11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
10 Temmuz 2012 Salı
9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
DC Bocce in Columbia Heights: play at Tubman, drink at Wonderland
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Bocce time! The DC Bocce League has opened registration for their Columbia Heights league. The matches are Tuesday at the Harriet Tubman School field (between 13th and 11th, Irving and Kenyon) and the sponsoring bars are Wonderland and Lou's City Bar.
I've played bocce in DC Bocce leagues for years, and they're always a good time. It's a fun game and people are laid back and fun -- a big difference from other adult sports, where you always seem to get overly competitive jerks.
Although I think DC Bocce should really push for the sport to be in the Olympics. I mean, if curling is, why not bocce, which is surely played by more people in more countries (just see boules, petanque, and other similar games.)
(And full disclosure, DC Bocce is a sponsor of this site, but I'd write about it anyway because bocce rules.)
Bocce time! The DC Bocce League has opened registration for their Columbia Heights league. The matches are Tuesday at the Harriet Tubman School field (between 13th and 11th, Irving and Kenyon) and the sponsoring bars are Wonderland and Lou's City Bar.
I've played bocce in DC Bocce leagues for years, and they're always a good time. It's a fun game and people are laid back and fun -- a big difference from other adult sports, where you always seem to get overly competitive jerks.Although I think DC Bocce should really push for the sport to be in the Olympics. I mean, if curling is, why not bocce, which is surely played by more people in more countries (just see boules, petanque, and other similar games.)
(And full disclosure, DC Bocce is a sponsor of this site, but I'd write about it anyway because bocce rules.)
Trader Joe's coming to 14th and U in 2013!
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Great news, especially for those folks in southern Columbia Heights: a Trader Joe's will be opening at 14th and U in 2013. PoP heard a rumor that the store was coming, and DCist confirmed it and adds some details. The store will be in the Louis development on the southwest side of the intersection, where the KFC/Taco Bell, Foot Locker and some other stuff was. (See right, and fear not, McNugget fans, the development will keep the McDonald's.)
According to the company, it'll be at least a year before they open, but hey, I'll take that. It'll be nice to have another grocery option, especially one with so much tasty pre-made food and super cheap beer and wine (the famous two-buck chuck, for example.)
While I'm generally loath to complain about traffic, the other area Trader Joe's are packed all the time. Of course, a lot of the people going there will be doing so by bus or Metro, but it's worth looking at. The Louis development will also include a 148-space underground parking garage, but it's unclear if that's for the shopping and such, or for the 267 apartments that will also be there. (Here's the kind of ridiculous website for Louis.)
There's also the question of what this means for the empty space in DCUSA, the one that was supposed to be filled by The Grocery Stores Who Shall Not Be Named (a grocery store from Richmond that jerked us around for 3 years and then went toBethesda Rockville.) There were mentions of other grocery stores as options, either "boutique" stores or other grocery operators for that space, but so far I haven't heard anything more. I've reached out to a couple contacts, so we'll see. I thought TJ's would be a great fit there, as it's probably too close to the 14th and P Whole Foods, definitely too close for a Harris Teeter, and maybe not enough parking for a Wegman's -- apparently they require a lot of space.
In any case, good news. Are you excited?
Great news, especially for those folks in southern Columbia Heights: a Trader Joe's will be opening at 14th and U in 2013. PoP heard a rumor that the store was coming, and DCist confirmed it and adds some details. The store will be in the Louis development on the southwest side of the intersection, where the KFC/Taco Bell, Foot Locker and some other stuff was. (See right, and fear not, McNugget fans, the development will keep the McDonald's.)According to the company, it'll be at least a year before they open, but hey, I'll take that. It'll be nice to have another grocery option, especially one with so much tasty pre-made food and super cheap beer and wine (the famous two-buck chuck, for example.)
While I'm generally loath to complain about traffic, the other area Trader Joe's are packed all the time. Of course, a lot of the people going there will be doing so by bus or Metro, but it's worth looking at. The Louis development will also include a 148-space underground parking garage, but it's unclear if that's for the shopping and such, or for the 267 apartments that will also be there. (Here's the kind of ridiculous website for Louis.)
There's also the question of what this means for the empty space in DCUSA, the one that was supposed to be filled by The Grocery Stores Who Shall Not Be Named (a grocery store from Richmond that jerked us around for 3 years and then went to
In any case, good news. Are you excited?
Neighborhood festival and donation drive tomorrow at Meridian Hill Park
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This sounds like a neat event -- a book and clothing swap, plus toy donation drive and a lot more.
Click the flyer at right for more info. And they've changed the time due to the heat, it'll be 11am-3pm.
"A community festival and donation drive to celebrate the people who make DC the wonderful city it is.
Bring those clothes, books, and toys, you don't need and join us on the upper level of the park this Saturday, July 7th! The event will be organized into 6 corners:
Clothing Corner- swap or donate your clothing items
Reading Corner- swap/donate books and enjoy a book as we convert a section of the park to an outdoor library
Art Corner- help our interactive art projects by tweeting pictures of your Saturday around DC to @inonedaydc and writing wishes to hang on tree branches in accordance to the Japanese holiday Tanabata celebrated on July 7
Music Corner- watch performances or perform yourself in an open invitation stage
Play Corner- pass the time with some toys and donate your old ones
Health and Wellness Corner- enjoy some free yoga and laughter exercise sessions in this section
All of the items remaining at the end of the day will be distributed among several community organizations providing great services in DC, including The Homeless Children's Playtime Project and Dress for Success.
For more information, please visit http://inonedaydc.wordpress.
This sounds like a neat event -- a book and clothing swap, plus toy donation drive and a lot more.Click the flyer at right for more info. And they've changed the time due to the heat, it'll be 11am-3pm.
"A community festival and donation drive to celebrate the people who make DC the wonderful city it is.
Bring those clothes, books, and toys, you don't need and join us on the upper level of the park this Saturday, July 7th! The event will be organized into 6 corners:
Clothing Corner- swap or donate your clothing items
Reading Corner- swap/donate books and enjoy a book as we convert a section of the park to an outdoor library
Art Corner- help our interactive art projects by tweeting pictures of your Saturday around DC to @inonedaydc and writing wishes to hang on tree branches in accordance to the Japanese holiday Tanabata celebrated on July 7
Music Corner- watch performances or perform yourself in an open invitation stage
Play Corner- pass the time with some toys and donate your old ones
Health and Wellness Corner- enjoy some free yoga and laughter exercise sessions in this section
All of the items remaining at the end of the day will be distributed among several community organizations providing great services in DC, including The Homeless Children's Playtime Project and Dress for Success.
For more information, please visit http://inonedaydc.wordpress.
Learn to fix your bike: the Bike House at Annie's Ace Hardware
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If you need to get your bike fixed or want to learn more about it, there's a great neighborhood option: The Bike House.
On Saturday I decided to check out them out. They're a non-profit bike clinic. They're open every Saturday at Annie's Ace Hardware (1240 Upshur Street NW) from noon to 3 pm and Sundays from 11am-1pm at the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market at 1st and R NW. They've also started up a mobile clinic with a bike trailer to go to Wards 7 and 8.
In short, I had a great experience. They're staffed by volunteers and they'll help find what's wrong with your bike and teach you how to fix it. There's a host who will greet you and ask about your bike, and then they pair you up with an expert. They're knowledgeable and friendly, which is key -- I'm no bike expert, and so many times I've been to bike shops and the staff have had really bad attitudes because of that. I don't know what I'm doing -- if I were an expert, why would I be going to a bike shop?
The Bike House folks are great. I needed a new tube for a tire and the bike seemed sluggish. Bo, the volunteer who helped me, saw that one brake was too tight and rubbed the wheel, and that the chain was gunky. He showed me how to loosen the tension on the brakes and how to clean off the chain. They have a lot of tools with them, and you can buy parts at Annie's. In my case, the entire cost of my visit was $4 for a new tube (though I also donated some money to the clinic, because they were awesome and are doing it for free.) Then I tried riding, and the bike rode perfectly.
I can't recommend them enough. You can also just show up and use the tools if you know what you're doing, and they have pumps and things too. They also offer classes, and are always looking for more volunteers.
Pretty cool stuff. Stop by and say hi (and tell them you heard about it from this blog!)
If you need to get your bike fixed or want to learn more about it, there's a great neighborhood option: The Bike House.On Saturday I decided to check out them out. They're a non-profit bike clinic. They're open every Saturday at Annie's Ace Hardware (1240 Upshur Street NW) from noon to 3 pm and Sundays from 11am-1pm at the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market at 1st and R NW. They've also started up a mobile clinic with a bike trailer to go to Wards 7 and 8.
In short, I had a great experience. They're staffed by volunteers and they'll help find what's wrong with your bike and teach you how to fix it. There's a host who will greet you and ask about your bike, and then they pair you up with an expert. They're knowledgeable and friendly, which is key -- I'm no bike expert, and so many times I've been to bike shops and the staff have had really bad attitudes because of that. I don't know what I'm doing -- if I were an expert, why would I be going to a bike shop?
The Bike House folks are great. I needed a new tube for a tire and the bike seemed sluggish. Bo, the volunteer who helped me, saw that one brake was too tight and rubbed the wheel, and that the chain was gunky. He showed me how to loosen the tension on the brakes and how to clean off the chain. They have a lot of tools with them, and you can buy parts at Annie's. In my case, the entire cost of my visit was $4 for a new tube (though I also donated some money to the clinic, because they were awesome and are doing it for free.) Then I tried riding, and the bike rode perfectly.
