Thankful For Local Business

John Sanders. owner of John's Window Washing, cleans a window at Huck Finn Shopping Center on Monday, March 9. Sanders celebrates 22 years in business, working with his brother, Steve Sanders, and his daughter, Alura Johnson.

Local window washing business owner looks back on a successful 22 years (By Trevor McDonald) -Through 22 years, the business has expanded through word-of-mouth endorsements and countless handshakes.

A local business owner knew he picked the right career path the moment he saw a man cleaning the windows at the Aldi grocery store in Hannibal. When John Sanders asked the man a few questions about the tools of the window washing trade, “it scared him to death.” After working two years at Watlow, Sanders established John's Window Washing, slowly gathering customers along S. Main St. Through 22 years, the business has expanded through word-of-mouth endorsements and countless handshakes. 

In the beginning, Sanders drove around town by himself in a 1986 Pontiac Trans Am, with a step ladder poking out the back. Today, he works out of two minivans on jobs of all sizes, alongside his brother, Steve Sanders, and his oldest daughter, Alura Johnson.

Sanders was born in Germany, but his ties to this area ran through generations. His ancestors settled along Highway 79 years ago. He remembered fondly how he visited aunts, uncles and cousins up and down the scenic river route. Sanders said he loved visiting Hannibal on summer vacations during his childhood years, hanging out in Monkey Run and walking all over town — sharing stories and jokes with people around him.

After graduating from the Munich American High School in Germany, Sanders traveled to the United States for college. After “failing miserably at the college experience,” he took a job with a window washing company in Kansas City, learning the trade in three months. When he moved to Northeast Missouri, his career took root. Sanders' with friendly interactions and positive attitudes. “I never made anyone sign a contract. The mutual understanding is great,” he said.

Dedication defined: Sanders and his colleagues work year-round, including on weekends. He recalled working 60 days in a row one summer. He said the crew is usually on call for residential customers who have events including baby showers, parties, and grand openings, prompting a fill-in window washing. On one occasion, his crew performed a grand opening when it was eight degrees outside. "you can't stop working in the winter, because they don't stop sending you bills in the winter," he said.

During a few deft strokes with the cleaner-soaked fleece and the squeegee, Sanders showed how effortlessly he parlayed his craft, using his 6-foot-7-inch frame and his with 30-inch to 36-inch tools. He reached about 10 feet up the glass with each expertly-placed stroke. He said being fast and efficient, coupled with great results, has helped him keep his price steady. Occasionally, he jokes with an employee inside a business while he cleans. When they pull out a stool or ladder to reach an item on the top shelf, he lets out a good-natured, “You need help with that?”

A local ambassador: When Sanders and fellow crew members wash the storefront windows on Main Street in Hannibal, passersby often hear blues music wafting from the nearby minivan. Sanders said he enjoys helping visitors find places to eat and things to do whenever he can. When he hears someone speaking with an accent, he asks them where they visited from and swaps stories. And if he hears a visitor speaking in German, he greets them in the same language.

In a career spanning over two decades, Sanders said he strove “to be a positive force in my world.” As the crew members courteously interact with others, Sanders said they served as ambassadors for the businesses they worked with and the historic downtown district they strove to keep beautiful.

Conversations, bartering and memories: John's Window Washing takes on jobs of all sizes in Hannibal, Palmyra and Quincy. From a two-window, $5 cleaning job to the much-appreciated, expansive jobs at the Hannibal Regional Medical Group and Hannibal Clinic — no two tasks are the same.

Working in communities where he knows so many people, Sanders has bartered his work for items ranging from pottery to t-shirts and repair jobs. He smiled warmly when he recalled the little things customers gave him over the years — an unexpected tip, Christmas cards for his children. “People have been tremendously kind to me and my kids,” Sanders said.

The view ahead: Sanders said business has increased regularly, even with a changing business atmosphere reflecting more corporate control. He said the days have changed from when he would walk into each business to talk with the manager or employee before receiving payment. Now, some corporations require Sanders to fill out a bill and fax it, removing those personal interactions he loves.

But some of Sanders' jobs still remind him of that bygone era. Specifically, the “mom and pop shops” and Crescent Jewelry stick out in his mind. Sanders can count on a warm conversation with Bobby Heiser when he comes in to pick up payment for his work, a payment which has been the same amount for 20 years.

