Guerrilla Window Cleaning

A Plymouth mum turned guerrilla window cleaner to tackle her neighbour's filthy house - because it was putting people off buying her home.

Plymouth mum turns guerrilla cleaner after neighbour's filthy window put off potential home buyers - A Plymouth mum turned guerrilla window cleaner to tackle her neighbour's filthy house - because it was putting people off buying her home. Sue Pearce had had her home on Hill Park Crescent in Plymouth on the market for eight months, and couldn't understand why it wasn't selling.

It was a remark from one potential buyer that gave her a clue, and prompted her to take action. Sue said: "We were looking to move and had had the house on the market for a good eight months, but had very little in the way of viewings. "One couple that did come to have a look around were joking with me about the appearance of next door - it has always been quite a grubby looking house - and were asking if our neighbours were ‘rough’, as they had young children and wanted a nice area.

"I don’t know why, but it ended up playing on my mind, so I thought I’d try and ask my neighbour to spruce its appearance up. "It was only that house that was REALLY bad. I wouldn’t have done it under normal circumstances. "We hadn’t talked to him much before that and I think he took it amiss as he’s elderly and didn’t want to be climbing ladders.

"In the end, I though the easiest thing was for me to just go ahead and do it myself. "It’s like that saying ‘if you want something doing…’ I think at first, my neighbour felt insulted, but it got the job done as the house is now sold. "We haven’t moved far away and actually saw him at the supermarket not so long ago and I think he sees the funny side of it now as we had a good chat."

Family friend Phillip, who owns londoncleaningsystem, said: "This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of guerrilla window cleaning. It appears to be an increasing trend in London and the surrounding areas. We just hope that it won’t grow to a point where we are all out of a job!"

It's Clear To See Who Gives Free Window Cleaning

Lee Burke with Andrew Green, Derek Crocker, Izzy Guest, Zac Ogden and Chris Freestone.

Kind-hearted Plymouth window cleaners volunteer time to make school windows sparkle: Students at a special school organised a tea party to a kind-hearted group of window cleaners who made the school sparkle for free. Derek Crocker and his team from Clear2See for giving up their time to clean the windows at Hannahs Ivybridge.

The Plymouth window cleaning team gave up three days to voluntarily clean windows all around the site as well as the very large front canopy. To say thank you, the kitchen staff baked a cake recognising Derek’s interest in motorbikes and the young people from both Hannahwood and Hannahs School made beautiful thank you cards.

Derek said: “My daughter was born with kidney problems and when I needed help with her people very kindly came forward. “It made me realise that I wanted to give something back to other young people in need so I contacted Hannahs. “I am really pleased that I was able to help in some way.”

Izzy Guest, executive lead at Hannahs at Ivybridge, said: “Derek, the owner of the Clear2See, has gone above and beyond supporting Hannahs at Ivybridge. “He has dedicated so much of his time to improving the environment for all of the children, adults and staff at Ivybridge. “Derek and his team have an amazing work ethic and do not stop until the job is done correctly. He’s such great guy.”

Five For Friday

A collection of squeegees and other cleaning tools hang from Cutrer's tool belt.

Although he has commercial accounts, 90 percent of Cutrer's business is with luxury residential homes in Portland's West End. He enjoys meeting new people, making his own hours and said he makes about $40,000 per year.

Cutrer uses a lift to reach the high windows on an office/garage complex in the Old Port. Scheduling jobs, working weekends, 60-hour workweeks and inclement weather are some of the drawbacks of the business, he said.

Window washer takes cleanliness to new heights - Frank Cutrer makes his living as Maine Panes. Frank Cutrer  has been cleaning windows for a living for the past 10 years, and five years ago he started his own business, Maine Panes. Although he has commercial accounts, 90 percent of his business comes from luxury homes in Portland’s West End. Cutrer says he pulls in about $60,000 a year, which leaves him with about $40,000 after expenses and taxes. Cutrer says he likes meeting new people and making his own hours, but there are drawbacks to the job too. He sometimes works 60-hour weeks, including weekends, and he’s always at the mercy of the weather.

Josh Sherer, 31 of Larry's Window Service cleans windows at the parking structure at 500 Park St. in downtown Des Moines

Window service turns heads downtown: Dangling from the tops of Des Moines’ highest buildings, the window cleaners from Larry’s Window Service have been known to turn the heads of downtown workers. Those onlookers only increase when Larry’s employees don their superhero costumes to clean the pediatric unit windows at local hospitals. The Des Moines-based business got its start in 1969 with brothers Dean and Carl O’Connor.

Original owner Larry O’Connor sold the business in 1989 to his sons, Carl and Dean O’Connor, who run the company today. “When he started in 1969, it was just him. Today, we have more than 60 employees,” Dean O’Connor said. The business cleans windows for residential and commercial customers, and provides pressure washing and building restoration services. “We pressure wash houses and buildings. We recently cleaned EMC and the Younkers building. For building restoration, that’s more waterproofing work and involves a lot of caulking,” O’Connor said. O’Connor spoke with The Des Moines Register about the business.

