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A HEART-warming response to the Homes for Ukraine scheme has seen 37 households in Rugby borough open their doors to refugees.

Rugby Borough Council (RBC) is carrying out home inspections for residents taking part in the scheme, allowing families to settle in Rugby after fleeing Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The council expects to visit the 37 homes this week to check they meet the minimum requirements that they are warm, safe and not overcrowded.

Residents who have registered for the scheme and who are ready to open their homes have already been contacted to arrange the inspection.

The home inspection process is carried out independently of visa and immigration checks, which are carried out by the Home Office.

Michelle Dickson, RBCs Chief Officer for Homes and Communities, said: Rugbys response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been heart-warming, with many residents prepared to open their homes.

Our inspection process is light-touch and will make sure that homes meet the governments minimum requirements. We have officers ready to inspect homes as soon as we receive the relevant details so that our residents can welcome Ukrainian refugees as soon as possible.

We all wish for a swift end to Russias invasion, but in the meantime we are pleased to be able to give Ukrainian families a warm welcome to Rugby.

Visit http://www.rugby.gov.uk/Ukraine for more information on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, and other ways residents can help Ukraine.

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'Heart-warming' response to Homes for Ukraine scheme sees 37 Rugby households open their doors to refugees - Rugby Observer

Imagine playing poker with X-ray vision, knowing what cards the other players are holding before theyre laid on the table.

Youd be setting yourself up for quite the windfall.

Wouldnt you like the same power when it comes to the larger pots life brings you, like buying a home?

This is where Unreserved is going all in, by changing the real estate model to the benefit of those buying, as well as those selling, their home. Unreserved is an online auction platform allowing buyers to see up-to-the-minute, real-time bids guaranteeing market value or more for the seller. For the first time in the real estate market, Unreserved is giving complete control to the home buyer and seller.

How many home buyers in the past have raised their bid by thousands of dollars, just because they werent sure how high the counter-bids were?

The CEO of Unreserved, Ryan OConnor, has effectively created a way to see your opponents bid on the same property.

Not even your realtor will know for certain what the competing offers are. Unreserved takes the guess work out of it and provides valuable data in real-time, to eliminate blind bidding, so you stay in control of how much to offer, and when.

But there is more to buying a house than just knowing how much to bid.

Todays real estate market moves so quickly that most buyers get caught up in the emotions of wanting a property at all costs. With so many listings being sold in 24 hours, it gives buyers little time to decide how much to bid and, in most cases, forces buyers to waive a home inspection.

Unreserved has an answer to that, with a two-week viewing period allowing potential buyers the time to decide on whether they are truly interested in the home, allowing them to move forward with confidence instead of buying on emotion.

Interested buyers can book a private showing through their agent or independently if they decide not to use an agent, and can follow it up with their own home inspection, if they so choose.

However, Unreserved goes one step further, conducting its own home inspection before the house is even listed.

Zach, 25, a recent home buyer, dealt with the frustration of houses selling the same day theyre listed, before he and his fianc could even view the property.

We had to waive the inspection if we wanted the house. I wish we knew of Unreserved. It would have been a different story.

Leave it to Unreserved to take the unknown out of the equation, leaving more money in your pocket.

Unless you like to gamble, of course.

Read more here:

Taking the 'gamble' out of buying a home - Ottawa Business Journal

The tanks rolled into Trostianets, a sleepy town 20 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border, in the first hours of the invasion. Russian troops fanned out across the town, occupying a number of buildings: the forestry agency headquarters, the railway station and a chocolate factory.

Their top general set up his office in room 23 at the local administration building, where the councils accountants used to sit. His bottle of single malt is still on the desk, the butts of his slim cigarettes perched on the edge of an ashtray. He slept on a single bed stolen from a nearby hotel.

His men lived one floor below. They appear to have slept, eaten and defecated in the same rooms, and some of them may have died there too, judging by the bloodied Russian uniforms littering the floor.

Thirty days after they arrived, amid a fierce Ukrainian counteroffensive, the Russians left Trostianets in a convoy of tanks, other armour, trucks full of loot and numerous stolen vehicles they had daubed with Z signs, the symbol of their invading force.

The carnage they left behind will be remembered by the residents of this quaint, historical spa town of 20,000 residents for the rest of their lives, and is yet another indictment of the results of Russias unwanted liberation mission in Ukraine.

In the square outside the train station, there is now a grim panorama of several mangled tanks, the whitened carcass of a self-propelled howitzer and a shot-up yellow bus with blood smeared on the seats. Hundreds of green ammunition boxes and casings remain, evidence of the shells and Grad missiles the Russians fired from Trostianets into neighbouring towns. Surviving buildings have been daubed with pro-Russian slogans, and crude insults about the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

On a two-day visit to the town, the Guardian found evidence of summary executions, torture and systematic looting during the month of occupation, but it will a take a long time to catalogue all the crimes the Russians committed in places like Trostianets.

For now, the long and difficult clean-up is under way. Ukrainian sappers have removed mines and tripwires from the cemetery, the train station and even the chocolate museum, housed in an elegant villa where the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky once stayed. Electricity returned for the first time in weeks on Sunday. The first passenger train since the invasion arrived at the wrecked station on Monday. But the streets are still littered with the twisted remains of Russian armoured vehicles, and there is nothing to buy because everything has been looted.

Over the weekend, residents wheeled bicycles to the points across town where parcels of food aid were available: cartons of eggs, jars of pickled cucumbers and plastic bags bulging with potatoes, sent by volunteer groups in other parts of Ukraine. In the orderly but irritable queue to receive them, people embraced acquaintances who they were happy to see still alive, and swapped horror stories from the past month.

Spotting a journalist, ever more people joined in, shouting over each other. They smashed my place up. They stole everything, even my underwear. They killed a guy on my street. The fuckers stole my laptop and my aftershave. A symphony of stories, some of them personal, some of them second-hand, all of them awful.

This is a place where a decade ago, people had mostly good things to say about Russia, which is just a short drive away and where many people have friends and family. Now they competed to heap insults on the neighbours that had brought misery upon them. Barbarians! Pigs! Bastards!

Yuriy Bova, the mayor of Trostianets, said it was too early to give a reliable estimate of how many civilians the Russians had killed. It was definitely more than 50, but probably not hundreds, he said.

Bova now struts about town in fatigues, a pistol tucked into the front of his body armour. At the time of the invasion, however, he cut a very different figure.

The idea of a Russian invasion had seemed fanciful to him, he admitted. Nonetheless, as the crescendo of US intelligence warnings continued, he called a meeting of those who would like to join a territorial defence force.

