Scam Reported in Medina County: From the Auditor

I just received this from the Medina County Auditor, Medina Ohio:

Auditor Kovack Warns of Dangerous Scam in Medina County

Auditor Michael E. Kovack, Medina County Auditor, just received information from a resident of the County who was called by someone pretending to be with the Auditor's Office. The person indicated that he was in the area doing property reappraisals and needed to view the inside of their home. The scammer suggested that they didn't have to be home, "Just leave the door unlocked and we will check the house for you."

In almost all instances, the Auditor's reappraisal staff only views structures from the outside of the building. In any situation where the staff would enter a home, it is usually at the homeowner's request and by appointment with the owner required to be present.

Auditor Kovack stated, "This incident happened in the Wadsworth area, but may be occurring in other areas of the county. I urge you to call your local police if you receive a phone call or a visit from individuals purporting to be from my office and requesting access to your home. Please call my office if you have any questions or information leading to the arrest of these individuals. Our phone numbers are: Medina, 330.725.9756, Brunswick, 330.225.7100, ext. 9756 or Wadsworth, 330.336.6657, ext. 9756."

Sincerely,Michael E. Kovack
Medina County Auditor

Cleveland Magazines "Rating the Suburbs" Edition is out...

Check out the June 2009 edition of Cleveland magazine. Every year they rate the suburbs. Some highlights west of Cleveland:

• 5 th Lowest Property Taxes - Lorain
• Highest Home Sales: 5th Medina, 6th Avon Lake, 7th North Ridgeville, 8th Lorain, 9th Avon, 10th Elyria
• 10 Year Median Home Sale Price Increase: 5th Avon, 13th Elyria
• Highest % of Roads w/ Sidewalks: 100% Bay Village and Westlake, 99% Lakewood, 96.8% Medina, 94.7% Rocky River and Berea

Check out the June edition for all the details and comparisons.

Jewal Box Homes: Smaller with Higher Quality and Energy Efficiency

A new term floating around the Real Estate universe is "Jewel-Box Homes". What is a Jewel-Box Home?

A Jewel-Box House replaces the square footage of "McMansions" for quality. Instead of paying for a big empty box you pay for less square footage and more details, features, woodwork, and higher grade appliances and materials. You replace square footage for more efficient use of space. You replace square footage for high efficiency appliances. You replace square footage for better insulation.

It sounds like common sense. Why weren't more of us doing this all along??

Some related content:

Jewel-Box Homes are Built Smaller, Smarter by Jean Patteson

Jewel-box homes: building smaller, smarter by GEORGE SKENE/ORLANDOSENTINEL.COM / June 15, 2009

Industry looks to build smaller homes by lex Veiga, Associated Press, Sunday, October 19, 2008

The McBacklash: Homes get smaller and McMansions are out, thanks to economy, aging population By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press
Friday, March 28, 2008 2:15 AM CDT

Americans are moving on up to smaller, smarter homes By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

Free Summer Jazz at Beautiful Northern Ohio Locations

Love Jazz? Save gas and time and spend more time relaxing! Enjoy these free concerts and visit some of Northern Ohio's fabulous venues thanks to 107.3 FM:

• Sat June 27, 12pm - 3pm Jazz on the Patio - Buehler’s, Canton - Just About Music
• Sun Jun 28, 12pm - 6pm Jazz On the Vine - Debonne Vineyards, Madison - Forecast
• Sat Jul 4, 6pm - 9pm Jazz on the River - Black River Landing, Lorain - Forecast
• Sun Jul 12, 12pm - 6pm Jazz on the Vine - Debonne Vineyards, Madison - Horns & Things
• Fri Jul 17, 6pm - 9pm Jazz Over the Valley - Mapleside Farms, Brunswick - Saborit Latin Jazz
• Sun Jul 26, 12pm - 6pm Jazz on the Vine - Debonne Vineyards, Madison - Al Krasel and One Wish
• Sat Aug 1, 6pm - 9pm Jazz on the River - Black River Landing, Lorain - Joe McBride
• Fri Aug 14, 6pm - 9pm Jazz Over the Valley - Mapleside Farms, Brunswick - Roberto Ocasio Latin Jazz Project
• Sun Aug 16, 12pm - 6pm Jazz on the Vine - Debonne Vineyards, Madison - Saborit Latin Jazz
• Fri Aug 28, 6pm - 9pm Jazz Over the Valley - Mapleside Farms, Brunswick - Joe McBride
• Sun Aug 30, 12pm - 6pm Jazz on the Vine - Debonne Vineyards, Madison - Forecast
• Sat Sept 5, 12pm - 3pm Jazz on the Patio - Buehler’s, Canton - Forecast
• Fri Sept 11, 6pm - 9pm Jazz Over the Valley - Mapleside Farms, Brunswick - Keith McKelley

* All events are subject to change and live music times vary, check website for updates. Visit http://wnwv.northcoastnow.com/events/wave-free-summer-concert-series/ for details. Compliments of 107.3 WNWV FM.

