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Monday Morning Mold August 1, 2005
Mold in the Media
August 1, 2005
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Mold Stories
-- County Enters New Contract with Architect Facing County Lawsuit - Santopetro hired for Levi renovation; firm accused of faulty jail construction (Brownsville Herald, TX United States - Jul 30, 2005)
-- BOH Sympathetic But Can't Condemn Nancy Davis' Mold House (Pepperell Free Press, MA - Aug 3, 2005)
-- $39.5 Mil. Construction Defect/Mold Settlement in Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain News, CO - Jul 28, 2005)
-- County Jail Mold and Escape Suit Settled for $12M (Team 4 News, TX - Jul 30, 2005)
-- Alisal in talks over bad tiling - The district seeks to settle a lawsuit over faulty tile installation as it addresses mold issues in its schools' multipurpose rooms (Monterey County Herald, CA - Jul 25, 2005)
-- Black Mold Closes Luther Town Hall (Channel Oklahoma.com, OK - Jul 29, 2005)
-- Mold Education: Ascomycota - Tree of Life (Sac Fungi - includes Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Candida spp.)
-- School Mold: Illnesses force switch to tutor (Boston Globe, United States - Jul 29, 2005)
-- Court Mold: Delayed Justice Center undergoes mold removal (Las Vegas Business Press, NV - Jul 25, 2005)
-- Mold & Insurance: What if you need to file an insurance claim? (Consumer Reports - Jul 29, 2005)
-- Mold & Insurance: Dennis' wind whips up $900 million in damage - State looks to tally storm-surge destruction (Tallahassee.com, FL - Jul 27, 2005)
-- Mold & Insurance: Chubb Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $496 Million or $2.45 per Share; Operating Income per Share Increases 29% to a Record $2.28; 2005 Operating Income per Share Guidance Is Raised to Range of $8.30 to $8.70 (Yahoo News - Jul 26, 2005)
-- Mold & Technology: Orange County's Only TEM Asbestos Testing Laboratory Receives NVLAP Accreditation (E-Wire, TX - Jul 29, 2005)
-- Mold & Technology: EPA Awards Significant IAQ Contract to Environmental Education Foundation (Emediawire, WA - Jul 30, 2005)
-- Mold & Technology: A&WMA Joins EEF's - EPA Advisory Group on IAQ Management (E-Wire, TX - Aug 2, 2005)
-- For Fun: New words and Funny Definitions (Washington Post's MENSA Invitational)

 

Good Morning,

This week's photo is of Saccharomyces cerevisiae - or yeast, an Ascomycota. The photo is from the University of Vienna's website. Not all mold is bad -- this one brings you bread and beer!

Hot tips on mold? Please let me know. Send information to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , Cynthia Coulter Mulvihihll, Esq Hyde Mulvihill APC 216 W. Foothill Boulevard Monrovia CA 91016.


County Enters New Contract with Architect Facing County Lawsuit - Santopetro hired for Levi renovation; firm accused of faulty jail construction (Brownsville Herald, TX United States - Jul 30, 2005)
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July 31, 2005 — Cameron County Commissioners Court last year accused the Houston-based Di Stefano/Santopetro architectural firm of negligence and misrepresentation for its work on the Carrizalez- Rucker Detention Center and Sheriff’s Department — but later contracted a architect in the firm to renovate the Levi-Strauss building in San Benito, The Herald found.

The county sued the firm along with 32 other firms in February 2004 in state District Court, alleging that their work on the law enforcement complex near Olmito was faulty and led to substantial economic losses.

Click here for: County Enters New Contract with Architect Facing County Lawsuit - Santopetro hired for Levi renovation; firm accused of faulty jail construction (Brownsville Herald, TX United States - Jul 30, 2005)


BOH Sympathetic But Can't Condemn Nancy Davis' Mold House (Pepperell Free Press, MA - Aug 3, 2005)
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PEPPERELL -- Nancy and Richard Davis, financially down but not quite out in the wake of being forced to lose their mold-infested home at 20A and B Shawnee Road, asked the Board of Health (BOH) for its help in seeing the house condemned, so others might not suffer their fate.

Board members assured the Davises they would try to inform potential buyers of the house's history and promised to speak to the building inspector on their behalf.

