#Federal Realty

[huntingtonnow]

Drone Light Show to Mark Shopping Center's Completion

A drone light show on Nov. 8 will help mark the completion of the Huntington Shopping Center’s $75 million redevelopment. Federal Realty said that the celebration from 5-7 p.m. will include a DJ, beer, wine and bites from Burger Village and other tenants of the center. The 150-drone light show will center over the Whole Foods Market between 6:45 and 7 p.m. “We’re looking forward to welcoming our…

[apieinvestavimapaprastai]

Smart Trading: Expert Signals & Strategy - 16 November 2023

Trading Signals 16 November 2023. Comerica #PEP #PWR #RKT #NEE #AAPL #AI #NI #SIRI #HON #SCHW #DUK #FRT #EL #MAN #SABR #HBI #TLRY #WAT #CAG #INGR #MCD #CPB #EPD #BURL #QCOM #MDT #HBAN #CMA #DBX #IPG #ATAI #ILMN #CLH #WRLD #HD #ALB #TGT #CPMS #DE #UMC

Trading Signals 16 November 2023. Texas Instruments Incorporated, Apple, Pepsico, Rocket Companies, NextEra Energy, Quanta Services, C3 AI, NiSource, Sirius XM Holdings, Honeywell International, Charles Schwab Corporation, Duke Energy Corporation, Federal Realty, Estee Lauder Companies, ManpowerGroup. Continue reading Untitled

[obsessedbyneon]

Master post: The Foothills Mall, 1982. Tucson, Arizona.

Some stats:

DEVELOPER: Federated Stores Realty (now JMB/Federated Realty Assoc. Ltd.), Cincinnati, Ohio OPENED: August, 1982 DESCRIPTION: Single-level enclosed regional mall LOCATION: Ina Road & LaCholia Blvd., Tucson, Arizona AREA COVERED: 32 acres PARKING SPACES: 2,200 SPECIALTY SHOPS & RESTAURANTS: 90, 199,670 sq. ft. ANCHOR TENANTS: Sanger Harris, Goldwaters

TOTAL RETAIL AREA: 401,723 sq. ft. ADDITIONAL FEATURES: The Oasis (food court) ARCHITECT: RTKL Assoc., Baltimore, Maryland GENERAL CONTRACTOR: The Granite Construction Co.

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[uboat53]

Well, I've just about finished filling out my ballot and, in order to do so, I had to research all the various ballot propositions (we have ten of them this election cycle in California) and, dude, Props 33 and 34 are weird, weird enough that I had to do a ton of digging and weird enough that I have to tell you what I found if only for the entertainment value.

So Prop 33 is pretty simple, what it does is it repeals a state law from the 90s that prevented localities from enacting rent control measures. Whether you agree or disagree, that at least makes sense, right?

Prop 34 is… yeah, it's not that simple. Prop 34 requires that health care providers that (1) spent over $100 million in any 10 year period on something other than direct patient care and (2) operated multifamily housing with over 500 high-severity health and safety violations (3) spend 98% of revenues from the federal discount prescription drug program on direct patient care.

That seems oddly specific, right? How many health care providers spend that much money on something other than patient care, run multifamily housing units with lots of violations, AND participate in federal discount prescription drug programs?

It turns out that the answer is "one", and that one also turns out to be related to Prop 33.

You see, there's a non-profit based out of Los Angeles called the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). The AHF mostly provides AIDS-related health care stuff like tests, PrEP, and referrals to specialty pharmacies, but they also, starting in 2017, have been creating housing for low-income individuals and, since that time, they've also become politically involved in local and state ballot measures that would block some local development and allow for the expansion of rent control.

AHF is one of the main supporters of Prop 33 and backed Prop 10 in 2018 and Prop 21 in 2020 which would have also expanded rent control (Props 10 and 21 both failed). Prop 34 was backed mostly by landlord and realty groups and seems specifically targeted to stop AHF from spending money on politics.

If you're interested, this is the LA Times piece I found that finally laid the whole thing out.

Gotta love the crazy California ballot proposition system. Stay tuned for more political hilarity.

[feminist-space]

"And then when she was in escrow earlier this month, her broker called her late at night on May 17, a Friday, with some bad news.

The seller wanted to pull out of the deal.

Why? “You could hear the fear and disbelief in his voice,” Dr. Baxter said, recalling what her broker told her next. “He said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but she doesn’t want to sell the home to you, and it’s because you’re Black.’”

The seller, Jane Walker, 84, is white.

...

Two federal laws — the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the much older Civil Rights Act of 1866 — make it illegal for both home sellers and their real estate agents to discriminate during a home sale. But more than 50 years after redlining was outlawed, racial discrimination remains an issue, housing advocates say. A multiyear undercover investigation by the National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington-based nonprofit coalition of housing organizations, found that 87 percent of real estate agents participated in racial steering, opting to show their clients homes only in neighborhoods where most of the neighbors were of their same race. Agents also refused to work with Black buyers and showed Black and Latino buyers fewer homes than white buyers.

...