I can't recommend them enough. You can also just show up and use the tools if you know what you're doing, and they have pumps and things too. They also offer classes, and are always looking for more volunteers.
Pretty cool stuff. Stop by and say hi (and tell them you heard about it from this blog!)
Immigrants' arrests put firms in spotlight: Fourteen illegal immigrants were found in a Verizon contractor's van this week in Virginia Beach.
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Byline: ChrisFlores And Mike Holtzclaw
May 9--VIRGINIABEACH -- Verizon Communications has been using an army of contractors toaggressively replace its old phone lines with an expensive fiber-optic systemin Hampton Roads and nationwide.
The company's mainVirginia contractor doing this work -- Greensboro, N.C.-based Ivy H. Smith Co.-- was caught by Virginia State Police with 14 illegal immigrants in a vanduring a routine traffic stop Monday in Virginia Beach.
The detainment ofthe illegal workers sheds light on a question frequently facing majorcorporations today: Are businesses responsible for the hiring practices oftheir contractors? Verizon isn't the only party that will need to answer thisquestion for federal immigration investigators.
Ivy H. Smith,which has an office in Norfolk, is one of 28 subsidiaries of publicly tradedDycom Industries. Virginia state regulators have been dealing with complaintsfrom cable and gas companies about Ivy H. Smith and its contractors digging upcable lines for more than two years.
As problems mountedwith Ivy H. Smith and other Verizon contractors, Fairfax County tried to helpits residents. One of the promises that Verizon made was to ensure "eachwork crew would have one individual that can effectively communicate inEnglish."
Mike Netherland isassistant special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement, or ICE, office in Norfolk. He said the illegal immigrants were alladult males, 12 from Mexico and two from El Salvador. They were riding in a vanowned by Ivy H. Smith.
Netherland saidICE had begun "actively investigating the employer" but said hecouldn't comment further on that matter. A woman who answered the phone at IvyH. Smith said the company had no comment.
Verizon said itregularly reviewed the performance of its contractors and had terminated somein the past. Verizon is reviewing this incident with Ivy H. Smith.
A state policespokesman said officers pulled the van over for a registration violation onInterstate 264 and found the 14 men in the vehicle.
Upon receiving thecall from state police, Netherland said, ICE determined the immigration statusof the men and then took them into custody to begin the process of deportation.He said the detention and removal section of ICE was now handling the matter,waiting to see whether the men will accept deportation or fight it.
"Individualscan stipulate to the order of removal, or they can challenge their removal andappear before an immigration judge," Netherland said. "These men arebeing detained pending those proceedings."
Based on previousICE cases, Verizon is unlikely to face any repercussions unless Ivy H. Smithsays it was specifically asked to hire illegal workers.
"It is thecontractor who is liable for the work force because they're vouching to thecompany that is hiring them that the work force is authorized," said PatRiley, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington.
There's a highburden to prove that a company knew its contractors were using illegal workers,but it happens occasionally. ICE reached a settlement with Wal-Mart afterdocuments surfaced showing the company knowingly hired cleaning contractorswith illegal workers.
The question ofVerizon's supervision over its Virginia contractors was raised two years ago byCox Communications in Northern Virginia. Cox was more concerned that Ivy H.Smith contractors were cutting cable lines while digging and repairing themwith tape.
A Cox executivesaid at the time that Ivy H. Smith officials said Verizon had 1,500 contractorsdoing this work and that they were paid for each foot of cable buried. Coxcomplained that this gave the contractors an incentive to try to move quicklywithout repairing lines.
The problems havecontinued into Hampton Roads and were bad at first in Virginia Beach. ButVerizon and Ivy H. Smith have improved quite a bit since the Northern Virginiaproblems, said Thom Prevette, the Cox spokesman for the region. "They'veadhered to, and abided by, a lot of our joint agreements we've workedout," Prevette said.
Under fire fromWall Street for the cost of the mammoth undertaking, Verizon has said in recentyears that it's working to reduce the costs of installing the lines.
The work inHampton Roads started in Virginia Beach about two years ago. Then Verizon begandigging in Newport News, where it started selling television service two weeksago.
Ivy H. Smith'sparent company, Florida-based Dycom, specializes in doing contract work withtelecommunications companies. Verizon's building boom has become the key tomaking Dycom the company it is today.
For the yearending in July 2005, Dycom received 25 percent of its revenue from Verizon --by far its largest customer. The previous year -- before Verizon startedbeefing up its fiber optics -- Dycom received only 3.7 percent of its revenuefrom Verizon.
Byline: ChrisFlores And Mike Holtzclaw
May 9--VIRGINIABEACH -- Verizon Communications has been using an army of contractors toaggressively replace its old phone lines with an expensive fiber-optic systemin Hampton Roads and nationwide. The company's mainVirginia contractor doing this work -- Greensboro, N.C.-based Ivy H. Smith Co.-- was caught by Virginia State Police with 14 illegal immigrants in a vanduring a routine traffic stop Monday in Virginia Beach.
The detainment ofthe illegal workers sheds light on a question frequently facing majorcorporations today: Are businesses responsible for the hiring practices oftheir contractors? Verizon isn't the only party that will need to answer thisquestion for federal immigration investigators.
Ivy H. Smith,which has an office in Norfolk, is one of 28 subsidiaries of publicly tradedDycom Industries. Virginia state regulators have been dealing with complaintsfrom cable and gas companies about Ivy H. Smith and its contractors digging upcable lines for more than two years.
As problems mountedwith Ivy H. Smith and other Verizon contractors, Fairfax County tried to helpits residents. One of the promises that Verizon made was to ensure "eachwork crew would have one individual that can effectively communicate inEnglish."
Mike Netherland isassistant special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement, or ICE, office in Norfolk. He said the illegal immigrants were alladult males, 12 from Mexico and two from El Salvador. They were riding in a vanowned by Ivy H. Smith.
Netherland saidICE had begun "actively investigating the employer" but said hecouldn't comment further on that matter. A woman who answered the phone at IvyH. Smith said the company had no comment.
Verizon said itregularly reviewed the performance of its contractors and had terminated somein the past. Verizon is reviewing this incident with Ivy H. Smith.
A state policespokesman said officers pulled the van over for a registration violation onInterstate 264 and found the 14 men in the vehicle.
Upon receiving thecall from state police, Netherland said, ICE determined the immigration statusof the men and then took them into custody to begin the process of deportation.He said the detention and removal section of ICE was now handling the matter,waiting to see whether the men will accept deportation or fight it.
"Individualscan stipulate to the order of removal, or they can challenge their removal andappear before an immigration judge," Netherland said. "These men arebeing detained pending those proceedings."
Based on previousICE cases, Verizon is unlikely to face any repercussions unless Ivy H. Smithsays it was specifically asked to hire illegal workers.
"It is thecontractor who is liable for the work force because they're vouching to thecompany that is hiring them that the work force is authorized," said PatRiley, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington.
There's a highburden to prove that a company knew its contractors were using illegal workers,but it happens occasionally. ICE reached a settlement with Wal-Mart afterdocuments surfaced showing the company knowingly hired cleaning contractorswith illegal workers.
The question ofVerizon's supervision over its Virginia contractors was raised two years ago byCox Communications in Northern Virginia. Cox was more concerned that Ivy H.Smith contractors were cutting cable lines while digging and repairing themwith tape.
A Cox executivesaid at the time that Ivy H. Smith officials said Verizon had 1,500 contractorsdoing this work and that they were paid for each foot of cable buried. Coxcomplained that this gave the contractors an incentive to try to move quicklywithout repairing lines.
The problems havecontinued into Hampton Roads and were bad at first in Virginia Beach. ButVerizon and Ivy H. Smith have improved quite a bit since the Northern Virginiaproblems, said Thom Prevette, the Cox spokesman for the region. "They'veadhered to, and abided by, a lot of our joint agreements we've workedout," Prevette said.
Under fire fromWall Street for the cost of the mammoth undertaking, Verizon has said in recentyears that it's working to reduce the costs of installing the lines.
The work inHampton Roads started in Virginia Beach about two years ago. Then Verizon begandigging in Newport News, where it started selling television service two weeksago.
Ivy H. Smith'sparent company, Florida-based Dycom, specializes in doing contract work withtelecommunications companies. Verizon's building boom has become the key tomaking Dycom the company it is today.
For the yearending in July 2005, Dycom received 25 percent of its revenue from Verizon --by far its largest customer. The previous year -- before Verizon startedbeefing up its fiber optics -- Dycom received only 3.7 percent of its revenuefrom Verizon.
8 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
Down in the Hole
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Our recent weather event has once again raised cries forburying all power lines. Even here at To2C, readers have chimed in on theissue.
It has also again highlighted the longstanding Columbia/Ellicott City divide. In some recent casual conversations I've detected a hint of an infrastructuresuperiority complex among someColumbians . Columbia ,of course, was a pioneer in the burying of power lines forty five years ago. As a result, Columbia in general, sufferedfewer power outages than the rest of HoCo, percentage wise anyway.
