STANFORD A Boyle County woman has been arrested for the second time in as many weeks for stealing crafts and primitives off of porches in north Stanford.

Lisha Hampton, 51, has been charged with theft by unlawful taking, third-degree criminal trespassing, third-degree criminal mischief and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Stanford police arrested Hampton Monday night after "catching her in the act," Detective Joe Gilliland said.

Hampton was caught with stolen items in the vehicle she was driving along Lee Drive, Gilliland said.

About two weeks ago, Hampton was arrested for similar charges after taking a flag and other porch decorations from multiple Stanford locations.

Gilliland said Hampton has admitted to selling items she has stolen, which have come largely from homes on the north side of Stanford.

"She loves the area up around Hilltopper (Drive), that whole area everything north of the bypass," he said.

Hampton is currently being held on a $10,000 cash bond in the Lincoln County Regional Jail.

Gilliland said while Stanford police have returned some items stolen by Hampton, they still have more items that no one has claimed.

He encouraged anyone in the north Stanford area who has noticed items missing from outside their homes in the last two weeks to call the Stanford Police Department at (606) 365-4525.

See the rest here:
Boyle woman charged with stealing from Stanford porches

HARTSVILLE --

Hartsville City Council gave final approval to an amendment granting an exception to the citys new no smoking ordinance for outdoor patios, porches and decks at bars, but not before tweaking it one last time to extend the exception to patios, porches and decks at restaurants in the city as well.

Smoking inside the restaurants and bars as well as all other businesses and other institutions in the city will still be prohibited.

The amended ordinance also relaxes the so-called 10-foot rule for entrances leading to outdoor patios, porches and decks to prohibit smoking within five feet of those entrances. Smoking within 10 feet of all other business entrances is still prohibited under the ordinance.

The ordinance also still prohibits smoking on public sidewalks in front of restaurants and bars and other businesses.

Councilman Johnny Andrews, who had previously expressed concerns about exposing underage workers in restaurants and bars to second-hand smoke, cast the only vote against the changes.

Council also gave final approval to an ordinance repealing previous city ordinances that banned smoking in city-owned buildings, parks and vehicles, since those are all now covered by the new ordinance.

The new ordinance goes into effect on Oct. 10.

Read the original:
Hartsville amends no smoking ordinance

FREMONT -- A quick tip for front-porch package thieves: When stealing something, wait to get home before you open it.

Police arrested a Union City man Tuesday after witnesses spotted him stealing FedEx-delivered packages off porches of homes in the Ardendale neighborhood, said police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques.

Justin Garcia, 39, was arrested on suspicion of theft after a resident dialed 911 at 2:16 p.m. to report two men riding bikes and stealing boxes from front porches near Winslow Terrace, Bosques said.

The resident told police he watched the suspects ride away, stop near a fence line of a home and tear open boxes that had the word "Amazon" written on the side of them. The boxes, Bosques said, contained small household items.

Bosques said that after the suspects opened the boxes, they took some of the items and rode off on their bikes.

The resident followed them in a car and when officers arrived, they found one of the suspects near the Ardenwood railroad crossings but lost track of him. Police said that suspect is a Hispanic male in his late teens wearing a blue shirt, jeans and a blue and gray backpack.

The second suspect, who police identified as Garcia, was apprehended trying to flee on his bike. Officers found some of the items that had been inside the boxes in Garcia's possession and arrested him.

Bosques said that in recent weeks residents throughout the Ardendale neighborhood have reported finding their mail

Police are asking residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity in the area and to dial 911 if something criminal appears to be taking place.

Anyone with information about this incident can call police at 510-790-6800 or at the anonymous tip line at 510-494-4856.

See the original post:
Fremont police arrest suspected front-porch package thief

History is practically everywhere you look in the Washington area. Pick just about any neighborhood, and youll see a plethora of historically significant architectural styles in the housing stock from Queen Anne turrets and Beaux-Arts staircases to Arts and Crafts porches and Mid-Century Modern skylights.

Take a stroll through Georgetown and youll see Federal mansions, such as Evermay, and Cookes Row, an exa mple of the Italianate style most noted for its elaborate doorways, flat roofs and overhanging eaves.