What is your service territory?

If it’s a big job, we’ll go anywhere in the state. For smaller residential jobs, we stay in Des Moines and the suburbs. For example, we’ll clean the Carroll hospital, the University of Iowa and Iowa State.

Do you have a lot of competition?

There’s no one as big as us that offers as much as we do. There are other one- or two-man operations out there. Some companies will have three or four window cleaners, but nobody to the extent we do.

Do you wash windows year-round?

The weather does play a small role, but we actually do wash windows year-round, especially residential. They tend to be done primarily in the spring and fall, but we will do them year-round. We’ll put methanol in the water on cold days.

Who seeks pressure washing services?

We don’t technically pressure wash residential houses, but we instead use a water-fed pole and scrub the house. It’s often done before it’s painted. We’ll clean the soffits and gutters. We also pressure wash commercial properties, like Meredith’s parking ramp in the spring to get rid of all the sand and dirt from the winter.

When is your building restoration services needed?

If there are leaks in the roof, we’ll be called to fix faulty caulking. We just cut out the old and put in the new. If you have a brick building, you have to wash and reseal those every few years.

What types of equipment do you have?

We have an access swing stage that swings on two cables to reach the windows on high rises, then a motor and platform. We have a rope descent system for repelling down the side of a building sitting on a chair. We have 135-foot lifts and 80-foot lifts. We also use a step ladder and pole for small businesses.

What else does your business do?

We have a side business for anchor points. When you go to a roof and tie something off, you use a roof anchor. Those are to be visually inspected once a year and load tested every 10 years. My brother-in-law and I are working with OSHA to help them understand that better.

Why were your employees this fall dressed as superheroes and scaling area hospitals?

Nationally, lots of children’s hospitals will have window cleaners dress up as superheroes. When UnityPoint asked us to do it, we were very happy to oblige. We went in and met the kids, took photos. It was awesome. We also cleaned the windows at ChildServe in the costumes. It is so worth it and the employees come away from it so inspired. They feel like they’re giving back and making someone’s day.

Chris Parton of Sky Clean Inc. cleans a window on the roof of 21 Battery Park in downtown Asheville.

High-rise window washer has a job with a view: Chris Parton. He co-owns Sky Clean Inc. with his wife, Heather Brooks. Job: High-rise window washer.

How’s you get started? 

About 15 years ago I was in between things, and my brother-in-law had just started a window-washing business in Savannah. So I went and hung off a building with him. I started my own business, but I wasn’t sure I was going to stick with it. Then a couple of months later the Grove Park Inn called and asked me to bid. Miraculously, I got that job, and I’ve had it for 15 years.

Walk us through one of your jobs. 

We do the BB&T building. First we take all of our equipment up to the roof. On the BB&T they have a welded steel rail running all the way around the perimeter of the building. It used to be the support for a suspended scaffolding system, which they don’t use anymore, but it makes an excellent tie-off. We use that to establish an anchor point, and then we start dropping rope over the side.

You’re wearing a full-body harness that comes up over the shoulders and around the waist. You run two ropes, a descending line and a safety line. They’re totally independent of each other — they have independent tie-offs and they’re attached to different parts of your gear. You’ve got a five-gallon bucket with your tools and water and soap. You have a bosun chair, which is just a board with some straps through it, and hooks so you can hang your bucket. You step into the bosun chair, clip it onto your descender, thread it onto your rope, and go over the edge.

Then you rappel down to your first set of windows and go to work. When you finish the lowest windows, you make sure there’s nobody under you. We use cones to mark off the area, but that doesn’t necessarily deter people. You rappel to the ground, detach, grab your bucket, hit the elevator, go back up to the top, move your anchor point to the next drop, and do it all over again.

Have you ever seen anything surprising inside the windows you’re washing? 

We’ve all had that experience. You pop down in front of a window at a hotel or at a college dormitory and there’s someone who is less dressed than they’d like to be under the circumstances. We skip that window and move on.

The coolest thing to see when you’re dropping down is a little kid, especially on a tall hotel. The kids will just be plastered on the glass — they can’t believe you’re out there. We’ve done jobs at children’s hospitals where we dress up as superheroes, or we dress up as elves or Santa for Christmas, and the kids really like that. Actually, they didn’t think it was cool when someone dressed up as Santa. They said, “Santa doesn’t work.”

Occasionally you’ll be washing a window at a hotel and the curtains will be closed. I’ve had people spread open the curtains real fast and almost faint because they weren’t expecting to see someone out there.

What sort of weather keeps you from working? 

Anything above freezing is workable. If it’s super windy, that’s the most dangerous. It can blow your ropes around the corner of the building, or get them wrapped around something, or it can just blow you around. You can also get a lot of updraft, which will blow soap and water straight up onto the windows you just washed.

