January 26, 2016


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mystery-shrouds-discovery-at-drug-lords-former-mansion/

Mystery surrounds discovery at drug lord's former mansion
CBS NEWS
January 26, 2016

Photograph -- Safe found by demolition worker on January 25, 2016 on site of former mansion of late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar CBS MIAMI


MIAMI -- A second safe has been found on the Miami Beach property where the mansion of the late notorious Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar once stood, reports CBS Miami. The big question is -- what's inside?

The mansion is believed to have been used as a stash house for cash.

While he was using an excavator, construction worker Miguel Mato found the safe hidden in the concrete foundation, in the last wall to be knocked down.

The combination-locked safe is two feet by two feet and weighs hundreds of pounds.

"I pulled the wall down, and when the wall fell, it's actually like a hollow floor. And when the wall fell on the floor, it kind of broke into it and then I saw it. I saw the safe," Mato told the station.

He said it was hidden -- not visible from underneath or ground level.

At first, the property owner, Christian de Berdouare didn't believe Mato.

"I told the owner, 'Look there's a safe,"' said Mato. "And he thought I was messing with him, and I said, 'No there's a safe for real."'

The pink waterfront mansion in Miami Beach was demolished last week.

At the time, Berdouare, who founded Chicken Kitchen, and his wife, Jennifer Valoppi, said a floor safe, which was seen by men they hired to do some work on the property, had vanished.

This time, they're not taking any chances. They had the latest safe strapped to a flatbed truck and towed to a secure location, where they intend to have it cracked open Tuesday.

They're legally entitled to all its contents, CBS Miami says.

Escobar, nicknamed "El Patrón" -- The Boss -- bought the property in March 1980 for $762,500, according to Miami-Dade County public records. The name Pablo Escobar is listed in a document transferring ownership of the property.

Escobar's cocaine cartel fueled murderous drug wars in South Florida that left the streets littered with competing, dead dealers.

The U.S. government seized the property in 1987 and in 1990, it was acquired by a private owner. The mansion had four bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool and garage. It sat vacant for years after it was heavily damaged by a fire.

While it's unclear whether Escobar ever spent any time in Miami Beach, his men likely used the property as a hideout and landing point for tons of cocaine.

Holes punched in the walls indicate that someone may have been searching for valuable objects left behind by the drug traffickers, according to the men hired by the couple to go through the home to look for traces from Escobar's days.

While indicted numerous times, Escobar was never extradited from Colombia. In 1993, he was hunted down in a jungle and killed by the Colombian army.



“At the time, Berdouare, who founded Chicken Kitchen, and his wife, Jennifer Valoppi, said a floor safe, which was seen by men they hired to do some work on the property, had vanished. This time, they're not taking any chances. They had the latest safe strapped to a flatbed truck and towed to a secure location, where they intend to have it cracked open Tuesday. They're legally entitled to all its contents, CBS Miami says."


So what we have here is an intriguing news story. A dangerous man stashed his treasure inside the walls of the house. When he died, it was sold to some ordinary citizens who didn't realized what gold, etc., was hidden in the walls. Finally, considering the house to be too decrepit to use anymore, a new owner began demolishing it to make way for a more modern structure. Imagine the joy of the wreckers when they found a safe in the floor. Sometime in that time period, "treasure hunters" stole the first safe, which the owner of the building had failed to secure. The next week another safe was found and this time they carefully put in on a truck and hauled it away to a central location for examination. The lucky owners are delighted, I gather, and are automatically the legal owners of whatever valuables are found in it. Good story, and true besides!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/active-shooter-reported-at-naval-medical-center-in-california/

Possible active shooter reported at Navy hospital in Calif.
CBS/AP
January 26, 2016

Photograph -- navyresponse2016-01-26t175218z1981733653tb3ec1q1dmvonrtrmadp3usa-california-shooter.jpg, Navy personnel converge on an area near a parking garage adjacent to Building 26 at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California, January 26, 2016. REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE


SAN DIEGO -- Military authorities responded Tuesday to a report of gunshots at a building on the campus Naval Medical Center San Diego.

The hospital posted on its Facebook page: "An active shooter has just been reported in building #26 at Naval Medical Center San Diego. All occupants are advised to run, hide or fight."

Spokesman Mike Alvarez said, however, that "I cannot confirm an active shooter."

The sounds were heard around 8 a.m. in Building 26, which houses offices and barracks for wounded sailors and Marines as well as a gym, said spokesman Mike Alvarez.

Fire trucks and ambulances could be scene arriving on the scene, CBS affiliate KFMB reported.

All non-emergency personnel were asked to stay away from the area.

He said at least three gunshots were reported heard.

"We're not taking any chances and are executing procedures we've been trained for in this kind of situation," Alvarez said.

KFMB reports that Roosevelt Middle, San Diego High School and Garfield High School were temporarily on lockdown as a precaution, but students and staff are reported to be safe, officials said.

San Diego police Officer Travis Easter said police received a notification call from military police at 8:03 a.m. of shots fired but assistance was not requested.

Traffic backed up around the facility during the morning rush hour.

The 272-bed, multispecialty hospital and ambulatory complex is located on about 78 acres in the southeast corner of Balboa Park, about 2.5 miles from downtown, according to its website. Center staff is comprised of more than 6,500 military, civilian, contractor and volunteer personnel.

