Apartment Choice

On Aug. 9, 2007, Lansing police discovered the beaten body of 46-year-old Debra Renfors in her apartment in the 1000 block of North Washington Street . Renfors was the third woman to be bludgeoned to death in the city in two weeks, and a grim reality was beginning to set in. Det. Sgt. Joey Dionise confronted Captain Ray Hall , giving voice to a fear that had been bubbling for days. “Captain,” Dionise said, ”We have a serial killer. Years later, Hall still remembers the “sinking feeling” that accompanied that moment. Ten years ago this month, Lansing was in the grip of a killer who preyed on single women, using whatever was convenient to murder them, and, in some instances, sexually assaulting them. Before police caught him, he had killed five women in just over four weeks. A sixth woman would survive. Matthew Emmanuel Macon , then 27, was eventually convicted of two of the murders, and the assault of the surviving victim. When detectives got Macon in an interview room, it would take ...

Grassroots efforts to establish rent control in more California cities could get a boost from the California Apartment Association ’s decision to abandon its lawsuits seeking to overturn voter-approved rent-control laws in Richmond and Mountain View. The association, which represents landlords, posted on its website late Friday that it has “suspended its legal efforts” to overturn Measure V in Mountain View and Measure L in Richmond. “I hope it emboldens other communities to not be chilled by threats of lawsuits,” said Juliet Brodie, a Stanford Law School professor who helped draft Measure V. Judges in Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties had previously ruled against the association’s motions for preliminary injunctions seeking to halt implementation of the measures approved by each city’s voters in November. A full hearing on the merits of the case in Richmond had been scheduled for May 24; that is now canceled. The association claimed, and still believes, that the laws cons...

Schuyler Dixon, Ap Pro Football Writer Updated 12:25 am, Sunday, August 13, 2017 Photo: Gus Ruelas, FRE Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Image 1 of 5 Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott during NFL football training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas) Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott during NFL football training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas) Photo: Gus Ruelas, FRE Image 2 of 5 Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott runs with the ball during NFL football training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas) Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott runs with the ball during NFL football training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas) Photo: Gus Ruelas, FRE Image 3 of 5 Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott runs a drill during NFL football training camp in Oxnard, Calif., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)...

Despite having already received a zoning change to redevelop a parcel next to the Damen Brown Line station , the owners of the property at 4646 N. Damen Avenue have returned with a new plan which includes the neighboring property at 4650 N. Damen and bumps the density from nine dwelling units to 24, Chicago Cityscape reveals . According to the zoning application, which was introduced to the Chicago City Council in July, the plan comes from developers John and Robert Mangan’s Mangan Builders. The proposed development will replace what are currently two Victorian- era single family residences . According to the zoning application, the developer indicates that the house at 4646 N. Damen was acquired in 2016 while the adjacent property at 4650 N. Damen was purchased way back in 1978. In addition to the 24 apartments planned for the site, the developers are also proposing 4,000 square feet of ground- level retail split into two separate spaces. With its proximity to the Damen Brown Line ...

Verginia Ghobrial-Said feels as though City Hall is stealing from her and her family. It's hard to blame her. In May, she and her husband Ramez Said received their utility bill from Enmax for a whopping $4,070.44. More than $3,800 of that bill is for water that Vergina says her family never used. The 31-year-old investment adviser assistant says she received the usual email from Enmax one morning, informing her that her bill for May 15 was available. When she opened it, however, she was shocked. "I was on my way to work when I read the amount on my phone and it was $4,000," she said. "I thought it must have been an error, but I was getting fast heartbeats until I could phone Enmax at 8:30 a.m. I had two hours of severe anxiety." Those two hours have turned into four months of tears and frustration with Enmax and Calgary's Water Services, with no satisfactory resolution for the young couple and their 14-month-old son, Sebastian, other than a huge bill they m...

Photo: Andrew Shurtleff, AP Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Image 1 of 19 A protestors yells as Mayor Mike Signer listens during the Charlottesville City Council meeting Monday , Aug. 21, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. Anger boiled over at the first Charlottesville City Council meeting since a white nationalist rally in the city descended into violent chaos, with some residents screaming and cursing at councilors Monday night and calling for their resignations. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP) less A protestors yells as Mayor Mike Signer listens during the Charlottesville City Council meeting Monday , Aug. 21, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. Anger boiled over at the first Charlottesville City Council meeting ... more Photo: Andrew Shurtleff, AP Image 2 of 19 A tour bus drives past the Central Park statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims , Tuesday Aug. 22, 2017, in New York. Critics want New York City to remove the statue in Central Park that honors the doctor who used slaves i...