Friday Window Cleaning News Items

Cemetery death 'not foul play': A SHEFFIELD man who died after being found collapsed in a city cemetery had probably sustained the injuries which led to his death during a fall at home, an inquest was told.Window cleaner Jason Houghton was found collapsed in a wooded area in City Road Cemetery by a woman walking her dogs. He was taken to the Northern General Hospital and was later transferred to the Royal Hallamshire where surgeons tried to save his life by removing a blood clot from his brain. His mother Pauline, with whom Jason lived on Manor Park Crescent, Manor Park, told the inquest he had fallen heavily twice in the days before his death.
She said her son, a bachelor, had a history of vertigo and alcohol dependency but had not been drinking on the days he had fallen.
The day before his death they had been to the shops together to buy pet food and had parted on the way home. She said Jason told her he wanted to walk through the cemetery. He took a detour because it was raining and his chosen route would be muddy. It was the last time she saw him alive. A post mortem examination carried out by pathologist Dr Julian Burton found the cause of death to be a haematoma on the brain. The pathologist also noted a number of bruises around Jason's body which he said were consistent with a fall. DC Daniel Garside, who led an inquiry following Jason's death, told the inquest: "There was nothing to indicate or give us grounds to think he had been assaulted." Assistant deputy coroner Donald Coutts-Wood recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage announced that Jason Trobaugh will join its downtown Tahoe City office as a sales associate. In his new position, Trobaugh will specialize in residential sales in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee areas. “We are thrilled to have Jason join our team,” said Michael Lombardi, manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the Lake Tahoe area. “It is an exciting time to be with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as we continue to build on our dominant presence in the North Lake Tahoe and Truckee region.” Trobaugh also owns his own company, ClearView Window Cleaning, which he has grown for more than 16 years. He is also a developer of custom-built homes. Trobaugh now plans to expand his expertise by offering his services in real estate sales. Trobaugh has been a local North Shore Lake Tahoe resident for more than 20 years and holds his real estate license for both California and Nevada.


Owner Rick Williams (left), manager Janet Williams (center) and lead man Brian Irick. Fallbrook Window Washing Co. is pleased to announce that two of its employees have recently completed courses of study in graphic design and business. Brian Irick, the company’s lead man, has completed graphic design classes at Coleman University, San Marcos, graduating December 19. Janet Williams, manager of the business and wife of owner Rick Williams, has completed a bachelor’s degree in business at Concordia University, Irvine. Together, Irick and Williams will be initiating new marketing strategies to focus on the current economic trend. Fallbrook Window Washing Co. realizes that these are uncertain economic times both nationally and locally. Due to these tentative times, as a small business, Fallbrook Window Washing Co. recognizes that understanding and addressing the needs of their customers is most important, now more than ever. According to Rick Williams, “Because we are all in this together, we will tailor our service to meet the needs of long-standing and new customers.” For existing and new customers, they are now offering partial service such as just exterior window cleaning, including screens, or the “most important windows” in the main living areas of the home. Also, he is offering a 10-percent discount to full-service customers until March 31. Fallbrook Window Washing Co. is committed to remaining a shining example in 2009.

Window firm chosen for £250m ‘super hospital’ build (Yorkshire, UK): THE team behind the £250m redevelopment of Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield has announced a deal with architectural aluminium glazing specialist Technal for the supply of more than 1,500 windows and doors. Due to open in autumn 2011, the new 86,000m2 acute hospital is part of a PFI project for Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust developed by Consort Healthcare - a joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Haden Young. Under the new contract, Technal will supply pivot windows from its FX146 range to provide natural ventilation and ease of cleaning on the upper floors of the 700-bed hospital, while fixed lights and top-hung windows from the FX165 suite are being supplied for the other areas of the site. Fabricated and installed by Quest Solutions in a £2m contract for MPG Facades, the windows will be inserted into cedar cladding, render and brickwork and the systems will be finished in a durable dark grey polyester powder coating. Each window is double glazed using a combination of clear toughened glass, laminated, low-emissivity or solar control glass to suit the different elevations and orientations.



Purclean franchise expands into Italy: The Purclean Crystal Group, cleaning specialists for windows and glass surfaces, is opening up a new business in Alliste (South Italy) at the end of January in order to push forward its expansion plans in the country. According to information provided by the company, the first Italian franchisees are expected to have their window and glass cleaning businesses up and running by the middle of February. Purclean, which is based in the German city of Cuxhaven, serves both commercial and industrial customers as well as private individuals. The company currently has five locations in Germany. The franchisor is planning to expand across Europe and is currently on the look-out for partners interested in opening up a single business as well as for master licensees who would like to take over responsibility for a whole country.

