Christmas Lights & Window Cleaning Round-Up

A window cleaner wipes off Sandy’s grunge from a Starbucks at Hanover Square in Manhattan’s Financial District.

Lower Manhattan Still A Mess 2 Weeks After Hurricane Sandy: As storm-ravaged homeowners living on the coasts of New Jersey and New York City continue to pick up the shattered, waterlogged pieces of their lives, pumping out the basement of the world’s financial capital is only beginning. After that come the safety inspections, the mop-ups, the dry-outs and the replacement of massive boilers, electrical boxes and other assorted parts that make up the guts of a skyscraper. Not since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has the tip of Manhattan been so filled with cleanup crews and equipment. Buildings typically filled with office workers sit empty, many still running on minimal power supplied by generators inside or parked beside them.

Greensburg Decatur County Chamber of Commerce: President Tammie Spurlock presents the Small Business Grant to Charity and Logan Wilder of Crystal Clear Window Cleaning. Charity says "We will be purchasing a glass repair system with the funds."

Tri-Valley residents can leave Christmas lights to experts: If you've ever wished for magic elves to put up your outdoor holiday lights, you're in luck. OK, so you may not get actual elves, but there are plenty of companies willing to string your holiday lights for a fee. "Decorating with lights is a high priority for my husband. I call him Mr. Christmas," Beth Cutrer, of Blackhawk, said. "We like the house to look festive, so it's worth it to pay someone to do that for us. It's too big of a job for us to do it ourselves." Safety concerns and lack of time are the two main reasons people fork over their hard-earned cash to have someone else install their holiday lights, said Lou Vandersnook, owner of The Christmas Light Pros Tri-Valley. "There are more people who die on 6-foot ladders than 60-foot ladders," Vandersnook claimed. "A lot of people don't have the time, or they're not used to getting up on those ladders. It's a dangerous job."

Most companies that install holiday lights have other lines of work that keep them busy during warm months, but business drops off when the weather cools. Installing lights is a perfect way to keep cash flowing during the slow winter months. Vandersnook is a prime example. He owns a retractable screen door business that keeps him and his employees hopping from February through October. Once early October hits, the crews get to work on holiday lights. "For a relatively low cost, I could make a little bit of money on the side," he said of the light licensee business he started in 2006. "It was a seasonal business. It wasn't a huge commitment at that time. Now, it's exploded for us. It's a major business."

Troy Davis is a professional window cleaner by trade, but he got into the holiday light business in 1993 to make ends meet during the wet winter months. "I was looking for a creative way to make money," Davis said. "We used to do house (windows) and people were saying, 'I wish I had those ladders for my Christmas lights.' I specialize in hard-to-reach places and things that are hard to get to. I put that idea into Christmas lights. It just kind of evolved."

Davis, who owns Yes We Do, "Do Windows," is like most light installers who offer full-service packages -- installation, maintenance and removal. "You get us knowing how to install everything so the lights are nice and tight," he said. "If anything goes wrong with those lights, we'll come out there and take care of it. Then we come back after the first of the year and take down the lights." Prices vary wildly from company to company. Some charge by the job, others charge per foot of lights. Tiny twinkle lights cost much less than the expensive, energy-saving LED lights. Large houses and houses with hard-to-reach eaves cost more than single-story homes.

One company might do a one-story house in two hours for a mere $150, but that's at the bargain end of the price range. Many companies have minimums starting at hundreds of dollars and offer packages that run into the thousands for homes with elaborate displays on rooflines, trees and shrubs. "When you look at the whole scenario, it's worth it," Davis said of the investment. "We put the lights up, but we also come back and take them down. Most of the people we work with on these big homes think that it's worth it. They're willing to pay someone to put up their lights."

Mariano Sanchez is another professional window cleaner who supplements his winter income through his Holiday Light Pros business. "Some of my clients are older or just don't have the ability to get on roofs," Sanchez said. "We take the danger out of putting up Christmas lights. It's dangerous when you get up two stories. I've been doing business window cleaning for years now, so I'm comfortable with heights." Sanchez also knows how many lights he can safely string together. "If you connect them wrong, you could blow out fuses," he said. "You need to divide the volts equally. It seems simple, but there are some technicalities, and there's danger involved as well."

