Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

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Welcome to the amusement park, said Nick Mullins of BT when Munster stepped on the carpet under the roof at La Defense Arena.

By the time he said good-bye to us, racing was a pleasure, and Munsters hopes of getting ahead of the competition were in no way inferior to Meghan Markles chances of being named Royal Correspondent of the Daily Mail.

After the believers in Mnster had most likely offered Novenas for the health of JJ Hanrahans thighs all week, they would have thanked Heaven when he walked onto the carpet, which looked alive and well. Nick told us that if he had been excluded, with Joey Carbery and Tyler Bleyendaal already on the injury list, Munster would rummage through the sock drawer for a number 10.

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Dont rummage anymore, JJ was in great shape. But then Teddy Iribaren made a pass from back to front that is so exquisitely tasty that another Teddy (Thomas) converted in the corner and you had to purr so loudly that your dog might have bitten off your ankle.

It was a 23-meter return pass, said an Agog Lawrence Dallaglio, who came at half-time and greeted the Teddy Boys. Until then, Andrew Conway had intercepted and tried out the length of the field, so that there was still a whole lot of life left in Mnster.

You could have been a problem if the architects at La Defense Arena had installed more than a few cameras to enable the TMO spot offsides, forward passes and the like, rather than investing in the largest widescreen TV in history and a light show Against the one that Bon Jovi will probably use on his next stadium tour.

In fact, the TMO may have been on the verge of asking viewers to loan an iPhone recording to help him. And there wasnt much to argue about, Iribarens passport should have been worth 35 points alone.

Mnster did his best, and thats exactly what we can say about Kevin Kilbanes Dancing on Ice efforts.

During his routine with his pro partner Brianne Delcourt, there were times when one was reminded of his career in the Republic of Ireland when asked to switch from left to left full-back: no natural, looked like Bambi on ice at times there was his absolute everything.

At least he wasnt judged by Torvill and Dean at the time, although he was at the mercy of player rating if he had been prepared for the exam to listen to their judgments.

And they were mostly compassionate when they saw footage of Kevs early workouts when he collapsed the moment his skates came into contact with the ice.

But he was so committed that he even allowed his body to be spray tanned before putting on a sky blue, glittering top and being carried on the ice by four burly skaters to ELOs Mr Blue Sky. while he carried a glittering soccer ball, which he then threw at Brianne.

The routine then was for Kev and Brianne tossing the ball back and forth as he embedded his ice skates in the hope of not falling over. The climax came when he led the ball and still managed to stay upright. At the end of their Ravel Bolero routine in Sarajevo, he looked even happier than Torvill and Dean.

But since the Brexit referendum, we have not been so horrified by the voting, Ashley Banjo, John Barrowman and Jayne Torvill, who gave Kev with 4.5, the bastards Christopher Dean with 5.0 only slightly more generous.

I feel like Im watching the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, said Barrowman, to whom the audience blessed them and replied, Boooooooo.

Kev just smiled like he always did. Dunphy wondered why he was born and vowed to do better.

The worst thing, however, was that the following appeared on our screens: VOTING IS NOT OPEN TO ROI VIEWERS.

Sometimes you rummage in the sock drawer for a nuclear missile.

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The Tour de Force of the Teddy Boys illuminates the Parisian connoisseur - themediatimes

Fresh air and sunlight are synonymous with good health and well-being, but for people who spend much of their time indoors, that fresh air may be out of reach during the winter months.

Physical issues may prevent the aged or infirm from going out of doors, so it's important that their indoor air is of good quality.

Keeping ductwork clean, vacuuming carpets to get rid of dust not to mention dusting helps to get rid of tiny contaminants in the home that can interfere with air quality.

But sometimes, professional help and the newest technologies are needed to bring indoor air quality up to snuff.

An ultraviolet light system called "Rejuvenate," used by the professionals at the Stanley Steemer franchise in Douglass Township, Montgomery County, can remove bacteria, spores, and allergens from the air, said Jeffrey Heisey, owner.

"This is fairly new, coming out about five years ago, and it can remove anything that would be an irritant for someone with allergies," Heisey said.

If the homeowner has centralized, conditioned air, the Stanley Steemer folks can install a Rejuvenate system.

The Rejuvenate system works so well, in fact, that Heisey said his company receives unsolicited testimonials from homeowners who say their health has improved since installing the system.

"We've had people come back to us to say 'no one in our house got sick this year' or someone will tell me 'when I wake up, I'm not congested,'" Heisey said. "They're getting results because when you start thinking about cold and flu season, remember that bacteria and viruses are not only smaller than dust, but many are airborne."

Heisey is the second-generation owner of the Gilbertsville business, which was started by his parents in 1978.

The Rejuvenate system requires an annual change of the ultra violet bulb to keep it functioning properly, Heisey said.

Stanley Steemer will schedule an annual visit to open up the system, change the bulb and do an overall inspection, Heisey said.

"What we do does purify the air," Heisey said.

Part of a system

A strong vacuum used by the company not only pulls dirt from carpets, but is part of a system that completely exhausts all the detritus from the home, he said.

