Today in ‘everything you touch is disgusting’ news, your kitchen sponge is so filth-ridden that you may want to just get up now, run to the kitchen, and toss it in the bin.

Each sponge was separated into its top and bottom parts with sterile instruments, and immediately frozen until the researchers could conduct DNA extraction and FISH staining.

The owners of the sponges were then asked if they regularly applied special measures to clean their sponge, such as heating it in the microwave or rinsing with hot, soapy water, and how frequently they changed their sponge

More at source: Metro UK

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HUNTSVILLE — For a third consecutive year, Scott County’s contract for janitorial supplies has created some contention.

This time around, County Commission reversed a previous stance of awarding the county’s janitorial bid to a local company despite its higher bid, causing representatives from that company to appear before commissioners Monday to make a plea that the bid be reconsidered.

County Commission last month followed the recommendation of the Scott County Finance Committee and awarded the bid for janitorial supplies to Ellison Supply, a LaFollette-based company that submitted the lowest bid for supplies for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. On Monday, representatives for Scott Janitorial, a local company with a parent office in Somerset, Ky., appeared before commissioners to request they reconsider the bid.

More at source: IHOnedia.com

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A VERSION OF THIS POST ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON TEDIUM, A TWICE-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER THAT HUNTS FOR THE END OF THE LONG TAIL.

For centuries, the average home had windows, but not necessarily glass covering those windows—in part, because glass was really expensive at first, and the flat pane variety that we’re used to didn’t even exist.

But as glass evolved as part of the 20th-century home, it suddenly became important to keep those panes of glass clean. And that meant there was an opportunity for the Philip W. Drackett Company to come about and make it easy.

More at source: Atlas Obscura

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My wife is pregnant, and now I do not know where I will be when our baby is born. She and the baby are now in more danger because of the stress that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has made for us. My mother is also sick. My daughters are not sleeping. They cry all the time and do not understand why I can’t be with them. I worry so much for them.

I was told that if I did what ICE said, I would not have to be in jail. I believed them. I came when they told me and did what they said, but they took me. I do not understand why I am here. 

More at source: Boston Globe

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DURHAM One hundred and forty-nine school janitors are finally getting paid.

Judge Loretta C. Biggs of the U.S. Middle District Court of North Carolina verbally approved a settlement providing $77,000 in back wages to 149 former employees of Integrity Facilities Management Inc. on Thursday.

Before IFM declared bankruptcy in 2014, the company was a subcontractor for SSC Service Solutions Inc, which provided janitorial services for the Durham Public Schools.

“I was very happy when I got the message,” Liliam Bustillo Cerrato said. “Very happy.”

Cerrato worked as a janitor at Fayetteville Street Elementary School, Rogers-Herr Middle School and Jordan High School between 2005 and 2014.

IFM janitors were cleaning 16 out of 52 DPS schools and four DPS administrative buildings.

The North Carolina Justice Center has represented the former IFM janitors in legal proceedings.

More at source: Herald Sun

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(Reuters) - Janitorial services provider ABM Industries Inc said it would buy privately held rival GCA Services Group for about $1.25 billion, more than tripling revenue at its high-margin business that provides services to schools and colleges.

Shares of ABM rose as much as 5.4 percent to $42.90, their biggest intraday percentage gain in more than four months.

GCA Services is owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc and private equity firm Thomas H Lee Partners LP. It provides janitorial and custodial services to more than 3,200 public schools and over 80 colleges and universities across United States.

More at source: Reuters

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TAMPA — A Tampa-based janitorial service provider has been charged with an "ongoing pattern" denying African-American applications employment based on their race in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Diversified Maintenance System, LLC is also accused of subjecting one black employee to racial slurs, discriminatory practices and punishment for opposing its unlawful actions.

"Diversified Maintenance disagrees with every aspect of the EEOC's allegations and firmly stands by the company's commitment to equal employment opportunities for all applicants," company spokesperson Carol Cookerly said in a statement Thursday. "After a two-year unproductive fishing expedition -— where Diversified Maintenance has been cooperative in responding to every extensive document request from the EEOC — the commission has clearly chosen to file an unsubstantiated lawsuit on behalf of one single disgruntled former employee citing manipulated and redacted statistics."

More at source: TampaBay.com

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Every employee can benefit from a solid employee development program, whether they are salaried or hourly. Yet it's easily forgotten or let slide in the pressure of everyday business. Some days you might feel like it's hard enough to get through the day, much less manage and create a continued and future plan for employee development. But as a business owner, you can’t afford to cut employee development from your budget.

