Nissa Blocher didn't have to see the grand three-story twin in West Philadelphia to decide to live there. The then-medical resident trusted her fiance, Victor Brubaker, a contractor and old-house aficionado who had been searching for the right house with good bones.

She had only two conditions - that the house have a garage and a way to get into the basement from the outside - and this house had neither. So it goes sometimes.

Still, the dignified, circa-1902 classical revival house was within walking distance of Clark Park, a market, a pet store, and several restaurants. For Nissa, who was attending the University of Pennsylvania nearby, and Victor, a former chef, that was too good to pass up.

"I just fell in love with all the intact original details: the leaded-glass windows, the wood trim, the mantel, the window seat," says Victor, who now runs his business, Victor Brubaker - Builder, out of the dwelling's second-floor office. "It's completely coincidental I moved back here."

Originally from West Philadelphia, he spent most of his childhood in southern Africa, where his father did missionary work. He worked in the restaurant business for 20 years before turning to architecture and "rehabbing homes before it became a spectator sport."

His first house was a fixer-upper, a 1920s bungalow in Trenton. Victor went on to rehab several Italianates in that city's historic Mill Hill district, where he admits to developing a passion for cast-plaster molding, one of several additions to the new house.

Nissa, who grew up in a Spanish-style home in St. Louis and went to medical school in Phoenix, had rehabbed a house in Arizona, even teaching herself how to do electrical work.

That was one of the things that attracted him to her, Victor jokes. The couple met online, and one of their dates revolved around pouring a concrete slab in a basement.

They bought their 2,600-square-foot West Philly twin in spring 2005, commuting from New Jersey for six months while $80,000 in renovations were completed. They updated plumbing and electrical service, installed new windows and central air-conditioning, refinished the floors, repaired the roof, and remodeled the 21/2 baths.

Outside, Victor restored the porch, drawing attention from neighbors as well as honorary citations from the University City Historical Society.

Kitchens are important to Victor, who graduated from the Restaurant School in Philadelphia and cooked at the French eatery Lahiere's in Princeton for 10 years. The rehab of this particular kitchen included reconfiguring the layout and setting the work space off from the path to the back door.

"Kitchens can be made too big sometimes," he says. "You just want enough space for two people to work comfortably."

They chose black limestone counters, a subway-tile backsplash, a farmhouse sink, and a commercial range. For contrast, they embraced a 100-year-old maple butcher block and an iron pot hanger, and turned the underused back staircase into a first-floor pantry and second-floor linen closet.

Most noticeable is the bar separating the kitchen from the dining room. They constructed it from salvaged oak paneling and closet trim from a historic home on Sansom Street undergoing improvements.

"He can churn out a whole party from this place. It still respects the period," Nissa says.

The living room is painted a lively green and dominated by a leaded-glass bay window and double doors that lead to the dining room.

In the mudroom, a dog cage is covered with ribbons from their pet's agility training, Nissa's latest hobby. The golden retriever - who came with the name Jimmy, after Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins - can open the back door.

Upstairs, the office is lined with stately bookshelves and flooded with natural light. A minimalist desk sits in the middle. As with all the other rooms in the house, the walls were repainted from baby blue and decorated with art and antiques from the couple's travels to Bolivia, Vietnam, Morocco, Turkey, and Cambodia. One wall features a poster from a recent mountain-climbing trip.

A nearby fireplace, lined in magenta tile, is covered with a wooden overmantel flanked by two griffins. The piece was stolen during construction but recovered a day after they were married - the pair found it in a Lancaster antiques mart.

Standing on the landing of the original staircase, the couple say they occasionally muse about moving closer to Nissa's endocrinology practice in Elkins Park, or to northwest Philadelphia, where many other grand old houses can be found.

"Every time we think about moving, they open a new restaurant down the street," Victor says.

Holding the banister, they say that they are content with the neighborhood and the house - and that, really, there's only one thing missing.

"We have to find the little pineapple that goes here," Nissa says.

Is your house a Haven?

Tell us about your haven by e-mail (and send digital photographs) at properties@ phillynews.com

Read more here:
Rehabbing an old gem in West Philadelphia

1:00 AM

By Kelley Bouchard kbouchard@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

FALMOUTH -- When Dick and Pat Traynor bought their modest, one-story ranch on a bluff overlooking the town landing and Casco Bay in 2010, they anticipated adding a small second story to accommodate visiting children and grandchildren.

The retired couple figured the town would approve the plan, since theirs was the only house in the waterfront neighborhood that didn't have a second or third story. They were wrong.

Neighbors who live behind the Traynors fought the expansion plan when it went before the Board of Zoning Appeals. They pointed to the town's unusual 2006 ban on additions that would have "a significant adverse impact on water views" from nearby properties. The Traynors ultimately withdrew the plan and settled for a much smaller, ground-level expansion.

