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This week on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, will we meet the ever-elusive Louie? Can Dolores forgive Joe for trashing her relationship with her imaginary boyfriend David? Lets check in with our Jersey wives and see what kind of trouble they can stir up this week, shall we?

This episode is called Teresas Mystery Lover and last week it was Teresa In Love. Well, all you get this week is a tease and everyone pontificating about him. We get a glimpse of Louie carrying flowers in the last second of the show to her front door. Bravo is milking this crap to the very end. They might as well call this franchise Teresa and the Other Real Housewives of New Jersey. Okay, lets get started!

Jackie is having a birthday celebration at an apple orchard. She is giving Evan instructions on what needs to be done with the kids and their virtual schooling. Really, Jackie wants him to stay away from the gym and be hyperfocused on a full schedule with their kids. Dolores calls Jackie and lets her know that she has a doctors appointment and will be late for the apple picking. Jackie is concerned that Dolores might be hurt over the party at Michelles house.

Jennifer is getting new furniture to fill up her massive house. She hired an interior decorator to change it from Bills style. Jennifer hated their previous style with ornate fixtures and thrones on steroids. She tells her dad, John, that she is going to invite her mom over. John basically just shrugs and just seems to not be interested in anything involving his wife. Very sad.

Jennifer then calls Josephine to invite her over. Josephine is furious and starts speaking in Turkish and you know then it is really troublesome. When a parent starts speaking in their native tongue you are in BIG trouble! Josephine is irate that they were talking about her relationship and basically made a fool of her. She is embarrassed that her personal living situation was discussed at the tea party and she is done. John tells Jennifer to ignore it and that is probably why Josephine didnt feel happy in their relationship. He ignored her discontent and chose to do nothing about it. Sad, very sad.

Teresa and Milania are chatting in the kitchen. She is growing up from that incorrigible little girl. Joe comes over to organize the garage and basically have a manufactured conversation. He thinks she needs a man in her house to help her with this manual labor. Teresa confronts Joe about oversharing about her guy. She gets all giggly when Joe talks about how he loves seeing her so happy around him.

Teresa admits he is the most amazing guy she ever met. She says he is smart. Hmm, I dont know if she is qualified to determine intelligence. We are all well aware that she is severely challenged in the grammar department. Joe wants her to have someone better than that meatball Joe Giudice.

Margaret is having the cover of her book shot at her house. She put Joe B. to work to get her house in order. Joe claims he put eight years of work into that house? Marge Sr. is going to be photographed for the book as well. Margaret is wearing a green silky plunging gown with binder clips on the back of it. She and Marge Sr. will be shooting a photo for the back of the book. Margaret has way too much makeup on and she really needs to watch it since the face is sliding down as we speak. She needs to be wearing boulder holders to keep those boobs from tumbling down, and she needs to keep her bright red pout from ending up on her chin when her face melts.

Dolores and Frank are having a joint birthday party for Gabby and Frank Jr. Their birthdays are a week apart. Frank comments on their kids and how successful they are. He is right they are both good kids despite big Franks influence. David shows up, which is a shocker! It is pretty sad that the kids arent sure who David is actually dating.

Dolores tells them she lost her sh*t at the party over the Porsche vs. Ring debate. David could care less about what her friends think about their relationship. Dolores claims David shows up when it matters to her. I dont recall him being there for her when she had her cancer scare? Sorry, I digress. I love when Dolores said she has a beautiful monogamous relationship. Gabby chimes in with, That is a foreign concept to her, Dad! BOOM, love it, call that aging player out.

Margaret with her tight leather pants that look like pork casing and Melissa arrive at Jackies house. They are meeting for breakfast before their road trip. Margaret discusses how Joe spoke to Dolores at the party and found his behavior chauvinistic. Dolores told Margaret that the fact that they took a poll was a scumbag move. She loves that word, remember Danielle? Melissa tells Marge and Jackie that Teresa is dating her future husband. Jennifer arrives and looks fabulous wearing a cute hat for their day trip. The ladies give Jackie earrings for her birthday.

Jennifer tells the ladies that Josephine felt ambushed at the party. She shares that they are presently not talking. Melissa gets a text from Gino that Joe fell on the floor. She calls Joe and finds out he must go to the hospital. Melissa has to leave since Joe thinks he has a kidney stone and is in excruciating pain.

Margaret finds it ironic that David might need to save the day by treating Joe Gorga. Joe was just slamming him. Margaret also spills that Melissa told her that Teresa is gaga over this guy. Teresa is reluctant to admit this to the ladies. She admits he is amazing, but she wants to take her time before he meets this crew. Dolores makes it to the Warwick Valley orchard winery just in time. The winery guide describes the orchard as the Disney World of Alcohol. Yes, please!

Dolores thinks Joe is going through something. She thinks Melissa should have told him to shut his very little mouth. Teresa acknowledges that he has been going through a lot. Dolores lets the ladies know in no certain terms that she is miffed that they took a poll. The ladies are now picking apples and the orchard looks really pretty. Margaret probably wont be able to partake in eating the apples since they might cause her to lose her veneered chompers. Dolores asks Margaret how the other ladies would feel if their relationships were being voted upon. She feels they are not respecting her choices and essentially judging her. Dolores thinks that friends shouldnt do that.

The ladies head to the luncheon where they will be doing the wine tasting. They order truffle fries, YUM. Teresa mentions that she heard Joe definitely had a kidney stone. Margaret announces that she is having a birthday/Halloween party for Joes 65th birthday. Jennifer asks, Is David going to grace us with his presence? She thinks he should appear at least once since he literally has been ghosting Dolores all season.

Dolores loses it and resents her friends questioning her relationship. Jennifer wants Dolores to pick a lane with David. Dolores likes the commitment that she has now. I am not buying it that this is all she wants. Dolores probably loves getting expensive gifts, but she is a traditional girl at heart. Margaret wants Teresa to bring her new guy to the party, so that is when this shady dude is going to appear?

Joe got treated by David at the hospital. David took good care of him in the hospital despite Joe bashing him. Melissa tells Joe that Margaret thinks he is chauvinistic. Joe takes offense to Melissa not defending him. He wants the old Melissa back. Joe puts her on a pedestal, and he has given her everything she wants. He thinks she is not fulfilling her end of the deal they made when they got married. Melissa thinks Joe is trying to hold her back. Joe tells her to go do her own thing, but you can tell he isnt being sincere about it. He stomps out of the room to go pout. That didnt go well.

Teresa is getting ready to go on a date with Louie. She wears a top that pretty much leaves nothing to the imagination. In her ITM, Teresa shares that they talk all night long. Can you imagine the gibberish that comes out of her mouth? Milania thinks her mom is pretty smitten over him. She has really grown up from the little tomboy days. Louie arrives with flowers in hand to pick her up and we have a to-be-continued

Next week, we must have the Halloween party and Louie finally materializes I think. Side note: I have to mention the transition into WWHL as we get the guys taglines, which was actually pretty funny. I usually dont watch that show, unless I am interested in the guests, but this was well done.

DO YOU THINK DOLORES SHOULD BE ANGRY OVER THE POLL?

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS!

See more here:
RHONJ Recap: Dolores Confronts Ladies for Talking About Relationship With David; Teresa's Boyfriend Luis Makes Debut - Reality Blurb

Twenty years ago today, two assholes got lost in the woods, and the greatest ever hour of television was born.

Pine Barrens, AKA the one with the unkillable Russian, arrived deep into The Sopranos third series, just as it was beginning to hit its peak, in both creativity and popularity. It was a simple story, pitched on a whim by one of the shows most-decorated directors, Tim Van Patten, based on a dream he had: Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) and Paulie Walnuts Gaultieri (Tony Sirico) take a mope out to the Pine Barrens (a vast woodlands south of New Jersey) in the dead of winter to whack him, only to lose him along with their bearings.

Nothing monumental happened in Pine Barrens. In fact, it barely moved the plot forward at all. For the most part, it stewed joyously in the tension between two of the shows most hot-headed and petty characters as day turned to night and they began to think they might not make it out of the snow-covered expanse at all. But it nevertheless encapsulated the spirit of the shows trademark dark humour, with Paulie and Christopher epitomising the dichotomy of the typical Jersey gangsters that the show satirised, who were at once silly and terrifying. When Christopher begins to wonder if Paulie is going to kill and eat him while he slept, the audience cant help but also question whether he would be capable of it, too. Its an absurd proposition, but stranger things had happened on The Sopranos.

Though Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) and Bobby Baccalieri (Steve Schirripa) eventually saved the two freezing idiots the former plucked from a flaming row with his mistress, Gloria, the latter dressed in ridiculous hunting gear the towering Russian, who escaped despite Chris shooting him in the head, never resurfaced. It would become one of the shows great unresolved mysteries. What happened to the Russian? Fans would grill creator David Chase and the shows writing team at every opportunity. But Chase has remained consistent in his messaging for 20 years now: it doesnt matter and it never did. I think what I was feeling then was the more you answer, the more questions that are gonna be raised, he tells GQ over the phone, looking back. That was one part of it. And thats what The Sopranos was. The Sopranos was ambiguity. With a capital A.

We spoke to Chase, the episodes writer, Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire, The Wolf Of Wall Street), and the shows most-decorated director, Tim Van Patten (Boardwalk Empire), about the making of a masterpiece that has only grown in stature over the course of two decades.

The Sopranos was comedic from the very beginning, but it really found its groove in series two and three, as an understanding of the characters various eccentricities enriched the viewing experience. Pine Barrens was a sweet spot for this.

