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Redistricting Fever: In That Amount of Time, We Could Have Read 'War and Pe
2008-02-22 18:15:00
This week's awesome -- and perhaps final -- redistricting public hearing, which was supposed to take into account the two new awesome boundary proposals floated a week or so back to make South Lakes High School a classless utopia where newly redistricted children from affluent neighborhoods will be taught from Das Kapital and forced to hold hands with their less fortunate classmates and sing mid-1970s Coca-Cola commercials, apparently lasted six freaking hours. How many ways can people say "It's all about the band programs" before everyone starts losing interest and wondering if Bratz dolls and IB and whatnot maybe aren't so bad after all?Well, apparently not.The School Board had established a rule that if people wanted to speak at the hearing their message must pertain to the two new boundary options, which were made available last week. "Unfortunately that was not what most of the comment was about," said Gibson, who represents Hunters Mill. There were 125 people who spoke and ...
More About: Time , Read , Redistricting , Fever

This Week in Crime: Because Everyone Loves New Year's Parties
2008-02-21 16:54:00
Reston's traditional New Year's Eve festivities, which culminated in a mob attack and stabbing, have finally yielded a second arrest. Calvin C. Wallace, who identified himself as a member of the Ghost Town Crips gang, according to Fairfax Count Circuit Court documents from Feb. 14, 2008, was arrested for malicious wounding and gang participation for an incident on New Year's 2008.So after wondering why 10 or 15 people might be hanging around in a parking lot in the middle of the night for nearly two months, we've finally figured out it was gang related. Turns out gang members are only human -- they want to ring in the New Year, too!Police investigation revealed that the driver, rear passenger, and a female passenger had driven to Scotch Bonnet Court after attending a party in Loudoun County. Investigation revealed that the residence of the party was the home of a gang member of the Ghost Town Crips," according to court documents. "Several people attending the party were identifi...
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That gives folks another week to click on the banner ads
2008-02-21 16:50:00
The Reston Association pushes back the deadline to pay the annual assessment fee to March 7. It's an accommodation to make up for the fact that its awesome online transaction system was down for some period of time. So long as it's up and running at 4:59pm March 7, we're set!
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Meanwhile, in the Anti-Reston: Crisp manners (and sheets) on display
2008-02-20 17:45:00
Ah, Herndon... city of tolerance, now-uncrowded 7-11 parking lots and K-Mart. What awesome news do you have to share?Remember that time a Herndon hotel was going to host a fun racist convention this weekend? Well, it's still on, and protesters are planning to demonstrate.David Welliver, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza hotel in Herndon, told The Times that despite extreme pressure, he has no plans to cancel the event, which will take place Feb. 22-24.The biannual New Century Foundation/American Renaissance convention is organized by Oakton resident Jared Taylor, who calls himself a "race realist" and publishes American Renaissance magazine, which he has done for nearly 20 years."Taylor is a Nazi pig," Jeff Adler, spokesman for the militant group Jewish Defense Organization, told The Times in November. Upon hearing about the convention, Adler began a campaign, called Operation Nazi-Kicker, to prompt the Crowne Plaza hotel to cancel what he called the "meeting of hate." He also sa...
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Now that's a good sign for the white-hot real estate market!
2008-02-19 15:43:00
Spotted at the corner of Glade and Soapstone on Sunday: A dancing person dressed like the chap pictured at right, except that instead of hawking comestibles, the epileptic mustard-colored human billboard was promoting a nearby open house -- a tactic commonly used by such equally reputable businesses as payday loan palaces and french fry emporiums. Time to call your friendly neighborhood Realtor(tm)(R) -- with innovative sales tactics like that, it looks like the housing market's got nowhere to go but up!
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market , Market , White