Ionic Systems has a new website. Since 1997 Ionic Systems has manufactured "The Reach & Wash® Window Cleaning System" enabling thousands of window cleaners to clean higher, faster and safer. They are the world leader in window cleaning systems, with distributors in 17 countries. UK Winter Brochure: "This WInter, it's all about upgrading your income! Our new package deals include a Reach & Wash System and a van as well. We know that you may not want the hassle of finding a suitable van, so we'll make things simple by doing that part for you! Whether you need a brand new or a high-quality used van, we will find the right vehicle and then finance it in the same package as your system."

Jalowka lives in Lake Elsinore, Calif., near San Diego, with his wife Anabelle and their five children. After graduating from high school in 1988, Jalowka attended Georgia State University, but he left to become an actor. With only $100 in his pocket, he loaded a U-Haul and drove to California to stay with a friend. On the way, Jalowka limited his meals so he could pay for gas. In Texas, Jalowka won a steak-eating contest. The prize? He didn't have to pay for the steak. And after the contest, Jalowka was so bloated he didn't eat for days. "I wouldn't have had enough gas money if I hadn't won," Jalowka said. Jalowka ran out of gas just as he pulled to his friend's apartment in Pico Rivera, Calif. Jalowka started washing windows for a living. It was so lucrative he started his own window-washing business, Mr. Window Cleaning Franchise Corp. Today, Mr. Window does business in California, Nevada and Arizona. Jalowka got the idea for the coupon card in 1995 after watching his wife Annabelle spend all of her Sundays cutting and organizing coupons. "We didn't have any family time," Jalowka said. "I realized there's got to be a better way. I have an entrepreneurial spirit, so I thought of the card." To make it work, consumers, retailers and manufacturers would have to join forces -- and his idea would benefit all of them, Jalowka said. With the coupon card, consumers wouldn't spend time cutting coupons. Shoppers would receive e-mails or text messages warning them that a coupon was about to expire. That would bring more people into stores more often. Manufacturers, as part of the application process, would get demographic information on consumers. The card would aid the environment by cutting back on paper. Jalowka said the coupon card isn't exactly a new idea; individual retailers already have them. "We're just trying to make a paperless coupon experience that is completely universal, not tied just to one store," Jalowka said. In June, Jalowka visited Solon for his 20th high school reunion. After entering the Google contest, Jalowka skimmed the reunion directory and contacted key classmates, who offered free help. "You never know when you are going to call on your classmates again," he said. To vote in the Google contest on Tuesday.

Subsidy for Bills will hit new high: Erie County taxpayers will set a record for the Buffalo Bills in the 2009 season. Local taxpayer support for the team will average more than $900,000 for each game played in Western New York. It's largely because the Bills now play a preseason and a regular season home game in Toronto rather than in Orchard Park's Ralph Wilson Stadium.
This corner of New York must make do with eight chances each year, no longer 10, to bask in the team's full economic might. But the taxpayer allowance for "game-day expenses" and for "operating expenses" to run Ralph Wilson Stadium will, nonetheless, tick upward again with a price-index adjustment. The Bills paid $5.5 million in stadium expenses for the most recently concluded lease year, which ended July 31, before the 2008 season. The largest single cost was the $1.7 million for utilities -- gas, electricity and water. More than $1 million was spent on stadium salaries and more than $1 million on "general maintenance" -- plumbing repairs, trash disposal, window cleaning, pest control, but also for miscellaneous needs such as bottled water, soft drinks and office supplies.


Paul McHugh began the new year with the prospect of his home going under the hammer after he had experiencing the trauma of repossession. The 40-year-old self-employed window cleaner is set to lose his former council house in Castleford, West Yorkshire, on Wednesday, when bailiffs repossess it. He will move into a £17-a-night bed and breakfast and his 14-year-old son will go to stay with his mother. McHugh bought the house for £56,000 less than two years ago under a right-to-buy scheme, but he has been unable to pay the mortgage. "I feel sad that the house is going, but I hope I will be able to come to terms with it. I have had bigger disappointments in my life," he says. "If someone buys it at auction and makes money out of getting it cheap, I won't hold it against them. "If I could buy a house and just leave it until property prices recover, I would do the same, " he adds. "I will be sorry when it has gone, but it is not the end of my world. It is only bricks and mortar in the end, and nobody has died." Davey says that with 75,000 repossessions forecast this year, the trauma is going to affect a broader range of people: "With the recession hitting financial services, we are going to see a different profile of people who get repossessed."