Resurgent bedbugs don't spread disease

CHICAGO — Once relegated to third-world nations, grandparents' memories and old nursery rhymes, bedbugs have enjoyed a dramatic and surprising resurgence, according to the Daily Herald.

The United States is experiencing "an alarming resurgence in the population of bedbugs," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), because the pests have developed a resistance to pesticides and are able to spread so much faster due to increased international travel, the article stated.

The bugs don't spread malaria or other blood-borne diseases: Their beak-like mouths generally pierce the skin without causing enough pain to wake their victims, the article noted.

"They come out at 2 in the morning when you are least alert, feed on you for five minutes or so, and then go back into hiding," said Curt Colwell, entomologist with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

"A high percentage of people don't react at all," Colwell added.

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Five Oklahoma tribes receive EPA monetary awards

OKLAHOMA CITY — Five American Indian tribes in Oklahoma have received monetary awards totaling $720,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to KTUL-TV.

The Miami, Modoc and Seneca-Cayuga tribes and the Wyandotte Nation each have received $120,000, the article noted.

The EPA says the tribes will use the money to help implement tribal-wide recycling programs, develop tribal indoor air and education and outreach programs, update environmental codes and ordinances and train staff on environmental protection issues, the article stated.

According to the article, the Seneca-Cayuga tribe also will use the money for implementing solid waste cleanup activities, conducting baseline monitoring for indoor air contaminants and developing emergency management plans.

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Cintas settles racial and sexual harassment claim

PHILADELPHIA — Cintas Corporation, which manufactures uniforms and provides specialized services to businesses, has agreed to pay $152,500 to settle a racial and sexual harassment lawsuit filed against it by the Equal Employment and Opportunities Commission (EEOC), according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The suit alleged that a supervisor in Cintas' fire-protection unit subjected a group of black employees "to egregious sexual and racial harassment," the article stated.

In a consent decree, Cintas also agreed provide training about the federal antidiscrimination laws to all employees at their Conshohocken plant, the article noted.

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Seattle is turning its rooftops green

SEATTLE — Seattle rooftops are starting to look more like parks as a new report shows half of all new commercial structures developed in the area are being built with green rooftops, according to My Northwest.

"Green roofs can lead directly to reduced utility rates for storm water, an increase in property values, energy efficiency benefits for buildings and opportunities for urban agriculture in existing 'food deserts,'" said City Councilmember Mike O'Brien, chair of the Council's Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods.

As of December 2009, Seattle had 62 structures with green roofs, with total rooftop green space amounting to 359,375 square feet, the article noted.

The Bastille restaurant in Ballard and McMahon Hall at the University of Washington, reportedly use vegetables and herbs grown on rooftop spaces for their food service, the article stated.

Other local apartment buildings report setting up community P-patch gardens atop their buildings, the article added.

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A majority of Americans are immune to swine flu

WASHINGTON DC— Swine flu no longer represents a major threat to the U.S. population, because most people are immune to the virus that caused last season's pandemic, according to USA Today.

Researchers believe that, of the 310 million people in the USA, 59 percent are now believed to be immune to pandemic H1N1 flu, the article noted.

According to the article, approximately 62 million people were vaccinated against the virus, 61 million people were infected by it and another 60 million people 57 or older carry protective antibodies against similar viruses that date back to previous pandemics.

"It's very unlikely that the virus will explode in the fall," says Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and an author of the analysis. "We now have evidence of that."

The evidence comes from studies on the 2009-2010 pandemic carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If this virus follows the pattern set by earlier flu bugs, it will either die out completely or continue to circulate in the ever-shrinking pool of people still susceptible to it, the article stated.

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$100 million class action filed against LEED and USGBC

WASHINGTON — Henry Gifford has been a thorn in the side of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for a couple of years, since he wrote an article claiming that Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rated buildings used 29 percent more energy than conventional buildings, according to Treehugger.

LEED has changed a lot since then, but not enough for Henry: He's launched a $100 million class action lawsuit against the USGBC, the article stated.

Henry is going after them for Sherman Act Monopolization through fraud, unfair competition, deceptive trade practices, false advertising, wire fraud and unjust enrichment, the article noted.

Environmental lawyer Shari Shapiro at Green Building Law describes the suit in plain language: His theory is that the USGBC has falsely claimed that its rating system makes buildings save energy.

According to the article, Henry believes that building owners have spent more money to have their buildings certified, that professionals have gotten worthless professional credentials and people in general have been duped into thinking LEED has meaning.

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Custodians file grievances to University of Washington human resources

SEATTLE — A delegation of 20 custodians on campus — accompanied by union and activist allies — delivered individually signed copies of a grievance form to the University of Washington's (UW) human resources, outlining what they believe are violations of the 2009-11 contract between the university and the union that represents the custodians, according to The Daily.

According to the grievance form, UW facilities custodial managers posted on September 30 new requirements at one custodial area's clocking stations in regards to the use of custodial closets as break rooms and new standards for the custodians' timekeeping, the article stated.

The custodians allege that these new rules deny comfortable facilities for their breaks and the ability to heat meals, and that the rules violate their rights to overtime payment, the article noted.

According to the article, some of the custodians' specific concerns with the new requirements include insufficient time to travel between the clocking station and work area, and the lack of overtime payment for the extra time needed to walk back and forth, as well as insufficient break time to walk between the work area and the few custodial break rooms on campus.

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