WASHINGTON — Fire Chief Gregory Dean is expected to ask the D.C. City Council on Tuesday morning to approve a plan to put private ambulances on the streets of Washington.

D.C. Fire and EMS are struggling to keep enough city ambulances running while 911 calls have surged.

Earlier this year, there was no ambulance within seven miles of a stricken baby in Southeast who later died.

Fox 5 reports Dean will ask the council to approve a plan to shore up city ambulance service with up to 20 private ambulances.

The privately contracted ambulances would reportedly run 24 hours a day answering low-priority emergencies, easing stress on the city ambulance fleet and allowing city vehicles time to get much-needed maintenance.

Fox 5 also reports that Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office will seek approval through emergency legislation.

The post Fire chief to request more ambulances to cover D.C. appeared first on WTOP.

Manassas schools to hold Family Life Education preview night Inside NoVA A Parent Preview Night of Manassas City Public Schools' Family Life Education curriculum will be held for grades 5-10 beginning at 7 p.m. Oct. 6 at Mayfield Intermediate School. At this meeting parents will be able to see samples of activities and ... and more »

Micron: A memory maker in Manassas PotomacLocal.com Today, people are glued to their smartphones. Hours at a time are spent in front of computers, tablets, and game consoles. Despite this, few of us think about what makes them work. High-performance memory is the main component that makes our favorite ... and more »

WJLA

Manassas woman paralyzed from West Nile Virus speaks out WJLA Amy Rice, paralyzed from the neck down after being bitten by a mosquito and diagnosed with West Nile Virus. (Photo courtesy of Amy Rice). 14shares. MANASSAS, Va. (WJLA) — For Amy Rice, every step, even a simple movement of her hand, is a struggle. and more »

Prince William County community calendar Washington Post Bird Walk The guided tour will include a variety of habitats. Bring binoculars and cameras. 8 a.m. Merrimac Farm Stone House Visitor Center, North Parking Lot, 15014 Deepwood Lane, Nokesville. 703-499-4954. alliance@pwconserve.org. Free. Occoquan ... and more »

The Grocery Shrink Ray quietly removes almost imperceptible bits of our packaged goods, gradually shrinking some products over time so manufacturers can avoid raising prices. Once you’re aware of it, you begin to notice it every time you buy a slightly smaller replacement for a product that you use regularly. Two readers who bought bread and deodorant noticed exactly that.

Eric bought a new loaf of sourdough bread at discount grocer Aldi, and noticed that the new loaf was a tiny bit smaller than the previous one. 3/10 of an ounce doesn’t seem like a lot, but it would make a loaf of bread smaller. Even a less-fluffy bread like sourdough.

The interesting thing is that Aldi, based in Germany, apparently doesn’t think that Americans are too swift with our metric conversions: both versions of the loaf give the weight as 690 grams, while neither is true. 24 ounces is 680 grams.

Jason, meanwhile, may find himself a little sweatier in the future.

The deodorant on the right is a nice, even 4 ounces, while the item on the left has been shrunk to 3.8. The packages look to be the same size, so this is likely an example of nonfunctional slack fill: there’s just more empty space in the package.

It can be hard work manning a help desk and fielding questions from people all day, so we can’t really blame a New York City Health Department employee who’s taken to answering the phone in a robot voice for trying to jazz up his day a little bit. Unfortunately for Mr. Roboto, a judge has suggested he be suspended from work — for the second time — for his monotonous style.

A city administrative judge ruled this month that a worker who’d been disciplined in the past for answering the IT help-desk phone in a robot voice should be suspended again for 30 days, after he disregarded his supervisors’ orders to greet callers like a normal human, reports DNAInfo (h/t Jezebel).

To be fair, he only does the android impression in the beginning of the call, before transitioning to a normal human speaking voice for the remainder of the call.

The Health Department still has to approve the disciplinary recommendation from Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Judge Ingrid Addison.

But we want to know — is this just one man’s way of dealing with the daily rigors of life answering help desk phone calls, and therefore somewhat awesome? Or is it just really annoying? Vote in our poll below.

Take Our Poll

City Worker Fined for Talking in Robot Voice Does it Again [DNAInfo]

In defense of a loiterer who sought shelter in the vestibule of a Tim Hortons outlet in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, there is no sign that says, “No Goats Allowed.” They ban skateboarding and biking, but not seeking shelter in that area while being a goat. Yet store employees called the Mounties anyway, probably because the goat was loitering without even buying a coffee.

The animal first entered the store through the automatic doors, since those don’t have any kind of species lock on them. Employees tried to encourage it to go back outside, but it wouldn’t stay. Police suspect that the animal was looking for a warm place to sleep.

The officers finally brought the goat to their vehicle, but it resisted “arrest” and was unhappy to lose its donut-scented sleeping spot. The officers brought it to a local vet, where it stayed overnight until the officers finally located the farm where it belonged.

The goat has returned home, probably to regale its barnyard friends with thrilling stories of automatic glass doors, double-doubles (that’s a coffee with two creams and two sugars) and frosted pastries.

Stubborn goat ‘arrested’ after refusing to leave Saskatchewan Tim Hortons [CTV]

If you’re the kind of person who’s terribly afraid of the impending robot revolution as well as someone who struggles when it comes to putting together IKEA furniture, we’ve got some good news for you: robots are also pretty bad at it, so maybe that’ll delay the artificial intelligence uprising somewhat.

Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (h/t Gizmodo) wanted to see what a robot could do when facing messy situations –like when you accidentally empty all the parts you need to build furniture onto the floor — so they set it up to construct an IKEA chair… or rather, they gave it a chance to try to put together the chair.

A robot was equipped with two grippers and force sensors to measure grip strengths, and set in front of six cameras so researchers could watch from every angle as it tried to stick a wooden dowel in a hole in one of the chair’s pieces. It’s a common task that even the most inept IKEA customers have managed, but it proved a bit tricky for the robot.

The thing is, robots are pretty good when they’ve got a simple, straightforward task in front of them, like putting together the parts of a car on an assembly line. But when faced with the complicated task of hunting around for pieces, holding one part still while locating the right spot to stick another piece into it, the robot has a bit of a tough time before it finally finds its mark.

Basically the robot has to try and try again, after failing to succeed the first time (I think I read that quote on Facebook somewhere, Mark Twain, right?). Can it build a whole chair? Not yet, but don’t be surprised if it figures things out eventually — who else is going to build all those thrones for our robot overlords?