"We are removing it, giving it a 100% cleaning," Heisey said. "We can remove a lot of pet dander, too, because we use HEPA filter vacuums."

HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate accumulator.

"The quality of the vacuum deciphers how much you're going to get out of the air," Heisey said.

Good quality indoor air can be adversely affected by the relatively new "tightness" of houses nowadays, Heisey said.

Better insulation is important. Nobody wants drafts blowing in and out of their home, but conversely, that same efficiency also keeps stale air in and fresh air out.

Sometimes, the best answer is also the easiest, Heisey said.

"We have an atmosphere we live in and that is affected by houses being tight," Heisey said. "One of the best ways to clean your air is to open up your windows on a really nice day.

"Lower pressure, barometric pressure, is outside, and is lower than house pressure, so house air will go out, and you're effectively 'burping' your house when you open all your windows and get fresh air," Heisey said.

At the Reading branch of the Merry Maids housecleaning and maintenance service in the 100 block of Love Road, high-powered HEPA vacuums are also the first line of defense used by staff to filter the air, said Tracy Visbisky, administrative assistant.

"The HEPA filtration of our vacuum cleaners does contribute to indoor air quality," Visbisky said. "They're powerful enough to attract a great many contaminants, which we'll remove from your home.

"Since the late '90s, most vacuum cleaners do come with a HEPA filtration, but it's important, if you're concerned about air quality, to use a vacuum with a thicker filter, instead of a standard filter," Visbisky said. "We use professional ProTeam vacuums, which are sold only to businesses, and we take the vacuum bag with us, so there's no chance of the contaminants being left behind."

Buy humidifier

One of the first changes to make when concerned about indoor air quality is to buy a good humidifier, said Craig Weisman, owner of Comfort Pro Inc. of Maidencreek Township.

"Your lungs like it to be moist, not dry, and that's especially important for someone who is home-bound," Weisman said. "More people are looking into buying whole-house humidifiers for their health."

Heating system duct work isn't needed for whole-house humidifiers, Weisman added.

Comfort Pro Inc. does heating, air conditioning, and plumbing, and also specializes in addressing indoor air quality. The Dries Road business also cleans and repairs air ducts.

"Homeowners can get rid of dust by using a HEPA vacuum," Weisman said.

Energy recovery ventilators, or ERVs, are a relatively new technology that can pull fresh air from outside and bring it inside, while pushing stale air outside, Weisman said.

Energy recovery ventilators temper outside air before bringing it into a home, and in winter, the ERV will preheat the ventilation air and recover moisture to bring inside; ridding the house of dust particles while increasing the humidity.

"The ERV will bring in outside air, which will get pre-filtered when it comes into the machine," Weisman said. "All three of those technologies work hand-in-hand, especially because houses now are a lot tighter than they were years ago."

Weisman is finding that more people are asking for the air-filtering devices because air exchange in their newer-construction homes is so minimal, he said.

"You need to get some fresh air in and you can do that by just running a bathroom fan," Weisman said. "It's even better if you put the fan on a timer."

While an ERV can be connected to duct work, a grill can be placed in a floor for homes that don't have the proper ductwork, and that will help to circulate the air throughout the home.

Free of dust

Heisey advises homeowners to keep that ductwork as free of dust as possible.

"Air quality is all about the duct work," Heisey said. "Make sure you can filter the air properly. A furnace filter should be changed every six months and the system itself should be maintained by a professional service. Heating systems need to be attended to."

In one year, 40 pounds of dust can collect in the ductwork of your home's heating system, Heisey said. Dust can accumulate in any air-handling system, in grill work and in vents in floors, too.

"Just regular vacuuming and dusting helps," Heisey said. "But the best thing you can do is to have a HEPA vacuum or a high-filter vacuum to catch mold spores and other kinds of contaminants."

Homeowners with radiators or baseboard heating don't have to worry about ductwork, Heisey said, but they'll still have dust collecting on mattresses, carpets, and furniture.

Heisey recommended that carpets be cleaned three times a year and mattresses not only flipped four times yearly, but be cleaned at least once a year.

"A good cleaning will help people with asthma and allergies," Heisey said. "Keeping it clean will greatly help indoor air quality."

Contact Marylouise Sholly: specialsections@readingeagle.com.

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'You need to get some fresh air' | Health - Reading Eagle

WASHINGTON Heres how area members of Congress voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Jan. 10:

House

Congressional control over war with Iran. The House on Jan. 9 voted, 224 for and 194 against, to require the administration to obtain advance congressional approval for military actions against Iran or its proxy forces except when there is an imminent threat to the United States, its armed forces or its territories. The measure (H Con Res 83) invoked the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which asserts the power of Congress to declare war under Article I of the Constitution. Under the Vietnam-era law, presidents must notify Congress within 48 hours when they send the U.S. military into combat, then withdraw the forces within a specified period unless Congress has declared war against the enemy or otherwise authorized the action. Democrats said the measure will have privileged status in the Senate and be eligible for passage by a majority vote there. But Republicans called it non-binding. The war-powers law has never been successfully used to end hostilities abroad. Last year, the House and Senate invoked it to end Americas military involvement in Yemens civil war, but were turned back when President Trump successfully vetoed the measure.

