“Auto repair shops go 'green' - AZCentral.com” plus 4 more |
- Auto repair shops go 'green' - AZCentral.com
- Landlord Evicts Auto Shop, Keeps Cars - WFTV
- Grand theft auto in Poinciana - Osceola News Gazette
- 305 Sprint Car Special at Woodhull Raceway on August 29 - Who Won
- Is Cash for Clunkers wasting perfectly good cars? - St. Petersburg Times
| Auto repair shops go 'green' - AZCentral.com Posted: 14 Aug 2009 11:35 AM PDT More auto-repair shops in Arizona are pledging to go "green" through a state certification program that recognizes auto businesses committed to cleaner practices. The business owners say earning the certification gives them an edge in a competitive market, helping them boost client rosters at a time when more customers are cutting back because of the recession. "The green-business certification has generated a lot of exposure for us," said Nadine Grobmeier, owner of Airpark Auto Service in Scottsdale. The shop is one of 51 in the state to be recognized by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Wilhelm Automotive's five Valley locations were certified in May. "We definitely market ourselves as a green business," Wilhelm General Manager Chris Garman said. "It's something that makes us stand out." The ADEQ originally teamed with AAA Arizona to launch the Green Business Automotive Program in 2005. The public/private partnership has since expanded to include the Automotive Service Association of Arizona and the city of Mesa. The program has been slow to catch on but finally appears to be gaining momentum, with 21 more businesses certified since May. "We're picking up speed," ADEQ Director Ben Grumbles said. "(The program) offers a roadmap for cleaner and greener repair shops in Arizona and sends an important signal to other business sectors." Repair shops applying for certification are inspected to verify that they use low-pollution cleaning solvents, recycle waste fluids, conserve energy and water, and practice spill prevention. Airpark Auto Service became certified in September, about a year after starting the lengthy application process. "It did take a lot of time to go through all the steps," Grobmeier said. "But it was worth it." Jim Garnand, owner of Hi-Tech Car Care in Phoenix, said applying for the certification made sense. "It seems that a lot of people are environmentally-friendly until it hits their own wallet," Garnand said. "But most things that make sense environmentally also make sense economically." The program also could help change the way customers perceive the auto-repair industry, said Green Business Program Director Luz Rubio of ASA Arizona. "We still have that idea of a grease-monkey mechanic, but this program makes you realize a lot of these shops are actually very clean," she said.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Landlord Evicts Auto Shop, Keeps Cars - WFTV Posted: 14 Aug 2009 02:12 PM PDT Posted: 5:15 pm EDT August 14, 2009Updated: 6:07 pm EDT August 14, 2009 ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Eyewitness News learned that when an auto repair shop was evicted for failure to pay rent, the landlord kept all of the cars inside the business. The cars belong to innocent customers and the vehicles are scheduled to go on the auction block Tuesday. However, the car owners have filed a lawsuit to stop it.The car owners have been waiting for months to get their cars back. The landlord claims the customer's abandoned their property, but they say that is ridiculous and that the landlord is holding their cars hostage.Eddie Santana says he can't understand why he is caught in the middle of a tenant-landlord dispute over rent. He left his specialized racing car with an auto body shop to have it repaired and, while it was in the shop, the landlord evicted the auto shop owners for not paying rent.Santana went to Sterling Race Auto Craft Repairs to pick up his car and found that the doors were locked. He didn't know what was going on, but the landlord told him if he wanted his car he would have to pay up. Santana said the landlord wanted more than $1,000 in exchange for his car."I took the car to get it fixed, not to have it stored. I have storage. I can store my own stuff. She didn't care. 'The only way you can get your vehicle is if you pay the storage fees,'" he said.Also, Santana's property, along with a handful of other customers' belongings, are set to be auctioned off on Tuesday. Canal Management denied any wrongdoing."That does not sound like a true allegation, but you guys have a court date for a restraining order on Monday," WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen said."I'm sorry, no one is here to help you with that," a Canal Management representative told her.Eight people have filed suits and hope a judge will block Tuesday's auction. In the meantime, the group is asking for $600,000 in damages."We are dealing with a case of someone taking the law in their own hands and now they will have to face consequences," attorney Darren Soto said.Soto says the landlord's self-help remedies are illegal and he needs to follow eviction laws. The emergency hearing is set for Monday at 8:30am. Copyright 2009 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Grand theft auto in Poinciana - Osceola News Gazette Posted: 14 Aug 2009 07:46 AM PDT A Poinciana man was arrested Wednesday for the theft of a BMW and Ford Expedition that Osceola County Sheriff's Office deputies found at his residence along with a SKS assault rifle and about 50 gun cases. The investigation began with an anonymous tip about stolen vehicles at 367 Colonade Court in Poinciana. The homeowner, 38-year-old Angel Santiago-Rodriguez, told deputies that someone named Angel had asked him to store the vehicles at his house. The vehicles had been there six months but he had not seen or heard from Angel in three weeks, Santiago-Rodriguez went on to say. Deputies with the community response team found the BMW and Ford Expedition, both stolen from Orange County. In the trunk of one of the vehicles, they also found the assault rifle and gun cases. Santiago-Rodriguez told deputies that he owned an auto body repair shop in Lake Hamilton in Polk County. Deputies visited the business at 960 Robert Drive and noticed office equipment and auto body machines. However, the business did not appear to be in operation. Deputies found 30 to 50 more gun cases in the business. Rodriguez was booked into the Osceola County Jail, on two counts of grand theft auto and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. Deputies are investigating how the gun cases were obtained and if they were involved in any thefts.