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BAGHDAD — Army engineers are making things a lot easier for Iraqi contractors to clean up trash on the streets of Baghdad. The project, in conjunction with 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment’s Task Force Iron Gimlet, calls for engineers to remove large rubble and debris so that Iraqi contractors are able to clean up trash. The 955th Engineer Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based out of Missouri, which is attached to the 46th Engineer Combat Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, serving with Multi-National Division - Baghdad, has been assigned the vital job of picking up what can’t be...

The Prince George's County Revenue Authority, its tax receipts sputtering as home prices plunge, has adopted a novel way to brake the slide. By cracking down on front lawns that resemble used-car lots and on trucks parked in residential areas, the authority reckons it can collect some of the $15 million in unpaid tickets and make neighborhoods more attractive to potential home buyers and prospective businesses. "A lot of the enforcement is for aesthetics because things are disorderly looking, but we also want to increase property values and make the community more livable," said Troy Thompson, director of parking operations...

Your Neighborhood Can Affect Your Health ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2008) — Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School, South West England, has found strong links between neighbourhood deprivation and the physical and intellectual health of older people. Two studies were conducted, both using data on participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). The first study investigated over 7,000 individuals aged 52 and older who lived in urban areas across England. The study found that even when individual differences in education and income were taken into account, people who lived in the most deprived areas were significantly more...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers from Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment conducted an operation with the 3rd Brigade, 1st National Police (NP) division, supporting the Iraq Civil Conservation Force and Sons of Iraq (SoI) in Tameem, a small village southeast of Baghdad, Feb. 18. The operation, planned by Salam Bedin, the nahia council chairman, Lt. Col. Emad, commander of the 3/1 NP, and the SoI, led to the establishment of several SoI checkpoints and allowed the Iraqi Civil Conservation Force to conduct cleaning projects in the village. “The future of Iraq is about cooperation between all players...

QAHIRA, Iraq, Feb. 20, 2008 – Citizens in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Qahira play a large role in securing their backyard through local checkpoints. Army Lt. Col Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Multinational Division Baghdad, greets Sons of Iraq members at a neighborhood checkpoint while on a patrol in Baghdad’s Qahira neighborhood, Feb. 14, 2008. Pemrick talked to the group members about their security operations in the area. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Col. Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the...

A judge has ruled that a Wal-Mart Supercenter can be built at Northcross Mall, despite the objections of some neighbors. A group of residents called Responsible Growth for Northcross tried to stop the North Austin store by suing the City of Austin and Lincoln Property Co., arguing that the store plans proposed by Lincoln and approved by the city violate city rules. State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo sided with the city and Lincoln in her ruling Friday, saying it was fine for the city to approve a second site plan for the store without holding a public hearing about a...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Nov. 26, 2007 – Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment’s Civil Military Operations Platoon, stopped at the Daklea Market in Baghdad Nov. 18 to take a census of sorts among the shop owners. Army Spc. John Ackerman, a medic with the Civil Military Operations Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, keeps watch as members of his platoon conduct a census of the Daklea Market in the Yarmouk neighborhood of Baghdad, Nov. 18, 2007. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons,...

BAGHDAD - Twilight brings traffic jams to the main shopping district of this once-affluent corner of Baghdad and hundreds of people stroll past well-stocked vegetable stands, bakeries and butcher shops. To many in Amariyah, it seems little short of a miracle. Just six months ago, this mostly Sunni neighborhood was one of the centers of al-Qaida in Iraq operations. The district in western Baghdad was hit by more than a dozen bombings and shootings some days. Few people dared to venture onto the streets. On Tuesday, women shopped and men drank tea in sidewalk cafes. Occasionally, U.S. soldiers walking 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...

Eastman, Ga., native Staff Sgt. Edrese Johnson of C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, hands out some candy to a little girl while on patrol in a poor section of Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood. Photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — “How’s business?” is the question on the tip of Capt. Albert Marckwardt’s tongue as he strolls through the main market of the Iraqi capital’s Adhamiyah District. The answer, though, is evident all around him. Business in Adhamiyah is booming. The formerly run-down market is bustling. Merchandise spills out of the...

Mrs. Reaganesque and I are moving to the Baltimore, MD area. Are there any Freepers out there that can give us a good idea of where to look for a home or apartment, either in Baltimore or nearby? We would much appreciate the info! Thanks!