Those sorts of relationships trump money for Sanders. “I never did this to get rich. I've been down and out where I had nothing,” he said. “I feel rich. This job gives me some flexibility to spend time and vacations with my kids, and my three girls are the focal point of my life. it also gives me the opportunity to interact with all walks of life, and I think that's the best education in life.”

Kansas Kauffman Klean

Click to enlarge all pictures in this series.

Jeremy Lamb, of Excelsior Springs, uses high-pressure hot water to clean the exterior of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Kansas City on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Lamb, a 20-year- veteran of high-rise window washing, uses a main line and a safety line to dangle from the center. Lamb, a supervisor with Shawnee Mission-based MTB Services, has been working on cleaning the interior and the exterior and the exterior of the building for about a month. He plans to be finished by this weekend.

What began as a sketch on a napkin has become an architectural icon and home for the performing arts in Kansas City. The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts has changed Kansas City’s skyline, as well as the experiences of artists and audiences throughout the region. Designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, the building’s most distinctive features are the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Theatre, Helzberg Hall, Brandmeyer Great Hall, its acoustical design and accessibility.

The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts being built.

Each space contains dramatic eye- and ear- catching design that combines sophisticated aesthetics, acoustics and technology with the intimacy of a smaller space and the comforts of home.

The building Features nearly 285,000-square-foot facility with two main performance halls. Exterior surfaces include glass, pre-cast concrete and bead-blasted stainless steel. 27 cables are anchored by the weight of the pre-cast walls and hold up the glass in the lobby. It also has 196 public restroom stalls in the building!

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Click to enlarge.

The Day's Best: A window washer works on the side of a hotel, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, in Atlanta.

Superman Window Cleaner - USA's Fastest Squeegee

Ben Appleton washes the windows of Aflac near Walnut and Eighth streets on Tuesday. Appleton has been washing windows for 20 years. Click to enlarge.

Fulton window washer medals twice in major competition: COLUMBIA - Squeegee in hand, Ben Appleton takes a deep breath and begins. He scrapes, left to right and right to left, up and down the window. This should be a blur of man and window. After all, Appleton is the fastest window washer in the United States. His co-workers call him "Superman" because of his "jaw-dropping" speed. But watching Appleton in action is more a study in well-paced efficiency than blazing-hot speed. Cars aren’t slowing down in the parking lot so their drivers can stop and stare. Someone could hold up a sign - “Look, it’s the fastest window washer in the country!” - and people might not believe it.

Appleton has proof, though, in the form of two medals he almost sheepishly carted back from Florida in February. Appleton works at the Shepherd’s Co., a window-cleaning business in Fulton, and traveled to the International Window Cleaning Association’s annual conference in St. Pete Beach, Fla., Feb. 16-19. He had heard about the convention's contests a couple of weeks before, but he hadn’t given them too much thought. To many people, a window-washing competition might seem silly. To Appleton, it was kind of a big deal.

The speed and medley contests are the highlight of the convention, which is billed as an opportunity for window washers from around the world to network, learn about safety practices, get safety certified and browse new equipment. Believe it or not, window washers traveled to Florida from places like France and the Philippines to attend. And, judging by the crowd that comes out every year to cheer at the competition, most attendees would rather spend their time watching races than buying new buckets.

In the speed competition, where Appleton placed second, the contestants cleaned three 45-square-inch windows, each about the size of a square kitchen tabletop, in the least amount of time. In the medley, Appleton's third-place finish, participants cleaned windows of all shapes and sizes. In each competition, time was added for smudges. IWCA associate director Mandie Bannwarth said the techniques used in the contests are definitely a precise science.

The competitions themselves are shrouded in a layer of window-washing secrecy - if there is such a thing. They’re named for Jim Willingham and Rod Woodward, both deceased, who apparently contributed a great deal to the window-washing world. The IWCA's website credits Willingham with turning speed window cleaning into a sport, and Bannwarth said he is remembered both for his speed and for his somewhat controversial techniques - apparently he'd use too little water so removing it would take less time. There’s even a moment of silence before each competition in memory of these founders before the 15 or 20 contestants pick up their equipment and begin scraping like madmen.

