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Residents in Herkimer County and Oneida County are not breathing the worst air in the nation, but it could be better. According to the American Lung Association’s 2009 State of the Air Report, residents in Herkimer County and Oneida County are not among the more than 186,000,000 Americans breathing air that received a failing grade, but their air is only a “C.”

A “C” is indicative of air quality that, on at least one day a year, is unhealthy for sensitive groups of people. According to the American Lung Association in New York, “every day that residents in the region are forced to breathe in harmful air is one day too many.”

Area officials are committed to reducing pollution and bettering air quality in order to reduce the risk of lung damage and associated diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, adult respiratory distress syndrome, and lung cancer.
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A portion of the New York State Thruway was closed earlier this week following a UPS trandem tractor trailer accident in which the UPS big rig crashed in the Town of Catskill, south of Albany, New York. The New York State Thruway was closed for several hours from exit 20 to exit 21. The cause of the accident, which occurred around 4:20 a.m., is under investigation. The driver of the UPS 18 wheeler was injured in the accident to Albany Medical Center for medical care. No other drivers were injured.
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Earlier today, a Syracuse area teenager was hospitalized after rear-ending a school bus on Kasson Road in the County of Onondaga. According to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the school bus was stopped with red lights flashing when a seventeen (17) year old drove into the back of the bus. The 17 year old struck the bus with enough force to wedge his car underneath the rear bumper of the bus. Rescue crews were called to the scene to pull the negligent driver from the wreckage.

As many as 500,000 school buses transport newarly 24,000,000 children to and from school each day. While school bus accidents are common, the damage is usually minor and where there are injuries, they usually are to the driver of a car that came into contact with the bus (67%) or with a pedestrian (25%), and not to school bus passengers (9%).
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The New York State Department of Health recently approved a $3.3 million expansion of the St. Camillus Health and Rehabilitation Center (Syracuse, New York) in order to increase outpatient services available for brain injury patients, including those with brain damage and disability caused by a stroke, trauma, fall, or accident. The 12,000 square foot expansion will include a new entrance, exercise rooms, recreation facilities and rehabilitation counseling for brain injury patients. As part of the project, the day care facility will expand from 40 to 52 beds per day.

The brain injury rehabilitation program at St. Camillus is well established. The treatment team includes a case manager, dietitian, neuropsychologist, occupational therapist, physiatrist, physical therapist, recreation therapist, rehabilitation counselor, rehabilitation nurse, social worker, and speech/language pathologist.
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Earlier today, a plane crashed within Madison County, just off of Wescott Road in the Town of Eaton, New York. The crash occurred near Hatch Lake. One person was killed in the accident. Damage to the plane was significant. The aviation accident is under investigation.
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According to Dr. Elizabeth Murray, of the Golisano Children’s Hospital, soon coming to Syracuse, New York, children are safer in rear-facing car seats, even after they are old enough or large enough to ride in forward-facing car seats.

It was once thought that children should be turned-around or moved into a forward-facing car seat when they are 12 months old, or weigh more than twenty pounds. Recent studies suggest that children should stay in a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics is on the verge of releasing new recommendations that would urge parents to keep children in rear-facing car seats until age two in order to prevent neck injuries, such as cervical fractures (i.e., a broken neck).

In order for a car seat to be effective in preventing injury, it must be installed properly. Remember that rear-facing car seats are installed tightly and are not placed in the front seat of a car with an active passenger air bag. Also make sure that car seat harnesses are at baby shoulder level, that a car set is installed at the correct angle, and that seatbelts are buckled correctly. Use the LATCH system were possible.
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A portion of the facade of The Warehouse building collapsed today, leading to the closing of West Fayette Street, from West Street to Frankling Streets, in downtown Syracuse, New York. At one point in time, The Warehouse building housed the Syracuse University School of Architecture. It now houses departments for the University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts.

The building collapse cause rubble to fall onto the sidewalk and street below. Fortunately, no Syracuse University students or any others were injured.

The block remains closed until construction workers have an opportunity to remove additional portions of the building’s southwest exterior which appear unstable. The loose exterior is approximately eighty-five feet off the ground, so laborers will have to use a lift to perform repairs to the building. According to the Syracuse Fire Department, the building failure was not structural.
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According to the Utica Regional Director for the New York State Department of Transportation, motorists should travel through roadway construction sites with care. Due to an increase in funding secondary to the economic recovery package, there will be more construction sites than usual during the Summer of 2009.

The New York State Department of Transportation has asked drivers to obey posted signage, obey flagpersons, maintain a safe distance between you and the car in front of you and, most importantly, slow down. After speeding, most roadway construction accidents are due to driver negligence, such as inattention due to conversations with passengers, or talking on a cellular telephone.
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released a new standard today with regard to testing paint and painted products, such as children’s toys, for lead. The new standard document (CPSC-CH-E1003-09) can be found here. Rules contained in the Ban of Lead-Containing Paint and Certain Consume Products Bearing Lead Containing Paint, CFR, Title 16, Part 1303, remain unchanged.

In short, the new protocol includes a standard for composite testing, as recommended by the Toy Industry Association Working Group. Composite testing, whether composite-testing-like-parts or composite-testing-different-parts involves sampling paint from several different product parts in order to secure a sample size sufficient for lead (pB) testing.
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While much of the country is experiencing a housing slump and a decline in construction, the City of Syracuse seems immune from the trend. Last year, nearly 5,000 building permits were pulled for projects totaling more than $200,000,000.

A look around Syracuse reveals where the construction dollars are being spent. Current construction sites in and around downtown Syracuse include a $21,000,000 office building at the intersection of South Clinton Street and West Jefferson Street, a $6,000,000 renovation of the old Dupli building on West Jefferson Street, and O’Brien & Gere’s move to a new building adjacent to Armory Square at Franklin and West Fayette Streets.

In addition, new townhomes are planned for Prospect Hill, the Kirk Hotel is under renovation, a new section of the Onondaga Creekwalk will be complete soon, and SUNY Upstate Medical University will soon break ground on the Central New York Biotech Center in the former Kennedy Square apartment complex. According to Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll, as many as 231 rental and/or owner-occupied units will be constructed or renovated by the end of the year.

With construction underway throughout Syracuse, construction injuries are also expected to rise as unsafe jobsites, defective machinery and tight deadlines cause falling objects, falls from a height, and various other dangerous work environments that can lead to severe injury, permanent disability, and even death.
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