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Monday Morning Mold December 6, 2004

Mold in the Media

December 6, 2004

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Mold Stories

-- About 600 file claims in school mold settlement (KLTV, TX - Dec 6, 2004)

-- Mold testing is out, district says (Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Dec 5, 2004)

-- Home Solutions Unit Gets $1.3 Mil. Air Force Pact (Forbes, NY - Dec 6, 2004)

-- Mold a problem, dead or alive (North County Times, CA - Dec 4, 2004)

-- Maplewood waste site suit settled, but mold issue lingers (Minneapolis Star Tribune (free subscription), MN - Dec 3, 2004)

-- Mold session suggests fixes [Oglala Lakota Sioux Housing Authority] (Rapid City Journal, SD - Dec 2, 2004)

-- Mold Education: Medical Antifungal Agents

-- Court Mold: Hampton District Court needs home (Hampton Union, NH - Dec 3, 2004)

-- School Mold: Mold Forces Nathan Hale Teacher From Classroom (KOMO, WA - Nov 29, 2004)

-- Mold & Insurance: Farmers Insurance Announces New Texas Rating Plan; Homeowners Rates to Be Reduced 20 Percent for Current Customers (Business Wire, CA - Dec 6, 2004)

-- Mold & Politics: Inside Politics (Washington Times, DC - Nov 30, 2004)

-- Mold & Politics: Lawmakers quiz FEMA - The agency is under fire for its handling of Isabel flood insurance claims (Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA - Dec 3, 2004)

-- Mold & Technology: Iso-Barrier Available for Hospitals, CA - Dec 2, 2004)

-- For Fun: If You Drop It, Should You Eat It? Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule [winner of the 2004 Ig Noble award]

Dear C,

First of all, thanks for all of the notes wondering where Monday Morning Mold has been the last few weeks. I've been busy working on some complex litigation that I'm handling. Hopefully, I'll get caught up quickly.

This week's photograph is a beautiful picture of Onychomycosis (nail fungus infection) from the Computer Graphics World website.

About 600 file claims in school mold settlement (KLTV, TX - Dec 6, 2004)

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BROWNSVILLE, Texas About 600 claims have been filed under a settlement reached in a large Rio Grande Valley school mold infestation case.

The builders and designers of two Brownsville schools -- Aiken Elementary School and Besteiro Middle School -- reached the deal late last month. The amount of the settlement package is being kept confidential -- but plaintiffs' attorney Peter Zavaletta says the money will cover medical costs.

Mold testing is out, district says (Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Dec 5, 2004)

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Jim Moore is the father of twin 5-year-old kindergartners who attend Manatee Elementary in Port St. Lucie. He also works for a mold clean-up company.

Since no federal health or environmental agency outlines just what is a harmful mold level, St. Lucie County School Superintendent Michael Lannon and the facilities staff are sticking by a decision not to test for different kinds of mold.

Home Solutions Unit Gets $1.3 Mil. Air Force Pact (Forbes, NY - Dec 6, 2004)

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Home Solutions of America Inc., a provider of specialty residential services, said Monday that its PW Stephens unit received a contract worth more than $1.3 million to remove mold from over 240 homes at Camp Pendleton Air Force base in Southern California.

"The combination of continued backlog in California coupled with our recent contracts resulting from damage due to the hurricanes in Florida bode well for the 2005 fiscal year," said PWS president Scott Johnson.

Mold a problem, dead or alive (North County Times, CA - Dec 4, 2004)

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SAN MARCOS ---- When a parent complained recently that her child was sneezing and sniffling in a portable classroom at Paloma Elementary School, the search for the likeliest suspect ---- mold ---- began.

Officials said the room got a thorough cleaning, but the complaints persisted. The results of air tests that showed the air was cleaner in the classroom than outdoors did little to stem the concern. The parent insisted something in that room must be causing the child's respiratory distress.

Maplewood waste site suit settled, but mold issue lingers (Minneapolis Star Tribune (free subscription), MN - Dec 3, 2004)

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A group of Maplewood residents and Ramsey County have settled a seven-year legal battle over a former yard-waste site that residents said contaminated their homes and made them sick.

But the war over the former Beam Av. facility may not be over. For now Ramsey County and the 11 homeowners in the lawsuit have agreed to a $415,000 settlement; the two sides finalized the terms Friday. The county's insurance company will pick up the tab. An additional $35,000 settlement was made with Cappies Trucking, which hauled yard waste from the Beam Av. site.

Mold session suggests fixes [Oglala Lakota Sioux Housing Authority] (Rapid City Journal, SD - Dec 2, 2004)

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RAPID CITY - Five years ago when a tornado ripped through Oglala, Roselyn Holy Rock's home lost its roof. After torrential rains and hail poured into the home, it was eventually repaired, but the damage had soaked into the walls of the house.

Holy Rock, 73, said she has watched as black mold has taken over her bedroom and bathroom. She has since closed off the infected space, using the remaining three bedrooms and bathroom for her family of six. Even so, she has had chronic sinus infections and aggravated respiratory problems, she said, from the mold.

