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Published: Saturday, 1/4/2014 - Updated: 1 minute ago

NEW YORK TIMES

NEW YORK Take a look at your mobile device. Do you see oily fingerprints and lint on the touch screen? Dust and crumbs forming particulate frost in the corners? Is that a hair stuck at the screens edge?

Because our electronics are constantly within our grubby grasp, they can get pretty gross. Repeated studies show what accumulates is germy nastiness worse than what is on the bottom of your shoe.

That devices can be a source of disease transmission is not a subject of debate anymore, said Dr. Dubert Guerrero, an infectious disease specialist at Sanford Health in Fargo, N.D., and co-author of a study about the persistence of bacteria on iPads published in November in the American Journal of Infection Control.

So it is a good idea to keep your devices clean, not only to keep from getting sick, but also to maintain resale value when its time to upgrade. Companies like Best Buy, Target, Gazelle, Amazon, Verizon, and AT&T all offer trade-in or cash-back programs, said Derek Meister, a technician for the Geek Squad, Best Buys repair and online support service.

People dont want any marks or grime on their devices, Mr. Meister said, because, like trading in a used car at a dealership, the better the condition, the more like new it is, the more money you get on your trade-in.

A word of warning: Cleaning your device can be tricky, because you dont want to damage it and manufacturers dont give you much guidance. It can be done, however, if youre careful and conscientious.

Dr. Guerrero and his colleagues found that regularly wiping down your device with a moist microfiber cloth was sufficient to eliminate many kinds of common bacteria. More enduring and dangerous bacteria like clostridium difficile (which can cause diarrhea or colon inflammation) and flu viruses may require a bleach or alcohol, he said.

This is a problem, because Apple on its Web site officially warns against using window cleaners, household cleaners, aerosol sprays, solvents, alcohol, ammonia or abrasives to clean its products and advises instead to simply wipe the screen with a soft, lint-free cloth to remove oil left by your hands.

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Cleaning devices reduces germs

January 4, 2014 Mail carriers ask for assistance with snow, ice

Anonymous Hendricks County Flyer The Hendricks County Flyer Sat Jan 04, 2014, 02:50 AM EST

As the inches of snow increase by the hour throughout Indiana, the Postal Service is asking customers to help letter carriers deliver mail safely by clearing snow and ice from sidewalks, stairs and mailboxes.

The weather forecasters predict even more of the same next week, which means cold, icy conditions will remain and we can expect several more snowstorms before spring arrives.

One seasonal tool is expected to make its return at homes and businesses the shovel.

Snow and ice make delivery dangerous and slow, Indianapolis Postmaster Gary Soultz said. Maintaining a clear path to the mail box including steps, porches, walkways and street approach will help letter carriers maintain consistent delivery service and help them get those cards and packages delivered.

Customers receiving door delivery should make sure their sidewalks, steps and porches are clear. Customers receiving curbside delivery should remove snow piles left by snow plows to keep access to their mailboxes clear for letter carriers.

Delivery service may be delayed or curtailed whenever streets or walkways present hazardous conditions for letter carriers or when snow is plowed against mailboxes.

The Postal Service curtails delivery only after careful consideration, and only as a last resort, Soultz said. Any curtailed mail is attempted the next delivery day.

Blue collection boxes also need to be kept clear for customers to deposit their mail and for the Postal Service to collect the mail for delivery. Residents and businesses with collection boxes near their property are asked to keep them clear of snow and ice.

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Mail carriers ask for assistance with snow, ice

Photo by: Rick Danzl/The News-Gazette

Jesse Wald, 7, looks up at the hackberry tree on High Street in Urbana January 3, 2014. He and his father, Stephen Wald, noticed it was marked by the city to be removed after rot was discovered in its upper limbs. The elder Wald is now leading an effort to save the tree, which he believes could be the city's biggest.

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URBANA The days could be numbered for what might be Urbana's biggest tree.

A giant, 100-plus-foot hackberry tree near the corner of High and Coler streets has been marked for removal, but a group of residents are hoping they might be able to encourage the city to find another way to secure the rotting tree instead of cutting the whole thing down.

"We call it the biggest tree in the world," said resident Stephen Wald, who was on the phone with the city arborist within 15 minutes of spotting a white dot near the base of the tree while riding his bicycle past it with his 7-year-old son, Jesse.

Well, it's not the biggest in the world but it's a contender for the biggest in the city. With a trunk diameter of 60 inches, canopy between about 78 and 99 feet and a height over 100 feet, local tree experts would have trouble producing a more massive specimen, Wald said.