A yes vote was to send the measure to the Senate.

Voting yes: Abigail Spanberger, D-7th.

Voting no: Denver Riggleman, R-5th.

Regulation of PFAS chemicals. Voting 247 for and 159 against, the House on Jan. 10 passed a bill (HR 535) that would give the Environmental Protection Agency one year to designate a class of chemicals known as PFAS for coverage by the federal Superfund law, which requires abandoned toxic sites to be cleaned up and imposes retroactive legal liability on those responsible for the pollution. The designation would require cleanup actions near scores of military bases and manufacturing sites throughout the United States where PFAS compounds have leached into groundwater and drinking water. But they would join a long list of Superfund sites awaiting remediation. The bill also would require the EPA to set standards for PFA air emissions and levels in drinking water and test all PFAS compounds within five years, and it would bar new compounds from the marketplace. PFAS stands for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They are components of fire-fighting foam used at airports and military installations as well as nonstick cookware; personal-care products including floss and makeup; household items including paints and stains; water-repellent clothing and carpeting; and other everyday products. There are more about 7,800 PFA compounds, some of which the Food and Drug Administration has approved for use in food packaging and medical devices, others of which are linked to health conditions including kidney, liver, testicular and pancreatic cancers; infertility; weakened immune systems; and impaired childhood development.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Spanberger.

Voting no: Riggleman.

Protecting unborn children from PFAS. Voting 187 for and 219 against, the House on Jan 10 defeated a Republican-sponsored motion specifying that the unborn child be included in the vulnerable populations protected from PFAS in HR 535 (above) sections concerning the Safe Drinking Water Act.

A yes vote was to adopt the motion.

Voting yes: Riggleman.

Voting no: Spanberger.

Senate

Carranza for SBA administrator. Voting 86 for and 5 against, the Senate on Jan. 6 confirmed Jovita Carranza, the United States treasurer since June 2017, as administrator of the Small Business Administration, replacing Linda McMahon, who resigned in April. After a career of nearly three decades with UPS, Carranza served as deputy SBA administrator under President George W. Bush from 2006-2009. Carranza, 71, was raised in Chicago as the child of immigrants from Mexico.

A yes vote was to confirm Carranza.

Voting yes: Mark R. Warner (D), Tim Kaine (D).

Thomas Voting Reports Inc.

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Votes in Congress: How the area's delegation voted this past week - The Daily Progress

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A very naughty cat managed to cause her owners over 15,000 worth of damage to their house then was pictured clearly not giving a single sh*t about the wreckage she had created.

While Amber and Joe Fauser were sleeping, they assumed their one-year-old cat Eve was having a snooze in the laundry room.

But when Joe, 25, woke up for work as a security guard at 6am, he was greeted by pools of water flooding the entire downstairs of the house in Adelaide, South Australia.

When he rushed to check on Eve the cat, he found her sat on top of the washing machine, having turned the laundry tap on to full blast, causing a stream of water to fill the room.

Eve had left the tap on all night, causing eight hours worth of flooding that left Amber and Joe facing $30,000 AUD (15,700) in repairs.

The couple have now installed baby locks across their house to prevent Eve from causing any further havoc.

But as video and photos show, Eve doesnt appear to show any remorse for her actions. A classic cat.

Amber, a 22-year-old student, said: My husband and I went to bed at about 10pm and we had put Eve in the laundry room to sleep, as we have done for the past year.

Around 6am the next morning Joe woke up for work, he went out of our room to get his uniform and was greeted by water almost at our front door.

He quickly went to find the source of where it was coming from and found Eve on top of the washing machine with the laundry tap on full blast and the tap had been been pushed so that it was looking directly at the ground.

We knew it was Eve straight away because she is always causing havoc and playing with things because the Bengal in her makes her super curious.

We then had to call up Joes work and my uni to inform them we wouldnt be in today as we dealt with the aftermath of Eve.

After calling local tradesmen and their insurance company, the pair quickly found out just how much damage their little cat had done.

Amber said: We hired a flood emergency services team.

It took the whole day for them to dry the house as they had to suck up as much excess water as possible, rip up our floor boards and some of our carpet and placed 30 different dryers and humidifiers in the house which stayed there for seven days and made our electricity bill sky rocket.

But we had only moved into our new house three months prior, so we did whatever we had to to save it.

It cost $16,100 to dry the house out, $10,000 to replace all of our brand new carpeting and wooden flooring, $1,000 in electricity bills from having the dryers and humidifiers running all day for seven days.

The team who restored our house said it was between $30-$40k worth of damage.

To make sure this doesnt happen again we bought child safety locks and we arent letting Eve into the laundry room anymore.

We bought her an outdoor enclosure with access to the garage and only let them roam the house when someone is home and awake!