... with the home sale in escrow and on the same day of a home inspection, Dr. Baxter and Dr. Gamble made the three-hour drive to Virginia Beach to see the house in person for the first time. Ms. Walker arrived as the couple was leaving, and Ms. Walker’s agent, Susan Pender of Berkshire Hathaway RW Towne Realty, introduced the seller to the buyer.

Shortly after Dr. Baxter and Dr. Gamble drove away from the home, Ms. Walker informed her agent that she was not willing to sell her home to a person who is Black and she wished to cancel the sale, according to a chronology of events compiled by Mr. Miller and shared with The New York Times by Dr. Baxter. Mr. Miller declined to comment, and Ms. Pender did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

But what followed, according to Dr. Baxter and Dr. Gamble and supported by Mr. Miller’s recounted, written timeline, was a series of frantic actions by real estate agents on both sides focused on salvaging the home deal.

...

Dr. Baxter’s home sale remains set to close later this summer. But even if the deal goes through, her rights under the Fair Housing Act have still been potentially violated, said Brenda Castañeda, deputy director of advocacy for HOME of VA, a nonprofit that assists Virginians who believe they have experienced housing discrimination. Real estate agents are required by law to not discriminate, which means they must inform sellers who insist on acting with prejudice that they will not represent them, and extricate themselves from a sale if the seller will not acquiesce. But there are other ways discrimination can play out.

“I don’t know that you can cure discrimination just by changing your mind and going through with the deal,” Ms. Castañeda said, adding that the actions of the real estate agents on both sides could also be a violation. “There may be damages experienced by that person because they’ve experienced a loss of their civil rights and the distress of having a discriminatory statement said to them.”

She added, “Dr. Baxter has experienced harm whether the transaction goes through or not. We just want this to be a wake-up call to people.”"

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/realestate/race-home-buying-raven-baxter.html

[myhauntedsalem]

The Witch of the Joshua Ward House

The town of Salem, Massachusetts is no stranger to macabre record and disturbing legends, but for the first time perhaps something belonging to the towns supernatural facet has been caught on camera.

The Joshua Ward House has stood in mute witness to a dark history. The Georgian/Federal style building was constructed by Joshua Ward, a wealthy merchant sea captain, in the late 1780s on the remaining foundations of former sheriff George Corwin’s house on Washington Street. Corwin was a bloody figure whose zeal added to the unfortunate events surrounding Salem in the late 1600s. Nicknamed The Strangler after his preferred torture modus operandi (which included tying his prone victims’ necks to their ankles until the blood ran from their noses), he is said to be responsible for many of the witches deaths, including that of Giles Corey, a man who stood accused of witchcraft who Corey crushed to death by placing heavy stones on his chest in order to extract a confession. Despite the horrific treatment Corey never confessed, indeed he is said to have implored his torturers to pile on more rocks and hasten his departure.

Legend states that just before he died, Corey cursed Corwin and all sheriffs that follow in his wake for his despicable acts of barbarism. It should be noted here that every sheriff since Corey uttered his curse had died while in office or had been forced out of his post as the result of a heart or blood ailment. Corwin himself died of a heart attack in 1696, only about four years after the end of the trials. By the time of his death, Corwin was so despised that his family had to bury him in the cellar of their house to avoid desecration of the corpse by the public.

In the early 1980s a real estate company named Carlson Realty had bought the house with the intention of turning it into their headquarters. After moving in, a realtor by the name of Dale Lewinski began the task of taking photographs of the staff members to add to a welcome display. Lewinski was using a Polaroid camera to snap the head-and-shoulders, passport-style pictures. Upon photographing a colleague by the name of Lorraine St. Peter a peculiar sight greeted Lewinski.

The Polaroid was developed and, instead of showing St. Peter, it appeared to depict a frightening image: a strange, black-haired, feminine figure. St. Peter was nowhere to be seen, the photograph has not been cropped at all; St. Peter has been entirely replaced by the apparition.

This reproduction was originally published in the book Haunted Happenings by Robert Ellis Cahill (himself an ex-sheriff) in which he describes St. Peter as “both genuinely frightened and embarrassed by the picture.”

A hoax is of course, always possible, but unnecessary considering the rich nature of other paranormal occurrences that are reported to take place within the Joshua Ward House: aportation (objects moving of their own accord), candles that leap from their holders and subsequently melt, candles that are found bent into S shapes, alarms that go off by themselves (one alarm was triggered over sixty times in two years), phantom strangulations and the sightings of a myriad spirits including an elderly-looking spirit sitting by a fireplace and along with the photograph in questions subject, another ghostly woman roams the upper floors.

One room in particular seems to be more haunted than the rest. An employee would lock her office door nightly only to return in the morning to find books and papers thrown across the floor, the wastebasket upside down and lamp shades askew.

Sheriff Corwin’s body was eventually moved to the Broad Street Cemetery, but it is said that his spirit too lingers in the Ward House.

It is truly a bizarre photograph, certainly containing a degree of menace and so starkly strange as to create fright in the onlooker, especially upon first viewing.