NMCSD personnel deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Djibouti and aboard the USNS Mercy, the website said. The facility is affiliated with 19 civilian nursing schools, training more than 400 students per year in clinical rotations.



“He said at least three gunshots were reported heard. "We're not taking any chances and are executing procedures we've been trained for in this kind of situation," Alvarez said. KFMB reports that Roosevelt Middle, San Diego High School and Garfield High School were temporarily on lockdown as a precaution, but students and staff are reported to be safe, officials said. San Diego police Officer Travis Easter said police received a notification call from military police at 8:03 a.m. of shots fired but assistance was not requested.”


This is potentially a national security situation, but may also be a deranged patient who doesn’t like his food. I hope that by tonight I will know more. If I do I’ll clip it below.

GOOD NEWS -- FALSE ALARM. NO BAD GUYS ON THE PROPERTY. SEE FOLLOWUP BELOW.



http://news.yahoo.com/sound-gunshots-reported-san-diego-165449888.html

Navy finds no sign of shooting at center; lockdown lifted
Associated Press
By JULIE WATSON and ELLIOT SPAGAT
January 26, 2016, 37 minutes ago


SAN DIEGO (AP) — Authorities found no gunman or signs of a shooting on Tuesday after receiving a report from a Department of Defense employee that shots had been heard at one of the nation's largest Naval medical facilities.

The report of a shooting grabbed attention across the country and led to the lockdown of Naval Medical Center San Diego in Balboa Park, near the San Diego Zoo, and three nearby schools.

Authorities lifted the lockdown on the facility Tuesday afternoon.

Fears were heightened when the medical center posted on its Facebook page that, "An active shooter has just been reported in building #26 at Naval Medical Center San Diego. All occupants are advised to run, hide or fight."

The unidentified Department of Defense employee reported hearing three gunshots just before 8 a.m. on the sprawling 78-acre campus, where Building 26 houses administrative offices, a gymnasium and dormitories for combat-wounded veterans in long-term care. As many as 800 people work in the building.

All non-emergency personnel were asked to stay away from the area and traffic backed up around the facility during the morning rush hour.

.. View gallery
A San Diego Police SWAT vehicle arrives outside of …
A San Diego Police SWAT vehicle arrives outside of the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Tuesday, Jan. …

Military personnel searched the structure for about two hours before saying there were no initial signs of a shooting.

The base remained on lockdown hours later as military police went room to room and led personnel out of the building.

"As of right now, we have found absolutely nothing that indicates there were any shots fired," said Capt. Curt Jones, commanding officer of Naval Base San Diego.

Jones said the employee made the report in person. There was construction going on nearby, but Jones said he did not know if that noise was mistaken for the sound of gunshots.

"We want people, if they see something or hear something, we want them to tell us," Jones said.

.. View gallery
Evacuated people from the Naval Medical Center San …
Evacuated people from the Naval Medical Center San Diego wait and listen at the west entrance to the …

The Navy also acted correctly in locking down the facility and warning people of a possible shooter, he said. At least seven law enforcement agencies — including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and police departments — assisted, he added.

"Obviously there's been numerous events throughout the country and truly around the world, so we take this all very, very seriously," he said.

After the initial search, TV images showed uniformed Navy personnel walking outside the medical facility with their hands in the air as base police patted them down as a precaution.

More than 6,500 military, civilian, contractor and volunteer personnel work at the 272-bed, multispecialty hospital and ambulatory complex.

Sharie Jarsulic, a teacher at the base child care center, waited in her car outside the main gate after being denied entry. Her work day begins after employees drop off about 200 children.

.. View gallery
Police block an entrance near the Naval Medical Center …
Police block an entrance near the Naval Medical Center San Diego, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in San Die …

The response was justified, she said, pointing out that the hospital treats mentally ill people and military members traumatized by war.

"They acted the right way," she said while waiting for the gate to reopen. "It could be someone inside or in the barrack, and they could have just went off."

A number of shootings and threats have left military and civilian officials grappling with finding the difficult balance of not overreacting and causing unnecessary upheaval in people's lives versus not being too lax in responding.

Naval personnel worldwide have been doing routine training sessions on how to respond to such incidents ever since a lone gunman fatally shot 12 people and injured three others at the Washington Navy Yard in 2013.

Another drill is scheduled for Navy personnel in San Diego in coming weeks.




http://news.yahoo.com/the-mothers-of-flint---very--very-frightened--for-their-kids-141315151.html#

The mothers of Flint: ‘Very, very frightened’ for their kids
Liz Goodwin
Yahoo News
January 25, 2016

SLIDESHOW – Water crisis in Flint, Michigan >>>


FLINT, Mich — Jennifer Mason was running a bath for her toddler son, Oliver, when her eyes began to sting. The tub smelled like an over-chlorinated swimming pool.

It was just a couple of days after the city of Flint switched from importing its water from Detroit to using the nearby Flint River for its water source to save money in April of 2014. “We could immediately tell the water quality was different,” Mason, a high school English teacher, said. Some days the tap water smelled earthy, like a lake. The next day it would give off a burning chemical odor. Another time it reeked of rotten eggs.

