ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer Richard Wech, Hazleton code enforcement officer, inspects a home on Vine Street, Hazleton, on Monday as he and other city officials start to enforce quality-of-life offenses. Three tickets were written for trash, an old vehicle on the property and indoor furniture on the porch.

Hazleton Code Officers Richard Wech and Mary Ann Thomas began walking on Vine Street, looking at yards and porches for weeds, garbage and other violations of city ordinances Monday morning.

At one house, they found two tires by a front door. In a lot next to a vacant house, weeds grew knee high.

On another lot, Thomas placed a ruler next to a clump of weeds. They were taller than the 10-inch limit, so the owner was fined $25.

The code officers, helped by health officers and firefighters, swept through Hazleton while inspecting properties as part of a campaign to maintain the city's quality of life. In addition to Vine Street, they checked center city, the Heights and Terrace sections and the Beech Street neighborhood. They plan to continue inspections during the week.

Following a checklist, the inspectors looked for weeds, vehicles, trash, indoor furniture or appliances placed outdoors and 15 other possible violations including unlicensed food carts, littering and improper storage of recyclables or hazardous waste.

While inspectors have inspected properties during other summers, this week's patrol is different because owners get tickets without being warned.

The effort was publicized previously in the Standard-Speaker; a Spanish newspaper, Molinegocios USA Inc.; and on local television news programs, yet the lack of warning upset residents when inspectors handed them tickets.

Diana Anciburo said she pays attention to raising children, not watching the news. Plus she was out of town during the weekend when some of the stories were published.

"Why don't they give a warning?" Anciburo said after Wech handed her three tickets - one each for a vehicle with expired registration, for trash in the backyard and for indoor furniture on the front porch - totaling $75.

More here:
Code officers issue citations as part of new city initiative

Click photo to enlarge

LaVerne Donato shows the smashed windshield of her car on Monday at the Winston Garden senior apartments in Oroville. (Mary Weston/Staff Photo)

LaVerne Donato, 71, said somebody smashed the windshield on her minivan and the windows on several other vehicles.

Monday, a man walking down the street said the vandals had smashed the windows on a friend's car down the street.

Other residents had items stolen off of their porches.

Donato said it's an ongoing problem that starts in the spring and continues through the year, with people driving in pickups and loading up the senior's plants and yard decorations and vandalizing their cars.

She said there are known gang residences on a street north of the apartments and at a large apartment complex to the south of the senior housing.

"They are at war with each other, and we are in the middle of it," she said.

She said the gang members from both sides run through the apartment complex and jump over the fence to get to each other. They also congregate in Play Town USA Park on Fifth Avenue.

Her car has been vandalized three times in the last year, and residents have had many items stolen from their yards, she said.

Read more:
Seniors upset about raids by vandals in Oroville

HUNTINGTON -- People across the South Side of Huntington were finding out Friday night and Saturday morning that their front porches can be a cool place.

High winds and a thunderstorm Friday evening knocked out power to thousands of homes in the Tri-State, leaving people without air conditioning on days when the temperatures reached the triple digits and heat advisories were issued.

"Before the thunderstorm hit, the power went out," said Nam Phan of 9261/2 9th St. "It was miserable."

He and a neighbor, Stephanie Walker of 925 9th Ave., were cooling their heels on their shaded front porch Saturday morning wondering when the power would be restored.

"I'm going to have to empty out my freezer and grill out," Walker said. "We opened the windows. There was a breeze coming through. We got the candles and the flashlights."

She and her 4-year-old son, Willie, took a cool bath Friday night. "It got us through. I would have been in a panic if we didn't have water."

"I took a bath," Willie Walker said. "We had three flashlights and two candles."

Earlier he saw a tree crush a car.

His mom was planning to get the sprinkler out to keep Willie cool later in the day.

Trees, large limbs and downed power lines were a common sight around Huntington Saturday.

See original here:
Powerless residents improvise to get cool

Before the sun rises, Brian Gay of Mendon is at work loading his truck and quietly placing milk in metal drop boxes or coolers left in people's driveways or doorsteps, back porches or garages.

I'm kind of a dinosaur, Mr. Gay, 48, said.

Mr. Gay, owner of Maple Farm Dairy, is a milkman, one of a few left around who deliver milk in glass or plastic bottles to homes and businesses in vintage-style trucks.

You see my truck in the neighborhood, it's there for only one reason. When you see that truck, you know what it is doing, Mr. Gay said, adding that he still delivers glass-bottle milk from Monroe Dairy in Providence, and plastic-bottle milk from Oakhurst Dairy in Connecticut.

Mr. Gay took over the delivery business from his uncle when he was 18 years old, delivering milk out of the back of his Chevy van to 120 customers. Mr. Gay's Mendon company does not run a dairy.

Today, Maple Farm Dairy delivers to about 1,000 customers in more than 20 communities, as far out as Norfolk and Wrentham. However, Mr. Gay, like other milkmen, has had to deliver more than milk to stay in business.

I've got a whole grocery store in that truck. You just can't make it on milk and eggs alone anymore, Mr. Gay said, adding that the Maple Farm Dairy trucks carry juices, baked goods, breads, frozen vegetables, butter, cheese, coffee and yogurt .

