Town Development

Often overshadowed by San Francisco, its larger and more glamorous twin, Oakland has a fascinating history of its own. From serving as a major transportation hub to forging a dynamic manufacturing sector, by the mid-twentieth century Oakland had become the urban center of the East Bay. Hella Town focuses on how political deals, economic schemes, and technological innovations fueled this emergence but also seeded the city's postwar struggles.

Over the past several years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of three thousand residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America.

In 1962, Jerry Sherwood gave up her newborn son, Dennis, for adoption. Twenty years later, she set out to find him - only to discover he had died before his fourth birthday. Harold and Lois Jurgens, a middle-class, churchgoing couple in picturesque White Bear Lake, Minnesota, had adopted Dennis and five other foster children. To all appearances, they were a normal Midwestern family, but Jerry suspected that something sinister had happened in the Jurgens household. She demanded to know the truth about her son's death.

This book reveals a battle-tested blueprint from 25 home service HEAVYWEIGHTS, including Tommy Mello, Marcus Sheridan, Roger Wakefield, Mike Prencavage, and Stephanie Allen, who've all mastered local dominance. With the H.E.R.O. Framework, turn your logo into an emblem of community, purpose, and belonging. Stop letting competitors eat your lunch. Start becoming the obvious choice everyone recommends.

Set in early 1950s rural South Carolina, One Good Mama Bone chronicles Sarah Creamer's quest to find her "mama bone", after she is left to care for a boy who is not her own but instead is the product of an affair between her husband and her best friend and neighbor, a woman she calls "sister". When her husband drinks himself to death, Sarah, a dirt-poor homemaker with no family to rely on and the note on the farm long past due, must find a way for her and young Emerson Bridge to survive.

Have you ever wondered how certain businesses in your community became local institutions—those household names that carry with them a reputation for unmatched quality and service? Or how they launched to local celebrity status and get preferential treatment everywhere they go as a pillar of the community? And how nobody can compete, even though they charge the highest price in town?

In 1974, at the age of 14, I was abducted, beaten and raped in my hometown of Lincoln, Rhode Island by a recidivist, pedophile predator. He was arrested and indicted but never went to trial. He never went to trial because he was brutally beaten to death in the streets of Providence before his court date. Thirty-eight years after his murder, no one has ever been charged with the crime. Men in My Town is my personal story. It's a gripping suspense novel with a storyline that includes characters based on real people, real places and real events. It's a story about men in my neighborhood, men who watched over me during the time between my assault and my assailant's murder.

Inheriting her aunt's historic beachfront hotel should have been Vanessa Lewis's chance at a fresh start. But returning to Isabel Island means facing two ghosts from her past—her aunt's legacy, and Wesley Anders, her childhood best friend who broke her heart fifteen years ago. Now a decorated Marine Captain, Wesley is temporarily stationed at the local base, and he's just as infuriatingly handsome as he was the summer everything she thought she knew about their friendship changed. Between his offer to help renovate the hotel and their undeniable chemistry, Vanessa finds herself falling ...

When a young mother's crisis sparked a movement that has the ptential to serves 2,600+ people annually at just $8.50 per person—proving rural communities can solve complex problems with remarkable efficiency and authentic compassion. In the hills of rural West Virginia, Clarissa Tallman faced every parent's nightmare: her infant son needed specialized formula that wasn't available locally, and the stress of trying to meet this basic need threatened to overwhelm her family. What happened next challenges everything we think we know about effective social services and rural capacity. Instead...

You Are the Sheriff of Me Town: Where You Have All the Power will motivate you to discover that you can have the life that you want by taking charge as the Sheriff. In Me Town you will discover your voice, take back your power, and earn your Power Badge with dignity and respect as you build your mental, physical, spiritual, social, sexual and emotional strength.

There’s never been a better time to quit the rat race and start your own business...but where do you start? Are you passionate about pooches but clueless, confused, and crippled with fear when it comes to marketing? I hear you. The pet service sector is booming - but the market is saturated. Competition is everywhere, and it’s increasing every day. The good news is there’s a tried-and-trusted way to stand out and leave that competition behind.

