QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There could be even a larger earthquake in the next few hours or the next few days.”
U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones during a media briefing at the California Institute of Technology after a nearby 5.1-magnitude earthquake Friday night Article, this page
Fire destroys landmark Iowa building
DES MOINES, Iowa - A fire swept through a more than century-old building that was being renovated in downtown Des Moines early Saturday morning, causing its upper floors to collapse and authorities to close down numerous streets.
No one was injured, but Assistant City Manager Matt Anderson told the Des Moines Register that the former Younkers department store building, which dates to 1899, will have to be demolished.
“It was tough to hear,” Anderson said of the building, which was being converted into apartments and retail space.
“I’ve worked on that project for a long time. I love that building.”
A state inspector also said the building is considered to be an asbestos-contaminated site and will require specialized cleanup.
Des Moines Fire Department spokesman Brian O’Keefe said the department first got word of a fire at the seven-floor building about 12:50 a.m. Saturday and arrived to find flames leaping from the upper floors. About an hour later, those floors had collapsed.
The Younkers store was a landmark in Des Moines for years, but the building closed in 2005. In September, a Wisconsin-based company began work on a $36 million renovation.
Authorities said it wasn’t clear what sparked the blaze.
Final report released on Joplin tornado
JOPLIN, Mo. - A federal agency’s final report about its technical investigation into the 2011 Joplin tornado calls for nationally accepted standards for building design and construction, public shelters and emergency communications that the group says can significantly reduce tornado deaths.
The final report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology doesn’t alter any of the investigation’s major findings or its recommendations released in November, The Joplin Globe reported Saturday.
Lead investigator Marc Levitan said the final report is strengthened by clarifications and supplements suggested in response to the draft report about the May 2011 Joplin tornado that killed 161 people and destroyed thousands of buildings.
The institute has begun the “long and arduous process” of converting the recommendations into new codes and standards for building tornado-resistant structures, Levitan said.
The city released a statement on some of the study’s conclusions, including the institute’s recommendations on public shelters. The city said it is encouraging the building of shelters for personal protection, regardless of the facility.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs offer hope
WASHINGTON - A new class of experimental medicines can lower cholesterol, raising hopes of a fresh option for people who can’t tolerate or don’t get enough help from Lipitor and other statin drugs that have been used for this for decades.
The first large studies of these drugs were presented Saturday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Washington, and more will follow today.
Several companies are developing these drugs, which are aimed at 70 million Americans and millions more worldwide who have high LDL or “bad” cholesterol, a major risk factor for heart disease.
Three studies of Amgen Inc.’s version of these drugs, called evolocumab, found it lowered LDL cholesterol by 55 percent to 66 percent compared to a fake drug, and by nearly that much when compared to Merck’s Zetia, another cholesterol medication.
Bald eagle egg hatches in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH - People in a Pittsburgh neighborhood can’t keep their eyes off an egg that has hatched in a bald eagle nest.
The nest is in the city’s Hays neighborhood along the Monongahela River. A live video stream of the nest has become popular in the area.
Experts say it’s too soon to say whether the new chick is male or female.
The live-stream camera showing the nest is provided by Murrysville-based PixController Inc., which is working with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Bald eagle pairs are active on two additional sites in Allegheny County. More than 200 nests have been reported in Pennsylvania.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/30/2014