| Hundreds of 'rich uncles from abroad'
Around a year ago, a new immigrant from France arrived in Herzliya Pituah, the brother of a well-known figure in the Jewish community of Paris. He purchased a 700-sq.-meter lot across from the Dan Accadia Hotel for $1.7 million, and razed the luxury villa that stood there. With the help of an architect and a contractor, he built a new and luxurious villa on the site for a total investment of $700,000. He then put the villa up for sale. Not long after, another French Jew was found who expressed interest in purchasing it. Following brief negotiations, the deal was closed for $3.5 million.
The new immigrant seller, who had just completed his first real estate deal ever with a net profit of $1.1 million, took the money and immediately began searching for the next property.
The invasion of aliens, coming from France, Britain, Belgium and the U.S., has been covered extensively in the press over the last year.
70 years together is no easy task, but Willard and Ruth Balfour ...
In an age when marriage is used as a publicity stunt, and nearly half of all unions end in divorce, some couples have withstood the test of time. Willard and Ruth Balfour are one of those couples. The duo will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on March 6 at their farm in Toledo.
And while longevity alone makes their story remarkable, the way in which the two started out may be the most intriguing.
Willard is 89 and misses being able to eat meat and potatoes like he did before a heart attack did away with that food years ago. He does not talk much. Ruth gets around just fine, but admits arthritis slows her down.
The couples 120-acre Century Farm has been in Willards family since his grandfather purchased it in 1875, and the two have lived there since they were married in 1937.
Symposium turns Savannah's attention to the future
This week's "Creating a Sustainable Future" symposium opens today with the 6:30 p.m. screening of "Kilowatt Ours" at Abercorn Common, the shopping center at White Bluff Road and Abercorn Street. The showing will be inside retail space next to Grand Harbour Imports at Abercorn Common Fountain. The conference, which features thought-provoking events every day this week, is part of Savannah Country Day School's Creative Minds series. I love events - like the lecture late last year by Richard Florida - that focus our thinking so sharply on the future. It's a nice antidote to the way Savannah so often seems mired in the past. But what will come of such symposia and lectures? Is Savannah really a place for breaking new ground and having a national impact? History suggests the answer is yes.
Regional Peace and Pashto Literature Conference:
PESHAWAR: Speakers at a Regional Peace and Pashto Literature Conference on Sunday called upon the intelligence agencies to stop meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan to ensure peace and stability in the region. The World Pashto Congress organised, at the Peshawar Press Club, the conference that was attended by noted intellectuals, poets and politicians from nationalist political parties.
The World Pashto Congress passed a resolution demanding that the government withdraw its proposed plan of fencing the Durand line. The plan will divide Pukhtoons living on both sides of the Durand line.
In another resolution, the congress voiced concern over the sluggish response of the government towards the kidnapping of senior journalist Sohail Qalandar and sought his immediate safe recovery.
|
