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While a Costco club membership has to be renewed every year, a couple of Costco fans in California decided to use the warehouse store as the backdrop for a ceremony involving a much longer commitment.

KEYT-TV reports on the recent Costco nuptials of a couple in Santa Maria, CA.

The newlyweds apparently met in the store’s frozen food section a year earlier and decided that this would be the best place to say “I do” to each other in front of their friends and families.

And so they got permission from the store to hold the ceremony, complete with wood pallet altar, in the Costco after the building had closed for the day.

After the ceremony, the couple chilled out in a double recliner from the Costco furniture section. No word on whether or not the reception food was made up of free samples.

This is just the latest story about couples saying their vows in a beloved retail location.

There was the couple that got hitched at a New Jersey IKEA, the North Carolina nuptials in the Walmart layaway section, the $200 wedding in an Illinois Taco Bell, the wedding in an Oklahoma Starbucks, and the couple who wed at a KFC two decades after the bride’s parents married at McDonald’s.

DENVER (AP) — A father whose four young sons could communicate only in grunts when authorities rescued them from a filthy Denver apartment was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday by a judge who said he hoped it would send a message to parents that they can’t treat their children like pets.

Judge J. Eric Elliff said Wayne Sperling, 67, made outrageous excuses for neglecting the boys to the point where they could not recognize food and did not learn his lesson after an earlier child-abuse conviction cost him custody of three other children.

“The message is, you’ve got to treat your children with dignity and respect,” Elliff said. “They’re not pets. They are not possessions. They are human beings that need to be carefully nurtured. That didn’t happen here.”

Prosecutors said Sperling, his wife and the boys lived in an apartment where nearly every surface was covered in cat feces and flies. The children, ages 2 to 6, were malnourished when they were found on October 2013.

Sperling’s wife, Lorinda Bailey, was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years of probation last month, and Sperling’s attorney argued he should receive a similar sentence. Prosecutors sought the maximum of seven years in prison.

“They just weren’t equipped to be parents,” defense attorney Betsy Atkinson said.

But Elliff said the case was more tragic because it wasn’t a first for the family. The couple lost custody of three other children amid similar allegations in October 2006. The children mostly grunted and pointed to communicate, and officers found a home full of trash and rotten food. Bailey and Sperling pleaded guilty in June 2007 to misdemeanor child abuse.

“There have been so many failures on so many different levels,” Elliff said. “Now we have seven children who are going to be scarred by these early childhood conditions.”

In the most recent case, an emergency room doctor suspected abuse when the youngest was taken to the hospital for a cut on his forehead. The doctor noticed he was unwashed, reeked of cigarette smoke and had bruises consistent with pinching. That led authorities to the apartment, where they found decomposing animals and about an inch of solidified cat feces and urine beneath one of the boy’s beds.

Sperling, mumbling, told the judge to do “whatever you feel is right” when given a chance to speak before he was sentenced.

Prosecutors said it was one of their most horrific cases they had ever seen, but Colorado’s child abuse laws kept them from pursuing harsher penalties because the children didn’t suffer serious physical injuries.

After the boys were rescued and given bagged lunches to eat, they acted as if they hadn’t seen food before, patting the sandwiches and playing with the apples, Deputy District Attorney Anita Drasan said. An adult mimed eating an apple to encourage them to eat; they licked the fruit instead, Drasan said.

The boys are improving while living in foster care, but still struggle as a result of the squalor. They have breathing problems and are sensitive to light, requiring them to wear special glasses, Drasan said.

“They didn’t smile, they didn’t laugh, and they lived in constant fear and were unable to express themselves,” Drasan said. And, reading a statement from their foster mother, she added, “these are fighters and survivors. They will grow to do great things. But they have a long battle before them.”

The post Man gets 5 years for keeping 4 sons in filthy home appeared first on WTOP.

Every week, WTOP features a new pet, available for adoption, from the Washington Animal Rescue League. Here’s a recap of which pets were featured and where they are now.

