Home sales stronger in second quarter

The winter that lingered well into spring had the potential to wreak havoc on second quarter real estate sales; April sales were off from the previous year.

But recovery came in May and June and sales were up 3.2 percent in the second quarter over the same period in 2013, the Peoria Area Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. It marked the fourth consecutive year, and fifth in the last six, in which sales were higher in the second quarter than in the same period of the previous year.

There were 1,473 houses sold in the quarter, above the 1,428 sold during the April-May-June period last year and well ahead of the pace set in the first quarter, when 763 houses were sold during the region’s toughest and coldest winter in years.

“After the brutally cold weather slowed home sales activity to a crawl during the first quarter, we are happy to see the market rebound,” said Tonya Burris, president of the PAAR board of directors.

“Although sales activity did not pick up until May, nearly two months later than normal, we are now in the full swing of the summer sales season and have caught up with 2013. Activity is picking up in the upper price tiers of $500,001 and above with the number of sales increasing 21.5 percent in the second quarter. Rents continue to climb, making buying a home a good value, and interest rates are generally lower than a year ago, to the surprise of some and the delight of others,” Burris said.

She said that while continued low interest rates as well as some new financing programs have been a key factor in strong sales, another is pent-up demand. “We went through such a cold winter, people were ready to get out. And with the pent-up energy and the pent-up demand, we’re seeing a lot of rebirth in all of our communities,” she said.

Broken down, April sales of 389 were down from 408 in 2013, but May saw 529 sales, compared with 523 in 2013, and June was up 11.7 percent from a year earlier with 555 sales, compared with 497.

The average sales prices increased 3.5 percent, from $147,301 in the second quarter of 2013 to $152,384, largely because of higher sales in higher price ranges. The median sales price was up from $125,000 last year to $126,825, or 1.5 percent, the association said.

Inventories stayed low at 2,513, making it more of a seller’s market in that it is more difficult for some buyers to find the right home. Still, houses were on the market an average of 88 days in the quarter, compared with 84 days last year.

Burris said the region will likely see an influx of homes on the market in the coming year or so as new construction is up considerably. A large percentage of the new construction is rebuilding in Washington, East Peoria and Pekin after the tornadoes of Nov. 17, 2013 that wiped out more than 1,500 houses. She said many houses for sale at that time were taken off the market to be rented to tornado victims. “When they are ready to move into the rebuilt houses, those they’ve been renting will likely go back on the market,” she said.

Burris said the rebuilding from last November’s storms tends to skew the regional new construction picture, which appears to be booming. That would normally signify economic recovery and growth. “We are seeing economic improvement, though. Things are moving. I don’t know yet what to expect for the third quarter but it is starting out well and I expect it will be in the same range as a year ago because we are in what is typically our busiest time of the year,” she said.

Movie review: Don't monkey with 'Dawn of the Planet of The Apes'

(2 stars out of 10)

(130 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense action sequences, and strong language.)

If you had high expectations that the just-released “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” would be as good as its mildly entertaining predecessor, the 2011 “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” starring James Franco, prepare to be wildly disappointed.

Not that the nightmare-inducing “Rise” was anything spectacular, but this follow-up is nothing short of pathetically bad.

And I must warn you. I seem to be alone in my declaration of how abominably horrid this film is. Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating among critics and 93% of movie-goers gave it a thumb up. My three other movie-going cohorts said they too enjoyed it — although one fell asleep during the last 20 minutes, but amazingly (tongue firmly in cheek) woke up to completely predict the ending.

The premise is pretty simple. If you have seen the old Charlton Heston “Planet of the Apes” movie from 1968, you understand that somehow future Earth has had its human population replaced with evolved apes who, just by some odd chance, speak perfect English and all look like Roddy McDowall. This second attempt to reboot this series (Marky Mark’s 2001 attempt crashed and burned) is set in present time and explains the genesis of how apes eventually come to dominate over mankind and Charlton Heston eventually comes to yell, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” But do not fret; you will not see any of that in this movie (I mean the franchise’s storyline moved forward. Not Charlton Heston screaming. He’s dead.)