Do you have a cat thats naughtier than Eve? Get in touch to share their story by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

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Cat causes over 15,000 worth of damage in owners' house - Metro.co.uk

Tommy Joyce is no cinephile. The last movie he saw in a theater was the remake of True Grit nearly a decade ago. "I'd rather watch squirrels run in the woods" than sit through most of what appears on the big screen, he said.

But there's a film that opened Dec. 5 at the Regal Cinemas at Grand Central Mall that's attracting a lot of attention in his community. Dark Waters a legal thriller starring Mark Ruffalo, with a script inspired by a 2016 New York Times article tells the epic story of the DuPont corporation's failure to inform residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley of the considerable health risks of a perfluoroalkyl substance [PFAS] called perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, for its chain of eight carbons.

The chemical was used in DuPont's production of Teflon and other household products at its Washington Works facility just outside Parkersburg, along the Ohio River. C8 is found in nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, stain-resistant carpets, microwave popcorn bags, fast-food wrappers and hundreds of other products. According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades.

DuPont had been aware since at least the 1960s that C8 was toxic in animals and since the 1970s that there were high concentrations of it in the blood of its factory workers. DuPont scientists were aware in the early 1990s of links to cancerous tumors from C8 exposure. But company executives failed to inform the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] or the public.

Joyce graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1992, went off and earned three degrees and came home. He now serves as mayor of the city of Parkersburg population: 30,000.

Joyce said he's heard more about his community's long struggle with corporate environmental malfeasance in the past few weeks than in his previous two and a half years in office. He attributes this to the release of Dark Waters.

Even David-and-Goliath tales often have complicated backstories, and Joyce knows well that such is the case with Parkersburg and DuPont. "DuPont has been in the Ohio Valley for 70-plus years, and has been a tremendous employer," he said. "Without question, DuPont was the place to work in the Mid-Ohio Valley for a lot of years." Many of his classmates grew up in DuPont families.

Though Chemours, a spinoff company of DuPont, now operates the Washington Works plant, DuPont maintains a presence in the community. A DuPont spokesperson provided an overview of its financial and volunteer support initiatives and wrote that the company supports programs and organizations focused on revitalizing neighborhoods and enhancing quality of life; STEM-related initiatives in local schools; and "initiatives that help protect the environment through clean-up or restoration efforts and allow for DuPont Washington Works to show we are a leader in minimizing our environmental footprint within the community."

Parkersburg, said Doug Higgs, is the kind of town where everybody knows everybody. Higgs graduated from Parkersburg High a year after Joyce, and Joyce's mother, Barbara, taught him Sunday school.

"Everybody knows everybody's business," Higgs said, but nobody talked about C8. It was a matter of "not wanting to bite the hand that fed you."

Well-paying jobs, great benefits, Little League sponsorships, investments in the arts but at a cost. The hand that fed did clench.

Higgs, now an emergency room physician living in Richmond, Virginia, recalls returning from road trips with his family asleep in the back seat, awakened as they approached home by the familiar waft of chemicals.

Two of the Higgs' most immediate neighbors died in their early 50s of renal cell cancer. Higgs' father has ulcerative colitis, and his brother received treatment for polycystic kidney disease in high school.

"We all have stories of friends and family, neighbors, dying too young or being diagnosed with various medical problems," Higgs said.

He knows, of course, the distinction between correlation and causation. But the high incidence of a range of diseases has staggered this community. It's unfair, Higgs said, that a community should have to perpetually ask what exactly it has been exposed to, and where and when the consequences will end.

The Old 'Hey-Look-Over-Here'

DuPont's own documentation specified that C8 was not to be flushed into surface waters, but the company did so for decades. The chemical seeped into the water supplies of the communities of Lubeck and Little Hocking, immediately west of Parkersburg, and the city of Belpre, Ohio, just across the river; and three other water systems.

In 2004, DuPont paid $70 million in a class-action lawsuit and agreed to install filtration plants in the affected water districts. In 2005, it reached a $16.5 million settlement with the EPA for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act.

A collective decision was made to use the money won in the class-action suit to conduct an epidemiological study in which nearly 70,000 of the 80,000 plaintiffs stopped into one of six clinics set up throughout the community, provided their medical histories and offered their blood. They were each paid $400.

A science panel, comprised of public health scientists appointed by DuPont and lawyers representing the community, was convened to examine the immense database. In 2012, after seven years of study, the panel released a report documenting a probable link between C8 and six conditions: testicular cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, pregnancy-induced hypertension and high cholesterol.

In 2015, DuPont spun off its chemical division into a new company called Chemours, which now occupies the Washington Works facility on the Ohio. In 2017, DuPont and Chemours agreed to pay $671 million to settle some 3,500 pending lawsuits.

"You grew up with the fear of DuPont leaving town," said Ben Hawkins. Hawkins was student body president of the Parkersburg High class of 1993. He remembers DuPont's participation in his school's Partners in Education program and riding in parades on DuPont-sponsored floats.

