Michael Merino
Licensed Home Inspector
Ph. 708-535-6057
Cell 708-612-6679
Phone answered
6am to 10pm
Seven days a week
MerinosHIE@gmail.com
Chicago Suntimes Business
Wholesale prices rise on higher food costs
WASHINGTON Wholesale prices rose last month for the first time since March on higher costs for food, autos and pickup trucks.
Home Depot 2Q profit rises; cuts revenue outlook
NEW YORK (AP) Modest sales increases helped boost Home Depot Inc.'s second-quarter net income 7 percent.
Housing construction rises 1.7 percent in July
WASHINGTON (AP) A weak housing market received a tiny boost from apartment construction last month. But the overall outlook remained dim as applications for building permits fell to the lowest level in 14 months.
Wal-Mart 2Q profit rises 3.6 pct on cost cutting
NEW YORK -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reporting a 3.6 percent increase in second-quarter net income and is raising its earnings guidance for the full year as it benefits from cost-cutting.
Kurtis-Jacobson to return to old, familiar tune
Did you catch the hint? CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2 unveiled a fresh rendition of its familiar newscast theme music called "The Enforcer" on July 21, the first time the theme had been used in more than two years.
Cancer called world's top 'economic killer'
Cancer is the world's top "economic killer" as well as its likely leading cause of death, the American Cancer Society contends in a new report it will present at a global cancer conference in China this week.
Landmark church comes back from the drawing board
Chicago's landmark Fourth Presbyterian Church tonight will unveil a
five-story, $48 million expansion project that's a far cry from the
towering high-rise that touched off a firestorm of controversy. The original plan called for the church to sell air-rights to developers
for $25 million to make way for a 64-story condominium tower
immediately west of the historic church at Michigan and Delaware.
City to cops: You're not writing enough tickets
A City Hall memo obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times warns police
officials that the city will "witness a dramatic decrease in annual
revenues and not meet 2010 targets" if a slump in writing parking and
vehicle-compliance tickets continues until the end of the year. The Aug. 10 memo, which doesn't explicitly ask police to boost tickets,
tells district commanders and other supervisors that police
ticket-writing dropped nearly 25 percent in July compared to the same
month in 2009.
Jet Blue bringing back 'All You Can Jet'
NEW YORK -- JetBlue is bringing back its popular All-You-Can-Jet pass that allows customers to travel to an unlimited number of cities over a one-month period for $699.
Turn Blue Island refinery into fish farm?
The site of a former gasoline refinery near Blue Island that spewed contaminants into the air and soil might one day be converted into a tilapia farm or maybe a "green" industrial site.
Does insurance cover everything? Don't bet on it
Terry Savage: We all know that what you don't know can hurt you. But what most don't consider is that what we don't insure can devastate you. Three years ago, I wrote about a MetLife survey that revealed what people don't
know about their insurance coverage. Now, MetLife Auto & Home is
just releasing an update on that survey. Sadly, the combination of
ignorance and recession has made the situation even worse. But when it comes to insurance, ignorance is not
bliss.
A cure for crumbling condos
If empty, decaying residential buildings are demons to poor neighborhoods, Jack Markowski and his staff are exorcists. Markowski is
president of an organization working a little-known offshoot of the
nation's great mortgage meltdown. It's fraud in condominium mortgages
during years of foolish lending, and it turned apartment buildings into
empty, uninhabitable hulks.
Running for a good cause is BBDO's focus
Lewis Lazare: The 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon is still nearly two months
away, but this year the presenting sponsor is launching a major ad push
keyed to the big event earlier than usual. A campaign from BBDO/New York
with the theme "10-10-10: The Date to Motivate" kicks off Wednesday.
All those "10s" are in the theme line for a reason: The 2010 marathon
will be run Oct. 10.
Berger lived for family, worked to raise funds for research
After native Chicagoan Louis Alan Berger learned he had incurable brain
cancer at age 49, he chose to aid others afflicted with the illness by
helping raise $250,000 for brain cancer research.He also chose to live the remainder of his life the way he lived before his diagnosis -- focused on family.
Stocks dip as Japanese economy latest to slow
NEW YORK (AP) Stocks mostly retreated Monday after a regional manufacturing report fell short of forecasts and Japan became the latest country to show signs of slowing growth. Interest rates fell as investors looking for safe investments bought U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.
Homebuilder confidence sinks for 3rd month
WASHINGTON (AP) Homebuilder confidence dropped for the third straight month in August as the struggling economy and a flood of cheap foreclosed properties kept people from buying new homes.
FDIC closes Palos Bank and Trust; First Midwest takes over
Regulators on Friday shut down a bank in Illinois, bringing to 110 the number of U.S. banks failures this year amid mounting loan defaults.
OfficeMax shows off its glamorous side
Macy's annual Glamorama fashion spectacle and music fest last Friday provided the office supplies chain OfficeMax with a great opportunity to establish a decidedly more chic profile. Office supplies have never exuded much of a sexy aura. But OfficeMax cleverly used Glamorama to help alter that perception.
Living the American Dream -- on the taxpayers' dime
The Watchdogs: Anntoinette R. Brown got the American Dream -- twice. And, though
it appears to have been improper to do so, the taxpayers helped pay for
it, a Chicago Sun-Times/Better Government Association investigation has
found. Brown, a Cook County government employee, was one of the county's first
residents to qualify for the "American Dream Downpayment Initiative," a
federally funded housing-assistance effort. But Brown wasn't a first-time home buyer at the time she bought her house with the help of $10,000 in taxpayer money.
Firms crack down on driving while distracted
Media maven Oprah Winfrey reportedly ruffled her staff earlier this year by asking them to pledge not to talk on cell phones while driving.
COUNTIES
Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Kankakee, and Will.
Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Kankakee, and Will.
CITIES
Alsip, Berwyn, Bolingbrook, Bourbonnais, Channahon, Chicago, Chicago Ridge, Crestwood, Crete, Downers Grove, Frankfort, Homewood, Homer Glen, Homewood, Joliet, Lemont, Lockport, Lombard, Kankakee, Manhattan, Midlothian, Mokena, Monee, Naperville, New Lenox, Oak Brook, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Orland Hills, Orland Park, Palos Hills, Palos Heights, Palos Park, Plainfield, Posen, Romeoville, Steger, Tinley Park, Woodridge
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Oak Forest home inspector
Palos Hills home inspector
Illinois Home Inspector License 450.010091
Illinois Home Inspector Entity License 451.000851
Palos Hills home inspector
Illinois Home Inspector License 450.010091
Illinois Home Inspector Entity License 451.000851