Who do you like to hire? 

Rock climbers are pretty good with the rope aspect of it. But anybody who’s not afraid and wants to work is potentially a good window cleaner. It’s not rocket science.

Do you ever get scared? 

We used to a do a building in Greenville, about 27 stories. This was in the early days when I was less thorough, and I didn’t want to take the elevator down to the bottom to see if my rope length was right. When I did the drop and got down to the bottom, I realized the end of my rope was about 20 feet off the ground. I was trapped there. Fortunately I had a cellphone on me, so I called one of the guys working with me and he brought a 24-foot ladder. I just rappelled down to the top of the ladder.

To be honest, what scares the pants off me is ladders — being on top of a 40-foot ladder that’s wiggling a little bit. I try not to work on ladders. Forty feet is just as dangerous as 40 stories, and you have no protection if you fall.

What’s the best part of the job? 

We have the best views of anyone. From the top of the BB&T you have a 360-degree unobstructed view of everything. It can be mind-blowing.

Balancing babies & business: Emma Twist with babies Dylan, 3, and Luca, 20 months. Business: Squeaky Clean. Last week, Emma Twist launched the first ever sharing economy window-cleaner service, Squeaky Clean, where she lives in Hampshire and Berkshire. “The idea came this summer when we moved a few months ago,” Twist explained. “I needed a window cleaner, and there was no where to go to find a trusted service or to book and pay online.”

Before joining Campus for Mums and Dads, Twist worked as a director in a digital marketing firm SEO Kings. She signed up to the scheme after seeing it mentioned on Twitter. “I thought it was a great idea to get motivation to really get it going quickly. I’m trying to meet the right like minded people,” she explained. With two young children, it’s easy to get caught up in the “mummy bubble” says Twist. “I’ve been on maternity leave quite a lot for past 4 years, but coming into Campus I feel I can focus on what I want to focus on. That’s really important for your self worth.”

The Campus programme is also already having a massively positive impact on Twist’s business. “It’s steered us in the right direction. Every week you can think ‘have I focused on this enough’ or ‘I need to focus on that more’. There’s always things you can go back on.” “People have such good feedback because they’re also in start ups,” Twist explains. “It’s all about the atmosphere and meeting other mums and dads who have the same struggles. Some days are good and some days are bad but it helps you to know you can get through it.”

TANGERINE DREAM: the Orangeman team of Steve and Toni Thorn with Steve Hughes.

Clean start for Plymouth's Orangeman: A man who started a cleaning business to pay a vet's bill for his sick dog has opened a new dealership in Saltash. When Steve Thorn's pet bulldog contracted meningitis literally on the eve of the new millennium in 2000, he ran up a triple-time £1,300 bill from the vet. Although he had a successful souvenir business, he had cash-flow problems, and a friend suggested he try doing cleaning to raise some quick cash.

Mr Thorn said: "I started the business with my grandad's ladder and £98; this bought me two buckets, a sponge, 2,000 flyers and an orange boiler suit. "It was the only thing in my size – I'm 6ft 2ins – so without much thought I called myself Orangeman. "I started out cleaning windows and washing cars in car parks, industrial estates, anything and everywhere I could think of to bring the money in. "I then moved onto end-of-tenancy cleans, gutter cleaning and such.

"After a bad fall from a ladder while working, which left me unable to work for six months in 2010, I had to slowly rebuild my business. "Luckily I had many loyal customers who stuck with me even during my down time. "In 2014 I decided I wanted to concentrate purely on window and carpet cleaning in an attempt to drive the business forward."

Earlier this year, Steve realised there was a gap in the market. Varitech, which supplies equipment and consumables for window cleaners, had outlets in Newton Abbot and Bodmin but none in the Plymouth and Saltash area. Around the same time, Mr Thorn bought a van from a man who was retiring from business due to ill-health. In conversation, he revealed he was the local distributor for Prochem, which supplies specialist carpet-cleaning materials. Mr Thorn, aged 51, approached both companies, which then made him their local distributor.

In April 2015, Orangeman Cleaning Services Ltd moved into an industrial unit at Forge Lane in Saltash Business Park, in Saltash, and has taken on two new employees: Mr Thorn's wife Toni, aged 38, and an acquaintance, Steve Hughes, who had been made redundant by another cleaning company.

The official opening was carried out by Saltash Mayor Cllr Bill Phillips. Mr Thorn said: "My aim is not to make a fortune, just have a good business which supports my young family and employs good people like Steve Hughes."

Too Fat To Work

Mr Beer's hospitalisation comes just weeks after he was spotted cleaning windows at a takeaway in Plymouth. He previously had four years of unemployment after giving up his job at a cleaning company following a stroke.

Plymouth's 'too fat to work' star recovering after stroke: A Plymouth man who claimed he was too fat to work is off sick from his new job as a window cleaner following a mini stroke. Stephen Beer, the 45-year-old and his wife Michelle, 43, became notorious after they appeared in a TV documentary which featured their £3,000 taxpayer-funded wedding.