"It got so acrimonious, we gave up on the idea of having a second story," Dick Traynor recalled. "Our house is still the runt on the Falmouth waterfront."

Repeatedly faced with similar battles over precious water views, Falmouth officials are again rethinking seaside zoning regulations. They'll take a first step on Monday, when the Town Council receives a proposal to create a Waterview Overlay Zone. Future proposals promise to be controversial, including one that would turn back the clock on house- and lot-size requirements set in the 1960s.

The reason for the conflict is clear -- waterfront property values have skyrocketed in recent years, and tax bills on lots in the Foreside neighborhood are two-and-a-half to nine times higher than elsewhere in Falmouth. But while many communities have wrestled with the value of water views -- and government's role in protecting competing interests of private property owners -- Falmouth may stand alone in passing zoning specifically designed to preserve private water views.

In a search of communities across the United States, Falmouth officials found none that went beyond protecting public "viewsheds," such as forested hillsides and scenic highways, according to Amanda Stearns, Falmouth's community development director.

In Maine, Camden has zoning that protects scenic coastal corridors and landscapes, and Bar Harbor protects vistas in its Town Hill and downtown districts. If pressed, municipalities may choose to protect private water views under more general zoning language that limits a project's negative impact on neighbors' property values.

"Towns usually don't get involved," Stearns said. "We didn't find other communities that expressly assist residents in protecting their water views. In most communities, unless you buy waterfront (property), you risk losing your water view."

Protecting water views

Falmouth moved to protect water views in 2006, after a number of waterfront property owners built larger homes that obscured upland neighbors' views. The Board of Zoning Appeals asked the Town Council to review the zoning last fall to make it more clear and less cumbersome.

"The board's reasoning is that 'significant adverse impact' is so ambiguous that it should either be amended to provide greater clarity or repealed," wrote Jay Meyer, appeals board chairman, in an Oct. 19 letter to the council.

At least one board member worried that by enforcing the zoning, the board is effectively taking away property rights and granting view easements to neighbors without compensating property owners who are being denied permission to expand, Meyer wrote.

Councilor Tony Payne, chairman of the committee that's reviewing waterfront zoning, shares the appeals board's concerns.

Payne said the only sure way to prevent a neighbor from obscuring a valued water view is to buy view rights, just as people buy easements to run a sewer line or build a driveway across a neighbor's land.

"A view easement is attached to the deed, so it preserves property rights in a legal way and makes it an economic decision, too," Payne said.

Still, Payne said, current waterfront zoning is unclear and unfair to both residents and the board, and it needs to be fixed.

"We're trying to be mindful of property owners' rights," Payne said. "The question is, where do my rights end and where do my neighbors' begin and what am I allowed to do with my property?"

Three proposals

On Monday, the Town Council will receive a proposal to create a Waterview Overlay District encompassing the Foreside and Flats neighborhoods east of Route 88, including Mackworth Point. The proposal was developed by Stearns and the council's Community Development Committee.

If approved, all property owners in the overlay district would need a conditional use permit to expand a single-family structure, demonstrating that a project is compatible with the neighborhood and won't have a significant adverse impact on others' water views.

Under current zoning, all nonconforming uses in town need a conditional use permit. Under the proposed change, nonconforming uses outside the Waterview Overlay District would need only a building permit from the code enforcement officer.

Falmouth officials are developing a second waterfront zoning proposal that would introduce a neighborhood negotiating process to the review of projects in the overlay district, Stearns said. Neighbors could sign off on a project or municipal staff would help negotiate a resolution before presenting it to the appeals board.

A third proposal, destined to be the most controversial, would call for changes in the dimensional requirements within the overlay zone, so the size and placement of homes would be more in keeping with the historical appearance of the waterfront area, Stearns said.

Many waterfront homes built at the turn of the last century were one- or two-story cottages set on small lots. Town zoning passed in 1965 established a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet, she said, and the maximum height allowed in the waterfront area is 35 feet.

Town officials would review the sizes of houses and lots throughout the overlay district and establish reduced dimensional requirements reflecting a majority of properties, Stearns said. The new requirements would stop short of regulating architectural style.

"This would be a huge step," Stearns said. "The current requirements take the neighborhood character away. This would be a return to the seaside village character. It would say that we like the form of the neighborhood as it is, so we want to perpetuate that."

For better or worse

The three waterfront zoning proposals are liable to get mixed reviews.

Matt Manahan, a land-use lawyer with Pierce Atwood in Portland who represents some of the Traynors' neighbors, said the first two zoning proposals make sense, but the third could make matters worse.

Manahan said trying to legislate the character of the Foreside neighborhood would make waterfront zoning more subjective and the project-review process more time-consuming, expensive and controversial.

"If you try to determine what the neighborhood character is, you may protect some water views but open the area to more intensive development," Manahan said.