The post WTOP Pets of the Week: Where are they now? appeared first on WTOP.

WASHINGTON — When the news broke that a Rockville family was being investigated for locking two autistic men—22-year-old brothers—in a darkened basement that reeked of urine and had no furniture, police made clear the seriousness of the case.

At a July news conference, Montgomery County Assistant Chief Russ Hamill noted  that the doors to the basement were locked from the outside. Hamill asked reporters, “Does that sound like a reasonable solution? To lock two vulnerable adults into a room in those conditions?”

That sense of outrage heartened advocates like Samantha Crane, director of public policy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. That’s why Crane says her organization is so critical of the state’s attorney’s decision to drop the charges against the Lands.

In a statement released Friday, officials with ASAN said they were “appalled” by the decision. In an interview with WTOP Crane said, “Regardless of whatever services you need, it is not OK to put somebody in a potentially life-threatening situation.”

Ramon Korionoff, spokesman for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, said the decision was a legal one. “As prosecutors, we couldn’t make the case” to demonstrate criminal intent. Korionoff says the decision to drop the charges should not be seen as condoning the conduct of the parents in the case. “They were deplorable conditions, I mean it is a situation where your heart goes out the young men, these 22-year-old autistic twins,” but Korionoff says the five-month investigation and the determination that the case to show intent was not sufficient led to the decision to drop the case.

The Washington Post reports that the two sons have been placed in a residential setting and that the parents do have visitation rights.

The attorney for the parents, Maura Lynch, declined to comment to WTOP for this story.

The post Group slams decision to drop charges against parents of autistic twins appeared first on WTOP.

Retailers are now able to compile and sort through massive amounts of data about their customers, and they’ve used that information to figure out which customers simply don’t care about discounts, and make their purchasing decisions without paying attention to them. Logically enough, retailers simply don’t send discount offers to these customers.

That’s part of why there are separate “outlet” stores for large department stores like Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. “You don’t want to offer discounts to full-price shoppers, because over time your profit margins will erode,” one marketing expert explained to the Wall Street Journal.

Seems simple, but knowing which category each customer belongs to and marketing accordingly is key for retailers. At the same time, they also don’t want us to realize that they’re watching our shopping habits in order to figure out what to sell to us. While we all know this on some level, especially when sneaker ads follow us everywhere online after just one shopping trip, experts say that customers don’t like to be consciously reminded that they’ve extensively tested each option and the placement of every word within the subject line of an e-mail. They know what makes people in general click, and what makes you click in particular.

Retailers save discounts for bargain hunters [Wall Street Journal]

Because not every lost pet story has a happy ending, fans of Camo the Mattress Cat will likely be incredibly relieved to hear that the beloved pet accidentally sold along with bedding on Craigslist has been reunited with his owners.

The guy who didn’t realize his girlfriend’s cat was hiding in a hole in a box spring before letting it get carted away updated Camo’s fans yesterday, announcing in an email to his family and friends that the cat has been found.

According to Oregon Live, a woman had spotted Camo near the Hillsboro Airport in Portland. So Camo’s owners set out a trap baited with sardines and the smell of familiar clothing from home to lure their pet on Saturday night.

Just an hour and a half later, Camo’s owners checked the trap and found a ticked off Camo inside.

Camo’s owners thanked everyone who was worried about his disappearance, writing in an update on Reddit:

“We can’t ever repay or say thank you enough to all the people that spent their cherished holiday time, and resources to help us bring Camo home. It was quite emotional last night, we’re in shock of this whole experience, and have been holding him tight! It’s been quite the ride and we couldn’t possibly formulate the words to describe how grateful we are for all the people who have reached out to us for suggestions, help, stories, comfort, and information. It’s the best feeling in the world to know friends and strangers alike have had our back in time of need, and to have him back safe and recovering. We can’t even imagine what’s he’s been through in a week and half running wild near the country side especially in this weather. Today is a great day!”

Camo seems to be a bit worse for the wear after his ordeal, with a few pounds shed, cut lip, broken nails and bleeding paws, but nothing worse than that.

