Window Cleaner Finds Bomb + Other News

Window Cleaner finds bomb: A father-of-two posed for photographs unaware he was holding a live Second World War anti-tank grenade after digging it up in his back garden. Paul Davies, 32, found the undetonated bomb and thought it was part of an old lawn mower or machine. He took it into his house, where his friend used a camera phone to take a picture of him joking and holding the eight-inch device. Mr Davies, a window cleaner, then placed it near his sink next to some washing up where it sat for more than two hours.
But later in the morning he had a 'bad feeling' and after checking the internet, he realised the rusty lump of metal was an anti-tank grenade. He threw it into his back garden and called police, who evacuated 12 nearby homes and summoned bomb disposal experts. They set up a 100 metre exclusion zone around the house before taking the bomb - which was still live - to a nearby field to blow it up. Mr Davies, of Exeter, Devon, said: 'I couldn't believe what was happening. I dug this thing up and it looked like a part of some old machine. 'I took it inside so I could show the kids when they came home from school and my mate took a photo of me for a laugh and I put it down the side. 'A bit later on I suddenly thought it might be dangerous and had a look on the internet. I said "I think it's a bomb".
'I can't believe I had it in my hand and was posing for a picture. The bomb team told me it was still live.' A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said the anti-tank grenade was detonated by experts at 12.50pm on Friday. He said: 'The bomb disposal team took it away and blew it up. We visited homeowners and asked them to leave their houses to retreat behind a cordon. Twelve properties were affected.'
Mr Davies added: 'It wasn't buried that deep in the earth. I've asked around and apparently the guy who used to live here years ago had an air raid shelter. 'It must have been buried then. I'm glad I didn't hit it with my spade when I dug it up - it could have been kaboom.'

Insurance fraud continues to rocket in 2009: Southampton, United Kingdom - A gentleman claimed for damage caused when he was cleaning a window, fell backwards over a rocking horse and falling into a display cabinet and grandfather clock – twice! He claimed with two different insurers but was caught out.

But men are the ones taking home most of the money earned. Since the start of the year, approximately 6,848 Jamaican workers have gained employment in the US and Canada through overseas programmes offered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Approximately 4,848 persons departed Jamaica between January to August under various employment programmes in Canada. According to the MLSS, the farm work programme continued to attract much interest with 4,721 persons leaving the island to work on farms up to the end of August. Other workers have been engaged in mushroom harvesting, window cleaning, construction activities, tree planting, seafood packing, the fast food industry and the hydroponics sector.

WHAT I DO: José Garza, high-rise window cleaner pictured above washing windows at 345 California St., 700 feet above the sidewalk in San Francisco." José Garza has worked 28 years as a window cleaner. Hundreds of feet above the city streets, in fog and cold and heat, he descends the face of commercial towers in a motorized rig that's alternately called a stage, a platform, a trolley or a scaffold. Garza, 51, has worked the last 22 years for Lewis & Taylor, a San Francisco building maintenance contractor, and for 10 years was president of Local 44, the window washer's union. He moved from Guadalajara, Mexico, to the Bay Area in 1973 and lives in Vacaville with his wife, Eunicia, a laundry presser. They have three children.
The first time I got on the scaffold I was more excited than scared, actually. 'Cause I really wanted to start this job. Even today when I step over the ledge, every time, I feel the little butterflies in my stomach. It's normal for a window cleaner, I guess. But it's just for a minute. You get in the scaffold and you start working and you forget all about it. We do office buildings, hotels, apartment buildings, sometimes houses. I'd say 80 percent of the jobs are high-rises in San Francisco. The tallest building I work on, 345 California St., is 48 stories.
I've seen a lot of things over the last 28 years. A naked woman. People making love. Sometimes they don't care. They just close the drapes or something. But some of them get mad and call security. And when I'm cleaning the window I just pretend like I'm not looking at anything. There's always two of us in the scaffold. It takes about four, five minutes to do a window, then we lower down to the next floor. When you get to the bottom you go back up to the roof, move the scaffolding over and then go down floor-by-floor again. We've been using biodegradable soaps the last 10, 15 years. It's just like dishwashing soap. You put it in the water, a little but not so much that it makes lots of suds. You squish the window with a squeegee and then you wipe off the frame with a sponge so the next window below doesn't have any drips.
Cloudy weather is the best for cleaning windows. When the sun is out the water dries real fast and you leave a lot of streaks on the window. If it's too windy you can't work. It's a safety hazard.
The cold isn't really a problem in San Francisco: Water freezes at 32 degrees and it's only happened once in 28 years that I was working and the water turned to ice. What I like best about the job is, we start early and we get off early. At 6 in the morning sometimes, we're already hanging. Usually by 12 or 1 p.m. you can't work because of the wind, especially in San Francisco.
I leave my house at 4 or 4:30. You have to be careful how much you drink before work - you're on the scaffold two hours without a break - so I have one cup of coffee driving in to work. And then right before I start working I try to go to the restroom. Sometimes you have conversations with other window washers working across the street. Years ago I was the union representative, so I know all the window cleaners. We see each other sometimes, and if I have their number, I call them and say, "Hey, let's go down below for lunch." Do I wash windows at home? Not much, but I do.

