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Grand jury homes in on shady contractor
A grand jury has indicted contractor Jim Cartrette for allegedly forging clients' checks, and additional charges that he cheated other Staten Island homeowners out of money and promised home improvements are expected to be filed against Cartrette next week, a source said yesterday. Prosecutors yesterday partially unsealed an indictment against the 38-year-old contractor, who took on at least 10 jobs in the borough after moving here and opening a business in his wife's name last year. The case, reported by the Advance, highlighted problems with the city Department of Consumer Affairs licensing system, which can result in people with arrest and prison records getting a license to operate a home improvement contracting company. A spokesman for Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan said yesterday that Cartrette is expected to be arraigned Thursday in state Supreme Court.
A New Prefabricated Home mkSolaire(TM) Environmentally Friendly ...
OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- A noted architect and the creator of the nationally recognized Glidehouse(TM) is introducing mkSolaire(TM) an affordable, green, prefab solution for city living. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060921/NYFNST05 ) The new green home is particularly spacious much like a loft. It is completely solar and designed for a smaller lot. mkSolaire is available in two, three and four story options: www.mkSolaire.com/ . "The roofs and windows address the challenges of the standard row house by sculpting natural light and fresh air into the center of the home," says Michelle Kaufmann, a Princeton University trained architect, founder and principal, Michelle Kaufmann Designs. The house exclusively uses non-toxic, recyclable and renewable materials that save money on energy bills and require less energy to build and maintain.
Contractor's meeting for Holloman housing Tuesday
An informational session for local contractors will be held at the Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center Tuesday at 5 p.m. The event is being hosted by Actus Lend Lease, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that is in exclusive negotiations to build or renovate close to 2,000 homes at Holloman and Davis-Monthan Air Force bases, according to Cindy Green, a spokeswoman for the company. Davis Monthan Air Force base is located in Tucson Ariz. Green said the final deal has not been hammered out between her company and the Air Force, and the session is merely an informational one designed to clue in local business on forthcoming business opportunities. "One of our goals is to work with local business," Green said. She added that her company would like to get about 85 percent of their contracts awarded to local businesses.
No love lost here
PASADENA - At Brookside Park, one of the sports world's most polite pastimes has seen some unpleasant exchanges in recent weeks. The resurgent popularity of tennis has pitted longtime players against the private contractor operating the city's paid tennis program, with both competing for the five courts there. "We have more demand than we ever have," said Patsy Lane, director of Pasadena's Human Services and Recreation Department. "Even six or seven years ago, there was nobody playing down there. That's what is really fueling all of this." Disputes at the Brookside courts have prompted police involvement, and both the Brookside players and staff at the city-contracted iTennis accuse the other of disrespectful behavior and unfair use of court time. What's more, the city's plan to pay $45,000 to resurface the dilapidated courts at John Muir High School has some worried about what strings might be attached.
Special Session to address modular home tax on Coast
Gov. Haley Barbour has called a special session of the state legislature for today (Thursday) when he will ask legislators to cut the state tax on modular homes for Gulf Coast residents to by $4,000, thereby reducing the total cost of the homes to $6,000.
At least one state representative beleives the issue could meet some opposition in the House and drag the session out over a number of days.
Barbour said that reducing the cost of modular homes is one of the most effective ways to remove barriers to housing for those whose residences were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
The proposal was part of a bill during the last regular legislative session this year that passed the Senate, but was not brought to the floor for a vote in the House of Representatives.
Residents say put brakes on home building
As the Planning Commission looks ahead to deciding whether to expand the city's Urban Service Boundary in November, the message of citizen input at last night's community forum was to slow down, proceed with caution. Judy Worth said she supported the four-year moratorium on expansion of the Urban Service Boundary proposed last week by Urban County council candidate Jim Gray. Quoting U.S. Census data from 2005, Worth said Lexington has 13,086 vacant houses -- or 10 percent of the total housing stock. "Population growth in the past five years was 3 percent while growth of housing units was 10 percent," she said. She urged that the city's "terrible infrastructure problems" be addressed first, telling of four of her Lansdowne neighbors who repeatedly have flooding in their basements.
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