The Department of Buildings officials discovered heavy industrial gear and construction debris blocking several fire escapes and exits in a Bronx building at 1204 Shakespeare Ave. For their safety, residents were forced to leave their unsafe building. This left about a hundred residents moving into several hotels around New York. While residents were upset having to move so close to the holidays, a number of New York personal injury lawyers agree that the New York Fire Department made a correct decision. "If a fire escape is blocked or improperly maintained, it can ...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has proposed major revisions to the criteria used to evaluate adult and child claims of mental disorders. This marks the first major revision of the Listings of Impairments since the 1985 release for adults and the first change since 1990 for children. The revisions are designed to be reflective of advances in medical technology, recommendations from the report, Mental Retardation: Determining Eligibility for Social Security Benefits, published in 2000, and public comments sought in a policy conference in 2003. Proposed Changes ...

Officials decided to close all 31 escalators at the Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station in New Jersey after an accident Sunday evening injured five people. Following a New York Jets game, fans were riding up a 25-foot-long escalator with it came to an abrupt stop. Some people who were on the escalator at the time lost their balance and fell. A man and a woman suffered head injuries, while the other three had knee and rib injuries. All were taken to local hospitals. According to an official, none of the escalator caused injuries were life-threatening. "What ...

New York received a "D" grade on the March of Dimes 2010 Premature Birth report card released Wednesday. Every year, approximately 31,187 are born premature in New York State, according to the organization. Premature birth is the leading cause of death in newborns, and one of the leading causes of infant deaths. Babies who are born premature and survive are at greater risk for lifelong health problems including cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, intestinal problems, respiratory problems, blindness and deafness. "Whenever babies are born prematurely, doctors must ...

In a move questioned by the New York Civil Liberties Union and some of New York's top lawyers, the New York Police Department is now using machines to photograph and scan the irises of prisoners as they pass through New York Central Booking. The department claims that this new high-tech identification program is part of a failsafe measure meant to prevent escapes as suspects move through New York's complex and winding court system. Individuals deeply concerned with civil liberties and privacy, like New York top lawyer David Perecman, are uneasy with new regime of personal ...

Anyone who has ever watched an episode of any police drama on television has heard the words "you have the right to remain silent" at some point. The 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona requires law enforcement officials to inform those arrested of their constitutional rights before any questioning takes place. Those rights include the right to remain silent, as well as the right to have an attorney present. In the past, the warning provided a clear picture of the rights that were granted to those in police custody. The warning meant what it said, giving ...

As federal regulators consider issuing a requirement that automakers put black boxes in all vehicles, emerging reports indicate that the data recorders installed in Toyota vehicles are passing bad information. According to the New York Times, automotive websites have been reporting that the devices used to download data from the black boxes in Toyota cars and trucks have a software bug corrupting information about vehicle speed. Impossible Speed Doubts about Toyota data reliability arose after a readout from a Toyota pick-up truck indicated the vehicle had been ...

We may not yet have the flying cars that countless movies have promised us -- it is 2010, after all -- but we are getting closer. Google has recently garnered significant media attention for the computer-driven cars it has been testing on the West Coast. Among the infinite possibilities that "robot cars" present, the legal issues that will arise when a computer-driven car is in a motor vehicle accident are complex. The Google Car Google cars -- Toyota Priuses equipped with cameras, sensors and other tools -- have traveled more than 140,000 miles with minimal human ...

Product recall alerts are nothing new. There are literally hundreds of product recalls every year, issued by state and federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). News programs are full of them, and entire websites are devoted to them, so what is an information-inundated consumer to do? The American Association of Poison Control Centers understands the confusion and concern that the slew of recalls ...

Rhode Island has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers in New England. Therefore, it is important to add uninsured-motorist coverage to your auto-insurance policy before an accident with an uninsured driver puts a potentially big dent in your piggy bank. Uninsured Driver Statistics A study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC), a nonprofit division of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America, estimated that one in six drivers in the United States does not have car insurance. The IRC study ...

Debenhams has revealed that over 80% of presents under the Christmas tree are selected, purchased and wrapped by women. A new survey from the department store revealed that most women buy the majority of Christmas gifts for partners, children, grandparents, neighbours, friends and even themselves, plus stock up on expertly-wrapped standby unisex gifts such as wine and chocolates for unexpected Christmas visitors. Debenhams spokesperson Michelle Dowdall commented: "While tradition states that the male is the head of the household, when it comes to Christmas shopping, ...

Kuoni, the luxury holiday specialist, recently launched its all new brochure for 2011 holidays in Italy. In its pages, readers will find quintessential Italian experiences ranging from cookery lessons in Tuscany and visits to Lake Como to zooming round the countryside in a Maserati and climbing up Mount Etna. These experiences prove that La Dolce Vita is thriving in our Italy holidays with a selection of colourful activities on offer in Kuoni's latest Italy brochure, which is valid between January and December 2011. "From city breaks and glorious Italian lake holidays, ...

The National Trust and Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks' A Plant in Time touring garden exhibition has won the best Green Event Award (shows/exhibitions) at the prestigious global Green Awards 2010 gala ceremony. The award was presented at the Natural History Museum in London. Judging was based on the criteria of creativity, innovation, effectiveness of the communication campaign and media vehicles employed. The winning entries were the judges pick of the best global campaigns communicating sustainability. 'A Plant in Time' was an innovative, fun, inter-active exhibition, ...