Click here for: BOH Sympathetic But Can't Condemn Nancy Davis' Mold House (Pepperell Free Press, MA - Aug 3, 2005)


$39.5 Mil. Construction Defect/Mold Settlement in Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain News, CO - Jul 28, 2005)
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D.R. Horton, the Texas-based home-building titan, has paid a record $39.5 million settlement to resolve a defective-construction lawsuit brought by condo owners in a Superior subdivision.

The 2003 Boulder District Court suit, filed by the homeowners association of The Summit at Rock Creek, alleged cracked foundations, mold, water damage and roof problems.

Click here for: $39.5 Mil. Construction Defect/Mold Settlement in Boulder, CO (Rocky Mountain News, CO - Jul 28, 2005)


County Jail Mold and Escape Suit Settled for $12M (Team 4 News, TX - Jul 30, 2005)
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12 million dollars ... that's what Cameron County was awarded in a lawsuit settlement from the company that constructed the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center.

But, after dealing with inmate escapes and mold problems, they're now going after more money.

Click here for: County Jail Mold and Escape Suit Settled for $12M (Team 4 News, TX - Jul 30, 2005)


Alisal in talks over bad tiling - The district seeks to settle a lawsuit over faulty tile installation as it addresses mold issues in its schools' multipurpose rooms (Monterey County Herald, CA - Jul 25, 2005)
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An East Salinas elementary school district is looking to settle a recent lawsuit with a Salinas-based contractor over shoddy tile setting at one of its schools.

Lawyers with the Alisal Union School District are negotiating with Christensen Architects, a subcontractor of Tombleson Inc. Both companies were named by the school district in a January lawsuit for faulty and "negligent" installation of tiles at Martin Luther King Academy on Sanborn Road.

Click here for: Alisal in talks over bad tiling - The district seeks to settle a lawsuit over faulty tile installation as it addresses mold issues in its schools' multipurpose rooms (Monterey County Herald, CA - Jul 25, 2005)


Black Mold Closes Luther Town Hall (Channel Oklahoma.com, OK - Jul 29, 2005)
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LUTHER, Okla. -- Toxic black mold has forced one city's leaders from their own town hall. Luther city officials closed its town hall doors Tuesday morning when they suspected a black mold problem was serious. Test results received afterward confirmed officials' concerns.

The problem is so bad that the Luther Police Department decided to operate from the police chief's garage. Officials said city business is being handled from an employee's home. Recent test results showed that the mold contamination had pervaded the building, not merely an inconvenience for workers but also a health hazard.

Click here for: Black Mold Closes Luther Town Hall (Channel Oklahoma.com, OK - Jul 29, 2005)


Mold Education: Ascomycota - Tree of Life (Sac Fungi - includes Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Candida spp.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Introduction. The Ascomycota, or sac fungi, is monophyletic and accounts for approximately 75% of all described fungi. It includes most of the fungi that combine with algae to form lichens, and the majority of fungi that lack morphological evidence of sexual reproduction. Among the Ascomycota are some famous fungi: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast of commerce and foundation of the baking and brewing industries (not to mention molecular developmental biology), Penicillium chrysogenum, producer of penicillin, Morchella esculentum, the edible morel, and Neurospora crassa, the "one-gene-one-enzyme" organism. There are also some infamous Ascomycota, a few of the worst being: Aspergillus flavus, producer of aflatoxin, the fungal contaminant of nuts and stored grain that is both a toxin and the most potent known natural carcinogen, Candida albicans, cause of thrush, diaper rash and vaginitis, and Cryphonectria parasitica, responsible for the demise of 4 billion chestnut trees in the eastern USA (Alexopoulos et al., 1996). Asexual Ascomycota, such as Penicillium or Candida species, used to be classified separately in the Deuteromycota because sexual characters were necessary for Ascomycota classification. However, the comparison of nucleic acid sequence, as well as nonsexual phenotypic characters, have permitted the integration of asexual fungi into the Ascomycota (Taylor, 1995).