That being said, there were still power outages inColumbia . The infrastructureis only as strong as its weakest point which occurs in and all around Columbia . This is alsotrue in Ellicott City . In the newerdevelopments, including my own neighborhood, all of the power lines are buried.The problem is that they are connected to the old parts where the wires arehung on poles, the aforementioned weak link. In Ellicott City the old parts occupy a larger geographical area than the new parts.
Whether or not tojust go ahead and bury everything everywhere has been battered around for some time now. Accordingto this story by Mike DeBonis in TheWashington Post, “In 2005, the Maryland Public Service Commission studied whether creatinga statewide system of underground lines would be wise. The group concluded thatbuilding such a system would be too expensive, …”
There also seems to be a question as to whether it is even worthit.
“A 2009 report from the Edison Electric Institute, a tradeassociation for public utilities, said data show that underground systems have“only a slightly better reliability performance” than above-ground systems.”
Then again, if you just measured the performance ofunderground power lines in times of storms like last Fridays, putting the power in the hole winshands down.
“Pepco said in a 2008 report that outages involving overheadwires took 2.8 hours to repair, while the average outage involving undergroundequipment took 4.4 hours. But during and after storm events, the calculationchanged: Above-ground equipment took an average of 8.2 hours to repair, “whilethere were no [underground] storm related failures for comparison.”
And then there’s that…
Our recent weather event has once again raised cries forburying all power lines. Even here at To2C, readers have chimed in on theissue.
It has also again highlighted the longstanding Columbia/Ellicott City divide. In some recent casual conversations I've detected a hint of an infrastructuresuperiority complex among some
That being said, there were still power outages in
Whether or not tojust go ahead and bury everything everywhere has been battered around for some time now. Accordingto this story by Mike DeBonis in The
There also seems to be a question as to whether it is even worthit.
“A 2009 report from the Edison Electric Institute, a tradeassociation for public utilities, said data show that underground systems have“only a slightly better reliability performance” than above-ground systems.”
Then again, if you just measured the performance ofunderground power lines in times of storms like last Fridays, putting the power in the hole winshands down.
“Pepco said in a 2008 report that outages involving overheadwires took 2.8 hours to repair, while the average outage involving undergroundequipment took 4.4 hours. But during and after storm events, the calculationchanged: Above-ground equipment took an average of 8.2 hours to repair, “whilethere were no [underground] storm related failures for comparison.”
And then there’s that…
Happy Independence Day
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Today marks the 236th anniversary of the signingof the Declaration of Independence. It’s a day to celebrate American democracy.To that end I share a quote from the man often referred to as the father of our country.
“Party disputes and personal quarrels are the great businessof the day, while the great and accumulated debt, ruined finances, depreciatedmoney and want of credit were postponed from day to day, from week to week, asif our affairs wore the most promising aspect.”
Although that was written by George Washington in 1778 during the Revolutionary War, it sounds very familiar today. For those wholament that modern politics inAmerica has denigrated into placing personal agendas over the national good, you should takeheart that this is something that has plagued our democracy from the git go.
Here’s hoping everyone can toss aside politics for the day,and celebrate the fact that even after 236 years of this stuff, our country endures in spite of ourselves.
Today marks the 236th anniversary of the signingof the Declaration of Independence. It’s a day to celebrate American democracy.To that end I share a quote from the man often referred to as the father of our country.
“Party disputes and personal quarrels are the great businessof the day, while the great and accumulated debt, ruined finances, depreciatedmoney and want of credit were postponed from day to day, from week to week, asif our affairs wore the most promising aspect.”
Although that was written by George Washington in 1778 during the Revolutionary War, it sounds very familiar today. For those wholament that modern politics in
Here’s hoping everyone can toss aside politics for the day,and celebrate the fact that even after 236 years of this stuff, our country endures in spite of ourselves.
Early Birds
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I like going down to theTown Center
Late arrivals discovered that finding an opening amidst thissea of blankets required all the concentration of a game of scrabble.
While most people stake out a spot with plans to return laterothers, like Brittany and Isaac Saunders Sr, make a day out of it with theirfamily. Isaac told me they set up camp at noon today, even though the actiondidn’t get started until three. “We live just down the street from here,” hetold me.
Brittany said they’ve come back to this same spot for a couple years now.
When asked Isaac if I could take a picture of his family forTo2C, he seized the opportunity to promote his photography business. He alsolet me know that his wife was a writer in case I needed any help with the blog.I thanked him for the offer but informed him that this was pretty much a one man operation.
Early today, there was some talk of cancelling tonight’scelebration due to concerns about the possibility of another severe storm. As Iwas heading back to my car I received a text from Notify Me Howard that theshow will go on tonight.
I like going down to the
Late arrivals discovered that finding an opening amidst thissea of blankets required all the concentration of a game of scrabble.
While most people stake out a spot with plans to return laterothers, like Brittany and Isaac Saunders Sr, make a day out of it with theirfamily. Isaac told me they set up camp at noon today, even though the actiondidn’t get started until three. “We live just down the street from here,” hetold me.When asked Isaac if I could take a picture of his family forTo2C, he seized the opportunity to promote his photography business. He alsolet me know that his wife was a writer in case I needed any help with the blog.I thanked him for the offer but informed him that this was pretty much a one man operation.
Early today, there was some talk of cancelling tonight’scelebration due to concerns about the possibility of another severe storm. As Iwas heading back to my car I received a text from Notify Me Howard that theshow will go on tonight.
Failing Grades for HoCo Dems
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Although it is probably not a report card that they care allthat much about, our HoCo statehouse Dems didn’t fare that well in the annual Roll Call report card from Maryland Business for Responsive Government (MBRG). The annual rankings call attention to legislators “attitudes toward business, jobs, economicgrowth, and investment in the state…”
As I wrote in this post two years ago, MBRG ranks theelected officials based on their votes on business legislation, including committeevotes.
“In order to compare a legislator’s score with his or hercolleagues, both Senate and House members have been ranked by percentiles. Thepercentile represents where a legislator’s 2012 MBRG % rating ranks in relationto other legislators’ ratings.”
Delegate Frank Turner scored the lowest, earning a 0% for2012, followed by Guy Guzzone with a 1%. Delegates Jimmy Malone and Liz Bobo wereboth ranked at 14% while Shane Pendergrass got 46%.
The most biz friendly HoCo Dem in the General Assembly wasSteven DeBoy at 60%. Senator Ed Kasemeyer scored 50% and Senator Jim Robey, 34%.For Jim this was actually a huge improvement over 2010 when he was given a 2%score.
The Dems seem to heading in the wrong direction on makingMaryland more business friendly.
The Repubs fared much better in the Roll Call scoring. Senator Allan Kittleman received 76%and Delegates Warren Miller and Gail Bates each got a 72%.
Since I began paying attention, these numbers rarely fluctuate all that dramatically. As long as Maryland remains a one party state, there is probably little chance of change in the Old Line State's businessclimate.
Although it is probably not a report card that they care allthat much about, our HoCo statehouse Dems didn’t fare that well in the annual Roll Call report card from Maryland Business for Responsive Government (MBRG). The annual rankings call attention to legislators “attitudes toward business, jobs, economicgrowth, and investment in the state…”
As I wrote in this post two years ago, MBRG ranks theelected officials based on their votes on business legislation, including committeevotes.
“In order to compare a legislator’s score with his or hercolleagues, both Senate and House members have been ranked by percentiles. Thepercentile represents where a legislator’s 2012 MBRG % rating ranks in relationto other legislators’ ratings.”
Delegate Frank Turner scored the lowest, earning a 0% for2012, followed by Guy Guzzone with a 1%. Delegates Jimmy Malone and Liz Bobo wereboth ranked at 14% while Shane Pendergrass got 46%.
The most biz friendly HoCo Dem in the General Assembly wasSteven DeBoy at 60%. Senator Ed Kasemeyer scored 50% and Senator Jim Robey, 34%.For Jim this was actually a huge improvement over 2010 when he was given a 2%score.
The Dems seem to heading in the wrong direction on making
The Repubs fared much better in the Roll Call scoring. Senator Allan Kittleman received 76%and Delegates Warren Miller and Gail Bates each got a 72%.
Since I began paying attention, these numbers rarely fluctuate all that dramatically. As long as Maryland remains a one party state, there is probably little chance of change in the Old Line State's businessclimate.
In This Months Business Monthly
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When I sat down to write this month’s column for TheBusiness Monthly, the prospects for a second special session of the GeneralAssembly as early as next week to ram through new gambling legislation lookedpretty good. That may no long be the case. According to this report by JohnWagner in The Washington Post, the guv has decided “that is not arealistic timeframe and wants to spend some more time seeing where Housemembers stand, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly aboutthe issue.”
The delay is being at least partially attributed to last Friday’sstormus interuptus. As of this morning at least 30,000 homes inMaryland are stillwithout power.
That is not to say the guvs attempts to expand gambling inthe state are over. He just needs a little more time to twist some arms.According to this story by Annie Linskey in The Sun, Governor O’Malley “intendsto announce Friday that he will continue trying to hammer out a deal to expandMaryland 's gamblingprogram, according to an official close to the governor.”
It’s only a matter of time. Just like four years ago, votersare being told that expanding gambling will help our schools, stave off taxfuture increases, and cure the common cold.
In other words, it’s appears to be only a matter of when, not if.
You can read this month’s column here.
