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Fighting City Hall Successfully |
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
Town To Pay Couple Over Damages To Home
The town has been ordered to pay $14,615 to a couple who claimed in a lawsuit that the town was responsible for damages to their home because officials failed to follow its building codes... The August 2006 lawsuit claimed that the town, Public Works Director Richard Kelsey and Stephen Giarratana, who was then building inspector, were responsible for flooding and erosion damages and other problems at their home...Since the builder David Fugge, could not be located, the couple was granted $30,000 from the Connecticut New Home Construction Guarantee Fund. |
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Austin KEYE TV Investigates: On City Time Inspector Spend Time Playing |
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
KEYE Investigates: city workers spend time at bowling alley during work
How would you like to spend several hours of your workday at a bowling alley or bbq restaurant? KEYE found some City of Austin employees doing just that. As investigative reporter Nanci Wilson shows us - they are being paid with your tax dollars. See Investigative Report |
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Austin KEYE TV: Investigates City Building Inspectors |
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
Investigates Follow Up: Austin addresses city inspectors issues
One of the scandals that rocked Austin City Hall recently was a KEYE investigation into how some city building inspectors spend their time on the clock and use city take-home vehicles. The story sparked a city investigation, calling for a closer watch on workers. Austin "I think that the behavior that I witnessed in the news coverage was absolutely disturbing and unacceptable,â City Manager Mark Ott said. âSo we're very focused on making sure that that kind of behavior doesn't occur in the future -- and people are focused on doing their job and doing a full day's work." |
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Austin KEYE TV: Investigative Report Explains A Lot Construction Defects and Government Waste |
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
City of Austin paying for some employees daily out of town commute
When fuel prices soared past $4 per gallon this summer, it prompted most drivers to take a serious look at the time they spend on the road. Many downsized their vehicles, considered carpooling or made fewer trips. So, why didnât the City of Austin Watershed Protection and Development Review Department (WPDR) opt for any of these cost saving measures? One residential inspector drives his city truck back and forth to his home in McDade. McDade is in Lee County, on the other side of Bastrop. Itâs a 359 miler per week commute, but it doesnât cost the inspector a dime. Itâs courtesy of the City of Austin taxpayers. |
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Riverside City Councilman/Homebuilder Frank Schiavone personally liable for fraud and negligence |
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Wednesday, 17 June 2009 |
Riverside official loses early round in building dispute
Riverside City Councilman Frank Schiavone and his former custom-homebuilding business partner are personally liable for fraud and negligence in the construction of a Riverside home and a second structure in the back yard, an arbitrator has tentatively ruled... Melgarejo alleged that a number of defects in the two buildings emerged after construction, including improper plumbing that caused sewage to back up into sinks, toilets, bathtubs and the yard; water seepage through window frames, sliding doors and the roof; the growth of mold; and cracking in the buildings' drywall and stucco. Another allegation was for fraud - for building aguesthouse behind the main house without obtaining the proper city permits for it and for its sewage system. |
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The Texas Observer: Dying to Build |
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Friday, 12 June 2009 |
Why Texas is the deadliest state for construction workers
On Oct. 23, 2006, 19-year-old Omar Puerto was painting trim and preparing to install rain gutters on a three-story apartment building in South Austin. It was his third day on the job. So far, the main challenge had been moving the heavy 40-foot aluminum ladder; he and a fellow worker had struggled with it all three days. Behind the men was a spiderâs web of electrical wires leading from the apartment building to a 7,200-volt transformer. Federal law requires that workers be trained before working around live wires. The law also says that any exposed wiring must be clearly marked. These wires werenât. And Puerto, according to his family, had gotten no training. Now it was time to coax the 40-foot ladder toward the next section of wall. As Puerto and his partner yanked and pulled, the ladder hit an exposed wire connected to the transformer. The guy on the other end of the ladder took off running. Puerto had so much voltage running through his body that he couldnât release his grip. He died right there. |
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Friday, 05 June 2009 |
Zombie zones - Stalled housing sites litter local landscape
Tucked into the far backwoods of Brunswick County, the Villages at Goose Marsh once planned to house almost 800 families. Now itâs a desolate, lonely community of one. The story is similar throughout Brunswick County, especially in the N.C. 211 corridor. Dozens of planned developments slowed or stalled when the economy took a nose dive, leaving them in a zombie state: not quite dead, but nowhere close to finished. While there are some signs of life, the countyâs property market remains shaky at best. |
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Thursday, 28 May 2009 |
EXCLUSIVE: "He Did a Piss Poor Job," Homeowner About Builder
Three homeowners she talked to thought they were getting good deals on their dream homes, but now a year and a half later they're paying tens of thousands of dollars to finish work on their houses. Money spent on work they say their builder should have finished. Chris Urbanski used a Marine Corps veteran, used a VA Loan to buy his first house built by Bookcliff Builders of Fruita. He bought a $284,000 home that a little more than a year later he says is falling apart. And Urbanski isn't the only one who says he's had problems with Bookcliff Builders. |
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Saturday, 16 May 2009 |
Wall Street Journal Report: Bank Decides to Demolish New Homes
Guaranty Bank of Austin, Texas, is demolishing 16 houses at a housing development that it acquired through a foreclosure action. The bank figured it was more cost effective to wreck the houses than try to finish and sell them. WSJ's Michael Corkery reports. Banks Demolish Houses in Austin... |
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TARP Money at Work - Bank Demolish Homes - Feature 1-5 |
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Saturday, 02 May 2009 |
New Homes Demolished
By Patrick Thatcher, staff writer for, Daily Press - Victorville- The housing collapse is taking a literal form for one bankrupt housing development. Four model homes and 12 nearly finished spec homes at Bear Valley Road and Highway 395 are being demolished. The developer filed bankruptcy about 18 months ago and the foreclosed property went to Guaranty Bank in Irvine. Guaranty Federal a holding company of Guaranty bank received TARP money. http://sbj.net/main.asp?Sec... Victorville model homes being demolished. BREAKING NEWS Developing: Another bank will begi... See:Vision Victory Manifesto YouTube: Videos of Demolition |
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Las Vegas I-Team Exposes Inspection corruption |
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Sunday, 26 April 2009 |
I-Team: Cozy Relationships Raise Questions
The relationships between inspectors and those being inspected has always been ripe for corruption, especially in a freewheeling city like Las Vegas. But friendships between fire or building inspectors and the owners of casinos or high-rise buildings can lead to serious -- even dangerous -- problems. "His exact words to me were that this is just the tip of the iceberg and he was surprised I was still alive," said former Harrah's electrician and whistle blower Fred Frazetta who knew he might be putting himself in harms way when he raised a ruckus in 2007. |
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