Those moments of silence might have been somewhat compromised this year. Appleton, who didn’t decide to enter the competition until about two hours before it started, said the equipment arrived late. The contests were supposed to take place early in the evening, but the windows, the squeegees, everything - none of it was set up until about 10 p.m. This left audience members bored and anxious. Luckily, there was a nearby distraction. “You have to remember,” Appleton said. “These guys have been sitting, waiting for two hours for the windows to show up, and they’re in a conference room. And right out front of the conference room, there’s a bar.” It sounds like a bad joke. What do you get when you put a group of tipsy window washers in a room with a bunch of glass?

No one, not even Appleton himself, is positive why he was so reluctant to enter the contest. His co-worker Kara Welker said that from the first moment he heard about it, Appleton didn’t really want to compete. He's modest. He doesn't enjoy the spotlight. “I didn’t think he was going to," Welker said. "You really can’t talk him into doing something he doesn’t want to do.” And his last-minute decision to take up his squeegee, the one that led him into the spotlight of window-washing fame? It took him until he saw the other participants practicing. Judging their speed, he knew he had a chance.

Bannwarth said she doesn’t think many of the participants take the contest too seriously - except possibly the speed winner, Frank Lauret, who travels from France every year - but Appleton did seem to have a certain respect for the race. Somehow, he didn’t even crack a smile when describing the moments of silence.

It’s almost as if before he participated and before he saw the contests in person, Appleton didn’t think they were worth his attention. But now that he’s seen the laid-back atmosphere and realized no one’s moving at supersonic speed, the race has become a thing of gravity to him - sort of the opposite of what you’d expect.

“Now that I’ve done it, I think I can cut some time off," Appleton said. "I was 17.5 seconds for three windows. The French guy (Lauret) was 11.75. I think I can get better. Now that I’ve done it, I have it in my blood.” When Appleton returned to Missouri with his two medals - silver in speed and bronze in medley - he got a hero’s welcome. His co-workers, who have called him “Superman” for a long time, just saw the win as adding to the truth of that nickname.

Window washer works on door downtown: Ben Appleton washes the windows of Aflac near Walnut and Eighth streets on Tuesday. Appleton said he got into the window washing business because of his father.

TOP DRAWER: A listing of the honourable, noteworthy, new & what's ahead for business people in Columbia - Ben Appleton, commercial manager of Shepherd’s Co. of Fulton, won two medals at the International Window Cleaning Association Convention and Trade Show in St. Pete Beach, Fla. Appleton won a silver medal in the window speed cleaning competition and a bronze medal in the speed and quality competition. More than 30 contestants from five countries participated in the contest.

Window Cleaning News

Missouri — Tuesday was so hot & sticky it wrapped around you and held you in a big, sweaty hug. The heat intensified the relief of walking into an air-conditioned building. Naymon Holliman had to add a coat to his ensemble of long pants and work boots before cleaning the windows around the ice rink at the Washington Park Ice Arena in Jefferson City, the ones right along the ice that keep pucks from flying into someone's face.

The UK's Strongest Man competition: That is what happened when window-cleaner Paul Wood lifted the title for the second time in a row at Whitstable Rugby Club, Chestfield, on Sunday. More than 500 fans watched weight-lifter Paul, 39, battle through eight rounds to beat 10 other strongmen and clinch the title in front of a home crowd. Paul, who lives in Cornwallis Circle, managed the feat while sporting a natty pleated skirt. Afterwards he insisted. "It's not a skirt, it's a kilt. "For years, men have worn kilts as warriors. I look on these contests as going into battle. "Besides, it makes me feel good, gives me an edge and the crowd seems to like it."
Paul, a competition veteran, trains at The Cell gym in Faversham, and praised the other competitors. He said: "The contestants were better this year. They all put me under pressure. "I was very nervous before the first challenge, but once I won it I enjoyed the rest of the day."
However, there was drama when Mark Clegg from Manchester – Paul's closest rival – burst his biceps trying to flip a lorry tyre and had to be rushed to hospital. Paul said: "I was sorry to hear about Mark but it's part and parcel of the contest. We are all humans pushing our bodies to the limit. Sometimes things break – it's an occupational hazard." Paul is now fighting against the clock to be fit enough to enter the World Strongman finals in South Africa in six weeks time. Pictured - Paul Woods winner above & Paul flipping a car.

