SIOUX CITY | A public forum was held Tuesday to discuss proposed new city regulations for intercepting and disposing of fats, oils and grease.

The forum took place at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, 3100 S. Lewis Blvd. The city is proposing more precise rules to manage how businesses deal with their output.

"Thiswill bring everyone under a uniform cloud, with specific guidelines they can follow and understand," said Vicki Baker, lab supervisor. "The ordinance will contain everything you need, from size to location to type."

The move was spurred by a request from the Environmental Protection Agency. Homeowners would be exempt under the ordinance.No owners of affected businesses were in attendance at the public forum.

Desiree McCaslen, a pretreatment manager with the Sioux City Public Works Department, said poorly managed disposal mechanisms can cause infrastructure issues, basement backups and unwanted discharges to storm drains.

If passed, the ordinance will only apply to establishments that sell or prepare food, but will eventually expand to cover maintenance garages and equipment manufacturers.

Existing businesses will have their control mechanisms grandfathered in under an older regulation. However, these businesses could forfeit their exemption if there have been plumbing changes, major remodeling projects or changes of ownership.

The first violation of the new rule would carry a fine of $100, but if left unchecked it could increase to $1,000 per violation per day.

Some local business owners say they're confident their current systems will be adequate under the new ordinance.

"I just have a small french fry I'm not a big restaurant where we produce a lot of grease," said Steve Margeas, owner of the Coney Island Wiener House, at 510 Nebraska St. "I have a system that catches all of it, and I pour it into a container and dispose of it."

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Public forum held on Sioux City grease disposal plans

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SIOUX CITY | Local property owners who improve the value of residential properties will be eligible for partial tax exemptions until Dec. 31, 2020.

The Urban Revitalization Tax Exemption rewards property owners for increasing the value of their property through physical improvements. Anyone who owns residential property in Sioux City is eligible for the program.

Various exemption schedules are available to homeowners who have made qualifying improvements, lasting up to 10 years on up to 115 percent of the property's increased value.

Improvements must add "lasting value" to the property, through major remodeling projects and additions.

These include "building a new garage, finishing an unfinished basement, an addition to the house, finishing any unfinished space, sometimes siding and windows things like that," said Neighborhood Services Project Coordinator Amy Keairns.

Applications for the exemption must be filed during the year the improvements were made. If homeowners made improvements during 2014, they can apply until Dec. 31.

Applications and additional information can be found at Room 305 on the third floor of City Hall, or onSioux City's Neighborhood Services website.

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Home improvement tax breaks available for Sioux City homeowners

FORT DODGE, Iowa | After a mistrial was declared in the John Green murder case Tuesday, a new trial has been scheduled.

District Judge Gary McMinimee set the new trial for March 30 in Webster County District Court in Fort Dodge.

Green, 55, is charged with first-degree murder in Sac County District Court. The trial was moved to Fort Dodge after Green's attorney said pretrial publicity would make it hard for him to receive a fair trial in Sac County.

Green's trial began Monday, and McMinimee ordered a mistrial after defense attorney Charles Kenville objected to the testimony of Sac City Police Chief John Thompson's remarks use of the term "bad people," a phrase Kenville said mischaracterized his client.

Green is charged with the 2009 death of his former roommate, Mark Koster. Green is accused of choking Koster to death in Koster's home. Koster's body was found hidden in the basement in 2012, when the new homeowner was remodeling the basement.

Green was arrested in March in Florida.

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After mistrial, new date set in Sac City murder case

COLUMBIA, Md., Dec. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --ACell, Inc. today announced that a peer-reviewed study, "Esophageal Reinforcement with an Extracellular Scaffold During Total Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer,"was published in theOctober, 2014 issue of Annals of Surgical Oncology, featuring its MatriStem Surgical Matrix PSM device.

The retrospective study compared the rate of anastomotic leaks after total gastrectomy in two patient groups one group that had esophageal reinforcement using MatriStem Surgical Matrix PSM and a second group as a control. 2.7% of patients in the MatriStem group had a postoperative leak, compared to 12% in the control group a reduction of more than 75%.

"Post-operative leaks are a potentially devastating complication of esophageal reinforcement, with morbidity rates approaching 50%," said Thomas Gilbert, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development at ACell. "Various approaches have been developed and tried with the hopes of reducing the occurrence of post-operative leaks, but none have been widely accepted by the clinical community."

