FITZ IN LONDON

Some sight ... fireworks ignite over the Olympic Stadium during the opening ceremony. Photo: Getty Images

It was a warm balmy evening in 1996, and I was walking to the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games, John Huxley on my right, Peter Christopher on my left. The bus had dropped the Herald press contingent as close as it could get us, and we walked through a very poor neighbourhood to the brightly-lit stadium about a kilometre away. Out on the front porches of their houses, many families were gathered eating their dinner, and though they looked at us with mild curiosity, it was no more than that. And it was really rather shocking. Didn't they know that the opening ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games was about to get under way just an archer's arrow from where they were eating?

Yes, yes of course they did. But the intersecting point with their own lives was absolutely minimal beyond the fact that Spaceship Olympia had landed in their neighbourhood several years earlier, over their oft-bitter protest, and so they were just getting on with their lives.

On Friday evening last, it felt nigh exactly the same. The minibus drops us a good kilometre away in the heart of an impoverished neighbourhood bathed in the curious fluorescent light cast by a new version of the same spaceship - one that had landed in Stratford, East London, five years ago and has overlooked them since. Walking, walking, walking. Here, a couple of kids kicking a soccer ball along the footpath. There, a drunk lying in the doorway of an abandoned tenement. Right in front of us, a posse of youths pouring whiskey into a Coca-Cola bottle which they are then swigging from. This time, they barely look at us. They are not remotely aggressive, but it is simply like we aren't there. We have our lives and are heading to the spaceship, where the best of the seats are going for well over 3000 for four hours' entertainment. Many of them would not receive that in a year of welfare payments. So where is the connecting point?

Right there, in front of me.

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After walking 10 blocks, suddenly ahead the whole thing changes, from one side of the street to the other. Behind me lie booze shops, dark alleys, and mild urban decay. Ahead, just the other side of the pedestrian crossing, are bright lights, escalators, security men, and an entire sparkling Westfield shopping complex that we have to walk through to get into the stadium proper, a stadium that is the most sparkling sporting structure I have ever seen. As someone once wrote in these pages - and as a matter of fact it was me - ''sports stadia are the cathedrals of our age'', as serious cities try to outdo each other with the glory of what they have built. And in the London Olympic Stadium they have a Westminster Abbey for the 21st century, perfectly constructed to make 80,000 people feel they have an intimate connection with what is happening on the field before them.

And on this night, how splendid it is. The pomp! The pageantry! The music! And there is the British Queen, there is Michelle Obama, the London Symphony Orchestra, Rowan Atkinson, the finest athletes in the world, Sir Paul McCartney singing Hey Jude as we all bop along to the climax of this 27 million extravaganza, most of us with a sense of great privilege to be here. We are filled with the thrill of being at an event that hundreds of millions of people around the world are watching, and four hours later, we have real regret that it is over.

In our tens of thousands, we stream away as the lights behind slowly get dimmer, the security thinner, and then, suddenly, there it is again. That pedestrian crossing

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Ceremony dazzles, but not for all

Otherwise subdued porches and front yards came to life Sunday afternoon with nearly every genre of music one could hope for in a porch-to-porch walking tour.

The second annual Porchfest brought out Napans and visitors on foot and bike to sample the musical talents Napa has to offer. Roughly 80 performers took to makeshift stages on about 60 porches in historic parts of the city.

The great thing is that its local artists, local musicians, and weve kept it local, organizer Rachael Clark said.

Though the numbers of porches and bands have doubled from last years debut, Napa Porchfest is still a small-town event thats spread out enough to prevent overcrowding among attendees, Clark said. She couldnt estimate how many would attend the event that was hosted by Napa County Landmarks and the Napa Valley Destination Council, but said organizers expected about 250 last year and got 2,500.

It gives us chills, she said of the warm reception to the East Coastinspired, three-hour-long event. We might be pioneering a new thing in the Bay Area.

Mayor Jill Techel said it was nice to see residents taking pride in their homes and local musicians interacting with attendees.

To see neighbors, to see people you know, to see kids on bikes, its a great way for the community to get together, she said.

Laura Thomas, of Suisun City, came out to a house on Oak Street with her children and her husband, who was playing in a band there. She said Porchfest reminded her of living in a small town in Iowa.

