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HOOPER BAY, AK (October 23, 2006) - A fire that ravaged much of this small town on August 4 was the reason a parishioner of First Covenant Church in Mason City, Iowa, was headed to the cold tundra of Alaska. But the warmth and goodwill that was experienced over a three-week period was well worth whatever inconvenience that Bill Bowen may have encountered.Bowen was one of more than two dozen people involved in rebuilding the town of Hooper Bay after 14 homes, a store and the high school were destroyed last summer. In all, the group built five new homes for the village - population 1,100 - located in western Alaska on the Bering Sea. Bowen traveled to Alaska on September 14 and arrived home on October 10. His team worked from daylight (9 a.m.) until 7 p.m. six days each week, and the group invested an estimated 2,700 hours of volunteer labor during Bowen’s time in Alaska.Bowen’s trip was made possible through support provided by the church and individuals.
Gov. Haley Barbour has set a Thursday special session for lawmakers to consider proposals that would reduce the cost of modular home construction on the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast. The special session will convene at noon, said Barbour spokesman Pete Smith. Specifically, lawmakers will be asked to reduce the state's tax on modular homes by $4,000 to $6,000 per home.It is the same proposal that passed the Senate but died in the House Ways and Means Committee when Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, didn't bring it up for a vote during a special session in August. Modular houses are made in factories then shipped to home sites and erected on slabs. Because modulars are made to meet local building codes, they're often allowed to be put in places where mobile homes are excluded from permanent placement.
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The contractor that oversaw the expansion of Lane Stadium has sued Virginia Tech, blaming the school and architects for delays that plagued the still-incomplete project.
Turner Construction Co. filed a $30.5 million lawsuit against Tech in Montgomery County Circuit Court, seeking additional money it claims it is owed.
Tech has paid Turner $40.2 million of the $42.6 million it owes for the expansion, said Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Tech.
Turner Construction Sports of Arlington, a division of Turner, is completing the Lane project more than a year after it was scheduled to be finished. In its lawsuit, Turner claims it had "massive" additional costs because of "massive design problems" it blames on Tech and Moseley Architects of Richmond.
The James and Mary Berglund Hall or simply Berglund Hall will be constructed between Murdock Hall and Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center on the southeast corner of campus on Cedar Street. The building is 42,285 square feet on two floors and a partial lower level. The new building will house the College of Education, School of Business, Child Development Center, Oregon Holocaust Resource Center and the Berglund Center for Internet Studies. Trees have already been removed from the site to make way for the new construction project. The wood from these trees will be used in certain areas of the new building as was done with the University's new library. Excavation for the structural footings began last week. Soils removed during this work will be temporarily stored off-site and will be returned as backfill for the foundation and site grading.
CONSTRUCTION firm Leighton Holdings Ltd is taking a wait-and-see approach to any possible bid for infrastructure and engineering group Downer EDI Ltd. "The company (Downer EDI) is very fortunate to have a large balance sheet and surplus cash and we’re always looking at opportunities," Leighton’s chief executive Wal King said. "We do have a small shareholding in that company and we’ll see how events unfold in the future." Mr King added that many of the opportunities currently available are "highly priced". "We continue to say that unless the opportunities make strategic and commercial sense we’re not interested in pursuing it for some obscure reason," he said. After intense market speculation leading to a sharp rise in its shareprice, Downer EDI this week issued a statement to the market saying it had received no takeover approaches.
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