Sunday Window Cleaning News

Maintenance worker Larry Scott cleans the windows Thursday at the entrance of The Farmers State Bank and Trust Company in Jacksonville. Mr. Scott said he noticed they needed cleaning when he saw the sun shining through. “I just couldn’t stand it any longer. I had to come out and clean them,” said Mr. Scott.

Mitcham window cleaner accused of stealing from blind customer: A Mitcham window cleaner has been accused of stealing after money went missing from the home of his 73-year-old blind customer. Scott Stevens, 24, of Morden Hall Road, appeared at South Western Magistrates Court this week accused of stealing £160 in cash from pensioner Beryl Standcombe when he visited her on August 27 last year. The court heard how Stevens had known Mrs Standcombe for three years and often had a cup of tea with her at her home in Westlands Terrace, Balham. Stevens pleaded not guilty to theft and elected a crown court trial. The case was adjourned until February 20 and Stevens was released on conditional bail.

Scottish Cup fever grips Ayr family: CUP fever has gripped one Ayr United-daft household. The McJannet clan have gone football crazy ahead of this Saturday’s Ayrshire derby at Somerset Park. Window cleaner Ronnie and wife, Betty, are devoted members of the club’s admin staff on matchdays. Son David plays for Ayr United’s amateur team, nephew Nathan is a Somerset programme seller and even the boyfriend of daughter Alyson plays for an Ayr fans’ team. So it’s safe to say there’s only one team to support in the McJannet household. She insisted: “I think the score will be ten hundred – nil to Ayr.” Final result: Ayr United 2 - 2 Kilmarnock!

Scratched Glass dispute makes appearance in the UK: A ROW over damaged windows is set to be resolved thanks to your consumer champion. William and Kathryn Mark had told me how the glazed units appeared to be marked on the outside. Now the units are set to be replaced after the couple asked for my help. The saga started when William and Kathryn noticed the marks while cleaning the windows. They blamed contractors working on an extension to their neighbour’s property but the contractors deny responsibility. Electrician William, 50, said: “It appeared to be cement and it would not wash off. “We obtained advice from a window company that any attempt to remove it with a scraper could scratch the glass. “Weeks passed and we were told by the contractor that it was not cement but burn marks. “I believe the marks are in keeping with a Stihl saw or a similar tool.” The couple, of Gateshead, entered into a prolonged discussion with the contractors J D Joinery, of Gosforth, Newcastle. William said promises were made to replace the damaged window. But the windows remained unrepaired months into the dispute. And that’s when I was brought in to find a way to resolve the row. Joe Dixon of J D Joinery denied workers had used a Stihl saw or any other grinding tool at the front of the property. So there is, a dispute over the cause of the marks. But there is no dispute that Joe had agreed to “sort it out” for William. William says so, Joe says so, even neighbour Jan Hopper says so. Jan said: “Mr Dixon spoke with Mr Mark on a few occasions and agreed to replace the windows as a gesture of goodwill.” I spoke to Joe on several occasions and he confirmed he had promised to get the windows sorted. He told me: “There is a dispute over who did the damage. “We cut at the back of the house and the damage is at the front. “There are two sides to every story and the truth is somewhere in the middle. “I did say I would “get it sorted” and I will not deny that I said it. “That might not have been the words but they were the sense of what I said.” That begs the question: Why wasn’t it sorted? William said arrangements were made to measure up but just fizzled out. Joe said: “I was not going to chase it up.” That’s when I asked him to chase it up and make arrangements with his sub-contractor to measure up as a prelude to replacing the units. Joe said: “I’m sorting it, I’m doing it, I know it’s going to be a thumbs up in your page, a little tick in the box, but it’s not fair.” I told Joe we would not be having this conversation if he hadn’t offered to sort it out in the first place. And, indeed, was it fair to make a promise and not keep it? Arrangements were made to measure up last Friday before the replacement goes ahead. That’s why Joe is getting the thumbs up he was expecting.

Kirklees row over charity cycle ride: COUNCIL chiefs in Kirklees who axed support for a charity cycle ride which last year raised £5,000 have been accused of being shortsighted. The Kirklees Charity Ride, now in its third year, attracted upwards of 300 cyclists last year and organiser Coun Martyn Bolt had hoped to get 1,000 riders this year. But Kirkleees Council announced before Christmas that officers would not be helping to organise the event. Coun Bolt said that in previous years the council's support had amounted to the equivalent of £7,000 in officer time.
Determined to go ahead with this year's event, the self-employed window cleaner said: "It's shortsighted of them and I am disappointed they have decided to axe what could have become a national event with the potential to promote exercise and healthy living and to take the name of Kirklees around the country." The charity cycle ride, which this year takes place on Sunday, April 26, begins in Huddersfield and takes in Holme Moss and other Yorkshire locations over a 75-mile route, taking about four hours to complete.

Esther Knobel Tuzman, 87, of Jenkintown, a Holocaust survivor, died yesterday at Sunrise of Abington of kidney failure. A native of Krasnystaw, Poland, Mrs. Tuzman was a teenager when Germany invaded her country. Her widowed mother, Esther, told her to go into hiding from the Nazis, who were killing Jews or sending them to concentration camps. Her mother told her to keep her faith in God, and made her promise that she would do everything she could to save her life. Mrs. Tuzman, who had red hair and spoke Polish, was sheltered by a Christian family for a time. She later told her daughter Ani that she was sometimes forced to hide beneath the floorboards in the barn or in the woods. After the Russians ousted the Germans from Poland in 1944, Mrs. Tuzman met her future husband, Arnold, a quartermaster in the Polish army under Russian command. She tried to sell him boot polish and discovered that he also was a Jew. They married in 1945, and immigrated to the United States in 1947. They lived in New York City for three years before moving to Vineland, N.J., where other Jews had formed agriculture collectives inspired by the Kibbutz movement in Israel. The couple raised chickens in Vineland for 10 years before buying a window-cleaning business in Jenkintown. In the late 1960s, they purchased the Emerson Apartments in Northeast Philadelphia. Their son, Marty, eventually took over the window-cleaning business, and the Tuzmans sold the apartment building four years ago.

Soccer ace Cristiano Ronaldo has dumped his married lover, The People can reveal. The Manchester United star had been branded a "slimy toe-rag" by the husband of Ukranian beauty Olena Haynes, 25. Ronaldo, 23 - who cheated death in a car crash this week - blew the final whistle after he and Olena were pictured enjoying a romantic night out. But gutted John has NO plans to take back the wife he met in Ukraine five years ago and is pressing ahead with divorce plans. The window cleaning boss, 50, said: "I haven't seen her since all this happened and I want nothing to do with her."

Insightful window cleaners - don't you just hate them...