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The great H.L. Mencken wrote: "A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar."

Is he right? I don't know, but it seems as if Washington, D.C., is quite a mess these days, with a mounting deficit and acrimonious factions.

Still, one of the highlights on the HCN calendar is the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. This year's event, in addition to several rounds of strategizing and lobbying, featured presentations from not one, but two politicians.

Washington, D.C. -- Speaking to a room full of lumberyard owners and LBM suppliers, Representative Bill Johnson of Ohio's 6th Congressional District and a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee made it very clear how he felt about the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

All channels of distribution are not created equal.

But what are the strengths of each channel of distribution in the mind of the contractor?

California cities dominate the top-ten Eco-Friendliest Cities list assembled by small business-oriented web site thumbtack.com

San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose rank one, two and three on the list, which measures the per capita prevalence of a representative group of ten types of green services. More details about the data are here.

Here are the top ten eco-friendly cities from the list:

An increase in multi-family mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs), part of the current administration’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal, will slow down construction of apartments in secondary markets, a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) representative told Congress on June 7. 

U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson has sent a letter to U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) president and CEO Rick Fedrizzi, urging changes to the treatment of forest products under the council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 2012 rating system. LEED is currently taking public comment as it revises its evaluation process and standards, which will be released in November of 2012.

Costello’s Ace raised $10,000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s (MDA’s) Make a Muscle … Make a Difference program last month. 

The Deer Park, N.Y., operator of 19 neighborhood hardware stores on New York’s Long Island raised the funds by collecting donations that were recognized by shamrock decorations displayed throughout the store.

Knipex Tools has announced the promotion of Todd Shumate from the position of sales manager to VP sales, North America. All field operations will report directly to Shumate, including channel managers, regional managers and the KTLP nationwide manufacturers' representative network.

Prior to joining the Arlington Heights, Ill., company in 2008, Shumate held regional sales manager positions at Minerallac/Cully, Progress Lighting/Hubbell Lighting and Klein Tools. He also held management roles at Dalloz Safety and Chase Ergonomics.

Back in August 2006, this “From the Editor” page was dedicated in part to an examination of Star and Bullock Hardware, the fictitious, gold-rush era building supply store from the HBO Series “Deadwood.” 


At the time, some suggested that I was watching too much television.


But now look at page 30 of this magazine. There’s an actual, real-life Deadwood, S.D., hardware store on our Fifty Hardware All Stars list: Twin City Hardware.


Menards is hoping to expand an existing mega store in Tinley Park, Ill.  according to an article in the TribLocal, adding 110,000-square feet to its 202,000-square foot building and 148,000-square-foot lumberyard. The grand total – 360,000 square feet – would make the store the largest unit in the Midwestern home improvement chain.