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Toxic Mold Infestation Pushes Michigan Township to Reclaim Abandoned Home

26Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Local

Toxic Mold Infestation Pushes Michigan Township to Reclaim Abandoned Home

Officials in Michigan's Ypsilanti Township are mulling over plans to reclaim an abandoned home that poses a health risk to neighboring homeowners. According to a report from MLive, a home thought to have been abandoned by its previous owners following foreclosure has had a water leak coursing throughout the home for at least two months. Subsequently, an estimated 88,000 gallons of water is thought to have saturated the home, although the majority has since leaked out through the basement.While this may seem like an issue for the lending institution that foreclosed on the property, the resultant mold infestation in the home poses a public health risk. Mike Radzik, director of Ypsilanti's Office of Community Standards, describes the infestation as "advanced and severe." The Home May Be Ab...

What’s Your Type? Staples Surveys Small Business Owners About Ink and Toner Practices

26Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Business

What’s Your Type? Staples Surveys Small Business Owners About Ink and Toner Practices

Organizing ink and toner supplies is stressing small business owners out, according to a recent survey conducted by Staples. The office supply company's Ink and Toner "Know Your Type" survey revealed that a third of small business owners who consider printing important to their business have stress levels that are "high" or "very high." Business owners who spent the most time managing their ink and toner supplies were often the most stressed, according to the survey. This seems to be related to the types of people who run small businesses. Over 70% of small business owners described themselves as "hands-on doers" in the workplace, preferring to take care of issues themselves rather than delegating responsibilities to others and waiting for them to take action. "Small business owners ten...

Mali’s Artisanal Gold Mining Industry to Receive Boost in Financing

26Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

World

Mali’s Artisanal Gold Mining Industry to Receive Boost in Financing

Mali is making changes to its artisanal mining practices, boosting funding for the independent miners, and policing the sector that produces about a third of the country's gold exports. At a mining reform meeting on Thursday, Abdoulaye Pona, president of Mali's chamber of mines, and mine minister, Boubou Cisse, said the government was negotiating with banks to give miners easier access to financing for equipment, and that newly formed cooperatives would be supervised and revenues distributed equitably. Artisanal miners are also known as subsistence miners, as they are not affiliated with a mining company, but rather work independently, mining or panning for gold. More than 100 million people, primarily in developing countries, rely on this sector for income. Unfortunately, monitoring an...

Home Improvement Company Porch Acquires ValueAppeal

25Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Business

Home Improvement Company Porch Acquires ValueAppeal

Home improvement startup Porch has acquired ValueAppeal, according to insider information. ValueAppeal, a Seattle startup, sent its customers a message inviting them to join Porch, and several important members of the ValueAppeal team now list Porch as their employer. As of Tuesday, former ValueAppeal CEO Charlie Walsh’s job title had been changed to senior director of data products at Porch. Company Profiles ValueAppeal was founded as a service allowing homeowners to file appeals regarding their property taxes online. Last fall, however, it ended that service in favor of developing a big data-based predictive analysis service for real estate professionals. The change in services also precipitated doing business under the new name of MostLikely. Porch, a fast-growing company whose em...

Woman Goes After Whole Foods Company After Slip and Fall Accident

24Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Business

Woman Goes After Whole Foods Company After Slip and Fall Accident

A Louisiana woman has filed suit against a grocery store after allegedly suffering serious injuries as the result of a slip and fall accident inside the business. According to the Louisiana Record, Donnea Collins is suing Whole Foods Company Inc. and their insurance company after suffering a slip and fall at the 3420 Veterans Blvd. location in Metairie. According to Collins, she was in the produce section when she slipped and fell in a liquid on the uncleaned floor. She allegedly suffered severe injuries to the muscles, joints, and bones of her ankle, foot, and leg. She says that Whole Foods should have recognized the hazard and cleaned the area accordingly before she slipped and fell. Collins is suing for pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of li...

