Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

CAPE CORAL, Fla.- A local church is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of its own money to build a public park.

Cape Christian Fellowship on Chiquita Boulevard was initially going to spend millions to expand its auditorium, but then some divine intervention had them rethink those plans.

Now, they plan on building a 100,000 square foot park.

"It'll be a fun place to come and hang out and know they are in a safe place," said Autumn Euler.

She and her four kids are looking forward to having a new place to play.

It'll be known as "Fellowship Park," built right along the property of Cape Christian Fellowship.

The park will have playgrounds, water splash area, a courtyard, an athletic field, walking trails, and an amphitheater.

"It's just a great gathering place for families. I think it's the best use of this property," said Pastor Wes Furlong.

Pastor Furlong says the initial plan was to build a $15 million expansion. But after a meeting with church leaders and taking a long look at the community, he says they changed their minds.

"We feel like this gives us the chance as a church to focus on the needs outside the walls of the church," Pastor Furlong said.

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Church spends thousands to build public park

QUEENSBURY -- A church that began in a dentists office is about to move into a new, larger building.

New Hope Community Church has grown from a Bible study group that had its first meetings in a dentists waiting room to a congregation with four worship services for attendees.

The church is finishing construction of a building at 454 Corinth Road, between West Mountain and Exit 18, which has a large open sanctuary and foyer, several rooms for a childrens ministry and a youth room for those from grades 7 to 12.

The sanctuary connects to a kitchen, and can also be used as a banquet hall.

The church sits on 11 acres, some of which will be used for its existing summer soccer clinic.

New Hope currently rents a one-story office building on Bay Road across from the Queensbury town offices, and has services overflowing with attendees.

The new building more than doubles the churchs space from 6,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet. The sanctuary, which will seat about 400 people, also opens upward with a 28-foot high ceiling inside.

The people are the church. This building is just wood, said Don Hughes, a planning team member for the church, standing Thursday inside the hollow structure.

Church leaders said the congregation relied on God, connected with the community in various outreaches and given newcomers a comfortable environment. First-timers can choose to later receive a gift from the church delivered to their home, which includes a DVD about the church, an information packet and a loaf of bread.

In 2009, the congregation held an outdoor service on the new land for a dedication ceremony.

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Providing new hope: Community church with humble start nearing completion

MONROE -- Joe Boranian goes to the Monroe Covenant Church three times a week.

He uses a powered wheelchair because of his cerebral palsy. To get in the church, he needed friends to carry him up the stairs.

That has changed.

"Now that we have an elevator, that's not an issue," said Boranian, 22, who lives in Lake Stevens.

The church, located at 202 S. Sams St., finished the remodeling project last month which added an elevator, expanded the front entryway, and built new bathrooms for the handicapped.

It was done to help members of the congregation who use wheelchairs or have trouble getting up the stairs. At the time of the renovation, Boranian was one of only two members who use wheelchairs.

The $120,000 for the cost of construction was raised by the parishioners.

The church started thinking about the changes two decades ago. It had about $20,000 in savings, and in early 2011, the church started a fund drive to get the necessary funds, pastor Mac Taylor said.

In only three months, parishioners raised $90,000, he said.

"It was a large number for a small congregation," Taylor said.

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Monroe church's elevator gives congregation a lift

San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) March 10, 2012

JC Appliance Repair, an appliance and refrigerator repair company that serves the San Mateo, Palo Alto and San Francisco areas, is currently offering several ways in which clients can receive online coupons.

First, a person may mention JC Appliance Repairs online coupon to receive 10-percent off labor for any appliance.

"We also have an online promotion to encourage customer reviews. Leave a review about us on any of these sites: Yelp, Google, Bing, Local.com, EZLocal.com and Citysearch, print it and you will receive 15-percent off on any appliance repair," Jose Castro of JC Appliance Repair said. "Help us spread the word."

JC Appliance Repair has built its reputation on providing fully trained and professional technicians, who pay attention to details. The repair company offers reliable appliance repair service, and is prompt and expeditious in getting the job done right the first time. All JC Appliance Repair work comes with a one-year warranty, and the company does not charge extra for weekend repairs.

"If anyone has had a bad experience with appliance repair companies in the past, had to wait all day for a repairman, and still not have had the problem resolved, that will never happen with JC Appliance Repair. We take care of all your appliance needs quickly, easily and within the timeframe promised. No more waiting with a four- to eight-hour appointment window," Castro said.

For more information about any of JC Appliance Repairs services, call 650-375-8185 or view the repair company on the web at http://www.jcappliancerepair.com.

About JC Appliance Repair For more than 24 Years, JC Appliance Repair has provided expert appliance repair services throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Mateo and Palo Alto. The repair company specializes in providing exceptional appliance repair services, such as commercial appliance repair, refrigerator repair and appliance repair for nearly all household appliances from every major brand name. JC Appliance Repairs team of trained and certified appliance-repair experts specializes in retrofitting old appliance systems, commercial compressor replacements, construction, service, repair, and maintenance of walk-in freezers and coolers.