Mold Education: Medical Antifungal Agents

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Shown at this website are the agents that have been licensed or are under development for use as therapy of the fungal infections of man. Picking the most appropriate agent for a given disease is sometimes complex. To aid in this process, see the discussion of agents of choice and the discussions of the individual mycoses themselves. Mixed into the list are also the many topical agents in use for cutaneous mycoses. Please also see the discussion on cost analysis and pharmacoeconomic analysis of antifungal therapy.

Court Mold: Hampton District Court needs home (Hampton Union, NH - Dec 3, 2004)

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HAMPTON - The state wants to move the staff and operations of Hampton District Court from Winnacunnet Road to a temporary location within the next two months. According to Town Manager James Barrington, the state recently sent word of its unofficial plans to the town.

The state began looking for a temporary location after it was reported that the century-old building was infested with fleas and there was mold growing in the basement.

School Mold: Mold Forces Nathan Hale Teacher From Classroom (KOMO, WA - Nov 29, 2004)

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SEATTLE - Doctor's orders: "mold" has forced a Seattle teacher out of the classroom. The 10th grade teacher at Nathan Hale High says it's a reaction to stachybotrys - a rare mold that's taken up residence in some classrooms.

"That's my room, OK, bingo. That's my room," says Denise Frisino, a 10th grade Language Arts teacher at Nathan Hale.

Mold & Insurance: Farmers Insurance Announces New Texas Rating Plan; Homeowners Rates to Be Reduced 20 Percent for Current Customers (Business Wire, CA - Dec 6, 2004)

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2004-- Farmers Insurance announced today an agreement with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) to file a new rating plan that will bring reduced rates for homeowners insurance customers beginning early in 2005.

"We have always said that our rates are subject to constant review, and are periodically increased, or decreased, depending on our changing loss experience. We are pleased that our recent experience in Texas indicates that a stabilizing of losses, and a significant reduction in water and mold- related claims, now allows Farmers to adjust its homeowners rates to the benefit of Texas customers," said John Hageman, Farmers Texas state executive director.

Mold & Politics: Inside Politics (Washington Times, DC - Nov 30, 2004)

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Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, is very serious about mold. Last year, he introduced the nation's first Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act - which establishes guidelines to treat indoor mold and a national "toxic mold insurance program," plus financial grants for mold removal from public buildings and tax credits for those who repair the nasty damage.

Mr. Conyers will journey to Boston on Dec. 9 to testify in a public hearing, joined by doctors who treat mold-related illnesses, a group of California teachers, researchers, environmentalists and "mold advocacy groups," said Boston City Council member Maura Hennigan, who organized the hearing.

Mold & Politics: Lawmakers quiz FEMA - The agency is under fire for its handling of Isabel flood insurance claims (Hampton Roads Daily Press, VA - Dec 3, 2004)

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Two lawmakers from Virginia this week joined two Maryland senators who have asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to take a deeper look at flood insurance complaints that surfaced after Hurricane Isabel.

In letters dated Monday, Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R- Gloucester, and U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., wrote to Attorney General John Ashcroft about possible mishandling of flood claims by the National Flood Insurance Program and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mold & Technology: Iso-Barrier Available for Hospitals, CA - Dec 2, 2004)

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2004--EnvironmentalRx (Pink Sheets:EVRX) announced today that the Iso-barrier portable decontamination unit, that recently received a patent, is available to hospitals. The Iso-barrier was designed to control infection by combating bacteria. Today's patients are given antibiotics as part of a standard discharge. This is a result of the extremely high incidents of infections resulting from contamination by other patients. The Iso-barrier will eliminate this need. By using the Iso-barrier between patients, the hospital can completely eliminate the risk of contaminating the next patient. This is consistent with EVRX's goal to step down medication for all patients. EVRX's trained personnel can completely decontaminate a hospital room in 30 minutes. A technician can move the Iso-barrier from room to room as needed. EnvironmentalRx charges $90.00 per bed for this service.

EVRX can have technicians on site full time at the hospital. The technician can move from room to room and decontaminate 16 rooms in an eight-hour shift. This service is available to every hospital in the country. EnvironmentalRx is currently interviewing people to head up this important product. The person selected will coordinate sales and marketing nationwide as well as scheduling.

For Fun: If You Drop It, Should You Eat It? Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule [winner of the 2004 Ig Noble award]

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URBANA--High-school student Jillian Clarke investigated the scientific validity of the "5-second rule" during her apprenticeship in Hans Blaschek's University of Illinois lab this summer. You know the rule: If food falls to the floor and it's in contact with the floor for fewer than 5 seconds, it's safe to pick it up and eat it.

According to Clarke, a senior at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, the 5-second rule dates back to the time of Genghis Khan, who first determined how long it was safe for food to remain on a floor when dropped there. Khan had slightly lower standards, however; he specified 12 hours, more or less.

Monday Morning Mold Archives

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·  Hyde Mulvihill APC

·  Monday Morning Mold Archives - 2004

·  Monday Morning Mold Archives - 2003

Contact Information

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email: cmulvihill@cmsynergy.com

phone: 626-358-7471

web: http://www.cmsynergy.com/California/California%20Law%20Firms/cynthia_coulter_mulvihill.htm