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” picks up the story 10 years after Franco’s film. The now artificially intelligent apes have escaped their human masters and formed a commune high in the forests above San Francisco. As Hollywood would have it, they are now living in perfect harmony with nature, hunting herds of wild deer and sitting around roaring fires at night wondering about the fate of humanity. The opening credits spoiled any suspenseful unknown by showing us the over-used and now-cliche fake CNN news reports about how a “simian virus” wiped out 99.9% of the human population, and how the  remaining humans live in small pockets of dirt and squalor eating grubs and worms.

The apes, led by Caesar the Chimp, played admirably by Andy Serkis in a digital green suit and CGI’ed into his final chimp appearance in post-production, are intruded upon by some desperate humans, led by Jason Clarke, looking to re-start a power plant so they can finally plug in their iPads and MP3 players.  I am not certain if the permanent scowl that Serkis displayed throughout the movie was an acting choice or well-deserved contempt with the writing, but he should have quit with the “Lord of the Rings” (yes, that was a shot at “The Hobbit”).

As fine of actors as Jason Clarke, his love-interest Keri Russell, and his son Kodi Smit-McPhee are, nothing saves this movie from the writing. Gary Oldman, plays — what else? — the foil to the good guy, and is simply collecting a check here. And for the love of all things holy, why must he wear the same dated frames of glasses in every movie?  Take his character from the Batman trilogy and you have his character here.

But it’s not the acting that dooms this movie; it’s the triumvirate of horrid directing, writing, and special effects that gives this movie its amazing depth of suck.

Directed by Matt Reeves of “Cloverfield” fame (now that was a good movie), we are not given anything new to see. Shots are bland and unimaginative. If I saw one close-up of a monkey curling his lip in anger, I saw a thousand. This production may have had great sets, but no one would know since all the shots were within 20 feet. Important action sequences that moved the plot forward, however thin it was, were done with super slo-mo shots.  Why not just run a banner that says, “This slo-mo shot is important to the plot. Please pay attention. Thank you?”

Even more annoying was how bad the CGI was on this film, and one would think making a movie with talking apes would require some attention to the CGI. 

After such amazing films like “Avatar, “District 9,” and any Marvel film of late, it is remarkable to me how choppy and unrealistic some shots were. The close-ups of the apes were wonderful, but it was the action shots that were confounding. The laws of physics didn’t really seem to apply with regard to things that fell or moved. 

I wondered if I had an issue buying into the premise, but then realized that was not the problem at all. I am a huge fan of sci-fi. Gimme a “Lord of the Rings” weekend anytime. But if I am going to buy into a writer’s created reality, then he must still keep the natural laws of the universe in order. I mean, 500-pound gorillas cannot ride horses and a simple touch of the ear does not mean, “humans are bad, have guns, and dirty hair” in sign language — just saying.

And the writing — ugh, the writing: Hokey, cliche, predictable, mundane, and uninspiring just for starters. It took almost an hour and forty-five minutes for the inevitable battle between the humans and apes to even occur. And in the end, nothing moved forward with regard to ape vs. man. The apes went back to their wooded utopia above San Francisco and the humans celebrated their ability to produce electricity — until the apes surely pulled the long extension cord back to San Francisco.

Too bad the producers did not think to do that.

I give this film 2 stars out of a possible 10.

School supply lists keep growing

Approximately 52 million parents are heading to the stores this back-to-school season and retailers and marketers are trying earlier than ever to earn their business. And while parents have always pitched in for traditional school supplies like notebooks and pens, today they're being asked to provide everything from tissues to hand wipes to plastic bags to keep classrooms running smoothly.

The result? School supply lists that are longer than ever, according to experts at the National School Supply Lists Directory at TeacherLists.com, and a shopping season second only to Christmas in its attention from major retailers and brand marketers.

