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Robert Laycock was helping renovate a home in a Sydney harbourside suburb when he found rare memorabilia from a 1920s physical culture performance hidden beneath the floor — and several old mortar shells. While the explosive discovery brought out the bomb squad and put a temporary stop to the renovation, it was the unearthing of a Bjelke-Petersen School (BJP) of Physical Culture program from 1924 that drew lasting attention. "It looked like it had just been discarded under the floor in an old area," Mr Laycock said. "It was covered up in the sand and it was very dry under...

Dave Tronnes said his wife Shanti Cooper slipped and fell in the tub – but investigators believe it was murder, and suspect that without their never-ending home renovation she might still be alive.A successful businesswoman is found dead in the bathtub. Her home had been under construction for years. Did the renovation lead to her death? Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports in "Home Renovation Homicide," an all-new "48 Hours" airing Saturday, September 12 at 10/9c on CBS. "This house became more than just a project to David Tronnes. It was his life," says Ryan Vescio, a former prosecutor with the Orlando...

Among the Australians upgrading their shower, 68 per cent increased its size, with 64 per cent switching over to rainfall showerheads or 62 per cent handheld showerheads. Around 22 per cent of homeowners included a bathtub large enough to fit a couple while 12 per cent upgraded their showers to accommodate two people. The study found white was the preferred colour for walls, cabinets and bench tops - and often accented by grey flooring. Up to 12 per cent of homeowners are getting high-tech upgrade to their bathrooms, including digital controls and built-in sound for showers and self-cleaning and overflow...

It is always heartbreaking when a natural disaster hits a glorious old church building, whether a fire, a flood, or an earthquake. To see a structure that has been so much a part of your life, so much a part of the community’s life, damaged in this way is like having sure foundations pulled out from under you. What you imagined would stand grandly for centuries now sits badly stooped and broken; something eternal has shown its mortality. And yet often in such circumstances, communities find ways of rebuilding and restoring beautiful buildings that have been loved and at the...

At one minute past midnight on Sept. 16, a state landmark known by millions of motorists will go dark. Employees will say their goodbyes before the doors and off-ramps are barricaded at Maryland House, the Interstate 95 travel plaza in Harford County that opened in 1963. Within weeks, wrecking crews will level the neo-Georgian brick structure to make way for a new building, the flagship of an ambitious public-private partnership valued at a half-billion dollars. The same night, the smaller Chesapeake House in Cecil County will change as new vendors replace old ones. In a year, it too will come...

When wealthy French bachelor Louis Mantin demanded that nobody touch his lavish mansion for 100 years after his death, even the occupying German army paid heed. The eccentric recluse, who died in 1905, wrote in his will that he wanted Maison Mantin, in Moulins, Central France, to be turned into a museum dedicated to himself and his gentlemanly lifestyle. His vision was for visitors to experience his world a century on, uncorrupted by the passing of time. In doing so he ensured he was not forgotten.

The Diocese of Speyer have renovated a protestant Church for the old believers (traditionalists). The supper table is gone, the tabernacle is back, where it belongs, and the communion rail has been put up. [kreuz.net, Speyer] Today the Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann (50) of Speyer blessed a new altar in the collegial church in Newstadt on Weinstrasse. The pontifical office with altar blessing begins at 5pm, according to the website of the Dicoese of Speyer. Newstadt is located fifteen kilometers northeast of Speyer.

Editor: a beautiful chapel at an elder home where Holy Mass is said every day for the last fifty years, with murals by artist, Sepp Zöchling, is being threatened with destruction by the Community of Vienna. The desire of the Vienna Blood-Burgermeister is the Head Shepherd's Command. He doesn't want to spoil it with his powerful comrades, not at any price. [kreuz.net] The Archdiocese of Vienna will withdraw its complain against the threatened demolition of the Chapel in the Vienna Resthome Baumgarten, according to 'gloria.tv'. Officially the responsibility for the scandalous decision goes to the low-profile Vienese Auxiliary Bishop Franz...

DIYALA – The Khalis Secondary School here has been crowded for weeks, as a dedicated team of nearly 40 U.S. Soldiers just completed a makeover modeled after the popular American television program, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The 1st Battalion, 23 Infantry Regiment “Tomahawk” Soldiers began “The Extreme Tomahawk School Makeover” to refurbish the building damaged by war and to better the educational opportunities of the local children. The Soldiers worked for at least nine hours a day to completely overhaul every square foot of the school. They assembled new desks, painted the walls, installed windows and air conditioners and provided...

Col. Maria Zumwalt, commander, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, chats with students at the Shab Female School in Baghdad, Nov. 5. Photo by Sgt. Joshua Risner, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD — The Shab, Yassamin and Monte Tenaybo Schools were officially re-opened here, Nov. 5, thanks to the efforts of Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers. The schools were in shambles before they came to the attention of Army Civil Affairs (CA) Soldiers, according to Staff Sgt. Frank Halstead, from Brooklyn, N.Y."All three schools had to be completely redone because they were a mess," he...

