NEWS
May 14, 2013
ALTHOUGH KERMIT Gosnell was tried for more than 250 crimes, the most serious counts he faced were for the first-degree murders of four babies (he was convicted of three) and the third-degree murder of patient Karnamaya Mongar (he was instead found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Mongar's death). The jury yesterday found Gosnell not guilty of murder in the death of Baby E, and the judge dismissed murder charges regarding Babies B, F and G after the prosecution rested last month.
NEWS
April 30, 2013 | By Sam Wood, PHILLY.COM
A passenger who flew from Philadelphia to San Francisco was detained on arrival by federal agents after a vindictive flight attendant claimed he had not flushed a lavatory toilet, according to a federal suit. The suit, which seeks $500,000 in damages, was filed last week in the Northern District of California. Salvatore Bevivino, 52, a business manager for Genentech, boarded a Virgin America flight on April 28, 2012. After the plane reached cruising altitude over Indiana, the former Amblerite pushed the call button and asked for a soda.
SPORTS
March 31, 2013 | By T.J. Furman, Inquirer Staff Writer
Ballparks around the nation have been very interested in human waste lately. Early last week came news that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs will have a "urinal gaming system" at their park this season. Step up, aim, and see how high you can score. Meanwhile, fans in Milwaukee may be upset because the Brewers are gaming the urinal system. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Friday that the Brewers have decided to prevent fans from bringing portable toilets to the parking lot for their tailgate parties.
BUSINESS
February 19, 2013 | By Diane Mastrull, Inquirer Columnist
How does one outdo a toilet-training kit for cats? With a pillowcase designed to be worn - yes, worn - on the head, with a hole to accommodate earphone wires and a pocket for an iPod or a remote control, Rebecca Rescate believes. The Yardley mother of three has $15,000 in personal finances banking on it, and has just secured an additional $90,000 from Robert Herjavec, an investor on ABC-TV's popular Shark Tank . The technology titan missed out on Rescate's funky feline venture when she appeared on the show in 2011 - sales of the CitiKitty Cat Toilet Training Kit have reached $5 million - and "I'm not going to do it again," he said when she returned for a Feb. 8 episode pitching the new product - the HoodiePillow.
NEWS
October 12, 2012 | By Alan J. Heavens, Inquirer Real Estate Writer
Apparently, if you believe Peter Kushkowski of Portland, Conn., I goofed pinpointing the source of rusting of a heating register next to a reader's toilet. "From my experience, the obvious cause is not condensation as you suggested, but her husband," said Kushkowski, identifying poor aim as the cause. "Advising him to sit down as his wife does will go a long way to eliminating the reoccurrence of rust - it worked at our house," he said. Of the six e-mails suggesting this as a reason, Kushkowski was the only male sender.
BUSINESS
August 22, 2012 | By Sam Wood, Inquirer Staff Writer
Each time Stan Auerbach sits on his toilet, he worries it might explode. "It's a little scary," said Auerbach, 78, of Delaware County. Auerbach has two toilets in his Garnet Valley home, and they're both outfitted with a powerful high-pressure Flushmate III system. In June, the Flushmate III was declared a "laceration risk. " The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a recall notice for more than 2.3 million of the water-conservation devices after learning that 304 units had blown up. The explosions shattered the commodes, caused home flooding, and, in some cases, sent porcelain shrapnel flying.
NEWS
June 22, 2012 | By Sam Wood and INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Following the explosions of at least 304 toilets, the manufacturer of a toilet flushing system has ordered the recall of more than 2.3 million units. Flushmate, a division of Sloan Valve Company, manufactured about 2,330,600 Flushmate III devices between October 1997 and February 2008. In recent years, hundreds of people have called the company to report the devices burst, releasing enough stored pressure to lift the lids and shatter the tanks of toilet. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 14 people have reported impact or lacerations injuries resulting from the commodes' ceramic shrapnel.
NEWS
May 31, 2012 | By Joelle Farrell and INQUIRER TRENTON BUREAU
When New Jersey lost one of its 13 congressional districts last winter, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman faced a tough choice: run against an incumbent Republican in a right-leaning district that now included some of Rothman's former turf or square off against a fellow Democrat in a newly formed district that included more than half of his old constituency. Many Democrats urged him to take on U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, a Republican with tea party leanings in the Fifth District, where the remapping committee put Rothman's hometown of Fair Lawn, Bergen County.
NEWS
April 27, 2012 | Al Heavens
Myron Wentz, a microbiologist, recently wrote a book called The Healthy Home — www.myhealthyhome.com — and offers some ways to create one at your house: Take your shoes off before entering your home. We walk around unwittingly in car oil, pesticides, animal waste, and toxins. Nonstick pots and pans release potentially hazardous fumes and particles into the air such as toxic gases, carcinogens, and global pollutants. Try using a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet instead.
NEWS
February 21, 2012 | By Robert Moran, Inquirer Staff Writer
Plumbers working on a clogged residential toilet discovered the remains of a fetus Monday afternoon in the city's Harrowgate section, police said. Two plumbers opened a pipe in the basement of a home in the 800 block of East Russell Street about 4 p.m. and found the remains while removing debris from a pipe leading to a second-floor toilet, Chief Inspector Scott Small said. They dialed 911, and responding officers and investigators determined the remains were human, Small said.