David Chase: From the first frame [of the pilot] its kind of comedic. You know, the first frame is Tony looking at this nude statue. I mean, that all played to me as absurd, at least.

Terence Winter: When we used to hand in our scripts for The Sopranos, the writers would compliment each other, usually by saying, Oh, your script is so funny. You know, we kind of wrote it like a dark comedy. I remember in the third or fourth series we had a premiere of the show in a big movie theatre and it was really fun to get to watch it with hundreds of people at the same time. There was a situation where Uncle Junior had just entered a room and apropos of nothing said, Well, Ive fucking had it and the audience howled with laughter. They dont even know what hes actually talking about. They dont know what hes had it with or why hes upset. Its just the fact that you know this guy so well and hes such a curmudgeon. The fact that hes just annoyed is funny to people. And when you know who they are, you know all of their little peccadilloes and all their little traits.

DC: The TV industry insists on pigeonholing things into comedy and drama it's got to fall into one of those two boxes. I just don't believe that The Sopranos ever did.

Tim Van Patten: We all were weaned on Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges informed everything at some level. There's a lot of slapstick, you know, like when Tony beats up the guy in the Bada Bing! with the fish what did they call it? the Billy fish that plays a song [Big Mouth Billy Bass]. And, you know, hitting someone over the head with a phone or Uncle Junior falling down a flight of stairs.

DC: Laurel and Hardy, thats a big one for me. WC Fields, big one for me. Richard Pryor too.

TW: You know, in general, in the writers room there was a lot of bullshitting and storytelling and One time this happened to me and I had a dream last night and just things that didn't seem like they had anything to do with the series. But ultimately all of it somehow would work itself back into the show somehow. In Pine Barrens theres a moment where Gloria Trillo, Tonys mistress, hits him on the head with a piece of London broil. And that happened to me in real life. I was on the receiving end of that London broil in 1982, from an old girlfriend who apparently took umbrage with something I said and nailed me in the head with this thing, and I just thought, Im going to use that somewhere.

It was all a dream

DC: Tim mentioned to me that he had this dream...

TW: I was sitting in our writers room with Todd Kessler, who was a writer on the show at the time. We were just batting around ideas. And Tim happened to walk in and he said, I have an idea. It was a dream I had. Its really stupid.

TVP: I call it sort of a waking dream. I think part of it was a dream. The long story is, when we were kids, my father was a horse player and he used to take us to racetracks all the time, all over the country, all over the East Coast. One of the tracks was down in Atlantic City and he had to sort of calm us into going by, you know, telling us that thered be a great adventure included. Part of the adventure was he would pull off into the Pine Barrens and he would fill our heads full of stories about the Jersey Devil [a mythical, hoofed creature said to inhabit the woods] and about people who go in there and disappear.

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He had us completely sold on this and we would go in there and he would drive around a little bit and wed get a little bit lost or we thought we were lost. And it would just fill our heads full of all sorts of nonsense, and he got to go the racetrack and he would go play the horses and we'd run around. So I was thinking about that and I had a dream about it. Because its an unforgettable place to find your bearings. I guess the breaking point was I said, Wouldnt it be interesting to take someone out there to whack them, and it goes bad and the guy disappears, and the guys get lost and the victim disappears. And that was pretty much it.

The writers knew they had struck gold when they decided to place these two morons with short fuses in such a perilous situation. A standout exchange comes halfway through the episode, when, over a dodgy phone line, Tony tells Paulie that the guy they lost had killed Chechens and worked for the interior ministry, with Paulie interpreting it as a Czechoslovakian hes an interior decorator!.

DC: In our writers room, there was always a lot of laughing and joking. For every episode, including ones that were serious or sad. We didnt sit there all serious, it was just part of the job. There wasnt a particular laughter about this one or high spirits, but if that came across on the screen, thats great.

TW: We all knew we had comedy gold in that it was going to be Christopher and Paulie those two characters together were always magic. They just clicked. You know, much like with Uncle Junior and Bobby Bacala, there were certain combos of characters that you knew you had gold all the time. So Christopher and Paulie in a tense situation we knew immediately was going to be funny.

TVP: You couldnt find a better trifecta than to have Paulie and Christopher get lost and then have Bacala try to find them. It makes me laugh just saying it out loud.

TW: It was really the question of like, How do we make these circumstances even worse for these guys? David came up with the idea that Paulie loses his shoe and then we laughed about that for a while. OK, and then they shoot something. But then, OK, what if its not actually the guy? What if its a deer? You know? So its just constant, like, how does it get worse? How do we ramp up the circumstances?

DC: Paulie was jealous of Christophers position. Because he was, quote-unquote, related to Tony. That's part of it. I think Paulie was jealous of Christopher, because he was young. And Paulie was coming towards the end of his run. Christopher didn't like being bossed around, or being directed by Paulie. It was a power struggle.

TW: It's always fun to write for Christopher, because of his use of language, his malapropisms, you know? He thinks he's a lot smarter than he actually is. And he tries to use words that he doesn't really quite understand, or turns of phrase that he doesn't quite get. I knew Paulie would not in a million years know what the interior ministry was, or, you know, Chechen, as opposed to Czechoslovakian, so it was about interpreting it through the stupid filter in his brain. So that was fun, too, because the phone kept dying out. So basically, it's like a game of telephone for stupid people where, you know, I whisper in your ear and you whisper to the person next to you.

Sirico was a big influence upon his character, Paulie Walnuts.

TW: The first time you see Paulie in the episode, he's getting a manicure. So my idea was that I wanted to take Paulie from his most pristine to completely disheveled in the course of that one hour where you've never seen him like that before.

DC: I mean, [Tony Sirico] didn't come to us and say, Oh, it would be a good idea if Paulie was like this, he never did that. None of the actors did that, except for Joe Gannascoli, who did it once, that [his character] Vito was gay. But, no, Tony never did that. But he would say things that we would observe and they would seem to fit right into the show.

TW: They're very, very similar. Theres an extremely thin line between Tony Sirico and Paulie Walnuts. Youd say, OK, go into wardrobe and when he came out, he would look exactly the same as when he went in. He is very much like that guy. It's no secret that Tony Sirico had been to prison as a younger man and had been involved with, you know, various aspects of organised crime in and around New York City, so he certainly understood that character very well.

He was like the real-life Fonzie. His hair was, like, you know, perfectly coiffed all the time. Tony didn't let the hairstylist on the show touch his hair. He would do his own hair. And he once told me his whole system. If he had a 6am call, he would wake up at 3am. He would comb his hair to get it into the shape he wanted. And then he would spray hairspray in the air and let this spray mist down on his head. Much like snowflakes. And he would do that repeatedly until it formed a protective shield around his hair that was sort of impervious to wind and the elements, and I swear you could hit him on the head with a lead pipe and the pipe would bend.

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And there's a bit when Paulie loses his shoe and rolls down a hill and the stuntman who did the stunt was wearing a wig that looked exactly like Tony Sirico's hair. And when the stuntman got up, his hair is completely disheveled. So I said, Just look at his hair. I said, That's what I need you to do. He's like, I'm not doing that. And after having worked with him for so long I knew that the way to get him to do something was tell him it's really going to be scary, or it's really going to be funny. I said, Tony, it's going to be so fucking funny for people to see you with your hair messed up. No one has ever seen you like this. And he went, All right, you c***sucker and he put his hands through his hair. And he completely fucked up his hair and it stayed like that for the rest of the episode.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who care about what happened to the Russian and those who do not (David Chase is famously the latter).

TVP: I don't care. And it took me a minute to get there. David Chase, when I asked him the question, he was like, I don't care, because that's not real life. Number one: I don't pander to what the audience wants, and, also, thats just like in real life, you know, that likely wouldn't happen, you know? And I guess I sort of subscribe to that.

TW: Everybody was convinced this was setting up a storyline where it's gonna be a big mob war between the Italians and the Russians. And, of course, that never happened. And then they were never even mentioned again. And that's real for me. Like, that's one of the many brilliant examples of David's work, where it always defies expectations. Whatever you think is gonna happen generally is the opposite.

People kept clamouring for closure. I think we're trained from, whatever it is, 70/80 years of TV watching. We are trained that, you know, stories wrap up and you find out what happened at the end and you find out who the killer is and then you got that sense of closure. And part of what makes this show different and I think part of its greatness was that it doesn't answer all your questions. You know, there's a famous saying, I don't know who to attribute it to, but its Art asks questions, it doesn't give answers.

Mystery is good. It'll give you something to think about at night when you have nothing else to do. It reminds me of back in the 1970s. You'd leave a movie and it was ambiguous and you'd talk about it with your friends. What do you think this meant? What do you think that meant? And where do you think they are now? It's funny, I was watching Out Of The Past, a film noir with Robert Mitchum recently. Robert Mitchum dies in the end and it's the kind of thing like, oh, yeah, they used to kill people in movies. The main character would die at the end of the movie in 1945. And now it's like nobody ever dies. Because what if we want to do Out Of The Past 2 or Further Out Of The Past? I like the idea that things don't work out the way you expect, or don't work out necessarily the way you want, and then they're confusing and ambiguous. That's what art is.

Van Patten and Winter both initially wanted to see the Russian resurface in a later series. They pitched Chase an idea that he ultimately turned down.

TW: As people kept clamouring for closure, I finally said to David, It would be so amazing for the audience if we finally paid off the Russian somehow. And, you know, I thought what if Christopher comes, a year later, into the Russian mob boss headquarters and sees Valerie, the Russian guy, and he's there sweeping and they look at each other and it looks like Valerie recognises Christopher. And then Valerie returns and the whole back half of his head is gone and you realise that, oh, Valerie's mentally incapacitated because of that gunshot. Maybe he does recognise Christopher but he can't say anything he's just incapable of expressing it.