Terrified residents watched in horror as a van exploded in flames in a quiet city cul-de-sac. A woman and her daughter were forced to scramble over their garden wall to escape the blaze outside their property in Edgebaston Mead, near Woodwater Lane in St Loyes. And a series of loud explosions shook residents as the vehicle was engulfed in fire. Witnesses described seeing plumes of black smoke filling the street as people rushed to contact the emergency services. Firefighters feared the blaze would spread to nearby houses and residents in the cul-de-sac told the Echo the heat from the fire was so intense that the paint on cars parked nearby started to melt. Workers were fitting cavity wall insulation when their two-and-a-half-tonne van, which was parked on the driveway outside the house, exploded.
The owner of the property, Geraldine McDonagh, a midwife, described the incident as "absolutely terrifying". "We were in the house when I saw the fire from the window," she said. "We couldn't go out the front as the van was parked outside and all I could see was flames. I was absolutely terrified. We went out to the back garden and climbed up on to the rabbit hutch and on to the shed. "I shouted for my neighbour and luckily the window cleaner was there so he helped us down on his ladder. My legs are all grazed from climbing up to the wall. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue control centre received around 17 calls about the incident, which happened at around 10.30am yesterday.

A North East industrial cleaning business, which secured the backing of TV Dragon, Duncan Bannatyne, has won a major contract with private healthcare firm BUPA. UK Commercial Cleaning Services (UKCC) has been awarded the three-year contract to provide services to 304 Bupa care homes across England, Wales and Scotland, beating a large number of other firms from the commercial cleaning sector. It is the latest success for the Washington-based firm, which won £100,000 backing on BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den. Tony Earnshaw, 26, started the business by buying a window cleaning round for £300 when he was 19, turning it into a company with a turnover of more than £1.5m. He said: “We are really looking forward to working alongside BUPA over the next few years. Cleanliness is important in any public setting, but it is a paramount necessity for a respected company such as Bupa. “We pride ourselves on giving the best customer service and working to the highest standards. “I believe this is why we won the contract.” Gary Reed, head of property finance at BUPA Care Services, said “We are committed to ensuring our homes are as clean and well presented as our residents and relatives expect. UK Commercial Cleaning Services demonstrated a professional approach and the ability to cope with our extensive, nationwide portfolio of homes.”

A house, job, healthy body and loving family — these are all things Martin Martinez has. But Martinez spends a great deal of time planning how he can help those without these things. During the community's Independence Day celebration at Palm Springs Stadium, Martinez fed more than 300 people tacos and water which he provided with his own money. “The economy is real hard, and I remember coming to an event one time and I didn't have sufficient money to buy my kids what they needed,” Martinez said. “So I wanted to make sure that no one else had to experience that.” Martinez lends a hand to anyone in need, from the homeless to elderly residents who need rides to their doctor appointments, to kids in need of clothing and school supplies. “I would love to have a van so that I can get the elderly to their appointments and to the store,” he said.
Martinez, who owns a window cleaning company and clothing line, has gotten approval from some of his clients to place boxes in their establishments for donations of shoes, clothing and book bags for kids in school. Boxes will be placed at K-9 Country Club, Palm Liquor, Palm Canyon Tobacco Shop and Calzones Restaurant. Homelessness is another issue that concerns Martinez, who said he has a brother who's homeless because of substance abuse. “It is the drugs that keep him (homeless) and it is his choice to be like this,” Martinez said. “I can't force him to change. He has to want to do it.” Each day Martinez makes the trip out to Sunrise Park to talk to his brother and other homeless people who hang out there. “I come out here and I talk to them. I write everything down about them,” Martinez said. “I keep a profile on each person.”

Brief mention opens a new window on cycling pair: A fleeting mention of Ryde’s distinctive window-cleaning brothers from the Fifties – who got about on bikes with a ladder carried between them - got Tony Lambert writing from Princes Risborough. He said: "I believe their name was either Langdon or Langridge, because I remember they had a sign on their bikes. "They were one of the most familiar sights in Ryde during the Fifties, and when I used to walk to work early in the morning they were always about. "They must have cleaned most of the shop windows in the High Street and Union Street in their time." Well, I can inform Tony their name was indeed Langridge, because the son of one of them – Peter – wrote to tell me. He said: "They were my dad (Tom) and my uncle (Fred). Fred was the older one with a parting through the middle and my father was the one with a parting on the side!"

