Unearthing the Secrets of the Past: Remains Found By Workers at Georgetown Home
(washingtonpost.com)


The masonry workers carefully removed part of the old rowhouse's brick foundation and began excavating the dirt on the other side. First they came across some wooden planks. Then they found what looked like human remains -- a jaw, most teeth still intact, several joints, some ribs... She knew that a human skull had been excavated in her neighbor's yard nearly half a century earlier and that the park across the street stood on the site of one of the city's oldest and most prestigious burial grounds...
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I saw this film. In the next scene, the chairs are found mysteriously stacked on the kitchen table and the TV starts disgorging the walking dead.

Annoying Neighbors : Humor and Horror Stories In Your Town
I haven't been able to post for a day due to some poltergeist in Blogger cyberspace. Here's something not to be missed. A sample:


jenkintown, Pennsylvania, United States
Last Updated: 10/1/2004 10:03:38 AM
I have this neighbor who has lived on the street since she was 7-get a life! Anyway she thinks she owns the block and she is the mayor or something. Well, it just kills her that I can't stand her and have basically said so. Then yesterday I get this page out of a self help calendar in the mail with no return address...can you say wacko? Anyway, I wrote on it that she wins, she is crazier than I thought and mailed it back to her! What a nutcase.

Macomb Daily : Former Marine vows to continue fight to fly flag 01/23/05
A Macomb Township man said he will appeal a recent court ruling that forced him to remove a Marine Corps flag from the front of his condominium.
John O'Brien, a former Marine, said increasing and anticipated support from fellow Marines locally and across the nation contributed to his decision to appeal the December ruling in which a Macomb Circuit Court judge ordered him to take down the flag because it violates condominium association rules.

O'Brien argues that no rule exists preventing the flag, and the order violates his First Amendment right to free speech.
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Discovery Channel :: News :: Roman-Era Britons Lived In Suburbia
Now, that's what I call a story...

A spa treatment followed by a trip to the suburbs for a bit of shopping and dining sounds like a day in the life of a wealthy suburbanite, but it also could describe someone's schedule from around the 1st century A.D., as archaeologists in Bath, England have identified an ancient suburb located outside of Bath's main city center. Since suburbs dating to the Roman period also have been found around other major cities, such as London, the finding adds to the evidence that suburban living is not a modern phenomenon.
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Boing Boing: Shag's house profiled in LA Times
Mystery Reader provides this glimpse into the life and crib of one Shag, a "pop surrealism artist," who lives the life of the cool and eccentric.

Boing Boing: Relocation of Futuro-House
Mystery Reader send along this piece about a house that looks like a UFO...but the house, says the piece, is intended to reflect "the optimism of the 60s." I never thought of the 60s as being optimistic, but then I wasn't a hippie, so maybe I missed the whole Zeitgeist or Zeigfeld or Gemeinschaft, or whatever.

News - Input sought on homeowners groups - sacbee.com
The California Law Revision Commission has a 95% success rate with the state legislature, and if you want to influence their recommendations, now is the time to speak your piece. Send them an e-mail.

The California Law Revision Commission is scheduled to meet today in the state Capitol to hear public testimony about its proposal to create an oversight agency for homeowners associations.
The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m. in room 113. The commission will take comments on its proposal for a new state bureau and might approve a final recommendation to legislators, officials said.

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When a Home Isn't Safe | theledger.com
This is an editorial:

A little-known fact in Florida: Just because a homeowner has homestead exemption, it doesn't prevent a homeowners' association from foreclosing on the home for failure to pay association dues. "I don't want anyone to go through what we went through," Robert Denson, 42, told The Miami Herald this month. He lost his Boynton Beach home in 2003 when the association foreclosed on a $1,200 debt it was owed.
...This session, Florida legislators need to give associations an alternative before the step of foreclosure is taken.
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KPHO Phoenix - Many HOA's Demand Winter Lawns Despite Drought Warnings
Fred Pilot passed this along. This has been reported in Nevada as well, and it is really amazing:

No matter how much rain has fallen recently, we're still in the thick of a long-term drought. Many valley residents are complaining their Homeowner's Associations are forcing them to waste water, by requiring green lawns all year round.
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TheDenverChannel.com - News - Bill Would Allow Signs, Flags In HOA-Controlled Neighborhoods

This is from Denver, CO. Seems the legislature there is following along behind Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

A proposed state bill that could regulate what your homeowners' association can tell you to do will be considered by state legislators this session. Lawmakers behind the bill say they really want a balance between the HOA and homeowners.State Senator Bob Hagedorn - (D) Aurora came up with the bill to regulate the HOA and allow such things as flags, political signs and xeriscaping, if the homeowner wants them. "We have constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression," said Hagedorn. "We have a Supreme Sourt decision that says people have the right to put up a political yard sign (in their yard)."
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Flying for Columbine? Michael Moore's Bodyguard Arrested on Airport Gun Charge


Filmmaker Michael Moore's (search) bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unlicensed weapon in New York's JFK airport Wednesday night...Moore's 2003 Oscar-winning film "Bowling for Columbine" criticizes what Moore calls America's "culture of fear" and its obsession with guns.