While some companies will use lights a customer owns, most prefer to use lights they buy in bulk. "We offer everything from small clear-light bulbs to the latest in LED technology," Vandersnook said. "Say they want icicles one year, but the next year they want multicolor bulbs or LED lights. They can make those changes without making a large investment. All they have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the lights." It's important, Vandersnook noted, to make sure any light installer has the proper workers' compensation and liability insurance. Otherwise, homeowners could be sued if a worker is injured on their property. "There's a lot of guys out there who put up the lights and don't have insurance," he said. "Everybody should have certifications in their vehicles that they can show the customer upon demand."

Crystal Nieto, of Pleasanton, has had Vandersnook decorate her home with the old-fashioned large multicolor bulbs since 2008. It's a luxury and a safety issue for her family. "For us, the height and safety were a concern," she said. "We know they'll come and install them and take them down. We would rather have a professional do that than risk our safety." The end result, Nieto said, is well worth the investment. "When we first started to do it, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, isn't that fantastic?' " she said. "The house looked so much better. When you drive around the corner and see what they've done, your mouth drops."

Kilted window cleaners “Get Checked!” Men In Kilts Calgary participate in the Prostate Cancer Centre’s “Get Checked” event with Brookfield Properties, The Bay Downtown, Suncor Energy, and Crowfoot Dodge. Men In Kilts, a full-service window cleaning, snow removal, gutter cleaning, siding cleaning, pressure washing, blind cleaning, and carpet cleaning company, will be participating to help raise awareness and funds for the Prostate Cancer “Get Checked” event on Wednesday Nov 14th at the Suncor Energy Centre. “Participating in this event is very important for me,” says Chris Carrier, owner of Men In Kilts Calgary. ”My father was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer checks are not something a lot of men are getting done so we need to raise awareness and break down barriers. When this opportunity came up for Men In Kilts to participate, I could not think of a better fit and way to get involved."

Breaking Glass Falls From Trump Tower: Glass is covering a section of Adelade street after a window in the Trump Tower was blown out. Witnesses tell Newstalk1010 that it appears that something fell from the top of the building and smashed the glass. Callers into the newsroom said fire officials are on scene and are spraying the ground with water but no fire was seen. It could be to clean up the glass on the ground. Police have confirmed that there were no injuries and one car was damaged when the glass showered the roadway. Adelade was closed at the intersection of Bay.

Kennewick - The average household in the Tri-Cities brings in $50,000. So you might be surprised to learn almost 100 people working for local city government are projected to make twice than this year. KEPR found out Kennewick is paying the most six-figure salaries. Jonathan Schlender represents the average worker in Kennewick. His window-cleaning business brings in roughly 48-thousand a year. But Kennewick has 40 people on the city's payroll making more than twice that. "We have some positions that are critical to the operations of the city. We have professional positions," said Kennewick Finance Director Evelyn Lusignan. Those include positions like engineers, attorneys and accountants. Kennewick says the salaries are representative of their expertise and longevity.

Murray woman warns neighbors of scam after home burglary: Murray, Utah - After her home was burglarized, a Murray woman is warning others of a door to door scam that she believes possibly led to the crime. Carolyn Shipley thought nothing of it when two men claiming to run a window washing business knocked on her door and offered their services last spring.  Shipley says they offered to clean all the exterior windows for 30 dollars.

When they came a second time in August, Shipley noticed one of the men snooping around her backyard. "I noticed one of the men casing the backyard, now that I think about it," said Shipley. Shipley came home on October 16 only to discover her house had been burglarized. The thieves, according to Shipley had taken off with cash and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry. Shipley reported the burglary to police, but never suspected the window washers of the crime - that is until she saw a story air this week on ABC 4 News about door to door scams.

"When I saw that story on Ch. 4 it just clicked, and I thought that's exactly what happened," said Shipley. In the story Shipley saw on the news, ABC 4 had mentioned that the Better Business Bureau is getting more and more complaints of aggressive sellers who scam innocent customers. That's when Shipley put two and two together.  She believes that these scammers cased her neighborhood for months to pull off their elaborate splan. Murray police are investigating the case, but have no leads at this point.  However, they have reason to believe the men who washed Shipley's windows could be involved. They are asking anyone with information to come forward.

Paying back your victim — and then some: In 2010, 26-year-old Simon Crewe allegedly posed as a window cleaner to gain easy access to an 85-year-old woman's home. The young Brit reportedly made off with the woman's purse and about $250. But in the end, wracked with guilt, Crewe not only returned the retiree's cash, but also added a $60 bonus and a letter of apology that contained his name and phone number, which inevitably led to his arrest.