Among Hawkins' classmates who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer was Mike Cox, a local dentist. Cox, Hawkins and Higgs were among a pack of guys who ran together in high school and stayed close after. Cox was a big Ozzy Osbourne fan, and after a grueling regimen of chemo, Hawkins helped arrange backstage passes to a concert, where Osbourne pulled Cox near and shared his own family's experience with cancer. Post-diagnosis, Cox had begun performing stand-up comedy routines that incorporated flute solos. He died Jan. 28, 2017, at the age of 41, a father of three.

Hawkins, who now lives in the Washington, D.C., area, views his Partners in Education experiences somewhat differently today: "It wasn't a partnership; it was a page from a public relations playbook. It was the old 'hey-look-over-here!' move to keep the Teflon dollars flowing into their bank account."

His classmate Beth Radmanesh has similar cynical recollections of DuPont's role in her childhood. Radmanesh grew up less than a mile from the Washington Works plant. Today, she has high cholesterol. Her dad suffers from discoid lupus, causing sores the size of 50-cent pieces on his forehead. Her brother has lupus and had colon cancer, and her sister-in-law has also been diagnosed with lupus.

But Radmanesh said her mom is a proponent of bringing another controversial industry to the valley: fracking for natural gas. "I said to her, 'We've already had our water contaminated once. Do you want your water [to be] flammable? Because that's what will happen.' " Her mom's response was, "'Oh, Beth.' That's it. 'Oh, Beth.' "

A 'Weird Mix'

Joe and Darlene Kiger live just a few miles from where Radmanesh grew up. Joe, a physical education teacher, is now quite well known in the community for having raised awareness of the dangers of C8 called "the devil's piss" by some in local water supplies. He and his wife, Darlene, joined the class-action suit that was settled in 2004.

Darlene said that when she and Joe are out around town, "there are a lot of whispers behind your back. They don't know what to say." The experience has taken a toll "these people all looking at you as bringing this on them," Joe said but they've never considered leaving. "Why would you leave the fight?" he said. "What would it look like if we packed up?"

There's a lot, Joe said, that DuPont hasn't yet been held accountable for. Earlier this year, Chemours was cited by the EPA for the unregulated release of new chemical compounds from its West Virginia and North Carolina facilities. "I'm not done yet," Joe said.

Harry Deitzler served as a lead attorney, among others, in representing the Kigers and tens of thousands of others in the class-action suit. Deitzler was the architect of the decision to use the $70 million to conduct the study.

"Parkersburg adopted me in 1975," Deitzler said of his arrival in town. He'd come for a summer internship in the prosecuting attorney's office. The position didn't pay enough to cover his room and board, so he took a job in a bar called Friar Tuck's.

"By the end of the summer, the community was my family," Deitzler said. "I asked the prosecutor if he'd hire me as an assistant the next year, and he said, 'Sure; you'll get $6,000 a year.' And I said, 'That'll be great.'"

"Most people thought I was a recovering alcoholic because I never drank a beer, because I couldn't afford to buy one." Three years later, at 27, he was appointed as prosecuting attorney. "Such a wonderful, accepting community."

But, some three decades later, there was a price to pay for taking on DuPont.

"There was a misperception that we were trying to put DuPont out of business, and, of course, that was created intentionally by the people in Wilmington," Deitzler said, referring to DuPont's Delaware headquarters. "When you have a community of that size, and you've got several thousand people employed there, and multiply that by the families and their relatives it's very upsetting." Some folks were unsure of what to make of Deitzler.

Longtime resident Nancy Roettger characterizes the community's reaction to the revelation of what DuPont had done as a "weird mix."

"There were women that immediately went out and changed their frying pans," Roettger said. But a lot of those same people decided "that Harry Deitzler is a horrible person" for his role in exposing DuPont.

"It's like, they don't want that frying pan anymore," she said, "but they don't want anything negative, and they're very resentful of the people that stirred up the trouble."

Less Than Idyllic In Retrospect

Candace Jones, a neighbor and longtime friend of Roettger's, said she hates the perception that the community has been divided between the DuPonters and everyone else.

"We're a community and we all need each other," Jones said. "I think it's terrible, absolutely horrendous what happened because of decisions made for monetary gain. But I don't believe we can blame the everyday worker." Her father-in-law worked in the Teflon division. "He just went to work every day; he provided for [his family]."

Jones' friend Janet Ray's husband passed away 16 years ago from pancreatic cancer. He worked for BorgWarner, a manufacturing company on the river. There are about a dozen houses along Ray's street in Vienna, a Parkersburg suburb, "and I think just about every house during the time I've lived on the street has been affected by cancer."

Ray said she sometimes feels guilty, thinking that perhaps the livelihood her family has enjoyed as a result of her husband's employment might have caused health problems for others. "I certainly hope it didn't."

Tracy Danzey was raised in the quiet of Vienna, there with the Rays, the Joneses, the Higgs family. She now lives on the other side of the state, in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Danzey was a competitive swimmer growing up. When not competing, "we were on the river we were playing in the creeks. I was always in the water."