Drive through Alexandria and youll see examples of Greek Revivals, with their bold columns, in structures such as the Athenaeum, the peach-hued home of the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association, and the Lyceum, the citys history museum.

Or check out the Brice House and the Hammond House, both in Annapolis, examples of the Georgian style noted for distinctive paneled front doors with decorative crowns and pilasters on the side.

There is a wealth of styles, says Patrick Andrus, a historian with the National Register of Historic Places. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, D.C. was very cosmopolitan, very receptive to architectural styles. ... D.C. adopted everything that was available.

Many of those architectural gems still stand, largely because of the preservation movement.

Preservation efforts by homeowners, historians and groups Cultural Tourism D.C., the D.C. Preservation League, Preservation Maryland, Preservation Virginia and the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, just to name a few have been extensive.

More than 90,000 properties (most of them residential) are on Marylands registry, according to state officials. In Virginia, there are more than 41,000 houses listed as historic, most of them in historid districts, says Marc C. Wagner, designation manager at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

To date, more than 25,000 D.C. buildings are in a historic district, says Steve Callcott, deputy preservation officer in the citys Historic Preservation Office.

Says Andrus: Its a rich environment for historic preservation.

Read the rest here:
Historic homes in Washington DC area embrace a wealth of significant architectural styles

As the flood waters recede, cattle huddle on front porches and cats ride away in canoes.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, was hit hard by Hurricane Isaac, but it's on the road to recovery. On Labor Day, the first convoys of utility trucks were finally able to make their way down Highway 23, the only road that travels the length of the parish on the west bank. Large swaths of the road remained impassable, forcing the trucks to make frequent detours onto the Mississippi River levee. Residents who fled the west bank were also allowed to drive along the levee at designated times for a first look at the damage.

On the east bank, in Braithwaite and Scarsdale, flood water remains. Don Duplantier rode out the storm at his house until he was rescued by boat. He now says he was lulled into a false sense of security when Isaac was predicted to be a category 1 storm. In fact, Isaac hit Plaquemines Parish harder than Katrina did, lingering for hours and flooding streets and homes with a powerful storm surge. After his own rescue, Duplantier used a pirogue to return for his cats (he still can't convince one of them to come out of hiding) and pick up the clothes his family needs for his son's upcoming wedding.

On the west bank, cattle and horses scattered to find higher ground when Isaac flooded their pastures. Hundreds are dead; others are being rounded up and rescued. The National Guard is dropping hay for the surviving livestock while cajun cowboys rustle up the remaining cows along Highway 23. The recovery continues -- as does the hurricane season, which still has months to go.

Originally posted here:
Eerie Visions on Highway 23 After Hurricane Isaac

Susan Harrison Wolffis' column, "Porches, true windows on the world," shared her nostalgia for the front porch of her Grandmother Harrison's house. For her the front porch was a place where imagination took root as well as a place to meet the neighbors.

Harrison Wolffis wrote:

When I think of my grandmothers house -- never pretentious, never fancy, never the best house on the block but a good neighbor nonetheless -- it was always a beehive of activity: a swarm of grandchildren, and a few favorite cousins added in.

Then we came along, the grandchildren.

We took up where our fathers left off. We played in the same backyard. We climbed the same trees. We chased each other and made up games with no rules, or rules too complicated to follow, so there was inevitable anarchy.

My girl-cousins and I dressed up in our grandmothers clothes, transforming ourselves into ladies-in-waiting and other elaborate characters, and then because we felt the need to share, we left the boys to whatever they were doing, and we walked up and down the sidewalk in our get-ups -- theres no other word for it -- showing off.

And when we needed a break, we landed on the porch.

That porch was both our window on the world and our safe haven, all in one.

birchtree11 thinks some people ignore their front porches because of danger:

Continue reading here:
Front porches have different meanings now, reader tells Susan Harrison Wolffis

News

TVA sends new park rules to county

By CHARLES WHISENANT - The Arab Tribune Monday, August 27, 2012 8:30 AM CDT

There will be no more porches at Marshall County Park No. 2 and the park can stay open longer.

Those are part of the new campground rules TVA recently sent to the Marshall County Commission.

Park No. 2 is owned by TVA and the commission leases it. The county owns the property that makes up Marshall County Park No. 1, so the new rules don't affect it.