[thoughtlessarse]

Kai Wegner, Berlin’s conservative mayor, recently embraced the antisemitic conspiracy theorist Elon Musk. But Wegner’s relationship to Berlin’s former interior senator Heinrich Lummer raises even more questions. Heinrich Lummer, West Berlin’s interior senator from 1981 to 1986, has largely been forgotten. At most, a scandal or two from the conservative politician’s time in office has remained in the city’s collective memory. For years, the staunch anti-communist had an affair with an agent from East Germany’s Ministry for State Security (Stasi), making himself vulnerable to blackmail. In 1981, Lummer ordered the eviction of eight squats, during which the 19-year-old squatter Klaus-Jürgen Rattay was pushed under the wheels of a bus and died. A handmade memorial plaque in the sidewalk at Potsdamer Straße 125 still commemorates his death. Lummer’s career came to an end in 1986 due to a realty scandal. It was later revealed that the right-wing hardliner had allegedly donated thousands of marks to right-wing extremists in 1971. Today, one influential Berlin politician thinks this resume deserves admiration. After Lummer’s death in 2019, Kai Wegner wrote: “He was a strong personality in the Berlin CDU.” Wegner said Lummer was “unforgotten”: “Many will remember him as someone who consistently enforced internal security and order,” the Facebook post reads. “This didn’t just win him friends, but it showed his clear stance.” Today, the writer of that obituary is mayor of Berlin. Lummer stood out with one topic in particular since the end of the 1990s: his hatred of Jews. In 1997, Lummer spoke out against Jewish immigration to the Federal Republic of Germany in the Ostpreußenblatt, today called the Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung. The country already had too many foreigners — and its foreign policy on questions relating to Israel was largely “determined by others.” Lummer’s antisemitism was so clear that he was denied entry to Israel in 1998. The following year, in an interview with the right-wing newspaper Junge Freiheit, he said the Berlin Holocaust memorial had only been built due to pressure from the “American East Coast.” In another interview, he wondered if forced labor under the Nazis had really been “so terrible and low-paid.” After all, “there has always been forced labor in the context of war.” When CDU politician Martin Hohmann (now AfD) gave an antisemitic speech in 2003, Lummer was one of the initiators of a solidarity declaration. Further right-wing bugaboos completed Lummer’s world view. In 1999, again in the Ostpreußenblatt, he wrote that the German people were in danger of disappearing due to mass immigration, encouraged by foreign powers. Today, this far-right conspiracy theory is known as the “Great Replacement.” In 2001, Lummer signed a petition in support of Götz Kubitschek, today an ideologue of the neo-fascist Right, and in 2006, he signed another petition for Junge Freiheit. None of this is a secret. Lummer’s Wikipedia page in German contains an entire section on his antisemitism. How does Wegner respond?

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[beardedmrbean]

July 16 (UPI) -- In a continued crackdown on Mexico's drug cartels, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday it placed sanctions on four Mexican companies and three Mexican nationals allegedly tied to fraudulent timeshare activity used against American citizens and linked to the notorious Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

"Cartel fraudsters run sophisticated teams of professionals who seem perfectly normal on paper or on the phone -- but in reality, they're money launderers expertly trained in scamming U.S. citizens," Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said Tuesday in a news release.

The department's office of Foreign Assets Control alleges the four Mexican companies and three Mexican civilian accountants were directly or indirectly tied to timeshare fraud lead by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or styled in English as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The criminal organization operates call centers in Mexico with scammers impersonating U.S.-based third-party timeshare brokers, attorneys or sales representatives, the U.S. government contends.

And about 6,000 U.S. citizens reported losing nearly $300 million from 2019 to 2023 via Mexican timeshare fraud crimes by targeting American timeshare owners often in various or complex ways in years-long schemes, according to the FBI, adding that totals what they can track legally as unreported crimes keep on.

Treasury points at four companies in Mexico: Constructora Sandgris, Pacific Axis Real Estate, Realty & Maintenance BJ and Bona Fide Consultores, which the department claims were the front companies doing business on behalf of those linked to Mexican drug cartel.

Nelson says unsolicited calls and emails may look legitimate but actually are made by cartel-backed criminals.

The Treasury claims the thee Puerto Vallarta-based accountants -- Griselda Margarita Arredondo, Xeyda Del Refugio Foubert and Emiliano Sanchez -- had family ties to individuals already cartel-linked and had allegedly aided in fraudulent activities to steal from U.S. citizens.

"If something seems too good to be true, it probably is," Nelson said.

The scam begins when a timeshare owner receives an offer to purchase their property, according to an attorney.

"They call you up and tell you that they have a buyer for your timeshare," Michael Finn of Florida's Finn Law Group, told ABC News. "They will send you documents that look real and tell you that you need to pay taxes before you can get your payment."

The Treasury Department and its partners are taking steps to deploy all available tools "to disrupt this nefarious activity, which funds things like deadly drug trafficking and human smuggling," said Nelson.

Five years ago in 2018 Treasury sanctioned two men it claimed laundered money and ran an international prostitution ring for the cartel.