Local and state officials kept insisting the water was safe, ignoring complaints from residents that it smelled and tasted bad and in some cases looked red or brown. Despite these official assurances, Mason and her husband, Tim, bought filters for the bathtub, shower and kitchen tap. They began drinking only bottled or filtered water, and made sure their kids, 2-year-old Penelope and 4-year-old Oliver, never tasted a drop of the Flint River.

Their caution turned out to be prescient. The water was rapidly corroding the city’s pipes, and last summer, independent researchers found that lead and iron had leached from the pipes into the water and had begun showing up at elevated levels in local children’s blood. Though state officials, including Gov. Rick Snyder’s chief of staff, were aware of the lead problems last summer, they were slow to respond, allowing thousands of children to be exposed to more lead for months before declaring a state of emergency Jan. 5.

Filters and bottled water are now being provided to every Flint resident, with the help of the National Guard. But these measures don’t soothe the worried minds of Flint mothers like Mason, who are still concerned about how much lead their children were exposed to before the state admitted the water was dangerous. Lead is most harmful to children under 5 years old and can cause irreversible brain damage in high enough doses.

“I worry about what the water quality was before — was it always safe?” Mason said. “Now I second-guess a lot of my decisions that I made as a parent. I worry about my kids — and when I was pregnant, was I ingesting water that was safe for my babies?”

Jenay Young, a 28-year-old nursing assistant, said she constantly worries her two children could be exposed. Simple family routines like brushing teeth and taking baths have become complicated and expensive as she works to avoid lead exposure for her 1-year-old daughter, Zayda, and 9-year-old son, Darius.

“I am very, very frightened for my kids,” Young, who was born and raised in Flint, said. “Every day I make sure to tell my son when he goes to school, ‘Do not drink the water.’ I always provide him with a bottle of water per day and I tell him, ‘Whenever you need to take a drink of water you just take a drink out of that bottle.’”

Young heats up 10 bottles of water on her stove to give her infant daughter Zayda a bath every other day. (Her bathtub and shower tap are older models than Mason’s and filters do not fit on them.) When Darius takes a shower in the tap water, she instructs him not to breathe in and only gives him five minutes before shooing him out. “That’s what we do to get baths around here,” Young said wearily. The state says it’s safe to bathe children in Flint water, but some medical experts disagree, warning that small children could swallow the water. (There is virtually no risk of lead entering the blood stream through the skin.) But Flint residents have long stopped listening to the state’s assurances of safety.

Making matters even more dire are Flint’s above-average water bills, which both mothers struggle to pay each month. Mason’s is usually around $130, while Young’s bill was more than $220 in December. They’ve paid thousands of dollars over the past year and a half for water they can’t even use, not counting the hundreds of dollars extra to buy bottled water. Mason, meanwhile, wonders whether the corrosive water may be destroying her appliances, and dreads the prospect of that expense. “Even General Motors can’t use the water in their plant,” Mason said, referring to the local plant’s October decision to stop using Flint water because it was corroding car parts. “What’s that doing to my home?”

“The only thing I really do with the water now is wash clothes and flush the toilet,” Young said.

Both Young and Mason have tested their kids for elevated lead levels and found normal levels so far. But lead only stays in the bloodstream for about 40 days, so it’s impossible to know whether a child has been affected earlier.

“I take them to the doctor every few months to try to keep track of their blood levels,” Young said “So far we’re doing good, but it’s going to take a long time to actually see the effects of that.”

“Thankfully my kids have been tested and they’re fine, but it’s unacceptable,” Mason said.

Mason, who moved to Flint 10 years ago for a teaching job and fell in love with its museums and music and bike paths, now worries that she’s settled into a city that could begin to decline and die from this infrastructural tragedy.

“It’s been disheartening because we’ve really laid down roots here, and now we’re worried that we made the wrong choice but that we’ll be stuck,” Mason said. “Because how are you going to sell a house if everyone knows that the water’s poison?”

Some have left. Young’s sister moved to California three months ago over concerns that her asthmatic son was getting sicker because of exposure to the water. Young has thrown herself into protesting, determined to make the city a better place instead of being forced to leave.

Both mothers struggle to explain to their kids why they can’t drink water from the tap.

“I explain to the kids, I tell them the issue that’s going on with the water,” Young said. Little Zayda doesn’t understand, but, “My son, he understands, he goes to every protest with me. I want him to know the exact issue he’s going through and when he [gets] older he’ll be able to explain and tell about this situation — about how he was living for so long without the use of water.”

Mason said she has so far not told her kids because she thinks they’re too young to understand.

“We have first-world problems about worrying where we’re going to get silly things for our kids, not about whether I can get them water that they can drink,” she said. “I feel very fortunate that I’ve had a life up to this point where I haven’t had to worry about this.”



“Jennifer Mason was running a bath for her toddler son, Oliver, when her eyes began to sting. The tub smelled like an over-chlorinated swimming pool. It was just a couple of days after the city of Flint switched from importing its water from Detroit to using the nearby Flint River for its water source to save money in April of 2014. “We could immediately tell the water quality was different,” Mason, a high school English teacher, said. Some days the tap water smelled earthy, like a lake. The next day it would give off a burning chemical odor. Another time it reeked of rotten eggs. …. Filters and bottled water are now being provided to every Flint resident, with the help of the National Guard. But these measures don’t soothe the worried minds of Flint mothers like Mason, who are still concerned about how much lead their children were exposed to before the state admitted the water was dangerous. …. The state says it’s safe to bathe children in Flint water, but some medical experts disagree, warning that small children could swallow the water. (There is virtually no risk of lead entering the blood stream through the skin.) But Flint residents have long stopped listening to the state’s assurances of safety. …. Some have left. Young’s sister moved to California three months ago over concerns that her asthmatic son was getting sicker because of exposure to the water. Young has thrown herself into protesting, determined to make the city a better place instead of being forced to leave.”


