Nanaimo Man Cleans Up After Vandals

Kody Laughlin, 21, is a technician at Speedy Glass in downtown Nanaimo.

Nanaimo man cleans up after vandals: Kody Laughlin acted immediately when he learned vandals had tagged a Fitzwilliam Street hairdressing salon window pane. He grabbed some cleaning supplies and drove to the shop to remove the ugly mess. It was gone by the time the store owner arrived for the day. It's not the first time the young man has taken time to clean graffiti off a window.

Laughlin, 21, is a technician at Speedy Glass downtown. Employees there like being downtown, and they do what they can to stop graffiti. "I thought I might just rip up there and get it done," said Laughlin. The tag was on the windowpane of Lou's Salon Barber Shop, one of several brightly painted businesses along the Gallery Row block in the Old City Quarter business district.

George Ewing, who owns the block, saw someone cleaning paint off Lou's window as arrived at GEM Fabrication, Gates and Gifts, his business. He thought it was a contractor for the Downtown Nanaimo Business Improvement District's anti-graffiti program. "I had just gone for a walk down to Wallace Street for a coffee and back and there was this guy cleaning the window. There was a major paint spray on the window," Ewing said. He asked if salon owner Lucinda LaCouvee had called him to do the cleanup. He was surprised to learn the young man did it voluntarily.

The glass specialist had the materials and knowledge to remove paint from glass, and "just decided to do it." Ewing, who'd rescued a heritage building when he lovingly restored the century-old Gallery Row in the 2000s, was impressed by the young man's actions. "It generates a good feeling downtown. It's great," Ewing said. "There's so many opportunities for negativity and so forth, it's nice (to see) the other side of the coin."

LaCouvee, who opened Lou's last July, got a phone call at 7:30 a.m. that day saying vandals had gone around spraying paint on glass windows on downtown businesses. "By the time I got to work, people were in the parking lot in the back, and George told me, 'You won't believe this but a Good Samaritan cleaned it up.'" She later learned the young man was a schoolmate of her son's, at Dover Bay Secondary School. "It turns out I used to drive him and my son to boxing when they were in school together." She remembers him as a "really well-rounded, great kid."

Growing up in Lantzville, Laughlin said he always steered clear of drugs and other negative influences in his youth. "I tried to stay away from that scene," Laughlin said. "I'm not much of a party person." He said he benefited from good role models, including his father, who supported him in everything he did. He recently returned the favour, when his father wanted to help a local baseball team find a coach. "They wouldn't have a team if there wasn't a coach, so I said: 'I'm willing to help them out.'" He said his fellow staff members routinely help when they see vandalism downtown.

Shannon Johnson, a Speedy customer service representative, spotted the graffiti that morning, while out to get coffee. She asked Laughlin if he'd mind cleaning up the mess, and he willingly obliged. "I just thought it was a good thing to do," Johnson said. 

The DNBIA started its anti-graffiti program in 2013. Whenever a business is vandalized, they can just call the association and a contractor will soon arrive to clean up the mess. Each call costs the DNBIA $75, so when people do it voluntarily, it saves merchants. "We're so grateful we have business owners and front-line staff that care so much," said Corry Hostetter, DNBIA executive director. "We're just so proud of folks down here that are like that."

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Window Cleaning Video News Revisited

Facelift van gets an appearance in the background.

55 stone man turns life around: A jobless man has started up his own window cleaning business because he said his weight made him unemployable. Gerald Ash used to weigh 55 stone, but even after losing 20 stone he says it's still hard to get work. So, he's set himself up as a window cleaner and is donating some of his earnings to charity. Ken Goodwin reports. See the original blog here.

No peeking, It even says so on their shirts.

Company features men washing windows in kilts (Boston) - A new business in the Boston area may turn a few heads, because it includes men who are skirting around town washing windows in kilts. They are the kind of window washers where wind could be a problem. "Yesterday was actually really nice really sunny warm so kept the kilt down, no breezes," said Chris Murphy, Men in Kilts. The business is called Men in Kilts. The name says it all; they wash windows, pressure wash homes, and clean gutters in traditional Scottish garb -- and they don't seem to mind. "If you don't look down, it feels like you're wearing shorts,” Murphy said. "Nope, I’m Scottish so I don't mind it at all, paying tribute to my heritage," said Shane Ross. 

