There’s a double-whammy for the thousands of homeowners pumping out from the storm … water damage and mold.

Here’s the warning just released by state emergency management officials …

If a home has water damage from the flooding, mold could develop in as short of a time as 24 to 48 hours of water exposure and may continue to grow until steps are taken to thoroughly dry out the premises and eliminate the source of moisture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that mold can be recognized by wall and ceiling discoloration, and a musty, earthy odor.  …

Follow these six steps to dry your home and combat health problems associated with mold:

• If the humidity outside is lower than indoors, open up the house, and if the weather permits, open all the doors and windows to exchange the moist indoor air for drier outdoor air. If you have a thermometer with a humidity gauge, you can monitor the indoor and outdoor humidity. On the other hand, when temperatures drop at night, an open home is warmer and will draw moisture indoors. At night and other times when the humidity is higher outdoors, close up the house.

• Remove all wet furniture, contents and carpets or rugs. If you decide to keep them, they must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

• Open closet and cabinet doors to remove drawers to allow air circulation. Drawers may stick because of swelling. Do not try to force them. Speed up the drying process by opening the back of the cabinet to let the air circulate. You will probably be able to remove the drawers as the cabinet dries out.

• Using fans can help move the air and dry out the home. They will blow out dirty air that might contain contaminants from sediment in the ductwork. Be sure to clean or hose out any ducts. Do not use central air conditioning or the furnace blower if the ducts were under water.

• Running dehumidifiers and window air conditioners will reduce the moisture, especially in closed up areas.

• Use desiccants (materials that absorb moisture) such as silica gel, which are very useful in drying closets or other enclosed areas where air cannot move through. These types of materials may be purchased at hardware stores or home and garden stores.

We’re just a few minutes away from opening up the chat window with Gov. Deval Patrick. (You can jump on below or check out our homepage for the same widget.)

I’ll kick off the chat soon taking your questions … giving the groundrules (just be nice) … and overseeing the entire production. Gotta love the Web.

With the chat with Gov. Deval Patrick only one day away (12:50 p.m. tomorrow), the questions are already being teed up. Here’s a taste …

“I am having to tell my children to pick one sport because i can’t afford two, but yet  I’m out the door by 6:15  a.m. every morning to get myself to work. I am sooooo afraid of this new health bill. For the first time, I have a deductible with Harvard Pilgrim — are you kidding me? …” — Janice

This reader asks if she’d be better off staying at home and collecting Mass Health. Keep trying. The governor is not going to advise you to quit your job and feed off the state. Hone your fears down to a pointed question.

Here’s a good example of a question …

“Hello Mr. Patrick.  I understand that you are not in favor of slots at the racetracks.  I am associated with the racing industry and it affects thousands of our residents, thousands will be out of work without slots at these venues this year.  It affects all sorts of jobs from security personnel to owners and jockeys to Massachusetts farmers and breeders.  Why not a limited number of slots at the tracks so that these people do not have to join the ranks of the unemployed?” — Tony Butler

Or, …

“What do you have to say to  independent Massachusetts liquor store owners in towns bordering New Hampshire (for your placing a sales tax on liquor in addition to the existing excise taxes)?  Other than tough luck.” — Pete Laird Sr.

Straightforward question and it relates to the economy, the prompt for tomorrow’s chat. Keep the questions coming and see you online tomorrow at 12:50!

UPDATE: What a mess. Here’s what you helped report.

The rivers are rising as a record storm — possibly a “50-year” super-soaker — will dump around 5 inches of rain on the region.

Are you in fear of being flooded out? Is the river in your neighborhood threatening to wash your house away? E-mail the City Desk at citydesk@bostonherald.com or call 617-619-6461 and tell us your story. We’ll keep reporting here and on bostonherald.com the latest as this storm batters the Bay State.

UPDATE: Just got the memo that Rep. Frank is in next Monday. (Possibly after the health care vote.) Well, it gives you more time to think up questions. The chat with the governor is still this Wednesday.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank braves a Herald editorial roundtable today next Monday while Gov. Deval Patrick has agreed to chat live online on bostonherald.com Wednesday from 1-2 p.m.

Could it be the Scott Brown surge that’s compelling Democrats out of their incumbency slumber? No re-election is safe in this limping economy where independents seem to be setting the agenda.