The new rules establish two kinds of campsites, seasonal and short-term.

Commissioner Bill Stricklend, whose district includes Park No. 2, said the commission will have to make changes to the county's park rules to incorporate the new TVA rules.

The park can now remain open 11 and a half months per year, up from eight months.

Campgrounds must be closed and campsites vacated for 14 consecutive days per year. Campers can be stored at the campground parking lot during this time.

See the rest here:
TVA sends new park rules to county

Los Lobos

"Kiko - 20th Anniversary Edition," "Kiko - Live" CD and DVD

Shout Factory

On the one hand, Los Lobos have come a long way in 40 years. On the other hand, the band has never left the backyards and front porches of East L.A. From its roots as a traditional conjunto through its American music mixmaster phase to its current place as tradition-meets-progression godfathers, the Lobos have kept eyes, ears and hands on several muses while remaining firmly rooted at home.

In 1992, when Los Lobos released the Mitchell Froom-produced "Kiko," critics and fans alike took notice. Though there likely were a considerable number of fans who would have been happy to hear the band play "Anselma," "Don't Worry Baby" and "La Bamba" for the rest of their lives, even more were overjoyed when Los Lobos slipped the leash. With "Kiko," the band did exactly what it wanted, exactly what it had been preparing for for two decades: bring all the influences, talent, soul and power together with no compartmentalization.

The reissued and live CDs and the DVDs of "Kiko" stand as perfect examples of a band working at the height of its powers, moving from the boogie of "That Train Don't Stop Here" to the percolating groove of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon," from the tradition-based "Saint Behind the Glass" to the heartfelt "Peace" and the cantina-worthy ballad "Rio de Tenampa."

Los Lobos always defied boundaries. Twenty years down the line, the boundary obliterating "Kiko" remains vital, true and tough.

Jim Beal Jr.

Visit link:
Review: 'Kiko' was Los Lobos' blurring of lines

This weekend, a porch collapsed on Williams Street in Collegetown, sending landlords into a frenzy. One company even issued a warning to tenants to avoid "rhythmic vibrations" on porches. We sent our Berry Patch reporters to Collegetown over the weekend to find out the top seven things not to do on your Collegetown porch.

1) Dont stand on your porch railings and pretend to be a pterodactyl or other similar prehistoric bird. Like these long lost creatures, you might become extinct. And if that doesnt kill you, your neighbor might not appreciate your pterodactyl sounds and do it himself.

2 ) Invite a Sun sex columnist onto your porch. If anyone knows anything about rhythmic vibrations, its these people.

3) Dont treat your porch railing like the balance beam in gymnastics and pretend to be Gabby Douglas. You are not that nimble, and you are also not 16 years old. If you are going to attempt this against our warnings, ensure you are properly outfitted in a leotard.

4) Dont invite any large mammals onto your porch. Leave your alpaca at home. This applies to New Jersey governors and Sumo wrestlers as well.

5) Ensure that when you are inviting a bunch of people to do Sake bombs on your porch that they are not actual bombs.

6) Dont play the song Call Me Maybe on your porch. You are likely to shatter all the windows in your house, and likely all of the surrounding houses as well. You will definitely be calling your landlord.

7 ) Dont stand on your porch if you can avoid it. Have you seen those porches?

Read more from the original source:
The Berry Patch: The Dangers of Collegetown Porches

wwltv.com

Posted on August 21, 2012 at 10:15 PM

Updated today at 10:58 PM

Scott Satchfield / Eyewitness News Email: ssatchfield@wwltv.com | Twitter: @satchfield

NEW ORLEANS -- In neighborhoods across the West Bank, front porches and carports of some homes are illuminated by a blue glow.

Its a tribute to the two St. John Parish deputies who were killed and two others injured by gunfire in the line of duty last week.

The idea to show support through these blue lightbulbs came from 7-year-old R.J. Kindell.

Because I felt bad when people died, he said.

R.J. has grown up with great respect for police. His father, Roland Kindell, is a Gretna police officer.

We (were) riding in the car one day, and he said dad, I want to do something for the officers that last their lives in the line of duty. So I sent an email out to a couple of friends, text messages, put it on Facebook, and it spread like wildfire, Roland Kindell said.

See the article here:
7-year-old boy comes up with idea to honor fallen officers