The franchise started in Vancouver with only $500. Now, there's one in Holliston which serves the Boston area. People seem to like the idea already. "I got a good thumbs up from everybody. They liked it, they liked the idea of the kilt," Ross said. It's not a job for the bashful; the men have to climb ladders, giving many on the street a view. But, their motto? No peeking. It even says so on their shirts. They’ve already had to remind some people about that rule. "We did a photo shoot last week in Boston. My son was up on the second floor and the women were walking down the street and instead of going around the ladder, they'd go under the ladder. And he just politely said, ‘no peeking,’" said Judy Briggs, franchise owner. And when asked what they wear under those kilts? "You’re going to have to hire us to find out. So, I can't tell," said Murphy. See original blog here.

Sacramento firefighters recover a man's body Monday from the 16th-floor level of a high-rise at 12th and K Street. A rope had constricted his breathing.

Suspected 'extreme graffiti' vandal in Sacramento is identified: The Sacramento County coroner on Tuesday identified a man who died nine stories up an office building in what appeared to be an attempt at producing what's sometimes called "extreme graffiti."Craig Fugate of Vancouver, Wash., was found dead hanging outside the downtown Sacramento building Monday. Police said he appeared to be attempting to vandalize the facade of the building; a spray-paint bottle and a tool for etching glass were found on the roof of the building. Police have been targeting daredevil taggers, who have vandalized such landmarks as freeway signs and the walls of the L.A. River. Earlier this year, a tagger was killed trying to vandalize a freeway sign in the Sacramento area.

In 2006, "Buket," the daredevil tagger who gained Internet notoriety for his brazen, daylight tagging of a sign over the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles and vandalism of a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison. Cyrus Yazdani, 26, became something of an Internet sensation when he plastered his "Buket" tag 20 feet above the freeway -- vandalism that was captured on videotape and posted with a rap soundtrack on YouTube and numerous tagger-related blogs.

In the Sacramento case,  Fugate allegedly used rope to tie himself in a seated position like a rappeller, authorities said. The rope was tied off with a window washing anchor, and fire officials believe that that anchor could have held his weight. But they don't think he was a window washer. The Sacramento Bee reported that the man had two pieces of rope looped around his body in a style used by rock climbers. Battalion Chief Marc Bentovoja told the Bee the Fire Department had no reason to believe the man's death was a suicide. "It looks like accidental more than anything else," Bentovoja said. According to Fox 40, a door was found propped open on the roof of the building at 12th and K Streets, suggesting the man was planning on going back down the stairs.

Man found dead on high-rise not known for graffiti, his uncle says: An uncle of the man who police suspect was in the act of tagging when he accidentally asphyxiated himself outside the 16th floor of a downtown office tower said Tuesday that he never knew his nephew to deface any property with graffiti. "I have never known for him to do that before," Joseph Fugate said of his nephew, Craig Michael Fugate, 30, who was discovered Monday morning as office workers arrived at the high-rise at 1201 K St., just blocks from the Capitol. "He is an artist. I know that," Fugate said. He said his nephew was adept at artwork on T-shirts, including silk-screening.

Sacramento police spokeswoman Michele Gigante said Fugate apparently died accidentally while trying to tag the building's exterior. She said markers, etching tools that could be used to deface glass, and spray paint were found at the scene. Officers also found a stencil. Craig Fugate grew up in Concord and was recently living in Vancouver, Wash. He had told his uncle that he planned to move to the Sacramento area. His uncle said he had been discharged from the Navy on a disability. "He was a really sweet kid," Joseph Fugate said. "He went out of his way to do things with others even though he didn't have the means. He seemed to gravitate toward those who were down-and-out and tried his best to help them."

The Sacramento County coroner's website lists Fugate's cause of death as undetermined. A Sacramento Fire Department official said he had accidentally asphyxiated himself. The rope that Fugate had used to lower himself down the building's facade had looped around his chest and legs, constricting him and pulling him into a fetal position when the rope cinched up. Sacramento police said Tuesday that Fugate had entered the building Sunday. Police said he entered the stairwell and tried to pry open locked doors. Eventually, Fugate reached the top of the 19-story high-rise, which is known locally as the "Ban Roll-on" building. Using rope left by window washers, the man employed an antiquated mountaineering technique to descend to a 17th-floor landing, the Fire Department official said. Then, after retying the rope, he descended to the 16th floor, where he became stuck. See original blog here.