pileofcrapola

This week’s Reston Pet of the Week is Koda, a young hound mix who is in need of a good home. Koda will be at Weber’s Pet Supermarket at Fox Mill Shopping Center as part of a pet adoption event this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

Here is what the people at Mutt Love Rescue have to say about him:

Koda is a young, red and white hound weighing about 65 pounds, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to be a lap dog at times.

If you look up sweet and affectionate in the dictionary you might just see a picture of Koda.

Koda is in excellent health, and up to date on all vaccines and is housebroken. He is good with all dogs and also good with cats.

He would love a fenced yard and another dog to play with, but will also snuggle up on the couch in the evenings and hang out with his family.

Are you and Koda a match? If so, let us know and our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, will send you $100 in Becky’s Bucks, as well as some treats.

Want your pet to be considered for the Reston Pet of the Week?

Email news@Restonnow.com with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks.

Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Reston and Northern Virginia.

The post Reston Pet of the Week: Koda appeared first on WTOP.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors spent several hours discussing the definition of “dog tethering” on Tuesday before ultimately passing a new ordinance aimed at controlling the practice.

Is it considered “tethering” to tie your dog to the deck while you garden? How about to clip the pet to the groomer’s table or simply keep him from running away?

The Supervisors had been seeking a change to the Code of Virginia’s cruelty to animals provisions, which address the definitions and penalties for neglect, cruelty and abandonment of pets.

The Fairfax County rule now makes it illegal to tie a dog up outside for more than 60 minutes in a 24-hour period.

County officials previously said the dog-tethering proposal is modeled after the City of Richmond’s tethering ordinance, determined to be the best fit based on a survey of jurisdictions across Virginia. Several Virginia cities and counties have enacted tethering legislation, including cities of Fairfax and Alexandria and Arlington and Fauquier counties.

 

There was much discussion Tuesday about what it would mean if the dog was tied up for 61 minutes rather than the allotted 60.

“I never contemplated this would limit the amount of time you could walk your dog,” said Supervisor Michael Frey (Sully), a lifelong dog owner.

Sully added wording to the new code, which states the 60-minute limit “unless the dog is under direct supervision of his owner or a custodian.”

The motion, and the overall rule, passed.

The supervisors heard from about a dozen citizens and animal groups representatives in the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Gina Lynch of the Humane Society of Fairfax County called enacting the rule “a momentous accomplishment.”

“This will really send a message to those who would possibly abuse an animal — not today; not ever.”

County animal control officials said the ordinance is aimed at educating and stopping dog owners who would leave dogs tethered outside constantly. Tethering is bad for dogs and can cause them harm, such as in an accidental hanging or inability to defend themselves against other animals, the said.”

Not all animal advocates were in favor of the rule.

Alice Harrington of the Federation of Virginia Dog Clubs and Breeders, said “this assumes all tethering is bad, and this is not true.” She cited groomers and “dogs who are escape artists” as situations where tethering would help the pets.

“How do you cite someone for animal cruelty if there is no harm to the dog?” she said.

Said Frey: “This is not intended to solve every single problem that occurs with tethering but a section that will apply in unique circumstances, The bottom line: judgment is always going to be key in enforcing laws.”

Fines and penalties for violating the tethering provision:

• First violation — Class 3 misdemeanor, punishable by fine of up to $500.
• Second violation (whether or not involving the same dog) within one year of first violation — Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by fine of up to $1,000 and penalty of up to six months in jail.
• All subsequent violations within one year of first violation — Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by fine of up to $2,500 and penalty of up to one year in jail.

Photo: Petfinder

The post Supervisors Pass Dog Tethering Code, With Additional Leeway appeared first on WTOP.

This week’s Pet of the Week is Toby, who’s been an Arlington resident for less than a year. He was adopted after being rescued from the streets of Puerto Rico and brought to the United States. While he’s adjusting to the colder temperatures and island lifestyle, Toby has made Arlington his home.

Here’s more from Toby’s new owners about the fashionable pup:

Hi! My name is Toby. I’m a trilingual (English, Spanish and French) mixed Chihuahua adopted six months ago from Lost Dog Rescue.

I lived the first three years of my life in Dorado Puerto, Rico until my owner moved and left me on the streets. Fortunately for me, a kind lady in San Juan and her young daughter took me in for foster care before the dog catcher snagged me. They had me flown to Lost Dog Rescue in Arlington for a permanent adoption. I was, of course, adopted a few days later, and my new parents wouldn’t part with me for the world.

I’ve had to make some adjustments in Arlington. I left average high temperatures of 85 degrees in San Juan in April for cool, often rainy spring days in Arlington that sometimes didn’t reach 45 degrees. I now have a growing wardrobe of coats, sweaters and, of course, a raincoat to help me cope with the weather. Even though the fit isn’t always perfect, I don’t mind wearing anything to humor my parents — but don’t even think about putting a hood on me.

My idea of the perfect day is lots of snoozing time on the sofa in the family room, sunning and watching for squirrels or rabbits on the backyard deck, walks around the neighborhood to look for new acquaintances, and car rides anywhere to watch the world from my elevated rear car seat/bed. Special days include an afternoon smelling expedition to one of Arlington’s nature centers.

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email arlingtonnews@gmail.com with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet.

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care, the winner of three Angie’s List Super Service Awards and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year, provides professional dog walking and pet sitting services in Arlington and Northern Virginia.

The post Arlington Pet of the Week: Toby appeared first on WTOP.

While there’s a new tuna class action on the dock filed against the grocery chain Safeway, don’t forget that the class action against tuna giant Starkist was also settled earlier this year, with millions of dollars and millions of vouchers for free tuna set aside as a settlement.

If you’ve never filed a claim for a class action like this before, here’s how it works. Since you (probably) don’t have your last five years’ worth of grocery receipts sitting around, the settlement administrators ask you to swear, on penalty of perjury, that you have in fact purchased one of the relevant types of Starkist tuna during the covered period (between February 19, 2009 and October 31, 2014.)

While the default award is a check for $25 cash or $50 worth of tuna vouchers, there’s a catch: $4 million in vouchers and $8 million in cash was set aside for consumer settlements. If more people than anticipated file claims, the total amount that each person receives will be lower. If more than 80,000 people filed for vouchers, for example, everyone would receive less than $50.