If you’re looking forward to splashing around this winter in L.L. Bean’s aggressively unglamorous, USA-made duck boots, you’ll need to plan ahead: some styles and sizes are backordered by a month before there’s even a single snowflake in the sky. The duck boot factories are cranking them out as fast as they can, and simply can’t keep up with demand.

Of course, this could all be backwards: the early demand could be from eBay flippers stocking up to sell the boots for double or triple the original sticker price to desperate people with wet feet. Last year, wait times stretched into the spring during December, and the only way to get a pair while it was still snowing was to turn to eBay.

Or could it be that this very story is playing right into their strategy: creating a shortage to make people want the boots more, and creating desire through scarcity? You probably hadn’t even thought about which winter boots you’ll be wearing this year until you read this story.

L.L. Bean reports that it has made changes to keep up with demand, short of outsourcing production to other companies, in the US or offshore. “We’re making them literally as fast as we can,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg News, using the word “literally” correctly in a sentence. They purchased a new molding machine and hired and trained 100 more boot-makers. They thought that they were ready, and apparently customers are even more ready.

Why Can’t L.L. Bean Keep the Darn Duck Boots in Stock? [Bloomberg News]

When you’re dead, you generally can’t come back. It’s also difficult to come back when you’re actually alive, but the government thinks that you’re dead. An 87-year-old on Brooklyn is understandably worried, because Medicaid has declared her dead. If other government services believe them, dead people don’t need to do things like visit doctors or eat, so her income, food stamps, and health insurance would stop. This would be bad.

It was New York City’s Bureau of Fraud Investigation that declared the woman dead. They claim that records show that she’s deceased, and they’re ending her benefits. A “computer error” killed her off, but it’s not as easy as just hitting “undo” on that error and restoring her government services.

The process of appealing her alleged death means going to Social Security and to the state DMV so they will issue her a non-driver ID card. The problem is that all of that could take weeks, and she still needs money to live on and medical services right now.

For example, she’s being treated for cancer, and has already canceled a doctor’s appointment. If the federal government thinks that she’s dead, she won’t receive her Social Security check.

After a call from the local CBS affiliate, the city promises that they’re working on her case.

Brooklyn Woman Mistakenly Declared Dead, Has Medicaid Cut Off [CBS New York]

Loyalty runs deep in the world of butter and butter-like spreads, so when Unilever changed the recipes of a few of its popular products (including Country Crock), die-hard customers accused the company of destroying the product.

“It is truly inedible, smells horrible, and ruins any food you put it in or on,” wrote one customer.

Was this true? Does the new Country Crock actually ruin waffles? If we made food using this revised spread, would a bite of it transport our taste buds to garbage town? To find out, we teamed up with our colleagues at the Consumer Reports sensory lab for an expertly-executed taste-test.

In response to the nationwide trend toward “simple” food options with recognizable ingredients, Unilever announced in 2014 that it would be reformulating its “portfolio” of spreads, including Country Crock, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and Brummel & Brown.

What Happened To Country Crock, Exactly?
Unilever removed mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (used as emulsifiers), preservatives like potassium sorbatate, citric acid, whey and artificial flavor, and replaced them with things like vinegar and “natural flavors.” This, due to Unilever’s new “commitment to deliver delicious, balanced foods made from real, simple ingredients that you can recognize.”

Judging by the response on social media and elsewhere, Country Crock customers didn’t know about, or approve of, the changes. They railed about the flavor of the spread, likening it to trash and spoiled dairy, and claimed the new version had ruined waffles. They also cited a “filmy” mouth coating and aftertaste.

“It is not good, in any way. The taste is awful, then there is a thick filmy after taste that is so bad my gag reflex took over,” wrote a former Country Crock fan.

That customers are unhappy is clear, but would science back up their claims?

Would Consumer Reports’ expert testers –with no knowledge of the complaints, in a blind taste-test — detect the “off” flavors described by consumers?

To evaluate Country Crock’s new formula, Consumer Reports’ experts tasted the spread on or in:

• Frozen waffles
• Mashed potatoes
• Scrambled eggs
• Sugar cookies (using a recipe taken from the Country Crock website)

They also tasted the waffles, mashed potatoes, and scrambled eggs plain (without spread) for comparison. The expert tasters were unaware of the Country Crock controversy and were not told what they were eating or why they were eating it.

Additionally, Consumer Reports‘ taste panel sampled Unilever’s three reformulated spreads (Country Crock, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, and Brummel & Brown) “straight up” in a blind tasting. Again, this means the tasters were given samples and asked to describe the quality and taste, but were not told what the sample was or why they were tasting it.

In addition to the official taste test, some brave (or foolhardy) Consumerist staff participated in an unscientific tasting, because as usual, if food is involved, we’re going to try it and you’re going to read about it.

MASHED POTATOES

Sensory panelists said: “The mashed potatoes were described as being moderately salty, slightly sour, with a mild potato flavor and slight diacetyl note (fake butter flavor like on movie theatre popcorn).”

Our unscientific thoughts: The untrained non-experts on the Consumerist staff didn’t have much of a problem with these potatoes, beyond the fact that being raised in predominantly butter households immediately triggers a “this is not butter” reaction.

WAFFLES

Sensory panelists said: “On the waffles, it had a butter-like flavor with no off-flavors but gave the waffle a soggy texture.”

Our unscientific thoughts: It didn’t exactly ruin the waffles, but again, there was a strong imitation butter flavor.

SCRAMBLED EGGS

Sensory panelists said: “The panelists commented that the scrambled eggs had the look, taste, and texture of scrambled eggs but had some astringency and left a mouth coating.”

Our unscientific thoughts: Eating the eggs was fine, kind of like what you’d expect from say, hospital or airplane meals. But an off-putting, somewhat chemical film lingered on the tongue. It just would not… go… away. Not after coffee, not after brushing teeth. Some Consumerist staffers claim they can taste it to this day.

COOKIES

Sensory panelists said: “The cookies were described as simple, plain, and low in flavor with a dry, soft texture and lacked the fullness you would get from cookies made from a high quality sugar cookie recipe made with real butter.”

Our unscientific thoughts: A Consumerist staffer spit this out, then tried it again, then spit it out. “So chalky,” she whispered. “So chalky.”

But even dry, weird Country Crock cookies couldn’t prepare the team for what was next.