“I explain to the kids, I tell them the issue that’s going on with the water,” Young said. Little Zayda doesn’t understand, but, “My son, he understands, he goes to every protest with me. I want him to know the exact issue he’s going through and when he [gets] older he’ll be able to explain and tell about this situation — about how he was living for so long without the use of water.” I’m happy to see that Young’s son is learning firsthand the process of participatory democracy. Some think that good, patriotic people would never protest in the streets, but since I was a little child, groups from labor unions to churches have “walked” for this reason or that, and safe drinking water is certainly a good cause. As for the fairness of such “pressure,” I think the big boys of the world are well able to cope without being forced out of business. The simple truth is that all too often they will not make changes that help society without pressure. That is not merely their greed, but their creed. “Get more money” is their sign of corporate virtue. It’s an ongoing battle and always will be, unless the US Government stops the unconscionable overreaches by making their union busting illegal and city abuses of the populace a crime. If the city of Flint is to be fined, they should be fined heavily rather than a few thousand dollars; and the officials who decided that it was prudent to ignore the need for corrosion stopping phosphates in the water to save a couple of bucks should spend time in prison.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/potentially-pivotal-suit-pits-smokers-vs-big-tobacco/

Potentially pivotal suit pits smokers vs. Big Tobacco
AP January 25, 2016


BOSTON -- A decade after a group of American smokers sued Philip Morris USA to try to force the cigarette maker to pay for lung cancer screenings, the case will finally be heard by a jury.

Smokers from Massachusetts allege in the class-action lawsuit that Philip Morris manufactured a defective cigarette knowing it could have made a safer product with fewer carcinogens.

They are not seeking money, but instead want to compel Philip Morris to pay for highly detailed, three-dimensional chest scans that can detect signs of early-stage lung cancer that may be too small to show up on traditional X-rays.

The closely watched case heads to trial this week in federal court in Boston.

The jury will be asked to decide whether Philip Morris made Marlboro cigarettes that are unreasonably dangerous. If the jury finds in favor of the smokers, a second phase will be held to determine how a medical monitoring program will be administered.

No smokers are expected to testify during the first phase. Instead, it will be a trial of dueling experts.

The plaintiffs plan to call a former Philip Morris employee to testify that feasible alternative designs of Marlboros have existed for decades. They also plan to call a psychologist who will testify that given a choice between Marlboros or a safer cigarette, a non-addicted, informed person would choose the safer alternative.

Philip Morris is expected to call experts in cigarette design and marketing who are likely to testify that the company's lower-tar and lower-nicotine cigarettes - on the market since the late 1970s - have failed to gain a significant market share among any group of smoker.

Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University and anti-smoking activist, said past lawsuits seeking to force tobacco companies to provide medical monitoring have failed. But Daynard said he believes the Massachusetts case has a stronger chance of succeeding because recent studies have found that the sophisticated screening can save lives.

"What's happened is you have better technology which captures the tumors at a much earlier stage where there's a very good chance that if you get them that the person ... is probably not going to die from it," Daynard said.

A Philip Morris spokesman declined to comment, and lawyers for the company did not respond to messages.

In court documents, the company denied that its cigarettes are defectively designed and argued that three-dimensional chest scans would not be effective or necessary for every person covered by the lawsuit.

The case covers Massachusetts smokers who, as of February 2013, were at least 50, had at least a 20 pack-year history of smoking Marlboros and have not been diagnosed with lung cancer. Pack-years are calculated by multiplying the average number of packs per day by the number of years a person has smoked.

The two sides agree that the chest scans are "reasonably and periodically necessary" for smokers 55 to 74 with at least a 30 pack-year history. They disagree on the rest of the smokers in the lawsuit.

Since the case was filed in 2006, insurers have begun to cover the screenings for certain smokers. Last year, Medicare announced it would pay for annual screenings for beneficiaries 55 to 77 with at least a 30 pack-year history.

U.S. District Judge Denise Casper rejected a request to exclude evidence about insurers agreeing to pay for three-dimensional chest scans, but said she'll instruct jurors that they are not allowed to consider whether any of the smokers have insurance coverage for screening.

"The fact that insurance now covers it and it's recognized for certain groups as being efficacious, may have some evidentiary value in the case, but it does not change the fact that Philip Morris could be liable for the cost of the scans," said Christopher Weld, an attorney for the smokers.



“Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University and anti-smoking activist, said past lawsuits seeking to force tobacco companies to provide medical monitoring have failed. But Daynard said he believes the Massachusetts case has a stronger chance of succeeding because recent studies have found that the sophisticated screening can save lives. …. A Philip Morris spokesman declined to comment, and lawyers for the company did not respond to messages. In court documents, the company denied that its cigarettes are defectively designed and argued that three-dimensional chest scans would not be effective or necessary for every person covered by the lawsuit. …. The plaintiffs plan to call a former Philip Morris employee to testify that feasible alternative designs of Marlboros have existed for decades. They also plan to call a psychologist who will testify that given a choice between Marlboros or a safer cigarette, a non-addicted, informed person would choose the safer alternative. …. In court documents, the company denied that its cigarettes are defectively designed and argued that three-dimensional chest scans would not be effective or necessary for every person covered by the lawsuit. …. "The fact that insurance now covers it and it's recognized for certain groups as being efficacious may have some evidentiary value in the case, but it does not change the fact that Philip Morris could be liable for the cost of the scans," said Christopher Weld, an attorney for the smokers.”