The couple managed to shed a whopping 13 stone between them after working out six days a week with Fat-Off-Fit-On fitness gurus Paul Saunders and Mel Loader n East Sussex, and in Plymouth.

Stephen tipped the scales at 31 stone and had not worked since 2011 after being signed off with obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. The dad-of-six who ran his own cleaning firm also suffered two strokes and claimed he needed carers to help him walk. After finding fame the pair went on a diet and fitness regime which saw Stephen lose 11-and-a-half stone and his wife shed five stone.

Four weeks ago Stephen was spotted cleaning windows at a takeaway in Plymouth. But today it emerged he was off sick from work again after suffering another stroke. His wife Michelle, who went from 21 stone to 15 stone, said he was "not well but improving."

The couple used their benefit money to pay for a £3,000 wedding but were so large they were unable to consummate their marriage. However, after losing weight, they were able to make love for the first time.

The couple appeared on Channel 5's 'Benefits: To Fat to Work' in January and sparked outrage when it emerged their wedding was funded by their benefits. Stephen once aspired to be a professional footballer but after leaving school he studied a qualification in care work and went on to work in various care homes.

Since losing weight Stephen - who has been married five time before - has applied for numerous jobs but moaned about being constantly turned down. Before getting hired as a window cleaner, he said: "I've applied for several jobs but got emails back saying I didn't get the job. One person said it was because I was media interest.

"I would be willing to do anything and I would work anywhere. I'm trying to sort my life out by losing weight and sorting out other areas of my life. "At the end of the day it's been going on for too long. The trouble is all these people shouting their mouths off at me - why don't they come up and give me a job then."

Morbidly-obese Stephen Beer, 45, who hit headlines with his wife Michelle, 43, (together above) when they claimed they were 'too fat to work', has reportedly suffered a mini stroke at his home in Plymouth, Devon. Michelle and Steve Beer became national hate figures earlier this year after appearing on Channel 5 documentary 'Too Fat To Work', in which they claimed they spent much of their £2,000 benefits on takeaways.

Can You Name This Window Cleaning Thief?

Can you name this window cleaner?

Can you name brazen Plymouth window cleaning thief? A brazen theft suspect casually walks into a Plymouth store - before making a run for it with £600 worth of window-cleaning equipment under his arm. The man in this video is wanted by police in connection with the theft, which happened on July 11.

He went unnoticed at the time but bosses at the Tip Top Cleaning Supplies store at Faraday Mill in Cattedown later discovered goods were missing - and this CCTV footage appears to show why. The window cleaning supplies shop only opened in August last year and staff said £600 would be a big hit on the business.

The incident has been reported to police, who are investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111.

Window Cleaning News

The six-man crew rappel down from the very top of the museum using two ropes as they wash the Dalí's iconic glass "enigma" windows.

'Tis the Season for Dalí window washing: St. Petersburg: It’s not spring but The Dalí Museum in downtown St. Petersburg is having its annual cleaning. Workers from Bay Area Window Cleaning donned Santa Hats in honor of the season as they washed the Dalí's iconic glass "enigma" windows on Friday. The process takes about three days. Friday is day two of the cleaning. Cleaning the Dalí glass "enigma" is tricky with its curvy surface. The six-man crew rappel down from the very top of the museum using two ropes (one is a backup safety line). The ropes are the kind used in mountain climbing. The crew includes Randy Spears, Anthony Holland, Michael Kott, Mark Reindeau, Allen Murray and Jessie Bradey.

New in the UK! The latest backpack from Window Cleaning Warehouse - the world leaders in the backpack revolution. Now introducing 'The Big Boy', it holds a staggeringly large 22Ltrs of water (This is around 25% more than most backpacks available - almost trolley size) you can now do more jobs with less hassle! Just make sure it's pure for window cleaning. Backpacks are proving to be a vital tool in a window cleaners setup. No matter how big or small your company, there is always a situation that a backpack comes in handy. Easy to fill, easy to use and with a battery life sometimes spilling into days. It's easy to see why they have proved so popular. With the new WCW big boy you can do more work than ever. Features include:

• LED charging lights
• Excellent robust electrical wiring system
• Covered and protected flow controller
• Easy empty release system
• Extra rugged straps
• Strong and sturdy carry handle
• Streamlined and contoured back and base
• Up to 3 days on one charge!
• Lifetime warranty on tank
• 6 month warranty on battery
• Sealed component base.

Wash your hands, it’s good for Northamptonshire business too: Firms across Northamptonshire are this week being told to ‘clean up their act’ as part of National Handwashing Awareness Week. According to figures, UK employers spend more than £9 billion every year in sick pay and associated costs and Northamptonshire business representatives are keen to get the message out that hand hygiene is a primary measure in reducing infection. David Lawrence, managing director of office cleaning company, LCS Northampton, said. ““Having a business with healthy staff is key to success in the current economic environment. National Handwashing Awareness week is a UK-wide initiative to improve a simple procedure in the workplace that can radically improve health.” “Annual costs of £9 billion are the equivalent of £692 per employee.