Howard Hanna Healing Garden at the new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

News Story

6/3/2009

Article By: Debbie Donahue

Howard Hanna adds a bit of “green”

to new Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh

On Tuesday, June 2, 2009 the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation hosted a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Howard Hanna Healing Garden at the new Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

The Howard Hanna Healing Garden is an outdoor, rooftop garden on the sixth floor of the main hospital where patients and families can enjoy fresh air, amazing views and a respite from the medical setting. Even a sick child sometimes needs to go outside. At Children’s, the Hanna Healing Garden is that outdoor oasis. Seasonal flowers in the day and twinkling lights at night will invite patients, families and staff to come play, reflect and retreat from the inevitable stress related to a stay in the hospital.

Children’s Hospital President, Christopher A. Gessner, welcomed everyone to the event with a presentation of “The New Children’s”. Speakers included Mary Jo Dively, Esq., chair, Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees, Dr. Andrew Urbach, Medical Director for Clinical Excellence and Service, Howard W. "Hoddy” Hanna, III, Chairman and CEO of Howard Hanna, and Lou Astorino, principal of the architectural firm, Astorino, which designed the building. A special guest speaker was the mother of a child that had been diagnosed with leukemia on May 25th and was in his ninth day of being at Children’s. She thanked the Howard Hanna group for making the outdoor garden a reality and told of how she had already visited the garden many times and how much it helped her and her son in dealing with being in the hospital so suddenly.

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and have been teaming together since 1989 for the Children’s Free Care Fund which assures that needy children from Western Pennsylvania and surrounding area will never be denied the best medical care available.

“All of our offices participate in our fundraising efforts for Children’s Hospitals in their market areas,” proudly said Hoddy Hanna. “Some offices that have golf outings in the summer months, a few that do organized lunches and house tours in the fall, but absolutely all of our offices hold annual “Choo Choo Chow Chow” holiday luncheons beginning in November and continuing through the end of the year – all with the common purpose of raising as much money as we can for Children’s Hospitals. So very many of our sales associates, staff and management give so much of their time and energy to this year after year, I continue to be amazed by this on-going support, and from members of the community. It’s because the people of this area care so deeply about one another as well as the quality of life here, that this great city is indeed the best in the nation.”

In 2008, Howard Hanna raised more than $577,000 in their offices across PA, OH, NY and WV for a total of almost $5 million during the past twenty years for Children’s Hospitals.
Howard Hanna is proud to become a permanent part of the new Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in bringing some “green”, in the form a beautiful healing play garden, to the urban hospital campus of The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Lifecycle Building Challenge: Competition - "Green Eco Building"

This is the third year of the Lifecycle Building Challenge competition. Architects, reuse experts, engineers, designers, planners, contractors, builders, educators, environmental advocates and
students in any program may enter. Competitors can enter green building projects that include some basic goals:

• Create designs that facilitate local building materials reuse
  
• Consider the full lifecycle of buildings and materials—from resource extraction through occupancy and, finally, deconstruction and reuse
  
• Focus on quality and creativity of designs and concepts
  
• Develop strategies that maximize materials recovery
  
• Reduce the overall embodied energy and greenhouse gas emissions of building materials through reuse
  
• Decrease environmental and economic costs
  
• Address real world issues

Dates and Deadlines

December 15 2008: registration opens
March 1 2009: submission deadline
August 30 2009: winners recognized Fall 2009

There are numerous entry criteria that must be met. To get all of the details for this excellent challenge visit http://www.lifecyclebuilding.org/entry-info.php.

Lorain International Festival and Bazaar

Friday, June 26th from 5pm to 11pm
Saturday, June 27th from 12 noon to 11pm
Sunday, June 28th from 12 noon to 6pm

Location: Black River Landing

Celebrate the rich variety of culture in Lorain. A wide variety of food and entertainment on this riverside festival grounds. This year's feature community is the Puerto Rican Community.