First Winter After the Divorce

Breathless, she steadies herself against the front door, turns to survey all she’s done. A clear path shoveled through the snow. She realizes she’s smiling, unforced.

Her son hoists the head onto a snowman, the ground around him rubbed with snow angels. “Good job, Mom!” he calls. She does a little bow.

There’s nothing of the past in this moment. No fearful future. Just the truth of clean, right-angles of concrete; the V of winter geese barking overhead; sky, cloudless and shockingly blue; melting snow dripping off the roofline. Her heart, bucking hard inside her chest, reminding her she’s alive.

Home insulation scheme royal commission: Public hearing opens in Brisbane

The royal commission into the home insulation scheme will focus on how the Rudd government may have contributed to the deaths of four men.

Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Mitchell Sweeney and Marcus Wilson all died while working on the rollout of the so-called "pink batts" scheme set up in 2009.

The first public hearing of the royal commission into the Rudd government's home insulation scheme, which was linked to the deaths, has begun in Brisbane.

The royal commission is investigating whether the deaths of the tradesmen could have been avoided.

The $2.5 billion scheme, which was implemented as part of the former government's stimulus package in the wake of the global financial crisis, was also linked to hundreds of house fires.

The royal commission will inquire into whether the former government was given any advice, warnings or recommendations about the program and how they were identified, assessed and managed.

It will also consider the effects the program had on the community, families and long-standing home insulation businesses.

Brisbane lawyer Ian Hanger QC has been appointed the commissioner of the inquiry.

"I will have a particular focus on the way in which the government identified, assessed and managed workplace health and safety risks, and whether the government had sufficient regard for those risks in developing and implementing the home insulation program," he said.

"I'll can consider the impact of the program on pre-existing home insulation businesses and consider the relationship between government agencies in managing and coordinating responses to risk.

"My aim is to find answers to the questions unresolved in previous inquiries. Put simply, what really went wrong."

Commissioner Hanger has until the end of June to prepare a report that takes into account the findings of previous coronial inquests and other inquiries into the scheme.

He will also able to recommend changes to laws, policies and procedures in an effort to prevent it from happening again.
Father 'wants to know why warnings were not heeded'
Video: Lawyer Bill Potts discusses the aims of the royal commission. (ABC News)

Lawyer Bill Potts is representing the family of Mr Barnes, 16, who died while installing insulation near Rockhampton in 2009.

Mr Potts says his client hopes the royal commission will provide answers to some lingering questions.

"Murray Barnes, who was Rueben's father, knows what killed his son," he said.

"What he wants to know is the whys. Why were decisions made? Why were warnings not heeded?

"And why it is that on Christmas Day, there'll be an empty place at his table where a much-loved son in the prime of his life will no longer be."

Matthew Fuller's father Kevin Fuller says previous inquiries and inquests left questions unanswered.

"I think today's hearing set the scene for what will be a challenging time for the families but hopefully, and all we've always wanted, is for the truth - the whole truth - to come out, changes to be made so no-one else goes through what we've been through," he said.

Earlier this year Queensland coroner Michael Barnes found three of the workers had not been given adequate training.

Mr Barnes also criticised the previous federal government for rushing through the program in a bid to stimulate the economy.

The coroner stated there were "inadequate safeguards" and "process failings" relating to the handling of the scheme by federal agencies.

Red Cross offers tips to prevent holiday home fires

The American Red Cross is urging residents to take extra precautions when cooking and decorating around the holidays.

    "Cooking is the leading cause of home fires, and as people are cooking and entertaining this holiday season, we're urging that they take safety measures to ensure that their homes and loved ones are safe from the threat of fire," said Chip Kragt, regional disaster officer for the American Red Cross of West Michigan.

    Christmas Day, Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving are the top three days for cooking fires, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. Nationally, the Red Cross responds to a disaster on average every eight minutes, and the vast majority of them are home fires.

    The Red Cross has some simple steps everyone can follow to prevent home fires around the holidays:

    Holiday Entertaining

        Test your smoke alarms.
        Check food regularly while cooking and remain in the home while cooking. Use a timer as a reminder that the stove or oven is on.
        Enforce a "kid-free zone" in cooking areas. Keep children at least 3 feet away from the stove.
        Keep anything that can catch fire away from the stove, oven or any appliance that generates heat.
        Clean cooking surfaces on a regular basis to prevent grease buildup.
        Purchase a fire extinguisher to keep in the kitchen.

    Holiday Decorating

        Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.
        Keep children, pets and decorations away from lit candles.
        Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet.
        Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini light sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs. Read manufacturer's instructions for the number of LED strands to connect. Some strings of lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.
        Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get damaged. n Keep decorations away from windows and doors.

