hotel is still in the works.

That statement has been true for the better part of a decade, and so while some may be worried that development has stalled once again for Lot 10, city planners and the developers are moving through the review process to build the hotel, according to Erik Bredfeldt, the citys economic development director.

Should they continue to move forward, closing on a sale of the site could come in early 2020 with construction following soon afterward.

The Gainesville City Commission in May voted to sell Lot 10 on 100 SW 1st Ave. for $2.3 million.

The hotel plans consist of a six-story building with over 100 rooms.

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More Hotel And Mid-Rise Apartment Construction Is On The 2020 Gainesville Horizon - WUFT

Smoke rising from a new red stack over northwest Rochester next week will signal the firing up of Med City's newest restaurant.

Smoak, described as "a true barbecue joint," is slated to open its doors and heat up its two oak-burning smokers, on Dec. 3 at2291 Commerce Dr. NW.

A staff of about 40 started training this week in the 5,600-square-foot restaurant, which seats about 200.

The name comes from the two "massive" meat smokers that will burn only oak wood 18 hours a day to produce smoked beef, pork, chicken, turkey and salmon for the restaurant. The owners say that 80 percent of Smoak's menu will come out of the aromatic smokers.

Smoked prime beef brisket will be a signature Smoak offering, with a $1 donation going to Rochester's Hope Lodge for every pound sold. In addition to traditional pulled pork and ribs, the menu also includes smoked bacon, Smoak's own burgers, tacos, jalapeno cheddar sausage and special sandwiches such as the Tornado, which features brisket, pork sausage and haystack onions.

Smoak is the latest project for Rochester's Rocket Restaurant Group. Rocket, founded by four 1997 John Marshall High School graduates, created The Loop Bar and Grill and the Five West Kitchen and Bar in Rochester plus three more restaurants in the Twin Cities.

Smoak is just north of Rocket's Five West.

Jeff Kiger tracks business action in Rochester and southeastern Minnesota every day in Heard on the Street. Send tips to jkiger@postbulletin.com or via Twitter to @whereskiger. You can call him at 285-7798.

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Heard on the Street: Look for smoke to signal opening of Rochester's newest restaurant - PostBulletin.com

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Just a few days ago, we visited Disneyland Paris to check out all of the new entertainment and such for the holiday season at the resort, but we also caught a glimpse at the ongoing construction of the MARVEL Avengers Campus area of the park.

Most of the Backlot area is closed except for Restaurant Des Stars, which will eventually become an Ant-Man themed eatery. Behind the walls, we can see work continuing on the Spider-Man attraction. The Armageddon attraction was completely leveled for this new addition.

This is the very same Spider-Man ride that is also being build at Disney California Adventure, but it is set to open next year there.

Guests heading to this side of the park are greeted by construction walls and directional signage. We saw many, many guests go down this way thinking they were going to ride Rock N Roller Coaster, only to realize it was gone when they walked into a dead end.

You are practically in an active construction zone when you walk down here. Pieces of concrete were being lifted into place just feet away from us while we waited to be seated at the restaurant.

Restaurant des Stars remains open, even though the canopy was ripped off.

I wanted to film a time-lapse of guests going up to these walls and turning around, but I was short on time. You get the idea from this picture of confused guests though.

The facade of Rock N Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith is long gone. It will become an Iron Man roller coaster, but it was almost a Spider-Man one.

This giant crane is just a few feet away from guests.

This man was no more than 15 feet away from me, if even.

The MARVEL themed area (Avengers Campus) of Walt Disney Studios Paris set to open in 2021.

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PHOTOS: Construction Continues on Spider-Man Ride and the MARVEL... - wdwnt.com

The Village of West Greenvilles first new commercial construction in decades is less than two months from breaking ground while various new restaurants and retailers have opened or are near opening.

A project by Henry and Harrison Horowitz, the new 2,092-square-foot, two-story building will be constructed at 578 Perry Ave. on land next to Kuka Juice. The Horowitzes own multiple other buildings in the Village, including the Kuka Juice building and the adjoining Textile Hall.