We don’t know what the final settlement will be, since the deadline is Friday. If you missed out and you’ve bought Starkist tuna, visit the very memorable URL TunaLawsuit.com and either file a claim or exclude yourself if what you want is to file your own lawsuit against Starkist.

We’ve shared warnings about many different types of telemarketing scams, but they all have one thing in common: they extract money from their victims using quick and untraceable methods like wire transfers or prepaid debit cards. Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced an amendment to current telemarketing rules that’s meant to protect consumers from fraud over the phone lines.

If someone is already calling up a vulnerable mark and telling them that their computer is full of viruses that the caller can detect and remove without access to the machine, they owe money to help out a grandchild in peril, to make a warrant for their arrest go away, or that they can pay their overdue taxes by prepaid debit card, this is just another pesky telemarketing rule that they will ignore.

However, the change signals to consumers that no legitimate business will ever ask for a wire transfer or prepaid card as a method of payment. “Con artists like payments that are tough to trace and hard for people to reverse,” Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. These include wire transfers and prepaid cards, but also payment orders using the victim’s banking information. If fraud occurs using one of these, it can be difficult to trace back and determine whether the victim really authorized the payment or not.

How not to pay a telemarketer [FTC]

Gasoline mixups are one of the scarier consumer horror stories out there, since there isn’t much that a motorist can do to prevent or mitigate them. One happened in Tarrant County, Texas recently: people who pumped gasoline received diesel fuel, and people who pumped diesel received gasoline.

Using the wrong fuel can do serious and very expensive damage to a vehicle’s engine, which is pretty bad for the average motorist, and catastrophic for someone who drives for a living. For example, there’s the truck drivers whose vehicles run on diesel fuel, or businesses that depend on their trucks to, well, do business.

“I haven’t heard anything,” said one truck driver who filled up his diesel truck with gas at the station last Monday. “I want my truck back.” He’s been stuck driving a company vehicle, and would prefer his own truck. Same with the owner of a local septic tank pumping company that CBS Dallas-Fort Worth spoke to: he says that the truck damaged by gasoline is the company’s biggest, and having it out of commission is hurting them.

The owner of the gas station said that a driver for their fuel distributor, Shell, is to blame for the mixup, and that Shell’s insurance company will cover the damage to customers’ vehicles. The “Consumer Justice” team at CBS Dallas-Fort Worth has promised to keep an eye out for problems with the situation.

Consumer Justice: Gas Station Mix Up Could Cost Drivers Thousands [CBS DFW]

Some people are lucky enough to win a million dollars in their lifetime, and others are freakishly fortunate enough to win that much money twice: a Massachusetts woman pulled off quite a feat recently by winning the $1 million prize on a scratch-off ticket, 19 years after her first $1 million win.

Becoming a big winner overnight is now old hat for the woman, who became the 26th $1 million prize winner of the “$10,000,000 Diamond Millionaire” instant game after buying a scratch ticket from her local Stop & Shop, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery (via the Boston Globe). She’s taking home her money in a one-time payment of $650,000.

Back in August 1996, she visited that same Stop & Shop location and ended up winning a $1 million prize, again, on a scratch ticket, a lottery spokesman explained.

Her luck doesn’t stop there: she also won a $20,000 prize on a ticket from — you guessed it — the same store.

She’s planning on using this year’s prize on her family this Christmas. Here’s to hoping she buys them all scratch tickets from Stop & Shop, because obviously, luck is contagious.

After announcing this summer that it would be dipping its toes into mobile ordering as well as mulling the idea of offering delivery service, Dunkin’ Donuts says it’s testing both features at various markets around the country now.

Starting today, 124 Dunkin’ locations in Portland, ME will let customers order ahead of time using a new smartphone app, reports Bloomberg News.

On the delivery front, 19 of the chain’s restaurants in Dallas are testing delivery with a partnership through DoorDash. More locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. will also go that route soon.

Dunkin’ has plenty of competition to keep it busy these days: not only does Starbucks offer mobile ordering and a rewards program with 10.4 million or so customers — compared to Dunkin’s 3.6 million members in its program — but McDonald’s is trying to take a cut of the breakfast crowd by offering all-day breakfast nationwide.

To set itself apart from its rivals, the company hopes it can bring the heat by getting customers what they want faster than other services.

“The morning space and the coffee space are incredibly crowded,” said Scott Hudler, vice president of global consumer engagement. “Speed is one of our brand differentiators.”

Dunkin’ Donuts Tests Mobile Ordering in Bid to Catch Up With Starbucks [Bloomberg]

When a city provides trash pickup, the homeowner is supposed to receive a bill for it in some form. In theory. One homeowner in California received a $21 monthly bill from the city, and he assumed that this included trash pickup. One shouldn’t assume that a bill includes anything, it turns out.

After two years of homeownership, he suddenly received a $807 bill from the city for all of the trash pickup that it didn’t bill him for for the whole period. As a first-time homeowner, he didn’t have past bills from the same city to compare the bills he was receiving to, and didn’t know that he was supposed to be receiving a trash bill.

He turned to CBS Sacramento’s problem-solving team, and they talked to the forgetful city, Elk Grove. A representative explained that this viewer wasn’t alone in having billing issues: they recently audited trash bills, and found that about sixty local households had problems with their bills.

The city also reserves the right to back bill for up to three years, but that could mean dropping four-figure trash pickup bills in taxpayers’ mailboxes and expecting them to be paid immediately.

This story has a happy ending, which may have been because he called in a local TV news station. The city agreed to work out a payment plan for him, and he will have another two years to pay back the $807 under his very careful budget.

Call Kurtis: City Forgets to Bill for Trash for 2 Years; Sends Large Bill [CBS Sacramento]

Four months after Yahoo announced it would offer sports fans the opportunity to make money by betting on professional athletes’ performances, the company became the latest target in a New York state investigation into the business practices of the currently unregulated multi-million dollar online daily fantasy sports industry. 

The New York Times, citing a person familiar with the matter, reports that the New York Attorney General’s Office issued a subpoena to Yahoo related to the ongoing investigation into other online fantasy sites FanDuel and DraftKings.

Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy – the third largest daily online fantasy sports site behind FanDuel and DraftKings – continued to allow New Yorkers to play daily fantasy games as of Wednesday.

The online fantasy service is available through a mobile app and allows users to compete in groups or individually by betting on a professional athlete’s performance. The site is currently only available in the United States, except for Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, and Washington.

