| Freezing weather a hot time for furnace repairmen
Chances are it's coming from your poor overworked furnace in the utility room. Or it could be a loud sigh from the heating people in the Fox Valley -- who, after getting reacquainted with their families these last couple of moderate-temp days, must now go back into battle as winter returns with a vengeance. Fact is, we got spoiled. The past few winters have been unusually mild, which makes the current arctic blast like a, well, arctic blast of reality. Aurora, in particular, has sustained a string of sub-zero temperatures, including the day we hit 17 below and officially became the coldest place in the country. And no one is feeling the frigid effects more than businesses trying to keep up with the calls from us unfortunate schmucks who have awakened -- or arrived home from work -- to igloo-like conditions because the furnace is on the fritz.
Biz briefs, Sunday, Feb. 17
Biz briefs, Sunday, Feb. 17 Attorney Jason Panos of Peabody, an associate at the law firm of Devine Millimet in Andover, was recently elected to the board of directors of the North East Builders Association of Massachusetts Inc. Panos is a member of Devine Millimet's Real Estate Practice Group. The goal of the North East Builders Association and all chapters of the Builders Association is to provide safe, decent and affordable housing for all consumers. nnn Tim Noonan, former GE-Lynn area executive and Salem native, was elected to the GE Propulsion Hall of Fame on Jan. 25 during ceremonies at Aviation headquarters in Evendale, Ohio. Noonan was inducted by Aviation President and CEO Scott Donnelly. The prestigious award was bestowed in recognition of Noonan's operational excellence and impact on the many plants he led during his 38-year career.
Wheeler Dealers
On a parallel track, philanthropist Peter Goldman, an environmental lawyer and board member of the Bicycle Alliance, had a heart-to-heart about city cycling with Mayor Nickels and Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. The Mayor's Office phoned Cascade Executive Director Chuck Ayers: Let's meet. "The log jam burst," Hiller says. "There was finally a recognition that the city's bicycling community was large and active, growing and sophisticated, and not asking for anything unreasonable, just equal access to our public rights of way." The mayor announced a $300,000 Bicycle Master Plan to improve bike friendliness on urban streets and better connect the city's often discombobulated bike routes. His nine-year, $365 million transportation proposal, scheduled for the Nov.
Fire victims prepare to rebuild lives
City fire investigators were still searching for the cause of the fire yesterday, and had not ruled out the possibility that it was set, a fire department spokesman said. Investigators also continued to probe the source of another fire that killed two people in South Boston on New Year's Eve. Yesterday, former residents of the Emerson Street condominium complex were allowed back in the towering brick structure for the first time since they fled the smoky blaze with little more than the clothes they were wearing. The two fires left 50 people homeless, 30 in South Boston and 20 in Hyde Park's Logan Square section, and caused a combined estimated $6.5 million in damages, $5 million in South Boston and $1.5 million in Hyde Park, officials said. The Hyde Park fire destroyed or damaged eight businesses in a landmark, three-story building on River Street, across from the Hyde Park municipal building.
Hog-wild with tradition
Others learn how to delicately thread casings onto the well-worn, cast-iron sausage maker. A sense of festivity fills the air. "It's good for the younger children to see how older people years ago had to do this," says Naomi Wimberly, who is 63 and grew up not far from here, butchering hogs and making sausage. "Hog-killing, as it was called, was an important ritual of rural life for nearly three centuries in South Carolina," explains Prince. The task has since become a rare event. "Reasons for the decline are both demographic and economic. Although South Carolina's population has increased, the number of families owning livestock has decreased. Even in rural areas, hog-raising has become the exception rather than the rule," Prince says.
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