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David liked the idea and we were planning on maybe doing it. But then I made a fatal mistake of saying, The audience is going to love that. And David said, Well, that's the worst reason to do it. I'm not doing it. I'm not just doing this to, you know, to fulfil audience wishes and desires. I'm telling the best story, it's not wish fulfilment. So that was the closest we ever came to closure.

DC: I'm satisfied. It was a long time ago. I didn't need to bring the Russian back. Ive always said that the episode was a fairy tale. It's like a Grimm story two guys are lost in the woods in the snow. It sounds like Hansel and Gretel or something to me.

There was some speculation that the Russian was a supernatural being, in keeping with some of the more surreal, near-magical occurrences in other episodes of the show, like when Paulie visits a psychic who appears to know his deepest, darkest secrets. But Chase denies this.

DC: I enjoy including that feeling [of the supernatural]. Like Tony's whole trip to the nether world in Los Angeles [in series six]. I really enjoyed all that. I never thought that... what was the Russian called? Vitelli? Vladamir? I never thought of him as being from another world. However, I did keep telling people it was a fairy tale. It's a fairy tale. That's all I ever said.

TW: In their reality that is the only way they can make sense of it, that he must be supernatural. When they shoot him in the head, you clearly see the headshot. There's no question. They shot the guy and then he keeps running. And then, you know, the spookiness of being in the woods and theyre frozen and hungry. And Christopher tells the story about the Jersey Devil, which is this myth of this preacher that used to live in those woods, and it just gets worse and worse. I think their imaginations start to take over. That said, you know, there are other little supernatural moments throughout the show. And, you know, David Chase and I are really interested in that stuff and just the whole mystery of life. And there's an episode later on, where Paulie sees the Virgin Mary at the Bada Bing!. Paulie, particularly, with his experience with the psychic, is more open to that kind of stuff than any of the other characters.

After our phone call, Chase called me back up to make one final point about the way he and his writers tried to ground the show in the comical absurdity of real life.

DC: I dont know what you call it, the humour and the horribleness. We had one show in which we featured a homeless woman with a New York Daily News up her bum. And you can be outraged by that and only the Daily News complained or you can be saddened by that. Or theres something funny about it. And Terry [Winter] had seen that and I said we should put that in the show and we did. And the point about it is it was real. That was real life and that was what we were always trying to do.

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Excerpt from:
David Chase and The Sopranos writers break down Pine Barrens, 20 years on - British GQ

Lancaster, Pa. | $725,000A circa-1900 eclectic brick house with seven bedrooms, three full bathrooms and two half bathrooms, on a 0.3-acre lot

This property is in School Lane Hills, a neighborhood about a mile west of the city of Lancaster, so it is within walking distance of Lancaster Central Market, the Fulton Theatre and numerous shops and restaurants. It is a few blocks south of Buchanan Park and the campus of Franklin & Marshall College. Wheatland, the Federal-style house to which President James Buchanan retired after failing to prevent the United States from descending into civil war, is a mile down the road (you can visit the house virtually during the pandemic).

Size: 4,514 square feet

Price per square foot: $161

Indoors: The sellers renovated the house in two phases, followed by updates. In the first phase, from 2002 to 2010, they concentrated on the first-floor public rooms and a second-floor bedroom and study, removing century-old wallpaper, repairing plaster, refinishing floors and cleaning, restoring or replacing period glass, built-ins and lighting. They also did roof repairs, painted interior and exterior woodwork, and renovated the entire third floor.

From 2012 to 2013, they got really serious and renovated five bedrooms, two bathrooms, the sunroom, the grand stairway and the kitchen (with breakfast room). They also rebuilt all three rear entrances, enclosed a porch and a balcony, and landscaped three sides of the house, adding a stone retaining wall and 45 arborvitae trees. They estimate their total renovation investment at more than $500,000.

The entrance is through a deep, covered, wraparound porch, into a vestibule ornamented with chestnut wood and leaded glass, a recurring theme. The foyer that follows has a chestnut fireplace with a tiled surround and hearth and chestnut columns supporting the mirrored overmantel (additional columns introduce the grand chestnut staircase). Turning left upon entering takes you into a living room that has a fireplace with a marble surround. Beyond that is a library with a bay window and floor-to-ceiling shelving. And beyond that is a formal dining room with a paneled wainscot and a crystal chandelier. All of these rooms can be closed off with pocket doors.

Italian marble covers the floor, and granite covers the countertops, in the updated kitchen. The cabinetry is Shaker simple and includes a central island with a sink and dishwasher. A commercial-grade Viking range is tucked into a niche. The breakfast room effectively a sunroom is also connected to the dining room (the subfloor here and in the kitchen is heated). A half bathroom is next to a rear staircase.

The second-floor bedrooms extend along a hallway and occupy either end. The primary bedroom includes a bay window, window seat and double closets. Another roomy bedroom has a curved wall of windows. A third bedroom, also spacious, opens to a sunroom. A fourth is fitted out as an office with extensive built-ins, including a closet converted into an inset bookcase. All of these rooms have hardwood floors, doors with transom windows and folding shutters. Of the two hall bathrooms, one has marble floors, a large stained-glass window and a marble counter with double sinks; the second contains a soaking tub.

Two additional large bedrooms, separated by a sitting room, are on the third floor, along with full bathroom. The basement includes a laundry room, a half bathroom and direct access to the rear garden.

Outdoor space: A wrought-iron gate encloses the deep front lawn with its arborvitae border. Additional grassy areas and plantings are in back, along with a detached one-car garage with a matching flared roof.

Taxes: $14,923 (based on a tax assessment of $404,500)

Contact: Anne Lusk, Lusk & Associates Sothebys International Realty, 717-291-9101; sothebysrealty.com

The 11 units in this ornate brownstone building are staggered on half floors, and each occupies its own level. This unit is at the front, a flight and a half up from the entrance and facing West 84th Street to the south. The American Museum of Natural History and two subway stations are five minutes away on foot. Restaurants, cafes and shops are strung along nearby Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues. And a highly rated zoned public elementary school is half a block from the front door.

Size: 385 square feet

Price per square foot: $1,948

Indoors: The living-and-dining room has hardwood floors and an exposed-brick wall with open shelving constructed with pipes and boards. At one end is a south-facing window bay; at the other, a galley kitchen with tile floors, wood cabinets, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

A rolling ladder takes you up to a sleeping loft above the kitchen and adjacent bathroom (which includes a small vanity and sink and a combined tub and shower).

The bedroom is a windowed 9-by-8-foot room off the living room; it has a closet but currently lacks a door. Free laundry facilities are in the buildings basement.

Outdoor space: This home is less than a block from Central Park, near the 86th Street transverse, a couple of exceptional playgrounds, the Arthur Ross Pinetum and the Great Lawn.

Taxes: $8,700, plus a monthly $506 homeowner fee

Contact: Kimberly Chestone, Compass, 973-670-5536; compass.com

Paul Marcarelli, an actor and screenwriter known for asking, Can you hear me now? in Verizon Wireless TV ads, has owned this condo with his husband, Ryan Brown, since 2017. The home also has the distinction of being across the street from the Unitarian Universalist Church associated with the composition of Jingle Bells (a long and complicated story that involves competing claims from Medford, Mass.).

The building, which has five units, is smack in the middle of the historic district, a couple of blocks from the writer Flannery OConnors childhood home and less than half a mile northeast of Forsyth Park. It is an easy walk from there to the campus of Savannah College of Art and Design.

Size: 1,400 square feet

Price per square foot: $536

Indoors: One enters through a private street door and climbs a flight of marble stairs to reach the second-floor unit. French doors lead into a living room with original heart-pine floorboards, a fireplace with a neo-Classical mantel and a second set of French doors opening to a covered balcony overlooking East Charlton Street. The balcony, which is framed by a brick arch, can also be entered from an adjacent kitchen and dining area with wood cabinets, marble countertops and wood knobs and pulls. (As specified by the apartments decorator, Kelly Woodton of New Jersey, the gray-and-green palette was meant to evoke grand country-house kitchens from the Victorian and Edwardian eras.)

On the opposite side of the foyer is a double closet with a stacked washer and dryer, followed by the bedroom wing. The guest room, staged here as an office, has heart-pine floors, marine-blue walls with white trimming and three sash windows with shutters. The guest bathroom, which opens from the hall, includes a tiled tub-and-shower combination. The primary bedroom is white with wood floors and includes a private balcony overlooking Troup Square, an en suite bathroom with a walk-in shower faced in glossy dark-green subway tile and a windowed, walk-in closet.

Outdoor space: Every square in Savannah has its own night for socializing, and Troup Squares is Thursday. The little park is distinguished by its armillary sphere, which alludes to the cosmos and is supported by six tortoise sculptures. It also has a drinking fountain for dogs.

Taxes: $6,105 (2019, based on a tax assessment of $483,400), plus a monthly $371 homeowner fee

Contact: Staci M. Donegan, Seabolt Real Estate, Christies International Real Estate, 912-247-2052; stacidonegan.idxbroker.com

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

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What $750,000 Buys You in Pennsylvania, New York and Georgia - The New York Times

The latest political upheaval to shake the British prime minister, Boris johnson, the controversial works carried out at his official home in Downing Street, has put the leader and the Conservative Party under the suspected violations of ethical rules.

The scandal involves a colorful gallery of characters, from the prime minister to a decorator to a billionaire lord. These are the protagonists of the so-called Wallpapergate (the case of wall paper):

The prime minister is at the center of the controversy for not having declared how he paid for the renovations undertaken at his residence in Downing Street, subject of an investigation.