Characteristics. The shared derived character that defines the Ascomycota is the ascus. It is within the ascus that nuclear fusion and meiosis take place. In the ascus, one round of mitosis typically follows meiosis to leave eight nuclei, and eventually eight ascospores. Ascospores are formed within the ascus by an enveloping membrane system, which packages each nucleus with its adjacent cytoplasm and provides the site for ascospore wall formation. These membranes apparently are derived from the ascus plasma membrane in the Euascomycetes and the nuclear membrane in the Hemiascomycetes (Wu and Kimbrough, 1992; Raju, 1992).

Click here for Mold Education: Ascomycota - Tree of Life (Sac Fungi - includes Penicillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Candida spp.)


School Mold: Illnesses force switch to tutor (Boston Globe, United States - Jul 29, 2005)
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Joey Peterson's big moment is fast approaching: his first day as a freshman at Burlington High School. High school means rubbing shoulders with the upperclassmen, school dances, maybe a shot at a varsity sport. His parents, Diane and Mark Peterson, are psyched, too. But they're also more than a little worried.

Joey's three years at Marshall Simonds Middle School have been plagued by absences due to recurring headaches, stomach pain, dizziness, and burning eyes. His parents, who suspect that high carbon dioxide levels in the school are a sign that poor air quality there has caused their son's illness, fear the same problems may exist at the high school.

Click here for School Mold: Illnesses force switch to tutor (Boston Globe, United States - Jul 29, 2005)


Court Mold: Delayed Justice Center undergoes mold removal (Las Vegas Business Press, NV - Jul 25, 2005)
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Downtown's Regional Justice Center is taking so long to complete that it now needs $250,000 worth of mold removal. Clark County recently hired Walker Specialty Construction of Snohomish, Wash., to clean several mold contaminated areas inside the overdue, unfinished building. The project calls for water repairs and mold remediation on 11 of the building's 18 levels. It's a two-month task that entails removing and replacing ceiling tiles, drywall, fire sprinklers, windows and carpet, among other things. Certain types of mold, if left untreated, can cause serious health problems.

"Mold exposure can cause an infection with some people, although the most common response is an allergic reaction resulting in eye irritation, shortness of breath, sinus congestion and headaches," said Michael Levine, a national mold expert. "But people react to mold in very different ways, which is why it's a heath and liability issue."

Click here for Court Mold: Delayed Justice Center undergoes mold removal (Las Vegas Business Press, NV - Jul 25, 2005)


Mold & Insurance: What if you need to file an insurance claim? (Consumer Reports - Jul 29, 2005)
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Use it and lose it--that's the message coming from property/casualty insurers these days. Filing even a small auto or homeowners claim can besmirch your risk profile, lead to a policy nonrenewal, and/or raise your premiums to sky-high levels.

After filing three claims over three years, Jessica Bram's insurance company refused to renew her policy. Even an $85 charge for a visit to her doctor for pain after another car rammed her at a stoplight counted against her as a personal-injury claim. Bram, a Westport, Conn., public-relations consultant, found a new insurer but is now paying an annual premium that is 64 percent higher than what her old carrier charged.

Click here for Mold & Insurance: What if you need to file an insurance claim? (Consumer Reports - Jul 29, 2005)


Mold & Insurance: Dennis' wind whips up $900 million in damage - State looks to tally storm-surge destruction (Tallahassee.com, FL - Jul 27, 2005)
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The pandemonium stirred up by Hurricane Dennis spawned $900 million worth of property losses in four states. And that's just insurance claims caused by the hurricane's winds - damage from Dennis' mighty storm surge and flooding on July 10 have yet to be tallied.

Florida, at $640 million in wind-produced damage, was hit the hardest, with about 85,000 claims filed. Alabama was second at $155 million; Georgia was at $85 million; and Mississippi was at $60 million. Last year by comparison, Hurricane Ivan's strike at the Panhandle produced $4.1 billion of insured property damage.