What would you ask Rep. Frank today? Send any questions to joed@bostonherald.com — or comment below — and I’ll toss them his way today and report back in full. More on the governor later.

A dad who lost a son in the collapsing carnage wrote.

A sister who lost a brother piloting all this destiny called, as I was on a treadmill. Another sister wrote, lovingly, of a bond heartbroken. An FAA boss can’t shake the day …

They all share memories of the never-ending nightmare of Sept. 11, 2001. A total of 2,998 people lost their lives that day. It was a mass murder for our generation. But this tale will never dissipate. Not here. You learn to bracket the week in this business. That’s what tonight’s entry is all about. Another week ends, and still my keyboard clicks back to a sparkling September day.

Sara Low, Mark Bavis and Barara Keating — forever 28, 31 and 72 (pictured at left) — are all stuck in a legal limbo, prisoners to a Manhattan judge schooled in the art of compromise.

The nation celebrates a fictional “Hurt Locker,” but Sara’s … Mark’s … and Barbara’s cases hover in a world of hurt all their own. They represent youth and wisdom forfeited that day. Each is a court case yet to be settled. These last 9/11 cases are being ground into the dust of history because nobody wants to stop and demand every answer. We know the broad strokes, but not the specificity. Settlement is the cliche in America and everyone seems to be in a hurry to file and flee.

For some reason, I think this story is worth telling … to the last transition.

The families of Sara Low and Barbara Keating are ready to settle out of court with the airlines and security companies who blew it. Those entrusted to protect us let 19 out of 19 hijackers cripple our country. (I’ve written about this tale a few times already. Sure, I’m glued to this story until it’s time to stop.) Who can blame anyone for giving up? It seems an open trial is a 100 years war. It’s not being granted. Murderers get better results. The brother of Mark Bavis is the only one quietly sticking it out.

Here’s the latest … the last three 9/11 cases have yet to be settled, but two deals are on the table. It appears only the Bavis family is holding out for a trial. But federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein — he of front-page stories — is all about settlements. He used to take my calls. He believed in bracketing the week. Not anymore.

We could soon be down to one last 9/11 case. The last of the Mohicans. The Illustrated Man. The Year of the Flood.

You bracket the week. You look back on the stories you write and ask … is there more? There always is.

The Washington Post has an excellent profile of Patrick Kennedy where the R.I. rep fesses up to his struggles (with depression, addiction, loss, bad driving …) and tells, interestingly, that he’s not much of a fan of his deceased dad’s second wife.

“He has grown closer to his siblings but not his father’s second wife, Vicki. “She’s really not much a part of my life,” he says.

As we report in the Herald, Joan Kennedy says her son is still reeling from his dad’s death. But, the Post notes, jot this factoid down: Patrick Kennedy may be taking a sabbatical, but he still has $500,000 in his campaign coffer that he’ll park in an interest-bearing account.

Enough cash to bankroll a run for Senate.

Despite Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s screaming-wild finger-pointing rant against the “despicable” press, a resolution calling for the removal of troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year failed 356-65 in the House yesterday.

Kennedy did not vote for the measure.

Here’s how the Bay State delegation voted:

Capuano, Yes;

Delahunt, No;

Frank, Yes;

Lynch, No;

Markey, Yes;

McGovern, Yes;

Neal, Yes;

Olver, Yes;

Tierney, Yes;

Tsongas, Yes.

So, did Kennedy’s podium meltdown — calculated or not — help or hurt the measure? Go vote in the poll and I’ll report back later.

UPDATE: As promised, here’s the UMass tally — $8.7 million in buybacks bringing the total for last year under this perk to $50 million for taxpayers.

Savvy salary watchdogs will notice one page is missing from today’s story on state vacation and sick-time buybacks … UMass.

Yesterday we discovered an error in adding up the days cashed in by UMass employees heading out the door, so the state Comptroller asked for those rows back and we’ll update anew this week.

So, the $41 million spent last year buying back unused sick and vacation days is a conservative number … very conservative. A preliminary look at the UMass system shows millions more was handed out. Stay tuned …

In defense of the Comptroller’s office — where all salaries are recorded — the UMass payroll system has just been folded into the state’s adding more transparency to the payroll report. They are still working out a few bugs. We both caught an error and will report back the real deal this week.