“The plaintiffs plan to call a former Philip Morris employee to testify that feasible alternative designs of Marlboros have existed for decades.” This, to me, is the clincher, like when the city of Flint decided that the necessary phosphates were either too costly or inexpedient, so they just didn’t put them in the water. Within two days, illness was popping up. The human body, apparently has a 0 tolerance for lead.

As for low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes, however, I used to be one of those addicted smokers (two packs a day), and I did try low tar cigarettes. MOST COMPANIES did make and sell them. Often I wouldn’t use them because they simply didn’t have a full flavored smoke, and I wanted that cigarette “bite” in my lungs. Two or three drags on a good cigarette and the nicotine craving would go away, while the same amount of smoke from some of those low tar/low nicotine versions was NOT satisfactory. After a half pack of those I would pull out a pack of Kools. How stimulating! How satisfying!

The matter of addictiveness in nicotine products is ever so clear to me. What I recommend to people who know darned well that their health is in true jeopardy, should go down to the drugstore and buy a box of full strength (store brand) skin patches. Nicotine is nicotine. Don’t waste your money on a more expensive name brand product whose dosage and use directions are identical.

Within a couple of weeks, the plan with all “step down patches” is to graduate down one dosage level, and again every two or three weeks thereafter until you get to the lowest dose available. That is usually 7mg per patch. If you do that faithfully, successfully refraining from “cheating” with a cig or some snuff, then you will be quite ready to make a complete stop at that point. If use the one dose brand of patches, you must make that complete stop without the getting your body used to the decrease, you can expect to have most annoying cravings that will interfere with your concentration at work, drive you absolutely crazy while driving, and make it impossible to go to sleep.

Of course “real men” or religiously motivated women may choose the path of pure “will power.” Some people do insist on the tough guy way we call “cold turkey,” but personally I just wanted to Quit completely and successfully without any personal displeasure at all. So I used the intelligent way. I did that twice, because after 6 months without nicotine I had a crisis in my life and bought a pack of good old Kools. Immediately I was off and running again. So it tends to go with all true addictions.

After about another couple of years of debilitating headaches and bronchitis, I went through the procedure again and have been completely nicotine free now since 1995. The moral here is that no matter how much we sue the cigarette companies we will have to remain completely free of nicotine to regain our health, and that takes a thoroughly formed (well thought out) decision to give them up. As long as we think of nicotine, alcohol, codeine, or whatever our addiction is as a “bad habit” we will always want it. It’s just like bad boys – they are always more attractive on a certain level.

When we decide we want freedom from fierce acid indigestion, coughing up disgusting sputum from our lungs and nauseating sinus headaches, plus regaining that extra stamina with exercise, not to mention a relative freedom from the worry about cancer. The doctors say that if we have ever smoked habitually we will retain a certain level of increased risk. I made a list of all those things I wanted, and for two weeks or so I read it over before going to bed. For my part, however, I can tell you that my health improved 100% within weeks without inhaling smoke at the time that I quit, I had an extra $30.00 a month in my bank account and I had more hope for my future. It’s worth it, guys!!




ANOTHER CITY DESPOILED BY THE OVERREACHES OF A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT --


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sebring-ohio-next-flint-water-crisis-lead-copper/

Ohio town may be the next Flint with its water crisis
CBS/AP
January 25, 2016

Photograph -- EPA officials take water samples from McKinley Senior and Junior High School in Sebring, Ohio, on January 24, 2016. WKBN-TV
Play VIDEO -- Health clinics overwhelmed by lead testing in Flint



SEBRING, Ohio - A small Ohio town about halfway between Canton and Youngstown is facing a growing drinking water crisis like the one in Flint, Michigan, that has captured national attention.

The water treatment operator in Sebring, Ohio, is facing a criminal investigation from the Ohio Environmental Protection agency after elevated levels of lead and copper were found in tap water, reports CBS affiliate WKBN in Youngstown.

Schools have been shut, and Sebring's city manager issued an advisory Thursday night that said children and pregnant women shouldn't drink the village system's tap water after seven of 20 homes where the water is routinely tested showed levels of lead and copper that exceeded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

On Sunday, the Ohio EPA said it is taking steps to revoke the license of James Bates, Sebring's Water Superintendent. They say they have reason to suspect Bates falsified reports, according to WKBN.

The agency claims that Bates "is not properly performing his duties in a manner that is protective of public health."

"The games the Village of Sebring was playing by giving us incomplete data time and time again, and not submitting the required documents, made it difficult for our field office to determine whether or not they had notified their customers," said Heidi Griesmer, an Ohio EPA representative.

Bates declined a request to comment from WKBN.

Despite the investigation, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokesman James Lee told WFMJ-TV in Youngstown that the lead is not coming from the Sebring water treatment plant or the Mahoning River, where the village's system gets its water.

