Building Maintenance

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed Friday to raise the price of parking tickets, traffic school, criminal convictions and civil court filings to pay for the repair and replacement of dozens of the state's decrepit, overcrowded courthouses. The court fee hikes will include a new $30 penalty imposed on misdemeanor and felony criminal convictions. The state fee for attending traffic school will rise $25, and $3 will be added to parking tickets.

As the director of the veterans' facility explains it, he was simply complying with a request from national headquarters for a "comprehensive self-report" on any maintenance problems at the World War II-era complex near Medford, Ore. There was a periodic problem with bats and the occasional leaky roof, the assessment noted.

A severe lack of maintenance appears to be threatening the future usefulness of some of the facilities renovated in Iraq, says a new report from the U.S. inspector general monitoring reconstruction. Inspectors reviewed eight facilities across the country -- including police stations, a military base, a hospital and a recruiting center -- to determine whether the buildings were operating at full capacity.

NOT since Archie and Meathead went toe to toe in "All in the Family" has generational conflict reared its ugly head this high. As people who have bought into condominium projects are discovering, a battle of priorities among different age groups is raging on the common-ownership front. After all, just because those lofts are being marketed to a younger crowd doesn't mean they are the only ones buying.

A central staircase into the Capitol will be dismantled for the next four months to fix a leak, the architect of the Capitol said. The 35 granite steps leading into the east front entrance will be removed so workers can install a new rubberized waterproofing system underneath, said Eva Malecki, a spokeswoman for the architect's office. Malecki said a temporary wooden staircase would be installed in case of emergency evacuations.

Myths are entertaining as literature. However, when the subject is home maintenance, they can be dangerous and costly. Here are some common misconceptions about home maintenance. Smoke alarms Myth: Pushing the "test" button on a smoke detector is all one needs to do to ensure that it is operating properly. Truth: The test button on a smoke detector will only confirm that the audible alarm is functional. It does nothing to determine whether the detector or smoke sensor is operating properly.

Before you leave Times Square for fresh air, here are some things to budget for: Wells In many rural areas without water service, the only options for running water are hauling it in or drilling a well, said Tom Anderson, owner of North American Drilling Co. in San Bernardino County's Pioneertown.

Authorities evacuated 43 adults and six children from an apartment complex and gave its managers a Monday deadline to fix the facility's air conditioning. Tenants in 36 of the 150 units in the tower portion of the Meadowbrook Park and Tower Apartments complex in the 100 block of West 2nd Street were evacuated because of the lack of air conditioning to relieve the extreme heat. They included senior citizens in wheelchairs and a man with a tracheotomy.

Nestled unobtrusively at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains, the city of Glendora hardly seems a place stewing with political controversy. Its streets are quiet, its parks plentiful, its light poles proudly decorated with names of servicemen and women fighting in Iraq. But over the last several years, this quiet little town has waged a series of spirited, sometimes angry and sometimes frankly ludicrous debates.

When a foot-long chunk of water-damaged plaster fell from the domed sanctuary ceiling at Wilshire Boulevard Temple last year, shattering in front of the pulpit below, the room was quickly cordoned off. Had the incident last October occurred during Saturday Shabbat services instead of three days earlier, the story might have been different. "Fortunately, it happened when the sanctuary was empty," Rabbi Steven Leder said. The historic synagogue already had launched a major building program that included the restoration of the 1929 edifice with its distinctive sanctuary and Moorish dome.