Oh God! She’s on a crane! In a very literal example of life imitating art, Kelly Brook spent an overcast afternoon dressed in a snazzy pair of Reeboks, standing directly in front of a massive poster of Kelly Brook in a snazzy pair of Reeboks. Anyway, Kelly spent probably around an hour or so voguing for a shaky cameraman - managing to squeeze in a couple of classic “over the shoulder, look at my bum” shots, and at one point she even dared to climb a window cleaner’s crane!

Ding Dong. Times two: Two reasons why officials want to get an application available online soon for residents to sign up for the borough's "Do Not Knock" registry were standing at the mayor's doorstep this weekend — a pair of salespeople who rang his doorbell. "On Saturday afternoon, I was trying to cook and there were two people at the door within an hour and a half," said Mayor Pasquale "Pat" Menna. "One was selling window cleaner and the other selling computer rags." As soon as today or Thursday, Menna expects to have online applications up on the borough website for residents to sign up for the newly created registry that works the same as the national "Do Not Call" telemarketer list. Residents also can fill out an application at police headquarters, in the municipal building at 90 Monmouth St. Borough officials plan to follow the example of Woodbridge, which offers a sticker to warn door-to-door salespeople that the home is on the local "Do Not Knock" registry, Menna said.
Woodbridge, which offers a sticker to warn door-to-door salespeople that the home is on the local "Do Not Knock" registry, Menna said. "We'll duplicate that and have a sticker," Menna said. "We're getting quotes and hope to have them within a week." Last week, Menna warned the council about numerous applications the borough has received for door-to-door sales permits and asked officials to step up an effort to allow residents to apply for the registry online. The two salespeople who rang his bell did not have permits, he said. The law, which was approved in May, does not affect nonprofits or political candidates, so as not to prompt a constitutional challenge on free speech issues.
The list would contain only street addresses and wouldn't identify residents by name, age or gender, Menna said. Salespeople and other door-to-door solicitors, who already are required to register with police, would be given a list of addresses where they're not allowed to ring the doorbell. A similar law in South Plainfield was introduced in April as a response to a home invasion robbery this winter in which robbers posed as snow shovelers. "We want to provide a reasonable safety net for individuals living by themselves, who are concerned about safety," Menna said. "They're entitled to a reasonable degree of privacy."

Drug man an 'idiot' - A dad who tried and failed to grow cannabis in his wardrobe at the family home has been branded an "idiot" by a judge at Doncaster Crown Court. Paul Anthony Meakin was handed a community sentence but was warned it was his last chance and if he offended again he would go to the prison "with the blessing of the community". Mr Outhwaite said Meakin had convictions for possession of cannabis at the same address in 2006 and 2007. There had been other searches of the property when cannabis was found. The window cleaner was also in breach of a suspended prison sentence for a separate matter of affray last year. Defence counsel Richard Sheldon said Meakin had put his liberty and home in jeopardy because of the suspended sentence.

A heroin user who was funding his habit by selling the drug has been jailed for 18 months. Derek Gething turned to dealing after he lost his job as a roofer because of his addiction to the class-A drug. But Gething, 30, was caught with dozens of wraps of the drug stored in a film canister when police raided his house last year. Although he denied he was dealing in heroin, a judge at Swindon Crown Court did not believe him and said the wraps were for commercial supply. Since the arrest he said Gething had stopped using drugs and was at home living with his father, sister and step mother and worked cleaning windows.

Theft from 99p store ends with £100 fine: A recovering drug addict discovered that shoplifting from a 99p store was rather more expensive than actually buying from there after he was fined £50 for stealing a tin of dog food. Jonathan Peacock, 36, was seen putting items into his bag at the 99p Store in Union Street, Aldershot, on July 19, magistrates heard last Thursday (July 29).
Police were called using the town centre traders’ radio system as Peacock headed off to the Iceland supermarket in Victoria Road, prosecutor Ghislaine Watson-Hopkinson said. Two police community support officers stopped Peacock outside Iceland, but as they have no powers of arrest they had to call for back-up from a police officer. Searching his bag, the officers found items from Iceland and dog food from the 99p store, none of which he had paid for, the court was told. While currently out of work and on incapacity benefits, Peacock had previously worked as a window cleaner and was looking to find employment in the near future, the solicitor said. He had been a heroin addict but was now on a doctor’s prescription for methadone, a heroin substitute. Mr Pigott added that the latest thefts had not been drug-related.


