City of Alachua transportation infrastructure was the subject of discussion at a recent city commission meeting.  The commission authorized $247,000 in the City’s FY 2011-12 budget for street resurfacing of an asphalt overlay of existing roadways.  These funds will pay for $50,000 for resurfacing 1,000 lineal feet of streets within the city’s Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), $152,000 for resurfacing 3,000 lineal feet of streets outside the CRA and $45,000 for chip-sealing unpaved roads in Alachua.

Resurfacing a road involves putting an asphalt overlay on top of an existing roadway and comes at an average cost of $50 - $55 per foot of roadway. Street segments within the CRA to be resurfaced include 800 feet along NW 148 Place from State Road 235 to NW 142 Terrace or 875 feet along NW 145 Avenue from NW 142 Terrace to NW 145 Terrace.

Street segments outside the CRA to be resurfaced are 300 feet along NW 125 Street from NW 147 Lane to US Highway 441, 1,300 feet along NW 141 Street from NW 154 Avenue to NW 158 Avenue; 500 feet along NW 147 Avenue from NW 135 Terrace to NW 137 Terrace; 700 feet along NW 135 Terrace from US Highway 441 to NW 147 Avenue; and 450 feet along NW 137 Terrace from NW 147 Avenue to NW 146 Avenue.

Chip-sealing refers to covering unpaved roads with a gravel-type asphalt mix and costs significantly less than asphalt paving.  With chip seals, a thin film of heated asphalt liquid is sprayed on the road surface, followed by the placement of small chips, which are then compacted onto the asphalt, and excess stone is swept from the surface.

The cost for chip-sealing is significantly less than for asphalt paving at a cost of $85,000 per mile of chip sealing versus $300,000 or more per mile for asphalt paving.

The City of Alachua maintains six miles of unpaved roads. This year’s funding level will enable the City to chip-seal approximately 2,800 feet of unpaved road. Roads selected for the chip-sealing process are NW 150 Avenue from Burnetts Lake Road to NW 128 Street.

Christopher R. Cogle, M.D., an associate professor of hematology and oncology in the UF College of Medicine, talks with Kim White, who is being treated for a blood disorder known as MDS. (Photo by Maria Farias/University of Florida)

GAINESVILLE — A group of life-threatening blood disorders collectively called myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, may occur four times more often than reported by national cancer registries, according to new research from the University of Florida based on data from Medicare claims.

MDS occurs when the body’s blood factory does not produce healthy red or white blood cells or platelets. Getting a more accurate picture of the disease could lead to earlier diagnosis for patients and better guidance for public health policy. The findings, reported in the November issue of the journal Leukemia Research and in an earlier issue of the journal Blood, indicate that more women than men are overlooked.

“The data from the cancer registry is showing us a partial picture of MDS,” said Christopher R. Cogle, M.D., an associate professor of hematology and oncology in the UF College of Medicine’s department of medicine. “State cancer registries, which feed the national registries, need more resources so they can more comprehensively capture this disease and others, such as skin and gastrointestinal cancers.”

MDS is a hard-to-diagnose disease that presents itself in a wide range of ways. On the less severe end of the spectrum, it shows up as a low blood cell count, and, at the other extreme, as leukemic growths inside the bone marrow.

Seventy percent of people with MDS die of complications related to a low blood cell count. Even with low-grade disease, the average person’s survival after diagnosis is about five years.

“For those diagnosed in their 60s, we know we can do better than that,” said Cogle, a member of the UF Shands Cancer Center whose clinical and research program has been designated a Center of Excellence by the MDS Foundation. “At best, we can double survival time — but we have to know who the patients are so we can offer them the right treatment.”

Cogle and colleagues at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa noticed that their clinical practices received many referrals from local physicians trying to figure out the cause of low blood cell counts. MDS diagnoses in those cases occurred almost exclusively on an outpatient basis. But such cases are not captured by registries, which get most of their data from hospitals and laboratories.

“There was a discord between where we saw the disease and where the registry data came from,” Cogle said. “There was a mismatch between clinical practice and the data, so we tackled that discrepancy and tried to make sense of it.”

The researchers devised a new algorithm that made an allowance for the difficulty in diagnosing the disease. Previous studies used MDS insurance claims to estimate the number of cases. But that approach is error-prone because MDS is often coded as different diseases, such as leukemia, aplastic anemia or even vitamin deficiencies, before the true diagnosis becomes clear.

In the new calculation, the researchers counted only patients who had had at least two MDS insurance claims at least 30 days apart. They also included blood count and bone marrow biopsy confirmation in the one-year period before MDS insurance claims. They excluded people who were making a Medicare claim for the first time, because those people might have been diagnosed previously, while covered by private insurance.

The UF and Moffitt researchers found that in the 65-and-older age group there were 75 new cases per 100,000 people each year — almost four times the accepted estimate of 20 per 100,000 that is based on the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results cancer registry. That registry shows an overall estimate for all age groups of 3.3 new MDS cases in every 100,000 persons each year.

