Ever Wonder How Much It Costs to Clean All Those Library Windows? The Fountaindale Public Library has tons of window space. In fact, nearly the entire second and third floors are nothing but windows. Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to clean them?The library's board of trustees found out last week when they approved a measure to hire a window cleaning company to do the dirty work for them. The board will pay the Smudge Free Window and Cleaning Service, a Bolingbrook-based company, $3,460 annually to clean the hundreds of window in the new library. The company will clean the lower windows four times per year and clean the higher windows once per year. The measure was approved at last week's board meeting.
Wicked Winds Whip Through Borderland Sunday (EL PASO, Texas) - Winds whipped through El Paso Sunday afternoon and into the early evening. Construction crews working on the Coronado Tower in west El Paso left a window cleaning cart suspended about 4 feet off the ground. When the winds kicked up the cart began swinging and crashed into the building, breaking two of the windows. KFOX-14 spoke to the leasing company, who sent someone to secure the cart and board up the broken windows.
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| Pulex boab's at dawn: (l-r) Neville Hunter, Paul Lee, Club Pro Jason Laszkowicz, Rebecca Staley, Stuart Staley and Jason Kendrick are taking part in a charity golf day to raise money for Retts Syndrome in aid of Demi Turner, 2, who is Stuart's grand daughter. Picture: Andrew Roe. |
Tot’s family want to raise ‘hole’ lot of cash: The family of a tot struck with a brain disorder are gearing up to get a charity challenge in full swing. Demi-Leigh Turner, aged two, has Rett Syndrome which has caused her to suffer from epilepsy and left her unable to walk. A group of keen golfers and window cleaners, including Demi-Leigh’s uncle Neville Hunter, of Poplar Road, Skellow, and her grandad Stuart Staley, of Charles Street, Skellow, have decided to do a sporting challenge which will see them play five rounds of golf on an 18-hole course in a day.
The dusk ‘til dawn challenge will take place on Tuesday at Owston Hall’s golf course and there will also be a raffle. The group want to raise around £1,000 which will be donated to the Rett Syndrome’s registered charity RettUK. Organiser and Demi-Leigh’s auntie, Becky Staley, 28, of Poplar Road, Skellow, said: “My niece is one of the youngest sufferers who was diagnosed before she was three-years-old but she’s still a happy, loving child. We are hoping to make that little bit of difference by providing money that could help to maybe one day find a cure.”
Cheque guarantee cards check out: It is the final weekend for the cheque card. Forty-one years after they were first introduced, they finally become defunct on Thursday, 30 June. No longer will you have to ask a tradesman to write your card number on the back of a cheque. No longer will there be a guarantee from the bank that the payment will be honoured. Many people are unhappy about the change, but the banks say such payments have almost died out anyway. They point out that the number of people using cheque cards has been falling for years. "In the last five years, the numbers have dropped off by 65%," says Jemma Smith, of UK Payments.
Cheques themselves will continue for at least another seven years, but without the backing of a guarantee. Last year, at least 95 million were written with a guarantee number on the back, although that was only about 7% of the total. Many people still rely on them for paying tradesmen, such as plumbers, carpenters, window-cleaners and electricians. For many of those tradesmen, the guarantee card is important for preventing fraud and making sure that they get paid. "Many people will write out a cheque, whether or not they've got money in the bank," says Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers. As a result, he fears his business will lose out when the guarantee system comes to an end. "No cheque card means cheques may not clear. It's going to be absolute chaos to do away with it," he says.
Cheques themselves will continue for at least another seven years, but without the backing of a guarantee. Last year, at least 95 million were written with a guarantee number on the back, although that was only about 7% of the total. Many people still rely on them for paying tradesmen, such as plumbers, carpenters, window-cleaners and electricians. For many of those tradesmen, the guarantee card is important for preventing fraud and making sure that they get paid. "Many people will write out a cheque, whether or not they've got money in the bank," says Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers. As a result, he fears his business will lose out when the guarantee system comes to an end. "No cheque card means cheques may not clear. It's going to be absolute chaos to do away with it," he says.
The alternatives - Those people who need to use cheques are being advised to continue doing so. They will not disappear until 2018 at the earliest and that date may be changed in 2016. That means the banks have five years to come up with alternative payment methods. In the meantime, consumers can consider using debit or credit cards, paying on the internet, via mobile phones or using new contactless cards. In any case, cheques are falling in popularity. Whether that is because fewer places are accepting them, or because consumers prefer to use other payment methods, is hard to determine. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) insists it is the latter. They say that only one in 1,000 retail transactions now involves a cheque.
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