Superbreak, the short break specialist, has announced the launch of its royal wedding packages, allowing customers the opportunity to secure a break in advance of the April wedding date. The York-based tour operator has launched a selection of royal wedding breaks ranging from 2- to 3-night breaks to ensure customers have the chance to celebrate the royal wedding in April next year. Customers can choose from a range of 3- to 5-star hotel breaks in central London, securing hotel rooms in Kensington, Knightsbridge and the West End to appeal to most budgets and tastes. ...

Standard Life and Life Academy, the life and retirement planning charity, have published the report 'Everyone Needs a Plan', to coincide with the launch of Financial Planning Week. The report suggests that consumers are in the eye of a financial storm with only 51% of adults currently saving while 28% actively choose not to save*. Authored by Alan Pickering, CBE and chairman of Life Academy, 'Everyone Needs a Plan' examines the UK savings culture and examines, case by case, the repercussions of non saving to consumers from all walks of life. It finds that the penalty ...

Debenhams has reported that the trend for designer donkeys, Virgin Marys and Josephs is stronger than ever, with competitive parents splashing out up to GBP150 to ensure that their youngster is the brightest star in the nativity play. Grandma's chequered tea towels and chintzy tinsel from last year's tree are just not good enough it seems, as parents shape up their shepherds using the finest of materials. Designer chinos, shearling throws and fine silk party dresses are instead adorning this year's cast in community centres, churches and school halls for the annual ...

The fact that Rev. Fred Phelps' Kansas-based, Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket Elizabeth Edwards' (the estranged wife of Presidential Candidate John Edwards) funeral this Saturday, along with the fact that repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) got defeated, and the recent gay bullying ending in teen suicides, all combines to show that racism and bigotry toward the GLBT community is still very much a part of American life and is entrenched in the belief systems of people. The independent film, "Change of Life", 2009 Winner Best Spiritual Film at the Great Lakes Independent ...

Researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa have developed innovative techniques that could have profound effects on congenital cervical vertebrae malformation research. In the cover-featured research article of the November issue of Molecular Reproduction and Development, researchers looked into congenital cervical vertebrae malformation in humans that can cause neural problems and increase susceptibility to stillbirth in women. Research advancement on abnormal vertebrae development has been limited due to the lack of lab animals with taxonomic equivalency ...

Like the mute button on the TV remote control, our brains filter out unwanted noise so we can focus on what we're listening to. But when it comes to following our own speech, a new brain study from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that instead of one homogeneous mute button, we have a network of volume settings that can selectively silence and amplify the sounds we make and hear. Neuroscientists from UC Berkeley, UCSF and Johns Hopkins University tracked the electrical signals emitted from the brains of hospitalized epilepsy patients. They discovered that ...

SAN ANTONIO — Postmenopausal women who take aromatase inhibitors as a treatment for breast cancer may be at an increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease, according to the results of a meta-analysis. These data, presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, indicate that women presenting with breast cancer treatment who have risk factors for cardiovascular disease should be considered for a shorter duration of use of aromatase inhibitors. "It appears that aromatase inhibitors have a significant increase in cardiotoxic side effects, ...

SAN ANTONIO — Obesity was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival in women with operable breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, but for the first time, researchers observed this finding in only a specific subset of patients – those with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive/HER2-negative disease. About one third of all adults in the United States are obese, posing a major public health problem because of obesity's association with an increased risk of diabetes and heart disease. This study indentified a new hazard associated with obesity. Results ...

SAN ANTONIO — Only half of eligible women in the United States are getting their annual mammograms, even if they have insurance to pay for the procedure, according to data presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Last year the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of non-federal experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine, recommended that the age of first mammogram be lifted from 40 to 50 years of age, at which biennial mammography begins, and caused a public outcry. To date, no major insurance company or other ...

SAN ANTONIO — While endogenous estrogen (i.e., estrogen produced by ovaries and by other tissues) does have a well-known carcinogenic impact, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) utilizing estrogen alone (the exogenous estrogen) provides a protective effect in reducing breast cancer risk, according to study results presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12. "Our analysis suggests that, contrary to previous thinking, there is substantial value in bringing HRT with estrogen alone to the guidelines. The data show that for selected ...

SAN ANTONIO — The long-awaited results of the Adjuvant Treatment with Zoledronic Acid in Stage II/III Breast Cancer, the AZURE trial, will be presented at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held here Dec. 8-12. "Adjuvant use of bisphosphonates like zoledronic acid is widespread among women with breast cancer, and the results of this trial will help answer many questions as well invite new ones," said Robert Coleman, M.D., professor of medical oncology at the University of Sheffield in England. Coleman will present the results of AZURE during ...

SAN ANTONIO — Exemestane, an aromatase inhibitor that blocks production of estrogen, may provide another post-surgery option for postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor positive, early-stage breast cancer. In the first head-to-head adjuvant clinical trial comparing two aromatase inhibitors, anastrozole and exemestane, the drugs resulted in similar survival rates and prevention of breast cancer recurrences. Some differences in the side effect profile were seen, including a potential difference in the risk of developing osteoporosis. Paul E. Goss, M.D., Ph.D., professor ...