The transnational CJNG, a violent Jalisco, Mexico-based organized crime syndicate, is known to traffic the large part of illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs which typically enter via the southern U.S. border, having gone so far as to threaten Mexican journalists it views as giving the CJNG "unfair" news coverage.

And it uses illegal proceeds, like from its timeshare fraud schemes, to diversify its already-illicit revenue streams in order to keep financing other criminal activities, including the manufacturing and trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, according to the federal government's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Police seizure of illicit fentanyl pills have skyrocketed in recent years, a new study found. And pills represented 49% of illicit fentanyl seizures in 2023, compared to 10% in 2017.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection in April launched "Operation Plaza Strike" as an offensive targeting Mexican drug cartels to disrupt the flow of fentanyl and ingredients used to make the synthetic opioid that has become a leading death of young Americans.

However, this is not the first time the CJNG has been accused by the U.S. of similar crimes. Last year in March, the Biden Treasury placed similar sanction on eight other Mexican companies it alleged had took part in a similar timeshare fraud scheme on behalf of the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generation.

Even at the time a Treasury official pointed to how in select Mexican tourist destinations the CJNG had already become by that point "heavily engaged" in timeshare fraud in places like Puerto Vallarta where it had gained a strategic foothold.

Last year, the U.S. claimed the accused cartel-backed companies had extracted money from victims by making unsolicited offers to buy their timeshares, and when victims accepted offers, Mexican scammers requested fictitious fees and taxes under the pretense they would facilitate the sale and give reimbursed money after closing.

[kmrealtygroup]

The Current State of the Housing Market

If you've been feeling uncertain about the current state of the housing market and are concerned about a potential housing crash, it's important to understand the data and factors that indicate a different scenario. Let's dive into the facts and dispel any fears or misconceptions.

Stricter Lending Standards Ensure Stability

Before the 2008 housing crisis, it was easier to get a home loan with more lenient lending standards. However, today's lending landscape has changed. Mortgage companies have implemented stricter lending criteria, making it harder to qualify for loans.

This shift in standards has reduced the risk of mass defaults and foreclosures, ensuring greater stability in the housing market.

Limited Inventory Supports Price Stability

During the housing crash, there was an oversupply of homes on the market, causing prices to tumble. However, the current housing market has a shortage of available homes for sale. The limited inventory is preventing a repeat of the past crash.

According to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Federal Reserve, there is a significantly lower supply of homes today compared to the peak levels seen during the previous crisis. This scarcity of inventory has supported price stability in the market.

Homeowners' Cautious Approach

Another factor contributing to the market's strength is homeowners' cautious behavior. Unlike in the early 2000s, homeowners today are not tapping into their home equity for non-essential expenses.

Black Knight reports that homeowners have more equity available than ever before, but they are not extensively using it. This responsible approach reduces the risk of foreclosure and distressed properties flooding the market.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the current data and analysis provide reassurance that we are not headed for a housing crash. Stricter lending standards, limited inventory, and homeowners' cautious approach all contribute to a stable housing market.

To gain more insights and expert guidance on navigating the real estate landscape, reach out to KM Realty Group LLC, Chicago's top-rated real estate experts.

Learn more about the current state of the housing market and dispel any remaining fear and uncertainty.

[sidewalkstamps]

Mogil-Kahn Construction Company 1957 (Photo taken by Tim Aarons in March 2023 on Collins St. between Lankersheim and Tujunga).

Kahn was Edwin “Ed” Walter Kahn, born on June 3, 1922 in Pittsburg to “Theodore and Helen H. (Meyers),” and a “construction company executive, engineer” (Who’s who in the West: A Biographical Dictionary of Noteworthy Men and Women of the Pacific Coast and the Western States, A.N. Marquis Company, 1989). In 1935, he lived with is family in Portland, Oregon. He was still with his family in Portland in 1940 (per the 1940 U.S. Federal Census). However, he attended Fairfax Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA. Before WWII, he also attended UCLA, where he played soccer and baseball. In WWII, he was a lieutenant pilot in the USA Air Force -  a B-24 bomber pilot in the 89th and as a flight instructor. He was later a civil engineer and, if I understand the abbreviations correctly, he had gotten a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of California in 1948 (assuming Berkeley).

According to his obituary, he was a “Registered Professional Engineer and a licensed General Contractor.”

He married Arleen Barbara Rudolph on December 23, 1951, and they had two children - Gregory Michael and Julia Fran. He was the chief structural designer for General Engineering Service Company in Los Angeles in 1948 and then a partner in Pollak-Kahn & Associates, engineers, also in Los Angeles in 1949. and Mogil-Kahn Construction Company (World Who’s who in Commerce and Industry, Volume 10, Marquis-Who’s Who., 1957). He died February 5, 2016 and is buried in the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Pollak-Kahn was located at 1106 S. La Cienega Boulevard, now LB4LB Boxing Gym (Glaziers Journal - Volume 35, pg. 60, 1956). One project they had was the design and engineering of “a fully integrated community for light industry” on a 100-acre “tract of industrial buildings and plant sites” (Industrial Development, Volumes 3-4, Conway Publications, 1956).