If the concern is that some people will build "megamansions," he said, then reducing the height limit should be enough.

Manahan represents Christopher Green in particular, whose house at 11 Ayers Court is located directly behind the Traynors' house at 20 Burgess St.

The tax bill on Green's two-story, 1,456-square-foot cottage, built in 1900, helps to explain why he fought to preserve his water view.

Like all non-waterfront properties in the Foreside neighborhood east of Route 88, the $329,000 assessed value of Green's 3,000-square-foot lot is 2.5 times higher than average lots elsewhere in town, said Town Assessor Anne Gregory.

The lot's assessed value is an additional 50 percent higher because Green has a water view, which accounts for $100,000 of his total $486,000 property assessment, which includes $157,000 for the house. His view accounts for $1,292 of his $6,279 annual tax bill.

In comparison, the Traynors' waterfront lot, which measures less than one-third of an acre, has an assessed value of $743,000 - nine times higher than average lots elsewhere in town, Gregory said. There are 87 waterfront lots in Falmouth that are assessed at this rate.

The Traynors' total property assessment is $899,000, including a 3,178-square-foot house assessed at $155,000, and their annual tax bill is $11,615.

In the wake of the appeals board battle in 2010, the Traynors have tried to come to terms with the limited use of their property.

Dick Traynor, an 83-year-old lawyer, dons a wet suit and swims daily, May through October, off the beach in front of their house. They both enjoy walking the hills throughout the Foreside neighborhood and relish their beautiful views of Casco Bay.

But Pat Traynor, 75, is still angry and says she wouldn't have bought the house if she had known they couldn't add a second story. Dick Traynor struggles to be more forgiving, noting that while zoning prevented them from building an addition with a 25-foot-high peak, they could plant evergreens that would grow 90 feet tall.

"This is an emotional, vexing problem," Dick Traynor said. "I don't envy the Town Council or the appeals board one bit."

 

Continued here:
Falmouth again rethinking seaside zoning regulations

February 26
Amid permit battles, the town weighs zoning specifically meant to shield private water views.

By Kelley Bouchard kbouchard@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

FALMOUTH — When Dick and Pat Traynor bought their modest, one-story ranch on a bluff overlooking the Town Landing and Casco Bay in 2010, they anticipated adding a small second story to accommodate visiting children and grandchildren.

click image to enlarge

Dick and Pat Traynor figured the town of Falmouth would let them add a small second story to their ranch house at 20 Burgess St., because theirs was the only one-story home in the neighborhood. They ultimately settled for a ground-floor expansion.

Photos by John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

click image to enlarge

The Traynors’ waterfront lot, which measures less than a third of an acre, has an assessed value of $743,000 – nine times higher than average lots elsewhere in town.

John Patriquin/Staff Photographer

The retired couple figured the town would approve the plan, since theirs was the only house in the waterfront neighborhood that didn’t have a second or third story. They were wrong.

Neighbors who live behind the Traynors fought the expansion plan when it went before the Board of Zoning Appeals. They pointed to the town’s unusual 2006 ban on additions that would have “a significant adverse impact on water views” from nearby properties. The Traynors ultimately withdrew the plan and settled for a much smaller, ground-level expansion.

“It got so acrimonious, we gave up on the idea of having a second story,” Dick Traynor recalled. “Our house is still the runt on the Falmouth waterfront.”

Repeatedly faced with similar battles over precious water views, Falmouth officials are again rethinking seaside zoning regulations. They’ll take a first step Monday, when the Town Council receives a proposal to create a Waterview Overlay Zone. Future proposals promise to be controversial, including one that would turn back the clock on house- and lot-size requirements set in the 1960s.

The reason for the conflict is clear – waterfront property values have skyrocketed in recent years, and tax bills on lots in the Foreside neighborhood are two-and-a-half to nine times higher than elsewhere in Falmouth. But while many communities have wrestled with the value of water views – and government’s role in protecting competing interests of private property owners – Falmouth may stand alone in passing zoning specifically designed to preserve private water views.

In a search of communities across the United States, Falmouth officials found none that went beyond protecting public “viewsheds,” such as forested hillsides and scenic highways, according to Amanda Stearns, Falmouth’s community development director.

In Maine, Camden has zoning that protects scenic coastal corridors and landscapes, and Bar Harbor protects vistas in its Town Hill and downtown districts. If pressed, municipalities may choose to protect private water views under more general zoning language that limits a project’s negative impact on neighbors’ property values.

“Towns usually don’t get involved,” Stearns said. “We didn’t find other communities that expressly assist residents in protecting their water views. In most communities, unless you buy waterfront (property), you risk losing your water view.”

PROTECTING WATER VIEWS

Falmouth moved to protect water views in 2006, after a number of waterfront property owners built larger homes that obscured upland neighbors’ views. The Board of Zoning Appeals asked the Town Council to review the zoning last fall to make it more clear and less cumbersome.