Lee said the agency believes the traces of lead and copper are coming from smaller distribution lines and possibly old homes with lead pipes.

"We are working with Sebring water treatment plant to make adjustments to minimize leaching of lead into the water," he said.

The school district canceled its Monday classes as more tests are being done on its tap water.

Sebring Schools Superintendent Toni Viscounte said in an email Sunday the district will be closed on Monday. "Another round of testing is being done for precautionary reasons."

Tests had showed lead levels at 21 parts per billion in the seven homes. The EPA standard is 15 parts per billion. Lead can cause serious health problems for infants and young children.

The Sebring water system serves around 8,100 customers in the Mahoning County communities of Sebring, Beloit and Maple Ridge. Sebring is about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland.

Classes had been canceled Friday for the Sebring school district's 650 students as a precaution.

Viscounte said the career center students will have school on Monday and the junior high basketball game will still go on. Bottled water and hand sanitizer will be given out, he added.

A posting on the district's website on Sunday morning had said the schools' water was safe and classes would resume Monday. The post was later removed and updated with one that classes were canceled "due to additional testing that the EPA has requested."

The schools' website said initial water testing was done by taking samples from a few areas in the school buildings, but tests have been requested for all water outlets in both buildings.

Volunteers handed out bottled water to residents over the weekend.

"Our primary focus is to distribute this water to pregnant women, infants and children," said Mahoning Emergency Management Agency Director Dennis O'Hara. "That is our primary focus. We are not going to turn anyone away, but we want to make sure we are hitting our target population that is most at risk according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines."

A blood lead screening clinic was held Sunday for area residents under age 6, along with pregnant or breastfeeding women who get their water from the village.



“The water treatment operator in Sebring, Ohio, is facing a criminal investigation from the Ohio Environmental Protection agency after elevated levels of lead and copper were found in tap water, reports CBS affiliate WKBN in Youngstown. …. On Sunday, the Ohio EPA said it is taking steps to revoke the license of James Bates, Sebring's Water Superintendent. They say they have reason to suspect Bates falsified reports, according to WKBN. The agency claims that Bates "is not properly performing his duties in a manner that is protective of public health." …. Lee said the agency believes the traces of lead and copper are coming from smaller distribution lines and possibly old homes with lead pipes. "We are working with Sebring water treatment plant to make adjustments to minimize leaching of lead into the water," he said. …. A posting on the district's website on Sunday morning had said the schools' water was safe and classes would resume Monday. The post was later removed and updated with one that classes were canceled "due to additional testing that the EPA has requested." …. "Our primary focus is to distribute this water to pregnant women, infants and children," said Mahoning Emergency Management Agency Director Dennis O'Hara. "That is our primary focus. We are not going to turn anyone away, but we want to make sure we are hitting our target population that is most at risk according to Centers for Disease Control guidelines." A blood lead screening clinic was held Sunday for area residents under age 6, along with pregnant or breastfeeding women who get their water from the village.”


The good news I see here is that only a limited part of the town was affected, or so it seems so far. The bad news is that it was a school with lots of kids in the target age range, and that something must have happened in the way of a change – possibly an accident, possibly a decision -- to cause the leaching of lead in this particular case; at least the problem hadn’t been discovered before, so it hopefully has been of short duration. Was it another case that a chemical such as phosphate was purposely NOT added to the water to prevent the lead from getting into the system? It is a sad thought that water pollution problems are much more common than we have known before, and of numerous kinds; and that they are too often due to carelessness and inaction by local governments. I do hope the EPA will not be involved this time. That situation at Flint was embarrassing to a number of people including the federal government. We need our government watchdogs to protect the public, clearly; and that means they must do their darned jobs.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/video-game-project-evo-from-akili-for-kids-with-adhd/

New video game aims to help kids with ADHD
By BRIAN MASTROIANNI CBS NEWS
January 25, 2016

Photograph -- Akili Interactive Labs is testing its "Project: EVO" video game in children with ADHD. The company's CEO calls it "digital medicine in the form of a video game." AKILI INTERACTIVE LABS
Photograph -- evoscreenshot3.jpg, A shot from the "ProjectL EVO" video game. AKILI INTERACTIVE LABS


In the not-so-distant future, will playing video games be part of the prescription for treating children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? That's what one company, Akili Interactive Labs, Inc., is hoping for.

The Boston-based company just raised $30.5 million in venture capital funding to support clinical development for a game called "Project: EVO." The developers hope it could be a game changer in helping people with ADHD. Akili aims to apply for FDA clearance and launch the product in 2017, according to a press release announcing the funding.

How does "Project: EVO" work? The game can be played on phones or tablets, and it provides an interactive, virtual world for players. As they go through the game they are supposed to skirt around certain objects while choosing others. The idea is to condition the brain to sift through and organize information in real time, requiring a player to stay focused on the task at hand.

Akili was founded in 2011 by PureTech Health, a health care company dedicated to developing innovations that address "areas of significant medical need," Eddie Martucci, Akili's CEO, wrote in an email to CBS News.

In looking for ways to address cognitive disorders like ADHD, Martucci and his team came across Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Gazzaley was working on "targeted digital intervention" as a way of treating cognitive disorders. What he came up with was a game that served as an early academic prototype for "Project: EVO."