According to the realty company, Crisby Doe Associates, “it is clear that Pollack & Kahn fully mastered the now classic post & beam glass house style pioneered by the U.S.C. School of Architecture just after war. Their work seems most closely aligned with that of Richard Dorman’s designs of the period. The living spaces are lifted, and set above the carport to allow maximum light and views from the close-in hillside setting.”

Some more info from his obituary: “He retired after 40 years as a real estate developer and as President of Kahn Construction Co., Contractors and Engineers. He had a commercial pilot's license and served as a docent at the original Museum of Flying in Santa Monica. Ed was a member of the Masons, Scottish Rites, Shriners, Commemorative Air Force, Air Force Association, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ed is survived by his wife and best friend, Mariko, sons Greg and Winston, daughter Julie, stepdaughters Pam (Harry) Kraushaar and Andrea (Jeffrey) Lustgarten, stepson Mitchell Barnow (Dale Leininger) and step grandchildren, Shelby Powell (Brian), Kimberley Kraushaar, Brandon and Rachel Lustgarten.” (No mention of Arleen?) They also had two pets named Maya and Corey.  

I have no idea who Mogil is. Really strange how I could find out so easily who Kahn was but not Mogil. Mogil may be Norbert V Mogil, who was located at 6517 W Olympic Blvd according to the Los Angeles Street Address Directory, 1956, May (Los Angeles Public Library).

Additional source:

Who’s Who in Steel and Metals, pg. 209, Atlas Publishing Co, 1964

[huntingtonnow]

More Stores Moving Into Huntington Shopping Center

Several new, smaller stores have taken spots at the Huntington Shopping Center, becoming neighbors of the Whole Foods market that will open July 17. Federal Realty Investment Trust announced that Clothes Horse, European Wax, Pacfe Nails, Häagen-Dazs and Street to Table have all signed leases to join the center as part of the $75 million redevelopment of the center.  The redevelopment is set to…

[apieinvestavimapaprastai]

Smart Trading: Expert Signals & Strategy - 15 November 2023

Trading Signals 15 November 2023. Comerica, Dropbox, #PEP #PWR #RKT #NEE #AAPL #AI #NI #SIRI #HON #SCHW #DUK #FRT #EL #MAN #SABR #HBI #TLRY #WAT #CAG #INGR #MCD #CPB #EPD #BURL #QCOM #MDT #HBAN #CMA #DBX #IPG #ATAI #ILMN #CLH #WRLD #HD #ALB #TGT

Trading Signals 15 November 2023. Texas Instruments Incorporated, Apple, Pepsico, Rocket Companies, NextEra Energy, Quanta Services, C3 AI, NiSource, Sirius XM Holdings, Honeywell International, Charles Schwab Corporation, Duke Energy Corporation, Federal Realty, Estee Lauder Companies, ManpowerGroup. Continue reading Untitled

[obsessedbyneon]

Master post: Collin Creek Mall, Dallas, Texas, 1981.

Some details:

COLLIN CREEK MALL, Dallas, Texas DEVELOPER: Federated Stores Realty (now JMB/Federated Realty Assoc. Ltd.), Cincinnati, Ohio. OPENED: July, 1981 DESCRIPTION: Two-level enclosed regional mall LOCATION: North Central Expressway between Plano Pkwy & F.M. AREA COVERED: 92.3371 acres PARKING SPACES: 6,210 SPECIALTY SHOPS & RESTAURANTS: 170 332,510sq. ft. ANCHOR TENANTS: Sears 156,340sq. ft. - Sanger Harris 199,180 sq. ft. - Dillard's 185,000sq. ft. - Lord & Taylor 100,000sq. ft. - JC Penney 156,772 sq. ft. TOTAL RETAIL AREA: 1,129,809 sq. ft. ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Village Way (specialty shops), The Patio (food court) ARCHITECT: RTKLAssoc., Baltimore, Maryland GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Walker Construction Co., Ft. Worth, Texas

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[ausetkmt]

Florida’s Private Prison Movement Alive and Well | Prison Legal News

With the promise of saving taxpayer dollars to house a growing prisoner population during a cyclical crime wave in the early 1990s, Florida decided to experiment with private prisons. From the start, those involved in the push to privatize were tainted with ethical conflicts, and more than two decades later politics still rule the privatization issue while cost savings have proven elusive.

State lawmakers initially created the Correctional Privatization Commission (CPC) to push an initiative that the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) was reluctant to pursue: privatizing prisons. The CPC helped craft Florida’s 1993 statute that established the parameters for privatization.

Consulting for the CPC was Charles Thomas, a University of Florida criminology professor who was nationally known to specialize in prison issues. He contributed significantly to developing the law’s provisions. “I certainly had a fairly heavy hand in it,” he said.

He also had a heavy hand in the coffers of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest for-profit prison firm. At the same time he was consulting for the CPC, Thomas owned private prison stock and secured a $3 million fee from CCA in connection with Prison Realty Trust, a CCA spin-off company. While Florida’s Ethics Commission later levied a $20,000 fine on Thomas, the largest ever at that time, it was a fraction of the financial benefits he received from the private prison industry. [See: PLN, Sept. 1999, p.12; Feb. 1999, p.10].