About 100 people turned up. There are no military installations in Trostianets, and between them, they had a few hunting rifles, a couple of pistols and a few policemen with Kalashnikovs. They agreed to ask Kyiv for weapons.

But it was already too late. Three nights later, the invasion began. By breakfast time, a huge column of Russian armour was already on the outskirts of the town. Bova sent a group of foresters to cut down trees along the entrance road, which won them a few hours, and in mid-morning he called another meeting of the territorial defence unit.

Trying to fight against tanks with a few rifles would have meant certain death, so I took the decision that we would become partisans, said Bova. People had a few minutes to decide whether they would stay or go. The mayor and his deputies left town, retreating to neighbouring villages.

When Ukrainian forces blew up a bridge to the south of Trostianets, it stalled Russias advance plans, and the town became a hub of Russian servicemen and armour.

Local residents retreated to their basements and waited to see what would happen. Some of the first interactions with the occupiers were relatively painless, residents reported.

We were scared of them, but after a while we started pitying them. They had dirty faces, they stank and they looked completely lost, said Yana Lugovets, who spent a month sleeping in the basement with her husband, daughter and friends.

She said a soldier who had come to search the house where they were staying left without completing the task, his eyes filled with shame as her daughter cried out in fear at the intruder.

Daria Sasina, 26, who ran a beauty salon near the train station, said when she went to check on it and found seven Russian soldiers had broken in and were sleeping there, they were initially apologetic.

I started crying, I was in hysterics. There was a young soldier, and he calmed me down. He said: Listen, Im sorry. We didnt know it would be like this.

Many people recalled similar polite exchanges, or flickers of shame in the eyes of the intruders, but any interaction with the occupiers involved enduring a game of Russian roulette. A few days later, when Sasina, her husband and father went on a risky mission across town to deliver bread to a 96-year-old great aunt, a group of Russian soldiers sprang onto the street behind them and pointed their weapons at them.

There were 20 of them, and they started shouting: Run, bitches! We ran through the mud as fast as we could, our legs were freezing and soaked and we were terrified. They started shooting in the air. We could hear them laughing, they thought it was hilarious.

When Sasina went back to check on her small salon the day after the Russians had left, she found they had stolen thousands of dollars worth of expensive hair dyes, shampoos and nail polishes, the hairdryers, all the cutting equipment, a sofa, all the chairs, several lightbulbs and the art on the walls. An air conditioning unit was left dangling down from the wall, its cables having proved stronger than the desire to steal it.

In return, the Russians had left clumps of their own shaved hair on the floor, and piles of faeces in the neighbouring grocery shop. Somewhere in Russia, the wives and girlfriends of soldiers will presumably soon receive gifts of high-end beauty products. For Sasina, she does not know how she will afford to rebuild her salon.

Everything I worked to build has been destroyed, she said.

The mayor has been criticised by some for his decision to flee, but Bova insists it was the only sensible option. Flicking through photographs on his phone from the occupation days, he showed how people had sent him information about Russian deployments, including from one brave local who managed to fly a drone over their positions.

People told us where theyre sleeping, where theyre eating, where their hardware is, said Bova.

As the Ukrainian army called in strikes on the Russian positions, the Russians became more and more angry.

An expletive-laden audio recording released by the Ukrainian security services purportedly shows a Russian general ordering a missile strike on civilian targets after receiving incoming fire from a nearby village. Wipe the whole place from the Earth from the eastern side to the west, he says.

As they came under fire more frequently, the Russians cut mobile reception in the town, and went house to house, demanding to examine peoples telephones for compromising information. A handwritten note found amid the mess of the soldiers quarters in the train station lists the names of possible enemies to hunt down, with extremely vague identifiers, such as drives a white off-road vehicle.

In Bilka, a quiet, windswept hamlet just outside Trostianets, where the Russians based more than 200 vehicles, at least two people were executed. Alexander Kulybaba, a pig farmer who protested against the takeover of his barn, was shot on the spot on 2 March, the day the Russians arrived in the village.

Mykola Savchenko, a kindly electrician with a handlebar moustache, who together with his wife, Ludmyla, had six foster children, went out on the first morning to find somewhere to charge his and his wifes mobile phones because the electricity was already down.

Im just popping out for five minutes, he told her. He never came back.

Ludmyla stood outside her home weeping on Monday, holding a stamped death report from the police that explained in neat handwriting that her husband had been brutally tortured and then killed with a shot to the heart and one to the head. An inspection found broken bones in his fingers and arms.

I didnt say anything to the children, because they are small and they still dont understand everything. Every day they waited for their dad to come home, but he never did. Yesterday, I said to them: Sit down, I will explain everything, she said.

The youngest of her six children is four, the eldest 11. They stood alongside her, lined up like nesting dolls, silent and confused.

Ludmyla insisted her husband had not been active in the resistance to the Russians, but many locals were. On a nearby street, a farmer explained how he hid his smartphone in the dirt inside the pig enclosure, and carried round an old brick phone as a decoy to show to Russian soldiers if asked. Then, in the darkness of night, he would dig up his real phone, scurry to the one spot where he knew there was still reception, and send the new locations of Russian hardware to a relative in the Ukrainian army.

Then they sent in the Bayraktars and fucked them up, he said with a cackle, referring to the Turkish-made drones that Ukraine has used with deadly effect against Russian columns. The Russians are dogs, they are subhumans, they are locusts, he said.

The boiling fury felt towards the Russians in villages such as Bilka, where people speak a mishmash of Ukrainian and Russian and previously felt far removed from geopolitical concerns, will be a lasting consequence of Vladimir Putins grim decision to invade.

Along with the anger, there is confusion and disappointment about the attitudes of ordinary Russians. Nadezhda Bakran, 73, a nurse in the local hospital, cowered in the hospitals basement together with her patients, as a Russian tank took potshots at the building, which is now empty and wrecked. Her nearby apartment block has also been reduced to a skeleton, with all the windows blown out and serious structural damage.

But when she called her best friend in Moscow, with whom she has been on holiday almost every year since they met in Crimea 43 years ago, she heard only sceptical derision and accusations.

I tried to explain it to her, but she doesnt believe me. She believes her television. I said: Your people are destroying my town. She said: You caused this war yourself We were friends, what we had was even closer than just friendship, and she doesnt believe me. I dont understand.

For many, this sense of betrayal from their friends and family has hit almost as hard as the material losses.

Sasina, the beauty-salon owner, listed the losses her family had taken from a month of Russian occupation: her house was destroyed, her beauty salon looted, her mothers toy shop also looted, her friends car stolen, daubed with Zs and then smashed up. Her brother now walks on crutches after his car was shot at on the first day at a checkpoint and a bullet lodged in his lower back. Russian soldiers even shot her grandmothers cat during a house inspection, she said.

