Golf, Cheques, Wind & A Library For Window Cleaners In The News

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.

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. 

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.

Tragedy Of Wakefield Window Cleaner Who Plunged Off Faulty Ladder

Tragedy of Wakefield window cleaner who plunged off faulty ladder: A safety conscious window cleaner suffered fatal head injuries after falling from his ladder, an inquest heard. Roland Jungbauer, 43, was a former scaffolder turned self-employed window cleaner with a conscientious attitude to safety at work, Wakefield Coroner's Court was told.

There were no witnesses to the fall, which happened as Mr Jungbauer, of Ossett, was working at a house in Grey Court at Outwood, Wakefield, last March 9. Householder Katie Mellor was out when Mr Jungbauer was cleaning her first floor windows. Coroner's officer Colin Mantell said when she returned home, just before 3pm, Mr Jungbauer told her: "Let me in I'm freezing." Mr Mantell added: "She opened the door and he collapsed in the doorway."

Mr Jungbauer was taken to Pinderfields Hospital at Wakefield and later transferred to the intensive care unit at Leeds General Infirmary. He did not regain consciousness and died from a severe, traumatic brain injury at LGI seven days later. In a statement read to the court, Mr Jungbauer's sister Sally said her brother was a "conscientious worker - always aware of his own safety." She added: "He used to be a scaffolder and was used to working at heights. He did not take risks and to the best of my knowledge he had never fallen from his ladder before."

Miss Jungbauer's life-long friend and fellow window cleaner Paul Wilkes said in a statement how he noticed after the accident that Mr  Jungbauer's ladders were broken on the third rung up, adding: "I know he only bought the ladders last year. He always kept his equipment in good working order." Recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner Melanie Wiliamson, said: "Tragically, for some reason Mr Jungbauer did fall from his ladders. We do know the third rung up was broken, how that happened we do not know."

Original blog here.

Man falls through window at Regina's Central Library: A man fell through a full length glass window inside the Central Library in Regina on Wednesday. It's unclear exactly how it happened, but people around the library were shocked. Darryl Lachance walked into the library just as the man fell through the window. He said it was worrisome. "That's scary when you come downtown and see something like that especially at the public library," he said.

The fire department said the man was distraught and had to be restrained. He also had multiple cuts on his body. Julie McKenna, the deputy library director at the Regina Public Library noted staff worked fast to help the man. "The staff reacted quickly. They called 911," said McKenna. "We are in the process of boarding it up right now cleaning up the area. Of course there is some blood in the area, so that has been safely cleaned up." She said the Central Library is still open and they will have permanent glass put back in as soon as possible.