“Yahoo does not comment on legal matters,” a spokesman said in a statement to the NYT. “We are monitoring industry trends and events closely and believe that we offer a lawful product for our Daily Fantasy Sports users.”

News of Yahoo’s inclusion in ongoing daily fantasy investigation comes just hours after New York Attorney General Eric Schnedierman filed lawsuits against both FanDuel and DraftKings, seeking to stop them from offering their service to New Yorkers.

According to the lawsuits, business practices utilized by the companies violate state laws that prohibit the promotion of gambling and “repeated or persistent fraudulent conduct.”

The complaints claim that these sites run “casino-style gambling operation[s]… where bettors can wager up to $10,000 per ‘line-up’ and enter for a chance to win jackpots of more than $1 million.”

Combined, the two companies have spent nearly $100 million on advertising this year. DraftKings ads promote the site with statements like, “It’s the simplest way of winning life-changing piles of cash,” while FanDuel likes to say, “anybody can play, anybody can succeed.”

The lawsuits also take issue with the sites’ “anyone can win” advertising, and point to the companies’ own data to show that the vast majority of players lose money.

In 2013 and 2014, 74% of the people who spent the most money on FanDuel lost money. During those same years, 89.3% of all DraftKings players had an overall negative return on investment on the site.

By allegedly misrepresenting that a casual player is likely to win a jackpot and that daily fantasy is not gambling, the state argues that these sites have engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of the state’s general business law.

As we’ve explained before, fantasy sports betting was exempted from a 2006 law barring financial institutions from transferring money to these sites. The argument at the time was that fantasy sports are games of skill, rather than gambling.

Still, online fantasy sports sites like FanDuel and DraftKings – and now Yahoo – have become the center of intense scrutiny from federal and state regulators and law enforcement agencies in recent months.

Back in October, the FBI announced it had opened an investigation into the legality of online daily fantasy sports sites. That same day, Nevada gaming regulators declared that these sites are unlicensed gambling businesses and barred them from operating in the state.

Just a month later, New York jumped on the investigation bandwagon after Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent letters to both DraftKings and FanDuel telling them to cease and desist selling their fantasy sports betting services in the state after concluding that, according to New York state law, the daily fantasy sports sites are unlicensed gambling operations.

End Sought to Fantasy Sites in New York; Yahoo Is Said to Be Added to Inquiry [The New York Times]

When you get a quote for car insurance, you might think that only a few things matter — your driving record, the cost and use of your vehicle, the type of coverage you need, and other factors directly related to operating an automobile. But the fact is that many insurers are basing your insurance quotes on data points that have nothing to do with driving, like your credit score, marital status, and ZIP code. New research shows that determining price using these types of demographic and financial factors (rather than driving record alone) can have a serious impact on the affordability of car insurance. 

THE TL;DR VERSION

• New research shows that drivers who live in predominantly (more than 75%) white ZIP codes are seeing significantly lower car insurance quotes than those seen by drivers in predominantly African-American areas.
• Even when controlled for population density and income, these pricing disparities can still be found.
• Insurance companies often use credit scores to determine their premiums. This can result in drivers with DWI convictions — but pristine credit — paying less for insurance than drivers with pristine driving records, but poor credit.
• Most major insurers charge higher rates to single (and sometimes widowed) drivers, though this disparity can vary wildly (from 0% to more than 200%) depending on where you live.

While some states have restrictions on the use of things like credit scores in setting an auto insurance premium, only California has a law requiring insurers to offer drivers with clean driving records the lowest premium for which they qualify.

Recent reports from the Consumer Federation of America, and our colleagues at Consumers Union and Consumer Reports have tried to spotlight the various ways in which auto insurers use these unrelated — or at best tangentially related — bits of information to determine how much people will pay for coverage.

Since reading about insurance can be a slog, we’ve tried to boil down some of the most important discoveries to come out of this research.

1. Drivers in predominantly African-American ZIP codes tend to pay more than those living in areas with mostly white residents

This is the conclusion of a report released today by the Consumer Federation of America, which compared quotes from the nation’s five largest insurers to see what effect, if any, the use of non-driving factors had on the price of auto insurance in predominately African-American communities. As we explore the findings of the report, it’s important to note that the analysis did not attempt to prove that auto insurance companies were intentionally raising prices for consumers who live in predominately African-American ZIP codes. The CFA’s research addresses the impact of auto insurance pricing methodologies on these communities, and provides compelling evidence that the current methods of pricing of auto insurance result in good drivers in predominantly African-American communities paying higher prices than similarly situated drivers in predominantly white communities, even when controlling for factors such as urban-density and income.

What You Can Do

If you believe that insurance rates should be based on your driving record and not unrelated factors, you can check this petition from our colleagues at Consumers Union.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners also has an interactive map linking to the sites for insurance regulators in each state.

The same fictional driver profile — 30-year-old single female with a clean driving record, no lapses in coverage, steady employment, a rental apartment, and a “Fair” credit rating, driving a 2000 Honda Civic around 10,000 miles a year — was used to obtain quotes from the insurers in all of the areas included in the survey.

Researchers looked at insurance premiums for this fictional driver in a variety of environments — urban to rural — and across average income levels of area residents, from below $20,000 a year to more than $100,000 annually.

According to the report, “on average, a good driver in a predominantly African-American community will pay considerably more for state-mandated auto insurance coverage than a similarly situated driver in a predominantly white community.”

More precisely, researchers found that when a neighborhood’s racial makeup is at least 75% African-American, car insurance premiums average 70% higher than those quoted for the same driver living someplace where the African-American population is below 25%. For the fictional driver in the study, that means a difference of more than $400 per year ($1,060, compared to $622).

Even at lower concentrations of African-American residents, the average premiums are still significantly more expensive. That same driver would face an average rate of $831 (a 34% difference) if she lived in a community that was between half and three-quarters African-American. The average premium drops to $768 when white residents account for half to three-quarters of the population. That’s still around 24% higher than people pay in predominantly white ZIP codes.

On average, drivers living in predominantly African-American ZIP codes see premiums that are 70% higher than prices in predominantly white areas.
Consumer Federation of America

These are all national averages, and include both rural and urban communities. To get a more accurate comparison, CFA also looked at drivers in similarly dense ZIP codes — and once again found disparities.