When Sasina called her aunt, who lives outside Moscow and had visited her in Trostianets most summers, to inform her of the horrors unfolding, her aunt told her she was talking nonsense. She said its not possible, she said probably the soldiers are Ukrainians dressed up as Russians. She has stopped speaking to me now, Sasina said, shaking her head in disbelief.

The Russian soldiers who made it out of Trostianets alive may never speak about the anger they witnessed and the carnage they caused, as they return to a country where their operation in Ukraine has been referred to by state propaganda as a heroic mission to save their neighbour from the clutches of radicals and neo-Nazis.

Russian television viewers may never see the ugly truth of the cost of their armys unwanted intervention, although many Russian families will now be mourning lost sons and brothers. The yellowed bodies of three Russian soldiers lie unclaimed and unrefrigerated in the Trostianets hospital morgue. A Ukrainian soldier involved in retaking the town estimated that up to 300 may have died here.

In the basement of the train station, weak torchlight reveals an improvised field hospital where the Russians treated their wounded. Silver padding had been placed over two desks to create makeshift operating tables. The floor was littered with tablets and other medical supplies. A medical drip remained, fastened to a coat stand.

On the wall in the corridor outside was perhaps the most jarring sight in all Trostianets. Childrens drawings brought from Russia were taped to the wall, gifts from schoolchildren in honour of Army Day, the day before Russias invasion. The cards were decorated with pretty, colourful flowers and messages of support written in spidery youthful handwriting.

One was signed by Sasha P, first grade, and came with drawings in crayon and a printed message.

It read: Thank you, soldier, for making sure I live under a peaceful sky.

Excerpt from:

'Barbarians': Russian troops leave grisly mark on town of Trostianets - The Guardian

The pandemic accelerated widespread digitization in almost every industry. Moving from hard copy to digital documentation influences many business and legal processes, including the way authorities around the world conduct dawn raids. This is an unannounced inspection by regulatory or criminal investigatory authorities into matters such as antitrust law, financial markets regulation, data protection, and financial crime. They typically occur in the morning and have generally been carried out onsite. However, the rise in remote work has altered investigatory approaches and there has been a notable increase in hybrid raids. Teams can simultaneously raid physical offices and private residences to ensure they collect data on remote worker devices sometimes in multiple countries.

Although dawn raids are not frequent, they occur without warning and can put an organization at significant risk for noncompliance if not prepared. It is important to know who can conduct dawn raids and how investigations are shifting with the remote work culture. This knowledge better positions organizations to proactively create plans limiting risk.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division has the power to investigate anti-competitive behaviors in both civil and criminal contexts. Dawn raids occur more often in the U.S. for matters involving suspected criminal antitrust violations, such as collusion. DOJ officers, FBI agents, and local law enforcement can enter the premises (offices and local residences) to investigate after obtaining a search warrant.

Hybrid dawn raids are also ramping up in other locations around the world. For example, last year the European Commission announced a wave of post-pandemic dawn raids. The Commission has statutory powers to investigate anti-competitive practices affecting trade between EU member states such as restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance.

Penalties can include fines and imprisonment for criminal matters. Organizations can also receive fines for noncompliance with procedural mandates such as failure to turn over requested documentation or concealing evidence.

If organizations handle a dawn raid incorrectly, significant liability may result. The trend of increased hybrid raids can be daunting, as many do not have a solid plan that accounts for custodians working remotely. To reduce the shock factor and keep compliant, it is crucial to be prepared and leverage partnerships that will limit exposure and foster preparedness.

Here are four ways to enhance dawn raid preparedness:

Understanding risk factors: Knowledge of the type of data an organization maintains will uncover which information is at risk and the regulatory bodies that would control potential investigations. Certain business activities increase dawn raid vulnerability, such as communications between organizations that could appear as collusion or collecting sensitive consumer information invoking data protection legislation. A proactive risk assessment allows for earlier custodian identification, notification, and training opportunities.

Mapping data: Many organizations already utilize data mapping as an information governance tool. After determining that an organization could be subject to a dawn raid, specific mapping for high-risk data will aid with investigatory compliance. Mapping should entail identifying, understanding, and plotting what information an organization has, how the data flows through the organization, who has physical or remote access to the data, and where the information is stored. Mapping can also uncover improper data handling by remote workers that organizations need to address. Establishing control and accessibility allows for easier retrieval and assessment of privilege during a sudden investigation.

Forming response teams: The core team should include onsite reception, IT staff, legal counsel, management, human resources, and any outside partner overseeing forensic collection or compliance efforts. Also account for key custodians who could be subject to at-home investigations. Provide proper notice and training on what can happen during a raid including an active search of the premises, interviews, inquiries about storage locations for relevant documents, and seizure of evidence for review off-premises. Regarding electronic data, investigators can seal off premises to prevent interference with data sources, request passwords, copy drives, remove devices, and more.

Second, anticipate challenges that could arise and confirm what constitutes acceptable behavior. Some actions to avoid during a raid include hostile reception, evidence destruction or concealment, providing false or misleading information, and access obstruction. Absence of a plan could also lead to leakage of privileged information, so make sure the team has knowledge of what they can withhold.

Performing readiness assessments and mock exercises: Evaluating and testing policies and procedures will identify gaps. Consider partnering with a provider with experienced experts offering a combination of regulatory knowledge and forensic IT skills to guide assessments. Having an initial workshop can be beneficial to discuss procedures, common challenges, overcoming obstacles, and best practices for dawn raid preparedness. This also provides opportunities to voice anticipated concerns and uncover rick factors.

A readiness assessment can be a valuable tool to create a risk matrix, map data, establish a tailored response framework accounting for hybrid inspections, and determine whether to hold a mock dawn raid. All of this will strengthen the foundation of an organizations dawn raid readiness program. Providers can also work in tandem with the team to improve programs and implement best practices leading up to and during a raid. This includes:

These are just a few key components of a robust dawn raid readiness program. Regular assessments and audits will highlight specific processes that reduce exposure and streamline compliance in the event of a dawn raid, while also accounting for the likelihood of hybrid raids based on the organizations remote work policies.

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The Changing Landscape of Dawn Raids: Preparing for Hybrid Inspections - JD Supra

Each home is different, but knowing where to shelter can keep you safe during a tornado warning.

TOLEDO, Ohio Home is where we feel safe and protected. Though we feel comfortable, when severe weather rolls in, do you know where your safe spot is? Whether you live in an apartment, manufactured home or have a basement, there are different ways to stay safe from the storm.

