First LEED-Silver certified building in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The Ameriprise Financial Center has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), making it the first building in the City of Minneapolis to receive the honor, according to the Midwest Real Estate News.

The Ameriprise Financial Center previously received the Energy Star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2007 and 2008, the story stated.

Kathy Stalwick, vice president of enterprise real estate at Ameriprise Financial, said: "Ensuring that our buildings operate at maximum efficiency is the right thing to do for our business and for the environment. Pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) certification underscores our dedication to implementing continuous sustainability measures and achieving minimal environmental impact from both of our Minneapolis buildings."

Ameriprise Financial worked in conjunction with CB Richard Ellis facility managers to perform a comprehensive review of all building operations, the story noted

The review focused on energy reducing functions, environmental sustainability and green cleaning practices, the story added.

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Workers protest over non-union janitorial services

KANSAS CITY, MO — A demonstration was organized last week by Kansas City Jobs With Justice to protest plans to hire a non-union janitorial company to maintain the upscale Briarcliff Village shopping center, according to the Kansas City Star.

ISS Facilities Services Inc., whose workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1, was previously contracted to perform janitorial duties, the story stated.

The picket at Briarcliff lasted about 90 minutes and protesters distributed flyers touting the benefits of union labor, the story noted.

Aaron Jones, representative for SEIU Local 1, said: "There are 11 very reputable janitorial contractors that give their employees a voice in the workplace through union representation. These are not high-paying jobs, but in this economy, these people are entitled to a living wage and access to health care benefits."

Protesters were not demanding that Briarcliff renew its contract with ISS Facilities Services; however, they were urging the Briarcliff property manager to stay with a union cleaning firm, the story added.

Horror story printed on toilet paper

TOKYO, Japan — Koji Suzuki, author of the horror story made into a movie, "Ring," has taken his most recent tale of horror from the big screen to the big roll, according to the Associated Press.

"Drop," a story set in a public restroom, takes up about three feet of a roll of toilet paper and can be read in just a few minutes, the story stated.

The company manufacturing the toilet paper, Hayashi Paper, is advertising the venture as "a horror experience in the toilet," the story noted.

According to the story, toilets in Japan were traditionally tucked away in a dark corner of the house due to religious beliefs and parents would tease children that a hairy hand might pull them down into the dark pool below.

The nine-chapter story is printed several times on each roll and will sell for 210 yen or $2.20 a roll, the story added.

Doctor's offices are germ havens

OKLAHOMA CITY — The very place you go to seek refuge from and treatment for germs, viruses and bacteria — the doctor's office — may the easiest place to get sick, according to KOCO-TV.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Doug Hardy said: "Definitely, you can. A health care environment is a place where there's lot of germs and infections and there's sick people. Many of those viruses that people have, particularly the flu, are easily transmittable."

Swab tests show that high-traffic areas in the office, including magazines, restrooms, door handles and elevators are havens for germs, the story stated.

Tests show that the most commonly contaminated areas in a doctor's office are the buttons on elevators and the check-in desk; armchairs in waiting rooms are the least contaminated, the story noted.

While proper hand-washing is crucial in the fight against spreading germs, proper cleaning of high-touch surfaces is also a necessary precaution, the story added.

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IEHA conducts pilot for CRI Seal of Approval program

WESTERVILLE, OH — The International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) will conduct a pilot with a cross-section of its in-house and outsource cleaning operations members who support the current Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) Seal of Approval (SOA) program and wish to evaluate carpet-cleaning instruction and knowledge assessment as an enhancement to the current criteria, according to a press release.

IEHA will select members from various facility segments, including health care, hospitality, educational institutions and unique venues such as casinos to become educated in CRI-recommended carpet cleaning methods, the release stated.

Shaw Industries Group Inc. will provide IEHA access to its online maintenance and cleaning (MAC) learning management system (LMS) for information on the following carpet cleaning topics: Why clean and maintain; preventive maintenance; reactive maintenance; daily maintenance; interim maintenance; and extraction/deep cleaning, the release noted.

IEHA has initially selected 12 IEHA-related facilities to participate in the SOA training program and will be sharing updates on the pilot program once launched in June 2009, the release added.

$13 million PCB cleanup effort funded by Georgia-Pacific

KALAMAZOO, MI — In a settlement filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court and announced by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Georgia-Pacific Corporation has agreed to a new $13 million cleanup for the Kalamazoo River Superfund site in Allegan and Kalamazoo counties, according to the Associated Press.

Georgia-Pacific is to consolidate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contaminated material, install a permanent landfill cap across 32 acres, install a groundwater-monitoring system, implement erosion-control measures and restore wetland and shoreline habitats, the story stated.

Sediments in and around the river from Portage Creek to Lake Michigan are loaded with PCBs, a chemical substance once used in the paper industry that can cause health problems for animals and people exposed to high concentrations of them, the story noted.

According to the story, a federal bankruptcy filing by LyondellBasell Industries, which owns Millennium Holdings LLC, left Georgia-Pacific as the lone financier of future cleanups on the river.

A similar $25 million cleanup of a 1.5-mile stretch of the river near Plainwell was completed in December, the story added.

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School custodian arrested for extortion

MILLBROOK, AL — A Stanhope Elmore High School custodian was arrested for alleged­ly extorting money from a student in exchange for re­turning a confiscated cell phone instead of reporting the incident to school administrators, according to the Prattville Progress.

Gloria Reeves, who was charged with one felony count of second-degree extortion, was re­leased from the Elmore County Jail after posting $15,000 bond, the story stated.

In­terim principal Ginger Wright said that this sort of thing has never happened in the school before and there was no plan in place to prevent such activities, the story noted.

According to the story, Wright is working hard to help the students and staff recover while keeping the image of the school intact.

Gloria Reeves, Millbrook Po­lice Chief P.K. Johnson and the Elmore County School Sys­tem all declined to comment on the matter, the story added.

Wright said: "We teach them to trust their teachers. If there's a problem, tell your par­ents. To put it in perspective, thank goodness those kids spoke up."