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San Mateo Appliance Repair Service, JC Appliance Repair, Announces Online Promotions

March 09, 2012 08:57:15 PM

PANAMA CITY After he sank a boat and had been pulled to shore, the crowds that watched from the patios of two restaurants cheered, and Jonathan Byers took a bow.

Its unlikely the crowd was cheering for Byers, who was near the end of an alleged crime spree that Panama City police believe included burning a trailer and resulted in an Amber Alert and the near drowning of his son. More likely is that the crowd cheered for Capt. Keith Butchikas and his buddy, who pulled Byers and his 3-year-old son, Austin Byers, from the water.

Butchikas, who runs Island Stylin Adventures, didnt know at the time about the Amber Alert, or that the helicopter hed been seeing that afternoon was looking for Byers, or that Byers was suspected of setting his girlfriends home on fire about two hours earlier. Still, Byers showmanship ticked him off.

I wanted to smack him, Butchikas said. I was like, Are you kidding me? Youre taking a bow? You just about drowned your kid.

Butchikas had been keeping an eye on the 7-foot dinghy ever since Byers drove it into a couple pylons trying to get out of St. Andrews Marina on Thursday. He asked Byers if he was all right as he passed by.

Ive never driven boats too much, Byers told him, so Butchikas warned him against getting out into open water in the tiny boat, which had about 6 inches of water in it by that point.

Butchikas actually took Austin for a ride on a Jet Ski at Jonathan Byers insistence just moments before the boat went down. He wouldnt have normally done that Jet Ski rentals, not giveaways, is how he makes his money after all but something about the sad-looking child tugged at his heart strings, so he took him for a quick ride and put him back in the boat with his father.

Thank you so much was all Austin said to him, Butchikas recounted.

Only minutes later, as he was putting his ski up, Butchikas heard a commotion from the patios at Uncle Ernies and Gracie Raes. People were screaming. He didnt have to turn around to know what happened.

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Man charged with arson, child abuse

The industrial cleaning company services manufacturing, power, and paper industries, to name a few

PESHTIGO -- Pressure-washing uses water, and sand-blasting uses sand.

But have you ever heard of ice blasting?

It uses dry ice and is a non-abrasive cleaning process that easily blasts away oil, grease, dirt, and dust.

Precision Iceblast Corporation of Wallace, Michigan, recently moved to Peshtigo, Wisconsin.

So why did the family-run business leave the U.P.?

There wasn't a lot of room for expansion at all, explains Matthew Peterson, who works in Project Management. You couldn't work on multiple projects. It was pretty much focused on one project and getting that done then moving on to the next one."

Sales have grown in the last few years.

But why did company officials consider Wisconsin?

The state of Wisconsin was great with tax incentives, said Keith Boye, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. They were very aggressive with trying to court us to come over here. And when we looked where in Wisconsin we wanted to go, the city of Peshtigo was also instrumental in bringing us over here."

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Have you ever heard of ice blasting?

Posted: Mar. 10, 2012 | 1:59 a.m.

Ryland Homes is welcoming spring with a March sales special. Through the end of the month, homebuyers can save 20 percent on Design Center options and save on items such as granite countertops, upgraded cabinets and premium surround sound packages.

"If you have been looking for the right time to buy a new home with everything you love, it is this month," said Stephanie McGerty, marketing director for Ryland Homes' Las Vegas division. "We have great values on homes in every one of our Southern Nevada communities, and 20 percent off design center options is icing on the cake."

The builder is nearly sold out at its Mountain's Edge communities, Augusta and Ellingwood. With just five homes left, the gated neighborhoods have been among Ryland's most popular, according to McGerty.

"These are the perfect neighborhoods in Mountain's Edge, one of Southern Nevada's most popular master-plan(ned) communities," said Mara Glaser, sales agent. "Augusta and Ellingwood offer the privacy of a gated neighborhood that has its own park areas, but are still within the master plan that includes expansive parks, trails and other amenities."

Two-story homes offered are the 3,200-square-foot Angora model and the 2,754- square-foot Addison model. All five are offered on pool-sized home sites, with several scheduled for completion in April.

"The Angora models include five bedrooms, three full baths and two lofts. The Addison models include four bedrooms, a den, three full baths and two lofts. They are perfect for homebuyers that want extra space for bedrooms, game rooms, offices or hobby rooms," Glaser said.

With prices starting at $220,000 in Augusta and Ellingwood, homebuyers receive heavily upgraded homes with pool-sized home sites for as low as $79 per square foot.

Ryland Homes adds to the value of Augusta and Ellingwood by paying the SID (special improvement district) fees for each home in the neighborhood.

"That item alone is an approximate $7,000 savings to each homebuyer," Glaser said.

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Ryland Announces March Sales Specials

Hoquiam-based composite panel manufacturer Paneltech International filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week as the company works to reorganize operations amid mounting debt and unexpected decreases in sales.

Paneltech has served as a prominent local example of green manufacturing, producing resin-reinforced composite panels out of recycled materials. The 16-year-old company has recently reported declines in commercial and military sales of its household countertops, construction frames, ballistic armor panels and other products.