Akili says it has conducted more than 10 rounds of clinical trials on the game, enhancing its design and interface along the way. It says it is currently testing the game in children with ADHD, as well as in other groups of patients with autism spectrum disorder, depression, Alzheimer's, and traumatic brain injury.

"We've developed a set of proprietary adaptive algorithms that allow the device to automatically personalize the treatment to a particular individual without the need for a doctor," Martucci said.

After conducting a small-scale trial that, according to Akili, appeared to show improved cognition in children with ADHD, the next phase is for the larger-scale clinical trial. If it proves effective, the potential market could be huge. A recent CDC report found 9.5 percent of children in the U.S. between the ages of 3-17 have gotten a diagnosis of ADHD at some point in their lives; that's about 5.9 million kids.

Of course, there are plenty of people who are skeptical that a video game could offer effective treatment for a disorder like ADHD. Going through the motions of a video game might just make the player good at the game, and not necessarily translate into other aspects of his or her life.

"We don't really know how effective this kind of technology is," Elliott Berkman, assistant professor the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon, told CBS News. "The clinical trial model in this case is very good -- that is exactly the kind of work that needs to be done right now."

Berkman cited the cautionary tale of Lumosity, the developer of digital "brain-training games," which was recently fined $2 million to settle federal allegations that they misled consumers about the games' supposed health benefits. In this case, he said Akili taking the steps to test the effectiveness of their game in a clinical trial is the best way to establish if it's truly useful before hitting the market.

"The real test is to see if the practice of playing the game extends beyond the game into a new domain of life. It has to affect the person's other behaviors," Berkman said.

For Berkman, the main flaw of these kinds of games is the fact that developers seem to look at the brain as a simplistic muscle that needs "training." Makers of games that promise to improve your thinking skills are not necessarily looking too closely at the neuroscience behind how the brain is processing the game, and how those processes ultimately impact the brain, he said.

"They think it's like exercising where you lift weights at the gym. You build muscles in the gym that make you a lot stronger, and then out of the gym you can lift other heavy things that you haven't lifted before. If you apply this line of thinking to these games, the idea is that practice will make the brain stronger," he said. "But that doesn't seem to be the case with the brain. We really need better science to understand how the brain works and, in particular, how it responds to these training exercises. It's not muscle tissue that is being worked out. It's a totally different system."

What does Martucci think of the naysayers?

"I'd say that I understand and appreciate their skepticism. We also take a very skeptical view of anything unproven and, quite frankly, the consumer market is loaded with products making unsubstantiated claims," he told CBS News. "And while our product does look like a game, it is a medical device -- digital medicine in the form of a video game -- that we developed as a medical device from the start."

Martucci said he believes it is crucial for patients and doctors to know that "there is a strong clinical validation behind our products before we release them on the market."

This is why Akili is pursuing the FDA clearance route, he stressed.

Looking ahead, Berkman said he sees both good news and bad news surrounding this use of technology.

"I'd say that I understand and appreciate their skepticism. We also take a very skeptical view of anything unproven and, quite frankly, the consumer market is loaded with products making unsubstantiated claims," he told CBS News. "And while our product does look like a game, it is a medical device -- digital medicine in the form of a video game -- that we developed as a medical device from the start."


MORE BELOW

ABOUT EVO – EVO is a “platforming game” involving changing avatars in a form of “evolution” also called “Search For Eden.” See the excerpts here from Wikipedia on EVO.

E.V.O.: Search for Eden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“E.V.O.: Search for Eden, originally released in Japan as 46 Okunen Monogatari: Harukanaru Eden e (46億年物語 はるかなるエデンへ?, "4.6 Billion Year Story: To Distant Eden"), is a side-scrolling action video game developed by Almanic Corporation and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1992 for Japanese audiences, the game was later translated and released in North America in 1993 by Enix America Corp. Combining traditional platforming mechanics with experience and leveling mechanics originating from role playing games, E.V.O. involves the player navigating a creature through a number of side-scrolling levels while undergoing bodily evolution to cope with ever-changing environments. The game is heavily based on Almanic's original title 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron released exclusively in Japan in 1990 for the PC-9801 home computer.

Spanning a period of over a billion years, the game's story involves Gaia, daughter of the sun and mystical embodiment of the Earth, guiding the player through five distinct geological periods of the planet's history. Beginning the game as a fish, the player must travel across the planet defeating enemies and gaining the strength to evolve into more powerful and complex organisms before eventually earning a chance to enter the paradise realm of Eden, becoming Gaia's immortal partner. Crystals with the ability to influence evolution are laden throughout the player's quest, with the mystery of their origin becoming a secondary factor to the main story.

Gameplay[edit]
E.V.O. is a side-scrolling platformer action game where players must navigate a creature of their own design across a number of environments resembling Earth's past.[1] The game is divided into five distinct geological periods: the Cambrian Period and the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era ("The World Before Land") from 500 million years ago to 450 million years ago, then the Carboniferous period ("Early Creatures of Land"), the Mesozoic Era ("Age of Dinosaurs"), the late Neogene period ("Ice Age"), and finally the early Quaternary period ("Early Man"). Each period has its own map screen, which is divided into various levels.[2] While each era takes historical liberties with both its inhabitants and time frames, the player's choices for evolution are dependent on the current era of play, ranging from aquatic bodies during the Age of Fish to mammalian physiology during the Age of Man.[3] During the first two eras you are forced to gain a new body to progress, but once you reach the Age of Dinosaurs, a side quest will give you the option to remain as a reptile, or become a bird, gaining the ability of flight. As you enter the Ice Age as a bird or reptile, you are immediately given the option to become a mammal. You can finish the game as a reptile, bird, or mammal and the outcome is still the same, only the interaction dialogue is affected by your choices.