In the densest urban communities — where premiums are typically high because of traffic, crime, and potential for damage — the average premium ($1,797) in predominantly African-American ZIP codes is 60% percent higher than in dense urban areas populated primarily by white residents ($1,126); a difference of more than $600.

The gap isn’t as distinct in rural ZIP codes, where predominantly white communities see an average of $542 for their insurance premiums, 23% less than the $669 average found in predominantly African-American rural areas.

The biggest difference in insurance premiums was found when CFA researchers compared upper middle-income drivers. In predominantly white ZIP codes where the average annual income was between $63,000 to $102,000, insurance premiums averaged $717. Compare that to the same income range for predominantly African-American ZIP codes, where the average premium clocked in at $2,113 — an increase of 194%, nearly triple the cost to the driver.

And since having a car is not optional for most working adults — and having insurance is required everywhere but New Hampshire — CFA’s research suggests that some people earning a decent living are effectively being compelled to pay an additional $1,400 a year despite having a clean driving record.

Progressive & Farmers charge drivers in African-American neighborhoods rates nearly double their premiums for drivers in mostly white ZIP codes.

Of the five insurance companies included in the report, Progressive and Farmers demonstrated the most obvious gulf between rates in predominantly white and predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Both companies quoted rates for drivers living in mostly African-American communities that were nearly double the average premium for the same driver in ZIP codes where white residents account for at least three-quarters of the population (Progressive: $1,332 vs. $694; Farmers: $1,271 vs. $662).

GEICO had the lowest average rates of the five (predominantly white: $575; predominantly African-American: $876), but that’s still a difference of 53% for — not to beat this horse to death — the same driver profile.

The CFA says the goal of this report is not to claim that insurers are intentionally charging more in non-white communities.

“We believe, instead, that it would be more productive to focus on the impact of high auto insurance prices and the implications these findings should have for industry, regulators, and policymakers,” reads the report.

As a result of their research, the CFA is calling on state legislators and insurance regulators to, among other things, require that all insurers provide a pricing report showing the premium for a standardized, safe driver in every ZIP code in the state.

Ideally, the report would also include demographic information about each ZIP code, as that added transparency would effectively require insurers to explain why certain communities are paying more or less than others.

2. Convicted drunk drivers with good credit might have better premiums than good drivers with poor credit

You can understand why a poor credit history would result in higher auto loan rates. But what does your failure to make a student loan payment seven years ago, or an unexpectedly huge medical bill you couldn’t pay right away, have to do with the likelihood that you’ll get into an accident?

It’s not like the insurance companies aren’t checking your driving history; if you have a clean driving record, it shouldn’t matter whether your FICO score is 600 or 800.

And yet in all but three states — California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts — insurers are allowed to use your creditworthiness to determine your insurance premium.

Earlier this year, Consumer Reports found that credit scores can have more effect on your insurance rates than any other factor.

In some states, drivers with moving violations on their record could end up paying less than drivers with clean records, solely because of a difference in credit scores.

See the chart below for an example. According to CR’s research (also using fictional, standardized driver profiles), drivers in Kansas with “Excellent” credit and a pristine driving record average $965 a year in car premiums. Merely having “Good” credit raises that average by $233 a year. If a Kansan has “Poor” credit, their insurance could soar to $2,266/year, nearly 2.5 times the rate for someone with credit.

More importantly, it’s almost $1,000 more than the average premium seen by a driver with a drunk driving conviction. So insurers in this case are saying that someone with bad credit is more of an insurance risk than someone whose record shows they willingly risked their lives and others’ by driving while intoxicated.

“From a public safety perspective, this makes no sense,” explains Norma Garcia, senior attorney at Consumers Union.

Tomorrow, Garcia will be testifying before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners about the mysterious world of insurance rates, where she intends to raise the issue of penalizing a driver with poor credit more than one with a DWI conviction.

“According to the most recently available statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, there were over 11,000 known blood alcohol content related driver deaths in 2013,” notes Garcia in her prepared remarks. “No doubt, the hazards of drunk driving are painfully real. By contrast, despite the negative view of drivers with poor credit held by many insurance companies, we are not aware of any traffic fatalities attributable to poor credit, yet in many cases, these drivers continue to pay more than the most hazardous drivers on the road.”

3. Unmarried and widowed drivers sometimes pay more than than married folks

In July, the CFA released a report on how marital status impacts car insurance rates. Of the six insurers included in the study, only one — State Farm — showed no variation in rates between single drivers and married ones.

The other insurers — GEICO, Farmers, Progressive, Nationwide, and Liberty — have no such blanket policy with regard to marital status, and single drivers often pay more.

In many parts of the country, singles paid these insurers more than their married counterparts, with the range of rate increases ranging wildly from 0% to more than 200%.

Age didn’t matter, says CFA. The range of price hikes for their fictional 30-year-old single driver were effectively the same when they obtained quotes for a 50-year-old.

What does seem to matter is location. Researchers looked at rates in 10 different markets around the country and found that the insurers were inconsistent in their application of these pricing differences.

For example, in Boston, Farmers quoted rates 12.5% higher for singles than married customers. But in Tampa, the insurer charges single drivers nearly 34% more than married drivers in that market. Then in California, where marital status is only allowed as a low-impact “optional” factor in setting prices, Farmers charges the exact same price regardless of whether or not you’ve ever been married.

While the other insurers made no distinction between single, divorced, and widowed drivers, GEICO bucked this trend by sometimes charging varying amounts for all the different ways in which a driver can be single.

“Hiking rates on women whose husbands die seems both unfair and inhumane.”

Stephen Brobeck

In Louisville, for example, GEICO charges five different rates in six different categories, with “separated” drivers paying the most (nearly triple the premium for married drivers), but divorced drivers seeing the smallest difference (though still almost double the base married rate).

While one could try to argue that being single — even by divorce — is a matter of choice that might reflect on a driver’s likelihood to take risks, what seems indefensible is the higher premiums some insurers charge to widows.

CFA researchers made their young driver a widow, and saw her rates quotes go up by an average of 14%.

“Hiking rates on women whose husbands die seems both unfair and inhumane,” said Stephen Brobeck, CFA’s Executive Director, at the time of the study. “Why don’t insurers instead emphasize driving-related factors such as accidents, traffic violations, and miles driven in their pricing?”