“The board’s reasoning is that ‘significant adverse impact’ is so ambiguous that it should either be amended to provide greater clarity or repealed,” wrote Jay Meyer, appeals board chairman, in an Oct. 19 letter to the council.

At least one board member worried that by enforcing the zoning, the board is effectively taking away property rights and granting view easements to neighbors without compensating property owners who are being denied permission to expand, Meyer wrote.

Councilor Tony Payne, chairman of the committee that’s reviewing waterfront zoning, shares the appeals board’s concerns.

Payne said the only sure way to prevent a neighbor from obscuring a valued water view is to buy view rights, just as people buy easements to run a sewer line or build a driveway across a neighbor’s land.

“A view easement is attached to the deed, so it preserves property rights in a legal way and makes it an economic decision, too,” Payne said.

Still, Payne said, current waterfront zoning is unclear and unfair to both residents and the board, and it needs to be fixed.

“We’re trying to be mindful of property owners’ rights,” Payne said. “The question is, where do my rights end and where do my neighbors’ begin, and what am I allowed to do with my property?”

THREE PROPOSALS

On Monday, the Town Council will receive a proposal to create a Waterview Overlay District encompassing the oceanfront Foreside and Flats neighborhoods east of Route 88, including Mackworth Point. The proposal was developed by Stearns and the council’s Community Development Committee.

If the proposal is approved, all property owners in the overlay district – including owners of lots that conform to zoning – would need a conditional use permit to expand a single-family structure, demonstrating that a project is compatible with the neighborhood and won’t have a significant adverse impact on others’ water views.

Under current zoning, all nonconforming uses in town need a conditional use permit. Under the proposed change, nonconforming uses outside the Waterview Overlay District would need only a building permit from the code enforcement officer.

Falmouth officials are developing a second waterfront zoning proposal that would introduce a neighborhood negotiating process to the review of projects in the overlay district, Stearns said.

Neighbors could sign off on a project or municipal staff would help negotiate a resolution before presenting it to the appeals board.

A third proposal, destined to be the most controversial, would call for changes in the dimensional requirements within the overlay zone, so the size and placement of homes would be more in keeping with the historical appearance of the waterfront area, Stearns said.

Many waterfront homes built at the turn of the last century were one- or two-story cottages set on small lots. Town zoning passed in 1965 established a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet, she said, and the maximum height allowed in the waterfront area is 35 feet.

Town officials would review the sizes of houses and lots throughout the overlay district and establish reduced dimensional requirements reflecting a majority of properties, Stearns said. The new requirements would stop short of regulating architectural style.

“This would be a huge step,” Stearns said. “The current requirements take the neighborhood character away. This would be a return to the seaside village character. It would say that we like the form of the neighborhood as it is, so we want to perpetuate that.”

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

The three waterfront zoning proposals are liable to get mixed reviews.

Matt Manahan, a land-use lawyer with Pierce Atwood in Portland who represents some of the Traynors’ neighbors, said the first two zoning proposals make sense, but the third could make matters worse.

Manahan said trying to legislate the character of the Foreside neighborhood would make waterfront zoning more subjective and the project-review process more time-consuming, expensive and controversial.

“If you try to determine what the neighborhood character is, you may protect some water views but open the area to more intensive development,” Manahan said.

If the concern is that some people will build “megamansions,” he said, then reducing the height limit should be enough.

Manahan represents Christopher Green in particular, whose house at 11 Ayers Court is located directly behind the Traynors’ house at 20 Burgess St.

The tax bill on Green’s two-story, 1,456-square-foot cottage, built in 1900, helps to explain why he fought to preserve his water view.

Like all non-waterfront properties in the Foreside neighborhood east of Route 88, the $329,000 assessed value of Green’s 3,000-square-foot lot is 2.5 times higher than average lots elsewhere in town, said Town Assessor Anne Gregory.

The lot’s assessed value is an additional 50 percent higher because Green has a water view, which accounts for $100,000 of his total $486,000 property assessment, which includes $157,000 for the house. His view accounts for $1,292 of his $6,279 annual tax bill.

In comparison, the Traynors’ waterfront lot, which measures less than one-third of an acre, has an assessed value of $743,000 – nine times higher than average lots elsewhere in town, Gregory said.

There are 87 waterfront lots in Falmouth that are assessed at this rate.

The Traynors’ total property assessment is $899,000, including a 3,178-square-foot house assessed at $155,000, and their annual tax bill is $11,615.

In the wake of the appeals board battle in 2010, the Traynors have tried to come to terms with the limited use of their property.

Dick Traynor, an 83-year-old lawyer, dons a wet suit and swims daily, May through October, off the beach in front of their house. They both enjoy walking the hills throughout the Foreside neighborhood and relish their beautiful views of Casco Bay.

