Daily Inbox

It's already been a long winter with plenty of snow, leaving many residents across the nation worried about the state of their roofs. When roofs are covered in snow and ice, it's nearly impossible to tell when they're near collapse, but a new system called Roof Monitor may be set to change that.Roof Monitor was developed by Brad Beldon, a longstanding member of the roofing industry who wanted to design a way to monitor the condition of snow-laden roofs. Using wireless sensors that transmit real-time data, building owners with Roof Monitor will be able to make more informed decisions about winter roof maintenance.The wireless sensors are placed on the exterior surface of the roof and measure environmental changes and roof loads. The data collected by the sensors is integrated into a user-fr...

Dealing with customer service representatives over the phone can be a hassle -- for both the customer and the company employee. But when tempers flared a little too much at Comcast, one billing customer got a surprise when she received her monthly statement. Ricardo and Lisa Brown of Spokane, Washington, had to call their cable and internet provider over a billing matter. When they received their statement in the mail, they noticed that Ricardo's name had been changed -- to "Asshole Brown." When Lisa Brown called Comcast to get the name changed back, employees were reluctant to help. She reached out to Christopher Elliott, a consumer advocacy writer for the Washington Post, USA Today and other publications. After hearing the Browns' story, Elliot featured a full report of the Comcast deb...

Talk about having your cake and eating it too. A California state employee recently found himself in hot water for lying about his need to work from home, in order to secretly take on a second job. The worker, who was employed with the Department of Industrial Relations, lied to his supervisor about needing to telecommute -- claiming he needed to care of his sick mother -- with the intention of secretly working a second full-time job at a San Francisco hospital, according to the report from the state auditor. Taking place between 2010-2011, the lie was not discovered for almost a year -- 10 months -- due to the laid-back management style of the employee's supervisor, according to State Auditor Elaine Howle's December report. The report, which focused on incidences of bad behavior ...

Carbon monoxide poisoning is apparently to blame for the deaths of two men who were running a generator in an unventilated garage, San Bernardino County Fire Department officials say. The incident occurred Jan. 22 near the California High Desert town of Lucerne Valley. A woman brought a 23-year-old male family member to firefighters at Fire Station 8 at approximately 10 a.m., but he had no pulse and was later pronounced dead at an Apple Valley hospital. A short time later, dispatchers received a call to a house on Laramie Street, and emergency responders found a 28-year-old victim, also male, lying in the garage. The second victim died at the scene. Autopsies to confirm cause of death will be conducted, and the names of the two men have not yet been released. Dangerous Carbon Monoxide ...

Destino was once a Midtown New York restaurant owned in part by Justin Timberlake and known for being a hangout for local celebrities. But it closed in 2013, allegedly due to flooding problems. A lawsuit filed Jan. 20 has now clarified the nature of that flooding: “It turns out some of the restaurant’s plumbing pipes were actually illegal, and wound up spewing -- wait for it -- human excrement all over the place,” the website PopCrush reported Tuesday. One of the restaurant’s owners is suing insurance company Amguard, saying it is at fault for two separate incidents involving the pipes. According to the online resource Eater New York, the first incident occurred in July of 2013, when the pipes burst and covered the walls and premises in waste. The restaurant closed for four months...

If you have been dealing with long-term severe spinal pain of the neck and back, you have likely looked into chiropractic treatment options that are available. Making the choice to get help for your pain is an important step and can help you find the care and treatment options that are best for your individual situation and unique needs. An experienced professional chiropractor can provide the best treatment for lower back muscle pain and offer you ideas on what the best way to cure back pain might be for your specific situation. Chiropractors focus on finding the best way to heal lower back injury and to reduce pain without invasive surgery or harmful medications and drugs. They are committed to helping all of their patients discover the best way to recover from lower back pain safely a...

When the residents of San Diego take their children to school in the morning, some feel as though they are driving up to a prison. According to U-T San Diego, the San Diego Unified School District has been constructing chain-linked and metal fences around its schools and facilities for months. The impetus behind the construction occurred nearly two years ago immediately following the shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six staff members were killed. Concerned parents, staff members, and school board lobbied the school district to implement stronger security measures to prevent something like that happening in San Diego. Still, the new security measures are not without its detractors. "I hate the way it looks, like a cage or somet...

Childcare is a necessary but expensive service for many working parents in the United States, who often assume 90% of daycare costs. However, as difficult as finding a reputable and affordable care provider can be, growing trends like corporate childcare are slowly making this process easier for many. This fact stands in sharp contrast to countries like South Korea, where a shortage of dependable childcare is forcing many women to give up their careers. Like many countries, South Korea is a patriarchal society, where most executive positions are held by men and stay-at-home moms are idealized. But this northeast Asian nation is also the fastest-aging developed country in the world, with the working-age population expected to begin declining next year. With this possibility on the horizon,...

It's estimated that during the last few decades, the amount of time kids spend playing outdoors has decreased by as much as 90%. Throughout the winter months, the amount of outdoor play time children have is likely reduced even more, while the time they spend in front of a TV or computer screen goes up. Surprisingly, it can be easier than you might think for you and your family to combat the winter woes. And by encouraging your kids to get outside, they might discover that they love the snow more than they think! So this winter, strap on your snow boots and step out into the cold to enjoy these great family-friendly wintertime activities taking place all across Vermont: Try out Vermont's world-class ice fishing On Saturday, Jan. 31, ice-fishing a-fish-ionados will be able to legally ic...