"The average 2014 required school supply list now contains 18 items," points outTim Sullivan, an expert on back-to-school shopping trends and the founder of TeacherLists.com, the national online platform that already hosts more than 400,000 of those supply lists. "That's a 29 percent increase from 2013 with almost the entire increase coming from more and more types of consumable supplies being added to lists.  It's not so much more glue and notebooks – it's glue and notebooks plus tissues and re-sealable bags and hand wipes."

For retailers this means even more spending while for parents it means more focus on sales and promotions on required items.  "This has led to retailers starting promotions earlier than ever before," said Sullivan.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) points out that 24 percent of K-12 parents were looking for early sales in 2013. Additionally, 45 percent of K-12 parents are planning to shop sales more often this year, according to a survey conducted by the NRF last month.

Brand marketers, too, are getting into the mix as much as possible with coupon offers and incentives that try to make their brands the preferred brands of teachers and back-to-school shoppers. With $5 billion in spending on the line, it's no wonder.

"It's amazing how much the annual school supply list drives sales," notes Sullivan. Teachers and schools often request generic glue or paper, but if they request a brand name there's usually a reason for that preference and parents follow suit. Brands know this and work hard to earn a spot on those lists."

For more on back-to-school shopping trends or a closer look into the data trends from more than 400,000 2014 school supply lists, visit www.TeacherLists.com.

Launched in 2012 by the parent involvement experts at School Family Media Inc., TeacherLists.com is the largest and fastest-growing web service connecting parents to their kids' school supply and teacher wish lists. Completely free for everyone, TeacherLists.com is making Back-to-School easier, faster and smarter for parents, teachers, schools and all those who have to find and use these lists every school year. TeacherLists.com is committed to encouraging and helping teachers and parents to work together to make classrooms great for students.

Frizzi: The first time I heard Spanish

The past few months have seen the 50^th anniversary of two of the most incredible events, not just in my life, but in the life of anybody else who grew up in my generation. President Kennedy was killed 50 years ago last November. The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show 50 years ago in February.

I was, as a kid that age would say, “six going on seven” during those two significant events. However, 1964 would also be the year of a third major event: my first ever major league baseball game.

This was in Pittsburgh when the Pirates were the professional sports team. The football Steelers were long-time “also-rans.” They would not reach their legendary greatness until 10 years later. The Penguins hockey team would not be formed until 1967. The minor league Hornets were a Detroit Red Wing farm club.

The person responsible for my “right of passage” was my Great Aunt, Ann Schutzman. She was better known as “Palsy” because she was “everybody’s pal.” Everybody that is, being my grandparents’ kids. Palsy never married and lived with my grandparents. Families did that back then. Her nieces and nephews were her “kids.” And when those kids had kids, she was a pal to them, too. This meant if my Aunt Lorie needed a new dress and my grandparents couldn’t afford it, one would mysteriously appear. When my Dad wanted a baseball glove, Palsy took him downtown to Honus Wagner’s Sporting Goods Store on Forbes Avenue and got him a Wilson Ted Williams ball glove.

Palsy was as hard core of a Pirates fan anyone has ever met. She lived and died with the Pirates. When she came back from her shift as a maid at the downtown Penn-Sheraton Hotel, she’d go to her room, turn on the radio and listen to Bob Prince and Jim Woods calling the game on KDKA. She would be known to appear at Forbes Field with a nephew or two in tow. The former home of the Pirates was within walking distance from the house.

She probably fell in love with the Pirates, as her generation did, when they won the World Series in 1925. She endured the agony of the Yankees sweeping the 1927 World Series from her Bucs. She was no doubt devastated when Cubs’ catcher Gabby Hartnett hit the famous “Homer in the Gloamin’” against our relief ace Mace Brown in Wrigley. This kicked Pittsburgh away from a certain World Series appearance. She also suffered through some lean years in the 1950s, only to be rewarded when Bill Mazeroski hit the home run to win the 1960 World Series against the Yanks.

