| It's all about location; Even in slump, still big differences in bang ...
It might seem an easy choice. Buy the well-maintained house with seven relatively small rooms, a one-car garage, a cramped yard, red cedar siding that looks pretty good after 50 years and nearly 1,600 square feet of living space. Or the buy the brand-new home with eight soaring, high-ceilinged rooms, a view of a golf course, a two-car garage, central air conditioning, closets the size of small rooms and 2,260 square feet of living space. Of course, the prices vary. The first house — despite its smaller size and age — actually costs more than the second. It's on the market now for nearly $560,000. The second house, which includes a gleaming, modern kitchen, might seem like an incredible bargain at $525,000. So what gives? The new house is part of the Strongwater Crossing development in Salem.
Commissioners approve renovations to Larimer County Justice Center
The county commissioners on Tuesday approved a proposal to renovate the Larimer County Justice Center in downtown Fort Collins to create courtroom and office space for three new judges. Renovation plans include adding more heating and air conditioning units to the building at 201 LaPorte Ave. The renovation is expected to cost up to $2.5 million.
Money for the project will come from a 0.2 percent sales tax that county voters approved in 1997 to build a new courthouse.
County officials hope to have the work completed by July, when the new judges are expected to come on board. .
B-N's first 'smart fortwo' car hits streets
McDaniel is smiling, too.After a nearly yearlong wait, he has the Twin Cities' first “smart fortwo" car. He picked it up in St. Louis on Monday and spent most of the day Tuesday showing it off to friends and co-workers.“I think it's great," said John Rediger, heating and air conditioning supervisor at Country Insurance. “I think it's absolutely fantastic. It's got plenty of room."You wouldn't guess it from the outside. The car, which only measures 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet tall and 5.1 feet wide, takes up only half a parking space.“It only looks small from the outside," McDaniel said. “It's half of car. It has three cylinders instead of six and weighs 1,700 pounds instead of 3,400."That leads to decent gas mileage — 41 miles per gallon on the highway and 33 miles per gallon in town. (It uses premium gasoline.)“It has an 8-gallon tank, and I had 200 miles on it and still had half of tank of gas," McDaniel said.It's also ecologically friendly.The smart fortwo, produced in France by smart, a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz AG, is painted with water-soluble paints.
Contractor emerges as charity's Champion
Vandals destroyed the heater at the American Red Cross' headquarters on Sixth Street in Modesto last week, sending a shiver through the charity, but things began to warm up again Tuesday. Champion Industrial Contractors Inc. of Modesto donated the $2,500 deductible the Red Cross would have had to pay to replace the heating and air conditioning unit, said Rebecca Ciszek, executive director of the Red Cross's Stanislaus County chapter. Then the contractor installed a $5,702 replacement unit. The balance will be covered by insurance. By early afternoon, the place was heating up. "The classroom is nice and warm," Ciszek said about 1 p.m. "It took a little while because that room had been cold now for a week." The donation means the organization won't have to dig into its charity funds to fix the unit, Ciszek said.
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