POLICE were not to blame for the death of a 27-year-old father-of-three who died after crashing into a lamppost while being chased, a watchdog has ruled. Frank Drury died at Leighton Hospital shortly after the 600cc Suzuki bike he was riding collided with a street light on Northwich Road, Weaverham, at around 3am on July 13 last year. “Suspicious” officers had been trying to stop Mr Drury, a window cleaner who lived at Caldy Way in Winsford, so the case was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The police car travelled at speeds of up to 100mph but never got close enough to the motorcycle to tell Mr Drury they wanted him to stop. Eye witnesses said the vehicle arrived on the scene several seconds after the collision. It transpired Mr Drury did not have a valid driving licence and was not insured. Ms Naseem Malik, IPCC commissioner for the North West, said: “The officers in this incident acted appropriately in deciding to try to stop the motorcycle. They had suspicions which needed to be investigated and subsequently proved well founded. “The officers cannot be held in any way accountable for the collision. This was as a result of the motorcycle being driven at high speed and the driver losing control.” She added: “We will never know whether Mr Drury knew the police car was trying to catch up with him and whether this influenced his driving.”

A man has hit-out after being taken to court – for having a water-fight with his step-son. Murray Kerr, 37, was charged with the alleged ill-treatment of 12-year-old Jordan Cairns after two neighbours saw him pouring water over the lad outside his Edinburgh home. And despite Jordan’s mum Suzanne Young insisting he had done nothing wrong, officials banned him from seeing the boy for six months until the case ended yesterday with a not proven decision. Police had charged him with wilful ill-treatment after two neighbours – Patricia Ann, 47, and Kerry Ann Thomson, 28, – complained that they had seen the boy become upset during what Mr Kerr insisted was a game. The mother and daughter said the boy was “hysterical and crying” after Mr Kerr threw two buckets of water over him. It later emerged the witnesses never actually reported the incident to police until a week later.
Defence lawyer Eddie Wilson said: “If these witnesses had been so alarmed and so concerned by these things, would not any reasonable person have reported that to the police immediately.” Sheriff Fiona Reith QC said she was not satisfied Mr Kerr had done anything wrong. She said: “I do not think there was sufficient evidence to support that Mr Kerr did lock the boy on the balcony. “In all the circumstances I’m not satisfied that the Crown have proven the charge beyond reasonable doubt.” Following his acquittal the shocked out-of-work window cleaner blasted the decision to prosecute him in the first place. And he claims that the neighbours were simply targeting him over other fall-outs. Mr Kerr said: “I’m delighted at being cleared. “But it was a waste of tax-payers’ money dragging me through the court system for a water fight.

Professional services - Jack's Maintenance Service, a Neenah professional cleaning services company, has acquired Brite-Way Services of Greater Wisconsin, a Mosinee high- and mid-rise window cleaning company. Cornerstone Business Services, Green Bay, brokered the sale.

Free Window Cleaning - Cockenzie Power Station, Scottish Power, East Lothian: The existing facility had been due to close in 2015 but now, operator Scottish Power is expected to apply for permission to replace the plant with a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station. The move has angered community representatives who fear many locals are in the dark about the plans. Information pamphlets being distributed by the group say census results indicate that cancer and cardiovascular illness rates in the area are above the national average, while local doctors surgeries report high rates of lung problems. Councillors say there have been complaints about excessive noise levels, while residents who live closest to the station can request courtesy car and window washing because of high levels of air pollution.

THEFT in Meltham, Sept 8. Suspect in vehicle seen to steal window cleaner’s ladder which was left unattended near to his vehicle. Suspect driving white Transit van T56TNA.