When sheltering from severe weather, Erik Konecki from the Wood County Emergency Management Agency said, there are two rules to remember. First rule is to get as low as you possibly can. Second, put as much space as possible between you and the outside world.

Many know that if your home has a basement that you need to shelter there, away from any windows or glass. The best spot to shelter in the basement is under the stairwell in the most interior part. Not everyone has a basement as a shelter option, so make sure you are on the ground floor, the lowest you can possibly reach, and the most interior that you can be.

These same ideas are also true for those living in an apartment. However, each apartment is different. If you live on an upper floor and cannot get to lower ground, seek shelter in the interior portion of the apartment, away from as many things that could break. Sheltering in a bathroom is a good place and gives you the option to pull the shower curtain to help protect from flying debris. If you have time, covering with a mattress overtop adds a layer of protection, along with closing the door. If the apartment has a lot of windows, sliding couches or furniture in front of the windows can help protect and put more between you and the outside. Konecki encourages renters to make friends living on the ground level and ask your landlord about shelter options.

If you live in a mobile home, it is especially important that you monitor weather news. Those living in manufactured homes are encouraged to have an emergency plan to follow in case of severe storms. If there is a watch or whisperings of severe weather in the area later that day, plan and reach out to neighbors and friends to shelter in their safe spots. If you must shelter in a mobile home, head to the center, and cover your head and body.

When sheltering from a tornado or derecho, it is important to get as low as you can, and to distance yourself away from the outside world. There is a popular myth to open a window before the storm because of pressure changes when the storm approaches. This is not true as it wastes time and it violates one of the top sheltering rules.

Finally, when sheltering in your safe spot, dress in long pants, coats, and close-toe shoes. Also, take the time to freshen your emergency kit as severe weather season gets underway.

The rest is here:
At home, do you know where your safe spot is? | Severe Weather Awareness Week - WTOL

Christi Watkins is grateful for her parents and their basement.

After losing my business in Las Vegas to COVID I had to move back home to Michigan, said Watkins, who is a government employee and a Wayne State University grad student working to complete her masters degree in psychology.

Her rent there was $1,800 but it was a three bedroom home near the strip and it had a pool and spa.

I moved home to find squatters in the house I had rented in Hazel Park, Watkins said.

So, she ventured out into the storm of Michigan residents, individuals and families, searching for homes to buy or houses, apartments, studio flats, and rooms to rent during a shortage of inventory and high costs.

Rents have exploded across the country, causing many to dig deep into their savings, downsize to subpar units or fall behind on payments and risk eviction now that a federal moratorium has ended. Rental costs rose a half percent in January from December, according to the United States Labor Department.

That may seem small, but its the biggest monthly jump in 20 years, and will likely accelerate.

Plus, many of the landlords are not only asking for security fees and first and last months rent but pet fees, and a complete credit check. Watkins earns a fair wage with her government job and also brings in extra money driving for Shipt but due to her student loans does not have the best credit score.

I looked at over 200 apartments, Watkins said, and while she did find a studio flat with a rent she could afford she could not justify the $7,000 in fees they were asking for an apartment that had no bedroom.

I gave up, Watkins said. I moved in with my parents and gave them the money I would have paid for rent, which helped them with their mortgage.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a two-bedroom rental unit averages $877 per month in Michigan. Thats a nearly 10% increase from 2018.

In some places the rent has skyrocketed.

Before I moved to Las Vegas I was paying $700 for a two bedroom house in Ferndale, Watkins said. That same house is now renting for $1,900.

At the same time, Michigans affordable housing stock, rental units that rent for less than $800 per month, have been dropping significantly year-over-year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. Between 2015-2019, the number of affordable housing units statewide has decreased by 18% from 541,677 units in 2015 to 443,079 in 2019, the most recent data available.

In Macomb County, affordable housing stock dropped by 27% during that time period while that same number dropped in Oakland County by 37% and 12% in Wayne County.

Ashlee Campbell and her four children were homeless for a while because she was unable to find anything she could afford.

Parents burdened by costs as child care providers struggle to survive

I was working, Campbell said. In fact, shes been working for the past seven years as a medical biller for Binsons Medical Equipment and Supplies in Center Line. But I wasnt able to afford much.

She and her boyfriend were renting a home together but after they broke up she and the children had to move into a one bedroom apartment, which cost her $800 a month.

She once thought about becoming a partner with Habitat for Humanity, but the requirements have changed and she is no longer eligible for the program.

After a long search, Campbell gave up on the idea of renting and instead found a manufactured home, which she was able to finance on her own with the help of Macomb Charitable Foundation (MCF), a nonprofit organization that helps county families with a variety of needs.

Leah McCall, executive director of the Alliance for Housing-Oakland County, said due to limited resources, the amount of subsidized housing is not making up for the shortfall in non-subsidized housing.

Without appropriate government subsidies to make up the difference, there is a shortage of affordable housing and an increase in rent, she said.

All of southeast Michigan has seen significant increases in median rent prices over the past four years, including government-set fair market rent, which are used primarily to help determine assistance amounts for individuals living in Section 8 housing and flat rent for public housing.

Due to the rapid rise in rent, McCall said that the amount of rental housing across metro Detroit that meet fair market price standards is decreasing. Fair market rents vary by metro area and by county.

This means that even when income-eligible households are able to secure rental assistance or housing vouchers, they are unable to use them, she said.

This combination of increased rent and scarce affordable housing options has put Michigans 1.4 million renters, especially the nearly 700,000 renters making less than $35,000 per year, in a bind as the economy continues its recovery from the height of the pandemic and inflation drives up prices for basic daily necessities.

In February, around 218,000 Michigan renters were not confident at all that they would be able to pay their March rent while over 283,000 renters said they were not caught up on their rent, of which around 26,000 said eviction was likely by the end of April, according to the U.S. Census Bureaus Household Pulse Survey. These numbers represent 15% to 20% of Michigans 18 and older renter population.

David Allen, chief market analyst at the Michigan State Housing Development Administration (MSHDA), said there seems to be a number of factors at play pushing median rent prices upward.

One is the fact that the supply of rental units is low relative to the demand for it, he said. This reflects the fact that housing production in the state is way below pre-Great Recession levels.

Allen said another primary factor pushing rent costs higher and higher is the lack of for-sale homes, which is driving some who would otherwise be buyers into renting.

This tends to increase the prices on the rental units being sought in the market, he said.

According to federal data, nearly 30% of rental units in Michigan are priced between $1,000 and $1,500 per month. And 38% of Michigan renters report their rent is at least 35% of their household income.

In Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties, between 15% and 38% of all rental units are priced between $1,000 to $1,500 per month with 35% to 47% of renters reporting that their rent costs total at least 35% of their household income.

Households that spend more than 30% of their income on rent are referred to as cost burdened, according to HUD. In 2019, 37.1 million households, or 30.2% of all U.S. households, fit this category.

Loved ones of Macomb, Oakland suicide victims stress proactive approach

Although the situation has worsened since the pandemic, Allen said half of the states renters pre-pandemic were paying more than 30% of their incomes on housing costs.

He added the pandemic has exacerbated these affordability issues for renters.

The effects of this are most felt among lower-income workers and racial/ethnic minorities, he said. These are the very households that were already having a hard time making ends meet.

The financial burden of the increasing cost of rent falls hardest on the half of workers in the U.S. who earn less than $35,000 each year.

New home construction booming in Macomb County

Even if they find housing they can rent, after paying rent along with security deposits and other fees, about 80% of renter households with incomes under $30,000 have between $360 and $490 left to cover all other expenses, including food, health care, transportation and child care.

Weve helped 40 families in the last year with first months rent or security deposits, who exhausted all other resources available to them, said Shelly Penzien, founder and CEO of Macomb Charitable Foundation, which has also helped families such as Campbells with food and other basic needs.

Penzien said shes noticed that since the pandemic landlords are asking for a lot more in terms of security deposits and added fees.

Ernest Cawvey, director of Macomb Community Action, believes the housing market overall has added to the pressures of finding affordable housing but there is help for residents.

Even though the federal moratorium protecting renters against eviction for non-payment of rent expired last August, a Michigan Supreme Court order continues to require district courts to temporarily halt the eviction process for renters applying for financial assistance through the Michigan COVID Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) Program.

The CERA program has made over $700 million in federal dollars available to renters needing help paying their rent or utility bills. Michigan renters have received, on average, $4,470 in assistance while the average household has received $5,727.

Its important for everyone to know that we are here to help, Cawvey said.

Over $533 million has been spent on rent assistance while another $86 million has been spent to help renters pay their utility bills.

Over 138,000 Michigan renters have received assistance including over 9,000 in Macomb County, totaling $49 million, 12,000 in Oakland County totaling $70 million and a total of $193 million in Wayne County.

There is still over $100 million in assistance available through the Michigan CERA program with many renters having been approved for financial aid multiple times.

Currently, there is no state law that caps or restricts rent charges, but MSHDA does have some ability to impact the percentage of rent increase that can be charged at properties that have a state or federal housing subsidy or housing choice voucher attached to it.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program, which serves 28,000 Michiganders, allows renters to lease a unit of their choice provided that it meets federal quality standards. The owners requested rent is then determined reasonable based on HUD and MSHDA requirements.

If the rent is determined not to be reasonable, based on specified standards, MSHDA must deny the request and the owner must either lower the rent to conform with the requirements or the family must select another unit, said Katie Bach, a spokesperson for MSHDA.

Generally, landlords are being encouraged to charge rent based on the percentage of the homes market value. Typically, the rents that landlords charge fall between 0.8% and 1.1% of the homes value.

Landlords are also recommended to consider what others are charging for similar rentals in their area.

Having found a place to buy Campbell she said she will never go back to renting.

I might upgrade to a bigger place, she said, noting that once she raises her credit score she might even look at upgrading to a bigger place. Right now, Im confident where Im at. The house has new carpeting, a new stove, new paint. Its a home and I live in a cul de sac, so I dont have to worry about the kids playing outside with cars going by. Im very content.

As is Watkins who has one tip for renters and that is to remain diligent and dont be afraid to try sources you might not otherwise consider.

I looked every month to find a place and finally tried something I would normally not do, I looked on Craigslist, Watkins said.

As it turns out, a family thought outside the box as well and posted a listing on the classified advertisement for a mother-in-law suite for rent.

The family built this for their mother and she passed, Watkins said.

It came furnished and look at the view I have, Watkins said, from the kitchen in her one bedroom suite in St. Clair Shores.

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Rentals at a premium in Macomb County and metro area - The Macomb Daily

JARRELL Judith Johnson hid in a closet with her husband, her mother and their two dogswhen a tornado struck the outskirts of Jarrell on Monday.

Four days later, she stood relaxed and chatting on her front porch. Only the roofs of a few sheds had been destroyed on her property, unlike in 1997, when atornado that hit Jarrell flattened herhouse and killed27 people in the area.

Officials on Friday said the tornado damaged or destroyed about 24 homes and a few businesses in the areas ofCounty Road 305, County Road 307, County Road 396 and County Road 487 northwest of Jarrell.

Two tornadoes hit Williamson County on Monday, including the one that started inJarrell, about 50 miles north of Austin. The other tornado beganat the intersection of Interstate 35 and Texas 45 in Round Rock. A third tornado hit the Elgin area in Bastrop County.No one was killed by the three twisters.

"The fact that we are cleaning up debris and we are not at funerals is amazing," Williamson County Commissioner Russ Boles said at a news conference Friday in Jarrell.

More:Central Texas communities recover from outbreak of tornadoes

Friday's event was at Jarrell Memorial Park, which stands on the site of what was once Larry Igo's home. Igo and his wife and their three children were killed in the 1997 tornado when their house was ripped from its foundation.

The tornadoes in Williamson County on Monday damaged about 33 businesses, County Judge Bill Gravell said at the news conference. The twisters also destroyed 1,000 homes in the county, with most of the damage in Round Rock.

Gravell said he had requested that Gov. Greg Abbott apply for federal assistance and was expecting Federal Emergency Management Agency teams to arrive in the county to assess damage next week.

Jarrell Mayor Larry Bush said that he and his wife had lived through the 1997 tornado, and it had been much bigger than the one that hit on Monday.

Watch:See videos that captured tornadoes, high winds tearing through Elgin, Round Rock

"The tornado that came in 1997 was three-quarters of a mile wide. … The tornado on Monday was actually smaller," he said.

Meteorologists rated the 1997 Jarrell tornado as an EF-5, the top of the Enhanced Fujita scale, with winds at 261 mph. The winds in the tornadoon Monday were estimated to have reached 100mph.

The path of the tornado that hit Jarrell on Monday at one point crossed the path that the 1997 killertornado had taken, officials said.

Two businesses in the area were destroyed, Bushsaid. There was amixture of damage in the area, he said.

"We've seen several manufactured homes that were taken down to the tires, and then we've seen a couple of shingles missing," he said.

How strong was the Jarrell tornado?Storm spun with 100-mph winds, partially overlapped path of deadly 1997 twister

Bush said the county's weather alert system,which sends notifications to cellphones, helped residents escape serious injuries on Monday.