Need to Break Up With Your Ad Agency? There’s an App For That

24Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Business

Need to Break Up With Your Ad Agency? There’s an App For That

Is your relationship with your advertising agency over, and you're never, ever getting back together? Are you looking to spark a connection with a new one? Or, are you generally satisfied but just want to check out the playing field and sample the merchandise? Well, you're in luck. There's now an app for that. A newly released Tinder-like "dating" app allows clients to peruse profiles of the some of best advertising agencies in Amsterdam. The app, Pitcher, is available for both iOS and Android phones. Similar to dating apps, clients have the ability to specify criteria such as brand category and campaign type. From there, clients can browse through a selection of Amsterdam's crème de la crème of advertising agencies. Each profile provides a company overview and portfolio of their latest ...

Mother Arrested for Attempted International Burglary After Trying to Fly Son to Beijing

23Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

World

Mother Arrested for Attempted International Burglary After Trying to Fly Son to Beijing

A routine flight out of Virginia's Dulles Airport on Sept. 4 turned into an international kidnapping case instead. United Airlines Flight 897, a Boeing 777 with 180 passengers, was on its way to Beijing when it was ordered back to Dulles by the FBI. A woman on board, Wenjing "Linda" Liu, was on the flight with her 4-year-old son. But the problem stemmed from the specifics of the incident: Liu and her husband had separated and, through an attorney for child custody disputes, had reached an agreement that prohibited either partner from taking their son outside of the country. The boy's father, fearing that Liu was taking their son to China permanently, alerted authorities to the incident. The flight, which had departed at 12:39 p.m., was in Canadian airspace when the call was mad...

Brides-to-Be Head to Botox Clinics for This Surprising Treatment

22Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Lifestyle

Brides-to-Be Head to Botox Clinics for This Surprising Treatment

Brides-to-be are busy preparing for their big day in a surprising way: with fat fillers, laser treatments and Botox injections... in their hands. Botox clinics in Auckland, New Zealand, have begun to report an increase in business, especially when it comes to middle-aged brides-to-be. Patients also spend up to $300 NZD (approx. $246 USD) to have fat injected into their fingers and hands to give them a fuller, younger appearance. Women who visit these clinics are also having age spots and marks caused by sun exposure removed from their skin with laser procedures. The reason for these treatments? As more couples use professional photographers to chronicle the wedding day, brides are taking more steps to ensure everything is perfect -- including those close-up photographs of the bride and ...

Light Therapy for Skin Lesions May be More Effective than Freezing, Says Study

21Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Lifestyle

Light Therapy for Skin Lesions May be More Effective than Freezing, Says Study

Patients with pre-cancerous skin spots may have more luck with light therapy than with standard freezing therapy, according to a new study. Actinic keratoses are rough, scaly spots that often form on the faces and scalps of fair-complexioned people who have been exposed to a lot of sun. Since they can lead to cancer, removing them quickly and permanently is important. Cryotherapy is the current standard for treatment. In this process, liquid nitrogen is used to freeze spots and remove them before they can become a problem. An alternative is light therapy, also known as photodynamic therapy, which uses a liquid medication that becomes activated and kills the lesion's cells when a doctor shines a special light on the spot. In the new study published in JAMA Dermatology in August, research...

Recovering Addicts Swap Substances For Sweets

21Sep

By rocitoutNo Comments

Lifestyle

Recovering Addicts Swap Substances For Sweets

A recent study confirms what many recovering addicts already know to be true. The drug recovery process often causes people to gain significant amounts of weight. According to the University of Florida study published in July 2014, "Cessation of drug use often coincides with increased food consumption and weight gain in recovering addicts." Many experts believe that this is largely because rehab programs don't pay much attention to nutrition. "The main focus [of drug recovery programs] was just, 'get them off their substance,' and the rest will take care of itself," explained eating disorder and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Carolyn Coker Ross. Some recovery programs even encourage recovering addicts to eat sugary, and/or fatty foods, touting sugar as a "harmless" replacement for d...