Originally, they bought the land next to Kuka Juice so they could commission a mural on the side of the building and wouldnt risk its view being blocked should someone else decide to build there. Those plans have since changed, with a new mural by local artist Dorothy Shain to be painted across both current Kuka Juice and Textile Hall white storefronts facing the plaza.

The new construction, with a custom ironwork gate between the old and new buildings, will have its own elements of local art, which has been a primary focus of the Horowitz family, with Henry Horowitzs founding Artisphere in 2003. A six-by-two-by-10-foot window box on the front right of the storefront will feature rotating art installations that will be lit at night. Steps away is the most recently commissioned Artisphere sculpture in the plaza.

And while the building is new construction, Harrison Horowitz says the goal is for it to look otherwise.

The idea is for people to drive by and think the building has been here for years, he says.

To accomplish that, they are sourcing reclaimed brick from an old Maytag appliance warehouse and laying them in various historically used patterns. Theyll also be installing black steel casement windows, similar to Coastal Crusts windows half a block away.

Each floor is 1,046 square feet with the first floor under contract with a local barbershop tenant. The second floor, with a separate entrance on the side facing the soon-to-be-completed Poe West development, will be office space. Leasing efforts are being handled by Rakan Draz and John Odom of Avison Young.

Meanwhile, all along Pendleton Street and throughout the Village, other retail and restaurant tenants are moving in.

Amazing Grace Hemp Company opened the first week of November at 1284 Pendleton St. Designed to be a community hang-out to encourage discussion about personal health and wellness, the shop is owned by Nate Phillips, whose brother Stephen Phillips is a partner in the soon-to-open Exile Bar in the West End. The shop sells CBD products, hemp, kratom, and many other items from brands curated specifically for their high quality, Nate Phillips says.

Health is not an individual idea, he says. I want this to be a community center type of space.

Dobra Tea, next door at 1278 Pendleton, began upfit in early October and continues to move forward toward an early 2020 opening of the global tea house brand.

Hookah lounge [emailprotected], at 1237 Pendleton St., has planned grand opening festivities for Nov. 22-23 in the space that formerly housed Tipsy Music Pub and Dr. Mac Arnolds Blues Restaurant. The legendary blues musician himself will be performing a show at his old spot on Dec. 14. [emailprotected] is a Charlotte-based concept from Darren Jaz Vincent that will serve global cuisine in a vintage environment.

Golden Brown & Delicious will be moving later this year from its home at 1269 Pendleton St. to The Commons food hall at 147 Welborn St. and chef/owner Alex George will expand the bar, Bar Mars, into the restaurant dining room while working to open a new concept in the space.

Poe West, the 60,000-square-foot mixed-use development at 556 Perry Ave., continues to move forward with construction and some tenant spaces are expected to be completed early 2020. Anchor tenant Greenville Technical College Center for Culinary and Hospitality Innovation (CHI) plans to move in early summer. Other restaurant tenants include Carolina Bauernhaus, LaRue Fine Chocolate, Unlocked Coffee Roasters and Six & Twenty Distillery.

The Village of West Greenville was recently featured in a NYTimes.com article titled, Fives places

The Junkyard, a group fitness training center owned by former Clemson University standout linebacker Ben

The vacant restaurant space at 1237 Pendleton St. in the Village of West Greenville has

Abbey West was recently promoted to media buyer at Infinity Marketing. West joined the agency

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New construction project to break ground early 2020 in The Village of West Greenville - Upstate Business Journal

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Construction has begun on Midtown Union, a large mixed-use development in Midtown at Spring and 17thStreets.

The official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for December 9, at 1295 Spring Street, according to a press release Monday.

The project, designed byCooper Carry, withBrasfield & Gorrieas the general contractor, is a partnership between MetLife Investment Management, andGranite Properties commercial real estate investment, development and management company.

Encompassing nearly a full city block and spanning 8.5 acres, the project consists of a 26-story, 606,000 square foot Class A office building, 18-story, 355-unit modern residential tower atop eight levels of parking, a 12-story, 205-key boutique lifestyle hotel, 30,000 square feet of retail, and a 635,000 square foot parking deck providing 1,909 parking spaces.