"It's hard to look back at that time now and see it as idyllic," Danzey said.

At age 20, her thyroid began malfunctioning. Five years later, the socket of her hip shattered while running with her husband. She was diagnosed with an atypical form of bone cancer in her right hip. Her hip and leg had to be amputated; she underwent 18 months of high-dose chemotherapy.

Six leading pathologists from across the country were unable to identify the specific type of cancer. "They said it's very pathologically unusual." Research has indicated to Danzey, who's a nurse, that pathologically unusual cancers are not uncommonly associated with industrial poisonings.

Danzey's stepfather is retired from DuPont and her stepbrother works on the Teflon line. "Yes, it is complicated," her mother, Carolyn Tracewell, said. When her kids were growing up, when someone was hired at DuPont, "therewas a celebration" the good pay, the benefits, "and they did treat their employees well."

But "my heart hurts," Tracewell said, to think that her daughter's illnesses might be a consequence of all that.

Danzey said her mom "mostly just feels pain for me," worries about her stepson and is anxious about the future. Her stepfather wonders if one day his pension check will no longer arrive as a result of all the financial fallout.

None of them argue with Tracy about the source of her illnesses. "They know what happened." They allow her "to sit in this truth regardless of how it affects them." That means a lot.

Danzey is among those who believe that in regard to perceptions of DuPont in the Parkersburg community, there's a generational divide: Those in their 40s and younger tend to hold a less charitable view than baby boomers and their parents.

There likewise appears to be a generational divide in willingness to drink the water, despite the filtration installed as a result of the settlement.

On the September Saturday afternoon of the annual Parkersburg Paddlefest, kayaker Travis Hewitt, 31, stood ashore of the point where the Ohio meets the Little Kanawha and said that few people he knows truly believe the water's safe. Sure, he paddles in it, but "I try not to get it on me" and never swims in it. He has a filter installed in his kitchen.

Home

Tommy Joyce, the mayor of Parkersburg, is bullish on West Virginia: "We've got enough coal to light the world, gas to heat the world and brains to run the world."

Fellow Parkersburg High grad Brian Flinn, an engineer, worked for DuPont for eight and a half years; he worked with the raw materials of Teflon. He's seen both sides. He's heard, "If DuPont leaves, we're done. This area will be like most other towns in West Virginia; it'll collapse." He's also aware of the inherent dangers in living within the shadow of the chemical industry. So the sentiment goes, he said, "You take the good with the bad, right?"

But Danzey is unwilling. "I love West Virginia," she said. "I really do. I love this state. I don't want to be anywhere else." But she wants better for West Virginians. Industries come into their communities, do well for a while, "screw up the environment and then leave."

"It's time for something new in West Virginia," she said. "It's time for us to expect more."

Pondering that future keeps Ben Hawkins up at night. "What's next? What's next for the community, and where does this end? Or does it? What sort of positivity can come to that community? They need it and they deserve it."

Hawkins asks this: Think about how loyal the people of the Parkersburg community have been to DuPont. What if they had the opportunity to extend that same loyalty to a company that's equally invested in the economic, physical and emotional health of the community?

"That's home and always will be home," Hawkins said of Parkersburg. "We came from that community and that community did a lot to shape us. We all want the best for that community whatever form that can take."

Taylor Sisk, a Nashville-based healthcare reporter, authored this story for 100 Days in Appalachia. He can be reached at wtsisk1@gmail.com.

Good River: Stories of the Ohio is a series about the environment, economy and culture of the Ohio River watershed, produced by seven nonprofit newsrooms. To see more, please visit ohiowatershed.org

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DuPont, C8 Contamination And The Community Left To Grapple With The Consequences - WVXU

With his long leathery neck, dull-yellow face and beady eyes, theres just something about Diego.

A tortoise more than 100 years old, Diego has had little trouble mating.

A member of Chelonoidis hoodensis, or the giant tortoise species from Espaola Island in the Galpagos in Ecuador, he was one of 15 tortoises in a captive breeding program at the Fausto Llerena Tortoise Center on the island of Santa Cruz.

Among the males, Diego displayed an exceptional sex drive, so much so, hes credited with helping save his species from extinction.

Now, with the future secured, he gets to retire.

In a statement on Friday, the Galpagos National Park announced the end of the breeding program, saying an evaluation showed it had met its conservation goals.

The program began in 1965, with efforts first dedicated to saving the tortoise population on Pinzn Island, another island in the Galpagos. In 1970, researchers began saving the Espaola Island tortoises.

At the time, there were 14 tortoises left: 12 females and two males, according to the Galpagos Conservancy. In 1976, a third male was introduced to the tortoise restoration breeding program, Diego, who had lived at the San Diego Zoo in the United States for 30 years.

The breeding program helped increase the tortoise population to 2,000 from 15, Jorge Carrin, the director of the Galpagos National Park, said in a statement.

Paternity tests indicate that Diego is responsible for about 40 percent of the offspring produced, James P. Gibbs, a professor of environmental and forest biology at the State University of New York in Syracuse, said.

