“Gov't: Border fence to cost $6.5B over 20 years - The Miami Herald” plus 4 more

Gov't: Border fence to cost $6.5B over 20 years - The Miami Herald
The Auto Loans Process Explained - PR Inside
Items added to Vigilance collection - Daily Journal
In Ashley Falls, He Makes It Up - Litchfield County Times
Women make up their minds faster when buying a home - Daily Territorial

Gov't: Border fence to cost $6.5B over 20 years - The Miami Herald

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 09:14 AM PDT

WASHINGTON -- It will cost taxpayers $6.5 billion over the next 20 years to maintain the fence along the U.S-Mexico border, according to a government audit.

But as the Obama administration realizes the long-term costs of the border fence, it does not have a way to evaluate whether this investment has helped control illegal entries into the country, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.

The $6.5 billion price tag is in addition to the $2.4 billion that's been spent to build more than 600 miles of fence segments along the southwest border. As of May 14, there have been 3,363 breaches in the fence, which cost about $1,300 each to repair, GAO found.

The fence is a Bush administration initiative that has faced several delays and cost increases.

The technology portion of the government's plan to secure the border continues to be delayed, GAO said.

Until the entire technology piece is complete, it is impossible for Border Patrol to know if the security measures are working, GAO said.

Boeing Co. has the contract for the technology piece. Tim Peters, Boeing's vice president of global security, told lawmakers that the company has learned valuable lessons from its initial projects on the border. Peters said it's not "uncommon" to run into technological challenges in these sort of projects.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, called the fence a "serious challenge" that the Obama administration has inherited. In remarks prepared for a hearing Thursday, the Mississippi Democrat said the GAO's findings are troubling.

Depending on funding, there would be fencing or technology along the whole southwestern border except for about 200 miles around Big Bend National Park by 2014, Homeland Security officials have said. But the GAO said it's more likely to be completed in 2016.

On Thursday officials told Congress that the remaining 38 miles of physical fencing is held up because of legal issues related to obtaining land.

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The Auto Loans Process Explained - PR Inside

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 08:46 AM PDT

2009-09-17 17:49:41 - Get the financing you need for the vehicle you want with help of auto loans. Help yourself repairing your poor credit with an auto loan while you drive your new vehicle.

Auto loans for poor credit or bad credit:

Get the financing you need for the vehicle you want with help of auto loans (www.autoloans.us). Help yourself repairing your poor credit with an auto loan while you drive your new vehicle. Don't let your bad credit history stop you from getting going. It is possible to arrange a good auto loan from

an auto dealership near your home without any trouble or hassle.

It is easy to apply for auto loans:

You have access to hundreds of thousands of nationwide lenders of auto loans (www.autoloans.us) as most of them are available online. Regardless of your bad credit history getting a new car is as easy as 1,2,3. Get into easy auto loan process with three simple steps: Apply for an auto loan, receive your personalized quote and get in to a driver's seat of your dream car!

It is secure to apply for auto:

Most of the lenders provide you secure auto loans. Today's competitive market offers you many types of auto loans even if you have bad credit problems. With many auto loan products available you can choose which is best for you in terms of auto loan terms and conditions, interest rate and auto loan type. Get a free and instant quote from more than one lender when you apply for an auto loan (www.autoloans.us) by filling simple online form. It will help you get a competitive interest rate. A bad credit history does not mean that you have to settle with what is offered to you. There are specialized auto loans for people with poor credit. And applying for this type of auto loan is free and without any obligation. The biggest advantage of these auto loans is you will get quick results and your approval is guaranteed!

Get out of your bad credit problems:

Directly plunging into an auto loan process is biggest mistake especially if you have bad credit history. It is possible that life's unexpected twists have put you in a list of people with bad credit. Or your past financial decisions were wrong and today you are facing the problem of bad credit, marginal credit, bankruptcy, repossession or no credit. Well, with help of auto loans you can start over it all again and get a chance to repair that poor credit.

Prepare a plan to obtain an auto loan:

To make that fresh start, do proper planning before you apply for an auto loan (www.autoloans.us). Determine how much you can comfortably afford for a new car. Use online auto loan payment calculator to crunch the final numbers of car price as well as monthly payments.

Find out your options of auto loan types. Explore online to know which auto loan is best for you and how you can get a lowest possible interest rate. Examine your credit history. Get help of online credit check companies from where you can get your free credit check report. Know your bad credit problems before you apply for an auto loan.
Prepare your papers. Any auto loan lender will ask you for some documentation like your valid driver's license, identification and proof of employment. Keep them ready so your auto loan (www.autoloans.us) process can start as soon as possible.