Together with the latest research from Business in the Community showing that healthier businesses do better than their competitors it is more important than ever to do all we can to improve health in the workplace.” Firms are being encouraged to encourage their staff, whatever their profession, to keep their hands clean, especially after using the toilet and before consuming food. Just a few simple steps such as having soap in staff washrooms and hand sanitizer available can make a big difference to staff sickness rates. Researchers this year also discovered that are more bacteria on the average mobile phone than you will find in a toilet. In tests there was up to 10 times the amount of bugs - which can cause nausea and stomach problems - than were present in a lavatory. Under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990 an employer has a ‘duty of care’ to provide washroom services for its staff. David Lawrence, Managing Director of LCS Northampton encourages representatives from a range of businesses to wash their hands this week. On the left Jamie Williamson-Graff, Managing Director of Wash n Clean Window Cleaner Services.

December temperatures 20 degrees warmer than average in Chattanooga... so far: Even though Matt Ballard, who works for True Shine Window Washers, was enjoying the weather as he washed windows on Broad Street, he said would rather have temperatures a little cooler. "When I'm not washing windows, I'm rock climbing, and cold weather is better for that," Ballard said. "It's nice washing windows when it's not too hot or too cold, but for everything else I do, I'd rather it be cold."

A shining example of scheme success: A Plymouth woman is hoping to clean up with her new business after coming through the Enterprise Coaching scheme. Nicola Sale, aged 48, from the Barbican, has launched Deep Clean and Gleam after completing the business start-up programme. Nicola left her cleaning job two years ago after becoming disillusioned with life working for a company and to have some time to look after her child. But, with the help of Enterprise Coaching, she's set up her business to offer cleaning services to domestic and commercial properties. The Enterprise Coaching scheme, delivered by Working Links and Outset on behalf of the European Development Fund and Plymouth City Council, has helped more than 1,000 people look at launching their own businesses during the past two years. Nicola was teamed up with Working Links business adviser Annette Lovell.

Nicola said: "When I was working for other companies I thought I could go it alone and received lots of encouragement from friends and family so I thought I'd just go for it. "Working Links and Outset have been great. They've been there every step of the way and helped me with ideas about trading and marketing as well as the important accounting information. "I've also updated my health and safety qualifications so I can work in a range of different properties. "It's going well so far. I have a few loyal customers but I'm always looking for more. I don't just dust and vacuum but clean until your premises gleam." Nicola has also formed a partnership with a window cleaner to offer a fuller service. She added: "I'm very lucky as I know three self-employed experienced window cleaners with their own successful businesses that specialise in cleaning fascias and guttering, so as a team we can give the whole package."

Duchess of Cambridge is not a brood mare: The unborn child might be third in line to the throne but first and foremost it is William and Kate's darling baby. It’s an early pregnancy, as fraught with risk as any other. The foetus currently measures about an inch and its feet are starting to lose their webbed appearance. Now the miracle of becoming human can begin. In the brain, nerve cells sprout branches and join up to make miniature trees where, one day, thoughts and feelings will blossom. The textbooks tell us that the hands can now bend at the wrist, though, obviously, it will be many years before the little prince or princess gets the hang of that weird, window-cleaning Royal Wave. Give it time.

New entrants into the payment market, such as Square, iZettle and mPowa, are giving retailers a whole new way to accept payment transactions via mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones. This is just as applicable to the large multinational retailers as it is to the local UK tradesmen. There will be less scrambling around for cash to pay the window cleaner in 2013, as mobile becomes an even more integral part of a transactional process for the digital and physical world. The launch of 4G will only accelerate this.

The British economy is set to contract this year, according to figures published by the Treasury which suggest that official growth forecasts will be downgraded sharply. Tomorrow the independent Office for Budget Responsibility(OBR) will issue its latest bulletin on the state of the economy on the day that  George Osborne presents his autumn statement. The OBR looks certain to lower its prediction in March that the economy would grow by 0.8 per cent this year and 2 per cent next year.

Mr Osborne will announce that a drive by the Treasury and local authorities to save money on 100 existing contracts in government buildings and schools has already achieved £1.5bn, with a further £1bn in the pipeline. The savings include £615m from better use of assets, such as wider use of energy efficient lightbulbs and higher occupation of buildings through “hotdesking;” £630m from bringing services in-house rather than hiring management consultants and £140m from reducing the frequency of services such as window cleaning.

But that wasn’t enough for committee members, who felt the belt could be tightened more: Newmarket Ward 3 Councillor Jane Twinney asked for window washing funding to be removed from the budget and requested staff take a closer look at ways to provide landscaping at the five CYFS buildings that doesn’t cost $5,000 per building. The operation and capital budgets, with the deletion of the staff additions and window washing budget, will be presented to Newmarket and Aurora councils for approval.