Turns out there are worse things than IB....
2008-02-19 15:41:00
...like gay penguins. That's what's keeping folks busy in the school system next door, anyway.
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Reston Real Estate: The High-Low Game, pt. 5
2008-02-15 21:30:00
We start this edition of everyone's favorite soft market game of wheelin' and dealin' not with the usual McMansion or condo, but a restaurant in Lake Anne Plaza.Hidden Gem located with a view of Lake Ann in Reston . Where else can you get a high quality property for under $400 a square foot? Present owner relocated and pursuing other interest. TOP Opportunity for a restaurant owner currently leasing. Make a quick offer to own tax benefits and get a jump start on Spring inundation of outdoor customers with many seats with a view of the lake.You might want to get an exterminator to check out that inundation. It doesn't mention which restaurant is on the block, but the address suggests it's the building housing Il Cigno Tavern on the Lake. The asking price of $1.7 million will buy a lot of tapas!Too rich for your blood? Just $149,000 will get you this charming three-bedroom walk-up in Freetown Court.SHORT SALE, 3RD PARTY APROVAL... BEAUTIFUL CONDO, 3 BEDROOMS, 1 FULLBATH, GREAT LOC...
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A Not-So-Super Tuesday in the Works
2008-02-15 21:25:00
Four Reston residents will vie for two open seats on the Reston Association board of directors.Cheryl Beamer, who won in last year’s election to fill the seat left vacant with the death of Barbara Aaron, and John Bowman will vie for the Hunters Woods/Dogwood representative. Barbara Zicari and Richard Chew have announced candidacy for the At-Large seat. Ballots get mailed out in early March and are due April 4.
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No, they didn't see that balloon-making clown on the Plaza
2008-02-15 21:17:00
The Virginia Polar Plunge attracted what one newspaper account called "tens" of people willing to expose themselves to the chilly waters and iggy runoff of Lake Anne, each raising funds for Camp Sunshine, a Maine facility for children with life-threatening illnesses. But why, you may ask, did the event organizers pick Lake Anne?“Last February [Jennifer] said we should have one in Virginia. Since there are no oceans handy we looked at Lake Anne,” Jennifer's mother, Gail Toth, said.Just don't tell anyone in Virginia Beach.
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Redistricting Fever: Because This Hasn't Been Too Confusing Already
2008-02-14 19:25:00
Just when we thought it was a sure thing that the South Lakes High School boundaries would be redistricted in a maniacal social engineering experiment that would swallow whole all surrounding high-income neighborhoods and use the power of eminent domain to force their children to play with Bratz dolls or work in soup kitchens or even take IB, Fairfax County School Board members have put two new options on the table.Kathy Smith (Sully) and Stuart Gibson (Hunter Mill) have submitted what they are terming "Scenario 2" and "Scenario 3," respectively.Both would redistrict the Madison High School attendance island to South Lakes High School and include within that the elementary and middle school.Wasn't there already an Option 1 and Option 2? And didn't Option 5 become Option 1? And wouldn't that make these new proposals Options 2 and 3? Or maybe Options 2(a) and 3(a)?Anyway. Both awesome new plans affect people in neighborhoods who thought they were clear after the earlier options wer...
More About: Redistricting , Fever