Until then, here’s the latest state payroll …

• State pay with gross pay for last year

In a poignant collage, former Herald photojournalist George Martell brings us along with him and Cardinal Sean O’Malley to the ruins of Haiti. I’ll let his work do the rest of the talking. It’s must-see …

Haiti Earthquake - 7 weeks later from bostoncatholic on Vimeo.

Math was a challenge in college, but not logic. That’s why today’s installment of “Your Tax Dollars at Work” report has me asking how can anybody work that many overtime hours?

The state civil engineer who built up $129,000 in overtime last year logged 4,434 hours on the job in 2009, if you calculate his base pay vs. overtime pay. Back me up and do the math yourself:

• Here we spell out top overtime earners
• The main story on the overtime issue, for a good foundation
  
• The new state payroll for 2010, if you want more examples

I’m working on a follow-up story now … with more examples of overtime paid out to rush construction projects into the pipeline. Stay tuned

I guess Florida is the spot to bask while the rest of us plow through a winter of discontent. The state’s shark pro (Greg Skomal, pictured) says five great whites tagged this past September off Chatham are sending back reports of their holiday in the land of orange groves and rum drinks. (See today’s story.)

Unlike their brethren in the Pacific, the great whites don’t head out into the Atlantic, they slowly migrate down the east coast to feed in Florida.

And, they’ll be back!

The sharks prefer 60 degree water temperatures, Skomal says. And they feed from 100-150 feet down. One monster of the deep did plunge to 1,500 feet for some reason. Probably chasing some unfortunate prey.

Fascinating stuff. Skomal also says he’s not sure how many great whites travel together. Let’s hope nobody swims into their party this summer.

New York cops are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man found dead on a beach on Plum Island, located just off of Long Island.

But here’s the mystery, the public does not have access to the island. Homeland  Security runs a research lab on the island, a New York homicide detective told me tonight. The victim — a 5-foot, 10-inch tall black man between 50 to 70 years old — also has a “well-healed head injury and indications of prior neurosurgery.”

He may also be from Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, police say. But they won’t say much more than to accept tips to 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.

So, we have a dead man on a restricted island who survived brain surgery. Know him?

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Today we learn where the Great White sharks tagged off Cape Cod this fall have been lurking while they wait for all of us to hit the beach again.

Here’s the release from the state fisheries folks:

Senior Biologist Greg Skomal will announce the results of the electronic tagging of five white sharks that were spotted off the coast of Monomoy Island in Chatham in September. An analysis of three of the tags, which surfaced earlier this year off the coast of northern Florida, provides clues to the migration paths and behaviors of this marine species.

The announcement will be at 2 p.m. today at the New England Aquarium. (Check back, we’ll fish out all the details.)

And, never one to waste a metaphor,  your loyal blogger has been weighted down circling around a few new stories to chew on. I’ve fished them out and will be posting tomorrow. Keep the tips coming to joed@bostonherald.com.

The once-mysteriously missing police reports from Braintree on the Dec. 6, 1986, shotgun slaughter of Seth Bishop by his big sister Amy Bishop reveal a tragic path of missed opportunities.

Those records, now public and sparking outrage in Alabama where Amy Bishop, 44, is accused of murdering three University of Alabama/Huntsville colleagues and wounding three more, point to places where cops could have easily turned this “accident” into legal action, officials now agree. Maybe fate would have interceded and altered the course of events in that faculty room last Friday. Take a look and you decide …

“Amy Bishop was given her rights by me (Lt. James Sullivan) in the booking room. She said she wished to talk to me. She stated that earlier there had been a family ’spat’ and she had gone to her room.”

The officer adds in the report, obtained by the Herald, that he did not know “how much earlier this family ’spat’ had been.” Clearly, spats have at least triggered further investigation. We later learn the spat was with her father, according to a report by state police Trooper Brian Howe.

“(The father, Samuel Bishop, still alive today and living in Ipswich with his wife) stated that he had a disagreement with Amy before he left about a comment that she had made, and that she had gone to her room prior to his departing.”

