From the BCCT.
This is why parents and schools need to be working together. The teachers cannot do it without the parents. The parents cannot do it without the teachers. It's as simple as that.
Teens face gun charges
By: MATT COUGHLIN
The Intelligencer
A 15-year-old Council Rock South sophomore planned to bring a gun to school, threaten or even shoot a teacher and said he had no qualms about hurting anyone who got in his way, according to police.
He and two other 15-year-olds from the Holland section of Northampton hatched two separate sets of plans that involved the same stolen handgun to get what they wanted earlier this week, investigators said. Instead, they face criminal charges.
The boy who planned to intimidate his teacher was upset that she was telling his parents he was doing poorly in class and wanted to change her mind, or if not, shoot her, police said.
The other two planned to use the gun to threaten someone in Middletown, according to police. However, they were arrested before they could find their target.
On Monday, a Middletown resident called 911 to report two suspicious juveniles looking at houses in his neighborhood. Police said they found the two 15-year-olds walking toward the Neshaminy Creek along Brownsville Road near Woodbine Avenue. The two appeared to be casing the homes, though police said they planned to intimidate someone in that neighborhood.
Police said the teens were evasive when questioned. Officers found a stolen Walther P22 concealed in one of the teen's pants and both were arrested. Someone had unsuccessfully tried to scratch the serial numbers off the gun, police said. However, police traced the gun's registration to a man on West Patricia Road in Northampton. He didn't know the gun had been stolen until Middletown police contacted him after the arrests.
The capture of his friends and seizure of the stolen gun foiled the plans of the would-be school shooter, police said. School officials learned about the threats from other students, and the boy was detained until police could take him into custody.
The stolen gun the teen planned to use was never in the school, police said.
But investigators said he did have the gun in his hands at some point before his friends were caught with it Monday. That's why, in addition to charges of making terroristic threats, the teen arrested at Council Rock South is charged with receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime and possession of a firearm by a minor. He remains at the county juvenile detention center in Edison pending a hearing next week.
The two teens arrested by Middletown police Monday also were sent to Edison, where they have been charged with attempted burglary, attempted trespassing, criminal mischief and conspiracy. The one who had the gun at the time of arrest also faces charges of carrying a concealed firearm, a minor carrying a firearm, receiving stolen property and altering the serial numbers on the gun, police said.
March 28, 2009 12:00 AM
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Step Away From that Coffee
From the front page of the BCCT.
I'm looking at my breakfast table: The bacon is bad for me. Ditto the eggs. The hash browns are dripping with butter. And now my coffee is a problem.
Did anyone tell the good people over at Dunkin Donuts about this?
Yum. This is a good breakfast!
Study: Hot beverages may increase throat cancer risk
Scientists have found people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus, damaging the protective tissue over time, which can increase cancer risk.
By JO CIAVAGLIA
STAFF WRITER
Most people know that cigarettes and excessive alcohol can kill you, but what about a cup of hot coffee or tea?
For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated about a possible connection between super hot beverages and increased risk of some throat cancers, but study outcomes have been mixed. But a study of Iranian tea drinkers provides new strong evidence of a link, researchers say.
The latest results published online in the British Medical Journal last week found abnormally high rates of squamous cell esophageal cancer among people living in a Northern Iran province where alcohol is forbidden, tobacco use is rare, but very hot black tea is a daily staple.
The observational study analyzed the smoking, alcohol and tea habits of 871 people, 300 of them recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and found a strong link between drink temperatures and the likelihood they developed esophageal cancer.
Participants answered questions about their tea-drinking habits including the temperature and how long they let the tea brew before drinking it. Nearly all participants said they drank black tea daily.
Squamous cell esophageal cancer was eight times as common among people who drank “very hot” tea, compared to warm or lukewarm tea drinkers. By the same comparison, hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer.
The scientists classified warm beverages as anything below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot beverage, considered higher than 156 degrees Fahrenheit, doubled the risk of esophageal cancer.
Study participants who frequently drank tea at 158 degrees Fahrenheit or above had an eight-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers concluded that allowing beverages to cool before drinking reduces the cancer risk.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer responsible for a half-million deaths each year worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol use are the most common causes of windpipe cancer in Europe and America, but scientists also theorized that frequent consumption of hot drinks might play a role.
For Abington Memorial Hospital oncologist Dr. Mark Sundermeyer, what makes the new study interesting is it removed the two biggest cancer risk factors —tobacco and alcohol — which allowed the focus to remain on beverage temperature.
What scientists have found is that people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. Over time, it results in damage to the protective tissue.
The damaged lining likely doesn’t cause the cancer, but it does allow carcinogenic compounds in foods to enter the body, Sundermeyer explained.
Sundermeyer added it’s unclear what the findings would mean to Americans. He knows of no scientific studies looking at the average temperature of hot beverages in the United States. His hunch, though, is U.S. restaurants tend to serve superheated drinks.
“I could very well see someone make a cup of coffee and it’s that hot,” he said.
I'm looking at my breakfast table: The bacon is bad for me. Ditto the eggs. The hash browns are dripping with butter. And now my coffee is a problem.
Did anyone tell the good people over at Dunkin Donuts about this?
Yum. This is a good breakfast!
Study: Hot beverages may increase throat cancer risk
Scientists have found people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus, damaging the protective tissue over time, which can increase cancer risk.
By JO CIAVAGLIA
STAFF WRITER
Most people know that cigarettes and excessive alcohol can kill you, but what about a cup of hot coffee or tea?
For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated about a possible connection between super hot beverages and increased risk of some throat cancers, but study outcomes have been mixed. But a study of Iranian tea drinkers provides new strong evidence of a link, researchers say.
The latest results published online in the British Medical Journal last week found abnormally high rates of squamous cell esophageal cancer among people living in a Northern Iran province where alcohol is forbidden, tobacco use is rare, but very hot black tea is a daily staple.
The observational study analyzed the smoking, alcohol and tea habits of 871 people, 300 of them recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and found a strong link between drink temperatures and the likelihood they developed esophageal cancer.
Participants answered questions about their tea-drinking habits including the temperature and how long they let the tea brew before drinking it. Nearly all participants said they drank black tea daily.
Squamous cell esophageal cancer was eight times as common among people who drank “very hot” tea, compared to warm or lukewarm tea drinkers. By the same comparison, hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer.
The scientists classified warm beverages as anything below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot beverage, considered higher than 156 degrees Fahrenheit, doubled the risk of esophageal cancer.
Study participants who frequently drank tea at 158 degrees Fahrenheit or above had an eight-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers concluded that allowing beverages to cool before drinking reduces the cancer risk.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer responsible for a half-million deaths each year worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol use are the most common causes of windpipe cancer in Europe and America, but scientists also theorized that frequent consumption of hot drinks might play a role.
For Abington Memorial Hospital oncologist Dr. Mark Sundermeyer, what makes the new study interesting is it removed the two biggest cancer risk factors —tobacco and alcohol — which allowed the focus to remain on beverage temperature.
What scientists have found is that people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. Over time, it results in damage to the protective tissue.
The damaged lining likely doesn’t cause the cancer, but it does allow carcinogenic compounds in foods to enter the body, Sundermeyer explained.
Sundermeyer added it’s unclear what the findings would mean to Americans. He knows of no scientific studies looking at the average temperature of hot beverages in the United States. His hunch, though, is U.S. restaurants tend to serve superheated drinks.
“I could very well see someone make a cup of coffee and it’s that hot,” he said.
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