The conservative leader has insisted in recent days that he paid personally for those jobs and is trying to get out of a scandal that could affect your popularity levels, when there are just days until the next local and regional elections in the United Kingdom.

The scandal adds to other recent leaks that Johnson has had to deal with, such as the one that claims he claimed that prefers to have piles of corpses to decree a new confinement in October.

Doubts about the controversial reform of the official apartment of the premier and his partner, Carrie Symonds, soared last week, when the former Johnsons main adviser and Brexit ideologist, Dominic Cummings, accused him in an inflammatory message from have searched last year that donors pay secretly for the works and claimed that he had warned him that this would be probably illegal.

Under British law, Heads of Government receive up to 30,000 pounds (34,500 euros) to decorate his official Downing Street residence. In this case, the national media assured that the reform in question undertaken by Johnson and Symonds far exceeded that figure. until reaching an additional 58,000 pounds (66,000 euros).

After his controversial November exit from Downing Street, Cummings has become with his leaks a spanking for johnson and in an even greater threat than that of the Labor opposition.

Johnsons partner and mother of their young son, Wilfred, was reportedly the works supervisor in the official apartment.

His known differences with Cummings caused him to leak pearls to the media aimed at damaging Symonds reputation. Among them, he commented that Johnsons then fiances taste in interior decorating was inspired by designer Lulu Lytle, and that she set out to eliminate the nightmare of John Lewis-style furniture (popular department stores) from the time of ( former Prime Minister) Theresa May.

Lytle, 49, is the designer who is behind the refurbishment work performed at Johnsons home.

She is co-founder and director of the company Soane Britain, a firm that, according to its official website, designs and manufactures furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics, wall-papering and interior needs.

Born in Worcestershire and specializing in Egyptology from University College London, she also has a background in antiquities.

Lytle is married to Charles Patrick, a veteran investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and the couple have three teenage children. They live in a valued property at 4 million pounds (4.6 million euros) close to the central London park of Hyde Park.

According to the latest list of the richest in the United Kingdom released in 2020 by the British Sunday The Sunday Times, Lord Brownlow has an estimated fortune of 247 million pounds (284 million euros).

It was he who allegedly donated the 58,000 pounds (66,784 euros) to the Conservative Party to pay for the controversial works, an amount practically insignificant to him compared to the almost 3 million pounds (3.4 million euros) that over the years he has donated to the Tories.

According to a source well connected with that party mentioned in the newspaper today The Times, the donor has gone to great lengths to cheat on all the Conservative prime ministers in recent years.

Ben Elliot, co-chair of the Tory Party, was apparently always aware of plans to finance the renovation undertaken at Johnsons apartment and he was also aware of the donation of 58,000 pounds provided by Brownlow.

In this gearing of political connections, Elliot, co-founder of the London-based company Quintessentially which offers luxury concierge services moves like a fish in water through social circles in which members of the royal family, characters of the City of London financial center and the governing Conservative Party.

He is also the nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla, wife of the heir to the British throne, Charles of England.

Your email address was copied to a email sent by Brownlow to the person in charge of raising funds for the tories, Mike Chattey, accessed by the British tabloid Daily Mail, dated October 14, 2020.

According to Thursday The Times, in that email the donor Brownlow expresses his intention to donate 15,000 pounds, but also refers to the aforementioned sum of 58,000 pounds for cover payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon-to-be Downing Street Foundation.

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Who is who in the "Wallpapergate", the scandal that puts Boris Johnson on the ropes - Tallaght Magazine

Stephanie Kruse and her husband paid a company in British Columbia to build their roughly 8.5 x 20 foot tiny home. Living in it allowed them to save money for travel and a down payment on a traditional house. (Photo by Erin McKinstry/KCAW)

Tiny homes have gained traction in recent years as an affordable housing alternative, but building them legally poses challenges in many communities. Sitka was one of the first cities in the country to introduce a set of tiny home friendly code changes last year. But, a year after passing the groundbreaking ordinance, no one is building them.

A few years back, Stephanie Kruse and her husband decided they were sick of renting.

They moved around a lot for Kruses job, so buying a house wasnt a great option. Besides, with Southeast Alaskas high rental rates, they werent saving enough for a down payment.

Its hard to put away money when youre paying so much in rent. And you know, at the end of the year, you dont get anything back from that besides having had a place to live, Kruse said. So, for us, we wanted to do something that would allow us to build some equity with that 1200 plus dollars a month we were paying in rent and housing costs.

They looked at manufactured homes and RVs, but ultimately settled on a tiny house on wheels.

We preferred the tiny house for a lot of reasons. One of them for sure is that a tiny house holds its value a lot better than an RV because its built with more traditional construction materials that are meant to withstand the weather. And then also, you know, theyre whimsical and fun and interesting.

With beige siding and a blue metal roof, the roughly 170-square-foot house looks like a mini single-family home. Kruse and her husband took out an RV loan and paid a company in British Columbia to build it. They moved it to Juneau on the ferry and parked it on a shared lot.

When Kruses job brought them to Sitka, the tiny house came with them. Even with their loan payment and the cost to rent a spot at a local RV park, Kruse said they were paying a couple hundred dollars less a month than if they were renting.

I think the kind of ruling concept for people who do small homes or tiny homes is a small house for a big life. If you can reduce your housing expenses and kind of minimize that in your life, but still make it a pleasant place to be, Kruse said. And that gives you the ability to kind of put your funding towards the things that you are really passionate about in your life.

For Kruse and her husband, that meant a trip to Japan and saving to buy a regular house. And when they sold the tiny house and left Sitka for the Pacific Northwest, thats exactly what they did.

I think its a really great stepping stone to home ownership like it was for us.

But even though rent in Sitka is high and home ownership can be cost prohibitive, people in Sitka arent following in Kruses footsteps. Thats despite changes to the citys building and zoning codes a little over a year ago to make tiny homes easier to build. Pat Swedeen is Sitkas Building Official.

Theres definitely been a few individuals who have been interested in it. Weve also had actually a couple of companies think about maybe trying to go that route, Sitkas Building Official Pat Swedeen said. Thus far we havent had anybody actually begin that proper process of permitting and, and constructing a tiny home.

Even before the changes, Sitka didnt have a minimum house size, but meeting building standards for small structures was a challenge. So Sitka adopted a set of international regulations to make it easier to build houses under 400 square feet, allowing for things like ladders and lower ceilings.

It also addressed a legal grey area for tiny homes on wheels. Before last March, Sitka considered them RVs like almost any other place in the country, and legally, you cant live in an RV year-round in Sitka. Now, they have their own designation. Theyre allowed in trailer courts, and there are some zones where they can be placed on lots by themselves with planning commission approval.

The two main barriers in most places are zoning and building codes, Tiny Home Industry Association communications director Alexis Stephens said. She said Sitkas changes are a big step in the right direction. Sitka is one of just a few across the country to update their zoning regulations to be more tiny home friendly.The progress is really picking up but to put that into context, theres almost 90,000 municipalities in the United States, having more than a dozen embracing tiny homes, still leaves quite a bit of work to do.

And even with the regulations changes, there are still barriers like the cost of construction, Swedeen said.

Per square foot, a tiny home isnt really super affordable. You know, since its small, its not like the cost of building a 2500 square foot house. But you know, you still need to have cooking appliances, you still need to have heating appliances, you still need to have bathing facilities and a toilet and things like that.

Financing and land availability are also big hurdles. Tiny homes on wheels arent allowed as accessory dwelling units in Sitka, so you cant just buy one and park it in someones yard.

Jennifer Younger bought Kruses tiny home as an affordable option for her son. Much like Kruse, it allowed him to save money to buy his own house. Now, theyre looking to sell, but Younger said land availability has stopped a lot of buyers.

Weve had several people very interested and check it out and its a beautifully built little home, but people just dont have property to put it on, she said.

Even though tiny homes havent taken off, Sitka Conservation Society Sustainable Communities catalyst Chandler OConnell said she isnt discouraged. SCS partnered with a Sitka High School construction class to build their own tiny house a few years ago. Their efforts to sell it sparked a community conversation, which contributed to the eventual code changes.

And I think our learning from past code changes is it takes a while for that information out there. It takes a while for people to understand the implications and think about how they want to implement that in their own building decisions. Im excited to see how it can shape Sitkas housing market over the next few years.

She said she sees tiny homes as one affordable housing option of many. They wont work for everyone, but its about getting more tools in Sitkas housing toolbelt.

Throughout April and May, KCAW News will be bringing you stories about affordable housing solutions every Friday as part of our Building Solutions series. Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member.

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A year after Sitka made space for tiny homes, no one is building them - KCAW

LA GRANDE A local home builder is offering a small solution to a countywide housing problem tiny homes.

Megan Fehrenbacher, owner of Mega Tiny Homes in La Grande, has been building tiny homes for just over two years, starting out with a small cottage she built after a friends retreat burned down in Tollgate.

Fehrenbacher said the business has an important role in not only building affordable homes for the community, but as a form of rehabilitation. She said she had grown frustrated with substance abuse treatment centers, which she saw as a retreat that did not prepare its graduates for life after therapy.

I wanted to start a work rehab, where they dont just go to rehab and talk about themselves, Fehrenbacher said.

The inspiration comes from her son, who she said struggled with substance abuse disorders in the past. Now, shes helping to build futures.

My son went through 18 rehabs, said Fehrenbacher, noting the most beneficial to her sons health were work rehabs, where he would spend time on farms or recycling centers working and building up his marketable skills.