It has turned out to be a very successful street party, she said from her shade-covered collapsible chair. Im originally from Iowa and they used to have street parties, but this is a lot more sophisticated.

Thomas called the event, in which groups of friends and families strolled from one house to the next, a marathon of bands that encourages you to be social.

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Big crowds turn out for small-town event

ON THE TURKEY-SYRIA BORDER Come nightfall, a bucolic farming village begins to buzz with unusual activity. Shadowy figures emerge from olive groves, clutching small suitcases. Cars crowd the winding rural road collecting and discharging passengers. Farmers step onto their porches, ready to offer a bed for the night to Syrians who have hiked across one of the countless illegal crossing points along Turkeys 550-mile border with their country.

On Wednesday, Turkey closed all of its legal border posts after Syrian rebels seized control of several crossings on the Syrian side. The move was prompted in part by concerns that Islamic extremists may have overrun at least one of the Syrian posts, at Bab al-Hawa, after a video posted online showed jihadi fighters there declaring they had established an Islamic state.

Turkish officials said that the closure would affect only Turks traveling to Syria and that Syrian refugees would still be allowed into Turkey.

But refugees do not use the official crossings. Nor do the rebels, arms smugglers, defectors and war wounded who have swarmed into southern Turkey in recent months, transforming one of the sleepiest parts of the country into a nerve center for the Syrian revolution.

Syrias other borders, with Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan, are witnessing similar activity on a lesser scale. But it is in Turkey, whose government long ago embraced calls for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, that the Syrian rebels have found the warmest welcome.

We must take care of them because they are our brothers and sisters, said Suphi Atan, a spokesman for Turkeys Foreign Ministry in the south, referring to the 43,000 Syrian refugees who are being housed in refugee camps dotting the border.

Far deeper role

Turkeys role in the revolt goes far deeper than helping refugees, though to what extent it is actively aiding a war that has spun beyond the reach of world diplomacy is unclear. Turkey seems to be groping for a strategy to address the unfolding chaos on its doorstep, said Hugh Pope of the International Crisis Group in Istanbul.

Turkey wants to have a say in what happens in Syria, he said. But Im not sure its got any easy answers to what is going on. This is all new and unexpected for Turkey.

What is clear is that the Syrian conflict has already reached deep into Turkey. The quaint and ancient city of Antakya, the preferred destination for most Syrians crossing the border, pulses with the intrigue and gossip of the war next door.

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Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound

FLORENCE, Ala. (WAAY)- Annette Floyd and Wanda Mullins sit on their front porches and visit every day. Thursday night during their visit, they heard something they never expected to hear in their usually quiet neighborhood.

"I said he had a gun, but I didn't see the gun," said Mullins. "I just had a gut feeling that, that's what he was reaching for. He pulled something out and there was a pop pop and that's all I heard."

"When she hollered he's got a gun, we started running for inside," said Floyd. "It was very scary."

Shortly after, Florence police responded to the call at the corner of Central Avenue and Conner Street. When officers arrived, they found 50 year old Jerry Ivey shot to death in his truck in the middle of the road.

Ivey's sister was a passenger in the truck with him but was not injured.

Police said that less than hour later, Ivey's first cousin 42 year old Raymond Clemmons turned himself in for shooting Ivey in the chest.

Clemmons has since been charged with murder.

"These two were good friends for many years and had grown up around each other, so it's a troubling time for both of these families," said Florence Police Chief Ron Tyler.

"It's certainly a tragedy for the Clemmons and the Ivey family," said Tyler. "All of them being related as they are, you would hope that family members could sit down in a calm and rational manner and settle those differences in a different way. We certainly wouldn't want it to lead to this type of violence."

Clemmons is being held in the Lauderdale County Jail.

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Muscle Shoals man behind bars after late night shooting

LOS ANGELES After living in what they had thought was their dream house six bedrooms, five bathrooms, 3,900 square feet in Ojai, Calif., complete with orange orchard and pool Wanda Weller Sakai and Kurtis Sakai found themselves wanting something different. Something less.

"We realized we'd rather downsize to something smaller and more humble and use whatever money we had left over to make something nice for ourselves," Kurtis said.

"One of the wake-up calls was seeing how much time and money I had to spend on water, property taxes, utilities and landscaping," he said, adding that the monthly water bill in summer was $700. "I started to think that, for the long haul, it didn't make sense to be in a house that big."