Prince William County community calendar, Nov. 19-25, 2015 Washington Post American Business Women's Association Monthly meeting features guest speaker Greg Ballard, owner of Greg W. Ballard Coaching, and the program, “Defusing Conflict and Finding Compromise.” 11:30 a.m. Stratford University, 14349 Gideon Dr., ... Woodbridge armed 7-Eleven robbery under investigationW*USA 9 all 5 news articles »

Prince William County crime report Washington Post These were among incidents reported by Prince William County police. For information, call 703-792-7245. BRISTOW AREA. THEFTS/BREAK-INS. Lennice Way, 9700 block, 4:45 to 5:15 p.m. Nov. 5. A bike was stolen from an open garage. DUMFRIES AREA. and more »

In the future when you tune in to watch the big game or your favorite primetime show there might be something missing during the commercial break: ads for prescription drugs and medical devices. The American Medical Association proposed a ban on such advertisements Tuesday, claiming the marketing may be driving consumer demand for unnecessary and expensive treatments. 

The Chicago Tribune reports that the AMA adopted a policy on Tuesday that supports such a ban and calls for greater transparency in advertised prescription drug costs.

AMA is just the latest health organization to push for a ban on advertising prescription drugs: groups like World Health Organization, the National Center for Health Research, as well as consumer advocacy groups, like Public Citizen, have previously raised concerns that such advertisements pressure doctors to prescribe particular medications that may be less effective or more expensive.

“Today’s vote in support of an advertising ban reflects concerns among physicians about the negative impact of commercially driven promotions, and the role that marketing costs play in fueling escalating drug prices,” Dr. Patrice A. Harris, the AMA’s incoming chair, said in a statement.

The Tribune reports that drug makers spent $4.5 billion on consumer advertising last year, and $20 billion in the last five years.

The top 10 advertised drugs include two for erectile dysfunction, three for arthritis, two for mental health issues and one each for stroke prevention, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

Drugmakers have defended their advertising stance, saying it encourages people to seek medical advice and helps to remove stigma about certain conditions.

AMA doesn’t want you to see those Cialis ads [The Chicago Tribune]

Remember when Google wanted people use Google+ for all their social media, photos and video needs? Then you probably also remember that it didn’t work out quite so well for Google, which ended up cutting up the platform into its most useful parts, like the photos feature. But the technology giant isn’t quite ready to give up on the social service yet, and is instead launching it anew.

Google is taking a fresh tack with Google+ this time around, the company announced in a blog post: instead of trying to push the service as a kind of catch-all social media tool, Google+ will be focused on Communities and Collections, which are two of the most popular features of the service, according to Google.

Communities have been around since 2012 and are basically groups: you know, clusters of people with similar interests and hobbies who enjoy talking about those topics. Collections is new this year, and works somewhat like Pinterest, allowing users to group posts about a certain topic into a package that others might be interested in checking out.

Google says the redesigned Google+ will put those two features front and center, and that the platform is now focused around interests. It’s more mobile-friendly as well, the company says, as it’s rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS.

To use the new version of Google+, you’ll have to opt-in, which you can find out more about here.

The future’s really cool sometimes: We get to use all sorts of new technology tools and cloud-based services to help us manage our health. That constellation of apps, trackers, tests, and gadgets gives huge insight into our health and bodies, which is useful to millions… but it also lets a stunning amount of the most personal data out into the wild, unregulated and uncontrolled.

ProPublica tells the story of how one security expert stumbled upon just how insecure that data can be. She bought a home paternity test for fun, to experiment with the tech. And when she went to look at the results, she discovered a Maury-friendly surprise: one little tweak in her browser’s address bar gave her instant access to an enormous directory containing over 6000 customers’ data.

If that seems like a glaring violation of medical data privacy law to you, well, it did to her, too.

Health data is, of course, very protected information. Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), medical providers have to adhere to both a Privacy Rule and a Security Rule that governs what they are allowed to do with your medical information and the penalties for failing to keep that data safe.

But HIPAA isn’t universal; not all businesses have to adhere to it. Covered entities — the people and organizations that are subject to following HIPAA restrictions — include health care practitioners, health insurance companies and plans, and “health care clearinghouses,” which are businesses that process health information between other health companies.

Anyone who works with or for any of those covered entities is also subject to HIPAA. So, for example, the businesses that process medical bills (a task not usually performed in-house) or any subcontractors that work for any covered entity in any capacity are also subject to the rule.

The feds offer a flowchart (PDF) to help figure out who is and is not subject to HIPAA data protections, which is helpful when it comes to actual people performing work in their various settings. It gets a little tricker, though, when your “provider” is an app or a gadget. Because those, it turns out, are not covered at all.

That’s what the security expert with the home paternity test discovered when she tried to report what she presumed was a flagrant violation of patient record security to the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS responded to her complaint more or less with a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯: nothing they could do about the easy breach, because use-at-home tests sold to consumers aren’t covered entities.

HIPAA is pretty specific about who has to be held to its standards, to minimize loopholes. But the law was written almost twenty years ago, when the idea that your doctor’s office could use a computer instead of a giant archive full of paper was still a brand-new and novel concept. There’s no place in it for apps, personal wearable health and fitness trackers, consumer-focused online repositories, home drug or DNA testing services, or any of the other innovations of the 21st century.

ProPublica points out that this is a growing problem: an unsecured database made an Australian business’s full paternity and drug test data accessible through a simple Google search in 2011. In 2014, police were able to use a publicly accessible genealogy database to match DNA to crime suspects.

In 2009, Congress passed a law updating HIPAA and requiring HHS and the FTC, which has oversight of privacy and data breaches, to work together and submit recommendations on how to handle sensitive health data that isn’t covered under HIPAA. Six years later, that report is still in progress.

Privacy Not Included: Federal Law Lags Behind New Tech [ProPublica]

Here's What DC's Mayor Was Desperately Trying To Hide In The Archives Building Daily Caller The District's Archives is a glorified warehouse in an alley in one of the roughest parts of town. That warehouse plays home to many priceless historical artifacts and documents, and those items could be in danger due to government negligence. The ...

How do you quantify what the “best” deals are, on Black Friday or any other day of the year? The most important factor should be whether the retailer sells stuff that you actually want, of course, and the value that those items provide for the money. Yet the sport of deal-hunting is all about the discounts, and WalletHub decided to compile raw percentages to figure out the best places to shop after Thanksgiving this year.