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I know this is off-topic, but the irony is just too rich for me to resist. Here is the leading proponent of the theory that middle America is irrationally obsessed with fear of crime and has a crazy desire to be armed. But he, himself, has an armed bodyguard.

Oh, well. Perhaps Moore is "different" than we mere mortals. Maybe he is a higher order of being, and thus not subject to the same moral laws. Or something.
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UPDATE:
The company that (apparently) employs this bodyguard says he isn't "Michael Moore's bodyguard." I don't know what they mean, exactly--that he has never guarded Moore, or just that he was never directly employed by Moore? There have been other reports that Moore has armed bodyguards, and if those stories are true the issue remains the same--as far as Moore is concerned. I didn't include the bodyguard's name in my snip of the Fox News piece, and I don't see any reason to do so now. The issue is Moore's apparent hypocrisy (if these reports are true), not the fact that some fellow, who may or may not ever have guarded Moore, makes his living as a bodyguard and carries a gun. As far as I'm concerned, he's welcome to it, as long as he obeys the law.

WSJ.com - The Housing Market's Dangers
Millions of Americans became stockholders in the late 1990s, just in time to experience the biggest bear market in a generation. Does the same fate await millions of first-time homeowners?
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Well...I sure hope not.

HOAs, legislators battle to a draw

Ladies and gentlemen of Gilbert, attendees of the Ninth annual Congress of Neighborhoods Community Expo, come one and all, to a Saturday morning battle royal.

In this corner, we have Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, who says homeowners associations have too much power, a defender of little old ladies getting kicked out of their houses by the big, bad HOAs when they don't pay their fines for leaving the garbage can out.

In the other corner, we have the HOA board members and representatives from property management companies, tired of whiny residents who don't bother to read the rules or trim the hedges and still complain, fed up with hearing how HOAs are evil.
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Rocky Mountain News: 'A happy balance' sought for HOAs
Bill would address strict rules, liens, insurance concerns

Fred Pilot send this link--as he puts it, "Looks like a reformist brushfire breaking out in Colorado, too."
No American flags. No Xeriscaping. And definitely no political yard signs until right before the election. Welcome to life under some homeowners associations.But take note: Two Aurora Democrats are scheduled to introduce legislation early this week that would lift restrictions, including on landscaping and displays. The bill, by Sen. Bob Hagedorn and newcomer Rep. Morgan Carroll, also addresses association liens, board meetings and insurance issues.
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Real Estate News - Reminders of racism, old covenants linger on records - sacbee.com
Gregg Fishman and his wife moved into Sacramento's upscale Arden Park neighborhood in 2001, enchanted by the shady Modesto ash, lush parks, large lots and friendly atmosphere. They didn't realize that along with their 1950s-era California ranch-style home they were buying a piece of America's racist past.Tucked into their property records, in tiny type, is the "Racial Occupancy" clause:
"No persons of any race other than White Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building or any lot except ... by domestic servants of a different race domiciled with an owner or tenant ..." The language is contained in the "covenants, conditions and restrictions" originally developed for the neighborhood, and is similar to restrictions imposed on millions of homes nationwide, dating back to the 1700s, when property first was recorded by cities and counties.
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These covenants have been unenforceable since 1948, after the USSC decision in Shelley v. Kraemer, but they still exist in older properties.