To really put Country Crock to the test, we had our obliging panelists do what most people likely aren’t prepared for, and stuck some spoons in samples of the three reformulated spreads to try them on their own, without any other food to muddle the flavor.

Though our panelists were brave in the face of tasting mystery spreads, one tester joked that she felt she deserved “hazard pay,” for this project. Another observed that the panelists may be consuming more palate-cleansing, unsalted crackers than ever before. Because again, tasting margarine spreads “straight up” is not a lot of fun.

So with many thanks to our intrepid experts, we present the results:

Country Crock Original 40% Vegetable Oil Spread
Sensory panelists said: “Soft, mild spread with some diacetyl and a non-specific off-note.”

Our unscientific thoughts: Let’s just say we know exactly what customers are talking about. And we will never do that again.

Brummel & Brown 35% Oil Spread, 10% Nonfat Yogurt
Sensory panelists said: “Soft spread with diacetyl and slight cheesy flavors, slightly sour, and stale off notes. Texture is better than the flavor.” Of the three spreads, “Brummel & Brown had the most defects and may still be noticeable on foods,” the panel noted.

Our unscientific thoughts: One Consumerist staffer’s face immediately turned into a picture of pain, but another honestly thought the yogurt flavor made it more butter-like than the others.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! Original 45% Vegetable Oil Spread
Sensory panelists said “Soft, decent butter substitute, moderate diacetyl, hint of dairy, and an oily mouthfeel.”

Our unscientific thoughts: This tastes like movie theater popcorn butter. We weren’t too mad at it.

The Bottom Line

Though panelists didn’t find the vegetable oils spreads to be as objectionable as some customers had expressed, they did confirm “off flavors” and some texture issues with the new formulations, noting that they did taste different from the formulations they encountered in the last butter substitutes project (reported in the March 2012 issue of Consumer Reports). No off flavors were noted in the original spread formulations.

“Consumers who were used to a particular taste and expectation may be reacting strongly to any change in their coveted product,” the panelists note. The level of acceptance of the new spread with loyal customers may depend on which foods they put it on or in.

Another interesting finding: Of the three spreads tested, the testers found that Brummel and Brown had “the most defects.”

Our unscientific thoughts: Was this the Country Crock we encountered in our youths? No. Were Consumerist staffers violently offended by it or any of the spreads? Not really — except when tasting them straight-up, which is something we would advise against in general because, well, it’s gross.

For now, we’ll leave you with this: Let’s all just be glad these creepy-handed Country Crock ads are a thing of the past:

Who’s a scammer to turn to for help when they feel they’re being harassed? Apparently, the authorities: police in Massachusetts say they were investigating a possible scam targeting senior citizens, and called up the alleged scammer with a few questions — who then threatened to call the cops.

Burlington police wrote on Twitter about the trouble they had while investigating a potential scam targeting residents in the area (h/t CBS Boston), after some people received a postcard alerting them to a package they had waiting to be delivered, that they didn’t know they had coming to them. The mailing asks for a credit card number to get the package on its way to the recipients, which sounds a lot like a scam.

Police called the number listed on the card to ask a few questions, but a woman who picked up couldn’t provide a legitimate address or company name. She hung up, and the police called back, and spoke to a woman who threatened to call the police on the police.

When a Twitter follower told police they should’ve given the woman the main number for the Burlington Police Department and have her report their call, police said that’s exactly what they did.

According to the police department’s Twitter account, cops are still looking into the business and its mailer in an attempt to verify whether it is indeed, a scam or some kind of legitimate venture.

Here’s more info on how you can help protect your loved ones from suspected elder scams.

Previously: Walmart, Target, And CVS Do Not Want Your Credit Card Number To Ship You Free Stuff

When in the mood for the piping hot, cheesy deliciousness that is pizza, there seems to be endless options to satisfy your needs: calling the store, ordering online or even sending a pizza emoji via text or Twitter. One man has created yet another way to have that circle of love delivered straight from your door, simply by hacking an Amazon Dash button.

Engineer Brody Berson details in a blog post on Medium how he was able to hack a Dash to order him a pizza from Domino’s anytime he pushed the little white button.

Berson was able to create his own instant-pizza-ordering-button by reprogramming the small device using an API capable of sending payment information to his pizza delivery company of choice –– in this case, Domino’s.

He programmed a specific order into his Dash button – one that had been disconnected from his Amazon account.

In all, he says it took just 10 minutes to complete the reprogramming, and then another 30 for the delivery driver to drop off his pie.

“I bet you can wire up a PizzaDash button like I did in about ten minutes with your own custom order,” he says in the blog post. “That’s pretty awesome to think about since you were never intended to do that with these little pieces of plastic.”

[via The Verge]

What does it mean to under-fill a consumer product package? We’ve all opened boxes and bags that seemed more full before we saw what was inside, or a few tiny over-the-counter pills in a bottle stuffed with cotton. When is this considered “misleading,” and when is it just a normal thing that protects products?

Regular readers are familiar with the Grocery Shrink Ray, where the amount of product in a package shrinks over time to keep the price of a product consistent without decreasing profits. Traces of the Shrink Ray are everywhere: even people who aren’t aware of the phenomenon notice the standard 1.5 quart ice cream containers and 59-ounce orange juice bottles that were once half gallons.

Yet sometimes a manufacturer builds extra space into packaging to protect the merchandise inside, to make a product look more plentiful than it really is, or to make a product take up more space so it’s easier to notice or harder to steal. This space is called slack fill: the difference between a container and the product that fills it.

While the Food and Drug Administration has regulations on the books that ban companies from building excessive slack fill into merchandise, it couldn’t point our colleagues to any nationwide cases that they’ve actually pursued recently. California has stricter laws. Well, it did: in 2013, the governor signed a bill that changed how existing packaging laws are enforced, strengthening exemptions to the law. That may decrease cases against companies going forward… as long as companies are able to provide an excuse that fits the law.

The Golden State’s consumer protection laws ban non-functional slack fill or “empty space in a package for no reason,” but the difference has been that district attorneys there have been enforcing the statutes. One prosecutor told our colleagues at Consumer Reports that there have been 27 cases settled against companies selling consumer packaged goods in the last six years.

For example, you might remember a lawsuit settlement earlier this year where Procter & Gamble settled with the state of California over slack fill in cosmetic products, and CVS had settled for similar store-brand products before that.