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 15: Corn fritters (or buyouts) for everyone!
2008-02-13 23:29:00
After months of speculation, it's official: Sprint is movin' its headquarters to Kansas.It was unclear how many employees at the Reston campus would be affected by the relocation, as the company is offering voluntary retirement packages as part of its plan to reduce staff worldwide by 4,000. Yet the wireless carrier said Sprint will continue to maintain sizable operations locally, reducing the number of office buildings it operates from nine to seven.Here's the official boilerplate from the internal memo.We will retain a very significant employee presence in Reston. It remains an important source of talent for the company. Very few Reston-based employees, other than some executives, will be expected to relocate to Overland Park. We'll use this opportunity to re-energize and strengthen the Reston campus.If by "re-energize" and "strengthen" you mean "find plenty of room to hold meetings in empty cubicles." You can read the rest of the internal memo here. Or better yet, just wait f...
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But what of the Macaroni Grill? Reston's Fake Downtown to continue paying o
2008-02-13 12:41:00
As they face less and less demand for their awesome particleboard McMansions with 2-story foyers in soulless subdivisions with names like Pointe Hunte Preserve, Virginia homebuilders have been lobbying heavily in the statehouse to get something called "impact fees," which basically let them all but stop paying for the new schools, roads and flashing red traffic lights needed to serve said wonderful particleboard subdivisions. When that didn't go over so well, they offered up a compromise, making Reston's Fake Downtown and Tysons Tegucigalpa sacrifical lambs.By exempting Tysons Corner and part of the Reston Town Center from the so-called impact fees, the development industry was trying to placate Fairfax County, which opposes the bill along with Loudoun and Prince William counties. Tysons and Reston, which are slated for urban-style redevelopment projects, would remain under the current system, which would allow county officials to negotiate contributions, called proffers, from dev...
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Hats off
2008-01-25 16:13:00
The Reston Citizen, pretty much the only other blog covering the New Town, is calling it quits. It's a shame, because Reston has a definite need for a snark-free forum that doesn't use the words "awesome" and "mauve" in every post, especially since the oh-so-earnest Backfence folks have also given up. Plus, the photography showcased on RC was.... well, awesome. In any event, thanks, Citizen.
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So you're saying we still have a chance!
2008-01-25 15:46:00
The headline in today's Washington Post pretty much says it all:Dulles Rail Project All but Dead"The FTA made it very clear today to the delegation that they are going to say no to this project," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to anger the transit agency.Now that doesn't sound good. What happened to all that awesome paperwork Virginia officials were going to spend the weekend on?Simpson said the FTA would not make a final decision on Dulles rail funding until Kaine and the congressional delegation have had a chance to respond to his concerns. The agency's initial promise to render a decision by the end of January is on hold, he said.Kaine said Virginia officials and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, would address the concerns of Simpson and Peters by Monday. But several project supporters, including state and congressional officials, said privately that it would not be possible to meet al...
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Guess we didn't clap loud enough
2008-01-24 22:59:00
Federal officials tell Virginia that Metro's shiny new Silver Line wouldn't be prudent! The head of the Federal Transit Administration, James S. Simpson, outlined his concerns in a letter sent Thursday to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. He said the project doesn't appear to be a "prudent investment."The FTA evaluated the project under the New Starts criteria and considered the risks associated with the project.According to Simpson's letter, "The sheer number and magnitude of the current project's technical, financial and institutional risks and uncertainties are unprecedented for a candidate New Starts project."According to New Starts criteria, a project must receive a rating of medium or higher for project justification and local financial commitment. The FTA rated the Dulles Metro project medium-low for both.That doesn't sound good. But all we need to do is to pull up our bootstraps and get clapping again. Right?"If this project is not approved, it's dead. There are contracts that...
More About: Loud , Guess

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 13: Sorry for the Salty Language (and the $1.
2008-01-24 15:56:00
Sallie Mae chief executive Albert L. Lord is very, very sorry about the salty language he used during a conference call last month. And also that $1.64 billion the company lost in the fourth quarter.On Wednesday, Lord apologized for his conduct: "I can't say it's the first time I've used bad language. It's the first time I did it in front of 500 people," he said.Then again, if we couldn't find that $1.64 billion we had lying around after looking under the couch cushions, we might use the F-word, too.
More About: Economy , Language , Part

Into the Woodshed
2008-01-24 15:40:00
A host of state officials are meeting with the Feds today to find out if Metro's awesome Silver Line to Reston, Dulles and the wastelands beyond can be saved.The $5 billion project needs $900 million in federal money to move forward, but backers say they are alarmed that reservations among Federal Transit Administration officials could scuttle the plan. The FTA is to decide in the next week whether to approve money for the rail line.The FTA has expressed concerns about everything from the cost of the project to the contractor -- the same folks that brought us the leaky, only occasionally collapsing Big Dig in Boston. But apparently there are other concerns as well:In phone conversations with the congressional delegation in recent days, Simpson and other FTA officials said a main concern is whether the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has the experience and technical staff to manage the complexities of a 23-mile extension to one of the nation's largest and busiest transit...

