| Town Decrees Solar Panels Ugly, Family Fights Back
I always find amusing the rules that some of my friends around the country must abide by when living in community housing developments. Your grass can only be so high, children's toys must be kept to a minimum outside, your house can only be certain shades of color, etc. etc. It's a frightening utopia of meaningless laws and trivial worry. When I heard that the town of Scarsdale denied a family the opportunity to put up solar panels — on the basis that they were ugly and "not in keeping with the character of the community" — I immediately wanted to cry/laugh. You have got to be kidding me. But then I thought that such reactions are probably not too uncommon. We live in a world with designer water, designer shampoo, and animal spas. People have become so accustomed to modular cookie-cutter homes with white picket-fences and weed-free sidewalks — that they've actually forgotten there's a world of people out there who could care less and actually would like to live a unique existence; with character and vision for their own lives.
Ghirardelli Square's latest transformation Almost everything but ...
There are more workers in hard hats than shoppers these spring days at San Francisco's famed Ghirardelli Square -- the landmark retail complex is being torn up so that it can be reborn in the next few months as something that still looks old but will be brand new. There will be new shops and a big wine-tasting and retail area, overlooked by 54 vacation apartments, where visitors can buy five weeks of San Francisco living for about $250,000. Except for the spiffy McCormick & Kuleto's restaurant and the landmark Ghirardelli chocolate outlets and soda fountains and a few other shops, the old Ghirardelli Square is gone, stripped to the bare walls and surrounded by chain-link fences. On weekdays, shoppers have to dodge forklifts and skip loaders that zip around the plaza that architect Lawrence Halprin designed in the 1960s as a centerpiece to "a beehive of excitement.'' It's not just a face-lift.
Blaine County bust nets $55000 in meth
A warrant served on an undisclosed location, linked to 30-year-old Tristar P. Ontiveros, resulted in the seizure of 25 ounces of methamphetamine with a street value of approximately $55,000.The seizure follows the arrests of 11 made April 11 for charges focused on dealing meth and cocaine.Blaine County Lt. Jay Davis announced April 12 that multiple agencies, including the Immigration Customs & Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, raided two homes in Hailey and one in Ketchum on April 11.Agencies served the three search warrants simultaneously, beginning at about 5 a.m. last Wednesday. Davis said 3750 Glenbrook Drive and 101 McKenzie Lane in Hailey and 106 Rember Street in the Bavarian Village Condos in Ketchum were targeted in the raid.Although the exact source of the meth is unclear, law enforcement officials said it was not manufactured at any of the homes."I don't have any reason to believe it was being manufactured in Blaine County," said detective Steve Harkins.The three search warrants yielded cocaine, a weapon and more than $10,000 in cash, although specific amounts of cocaine and details regarding the weapon were unavailable."Three vehicles were seized and civil forfeiture proceedings will be pursued," Davis said.Agencies involved in the investigation included Idaho State Police detectives, Sun Valley Police Department, Blaine County Sheriff's Office, Hailey Police Department, Bellevue Marshals Office, Ketchum Police Department, Immigration Customs & Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Preliminary hearings for all arrested in the case are set for Wednesday, April 25 at 9 a.m.
Prudential Rand in mortgage business
The real estate company has started Rand Mortgage LLC, a subsidiary that will broker mortgages between house buyers and banks. The office, based in New City, is licensed by the state and employs a staff of about 20, including an underwriter, Managing Partner Greg Rand said. While nearly every real estate agency in the Lower Hudson Valley has an affiliation with a mortgage company to help consumers get financing for houses, agencies that run their own mortgage brokerages are uncommon. Rand said the goal is to close sales faster by handling the financing in-house. The company is offering consumers a credit at the closing if it fails to meet the closing date. "We have a dream of doing a fast transaction," he said. Prudential Rand has 21 offices and 700 sales associates.
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