CAI weighs in on proposed HUD rule requiring HOA and condo assessments to be escrowed like property taxes

Here is their press release. All the bold text is my emphasis:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAI Gives Qualified Support for Escrowing Association Assessments
ALEXANDRIA, VA, JAN. 14, 2005 – Community Associations Institute (CAI) has told the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that it supports the concept of a proposal that would require lenders of Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage loans to escrow community association assessments.CAI provided written comments January 10 on a proposed rule developed by HUD in response to concerns that assessment liens often have priority over FHA-backed mortgages. HUD said its proposal was developed out of a desire "to protect the viability" of homeowner and condominium associations by providing a method giving greater assurance of associations being able to collect their assessments.Although CAI supports the concept of escrowing assessments, the Institute says there are practical issues that need to be resolved before the escrow provision is adopted. These issues include the schedule by which escrowed payments would be made to associations; how special assessments should be processed; administrative costs to associations, and a variety of logistical and administrative challenges.CAI is urging the agency to participate in a stakeholder group that can investigate these issues and develop potential solutions. CAI says the ultimate goal of such a consensus committee would be to draft a proposed rule that addresses these major concerns.CAI stressed that community associations should retain the ability to collect assessments directly from homeowners and use all available remedies, including the last resort of foreclosure, to collect overdue assessments. CAI also pointed out that the proposed rule should require full payment of assessments from escrow at the time the association begins a new year, regardless of whether an association operates on a fiscal or calendar year."This is a critical issue for association-governed communities," says Molly Foley-Healy, CAI’s senior vice president and general counsel. "Assessments are the lifeblood of community associations, the resources that enable associations to meet the established expectations of homeowners. We stand ready to work with HUD to do whatever is necessary to ensure that these substantive issues are resolved."Foley-Healy added that CAI will support a rule only if it does not usurp the legal responsibility of homeowners to pay association assessments.CAI also told HUD that the proposed rule needs to exclude escrowing special assessments, which are fees occasionally levied by associations to pay for large projects such as street paving, major building repairs and disaster-recovery.CAI’s comment letter to HUD can be accessed at www.caionline.org/govt/regulatory/index.cfm.The public comment period on the proposed rule closed January 10. HUD is reviewing the responses to the proposed rule.CAI is the only national membership organization dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive, competent community associations. The national organization and its 50-plus chapters represent managers, community association volunteer leaders (homeowners), management companies and the professionals who provide products and services to planned communities.For members and general inquiries, contact the CAI Direct customer service team:Community Associations Institute225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 300Alexandria, VA 22314Phone: 703-548-8600Fax: 703-684-1581Email: CAIdirect@caionline.orgMEDIA CONTACT: Frank RathbunPhone: 703-548-8600, ext. 261Fax: 703-684-1581Email: FRathbun@caionline.org

LOP approves entrance sign for soldier
Fred Pilot sent this along--a followup to a story I posted below. This is more like it. Too bad it took a rap on the beezer to get their attention.

And once again, another great big

WELCOME HOME!

from The Privatopia Papers, too.

ScrappleFace: CBS News Switches to Reality Gameshow Format
(2005-01-11) -- When life hands you a lemon, the old saying goes, make lemonade. CBS News President Andrew Heyward is doing just that, announcing today that the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather will be re-launched on March 10 as Myopic Zeal: The CBS Evening News Gameshow.
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Lake of the Pines man wants to welcome son home from Iraq with banner at main entrance:Homeowners association says it is against bylaws
A Lake of the Pines soldier may not get the hero's welcome his father envisioned.

Gary Stokes, 49, of Lake of the Pines, was told Monday that posting a "welcome home" banner at the gated community's main entrance would violate homeowners association rules.

"I was just so blown away," Stokes said Tuesday. "I'm still amazed."

U.S. Marines Pvt. Sean Stokes, a recipient of three purple hearts for injuries sustained in battle, is expected to return to his hometown Feb. 4. A grenade exploded three feet from him and a friend standing next to him was shot in the head, his father said.
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WELCOME HOME, HERO!!!

State: Opinion a win for tax districts
Mike Van Sickler of the St. Petersburg Times wrote this interesting story about community development districts, a more public variation of privatized government than HOAs, but similar in some respects. There's a quote from me a ways down:

TAMPA - Cities and counties have no authority to monitor the special taxing districts fueling Florida's suburban homebuilding boom.

So says the Florida Attorney General's Office in an advisory opinion that could stifle attempts by Tampa officials to find out how a developer spends the millions he collects from homeowners in a New Tampa subdivision.

The opinion also could further weaken oversight of these districts at a time when they are the most popular way to build gated communities in Florida, particularly in Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

In the past five years, the number of districts has surged from 94 to 295 in the state, tripling the number of people who are governed by private developers.

"What people don't understand is that we're seeing a revolution in government," said Evan McKenzie, author of Privatopia: The Rise of Private Government. "We're moving away from all-purpose governments, like the New York City of the 1960s, to smaller, more specialized governments controlled by private interests. Now that more of us live in this new world, the question is: Who oversees it? The answer so far is: No one."
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