It’s another Wednesday in Portland my friends! The mid-week lull of humpday has me in its grip, but I can always work up some enthusiasm when I talk about Portland. Here’s what’s going on today.

First, today’s weather:

Morning clouds that clear slightly in the afternoon and give us a high of 54. Delightful!

Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

1. After stocking six figures of CDs, DVDs, and vinyl for more than a quarter-century as perhaps Portland’s largest record store, Everyday Music’s sprawling eastside location will close permanently on May 7. The building is scheduled to be demolished a week later. Oddly enough, while many factors surely contributed to Everyday Music Eastside’s demise, the blame may fall on the lingering effects of an even more iconic emblem of Oldest Portland: Jantzen Swimwear. Alas, the only lingering traces of that glamorous past may well be suspiciously elevated levels of carbon tetrachloride in indoor air samples. (Willamette Week)

2. The men’s NCAA tournament is coming to Portland this week. Starting Thursday, some of the top basketball programs in the country will compete at Moda Center in first- and second-round games. Eight teams will compete in four first-round games Thursday in Portland, including No. 1 seed Gonzaga. Other teams competing in Portland this week are UCLA, Saint Mary’s, Boise State, Memphis, Wyoming or Indiana (depending on Tuesday’s play-in game result), Akron and Georgia State. (KGW)

3. City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) are attempting to make the city’s COVID-era plazas and dining patios permanent. In a Monday morning press conference, Hardesty announced that she is “directing PBOT to begin the transition to making this program permanent,” continuing to offer free permits through August 31. However, Hardesty noted that to bring her plans to fruition, the rest of Portland’s city council needs to approve PBOT’s proposed budget. (PDX Eater)

4. The U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a 25-count indictment on Monday, charging a former nurse at Oregon’s only women’s prison with sexually assaulting a dozen women while they were incarcerated. Tony Daniel Klein, 37, faces 21 counts of depriving the women of their constitutional right to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, as well as four perjury counts. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Through his attorney, Klein entered pleas of not guilty to each of the 25 charges. As of Monday, Klein maintained an active nursing license, according to the board’s website. After he resigned from the Coffee Creek prison in 2018, Klein was hired by Legacy Health where he remains an employee. (OPB)

5. Earlier this week, former House Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Tina Kotek announced the endorsements of five prominent BIPOC-led organizations. The endorsements from the following groups showcase Kotek as a champion for standing with Oregon’s diverse communities: APANO, Building Power for Communities of Color, Latino Network Action Fund, NAYA Action Fund and Unite Oregon Action. “APANO is thrilled to endorse Tina Kotek for Governor,” said Marchel Marcos, political director of APANO. “As House Speaker, Tina always worked to get to the root causes of the inequities our communities face.” (The Skanner)

From our sponsor:

Story continues

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Ring, a Patch Brand Partner. We all know that Ring is the leader in video doorbells for home security. But did you know that Ring now makes a home security system that is getting raves from consumer electronic experts? (Reviewers at CNET called the new system — known as the Ring Alarm Pro — “a giant leap for home security”). So why the kudos?

In a nutshell: the Ring Alarm Pro can protect your home both online and off. It includes a built-in eero Wi-Fi 6 router to help you get reliable physical and digital security in one, innovative device. Now you can help protect your home with all of the benefits of the Ring Alarm, to keep your home safe and secure, while experiencing fast, reliable connectivity.

To learn more about the system CNET called “the future of home security” or to build your own custom system, you can visit Ring here.

Today in Portland:

• The 2022 Consider This series, American Dreams, American Myths, American Hopes, continues with a conversation about comics. Comic books, and especially the superhero comics of Marvel and DC, have embodied the hopes and fantasies of many Americans for nearly a century. Our guests for this conversation are David F. Walker, Douglas Wolk and, as moderator, Courtenay Hameister. This event will take place at the Alberta Rose Theatre in NE Portland. Tickets are available online, as are a limited number of no-cost tickets. The conversation will also be streamed on the Oregon Humanities website and YouTube. Doors open at 6:00 PM.

• The Songwriter Soiree is BACK for its first live indoor event in over 2 years at The Village Ballroom in NE Portland! The Songwriter Soiree is a 12-year running musical community which started in a Portland living room, and now has reaches across the world. The Soiree is an open mic for original music. Every song played MUST be original and played by the writer. Each person gets up to 5 minutes to present. Get your tickets online. 6:00 – 11:00 PM.