Gibson's Village Dairy Farm on Sunderland Road in Worcester has been delivering milk to area homes since 1923 and continues to do so now as Gibson's enters the family's fourth generation of ownership.

When my grandfather started this dairy there were 52 dairies doing home delivery in Worcester, Francis Gibson said. Mr. Gibson works with his brother Glenn, and the fourth generation his daughter Sarah Gibson and nephew Glenn Gibson Jr.

Mr. Gibson said his daughter and partner Allison Smith rescued the home-delivery service by incorporating local organic products, adding that Gibson's largest customer base today is young families who are dedicated to the buy local movement.

View original post here:
Got milk?

This time of year when temperatures flirt with or conquer 100 degrees every day the inevitable question is: How on earth did people survive before air conditioning?

The idea of spending a day or night in an non-airconditioned house seems unimaginable. The most obvious answer is that because few people had any form of artificial air conditioning in their homes before the 1950s, they had no idea what they were missing and simply toughed it out.

That's partly true, but not entirely. In fact, homes built in pre-air conditioning days were made to be livable without air conditioning. Many newer homes are not.

A drive through older parts of Wichita Falls will show you. Note that the homes built before the advent of any form of air conditioning tend to have tall roofs and spacious attics. Those attics weren't added just to store Grandma's old cedar chest, but to create a buffer between the blazing sun and the living areas of the house. Back then, most people just stayed out of the upstairs bedrooms during the heat of the day, opting to stay on the lower floors where it was a tad cooler. Many homes had tall ceilings so the heat could follow its natural tendency to rise above where people were.

Pre- air conditioning homes were also pre-Sheetrock homes. Brick and stone homes were really brick and stone not veneer. Wooden homes consisted of plaster and lath walls. Even prehistoric people knew caves were cool in the summer. Our more recent ancestors knew the insulation value of bringing cave-like walls above the ground.

Houses back then had lots of windows that would actually open and close. They were positioned so that opening one on one wall and another on another wall would pull a draft of air through the room. Likewise, the front doors were often lined up with the back doors so drafts through the screen doors would waft through the length of the house.

Then there's the front porch that nostalgic relic of yesteryear. In pre-television and computer days, people actually did sit on the porch in the relative cool of the evening and socialize with neighbors. In some older Wichita Falls neighborhoods you'll find the front porches closed in. That happened with the coming of air conditioning and TV. A back porch screened off from mosquitoes was an excellent alternative bedroom on those especially brutal nights.

Porches front, back and side had another purpose: they shaded the house from the sun. Trees, bushes and vines offered the same insulation. It's doubtful the earliest trees here were planted for their ornamental value.

Was it as comfy cool as our modern air-conditioned homes?

Absolutely not. But it was bearable.

See the rest here:
Walker: Before we became cool, we had porches

Rotten wood on the porches of 64-year-old Amanda Singleton's St. Helena Island home created holes all the way to the foundation. It got so bad she was afraid to go anywhere.

"It was scary," she said. "I had to learn to maneuver around the situation to get in and out of my house."

With no cartilage in her knee, the retired certified nursing assistant already has problems walking -- having to pivot from one place to another around soft boards made the situation even worse.

Now Singleton can walk across her porches without fear of falling through. Last week, a group of hard-working teens replaced them as part of the weeklong Salkehatchie Summer Service project.

About 110 teens from 14 Methodist churches from across the state including Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill, as well as North Carolina, repaired and renovated nine homes on St. Helena Island last week. Local churches helped by preparing two meals for the group each day.

This is the 30th year for the project on St. Helena Island. Salkehatchie has 52 other camps in North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina.

A BONDING EXPERIENCE

In addition to new wood on the porches and a new roof, much of Singleton's house got a fresh coat of paint.

Sitting in a white plastic chair on the new porch, Singleton clapped her hands and smiled as she watched a team of 20 teens and camp leaders work all around her.

"It was a blessing," she said of being chosen to receive renovations on St. Helena Island. This was the third year she had applied for help to repair her home, and the first time she was chosen. Each year about 50 people apply and about 10 are picked.

View original post here:
Salkehatchie Summer Service volunteers repair homes, rebuild lives on St. Helena Island

26-06-2012 20:32 Compilation featuring a few videos and pictures of the best super cars I spotted in my first car spotting year, feel free to comment and rate. Cheers (;

The rest is here:
SuperCars in Portugal Vol. 1. GT-R, Astons, Lambos, Porches, Ferraris,M, etc!HD vids and pictures - Video

Thirty-five years ago, the owner of the home at 2947 Macomb St. NW, in the Districts Cleveland Park neighborhood, fell in love with her home at first sight.

The front porch, the beamed ceiling in the living room, the window seat and pale stained-glass windows grabbed her heart, while the tree-lined street and neighboring front porches provided a setting conducive to building camaraderie between her family and others in the area.

After 3 1/2 decades, the home has nearly doubled in size and has been completely restored and renovated.