When I sat down to write this month’s column for TheBusiness Monthly, the prospects for a second special session of the GeneralAssembly as early as next week to ram through new gambling legislation lookedpretty good. That may no long be the case. According to this report by JohnWagner in The Washington Post, the guv has decided “that is not arealistic timeframe and wants to spend some more time seeing where Housemembers stand, said the source, who was not authorized to speak publicly aboutthe issue.”
The delay is being at least partially attributed to last Friday’sstormus interuptus. As of this morning at least 30,000 homes in
That is not to say the guvs attempts to expand gambling inthe state are over. He just needs a little more time to twist some arms.According to this story by Annie Linskey in The Sun, Governor O’Malley “intendsto announce Friday that he will continue trying to hammer out a deal to expand
It’s only a matter of time. Just like four years ago, votersare being told that expanding gambling will help our schools, stave off taxfuture increases, and cure the common cold.
In other words, it’s appears to be only a matter of when, not if.
You can read this month’s column here.
7 Temmuz 2012 Cumartesi
Cool Walk
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The only way to enjoy the outdoors during a heat wave iseither by staying up late or getting out early. This morning I opted for thelatter as I set out at 7:30 on a four mile trek from my house to Main StreetEllicott City and back.
As wound my way past the Worthington Dog Park , the mercury hadalready climbed past the mid seventies but there was also a light breeze. Soon,I was in the shaded confines of New Cut Road and it was just like any other summer day, warm but not oppressive.Although there isn’t a sidewalk or much of shoulder on New Cut, at this time ofmorning I saw just as many cyclists as I did cars.
I passed a couple of runners too.
Before long I reached the outskirts of the historic districtand worked my way down to the Bean Hollow coffee shop for a quick coffee and perusalof the morning paper. The heat wave made the front page, above the fold.
Before heading back home, I stopped and snapped of pictureof an artist painting a picture as part of this years Paint It!Ellicott City !
For the return trip I headed up College Avenue , a decidedly steeper routethan New Cut. The developers of new housing development called Autumn River 
By the time I turned back into my neighborhood, the temp has climbed to the mid eighties and I was ready to reenter a climate controlled world. For me anyway, the best part of the day was over.
The only way to enjoy the outdoors during a heat wave iseither by staying up late or getting out early. This morning I opted for thelatter as I set out at 7:30 on a four mile trek from my house to Main StreetEllicott City and back.
As wound my way past the I passed a couple of runners too.Before long I reached the outskirts of the historic districtand worked my way down to the Bean Hollow coffee shop for a quick coffee and perusalof the morning paper. The heat wave made the front page, above the fold.Before heading back home, I stopped and snapped of pictureof an artist painting a picture as part of this years Paint It!
For the return trip I headed up By the time I turned back into my neighborhood, the temp has climbed to the mid eighties and I was ready to reenter a climate controlled world. For me anyway, the best part of the day was over.It's been a nightmare..
To contact us Click HERE
I never imagined that when I was rear ended and through no fault of my own I would have so much stress, tears and headache associated with this whole ordeal.
If you (like myself) have never been in an auto accident before, you are more and likely ignorant to everything (like myself). You want to believe in the good of the insurance companies. You want to believe that they aren't as evil as lawyers make them out to be.
You think, "okay,I was hurt, they will pay my medical bills as they come". Only, they don't. They won't pay until you settle. If you are like the majority of Americans and don't have health insurance, and your OWN insurance PIP (MedPay) is exhausted in hospital bills, you are virtually screwed.
With no money to pay them yourself, and kids to feed, you know you are hurt, but you stop treatment in order to try and hurry a settlement so that your bills will be paid in a timely manner.
You realize any attorney will take 1/3rd of your settlement, and with your medical bills being high, and no real guarantee or no set in stone number of what they will even ask for during consultations, and you are told by attorney after attorney that they can't guarantee even your medical bills will be covered after their fees, you are left to your own devices.
You act as your own paralegal, you collect all your medical bills, you make copies of everything, calculate your mileage and fuel costs and out of pocket expenses and you prepare a demand letter to submit to the at fault insurance company.
You call them and nag them every other day, sometimes you give them a week.
Your bills are coming in and you are being threatened by the hospitals to have your account turned to collections. You are given the run around by all parties involved (those you owe money to, and those who owe money to you).
Your stress causes heartburn, your anxiety causes lost sleep and you don't know huge legal terms and kind of try to wing it.Eventually you do hear from the at fault insurance company who offers to pay all your medical but says they can only give you $1,000 for your personal injury/pain and suffering. Mind you your under duress and you have stopped treatment just in order to get the bill collectors at the facilities you were treated at off your back and to rush a settlement. You ask for slightly more. You tell them about your med pay and they offer to reimburse your med pay and hospital expenses.
You are left to think about it over night, meanwhile the big insurance giant knows they have you where they want you.
AND with all do respect, I know they have a job to do, but it just sucks you're unfortunately at their mercy, even when the accident was not your fault.
Two days go by and you call and call. No one calls back, so you ask to speak to their supervisor, only it's a message machine (always is). You inform them that you have done all you could on your part, you've done the leg work to collect all the bills, you've submitted everything accordingly and you demand a settlement or you will take their policy holder to court (who in turn can take their insurance agent to court for bad faith).
15 minutes later (literally) you get a call from your adjuster. You feel bad for calling on them, because it is their job, but you also feel bad for yourself because you're swamped in bills you should not have to be up to your ears in.
They offer $500 more. So at this point you have your medical bills being offered to be paid out (your main concern), your 2 thousand dollar med pay reimbursed to you and $1,500 from them. You say "I accept", just please pay these bills soon.
You are told, once you sign and fax this release, (releasing their policy holder and them from all future medical claims) and scan and upload it to them, they will cut you a check and pay out your providers within the next day. You read it over have a few questions but ultimately sign your life away and sent it over.
Within two hours the claims website emails you to notify you a check has been issued do your portion of the settlement.
After re reading the release you notice strange language, that includes property damage, and you think, "oh dear lord, did I just screw my insurance company out of their subrogation"?? You panic, you're up all night calling your insurance and theirs (mind you your insurance has yet to contact you about subrogation and you have no idea how it even works, just that you may of signed your rights away and become responsible for paying it back and your personal settlement doesn't even cover collision damages).
You're sick to your stomach, you cry your eyes out, you feel tricked and deceived and you submit a quick letter to the claims website asking to retract your signed release due to the fact "money is not in hand" as the contract states and that you felt you were not given all information needed and signed it under duress with out a witness.
The very next morning you get a call from the at fault company bright and early, promising that it's only a medical release and nothing more,promising subrogation will still be paid out. You feel relieved but still skeptical, so you record the entire conversation and the phone messages. You get a letter back from said insurance company promising it is only a medical release. You feel relieved...
FOR THE TIME BEING.
An attorney tells you it can be a trick, your insurance company says it should be fine and you're left praying this person has a heart and won't screw you over.
That is where I am today, two months exactly after my accident. A check is on the way - which will go directly to savings and untouched for a long time until all this is over - just in case. And your medical bills have yet to be paid off - STILL.
The icing to the cake? You get a final notice from the hospital today, to pay the remaining $2,500 you owe, even though your insurance company just forked them $2,000 in med pay. You ask for an extension until the at fault company pays it off and let them know you just settled and it will be any day now. They tell you, "no" and say you have 18 days to pay or you go to collections, you ask to set up a payment plan and are told it could take a week.
I am praying that this will all be over soon. I am praying so hard I never have to deal with this again. Someone who is injured through no fault of their own should NEVER have to go through what I have gone through. NEVER.
My spinal, and neck vertebrae are still dislocated, my stress is so high my blood pressure is higher than it's ever been, and my anxiety is insane. When I drive I always get a horrible burst of anxiety as some one gets too close or speeds up on my tail end. I don't feel I will ever be the same - EVER.
Was all this worth a $1500 settlement? I'd say NO, but when you have kids and need the bills off your back, it is.
My advice next time? (God forbid)? Go attorney shopping, find a good one. One who will not RUSH through the consult, one that wants to MEET with you IN PERSON, as opposed to just their paralegal. Sure an attorney is 1/3 contingency fee, BUT, they KNOW what they are doing (you do not), and chances are big insurance also knows this and will toy with your emotions.
It's worth it to not have the stress. COMPLETELY.
I pray to god it wasn't worse, and I am thankful to God, my children were not with me that one time (as any other time they would have been). I am so thankful. I am however very upset with the turn of events.
I am thankful that this will hopefully be all over as soon as my medical payments are paid out and I am no longer in credit limbo for something I did not do.
I want to cry - STILL.
I am sensitive, and I stress easily, it's hard to take care of your kids when you are stressed to death, and you can't pick them up because your lower back is aching.
There are a lot of "woulda, shoulda, and coulda's" involved. I just want the nightmare to end.
I want to never see a commercial with that smiling little insurance character EVER again. - Sadly one is right by my house (agh).
Again, I should say I have no real hard feelings for my adjuster, she is just doing her job, and is probably up to her neck in claims. If only people would learn to pay attention when they drive, be considerate of others they share the road with, and if only you had magical powers to make your car disappear when someone is fixing to hit you.
If only....
I don't wish this on my worst enemy.
If you (like myself) have never been in an auto accident before, you are more and likely ignorant to everything (like myself). You want to believe in the good of the insurance companies. You want to believe that they aren't as evil as lawyers make them out to be.
You think, "okay,I was hurt, they will pay my medical bills as they come". Only, they don't. They won't pay until you settle. If you are like the majority of Americans and don't have health insurance, and your OWN insurance PIP (MedPay) is exhausted in hospital bills, you are virtually screwed.