All of the other rehabs, he would get out and nobody wanted him, Fehrenbacher said. I said to myself, I can do this better.

She built her first tiny home with the assistance of Stacey Bowman, who now works for Mega Tiny Homes.

I learned a lot, Fehrenbacher said.

Navigating through the codes and requirements of homebuilding, such as proper electrical work, was a challenge for the fledgeling homebuilder. Still, orders began coming in.

Her first order was for 60 houses. However, the order was a sham, with the buyer fronting the money for only five houses. Fehrenbacher was wary and able to keep her business from going into excess debt.

Tiny houses, which have experienced a huge increase in support over the past decade, have attracted young homeowners and elderly alike. The low-cost of entry allows first-time homebuyers to get a foot in a market that increased dramatically since the 2009 housing crisis, which saw foreclosures across the country and downwardly spiraling home prices that left many with negative equity. And older homebuyers are interested in smaller spaces, due to children leaving the home and having excess space.

Tiny homes often are confused with modular or manufactured homes, which Fehrenbacher said have lower quality than her companys tiny homes. While manufactured homes have improved over the years, the stigma around them remains, as well as often true stereotypes of cheaper materials and workmanship in their construction.

For Fehrenbacher, the focus is on quality.

We definitely build a heavy and nice house, she said.

There is a drawback, however. In Oregon, tiny homes are technically illegal to sell instead, Fehrenbacher markets her homes as trailers or cabins to work around the prohibition.

Of the workers at Mega Tiny Homes, Ray Valdez is the most dedicated. Prior to his employment, he would walk to the manufacturer each work day, sit down for lunch and wait for his chance to work.

At first, Fehrenbacher wasnt interested in hiring the man. After a week, Valdez left. Fehrenbacher asked her employees which car he drove. They replied he didnt. She ran after the man and hired him on for a week. She said Valdez is her most crucial employee.

Hes the man, she said.

As home prices around the state continue to rise, Fehrenbacher said she hoped the legislation around tiny homes changes, and her business helps to solve the housing issues in La Grande and Union County.

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Little homes in the valley | Local News | lagrandeobserver.com - La Grande Observer

With winds up to 140 mph, a tornado that carved a nine-mile path through St. Landry Parish on April 9 into the next morning killed one person, injured seven and damaged 15 homes.

About 180 miles north in Shreveport, the same storm system killed a 48-year-old man when a powerful gust knocked a tree onto his mobile home.

The severe weather came just weeks after a tornado outbreak wreaked potentially millions of dollars in damage from flash floods, harsh winds and hail in Louisiana and surrounding states.

Some experts say the storms are part of an alarming trend: tornadoes are spinning up more often in Louisiana. A recent analysis by E&E News of the past 70 years of tornado activity in the southeastern United States shows tornado activity in the Deep South is more prevalent than once thought.

Increased attention on tornadoes in the South has given rise to a belief and public perception that the traditional tornado alley in the Great Plains is shifting southeast. But several experts say that likely isnt the case.

We need to be very cautious with the idea of tornado alley shifting, said Sean Sublette, a meteorologist for Climate Central, an organization that researches climate change and its impacts. Tornadoes are not leaving the Plains and migrating to the Southeast.

Weather researchers from Norman, Oklahoma on Monday were employing drones to comb the St. Landry Parish area near the site of a Saturday torna

Instead, theres been an increased focus on tracking tornadoes in whats sometimes referred to as Dixie Alley, an area covering the lower Mississippi River valley and through the Deep South. The area also covers northern and central Louisiana.

Tornadoes commonly seen in the South and the ones that typically spin up in Louisiana are often tough to spot and arent as eye-catching and iconic as those captured by storm chasers in the Great Plains.

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Still, rougher terrain and a plethora of manufactured homes make concentrated twisters more perilous in southeast states.

Deaths caused by tornadoes have been slowly ticking up over the past four years in Louisiana. At least five people were killed by them last year, up from two in 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Storms that produce tornadoes in Dixie Alley have also been undercounted for years, said Brad Bryant, science and operations officer at the National Weather Service in Shreveport. It wasnt until the late 90s and early 2000s that researchers began taking a closer look at how often they happen.

I think the general weather community got more of a sense that there are a whole lot more tornadoes happening in the Southeast than previously thought, Bryant said. Theres more understanding of these tornadoes.

Understanding how frequently they happen in the region has prompted agencies like the National Weather Service to look closer at where tornadoes happen over the years.

Often, the agency will send survey teams to check for signs of a twister, but it can sometimes be days before theyre able to confirm whether one touched down.

Thats because tornadoes here tend to be short-lived, especially near the coast, and coverage from trees and rain can mask them. Theyre also generally weaker than those in the Great Plains, but their sporadic nature and ability to spin up during storms can make them just as dangerous.

One theory behind the increase in tornadoes in southern states is areas in the southwestern U.S. becoming hotter and drier. That in turn could be creating a wetter and more unstable atmosphere thats capable of producing more tornadic activity.

Experts have also observed differences in the numbers of violent storms that coincide with ocean temperatures. Because of the cyclical nature of weather patterns, more data over a longer period is needed to see if tornadoes are happening more frequently in Louisiana, Bryant said.

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Are tornadoes moving from the plains to the South and Louisiana? Not likely, experts say - The Advocate

Forest Rivers Sunseeker Classic motor home is built on a Ford E-450 chassis, framed with vacuum-bonded laminate, and crammed with features the armchair outdoorsman would never consider. On the 31-foot model I piloted recently, those included a propane furnace to keep the cabin toasty in freezing temperatures, two refrigerators (one for the indoor kitchen and one for the outdoor one), three sleeping areas, and dozens of cabinets, drawers, and compartments to conceal disorder.

All that engineering was pretty satisfying at the campsite. On the road it was noisy, adding clatter and a little bit of mysteryhoney, did you hear that?to the task of keeping a 14,500-pound motor home upright going over winding mountain roads and through crowded interchanges. At least thats how I saw it. Like a real RV dad, I was doing my best to ignore the complaints of the unhappy campers with whom I was sharing the cabin. My kids had been slugging each other periodically, and when the iPad ran out of juice they tossed markers in my direction. My wife, Eleanor, had a premonition somewhere in the Allegheny Mountains and was now certain our brakes were about to give out. And that was before I opened an artery in my hand with a hatchet and wound up riding an ambulance from an obscure state park to an emergency room, asking myself how, exactly, Id come to believe this would be a relaxing vacation.

The Clark familyin Elkhart.

Photographer: Lyndon French for Bloomberg Businessweek

It had started some months earlier, when Id convinced the editors of Bloomberg Businessweek that we should visit Elkhart, Ind., where the worlds largest RV companies are based. Elkhart, which is about halfway between Ohio and Illinois and just south of the Michigan state line, may not be known as a tourist destination. But, as Id insisted to Eleanor, its a surprisingly bucolic place, where Amish farms mix with factories.

The vaccine was just starting to become widely available when we arrived at the end of March, and RVs remained compelling to travelers understandably turned off by the idea of sharing an airport waiting room or hotel lounge with a nose-masking stranger. Meanwhile, large portions of the American workforce were continuing to log in to the office virtually, creating an opportunity for the younger and more adventurous to work from the road, integrating their jobs into the #vanlife. Even the Oscar-winning film Nomadland romanticized this lifestyle in its own way.

The pandemic has been good for owners of vacation rental properties and shareholders of Airbnb Inc. Its also been great for the RV industry. After all, a motor home (or travel trailer, which is an RV you drag behind your car or truck) is like a halfway house to nature, perfect for indoorsy types who still enjoy national parks and retirees looking for a safe way to drive across the country to see their grandchildren. And so, starting last spring, people began canceling European honeymoons and going to RV dealerships instead. The motor-home-curious flocked to rental offices and Airbnb-style sharing websites. This drove so much demand for new RVs that by the time we got to Elkhart, help wanted signs were calling out from factory gates and roadside billboards.

Conventional wisdom says that workers and vacationers are on the road back to pre-pandemic norms. But its also possible that the sudden embrace of RVs signals the beginning of a longer-term trenda future in which tech executives and second-grade teachers finish their last Zoom of the day, emerge from their respective travel trailers to gather around a campfire, and unwind over cold beers and hot smores. Lets hope theyll all be trained to chop kindling safely.

There was really only one way to find out how realistic that vision was. When the kids school headed into spring break, I took the family to Elkhart, picked up the Sunseeker, and hit the road.

The Sunseeker in action.

Photographer: Lyndon French for Bloomberg Businessweek

The vacation, such as it was, started at the Thor Motor Coach Class B plant in Bristol, Ind., right outside Elkhart. It was, to the extent such a thing is possible, ground zero for the RV boomthe place where the biggest company makes its hottest models. Although a cold front was threatening ominously, it was sunny. Inside, workers wearing T-shirts ducked in and out of a procession of Ram ProMasters that snaked around the factory floor. Plumbers, carpenters, and electricians did their thing. A horn would honk, and a van shell would roll down the line to the next station.

Indiana, where more than 80% of North Americas RVs are made, came to play an outsize role in the industry more or less by accident. In one version of the story, the son of a prominent Elkhart merchant was captivated by the travel trailers hed encountered at the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago and begged his parents for startup capital. His success inspired other entrepreneurs, and a network of companies sprung up to manufacture motor homes and supply the nascent industry with specialized suspension systems, gas ranges, and refrigerators. Over the decades, the ranks of once independent RV companies consolidated into a small group of conglomerates, the biggest of which are in Elkhart.