But Pat Traynor, 75, is still angry and says she wouldn’t have bought the house if she had known they couldn’t add a second story. Dick Traynor struggles to be more forgiving, noting that while zoning prevented them from building an addition with a 25-foot-high peak, they could plant evergreens that would grow 90 feet tall.

“This is an emotional, vexing problem,” Dick Traynor said. “I don’t envy the Town Council or the appeals board one bit.”

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com

The rest is here:
Falmouth to revisit waterfront view rule

The No. 7 men opened up an impressive lead while the women hold in a slim margin heading into the final day in Seattle.

Feb. 24, 2012

Complete Results

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Arizona State University men’s and women’s track and field teams established their presence early at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships as both teams lead the event after one day of competition at the Dempsey Indoor Center in Seattle.

The No. 7 men used a balanced effort across all event groups to take a commanding lead after day one with 67.50 points through six events – nearly 40 points more than second-place UCLA’s 29 points. 

The Arizona State women hold a slim lead over second-place Arizona after posting 39 points on the first day. Arizona scored 38 points and Stanford is directly behind them in third with 36 points. 

The team’s combined for three conference titles and numbers of point-scoring finishes. 

The MPSF Championships are, in essence, the indoor version of the track and field conference championships.  The MPSF is comprised mainly of teams from the Pac-12 Conference with additions from the Big West and West Coast Conference. 

Complete recaps of both the men’s and women’s section of the events are below. 

MEN’S RECAP

The Arizona State men entered as the favorites to win the indoor MPSF title and showed they were up to the task on the first day.  The men scored 67.50 points on the first day of competition.  Putting that into perspective, ASU only scored 72.50 points total at the 2011 event. 

The team was paced by a dominating effort in the 200-meter dash that saw the Sun Devils post a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the event for a cumulative 29 points. 

Rashad Ross continued his tear through the indoor season in the event after joining the track team at the beginning of the semester following a fall semester with the football team.  Ross earned his first conference title, posting a new career best time of 21.16.

 

 

Teammate Chris Burrows was hot on his tail in 21.19 – also a career best - and the two now rank fourth and fifth, respectively, on ASU’s all-time list.  Senior Daniel Auberry - who hadn’t ran a 200-meter dash all season - was third in 21.36, which was also an indoor career best and the ninth-best indoor time in school history.

Sophomore Ryan Milus rounded out the sweep in the 200-meter dash while also posting the top time in the 60-meter dash preliminary round in 6.61.  Auberry posted the second fastest time in the prelims in 6.68 while Ross also made it into tomorrow’s final with the eighth and final qualifying bid in a time of 6.86 seconds.

Senior transfer Brian Pierre may have been the biggest surprise of the day, winning the MPSF title at 5,000 meters as he obliterated his previous indoor best in the event with a time of 13:50.37 to edge BYU’s Alden Bahr for the victory.

The men’s distance medley relay posted the fourth-best time in school history as the combination of Darius Terry, Will Henry, Mason McHenry and Nick Happe finished third overall in 9:33.48 – a mark that should rank in the top 10 nationally at the conclusion of the weekend.

In the men’s long jump, senior Chris Benard posted a new career best leap of 7.64 (25-00.75) to take runner-up honors and move to No. 7 on ASU’s all-time indoor list.  Teammate Brian McBride also scored a new indoor best of 7.21m (23-08.00).  Both athletes will have more chances to score points tomorrow with Benard the favorite in the triple jump and McBride the top seed in the high jump.

Jordan Clarke participated in the weight throw for the first time this season and posted a third-place finish with a throw of 19.04m (62-05.75) for a new career best. 

Derick Hinch and Jeremy Marcinko rounded out the day one scoring for the Sun Devils, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, in the pole vault competition.  

WOMEN’S RECAP

Junior Keia Pinnick won her first career conference title as she scored 3,975 point to hold off Arizona’s Liana Fuentes and for the women’s pentathlon crown. 

Pinnick used a solid final two events to jump from third to first to take her first championship.  The junior posted the top long jump of the day with a leap of 5.89, (19-04.00) before smoking the field in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.45 to seal the pentathlon victory. 

Senior Kayla Sanchez had a solid day of competition, setting a new season’s best in the 200-meter dash in 23.99.  Sanchez would also match her season’s best in the 60-meter dash with the fourth-fastest time of the preliminary rounds in 7.51 to advance to tomorrow’s final.  Teammate Asiah Gooden had the sixth-best time in 7.55 and will also advance to tomorrow’s final. 

Senior Lindsay Prescott picked up some addition points in the 5000-meter run, clocking a new career best – both indoors and outdoors – of 16:46.78 to finish seventh overall and move to ninth in ASU’s indoor history in the event. 