Invescos headquarters will anchor the office building across 300,000 square feet.

Outdoors, Midtown Union will feature an extension of Arts Center Way, a go-between connecting Spring and West Peachtree Streets. Inspired by a European boulevard, the path will create a new retail destination in Midtown with shops, restaurants and green space.

The development will incorporate biophilic design elements like indoor vegetation, landscaped amenity decks and public green space and draws inspiration from the surrounding art community in the form of sculptures and murals.

Indoors, StreetLights Residential, in partnership with MetLife Investment Management, will develop the upscale multifamily tower offering 355 units featuring studio, one, two and three-bedroom homes.

The street-level lobby offers a 24-hour concierge service, coffee bar, conference lab, and co-working space. Amenities include resident storage, pet spa, fitness center, club room and an outdoor amenity deck with pool, seating and grilling stations overlooking Arts Center Way.

Stormont Hospitality GroupandThe Allen Morris Company, in partnership with MetLife Investment Management, willdevelop the 205-room lifestyle hotel at Midtown Union, with more than 5,000 net square feet of meeting space, a destination chef-driven restaurant, and an active bar spilling out onto Arts Center Way at the corner of West Peachtree.

Leased by JLL, the entire development is expected to open in the summer of 2022.

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Construction Begins on Massive Midtown Union Development and Future Invesco HQ - What Now Atlanta

Posted: Nov 27, 2019 / 10:25 AM CST / Updated: Nov 27, 2019 / 10:25 AM CST

SHERWOOD, Ark Tomorrow, Thanksgiving will be here followed by the biggest shopping day of the year.

However, did you know Black Friday is also one of the busiest days of the year for plumbers?

Eric Scroggins with Roto-Rooter says with a larger number of guests in your home and an excess amount of kitchen use its a busy day for him and his team.

We find a lot of grease, utensils, cups and food items such as bones. You know people think they can put anything down there, he says. Your garbage disposal is not designed to handle that type of stuff.

While sinks are a common call, it isnt the number one call plumbers get, says Scroggins.

Toilets and improper disposal, he says.

Scroggins says he sees an overuse of the restroom facilities because typically a home is made to accommodate 2 5 people but on holidays like Thanksgiving it can grow to a number of 20 or more.

The day after Thanksgiving can bring as much as a 50% increase in calls compared to a normal Friday for plumbers.

Here are some tips to avoid calling the plumber:

Lastly, creating and posting signs throughout your home helps guests understand what is the best practice for your homes plumbing.

Click here for more information about getting a plumber.

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Tips on how to avoid calling a plumber this Thanksgiving - WKRN News 2

When theres a plumbing problem in Savoonga, Scott Kingeekuks phone begins to ring.

Born and raised in Savoonga, Kingeekuk, 33, remembers when the village still used honey buckets. He was a teenager when the wastewater plant opened, ushering in a new era of indoor plumbing and sanitation.

Scott Kingeekuk repairs main pumps of a facility.

Today Kingeekuk is the lead water plant operator for the St. Lawrence Island community -- and the guy the neighbors call when theres a problem with their pipes.

Now they cant live without it, he said. As soon as a toilets down, Ill get a call. They want their toilets working again.

Clean water, better health

Before home water and wastewater service arrived in Savoonga, running water was previously only available at the community washeteria. The water plant was life-changing, Kingeekuk said.

Definitely made it a lot easier for people to stay clean, do their laundry, he said. Hygiene went up. I can tell kids have less cavities, theyre brushing their teeth more, washing up more.

The honey buckets were themselves an issue, he said. Some people werent throwing them away and theyd deposit them outside their homes. The dump site was pretty close to town, so the smell was kind of bad. I remember during the summers we had a blackfly infestation.

Elders in particular had a hard time if they didnt have anyone at home who could help them properly dispose of their waste, he added. The improvement to quality of life was significant for every person in the village.