It’s non-functional slack fill that’s against the law, though, and companies will try to find a way to argue that the excess packaging is functional. Sometimes they’re correct. A microwaveable instant pasta package might be larger than its contents to keep the noodles inside from boiling over, for example. Pharmaceutical companies trie to argue that their products need to be in larger bottles or boxes to accommodate required patient information on the package. That’s why bottles of medicine or supplements sometimes come with more cotton than product in them.

When you notice slack fill that seems excessive and serves no obvious purpose, consider making a complaint to the Food and Drug Administration, or to your state’s attorney general. They aren’t able to check every product on the shelves, and depend on complaints from the consumers who are on the ground, using these products.

Sometimes competitors speak up, too, like Watkins, a company that decided that under-filling of 8-ounce-size boxes with 6 ounces of pepper by giant competitor McCormick could not stand.

Otherwise, we’ll all have to depend on crusading prosecutors or annoyed consumers with money to file a class action lawsuit to keep the marketplace free from slack fill. The latter does happen: there’s currently a lawsuit against Motrin filed in federal court by plaintiffs from multiple states for its large packaging compared to the relatively tiny amount of space that its pills take up in the package.

If you love frosting-laden cinnamon sweets and Oreos, the time is at hand: news about the next exotic Oreos flavor is out, and the lucky theme food is…cinnamon buns! The package promises cinnamon cookies with “cinnamon bun flavored creme.” That’s better than icing-flavored creme, which would just be… really solid icing.

There are two interesting things about the package, as pointed out by the site that has presented it to the world, The Impulsive Buy. Do you see what’s missing from the package? It doesn’t have the words “Limited Edition,” and isn’t in the smaller limited edition size of 10.7 ounces. These could be offered indefinitely!

The important question is, why didn’t they make things official and recognizable and partner with Cinnabon? Maybe the licensing fee was too high, but Cinnabon has already brought its brand to air fresheners and partnerships with Taco Bell and Burger King.

COMING SOON: Nabisco Cinnamon Bun Oreo Cookies [The Impulsive Buy]

WASHINGTON — Adorable: That’s the word that comes to mind when you meet Columbus.

This 11-week-old pit bull terrier mix is almost too cute for words. He’s also friendly, affectionate and incredibly sweet.

Columbus arrived at the Washington Animal Rescue League from an overcrowded partner shelter in the hopes of finding a loving forever home … and we just know that won’t take long. In preparation for life with a family, Columbus has already started learning canine manners such as “sit” and “down.”

He’s hoping for a human companion who will continue his training, perhaps in WARL’s Puppy Kindergarten. If you think that could be you, stop by WARL soon to meet Columbus; together you’ll discover the joys of the human/canine bond.

About WARL: Founded in 1914, the Washington Animal Rescue League is the oldest animal shelter in Washington D.C. Its mission includes rescuing, rehabilitating and finding homes for animals who have no where else to go. The League also supports animals through affordable veterinary care, community outreach and education. Learn more about the Washington Animal Rescue League at www.warl.org.

If you are thinking of adding a furry friend to your family, check out these other great shelters in the area:

Maryland

Humane Society of Charles County
(301) 645-8181
71 Industrial Park Dr. PO Box 1015 Waldorf, Md. 20604

Humane Society of Charles County offers a low cost spay/neuter program to the public. Please call or visit our website for more information. The shelter is also looking for more foster parents to help its animals.

Prince George’s County Humane Society
(301) 262-5625
P.O. Box 925 Bowie, Md. 20718
Prince George’s County Humane Society is also looking for foster parents. For more information, contact the organization.

PAW — Partnership for Animal Welfare
(301) 572-4729
P.O. Box 1074 Greenbelt, Md. 20768

Paws Animal Kingdom
(301) 920-2318
P.O. Box 11531 Takoma Park, Md. 20912

Montgomery County Humane Society
(240) 773-5960
14645 Rothgeb Dr. Rockville, Md. 20850

The Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County
(301) 740-2511
12 Park Ave. Gaithersburg, Md. 20877

D.C.

Washington Humane Society
(202) 576-6664
1201 New York Ave. NE 20002

ASAP — Alliance for Stray Animals and People
(202) 331-1330
P.O. Box 65438 Washington, D.C. 20035-5438

Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue
(202) 575-2210
Approved applicants may attend monthly adoption meets that are usually held at the house of a volunteer in either Northern Virginia or Southern Maryland.

Lucky Dog Animal Rescue
(202) 741-5428
Lucky Dog is a foster home organization and does not run a dedicated housing facility.

Northern Virginia

A Forever Home
(703) 961-8690
A Forever-Home is a nonprofit dog rescue group that operates in the Northern Virginia/Washington Metropolitan area.

Lab Rescue of L.R.C.P.
(301) 299-6756
Lab Rescue of the LRCP is a volunteer driven, nonprofit organization that rescues, fosters and places homeless, abused, and/or abandoned Labrador retrievers.

FOHA — Friends of Homeless Animals
(703) 385-0224
All visitors must speak to a Friends representative before receiving directions to their shelter location.

SPCA of Northern Virginia
P.O. Box 100220 Arlington, Va. 22210-3220
Animal Welfare League of Alexandria
(703) 746-4774
4101 Eisenhower Ave. Alexandria, Va. 22304

Animal Welfare League of Arlington
(703) 931-9241
2650 S. Arlington Mill Dr. Arlington, Va.

Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation
(703) 295-3647
P.O. Box 223953 Chantilly, Va. 20153

HART — Homeless Animal Rescue Team
(703) 691-HART
P.O. Box 7261 Fairfax Station, Va. 22039-7261

King Street Cats Rescue and Adoption
(703) 231-7199
25 Dove St. Alexandria, Va. 22314

Virginia German Shepard Rescue
(703) 435-2840
P.O. Box 126 Sterling, Va. 20167

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

Washington Post (blog)

Like a Porsche 911, this Georgetown house has been 'engineered to the nth degree' Washington Post (blog) As a former race car driver, Will Langhorne appreciates a finely tuned engine and a sleek chassis. He brought that same attention to detail into the design of his Georgetown house. “For me, not only the simplicity of what you see, but the quality of ...