Christabel Nettey continued her strong season in the long jump, setting another season’s best in a runner-up finish in Friday’s event with a leap of 6.27m (20-07.00).  Constance Ezugha had the redemption story of the day, bouncing back from a leg injury sustained last year that required surgery to finish eighth on Friday and earn All-MPSF honors.

In the women’s weight throw, seniors Cj Navarro and Ashley Lampley finished fifth and sixth, respectively, to add seven points to ASU’s total.

Events are scheduled to results at 10:30 a.m. PST tomorrow as both the men and women will look to hold on to their leads and earn MPSF crowns.

 

ASU POINT SCORERS – Day One

Men:

200 meters

Rashad Ross, 21.16, First

Chris Burrows, 21.19, Second

Daniel Auberry, 21.36, Third

Ryan Milus, 21.41, Fourth

5,000 meters

Brian Pierre, 13:50.37, First 

Pole Vault

Derick Hunch, 5.08m, Fifth

Jeremy Marcinko, J5.08m, Seventh

Long Jump

Chris Benard, 7.64m, Second

Bryan McBride, 7.21m, Sixth 

Weight Throw

Jordan Clarke, 19.04m, Sixth

 

Women:

200 meters

Kayla Sanchez, 23.99, Second

Alycia Herring, 24.57, Eighth 

5,000 meters

Lindsay Prescott, 16:46.78, Seventh

Long Jump

Christabel Nettey, 7.27m, Second

Constance Ezugha, 5.96m, Eighth

Weight Throw

Cj Navarro, 17.89m, Fifth

Ashley Lampley, 17.85m, Sixth 

Pentathlon

Keia Pinnick, 3,975, First

More:
Track. ASU Track & Field Teams Lead After Day One at MPSF Championships

For the first time since his meteoric rise to stardom, the Knicks’ hyped Jeremy Lin looked like a basketball player from Harvard.

Of course, that shouldn’t take anything away from his amazing story. The Heat simply is shutting everything down these days — even feel-good, made-for-Disney stories like Lin’s. Never mind the opponent, the enormity of the game, the schedule or whatever, the Heat is crashing through the regular season at its halfway point, and Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena was just more of the same.

The Heat’s most anticipated game of the season had the atmosphere of the postseason but, in the end, Miami celebrated another lopsided victory, defeating the rival New York Knicks 102-88. The Heat’s Big 3 combined for 67 points.

Miami (27-7) has now won eight consecutive games by double digits and heads into the All-Star break with the best record in the NBA.

As for Lin, he was baptized by fire in the ways of the Heat’s defense. Linsanity was stuffed into a straight jacket, and Lin had just as many turnovers as points — eight. He was held to 1-of-11 shooting from the field.

“It’s hard to be Peter Pan every day,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He just had an off day.”

Said Lin: “They did a great job of making me uncomfortable.”

D’Antoni described the Heat’s speed on defense as a shock to the system for Lin and the Knicks (17-18), who are still trying to gel as a team after the return of Carmelo Anthony and the additions of Baron Davis, J.R. Smith and, of course, Lin. The Heat outscored the Knicks by 19 points when Lin was in the game.

“They’re some of the best pick-and-roll defenders,” D’Antoni said. “The first time you see it, the speed is overwhelming.”

Indeed, the Heat forced 15 turnovers in the first half. Lin and Amare Stoudemire had six each, the most for any Heat opponents in a half this season. The Heat forced 19 turnovers overall with 12 steals and 10 blocks. LeBron James had five steals — a season high — to go along with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Then there was Joel Anthony, the Heat’s no-name center, who had one of his best games of the season despite not scoring. He had five blocks, tying a season high set in the last victory against the Knicks, and was instrumental in helping shut down the Knicks’ pick-and-roll game.

“Joel Anthony is one of the cornerstones of what we do,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Chris Bosh led the Heat with 25 points, shooting 11 of 17 from the field to go along with eight rebounds. Bosh’s feather-light jumper with 8:41 left in the game put the Heat up by 10 points.

Dwyane Wade finished with 22 points, making 10 of 22 field-goal attempts. He had five assists to go with five rebounds. Wade, James, Bosh, Mario Chalmers and James Jones flew to Orlando after the game for All-Star Weekend. Chalmers and Jones will be competing in the three-point contest Saturday night.

The Knicks cut the Heat’s lead to two points near the beginning of the second half, but a flurry of defensive plays by the Heat blew the game open. Wade dispossessed Landry Fields for an easy breakaway dunk, and Anthony blocked Tyson Chandler on the next play, which led to another Wade basket.

Anthony was just getting started.

He stuffed Lin from close range with 3:06 left in the third quarter, and Shane Battier turned it into a three-pointer at the other end. Anthony then absorbed an offensive foul by Carmelo Anthony on the next possession, and the sold-out arena offered a deafening standing ovation.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting. Smith had 14 points off the bench. The Knicks shot just 39.2 percent from the field.