For their raw rankings, WalletHub simply calculated the percent off that each deal that retailers have announced in advance of Black Friday represents. In news that will surprise no one, here are the top ten finishers:

JCPenney: 68.0%
Kohl’s: 66.7%
Stage: 63.9%
Groupon: 63.7%
Belk: 59.5%
Macy’s: 56.0%
Kmart: 50.1%
Panasonic: 47.0%
Fred Meyer: 45.3%
OfficeMaxDepot: 42.8%

Note that the top two finishers there, JCPenney and Kohl’s, are retail chains that have specifically been accused by consumers of deliberately setting prices high so they can then offer huge discounts off prices that no consumer ever actually paid.

They also broke down the best deals by percentage for each category: for example, Groupon offers the best deals for apparel and accessories, with an average discount of 84.2%, but the key question is whether Groupon usually offers any fashion items that you would actually want to wear: as a site consisting of curated deals, they offer a limited selection of items at very high discounts.

OfficeMaxDepot has the best deals on computers and phones, and Walmart comes in second, but you’d have to check the actual items for sale to find out whether either retailer is actually selling anything that you want.

Don’t just head out and look for the lowest prices: do research before and during the shopping-frenzy season to make sure that you know what you’re looking for, and not just letting yourself be dazzled by big discounts.

Also, keep in mind that deals repeat themselves: WalletHub also tracks which Black Friday deals are identical to deals offered by the same retailers last year.

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2015’s Best & Worst Retailers for Black Friday Deals [WalletHub]

Though it might seem like a fine idea to catch a breath of fresh air after a few cocktails, if you attempt to gain access to the outdoors during a flight, you’ll find yourself in trouble. To that end, law enforcement and the Federal Aviation Administration said a British Airways passenger who appeared to be intoxicated tried to open the plane’s exit door on a flight from London to Boston.

A woman in her 30s described as abusive and unruly by the airline and “intoxicated” by the Massachusetts State Police was restrained after she attempted to open an exit door on the Boeing 777 (once again, this gives us a chance to remind folks that such a feat is impossible).

Upon landing at Logan Airport this afternoon, the aircraft was met by Massachusetts State Police, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and Homeland Security agents, reports WCVB.

“Our customers and crew deserve to have a safe and enjoyable flight and we do not tolerate abusive behavior,” the airline said in a statement, adding that the crew requested police to meet the flight “due to an unruly customer on board.”

Police took the passenger into custody and interviewed flight crew and witnesses, but said that upon further investigation, the incident was related to “intoxication,” and not terrorism, reports WHDH.com.

Passenger on Boston-bound British Airways flight tries to open door [WCVB]
Intoxicated female passenger restrained on board British Airways flight to Logan [WHDH]

Flying your favorite furry friend on Delta Air Lines is about to get a little less convenient, and more expensive, starting next year, as the carrier announced that it will no longer allow travelers to ferry their pets from one place to another as checked baggage. 

The airline announced Tuesday that starting March 1, 2016 Delta will only allow bigger animals to be flown on its cargo service. Delta will contact customers with bookings after March 1 that are known to include pets as checked bags.

There are a few exceptions to the new policy: members of the military with active transfer orders, as well as service and emotional support animals can continue to be flown as checked baggage.

Small dogs and cats, those that fit in a pet carrier under a seat, can continue to fly in the cabin with their owners — for a fee, of course.

“Many of us at Delta are pet lovers and we know that they are important members of the family,” Bill Lentsch, Senior Vice President – Airport Customer Service and Cargo Operations, said in a statement. “This change will ultimately ensure that we have a high-quality, consistent service for pets when their owners choose to ship them with Delta Cargo.”

Passengers planning to fly their larger pets with the cargo service should be prepared to jump through a few hoops and pay a bit more for the option.

Pets shipped via the cargo service require a separate booking, which cannot be done for domestic bookings until 14 days before departure.

Dropping off your pet for the trip can also be an issue, as the airline requires the animals to be delivered and retrieved directly from the cargo location.

Additionally, Delta can’t guarantee that pets will be placed on the same flight as their owners, which means travelers may have to return to the airport.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the cost for shipping a pet can be a bit pricey, with rates ranging from $193 to $1,481.18.

The change comes after the airline has faced several issues related to the deaths or misplacement of pets on their flights.

[via The Atlanta Journal Constitution]

It’s frustrating when you want a specific type of pet, and there aren’t any available near you. However, one family learned the hard way that it’s can be unwise to order a puppy from an unverified breeder on the other side of the country. They found a cute puppy and sent cash, then came to realize that they were sending money after a puppy that wasn’t real.

The website they bought the pup through seemed real enough, and the seller even sent videos of the dog napping and playing with her littermates. Wanting to cuddle her through the screen didn’t bring her into reality, though. They first sent $655 as a deposit and shipping fee.

Then a company claiming to be a delivery service contacted the family and demanded $980.76 in life insurance for the dog. Life insurance? There are risks to transporting flat-nosed canines in hot weather, but the dog was coming from Pennsylvania.

That’s when a strange response came from the website that he bought the puppy from, which had since disappeared.

When CBS Sacramento got involved, the breeder reacted poorly, later issuing a refund.

I have decided not to give you any details of where the puppy is exactly…This is just sick and ridiculous of your business organization… so you better watch out

Do you know what’s sick and ridiculous? Demanding more and more money from someone whose daughter has already fallen in love with an imaginary puppy.

Call Kurtis: My $1,600 Purebred Puppy Never Showed Up [CBS Sacramento]

When something is free one year and then comes with a fee the next, you better believe there are going to be customers who notice. As such, the management company at a New Jersey mall has backed off its experiment to charge visitors for the privilege of meeting (or even seeing) Santa Claus after parents complained that access to St. Nick’s lap should be free for everyone.

The Grinch’s heart must have grown three sizes a bit early, as the mall’s higher-ups announced later on Monday that parents wouldn’t have to pay a minimum of $35 for the right to bring their kids to see the big guy.

In a statement (warning: link contains video that autoplays) that calls last year’s “Adventure to Santa” display “wildly successful,” again, a display that was free, mall management says it decided to bring back the “interactive journey” this season.

After going on a bit about the “immersive” 17-20 minute attraction, the mall says it’s had a change of heart.