Thor Industries Inc., which accounted for roughly 40% of all RV sales last year, is one of them. The company was founded in 1980 by a descendant of the brewer Adolphus Busch and spent the ensuing four decades acquiring manufacturers, including Airstream Inc., Jayco Inc., and a dozen other makes youve probably gawked at on the highway. Thors lineage and its thirst for acquisitions make it a little like the Anheuser-Busch of motor homes. Forest River Inc., which is owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and which owns Coachmen RV, Shasta RV, and other manufacturers, is the second-biggest: the industrys Heineken, as it were. Forest River is based in Elkhart, too.

Data: Compiled by Bloomberg

Thor, like the rest of the industry, had been focused on building travel trailers and larger motorized coaches, which might have a washer-dryer and theater seating. But in recent years Class B motor homeswhat the rest of us call camper vanshave been the fastest-growing segment. Class B vehicles are easier to drive without sacrificing too many amenities. Thors TMC Tellaro, for instance, is a 20-footer that can sleep up to four semicomfortably. Depending on the model, it can also cram in two propane burners, a microwave, a kitchen sink, a full (if tiny) bath, and an innovation called a cassette toileta commode that empties into a tank that works like a rollaway suitcase. That feature, I was told, is big in Europe.

Thors Martin.

Photographer: Lyndon French for Bloomberg Businessweek

Factories in Elkhart County shut down in March 2020 and reopened in May. But despite having been offline for two months, manufacturers delivered more RVs last year than they did the year before. More than 530,000 vehicles will be shipped to North American RV dealers this year, a record, according to estimates from the RV Industry Association.

Our products were kind of built for something like this, said Thor Chief Executive Officer Bob Martin, a former offensive lineman at Purdue University who spoke to me across the length of a conference table overlooking the scenic St. Joseph River. RVs had normally been the domain of snowbirds, motor sports enthusiasts, mountain climbers, pet owners, pro golfers, touring rock bands, and all manner of germophobes. The pandemic has added to those ranks, created new ones, and, of course, proved the germophobes right. Our customers think about those kinds of things, he said. They know who cleaned their RV, because they cleaned it. They know who has been allowed in the unit, because its their unit.

The earliest RVs were basically tents on wheels, covered wagons that hitched to cars instead of horses. But it didnt take long for a group of entrepreneurs to realize they could make more money by complicating things. By the late 1930s, Elkhart was already delivering extravagant travel trailers that anticipated the bigger-is-better fifth wheels (a technical term for a trailer that hangs over the bed of a pickup truck). Some innovations, like the slide-out sections that make an RV wider at the campsite, were widely adopted. Others were not. Long before it was acquired by Thor, Jayco made a pontoon-camper hybrid called the Camp-n-Cruise. It sold poorly. Winnebago Industries Inc., based in Iowa, briefly sold a flying RV called the Heli-Home. It was a neat idea, said Al Hesselbart, the retired staff historian at Elkharts RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum & Library, a facility dedicated to the glories of recreational vehicles and manufactured housing. But it was one of those giant steps that was way too big for the customers.

These days RV companies are still cramming their products full of products. Higher-end motor homes include gas fireplaces and heated tile floors. The plant manager at Rev Group Inc.s Renegade RV factory bragged about the Amish-built cabinetry his employees were installing. An executive at Gulf Stream Coach Inc. boasted of his companys cradle of strength system for lowering the vehicles center of gravity and making it easier to drive. At Nexus RV, co-founder Claude Donati showed off 4x4 drivetrains aimed at improving towing capacity, perfect for hauling a $200,000 sports car behind a $200,000 RV.

A Renegade RV is assembled in Bristol.

Photographer: Lyndon French for Bloomberg Businessweek

Photographer: Lyndon French for Bloomberg Businessweek

Their enthusiasm was only slightly diminished by rising production costs. Skilled workers in need of employment are hard to find in northern Indiana right now, and good ones are commanding higher wages, said Donati. Finding parts is an even bigger problem. When Nexus normal supplier of wheel well liners ran out of inventory this spring, the company found them on Amazon. It bought mattresses online at Wayfair and generators off the shelf at a Menards hardware store. Its like, do we ship it without a generator? Donati asked. You might be putting someone in a position not to have as much fun.

Id rented our Sunseeker from an outfit called Road Bear RV, which, as it turned out, was facing a similar predicament. A week before we arrivedwe drove a normal rental car to get thereI got an email from the reservation desk alerting me to a pitfall of renting an RV in March: I could hook up the RV to a water supply, but Id have to take responsibility if the pipes burst. This didnt seem like a big deal at the time, but then the cold front swept in, promising overnight temperatures in the 20s. The safe plan, a Road Bear representative said, would be to camp without running water.

If Road Bear was worried Id get an incomplete experience, they didnt show it. RV rental companies, much like the rest of the industry, have spent the past year riding the Covid-19 roller coaster. Road Bear and its sister company, El Monte RV, had traditionally done most of their business with tourists from Europe, who were shut out of the U.S. by travel bans. But domestic demand was more than picking up the slack. Road Bears parent, a company in Auckland that had started out running helicopter tours in New Zealand, increased U.S. rental revenue 30% in the second half of 2020, compared with the year before.

The Road Bear rental office was situated in the back corner of an empty lot on Forest Rivers Elkhart campus, in a corrugated metal building that would have looked to the uninitiated like a good place to do something illegal. Inside, a counter was mounted in front of the broadside of a motor home called a Coachmen Leprechaun. Would our RV lead us to a pot of gold or a pot of something else? A clerk took my credit card and handed over a packet of toilet chemicals.

We had rented the RV through Road Bears factory direct program, an offering it developed to help solve a key logistical problem. The company manufactures its RVs in Indiana, but its offices are near major cities. So Road Bear offers renters their choice of the companys RVs for $9 a day to pick up a motor home in Elkhart and drive it to a rental location. After insurance, campsite fees, and gas, our trip worked out to about $170 a day.

At first glance, the Sunseeker compared well to the types of hotel rooms we could get for the money. For one thing, there was a semblance of privacy: My 7-year-old daughter claimed the loft over the cab, and my 5-year-old son slept on the pull-out sofa in the living area. My wife and I had the master bedroom at the back, with wardrobes and a television.

On the other hand, the Sunseeker was a lot more complicated to operate than a two-queen room at the Hilton. When we took possession of the motor home, a Road Bear employee spent 15 minutes walking us around the vehicle while delivering a series of commandments. Start the engine and engage the emergency brake before you extend the slide-outs. Turn off the propane before you fill the gas tank. If you must use the toilet, flush with windshield wiper fluid, because it has a lower freezing point than water.

Scenes from the road.

Photographer: Patrick Clark for Bloomberg Businessweek

We camped in Elkhart that evening, celebrating Eleanors birthday with McDonalds and cheesecake, and soon realized that the Road Bear tutorial had been somewhat inadequate. The RV beeped and buzzed for reasons we couldnt account for. The internet told us to make sure we flipped the breaker before plugging an RV into a power source, but there was no breaker in the electrical box at our first parking slot. I took a breath, imagined offing my family in an electrical explosion, and plugged in. Nothing bad happened, but a couple of hours later we had to spend 10 minutes looking for an elusive light switch. I woke up cold in the middle of the night, dialed up the thermostat, and then smelled something burning. A bit of Googling indicated that the smell was probably just construction debris left in the furnace. To be safe, I turned off the heat and went back to sleep.

Id been warned that a new RV takes a little while to get used to, and moreover that RVing was a lifestyle for people with a certain capacity for self-reliance. RVers had to be comfortable driving a big rig and making minor repairs. Yes, they appreciated modern conveniences such as dishwashers and satellite television, but they also didnt mind cramming themselves into tiny showers or acquiring a basic understanding of electrical system design.

Even before we left Elkhart, it was clear my family might not quite meet this description. I had bought the hatchet as a jokeit was on one of the checklists wed found on the internet covering what to pack on an RV tripand I figured Id buy wood and fire-starters like any basic urbanite. But theres something about having driven a rickety house-car up a windy Appalachian hillside that makes you feel vastly more capable than you actually are. And so I found myself making kindling at Little Beaver State Park near Beckley, W.Va. A light snow was falling, and my children pulled up their camp chairs to watch me nurse the fire while Eleanor cooked burgers on the electric stove that folded down from the motor homes outdoor kitchen. Then my hatchet blade slipped. I didnt feel pain, at least not at first.

Clockwise from top left: The author, grooming at Jellystone Park; dinner in Kentucky; the case for not making your own kindling; the outdoor kitchen.

Photographer: Patrick Clark for Bloomberg Businessweek

Getting to the emergency room in rural West Virginia seemed like it would be an order of magnitude harder than plugging in a motor home. My first instinct was to wrap my wound in a towel and hope. Eleanor didnt think that was a solution and called 911. By 2 a.m.after a 30-minute ambulance ride to Raleigh General Hospital, where the staff sewed me up and called me a cab back to the campsiteI faced a new set of questions.

Could I drive the Sunseeker with nine stitches in my hand? (I thought so.) Did Eleanor want to drive? (No. She didnt.) Were our collective nerves too fried to face another drive through the mountains? (Yes.) Did we have enough propane in the tank to last another day of freezing temperatures? (Maybe?) In the end, we spent a rest day in Little Beaver, ordered Dominos, and shut the doors against the cold.

The guy dressed like Ranger Smith at the camp store in Luray, Va., heard me say my name and made a crack about Clark Griswold, the everyman played by Chevy Chase who dragged his family through hilarious misadventures in the Vacation movies. I didnt mind. Jellystone Park resort, the Yogi Bear-themed chain of RV campgrounds, felt like a party, and, after the ER visit, a relatively safe one. Kids jumped on bouncy pillows and waved at a bear who was riding around on the back of a golf cart. Adults played classic rock at respectful volumes and tended their fires.