CBS Local

Prince William County community calendar, Sept. 24-30, 2015 Washington Post Old Town Manassas walking tour Costumed interpreters share stories about the city during and after the Civil War. Thursday-Friday at noon, Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William St., Manassas. 703-368-1873. www.manassasmuseum.org. $5. Thomas ... Police Say Officers Shot Man Wielding Crowbar in ManassasCBS Local all 20 news articles »

Even if you’re not aware of a group of folks called “Bronies” — mostly male* adult fans who really love My Little Pony — Hasbro is totally clued into the potentially lucrative market. As such, it’s releasing a new line of My Little Pony toys designed specifically to appeal to Bronies, with a price to match.

Hasbro collaborated with Integrity Toys Inc. for a “high end collectible” series dubbed <3 My Little Pony, aimed at adult fans of the TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, reports Forbes.

“There’s a tremendous adult market,” Integrity Toys spokesperson Carol Roth told Forbes, stating something anyone who’s ever been on the Internet probably knows. “Bronies have inspired entire pop culture phenomenon. The reality is most My Little Pony collectors are in their 20s to 60s and possibly even older than that.”

My Little Pony toys for children go for about $5 and $20, but the new line will sell “in the low three figures,” Roth says.

“The entire look and feel of the packaging makes it clear this is not a child’s toy,” she said. “From the quality of the fabrics, to the type of closure used, to the crafting style, they’re designed the same way high fashion is designed with really strong attention of detail.”

Just try to explain that to your kid when they accidentally open that tempting, brand-new My Little Pony figurine stashed in the closet that they thought was their Christmas present but really was being saved to maintain its value on the collectibles market.

*Female fans are known as ladybronies or pegasisters.

Hasbro Cashes In On Bronies With $100-Plus ‘My Little Pony’ Toy Line [Forbes]

You can’t blame Charles for thinking that the products that he bought at two different grocery stores were the same thing. They’re both Farmer John maple sausages. Both packages contain 8 sausages, and weigh 8 ounces uncooked. Yet they have slightly different nutritional profiles. He thinks this is because one comes from a discount grocery store. Is that the case?

Here’s the front of the packages of each sausage, since he happened to have both on hand. The fresh product comes from SaveMart, which is a standard grocery store. The frozen package comes from Food4Less, a Kroger-affiliated discount grocery chain.

Here’s the nutritional information, which differs slightly between the sausage types.

“Farmer John is basically producing two different packages of sausage,” Charles writes, “and the one they sell at Food4Less has higher calories, higher carbs and more fat than the sausages sold in the SaveMart purchased package.” He points out that it’s more difficult to make an immediate comparison between the packages, because one has a serving size of two sausages and the other has a serving size of three. You can’t compare the two at a glance if you happen to shop at both stores: you’d need to do the arduous math of dividing by two or three.

Charles called up Farmer John, who is a Hormel brand and not a kindly neighborhood hog farmer. A customer service representative explained to him that if the two products have different bar codes, that means they’re separate products, even if they appear to be the same sausage. Yet Charles didn’t find this answer acceptable: why did the discount grocer’s sausage have a slightly worse nutritional profile?

We contacted Hormel to try to find out more, and they told us pretty much the same thing as Charles: never mind the standard/discount grocery store divide; these are different products.

A Hormel representative explained:

These products are two unique recipe formulations with different attributes, however the flavor profile is the same. Freezing meat products at below 10 degrees Fahrenheit, helps reduce the rate of spoilage or bacteria outgrowth. As such, this is the reason frozen items have a longer shelf life.

Yet the product with a longer shelf life isn’t the one that’s at the discount grocery: those were the fresh sausages. Maybe the discount version simply has slightly worse cuts of meat and slightly more carb-laden fillers, which leads to the slightly different nutritional profile and, of course, lower price. That’s what Hormel seems to imply here without saying, “Yep, those are the cheap sausages.”

Sanderson Farms is recalling more than 554,090 pounds of chicken products because they may have been contaminated with metal shavings, due to a malfunction with an ice-making machine somewhere along the line.

A processing facility that encountered bits of metal complained to Sanderson Farms, alerting it to the issue, says the U.S. Food Safety & Inspection Service.

The chicken items were produced on Sept. 17-18, 2015, and include four kinds of products [click here for the labels]:

70-lb. cases containing “YOUNG CHICKEN PARTS JUMBO BONELESS SKINLESS BREAST FILLETS WITH RIB MEAT” with case code 45017.
70-lb. cases containing “YOUNG CHICKEN PARTS JUMBO CLIPPED TENDERLOINS” with case code 45092.
70-lb. cases containing “YOUNG CHICKEN PARTS JUMBO BONELESS SKINLESS BREAST BUTTERFLIES WITH RIB MEAT” with case code 45015.
70-lb. cases and 1800-lb. combos containing “FRESH YOUNG CHICKEN PARTS BREAST FRAMES” with case code 45969.

The products bear the establishment number “EST. P-247” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and were shipped to processing facilities in Georgia and Louisiana.

The company says none of the products included in the recall were shipped to grocery stores or packed directly for consumers, however.

“The product included ice packed chicken products sold to three customers who use the products for additional processing into further processed chicken products,” Sanderson Farms said in a press release. “The Company has identified all of the products and notified its customers to place the products on hold, return them to the Company and further execute the recall of these products.”

Thus far there haven’t been any confirmed reports of injury from the chicken products, but the FSIS says that if you have do wind up with any of the recalled items, don’t eat them — return them to place of purchase or throw them away.

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WASHINGTON — On Sept. 26 and 27, roughly 25,000 people will flock to D.C.’s Union Market for an annual craft show — only, this isn’t your grandmother’s craft show.

“I remember one of the first [submissions] we got was … for a creation called a tampon doll, which sounds disgusting, but it was this cute little plush thing with a smiley face on it,” recalls Crafty Bastards founder and director Sarah Dick.

“We were like, ‘Yes. That is what we’re talking about.’ It’s those weird, quirky things that are not on the market right now.”

Now in its 12th year, Crafty Bastards is back, and it’s bigger than ever with more than 170 vendors selling everything from handmade leather bags to illustrated cookbooks, ceramics, comics and more.

And yes, you might even find a tampon doll in the mix.

“It’s basically like curated Etsy in real life,” Dick says.

She and a few colleagues at The Washington City Paper started Crafty Bastards in 2004 as a response to the resurgence in crafting and all-things homemade.

“And we thought that married really well with D.C.’s sort of punk-rock roots and sensibility,” Dick says.

The group gave the festival an edgy name and established a few simple rules to set Crafty Bastards apart from more traditional craft shows.

