BAKERSFIELD,CA-- A piece of country music history is one step closer to being preserved as a fundraiser was held Friday night at the Kern County Basque Club to save Merle Haggard's boyhood boxcar home.

As one of Haggard's song suggests there was plenty of Bubble Up and "Rainbow Stew" to go around. Starting in the 1940s the Basque Club was known as the Rainbow Gardens and it was one of the first venues Haggard played. It was that sense of history that made Frankie Ruiz want to attend.

"I think it's really important, Ruiz said. I don't think we take enough time to preserve the things that really give us our whole heritage and background."

The event was to raise money for the restoration of the boxcar Haggard grew up in. A home was eventually built around the boxcar which currently is in Oildale.

More than 250 people showed up and organizers, like Glenda Rankin, feel they put a good dent in the $120,000 it will take to move and renovate the boxcar from Oildale to the Kern County Museum.

"Lets just say I think we raised over $10,000 and probably more than that," Rankin said.

Haggard's sister, Lillian Haggard Rea, thinks it is more than just their childhood home they are trying to save. She says Merle has told her the boxcar is about honoring their parents.

"Its all coming back, Rea said. Its reminding him of his childhood and all the wonderful times he had with his father there and it is touching him deeply."

Organizers are planning another music type fundraiser April 6, Haggard's birthday, at the Kern County Museum.

Original post:
Saving Merle Haggard's boyhood home

FEMA assistance

In a breakdown of federal money provided to Coloradans after the flood, Weld County had the fourth-highest number of eligible applicants for FEMAs individual and household assistance program, at 1,045.

Boulder County had more than 9,000 applicants, Larimer County had about 1,900, and Arapahoe County had about 1,600.

Statewide, FEMA said, more than $284 million in federal funds has been doled out for help.

More than $5.6 million has gone to Weld County for things like street repairs, debris removal on public land and the restoration of other public services.

Evans has received nearly $11.7 million in federal aid since the September flood, according to numbers released Friday by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Evans officials say they wont count on their share of the money for at least another few months, when FEMA approval is official at every level.

Sheryl Trent, Evans director of community and economic development, said the $1.5 million listed Friday as dedicated for public repair projects could still be denied as it moves through the ranks of FEMA approval and back down to state approval.

FEMA has helped 379 Evans residents with $6.5 million for things like home repairs, property replacement, rental assistance and disaster-related expenses for medical, dental and legal needs, FEMA said in a news release.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved $3.6 million in low-interest loans for homeowners, business owners and renters, according to the release.

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Federal aid to Evans reaches nearly $11.7 million following flood

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WEIRTON - The Tri-State Home and Garden Show will be getting the star treatment this year.

Organizers have announced the annual event, to take place Friday through March 16 at the Serbian-American Cultural Center, will include an appearance by HGTV personality Casey Noble.

Noble will appear at the Tri-State Home and Garden Show from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday to meet guests. She was a contestant on the fifth season of HGTV's "Design Star" program, and more recently has been featured among the cast of HGTV's "Design on a Dime" and the Travel Channel's "Hotel Impossible."

The Tri-State Home and Garden Show is being sponsored by DeNoon Lumber, Weirton Medical Center and Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration. It is being organized by Beyond Marketing, with assistance from the Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

"The Tri-Sate Home Show is the event we look forward to sponsoring every year as a way of thanking the Ohio Valley for the tremendous support they have shown us for the last 50 years," Clay Croskey of DeNoon Lumber stated. "Presenting a designer of Casey's stature really is exciting for everyone involved with the show."

The Tri-State Home and Garden Show will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 16.

The show will feature more than 80 area vendors showcasing their products and services in a face-to-face setting with more than 5,000 guests expected in attendance throughout the weekend.

It also will include a Business After Hours for members of the two chambers of commerce from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday.

Excerpt from:
HGTV star to appear at Home and Garden Show

Whether your home has suffered a tiny bit of smoke damage or complete fire and water destruction, or damage from this brutal winter, the cleanup process can leave you overwhelmed.

It is the kind of horror story thousands of homeowners every year tell.

Steve Westervelt, a homeowner, says, We had little bit of a rain back in May and during that time our sump pump failed and we had about four inches of water throughout the finished basement downstairs."

The water damaged Steves drywall and carpet.

Steve says, The restoration company that we worked with did an excellent job because they took pictures of everything they were going to take out for repair. That kind of helps because sometimes you just kind of forget what you had and what was taken."