Reston Real Estate: The High-Low Game, pt. 4
2008-01-23 16:15:00
It's time once again to play everyone's favorite declining real estate market game: High-Low!We start with a townhouse on White Cornus Lane. Priced at $199,900, it's the cheapest non-condo currently available in Reston . But don't think it's your typical dated Reston townhouse... it's actually brand new! Well, sort of.This 2 level townhouse needs just a little TLC... Update the kitchen, new paint, and carpet means new house. Priced to sell. But aren't they all? Aren't they all...Meanwhile, we decided to skip the usual faux-rock-faced McMansion piles around Rt. 7 and looked for the priciest house within Reston proper. At $1.475 million, this house on Lake Audobon is this week's winner."CAPTAIN'S ROW" ON LAKE AUDUBON! THIS INCREDIBLE WATERFRONT CONTEMPORARY HOME ENJOYS SPECTACULAR "BIG WATER" VIEWS YEAR 'ROUND! RECENT RENOVATIONS INCLUDE NEWER ROOF, SIDING, WOOD FLOORS, STONE WALLS, STONE WALKWAYS, UPGRADED LANDSCAPING, NEW WINDOWS & SGDS! 2 GAS FPS! STONE PATIO & DECK WITH ...
More About: Estate , Real Estate , Game , Real

Don't tell the black T-shirt crowd where their phone books are
2008-01-23 16:08:00
... but this bit of YouTube inspired lunacy is hilarious. We're guessing Mssr. Tistadt's gotten an unlisted number by now.
More About: Books , Phone , Black , Shirt , T-Shirt

This Week in Crime: And that was before she saw how much martinis cost at M
2008-01-19 14:46:00
An Ashburn woman was robbed in the Hyatt hotel parking garage Thursday night.The robbery took place shortly after midnight on the second level of the Hyatt Hotel parking garage located at 1800 Presidents Street, police said.Investigators said the victim was at her car when she was approached from behind by a man who pointed a gun at her and demanded money.The woman handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and was not injured, police said.The robber fled on foot and was seen leaving the garage a short time later with two other men, investigators said. The three men are described as black, in their late 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing about 185 pounds. They all wore dark clothing.That same night, the Exxon on Sunrise Valley Drive was robbed.A 36-year-old employee of the Exxon gas station located at 11854 Sunrise Valley Drive was robbed on Thursday, Jan. 17, shortly before 1 a.m. Two men went immediately behind the counter where the employee was standing, implied a weapon...
More About: Crime , Cost , Week

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 12: Pink slips and Little Pink Houses (For Yo
2008-01-18 16:15:00
Sallie Mae is laying off 14 folks in Reston as part of a 3 percent cut of its workforce of 11,000. No word on whether the pink slips included liberal uses of the F-word.It's now official: Sprint Nextel is slashing 4,000 jobs and closing 125 stores.There was no word in its statement about the fate of its headquarters in Reston.We know what that means!Reston homebuilder Comstock may get booted from the Nasdaq because its stock price has fallen faster than property values in an exurban subdivision. (Oh wait--we used that lame analogy yesterday, too.) This, after reporting 110 sales of those little pink houses in the fourth quarter -- and 71 cancellations.On the bright side, Reston's Used Book Shop at Lake Anne Village is celebrating its 30th birthday. Yay! Here's what people are saying:"People comment over the years, 'I don't know how you stay in business, but please don't ever close,'" said Bud Burwell, who now owns the business with his wife, Susan. Right now, if we were betti...
More About: Economy , Pink , Houses , Part

Clap much, much, much louder!
2008-01-17 20:04:00
Turns out the biggest threat to the awesome, pants-optional Silver Line to Reston, Dulles and the hinterlands beyond isn't grassroot groups developers in Tysons Corner. Nope -- it's the Feds.Federal officials remain skeptical of the plan to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport and might reject it, even though their consultants recently found that the proposal meets requirements for full funding, government and project sources said.Those meddling, in-your-face, big-government types! Oh, wait. Officials with the Federal Transit Administration say they are concerned about the price tag and the specter of another Big Dig, the Boston project built by the same contractor in charge of the Dulles rail line, which took years longer and cost millions more than planned, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations are sensitive. In addition, the agency has been reluctant to promote large-scale transit projects.Given the Big Dig's tra...