Elena Alvarez is living a cursed life. From the deadly fire she accidentally set as a child to her mother's abandonment and now an unwanted pregnancy, she knows better than most that small actions can have terrible consequences. Yet when her grandmother calls and asks her to watch over the children of a recent widower in a small, isolated town in Colorado, she takes it as a chance to finally organize her life.

Once, Nurse Matilda made Mr and Mrs Brown's children good and well-behaved, but now they are naughty again. So when the children go to stay with Great Aunt Adelaide in London, Nurse Matilda has to be called to the rescue....

A look at how commercialization has transformed youth sports from fun into a heavily commercialized and profitable venture. Examining the youth sports economy from many sides - the major corporations, the small entrepreneurs, the coaches, the parents, and, of course, the kids - Hyman probes the reasons for rapid changes in what gets bought and sold in this lucrative marketplace. He reveals the effects on kids and profiles the individuals and communities bucking this destructive trend of commercialization.

Seven-year-old little girls love their daddy. Kathy was no exception, so when her daddy started paying “special” attention to her, she felt “special” in turn. Her daddy loved her.
Few betrayals run as deep as the betrayal of being sexually abused throughout your childhood by the man you should have been able to trust with your life. For Kathy, the betrayal ran deeper because when she finally found the courage to start speaking out about what her abuser did to her, her family responded by labeling her a liar and a troublemaker. Kathy didn’t stop speaking out, though.

A ribald, raunchy, fetishy romp across an RPG like world by people who don’t know what they are doing. Norm Geary has many jobs and past experiences, not all of which are exactly legal. He feels the beginning of a car crash while driving a high-end car he just stole from the Scum of the Earth. The next thing he knows, he’s riding a horse on a different world. Follow his adventures as he gathers both people and experience. The only person he finds who knows anything about gaming, wants almost nothing to do with it, so he and his growing party have to figure things out on their own. Just ...

Mexico's Premiere Beach and Jungle Family Vacation Destination Looking for a tropical vacation experience somewhere that is not overrun with tourists and high-rise resorts? The Riviera Nayarit, just north of Puerto Vallarta is a world away from the commercial resort-oriented destination call Vallarta. Discover pristine beaches, hot springs, authentic towns, fun family activities and a truly Mexican experience in one of Mexico's newest and safest family beach jungle vacation destinations. Riviera Nayarit means Family Fun This guidebook, written by an expat that has lived in Nayarit for over ...

In the small, close-knit town of Kick-a-me-su, Arkansas, a leisurely stroll along the Dogwood Trail takes a dark turn when a local walking club stumbles upon a gruesome discovery—a body lying lifeless in the woods. What was supposed to be a quiet walk among friends becomes a twisting mystery that shakes the town to its core. As suspicion mounts and secrets from the past start to surface, the members of the walking club must band together and turn into amateur sleuths. With no shortage of suspects and a killer on the loose, their investigation becomes a test of their resolve, ...

Amy Jo Burns grew up in Mercury, Pennsylvania, an industrial town humbled by the steel collapse of the 1980s. Instead of the construction booms and twelve-hour shifts her parents’ generation had known, the Mercury Amy Jo knew was marred by empty houses, old strip mines, and vacant lots. The year Burns turned ten, this sleepy town suddenly woke up. Howard Lotte, its beloved piano teacher, was accused of sexually assaulting his female students.

Life in the city is full of activity. Early in the morning hundreds of people rush out of their homes in the manner ants do when their nest is broken. Soon the streets are full of traffic. Shops and offices open, students flock to their schools and the day's work begins. The city now throb with activity, and it is full of noise. Hundreds of sight-seers, tourists and others visit many places of interest in the city while businessmen from various parts of the world arrive to transact business. Then towards evening, the offices and day schools begin to close. Many of the shops too close. There...