    Citizens may download the free American Red Cross First Aid app, which provides instant access to information on handling the most common first aid emergencies. The apps can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store for Android by searching for American Red Cross or by going to

    People also can test their knowledge on how to prevent home fires by taking the fire safety quiz, and can learn more about fire prevention by visiting

    The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. For more information, visit redcross.org or on Twitter at

Affordable Housing: Addressing Long Island's Greatest Challenge

What follows is an introduction to the challenges of providing affordable housing on Long Island, from a land use, urban planning and public policy perspective.
[Affordable Housing: Addressing Long Island's Greatest Challenge]

Long Island, as a region, is far more complex than most give it credit for. Spanning a wide array of socio-economic demographics, New York City’s principal suburb faces a unique challenge in the coming decades: Ensuring the provision of housing options that are both desirable, and affordable to a wide swath of the region’s population.

The provision of affordable housing on Long Island has been called the region’s greatest urban planning failure of the last fifty years. According to pre-recession estimates made by the Long Island Regional Planning Board, the Nassau-Suffolk region needs 41,429 affordable housing units. This figure is especially startling when one takes into account the exponential increases in the price of homes across the area, paired with the rise of the cost of living over the last decades. Areas that once served as the affordable bedroom communities to Manhattan and its environs are now out of reach for young professionals and families. To fully understand the issues surrounding our housing woes, it is necessary to look at both the political climate of Long Island, the needs and wants of residents, and the development process itself.

Urban Planning theory dictates that balance must be struck by three often-conflicting forces: Economics, Social and Environmental. On Long Island, land use and zoning codes are crafted to accommodate the needs of the underlying aquifer system where our drinking water comes from. The reason why so many communities lack the apartments that developers and other involved stakeholders claim the region needs is because the appropriate wastewater systems aren’t in place. Socially, the Island’s communities are strictly divided. A quick drive between Garden City and Roosevelt or Dix Hills and Wyandanch shows how the two ends of the socio-economic spectrum can coexist roughly a mile or two apart. Economically, the job opportunities available to Long Island’s young professionals are few and far between, further exasperating the lingering effects of the recession. Add in homeowners who are wary of change in their community, and the result is the convergence of powerful forces to complicate an already complex policy issue.

Further, the regional discussion on how to nurture affordable development is being led by advocates, developers and other stakeholders who have a “dog in the fight” when it comes to increasing density. We must move away from this stakeholder dominated regional discussion, and get real, data-driven policy analysis by those without bias.

Regionally, it is the job of policymakers and residents to take charge and begin to fully quantify and understand our regional housing problem. First, there must be a clear understanding of what exactly is to be considered “affordable” in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Often, Area Median Income (AMI) is measured in a variety of ways that lump in our unique region with New York City, Connecticut and beyond. What is needed is a standardized approach to assessing AMI which takes into account the economic nuances of Long Island. Next, we must begin to fully quantify how many truly affordable units exist across both counties.

Once these challenges are addressed, Long Islanders can finally get serious about addressing our affordable housing woes.

Tips for Making an Old Home More Energy Efficient During the Winter -

Old homes are often full of charm and classic beauty, but they can also require a lot of maintenance and upkeep. Additionally, many old homes are also significantly less energy efficient than new homes because of things like insulation that isn’t efficient, drafty windows and doors, and outdated heating and cooling equipment. SecuritySystemReviews.com, a home security system comparison resource of companies like Lifeshield security systems, has created a list of ways owners of older homes can maximize their efficiency.

1.    Old homeowners should consider insulating attic spaces. This can have a tremendous impact on a home’s energy efficiency, and significantly reduce heating and cooling costs. The best types of insulation available now are blow-in spray foam options. Insulating an attic can be a fairly easy DIY project, and many home improvement stores rent the necessary equipment, including insulation blowers.

2.    If it’s feasible from a budgetary standpoint, replace old windows and doors and choose new, energy efficient options. Since this is expensive, adding storm shutters and clear plastic coating to windows can help an old home be more efficient. For homeowners who can’t replace doors and windows, adding window stripping and caulk is also a good idea.

3.    Insulate the hot water heater and associated pipes, and keep the thermostat set at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If possible, consider a tankless water-heating unit. These are an upfront investment, but they save money in the long-term, because they only heat water when it’s needed.

4.    Enact home heating zones. This means strategizing to heat a home based on usage. For example, heat the downstairs of an old home during the day, and the upstairs at night.

5.    If an old home also has old appliances, it may be worthwhile to invest in newer energy saving models. While there are some things owners of older homes can’t control without big remodeling investments, this is a less expensive alternative.

6.    Just because a home is old doesn’t mean it can’t take advantage of new technology, like home automation systems. A home automation system can allow owners of older homes to control the systems located within, even remotely, including the thermostat.

About SecuritySystemReviews.com

SecuritySystemReviews.com is the nation’s leading provider of information pertaining to the home security industry. In addition to informative articles and news, the site also provides reviews of the top security systems throughout the country. Whether a resident is searching for West Virginia security systems reviews or Oregon security systems information, it’s available on SecuritySystemReviews.com in a simple, easy-to-understand format. In addition, the site also provides valuable coupons and discount codes which can be used toward the purchase of a new home security system.

Three children find new homes on Adoption Day

ST. JOHNS — For three children, Nov. 26 was a very special day.