A strange thing about RVing is that you can theoretically go anywhere, but many people take their vehicles to glorified parking lots so they can make camp 20 feet away from the next group. This is not universally true: Some stay for free at Walmart parking lots and national forests. But RVerslike motorcyclists and Jeep peoplelike being around their own kind. That often means in diagonal rows of RV-size spaces, each one with an electrical box, a water spigot, and a hole in the ground to connect the tube that empties waste. Usually theres a picnic table. Sometimes theres a way to hook up to cable TV.

Snapshots from the Clarks vacation, including, top left, a post-injury indulgence.

Photographer: Patrick Clark for Bloomberg Businessweek

The Luray Jellystone was a little bit like that, but its RV sites were built into a hillside and along a grassy quad, making it feel less like a parking lot and more like a summer camp, where we could enjoy the kinship of a hundred or so families who also recognized the pleasures and pains of vacationing in a house-car. The temperature had started climbing, and so we were able to plug the Sunseeker into the municipal water supply. I flipped the switch on the electric water heater (having learned to conserve propane) and took a hot shower. More important, I was finally able to complete an important rite of passage: I got to empty the wastewater tank.

Our campsite at Jellystone didnt have a sewage hookup, and it took two laps around the park before I managed to pull up on the correct side of the communal dumping station. I affixed one end of an accordion tube to the Sunseekers undercarriage, screwed the other end to a concrete basin, and pulled a gray handle to empty water from the sinks and shower.

It was easier than I expected, but there was a catch. Everything on the Sunseeker was new, but the tube that Road Bear had supplied me with was not, and when I pulled the plunger, water poured through slits in its midsection. I should have realized what would happen next, but then I pulled the handle to release the toilet tank. Wastewater came pouring through the slits and onto the gravel road next to the basin. In a flash, I understood the appeal of Thors poop suitcase.

On the drive north from Virginia, we assessed the vacation. I had liked driving the RV, clatter and all, and loved pressing the button that made it expand, though the size of the vehicle made it inconvenient for side trips and excursions. Eleanor agreed that the Sunseeker was big enough to provide a bit of privacy, but small enough to be an intimate space for a family of four. That was nice. It had probably been a worthwhile adventure, and she would never do it again.

Which was fine. I got my first vaccine shot shortly after we returned the Sunseeker to the Road Bear office in industrial New Jersey. A few days later we booked airplane tickets to visit family in Florida. The kids went back to school full time, a triumphant moment that signaled the end of what for me had been the most difficult and best parts of the pandemic. Trying to maintain Zoom-school discipline and tending to the emotions of kids whod been separated from their friends was terrible. On the other hand, Ill probably never spend as much time with them again.

I didnt know it, but when I stepped out of the puddle of wastewater at Jellystone Park, the worst of the pandemic was probably behind us in the U.S. (Fingers crossed.) There had been a water hose nearby, but I couldnt figure out how to get it to work, so I gave up on cleaning up after myself and approached the driver behind me to apologize. Its our first time doing this, I told him. We rented this thing. I kind of made a mess.

Thats OK, he said. I hope you had a good time.Read next: JetBlues Founder Is Preparing to Launch a New Airline in a Global Pandemic

More here:
Pandemic Vacation: What We Learned Driving 1,100 Miles in an RV - Bloomberg

Blanca Tamayo was dying when she arrived at UCI Medical Center. She had been shot in the head and her two children were among the four killed in a mass shooting in Orange five weeks ago.

A team of doctors, surgeons and nurses saved her life and cared for her as she recovered. Now, the sole survivor of the tragedy that unfolded on March 31 was being released.

For the record:

1:36 PM, May. 06, 2021An earlier version of this article referred to Luis Tovar as Blanca Tamayos ex-husband. The two were never married.

On Wednesday, Tamayo sat quietly in a wheelchair, holding two flower bouquets and wearing a T-shirt with an image of her 9-year-old son, Matthew Farias, who died in her arms that day.

This hospital has been great, Tamayo said in a low, raspy voice. I have my family, the father of my boy and my son who love me and support me and Im thankful for that.

She paused, placed her right hand over her chest and cried for Matthew.

Hes an angel and hes with God now, his mother said.

At that moment, words failed her. Her daughter, 28-year-old Genevieve Raygoza, was also killed.

Kneeling down next to her, 25-year-old Louis Tovar Jr. whispered comforting words to his mother. Tovar, whose father and two siblings were killed in the shooting, said the road to recovery will be long for his mother.

Im excited to have her back home, he said. Just happy to have her back for Mothers Day.

Tamayo said her only plan for Mothers Day was to spend it with family.

Try and enjoy whatever life God has left me, she said.

Blanca Ismeralda Tamayo, with her son Louis Tovar Jr., pauses in an emotional moment at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The mass shooting occurred on the evening of the last day of March in a commercial building that housed several businesses, including Unified Homes, a manufactured-home dealer and real estate company that the gunman targeted.

Orange Police Department detectives alleged that Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, drove a rental car to the building at 202 W. Lincoln Ave. They alleged that Gonzalez used bicycle-type locks to shut the front and rear entrances before carrying out the shooting, targeting mostly employees of Unified Homes.

The incident, the third mass shooting in the United States that month, stunned the quiet north Orange neighborhood.

In addition to Genevieve and Matthew, the dead included the owner of the business, Luis Tovar, 50, and longtime company employee Leticia Solis Guzman, 58.

Tamayo was found holding Matthew in her arms, family said. The day of the shooting just happened to be one of the days that Matthew had accompanied his mom to work at Unified Homes instead of going to day care, family said.

Louis Tovar Jr. said his mother was shot twice in the head and once in the arm.

Michael Lekawa, head surgeon at UCI Medical Center, said Tamayos gunshot wounds caused some facial fractures and she required brain surgery.

Lekawa, who was assisting the night the mass shooting happened, said head injuries can be among the most catastrophic a person can experience. Looking at Tamayo, he said he expected her to recover well at least physically.

Gonzalez, the suspected gunman, was wounded after exchanging fire with police officers. Authorities said officers were forced to use bolt cutters to gain entrance.

A photo released by authorities showed a man entering the business dressed in black and gray with sunglasses, a baseball hat and black bandana covering his face. He had a backpack on his left shoulder and a gun in his right hand.

Authorities said they recovered a semiautomatic handgun and a backpack with pepper spray, handcuffs and ammunition that they say belong to the suspect.

Gonzalez, who has not been arraigned, is facing four murder counts and three attempted-murder counts for firing at two officers who were not struck and for critically wounding Tamayo, according to a statement that Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer released last month after filing the charges.

The taking of the life of another human being is the most serious of crimes, he said. And the slaughter of multiple people while they were essentially locked in a shooting gallery is nothing short of terrifying.

Detectives say they dont have a motive for the shooting. They are also looking at how the suspect obtained the firearm.

Back at the hospital Wednesday afternoon, Rafael Farias stood by himself a short distance away, watching his wife address the media. He wore a golden rosary with a photo of his smiling son, Matthew. Farias said losing his boy triggered memories of his own father, who died when he was 3. He has tried to take it one day at a time, focusing on supporting his wife and expressing gratitude to the hospital staff, family, friends and the public.

Im just grateful for this miracle, he said, looking over at Tamayo. I might not be able to see my son anymore, but I can at least see him through her.

Farias said hes going to focus on helping his wife while she continues to recover from her injuries. He said shes going to need 24-hour supervision and help moving around so she can avoid injuring herself.

I have a very quiet and calm environment for her and for her family to come over and visit, he said.

Farias said all he can do now is try to move forward as best he can. I have to continue living life for [my son], for his life, he said. I have to stay strong-minded.

Farias described Matthew as a smart, charismatic, athletic and energetic little boy. He said he loved seeing how happy he was around his mother.

He would give her kisses and flowers and hugged her every time he got the chance, he said.

Farias hoped to watch his son grow up and play sports.

I wanted to be his No. 1 fan, he said.

He said every now and then, he has dreams of him. He smiles thinking about it.

Hes joyful and happy, he said.

Hes up in heaven now and I know hes running around chasing his sister Genevieve, the boys father added.

In one dream, Farias said, he saw his son at the grocery store sitting on top of a shelf. He asked his son what he was doing up there and his son said he was just thinking.

I told him come on down, he said, recalling. Thats when I hugged him and I wake up from the dream.