Cleaning up water and smoke damage quickly is important because if left untreated, the damage can become a bigger problem, costing more money to repair.

Companies that specialize in remediation and restoration are staffed with professional technicians who have extensive experience use heavy duty equipment to help remove mold, mildew, smoke and odors from your home and belongings.

Kenny Cochran, Owner of Restoration Company says, "It's very important when you have a major fire or flood and your contents are being packed out of your home that the company doing it does complete photographic inventory, bar coding, scanning of all contents so it can be tracked from start to finish from the home to the restoration facility and back into the home."

Angie Hicks, from Angie's List, says, When going through the items that you might have lost in the fire or flood, you first need to access what their value was, how much it would cost to replace them because that's going to help you make some of these decisions a little easier. Obviously the sentimental things are going to be a lot tougher. But that sofa you paid $1,000 for, if it's going to cost $800 to repair it, you might just want to go ahead and get a new one."

A fire or flood can leave you feeling desperate for help, but homeowners should still research contractors thoroughly and get estimates in writing.

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Angie's List: Home improvement

(March 6, 2014) The weather in Indiana is causing massive amounts of home problems, from flooding to broken pipes. That means restoration companies are very busy.

We are drying out the structure of this house from a frozen pipe near Greenwood. The pipe busted and flooded this entire house from top to bottom. It caused probably 40 thousand dollars damage, said Kenny Cochran, the CEO of Moore Restoration.

According to Cochran, most home water damage doesnt come from heavy rain or melting snowbroken water pipes are usually the culprit.

Many water pipes are inside exterior walls, close to the cold temperatures. So without good insulation, they can freeze, he said. Then, when they start to thaw out, they expand and rupture, and theyll flood a whole house, a building a school or a hospital. Weve done all kinds of commercial work over the last 90 days. We are open 24/7, 365 days of the year.

In the case of the Greenwood home, it was a second-floor pipe that split in the main bathroom. The pipes were in the exterior wall, exposed to the cold weather and wind. The water even flooded through the floor.

I expected to find some water up in the light fixture on the first floor. And sure enough the water from the busted bathroom pipe leaked into the next levels light fixtures, said Scott Montgomery, director of emergency services at Moore Restoration.

The family of the flooded home will have to stay elsewhere for two to three months, but at least insurance is covering it. The best money-saving tip after flooding, is dont hire someone coming to your door offering their services. Then can take your money and take you for a ride.

Its best to know the restoration company that you are working with. Do a little research with the Better Business Bureau, Angies List, places like that to know they are an established, reputable company and not a fly-by-night place working out of the back of a station wagon, Cochran said.

You should also get a detailed price quote in writing before work begins. But keep in mind, some de-construction may have to take place to fully assess damage. The company should also check for mold and prevent it from forming. And just because things feel dry doesnt mean they are. Its a process to make sure there is proper drying.

Typically well dry out a structure in three to five days, after a major water loss. Thats why we have big air movers, said Cochran.

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How to fix your flooded home

When they moved to the Heights in 2012, Jeff and Blair Ainsworth were drawn to the charm, centralized location and sense of community.

After purchasing their home at 718 E. Ninth St., the couple started an eight-month renovation that transformed their 1920s two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow, adding a bedroom, bathroom, 10-foot ceilings, family room and an office that doubles as a playroom for their young daughter.

"We wanted to show people you could take a small house and make it livable and functional for a larger family," Jeff Ainsworth said. "We wanted to make sure it was a place we could live in for the next 10 years."

The Ainsworths' home will be one of six in this year's Houston Heights Association Spring Home & Garden Tour.

The tour will kick off with the 20th annual Candlelight Dinner and Auction on April 4. The tour, scheduled for noon to 6 p.m. April 5-6, will showcase a variety of traditional and contemporary homes.

The other homes of the tour are as follows:

The "vintage modern" home of Dr. James Flowers and Michael Beard at 401 W. Ninth St. is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1928, the red-brick building served as a neighborhood grocery store.

The 409 W. Eighth St. home of architect Palmer Schooley and his wife Mary has been redesigned to be modern but also blend with the neighborhood. The home has a solar porch at the entry and large garden in the back.

Bobbie Knox Echard's home at 1005 Oxford is a cottage built in 1896 that has undergone major renovations and in 2012 received a community improvement award for residential restoration from the Houston Heights Association.

