Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

$615,000 of in-kind labor and materials donated to build and renovate area homeless shelters

The past year was a record-setting one for the Portland area Home Builders Foundation as it completed seven construction projects in 2013 to help provide shelter and transitional housing for the homeless.

The seven projects were valued at $1.76 million, with approximately $615,000 of this value donated in the form of in-kind or heavily discounted labor and materials from members of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland and others in the local home building industry.

We set out to double the number of projects we completed the previous year, says Ken Cowdery, Home Builders Foundation executive director. Im pleased to say that we went well beyond that goal.

Projects included:

A major renovation of the Goose Hollow Family Shelter operated by Portland Homeless Family Solutions.

The creation of a transitional housing facility in Beaverton for homeless youth a facility that was developed in partnership with the city of Beaverton and is operated by Boys and Girls Aid.

A major expansion of The Harbor, an addiction recovery center for homeless men operated by the Portland Rescue Mission.

Additional projects included shelter kitchen remodels, interior and exterior painting and projects designed to enhance the appearance and comfort of shelters.

Since 2005, the foundation has built and renovated more than 40,000 square feet of shelter space valued at nearly $4 million. These projects accommodate more than 500 homeless men, women, youth, families with children and domestic violence survivors each year.

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Home Builders Foundation completes record seven projects in 2013

With houses remaining unsold for months-- even years, in some cases -- it's clearly not a good time to sell your home.

But if you're planning to sell soon despite the market conditions, how can you help your home stand out from the crowd?

Upgrades and renovations can make all the difference to a potential buyer who has many homes to choose from, experts say. With the recession keeping many people from spending on home improvements, now might be the perfect time to find a great deal.

"A lot of the big remodeling jobs have gone away because people are not sure about the economy, so they're just waiting," says David Lupberger, home improvement expert at ServiceMagic.com, a company that connects homeowners with home service professionals. As a result, "a lot of good contractors are available."

Top 5 midrange renovations by return on investment

Contractors are ready and willing to do the job, and many can be hired at a discount right now, Lupberger says. "It's a matter of supply and demand. These guys have been used to doing one or two $300,000 projects. Those projects aren't around, so now they're doing the $25,000 projects, the $50,000 projects, and pricing them very competitively."

While deals will probably be best in areas of the country hit hard by the real estate downturn and a worsening economy, it doesn't hurt to get quotes from several contractors no matter where you live, Lupberger says. Also, be open to different types of offers. For example, one contractor could charge $5,000 less for one particular job, while another might tack on an extra project for free if you spend a certain amount of money with his company.

"Many buyers judge a house by its exterior," says Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. So it's little surprise that among the home improvement projects most appreciated by buyers are midrange wood deck additions and siding replacements, according to Remodeling magazine's 2008-2009 Cost vs. Value Report, which looks at the return of investment for various remodeling projects. Owners who put decks on their homes recouped 81.8 percent of their money, and siding replacement projects gave homeowners 80.7 percent of a return on investment.

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Getting buyers to buy

A series of spring and summer construction projects totaling more than $8.5 million were approved Monday by Fort Wayne Community Schools board members.

The projects include roofing replacements at eight schools Northrop High School, Miami, Northwood and Shawnee middle schools, and Croninger, Scott, Shambaugh and Whitney Young elementary schools.

The roofing projects will be completed by Fort Wayne Roofing and Sheet Metal.

The district will also relocate a welding lab at Anthis Career Center to give students more space to complete projects by moving the existing lab in the basement of the building into an open service bay in the auto trades building. The project will be completed by Project Design & Piping Inc.

Window replacement and masonry restoration projects will be completed at Northwood and Towles Elementary School. The work at Northwood will be completed by Fetters Construction Inc. and work at Towles will be completed by Shawnee Construction.

The board also approved construction contracts at Croninger Elementary School to make architectural, mechanical, plumbing and electrical renovations. The projects will be completed by Hamilton Hunter Builders Inc. and Automated Logic.

Asbestos abatement services will also be completed at Croninger and Harris Elementary as part of the 2014-15 projects. The projects will be paid for through the districts School Building Basic Renewal/Restoration and Safety Project budget which was included in the 2012 bond approved by voters in a referendum.

jcrothers@jg.net

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FWCS approves construction projects

Capitol Theatre assistant manager Eva McKimm, board member Heather Haake, and executive director Stephanie Fisher are excited about the recent upgrades at the theatre, which include new flooring in the lobby and an exterior paint job.

image credit: Sam Van Schie photos

For the first time since its revitalization 25 years ago, Nelson's Capitol Theatre is getting some significant upgrades.

About 30,000 people pass through the 426-seat performance space each year to take in a rich program of live theatre, dance, comedy and concerts.

"With that much traffic, you expect some wear and tear on the building," explained executive director Stephanie Fischer.