So who are the people being left out of the traditional database? It turns out that more women than men were omitted, and those people generally had a lower grade of disease and lower medical expenses. Cancer registries indicate that the average age of diagnosis is 71 to 76, but the researchers will use their new calculations to find out whether people are getting diagnosed at a younger age.

The researchers say the MDS underestimate prevents people with the disease from getting available care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for example, uses the low estimate of the number of people affected by the disease as part of the rationale for not paying for bone marrow transplants in MDS patients, except in approved clinical trial settings.

The low estimates also hamper research efforts that could lead to new treatments.

“These data bring the realization that the incidence of MDS is much greater than previously recognized, and that emphasizes the need for greater research funding for the disease,” said senior author Alan F. List, M.D., executive vice president and physician-in-chief at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute.

A better estimate of MDS cases could also help to galvanize funding agencies to invest more resources into patient education about the disease and about treatments.

“They can let the public know about the significance of a low blood count — not to sit on it, but to go out and get a diagnosis,” Cogle said. “If you have MDS, we have ways to help you.”

Voters are encouraged to verify and update their registration status online at www.VoteAlachua.com by clicking on “My Voter Information Page”.  The Supervisor of Elections Office will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. to accept voter registration applications. The Supervisor of Elections Office located at 111 S.E. 1st Avenue has an after-hours mail drop located at the main entrance. Voter registration applications received through the mail drop will be accepted up until midnight on the 3^rd.

You may use the on-line application form at www.VoteAlachua.com to register to vote, update your voter information or update your signature. Be sure to fill out the form completely and check the correct box. You will then need to print the application form, sign it, and return it to the Elections Office. You may also register to vote in person at the Supervisor of Elections Office, by mail or at one of our scheduled community voter registration drives. For a list of other facilities in the county where voter registration application forms may be obtained or to view a calendar of our community voter registration drives, please visit our website or call the Supervisor of Elections Office at 352-374-5252.

To vote in the Presidential Preference Primary Election, mail-in applications must be postmarked no later than the Jan. 3 deadline.

You can also update your address, update your name or change your party affiliation by notifying the Elections Office by using a signed written notice that contains the voter’s date of birth or voter registration number.  If you have moved, you can update your address in person, by phone, by mail, by e-mail, by fax, or by a written signed notice provided that the change is made directly to the Supervisor of Elections in the county of your residence.  Otherwise, you will be required to make your change of address on a voter registration application form.

Florida is a closed Primary State.  In a Florida Primary Election, you may vote only for candidates of the political party in which you are registered, unless all candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner will have no opposition in the General Election.

All registered voters may vote in non-partisan elections, on issues, and for any candidate in the General Election.

Party changes must be submitted no later than 29 days prior to a Primary Election.  The deadline to make a party change for the Presidential Preference Primary Election is Jan. 3, 2012.

  Before dashing away to prepare for Christmas, Santa Claus greets youngsters at High Springs' twilight parade Saturday night.

HIGH SPRINGS – By the time Santa arrived, Olivia Grinstead was exhausted. The four-year-old had spent an hour waving enthusiastically at all the well-wishers in the 15^th Annual Twilight Christmas Parade in High Springs on Dec. 10, and her arm was tired.

The parade is sponsored by the High Springs Chamber of Commerce to bring people into town and do something fun for the community, said Donna Mogler, chamber president. The parade featured 36 floats plus four groups from Alachua, said event manager Sandra Webb, with participants from Hardee’s Restaurant to Hare Krishnas turning out to march.

The winner of the parade was the Santa Fe High School Raider Regiment Band, sparkling with Christmas lights strung up their pants legs. Coming in second was the High Springs Girl Scouts, followed by the Santa-hat-clad High Springs Community School band.

The theme was based around pioneers, and many groups took it to heart. Tractors and wagons took over High Springs, making their way from Second Avenue and Second Street all the way to the railroad tracks on Main Street.

Lights flashed as participants waved at children, yelling “Merry Christmas!” and handing out candy. Vendors sold light-up toys and local foods, with many children tugging at the legs of their parents to bring home a holiday treat.

The chamber of commerce started taking applications in September in order to ensure they had time to assign floats and give the participants numbers. On the day of the event, members arrived at 3 p.m. and worked until 9 p.m., Mogler said.

“It’s a long day,” she added.

“We walk the whole parade at the very end, all the way up to our Christmas tree,” she said. “Then Santa gets to meet all the kids.”

The youngsters ran up to Santa Claus while he was still on the float, reaching for his hand and they followed as quickly as they could. Haley Rondello, 6, thought the whole thing was great. What was her favorite part?

“I loved the candy!” she said, sucking on the last bit of a candy cane.

***For more photos of the parade, visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ACTNEWS