One statutory provision championed by Thomas was a requirement that private prisons receive payments for being at 90% capacity, whether they were or not. “[FDOC] could really sink the ship by keeping the prison just 20 percent full,” he said. In some cases, this resulted in the state paying for empty private prison beds.

While that requirement may be popular with private prison executives and shareholders, it is contrary to good public policy. “The notion that any prison, public or private, is guaranteed to be 90 percent filled whether crime is going up or down is absurd,” said Judith Greene, a criminal justice policy expert and director of Justice Strategies, Inc., a research and advocacy group based in New York.

“We are incentivizing imprisoning people,” added former state Senator Paula Dockery. “That is in no way good for the state.”

It has, however, been very good for private prisons operating in Florida. For example, when the Blackwater River Correctional Facility was opened in 2010 by the GEO Group, it had an average population of 324 the first month. Yet GEO, headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, was paid more than $82,000 a day to operate the facility – the cost for 1,800 prisoners. Questions were raised as to whether the Blackwater prison was even necessary, or resulted from political machinations. [See: PLN, March 2011, p.1].

Beyond Charles Thomas, other corruption within the CPC was ultimately brought to light. At the top of the agency was C. Mark Hodges. Investigators learned a Hawaii vacation that Hodges and his wife took in 1997 occurred while he was on-duty, and a private prison firm had paid the $1,800 tab for the trip. Also while on-duty, Hodges had earned $150,000 from consulting contracts in other states related to prison privatization issues; in one case, he billed a city $7,500 for a manual that was free under Florida’s Sunshine Law. Forced to resign in April 2002, he was fined $10,000 by the Florida Ethics Commission. [See: PLN, Oct. 2003, p.21].

The next CPC director, Alan Duffee, was also corrupt. In 2006 he pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering for embezzling over $224,000 from the private prison oversight agency, and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison. [See: PLN, May 2006, p.11]. The aftermath of that scandal saw four new members appointed to the CPC, who had a good idea: make private prison firms rebid for their state contracts.

Instead, the companies went on the attack. “They were almost insulted by the fact that we would even question them,” said Bob Ryals, a former CPC member. “They sent their big dog lawyers down to intervene, and they had a few speeches to make.”

Private prison operators also made campaign contributions and invested in lobbying state officials. “They went behind the scenes,” said Sam Block, another former member of the CPC. “They spent a lot of money to get the ear of the governor and then the leadership of the legislature.”

Over the next two years, CCA invested $110,000 in state election campaigns. GEO put $250,000 into political coffers the next year. Their investment netted a reward of 1,086 more private prison beds by the legislature.

Then-Governor Jeb Bush soon tired of the CPC’s questions about training, recidivism and private prison contracts. He disbanded the agency in 2004, and lawmakers defunded the CPC. That led to a private prison oversight model unique to Florida.

Typically, state corrections agencies oversee all prison operations, including private prison contracts. FDOC has control of prisoner transfers and monitors the operations of the state’s privately-operated prisons. However, the department has no control over the contracts. That duty was shifted to the Department of Management Services (DMS), an agency that initially admitted it was ill-prepared to manage prisons. The Bureau of Private Prison Monitoring was established shortly afterwards to manage oversight and contractual compliance for private prisons.

The push to privatize Florida’s prisons reached its pinnacle in 2011. That year, the Florida legislature, with the support of Governor Rick Scott, introduced legislation to privatize the entire southern region of the state’s prison system. The bill was challenged in court by the Florida Police Benevolent Association, which represented FDOC guards at the time, and was found unconstitutional by a state court. [See: PLN, Feb. 2012, p.1].

GEO had nine lobbying firms on its payroll to support the privatization bill, most of which had strong political connections with Florida lawmakers. Lobbyist Bill Rubin, a longtime friend of Governor Scott, was hired by GEO, as was lobbyist Steve MacNamara, a longtime friend of the governor’s chief of staff.

Scott is a proponent of privatizing state functions, including prison-related services. In August 2013 he granted the Tennessee-based prison healthcare company Corizon, Inc. a major contract that cost almost 2,000 state workers their jobs. Corizon’s contract was put up for rebid in 2016 amid reports of deficient medical care and prisoner deaths.

The governor is also known for his close ties with GEO Group CEO George Zoley. In October 2013, Zoley gave Scott $20,000 towards renovations at the Tallahassee governor’s mansion. He also hosted a VIP fundraiser at his residence in July 2014; the proceeds went to Governor Scott and the Republican Party of Florida.

As the bill to privatize almost one-quarter of Florida’s prison system was reintroduced in 2012, Ed Buss was appointed secretary of the FDOC. While he had no role in the legislation, he was encouraged to sign off on it shortly after taking office. He expressed reservations about the private prison bill, which led to his ouster six months later.

