Police station evacuated due to mold

BUFFALO, NY — Police and employees were ordered to evacuate the D-District precinct station after tests showed mold and poor air quality in the building, according to WGRZ-TV.

According to the story, Buffalo Common Council Member Joe Golombek says there are complaints about the station from as early as 1997 and at least 10 officers have been diagnosed with various illnesses — including cancer and chest infections — over the past decade.

The department hired a professional cleaning company to remove more than three feet of standing water in the basement, clean air ducts and assess for any additional damage, the story stated.

Dr. Stanley Schwartz pointed out that it was too early to tell if the illnesses were linked to the presence of mold, saying "When one sees a variety of different cancers showing up at a particular site it makes you question is that mold related or is it just a blip that occurs. There are these statistical blips that occur, you have these outbreaks of cancer or infections in a particular area and it's a statistical fluke."

The police have moved temporarily to a closed school while remediation takes place at the 14-year-old building, the story added.

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University pays $1.2 million in Legionnaires' lawsuit settlement

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio State University has agreed to a $1.2 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by a woman whose husband contracted and died from Legionnaires' disease after drinking from a water faucet, according to the Dayton Daily News.

According to the story, Sharron Morris filed the lawsuit in April of 2007 after her husband, David Morris, contracted the disease from drinking tap water at the Ohio State Medical Center.

The hospital staff was aware the water was contaminated with bacteria causing the disease, but did not warn patients, the story stated.

Morris family attorney David Shroyer said: "Instead, they just handed out bottled water, but didn't specifically instruct patients not to drink the water nor did they have any signs saying not to drink the water."

David Morris was in the hospital receiving treatment for leukemia and died five months after contracting Legionnaires' disease at the facility, the story added.

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First LEED Platinum-certified building in Tennessee

CHATTANOOGA, TN — The offices of a nonprofit initiative that helps increase green building awareness have been awarded the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification in Tennessee, according to the Chattanoogan.

According to the story, the offices of the greenspaces initiative were completely renovated to include sustainable features like repurposed demolition materials, geothermal heating and a focus on daylighting.

Co-director Anj McClain said: "greenspaces was formed to address the lack of green building awareness in Chattanooga and the surrounding region. In the past year and a half, we have helped five Chattanooga buildings achieve LEED certification, with 22 more currently in the process. So, we wanted our own offices to be a model of what it is truly possible to achieve."

The storefront of the 100-year-old building was designed to include a light shelf to bounce light deep into the building, resulting in very little — if any — electric light needed during daylight hours, the story stated.

Captured rainwater and low-flow and optical sensors are part of a water-saving effort that uses 81.4 percent less water than a traditional building, the story added.

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Ohio State Univ. Janitor kills supervisor, self after poor evaluation

COLUMBUS, OH — A janitor at Ohio State University shot two supervisors, killing one and then himself in the campus maintenance building after receiving a poor job performance evaluation, according to the Associated Press.

According to the story, Nathaniel Brown opened fire at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in a maintenance office using two handguns, killing building services manager Larry Wallington and injuring operations shift leader Henry Butler.

Police did not confirm whether the poor evaluation was a motive for the shooting and a campus official declined to comment on reports that Brown was in the process of being fired, citing the ongoing investigation, the story stated.

Vernon Baisden, assistant vice president for public safety, said: "This is a tragic event, and our hearts go out to all of the families."

About six other employees were in the building at the time of the shooting, and no students were involved and classes continued as scheduled, the story noted.

Brown previously served five years in prison on a receiving stolen property, and while Baisden said Ohio State does conduct background checks depending on the type of position, it was not clear if a background check had been conducted before Brown was hired, the story added.

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Rare meningitis outbreak declared at Ohio University

COLUMBUS, OH — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared an outbreak and launched an investigation into seven cases of meningitis at Ohio University (OU), the latest of which resulted in a death, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

According to the story, the investigation into why students at the University are more susceptible to the bacteria will utilize federal, state and local scientists and will last a few weeks.

Dr. Mary DiOrio, assistant state epidemiologist, said: "I think that it will be a fairly lengthy survey."

The group of bacteria that caused all seven cases of meningitis at OU — group B — is not prevented by vaccination, the story stated.

Officials have been unable to determine any other connection between the cases other than that they are all students at OU, the story added.

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Some schools do without soap, toilet paper

BROWARD COUNTY, FL — Teachers at more than a dozen Broward County Public Schools have complained they are forced to buy their own toilet paper and deal with "nonexistent" hand soap, according to the Sun Sentinel.

According to the story, teachers at Meadowbrook Elementary School have been asked to stock the restrooms and cut hand towels in half to ration the scarce supplies, and at Boyd Anderson High School, students and teachers go without hand soap.

Students and staff are concerned that the lack of restroom supplies could lead to health concerns and the spread of the flu and other viruses, the story stated.

Even though the school district is forgoing luxuries due to a budget crisis, Superintendent James Notter said that teachers "should not be paying out of their pockets for the bare essentials."

For other schools, poorly-stocked restrooms are the result of janitor error, not a lack of supplies, the story noted.

David Basile, principal at South Plantation High School, said: "The problem we have is when someone on the night crew is out and no one covers that zone. Or we have a day crew, and no one walks through the bathrooms."

One high school senior, Itai Raz, said: "We get really frustrated, but most people have hand sanitizer."

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Report: 'Missed opportunities' for sustainability at Winter Olympics

VANCOUVER — The David Suzuki Foundation, a science-based Canadian environmental organization, released a report praising the organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics for energy-efficient measures, but say they could have done more, according to Edie News.

According to the story, the report said that the building of energy-efficient venues, the use of clean energy and the focus on public transportation do help offset the carbon footprint of the Games, but felt that the organizers failed to leave long-term improvements to the area and to properly address the issue of climate change.

Paul Lingl, spokesperson for the foundation, said: "To date, the 2010 Olympic organizers haven't made the most of their opportunities to tell the story of their climate initiatives to Canadians and the world."

The organizing committee said that they have taken a sustainable approach to the planning of the Games throughout the process, the story stated.

A spokesperson for the organizers said: "This is the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to take an integrated approach to forecasting, reducing, offsetting and publicly reporting its carbon footprint. We incorporated [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] LEED standards into venue design, construction and green principles and practices into our operations and events, with attention to transportation, waste management and food services."

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