As the player progresses through each level, other organisms are encountered who must be confronted by biting, ramming them with horns, or jumping on them until they are defeated. Defeated enemies leave behind meat which the player can consume to grant them "evolution points" used towards upgrading specific body parts.[4] The body of the character controlled by the player is divided into eight sections which can be upgraded by spending evolution points, making them stronger as well as changing their appearance. New abilities such as tail swings, greater jumping ability and increased movement speed can also be obtained through evolution.[3]

During gameplay, the player will also encounter crystals that either display hints and tips, grant large amounts of Evolution Points or transform their character into a unique body for a limited time.[5] As the player takes damage from enemy creatures, one may restore health at any time by either consuming the meat of their foes, eating nearby plant life, or by undergoing selective evolution. At the end of each level, the player must face a stronger boss character in order to progress, requiring much more effort to defeat than a typical foe. There is no game over mechanism, if the player's character loses all their health points the player is revived by Gaia and sent back to the game's map screen with a deduction of roughly half of their Evolution Points.[6] The game utilizes a built-in battery backup save system for storing game data. The player may record progress directly to the cartridge to be continued at another time, and store up to fifty previously created creatures using the game's built-in "Book of Life" feature.[6] Creatures stored in this index have the option to be recalled at any time when the player encounters special crystals during the quest.[3]”



Excerpts from the news article above:

“The Boston-based company just raised $30.5 million in venture capital funding to support clinical development for a game called "Project: EVO." The developers hope it could be a game changer in helping people with ADHD. Akili aims to apply for FDA clearance and launch the product in 2017, according to a press release announcing the funding. How does "Project: EVO" work? The game can be played on phones or tablets, and it provides an interactive, virtual world for players. As they go through the game they are supposed to skirt around certain objects while choosing others. The idea is to condition the brain to sift through and organize information in real time, requiring a player to stay focused on the task at hand. …. In looking for ways to address cognitive disorders like ADHD, Martucci and his team came across Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a professor of neurology, physiology, and psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Gazzaley was working on "targeted digital intervention" as a way of treating cognitive disorders. What he came up with was a game that served as an early academic prototype for "Project: EVO." Akili says it has conducted more than 10 rounds of clinical trials on the game, enhancing its design and interface along the way. It says it is currently testing the game in children with ADHD, as well as in other groups of patients with autism spectrum disorder, depression, Alzheimer's, and traumatic brain injury. …. If you apply this line of thinking to these games, the idea is that practice will make the brain stronger," he said. "But that doesn't seem to be the case with the brain. We really need better science to understand how the brain works and, in particular, how it responds to these training exercises. It's not muscle tissue that is being worked out. It's a totally different system." …. "I'd say that I understand and appreciate their skepticism. We also take a very skeptical view of anything unproven and, quite frankly, the consumer market is loaded with products making unsubstantiated claims," he told CBS News. "And while our product does look like a game, it is a medical device -- digital medicine in the form of a video game -- that we developed as a medical device from the start."


The scientist above says that testing the game some more is necessary to see whether it really makes a difference in how people think after playing it. It's not enough for this game to entertain the child, it has to solve his mental problem. I never have played video games, and am not attracted to the kind of absolutely frenetic, mindless competitive activity I see my friend’s daughter doing with a race car game she loves, which would drive me nuts. She reminds me, when she's playing, of an attractive, but pretty primitive, mammal which an acquaintance once had as a house pet some years back – a ferret. It ran around the room ceaselessly doing destructive things like burrowing behind the books on a floor-level bookcase, dumping them all out into the floor. (I know, it has an urge to tunnel and in doing so it is looking for mice to eat.) That doesn’t mean I want to constantly clean up behind it, however. Its’ fur is absolutely beautiful, and I’d like to pet it, but it won’t stay still long enough, and certainly wouldn’t snuggle in my lap like a kitten. Not my kind of pet.

So, anyway, I do have a negative impression of video games, though psychologists have long considered that they may improve “manual dexterity” which is apparently a much desired trait in children. This particular game EVO, though (see Wikipedia description of it above) has a fascinating combination of scientific speculation with a complex series of different things to consider to play the game well. I think it probably is complicated enough that it will require a child to concentrate closely, plan some moves ahead, manipulate the effects of those “crystals” with magical properties, and even has a mythology. EVO, from what I can see, does sound like a highly entertaining thing that will teach the kid something more useful than just “manual dexterity.” (For that, play Pick Up Sticks. It’s difficult and very satisfying if you do manage to pick them all up one by one, without spilling the bunch in a heap. Pick Up sticks is really good for kids because it’s very interesting, a test of skill and develops another important couple of traits – patience and reasoning.

Maybe if an ADHD kid has something as absorbing as EVO to focus on, he will indeed develop a better ability to focus more effectively in school, and for longer periods of time. Maybe if this really helps, his parents won’t have to feed him a high intensity stimulant like Ritalin, which I’ve never considered to be a really safe drug.