Four years later, the Pirates were a little older and a little slower. By the time I got to see them on a Saturday afternoon on July 11, 1964, the Buccos were in fourth place, seven games out of first place and six games above .500. This did not matter. Palsy decided it was time for me to be baptized in the religion of baseball and there wasn’t a more beautiful cathedral to be baptized in than Forbes Field.

The ballpark was a block south of the University of Pittsburgh’s campus. It sat in the shadow of another cathedral, The Cathedral of Learning. This was a skyscraper of classrooms, the lobby of which looked like a medieval castle. Each floor was designed to reflect the culture of another country. The Gothic-designed Cathedral was built from donations from working class families who could barely afford the donation they gladly gave so their children would have a quality university facility to go to. There was an observation deck on the roof. Life magazine photographer George Silk took the iconic photo of Pitt students, on top of the Cathedral, cheering as Maz won the 1960 Series.

We parked the car near the Cathedral and walked toward Schenley Park to Forbes Field. In between both parks was a giant statue of a baseball player. The player looked majestic; swinging a bat and looking like he smacked the ball hard and far. Palsy told me that was Honus Wagner, one of the first members of baseball’s Hall of Fame and the best shortstop that ever played.

Palsy made as big of a deal of my first ballgame as she did when I made my first communion. She led off with a dime store plastic ball glove and ball. I might actually catch a ball and I would need something for the players to autograph. She saved the best for later. Once we got to the park, she bought me a Pirates cap and a pennant with the team photo on it. This would be an actual photo attached to the pennant, not a picture silkscreened onto the fabric. But that’s not all! I got a yearbook, scorecard and a bobble head doll. Ceramic, not plastic. Then, she got me, my father and herself seats in the lower level behind home plate.

We walked into the main gate of “Lady Forbes.” Perched inside the rotunda, just in front of the turnstiles, were a cluster of nuns known as The Little Sisters of the Poor. Their cigar boxes were wide open and hungry for any contribution. Palsy put in a couple of coins and made the Sign of the Cross.

The comedian Billy Crystal has mentioned on many occasions that when he went to his first major league game at Yankee Stadium, he couldn’t get over the green of the grass. He, like most kids of our generation, never saw a game in color. Color TVs were out of reach of middle-class people. When I heard him say that, I immediately knew what he meant. The grass was a vivid green, as was the ivy on the brick wall. The seats were a dark blue. The Pirate uniforms sleeveless jerseys, trimmed in gold to accent the black t-shirt sleeves. I got to see everything up close because Palsy had taken me down to the Pirate dugout, where a crowd was gathering to get autographs.

I was told to hold my new plastic ball out so the players could sign it.  And they did. Jim Pagliaroni, our new catcher, signed it. So did utility infielder Gene Freese and bullpen coach Sam Narron. However, one player in particular came out of the dugout and everybody flocked toward him. Palsy grabbed my hand. She didn’t need to. I knew who this player was.

Everybody in Pittsburgh knew who Roberto Clemente was.

He was as close as close could be. This was “The Great One” in the flesh. He was real. Up until this time, he was mythical. You just saw him on TV or in the paper or on a baseball card. He was our star, the one we counted on for the big play. He was so close, I could hear him speak.  

But I couldn’t understand any of the words.

I’d heard Clemente speak before. He spoke English with a very thick accent, much like my great-grandmother did. Back then, it was called “broken English.” In fact, when I was a kid, living in an Italian neighborhood, I thought all old people spoke broken English.

But I could understand them. Not this time. I had never heard anyone speak like this before. Clemente was speaking to his teammate, Manny Mota, who would make a name for himself by being one of the best pinch hitters in baseball. They spoke to each other, then left for the clubhouse. I was just that close to getting Clemente’s autograph.

“Pal”, I said, “What did they say?”

“I don’t know”, she said. “I don’t understand Spanish.”

“Spanish.”

So, the first time I’d heard anybody speak Spanish in person was from a person who was not only one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived, but was one of the greatest humanitarians. He would die eight years later in a plane crash while taking supplies to earthquake victims.