So they sold the house in Southern California and bought a 1,700-square-foot, 1971 ranch-house fixer nearby at the foot of Los Padres National Forest.

Working with architect Darwin McCredie, the couple created what McCredie calls "a transparent house" by adding 6-foot-wide glass sliders to every room. McCredie also added a master suite and office and rearranged rooms inside the home's original footprint.

The gabled roof of the garage was altered into a streamlined box, the bookend to the new office for Kurtis Sakai at the other end of the house.

Covered porches in front and in back, added to combat the Ojai sun, play out as a sort of Modernist take on the hacienda.

"That is what connects all the rooms in the house and creates outdoor rooms," McCredie said. "If you have a boring house, or even an ugly house, then the porch and the columns become the architecture."

A new retaining wall in the front yard "gives the house a strong base," McCredie said, and provides more flat, functional land. Sakai installed drought-tolerant plants that he said take just about 30 minutes a week to maintain.

Inside, the home's warm Modernism is courtesy of Wanda Weller Sakai, formerly director of design for Patagonia, now a fashion instructor at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and owner of the Modern Folk Living boutique in Ojai.

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Less home closer to nature is more

Keep the exterior of your house looking its best with these tips:

-- Illumination. Adding decorative lanterns to walkways or porches is an easy and inexpensive way to add charm and light. You can often find these pieces at yard sales, thrift stores or dollar stores and then simply paint them in a matching hammered or metallic finish for a bright and stylish look.

-- Quick color. The front door is a focal point of your home so be sure that your doors and shutters are a vivid shade. If yours have been dulled by years of sun and weather, it's time to update with paint. For metal doors and shutters, you can use a variety of spray or bucket paints in your favorite hue.

-- A tidy yard. A well-manicured lawn is important to boosting your curb appeal. Simple one-weekend tasks like edging, trimming bushes and removing unsightly weeds can make a huge difference without a lot of work or cost. To keep your efforts looking great, spray weed killer to maintain a polished look for the rest of the season.

-- ARA

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Boosting outdoor appeal

Just outside of Millersburg across Wiconisco Creek, Market Street bends off the main road and heads toward the mountains east of town.

Small homes line the two-lane road, buttressed by bright flower beds and front porches.

It was in one of these homes a white, older duplex, where 50-year-old Richard Blomgren was beaten nearly to death on the night of June 29.

When police arrived, they found Blomgren unconscious inside the house, and he was flown by helicopter to the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

He died 14 days later from his injuries.

Another Millersburg man, 44-year-old Michael Smeltz, is in Dauphin County Prison, charged with his death.

The two men were acquaintances, if not friends.

When arrested, Smeltz told the state police he had been drinking on the night when Blomgren was beaten. Late that night he went to Blomgrens house, supposedly to visit his friend, police said.

But, according to documents, as he crossed the yard to Blomgrens house, someone told Smeltz his girlfriend was inside the home and she was naked.

According to the court documents, Smeltz went into Blomgrens home and grabbed the older man by his shirt. After punching him to the floor, Smeltz repeatedly kicked him before fleeing the home. Police did not disclose if the girlfriend was in Blomgrens house.

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Man's beating death shocks tiny town of Millersburg

Rats, mice, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, skunks, deer, pigeons and more; it just never ends! There are so many other life forms who often enjoy our gardens more than we do. While I was visiting my colleague in Los Angeles, his garden became overrun by a swarm of bees! Fortunately, they did no damage and left the same day.

The worst problem in his garden is cats. His neighbor hoards unaltered feral cats that have proliferated into a substantial herd. Instead of exterminating rodents from the neighborhood, the overfed cats ignore the droves of rats that are drawn to the cat food left out on the porches. The rats attract opossums. Fleas are everywhere!

All this wildlife brings all sorts of other problems. The well kept domestic cats that live inside the home of my colleague are frequently afflicted with illness transmitted by the sickly feral cats. Flat roofs and basement crawl spaces of several adjacent homes have become litter boxes. The overpowering aroma is horrendous.

Fortunately, such proliferation of cats is rare. Most of us do not mind when a neighborhood cat, or even a few cats, visit the garden. However, when cats become a problem, they are nearly as difficult to remedy as vermin.