CHICAGO - Barack Obama could have lived anywhere. He was born in Hawaii, had family in Kenya, worked in New York and went to school in California and Massachusetts. But he settled here, in a prominent neighborhood on Chicago's South Side that has a history of influential residents. In many ways, the Democratic presidential candidate is the epitome of the place he calls home: a mix of black and white residents who are wealthy, well-educated and liberal-leaning. Ringed by communities where people are poorer and more likely to have a high school diploma and not a college degree, the neighborhood...

AL ZAHRAH — It is a small neighborhood about 12 blocks long and five blocks wide, just a few miles away from Balad. The main street is roughly paved; the rest are just dirt tracks filled with trash and mud, teeming with kids. All in all, there is nothing remarkable about Al Zahrah. It has, however, managed to capture the attention of the U.S. forces at Forward Operating Base Paliwoda. “The people in this neighborhood have been good to us here. We’d like to do something in return for them,” said 1st Lt. Anthony Fazio, projects purchasing officer for Headquarters/Headquarters...

Salman Pak Iraqi Police and U.S. soldiers patrol the area together. U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Bronco Suzuki. Troops Help Iraqis Secure Neighborhood Joint U.S and Iraqi Forces operation uncovers cache of rocket launchers and small arms. By Spc. Shea Butler 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Jan. 10, 2007 -- The ramp drops, the sun rises and the troops emerge. The missions vary and everyone has a different, but equally important job. The troops on the ground in Baghdad work every job from quick reaction force to humanitarian missions. The mission for soldiers with Company B, 1st...

Soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division capture insurgents during a demonstration of military ability that took place at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiah South Monday. Story and photos by Sgt. Trevor Snyder124th Mobile Public  Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD -- Iraqi forces took control of another area of Baghdad on Monday after the latest in a series of transfer of authority ceremonies near the capital. Army Col. Claude Ebel, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division said responsibility for Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah South, a base of operations for security forces south of the capital, was transferred to...

Brig. Gen. Obd al-Karim, commander of the 6th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi National Police Division, holds up a homemade grenade seized from an improvised explosive device facility during recent operations in the Al-Doura district of Baghdad as Col. Michael Beech, commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division looks on during a press conference to discuss Operation Together Forward. Story and photo by Sgt. Trevor Snyder124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD -- Iraqi and Coalition forces are systematically combing through businesses and homes in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Doura as part of a continuing operation to stem the...

U.S. Army Pfc. Jason Allen, assigned to 101st Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, takes aim with his M-240 machine gun during a battle with insurgents in east Ramadi, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jeremy Pitcher Operation Dragon's Breath Joint Operation Targets Insurgents in Ramadi Neighborhood By U.S. Army Sgt. Jeremy Pitcher 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment RAMADI, Iraq, May 30, 2006 — As the sun rises above the horizon, the silence of a neighborhood is shattered by the roar of armored vehicles. The convoy kicks up dust and rocks, tearing along the makeshift road. It passes...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ignacio A. Betancourt, a civil affairs team sergeant with the 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, speaks with an Iraqi youth in a neighborhood reportedly troublesome to coalition forces, Jan. 10, 2006. Civil Affairs has been working with the Iraqi police for several days to develop a relationship with the community. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Pfaff U.S., Iraqis, Clean Up Neighborhood for Hajj U.S., Iraqi Police joint effort restores electricity, removes trash, and establishes trust. By U.S. Army Spc. Michael Pfaff KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan. 25, 2006 — On many days in this city, a city...

Police say they hauled guns, ammo, drugs from his home. Don Bertone is not your usual problem neighbor, San Francisco authorities say. For three years, Bertone, who once worked for the city Housing Authority and ran for the Board of Supervisors in 2000, has wreaked all sorts of havoc in an otherwise quiet community in the southeastern part of the city known as Little Hollywood, officials and his neighbors said Wednesday. Bertone, 54, doesn't just play loud music, authorities say. At all hours of the day and night, he has blasted police radio broadcasts, shrill oscillating tones, Spanish dance tunes...

An Iraqi police officer (right) prepares to hand out supplies to local Iraqi schoolchildren during a humanitarian aid mission to their school in Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 20, 2005. U.S. soldiers from the 108th Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, Fort Bragg, N.C., assisted with the delivery of the material. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Matthew Clifton Iraqi Police Take Lead in Neighborhood Visit U.S. soldiers assist Iraqi police to establish improved community relations between the Iraqi police and the Iraqi civilians they protect. By U.S. Army Pfc. Matthew Clifton Multinational Corps-Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005 — U.S. soldiers...