With no money to pay them yourself, and kids to feed, you know you are hurt, but you stop treatment in order to try and hurry a settlement so that your bills will be paid in a timely manner.
You realize any attorney will take 1/3rd of your settlement, and with your medical bills being high, and no real guarantee or no set in stone number of what they will even ask for during consultations, and you are told by attorney after attorney that they can't guarantee even your medical bills will be covered after their fees, you are left to your own devices.
You act as your own paralegal, you collect all your medical bills, you make copies of everything, calculate your mileage and fuel costs and out of pocket expenses and you prepare a demand letter to submit to the at fault insurance company.
You call them and nag them every other day, sometimes you give them a week.
Your bills are coming in and you are being threatened by the hospitals to have your account turned to collections. You are given the run around by all parties involved (those you owe money to, and those who owe money to you).
Your stress causes heartburn, your anxiety causes lost sleep and you don't know huge legal terms and kind of try to wing it.Eventually you do hear from the at fault insurance company who offers to pay all your medical but says they can only give you $1,000 for your personal injury/pain and suffering. Mind you your under duress and you have stopped treatment just in order to get the bill collectors at the facilities you were treated at off your back and to rush a settlement. You ask for slightly more. You tell them about your med pay and they offer to reimburse your med pay and hospital expenses.
You are left to think about it over night, meanwhile the big insurance giant knows they have you where they want you.
AND with all do respect, I know they have a job to do, but it just sucks you're unfortunately at their mercy, even when the accident was not your fault.
Two days go by and you call and call. No one calls back, so you ask to speak to their supervisor, only it's a message machine (always is). You inform them that you have done all you could on your part, you've done the leg work to collect all the bills, you've submitted everything accordingly and you demand a settlement or you will take their policy holder to court (who in turn can take their insurance agent to court for bad faith).
15 minutes later (literally) you get a call from your adjuster. You feel bad for calling on them, because it is their job, but you also feel bad for yourself because you're swamped in bills you should not have to be up to your ears in.
They offer $500 more. So at this point you have your medical bills being offered to be paid out (your main concern), your 2 thousand dollar med pay reimbursed to you and $1,500 from them. You say "I accept", just please pay these bills soon.
You are told, once you sign and fax this release, (releasing their policy holder and them from all future medical claims) and scan and upload it to them, they will cut you a check and pay out your providers within the next day. You read it over have a few questions but ultimately sign your life away and sent it over.
Within two hours the claims website emails you to notify you a check has been issued do your portion of the settlement.
After re reading the release you notice strange language, that includes property damage, and you think, "oh dear lord, did I just screw my insurance company out of their subrogation"?? You panic, you're up all night calling your insurance and theirs (mind you your insurance has yet to contact you about subrogation and you have no idea how it even works, just that you may of signed your rights away and become responsible for paying it back and your personal settlement doesn't even cover collision damages).
You're sick to your stomach, you cry your eyes out, you feel tricked and deceived and you submit a quick letter to the claims website asking to retract your signed release due to the fact "money is not in hand" as the contract states and that you felt you were not given all information needed and signed it under duress with out a witness.
The very next morning you get a call from the at fault company bright and early, promising that it's only a medical release and nothing more,promising subrogation will still be paid out. You feel relieved but still skeptical, so you record the entire conversation and the phone messages. You get a letter back from said insurance company promising it is only a medical release. You feel relieved...
FOR THE TIME BEING.
An attorney tells you it can be a trick, your insurance company says it should be fine and you're left praying this person has a heart and won't screw you over.
That is where I am today, two months exactly after my accident. A check is on the way - which will go directly to savings and untouched for a long time until all this is over - just in case. And your medical bills have yet to be paid off - STILL.
The icing to the cake? You get a final notice from the hospital today, to pay the remaining $2,500 you owe, even though your insurance company just forked them $2,000 in med pay. You ask for an extension until the at fault company pays it off and let them know you just settled and it will be any day now. They tell you, "no" and say you have 18 days to pay or you go to collections, you ask to set up a payment plan and are told it could take a week.
I am praying that this will all be over soon. I am praying so hard I never have to deal with this again. Someone who is injured through no fault of their own should NEVER have to go through what I have gone through. NEVER.
My spinal, and neck vertebrae are still dislocated, my stress is so high my blood pressure is higher than it's ever been, and my anxiety is insane. When I drive I always get a horrible burst of anxiety as some one gets too close or speeds up on my tail end. I don't feel I will ever be the same - EVER.
Was all this worth a $1500 settlement? I'd say NO, but when you have kids and need the bills off your back, it is.
My advice next time? (God forbid)? Go attorney shopping, find a good one. One who will not RUSH through the consult, one that wants to MEET with you IN PERSON, as opposed to just their paralegal. Sure an attorney is 1/3 contingency fee, BUT, they KNOW what they are doing (you do not), and chances are big insurance also knows this and will toy with your emotions.
It's worth it to not have the stress. COMPLETELY.
I pray to god it wasn't worse, and I am thankful to God, my children were not with me that one time (as any other time they would have been). I am so thankful. I am however very upset with the turn of events.
I am thankful that this will hopefully be all over as soon as my medical payments are paid out and I am no longer in credit limbo for something I did not do.
I want to cry - STILL.
I am sensitive, and I stress easily, it's hard to take care of your kids when you are stressed to death, and you can't pick them up because your lower back is aching.
There are a lot of "woulda, shoulda, and coulda's" involved. I just want the nightmare to end.
I want to never see a commercial with that smiling little insurance character EVER again. - Sadly one is right by my house (agh).
Again, I should say I have no real hard feelings for my adjuster, she is just doing her job, and is probably up to her neck in claims. If only people would learn to pay attention when they drive, be considerate of others they share the road with, and if only you had magical powers to make your car disappear when someone is fixing to hit you.
If only....
I don't wish this on my worst enemy.
Immigrants' arrests put firms in spotlight: Fourteen illegal immigrants were found in a Verizon contractor's van this week in Virginia Beach.
To contact us Click HERE
Byline: ChrisFlores And Mike Holtzclaw
May 9--VIRGINIABEACH -- Verizon Communications has been using an army of contractors toaggressively replace its old phone lines with an expensive fiber-optic systemin Hampton Roads and nationwide.
The company's mainVirginia contractor doing this work -- Greensboro, N.C.-based Ivy H. Smith Co.-- was caught by Virginia State Police with 14 illegal immigrants in a vanduring a routine traffic stop Monday in Virginia Beach.
The detainment ofthe illegal workers sheds light on a question frequently facing majorcorporations today: Are businesses responsible for the hiring practices oftheir contractors? Verizon isn't the only party that will need to answer thisquestion for federal immigration investigators.
Ivy H. Smith,which has an office in Norfolk, is one of 28 subsidiaries of publicly tradedDycom Industries. Virginia state regulators have been dealing with complaintsfrom cable and gas companies about Ivy H. Smith and its contractors digging upcable lines for more than two years.
As problems mountedwith Ivy H. Smith and other Verizon contractors, Fairfax County tried to helpits residents. One of the promises that Verizon made was to ensure "eachwork crew would have one individual that can effectively communicate inEnglish."
Mike Netherland isassistant special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement, or ICE, office in Norfolk. He said the illegal immigrants were alladult males, 12 from Mexico and two from El Salvador. They were riding in a vanowned by Ivy H. Smith.
Netherland saidICE had begun "actively investigating the employer" but said hecouldn't comment further on that matter. A woman who answered the phone at IvyH. Smith said the company had no comment.
Verizon said itregularly reviewed the performance of its contractors and had terminated somein the past. Verizon is reviewing this incident with Ivy H. Smith.
A state policespokesman said officers pulled the van over for a registration violation onInterstate 264 and found the 14 men in the vehicle.
Upon receiving thecall from state police, Netherland said, ICE determined the immigration statusof the men and then took them into custody to begin the process of deportation.He said the detention and removal section of ICE was now handling the matter,waiting to see whether the men will accept deportation or fight it.
"Individualscan stipulate to the order of removal, or they can challenge their removal andappear before an immigration judge," Netherland said. "These men arebeing detained pending those proceedings."
Based on previousICE cases, Verizon is unlikely to face any repercussions unless Ivy H. Smithsays it was specifically asked to hire illegal workers.
"It is thecontractor who is liable for the work force because they're vouching to thecompany that is hiring them that the work force is authorized," said PatRiley, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington.
There's a highburden to prove that a company knew its contractors were using illegal workers,but it happens occasionally. ICE reached a settlement with Wal-Mart afterdocuments surfaced showing the company knowingly hired cleaning contractorswith illegal workers.
The question ofVerizon's supervision over its Virginia contractors was raised two years ago byCox Communications in Northern Virginia. Cox was more concerned that Ivy H.Smith contractors were cutting cable lines while digging and repairing themwith tape.
A Cox executivesaid at the time that Ivy H. Smith officials said Verizon had 1,500 contractorsdoing this work and that they were paid for each foot of cable buried. Coxcomplained that this gave the contractors an incentive to try to move quicklywithout repairing lines.
The problems havecontinued into Hampton Roads and were bad at first in Virginia Beach. ButVerizon and Ivy H. Smith have improved quite a bit since the Northern Virginiaproblems, said Thom Prevette, the Cox spokesman for the region. "They'veadhered to, and abided by, a lot of our joint agreements we've workedout," Prevette said.