• Do you love movies? Then consider coming out to the Volunteer Fair for the Portland Film Festival. It has always been a 100% volunteer-driven organization, and none of the programs would be possible without the support of generous, dedicated volunteers. It’s looking for pre-screeners, sponsor relations people, produvtion and technology helpers, even volunteers to help with social media. There are also many opportunities to volunteer while staying in your own home. Register for free for this in-person event. The offices are in NW Portland. 6:00 – 8:00 PM.

• Coined “A Beehive of Activities” by Rolling Stone, the Tokeativity® Social features educational sessions, workshops, guest speakers, and themed community sesh rooms. Meet and network with other cannabis-loving feminists from across the globe. Listen in or join the online and live conversation via chat, audio, or video! Tonight’s subject is Psychedelics and Plant Medicine. You must be a Tokeativity member to attend, but registration is easy. 2:00 – 4:00 PM.

• Buddy Wynkoop will be performing at Holocene in SE Portland. Buddy Wynkoop is a 4-piece art punk outfit that combines a barrage of spoken word existentialism, shout-sung melodies, a unique approach to structure and old-school rock ‘n’ roll aesthetics. Also performing will be The Mistons and Lo Fives. Doors open at 8:00 PM.

From my notebook:

• Lifelong Portlander Matt Froman’s decade-long dream is very close to becoming a reality — restoring the Phoenix Pharmacy in the Foster-Powell neighborhood. The Phoenix Pharmacy was once one of the biggest pharmacies in the state. It was an important pharmacy for Rexall and for the Foster-Powell neighborhood. In later years it was the neighborhood video store. “I love old buildings in the city, and so many have been demolished recently. It’s like a personal goal for me to save this one here,” Froman told KOIN 6 News. “It’s a 100-year-old beautiful piece of architecture. It was built in 1922 by John Leach, and it’s always been one of the cornerstone buildings in the neighborhood.” (KOIN)

• Clyde Willcutt has a dog named Mr. Magoo. He lives in a cabin with Corey Greig and built the cabin with Don Rainey. They built the cabin along Marine Drive, visible to drivers heading south on the I-205 bridge who looked across the Columbia River. Willcut, Greig and Rainey said they will be homeless once again after PBOT officials told them to dismantle the cabin and leave. Rainey doesn’t really understand why people, including PBOT officials, would be concerned about the cabin. “We tried to get housing. We tried to get help and they said they were going to give us help and they never came back,” Rainey said. (KOIN)

• It’s hard to overstate how much Bill Schonley has meant to not just The Portland Trail Blazers but to the region. It may be impossible. He was the founding play by play person for the team, hired in 1970 – their first season – by team founder, Harry Glickman. Perhaps his single greatest contribution was coining the phrase “Rip City” to denote a basket. Now, after 52 years with the team – the last 22 as an ambassador the Blazers – Schonley has decided to take a break. He’s 92 years old. (Portland Patch)

• Prior to the pandemic, Curious Comedy Theater used to hold a short film competition for local filmmakers called Portland’s Funniest Video. We could all use a chuckle or two, so why not watch some of these funny gems. (Portland’s Funniest Video)

• You are sitting down to dinner, getting ready to relax. Suddenly hear you what appear to be fighter jets overhead. It does not mean that Oregon has gone to war with Washington over plans for a new bridge. It does not mean that Canada has invaded. It does mean that the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd fighter Wing is conducting night training exercises. (Portland Patch)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

Loving the Portland Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

That’s not your everyday Wednesday, people. That’s a Portland Wednesday. So get out there and do what you do on your Wednesdays, but come on back tomorrow and I’ll tell you more juicy details about Portland.

— Dominic Anaya

About me: Doctor, educator and now a writer/artist, I’m just chillin’ in Portland, OR with my wife, our ferrets, our chickens and our goats.

This article originally appeared on the Portland Patch

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

March 15, 2022 – Boca Raton Air Conditioning Repair is pleased to announce its latest set of preventive maintenance tips that have proved useful in extending the lives of Air Conditioners. These measures are especially recommended for residents in South Florida.