Built in 1916, this Cleveland Park home is on the market for $1,350,000. Connecticut Avenue, the Cleveland Park Metro station, the Cleveland Park Library, shops, restaurants and the old-fashioned two-level Uptown Theater are all within a few minutes stroll from this residence. Also nearby are the National Zoo, parks, playgrounds and additional shops and restaurants on Wisconsin Avenue.

Macomb Street, possibly one of the loveliest residential streets in the District, is lined with single-family homes graced with elegant trim, flowering shrubs, trees and garden beds. This home has been professionally landscaped and includes both front and back spaces for enjoying spring, summer and fall evenings.

A flagstone walkway leads to the front porch, a cheerful space with red-painted wood flooring, a beadboard ceiling, columns and a skylight to allow more sunlight to filter onto the porch. Adjacent to the home is a private drive with space for off-street parking that leads to a detached one-car garage with a new roof. A flagstone patio wraps around the back of the house and includes a low stone wall with a few steps up to garden beds shaded by trees. The property is fully fenced.

A wood front door with elegant glass insets opens into the foyer, which has hardwood flooring and wood steps with wrought-iron railings to the upper level. Next to the foyer is the open living room and dining room, which have a wood-beamed ceiling and pastel stained-glass windows that come from a church. At the front of the living room are a window seat and built-in cabinets and shelves under a triple window. The living room has a wood-burning fireplace.

At the back of the house, the owner bumped out a narrow room into a spectacular two-story great room wrapped in windows on two sides. Floor-to-ceiling prairie-style windows form the back wall of this room, with transoms and a round window tucked under the peak of the cathedral ceiling. The windows frame a view of the back patio and gardens. One wall is covered with built-in cabinets and shelving for books, artwork and entertainment systems.

Nearby is a renovated powder room with a modern glass-topped vanity with a steel sink.

The kitchen, which has hardwood flooring, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets and a distinctive tile backsplash was renovated last year. Storage space has been maximized with a wall of custom-built floor-to-ceiling cabinets and additional cabinets with glass fronts. The kitchen has two sinks for efficient cooking.

Read more:
Resale of the week: Haven in Cleveland Park

The hated house feature

Remember when people once liked practical things on their houses? Porches and overhangs and aluminum awnings and such?

Well Greenpoint, for one, has had it with aluminum awnings, reports The New York Times.

Those humble providers of shelter are so mid-century, and not Eames chairs/ skinny ties/ birth of the cool kind of mid-century, but smoking around children and eating TV dinners kind of mid-century.

Its almost like theyre deliberately trying to be unattractive, a la that golden girl of Greenpoint Lena Dunham, who films herself doing things like awkwardly hitching up a pair of flesh-colored panty-hose.

Youre never going to go on Craigslist and find someone whos looking for a vintage 1950s fiberglass or aluminum awning, architect and Greenpoint-dweller Jonathan B. Held told The Times. They are despised.

Even the general manager of a scrapyard takes calls them an eyesore. Ouch!

However, apparently some practical-minded people still want these functional coverings to block the rain and the snow and to keep their newspapers (we hope they dont read The Times) dry. In fact, in an indication of just how much attention they pay to such passing fancies, Brooklyn-based Aluminum Awnings informed us that they hadnt even heard about The Times article when we called their office.

Indeed, we found several other purveyors of awnings, including General Awnings and Home Depot, who are still selling the product, focusing, we suppose, on the small segment of the population who are not part of the ever-fickle tastemakers. Why just last year The Times was singing the virtues of vinyl siding in nearby Williamsburg:

To Mr. Canfield, replacing vinyl siding that is in good shape, as some homebuyers do as soon as they have the deed, is like carelessly restoring antiques that came over on the Mayflower. He views vinyl siding facades as the key to preserving Williamsburgs working-class traditions, which arguably has become its own facade.

Read the original:
Aluminum Awning Companys Not Yet Aware Their Wares Are Considered Démodé

CARLISLE -- Pennsylvania State Police Carlisle are looking for a man who's making a habit of stealing food off people's porches and leaving his bike behind while he walks awa eating.

On June 24 at 10:25 p.m. Hannah Darhower, 24, of the 200 block of Alexander Spring Road in South Middleton Township, just finished making food and placed it on her front porch while she went back inside to get something, according to police. When she came back, she saw a man kneeling beside her house eating her food.

The man is described as a white, non-HIspanic male approximately 5'10" weighing 140 lbs., in his early 30s with dark hair and possibly a ponytail.

The man stood up from where he was kneeling and carried the plate away from the residence, walking through the grass toward Walnut Bottom Road. The man left his bicycle at the scene, an older style 10-speed Raleigh bike.

According to State Police, this incident is similar to a food theft on Bonnybrook Road on June 13 at 1:20 a.m. when a man left behind a bicycle at that scene as well. The description of the man is similar in both incidents.

Anyone with information - especially those living on the southern end of Carlisle Borough near State Route 34 and Walnut Bottom Road, and South Middleton Residents, are encouraged to contact PSP Carlisle, Trooper Boardman, at 249-2121 ext. 3.

See more here:
Police looking for man making a habit of grabbing dinner off porches in Carlisle