It seems he traveled about seven miles from home, though most of that distance was covered while riding inside the box spring atop a car. Here’s to hoping he’s eating all the non-trap sardines his little heart desires right now.

Camo returns! The cat went missing after it was accidentally sold with a mattress [Oregon Live]

Let’s face it, most people aren’t exactly fans of the airline industry. On the other end of the love/hate coin are dogs, which most of us at least find adorable. So when an airline is accused of leaving a caged dog out on in the rain on an airport tarmac, you can imagine which side the Internet landed on.

It all began yesterday, when Twitter user @theregoesbabs posted the following photo from a Houston airport that has subsequently been shared more than 1,200 times:

United’s response to the Tweet only managed to engender more negative reactions as it looked like the airline was trying to pass the buck to its PetSafe program:

Of course, contacting PetSafe isn’t as easy as Tweeting at the airline, as the only real option is a contact form buried deep on the United website.

The anger and threats of a United boycott continued, even including Aussie pop star Sia. Meanwhile, the airline told the Daily Mail that people weren’t looking at the photo correctly and the caged canine was actually sheltered from the rain the entire time.

“We checked several cameras and confirmed that our ramp employees in Houston never left the pet unattended after our PetSafe employees dropped the kennel off when we were ready to begin loading the aircraft for departure,” reads a statement from the airline. “As is our standard practice, our employees placed the pet kennel completely under the wing to protect the pet from the falling rain and onto the aircraft after completing the baggage loading.”

A man in New Jersey had the wacky idea that buying a dishwasher meant that he would end up with a working dishwasher. Instead, he ended up with one that he says broke in the same way four times in four years. Sears offered him a 30% refund on a replacement appliance, if he purchased from Sears. Naturally, Sears forgot about this offer once he actually brought the dishwasher.

Fortunately, he knew to contact fab consumer reporter Karin Price-Mueller over at the Newark Star-Ledger, whose amazing powers of persuasion made Sears suddenly remember that they had offered the customer, Doug, a 30% refund. Maybe. Or their media relations team arranged to cut him a check in order to make the story go away.

His refund saga began when he posted about his issue on Sears’ Facebook page. He was told to contact someone named Candice, who played a lengthy game of phone tag with Doug before ultimately referring him to her supervisors. They eventually offered a 30% discount on a new dishwasher, but it was to be paid as a refund after his purchase. Then the supervisor just didn’t put the refund on his card, even after Doug left monthly voice mails.

In a turn of events that is not at all surprising, Sears suddenly remembered the offer once the local newspaper came calling. They promised to write him a check for 30% of the total of his purchase. Hurray! Yet there’s a lesson here, too: if the customer hadn’t seen that there was a consumer column in the local paper and realized that it could help him, he planned to just let the discount go and enjoy having month after month of clean dishes. Sears would have preferred if he did that, rather than pursuing the discount that he had already been promised. After all, Sears can use every penny that it can hold on to at this point.

Bamboozled: Customer feels washed up after Sears – at first – doesn’t honor promised discount [Star-Ledger]

Although consumers were warned several times this year that gift cards might not be the best option when buying something for their loved ones, some likely continued buying the plastic cards as gifts. If you found yourself on the receiving end of a not-so-wanted or needed gift card, you now have the option to trade it in for a Walmart gift card – and a couple of big catches.

Walmart is offering a promotion targeting the unwanted gift card crowd this year, allowing consumer to trade in their cards to more than 200 retailers for one to the big box store instead.

To participate in the program customers enter their gift card information online and once the card is verified they will receive a Walmart gift card in their email that can be used either in person at local stores or online at Walmart.com. The entire process can take anywhere from a few hours to an entire day.

While the program seems fairly simple, there are several drawbacks.

Customers hoping to trade in that $100 Starbucks gift card to buy $100 worth of things they actually need like groceries or diapers from Walmart, will quickly find that that’s impossible.