Guess they'll have to do fundraising door-to-door
2008-01-17 13:51:00
Let's give the Oakcrest school, a small Catholic girls school that's moving to Reston from McLean, a big Reston welcome!The Oakcrest School may have gotten more challenges than it bargained for with its recent land purchase in the Reston-Vienna area, where it hopes to expand.Hmm. That doesn't sound good. Schools are nice. Uniforms are always cute. What could possibly be wrong?Seeking to expand, the school purchased 23 acres of land on Hunter Mill Road between Reston and Vienna in November for about $15 million.The school's possible problem can be traced back to to the man from whom it bought the property – aspiring developer John Thoburn. Oh, right. That John Thoburn, the chap whose battle with Fairfax County over the parcel of land bordering Hunter Mill Road and the Toll Road ultimately cost him more than $125,000 and 30 days in jail.Although Oakcrest has met with the Defense League and enjoys a good relationship with its McLean neighbors, Hunter Mill Defense League Board mem...
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Spineless and Pantless: Your Metro Detractors
2008-01-16 21:11:00
Work on moving utilities in Tysons Corner has begun in anticipation of Metro 's much-ballyhooed Silver Line to Dulles. Which may or may not happen, of course, because of issues with lawsuits, as-of-yet undelivered federal funding, and concerns about marring the awesome aesthetics of Tysons' exquisite combination of endless traffic, low-rise, big-box Bed-Bath-N-Beyond dreck, and mid-rise office buildings that were the architectural answer to the mirrored sunglasses craze of the mid-1980s. But to hear folks in Tysons tell it, people are already getting out of "Fairfax County's downtown"(tm) faster than boxes of overpriced Crate-N-Barrel(tm) cutlery during a half-off sale.It is very likely that the Dulles Metrorail extension, the high-occupancy toll lanes on I-495 and the first phase of the massive new Tysons Corner Center will all be under construction at the same time. With so much happening in a small area already renowned for its congestion, it seems likely that business in Tyson...

