SYRACUSE, N.Y. – There’s a city where raw sewage spills into private homes and businesses, on average, 12 times a day. In 2018, city workers were dispatched to deal with 4,389 sewage backups in basements.That city is not in a developing country. It’s Syracuse.Each year, Syracuse logs more than 4,000 sewage backups, according to a review by syracuse.com of city records for the past five years.Every incident is “horrifying’’ to residents. Yet no Syracuse mayor has mounted a sewer improvement campaign to tackle the problem. The cash-strapped city has been slow even to study the issue.More than three years after sewer backups inundated the Eastwood neighborhood in 2015, city engineers haven’t finished a study of how the problem might be prevented from happening again.Syracuse is not alone. The crisis is shared by cities across the United States, experts say.Sewage backups are common, especially in Eastern U.S. cities with aging infrastructure, said … [Read more...] about What stinks for Syracuse families: Sewage floods 4,000 basements a year
Basement leaking where wall meets floor
How to stay warm, still cut heating costs in your home this winter
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Despite weeks of rain but only a smattering of snow across most areas of the state, the “heating season” is well under way. And whether you are keeping your home warm with gas, electricity, oil, propane or wood, the bills are already on the way.How to spend less without your family budget experiencing “the big chill” is the question.A quick review of utility and government websites reveals that the one strategy guaranteed to save you the most money will involve a bit of personal determination: Adjust the thermostat, wear socks and shoes in the house and rediscover sweaters.Dominion Energy Ohio advises that a consumer who sets the home thermostat at 68 degrees during the day and 58 degrees at night or when not home for several hours can save “10 to 15 percent of annual heating costs.”Columbia Gas of Ohio advises that customers can cut gas consumption by 8 to 10 percent simply by lowering the thermostat to 55 degrees when not at … [Read more...] about How to stay warm, still cut heating costs in your home this winter
Burst pipe damages City Hall, soaks basement archive
By MARK HAYWARDNew Hampshire Union Leader July 03. 2018 7:04PM City Archivist Mike Intranuovo removes bound copies of city meeting minutes damaged over the weekend by a water leak. (MARK HAYWARD/UNION LEADER) MANCHESTER – The water line to a drinking water fountain in City Hall failed sometime over the weekend, sending water cascading through the entrance foyer and two offices for hours, city officials said.The water fountain was on the second floor of City Hall, just outside the office of the city finance officer. It cascaded through the first-floor office of economic development and collected in the basement, where most city archives are stored. Probably several inches of water accumulated before the break was discovered, said City Clerk Matt Normand.“This breaks my heart,” he said, noting the city had completed cosmetic upgrades on the affected space last summer.The city has closed the front entrance to City Hall. A new carpet was ripped out and … [Read more...] about Burst pipe damages City Hall, soaks basement archive
For House Flippers, Reality Meets Reality TV
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Real Estate Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Advertisement Supported by What Does It Take to Flip a House? 17 Photos View Slide Show› Corcoran ByRonda Kaysen June 15, 2018 Watch enough HGTV and flipping houses starts to look easy. Just talk to Joshua Levitt, who spent the better part of 2014 sitting on his couch in South Orange, N.J., watching shows like “Flip or Flop” and taking notes as the charismatic stars frenetically bought distressed properties and, with the right mix of anxious looks and Carrara marble, successfully flipped one by the end of every episode. At the time, Mr. Levitt, now 41, had recently sold his tech company and was taking care of his wife, who was on bed rest with a difficult pregnancy, and their toddler. He had no background in real estate, design or construction, yet watching all that television convinced him that he could make … [Read more...] about For House Flippers, Reality Meets Reality TV
A Queen of Kitsch Who Made the Whole World Sing
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Subscribe Log In Allee Willis writes songs, hosts outrageous parties and made her own social network before we’d even heard of the internet. Now she’s entering the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The songwriter and polymath Allee Willis at her California home. Ms. Willis will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame this month. Credit Magdalena Wosinska for The New York Times Supported by ByMatthew Schneier June 7, 2018 LOS ANGELES — Allee Willis, a raconteuse with an asymmetrical hairstyle (long on one side, short on the other, like the life of man), lives in a light-pink house north of Hollywood with a bowling-ball garden and a heaving collection of kitsch. This is the house that “September” bought. It was the first hit for Ms. Willis, 70, who was a co-writer of the Earth, Wind & Fire wedding, bar mitzvah and after-party perennial from 1978. … [Read more...] about A Queen of Kitsch Who Made the Whole World Sing