Post-operative leaks can also increase the incidence of strictures (narrowing of the esophagus) and have a negative impact on the patient's nutritional status.

Gastrectomy is a surgical procedure that removes a patient's stomach; typically the surgeon then connects the esophagus directly to the small bowel with a procedure called anastomosis. A full or partial gastrectomy is usually the only curative measure for patients with primary stomach cancer, which affects more than 20,000 Americans each year.

"The research presented is very promising and could represent a significant step forward in treating stomach cancer patients who have undergone total gastrectomy," said Gilbert. "We have initiated a prospective study with the same research team to further examine the potential for MatriStem technology to improve outcomes after esophageal anastomosis, which we believe will validate these initial promising results and lead to broader adoption of the technique."

About ACell, Inc.

ACell, Inc. is a leading regenerative medicine company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of unique extracellular matrix (ECM) products to facilitate the repair and remodeling of damaged tissues. ACell is committed to becoming and remaining an innovative leader in regenerative medical technology, offering superior healing options for doctors and patients. ACell is a privately held company and operates manufacturing facilities in Columbia, MD and Lafayette, IN. For more information, call (800) 826-2926 or visit http://www.acell.com.

About MatriStem

MatriStem products are porcine-derived extracellular matrices (ECMs) that contain the epithelial basement membrane from porcine urinary bladder matrix (UBM). UBM is a layer of tissue that facilitates a constructive tissue remodeling response by the patient's body. MatriStem products are indicated for use in general surgery, gynecological surgery, and in the management of a wide range of wounds. Refer to the IFU supplied with each device for indications, contraindications and precautions. All MatriStem devices are made in the USA.

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MatriStem Featured in Annals of Clinical Oncology

Council votes to build downtown building according to LEED construction standards

By Tristan Scott // Dec 7, 2014 // News & Features

A rendering of the future Whitefish City Hall building. Courtesy of Mosaic Architecture

The Whitefish City Council voted Dec. 1 to construct its new city hall according to green building standards administered by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. It would be the only building in Whitefish with a LEED certification, which councilors agreed is an attractive quality.

The council has not yet specified at what rating level it intends to build the downtown centerpiece, but in a 4-3 vote determined it would pursue LEED certification at some level.

The council was divided on whether to seek LEED certification due to the associated costs, and Mayor John Muhlfeld cast the deciding vote in favor of LEED.

LEED is a set of rating systems for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes and neighborhoods. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is intended to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently.

All of the councilors were in favor of constructing the city hall in a green and efficient manner, but some balked at the notion of paying for administrative oversight.

I dont like paying for paperwork. And Im a lawyer, said councilor John Anderson.

There would be an additional cost of $1,200 to register and an additional fee of $50,000 to $75,000 to file all the paperwork, as well as follow up work that Mosaic Architect would have to do.

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Whitefish City Hall to Go Green

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

5-Dec-2014

Contact: John Fleischman jfleischman@fuse.net 513-706-0212 American Society for Cell Biology @AmerSocCellBio

It means cancer "in place" but a carcinoma "in situ" often does not want to keep its place. Standing between a cancer cell in situ and the surrounding tissue of fibroblasts and extracellular matrix is the basement membrane, a thin sheet of fibers that normally cradles the cells above it. The basement membrane is also the frontline physical barrier that keeps primary tumors from spreading into the matrix below. Perforating the basement membrane is a cancer cell's first move toward invasion, but how? Fibroblasts are most commonly found in connective tissue that synthesizes extracellular matrix and another main structural protein of animals, collagen. But there are also carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF) whose matrix proteinases could come in handy in breaking the membrane barrier. The question becomes who is invading whom--do cancer cells invade the basement membrane or do some fibroblasts help invading cancers? Researchers at the Institut Curie in Paris now say that they have evidence of a coordinated attack on the basement membrane by cancer cells in situ and CAF cells in the extracellular matrix that begins long before the actual translocation of cancer cells. The work will be presented at the ASCB/IFCB meeting in Philadelphia.

Using human colon cancer cells and primary human fibroblasts isolated from tumors and adjacent normal tissues, Alexandros Glentis and colleagues at the Institut Curie addressed the question of whether the cancer cells or the CAF cells were responsible for the breakdown of the basement membrane that leads to cancer progression. They compared CAFs from colon tumors to normal fibroblasts (NAFs) that were isolated from the same patient, in the adjacent normal tissue. A combination of markers was used to discriminate fibroblasts from other cell types to validate the purity of isolated cells and to discriminate NAFs from CAFs. In co-culture experiments on coated transfilters, both NAFs and CAFs induced migration and invasion of HT29, which are intrinsically noninvasive colon cancer cells.