Under fire fromWall Street for the cost of the mammoth undertaking, Verizon has said in recentyears that it's working to reduce the costs of installing the lines.
The work inHampton Roads started in Virginia Beach about two years ago. Then Verizon begandigging in Newport News, where it started selling television service two weeksago.
Ivy H. Smith'sparent company, Florida-based Dycom, specializes in doing contract work withtelecommunications companies. Verizon's building boom has become the key tomaking Dycom the company it is today.
For the yearending in July 2005, Dycom received 25 percent of its revenue from Verizon --by far its largest customer. The previous year -- before Verizon startedbeefing up its fiber optics -- Dycom received only 3.7 percent of its revenuefrom Verizon.
Byline: ChrisFlores And Mike Holtzclaw
May 9--VIRGINIABEACH -- Verizon Communications has been using an army of contractors toaggressively replace its old phone lines with an expensive fiber-optic systemin Hampton Roads and nationwide. The company's mainVirginia contractor doing this work -- Greensboro, N.C.-based Ivy H. Smith Co.-- was caught by Virginia State Police with 14 illegal immigrants in a vanduring a routine traffic stop Monday in Virginia Beach.
The detainment ofthe illegal workers sheds light on a question frequently facing majorcorporations today: Are businesses responsible for the hiring practices oftheir contractors? Verizon isn't the only party that will need to answer thisquestion for federal immigration investigators.
Ivy H. Smith,which has an office in Norfolk, is one of 28 subsidiaries of publicly tradedDycom Industries. Virginia state regulators have been dealing with complaintsfrom cable and gas companies about Ivy H. Smith and its contractors digging upcable lines for more than two years.
As problems mountedwith Ivy H. Smith and other Verizon contractors, Fairfax County tried to helpits residents. One of the promises that Verizon made was to ensure "eachwork crew would have one individual that can effectively communicate inEnglish."
Mike Netherland isassistant special agent-in-charge for the U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement, or ICE, office in Norfolk. He said the illegal immigrants were alladult males, 12 from Mexico and two from El Salvador. They were riding in a vanowned by Ivy H. Smith.
Netherland saidICE had begun "actively investigating the employer" but said hecouldn't comment further on that matter. A woman who answered the phone at IvyH. Smith said the company had no comment.
Verizon said itregularly reviewed the performance of its contractors and had terminated somein the past. Verizon is reviewing this incident with Ivy H. Smith.
A state policespokesman said officers pulled the van over for a registration violation onInterstate 264 and found the 14 men in the vehicle.
Upon receiving thecall from state police, Netherland said, ICE determined the immigration statusof the men and then took them into custody to begin the process of deportation.He said the detention and removal section of ICE was now handling the matter,waiting to see whether the men will accept deportation or fight it.
"Individualscan stipulate to the order of removal, or they can challenge their removal andappear before an immigration judge," Netherland said. "These men arebeing detained pending those proceedings."
Based on previousICE cases, Verizon is unlikely to face any repercussions unless Ivy H. Smithsays it was specifically asked to hire illegal workers.
"It is thecontractor who is liable for the work force because they're vouching to thecompany that is hiring them that the work force is authorized," said PatRiley, an ICE spokeswoman in Washington.
There's a highburden to prove that a company knew its contractors were using illegal workers,but it happens occasionally. ICE reached a settlement with Wal-Mart afterdocuments surfaced showing the company knowingly hired cleaning contractorswith illegal workers.
The question ofVerizon's supervision over its Virginia contractors was raised two years ago byCox Communications in Northern Virginia. Cox was more concerned that Ivy H.Smith contractors were cutting cable lines while digging and repairing themwith tape.
A Cox executivesaid at the time that Ivy H. Smith officials said Verizon had 1,500 contractorsdoing this work and that they were paid for each foot of cable buried. Coxcomplained that this gave the contractors an incentive to try to move quicklywithout repairing lines.
The problems havecontinued into Hampton Roads and were bad at first in Virginia Beach. ButVerizon and Ivy H. Smith have improved quite a bit since the Northern Virginiaproblems, said Thom Prevette, the Cox spokesman for the region. "They'veadhered to, and abided by, a lot of our joint agreements we've workedout," Prevette said.
Under fire fromWall Street for the cost of the mammoth undertaking, Verizon has said in recentyears that it's working to reduce the costs of installing the lines.
The work inHampton Roads started in Virginia Beach about two years ago. Then Verizon begandigging in Newport News, where it started selling television service two weeksago.
Ivy H. Smith'sparent company, Florida-based Dycom, specializes in doing contract work withtelecommunications companies. Verizon's building boom has become the key tomaking Dycom the company it is today.
For the yearending in July 2005, Dycom received 25 percent of its revenue from Verizon --by far its largest customer. The previous year -- before Verizon startedbeefing up its fiber optics -- Dycom received only 3.7 percent of its revenuefrom Verizon.
5 Temmuz 2012 Perşembe
Turning Deals into Meals - Noodles & Co. Pesto Cavatappi Revamp
To contact us Click HERE
Today was my Little Love's FIRST birthday!!
I'll be writing more about his day later, but this post is all about his B-Day dinner (pictured below - I'll get to that soon).
Nolan is our first baby, so I could be wrong, but it seems pretty traditional to serve a kid their favorite meal on their special day. I thought this over, trying to decide if N has a "favorite" meal. He's far from a picky eater, and he usually eats the same foods the hubs and I are having, but there are a few foods that N seems to devour more quickly than the rest, begging for more using his little sign language request (how could you say no to that??).
A menu of N's Favorites would read something like this:
Cold, unseasoned tofu cubes
Cold, unseasoned black beans
Cheerios, hold the milk
While I'm all for indulging the boy on his birthday, I needed to eat dinner too...and that food combo sounded terrible.
So, I gave the fridge a once over and decided that I wanted to use some of the free pasta I picked this week up at Harris Teeter, as well as a few ingredients leftover from a Greek pizza I made a few days ago (cheap veggies from Aldi). The idea for a tweaked version of Noodles & Co. Pesto Cavatappi was born.
For those who are unfamiliar, Noodles is a counter service restaurant - think Moe's, Q-Doba, Panera, etc. - serving, well, noodles. Their Pesto Cavatappi dish looks like this.
It's basically a corkscrew pasta with a pesto sauce, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms. Nothing too fancy, but fairly tasty. My version was similar but kicked up a few notches.
The birthday boy LOVED his special meal, and Momma LOVED the glass (es) of wine she had from the bottle used in the dish. Win, win!
Allison's Revamped "Pesto Cavatappi"- Minus the Cavatappi - Feeds 4
Ingredients:
1/2 box Whole Grain Penne (or other tube or corkscrew pasta)
a few tablespoons of olive oil
1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
prepared pesto (I used ~ 1/2 of a container from the Trader Joe's cold food section)
1/2 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 roasted red pepper, thinly sliced or chopped
a "splash" of white wine
a "splash" of whole milk or cream (could leave out and use reserved pasta water)
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
salt
pepper
Directions:
I'll be writing more about his day later, but this post is all about his B-Day dinner (pictured below - I'll get to that soon).
Nolan is our first baby, so I could be wrong, but it seems pretty traditional to serve a kid their favorite meal on their special day. I thought this over, trying to decide if N has a "favorite" meal. He's far from a picky eater, and he usually eats the same foods the hubs and I are having, but there are a few foods that N seems to devour more quickly than the rest, begging for more using his little sign language request (how could you say no to that??).
A menu of N's Favorites would read something like this:
Cold, unseasoned tofu cubes
Cold, unseasoned black beans
Cheerios, hold the milk
While I'm all for indulging the boy on his birthday, I needed to eat dinner too...and that food combo sounded terrible.
So, I gave the fridge a once over and decided that I wanted to use some of the free pasta I picked this week up at Harris Teeter, as well as a few ingredients leftover from a Greek pizza I made a few days ago (cheap veggies from Aldi). The idea for a tweaked version of Noodles & Co. Pesto Cavatappi was born.
For those who are unfamiliar, Noodles is a counter service restaurant - think Moe's, Q-Doba, Panera, etc. - serving, well, noodles. Their Pesto Cavatappi dish looks like this.
It's basically a corkscrew pasta with a pesto sauce, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms. Nothing too fancy, but fairly tasty. My version was similar but kicked up a few notches.
The birthday boy LOVED his special meal, and Momma LOVED the glass (es) of wine she had from the bottle used in the dish. Win, win!
Allison's Revamped "Pesto Cavatappi"- Minus the Cavatappi - Feeds 4
Ingredients:
1/2 box Whole Grain Penne (or other tube or corkscrew pasta)
a few tablespoons of olive oil
1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
prepared pesto (I used ~ 1/2 of a container from the Trader Joe's cold food section)
1/2 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 roasted red pepper, thinly sliced or chopped
a "splash" of white wine
a "splash" of whole milk or cream (could leave out and use reserved pasta water)
crushed red pepper flakes to taste
salt
pepper
Directions:
- Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, heat a large frying pan over over medium to medium high heat. Add olive oil. Add onions and cook until tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add sliced mushrooms to pan. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 3-5 minutes until tender.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add drained pasta to pan. Stir in pesto, a splash of white wine, and a splash of milk or cream. Mix until pasta is evenly coated.