The "Glass Delusion Exhibition" on show at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, looks at glass, balance & obsession & runs till the 3rd October 2010. The exhibition title is inspired by a psychiatric disorder, documented in the middle ages, where sufferers imagined parts of their bodies to have turned into glass.

Scaffold Accident in Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Mo. A 54-year-old man was killed Wednesday morning in a construction accident in the West Bottoms area. An old brick building at 12th and Liberty streets is being turned into an art studio, and one worker on the ground was killed. Officer Rob Shorrock said the man was hit on the head by an 80-pound piece of metal that was supporting scaffolding about five stories up. "They were adjusting the scaffolding, getting ready to move the scaffolding. While in the process of doing so, a large piece of metal which holds the scaffolding up on the roof, came unattached, fell down and hit the gentleman on the head," Shorrock said. "Just one of those one-in-a-million accidents -- very bizarre."
The victim was not wearing a hard hat, officials said. Police identified him as Kimberly D. McKinley, of Kansas City, Kan. Witnesses told police that another workman was standing nearby and was able to move before the metal crashed down. Apparently safety bracing on the rooftop had been removed, KMBC's Bev Chapman reported. "It could happen to anybody at any time, really," said Cory Berg, who works on scaffolding a few blocks away. "One wrong turn, and that's what happens." Investigators said it appears the victim was removing an electric motor used to move the cables, and at some point, it pulled on the line to the supports, causing them to fall. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

A 56-year-old man was killed while setting up a scaffolding outside a building in the West Bottoms on Wednesday morning, authorities said. The man was preparing to hoist the scaffolding to work on the exterior of the Design Studios building at 12th and Liberty. A steel portion of the anchoring mechanism for the ropes being used to lift the scaffolding broke loose from the building and hit him in the head, killing him. "There are large cables on top of the roof, they go all the way across the roof to the other side of the building to secure the scaffolding so it does not fall," said Officer Rob Shorrock of the Kansas City, MO, Police Department. "It was just one of those freak things." People in the area say that the crew had been cleaning windows or washing bricks for the past week. The man, whose name has not been released, was a contractor for All-American Scaffold of Kansas City, Kansas. The company declined to comment on the story, but did say that they are conducting an internal investigation. OSHA is also looking into the accident.

More detail here:

KCK man dies in scaffold accident in West Bottoms: A 54-year-old man died Wednesday morning when an 80-pound scaffold bracket fell from a five-story building in Kansas City and hit him in the head. Kim D. McKinley of Kansas City, Kan., owned a company called Design Studio that performed remodeling work. He had been hired to replace old mortar on a building that houses apartments and businesses at 12th and Liberty streets in the West Bottoms. Robert Jordan, who had worked for McKinley for just two days, said he was standing next to McKinley when the accident occurred about 8:15 a.m.
Jordan said they had been using the scaffold to tuck-point one side of the building until a tile lifted and mortar started breaking loose near the roof. An employee from the company that owned the rented scaffolding equipment told Jordan and McKinley to lower the scaffold. “It ain’t safe,” Jordan said he told them. The workers decided to move the scaffolding to another side of the building. They removed safety cables from scaffold brackets on the roof to prepare for the shift.
McKinley disconnected the safety cables on the scaffold on the ground and told Jordan they needed to remove an electric motor from the scaffold. McKinley then hooked the motor to a cable attached to a scaffold bracket — though workers later told police nothing is supposed to be attached to the bracket without the safety cables. When McKinley pushed a button that raised the motor and scaffold an inch or two off the ground, Jordan heard crackling noises from the roof.
Jordan jumped back and shouted at McKinley to do the same. A worker on the roof saw the metal bracket dislodge and yelled for McKinley and Jordan to “Watch out!” But the heavy iron bracket crashed down more than 50 feet and struck McKinley’s head. It also swiped Jordan’s ankle.
McKinley collapsed and didn’t move. An ambulance rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a hard hat, but police said they didn’t think it would have helped. A representative from All American Scaffold, which owned the equipment, was on the roof but setting up equipment on another side of the building when the accident occurred. A man who answered the phone at the company Wednesday said the company was conducting an internal investigation. He declined further comment. Jordan said he thought McKinley may have forgotten that they had removed the safety cables. “They had been working 12-hour days for, like, 14 days in a row,” Jordan said. “It might have slipped his mind that it (the cable) was loose. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Window Cleaners "Virgin Mary" Rock