Special Assembly election to come in Waukesha County: At least three candidates are running to fill a Waukesha County Assembly seat being vacated by Rep. Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee). Farrow won a special election Tuesday night to the 33rd state Senate district, which opened after Rich Zipperer left his seat to become Gov. Scott Walker's deputy chief of staff. Farrow is expected to be sworn in as soon as Dec. 14 and will leave his 98th Assembly district seat open. The Republican candidates running for the Assembly seat include Jeanne Tarantino, the former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch; Adam Neylon, owner of a commercial window cleaning business and a former legislative and congressional aide; Todd Greenwald, a construction project manager; and Matt Morzy, a student seeking his master's degree in business administration from Marquette University. Spokesmen for Gov. Scott Walker and the Government Accountability Board had no immediate comment on when the special Assembly election might be held.

Children left terrified by Wallsend hammer attacker: Dazed children were left terrified when crazed raider Michael Harrison burst into their home brandishing a hammer. Hooded Harrison, high on drugs and drink, targeted the innocent family for valuables. Despite the fact three youngsters were present at the time, Harrison brandished a hammer and threatened members of the family. Newcastle Crown Court heard the children had been practising a dance in the kitchen when Harrison burst in and were left screaming and crying in terror. The family were left so terrified they have since moved house and changed their car. The youngsters who witnessed it were also left traumatised and still speak of “the naughty man with a hammer”, the court heard. Now Harrison, described as “high as a kite” and “spaced out” at the time, has been jailed for five-and-a-half years. As he was locked up, one of the family told in a statement to the court of the impact the attack had on them. They said: “I was frightened to return to my home in case this man returned. I have no idea why he came in the house and threatened me with a hammer. We keep ourselves to ourselves and since this man entered my home and threatened me I have been terrified.”

The court heard one of the family had popped out for some tobacco at around 5.45pm on June 5 and when another heard the door open they thought it was them returning. But Harrison had let himself in to the house in Wallsend and came into the living room and brandished the hammer above his head. The family begged with him that there were youngsters present but Harrison said: “Where’s Brett, I’m going to kill him. I need to kill him.” One of the family managed to get the children in the kitchen and held the door shut and rang police before they fled out of the back door. As they made the call, Harrison made off with an Xbox, gold bracelets which had been a 21st birthday present, a purse, bank cards, a driving licence and a camera. He was arrested the following day and was found to have a squeezy bottle filled with ammonia. Harrison, 35, of Canterbury Avenue, Wallsend, was originally charged with aggravated burglary but prosecutors accepted guilty pleas to burglary, affray and possessing an offensive weapon.

Jailing him, Judge Paul Sloan QC told him: “You were a stranger to them, had your hood pulled up and you were threatening and aggressive and produced and wielded a hammer above your head. “It is an aggravating factor that children were present when you were threatening with the hammer.” Window cleaner Harrison claimed to be looking for someone who owed him money but the victims were “entirely innocent”, the court heard. Jane Foley, defending, said: “It was a thoroughly unpleasant incident and he is disgusted with himself. It’s the worst thing he had ever done. “The background is money was taken by someone he had loaned it to and he realised he was not going to get the money back and was full of rage."

It rained all summer – but council staff got overtime to not water plants in ‘heat of day’ - It might have been a summer of torrential rain but Barnard Castle Town Council is worried it will be left “high and dry” after only one business responded to a call for someone to water their plants. And costs could increase even more because the work has to be done early in the morning or in the evening so it does not happen “during the heat of the day.” Despite the wet summer, the town council has spent more than £2,600 this year on watering its flower displays, with the high cost attributed to work being carried out in “overtime.”

But the price is likely to increase next year because Durham County Council, which currently provides the service, said it might not be able to do it next year because it is reducing the amount of overtime work it does to cut costs. If it does continue to provide a watering service, it will be at a significantly higher cost. If it does not, the town council will have to turn to a private company. But while local businesses were asked to put forward bids to take on the service, the town council was left disappointed when only one responded, making the process invalid.

Assistant clerk Helen Plant said: “Durham County Council has advised that they may not be able to do it next year but if they do, it will be at a much higher because its done on an ‘overtime’ rate – the watering needs to be carried out during quiet times of the day, first thing in the morning or early evening, partly to avoid watering during the heat of the day and partly to avoid traffic. “The fact they are saying that they may not be able to do is the worry as we don’t want to be left high and dry with the tubs planted up only to die off because they are not being watered. “We did a tender exercise in an attempt to find other businesses to carry out the service and at a reduced cost but only one company responded, rendering the tender exercise invalid.”