Volunteers, including Jarrell school district Superintendent Toni Hicks, were in Jarrell on Friday helping clean up debris. Hicks said she also helped clean up the debris from the 1997 tornado.

"In 1997,the concrete was pulled off the road and trees were stripped clean," she said. "This is not like that. The tornado bounced around," she said.

Another volunteer, Larnell Camus, described some of the items she and her relatives had picked off the ground Fridayin Jarrell. "It was a lot of personal checks, like canceled checks, and pictures and perfect attendance awards," she said.

Johnson said she and her husband were out of town during the 1997 Jarrell tornado, but when they returned home all she could find were eight buried chains on their property where they once had a small frame house, several classic carsand tools.Amish volunteers helped rebuild her home in 1997, she said.

On Friday, she walked out of her home and found a picture of a little girl in a basketball uniform on her property, she said. Johnson said she returned it to the neighbors that she thought had lost it.

"They broke into tears, and I hugged them," she said. "I said to them, 'Things will come and things will go but you are still here.'"

The city of Round Rock announced it will hostacleanup event Saturday in the Kensington and Windy Park neighborhoods for the public to help withtornado recovery efforts.

Those who volunteer will help clear construction debris and tree limbs that are lining street curbs and load it into garbage trucks. People are asked to park and sign up at either Dell Technologies Building No. 3,2300 Greenlawn Blvd., or atSuccess High School,500 Gattis School Road.

Volunteers can arrive at either location at 8-8:30 a.m. or 12-12:30 p.m.

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Officials in tornado-weary Jarrell relieved property damage was worst of Monday twister - Austin American-Statesman

When I was a much younger man, a close friend became obsessed with astrology. This former high-school valedictorian and regional science fair winner went all in on the stars, using them to analyze everything and everybody, from U.S. presidents to parents to my marriage prospects with a new girlfriend. He talked about moon phases, this star aligning with that galaxy, and how a particular planetary conjunction explained the stock markets rise or a baseball teams fall. Listening to him made my head spin like Jupiters moons.

But one of his astrology terms stuck with me and applies to perhaps the greatest change well ever witness in home building: the Great Convergence.

There was an earlier convergencenot of the stars but of business and culturein a different industry (automotive) that eventually had a profound impact on home building. It began with the Japanese quality movement of the 1950s, from which the tools and techniques of quality, productivity, and Lean process spread from Japan to Korea and later to at least some European automakers.

By 1980, U.S. automakers had fallen so far behind that many experts predicted there would be no American-built vehicles by the year 2000. And, after decades complaining about predatory pricing and unfair trade practices, the Detroit gang finally woke up and accepted the source of the problem was overseas competition becoming much more efficient, with far better quality than domestic producers.

In fact, foreign competitors didnt steal American market share, as the politicians decried; rather, they earned it by providing superior value. Higher quality, better gas mileage, and lower cost offered a potent combination many consumers couldnt overlook.

It took considerable time and tremendous investment, but U.S. automakers slowly caught up, to the point where American quality and productivity began to rival the best foreign competition in the early 2000s. Today, U.S.-built cars dont just meet the quality and value of overseas product, they often exceed it.

That convergence of technology and culture in automobile production helped wake up our own building industry during the 1990s. Back then, I was the sole building industry member of the Detroit Deming Study Group, which met with the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the venerable quality guru, during his monthly trips to Detroit to help turn around American carmakers40 years after he had done the same for Japan!

I felt a bit lonely sitting with 40 to 50 automotive quality and production experts, and their attitude toward me was, What are you doing here? They were reacting to the legacy of post-war tract housing in this countrynot one to be especially proud of. You may not have been around to build them, but many of you lived in those poorly built homes.

The change in home building began, just as in automotive, with a focus on back-end inspect it in quality through massive rework, described as brute-force quality. Gradually, we began to understand the need to move upstream to a prevention model and, as a result, product improvedthough weve yet to reach the automotive industrys levels of quality, efficiency, and build it right the first time mentality and practices. Many builders still havent gotten the message. On the whole though, homes now are much better than those of the previous era.

Yetand this is a critical pointhome building productivity lags behind virtually every other industry. What are we doing about it?

Now comes the new great convergence in home building: the manufacturing and technology revolution that will change our industry forever. Im talking about a pervasive shift to off-site construction methods.

Im in my fourth decade in home building, and this is the Fourth Wave Ive experienced pushing the claim that off-site (factory-built, industrialized, building systemscall it what you want) production will enter housings mainstream, none of the past waves having lived up to the hype or expectations. In a previous column, I described how the late Bill Pulte told his three-day training class for new management recruits how the manufacturing revolution in home building was only this farholding his thumb and forefinger about an inch apartfrom happening in the 44 years since the end of World War II. That was in 1989.

Nearly 30 years after that class, and not long before his passing, I asked Bill for an update on home buildings manufacturing transformation. With a wry smile, he held up his thumb and forefinger again, this time less than half an inch apart, and declared, Today about THIS far. He then added, It will happen though. Maybe not in my lifetime, but certainly in yours.

Thats how far wed come in the nearly 75 years since the mid-1940s. But its worse than that. Look back at Sears Roebuck & Co., which built and shipped 70,000 complete home kits from 1908 through 1940 through its mail-order Modern Homes program. Each piece of the home was precut and labeled, including framing, wiring, plumbing, flooring, cabinets, and so on ... even the proverbial kitchen sink.

Those homes were great when they were built, and theyre still great today. I know because until grade six I grew up in one of those homes in southern Indiana, as did my grandparents in another home just around the corner. I can drive you through my current hometown of Plymouth, Mich., and show you at least 25 of these Sears houses (although some may be almost exact knockoffs of Sears plans built by other manufacturers), all remodeled and updated numerous times over the years. Theyre still solid family homes today. Once you know their look, youll find them across America.

Pause a moment here to consider how much the design and production of automobiles has progressed in the past 100 or so years. How about airplanes? Appliances? Audio equipment? Telephones? Electronics? Television wasnt even a fantasy in 1922, let alone cell phones and the internet.

How about the evolution of homes? Compared with those industries, home buildings progress has been marginal, at best. Today, fewer than 3% of new homes are manufactured off-site. Fewer than 5% are panelized, even at the most basic level. Trusses have 60% market penetration, yet, if you measure the true total cost of on-site vs. off-site methods, including the impact of saved schedule days, that figure should be more than 90%.

Given these past 100 years of performing below expectations, how can I now assert that today, off-site manufactured solutions are about to transform the home building industry? Yes, I am crawling out on a lam-beam here and declaring the Fourth Wave is here for real and it will change home building forever.

