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A Navy corpsman from Wisconsin testified at his court-martial today that he watched as Marines shot an Iraqi civilian in the head after taking him from his home in the town of Hamdania. Petty Officer Melson Bacos of Franklin says he watched two Marines fire at least ten rounds, striking the 52-year-old man, after throwing him into a hole. Bacos was on patrol with the Marines and asked them to let the man go. But, he says a Marine corporal told him he was being weak and should stop protesting. The seven Marines are accused of murdering the man April 26th as they were searching for an insurgent. Earlier today, Bacos pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy as part of a plea agreement. In return for his testimony, other counts of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy against him were dropped.
Three local builders were recognized Tuesday evening with People's Choice Awards for their work featured in the 2006 Clark County Parade of Homes. The parade, at Washougal's Allegro Ridge subdivision in July, was attended by more than 21,000 people. The annual event is sponsored by the Building Industry Association of Clark County. About 4,300 paradegoers cast votes for the People's Choice Awards, which went to three of the show's eight home builders competing in seven categories. Award winners and categories include: Best of Show, Hayden's Manor by Omega Custom Homes; Best Landscaping, Giving House Encore by Fazzolari Custom Homes; Best Architectural Design, Hayden's Manor by Omega Custom Homes; Best Interior Design, the Cheyenne by Ken Winkelman General Contractor; Best Master Suite and Best Kitchen, Hayden's Manor by Omega Custom Homes; and Best Bathroom, the Cheyenne by Ken Winkelman.
I am a junior in high school and am considering a business or economics major in college. The recent inflation in the housing market of South Florida concerns me and others in my community who cannot afford a home of their own.
I fear that when I am out of college and ready to purchase a home, I will not be able to afford to live here, and will be forced to move.
In response to the Sept. 22 article, "Lennar's quarterly profit down 39%," in the Business section, I believe that this crash in the stock is the fault of homebuilders like Lennar Corp., that have allowed this inflation to occur. This profit decrease is merely inflation catching up with the people who have stimulated it over the past five years.
Today in South Florida, "affordable housing" is nonexistent.
Centex and Westfield tied for the top spot in a survey ranking customer satisfaction with home builders in the Charlotte area. Centex ranked No. 1 last year, too. Tied for third -- just one point below the market leaders in the annual survey by J.D. Power -- were John Wieland, Pulte Homes and Saussy Burbank. J.D. Power, the California marketing research firm, asks buyers to rate builders on such things as customer service, home readiness, sales staff, quality of design and workmanship. The survey covered 34 markets this year. In Charlotte, it included responses from about 2,200 buyers in Mecklenburg and seven other counties. To be included, builders had to close 150 or more homes in 2005. In Charlotte -- and across the country -- the average customer satisfaction score is 112.
A spokeswoman in a Proposition 105 TV ad said she's not a turncoat and is outraged over a news release sent to the media Friday by backers of a competing land-reform measure.
Kimberly Owens said she never told the Las Rancheras Republic Women's Club luncheon audience to not vote for Proposition 105.
Owens said she did field a question Friday from a Scottsdale audience member who said she wasn't going to vote for either proposition because she was so confused. "I told her that's not an entirely bad idea because it would bring all the stakeholders back to the table and perhaps come up with something else that will meet more needs," Owens said. .
GALESBURG - There's good news for Galesburg motorists who have been navigating a maze of barricades downtown. Gunther Construction has completed all asphalt and utility adjustments for the downtown resurfacing project and all downtown streets are open to traffic. The contractor will have all barricades and cones removed this week and, weather permitting, will finish striping on Main Street and Cherry Street by Friday. Crews worked 12- to 14-hour days in order to get the work done in as short a time as possible. By contract, Gunther's had until Friday to get the streets reopened. Instead, the contractor worked long hours and paid his employees overtime in order to get the streets opened ahead of schedule. Due to those efforts, stage four, which was planned, is no longer necessary and the project will be completed one week ahead of schedule.
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