Although most municipalities have limited the number of domestic cats that can reside at individual residences, feral cats come and go freely, so are considered to be wild animals who are exempt from such limits. Besides, no

Flat roofs sometimes get used as litterboxes because they commonly have gravel on them and tend to accumulate a bit of other debris. If this is a problem, and if possible, access to flat roofs should be obstructed. Tree limbs and vines should be pruned back.

Basements and crawl spaces are easier to obstruct access to by simply repairing vent screens and exterior basement access. Cats like to use crawlspaces as litterboxes because the soil is always dry and dusty. Around the garden, dry spots are less attractive to cats if sometimes watered, even if there are no plants present. Adding spreading plants is even better. In a small dusty area behind the garage, I spread out a bit of firewood over the soil. By the time the firewood gets used, it will be raining and too muddy for cats.

Foliage of the Week: China Doll

It is hard to believe that the original variety of the familiar China doll, Radermachera sinica, that grows so slowly to reach an 8-foot high ceiling as a houseplant, can actually grow into a substantial 50-foot tall tree with a 3 foot wide trunk, where protected from frost. Modern varieties with more billowy foliage take even longer to reach the ceiling, and do not go much higher. The finely textured and very glossy foliage is bipinnately compound, which means that each of the half inch to 2- foot-long leaves is divided into smaller leaflets, which are also divided into even smaller leaflets that are about an inch or so long. Trusses of tubular white flowers that resemble big catalpa flowers are almost never seen among houseplants or modern varieties, but are quite showy on big old trees.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.551.9931 or lghorticulture@aol.com.

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When neighbors feed feral cats, the whole neighborhood can suffer

BY CHUCK FIELDMAN cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com July 10, 2012 11:52AM

In 1937, Hinsdale Theatre manager George Kruger installed an air-conditioning system. Krugers wife, Olga, stands in front of the the marquee. | Doings file photo

storyidforme: 33346884 tmspicid: 12178550 fileheaderid: 5563283

Updated: July 10, 2012 11:58AM

Many aspects of life have changed over the past 50 years. And while it would be difficult to find many people who arent happy about the advancement of air conditioning, being able to keep cool indoors has had a sociological impact.

The once common picture of people sitting on their front porches in an effort to stay relatively cool on a hot summer day or night has all but vanished in many areas. While its still not uncommon in some areas of Chicago to see many people outside when temperatures get into the 90s and higher, many suburban areas look more like ghosts towns during such conditions.

Its changed so much, said Carolyn Lukes, an 85-year-old Oak Brook resident who grew up in Cicero. It was nice. We talked to our neighbors; people knew their neighbors a lot more back then. Its sad now because in so many cases people really dont know their neighbors at all.

Ron Reiner, 77, of Clarendon Hills, also recalls the days when people spent considerably more time outside, interacting with neighbors.

Neighboring is so much different now, he said. We dont even have porches. I sit outside sometimes in my back yard. Ive seen a few people sit out in front in chairs, but people arent outside like they used to be.

Before air conditioning became commonplace in homes, many headed to movie theaters not only to watch a film, but also to cool off. Theaters were one of the few public places offering the comfort of air conditioning before the cooling units began to appear more regularly in the late 1960s/early 70s.

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Did cooler air bring less neighborhood interaction?

By Lori Kurtzman and Rita Price

Friday July 6, 2012 7:50 AM

NEWARK, Ohio As houses and businesses in most central Ohio neighborhoods regain power, those without electricity continue to crowd their porches and watch for utility trucks, hoping their homes are next. Some are growing used to nights in the dark and days in the oppressive heat. Others are getting angry.

Oh, its building, said Gabriel Burgoon, who spent another day without power in Newark. Meanwhile, the neon signs glowed at the drive-through beer store just down the road. Im mad.

Who are you mad at, Dad? asked his 16-year-old son, Bradley, sitting beside him on their porch.

Everybody, at the moment, Burgoon said.

Storms dont have to be lethal to pack an emotional wallop, experts say. When daily routines are knocked out of whack, when comforts slip maddeningly beyond reach and when danger lurks, many of us cant maintain an even keel.

Our anxiety level goes up, our irritability level goes up, our stress level goes up and we sort of lose our sense of predictability, said Dr. Alan Levy, a Columbus psychiatrist.

The fact that we know what to anticipate means a lot to our psyche.

Naturally, some people manage better than others, and Levy said that probably has a lot to do with basic personality.

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Storm’s damage can be mental