Information regarding problems with Florida’s private prisons was withheld in reports analyzing the bill; the reports provided to lawmakers did not reflect memos that criticized “high rates of prison security violations” at two private facilities, which were more than double the incidents at state prisons. Also left out were auditor reports that found the reported savings from prison privatization were “artificially high.”

Things got heated as the legislation came to a vote. “It’s so hostile right now,” said Senator Ronda Storms. Republican Senator Don Gaetz warned lawmakers about voting against the privatization bill. “The burden lies heavy on those who vote no,” he said. Nonetheless, the bill failed to pass by just one vote in the state Senate. [See: PLN, April 2012, p.38].

Although the move to privatize large swaths of Florida’s prison system was unsuccessful, the issue did not die; in fact, prison privatization is alive and well in the Sunshine State. There are currently seven privately-operated prisons in Florida, housing about 10% of the state’s prison population at a cost of over $142 million annually.

Florida law requires private prisons to save 7% over the cost of comparable state prisons, though the method of calculating such savings has been criticized by the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy, which stated in a 2010 report, “[t]here is no compelling evidence that the privatization of prisons has actually resulted in savings.... It is very difficult to ensure that a private prison is in fact 7% less costly to operate than a comparable public prison.”

“The cost analysis is, in my opinion, flawed,” said Jack Miles, who once oversaw prison contracts as DMS’s director. “People who don’t know a lot about procurement came up with the process to do it, probably impacted by lobbyists and people in the business.”

The 1993 privatization law that Prof. Charles Thomas helped write requires private prison costs to be compared to those at state prisons. However, private prison contracts typically allow the companies to transfer prisoners who are too sick, too problematic or too mentally ill to FDOC facilities. Absent those costlier prisoners, state prisons become more expensive to operate, on average, while private prisons appear less expensive.

“The savings are a fiction,” observed former FDOC secretary Jim McDonough. Former state Senator Dockery agreed. “You can make those numbers show anything you want them to,” she said.

In conducting research for an extensive series on prison privatization in Florida, Palm Beach Post reporter Pat Beall created a database from information obtained from 21 states over a 12-year period. The one-of-a-kind database of violent incidents at private prisons is available on the newspaper’s website. It “documents only those deaths, suicides, or serious injuries linked to prison policy, mismanagement or staffing. Riots were included if they resulted in serious injury or death, damage of $100,000 or more, or involved at least 100 inmates.”

While no major injuries from riots or human rights investigations occurred at Florida’s private prisons over that 12-year period, Beall found “the arrest records of [private prison] guards rival the records of prisoners they are hired to watch.”

Some of the guards employed by CCA and GEO Group were terminated by state prison officials. “I was firing them for a reason,” said McDonough.

With thousands of empty beds in state prisons, one lawmaker raised concerns. “We mothballed prisons because the prison population has not grown as fast as we expected,” noted Senator Mike Fasano. “So, why are we getting more prisoners to private prisons when there is more than enough room in our own?”

The answer seems simple: The state  is required to pay private prison companies at 90% minimum occupancy rates, which creates an incentive to keep those facilities full even when space is available in FDOC prisons. Additionally, Florida lawmakers lack the political will to stand up to private prison firms that spend heavily on lobbyists and campaign contributions, and are unable to separate their privatization ideology from the reality of what happens when prisons and related services such as prison medical care are privatized.

Currently, CCA operates one state prison in Florida, the Lake City Correctional Facility, while Management and Training Corp. (MTC) manages the Gadsden Correctional Facility and GEO Group runs five prisons – the Bay, Graceville, Blackwater River, South Bay and Moore Haven Correctional Facilities. GEO also operates the Broward Transitional Center, a federal immigration detention facility.

In March 2016, GEO acquired a $9.9 million plot of land a few blocks away from its current headquarters in Boca Raton, where the company will start building a new state-of-the-art corporate office next year. Business must be good to justify that investment, and it is: In 2015, GEO generated $1.84 billion in gross revenue and $139 million in net profit. Six percent of the company’s total revenue came from private prison contracts in Florida.

Sources: Palm Beach Post, www.dms.myflorida.com, www.geogroup.com

[zeccarealtygroup]

What Are The Benefits Of Buying Property Homes In Broward, Fl?

Are you thinking of buying a property in Florida? Why not? Buying property in Florida is a treat not because of the beaches but because there are many more reasons to buy property homes in Broward, FL. Florida being a sunshine state, is famous for its beauty of beaches, culture, style, shopping, marinas, and golf courses. Florida, a heaven on Earth, benefits you as a property owner. It is an ultra-luxury life owning a property in Florida. Just think of owning a property in Florida and enjoying the beautiful scenes from your home.

5 Advantages Of Buying Property Homes In Broward, Fl

There are many advantages to owning a property in Florida, but how do you buy it? You should contact someone related to real estate in Miami, Fl. The right person will lead you to the right property in Florida. The right property will show you the best scenic beauty of the city. Here are some advantages of buying a property in Florida 

1. No Income Tax

Florida is one of the nine states in the US that do not impose any kind of tax. It helps the population of Florida to save a lot of money, especially when they are in debt. The audience who have bought property homes in Broward, FL, has noticed the same.

