A valve on a high-pressure waterline to a coffeemaker broke in Hitchcock Hall on March 12, and in the next few months, two women who worked near the flooded kitchen contracted a serious fungal disease. Eight of their co-workers have also reported getting sick.

At first, the link between the flood and the illnesses was a mystery.

But now it appears that the efforts to clean the affected areas spread the fungal spores that sickened the workers in the office suite, according to documents The Lantern obtained last week through a public records request.

Rosemary Hill, director of Engineering Career Services called this a “bungled cleanup” in a Nov. 5th memo.

There is a significant association between formaldehyde exposure and childhood asthma according to a recent scientific literature review by researchers Gerald McGwin, Jr., Jeffrey Lienert, and John I. Kennedy, Jr.

Roughly 7% of adults and 9% of children suffer from asthma in the U.S. Seven peer-reviewed studies examined data showing an association between formaldehyde exposure and asthma in children.

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) -- While mold is showing up in many cornfields across the region, not all the fungus poses the same threats, and producers can avoid more damage with proper storage, area Extension educators said.

The mold is the latest in a series of moisture-related issues that have challenged farmers this year. A wet spring, followed by a colder-than-normal summer and fall have caused growing and harvest problems.

"I certainly hope we don't see this for quite a while," said Mark Rosenberg, Extension educator for Spink, Hand and Beadle counties.