Man hopes to raise funds with Virgin Mary rock: BILLINGS - Jeff Wahl is hoping that a rock he found along the banks of the Yellowstone River can help pay for treatment to save his friend's life. Wahl, 45, who runs an East Helena window-cleaning business, found an agate in eastern Montana with an unusual design within its amber-colored core. “I could see in this agate what looked like a person kneeling,” he said. When he got home, he cut the agate on his rock saw and revealed what he says is a resemblance of the Virgin Mary kneeling while cradling her baby Jesus. An aura seems to enshroud Mary's head. He calls it the Prayer Agate.
But Wahl is willing to part with the stone so that he can help his friend, Manx Skillicorn, pay expenses as he awaits liver transplant surgery. Skillicorn, of Seeley Lake, has been staying in Oklahoma City with his wife, Jeanne, since October as he awaits a donor. “With everything they're going through, having to stay in an apartment away from home, I just want to do something for them,” Wahl said.
Skillicorn, 63, is battling a tumor on his liver along with chronic cirrhosis caused by a blood disorder that produces too much iron, destroying his liver. He's on the national transplant list, but because the tumor kept growing, he was bumped down. Although Skillicorn has insurance to defray the costs, he said the $1,300 apartment rent he's had to pay in Oklahoma City along with the mortgage and expenses on his Montana home have his family strapped for cash.
Skillicorn appreciates his friend's help. “He needs the money as bad as I do,” Skillicorn said. “I appreciate him anyway.”

"This is no ordinary stone as you can see from the photos. You do not have to guess by tilting your head, or squinting your eyes to figure out what this stone looks like. I found this stone myself off an island in the Central Pacific.The rock was trapped between several large boulders in the surf at the base of a cliff. At low tide it was partially exposed and it caught my eye because it looked like a kneeling woman. When the waves came in and crashed over the boulders the water would swirl all around her moving through the head opening and then back out. I beleive this is also how the cavity was formed that the small stone was in. After getting her to shore I could see half of the small stone and all around it was shell and sand. I rinsed the cavity to find it much deeper and was able to lift the small stone out. I layed it in the cavity and thats when it hit me like a bolt of lightning. I was looking at Virgin Mary holding Baby Jesus. This is what I see and every person I have shared this with sees her too. There is no telling how many years it took mother nature to form this stunning depiction of the Virgin Mary. This phenomenon stands approx 12" tall and other than rinsing her of salt water and sand it is just the same as the day I rescued it from the ocean and has NOT been altered. The white you see on her in the pictures is coverings from the ocean and adds even more to her beauty. This statue is a miracle in itself just by the way it was formed. A portion of the proceeds from this sale will help a dear friend and her 3 sons one of which has severe dissabilities. I invite the buyer to come and pick her up in person. This is how confident I am about how beautiful she is."

Another Virgin Mary here.

Skylight Fall

Man falls through skylight at GVSU Kirkhof Center: Allendale, Missouri - Emergency crews say a window-washer fell through a skylight at the GVSU Kirkhof Center and was rescued after dangling from a cable inside the building. The accident happened around 1 p.m. this afternoon on GVSU's Allendale campus. Campus security says the man who fell was John Badour, an employee of Gemmens Caulking. They say Badour was applying caulking to windows in a skylight when the glass broke under him. Officers say Badour's safety harness kept him from falling all the way to the floor below. Badour dangled on the cable for several minutes until co-workers pulled him up to safety. Campus security officer Minh Lien says Badour suffered a cut in the fall, but no serious injuries. The man was taken to Spectrum Butterworth as a precaution. No one else was injured.
This follows on from last week in Brampton, Canada: A window washer survived a harrowing tumble off the roof of a Brampton apartment building last Wednesday afternoon when he managed to crash through a window into a top floor apartment.