Under Walmart’s exchange program customers can only receive up to 97% of the original card’s face value. And that fraction isn’t even guaranteed, as the trade-in value of cards fluctuates. Walmart isn’t revealing how it comes up with estimated values, Fortune reports.

Consumers interested in seeing how much their unwanted gift cards might fetch can find estimates here.

At the time this article was written, a $100 gift card to Starbucks was estimated to be exchanged for $72.45. The same amount from Target could be exchanged for $96.60, while $100 from Best Buy is worth $92.40 in Walmart’s exchange.

While it might seem senseless to trade-in a gift card for less than it’s worth, consumers who covet diapers more than coffee may find it a fair trade-off. At least, those thinking of participating in the program will have the chance to view their estimates before pulling the trade-in trigger.

The program has another potential deal breaker that already excludes a large chunk of would-be traders.

Walmart’s trade-in program, which is managed online by third-party company CardCash, requires that consumers provide their credit card information before receiving a new gift card, KGUN-TV reports.

Officials with CardCash tell KGUN that the information from the credit cards is only used to verify consumers’ billing address and to keep fraudulent users off the site.

Although the cards won’t be charged, the mandate will likely push consumers concerned about their privacy and the use of such personal information away from participating in the program.

Additionally, such a requirement eliminates millions of potential customers for Walmart.

According to a survey by Bankrate.com earlier this year, about 35% of consumers over the age of 30 don’t have credit cards. For younger consumers, those ages 18 to 20, nearly 63% don’t have credit cards.

Walmart isn’t the first company to take advantage of consumers’ distaste for gift cards. Back in July, GameStop, which has been in tense competition with Walmart lately, announced it would allow consumers to trade-in unwanted gift cards for games from the store.

A spokesperson for Walmart tells KGUN that the trade-in program is currently in its testing phase, but if consumers latch-on to the idea it could become a permanent fixture.

Unhappy with the gift card in your stocking? Wal-Mart has a solution [Fortune]
Unwanted gift cards? Spend it at Walmart [KGUN-TV]

In the coming weeks, some retailers will be offering deals on unsold stock of popular holiday gift items. Sometimes stores are up-front about whether or not a particular product was previously purchased and returned, while many just put these items back into inventory with the truly new stuff. That’s why you need to open up those boxes before you leave the store — or else risk getting home to find you’ve purchased a box of rocks.

We’ve shown you many, many examples of shoppers finding out their new electronics purchase was actually a doctored-up floor tile, a bunch of useless notepads, or just some fishing gear.

The latest incident involves a Denver-area man who thought he was buying a PlayStation 4 from Walmart, only to discover when he opened the box that he’d paid hundreds of dollars for a box of taped-up rocks.

In this case, the man says that the Walmart employee who pulled the box from the locked shelf told him that the PS4 had been returned by another customer.

His attempts to get Walmart to give a damn hit the usual wall experienced by victims of this scam.

A manager at the store he’d bought the box-o-rocks from told him there was nothing that could be done because there was no way to prove that the box didn’t contain a PS4 when he left the store.

Eventually, the store decided to believe his story, refunding the customer his money.

We definitely understand Walmart’s hesitance to issue refunds to every person who claims they bought a box of junk. After all, it would be incredibly easy for scammers to pull such a ruse and score free products.

That’s why — as awkward as it may be — it is always best to check that your expensive purchase is actually inside the box before you leave the store. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to convincingly demonstrate that you are not trying to pull one over on the store.

Retailers should also stop this practice of immediately re-shelving returned items just because they are still shrink-wrapped. Any industrious scammer knows how to do a decent job of faking a factory-sealed product, so anything returned to a store should be inspected and marked as “previously owned.”

Every time we hear of a consumer performing a low down and dirty act against another, we think there must be a limit to what people will do to score something for free. But it appears there are no boundaries to the madness inflicted by greed, as one family had to chase down a runaway hearse with their loved one resting inside in a casket after someone decided to drive off with it.