Having clean, safe water -- potable water -- and having a sewer system is really important for the community, Kingeekuk said.

Kingeekuks workday starts at the water plant, but it takes him all over town.

I come to the water plant, make sure everythings running correctly, operating like it should, said Kingeekuk. I gather readings from all the pumps and components of the system, make sure theres enough chlorine for the incoming raw water. Kingeekuk and his staff also check the sewage lagoon twice daily, a round trip of about a mile each time.

Thats only part of what his team does, however. There are about 150 houses in Savoonga, and on any given day, Kingeekuk or a member of his crew -- he supervises a backup operator and two on-call staff -- is likely to be called to at least one or two of them. Kingeekuk said the plant generally takes a couple of service calls every day, frequently plugged toilets or leaky bathroom fixtures.

We have a pretty intricate sewer system, Kingeekuk said. Its a vacuum sewer system. When one toilet goes, it affects the whole system.

The toughest part of the job, he added, can be communicating with the public about system repairs, issues, and -- unfortunately -- shutoffs due to non-payment. Facebook is a handy tool to broadcast whats going on with the sanitation system, and billing is handled through the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative, but it falls to Kingeekuk to manually terminate service. It can be uncomfortable to tell a neighbor that he has to come over and shut off their water until they get caught up on payments.

It really does get awkward, but its got to be done, Kingeekuk said. Im at the point where they know Im just doing my job, so that kind of made it easier.

In communities with water service, filling jobs like Kingeekuks -- and keeping them filled -- can be challenging. Some communities arent able to offer competitive wages. Training and certifications are required. Some systems are starting to show their age and can be tricky to maintain, as Savoongas was when Kingeekuk started working there as a relief operator in 2011. Kingeekuk said he was worried at first that he wasnt qualified to do the job.

I went in blind, he said. I didnt know anything about water and sewer.

His first year, he was immersed in hands-on training. Kingeekuk was already mechanically minded, having grown up helping his uncles with machine repair and attending motorcycle mechanic school in Arizona. He soon found he had an aptitude for working with the wastewater system.

Taking apart pumps and troubleshooting pumps or panels kind of came naturally because I had that mechanical background, he said. And as the years went on, he got more formal training in addition to his on-the-job learning; he now has five technical certificates and is a Level II wastewater operator. This year he was named Alaska Rural Water Associations Wastewater Operator of the Year.

But theres more to his position than knowing how to flush a line or fix a leak.

Its a pretty demanding job, Kingeekuk said. It can get really stressful. I myself say its not for everybody.

He recalled attending a water plant operators retreat at which a lot of operators talked about burnout that tends to hit after about five years on the job.

Its kind of an underappreciated job for sure, he said. They dont even think about you until their toilet clogs up or their shower quits working or something.

Kingeekuk said he has felt that same burnout, wondering at one point if he should leave his job. But he sticks with it -- partly because of Savoongas limited employment options, but largely because he recognizes the important role he plays in the village.

I came this far, he said. Why quit now? People need me.

And, he added, its satisfying to know that what he does really matters to his friends, family and neighbors.

The most rewarding thing is, Id say, helping people, he said. Just being able to serve the community in a way nobody else can.

This story was sponsored by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, a statewide nonprofit Tribal health organization designed to meet the unique health needs of more than 175,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska.

This story was produced by the creative services department of the Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. The ADN newsroom was not involved in its production.

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Pipes, plumbing, and public relations: The life of an Alaska water plant operator - Anchorage Daily News

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas Elias Villalobos is a master plumber with Neff's Plumbing, based in Alice, Texas, and he's seen his share of plumbing disasters. When he walked into reporter Nora Perez' kitchen, he spotted a problem.

"I saw this little cap, off a milk or water bottle [next to the sink]... you dump it in there, and it goes down your disposal. Of course, this will not grind up, it's going to jam."

He also talked about food scraps ending up in the sink, a big problem during the busy days of cooking and baking over the holiday season. In particular, he mentioned why plumbers love celery. "Celery is the plumber's best friend," he joked, "because of all the fibers in there. You just grind them up, and they become like a paste. If you don't run water it will stay under there, and then you're going to have an emergency."