The Heat imposed its will early, using a furious defensive start to build a 24-20 lead after the first quarter. Guards Chalmers and Norris Cole played the first half as if the arrival of Lin and all his overexposure was an affront to their collective manhood.

So amped was Chalmers that he picked up four fouls early in the third quarter and only played 25 minutes. Cole, after stealing the ball from Lin on his first possession of the second quarter, sprinted to the rim on a fast break and threw down the first dunk of his NBA career. His momentum during the play carried his 6-2 frame around the rim, and he crashed to the court on his side. The play sent even more electricity flashing through an already pulsating arena.

“We understand [defense] is our staple every night,” James said. “In order for us to win basketball games, we’ve got to defend, and on the other end we’ve got to share the ball. When we run, we’re kind of unbeatable because we get up the court so fast.”

Continued here:
Miami Heat contains Jeremy Lin, defeats New York Knicks

All-new story storyboarded by manga creator Hiro Mashima himself bundled with latest manga volume

Kodansha began streaming a 95-second promotional video on Thursday for the Fairy Tail original anime DVD that it released on February 17 bundled with the 31st volume of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail manga.

The DVD — the third original anime DVD to come with special edition volumes of the manga — contains an all-new original story storyboarded by Mashima himself. The DVD's story revolves around the characters Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, and Erza, who stumble upon a magic book in the Fairy Tail Guild's storehouse that allows them to travel back in time.

Shinji Ishihira directed the previous two original anime DVDs at A-1 Pictures Inc. and Satelight, just as he does for the ongoing television anime series. Similarly, the television anime's script editor Masashi Sogo and character designer Aoi Yamamoto were also involved in the first two original anime DVDs.

this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history

Read this article:
Newest Fairy Tail OAD's Promo Video Streamed

By Alex Sherman - Thu Feb 23 21:18:53 GMT 2012

Dish Network Corp. (DISH), the second- largest U.S. satellite-television provider, reported fourth- quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates as the company gained video subscribers.

Profit rose to 70 cents a share from 56 cents a year earlier, the Englewood, Colorado-based company said today in a statement. Analysts projected 61 cents, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Dish, which trails DirecTV (DTV) in the satellite-TV market, added 22,000 customers in the quarter, more than the 8,000 average of 10 estimates. Dish’s subscriber additions were more encouraging than DirecTV’s results, Craig Moffett, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York, said in a note to clients. DirecTV gained 125,000 last quarter, fewer than the 162,000 average estimate.

“What is clear from the latest results is that Dish Network will no longer be a walkover for DirecTV,” said Moffett, who rates Dish shares “market perform.”

Dish advanced 1.6 percent to $29.62 at the close in New York. The shares have jumped 29 percent in the past 12 months.

Net income increased 24 percent to $313 million from $252 million a year earlier. Sales rose 13 percent to $3.63 billion, compared with the $3.62 billion average analyst estimate.

Chairman Charlie Ergen today reiterated his commitment to becoming a wireless company to move beyond Dish’s basic TV product. Dish is prepared to build a network alone or work with a partner to give customers mobile capabilities, Ergen said on a conference call.

The company is waiting on Federal Communications Commission approval to use the wireless spectrum it gained in takeovers of DBSD North America Inc. and TerreStar Networks Inc. last year. If the FCC denies Dish’s waiver, “all options would be on the table for how we move forward with the company and the spectrum,” Ergen said. Dish is the “best hope” for U.S. wireless competition, he said.

Dish expects to hear from the FCC in the coming weeks, Chief Executive Officer Joseph Clayton said on the call.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

More here:
Dish Network Tops Analyst Profit Estimates After Gaining Video Subscribers

22-02-2012 13:29 Home Additions - Chicago: Budget Construction believes that a successful home addition or second story project, should not look or feel like a separate addition, but should integrate seamlessly with your home. This increases your home's functionality and value. Home additions can be as simple as a new bed room or as complex as a separate living area. We use quality products and good design, to best match the architecture of the existing house, which enhances the overall curb appeal. At Budget Construction, we build to last! We stay on track, focused on quality, safety and budget. From idea to completion, you can trust Budget Construction to get your project done right!

Read more:
Home Additions - Chicago - Budget Construction Company - Video

Updated Feb 23, 2012 1:30 AM ET

 

NEW YORK (AP)

Not much heat from the Hawks for Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks. That's likely to change Thursday night when it's Lin vs. LeBron in Miami.

Lin had 17 points and nine assists, sitting out most of the fourth quarter in a rare easy game during his remarkable run, and the Knicks tuned up for their trip by beating Atlanta 99-82 on Wednesday.

Carmelo Anthony scored 15 points in his second game back from injury for the Knicks, who led the depleted Hawks by 25 points at halftime. New York bounced back from a loss to New Jersey on Monday and won for the ninth time in 11 games since Lin joined the rotation.

