Dear Action Line: Have you heard anything about chimney cleaners or chimney repair firms going door to door offering to inspect chimneys for storm damages? - L.T., Tulsa.

We've not heard of this recently, but every home repair service that can be offered also comes in the scam variety. It's usually hard economic times that brings them out, but they're always in the neighborhood offering discounts for you-name-it.

In October 2009, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued a consumer warning titled "Don't get swept up in a chimney sweep scam."

"If your home has a chimney, you could be the target of a scam," the warning says. "Each year homeowners receive unsolicited offers - a knock at the door or a flyer in the mail - for a $30 to $50 chimney cleaning. During the 'cleaning' they discover cracked mortar, etc., that will cost several thousand dollars to repair and, of course, half must be paid up front."

Chimney sweeping is not heavily regulated, McDaniel warns. Homeowners should be wary of any services advertised as being "for a limited time only" or people at the door claiming to be "running a special" as they are "working in the neighborhood," etc

Read more

Home is where the heart is -- not to mention the dirt, dust, bacteria and mold. "People typically only realize how filthy their house is when they move out," says Richard Symes of Clenz Philly, an eco-friendly home and commercial cleaning service in New Jersey and Philadelphia. "Most people clean what they can see, but there's a lot more to cleaning a home than just wiping down your bureau."

Here are the top neglected spots, the most powerful cleaning tools (that you're probably not using) and how often you need to scrub up. The payoff is better air quality, fewer allergy symptoms, a house you can show off to the neighbors, and best of all, peace of mind.

5 Places to Look

1.  Up, down and underneath
Look high -- in ceiling corners, on top of shades, blinds and picture frames, and on the blades of ceiling fans -- to find neglected dust. Look low -- under baseboards, under furniture and in the corners of kitchens and bathrooms -- to find colonies of dust bunnies and layers of dirt and grime.

2.  Bedding
Millions of organisms live in your mattress. Their dead cells and feces are the No. 1 cause of allergies in a home, says Symes. Get your bed and pillows steam-cleaned once a year to sterilize your sleeping environment.

Read More

NEW YORK, Nov 29, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- President and Chief Executive Officer Henrik Slipsager of ABM Industries Incorporated /quotes/comstock/13*!abm/quotes/nls/abm (ABM 23.47, +0.10, +0.43%) , a leading United States provider of facility services, will be featured on an episode of the hit television series "Undercover Boss," Sunday, Dec. 5 (9:00-10)(9:ET/PT)(8:00-9)(8:CT) on the CBS Television Network

Read More

Give2Asia, a US-based public charity promoting transformative philanthropy for Asia, today announces a new fiscal sponsor partnership with World Toilet Organization (WTO), a Singapore-based nonprofit that promotes health and sanitation for all people across the globe.

UNICEF estimates a staggering 2.6 billion people in the world lack access to proper sanitation. Diarrhea, linked with open defecation, kills at least 5,000 children every day. WTO, founded in 2001, seeks to address this problem by advocating for access to affordable toilets using a market-based approach.

“It is easy to forget that there are still people who struggle to purchase a toilet, a basic household item that can dramatically improve sanitation,” said Ray Klinke, Give2Asia’s Interim CEO. “WTO’s work will advance efforts across the region and develop sustainable programs to reduce deaths related to poor sanitation.”

Read More

WASHINGTON -- In summer 2008, the U.S. military had a major problem. More than 2,400 service members had reported being sexually assaulted the previous year, and that number was rising. Congress wanted immediate action.

The Army responded by reaching out to a tiny firm in Delaware.

It was an unlikely choice for such a sensitive task. The year before, United Solutions and Services, known as US2, had just three employees and several small contracts for janitorial services and other work. It was based in a four-bedroom Hockessin Colonial, where the founder worked out of his living room.

Read More

Leavenworth County will cut back on its janitorial expenses next year, although it will mean some county employees will have to add cleaning and vacuuming to their list of duties.

The Leavenworth County Commission on Thursday voted 3-0 to authorize the public works department to negotiate with Leavenworth Cleaning for next year's county janitorial contract for no more than $180,000, pending a legal review regarding liability insurance.

This year's janitorial contract, also with Leavenworth Cleaning, paid the company about $236,000, said county buildings and grounds director John Forslund.

Read More

Does your dog get mad at the sight of a vacuum cleaner? Well, you can now take a breather, as plans for a dog-shaped vacuum cleaner designed to make pooches more comfortable around the household cleaning device have emerged.

Although a patent application was submitted in the UK in 1973, the unusual device was never produced, reports the Daily Mail.

Read More

Russia has announced they are planning on spending $2 billion on a craft to clean up around 600 pieces of the space junk.

Space Daily reported that Russia's NASA equivalent Energia plans to build a pod that will float through orbit for 15 years, collecting the old satellites and then head back to Earth. The pod will be nuclear-powered and should be completed by 2020 and set to be fully-operational by 2023 if it all goes to plan.

Read More

The rapid growth of the chemical industry after World War II changed housekeeping forever and not necessarily for the better. Chemists whose previous employment was manufacturing weapons realized that similar concoctions could be used to fight agricultural pests and improve consumer products.

Since the fifties, some 75,000 chemicals have been introduced into our world. Three hundred of those can now be found within our bodies, even in the bodies of newborn babies who inherit synthetic chemicals from their mothers.

Read More

CALEDONIA - Trevor Morgan, a disabled veteran, noticed about two months ago that his Vicodin prescription did not appear to be working.

He was violently ill, vomiting and feeling weak - as if he had quit the narcotic painkiller cold turkey after nine years.

"I had just thought I was getting sicker and sicker," said Morgan, 30, of Caledonia.

It wasn't until he returned from a weekend trip in late October that he noticed the remaining pills from his trip looked different than the pills he had at home, he said.

Read More