Another more reserved, less charismatic male E5 has generated about 60 percent, he said. The third male E3 virtually none. So Diego has been critical.

What was it about Diego? Why did he attract so many mates and garner such international attention, especially if another male was more productive?

Professor Gibbs says Diego has a big personality quite aggressive, active and vocal in his mating habits and so I think he has gotten most of the attention.

But it clearly is the other quieter male that has had much more success, he added. Maybe he prefers to mate more at night.

Professor Gibbs said it was all about who the females select.

It might come as a surprise to many but tortoises do form what we would call relationships, he said. The social hierarchies and relationships of giant tortoises are very poorly known.

Mr. Carrin, the director of the national park, had a simpler explanation: Without a doubt, Diego had some characteristics that made him special.

Professor Gibbs said the giant tortoises became endangered because easy access to the island allowed whalers, pirates, fishermen and others to remove them for food primarily in the 1800s.

Feral goats overran the island for many years and not only competed with tortoises for food, but also destroyed much of their habitat, he added.

In an interview on Saturday night, Mr. Carrin said he believed Diego was taken from his home island of Espaola sometime in the 1930s.

Conservationists also worked on the ecological restoration of Espaola Island, including promoting the growth of cactuses, which are a source of food for the tortoises. That, in turn, helped bring the species from the brink of extinction, Mr. Carrin said.

The tortoises uniquely shaped shells allow them stretch to reach food. Diego, fully stretched out, extends about five feet. He weighs about 176 pounds.

The breeding program is a part of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort led by the Galpagos Conservancy and the Galpagos National Park Directorate.

The tortoise center on Santa Cruz was established by the Charles Darwin Research Station in 1965, the Galpagos Conservancy said on its website. There are now three tortoise centers, which are all managed by the Park Directorate.

Relying on available data since 1960 about the island and its tortoise population, including a 2019 census, researchers developed mathematical models with projections for the next 100 years.

The conclusion was that the island has sufficient conditions to maintain the tortoise population, which will continue to grow normally even without any new repatriation of juveniles, Washington Tapia, the Galpagos-based director of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative, said in a statement.

Almost 80 years after he was taken, Diego is expected to return to Espaola Island in March.

The island is very dry, arid even, Mr. Carrin said, but to Diego, its home.

Johnny Diaz contributed reporting.

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Diego, the Tortoise Whose High Sex Drive Helped Save His Species, Retires - The New York Times

There are seven homes comprising San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies row, and one of them is for sale for $2.75 million.

The home at 714 Steiner Street has all of the elements of that quintessential San Francisco charm: the pointed roofs, the crown molding, the ornate detailing, the opulent colors. But the century-old house is also badly in need of a complete interior renovation.

The home's listing agent, Jeremy Rushton with Coldwell Banker, told Business Insider that the property is a "fixer-upper."

Photos show peeling paint, dusty windows, grimy walls, and discolored tile flooring. The famous abode will likely need to have updates to its plumbing and electrical systems and full remodeling of its kitchen and bathrooms, Rushton said. The ownership history of the home is complicated, according to Rushton, and this is the first time it's landed on the market in decades.

The row of Painted Ladies along Alamo Square Park has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. Their namesake originated in a 1978 book about the city's signature architecture, and the site was popularized in part by its appearance in the sitcom "Full House."

Painted Ladies homes on the market are a bit of a rarity only two were listed in the past ten years, Rushton said. In a city with a housing crunch, and with its status as an unofficial San Francisco landmark, it will likely find a buyer despite its needed renovations, even if it's used as a second home, a trend among some deep-pocketed San Francisco homebuyers.

Take a look inside one of the famous, brightly-colored Painted Ladies homes.

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Inside one of San Francisco's iconic Painted Ladies homes that's a 'fixer-upper' and on sale for $2.75 million - Business Insider

BEAUMONT, Texas We're keeping up with power outages around Southeast Texas and as we receive updated information we'll let you know.

10:00 a.m.:Around 7,000 Entergy Texas customers are without power, down from more than 19,000 around 6:00 a.m. this morning. The hardest-hit areas are Grimes, Walker, Montgomery and Hardin Counties, Entergy said in a news release.

Crews are assessing damage and restoring power as quickly as is safely possible. Entergy has brought in additional crews to assist in restoration work.

2:30 a.m.: As the leading edge of the storm passed over Beaumont, more than 3,300 Entergy customers were without power in Southeast Texas according to Entergy's online outage site.

More than 1,600 were in the dark in Liberty County the site said.

Some 12News viewers reported on Facebook that Buna was without power.

At one point almost 900 Entergy customers in Vidor were without power but now appeared to have their service restored.

Heres a tally of Entergy customers without power as of 3:10 a.m.

1 a.m.: The nearly 3,000 Entergy customers in Lumberton who lost power around 11:30 p.m. already have their power restored according to Entergy's online outage site.

A handful of other customers in Southeast Texas are without power including 233 in Hardin County and 191 in Liberty County.

