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BY ASHLEE REZIN Staff Reporter January 8, 2014 1:36AM

A water main break sent water pouring into the street in the 4900 block of North Pulaski Road about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, closing the street between Argyle and Ainslie streets. | NVP News video

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Updated: January 8, 2014 5:22AM

A leak in a companys fire system flooded the business and Pulaski Road Tuesday night, forcing firefighters to wade through knee-deep icy water in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The commercial buildings sprinkler system burst about 10:40 p.m. and sent water pouring into the street in the 4900 block of North Pulaski Road, authorities said.

The leak was likely caused by icy weather conditions and frozen pipes, said Bill Bresnahan, managing deputy commissioner of the citys Department of Water Management.

Firefighters, who at the scene could be seen wading through the knee-deep icy water, were able to gain access to the building and stop the leak, Bresnahan said. The National Weather Service reports temperatures hit 6 degrees below zero in the Chicago area overnight.

As of 4 a.m., at least one lane of Pulaski remained closed to traffic between Argyle and Ainslie streets as Department of Streets and Sanitation salt-spreaders treated the ice that had formed, police said.

It was not immediately known how much damage the business sustained during the incident.

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Burst sprinkler system floods business, Pulaski Road on NW Side

The freeze was bad enough.

Now, thawing water pipes have been setting off sprinkler systems and fire alarms, flooding some businesses and homes and keeping area fire departments busy.

It seems like all weve been answering lately are water alarms, Knoxville Fire Dept. Capt. D.J. Corcoran said on Wednesday. We have received close to 30 calls of businesses fire alarms activated, as well as residential calls of water lines freezing and bursting. Nonemergency calls are directed to KUB, he said.

KFD scanner traffic on Wednesday referred to several businesses, including the Hampton Inn on Strawberry Plains Pike, the Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville, and the H.T. Hackney Co. on Rutledge Pike.

Some residences are reporting the same problem, Corcoran said. We expect to have more calls (Thursday).

Water lines that feed sprinkler systems can freeze overnight, and the resulting expansion of water can cause a crack in the pipeline. As pipes begin to thaw out, water escapes through the cracks.

Then the water movement sets off the alarm and the sprinkler system, Corcoran said. Its really been causing us havoc.

The Tennessee Theatre did not sustain any significant damage, and the Wednesday night performance of Shen Yun was scheduled to go on, theater manager Tom Bugg said.

A pipe connected to the sprinkler system at the Knox County Health Departments Teague Clinic, 405 Dante Road, burst Wednesday because of extremely low temperatures, said Katharine Killen, community relations director. The clinic will be closed Thursday and Friday for repairs. Clinic staff will contact patients to reschedule appointments, she said.

On Tuesday, the East Tennessee Technologys Access Center had a break in its sprinkler system. Officials are asking people to wait until next week to bring donations of computers and durable medical equipment that were requested earlier for its clients with disabilities. Anyone with an emergency need for durable medical equipment can call 865-475-4421 and leave a name and phone number.

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Thawing pipes setting off sprinkler systems, causing 'havoc' among fire departments

ROANOKE, Va. -

Area homeowners and businesses aren't the only ones exempt from problems cause by these frigid conditions.

The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport also dealt with a pipe break due to cold weather.

Tuesday morning, the sprinkler system on the 10th floor of the air traffic control tower froze and burst.

The tower was forced to turn off electric equipment and leave the area because that water turned to ice.

Air traffic controllers were forced to head to a lower-level radar room called, "TRACON."

"They monitored the flights from the TRACON in the lower level basement of the air traffic control tower. And, pilots that came in and out of the airport came in -airplanes came in, one at a time -and pilots operated on operated on instrument approach and talked to air traffic controllers that way to come in and out of the airport," says Amanda DeHaven, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the airport.

DeHaven says there were no cancellation or delays because of the problem

Air traffic controllers were back in the tower by 9o'clock Tuesday night.

In 13-hours, 42-plane took off and landed.

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Broken sprinkler system forces air traffic controllers to lower ground

Bioglow's Starlight Avatar plants emit faint light similar in intensity to starlight hence the name

Ever thought the glowing forests from the movie Avatar were pretty cool and wanted one yourself? Bioglow is the latest company to attempt to put such autoluminscent plants in homes with its aptly named Starlight Avatar.

Engineering plants to make them glow is not a new idea and has been around since the 1980s. Bioglow's approach involves adding genes responsible for bioluminescence from the marine bacteria Photobacterium leiognathi to the cultivated tobacco species Nicotiana tabacum. In this way, Bioglow claims it was able to achieve permanent light emission without the need for chemical additives to the exterior of the plant or the use of UV light.