Click here for Mold & Insurance: Dennis' wind whips up $900 million in damage - State looks to tally storm-surge destruction (Tallahassee.com, FL - Jul 27, 2005)


Mold & Insurance: Chubb Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $496 Million or $2.45 per Share; Operating Income per Share Increases 29% to a Record $2.28; 2005 Operating Income per Share Guidance Is Raised to Range of $8.30 to $8.70 (Yahoo News - Jul 26, 2005)
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WARREN, N.J., July 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB - News), a leading global property and casualty insurer, today reported that net income in the second quarter of 2005 was $496 million, a 39% increase over net income of $356 million in the second quarter of 2004. Net income per share increased 32% to $2.45 from $1.85

Operating income, which the company defines as net income excluding after-tax realized investment gains and losses, increased 35% in the second quarter of 2005 to $461 million from $341 million in the second quarter of 2004. Operating income per share grew 29% to a record $2.28 from $1.77

Click here for Mold & Insurance: Chubb Reports Second Quarter Net Income of $496 Million or $2.45 per Share; Operating Income per Share Increases 29% to a Record $2.28; 2005 Operating Income per Share Guidance Is Raised to Range of $8.30 to $8.70 (Yahoo News - Jul 26, 2005)


Mold & Technology: Orange County's Only TEM Asbestos Testing Laboratory Receives NVLAP Accreditation (E-Wire, TX - Jul 29, 2005)
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LOS ALAMITOS, CALIFORNIA, Jul. 29 -/E-Wire/-- LA Testing is now accepting samples at their Los Alamitos, CA laboratory. The firm has just received accreditation from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by NVLAP for TEM analysis of airborne asbestos fibers. After recently acquiring the Laboratory division of Health Science Associates (H.S.A.) of Los Alamitos, CA, LA Testing has started construction for the future home of the laboratory. With anticipated growth and expansion of services requiring additional lab space, LA Testing has announced that the new state of the art 9,000 square foot laboratory will be located right accross the street at 10772 Noel Street, Los Alamitos, CA should be completed within two to three months. Clients should still send their samples to the current lab address at 10771 Noel Street, Los Alamitos, CA until further notice.

"LA Testing is now the only accredited TEM asbestos laboratory in Orange County. Our clients have been asking for a TEM laboratory here since our expansion into the Los Angeles marketplace back in the 1995 and we have now delivered", states Joe Frasca, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for EMSL / LA Testing.

Click here for Mold & Technology: Orange County's Only TEM Asbestos Testing Laboratory Receives NVLAP Accreditation (E-Wire, TX - Jul 29, 2005)


Mold & Technology: EPA Awards Significant IAQ Contract to Environmental Education Foundation (Emediawire, WA - Jul 30, 2005)
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Washington DC (PRWEB) July 30, 2005 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded a significant contract to the Environmental Education Foundation (EEF) to form a coalition of major players in the building design/construction and property management industry, including insurance and financial institutions. The purpose of the contract according to David Mudarri, Ph.D., Indoor Environments Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, “[is to promote EPA’s indoor air quality guidance and encourage its use as the basis for managing indoor environmental quality risks.”

“This is an industry-changing initiative,” says EEF Executive Director Troy E. Johnson. “With its adoption by a myriad of industry partners, this is quickly becoming the standard for managing indoor air quality in commercial and multifamily residential buildings.”

Click here for Mold & Technology: EPA Awards Significant IAQ Contract to Environmental Education Foundation (Emediawire, WA - Jul 30, 2005)


Mold & Technology: A&WMA Joins EEF's - EPA Advisory Group on IAQ Management (E-Wire, TX - Aug 2, 2005)
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WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Aug. 2 -/E- Wire/-- The Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional organization that provides training, information, and networking opportunities to thousands of environmental professionals in 65 countries. This premier global network of environmental professionals announced today its participation as a member of the Advisory Group convened by the Environmental Education Foundation (EEF) under a contract from the Environmental Protection Agency – U.S. EPA's headquarters. The non-profit Environmental Education Foundation (EEF) is the world's largest environmental charity focusing on environmental, health, and safety issues, with 5500-members worldwide.

The purpose of the contract, according to David Mudarri, Ph.D., Indoor Environments Division of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "[is] to promote EPA's indoor air quality guidance and encourage its use as the basis for managing indoor environmental quality risks."

Click here for Mold & Technology: A&WMA Joins EEF's - EPA Advisory Group on IAQ Management (E-Wire, TX - Aug 2, 2005)


For Fun: New words and Funny Definitions (Washington Post's MENSA Invitational)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

 

  • Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
  • Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
  • Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
  • Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
  • Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
  • Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

 

Click here for: For Fun: New words and Funny Definitions (Washington Post's MENSA Invitational)


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