Adaleigh Kusnier, Jordyn Fowler and Justin Kissling got their forever homes during a special Adoption Day celebration at Clinton County Courthouse. Judge Lisa Sullivan officiated at the 10th annual Clinton County Adoption Day.

“This is my favorite day of the year,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan thanked many people for making the event possible.

“First of all, I want to thank the families,” she said. “They don’t need to be here. They don’t need to share their stories. They do it to bring attention to the need for foster and adoptive homes.”

Representative Tom Leonard was the guest speaker at this year’s Adoption Day. He told the large group of family and friends who gathered to support the adopting families that he had worked as a clerk for Genesee County Probate Court for six months after finishing law school.

“Every Wednesday was adoption day in our office,” he said. “What a blessing.”

Leonard said he never realized how important adoption was until he was handling his last case as a Genesee County assistant prosecutor.

A couple of teenagers were on trial for doing something really, really bad, he told the crowd. The trial lasted two weeks.

“Not once did either of them have one single person there to support them,” he said. “That’s when I realized how important adoption is.”

There are currently 63 children in Clinton County living in out-of-home placements. Some of them are living with relatives other than their parents. Many of them are living in foster homes with people they are not related to.

Of those 63 children who have been removed from their homes, 22 are waiting to be adopted. Some of the others will eventually be returned to their biological parents and the rest will be cleared for adoption.

“We always have a need for more foster homes,” said Sullivan.

Having enough foster parents isn’t just about numbers, she said. It also involves finding the right placement. Sometimes children have to be placed outside of Clinton County to find an appropriate placement – if siblings need to be kept together or if there are special circumstances.

3 Tips for selling your home in 2013

After years of declining home values and a buyers’ market, 2013 could be the year of the seller.

Though the situation varies by region, we’ve seen a glimmer of hope for sellers and the housing market in general over the past six months. Homes that didn’t move for a year started getting activity as buyers came off the sidelines, their confidence in the housing market and their financial situations greatly improved. That confidence, coupled with record low interest rates and rising rents, has been the fuel the real estate market needed. Add to this the low inventory seen in many markets, and you’ve got buyers motivated to make a purchase.

If 2013 might be your year to sell, start planning, engaging professionals and doing as much of the legwork as soon as possible. You only have one chance to be “Just Listed” in this new market. More than ever, you’ve got to put your best foot forward when presenting your home to motivated buyers.

Here are three things you can do now to transition from homeowner to successful home seller.

1. Know the comps

One of the first people you’ll want to reconnect with is your real estate agent. They are your “feet on the street” and have their finger on the market’s pulse. Real estate agents generally pick up on trends or shifts in your particular neighborhood or market before the press or the bloggers.

So get on your agent’s radar as soon as possible. Start going to open houses to see what’s selling and to get a feel for values and how homes are being presented. Likely a home you see at an open house in February could sell by the time you list in May or June. Future buyers will probably use this home as a “comparable” sale. Having seen the “comps” yourself puts you in the buyers’ mindset. It enables you to get ahead of the curve or learn from the mistakes of other sellers.

2. Have your property inspected

The buyer, after they have a signed contract on a home, is supposed to pay for an inspection, right? While that’s true, you can beat them to the punch and know what needs to be repaired before you go on the market.

Imagine if you list your home and have a great offer from a solid buyer. But the buyer finds out through the inspection that the roof needs replacement and the deck has dry rot. That excellent offer may not seem so great if you have to negotiate thousands of dollars in credits with the buyer.

Having your property inspected months in advance will allow you time to make a plan to get the big (and small) things repaired. If you can identify the problems upfront, you can fix them for a lot less money than those repairs would get negotiated for down the road. Or, you can price your home factoring in the needed repairs. Plus, a home with a clean bill of health can be advertised as such. Many buyers are looking for a home in “move-in” condition, free of any needed repairs or fixes.

3. Hire a designer or stager

Your real estate agent should have a good designer or stager they like to work with -- someone who can help you start to view your home as a product to be marketed. This should be someone you reach out to once you have the place inspected and know the property’s condition.

Many people think a designer means big money or a wasted expense, but this isn’t always the case. Many designers charge by the hour. It could be as easy as hiring a designer for two hours to help you decide on colors to paint a room or two; a stager to help you declutter or decide which furniture to move out to make some rooms show better.

Based on your real estate agent’s feedback, you may decide to engage the designer on a minor kitchen or bathroom remodel. An old kitchen with linoleum countertops, knotty redwood cabinets and avocado-colored appliances can easily be updated with an inexpensive cabinet makeover and new stainless steel appliances.

You’ll save money in the long run

Like any major decision, selling a home takes a lot of planning, timing and consultation. Consulting with professionals and getting the facts in advance will help the process go a lot smoother, will help you make an informed decision and will most likely save you a lot of money when you sell.

If you’re a homeowner, transitioning to a seller mindset isn’t necessarily easy. The sooner you start that transition, however, the easier the process will be. But be aware there can be an unexpected, if ironic, outcome: Some would-be sellers do the fix-it work to their homes, clean up some rooms, or paint and update the entire place -- only to fall in love with their home all over again and decide to stay.