I base this on a simple observation of whats going on all around us, evidenced at the most recent National Association of Home Builders International Builders Show, in Orlando, Fla. The number of new technology companies focused on all phases of home building was incredible, the excitement palpable. And, notably, there were investors roaming around with briefcases full of money, looking to invest in the next big thing in housing.

Personally, Im now working with three companies that are pushing significant changes in the technology, one thats been around for decades, one now about five years old, and one brand new. Just last week, another old-line firm and an additional brand new one contacted me, asking for help in this arena. If I sign any more nondisclosure agreements, I fear I wont be able to talk to my own family members. These arent just interesting times but genuinely exciting ones.

Its easy to identify at least 10 significant changes driving or enabling this change. Ive listed them here for you to consider, and will follow up with more detail on each in my next column. There are, no doubt, more elements, and Id love to hear your take on whats driving the movement toward off-site methodsor whats holding it back. Heres what I see as the key drivers (1 through 5) and enablers (6 through 10):

1. Housing demand and shortage

2. Labor shortages

3. Material shortages

4. Cycle-time inflation

5. Sustainability

6. Availability of investment capital

7. Technology breakthroughs in computer software

8. Technology breakthroughs in robotics

9. Learning-curve acceleration

10. New methods for making true total cost comparisons

From my experience, those elements make it clear we are genuinely on our way in this, the Fourth Wave of the manufacturing technology revolution in housing. But there is still a critical missing link, and without it, progress will be slow. Simply, we have to be brutally honest and consider why the vast majority of home building software technologies still fall short of their promised impact.

For example, most all of the many packages designed to make scheduling a breeze by publishing to a portal accessed 24/7 by suppliers and trades are simply not working. Were surrounded by irrefutable evidence of this. When we run our TrueNorth LeanWeeks with 20 to 30 suppliers and trades participating, we always ask, How many of you have someone check jobsites the day before the schedule says theyre ready, to determine if you should really send out a crew or deliver materials?a practice we call scouting. Across literally hundreds of groups, the number of hands raised averages 80%.

The next question, Why do you not use the portal to replace the considerable expense of scouting? is at first followed by nervous laughter across the room. With some coaxing, one brave soul will inevitably explain, We just cant trust it, after which youll see all suppliers and trades nodding in unison, along with builder field superintendents as well.

Again, theres nothing wrong with the software itself. But the fact that 80% of suppliers and trades are scouting sites instead of relying on software is prima facie evidence that systems are failing at some point in the process. The problem is that in todays world of labor and material shortages, these portals are worse than worthless if the system isnt updated for each project, each day (at least), both in the field and in the office.

Worse than worthless? Absolutely. Because if the portal schedule sends the wrong crew or a delivery to the wrong place, or the right place on the wrong day, the cost is huge in supplier/trade loyalty and, ultimately, in pricing. I learned decades ago from great mentors, such as Mike Rhoads in Chicago and Gary Grant in Minnesota, that builders with the best schedulers get the best crews and best pricing, simply because they are the most profitable for suppliers and trades.

Now make the translation to the application of manufacturing technology. Plans, elevations, specifications, options, and selections that affect the off-site building process must be continually transmitted and confirmed. That goes for comparatively simple components such as stairs, cabinets, and open panels, as well as more complex production of closed panels, all of the way to full-on modular or volumetric building. This information must be so reliable that the off-site plant can absolutely take it to the bank, without exception.

I once asked the president of a large home building company in a distant city to name his most difficult supplier in terms of communication and cooperation. He didnt hesitate, proclaiming, The panel plant. Irony No. 1: The panel plant made the identical comment about the builder. Irony No. 2: Both builder and plant were owned by the same parent company. Whenever someone says a company should be more like a family, my first question is, Which family? This particular family was clearly dysfunctional.

Continual, vigilant, completely accurate and timely communication means everything for reaping the promise of the Fourth Wave from which our industry is truly revolutionized. Anything less means failure, and the dream of better product at lower cost, with less dependence on on-site labor, and significant reduction in cycle time will remain forever elusive. The home building stars are now well-aligned for this revolution, and its up to all of us, on all sides of this rather complex equation, to do our part to make it happen.

Will my prediction prove out? Thinking back on my astrology-obsessed friends predictions, I expect to fare much better. He got some right, but many wrong, including his warning that my then-girlfriend and I were in for big trouble should we marry. Im happy to report45 years, four kids, and three grandkids laterI woke up next to her this morning with both of us agreeing: So far, so good!

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What's Driving the Move to Off-Site Construction in Home Building? | Pro - Pro Builder

You step off the escalator, press through the doors from the self-parking garage, and there it is: a 5-foot bronze sculpture depicting a seated body inspired by the Grecian Temple of Zeus, but with a head evocative of the masks of distant African cultures.

Stop, look: Its right next to the Jumanji 4D penny slots and Posh Burger, home of a $100 wagyu beef patty topped with truffles, foie gras and, of course, gold dust gotta have that gold dust.

Yes, just off the Aria casino floor, air as heavy with the scent of french fries as those french fries are heavy with calories, sits Oracle, a luminous, thought-provoking creation from acclaimed contemporary artist Sanford Biggers.

Its a small-scale version of the 25-foot-tall, 15,000-pound sculpture of the same name that went on display at New York Citys Rockefeller Center in May.

Its one of nine new additions from seven artists to the MGM Resorts International fine art collection, which have recently been put on display at the Bellagio, Park MGM and Aria. Its a range of striking works in various mediums from distinguished contemporary artists such as Rashid Jones, Ghada Amer and Derrick Adams, whose pieces are normally confined to museums and art galleries and can go for hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases. (MGM Resorts declined to reveal the value of the new collection.)

Its an incredible opportunity to be able to offer these works to the public, says Tarissa Tiberti, executive director of MGM Resorts Art & Culture, who curated the companys latest art additions. Rashid Johnson, I mean, museums have these works.

A bid for diversity

It was a night of high drama and prices higher still.

Last October, MGM Resorts sold 11 Pablo Picasso pieces in a thrilling auction with renowned art brokerage Sothebys that netted $109 million.

The idea: to subsequently diversify its public fine art collection, to focus on underrepresented artists of various genders, ethnicities and sexual orientations.

We identified works by women artists, artists of color, the LGBTQIA community, Tiberti explains. Our properties are hosting visitors from around the globe; we have a huge platform to share the importance of diversity and inclusion in everyday lives.

Take Jonathan Lydon Chase, whose artwork is rooted in the domesticities of queer Black life (Chases The Cook Out is at Park MGM, adjacent to the resorts lobby); or the aforementioned Biggers, whose latest sculptures combine elements of African and European culture to underscore the ongoing influence of the former on the latter.

