Window Cleaning News + Candid Camera

Robbie Sturgell and Paul Hudson work as a team. Thursday, one dangled from the roof of Mercy Health Center (pictured), washing window after window, as the other controlled the rig that safely held his partner in place. The two men are employees of Trake Window Cleaning in Oklahoma City and are one of a few crews brave enough to work on the high-rise buildings. It's a job that puts a daredevil twist on cleaning. They work with one man washing the windows from a chair secured to the roof of the building, left to right and top to bottom, the other lowering his partner to the next level. On a hot day such as Thursday, they actually argue over who gets to "drop” because it's preferable to baking in the sun on the roof. 'Sturgell admits the job is "a little extreme.” But at the same time, it's kind of mundane: they wash each window with a Dawn dish soap mixture, squeegee the liquid off, and repeat. If you've ever been startled in your quiet office by the sound of a suction cup smacking the glass, then looked out to see a man dangling outside your window, you're not alone. It happens regularly, Sturgell and Hudson said. Their presence has caused people to scream and fall out of their chairs. They've also seen "crazy things,” so crazy they wouldn't divulge them to a reporter. Sturgell started working for Trake Window Cleaning about three years ago after responding to an ad in the newspaper. It's a blue collar job, he said, and one he hopes his children don't get into when they grow up. Hudson was looking to earn a paycheck with an adrenaline bonus. Seven years ago, he saw a crew working on the 30-story Kerr-McGee Tower downtown and asked for a job. "They said ‘OK, if you're not afraid of heights,' ” Hudson said. The industry provides no shortage of work, they said, because there are plenty of high-rise windows to be cleaned and few people willing to do it. They can work from five to seven days a week. New employees typically train for about a week on the ground, learning knots and squeegeeing and other tricks of the trade. Then, they shadow a dropper for a few days, getting a feel for the safety harness and the height. Window washers work in all types of weather: heat, cold, snow, rain and perhaps worst of all, wind.

Mom first to win show's million-dollar grand prize on NBC's "Deal or No Deal" and plans her family's future: Her name is Jessica Robinson, a 27-year-old housewife and mother of one who is expecting a second child at the end of this month. And she not only won the grand prize but also used the show to announce to her family - and the nation - that her next baby will be a boy. When the Robinsons get their winnings the beginning of next year (in one-lump sum, after about half goes for taxes, she said), the family will move to Austin, Texas, where her family lives, and buy a house. Her husband will finally get a newer (but still used) truck, start a window-cleaning business, and they'll tuck the rest away for the kids' education and the family's future.

Youngster’s death led to national outcry: Two year old Andrew Morton was on his way to a chip shop with his teenage brother when he was shot dead by a neighbour with an airgun in March 2005. He had stopped to watch fire engines near his home in Glasgow's Easterhouse. The fatal shot had been fired by Mark Bonini, who one witness said was "full of drugs" as he sat in his flat taking potshots with an airgun, aiming at street lights, neighbouring flats, a window cleaner, a woman and the firefighters. With murder defined in Scotland as an intent to kill or an act of wicked recklessness 27-year-old Bonini was found guilty of the more serious charge, and his attempt to appeal against it refused.

RALEIGH - When Raleigh's new convention center opens Friday, it will instantly become a building burdened by great expectations. As the most debated and expensive part of the city's downtown revitalization effort, the center will test whether the city that's a perennial on "best place to live" lists can also rank as a great place to meet. A window washer leaves the convention center after helping with some finishing touches. The building's upper floors have a ballroom and meeting rooms. The great hall on the bottom floor can hold 6,600 people theater-style or 6,800 banquet-style.

And finally, a few videos that show candid camera doing their take on window cleaning...