But don’t stop there … Amy Bishop, then 20, ran out of the house with the family’s shotgun immediately after blasting her 18-year-old brother in the chest in the kitchen of the family’s Braintree home basically exploding the boy’s heart. She did not drop the gun and run … she kept a  firm grip on the 12-gauge, pump-action Mossberg. A hand-scrawled police report (by Officer Ronald Solimini) states …

“As I was checking out the area of Braintree Square, I spotted Miss Bishop at the end of Parkingway Dr. — near the rear of Village News. At this time I radioed the station that I spotted her. I then swung my cruiser around to the other side of Parkingway Dr. and spotted Miss Bishop again. I also observed her carrying the shotgun.”

Here is the key to this case. An adult toting a shotgun was roaming the streets of downtown Braintree. A loaded gun out in the public. That’s worthy of criminal charges, the DA now agrees. But hold on, there’s more …

 ”I observed workers of the Village News yelling and staying clear of the building.”

Clear and present danger? I’d say that’s worthy of a charge or two. Even the officer feared for his safety. His report states …

“I then exited my cruiser … and approached Miss Bishop with caution, with my gun out of my holster but to the side of my body without Miss Bishop seeing it. Miss Bishop seemed frightened, disoriented and confused. But she kepted (sic) both her hands  on the shotgun at all times as I was talking to her.”

Luckily, another officer surprised Amy Bishop from behind and grabbed the gun. Officer Ronald Solimini writes.

“I then placed the handcuffs on her for her safe keeping and ours.”

In a chilling addendum, the officer writes he found “another 12-gauge field load number 4 shell in her jacket pocket.” Ammo, a weapon, a tense scene in public, screaming and fear … and no charges filed.

Stay tuned, there’s more to come. But, as we’ve already reported …

• Even the police chief at the time says he now has second thoughts. 
• A former auto-body worker claims Amy Bishop put a gun to his chest and demanded a getaway car just minutes after she shot her brother to death.
• Officer Ronald Solimini’s dad, being forced to retire, was defended by Amy Bishop’s mom seven months before the shooting.

Add it up and the question remains … why no charges?

Readers have been hitting back with questions on the Herald’s rolling payroll report. (We like questions) … here’s the answers …

Where does the Massport revenue come from?

Massport makes a bulk of its cash from fees to airlines — for terminal rental and landing weight fees, Danny Levy of Massport says. The quasi-state agency also generates income from concessions, parking and from real estate holdings. Massport rents space in South Boston.

But, “airlines pay for a majority of the revenue,” Levy said. When you use the airport, you are kicking into the bottom line. Of couse these questions  follow last week’s report on salaries at the agency …

• Massport salaries soar on buybacks 
• The Massport line-by-line payroll report

As for the other payroll report from last week, we looked at the City of Boston payroll and followed it up with a report on where employees live. One worker has Craftsbury, Vt., listed as their hometown. It’s true. But the school worker just left their job here in January. A commute from Craftsbury would require a ton of coffee … as you can see it’s hard up against the Canadian border. The city’s payroll report shows former employees who collected a check in 2009 scattered all over the country … from California to Denver and south to Florida. They will all be on pension reports next year.

Here are the City of Boston payroll links …

• 1 in 3 city workers living outside of Boston
• Boston city workers cash in millions on buybacks
• The Boston line-by-line payroll

The comments are flying in on the latest City of Boston payroll, including how can a teacher pull down $310,048?

• Here’s a link to the latest Boston public payroll
• Here’s a link to the $310,000 payout to a teacher

The teacher was awarded the lump-sum payout after winning a discrimination complaint against the city, school officials tell the Herald. Diana Sabella complained of foot pain and not being able to stand for more than 15 minutes, yet she was transferred from Brighton High where her arrangements were helpful to Madison Park High where job sharing and other issues made life unbearable, court records state.

She resigned in 2005 and was awarded back pay — with interest — and emotional distress = $310,048, under orders from the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Hey, it’s your money. If you see a waste of cash in your community, drop a dime to joed@bostonherald.com and we’ll put new batteries in the calculator and dust off the public records law.

Somebody has to be a watchdog. As we report today …

• Massport allows employees to cash in unused vacation time
• Here’s the full Massport payroll for 2009

Here’s a good tip from an astute reader who wonders, “Why two signs?”

