It is with great sadness that Contra Costa County Professional Firefighters, Local 1230 reports the death of one of their recently retired members.  Brother James Capra passed away Monday morning, May 1, 2006 with complications from a job incurred exposure to a blood borne pathogen.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following up on what she called a disappointing response from the Bush Administration, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today called on John Howard, Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, to commence a study on the risk of cancer among firefighters. Senator Mikulski sent a similar request to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt in January 2006, after a Johns Hopkins University study focused on Anne Arundel County firefighters yielded inconclusive results.