AutoLoans.us is your best source for auto loans or bad credit auto loans online. If you have really bad credit, bankruptcy, poor credit or a low credit score we have car loan credit programs that can provide financing with low interest rates that will help you buy the new or used car you really want at payments you can afford. More information about AutoLoans.us can be found at www.autoloans.us

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Items added to Vigilance collection - Daily Journal

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 09:00 AM PDT

The library is again open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Winter library hours are Monday through Thursday 10 to 8, Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 3. The junior room is open Tuesday 10 to 8, Monday, Wednesday through Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 3.

The library Web page offers a variety of resources available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Check out internationalfallslibrary.us for downloadable audiobooks, magazine index with some articles included, newspaper articles, antiques guide, testing resources, health information, home improvement instruction sheets, as well as auto and small engine repair guides. Some of the sites require userid and password access, contact the library during open hours for the userid and password.

Lots of new items have been added to the Vigilance collection this fall. Be sure to stop in and see what's new and available. Here are a few of the items that I found particularly intriguing.

In the River they Swim, edited by Michael Fairbanks contains essays from around the world on enterprise solutions to poverty. It includes a unique mix of articles as people reflect on their experiences in the struggle to close the global development gap.

Food, Inc. is edited by Karl Weber and is a participant guide to a documentary by the same name, due later this fall. The book examines how industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer and then provides options for what we can do about it. This book includes fascinating articles with questions to ask as you look at your food and where it comes from. The film is on order and will be available as soon as it is released.

Creative Vegetable Gardening by Joy Larkcom is about combining fruitfulness and beauty, a great wintertime read. We have also added two books that deal with consumerism is a different way.

Precycle, by Paul Peacock, shows you how to make everything you buy for a fraction of the cost. This is a very interesting idea with recipes for everything from sauce to sausages, bleach to beer, and detergents to disinfectants. If you don't think you're quite up to that approach, then take a look at The Scavenger's Manifesto by Anneli Rufus and Kristian Lawson. This is a guidebook to "freeing yourself from the endless cycle of buying more and more new (though not necessarily improved) stuff and discovering how salvaging, swapping, repurposing, reusing, and recycling can save the earth, your money and your soul."

Documentary movie night is back this fall. Join library staff in watching a documentary movie then discussing its implications to our life, community and world. Monday, Sept. 28, at 6:30 p.m., we will show two 20-minute films from the "Life" series. "Life" is over 100 short films about how the globalized world economy affects ordinary people, how what happens in one part of the world affects the life of someone half way around the world. Refreshments provided with no registration necessary.

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In Ashley Falls, He Makes It Up - Litchfield County Times

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 08:32 AM PDT

A little less than two years ago, Natale Marasco of Valley View Road in Ashley Falls, Mass., came home from eating out with his new wife, Ren, to find that their home and the shop where he operated his restoration/fabrication shop had been completely destroyed by fire.

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Women make up their minds faster when buying a home - Daily Territorial

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 08:03 AM PDT

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Home sales pace to quicken

By Joe Pangburn, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Thursday, September 17, 2009

Men are slower than women at making up their minds when it comes to decisions about real estate, according to a survey conducted for Coldwell Banker.

Almost 70 percent of women said the knew they day they walked into a house if it was right for them, versus 62 percent of men who said the same thing.

Coldwell Banker contracted with International Communications Research in Pennsylvania, which conducted the survey of 1,000 adults in May. The questions included: "How long did it take for you to know that the last home you purchased was right for you?" and "If you found the home of your dreams but had concerns about its security, would you still be interested?" "Not only did we uncover some of the inherent differences between men and women, but we also pinpointed a number of ways that the two genders are actually the same," said Coldwell Banker's Diann Patton. "For example, both men and women are increasingly concerned with having a space to work in their homes – something we would not have seen 40 years ago. We also found that feeling insecure about a home's safety is a deal-breaker for most people, regardless of gender."

Patton said the survey was an attempt to better understand the clients' wants and needs in the process of buying a home.

"We wanted to learn if there were differences in what they are looking for," she said. "We also wanted to find out how we can communicate differently with different clients."

Among other findings:

• 55 percent of women would rather live closer to their extended family than to their job, versus 37 percent for men.

• 64 percent of women said it would be deal-breaker if their dream home had issues regarding security, versus 51 percent for men.

• Almost 70 percent of respondents who said they were living with a significant other said they made large financial decisions mutually.

• Men were four times more likely than women to turn an extra 12 foot-by-12 foot room into an entertainment room.