2. No Estate Tax

The estate tax, also known as the death tax, used to be charged by the audience after the death of the one owning the property when the property has been transferred to someone. This tax was imposed till 2005. After 2005 the tax was removed by federal law.

3. Property Tax Benefits

Estate tax and income tax are not the only tax benefits you get, property tax is also a benefit you can get after buying a property in Florida.

To buy a property in Florida, you must find a realtor in Florida Miami. They can get you the best property you want in Florida.

4. Asset Protection

If you own a home in Florida, then you are safe. The state ensures that asset protection benefits protect your property. The asset protection benefit for your home is homestead creditor protection. It is clearly stated in Article 10, Section 4, that no creditor can force the sale of a homestead to satisfy a judgment.

5. Sunny Weather

Talking about the weather in Florida, It has ten months of sunny weather. It has been almost a year. You can enjoy the beaches for ten months a year. If you are a beach lover or you can say that you like the sunny weather, then Florida welcomes you with happy faces.

Get Your Property In Florida Now!

Florida, also known as the sunshine city, is beautiful and stylish. In the morning, the beaches handle the beauty, and the lights light up your place in the evening. If you also want to buy property homes in Broward, FL, Feel free to contact Zecca Realty Group. They can get you the best property that you want to buy.

[myhauntedsalem]

The Joshua Ward House 

Salem, Massachusetts

Stately in its federal-style architecture, the Joshua Ward House, a historical landmark since 1978 is one that can actually claim relation to the Witch Trials. While Joshua Ward himself made his wealth from Salem’s port and sea business, it’s the location of the house, not the man who gave it its name which inspires the home’s notoriety. The Joshua Ward House is built over the site of the original home of George Corwin, the High Sheriff of Essex County in 1692. Corwin is notorious in Salem’s history as the man whose signature brought the arrest and execution of those in Salem village accused of witchcraft. Corwin also dis-seized many of the accused and condemned of their land, leading to his massive unpopularity following the hysteria. While this may not make him less culpable than the accusers and the ruling judges of the trials, Corwin is known for his cruelty in gaining confessions from the accused, most notably in the case of Giles Corey.

George Corwin died at age 30 (a fairly decent life expectancy for the time and place) of a heart attack. Curse-wise, it is said that every High Sheriff since Corwin has either died in office of a heart or blood condition or left on the same grounds. On the subject of the curse, I’ll refer anyone interested to Robert Ellis Cahill, a folklorist and former High Sheriff of Essex County who investigated the topic personally and professionally.

Following his death, Corwin’s body was not buried, a lien had been placed on it until one of the accused, Phillip English, had is dis-seized property returned to him. It was interred in the basement of his home on Washington Street by his family who feared reprisals from the townsfolk who reviled Corwin and other collaborators after the hysteria passed. His body was quietly buried later in the town cemetery. Both surviving evidence and local folklore suggest that Corwin had used the dis-seized properties to house prisoners.

Today the house, now a historical landmark and home to Higgins Book Company has been the site of unexplained phenomenon for some years. While it is not the subject of inspiration and tourism as the House of Seven Gables, the Joshua Ward house has seen its own fame in books on the collective hauntings of Salem and a comprehensive segment on the History Channel series Haunted History.

Reports testify to cold hands put on the backs of house employees, candles knocked over and twisted into S shapes, mysteriously locked doors, overturned furniture and cold spots. Pretty standard fare for many ghostly activities. Perhaps the most compelling piece of supernatural evidence comes from a Polaroid taken of a new agent when the house served as a real estate office in the 1990’s. The new associate posed for a head shot at the bottom of the stairs. A few minutes later when the picture developed, a black-dressed figure of a woman was clearly visible standing at the top of the stairs.

Without proof of no photographic tampering, it’s hard to call this evidence. One has to decide for themselves.

__________________________________

There are two entities who reside here who were innocent victims of the witch trials, perhaps looking for Sheriff George.

Entity of a woman with black, rather wild hair style. She is thought to be one of the victims unjustly executed. She isn’t a happy camper.

Her apparition has been reported roaming the hallways throughout the building.

When a photograph was taken of a Realtor for a publicity shot for the Carlson Realty, the angry image of this malevolent female spirit was caught on film, standing in one of the mansions hallways.

The male entity of Giles Corey A man falsely accused of being a warlock who was tortured and killed by the crushing rocks method of interrogation. Apparently, he isn’t happy either. He isn’t satisfied that his final curse has stayed with not only Sheriff George but has affected many sheriffs who followed in the years after his horrendous death.

Trash cans are found, turned over, books are pulled from shelves and rooms found in disarray.

Candles are taken out and melted.

Cold spots are felt in certain corners of certain rooms.

The entity of Sheriff George

An older male entity has been seen sitting in a rocking chair by a fireplace.

Back in the mid-1980’s, people have reported being choked by an unseen entity. This could be Sheriff George, trying to reclaim his authority or it could be one of his victims trying to show the living what they suffered.

Items are moved around the mansion.

Candles are bent into the shape of an S.