In the next few weeks it will be hard to keep track of who is in your kitchen and what ends up in your sink. But you can always call for help.

"Unfortunately, you have lots of visitors. You have grandma and Aunt Betsy, and they want to help. But they dump a lot of stuff in there, and it causes clogs, so plumbers are very busy this time of year."

A final piece of advice: standing water clogs call for professional help. Avoid using chemical liquid drain products. When those acid-based items hit solid clogs, they can back up and cause serious injury to you and/or your family.

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How to Avoid Plumbing Problems Over the Holidays - KIIITV.com

MONTICELLO, Ind. (WLFI) As the temperatures start to drop, boats are coming out of the water for the season.However, one boat is still floating in Lake Freeman.

The party isn't stopping this winter on the Madam Carroll. For the first time since 1976, the boat will stay in the water during the winter.The boat will operate at the dock at the Luse Lounge.The boat now runs year-round all thanks to new legislation, and a new winterization process.

"So if all the appliances in your house had to work outside, that's kind of what we're going through here," said owner Chris Peters. "There's a lot of things to think about that need to continue to work in below 32 degree weather."

Indiana's largest boat is usually pulled out of the water on a dry dock during the winter. It was built by the same man who built the Madam Carroll.

"Like a giant set of railroad tracks," Peters described.

Keeping the boat in the water presents all kinds of engineering challenges, including the plumbing, which usually runs on fresh water from the lake.

"We've engineered an induction system that will introduce antifreeze and a cleaning agent into that as it draws everything in," said Peters. "So our plumbing, at any time for that system, can never freeze no matter how cold it gets out here."

But that's not all.

"A whole new ceiling, and then above that, it's insulation that runs through the structure," said Peters about the upper deck of the boat.

He says up top, the deck will work like a heated patio.

"We have these transparent, secular wall systems," said Peters. "So we can put these walls up but you can still see through them. They're kind of like giant windows to keep out the wind."

House Bill 1518, that went into effect July 1, allows for year-round alcohol sales on the boat.Previously, the boat could only sell alcohol an hour before a cruise and during.

Owners are also happy because, as you can imagine, pulling Indiana's largest boat out of a lake isn't easy.

"300 tons," said Peters. "It's the same as a Boeing 747."

This isn't the first time the Madam Carroll is staying in Lake Freeman for the winter.Captain Bill Luse kept the boat in the water for a few years after it was built in 1976.

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After new legislation and plumbing, Madam Carroll to stay in water through winter - wlfi.com

November 28, 2019, 12:37 AM

2 min read

The Latest on a Hawaii man accused of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a Utah home, including plumbers and prostitutes.

(all times local):

2:30 p.m.

A man arrested in Hawaii wants a detention hearing in Utah, where hes accused of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a home, including plumbers and prostitutes.

Loren Okamura was in federal court in Honolulu Wednesday for a detention hearing. Federal defender Sharron Rancourt says he wants to have that hearing in Utah, where federal prosecutors say he tormented a family with what they described as extreme cyberstalking.

Okamura was indicted last month on charges of cyberstalking, interstate threats and transporting people for prostitution.

Rancourt says Okamura has been mourning his wife, who died earlier this year.

Okamura will be detained in Honolulu until hes taken to Utah.

Authorities wont disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but say it was not random. Rancourt declined to comment after the hearing.

Midnight

U.S. prosecutors say a Hawaii man tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services, including plumbers and prostitutes.

Loren Okamura is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday in Honolulu, where he was arrested.

Authorities say Okamura targeted a father and her adult daughter, sending the woman threatening messages and posting her picture and address online. One posting said the homeowner wanted drugs and prostitutes at the house in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in a Salt Lake City suburb.

Okamuras federal public defender, Sharron Rancourt, didnt immediately return a phone message and emails seeking comment.

Authorities wont disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but say it was not random.

McCombs reported from Salt Lake City.

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The Latest: Extreme stalking case hearing to be held in Utah - ABC News