Apartment Choice

SOUTH BEND — The city's historic preservation agency Monday rejected a request by South Bend schools officials to demolish the old Marquette School building , a plan that has been in the works for years but has met with resistance from preservationists. The South Bend-St. Joseph County Historic Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the South Bend Community School Corp .'s request to demolish the 1937 building to create more outdoor space for the current Marquette Primary Montessori Academy . Elicia Feasel, the commission's executive director, recommended that the panel deny the request. In a report to the commission, she concluded that the school corporation had failed to prove the types of safety issues that would justify demolishing a local historic landmark . The commission agreed and voted 4-1 to deny the district's request for approval to demolish the building. Several members faulted the school corporation for building the new Marquette school in...

UConn’s place in the Hartford skyline . Hartford — For nearly a half-century, the University of Connecticut has had no place to call its own in the state’s capital city. Today that changes as Connecticut’s flagship university opens the doors of its new $140- million downtown branch campus on Prospect Street . The arrival of the campus, which comes after five years of false starts and setbacks, is a milestone for the university and the city of Hartford. Hundreds attended the grand opening ceremony downtown Wednesday morning . For UConn, it marks the institution’s return from the suburbs into the heart of the city – where the school first opened its Greater Hartford branch in 1939. It moved to West Hartford in 1970. The university, in the years since, had been able to continue to claim a “presence” downtown. Some of UConn’s graduate business programs are housed in a space it leases in 100 Constitution Plaza, and the university’s basketball and ice hockey teams play games in the XL ...

view slideshow (4 images) PREV         NEXT A couple who owns a small plot of farmland on Park Avenue near the Lincoln Tunnel alleges that the Township of Weehawken has blocked their efforts for 15 years to clean up their property and develop it into luxury apartments. Konstantinos and Helen Natsis, who have fought numerous court battles against Weehawken over their property at 353 Park Ave., have also leveled allegations of political retaliation in recent media interviews . The troubles began around 2004, when the Superior Court of New Jersey ordered the township to perform a slope stabilization project on the Natsises’ property. That project was done to bring the slope in line with the town’s steep slope ordinance . The ordinance limits development on the Palisades Cliffs to protect its structural integrity and the integrity of properties above it. The town’s work included repairing pipes and installing fencing to avoid rock slides . The town also worked on a leaking clay...

A recent housing study conducted by the city prompted debates online from residents who oppose the idea of multi- family housing in Maricopa. Read the study here Saturday morning, residents continued the discussion during “Councilman on the Corner,” a public forum held regularly by Councilman Henry Wade . “This subject seems to have resonated when I put it out there in Facebook and social media as to a question I posed,” Wade said. “It generated quite a bit of discussion, although that question was quite a small part of what the housing assessment is all about.” Some residents argued the apartment and condominium units would bring down property values and attract crime. “I also value that we have low crime, and that’s partly because of the kind of neighborhood that we have,” said resident Leonard Gonchar . Maricopans who support the idea fired back . “As a retired person, I’m not an undesirable,” said resident Karen Balliet , who said she cannot afford the cost of a single-family h...

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) – A man arrested in connection to a nearly four-decade old cold case has now pled guilty to second-degree murder. Authorities say Roger Pollard killed Karen Johnson in Jacksonville on April 19, 1979. Authorities say Pollard beat and strangled Johnson to death while her husband was deployed overseas. He was in the same Marine unit as her husband. Pollard was arrested back in May 2016 for the murder of the newlywed Johnston. Sentencing for Pollard will take place on August 25. “I don’t understand how another human being could do that,” said her husband at the time, Gary Johnson. Deputies and NCIS arrested Pollard in Chesapeake, Virginia; where he was living. Investigators say Pollard was their original suspect. “They had everything they needed except they couldn’t put him in the right place,” said Major Chris Thomas with the Onslow County Sheriff ’s Office. With new evidence, new witnesses, and a grant to cover this cold case investigators say they were fin...

Derrick Rollins, the man suspected of gunning down a man outside an Ardmore apartment building last month, has been captured in Georgia, officials said. Rollins, 24, was taken into custody by federal marshals in Decatur, Ga. He had been evading a massive manhunt sparked by the fatal shooting of John Le, of Narberth, who was visiting a friend in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township the last week of July. Rollins, who has addresses in Philadelphia, was suspected of a shooting in the city before the fatal Ardmore shooting . He is now being held in the Dekalb County Jail pending extradition . It is believed Rollins surrendered to K9 units after he was spotted with a female acquaintance. Le was reportedly visiting a friend on the 2300 block Haverford Road in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township around 6:10 p.m. Saturday July 29 when Rollins allegedly approached and fatally shot Le in the torso. Images of Rollins had been widely circulated following what authorities said ...

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Authorities have identified the suspected gunman in a fatal Charleston restaurant shooting and his victim. Thomas Demetrius Burns , 53, of Charleston, is the man police say opened fire at Virginia's on King Thursday afternoon , according to Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis . Burns was shot by Charleston Police after a hostage standoff, according to Interim Police Chief Jerome Taylor . Burns was transported to MUSC for treatment and was listed in critical condition Thursday afternoon . There have been no updates on Burns's condition since then. The restaurant's executive chef, 37-year-old Anthony Shane Whiddon , of Goose Creek, died after being shot. Whiddon was the executive chef at Virginia's on King Street where the incident took place. He leaves behind a wife and two children. The restaurant's owners released a statement Friday saying they were "deeply saddened and heartbroken" by the shooting and calling Whiddon ...

Saying they were there to do work, the four talked their way inside the apartment. They walked around, as if inspecting the place, but provided only vague answers to the residents’ questions before one stranger turned to the others. “Do you want to do this now or another time?” he asked. “I’m ready,” another said. With that, they attacked — the beginning of 11 terrifying hours for a family tied up and held captive overnight in their Silver Spring , Md., apartment, according to court documents filed in Montgomery County. Police say five intruders entered this Silver Spring apartment building Aug . 1 and held a family captive all night. The family was targeted, police say, because at least one of the intruders knew that a woman at the apartment worked at a check- cashing store; holding her at knifepoint, the intruders demanded she turn over store keys and an alarm code. On Monday, the final suspect charged in the home invasion — the four initial attackers allegedly were join...

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler promised during his 2016 campaign that he would tackle the city's affordable housing crisis if elected. His second day in office, he took over the housing bureau , putting himself in charge of its big decisions on top of his already ambitious workload. But eight months into his term, the mayor has little to show for it. No groundbreakings. A single deal to bring an affordable apartment complex to Northeast Portland . A key policy position on his staff vacant five months after his housing expert quit . He has yet to tell developers what the city will fund if they work to put roofs over needy Portlanders' heads. Wheeler's insistence on painstaking public involvement and the lack of housing expertise on his staff have hampered progress on what he said was an urgent priority. The mayor has also made no decisions about how the city should spend the largest pool of money ever available to address Portland's affordable housing shortage . Wheeler ...