An A/C system is more like an automobile when it comes to fine-tuning it regularly to prevent breakdowns. Breakdowns during emergency situations can prove costly, so it is advisable to spend a little effort beforehand to save costly dollars and time when the emergency strikes. 

“From our experience, we can say that taking preventative measures in time can go into savings of valuable money in the long run, while also preventing avoidable headaches,” says a spokesperson for Boca Raton Air Conditioning Repair.

Elaborating further, the Boca Raton team says that an easy way is to create a checklist of A/C maintenance services to be done regularly. This can be considered the start of preventive maintenance. Now many of these items are easy and can be done as DIY, but some may require professional help. For instance, clearing, priming, and testing drain lines or checking refrigerant levels. The checklist will also include items like cleaning or changing filters, ensuring electrical connections are tight, rinsing of condenser coils, and other adjustments and inspections.

In South Florida, it is an ideal practice to change air filters between 30-90 days. The drain lines that were built in the 1970s or 80s are now old, and thus the water circulation to the A/C system requires inspection. Cleaning the drain lines every six months is an ideal practice to get rid of excess condensation, algae, or plaque.

“Preventative Maintenance Programs such as above keep A/C systems running at their peak efficiency. Regularly scheduled visits have a proven record of reducing expensive repairs and ensuring A/C systems are optimizing their consumption of electricity,” says the Boca Raton spokesperson.

The lives of A/C systems can be extended by 3-5 years by simply carrying out regular maintenance checkups. The procured benefits are several: prolong the life of the A/C, optimize its efficiency and energy consumption, improve indoor air quality (IAQ), stay compliant with warranty conditions, and reduce future breakdowns. 

Boca Raton recommends a six-month frequency of regular preventive maintenance of A/C systems. At least once a year is certainly necessary, and components such as air filters or drain lines may require a routine inspection every three months.

For more information, please visit below.

Media Contact
Company Name: Quality First Air Conditioning
Contact Person: Scott Eagle
Email: Send Email
Phone: (561) 272-2727
Address:4350 NW 19th Ave Suite D
City: Pompano Beach
State: FL 33064
Country: United States
Website: http://qualityfirstac.com/

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, March 11, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Cool Care Heating and Air, an HVAC Columbia SC specialist, is proud to provide indoor air purity for businesses and homes in Columbia, South Carolina.

According to the company, “with the doors open for business on January 1, 2001, Cool Care Heating & Air is a fully licensed, insured and bonded South Carolina heating and air conditioning company and is owned and operated by Teresa and Kenny Wardlaw. The Wardlaw’s have over thirty-seven years of combined experience in providing exceptional service and have consistently exceeded the expectations of their loyal customers by showing up when promised, communicating and solving comfort and efficiency problems, while charging a fair price. They have hired employees who are dedicated and care about doing the best job possible. In addition, The Wardlaw’s continue to invest heavily in training for the entire team so that Cool Care Heating & Air can remain the best service company in the area by staying on the cutting edge of industry innovations.”

Sick of searching for “HVAC Columbia SC?” Having a hard time Googling “AC repair Columbia SC?”

Cool Care Heating and Air provides a wide variety of services and products to help keep your home or business safe during these trying times. All of which are available on its website at www.coolcarehvac.com.

The company continues to state that, “according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air pollution might the cause of “allergies” and your air may not be as clean as it looks. Tiny airborne particles, invisible to the eye but harmful to health, may be causing your indoor air to be more polluted than the air outside. Most of us spend the majority of our time indoors, so it makes sense to want indoor air that’s as healthy as possible.”

Worried about air quality? Cool Care Heating and Air provides the coolest AC repair Columbia SC has to offer.

The company states, “there are many types of indoor pollutants, and they can all cause different reactions. Pollen, for example, can make existing allergies even worse. A carbon monoxide leak can cause headache, dizziness, and nausea.”

With a focus on quality and customer service, Cool Care Heating and Air has the expertise and experience you need to get the most amazing AC repair Columbia SC can provide.

Tired of researching “air conditioning repair Columbia SC?” For the best air conditioning repair Columbia SC has to offer, please visit www.coolcarehvac.com today!

About Cool Care Heating and Air: Cool Care Heating and Air is a heating and air conditioning contractor that is based out of Columbia, SC and was founded in 2001. They offer the best HVAC Columbia SC can provide.