“In the spirit of the holiday season, we want to keep things festive and bright,” management said. “We have heard and value our loyal customers’ feedback and as a result, have decided to remove the photo package purchase requirements.”

Though it’s common practice to charge parents a fee for photos or videos to commemorate the visit, many were upset that even sitting on St. Nick’s lap to bend his ear would cost money. And because Santa’s house has no windows at this mall, children wouldn’t be able to catch a glimpse of the Big Guy without paying up first.

“I find it classist and it creates a divide between children during a holiday which is supposed to be about equality and giving and having everyone participate in the joy of Christmas,” one customer told the Philadelphia Inquirer before the mall backtracked.

Even in an age when everyone has Caller ID on their cellphones and landlines, when more than 200 million numbers are listed on the national Do Not Call Registry, our phones are still inundated with unwanted auto-dialed and prerecorded calls. And though state and federal regulators regularly shut down illegal telemarketing operations, it can seem like a game of Whac-A-Mole, with new robocallers popping up to replace the old ones.

There are a number of ways to use technology to reduce the number of annoying robocalls you receive, but U.S. phone companies have generally left it up to consumers to defend themselves against the telemarketing onslaught, rather than implementing ways to prevent most robocalls from getting through in the first place.

Telecoms Charge For Limited Blocking

If you want to block robocalls on your landline service from AT&T or Verizon, your options are limited and expensive:
AT&T
•Call Block/Anonymous Call Rejection: For $8.50/month, you can block 10 numbers and all anonymous callers. It not only costs a lot, but it means you’ll have to constantly be updating your blacklist.

VERIZON
• Landline Service: Blocking either 6 or 12 numbers (depending on service area) will run you $6/month. If you also want to block anonymous numbers, that costs another $6.
• FiOS VoIP Service: Verizon doesn’t charge FiOS customers for either service, but puts a 100-number limit on the blacklist.

Pre-empting unwanted calls was the intention of the Do Not Call list — shifting the burden to telemarketers to not bother consumers in the registry — but most irritating robocalls are done by scam artists or fly-by-night businesses that don’t really care whether or not you asked to not be called.

Consumer complaints about unwanted calls dominate gripes filed with the Federal Trade Commission every year, and not just because folks are being interrupted in the middle of watching Jeopardy. The FTC estimates that $350 million a year is lost to phone scams.

A new report [PDF] from our colleagues at Consumers Union looks at the various ways phone companies could be proactively trying to rein in robocalls — if they ever get around to it.

NOMOROBO

Nomorobo was the winner of the FTC’s first competition to create a viable service for blocking robocalls.

It’s a filter — no device needed — that creates a “blacklist” of phone numbers reported to the FTC as Do Not Call violators, and numbers that consumers indicate are connected to robocallers.

Right now, Nomorobo only works on VoIP telephone service; not good for those still on traditional landlines or who have gone cellphone only, but great for the millions of Americans who get their landline service through their cable or Internet provider.

When someone calls your number, Nomorobo rings simultaneously on your home phone and on the Nomorobo servers. If the service IDs the incoming number as a robocaller, it ends the call after one ring.

In an effort to gather more likely robocall numbers, Nomorobo also collects information about phone calls made to numbers that were abandoned after receiving too many unsolicited calls. Since the only people calling these numbers are probably going to be robocallers, this system is able to add to the Nomorobo blacklist.

One of the problems that comes up all the time with tracking down robocallers is “spoofed” numbers — when the info that shows up on your Caller ID has nothing to do with the person calling you.

Spoofing is not, by itself, illegal. In fact, there are justifiable, good reasons — like preventing a stalker or an abusive spouse from knowing your location — for wanting to hide your information. It’s only when spoofing is used to commit fraud or otherwise perpetrate a crime that it becomes illegal.

Nomorobo owner Aaron Foss says his algorithm can help ID spoofers by identifying reporting trends from the service’s users.

“A robocaller might spoof a random number but when that fake number starts calling 5,000 people in an hour, well, humans don’t call like that,” he explains.

If a legitimate caller is flagged as a potential robocaller, that caller will have to enter a number to prove they are human before the call can be connected.

This feature may be a minor impediment to major telephone companies implementing Nomorobo or something similar. One of the telecom industry’s most common arguments against proactive, widespread robocall blacklists is that they might inadvertently block allowed robocalls, which include school closing notifications and emergency alerts.

Moffat says Nomorobo addresses this concern by whitelisting these numbers so that they are not blocked by the “prove you’re a human” numerical code requirement.

PRIMUS TELEMARKETING GUARD

Primus — not the band behind Pork Soda (though that would be awesome) — is an independent Internet and phone provider for hundreds of thousands of folks in Canada. It’s also the company behind something called Telemarketing Guard, which Primus Canada has made available to its customers for free since 2007.

The Guard is a filter that aims to head off blacklisted numbers so that they never ring on your end. If a number has been identified by some users as a robocaller, but the verdict is still out, the number is greylisted, which has two facets. First, the caller is asked to press a number and say their name before the call is put through. If that happens, then the recording of the caller’s name is played for the recipient, who then can decide to answer the call, block the number, or have it go to voicemail.

Primus says the Guard has not just cut down on annoying calls to consumers who use it, but that offering the service has made good business sense for the company because nearly 9-in-10 Primus Canada customers have cited the Guard as the main reason to retain their service.

In 2013, in response to a Senate committee question about why American phone companies had not adopted the Primus Canada Guard or Nomorobo, trade group USTelecom mentioned [PDF] that Nomorobo can block calls because it’s not a phone service provider, and Primus — owned by a Virginia-based company — is only using the Guard north of the border, possibly because FCC rules would have forbidden the company from using it stateside.

But as noted in the Consumers Union report, the FCC said earlier this year that it’s okay for U.S. phone service providers to offer services like these.

WHAT’S THE HOLDUP?

“The phone companies could be doing so much more to stop robocalls from harassing their customers,” said Maureen Mahoney, Policy Analyst with Consumers Union and author of the report. “But so far they’ve just been passing the buck and making excuses.”

According to the report, the major roadblock to putting robocall filters in place is the phone companies’ inaction.

Nomorobo’s Foss says his VoIP call-filtering system could be used on landlines and wireless phones; it would just require the phone companies to switch on simultaneous ringing for these types of lines. However, he acknowledges that old copper-line networks — some of which have reportedly fallen into disrepair — may not be up to the task.