That these pieces are located in everyday places behind a check-in desk at a salon; brightening a dining room wall in an Italian restaurant is key: You can take them in without even being fully aware youre doing so. But they have the power to stick with you regardless.

You want to have an artwork that people come across and enjoy it they might not even know that its incredible artwork but they go away thinking about it, Tiberti says. We have a great opportunity with the properties that we have, to be able to put artwork in many places, places that are unexpected and that you wouldnt think about, but you can enjoy them walking to the pool, dining at a restaurant, checking in at the front desk. As youre standing in line, waiting to check in, and you may or may not realize it, but youre looking at it and having a contemplative experience about it.

Where to experience it yourself

Heres a quick guide, with commentary on each selection from Tiberti.

Rashid Johnson, a selection from his Cosmic Slop series

Where: A sunlit passageway on Arias promenade level

Background: A three-dimensional wall work made of black soap and microcrystalline wax forming a unique, intriguing display.

This is an important series of work for Rashid. I think for this work, the material is the access point: Its a concoction of wax mixed with West African soap thats used for treatment of sensitive skin. Its monochromatic, with the material thats important in Rashid Johnsons culture and how he chooses to use that differently than how it would be used in treatment for your skin. Hes using it to talk about culture and content.

Derrick Adams, a selection from his Floater series

Where: This commissioned piece is a work in progress; itll be installed near the Park MGM pool upon completion.

Background: This joyous, brightly colored series features African Americans enjoying a pool setting.

I think the first things that draw me into the work are just the colors and how hes making the figures out of shapes. And then you get deeper into it, and you see these figures, and everything has just such an incredible energy to it. I feel like his work is just very energetic, very uplifting, yet he has a very poignant context. Hes talking about the Black experience, and how that is to navigate through his world, through our country. Its something thats fun to look at, but yet it has a meaning behind it.

Toms Esson, Quimera and Anestesia

Where: Quimera is just outside the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden; find Anestesia by the resorts VIP lounge.

Background: These gorgeous, arresting abstract oil-on-linen works are like tractor beams for the eyes.

(Quimera) really kind of just jumps off the wall. The colors are so fabulous really juicy colors it just draws you in. Hes very interesting. His work talked a lot about eroticism and mythology before. These take a little bit more of a serious tone. His previous works were based on mythology and figures or creatures that were abstract, and he took that abstraction even further. It just provides an energy in the painting that draws you in and captivates you, makes you kind of think, What is happening in this painting? And its complete, pure abstraction.

Svenja Deininger, untitled

Where: Arias Carbone restaurant

Background: A large, radiant swirl of color and shapes that are immediate, visceral and complex at once.

Its really beautiful just in the simplicity and the color, how she has the raw canvas and the blocks. The forms that shes creating, I think theyre sensual. Her work is interesting; it can be quite complicated, even though it seems very simple in the shapes and the color. She talks about the system of interaction: how the shapes interact with one another. And the size its large, so you become enveloped in the atmosphere that shes creating.

Ghada Amer, Portrait of Elizabeth and Portrait of Trini from her The Women I Know Part II series

Where: The check-in desk at the Bellagio Spa and Salon

Background: These two mixed-media, female portraits feature messages such as, Do not fit into the glass slipper like Cinderella did shatter the glass ceiling.

Shes using a combination of materials. Theres acrylic, so she has the painting, and then shes doing embroidery on top of it, and its also layered with the words in the background. Its the complexity of the work that is whats so beautiful about these. Her practice is inherently feminist, but shes really just looking at the female figure, and the paintings are exploring the gaze and the female identity that are exchanged between the artist and the subject and the viewer. Its really kind of a beautiful moment.

Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jbracelin76 on Instagram.

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Museum-quality artworks in everyday places on the Strip. Heres how to find them. - Las Vegas Review-Journal

**NEWS RELEASE COUNTY OF WELLINGTON**

As with many communities across Ontario, Wellington County is at a crisis point when it comes to having the rental and ownership housing options that are necessary to sustain the regions changing needs and required growth.

By 2051, provincial legislation requires the County to reach a population of at least 160,000 people and provide at least 70,000 jobs. Having enough housing to accommodate this growth is key. This week the County launched a community awareness campaign aimed at furthering publicunderstanding of the range of options that can be considered to meet these needs. Already, the situation is critical: the median home price in Centre Wellington has increased more than 235 per cent in five years, significantly higher than income growth over that period.

At least 40 per cent of people who rent in Wellington County need to spend more than the recommended 30 per cent of their income on housing. In some cases, this means going without enough food or other basic needs.

From new residents to longtime members of our community, were hearing from people who are considering moving away to find more affordable housing. Were hearing from others who cant leave their parents home despite having their own young families, and from seniors whoneed to downsize and cant find any place to go, said Warden Kelly Linton. He said businesses are finding it increasingly difficult to attract or keep good workers because people cant find an affordable place to live. These are the people we need to provide our health care, child or senior care, to fill good jobs at growing manufacturing businesses or in the cafes and restaurants that are vital contributors to our economy and our communities. If these essential jobs go unfilled, or if workers are under extreme stress, it affects all of us said Jana Burns, Wellington Place Administrator, Museum,Archives and Economic Development.

The campaign, titled Make Wellington County Home Everyone should be able to live here, will share stories from people and businesses that are struggling to find housing that meets their needs, and provide examples and facts about the range of rental or ownership options available to communities to add choice and affordability. These include low-rise apartment or condominium buildings, row and stacked townhouses, duplexes or triplexes and even tiny homes. Another option that is growing in popularity across Ontario is Additional Residential Units or ARUs: second or third suites such as converted basements, garage additions, laneway homes or other separate housing options on existing properties that add to the rental inventory. The municipalities in Wellington County have included allowances for ARUs in their bylaws, creating a new opportunity for individual homeowners to help solve a community problem while earning rental income, said Burns, noting that interested homeowners should consulttheir local building department for details about allowance in their municipality. Over the past year, Burns said County staff have met with several developers who express a willingness to build different forms of housing if there is community will and interest in theseoptions.

The public awareness campaign will run through 2022 and invites people to visit the Countys website at wellington.ca/livehere, download a flyer they can share with friends and neighbours as well as attend open houses planned for later this year. We cant keep on doing what weve been doing, which is primarily building single detached homes when there are many options available that will bring us closer to a solution. Our community needs to endorse other housing options in their neighbourhoods. Thats the only way well overcome this.

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County Wants Community to Envision New Housing Options - Grand 101.1 FM