Using a novel method of demolition, workers plan to soak the interior of the building with water to keep asbestos fibers from spreading. Local officials, with some support from E.P.A. officials in Texas, say that this technique could save cities around the country millions of dollars in their efforts to clear out urban blight. Under federal regulations, materials with asbestos must be painstakingly removed before a building is razed.

RACINE - Tad Ballantyne of Racine, former co-owner of Racine Steel Castings, will pay a total of $20,359 in forfeitures, penalties and assessments for violations of state asbestos handling regulations.

New rules to reduce the risk of exposure to asbestos in the workplace come into force on Friday.

Under the new regulations anyone responsible for business premises must check for asbestos - and take the appropriate action if it is found.

A Brooklyn principal directed students and a teacher to tear down library walls and shelves even though he knew the room contained asbestos, then tried to cover up the incident, teachers union officials said yesterday.

According to the District Attorney's Office, workers ripped out asbestos-filled walls on more than one occasion and tossed the cancer-causing agent into a public dump

An Eastern suburbs hospital is riddled with asbestos and poses a serious health threat to its patients and staff, a doctor has claimed.

Peter Lazzari, a senior physician at the William Angliss Hospital in Ferntree Gully, yesterday said he had written to the chief executive of Eastern Health asking to have the asbestos to removed.

A federal appeals court yesterday ordered the judge overseeing five important asbestos-related bankruptcy proceedings to withdraw from three of the cases because of the appearance of bias.

The city of Fort Worth's plans to demolish the dilapidated Cowtown Inn is raising concerns from the Environmental Protection Agency.

An appellate court let stand Tuesday a $5 million judgment here for the heirs of a woman who died of mesothelioma, a form of cancer, because her father unknowingly exposed her to asbestos dust on his work clothes when she was a toddler in California 40 years ago.

According to an Associated Press report, once that happens the Houston-based company can move closer to paying out $4.17 billion in cash and stock to settle 400,000 asbestos and 21,000 silica claims as announced in December 2002.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, usually prescribed for arthritis, has a marked effect on the asbestos-related cancer malignant mesothelioma in lab and animal experiments, according to a report from Italy.

WASHINGTON - With the parties still far apart, mediated negotiations aimed at settling the nation's asbestos injury suits by creating a $120 billion-plus victims' trust fund have ended, the parties said Friday.

A Harris County judge on Friday dealt a blow to companies facing hundreds of asbestos lawsuits, rejecting their requests to put a hold on cases in which the plaintiffs have yet to suffer ill effects.

State District Judge Mark Davidson told more than 100 lawyers packed into his courtroom that the creation of a so-called "unimpaired docket" would violate the Texas Constitution and rules of judicial administration.

If the motion is granted, hundreds of cases from all over the state would be set aside until the plaintiffs can show they are suffering impairment.

Defendant companies and tort reform groups twice tried to get the Legislature to create a separate, inactive docket last year. Both efforts failed.

Bloomington -- Indiana University officials have closed the Musical Arts Center after concerns were raised about asbestos in the building.

The move came after material flaking from the ceiling of the campus building's lobby caused worries about the asbestos used in its construction.

BLOOM TOWNSHIP - Sandridge Elementary District 172 will spend about $42,900 to have asbestos removed from floor tiles and tile adhesive in some classrooms, a former office area and a hallway at Sandridge School.

FITCHBURG --A high-tech company praised for renovating a Cleghorn mill building has agreed to pay $95,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney's General office, which claimed the company violated state law when removing asbestos.

MADISON-A Janesville painting contractor convicted in federal court this week on four violations of the Clean Air Act said Friday that he regrets not knowing the law regarding asbestos removal.

On April 29, the school's maintenance head discovered a leaky water pipe which resulted in asbestos-laden ceiling plaster falling onto soccer uniforms stored in the restroom of the old boiler room area. Asbestos covering had separated from a water pipe and there was a concern that gym bags there might possibly have been contaminated.

A Washington Heights elementary school was closed yesterday - and will remain closed today - after plaster from a partially collapsed ceiling was identified as being contaminated with asbestos.

"We are seeing people who still have symptoms 21/2 years later," Landrigan said.

And some may not yet know they are sick.

That's because people who breathed asbestos in the Ground Zero air may not develop cancer until at least 10 years from now, Landrigan said.

Deeming the room a safety hazard, Galvin notified the council and Mayor Thomas M. Menino yesterday afternoon that he would be closing the chamber until the asbestos was removed and the ceiling tiles could be replaced with a lighter material, possibly corkboard. Repairing the room could cost as much as $100,000 and will take up to three weeks, Galvin said.

Ravanesi spent 11 years watching their lives through his camera. He met more than 200 victims in asbestos factory towns. He's been to 75 or 80 funerals.

The result of his work, a traveling exhibit called "Breath Taken: The Landscape and Biography of Asbestos," is taking up more than one room at the Missoula Art Museum through June 26.

In a recent study, Lilly's drug Alimta® (pemetrexed) demonstrated a similar patient survival rate, but with an improved safety profile, when compared to Taxotere® (docetaxel), the current standard of care for second-line non-small cell lung cancer.

The research findings of the largest head-to-head Phase III trial ever reported to date in second-line non-small cell lung cancer were reported in the May 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology(1), a peer-reviewed journal.

Alimta, in combination with cisplatin, was recently approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer often associated with asbestos exposure.

Currently, Taxotere is the only drug approved in the U.S. to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer in the second line setting. While the drug extends the average patient's life by a few months when compared to best supportive care, it is associated with several side effects, including hair loss and blood-related toxicities, including neutropenia, a lowering of the white blood cell count that can cause infections and fever, thus requiring hospitalization.

The new findings show that Alimta, which can be administered in 10 to 15 minute infusions once every three weeks, displayed a survival rate comparable to that of Taxotere (median survival was 8.3 months vs. 7.9 months respectively), but with fewer serious side effects.

"Alimta clearly had fewer drug-related hematological side effects, which resulted in fewer hospitalizations," said Nasser Hanna, M.D., lead author of the study and assistant professor, Indiana University School of Medicine and member of the Indiana University Cancer Center. "So in short, Alimta is better tolerated, it's convenient to administer and it's equally as effective as Taxotere." Patients on Alimta did show an increased transient elevation in the liver enzyme, Alanine Transaminase (ALT) said Hanna.

Lilly has submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for the use of Alimta in the second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Lilly anticipates a regulatory decision by the fourth quarter. Lilly has also submitted a dual European submission, with the first part for Alimta, combined with cisplatin, in the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma and the second for Alimta as a single-agent in the second-line treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.

A recent report warns that the long latency period for asbestos-related diseases may mean that illness rates have yet to peak.

Brad Black, MD, a physician in Libby, Mont., is one of the lucky ones. He's breathing just fine. But he can't say the same for many of his patients.

Occupational exposure to asbestos appears associated with an increased risk of developing retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF), according to the findings of a case-control study conducted in Finland.