The researchers then devised an assay that deployed native basement membrane to separate cancer cells on one side and fibroblasts embedded in collagen on the other. They found that only CAFs were able to stimulate invasion of cancer cells. Further study applying proteomic analysis confirmed that CAFs secrete more proteases, extracellular matrix proteins, and proteins that modify the basement membrane compared with NAFs, pointing to a remodeling role for CAFs in invasion.

Through imaging the tumors and fibroblasts, the researchers then found the smoking gun of cancer-CAF cooperation--long protrusions like puppet-strings that the tumor cells used to communicate with the fibroblasts well before the cancer cells moved to breach the basement membrane. The researchers are currently testing a role of CAF-derived molecules in basement membrane remodeling to further dissect the secret alliance between cancer cells and CAFs in basement membrane invasion.

###

Contact: Alexandros Glentis, alexandre.glentis@curie.fr

8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 750 Bethesda, MD 20814

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An unholy alliance -- Colon cancer cells in situ co-opt fibroblasts in surrounding tissue to break out

The following information is provided by the Newtown Township Police Department:

Thursday Nov. 20

ATTEMPTED THEFT FROM AUTO >> 1000 block of Drew Dr. reported at 9:32 a.m. Complainant reports that sometime overnight, unknown person(s) entered the unlocked vehicles and rummaged through them. Nothing reported missing at this time.

THEFT FROM VEHICLE >> 1000 block of Houston Road reported at 10:48 a.m. Complainant reports that sometime overnight, unknown person(s) entered the unlocked vehicle and removed a coat and money. Approximate value $155.

THEFT FROM VEHICLE >> Unit block of Scammel Drive reported at 5:26 p.m. Complainant reports that sometime overnight, unknown person(s) entered the unlocked vehicle and removed $5 in change.

Wednesday, Nov. 19

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY >> 1000 block of N. Kimbles Road. reported at 12:40 p.m. Complainant reports receiving a call from the alarm company of an activation at the residence. Unknown person(s) attempted to force the front door open. Nothing reported missing at this time.

SOLICITORS >> 1600 block of Hunters Court reported at 5:51 p.m. Complainant reports someone soliciting for impact remodeling without a permit. He was warned by police to obtain a permit.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF >> 2000 block of Silverwood Dr. reported at 9 a.m. Complainant reports that sometime overnight, unknown person(s) smashed the mailbox. Approximate value $250.

Tuesday, Nov. 18 Continued...

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LOWER MAKEFIELD POLICE REPORT: Man wanted for burglary turns himself in, police investigate burglary and attempted ...

The East Aurora house where Irving Price lived when he co-founded the Fisher-Price toy company during the Depression is for sale for $250,000.

After a summer of frustration when he was told that he could not tear down the gutted Victorian house for a parking lot, the owner put the house and its Main Street neighbor (for $200,000) on the market.

Gene Wachala was stymied by East Auroras decision in June to designate the old houses as historic landmarks, which meant he wasnt allowed to tear them down as he had hoped.

Instead, a new owner will have to rehab the empty houses, at 259 and 253 Main, which dont even have kitchens.

Its virtually building a new house inside that outer skin, said Wachala, owner of Pasquales restaurant across the street. Whoever does it, I think, is going to be in the business of remodeling because theyre going to eat a lot of the costs themselves, I would think. Hopefully, someone will come along.

Wachala bought the houses at auction last year, intending to replace them with a parking lot for his restaurant as well as a new building that would have combined commercial storefronts at street level with upstairs apartments.

But at a meeting earlier this year, the century-old houses drew a small crowd of advocates who spoke passionately to the Village Board about preserving Main Streets old-fashioned character.

Local landmark status, which the houses now have, prevents their demolition without village approval.

The people of East Aurora at the public hearing spoke loud and clear about their views, said Mark W. Warren, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission. It was overwhelming.

It is common for old buildings to deteriorate and need lots of work, he said. His examples of once-forlorn historic properties revamped into something newly appreciated include the Darwin Martin House, Graycliff, the Erie Canal Commercial Slip, the Hotel @ The Lafayette, the grain elevators and the Roycroft Campus.

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Price house, companion for sale as fixer-uppers

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Basement Remodeling | Home Guides | SF Gate