Air Conditioning

With warm weather soon turning into hot weather, air-conditioning time is approaching. And if you have central air conditioning, you're going to get peppered with ads for duct cleaning and other services you might not need. The shady companies usually start with the idea that you need a cleaning — whether you do or not — and they claim it can be done for less than $100. That's how they get themselves into your home. "Homeowners who want to have their ducts cleaned really need to do their homework and research any company before they hire," said Angie Hicks,...

LYNN - As a busy courtroom swirled around him, Stephen Rizzo stared hard ahead, his gaze and expression grimly fixed. Nearly five years after he found his daughter's slain body in her bedroom, he would finally see a suspect brought to answer for her death. But when Joshua Rivera. 27, came before the judge to be arraigned Monday, Rizzo hardly glanced his way. As Rivera pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges and was ordered held without bail, Rizzo lowered his sight to the floor.

With temperatures in the 90s yesterday afternoon, about 50 passengers were trapped on a commercial bus with no air conditioning and windows that did not open during a ride from New York City to Boston, customers said. "It was pretty … bad," said Roger Kuhn, 35, of the South End, after the bus pulled into South Station at about 6:30 p.m. Kuhn and other passengers said that riders on the vehicle operated by BoltBus, a carrier offering tickets for as low as $1, relied on personal water supplies to keep cool and received little information from the driver about the cause of the air...

With warm weather soon turning into hot weather, air-conditioning time is approaching. And if you have central air conditioning, you're going to get peppered with ads for duct cleaning and other services you might not need. The shady companies usually start with the idea that you need a cleaning — whether you do or not — and they claim it can be done for less than $100. That's how they get themselves into your home. "Homeowners who want to have their ducts cleaned really need to do their homework and research any company before they hire," said Angie Hicks,...

Officials at Hale Middle School plan to submit a capital budget request for a new air conditioning system at this spring's annual Town Meeting, a project they say is needed to combat soaring warm-weather temperatures. The project is anticipated to cost less than $200,000. Original estimates had ranged from $600,000 and $750,000. - Matt Gunderson

The government is predicting that it won’t be as hot this summer as it was last year. But you’ll probably still have the air conditioner going full blast at your small business. And you could probably shave some money off your electric bill without much effort. If you take some steps now, you can save a lot. And not just this summer. The same things you do to cut your cooling costs now will save you money when it gets colder and you turn the heat back on. Here’s a comforting thought for a new business owner who has an office for the first time: The same sort of things you...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Many states hit hardest by this week's searing heat wave have drastically cut or entirely eliminated programs that help poor people pay their electric bills, forcing thousands to go without air conditioning when they need it most. Oklahoma ran out of money in just three days. Illinois cut its program to focus on offering heating money for the winter ahead. And Indiana is not taking any new applicants. When weighed against education and other budget needs, cooling assistance has been among the first items cut, and...

Matt Byrne A handful of people chilled out in the air conditioning at the Malden Senior Center, where hours today were extended because of the heat.

MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA - Hollywood has a soft spot for this quaint, seaside town 20 miles north of Boston. It has served as a backdrop for myriad feature films, including "The Love Letter" (1999) starring Kate Capshaw and Tom Selleck, "State and Main" (2000) with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Sarah Jessica Parker, and "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" (2001) with Danny DeVito. But Manchester has another starring role as a charming place to visit. Although I am biased, having grown up here, the town has all the requirements for a getaway, along with a rich...

A discount bus line said yesterday that the air conditioning systems on its entire fleet have been inspected, one day after 51 passengers were without air conditioning for at least part of a trip from New York City to Boston on a company bus with windows that did not open. Though some BoltBus passengers who arrived in South Station Thursday told the Globe that the air conditioning did not work during their entire trip, company spokeswoman Maureen Richmond disputed that account yesterday.

Spring cleaning caused a stressful day for a mother squirrel who had a nest containing two babies hidden above an air conditioning unit on the second story of a Fenway building. Animal Rescue League of Boston technicians responded to a call at 140 Fenway Monday afternoon when window air conditioning units at the building were being changed, said Mike Brammer, assistant manager of animal rescue services department. They were told that a squirrel had made its nest inside a plexiglass wedge that appeared to have been intended to keep birds off the top of one unit.