"It's our General Sherman tree," Wald said.

Some of its limbs, however, have started to rot, including one that hangs ominously over the nearest home at 312 S. Coler Ave. And on a tree this big, limbs can be, well, as big as a tree.

"It's a giant hackberry, maybe one of the biggest in the community," said city arborist Mike Brunk.

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Some residents hope to save tree in Urbana

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YORK, Maine Quick work by school custodial staff and York firefighters averted what could have been "major damage" to Coastal Ridge Elementary School on Friday.

Firefighters responded Friday morning to the school gymnasium after a sprinkler head at the rear of the gym broke, according to York Village Fire Chief Chris Balentine. As a result, there was a small amount of flooding in one corner of the gym.

"Fortunately, the staff was on site to clear snow and heard the fire alarm go off, which dispatched the Fire Department," he said.

Balentine said that between the staff and firefighters, they were able to turn off the sprinkler system and clean up the water on the floor.

"It could have been much worse," he said, adding the sprinkler company was expected to come to the school Friday to repair the damaged head, "so all is good."

The Fire Department cleared the scene at 11:15 a.m.

Deborah McDermott

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Sprinkler break causes minor flooding at York school

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NEW ORLEANS In the final year of the Bowl Championship Series, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops won the one major bowl that had eluded him and proved a point about parity in the process.

After taking the past month to cultivate a young quarterback who was still coming into his own, Stoops brought a confident and motivated squad to the Sugar Bowl, where they stunned 16-point favorite Alabama, 45-31, on Thursday night.

Freshman Trevor Knight completed a Sugar Bowl-record 32 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns for 11th-ranked Oklahoma, outshining Heisman Trophy runner-up AJ McCarron, who saw his otherwise charmed college career come to a sour end with No. 3 Alabama.

The convincing victory also gave Stoops an I-told-you-so moment, backing up his comment last off-season that the gap between the Southeastern Conference and other top leagues like the Big 12 is not as great as some propaganda makes it out to be.

I have the utmost respect for Alabama, and I think this shows that obviously we can play with anybody, Stoops said. So, enough of that. And I just watched them go through their entire conference and play pretty well. Im not pointing any fingers. But I think sometimes the comparisons arent very true.

Stoops is the first coach to win all four BCS bowl, having already won the Orange, Rose and Fiesta.

Before the game, Stoops had provided an element of mystery by declining to say whether he would start Knight or junior Blake Bell, or how much hed play either one.

Alabama scored on the opening drive before Stoops made his decision know by sending Knight out for OUs first series. Knight had played behind Bell much of the season. His completion percentage entering the game was 52.2. He had completed 47 passes all season before a breakout performance in which two of his TDs went for more than 40 yards.

Oklahoma (11-2) won the 80th Sugar Bowl, the first in which both quarterbacks topped 300 yards.

Alabama (11-2) had been ranked No. 1 much of the past three seasons, winning the previous two national titles before its shot at a third straight was derailed by Auburn on the last play of the Iron Bowl in November.

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College football roundup: Alabama sheds aura of invincibility in Sugar Bowl

David Cameron visited an outbuilding that housed migrants in west London [PA]

As the first coach loads of Bulgarians and Romanians roll into Britain, the specially-trained workers will use thermal imaging equipment to locate squalid accommodation in outbuildings.

Rising rents and overcrowding means the problem has reached epidemic proportions in London, where most foreigners are expected to stay.

Last night the capital was put on red alert hours before packed coaches arrive at Victoria station later today.

Council officials in Harrow in north-west London, which is already home to 5,000 Romanians, have found evidence of hundreds of migrants living in appalling conditions.

The authority is investigating 100 cases where desperate families pay rogue landlords 50 each a week to share a grubby mattress in a freezing outbuilding.

Council bosses vowed to prosecute those exploiting the most vulnerable in a borough where more than 4,000 people are waiting for social housing.

Tory council leader Susan Hall said: The rise in beds in sheds and overcrowding is now significant in parts of London and the likely influx [of eastern European migrants] is going to turn the pressure up on housing even further.

Harrow council leader Susan Hall speaks out against beds-in-sheds [PH]

Harrow has had to draft in hundreds of extra Romanian and Bulgarian interpreters as it prepares to be bombarded for information about benefits, housing and schools.

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British councils to blitz squalid beds-in-sheds that house illegal immigrants