The Knicks visit Miami on Thursday in their final game before the All-Star break, and Lin's emergence has the Heat's attention.

''It's going to be a lot of, a lot of anticipation about this game,'' Anthony said. ''We're going down there to win. Miami is playing great basketball right now. One of the hottest teams, if not the hottest team in the NBA.

''It'll be a great game.''

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and teammates have been asked repeatedly in recent days about the ex-Harvard guard, and coach Mike D'Antoni was told the word out of Miami is the Heat will be waiting for the Knicks' back-to-back Sports Illustrated cover boy.

''At the airport?'' he joked.

Not quite. But whatever they do will provide more resistance than the Hawks, who trailed by as many as 30.

Jeff Teague scored 18 points for the Hawks. They played without All-Star guard Joe Johnson, who left their loss at Chicago on Monday with a sore left knee and had to pull out of Sunday's game in Orlando, and have lost three straight and five of six.

''Coming into this game, being as depleted as we were, I still was hoping we could come out and just put together four solid quarters. We just didn't do that,'' Hawks coach Larry Drew said.

The Knicks shot 52 percent in the first half, scored 30 points in both periods, and led 60-35 at the break.

''We are professionals. They just came out and they attacked us,'' Teague said. ''That's all I can really say.''

The Knicks lost their focus briefly midway through the third before pulling away again to lead 78-56 heading into the fourth. Lin watched the first 6-plus minutes of the final period before D'Antoni curiously put him back in leading by 20 with 5:13 left. Lin still played only 33 minutes after he logged at least 36 in all but one of the previous 10 games.

He'll likely need to do more against the Heat, who have won seven in a row and have the NBA's best record at 26-7.

The Heat have been the NBA's biggest story since building their Big Three in 2010, but even they've been playing in Lin's shadow the last two weeks. That will change Thursday in a nationally televised game that James said could be ''one of the most watched games we've had in a long time, especially with what Jeremy Lin is doing.''

But Lin isn't getting caught up in the hype.

''I think for us, we want to make sure what we're thinking about is we want to build momentum going into the All-Star break and we want to make a push after the All-Star break. And I think this is a good opportunity to build momentum,'' he said.

''It's a big game, don't get me wrong. We're playing a great team, and it's going to be a good evaluation of where we're at. So from that end obviously we're excited and ready for the challenge. But besides that, we're just going try to stay consistent.''

The game against Atlanta came on the one-year anniversary of the Knicks' acquisition of Anthony from Denver in a blockbuster trade that cost them four of their top six players. The results have been underwhelming — 14-14 last season and 17-17 this season, and D'Antoni acknowledged the high price the Knicks paid for the All-Star forward ''depleted a lot of things.''

However, he said they've built their depth back, and the potential was obvious in the first half, when all nine players who played scored.

New additions Baron Davis and J.R. Smith could be an explosive second-team backcourt, and teamed up on a pretty alley-oop that Smith dropped in with his back to the hoop. Steve Novak is the 3-point specialist needed to space the floor so Lin and Anthony have room to drive into the lane.

''The things are developing and we'll get our guys, everybody up to par, and if that happens then we should be fairly good,'' D'Antoni said.

Novak made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Landry Fields had 16, and Smith finished with 12. Davis had six assists in 14 minutes.

Notes: Drew was disappointed that Josh Smith was passed over in favor of Boston's Rajon Rondo when Commissioner David Stern chose the injury replacement for Johnson. Smith averages 16 points and 9.6 rebounds, is top 15 in the league in blocks, rebounds and steals, and was already considered perhaps the biggest snub when reserves were chosen. ''I really thought that he would get the invite once word was that Joe wouldn't be able to play,'' Drew said. ''I mean, you look at Josh's numbers, he has good numbers. His numbers are good enough to be where he should be an All-Star. Why he didn't make it, I don't know.'' ... Knicks assistant Mike Woodson was the Hawks' head coach from 2004-10. ... Lansdowne Road, an Irish pub in the Hell's Kitchen section of New York, announced it was changing its name to LINsdowne Road

Continued here:
Knicks roll in advance of Heat showdown

22-02-2012 17:39 Builders personal vacation home. Here is a property we bought on Grand Lake, OK after it sustained massive damage from a tornado. We removed the roof and trusses and installed engineered beams to support a 2nd story addition. This also allowed us to remove the lower level interior walls to open up the living space. The home was completed with high end finishes including granite countertops, chiseled edge travertine floors, glass tile backsplash and stainless appliances. A 600 sqft deck has expansive views of the main lake. This is the before video taken in July 2011. Look for our other video of the finished project as well as before, during and completed photos. We also have renovated homes for sale in and around the Tulsa area. http://www.epicflip.com

Read this article:
LAKEVIEW BEGINNING - Video