CAMP TAQADDUM — As U.S. bases and posts in Iraq continue to consolidate or are transferred back to the Government of Iraq, U.S. military leaders across the country face the challenge of leaving their locations better than when they initially arrived. Whether it's through the stabilized security we see here today or the civil affairs projects that have sprouted throughout the country, there are tangible improvements to many of the areas that continue to be or were once occupied by U.S. forces. One of these improvements was the recent completion of a $50,000 renovation project of a mosque located aboard...

Renovation work is underway at the main synagogue in central Beirut, after approval from the Lebanese government, planning authorities and even Hezbollah. The work, which is being funded by private donors and a Lebanese construction firm, began two weeks ago, according to various media reports. Built in the 1920s, the synagogue is located in the neighborhood of Wadi Abu Jamil, close to Lebanese parliament and other government buildings in downtown Beirut.

Local Iraqis play a game of volleyball at the new rubberized outdoor volleyball court at Shatt Al Arab sports club. USACE photo by A. Al Bahrani. BASRAH — “Shatt Al Arab sports club was a really unusable building, all the walls and ceilings were in very bad condition, but now everything looks new thanks to the U.S. Army Engineers’ efforts,” said Lateef Khalf, the sports club administrator. The Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq, recently invested $300,000 to reconstruct the four-decade-old facility. Khalf said the renovated facility provides a place for about 750 members – providing...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 24, 2007 – When students at the Yarmook Girls' School in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood returned from summer vacation last month, they found that their school had received an extreme makeover thanks to the government of Iraq and the U.S. Army. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Police officers talk to students at the Yarmook Girls School in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood during a visit to the school to see improvements made during a recent renovation effort sponsored by the Iraqi government, Iraqi police, and the U.S. military. From left to right: Army Capt. Alex Carter, a civil...

Nasiriyah Hospital Renovation Nears Completion A newly renovated maternity and pediatric hospital with 285 beds is expected to reduce the infant mortality rate in Dhi Qar province in Iraq. By John Connor U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Gulf Region South District NASIRIYAH, Iraq, Oct. 9, 2007 — Renovation work is nearly complete on the Nasiriyah Maternity and Pediatric Hospital, a facility whose re-opening has been eagerly anticipated by expectant mothers, medical professionals and many others in Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq. "It's a beautiful facility. And it will do a lot of good once it's open again." U.S. Navy Cmdr....

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2007 – Planning, constructing and renovating the world’s largest-capacity office building is the focus of a new Pentagon Channel documentary. “The Pentagon has become more than a symbol of the United States’ military might,” Air Force Master Sgt. Daniela Marchus, host of the documentary said. “It’s also an example of what American determination and ingenuity can achieve.” “Recon: An American Icon” debuts tomorrow at noon Eastern Time on the Pentagon Channel and will encore throughout October. It also will be available via podcast and video on demand at www.PentagonChannel.mil Combining interviews with those who witnessed the...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 14, 2007 – Families in a neighborhood that sits between Sunni and Shiia areas of west Baghdad are looking forward to the re-opening of their secondary school. An Iraqi construction crew renovates a school in west Baghdad, a project that will double its size. The project is about 30 percent complete. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thifaf Al Neel School -- near the Baghdad International Airport in the Al Bayaa Beladiya neighborhood -- is being doubled in size, said Maj. Clark Johnson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the...

AL BASRAH — The Gulf Region Division’s oil sector neared the finish line at the end of July with the final certification of work on the Al Basrah Oil Terminal. The terminal, known as ABOT, is Iraq’s primary avenue for crude oil export. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invested $67.5 million to rehabilitate the export facility 50 km offshore in the Arabian Gulf. Currently, one and a half million barrels of crude oil a day leave Iraq via tankers on-loading at ABOT. That volume is roughly half of the terminal loading capacity of 3 million barrels per day achieved...

Long story short, I am doing some renovation work at my house soon and am deciding on which items to get for my kitchen. So far, I am getting a viking oven, a sub zero fridge, probably getting broan range hood, but am a bit torn on a dishwasher and other stuff.Whats the best dishwasher, Bosch or Miele?Is Viking the best oven?Is sub-zero (not the mortal kombat character) the best fridge?The oven is going to be a 60 inch viking with grill and griddle, is this the best choice?I am kind of torn on which sub-zero fridge to get, between...

UNITED NATIONS - American architect Michael Adlerstein was appointed Monday to oversee the $1.9 billion renovation of the landmark United Nations headquarters building overlooking New York's East River. Adlerstein will be executive director of a long-delayed project to modernize the 39-story glass-and-steel building, which has not had a major overhaul in its 55-year existence and now violates safety and fire codes. A native New Yorker, Adlerstein is vice president and architect of the New York Botanical Garden, America's oldest and most respected center for horticulture and botanical research. In the 1980s, he was project director for the ambitious restoration of...