Reston's Vibrant Economy Part 11: At least you won't have to run to Blockbu
2008-01-15 04:23:00
Turns out Sprint Nextel's newest awesome plan to solve its cratering customer base and worthless, static-filled phones is fairly simple: they're going to lay scads of people off.Sprint Nextel is planning to lay off several thousand employees and considering consolidating its headquarters at the Overland Park campus, The Wall Street Journal reported today.The Journal quoted unnamed sources and said the cuts were meant to show investors the company was serious about holding down costs. The company has had its “operational headquarters” at the local Sprint campus and its “executive headquarters” in Reston, Va., the former Nextel home city.On the bright side, getting laid off means you don't have to move to Kansas. Also, Sprint's awesome Wimax service, which will allow cellphone users to download the above YouTube video in amazing real time, is set for an April launch. How exciting is that, Sprint CTO Barry West?"People will be excited about our rates. They won't be ecstati...
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'Reston Heights': Back in Reruns
2008-01-11 15:36:00
The awesome Reston Heights development and its 2,800 parking spaces of gridlock-inducing fun will have to wait a bit longer: Fairfax County Supervisors deferred a decision on the project until Jan. 28.Hunter Mill district Supervisor Cathy Hudgins recommended the deferral because she said there had been a few last-minute changes to the proposal that needed further review.Ben Tompkins, who represented The JBG Companies at Monday's board meeting, said the project would provide a "much-needed amenity basis for south Reston," and that the developer plans to pursue Leadership in Energy and Environment Design Silver status, which is earned by "green" buildings that meet specific energy efficiency requirements."Much-needed amenity basis" must be developer-speak for "another awesome restaurant like Chili's." But what about traffic?However, three of the four residents who spoke at the public hearing said they had concerns about traffic problems the development would create along Sunrise Val...
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Don't put that black T-shirt on eBay just yet!
2008-01-11 14:32:00
The Fairfax County School Board has scheduled public hearings on the not-at-all-controversial South Lakes High School boundary changes for Jan. 30, Jan. 31, and Feb. 9. You can sign up to speak at one of the meetings, and we're really really hoping someone will read the Bratz speech. We'd pay good money to see that, except, you know, the school board doesn't seem to cotton to the whole videotaping thing.Meanwhile, talk of lawsuits stemming from the redistricting proposal is starting to percolate in at least two of the affected communities.A member of the group, who wrote under the name "Manager_staywithwestfield," issued a letter Jan. 1 that discussed the possibility of taking legal action against the county. "We have made an appointment with a well-known lawyer in the coming week to seek legal advices and discuss the legal actions we may start soon," the author wrote in the message. The member, whose identity was not listed on the site, did not return an e-mail request for comme...
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This Week, Another Very Special 'Reston Heights'
2008-01-10 17:03:00
The awesome Reston Heights development, with its four high-rise buildings and parking spaces and complete and utter lack of access to the proposed Metro station across the highway is apparently ready to go before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.The development from JBG Cos. — dubbed Reston Heights — won approval from the Planning Commission in November and will come before the board at its first meeting of 2008. If approved, the development along Sunrise Valley Drive would bring a 10-acre cluster of dense urban growth to the outlying planned community.It’s one of numerous projects that developers hope to install along the path of the planned Dulles Rail extension, and the local opposition that has mounted around it could be a warning sign of many land-use fights to come.“We know we’re dealing with a juggernaut here,” said Fred Rothwarf, who lives in the Hunters Green cluster and is working to mobilize opposition to JBG’s proposal. “And the possibility of havi...
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Better wear black, not Navy
2008-01-10 04:53:00
Ahead of Thursday's awesome school board meeting, at which the Fairfax County School Board will formally begin considering whether to subject kids from South Lakes High School to their counterparts from such economically challenged areas as Oakton Woods, with its ghetto-like $758,000 homes and shocking paucity of Bratz dolls, the school system has tweaked its redistricting proposal one last time:The proposal, from the staff of Superintendent Jack D. Dale, would reduce demographic disparities among five high schools. South Lakes, which is operating far below capacity and serves more low-income and minority families than the other four, would gain students bound for Westfield Madison and Oakton high schools. In addition, some students in the Chantilly High attendance zone would be rerouted to Oakton.The staff's recommendation largely mirrors a proposal offered Dec. 19 at a town hall meeting at Oakton. The only tweak affected a neighborhood near Navy Elementary School. Under the staf...
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'Is the Reston dream dying?'
2008-01-09 15:34:00
That's the question Tom Grubisich asked in Sunday's Washington Post. According to him, the answer is yes.* Lake Anne Center -- Simon's crown jewel -- has deteriorated because of weak and fractured local leadership and a county government that moves as fast as a three-legged tortoise.* The nature center that Simon promised shortly before he was ousted has finally progressed to the drawing board, albeit stripped of its "green" construction features.* The regional library that was built 25 years ago is insufficient to serve Reston 's digital generation. * Reston's extensive network of stream valleys -- the centerpiece of its thousand acres of open space -- has been ravaged by pollution and runoff.* Thousands of homes hastily built during the early years of the post-Simon construction boom are headed toward dilapidation. Living in a ca. 1970 home in which few surfaces still meet at 90-degree angles, we'd say there was plenty of shoddy building during the Simon era as well. But all ...
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