The town council is responsible for the maintenance of more than 40 tubs and barrels around the town, in Galgate, Market Place and The Bank. This year the service has cost £2,660 and is likely to increase next year. The floral and open spaced working group, which is part of Barnard Castle Town Council, has recommended the budget for floral displays be increased to £6,000. In this year’s budget £5,000 was allocated for floral displays, which includes the cost of watering as well as winter and summer planting.

Ms Plant added: “If any business wants to come forward they can. Some businesses might not have thought about it. It could even be a chance to diversify for a window cleaning company or maybe a farmer.” At least three tenders are needed to make the process valid. If any businesses are interested they should contact the town council on 01833 690970.

Washing windows isn't on anyone's list of favorite things to do, but imagine the job of washing the windows at CNN Center where soaring glass window walls enclose the towering structure. Well, Covington's Fred Franklin has done it, but that's only one of his high-rise, nail-biting accomplishments. When Atlanta hosted the 1988 Democratic Convention, it was Franklin who rigged and lifted to the roof the sound and lighting stages, hung the ceiling banners and raised thousands of balloons to the roof that would be dropped at the end of the convention. With high-flying experience like that, the daredevil Franklin went on to create a niche career as Franklin Restoration working on church steeples all over the Southeast. It's called steeple jacking, and there's not much he can't do, from repairing or replacing aging structures, to re-caulking and re-painting, to completely replacing roofs in a variety of materials. The job that puts him very close to God, literally and figuratively speaking, and one that Franklin calls "meditative" because he has to remain completely focused on both the details and safety. "I trust myself, but I trust my equipment more," he said. All his ropes, 50'x75' nets and pulleys are tested to hold 10,000 pounds. He works with only one helper, and, of course, tests his own rigging by jumping into it. "It's kind of like a big hammock," he said nonchalantly. He's never had an accident.

Alleged Mob Ties By O'Hare City Contractor Continues To Make Waves: The alleged mob ties of a new city contractor, who is costing more than 300 O'Hare workers their jobs right before the holidays, continues to make waves in the news. A $99 billion, five-year contract was awarded to United Maintenance, Inc. to take over custodial services for the airport. The company is laying off all the current workers, though it is encouraging them to apply for their jobs claiming that it will pay "the prevailing wage and better benefits than employees now receive”, according to a statement. But that is simply not the case, according to SEIU*, which represents the janitors. Currently, the workers earn between $12.05 and $15.45 an hour, based on senority. If rehired by United Maintanence, their wages will be $11.90 an hour, no matter how long they have worked at the airport.

“The mayor will pay airport janitors and window washers $11.90 an hour — a pay cut of 25 percent for the vast majority of the current workforce, who make more than $15 an hour," explained Laura Garza, SEIU Local 1 secretary-treasurer in a statement. "Most of these jobs will pay more than $7,000 less each year.” The union is calling on the mayor to rebid the contract and has been holding a series of protests in response to the impending layoffs. Meanwhile, eyebrows continue to raise over allegations that a United Maintenance official may have ties to the mob. Paul Fosco, vice president of United Maintenance's parent company, was sentenced to prison on racketeering charges related to a plot to defraud the Laborers Union via benefit plans. Alleged mobster Anthony "Big Tuna" Accardo was charged alongside Fosco, but was not found guilty. Mayor Rahm Emnauel has been questioned by the press about United Maintenance's mob ties, but continues to downplay it, saying Wednesday that the contract was competitively bid and that there will be oversight on the contract. SEIU says Emanuel's announcement yesterday of the bidding suspension of three city contractors for failing to follow contract guidelines and pay prevailing wages is nothing more than a ploy to pull attention away from the controversial O'Hare janitorial contract.

Actor Gets Real Job - Window Cleaning

Get a real job. That was the thought uppermost in Dieter Brummer's mind when he starred in Home and Away. The 36-year-old, who played Shane Parrish in the Channel 7 soapie, was one of Australia's hottest heart-throbs in the 1990s. He was the Aussie pin-up boy, a one-man One Direction. Girls screamed. He was on countless magazine covers. Brummer started on Home and Away in 1992 at the age of 15 and had left by 19. He went on to appear in Channel 10's medical drama Medivac alongside Grant Bowler, Nicholas Eadie and Genevieve Picot. Then Brummer pretty much disappeared. In 2007 rumours circulated that he had become a window cleaner - quite a comedown for a bloke who used to be such a huge star.

Where has he been? "I chose to step away from the industry," Brummer says. "The adulation that a program like Home and Away can give you, especially when you are young, was pretty full-on for me. I had so much of that (fame) from the time I was 15 to 20 that I had my fill of being screamed at. "I'd think 'Relax, I'm just a normal person'. There's nothing amazing about me being an actor. I didn't get too big for my boots or too big-headed about it and believe the hype." It was more than adulation overkill. Brummer reveals that deep down he never considered acting a "real" job, even at the height of his popularity . "I wanted to prove to myself and to those around me that I wasn't only good at standing around on a set with a script in one hand being an 'actor'," Brummer says.
"I came from a blue-collar background. My father was a tradesman a medical gas fitter. I wanted to do a real job. "Acting is very subjective. Some people think you're great because of your looks." It turns out those window cleaning rumours are partly true. Brummer runs a company that does high-rise building maintenance work. Before you start thinking "poor Dieter" you should know he loves it. It fulfils something in him that acting can't. "I've always loved working outdoors," Brummer explains. "I found myself in an industry I was comfortable with and had some proficiency at so I stuck with it. I've been doing it for 10 years.