Henning Schulzrinne, former Chief Technology Officer of the FCC, echoes this sentiment in the report, noting that, “Older landline systems may not support simultaneous ringing or carriers may choose not to enable the feature.”

USTelecom contends that even if you got it Nomorobo to work, “it is not clear whether it could be accomplished while still being able to offer a… solution on a cost effective basis to end users.”

It’s understandable that telecoms would want to remain neutral with regard to call-blocking. By doing nothing, they can avoid the potential problems that could occur when an important, legitimate emergency call gets blocked.

But a look at the numbers shows that something has to be done to curb these calls. In addition to the huge volume of complaints filed with the government every year, more than 550,000 people have signed on to Consumers Union’s End Robocalls petition asking AT&T, Verizon, and CenturyLink to give customers the ability to block these calls.

“Robocalls are more than just a nuisance,” explains Mahoney. “They can cost consumers real money when they are used to commit fraud. It’s clear that the technology exists to dramatically reduce these unwanted calls. Now it’s up to the phone companies to show they are serious about solving this problem by offering free call-blocking tools to their customers.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo says winners of an Instagram contest will be invited to be among the first to meet panda cub Bei Bei.

The cub, who was born Aug. 22, is set to make his public debut Jan. 16. The zoo said in a statement Tuesday that it will choose 25 people to see the cub as part of a “behind-the-scenes experience.” The participants will be able to take pictures of the cub and share them on Instagram.

The zoo says that to enter the contest participants must make a 15-second or less video using Instagram explaining why they want to be part of the event and fill out a registration form by Monday.

The zoo plans to notify winners by Dec. 11. The behind-the-scenes event will be Dec. 19.

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Congress moves to Washington, Nov. 17, 1800 Politico Following a 10-year sojourn in Philadelphia, on this day in 1800, Congress met for the first time in the newly built Capitol in Washington. U.S. Supreme Court justices, the librarian of Congress and district court judges moved in as well. When ...

Prince William County community calendar Washington Post Dale City Farmers Market 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Dale City Commuter Lot, (behind Center Plaza Shopping Center), Dale Boulevard, Dale City. 703-670-7112, Ext. 227. www.pwcparks.org. Free. 2015 Nature Visions Photo Expo An exhibit of nature photographs from ... and more »

What’s a technology company trying to break into the restaurant review game to do when not enough people are willing to submit restaurant reviews? If you’re Google, you give out a bunch of free storage.

In an effort to beef up its “Local Guides” feature, Google Maps is dangling some incentives for people who submit information about businesses in their neighborhoods.

Local Guides allows users to share information directly to Google Maps, in what the company calls “a global community that helps you explore the world while earning perks. The feature is clearly intended to keep users within the Maps app, instead of using services like Foursquare and Yelp to look up reviews.

Each contribution type — “writing reviews, uploading photos, adding new places, fixing outdated information, and answering simple questions” — is worth one point, and you can earn up to five points per location.

As a reward for contributions, Google is implementing a multi-level rewards system that includes things like the chance to enter exclusive contests for new devices, or early access to those products. The rewards increase in value as you collect points: at level four, Google will give folks one terabyte of Google Drive storage (which usually costs $9.99 per month). The final reward? The chance to apply to attend a Local Guides summit in 2016 at the company’s headquarters in California.

Here’s Google’s breakdown of the reward levels:

Level 1 (0 – 4 points): Enter exclusive contests (think new Google devices!) in select countries.
Level 2 (5 – 49 points): Get early access to new Google products and features.
Level 3 (50 – 199 points): Show up in the Google Maps app with your official Local Guides badge.
Level 4 (200 – 499 points): Receive a free 1 TB upgrade of your Drive storage, allowing you to keep all the stories, photos, and videos from your travels in one safe place.
Level 5 (500+ points): The very top Local Guides will become eligible to apply to attend our inaugural summit in 2016, where you’ll be able to meet other top Guides from around the world, explore the Google campus, and get the latest info about Google Maps. Look out for details early next year.

When a pet goes missing, the owners might post “Lost” fliers, call their local animal shelters, or simply look up the animal’s microchip in hopes of finding them. While the last option is used more and more, some owners say the way in which the microchip system works is flawed, leaving people with little hope of finding their pets. 

NBC4 I-Team in Los Angeles reports the large number of companies manufacturing the small chips embedded with unique serial numbers has created an environment in which one system might not identify the chip made by a different manufacturer, keeping missing animals from being returned to their rightful owners.

While there are some universal microchip scanners, NBC4 found there is no single, shared database where veterinarians or shelter workers can enter the chip information to find an animal’s owner.

“It’s so many loopholes, it’s disorganized,” the owner of a missing dog said. “Come on, we’re information… We could do a lot better than this.”

The woman, whose dog Coco went missing a few weeks ago through a gap in her fence, says that despite microchipping her dog, she doubts she’ll be able to find her beloved pet.

“Some scan it, but they don’t have a system that says ‘Oh, this dog belongs to so and so,’” she said.

The owner of a startup aiming to fix the broken microchip system says the problem centers on a lack of communication between companies to the “detriment of millions and millions of pets.”

NBC4 reports that the issue is compounded by the fact that many pet owners don’t realize they have to register their pet’s serial number in a database and update the information anytime there’s a change of address or phone number.

When microchips include outdated information, it could lead to a dog or cat being euthanized, or adopted by a new owner.

Despite the loopholes and discrepancies between microchips and their readers, animal advocates maintain that lost pets with microchips have a better chance of returning home than those without the device.

Microchipping Not a Sure-Fire Way to Get Back a Lost Pet [NBC4]

THURMONT, Md. (AP) — In an episode reminiscent of “Winnie the Pooh,” Maryland state wildlife workers used an electric hand saw to remove a milk can that was stuck on the head of a bear.

Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Karis King says the wildlife response team was called early Monday to a rural location near Thurmont to rescue an adult male black bear with his head stuck inside a metal milk can.

King says the bear was calm, but the workers tranquilized him for safety reasons before carefully removing the can. She says the animal regained consciousness, lifted his head and walked into the nearby woods.

King says the bear weighed 175 to 200 pounds.

In the children’s story, a bear named Pooh gets his head stuck in a honey jar.

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