While the current results emit only faint light, said to resemble the intensity of starlight hence the name Starlight Avatar Bioglow hopes that in the future autoluminescent plants will be able to produce enough light to illuminate town streets. It is also working on modifying the colors emitted via luciferase mutagenesis, the mutation of enzymes responsible for light generation, and is working to have foliage glow one color, with flowers and petals another.

This and similar ventures, such as the crowd funded Glowing Plants project have not come without criticism from environmental groups, such as Friends of the Earth (FOE), worried about the spread of genetically engineered or modified (GM) products and the flow of engineered genes into nature.

The New York Times reported in May 2013 that FOE and other environmental groups had lobbied both the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Kickstarter to have the Glowing Plant project shut down. Since then, the USDA has reviewed and approved Bioglows plants as safe because they are not "plant pests." Bioglow also says that the light-emitting pathway in its plants cannot be transferred by pollen to other plant populations.

Bioglow will be running on online auction for its plants that kicks off on January 31st and runs for a week.

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Bioglow sheds new light on indoor plants

Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Months after former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was linked to a 2012 double-murder, Boston police released a warrant that further details his connection to the case.

Hernandez is believed to have been inside a silver SUV from which the shots that killed two men in another vehicle were fired.

He became a suspect in the double homicide during the investigation of the June 17 murder of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd near Hernandez's home. Hernandez is awaiting trial for the first-degree murder of Lloyd.

Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado were shot and killed when someone in the silver SUV fired five bullets into their car, killing the two men in the front seats and injuring a third. The warrant puts Hernandez in that SUV, but does not indicate whether he was the one that fired the shots.

Hernandez and Alexander Bradley were seen in surveillance footage at Boston's Cure Lounge on the night of the double-murder, and Bradley later filed a civil lawsuit accusing Hernandez of shooting him in the eye.

Neither a connection between Hernandez and the two men nor a motive for the killings has been listed. While the footage shows Hernandez and Bradley leaving the club shortly before Abreu and Furtado, it is unknown whether the four had an altercation inside Cure Lounge beforehand.

Boston police have not filed charges in the case, but the warrant does suggest Hernandez is at the center of the investigation. The SUV used in the killing was found at the house of Hernandez's uncle, and the gun believed to be used in the killing was found in the trunk of a woman that said "football players" discarded it there.

[Hartford Courant] [CBS 3 Springfield]

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Aaron Hernandez warrant sheds new light on double murder

January 8, 2014

Image Caption: The immune system of the elephant shark is simpler than many other vertebrates studied so far. The present studies also explain, why cartilaginous fishes do not generate human-like bones. Credit: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

Ranjini Raghunath for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

An international team of scientists has deciphered the genetic blueprint of the elephant shark the oldest living animal in the cartilaginousfish family and the first to have its DNA decoded.

Among fish, cartilaginous fish such as sharks and rays stand out because their skeleton is not made of bones. Their body is supported instead by cartilage, a flexible tissue that resembles muscle.

Analysis of the elephant sharks DNA answers questions such as which genes influence bone formation, why elephant sharks have a primitive immune system, and why they evolve very slowly. The findings could also help researchers understand and treat bone diseases better as well as shed light on how the immune system evolved in humans and other higher animals.

The elephant shark lives off the coast of Australia and New Zealand and is named for its trunk-like snout which it uses to dig for food on the seafloor. Its genome is about one-third the size of the human genome, and the smallest among all jawed fishes.

Comparing its DNA with that of humans and other animals reveals some interesting facts about the sharks evolution and body structure. For one, the sharks genome lacks a family of genes that code for a class of proteins called phosphoproteins that are present in bony animals. When the researchers knocked out this gene family in zebrafish, they found that it affected the fishes ability to form bones. The absence of these genes is probably why sharks have cartilage instead of bone in their body, the researchers suspect.

Elephant sharks also lack genes for special immune cells called T-helper cells. These cells are thought to be vital for defending the body against parasites and prevent diseases such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Killing these T-cells is also one of the first steps the HIV virus takes in breaking down the human bodys defenses.

Yet even without these cells, these sharks have long lives and are somehow able to protect themselves against diseases.

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Decoded Shark DNA Sheds Light On Evolution Of Bone Formation And Immunity

The Port of Walla Walla's project to install a sewer pipe 40 feet under the Snake River has hit unstable ground.

The contractor, Apex Directional Drilling of Portland, has struggled to get the soil to stabilize enough in the first part of the project, officials said.

But Jim Kuntz, the port's executive director, said the contractor and port are continuing to work on ways to get the casing pipe correctly installed in the first couple hundred feet, which contains cobbles and loose gravel.

The line under the Snake River is a critical part of the port's project to bring city of Pasco sewer to the Burbank Business Park and the Columbia School District's three schools in Burbank.