12:15 a.m.: Nearly 3,000 customers were without power in the Lumberton area according to Entergy's online outage site.

Restoration times are estimates only according to the Entergy website.

"Indication that power is restored to your area does not guarantee your house/business has power. We cannot restore power to structures with damaged electrical equipment," according to Entergy.

Entergy has an online outage map where you can view outages in their service area.

MORE |Entergy Outage Map

Heres where to report power outages in Southeast Texas.

Entergy (800) 968-8243

Jasper Newton Electric Cooperative 800-231-9340

Sam Houston Electric Cooperative 800-444-1207

Heres some tips from Entergy.com on being safe after a storm.

After a storm has passed, naturally thoughts center on getting back in, fixing the damage and getting back to normal as quickly as possible. But beware: the time after the storm can be more dangerous than the storm itself. Your safety and the safety of our employees and contractors is a core value.

RELATED: Here's how to get severe weather alerts via the 12NewsNow App

RELATED: Get prepared before the storm: here's what you need to know

Entergy employees will work only when and where conditions are safe and secure to do so. Likewise, you should consider returning home only when you know it is safe.

Don't become careless after a storm and let your safety guard down. Just because you cant see any apparent danger doesnt mean there isnt any. For example, downed power lines may still be energized. Treat them with respect to avoid being electrocuted.

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Power outages across Southeast Texas after severe weather, crews working to restore power - 12newsnow.com KBMT-KJAC

SHREVEPORT, La. - SWEPCO employees and contract crews have restored power to more than half of its customers in the ArkLaTex who lost power after overnight storms broke utility poles, downed wires and felled trees.

RELATED ARTICLE -At least 3 dead as powerful storms push through ArkLaTex

At the peak, about 29,300 customers were without power.

As of 3 p.m. Saturday, approximately 12,500 customers remained without power. A SWEPCO spokeswoman said he company is working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to about 9,800 customers in Louisiana and 2,700 customers in Texas. Power is expected to be restored to all Arkansas customers by 4 p.m. today.

No matter how harmless a wire looks, never touch it, or go near it. It could be energized, said Tony Rash, SWEPCOs safety & health manager. Stay away and keep others away, especially children and pets.

Power is expected to be restored to 95 percent of customers who can receive power by:

Louisiana

Texas

Customers can receive an email or text message with the latest info for their home or business by signing up for alerts at SWEPCO.com/Alerts.

Nearly 400 additional line and tree personnel are helping SWEPCO employees restore power, including line mechanics from SWEPCOs sister utility Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO).

Extensive damage has been reported in Benton and Haughton, Louisiana, and Kilgore and Longview, Texas.

OUTAGE INFO:

SWEPCO Mobile App Report outages, check outage status and more. Download at the App Store or Google Play. See SWEPCO.com/App.

SWEPCO Alerts Get an email or text message with the latest info for your home or business. See SWEPCO.com/Alerts.

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SWEPCO restores power to thousands, restoration for others underway - KTBS

Blu-rayByTom Stockman|January 9, 2020

Ann? Mommy says youre not dead. Is that true?

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY, the outrageous 1981 Italian shocker from The Godfather of Gore, Lucio Fulci, will be available on a 3-Disc Limited Edition / 4K Restorationcoming January 21st from Blue Underground. Pre-order information can be found HERE

NEW!Audio Commentary withTroy Howarth, Author ofSplintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films

Deleted SceneTheatrical TrailersTV SpotPoster & Still Galleries

Disc 2 (Blu-ray) Extras:

Meet the Boyles Interviews with StarsCatriona MacCollandPaolo Malco

Children of the Night Interviews with StarsGiovanni FrezzaandSilvia Collatina

Tales of Laura Gittleson Interview with StarDagmar Lassander

My Time With Terror Interview with StarCarlo De Mejo

A HauntedHouseStory Interviews with Co-WritersDardano SacchettiandElisa Briganti

To Build a Better Death Trap Interviews with CinematographerSergio Salvati, Special Make-Up Effects ArtistMaurizio Trani, Special Effects ArtistGino De Rossi, and ActorGiovanni De Nava

NEW!HouseQuake Interview with Co-WriterGiorgio Mariuzzo

NEW!Catriona MacColl Q&

ANEW!Calling Dr. Freudstein Interview withStephen Thrower, Author ofBeyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulc

iDisc 3 (CD):

THEHOUSEBY THECEMETERYOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack byWalter Rizzati

BONUS! Collectable Booklet with new essay byMichael Gingold

Reviews:

A truly frightening horror film Any fan of Italian horror should see it!Bloody Disgusting

Horror exploitation at its best Plenty of blood, gore, impalements, decapitations, and maggots!Classic-Horror

Nasty, lurid and surprisingly scary Arguably Fulcis strongest movie!Total Sci-Fi Online

The claustrophobic mixture of chills and supernatural poetry would do Mario Bava proud!Mondo Digital

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3-Disc Limited Edition / 4K Restoration of Lucio Fulci's THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY Coming January 21st From Blue Underground - We Are Movie Geeks