Kenny Wardlaw
Cool Care Heating and Air
+1 803-772-7715
email us here

You just read:

News Provided By

March 11, 2022, 05:58 GMT

EIN Presswire’s priority is source transparency. We do not allow opaque clients, and our editors try to be careful about weeding out false and misleading content.
As a user, if you see something we have missed, please do bring it to our attention. Your help is welcome. EIN Presswire, Everyone’s Internet News Presswire™,
tries to define some of the boundaries that are reasonable in today’s world. Please see our
Editorial Guidelines
for more information.

Submit your press release

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Recently, I was talking with a longtime friend in Napa. Six months ago he acquired COVID-19 and got quite sick, was admitted to a high tech hospital in Redwood City, and put on a respiratory for a week.

He did not fit any co-morbidity definitions of overweight, smoker, drinker or diabetic. He was taken off the respiratory and was required to stay at the hospital for a week, during which he acquired a bizarre respiratory fungal infection, which then required several doses of antibiotic.

Fortunately, he recovered enough to be discharged. Unfortunately, he had to have several weeks of every kind of therapy to get him on his feet where he has improved to about 75% of normal.

Last week, and please bear with me, I was watching a program called “Forsenic Files.” The program discussed the most odd methods of finding the cause of Legionnaire’s disease.

The cause of the disease was the air conditioning system sitting on top of the 10-plus story hotel. The system had not been cleaned and sanitized for quite some time, and was pouring out thousands of droplets of the contaminated waste over the top of the building and to the street below at the front entrance.

Several of the people who contracted the disease, and a few who died, had never been in the hotel, ever. Those who were staying in the hotel and attending the convention did not acquire the disease, while in the hotel, they got it once they stepped out onto the street. None of the staff acquired the disease.

What is the point, you ask?

My friend told me that while at the hospital recuperating from contracting COVID-19, there was an air conditioner unit in his room blowing out the recycled air from the COVID-19 recovery unit into the air outside the building. Shortly after being in that room was when the fungal infection appeared in his lungs, delaying his recovery, and putting him on a respirator.

Having been sick with COVID-19 in January, but not as severely sick as my friend, I was also in a room at Sierra Nevada Hospital here in Grass Valley with an air-conditioner unit blowing out of a not-completely sealed window, and the temp in the room was constantly cooler than it should have been.

I have been a registered nurse for 34-plus years, 20 of them as a public health nurse, working in many venues. One of my favorite things to do is research. Topics like the “unknown sources of fungal diseases in hospital or clinic settings“ get me to thinking.

Here are a couple of questions I asked myself, and put in front of you.

1. Considering the severity of the “endemic-pandemic” and the constant resurgence of that virus for those who have already been vaccinated, is it possible that ventilating systems in hospitals, health care clinics and other kinds of facilities can be a potential cause for the recurrences and exacerbation among the younger, healthy populations, city, county, state, and nationwide?

2. Is there a law in any of those stated areas (as mentioned in the first question) that requires a regular sanitary cleansing of those air conditioning systems? Are they regularly enforced, and how often?

3. When was the last time Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital did a microscopic study of the holding tubs of contaminated dirty water, or any other facility for that matter?

Thank you for your patience. Hopefully this will stimulate some research by those who have the money and power, and require more thorough examination of all facilities that have large conditioning systems (including schools, hotels and airlines, which all have constant turn over of “passengers”).

Michael Driskill, RN, BSN, PHN, PMRS, Gene Therapy IV, Post-Surgical Home Care, lives in Grass Valley.

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here

Uncertainty and new questions are some of the first things that come to mind for Katherine Dickinson, PhD, assistant professor of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, when recalling Dec. 30, 2021 – the day of the Marshall Fire. 

“Afterward, I tried to write something and then had to take a step back,” said Dickinson, whose home was in the path of the state’s most-destructive fire in terms of structures lost. “I’m still processing my own experience.” 

NASA satellite imagery from Dec. 30, 2021, showing the intensity of the Marshall and Middle Fork fire smoke plumes.

The day of the fire, Dickinson and her family were driving back from the mountains and rerouted to her grandmother’s house in Longmont after receiving calls and texts. The rest of the day brought an anxious wait. She could only watch the news and smoke in the sky as they waited to hear about their home and the status of friends and family.