Susan and Jeffrey Bell's home at 1448 Height Blvd. is known as "the house with the blue gate." Built in 1912, the two-story home was updated in 1993 and 1998 and has a wrap-around porch. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.

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Eclectic mix in Heights home tour

Joel Goyette and Margaret Cooley walked into the open house for a two-bedroom 1920s Craftsman in Berkeley, California, and knew theyd found their dream house. So did 10 other couples.

Having lost out in two bidding wars, the couple decided to try to connect with the sellers over more than money. Neighbors had told them about all the restoration work the owners had done, including five weekends stripping interior doors down to old-growth Douglas fir. They learned how close-knit the neighborhood was, with "meals shared, tools borrowed" and how "people overall looked after each other," says Goyette.

So when they sent the sellers their bid, they included a two-page personal letter. They wrote about how much they appreciated the home's character and the hard work the sellers had put into it, that it would be their first home, and how much they valued being part of a close community. Since Goyette had made a foodie connection with the sellers when they saw him ogling a bookshelf of cookbooks, "we couldn't resist sharing our plans to construct a masonry grill in the backyard and build a thriving social community with friends and neighbors," he says.

The couple raised their offer by $25,000 during the ensuing bidding war. It wasnt the highest bid, but it was the winning one. We were told that our letter made a big difference. The sellers felt a connection to us, says Goyette.

Goyette and Cooleys experience shows the value of writing a love letter when pursuing a home. These letters can be so effective that some sellers agents try to intercept them to keep the focus on price. Nearly four in 10 home buyers facing off against other bidders included a love letter with their offer last year, according to national real estate brokerage Redfin. In multiple-bid situations in 2013, Redfin found, bids with love letters were 9 percent more successful than bids without a letter.

For a buyer billet-doux to have the greatest impact, children may be pressed into service. Kris Paolini, a Redfin agent in Rockville, Maryland, recalls one bidding war in which his clients included not just a letter from themselves but a note from their teenage son. He mentioned how great it would be to live in the same neighborhood as his two best friends.

Including a picture can also help tip the odds. San Diego real estate agent Cheree Bray recalls one deal in which her clients beat out an all-cash offer after noting in their letter that the spacious backyard would be an ideal romping area for their two young boys, and included a family photo. The seller was choosing between an investor who wanted to tear down the home and build a new house, and my couple, who wanted to live in it just like she had, says Bray.

Just don't go too far, like the pregnant woman who offered her first-born child as a namesake.

Love letters arent solely for bidding wars. A few years ago, Seattle real estate agent Ryan Halset was helping a woman sell the home in which she had raised her family. The list price was $375,000. A single bid arrived from a young couple offering $350,000; it included a letter saying how much they hoped to be able to raise their family in the home.

The seller insisted on accepting the offer, despite Halsets advice that she at least counter. She wanted to give the family a leg up, says Halset. For some sellers its about being able to drive by every few months and feel good about whos in your home that gave you so many memories.

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Dearest Seller: Your Home Is Like a Red, Red Rose

Published: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 8:42 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 8:42 a.m.

A coastal restoration project aimed at an area of south Lafourche outside the levees is seeking federal support.

The East Leeville Marsh Restoration and Nourishment Project is one of several local projects vying for federal money this year through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, known as CWPPRA,

It would be the first restoration project aimed at the tiny fishing and oilfield hub in the wetland.

Todays Leeville is different from 100 years ago when the town bustled with trade in the shade of old oak trees. The hardwood, sprawling orchards and most of its population have been replaced by water and marsh.

Its the last standing in a series of lesser known population centers created as early Lafourche residents slowly retreated inland starting with the Hurricane of 1893, according to Paul Chiquet, branch administrator for the Lafourche Parish Public Library System. Chiquet curates a museum at the Galliano Library documenting the areas history.

The shrinking sliver of land that is todays Leeville sits about 10 miles south of the parishs ring levees. Flooding has become more frequent through the years, and today its home to a few dozen permanent residents.

Natural forces and industrial canals hastened the erosion of surrounding marshes. Water is always encroaching, submerging the towns cemeteries, and a few days of stiff wind can push water to the road in places, said Don Griffin, owner of Griffins Marina in Leeville.

Janet Rhodus, of the non-profit Launch Leeville organization nominated the restoration project during this years competition for CWPPRA money.

Generally, CWPPRAs task force allocates between $30 million and $50 million for construction of coastal restoration projects each year.

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Federal money sought for Leeville restoration work