The 120-acre business park allows commercial and light industrial zoning, meaning distributors could have warehouse operations with easy access to Highway 12.

Port officials hope offering sewer service will help spur economic development in the business park and Burbank area. Currently, the entire community of Burbank relies on septic systems to handle its waste.

Once the pipe casing is through the first couple hundred feet, Kuntz said the contractor will drill through basalt, which should be easier.

So far, port commissioners have approved spending $26,500 to install additional casing pipe, Kuntz said.

The additional cost is on top of the $1.3 million contract port officials signed with Apex, Kuntz said. But because of contingencies, the project remains within the overall budget of $2.1 million.

Kuntz said the port hopes to have the piping under the Snake River finished this spring.

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Snake River project hits unstable ground

Just convicted of multiple violations of the federal Clean Water Act, Ray Caldwell now faces a $11,000 fine from the city of Longview for discharging bacteria-laden sludge into a stormwater ditch that leads into the Columbia River.

City stormwater manager Josh Johnson said he didnt know for sure where the sludge containing fecal coliform bacteria was coming from.

Its most likely a problem with their operation or their piping, Johnson said Wednesday.

The city served Caldwell, the owner of All Out Sewer and Drain, with a notice and order of violation Monday.

He was very accommodating. He immediately directed his staff to begin cleaning the lines like Id asked him to, Johnson said.

Under city code, its illegal to discharge anything into the storm drain system other than stormwater. During a city inspection last year, All-Out co-owner Randy Dingus told city staff that employees rinse the inside and outside of septic pumper trucks in the business wash area, which has a storm drain connected to the ditch.

The $11,000 fine may be the least of Caldwells worries, given his legal troubles. On Dec. 16, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle found Caldwell guilty of 25 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act, six counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false statements. He will be sentenced March 10 and faces big fines and prison time. He was accused of pumping septic waste from his collection trucks into the city sewer system to avoid disposal fees and vastly underreporting the amount of septage he collected from customers.

Caldwell did not return a call for comment Wednesday about the citys fine.

Caldwell was chairman of the citys Stormwater Advisory Committee until resigning last April after the city fined him $500 for allegedly pumping liquids from a basement sump pump into a stormwater drain. Caldwell was on the committee when the city created its stormwater pollution laws.

According to the notice the city issued to Caldwell this week, so much material had accumulated at the companys stormwater outfall last October that the discharge had to flow under a cake of dried sludge before reaching the water in the ditch. City employees observed a chocolate-colored, bubbly, thick soup or pudding-like material that covered a 100-square-foot area around All-Outs outfall. Also, the grass near the outfall was stained with a dried, black substance up to a foot above the water line.

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All-Out Sewer owner facing $11,000 fine from city

Several new faces and a few familiar ones were sworn in at municipality reorganization meetings throughout the area Jan. 6.

The board room at the Abington Township building was packed with friends, family and community members as newly elected Court of Common Pleas Judge Gail Weilheimer swore in re-elected Commissioners Larry Jones, Ward 3; Stephen Kalinoski, Ward 6; Peggy Myers, Ward 8; Thomas Farren, Ward 12; and Lori Schreiber, Ward 14, in addition to newly elected Commissioners Michael Markman, Ward 2; Jimmy DiPlacido, Ward 4; Benjamin Sanchez, Ward 7; and Tom Hecker, Ward 10.

Many of the commissioners expressed their excitement to start a new year, work with one another and improve the township.

Also sworn in was re-elected tax collector Jay Blumenthal, who was named the townships treasurer.

There were numerous appointments made Jan. 6 as well.

Commissioner Wayne Luker was appointed the new board president and Commissioner Steven Kline was appointed vice president. Both men received applause after they accepted their new status on the board.

I want to personally thank my fellow commissioners for their vote for president of the board of commissioners of Abington Township, said Luker, who has served on the board for 22 years. This is an honor, and I consider it a vote of confidence that I will lead this board in a positive direction. My expectations are high that we all will use our talents, time and energy to further the success of this first-class township.

In addition, Rex Herder was reappointed township solicitor for a six-month term, Michael Powers was named township engineer for another two-year term and Township Manager Michael LeFevre was appointed to the office of secretary and Finance Director Susan Matiza was appointed assistant secretary.

In Cheltenham Township, newly elected Commissioner Ann Rappoport, Ward 4, and re-elected Commissioners Morton Simon, Ward 6, and Art Haywood, Ward 2, were sworn in, according to the township managers administrative assistant Anna Marie Felix.

Veteran commissioner Harvey Portner was appointed the new president of the board and fellow long-standing board member Morton Simon was appointed vice president, she said. Continued...

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Board rooms across the area reorganize

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