Apartment Look

 Her father, who owned a travel agency, was murdered in 1989, when Nina was 17. “My dad died at 46. My age exactly. And he left behind five children,” Vaca says. “It was a tragic time for my family. That’s what makes our success story so beautiful. “Yes, like a good entrepreneur, I found a need in the marketplace and a way to fill it. Yes, the barriers to entry were minimal at the time because there was so much demand for IT. Yes, all those things are true. “But the real purpose behind me starting Pinnacle was to create a better life and a better circumstance for my family.” Her older sister, Jessica Narvaez, joined Pinnacle’s management team early on, followed by her younger brother, Freddy Vaca, then her husband, Jim Humrichouse, and cousin, Ximena Alvarez. Today, Vaca numbers her “family” in the thousands, including 5,000 employees and consultants and people in the communities here and abroad that she helps. “The larger and more successful we are at Pinnacle, the more we’re able to...

GARDINER — Fire heavily damaged a two- story apartment building at 33 Spring St. in Gardiner Tuesday , leaving about eight people homeless. No one was injured in the blaze that was reported around 10:12 a.m. and appeared to originate on the first floor. By 11 a.m., firefighters from Gardiner and multiple surrounding communities had knocked down the bulk of the fire, but they continued to look for hot spots for more than an hour after that, removing sections of the building to do so. “It’s a terrible loss,” said Sharon Geroux, one of the building’s co-owners. Choking up, she continued, “The building was not even the biggest loss. My cat’s dead, I’m sure. I couldn’t get her out of there. There was so much smoke.” Two families were living the complex, which included four apartment units and a beauty salon that was operated by Geroux, 56. Sharon Geroux lived in one of the first-floor units with her 59-year-old husband, Richard Geroux. Her 80-year-old mother lived in a separate unit and...

I first became interested in Black Creek when I happened to miss my left turn one day and came upon a channelized section along Humber Boulevard North around Weston Road, a remnant of the failed Highway 400 extension that is now known as Black Creek Drive . Strangely, I had never come across it, even though I had been documenting graffiti art in Toronto since the early 90s. And had put a fair amount of footwork in walking most of the drainage channels, culverts and bridges around the city. I decided to walk the stretch from Steeles and Jane one day and quickly discovered, amid the fallen trees, rubble and water, that only the sections closer to the 401 were channelized and walkable. I still return to it a few times a year.  Black Creek is smaller than other waterways in the city, but it’s far more fascinating. Development along its banks has put communities right next to it and overpasses right on top of it. The mix of concrete, nearby apartm...

TAMPA — Two years ago, a college sophomore named Nicole Nachtman was marched past cameras into a county jail, accused of murdering her mother and step-father at their Carrollwood home. Prosecutors called the shootings "heinous, atrocious and cruel" and declared that Nachtman acted in a "cold, calculated and premeditated manner." They announced their intent to seek the death penalty. Then, last month, the Hillsborough State Attorney 's Office quietly took capital punishment off the table. What changed? The state attorney . Andrew Warren has withdrawn pursuit of the death penalty in five of 24 cases he inherited when he took over the office in January, after voters ousted longtime state attorney Mark Ober . A sixth defendant avoided death row with a guilty plea. Seventeen of the cases await review . Only once, so far, has Warren affirmed the prior administration's decision to seek death, although he also elected to seek it once in a more recent case. ...