The reader writes …

“Our tax dollars hard at work.  This is the Rte. 12 / Rte. 2 interchange in Fitchburg.  It’s been like this for a while.  For arguments sake, let’s say we needed a new sign.  Why didn’t they take the old one down when the new one went up?  We’ll need some more orange cone guys, police detail and 10 state workers to milk this for all it’s worth.  Ahhhhhh!!!! There are other signs just like this.”

We’ll make a call today to the new transportation mega bureau for an answer. Keep it coming …

If a bully has insulted your race, religion or sexual orientation try tossing a civil rights violation back at them. That might get them to shut up for a while. Here’s how …

• Call the Attorney General’s Office at 617-727-2200 and just ask for the Civil Rights Division.
• Read up on the law before you make that call here.

Here’s a key paragraph in the law (and thanks to the Attorney General’s office for the assist) …

If you have been the victim of threats, intimidation or coercion based upon your race, color, national origin, religion, age, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation or disability, or because you engaged in a protected activity (for example, the right to vote, or the right to obtain an education, or the right to freely associate), your civil rights under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act may have been violated.

Victims of bullying — past and present — are calling us and asking what can they do? So we got to work. I’ll be back at it tomorrow, so feel free to e-mail joed@bostonherald.com or call 617-619-6177. We’ll do our best to place calls, get answers … do anything we can to fight back against bullies.

“Tell me what to do?”

Parents calling the Herald — night and day — are torn over how to help their kids deal with bullies. Our series of stories today tell of heartbreaking tales of torment in Bay State schools. You wonder how a kid can focus on their school work at all these days. But, you want strategies.

Here’s some expert advise plucked from the Web … it’s worth sharing …

• Avoid the bully and use the buddy system. Use a different bathroom if a bully is nearby and don’t go to your locker when there is nobody around. Make sure you have someone with you so that you’re not alone with the bully. Buddy up with a friend on the bus, in the hallways, or at recess — wherever the bully is. Offer to do the same for a friend.
• Hold the anger. It’s natural to get upset by the bully, but that’s what bullies thrive on. It makes them feel more powerful. Practice not reacting by crying or looking red or upset. It takes a lot of practice, but it’s a useful skill for keeping off of a bully’s radar. Sometimes kids find it useful to practice “cool down” strategies such as counting to 10, writing down their angry words, taking deep breaths or walking away. Sometimes the best thing to do is to teach kids to wear a “poker face” until they are clear of any danger (smiling or laughing may provoke the bully).
• Act brave, walk away, and ignore the bully. Firmly and clearly tell the bully to stop, then walk away. Practice ways to ignore the hurtful remarks, like acting uninterested or texting someone on your cell phone. By ignoring the bully, you’re showing that you don’t care. Eventually, the bully will probably get bored with trying to bother you.
• Tell an adult. Teachers, principals, parents, and lunchroom personnel at school can all help stop bullying.
• Talk about it. Talk to someone you trust, such as a guidance counselor, teacher, sibling, or friend. They may offer some helpful suggestions, and even if they can’t fix the situation, it may help you feel a little less alone.
• Remove the incentives. If the bully is demanding your lunch money, start bringing your lunch. If he’s trying to get your music player, don’t bring it to school.

SOURCE: Kids Health.com

There’s a whole lot of hurt out there. The frustration is so thick you can feel it over the phone. A grandmother crying the other day while telling about her grandson dealing with bullies as he rebounds from cancer is shocking for its sheer cruelty. (We write about it today.) How can any kid be that inhumane?

Do parents realize just how idiotic their children can be? Or, are we too consumed by our jobs and lives to listen? It’s the story we’re refusing to shelve, especially in the wake of the apparent suicide of a South Hadley 15-year-old who was bullied in school, at home and in cyberspace.

As the Herald’s Margery Eagan writes, “in conversations with parents and in more than 100 voice mails and e-mails, I learned that protecting bullies, not the bullied, is hardly unique to South Hadley. It’s now the rule in our schools.” A sad truth.

NOTE: If you want to share your story of bullying, e-mail joed@bostonherald.com or call 617-619-6177 and we’ll do our best to help. As you write and call, somebody needs to make the tough calls. That’s something we do well!