Company President and CEO Roy Nott and Chief Financial Officer Scott Olmstead filed bankruptcy papers Wednesday acknowledging difficulties keeping up with increased debt after expected military contracts and other sales failed to materialize. They requested court approval to continue operations as the company works to refocus its production toward growing markets.

The market environment remains difficult in the short term, but the business is on the right track for long-term success, Olmstead wrote to the court. I believe we will be profitable after reorganization so long as we are able to continue operations through the life of this bankruptcy case.

Olmstead wrote that the company took on significant debt as part of an extensive expansion in 2009 aimed at keeping up with potential demand for military armor panels and other contracts. The company has since struggled to keep up with debt payments when those armor orders dropped off.

Military orders did not increase as expected, and sales in other areas declined with the drop in manufacturing over the last few years, Olmstead wrote. In order to meet the bottom line in these circumstances, (the company) was forced to lay off employees, and Leroy Nott and I skipped paychecks. Despite these efforts, (the company has) been unable to pay their debts as they have come due.

The Chapter 11 application, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, lists more than $1.2 million in unsecured debt to more than 50 creditors. Those debts listed more than $350,000 owed to the Starbucks Corporation in a disputed liability claim and dozens of other corporate expenses.

Court records also list about $1.7 million in loans from Anchor Bank.

Olmstead said the company employs 39 people. He noted the company recorded more than $17 million in sales in 2008, saying he believes the company remains worth more as a functioning business than it would if its assets were liquidated.

He asked for court approval to continue operations and payroll as the company works to return to profitability.

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Paneltech files for bankruptcy

The iPad wasn't the only thing to come out of Apple's March 7 event. Several new apps were announced that are worthy of note.

This was a big week for Apple with the announcement of the new iPad, and though I got to play with it a little bit at the event Wednesday, I really can't wait to put it through its paces when it's finally released March 16.

With that said, the new iPad wasn't the only thing released on Wednesday; Apple also announced the availability of several updates to iOS apps, including the new iPhoto for iOS.

This week's collection of iOS apps is a little different than usual. Instead of a themed collection, I'm going to list the Apple apps released this week so you can have them all in one place. Click the name of the link to head to our download page, or click the link at the end of each one to read our Hands On articles about each of the apps.

The effects fan out so you can pick which style you want before choosing an effect.

iPhoto ($4.99) for iOS was probably the biggest iOS app news because it's brand-new to the operating system and sports elegant ways to manage and edit photos. I got the full demo from Apple after the event, and can definitely say I was impressed with the tools offered, the effects you can use, and some of the specialized features offered in the app.

Journals in iPhoto, for example, lets you easily create a collage of your photos, and you can move them around with a touch of your finger, while the app automatically makes all the other images fit. You can have location data from where the shot was taken added automatically, and you can add date and time for shots, making for a great package to send as a URL to your friends and family of vacation pics. From there your family member can click a link and see the same collage, and click on a photo to see it full-screen. Read our Hands On for iPhoto.

Choose from four different overall tones for your string section.

GarageBand ($4.99) for iOS got several tweaks as well, with a whole new Smart Instrument category that lets you add stringed instruments to your music. I really like how Apple designed the layout here, requiring you to "bow" the instrument (swipe back and forth) for a continuous tone, and the ability to toggle instruments in the strings section on and off. There were other additions as well, with four new instruments you can use in both the Piano and Bass categories of Smart Instrument that can only add to the fun of making music on the touch screen.

The ability to have a live "jam session" with up to three other friends is a pretty neat addition as well, but I wonder how often people will actually get together and use it. Read my Hands On for Garage Band.

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New Apple app roundup for iOS

Then throw in elegance, modernity, durability and sustainability. Having indoor and outdoor living spaces is a bonus.

First off, people want to save money - if not in upfront costs, then on the expenses of energy consumption and maintenance later. And as the housing market slowly improves, future home sellers want their houses up-to-date and competitive for the market.

Hardieplank, the fiber-cement product that looks and feels like wood, is marketed as weather resistant, insect and fire resistant, and more durable than wood siding.

Decreased labor costs have "revolutionized" the industry, Wes Hadsell of Hadco Services said about Galvacore structural panels. The galvanized steel system can be used to make a range of structures - from fire pits and courtyards to outdoor kitchens to fences and benches.

Kevin Murphy, a lawnmower salesman, talked about the benefits of propane-fueled mowers. Propane, which is cheaper than gasoline and diesel, burns cleaner and produces less toxic emissions, he said.

And many people are looking for heavier lawn mowers that last longer than smaller, more convenient models.

Granite continues to be a must for many homebuyers and on the list of upgrades that increase home value.

"Granite is still the most popular when it comes to countertops," Hawksworth said. It's what 90 percent of CTS customers come in looking to buy.

Others are looking at quartz because of its low-maintenance reputation. But these days, granite is just as easy to keep up.

In the way of bathroom remodeling, Hawksworth said many customers are focusing less on luxurious tubs and more on larger shower spaces.

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Home, garden show focuses on saving money