| Asbestos laces many residential soils
It was the mid-1980s, and Terry Trent and his wife, Carol Adams, had broken ground for their dream home. Atop a hill east of Sacramento, Calif., the remote, 10-acre site in the Sierra foothills offered plenty of privacy. As the couple eventually learned, it offered plenty of something else as well: a nasty type of asbestos known as tremolite. Respiratory exposure to this mineral has been linked with mesothelioma, a lung cancer that quickly turns fatal. .
Abuse victims free to sue after decades
VICTIMS of childhood sexual assault, medical negligence and workplace accidents could now sue for damages decades after the event, following a landmark High Court decision that will force former ATSIC chairman Geoff Clark to defend claims he led the 1971 pack-rape of a 16-year-old girl. Carol Stingel was "over the moon" yesterday with the court judgment clearing the way for her to sue the Aboriginal leader despite 35 years passing since the alleged attack. It will be the first time Mr Clark has had to respond to the rape allegations, as no criminal case was ever mounted and he has waged a constant battle to strike Ms Stingel's claim out of the Victorian courts. The decision significantly expands the number of cases that can now proceed even if the legal time limits for taking court action have expired.
Hot work: Sunday’s Race for Life event JONATHAN BECKER
WOMEN taking part in the Race for Life in Carlisle have criticised organisers for failing to provide water at the end of the course. Four thousand women made their way around the Sheepmount and Bitts Park on Sunday in 30C sweltering temperatures but found there was no free water at the end – just a complimentary carton of cranberry juice. Runners were asked to take their own water to Sunday's event or pay £1 for a bottle at the end of the course. Moyra Fisher, who works for Cumbria County Council, said: “I think there should have been a water station at least half way round on such a hot day and at the end. “They always used to give out water after finishing the race. “Cranberry juice leaves the mouth a bit dry and you can't really pour it over your head to cool down." Participant Kate Stark, of Carlisle, said: “I think given that it was so hot they should have had a water station half way round and at the end.
Union leader represents more than labor in state
BIRDS LANDING - With a cigar between his lips and a shotgun slung over his shoulder, state labor leader and Contra Costa native Jim Kellogg is the very picture of a man's man. In the testosterone-charged morning, Kellogg joined 90 shooters blasting away at fist-sized clay discs whirring over the grassy landscape in this Central Valley hunting preserve. "After we're done shooting, I'll have a beer and then I'll be a real man," joked Kellogg, a tall and well-built 62-year-old wearing blue jeans and a state Fish and Game T-shirt and cap. The scene, like Kellogg, is deceptively simple. "People have a tendency to underestimate Jim," said longtime friend and Contra Costa Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier. "He doesn't say much and he doesn't have a formal education.
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