Why should you press on and try to make it happen in your business? Here are 5 reasons:

1. It helps attract and keep great employees.

Employee retention is a huge challenge (and expense) for employers. So is the hiring process. Having a solid employee development program can help make that less of a burden.

When it comes to attracting and hiring the best employees, here’s why a solid employee development program matters:

• It is a benefit. Employee development can be seen as a benefit, and that is something employees weigh in the "pros" column when finding a job. Hourly employees, especially, don't always receive the benefits that salaried workers in larger companies are accustomed to. Providing employee development as part of the hiring package gives you a competitive advantage over other similar jobs and wages.
• It builds loyalty. Loyal employees aren't prone to quitting. That's what employee retention is all about. Knowing that an employer is willing to provide training and development makes an employee feel important and it makes them loyal.
• It increases your reputation. Having a reputation as a good employer — one who cares enough to provide training — is great both for hiring new employees as well as how customers see you. Word gets out about who is good to work for, and that can affect sales as well as the hiring process.
• It brings in good people. By offering training, continuing education, conference attendance, or even something as simple as a book allowance, with the understanding that you expect them to participate, you will attract employees who are looking to better themselves. That's an employee you want to hire in the first place.

2. It helps you create promotable employees.

Hiring managers and other upper-level employees from within is a good idea. Who else is more familiar with your day-to-day business, and with your customers? But not every long-time employee is ready for such positions, and promoting them when they aren't leads to problems.

A proper employee development program will:

• Create a pool of capable workers
• Create workers ready for promotion.
• Help you identify strengths and weaknesses in your employees.

Employee development both trains your current employees for possible future promotion from daily worker to management as well as shows you which employees have aptitude for such a promotion. Better to learn about strengths and weaknesses in training rather than out on the sales floor with actual customers.

3. It keeps employees engaged at work.

Bored employees are a recipe for disaster. They easily take on negative attitudes, sloppy work habits, and cause damage to relationships with other employees and customers.

Employee development is a way that you can keep your employees engaged at work to prevent that kind of boredom from setting in. Interesting training programs, and future development events that are fun or challenging to look forward to — this removes the plodding daily feel to a job that leads to that dreaded boredom.

4. It helps you save and earn money.

A good employee is like money in the bank.

That well-trained, confident, and engaged employee we've been talking about? They are going to do better work for you in the long run. That's going to help save you money, as employees become more efficient and proficient. Employee development also has the potential to increase salaries and output. Either way, that's good for your bottom line, and that's exactly why Sarvadi classified employee development not as an expense, but as an investment.

5. It forces you to look to the future.

Employee development is a continuing thing, and that means that you always have to have an eye on the future. You'll be asking yourself:

• What kind of leadership will I need?
• What will my customers need from my employees?
• What industry changes might I expect?

Since your employees are integral to any answer you might come up with for these questions, their training and development are tightly involved, too.

That's what forces you to think ahead, because employee development programs don't happen without planning. The training that worked last year might not work next year. Your business culture might be shifting according to customer and industry needs. You might need to attract a different kind of employee and your development offerings need to shift to reflect that.

An employee development plan that's going to work necessarily forces you to consider the future path of your business. That's a good thing. Staying on your toes as far as relevant employee development is concerned means you'll be thinking ahead of the curve for your business.

Source: SBA

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Natural stone surfaces are a wonderful investment that deserve and require proper care. If you make a mistake or overlook maintenance, you could risk damaging your beautiful material.

While it’s true that natural stone is extremely durable and made to last, it is not indestructible. “There is a chemistry to natural stone, and making mistakes can harm it,” notes Tim Lesnar, owner of Classic Marble Restoration in Blaine, Minnesota.

Natural stone thrives under proper maintenance, says Brian Kornet, owner of Fabra-Cleen Stone & Tile Care in Plainview, N.Y.

More at source: Village News

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There’s nothing like a bit of toilet humour now and again but this revelation is no laughing matter.

No matter how good you are at cleaning your loo a hygiene expert says most of us are doing it wrong; and it could breed more germs than you would like to think about.

Stephanie from Expert Home Tips says the problem lays all with what you do with your toilet brush.

It’s not how you scrub, and lets not talk about what you are scrubbing, but it’s what you do next.

She said putting a wet brush back in the holder after you have used it is one of the worst things you can do. The wet brush will just be a brilliant breeding ground for germs and bacteria.

More at source: Starts At 60

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