“No wooden ducks and bonnets; we tried to make it clear what sort of things we were looking for,” Dick says. Which is products that resonate with a more alternative and eclectic audience.

A few years ago, D.C. resident Mariko Iwata helped sell cards at a vendor table at Crafty Bastards. This year, she’s returning to the festival — only with a table of her own.

The founder and owner of Miks Letterpress makes greeting cards and other stationary products with a 2,500-pound vintage letterpress machine.

“I love writing letters, and I’ve always been taught to write thank you notes. I’d be on a hunt to find the best thank you letter and I just felt like there wasn’t anything out there that was right for me,” says Iwata, who learned letterpress after obtaining a degree in fine arts.

She decided making her own cards was the only way to get the product she wanted. Now she makes a catalog full of unique and pithy birthday, baby, wedding and other celebratory cards using a blind impression technique, which adds an extra visual and tactile element to the card.

In addition to shopping, Crafty Bastards will also have a beer garden and a number of hands-on activities for attendees.

“When you’re in the middle of all this great handmade stuff, so many people get this itch to make something. So when the inspiration strikes, we want to have that stuff available for people to get their hands dirty,” Dick says.

The D.C. Public Library will bring its 3-D printer for hands-on demonstrations (Dick says the printer was a huge hit last year), and there will also be a kids’ DIY table for the younger festival goers.

“For the parents to see their kids engage with an activity that’s not a screen necessarily, it’s refreshing,” Dick says.

And while the holiday season may seem like it’s eons away, the reality is, it’s just around the corner. And Crafty Bastards is a great opportunity to pick up some unique gifts and check a few people off that list.

The festival runs both Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dick says peak hours are between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. — so if you don’t like big crowds, plan accordingly. Tickets are $6 for one day or $10 for the weekend.

Dick advises serious shoppers to consult the vendor list before arriving, and make a list of the booths you really want to hit. “Once you get there, it can just be a little overwhelming, so it’s nice if you have a game plan,” she says.

Crafty Bastards also put together a few Pinterest boards to highlight some new products and to help with gift ideas for shoppers.

“We try to make it as easy as possible for people to find the things that they really want,” Dick says.

UPDATE 7:37 a.m.: Festival organizers advise attendees to take the Metro to Crafty Bastards. Union Market is within walking distance from the NoMA-Gallaudet stop on Metro’s red line. 

The post Crafty Bastards: ‘Not your grandmother’s craft show’ hits D.C. appeared first on WTOP.

Salad is supposed to be beneficial to your health, but hundreds of people across the country have become sick due to their taste for fresh cucumbers. While the veggies’ supplier and one distributor have recalled affected batches of vegetables, and reports of new infections have slowed down, the outbreak has still made 558 people sick, sent 112 to the hospital, and now three people have died.

Time magazine put a human face on the outbreak by interviewing a family in Utah, who thought that their 5-year-old had just a stomach bug. The boy’s parents and two siblings weren’t sick. His gastrointestinal distress stopped, but he was still weak. Then he developed a terrible fever and there was blood in his urine.

He ended up in the hospital with a urinary tract infection. Public health officials checked what he had eaten recently, and were able to connect his illness, and the specific strain of Salmonella Poona, to cucumbers that he had eaten.

Now he’s still recovering and taking antibiotics, and the family has filed a lawsuit against the cucumber grower.

His mother thought she understood how to prevent foodborne illness. “I’ve always known you have to cook chicken thoroughly,” she told the magazine. “As long as you are washing your vegetables and buying from stores that are clean, it’s supposed to be fine. Someone is supposed to protect you. The system is failing.”

The median age of people who have become ill is 16, which shows that this infection is affecting kids more than adults. Over half of the reported infections have been children under 18.

How This Child Was Poisoned by Tainted Cucumbers [Time]

The candy, the costumes, the decorations: it appears that excitement – or rather spending – surrounding the upcoming Halloween holiday isn’t quite what it used to be, with consumers expected to spend less on all the revelry associated with the spooky day than last year at just $6.9 billion. 

A new report from the National Retail Federation – and based on a poll of 6,754 people – found that nearly 157 million consumers will embrace All Hallows’ Eve by spending an average of $74.34 on costumes, candy and decorations.

While spending nearly $75 per person will likely add up quickly for families, the figure is about 4% less than the $77.52 consumers spent on average last year.

So what’s all that Halloween money going toward?

According to the report, consumers will spend an average of $27.33 on costumes for the whole family, totalling nearly $2.5 billion on store-bought, homemade, large and small costumes.

Adult costumes will provide the bulk of that cost, with $1.2 billion expected to be spent, while $950 million will be spent on children’s’ costumes.

Of course, familiars aren’t leaving out their furry companions: pet costumes are expected to bring in about $350 million this year.

In addition to looking the part for the festive day, nine in 10 consumers also plan to be well prepared with an estimated $2.1 billion or so going toward candy.

As for decorations, two in five Halloween-lovers plan to decorate their home or yard with pumpkins, hay bales and large-scale trimmings. Those costs are estimated to add up to $1.9 billion, or $20.34 per person.

“After a long summer, consumers are eager to embrace fall and all of the celebrations that come with it,” NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Consumers are ready to take advantage of promotions on candy, decorations and costumes, and retailers are ready to serve them.”

That’s because the NFR found that most consumers are planning to head to the store – or shop online – earlier this year: nearly 34% will start their shopping before the first of October.

If I got fired — sorry, had to resign — from a CEO job because my company’s stock value had tanked in the middle of a worldwide product recall scandal, the most I’d expect to walk away with is my fancy CEO nameplate and the framed picture of my teacup basset hound “Drooly” that I keep on my desk. But the recently exiled CEO of Volkswagen could be wiping away his tears with a payout worth upwards of $67 million.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down from his gig atop the German automaker yesterday, already had about $33 million in his VW pension at the end of 2014. And according to the company’s annual report, there’s a severance payout rule that pays up to two years worth of their total annual remuneration.

That could mean another $34 million for Winterkorn, that is if the VW board says so. There is also the promise of a company car. We have some suggestions for some “clean diesel” models he should consider.

See, the only way Winterkorn — or any VW exec at the top level — can get that two-year severance deal is if it’s determined he left the job through no fault of his own. But as the Journal points out, the annual report doesn’t spell out exactly how the board determines issues of fault in these matters.