Spring cleaning caused a stressful day for a mother squirrel who had a nest containing two babies hidden above an air conditioning unit on the second story of a Fenway building. Technicians from the Animal Rescue League of Boston responded to a call at 140 Fenway Monday afternoon when window air conditioning units at the building were being changed, said Mike Brammer, assistant manager of the animal rescue services department. The technicians were told that a squirrel had made its nest in a plexiglass wedge that appeared to have been intended to keep...

Emerson Electric Co. said Monday that it acquired Johnson Controls Inc.'s marine container and boiler business to help expand its shipping business. The company did not say how much it was paying for the unit. St. Louis-based Emerson already has a division that makes thermostats and other air conditioning and refrigeration technology for homes and commercial customers. The Johnson Controls business makes refrigeration technology products that will benefit shipping companies and terminals, said Mark Dunson, an executive with Emerson's Climate Technologies unit,...

CONTRASTING HIMSELF with returned Peace Corps volunteer Joseph P. Kennedy III, Sean Bielat stated that he would "take the Marine Corps over the Peace Corps any day" ( "4th Congressional District, meet Sean Bielat. Again," Page A1, March 4) I was surprised that a highly educated graduate of Georgetown, Harvard, and Wharton would make such a remark. Did Bielat have to learn a new language to communicate in a town far away from other English-speaking people? As a Marine who did not serve in Iraq or Afghanistan while on active duty, did he have to sleep under a mosquito net...

Officials at Hale Middle School plan to submit a capital budget request for a new air conditioning system at this spring's annual Town Meeting, a project they say is needed to combat soaring warm-weather temperatures. The project is anticipated to cost less than $200,000. Original estimates had ranged from $600,000 and $750,000. - Matt Gunderson

Upgrades and fixes to school district In the past few years, every public school in Braintree has received capital improvements. When there are two dollar figures shown, the first designates the total cost and the second designates the town's share after reimbursements from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. Braintree High School $450,000/$232,000, summer 2011: roof replacement. East Middle $1.6 million/$852,502, summer 2011: windows and blinds South Middle $2.9 million/$1.5 million, summer 2010: windows, ceilings, heating...

Emerson Electric Co. said Monday that it acquired Johnson Controls Inc.'s marine container and boiler business to help expand its shipping business. The company did not say how much it was paying for the unit. St. Louis-based Emerson already has a division that makes thermostats and other air conditioning and refrigeration technology for homes and commercial customers. The Johnson Controls business makes refrigeration technology products that will benefit shipping companies and terminals, said Mark Dunson, an executive with Emerson's Climate Technologies unit, including products...

CONROE, Texas - Texas financier R. Allen Stanford wants to be moved from a private prison because he’s been without air conditioning and shares a cell with up to 10 other inmates. Stanford is jailed on charges of operating a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. He has been held at Joe Corley Detention Facility since being arrested and brought to Texas from Virginia last month. Stanford’s attorney Dick DeGuerin says in court filings that conditions are “intolerable.’’ He says Stanford’s cell was without power for part of last week and didn’t have air conditioning...

After all the talk of using state-of-the-art air conditioning to cool stadiums at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the architect in charge of one of the venues reversed course and claimed Tuesday that a more old-fashioned solution would be cheaper and better. Leading firm Populous, which is designing the Sports City stadium in Doha, is trying to persuade Qatari organizers to scrap plans to have air conditioning at the venue. Populous director John Barrow said the system is too expensive and "notoriously unsustainable" for the environment when used on a large scale.

Construction of a replica barn at the historic Marion Tavern at Grand View Farm is expected to be complete by the end of this month. The project was originally targeted for completion by early last month, but the work was delayed by poor weather conditions, according to the assistant town manager, Thomas Hickey. He said the new building is fully enclosed, and the exterior roofing and painting work has been completed. Workers also have installed the interior insulation, and the electrical, heating, air conditioning, and sprinkler systems, and are now installing wallboard.