Page 9 - Don Oconnor News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Soaring lumber prices, material shortages challenge Duluth builders With a two-by-four costing about four times the normal rate, major developers and average customers alike are being forced to reconsider projects amid a pandemic-related building boom. 6:00 am, May 19, 2021 × Mark Akeson hands a two-by-four up to George Larson as Chad Follmer helps hold a roof truss Monday, May 17, 2021. The three are working on Alvin Berg’s new house on Swan Lake Road. Berg estimates the house will cost 30% more than it would have last year because of the rising price of building sup...

Second helping of Love in Lockdown will be served later this month Reporter: ');  '); Lockdown has placed restrictions on most aspects of people’s lives, but Barnstorm Theatre Company and Barn Owl Players continue to prove that even the most ardent of lockdowns has not put a barrier on the arts. Beginning with their successful monologue virtual production, Zoom BOP: Confinement, last September, the two companies set out to up the stakes by producing, Love in Lockdown, a series of newly written short plays. The plan was to produce five new works, but when the call went out for submissi...

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby While Diane Sommerfeld wanted to transform a small grain bin into a playhouse for her grandkids, the project grew to include a series of images that local artist Noel Blair painted around the 1,100-bushel bin. -Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby Artwork on the southwest side of the bin connects the past and present for the Sommerfeld family. The yellow airplane represents the Piper Cub flown by Sommerfeld’s father, Don O’Connor. Iowa State University’s famous mascot, Cy, symbolizes the high-quality education that fami...

Somewhere Clark Griswold is smiling. Live Christmas tree sales are reportedly up, according to industry experts. Part of the demand is for the cut-your-own experience, bringing to mind the “Griswold Family Christmas” scene that opens the popular holiday movie “Christmas Vacation.” It’s partly because of the pandemic forcing more families to hold individual holiday celebrations in their own homes, instead of traveling to gather together at one location. Families are also trying to find ways to enjoy a “good old-fashioned family Christmas” while dealing with C...

Berlin Lumber Co. Manager Don O’Connor is straddling a fence when it comes to buying lumber and other building materials. On one side he has a strong customer base that’s part of an overall solid year of business. On the other side there’s the potential that he could load up on overpriced inventory that will be filling his shelves next year if the market takes a dip. A Somerset entrepreneur is taking his mechanized tree stands from the forest to the foyer — … “It’s a very strange year to say the least,” O’Connor said Thursday afternoon as trusses, bui...