With the snow that fell less than 24 hours after the Marshall Fire began, a new stage of response and recovery started that is central to Dickinson’s professional career: How do you balance the realities of forward-thinking climate change policy with the immediate challenges after a disaster?

Dickinson and colleagues at the CU Denver and Boulder campuses are seeking to answer those questions and more. 

Professional and personal lives intersect 

Like many members of the CU community, the Marshall Fire was personal for Dickinson. Her family lives in Louisville and her husband is a city council member. 

“We definitely had a few really scary hours where we didn’t know if this house was going to be here,” Dickinson said from her home, which was spared from the flames.

Map of the Marshall Fire burn area and affected neighborhoods from the Boulder Emergency Operations Center.

After being allowed to return to their neighborhood, Dickinson said one of the things that stood out was the random element of the fire. “Just any small shift in the wind, and the house could have gone. And then, who knows?” 

With a research background in environmental economics, Dickinson’s experience hit home in many ways.

“I think a lot about policy and individual risk perceptions and behaviors,” she said. “I’ve actually done research in the past on wildfire mitigation behavior in the ‘wildland urban interface,’ which we didn’t think we were in. I’m kind of alternating between my resident hat, my mom hat and my researcher hat.” 

Dickinson and her colleagues have submitted a National Science Foundation Rapid Response proposal on how local resilience policies change post-disaster.

A charred fence on the Oerman-Roche Trailhead overlooking homes destroyed and spared by the Marshall Fire near the Superior Town Hall.

 

Local response in the time of climate change

As both a community member and public health researcher, Dickinson wants to know:

• What does a local government do in the wake of a disaster? 
• How do different levels of government work together to care for a traumatized community?
• How is residents’ support for climate resilience policies shaped by their own personal experiences after disaster? 

After the tragedy, the direction of civic planning and urban design are among the complex issues being raised. Dickinson points to building codes as one example of those complexities. In November 2021, the Louisville City Council passed new sustainable building codes for future structures built in the city. 

“And the idea was, all communities need to step up and really take action to reduce our climate emissions, our carbon footprint. And the building sector is one of the places where we can do that,” Dickinson said. “And so let’s push new buildings in this area to comply with these building codes to make them as climate friendly as possible.”

“It doesn’t matter how affluent and privileged you think you are. Climate change is

coming for all of us.” – Katherine Dickinson, PhD

But following the Marshall Fire – especially when many homeowners don’t have access to their home’s original building plans – many in Louisville and Superior have expressed concerns about the cost of rebuilding. 

Dickinson believes that a more complete understanding of the risks Colorado communities face needs to be part of the conversation. She lists building materials and property design for homeowners who are adjacent to open space – specifically not having wooden fences to fuel fires – as just two examples of a growing number of conversation points that need discussion. 

The remains of a home near Dillon Road in Louisville.

 

A collaborative Colorado response

Dickinson is working alongside researchers at CU Denver and CU Boulder, including those at the Natural Hazard Center, as part of the larger, collective effort to study the effects of the Marshall Fire. 

Early efforts are encouraging, Dickinson said. Because so many experts either live or work alongside Marshall Fire-affected colleagues, it is spurring unified action to answer questions about the fire – all while trying to ensure minimal impact to the communities affected as they work to recover, she said. 

Avery Hatch, a CU Boulder PhD student in environmental engineering, conducting indoor air-quality tests in a home in Superior.

“There are folks that want to come and help,” Dickinson said. “It is something to manage, but I think overall, I really see the city being like, ‘This is awesome.’” 

Teams are looking at such critical issues as air quality, building materials and how they might affect fire behavior, and gaps in the emergency warning system, she said. 

Her own research will focus on the nature of the risks communities face, understanding those risks and how that understanding influences government policy and communities’ role in combating climate change – all with a focus on equity, Dickinson said.

“Processes of environmental injustice have divided our society and allowed us to create this illusion that some places are going to be harmed and other places are going to be OK,” Dickinson said. The focus needs to shift, looking at climate change as a threat to society as a whole, including the most vulnerable, she said.

“What can we do to make sure that those vulnerable folks in our society are OK? We need to recognize that those actions will ultimately make all of us safer. It doesn’t matter how affluent and privileged you think you are,” Dickinson said. “Climate change is coming for all of us.”

Banner image: Louisville, air-quality testing photos. Credit: CU Boulder

[ad_2]

Originally Appeared Here