- Add tomatoes and roasted red peppers. Stir to combine and continue to cook for a few minutes, until pasta is heated through and tomatoes have wilted (would that be the correct word??).
- Plate and top with parmesan cheese, if desired.
CVS Trip 4/23 - $0.83 OOP
To contact us Click HERE
I've cut back, way back, on CVS shopping. But today, I found myself with $8.99 in Extra Care Bucks in hand (from buying contact solution a few weeks ago) and in urgent need of deodorant (hubs dropped his and it broke into a million little pieces). It was time to work the CVS system.
In order to take full advantage of my Extra Bucks, I would need to spend at least $8.99. The price of deodorant alone wouldn't come close, so I did some quick deal research to figure out items to buy that would bring me to that $8.99 goal AND earn me more Extra Bucks in the process.
In my first transaction, I bought three $0.99 American Greeting cards. When you purchase three cards this week, including the $0.99 cards, you receive $3.00 in Extra Bucks. I had printed a CVS coupon for $2.00 off three cards, which meant that I spent $0.97 for the cards AND earned back $3.00, a profit of $2.03! I also bought Blink Eye Drops, on sale for $8.99, which earned $8.99 in Extra Bucks. I used a printable coupon for $1.00 off, which meant that I paid $7.99 and earned $8.99 in rewards, a profit of $1.00.
Here's an easier look at transaction #1:
3 American Greeting Cards ($0.99 each)
Used $2.00 off 3 American Greeting Cards CVS coupon (coupon might be gone, but still a good deal without it)
= $0.97
Earned $3.00 ECB, $2.03 profit
1 Blink Eye Drops - $8.99
Used $1.00/1 Blink Drops printable coupon
= $7.99
Eared $8.99 ECB, $1.00 profit
Total = $8.96 + tax
Paid with $8.99 Extra Bucks from previous visit = $0.00 + tax (paid using remainder of CVS gift card)
Earned $11.99 Extra Bucks!
Next, I wanted to use these Extra Bucks to buy the deodorant. In order to use the $11.99 in Extra Bucks, I added in a few items that I had coupons for, like soda, and one that would earn more Extra Bucks, the Physicians Formula makeup ($7.00 ECB for buying any Physicians Formula product).
I could have been a more savvy shopper with this transaction, but really, I wanted out of the store. As a heads up, the soda rang up at the wrong price, and the Physicians Formula Extra Bucks didn't print. I had to ask for both issues to be fixed, and the CVS cashier was very accommodating!
Transaction 2:
2 2-Liter Bottles of Soda (b-day party coming up!) - $0.99 each
Used $1.00/2 Bottles of 7-Up, Sunkist, A&W, etc. printable
= $0.98
1 Degree Men's Deodorant - $3.59
1 box Act II popcorn - $1.00
1 Physician's Formula Concealer Stick - $5.99
There are coupons for $1.00 off available, but for some reason I'm missing coupons from those weeks
Earned $7.00 ECB, $1.00 profit (Be sure to ask if it Extra Bucks don't print!)
Total = $11.56
- $11.99 Extra Bucks = $0.00 + $0.83 tax
Earned $7.00 Extra Bucks!
So...for pocket change, I came home with the deodorant the hubs needed, bags full of extras, and I still have $7.00 in rewards to use another week. :)
I've cut back, way back, on CVS shopping. But today, I found myself with $8.99 in Extra Care Bucks in hand (from buying contact solution a few weeks ago) and in urgent need of deodorant (hubs dropped his and it broke into a million little pieces). It was time to work the CVS system.
In order to take full advantage of my Extra Bucks, I would need to spend at least $8.99. The price of deodorant alone wouldn't come close, so I did some quick deal research to figure out items to buy that would bring me to that $8.99 goal AND earn me more Extra Bucks in the process.
In my first transaction, I bought three $0.99 American Greeting cards. When you purchase three cards this week, including the $0.99 cards, you receive $3.00 in Extra Bucks. I had printed a CVS coupon for $2.00 off three cards, which meant that I spent $0.97 for the cards AND earned back $3.00, a profit of $2.03! I also bought Blink Eye Drops, on sale for $8.99, which earned $8.99 in Extra Bucks. I used a printable coupon for $1.00 off, which meant that I paid $7.99 and earned $8.99 in rewards, a profit of $1.00.
Here's an easier look at transaction #1:
3 American Greeting Cards ($0.99 each)
Used $2.00 off 3 American Greeting Cards CVS coupon (coupon might be gone, but still a good deal without it)
= $0.97
Earned $3.00 ECB, $2.03 profit
1 Blink Eye Drops - $8.99
Used $1.00/1 Blink Drops printable coupon
= $7.99
Eared $8.99 ECB, $1.00 profit
Total = $8.96 + tax
Paid with $8.99 Extra Bucks from previous visit = $0.00 + tax (paid using remainder of CVS gift card)
Earned $11.99 Extra Bucks!
Next, I wanted to use these Extra Bucks to buy the deodorant. In order to use the $11.99 in Extra Bucks, I added in a few items that I had coupons for, like soda, and one that would earn more Extra Bucks, the Physicians Formula makeup ($7.00 ECB for buying any Physicians Formula product).
I could have been a more savvy shopper with this transaction, but really, I wanted out of the store. As a heads up, the soda rang up at the wrong price, and the Physicians Formula Extra Bucks didn't print. I had to ask for both issues to be fixed, and the CVS cashier was very accommodating!
Transaction 2:
2 2-Liter Bottles of Soda (b-day party coming up!) - $0.99 each
Used $1.00/2 Bottles of 7-Up, Sunkist, A&W, etc. printable
= $0.98
1 Degree Men's Deodorant - $3.59
1 box Act II popcorn - $1.00
1 Physician's Formula Concealer Stick - $5.99
There are coupons for $1.00 off available, but for some reason I'm missing coupons from those weeks
Earned $7.00 ECB, $1.00 profit (Be sure to ask if it Extra Bucks don't print!)
Total = $11.56
- $11.99 Extra Bucks = $0.00 + $0.83 tax
Earned $7.00 Extra Bucks!
So...for pocket change, I came home with the deodorant the hubs needed, bags full of extras, and I still have $7.00 in rewards to use another week. :)
1
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Nolan celebrated his first birthday on Sunday, April 22nd. Here's a sneak peak at the photos I'll be using for his birthday party photo banner. I edited the pictures and added text using Photobucket, which is a free photo editing and storage website. They just released a new version, which has some easy to use, fun features, including many new fonts.
Consider the pictures that follow a year in review.
Nolan celebrated his first birthday on Sunday, April 22nd. Here's a sneak peak at the photos I'll be using for his birthday party photo banner. I edited the pictures and added text using Photobucket, which is a free photo editing and storage website. They just released a new version, which has some easy to use, fun features, including many new fonts.
Consider the pictures that follow a year in review.
Turning Deals Into Meals - Chicken Piccata
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When we first moved to Durham, about four years ago, I discovered Southern Season, a gourmet food mega store in neighboring Chapel Hill. In addition to a restaurant, deli counter, and aisles and aisles of food and kitchen gadgets, the store offers themed cooking classes. In my pre-baby days, I attended a class every few months or so - knife skills, Southern biscuit making, tomato gardening/cooking. Each class involves either demonstrations from a "celebrity"chef or hands on cooking instruction, paired with a multi-course meal of the dishes that are taught during the class.
This recipe for Chicken Piccata comes from a class the hubs and I took a few years ago, which focused on easy, weeknight dinners. It's certainly a meal that can go from prep to plate in under 30 minutes. The level of effort and difficulty is low, but the meal plates very well and would be an impressive meal for entertaining.
The saltiness of the capers plays well with the acidity of the lemon juice, creating a very tasty sauce. I like to sneak a little extra to pour on top of my side dishes, like a good rice pilaf. :)
Give the dish a whirl; Chicken Piccata just might become part of our regular dinner rotation, as it has in our house.
Chicken Piccata - Adapted from Southern Season
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup flour
1 cup dried breadcrumbs (I use Panko when I have them)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tablespoons butter (time to use up all that free butter from HT)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I like to pick up Winking Owl at Aldi - don't spend too much on cooking wine)
juice of two lemons
2 Tablespoons capers (drained)
Parsley for garnish (optional, I used fresh curly leaf from the garden)
additional lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
Directions:
When we first moved to Durham, about four years ago, I discovered Southern Season, a gourmet food mega store in neighboring Chapel Hill. In addition to a restaurant, deli counter, and aisles and aisles of food and kitchen gadgets, the store offers themed cooking classes. In my pre-baby days, I attended a class every few months or so - knife skills, Southern biscuit making, tomato gardening/cooking. Each class involves either demonstrations from a "celebrity"chef or hands on cooking instruction, paired with a multi-course meal of the dishes that are taught during the class.
This recipe for Chicken Piccata comes from a class the hubs and I took a few years ago, which focused on easy, weeknight dinners. It's certainly a meal that can go from prep to plate in under 30 minutes. The level of effort and difficulty is low, but the meal plates very well and would be an impressive meal for entertaining.
The saltiness of the capers plays well with the acidity of the lemon juice, creating a very tasty sauce. I like to sneak a little extra to pour on top of my side dishes, like a good rice pilaf. :)
Give the dish a whirl; Chicken Piccata just might become part of our regular dinner rotation, as it has in our house.