Of course, $67 million is a dust particle compared to the $18 billion smog cloud that VW could have to inhale if the Environmental Protection Agency chooses to pursue the maximum penalty for each car VW sold in the U.S. with software designed to cheat on emissions tests.

And then there are the growing number of class action suits being filed, state-level investigations, and possible criminal prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department.

Most of us know which local hospitals and doctors are covered by our insurance providers, but even when we make sure that we only see an in-network physician or surgeon, nearly one-third of privately insured Americans are still hit with higher-than-expected medical bills, often because their in-network hospital brought in or contracted out to an out-of-network service provider. How did we get to the point where so many consumers have so little information about what to expect when their hospital bill arrives?

According to consumer advocates and a medical billing specialist who spoke to Consumerist, the problem of surprise medical bills isn’t exactly new, but healthcare providers appear to be taking greater advantage of long-existing loopholes in the insurance system, leaving more patients feeling blindsided when they finally get their bills.

“It’s a tremendous problem that seems to be getting worse and worse,” Chi Chi Wu, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, tells Consumerist. “The big picture is that it’s due to peculiarities and problems and how healthcare is priced in the U.S.”

At the core of the issue is the distinction between in-network and out-of-network health insurance coverage and how each is priced and passed on to consumers.

In-network providers are those who have agreed to charge lower fees to customers of a particular insurer, with the expectation that being listed as a covered provider will bring in more patients.

Julie, a long-time medical billing specialist, provided Consumerist with an example of how in-network billing works:

You have a procedure done for which an in-network doctor normally charges $1,000, but your insurance company has negotiated a maximum fee of $600 for that procedure with that doctor, so that’s the most the physician can charge.

The doctor must write off the remaining $400 and is prohibited from “balance-billing” you for the difference between the $1,000 list price and what your insurance’s “maximum allowable amount” or “negotiated fee” is for that service.

On the other hand, an out-of-network doctor is, basically, not bound by any rules of your insurance company because he or she has not agreed to any of maximum.

That doctor, therefore, can charge you the full $1,000 for that procedure, or the difference between $1,000 and whatever your insurance pays, with no discount.

While the idea of in-network and out-of-network might is fairly straightforward — you’ll pay more going to an out-of-network provider because he or she simply isn’t covered by your insurance — healthcare providers sometimes present patients with situations where part of the care is covered and part is not.

For example, you may go to an in-network hospital for surgery, only to find out that somewhere along the way, the hospital brought in another doctor — many times, it’s the anesthesiologist — or used a lab, or hired an outside consultant, that is out-of-network. This is often done without notifying the patient, meaning they won’t know until they get their bill that their insurance will not cover all of these particular costs.

And even if your insurance provider will agree to pay some amount to these out-of-network providers, they can still come after you for the balance.

“Your financial responsibility for a given charge is going to vary widely based on your specific treatment,” Julie says.

Part of the reason for this, as Wu of the NCLC previously pointed out, is because of the way healthcare is priced in the U.S.

“Most hospitals and providers, including ambulances and the field of dentistry, have a master price list – or a sticker price – but that is rarely what gets paid,” Wu says.

Much like other industry the prices shown in the medical field are often much higher than what is typically paid.

Wu likens the situation to that of the hotel industry: you may see a hotel room for $500 per night, but no one really pays that much because there are almost always special rates or discounts.

Likewise, the price of medical care, while shown to be much higher on the master charge list, is discounted by the insurance companies — sometimes referred to as a negotiated maximum fee.

“The providers start giving discounts on that price,” Wu says. “So Medicaid might get the lowest price, then Medicare, private health, and so on. The only people who end up paying the charged master price are those who are uninsured.”

And that becomes a problem when someone who is insured ends up at an out-of-network provider or when an out-of-network physician unexpectedly provides service at the patient’s in-network facility.

While hospitals generally accept the insurance plans of the doctors they directly employ, physicians are not always tethered to a single facility, and many are independent contractors who work with patients at multiple hospitals. This means they can pick and choose which health plans to participate in with little regard to the hospital or facility in which they practice.

By doing so, these doctors are able to charge higher prices when a patient doesn’t have a preferred plan, leaving that consumer with a much more expensive bill than they were possibly anticipating.

It all ties back to that master list of sticker prices, says Wu, who adds that “unfortunately, consumers can only do so much to prevent this, especially in an emergency situation.”

If you want to avoid or minimize costly and unexpected medical bills, it’s important to understand the basic types of health insurance, and to know which one you have.

There are several varieties of plans available to consumers, whether through their workplace, the government, or through the private insurance marketplace.

The most common types of insurance plans are an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO), a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), Point of Service (POS), a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Medicare/Medicaid.

Each plan includes a different set of requirements and stipulations on what exactly is covered.

For example, a EPO covers services only if you use doctors, specialists, or hospitals in the plan’s network – except in an emergency.

A HMO typically limits coverage to care from doctors who work for or contract with the HMO. That means it generally won’t cover out-of-network care except, again, in an emergency. In many cases, a HMO will require you to live or work in its service area to be eligible for coverage.

A POS plan allows users to pay less if they use doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers that belong to the plan’s network. However, this type of plan generally requires that patients get a referral from a primary care doctor in order to see a specialist.

With a PPO, users pay less if they use a provider in the plan’s network; they can typically use doctors, hospitals, and providers outside of the network without a referral for an additional cost.

While the above plans are private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid are government-run programs.

Medicare is a federal, government-run healthcare that covers U.S. citizens over the age of 65 and younger disabled people.

Although patients do pay premiums and have small deductibles, and they have to pay a 20% co-insurance for many services, many patients buy supplemental policies that will cover some or all of the deductible and coinsurance, so many Medicare patients have few out-of-pocket costs for covered treatment.

Medicaid is a government-run healthcare program for low-income Americans that is managed at the state level.

“So while Medicare’s policies are set at the federal level and operate the same in all 50 states, Medicaid policies operate differently in each state and in most cases; Medicaid patients in one state could have trouble finding care in another state,” Julie tells Consumerist.

While all of these insurance plan can make the expense of visiting a doctor or undergoing surgery less of a burden for consumers, they don’t generally cover all of the costs.

That’s because insurance is an intricate web of coverage where aspects like deductibles, co-insurance, and co-pays vary from plan to plan.

While understanding insurance can be a daunting task, there are some key aspects of most plans that consumers should be familiar with when it comes to knowing their obligations.

One of the most important is the deductible — the amount of money that the patient will have to pay each calendar year before your insurance will start paying on your medical bills.