When the City of Nelson decided spend around $100,000 to replace the theatre's HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system in 2012 which it's been doing in many city-owned building to reduce corporate green house gas emissions Fischer couldn't help but think what else the theatre could have done with that kind of budget.

So, she began reaching out to other funding bodies, to see if they would match the city's investment. A year later, the notices of funding approval are still rolling in.

Fischer didn't want to disclose the total dollar figure that the theatre received from funders, but suffice to say it surpassed the goal of matching what the city spent.

This past fall, the Capitol got a new exterior paint job and the outdoor poster box was replaced. During the Christmas holidays, flooring in the front lobby was replaced and new bathroom sinks were installed.

Within the year, the theatre also will replace its dance floor, stage curtains, lighting and technical equipment. Improvements will be made to the orchestra pit and the rear loading bay. And the front entrance door will be made more wheelchair accessible.

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Upgrades underway at Nelson's Capitol Theatre

January 27, 2014

Image Caption: Spacewalker Oleg Kotov works outside the Zvezda service module. Credit: NASA TV

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Cosmonauts completed a six-hour, eight minute spacewalk on Monday, finally getting the two Urthecast cameras installed outside of the International Space Station (ISS).

Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy began their spacewalk this morning at 8:10 a.m. and finished at 3:08 p.m. eastern. The two men set out to finally complete tasks started on a December 27 spacewalk.

Kotov and Ryazanskiy installed a pair of high fidelity cameras, as well as retrieved scientific gear outside the stations Russian segment. The cameras are part of Urthecasts project to produce a live Ultra HD video feed of Earth in full color. The cameras were first shipped to the space station back in November aboard the Progress 53P cargo ship.

At the end of December Kotov and Ryazanskiy attempted to install the cameras, but the cosmonauts experienced problems with the wiring that delayed the initial installation. However, Urthecast said it found out afterwards that the problem was due to a cabling issue inside the ISS. After resolving the issue, the cosmonauts had to wait for another window of opportunity before attempting to install the cameras again.

With the ISS cabling issue now resolved, we expect that the second spacewalk will result in a complete installation, UrtheCasts Chief Executive Officer, Scott Larson, said earlier this month in a statement. We are again thankful for the hard work of the engineering teams at Roscomos, Energia, and UrtheCast, which were able to quickly isolate and resolve the issue. Were now confident that our business plan will remain unaffected.

The installation is part of a commercial agreement between Urthecast and the Russian Federal Space Agency to provide a live stream of Earth to Internet-based subscribers.Organizations will be able to rent out the video feed for research and other projects that might need to view the Ultra HD video stream.

NASA said the spacewalkers installed the high resolution camera and a medium resolution camera, but experienced telemetry issues with the medium camera. Neither Urthecast nor NASA have provided any more details about the telemetry issues.

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Russian Spacewalk Completes Installation Of Urthecast Camera

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -

As a winter storm continues to bring snow, ice and below freezing temperatures to Mississippi, State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney reminds Mississippians that properly using heating sources to stay warm during cold weather and having working smoke alarms in your home is literally the difference between life and death.

An early morning Itawamba County fire caused by a space heater has resulted in four deaths.

"With the dramatic drop in temperature to extreme levels in some areas, everyone must use extraprecaution when using space heaters or alternative methods as heating sources. Space heatingposes a much higher risk of fire, death and injury than central heating, and it cannot be stressedenough that using a stove to heat a home is extremely dangerous," Chaney said.

"Every home should have a working smoke alarm. Working smoke alarms can cut the risk ofpeople dying in home fires in half."

Fire safety education and preventing fire deaths continue to be priority goals of the State FireMarshal's Office.

The State Fire Marshal's Office offers these heating safety tips:

Have a three-foot "kid-free zone" around open fires and space heaters.

Supervise children when a fireplace, fire pit, or other space heater is being used. Use a sturdy, metal screen to prevent contact burns, which are even more common than flame burns.

All heaters need space. Keep things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away from heating equipment.

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Heating safety can be the difference between life and death

Dave March takes a sip of his coffee and looks through the windshield of his car, which is idling in the water in Newport Harbor, Calif., next to his 65-foot yacht.

This has been a dream for 10, 15 years, he says, his gaze fixed toward Catalina. Every time I see that island, I think, Oh, its not that far.

March, 58, has spent more than a decade developing the high-speed amphibious car he is about to take to market for $135,000 apiece.

He has taken deposits from the Prince of Dubai, tycoons in Silicon Valley and millionaires from around the world.

On this day, he hopes to prove the cars mettle by driving it from his WaterCar headquarters in nearby Fountain Valley, Calif., to Catalina Island, 30 miles offshore.

The only problem is he has never tested the car on open water.

March has been building and testing amphibious cars, or amphibians, for years. He filed patents for his first amphibian in 2003. Six years later, he set the Guinness World Record for fastest amphibious car with the Python, which has a 450-horsepower Corvette engine and can hit 60 mph on the water.