Chicken Piccata - Adapted from Southern Season
Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup flour
1 cup dried breadcrumbs (I use Panko when I have them)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tablespoons butter (time to use up all that free butter from HT)
1/2 cup dry white wine (I like to pick up Winking Owl at Aldi - don't spend too much on cooking wine)
juice of two lemons
2 Tablespoons capers (drained)
Parsley for garnish (optional, I used fresh curly leaf from the garden)
additional lemon wedges for garnish (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Pound out chicken breasts until they are even thickness. Season with salt and paper.
- Dredge chicken breasts in flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs. Set aside.
- Heat a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil to hot pan.
- Cook the chicken for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from skillet, place in oven safe baking dish. Place in oven to finish cooking, ~ 10-15 minutes depending on thickness of breasts.
- Wipe excess out of pan and return to heat.
- Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in pan. Add lemon juice, capers, and wine. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add remaining butter to thicken sauce, whisking constantly.
- Serve chicken breasts with sauce, lemon wedges, and parsley.
Party Planning on a Dime
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Hosting a party, whether it's a child's birthday or a casual get together with friends, can be costly. Take mass quantities of food, toss in some drinks and decorations, and the receipts start to add up.
Party hosting doesn't HAVE to be expensive, though, and there are a number of things you can do to lower expenses.
With some careful planning, I spent about $10 for the "snack table" food - dinner & drinks not included. The table decorations were homemade.
Birthday wall banner, made using Photobucket.
Newborn - 6 Month Photos
7 Months - 1 Year
Close Up
Reader Response: What frugal party tips do you have to offer?
Party hosting doesn't HAVE to be expensive, though, and there are a number of things you can do to lower expenses.
- PLAN AND BUY AHEAD - Some party goods have a long shelf life. Think ahead, and when you see items on sale, pick them up and store for later. I knew that I would be hosting my son's first birthday party in April. As the party drew closer, I began to buy inexpensive, and sometimes free , items that I could use for the event, like soda, cake mix, frosting, chips, guacamole (freeze it), and condiments. By buying ahead, I was able to avoid paying full price during the week of the party.
With some careful planning, I spent about $10 for the "snack table" food - dinner & drinks not included. The table decorations were homemade.- MENU PLAN AROUND SALES - You won't be able to pick up all your party food for pennies, but you can also save money by planning which food items will be served based on store sales. Check out which meats, fruits, and veggies are on sale. If beef is expensive, you don't have to serve burgers. Consider chicken. Instead of a fruit salad, look for a fruit or two that's in season and less expensive. I stuck to pineapple and strawberries, which were under $1.00 each, at Aldi.
- STRETCH YOUR INGREDIENTS - When you're menu planning, try to include foods that use the same ingredients in different ways. If you're already buying tomatoes and green onions to use in one dish, see if you can find another use so that extra ingredients don't go to waste. For N's birthday party, I put out a veggie tray. I used some of the same veggies in my side dishes, like pasta salad (a new orzo recipe - YUM!) and a black bean salad - no need to buy extra ingredients.
- CONSIDER THE TIME OF YOUR PARTY - This is a suggestion I didn't follow myself. If you want to save money, set the hours of our party before or after meal times. Consider a party in the middle of the afternoon, between lunch and dinner, or invite friends over for an after dinner get together. By doing this, you can avoid serving a meal and can instead offer just snacks and drinks.
- MAKE YOUR OWN DECORATIONS - While skipping decorations altogether is always an option, sometimes you want things to look a little special. Forget about store bought decor, and think about making your own. I found decor inspiration on Pinterest and then turned to programs like Photobucket to help me create my own decorations, like a photo banner and a birthday wall banner (a free printable can be found here) - tutorials to come (I hope).
Birthday wall banner, made using Photobucket.Newborn - 6 Month Photos 7 Months - 1 YearClose UpReader Response: What frugal party tips do you have to offer?
4 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
Walgreen's with drive-thru possibly coming to Dilworth
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A developer is seeking to build an office building and a Walgreens with a drive-thru at Morehead Street and Kenilworth Avenue.
Here's a detailed proposal for the site plan from developer Lincoln Harris, originally posted by WSOC-TV. It shows building sketches and a layout for the proposed site, which would cover a significant portion of the street from Morehead down Kenilworth, across from Ascension Lutheran Church and Carolinas Medical Center.
Some neighbors are concerned with the project. From the Dilworth Community Development Association: "They plan to tear down the existing homes and build a Walgreens drug store with a drive-thru and a small office building. Major concerns include: 1) the use of the site as a pharmacy, 2) the precedent of having a drive-thru window on Morehead St., and 3) the traffic impact if left-hand turns are allowed in and out of the site."
The buildings torn down would include the Tudor-style apartment building on the corner, the adjacent white house, and three adjoining houses on Kenilworth. Those properties are all owned by Edward Springs and his company, Edward H. Springs Interiors, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
Springs was not available to talk about the proposed development plan this week, according to his office.
Lincoln Harris vice president Alex Kelly said the developer is meeting with community members to address their concerns. "We're working with the neighborhood," he said. "We're going to whatever extent it takes" to discuss and try to resolve issues, he said, but said he couldn't discuss the project's details.
The proposed drug store and drive-thru would be 14,540 square feet, excluding loading and servicing areas, according to the site plan. The two-story office building would be 16,000 square feet.
The 18-unit apartment building on the site was built in 1927, according to property records. The white house and Edward H. Springs Interiors office next door was built in 1940.
The rezoning request will have a public hearing in September and go before the city council in October.
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| The apartment building. Picture from Mecklenburg County property records. |
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JJ's Red Hots, Red Lobster to open
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Two new restaurants are opening soon, coincidentally both with Red in their name.
In Matthews, a new Red Lobster is opening Monday, June 25. The 5,900 square foot restaurant is at 9801 Independence Pointe Parkway, and will have seating for 212 people.
Red Lobster is operated by restaurant company Darden, which also owns and operates chains such as Longhorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grill and Olive Garden. In total, about 180,000 people work for Darden, which operates about 1,900 restaurants.
In Dilworth, JJ's Red Hots is coming to East Boulevard on July 4. The new hot dog spot will open at 2 p.m., with Nation Ford High School's drum line performing, and a soloist performing The Star-Spangled Banner. In addition to the building's rooftop deck, the new owners have also added a takeout menu. And if that's not enough to get you out, there will also be the chance to win free hot dogs for a year.
New Aldi opening soon
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A new Aldi grocery store is set to open July 12, in Indian Trail, the retailer's 17th store in the area.
There is a ribbon-cutting and open house (with samples!) Wednesday, July 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the store. But the store doesn't officially open for business until 9 a.m. the following day.
Aldi (which is owned by the same company that owns Trader Joe's) has made its name as a low-price, no-frills grocery store. Aldi, like Trader Joe's, has fewer items than a full-size supermarket in stock, but focuses on the most popular, quickest-selling goods.
The chain uses such touches as making people pay a quarter to unlock a shopping carts so that they have to bring the cart back and lock the cart in to get their quarter back (saving the store from assign someone to chase carts in the parking lot).
According to the research firm Chain Store Guide, which tracks store sales, last year Aldi had about 2 percent of the Charlotte region's grocery market. That makes it the region's No. 9 grocery retailer, ranked by market share.
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Wal-Mart tries to green up its wheat
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Here's an interesting retail-related story from Reuters: Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is trying to make its image more environmentally friendly by changing the way farmers who supply it grow their wheat.
Wal-Mart has been trying to reduce its carbon footprint and improve the way its perceived lately, with a pledge to reduce carbon emissions from its supply chain by 20 million tonnes by 2015. The wheat effort will hopefully lower the amount of energy and fertilizer to produce wheat, which Wal-Mart buys and uses for its Great Value brand products.
Executives have been starting at the beginning, with visits to wheat fields. From the Reuters story: "We don't have a lot of visibility in the supply chain, sowe started in the field," says Robert Kaplan, a sustainabilitymanager at the Bentonville, Arkansas-based firm. "I hadn't seena wheat field before and I wanted to find out how we go from agreen crop in the fields to flour on our shelves.""
The company is likely to promote satellite-guided, precision farming and "no-till" methods that avoid plowing the soil, to reduce erosion. Wal-Mart also floated the idea of transporting manure from chicken farms in the South to wheat farmers in other parts of the country. Whichever course of action Wal-Mart takes, its likely to have a ripple effect on farming, simply because of the retailer's sheer size.
Dilworth to hear updated Walgreen's plan
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At Wednesday's land use meeting, the Dilworth Community Development Association will hear a revised plan for building a Walgreen's with a drive-thru and an office building at the corner of Morehead Street and Kenilworth Avenue.
The current plan calls for tearing down five buildings, including a Tudor-style, 18-unit apartment building originally constructed in 1927. The distinctive building sits at the corner of Morehead and Kenilworth. Four other adjoining houses would also be slated for demolition.
The rezoning request is expected to have a public hearing in September and go before City Council in October. The developer is Lincoln Harris, and the owner of all the properties is Edward Springs and his company, Edward H. Springs Interiors.
Neighbors have raised concerns about excessive traffic, especially with a drive-thru at an already busy corner. Using the property to build a pharmacy and office building by tearing down older homes with more neighborhood character has also raised eyebrows.
The land use meeting will be held Wednesday, June 27, at 7 p.m., in the Tom Sykes Recreation Center at 1501 Euclid Avenue.
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