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 305 Sprint Car Special at Woodhull Raceway on August 29 - Who Won Posted: 14 Aug 2009 12:25 PM PDT Woodhull Raceway Friday, August 14, 2009 305 Sprint Car Special at Woodhull Raceway on August 29 WOODHULL, N.Y. -- The Woodhull Raceway will close out the month of August on Saturday August 29 with a 305 Sprint Car Special. New to the Woodhull Raceway the 305 Sprints are not new to the northeast region of the United States. Having been formed primarily in the Albany, NY area the 305 Sprint Cars are nothing less than a full blown sprint car with a full top wing, on alcohol injection with no self starter. The great equalizer in this division is the highly scrutinized spec engine configuration which is a sealed bowtie power plant. For more information on the 305 Sprint Car Class simply log on at www.racesaver.com/rules.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Is Cash for Clunkers wasting perfectly good cars? - St. Petersburg Times Posted: 14 Aug 2009 02:20 PM PDT By Leonora LaPeter Anton, Times Staff Writer Cash for Clunkers is supposed to help the environment by destroying older gas-guzzling cars, but Susan Jacobs finds it a bit wasteful. Six years ago she started Wheels of Success, a program that matches low-income families with cars. Ever since the cash for clunkers program began in July, car donations to Jacobs' organization have dropped. That means many poor people on her waiting list, who walk miles or take multiple buses to get to work, will have to wait longer for a car. "I understand they want to get them off the road because of the emissions," Jacobs said. "But these cars could keep people working, paying taxes, off unemployment, off social services. "Don't destroy these cars." ****** Under the $3 billion clunker program, more than 200,000 people have turned in older, larger cars for up to $4,500 toward new, more fuel-efficient models. Hundreds of thousands more are expected to participate. The old cars' engines are destroyed and the car is shredded. On a radio program recently, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, said he is thinking of proposing an amendment to the program that would put at least some of the cars in the hands of charities. The next session begins Sept. 8. And quite a few citizens around the country have wondered in letters to the editor if the clunkers being traded in could be put to a higher use than blocks of steel – without hampering the green movement. "I myself would never 'throw away something that wasn't broke,'" wrote Janie S. Weger in a letter to the The Muskegon (Michigan) Chronicle, "Destroying working cars is not being "green," wrote Karen Hessel of New Rochelle, N.Y. "When a second owner buys a used car, it is a form of recycling." Wrote J.D. Richmond of Crystal Springs in a letter to the editor in the St. Petersburg Times: "I couldn't help but wonder who would benefit from the cars that are being executed each day." In an interview later, Richmond, 47, a blueberry farmer, said he knows of a lady who desperately needs a car to get to a new job. Without the car, no job. And that's the problem. The program, many say, is out of reach for the people who need it most. "I could make the case that Cash for Clunkers is not helping families who need it most, but only helping the car manufacturers," said Clifford Meth of the national car donation program, Kars-4-Kids, in Lakewood, N.J. Joining the chorus of naysayers are used car dealers and auto parts recyclers. "We've never been supportive of the Cash for Clunkers because we've always seen it as having potential impact on demand, inventory and pricing," said J.D. Wilson, chief operating officer of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association in Arlington, Texas. "But it's premature to judge whether that's happened." Over at the Automotive Recyclers Association, they're more frantic. Auto recyclers get a third of their income from the engines, which must be destroyed. "Taking 700,000 plus engines out of commerce is going to lead to an increase in prices for used engines," said Michael E. Wilson, executive vice president of the Automotive Recyclers Association in Manassas, Va. "This is going to hurt single moms, college students, the low income." ******* Jacobs, who started Wheels of Success, gets about 50 applications every month for the cars that are donated to her organization. The cars are not entirely free. Payments of $40 a month for a year cover the repairs. It's a popular program. Wheels of Success gives out about 10 to 20 cars a month to the neediest on its waiting list. People like Karin Carcano, 48, who takes two buses to her job at the Hillsborough Community College Child Development Center and then attends college classes. She has a husband at home who earlier this year had an operation on both legs. "It's crazy, I get out late at night and am waiting on the street corner for the bus," she said. Carcano has been on the Wheels of Success waiting list since April and just learned she will be getting a car in a few weeks. But Lawrence Elton Hyden, 33, who also got on the waiting list in April, is still waiting. He walks almost a mile down Park Boulevard every day to his job, making $10 an hour at Buddy's Home Furnishings. He and his wife, who have four children, have not had a car since last October. If he could get a car, his wife might be able to get a job. He is about 10th on the Wheels of Success waiting list. Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this story. Times reporter Leonora LaPeter Anton can be reached at lapeter@sptimes.com or 727-893-8640. [Last modified: Aug 14, 2009 05:17 PM]  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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