Pace of home sales

Residential real estate closings in the Tucson region for the first three weeks of August averaged 188 per week, which is 23 percent off the weekly pacing since June of 244 closings. But the pace is about to pick up, according to Long Realty Research Center, which reports that during those same three weeks, there were 929 properties put under contract, for a weekly rate of almost 310 — up 7 percent over the weekly pace of 290 since June.

It's expected the pace will continue to pick up as the Nov. 31 deadline approaches to qualify for the federal government's $8,000 first-time home buyer's credit.

Short sale on 14 lots

Steve Johnson, of GS Real Estate Investments, has acquired 14 builder-ready lots for $380,000 in the Savage Place subdivision at the southwest corner of E. Speedway and Harrison Road.

The sale was a foreclosure distressed sale from M&I Bank.

Johnson is planning to build new homes on the lots that will be price competitive with foreclosure sales to offer affordable housing on the far eastside.

"Only through a distressed sale would our client be able to deliver a new home product in this current market condition and still make a reasonable profit", said James P. Robertson Jr., of Long Commercial Services, who represented GS Real Estate Investments, along with Mary Diaz of Long Realty Company.

"You're going to pay the bottom price for today and three months from now, so you may as well get it over with now," Robertson said. "Deals like these aren't going to last once they come up."

Certification for J.B. Steel

Steel fabricator J.B. Steel has received the quality certification for Standard Steel Building Structures from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

J.B. Steel, 2850 E. Ganley Road, has been in business since 1994. Among its current projects, it is supplying the steel for the Ritz-Carlton at Dove Mountain Resort and Spa.

The certification, which is reviewed annually, is confirmation by an independent auditor the company has the personnel, knowledge, organization, equipment, experience, capability, procedures and commitment to produce quality work as a structural steel fabricator.

Sales and leases

• QuikTrip Corporation has purchased 2.6 acres, at 5154 E. Speedway, from Don Medoff for $1.3 million. Steve Cohen with Picor Commercial Real Estate Services represented the seller. Doug Wright with Commercial Investors Realty represented QuikTrip.

• Earhart Equipment Corporation purchased the 115,627 square feet of land at 13968 N. Adonis Road, Marana, for $300,000 from Andy Frank. Steve Cohen, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services handled the transaction.

• Larsen Vending Inc. leased 2,300 square feet of warehouse space at 210 W. Fifth St. from Rich Rodgers Investment. Phoenix-based Larsen Vending is expanding into the Tucson market. James P. Robertson Jr. of Long Realty Commercial Services represented the tenant. Brandon Rodgers of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord.

• SCL Enterprises leased a 2,000 square-foot industrial suite at 1684 S. Research Loop, Suite 502, from Foothills Business Ventures LLC. SCL Enterprises intends to use the space for an auto repair facility. Ron Zimmerman and Gary Emerson of Bourn Partners LLC represented the landlord and the tenant.

• Wheels & More leased a 1,860 square-foot automotive building located at 3502 N. Oracle Road from the McTarnahan Family Trust. Ron Zimmerman of Bourn Partners LLC represented the landlord and the tenant.

• Global Prevention Services-Tucson LLC extended its lease for 1,440 square feet in Exchange Place Business Park, 1870 W. Prince Road, Suite 27, from Presson Corporation. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker with Picor Commercial Real estate Services handled the transaction.

• Nicolas Robles leased 1,440 square feet in Exchange Place Business Park, 1870 W. Prince Road, Suite 34, from Presson Corporation. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker with Picor Commercial Real estate Services handled the transaction.

• Catalina Scientific Instruments leased 1,440 square feet in Exchange Place Business Park, 1870 W. Prince Road, Suite 21, from Presson Corporation. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker with Picor Commercial Real estate Services handled the transaction.

• Fairway Homes Inc. leased 1,293 square feet of retail space at Cortaro Crossing, at the northwest corner of Cortaro and Silverbell roads, in Marana from Cortaro Retail LLC. The space will be used for a new home showroom. Aaron LaPrise and Brian Harpel, with the Harpel Company Inc. handled the transaction.

• Inverse Lighting Inc renewed its lease for 1,200 square feet in Exchange Place Business Park, 1870 W. Prince Road, Suite 64, from Presson Corporation. Rob Glaser and Paul Hooker with Picor Commercial Real estate Services handled the transaction.

• Desert Valley Aire Inc. leased 980 square feet at Prince West Plaza, 1015 West Prince Road, from Prince West Plaza LLC. The company plans to open an HVAC store. Rob Tomlinson, Picor Commercial Real Estate Services handled the transaction.

E-mail items for this column to jpangburn@azbiz.com. Real Estate and Construction appears weekly.