Back in those days  ̶  and remember, these were so-called “simpler times”  ̶  when Clemente or any Spanish-speaking player was interviewed in newspapers, their quotes would always be printed phonetically. For example, if Clemente said, “It was a good day. I hit the ball hard”, it would be written like this:   

“Eet was a goot day. I heet the ball hard”

Naturally, this rankled Clemente, a proud Puerto Rican, to the point where he would be very selective in giving interviews. Those he snubbed would call him a whiner and a hypochondriac. Clemente was also a proud American who served proudly in the Marines. That still didn’t matter to those who enjoyed mocking him. “He no speeka dee Eengalish no goot!”

Since Clemente was my childhood idol, I was sympathetic toward him. Let those who made fun of him try to speak Spanish!

When I moved to Dallas, I understood that Texas was a bilingual state and I wanted to learn Spanish. Spanish is part of Texan culture and is as viable and as beautiful of a language as the Texan version of English.

Whenever I hear people say that English should be the official language of America, I kind of chuckle. I’m a byproduct of immigrants as we all are and I still remember Palsy and my grandmother speaking “Plotzdeutch” when they didn’t want us to know what they were talking about.

I worked retail when I was in Dallas in the late 1980s. Many times, I would have to get help from an associate who could translate Spanish into English. One time, on a slow night, there was a young mother and her little girl. Mom couldn’t speak English and there was no one working that night that could help me. The little girl looked at me and said, “I can speak English. My Mom wants me to speak for her.”

She couldn’t have been much more than 6.

I must have had the damndest expression on my face. This child was going to play translator. Then, I looked at Mom and she had an embarrassed expression on her face.

Then, Mom spoke to her little girl, who looked at me and translated, “My Mother says she sorry that she can’t speak English.”

I felt horrible. So I told the girl to tell her Mother that I was sorry that I couldn’t speak Spanish.

I have a feeling that this little girl is now working somewhere, maybe the UN, as a professional translator.

Trust me; I’ve tried to learn Spanish. I envy those who can speak it. I was horrible in Spanish class in college. And I took two semesters of Latin in High School! I tried to pick it up by watching baseball with the SAP on. I wish I had taken classes when I was in Dallas. My wife has talked about brushing up on her Spanish at ICC and asked me to join her. I think I’m too far gone for that now. I still find the rules of English hard to master, as this story no doubt proves.

I like that the United States is bilingual. Maybe trilingual if you count the language known as “Pittsburghese”. This is a form of English that is indicative to the Pittsburgh region. Google it and see what I mean. Especially if a Pittsburgher tells you they’re going to “redd up their house” or that you’re “nebby”.

Back to 1964. The Pirates tried to come back but lost the game to the Milwaukee Braves, 9-8. Hank Aaron drove in two runs and Joe Torre was 3-5. The Bucs stumbled through the rest of the season and finished tied with the Dodgers for 6^th place with an 80-82 record.

But I was hooked. I followed the Pirates to the 1971 World Championship and beyond! Like Palsy, I live and die the Pirates to this day. Of course, I also became a Texas Rangers fan from my years in Dallas. I saw Nolan Ryan get his 3,000 strikeout at old Arlington Stadium. Palsy had set me on the road down the path of an incredible journey through baseball. This includes minor and foreign leagues. I read the Mexican Baseball League daily and have managed to have picked up a just a small sliver of Español. Thank goodness the Japanese League website is in English!

I’ve even been known to take in a Chiefs game or two! I just wish the Pirates or Rangers had teams in the Midwest League.

I could never play the sport worth a damn. But I’ve enjoyed watching it and learning its history. I’ve been to about 20 different ballparks, past and present. I still have the ball cap, autographed ball, bobble head and other gifts that Palsy gave to me 50 years ago.

When PNC Park was built, they sold personalized bricks. Heddy and I bought one and put Palsy’s name on it, so that she will always be at the ballpark. The brick is right next to the Honus Wagner statue, which now sits outside of PNC Park’s main entrance.

I wanted to thank the woman for two things. One was passing on to me her love of baseball. The other was introducing me to a whole new wonderful culture.