The car that March is test-driving to Catalina is the Panther, a smaller, off-road amphibian that can go 45 mph on water and 85 mph on land that is the entrepreneurial fruit of 12 years of trial and error and hundreds of thousands of dollars in research and development.

Ever since he posted a video online of the Panther in action, Marchs phone hasnt stopped ringing. The car already has been filmed in three reality TV shows, including an episode of the current season of The Bachelor.

He also has received a deluge of emails from buyers around the world.

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Amphibious WaterCar is a pricey, fast boat, too

San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) January 27, 2014

The Lancer Corporation recently launched the Spartan Beverage Dispenser, a compact, versatile dispenser with a small price tag that provides consistent quality fountain drinks. Made with the highest quality materials, the Spartan is designed to go where other dispensers havent before.

Intended to make the most of your limited space, the Spartan frees an operator from having to mess with cases or pallets of product. An entire pallet of product is equal to just three BIBs. This space savings is also a cost savings and healthier for the environment. Fountain beverages save the environment from the transportation and packaging waste of prepackaged drinks. Fountain drinks are fresh, mixed at the point of dispense instead of bottles or cans that have been sitting stagnant since being packaged at the factory.

The Spartans modular design allows for multiple configurations including two, three or four valves, built-in plain water booster, chiller configuration, cabinet assembly alternative graphics and optional refrigeration systems. The Spartan is a turnkey solution, perfect for low volume commercial accounts, an office, break room, concession stand or home bar, outdoor kitchen or man cave. The Spartan comes with an on board chiller, carb/non-carb flexibility, consumes minimal energy, is easy to install, and is backed by the industry leading Lancer Service Network. Spartan, Big value in a small, economical machine.

About the company: Lancer is a leading manufacturer and marketer of beverage dispensing systems with a passion to fulfill their vision of providing Dispensing Solutions that Pour More. Headquartered in San Antonio, Lancer serves customers throughout the world and maintains sales and/or manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Australia, Belgium, Great Britain and New Zealand. Lancer consistently designs, manufactures, and markets superior quality products. Lancer will meet or exceed the customers needs and expectations and is committed to a quality program that drives continual improvement. Please visit http://www.lancercorp.com or call 800-729-1500 for more information.

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Lancer Corporation Launches Spartan Beverage Dispenser

By Elena Ruiz

elruiz@demingheadlight.com @LenaHeadlight on Twitter

The Deming MainStreet program is looking for local merchants, business owners, or managers who are interested in becoming part of a steering committee. The committee will form an association that will work toward forming a group of local merchants to rebuild and restore downtown Deming.

Interested parties will be asked to create a work plan, organize events with other merchants in the downtown area in an effort to increase traffic and revenue. They will also play a key role in rebuilding the historic downtown district.

"We are trying to get a meeting set up," said Chris Stevens, executive director of Deming MainStreet, "The response has been good. We have five merchants interested so far."

The steering committee will allow local merchants the opportunity to come together to create a merchant's committee and help each other bring new customers and revenue to the downtown businesses.

DMS is a non-profit organization aimed toward the revitalization and restoration of historic downtown Deming.

Chris Stevens, executive director of DMS, worked diligently during the holiday season to promote local businesses and to get the word out to "Shop Deming First."

Stevens has been working on renovating Pocket Park located on Pine St., next door to the Shirt Shop. The park was once the Luna Theater movie house back in the day. Plans to landscape and restore the area are in the works. Stevens assures the project funds are available, noting PNM recently donated $13,000 to the project.

"We are still currently in a planning phase," said Stevens. "The plan is to make the pocket park a friendly and inviting spot for the community."

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MainStreet seeks committee members

Published on January 28, 2014 Department of Community Services says clearing walkways a priority

Reading about seniors killed in a Quebec fire, Julie Martin, couldnt help but worry last Thursday as she heard of snow covered walkways at residences where her own relatives stay at.

ADAM MACINNIS THE NEWS

These steps to Hillside View were blocked by snow last Thursday afternoon after a heavy snowfall on Wednesday.

Her mother in law lives in a seniors complex on Little Harbour Road, which after Wednesdays blizzard, still had many of its entries blocked by snow Thursday afternoon.

This isnt the first time this has happened. Its not right, Martin said. Its dangerous.

She said for essentially two days, many of the seniors were trapped in their homes.

Elizabeth MacDonald, communications advisor for the Department of Community Services, responded to a request from The News for what the policy is on snow removal at seniors apartments.

We understand that residents of all our properties need to feel safe during and after a storm, and that they expect us to ensure snow removal is done in a professional and timely manner, she said. That is our priority and we take this obligation seriously.

She stated that the policy for snow removal for properties managed by the Eastern Mainland Housing Authority is that parking lots are cleared by a private contractor who goes out to clear when two inches of snow has fallen; if the snow falls overnight they are to have the parking lots cleared by 7:45 a.m.

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Snow removal at seniors apartments a concern, says local woman