Your co-pays and co-insurance — more on those in a moment — will not be charged to you until you’ve met your deductible for the year.

So, for example, when visiting the doctor for a routine exam you may have been asked to pay a co-pay. This is a flat fee that is paid every time you get a particular type of medical care from a provider — usually only after your deductible has been met.

And then there’s co-insurance, which is the percentage of charges that consumers will have to pay to their medical provider after having met a deductible and the insurance has started paying on the claims.

In a hypothetical scenario, a schedule of benefits chart may show that you would owe: a $20 co-pay for an office visit, or 20% of the cost for radiology services – meaning X-rays, MRIs or other testing – after insurance.

In this example, co-insurance would apply to radiology services and to outpatient services (usually surgery), but would not apply to regular doctor office visits.

Once you’ve met your deductible, your insurance would pay 80% of their “allowed or negotiated amount” for an MRI that you receive, and would require you to pay 20%, Julie explains.

If you had an outpatient surgery and had met your deductible, your insurance would pay 90% of their “allowable” and would require you to pay 10%.

“Exactly what you would have to pay for co-insurance is nearly impossible to calculate, because it bears no relationship to what the doctor actually charges for his or her services,” Julie says.

Short of overhauling the entire medical and insurance industries, the best thing you can do to avoid being surprised by a doctor or hospital bill is to be prepared and aware.

Over at Consumer Reports, they recently published tips for avoiding bill shock from your healthcare provider.

For example, if you’re going to have a non-emergency procedure — something like delivering a baby where many parents-to-be select their doctors and hospitals months in advance — ask your doctor’s billing folks to provide a complete list of the anesthesiologists, assistant surgeons, and everyone else who could conceivably be part of your medical team.

Check with your insurer to see if these providers are all covered — not just by your insurance company but by your particular plan. If you come across someone involved in your procedure who is out-of-network, ask for an in-network option. And if that is not an option and you can’t have the procedure done by someone else, then contact that non-network provider to find out in advance what you’ll be expected to pay.

Likewise, it helps to know which hospitals in your area not only accept your coverage but also only have in-network emergency room staff. As you’ll see in an upcoming Consumerist story, some ERs go out-of-network for staff, leaving patients with potentially huge bills or having to drive out of their way to seek emergency care.

“Even if you go to a hospital in your network, the unfortunate truth is that there is no guarantee that all your treatment — whether it’s the radiologist, anesthesiologist or lab work — will be treated as in-network,” DeAnn Friedholm, Director of Health Reform for Consumers Union, said earlier this year.

Still, several states have attempted to prevent unfair out-of-pocket costs from devastating consumers by enacting or proposing new laws.

Back in June, the California Assembly voted 61-1 to pass a measure that would only require a patient who obtains care at an in-network facility but from an out-of-network provider to pay the non-participating provider what would have been charged by a participating provider.

That means if you go to your regular doctor’s office – which is covered by your insurance – and you see a doctor who isn’t covered by your insurance, you would only be on the hook for the amount you would typically pay if the doctor you saw was considered in-network.

Additionally, any cost that the patient pays for services by the non-participating provider will count toward their limit for annual out-of-pocket costs.

This particular measure applies to health care service plan contracts and insurance policies issues, amended or renewed on or after January 1, 2016.

The measure remains in the California legislature.

Other states have taken different approaches.

A report [PDF] for the California HealthCare Foundation also explored several states with laws that take varying approaches to balance billing to see if any would provide more adequate protection to consumers.

The paper refers to a measure in Texas that aimed to increase transparency by providing consumers access to data, such as pricing and network participation information, needed to estimate their financial liability for medical services.

For example, a managed care organization – such as a PPO or HMO – must disclose, in writing, whether a network facility uses non-network providers and that a member may be balance billed by a non-network provider.

When the report was published, not enough time had passed to determine if the measure was advantageous for consumers, but the authors noted that many stakeholders reported concerns about how valuable the information would be, especially with regard to emergency medical care.

More recently, Consumer Reports teamed up with California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, and the University of California San Francisco to announce the launch of California Healthcare Compare, an online tool that allows you to search local hospitals in the state based on different types of procedures. The results provide consumers with information about hospital ratings, and what sort of costs patients should expect to pay:

(NOTE: We only know one California ZIP code off the top of our heads; thus the 90210)

In Florida, the authors found a law that places restriction on balance billing with regard to payment rate requirements in emergency settings.

When a consumer seeks emergency care, or to evaluate if an emergency condition exists, the statute makes the HMO liable for costs, and restricts the non-network provider from balance-billing the patient.

According to the report, this measure has so far been effective, but it only applies to HMO members.

While some states have found taken steps to ensure consumers are protected, those measures aren’t foolproof.

American are used to the concept of buying in bulk now, carting home everything from economy tubs of peanut butter to crates of toilet paper. But although it’d be cheaper per pound to buy, say, half a cow at once instead of different cuts here and there, the problem of buying meat in bulk is that it takes up a whole lot of room in the freezer, space many people just don’t have. That’s where rentable meat lockers come in.

Although the phrase “meat locker” sounds a bit scary if you’ve watched too many crime TV shows, it’s really just cold storage room, explains NPR’s Morning Edition. Some businesses have started renting out space in those meat lockers to regular people who need some extra storage.

One new meat locker just opened up in Corning, N.Y., offering rentable plastic bins –$ 8 for a larger size, $5 for something smaller — that sit on shelves in the freezer.

You go in and you say, “Hey, I’m making ribs tonight, how’s about I get into that meat locker?”

“And what we’ll do is we’ll bring the bin out to you, and you can take out what you want from your bin, and then we put it back in. They’re all labeled,” a staffer at the meat locker explained to one potential customer.

Like many things in the retail world, what’s old is new again: meat lockers were popular in the 1950s, before home freezers became popular. Though buying meat in bulk might seem old-fashioned or just weird to the modern shopper, the meat locker business has some major appeal to anyone looking to save money.

One customer who grew up eating in a home that bought in bulk says he figures he’d rather share space than use his own freezer at home.

“I figure by the time you run a refrigerator and a freezer both, it’s costing you more than $8 a month just to run them,” he explains.

The group in Corning has spurred interest elsewhere in the area, as its leader says it’s now working with several others who want to set up their own meat lockers.

A Carnivore’s Solution To Space Constraints: The Meat Locker [Morning Edition]