Read more:
Mother who survived Orange mass shooting but lost two children leaves hospital - Los Angeles Times

AWAY 100 FREE CIGARETTE WASTE RECEPTACLES TO LOCAL BUSINESSES. >> IF A LOCAL BUSINESS WANTS TO HELP DO THEIR PART AND ENSURE THAT THEIR CUSTOMERS OR THEIR EMPLOYEES HAVE A SAFE PLACE TO DISPOSE OF THEIR BUTTS WE JUST ENCOURAGE THEM TO APPLY. JACLYN WEVE GOTTEN SOME HEAVY DOWN FOREST. A LOT OF LIGHTNING STRIKES AS WELL. SOME OF THAT HEAVY RAIN HEAD RIGHT FOR US. WINSTON-SALEM IN THE SECOND THIS. FURTHER SOUTH YOU CAN SEE WHAT ITS DOING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE. THIS IS A TORNADO WARNING. THIS STAYS IN EFFE UNTIL 1:15. HERES WHAT WE KNOW AT THIS POINT. A FEW MINUTES AGO THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER DECIDED THAT OUR AREA INCLUDING THE TRIAD IS NOW UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER INSTEAD OF THE MARGINAL RISK THEY HAD ORIGINALLY PUT US UNDER. SCATTERED SEVERE STORM THREAT, AREAS OF WIND DAMAGE ARE LIKELY. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALS POSSIBLE. FOR THE AREAS SHADED IN GREEN, IT IS STILL AN ISSUE. TALKING ABOUT ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. HAIL UP TO AN INCH AND LOW TORNADO RISK. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR SAFE SPACES. ITS THE INNERMOST ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE AWAY FROM DOORS AND WHEN DOES. MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY FOR THIS AND MAKE SURE YOUR EARPHONES ARE FULLY CHARGED. TEMPERATURES GETTING INTO THE UPPER 70S. PREVIOUSLY AREAS TO THE SOUTH HAD A HIGHER SKIP SEVERE WEATHER THAN WE DID. THIS IS ENOUGH TO CREATE INSTABILITY IN OUR ATMOSPHERE. THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO TH EVENING WE CONTINUE TO SEE A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS. THE MOST SEVERE THREAT WILL BE IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON. WE HAVE TO BE ON GUARD THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. COULD BE SOME STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS AS WELL. WE ARE WATCHING THESE LITTLE POCKETS. THERE SMALL IN SIZE BUT POWERFUL. EVEN IF YOU DONT GET A SEVERE STORM YOURE SEEING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. UNDER AN LIGHTNING IS A RISK IN AND OF ITSELF. DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE JUST AS DAMAGING AS A TORNADO. A LITTLE MORE OF THAT ACTIVITY AND WE CALMED DOWN INTO THE LATER PART OF THE NIGHT. THATS GOOD NEW ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE WE WANT TO BE AWARE. WE HAVE ANOTHER LINE OF STORMS. THIS ONE I DONT LIKE THE LOOK OF. WE HAVE THREE IMPACT DAYS IN A ROW. WEDNESDAY ALSO AN IMPACT DAY. PLEASE STAY WEATHER AWARE AND

North Carolina: Severe weather threatens Piedmont Triad

Updated: 6:49 PM EDT May 3, 2021

Severe weather is threatening the Piedmont Triad on Monday. Click the video player above to watch the latest forecast from WXII 12 NewsWXII 12's meteorologists said the primary risks for storms include heavy rain, induced flash flooding and frequent lightning. A few storms Monday afternoon could produce wind damage.Scroll down for live updates.More weather coverage: Closing and delays | Latest weather forecast | Post pictures to the uLocal North Carolina Facebook Group | Traffic information | Report closings and delays | SkyCams | Download the WXII12 News mobile appLIVE UPDATES3:15 p.m. update: The tornado warning has been lifted in Montgomery and Randolph counties.3:05 p.m. update: No damage has been reported in Randolph and Montgomery counties yet.3 p.m. update: Randolph County Schools said all schools in its system have been instructed to go into tornado position. Asheboro City Schools said students and staff will not be dismissed until the warning has been lifted. Dismissal and bus routes will also be delayed until the warning has passed.2:30 p.m. update: A Tornado Warning has been issued for Randolph and Montgomery counties by the National Weather Service until. Seek shelter immediately if you are in this location. The warning expires at 3:15 p.m.1:30 p.m. update: A Tornado Watch has been issued for Montgomery County by the National Weather Service. Be ready to seek shelter if a warning is issued in your location.There are about 1,000 tornadoes a year in the U.S. that kill an average of 80 people and injure 1,500. Being informed and prepared before a tornado hits can make the difference between life and death.1. Stay informed; understand the terminology. Download the WXII app to be aware of alerts, listen to NOAA Weather radio, or tune in to Channel 12 when there is impending severe weather.A tornado watch means that tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned into weather coverage.A tornado warning means that a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.2. Prepare your family well in advance of severe weather.Put together a disaster supplies kit made up of basic items that your household may need in the event of an emergency.You may need to survive on your own after a storm strikes. This means having your own water, food and other essentials in sufficient quantity to last for at least 72 hours.Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours or it might take days.FEMA supply checklistBasic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones may be cut off for days or even a week, or longer. Your supplies kit should contain items to help you manage during these outages.3. Have an emergency communication plan in place before the threat of severe weather.Have an emergency communication plan in place that all members of your family understand. Many families experience unneeded stress when tornadoes strike because they do not have a plan in place to be warned, stay safe and find one another after the storm has passed.4. Know about tornadoes, and know what to watch for.Some tornadoes are clearly visible, but rain or low-hanging clouds often hide others. Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little if any advance warning is possible. Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still.Look for the following danger signs:Dark, often greenish skyLarge hailA large, dark, low-lying cloud (particularly if it appears to rotate)A loud roar, similar to the sound of a freight trainA tornado may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.The average tornado moves southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 mph, but may vary from stationary to 70 mph.Peak tornado season in the southern states is March through MayTornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.5. Know where to go to stay safest.If you are in a residence, small building, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center or high-rise building:Go to a pre-designated area such as a safe room, basement, storm cellar or the lowest building level. If there is no basement, go to the center of a small interior room on the lowest level (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and use your arms to protect your head and neck.If you are in a pickup line at your childs school, get inside the building as quickly as possible.In a high-rise building, go to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible.Make sure you are wearing sturdy shoes.Do not open windows.If you are in a mobile home, manufactured office building or camper:Get out immediately and go to a pre-identified location such as the lowest floor of a sturdy nearby building or a storm shelter. Mobile homes, even if tied down, offer little protection from tornadoes.Related: South Carolina man dies when tornado destroys his mobile homeIf you are not in a sturdy building, there is no single research-based recommendation for what last-resort action to take because many factors can affect your decision.Possible actions (that do not guarantee safety) include:Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. If your vehicle is hit by flying debris while you are driving, pull over and park.Take cover in a stationary vehicle. Put the seat belt on and cover your head with your arms and a blanket, coat or cushion if possible.Lie in an area noticeably lower than the level of the road and cover your head with your arms and a blanket, coat or cushion if possible.In all situations:Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for safe shelter.Watch out for flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.Click here to watch the latest news and weather from WXII 12 News. Listen while you drive -- watch wherever you are, whenever you want. (Live during the news hours, most recent newscast in between times.) Click to download the app.

Severe weather is threatening the Piedmont Triad on Monday.

Click the video player above to watch the latest forecast from WXII 12 News

WXII 12's meteorologists said the primary risks for storms include heavy rain, induced flash flooding and frequent lightning. A few storms Monday afternoon could produce wind damage.

Scroll down for live updates.

More weather coverage: Closing and delays | Latest weather forecast | Post pictures to the uLocal North Carolina Facebook Group | Traffic information | Report closings and delays | SkyCams | Download the WXII12 News mobile app

LIVE UPDATES

3:15 p.m. update: The tornado warning has been lifted in Montgomery and Randolph counties.

3:05 p.m. update: No damage has been reported in Randolph and Montgomery counties yet.

3 p.m. update: Randolph County Schools said all schools in its system have been instructed to go into tornado position. Asheboro City Schools said students and staff will not be dismissed until the warning has been lifted. Dismissal and bus routes will also be delayed until the warning has passed.

2:30 p.m. update: A Tornado Warning has been issued for Randolph and Montgomery counties by the National Weather Service until. Seek shelter immediately if you are in this location. The warning expires at 3:15 p.m.

1:30 p.m. update: A Tornado Watch has been issued for Montgomery County by the National Weather Service. Be ready to seek shelter if a warning is issued in your location.

There are about 1,000 tornadoes a year in the U.S. that kill an average of 80 people and injure 1,500. Being informed and prepared before a tornado hits can make the difference between life and death.

Download the WXII app to be aware of alerts, listen to NOAA Weather radio, or tune in to Channel 12 when there is impending severe weather.

A tornado watch means that tornadoes are possible. Remain alert for approaching storms. Watch the sky and stay tuned into weather coverage.

A tornado warning means that a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. Take shelter immediately.

Put together a disaster supplies kit made up of basic items that your household may need in the event of an emergency.

You may need to survive on your own after a storm strikes. This means having your own water, food and other essentials in sufficient quantity to last for at least 72 hours.

Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone immediately. You could get help in hours or it might take days.

FEMA supply checklist

Basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones may be cut off for days or even a week, or longer. Your supplies kit should contain items to help you manage during these outages.

Have an emergency communication plan in place that all members of your family understand. Many families experience unneeded stress when tornadoes strike because they do not have a plan in place to be warned, stay safe and find one another after the storm has passed.

Some tornadoes are clearly visible, but rain or low-hanging clouds often hide others. Occasionally, tornadoes develop so rapidly that little if any advance warning is possible. Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still.

Look for the following danger signs:

The average tornado moves southwest to northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.

The average forward speed of a tornado is 30 mph, but may vary from stationary to 70 mph.

Peak tornado season in the southern states is March through May

Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3 and 9 p.m., but can occur at any time.

If you are in a residence, small building, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center or high-rise building:

If you are in a mobile home, manufactured office building or camper:

If you are not in a sturdy building, there is no single research-based recommendation for what last-resort action to take because many factors can affect your decision.

Possible actions (that do not guarantee safety) include:

In all situations:

Click here to watch the latest news and weather from WXII 12 News. Listen while you drive -- watch wherever you are, whenever you want. (Live during the news hours, most recent newscast in between times.) Click to download the app.

Continued here:
North Carolina: Severe weather threatens Piedmont Triad - WXII12 Winston-Salem - WXII12 Winston-Salem