| Health officials keeping eye on drug-resistant flu strain
In other news, the CDC reported Friday that this season, the flu has killed 10 U.S. children. Bresee said the deaths are "not totally unexpected," given the rate of 44 to 73 child flu deaths the last few years; the agency continues to monitor the fatality rate.
Four of the young flu victims also had been infected with staph bacteria. Experts said patients who are weakened by flu often are more vulnerable to staph and other secondary infections.
Illinois officials said they have seen more flu cases occur in recent weeks, which is normal for this time of year. Although it's too soon to judge whether this flu season is worse than normal, several factors could increase the toll.
For one thing, this season's flu vaccine is not a perfect match with the viruses that are infecting people.
Pitt basketball Q&A with Ray Fittipaldo
Q: Coach (Jamie) Dixon always talks about continually getting better, yet Pitt seems to hit a wall every February. I was hoping this year would be different because the freshmen would improve, but they seemed to have regressed over the past few weeks. Why does this continue to happen? Bill Aloe, Pittsburgh FITTIPALDO: Pitt is 2-2 this February. The Panthers were 5-2 last February, 4-3 in February of 2006, 4-4 in February of '05 and 6-2 in '04. The only year the Panthers might have regressed at the end of the season was '05 when they lost four of their final six games and were knocked out in the first round of the Big East and NCAA tournaments. You might be noticing that Pitt does not win as many games in February as January, but there is a reason for that.
Barton says 2 workers tried to extinguish blaze
The report, filed with the Polk County Emergency Management Agency, details the average daily intake of chemicals at the plant between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2006. It was filed Feb. 20 of this year. According to the report, the facility stores pure ethyl acetate in liquid form and had an average of four units in the facility per day. The report does not indicate the amount that constitutes a unit.
Barton Solvents is required to keep local fire officials up to date on its inventory.
"At least we know what the chemicals are," said Saylor Township Assistant Fire Chief Scott Cross. "We come out here every year and do tours, complete walk thorough, they show us everything. We see anything we want. You can't ask for more than that." The volunteer department of the township just north of Des Moines covers 17 square miles.
Storm wrests lives from families, communities
Mark Aaron Brown was a recent graduate of Macon County High School. The young mans life, just beginning, was cut short by Tuesday nights tornado. He was a really outgoing person. He didnt meet any strangers, said Browns father, Mark Allen Brown. The elder Brown said his son was full of life. Father and son were both members of a local motorcycle club; Mark Allen said his son always looked forward to riding. He wasnt working; his father said he was just trying to be a kid. Mark Aaron Brown was visiting his 63-year-old grandmother at her Akersville Road home when the storm hit. The two huddled in a closet when the tornado blew through, crushing the house. His grandmother was hospitalized but is expected to recover. I guess he told her right when the storm came through he wasnt scared, Mark Allen Brown said.
Puget Sound: the silent crisis
The new state agency created to restore and protect Puget Sound needs your help to return a beloved, complex body of water to robust health. Puget Sound Partnership is holding an opening series of workshops in nine communities to acquaint the public with the current condition of the Sound and identify the greatest threats to it.Information collected will be used to help develop an action agenda to be presented next fall to Gov. Christine Gregoire. A fundamental challenge for David Dicks, executive director of the Partnership, is convincing Puget Sound residents there is a problem. The scenic beauty of the Sound belies deeper, persistent problems. An updated report, State of the Sound 2007, describes the current condition "to be one of decline, with continuing harms to the clean water, abundant habitat and intact natural processes that are the foundations of a healthy environment." All of us have to better understand the problem before we see our own role in helping solve what the report portrays as a "silent crisis." Restoring Puget Sound means rethinking some of how we live, work and play along its shores and near the waterways that feed into it.
|