Two sides of the same story ... US truck driver Bill McElligott.

The damage the sun can do: One side of Bill McElligott's face is 66-years-old, the other side is 86-years-old, and his photo will shock truckies, cabbies and professional drivers. Mr McElligott is 66-years-old and the drooping, wrinkled, rutted and prematurely aged left side of his face is the result of sunlight pouring through the window of the trucks he drove for 28 years through Chicago, USA. His damaged face has led to the Cancer Council of New South Wales advising professional drivers to think about getting their vehicles' windows tinted to reduce sun exposure. Mr McElligott's plight was revealed when he went to a medical clinic after his grandchildren kept asking why his face was so different on one side. "We are used to seeing photo damage by the sun, photo aging, every day, but I ws taken aback when I saw how one-sided this was,'' Dr Jennifer Gordon, a dermatology expert who treated Mr McElligott, told The Daily Telegraph from Texas.
Dr Gordon said Mr McElligott spent so much time in his truck and car that his left side was exposed to UVA rays which can penetrate glass and cause the majority of photo-aging, unlike UVB rays, which cause sunburns. "UVA can penetrate window glass, which makes his vocation as a truck-driver important,'' she said. "Although UVB was traditionally thought to be the wavelength that did all of the damage, we now know that UVA leads to skin cancer development as well, but also is the culprit for photo-aging - the change in texture and wrinkling you see. "This is likely because UVA penetrates more deeply into the skin, so although you don't often get sunburnt or develop a tan after exposure to UVA, it causes damage that over time leads to ageing -and can lead to skin cancer.''
He said he often drove with the windows down in summer because his trucks did not have air-conditioning. The Cancer Council of New South Wales said Mr McElligott's face, suffering from what doctor's officially call unilateral dermatoheliosis, was a stark reminder of the damage the sun can do, even while sitting behind the wheel. "It's a shocking image and it shows that you are not out of danger of the effects of the sun by being in a truck or car,'' Cancer Council of NSW skin cancer prevention manager Vanessa Rock said. "There is an argument that tinting windows helps cut the exposure too. I think it would be good if truckies, cabbies, couriers and the like thought about tinting their windows within legal safety restrictions. "You should also be wearing broad spectrum sunscreen which protects against both UVA and UVB even if you are driving all day, and re-apply it every two hours, and wear long sleeves.''

Jumper not window cleaner: A dramatic scene played out at Albuquerque City Hall Monday night.  A suicidal man was on the roof, perilously close to the edge of the building, 12 stories up. All the while the Albuquerque City Council was meeting in the same building just a few floors below. It started just before 5 p.m. and lasted a nail-biting two hours.  A man, who police have not identified, sat on the south wall, 12 stories up.  Police negotiators met him on top of the building in an effort to try to keep him from jumping.  Police down below shut down several square blocks to make sure no one got close to the building. In the end, a negotiator with the crisis negotiation team was able to talk him down off the wall.

The exact reason the man went up there is unknown, but we do know police believe he possibly gained access because he was mistaken for a window washer. "It was an accident some kind of confusion, somebody thought he was a window washer when he wasn't, somehow snuck in and gained access to roof," says Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Officer Nelson Sanchez. The suicidal man will not be arrested or charged for the cost of the police response.  The Albuquerque Police Department said it is going to review security procedures to make sure something was not overlooked.

Man found with can of pepper spray thought it was deodorant (Plymouth, UK): A man found with a can of pepper spray thought it was deodorant, a court heard. Jose Guillen, aged 37, was left the canister by a friend and only realised what it was when someone sprayed it, Plymouth magistrates were told. His solicitor said he put the spray in his van ready to take to the police station – but officers came to his home and found the can first. Guillen, of Blandford Road, Efford, admitted possession of a weapon for the discharge of a noxious substance on February 28.
Elaine Keen, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said officers found the aerosol can near the driver's side door of the van. Stephen Walker, for Guillen, said he was guilty of "technical possession" of the pepper spray. He added a friend, whose name he gave to police, left the can at his address. Mr Walker said: "He did not believe it was what it was."
He added the friend's father sprayed the can because they thought it was deodorant. Mr Walker said: "Quite a noxious substance came out and affected them." He added Guillen, a self-employed window cleaner, put the canister in his van and intended to take it to the police. But Mr Walker said someone "vindictively" tipped off the police about the can. Magistrates fined him £180, ordered that he pay £85 costs and £15 victim surcharge.