A family in South Los Angeles went after a man suspected of stealing a hearse while the funeral director was preparing services for a 19-year-old man, reported the L.A. Times.

Preparations for the man’s final sendoff were underway, with the hearse idling outside the church while the director was busy inside arranging flowers, the pastor’s wife explained.

When it was time to bring the casket in, the funeral director noticed there was a big part of the service missing — the hearse, with the casket inside. He raised the alarm, calling friends to help find the car.

At the same time, family members on their way to the funeral were contacted about the theft, and happened to see a hearse driving toward them a few blocks from the church. So they forced the driver to pull over and allegedly had a few words with him.

Police arrived on the scene and arrested the man, reportedly charging him with auto theft. The funeral went off without a hitch, the pastor’s wife told the L.A. Times, and the body didn’t appear to have been mussed up during the chase.

“Even with all of that occurring, the service for this gentleman was only 30 minutes late and it was nice,” she said, adding that no one at the church could remember something like this ever happening before.

Family chases down man who stole hearse with relative’s casket inside [Los Angeles Times]

WASHINGTON — Meet Maple Syrup, this week’s Pet of the Week.

This 2-year-old beagle is as sweet as his name. He’s friendly, social and loves having his velvety ears stroked and his rump scratched. In return, he’ll give lots of doggy kisses.

Like most beagles and other hounds, Maple Syrup is ruled by his nose and enjoys taking walks on which he can sniff all the amazing smells around him.  He gets very excited and vocal when he sees other dogs, but calms down if he’s allowed to approach and greet them.

If you’re looking for a happy, loyal, medium-sized canine companion, stop by the Washington Animal Rescue League and meet Maple Syrup.

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 non-profit 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, non-profit 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 prior to 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

Follow @WTOP and @WTOPliving on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

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

BALTIMORE (AP) — Squatting in the grass and squinting in the sun, 25-year-old Song takes in the scene: a greenhouse, a farm, rows of heirloom tomatoes, clusters of herbs and flowering zucchini, squash and cucumber plants.

A year ago and less than a mile away, she was working the streets of West Baltimore, trading sex for money.

That she now tends a vegetable garden is thanks to the Samaritan Women, a residential program that is among the relatively few in the nation dedicated to long-term help for the surging numbers of victims of human trafficking.

For most of her adult life, Song was homeless, addicted and caught in a cycle of violence and emotional manipulation that began when she was a child and until just recently, she herself didn’t even recognize.

When she was arrested for the last time almost a year ago, she begged the judge to send her to a long-term, residential shelter rather than back onto the streets. As her 30-day stay at a short-term shelter was almost up, she met a man at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting who gave her the number to the Samaritan Women house. A bed was open.

___

Local and federal law enforcement agencies are trying to do more to combat sex trafficking. But with an ever-increasing volume of survivors being collected, the patchwork of governmental, nonprofit and faith-based organizations that provide care are scrambling to keep up.

The faith-based Samaritan Women relies on grants and donations and does not accept government funding. Its 23 acres includes two restored mansions with the capacity to house, clothe and feed 14 women for up to two years.

The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual violence. Instead, the following women are identified by nicknames that were given to them at the house. Samaritan founder and executive director Jeanne Allert confirmed many of the details of the accounts published here.

___

For seven years, 27-year-old Button had been sold up and down the West Coast by a host of violent pimps, one of whom once drove her into the desert, dragged her out of the car and broke her nose and both of her eye sockets. Button says he bruised her ribs so badly that doctors told her they could identify the type of boot he’d been wearing. The reason: She asked to leave a strip club because she was feeling sick.

It wasn’t always that way. Button grew up in a wealthy household on Long Island, with parents she says were always loving and supportive. Still, after dropping out of college and becoming addicted to what she describes as “risky behavior,” Button’s parents sent her to a rehabilitation facility in California, where she met a man who would become her first trafficker.

“That opened up a gate to a long, dark life,” Button said.

When Button first came to Samaritan Women over a year ago, she said she was afraid of the ghosts she thought might inhabit the mansion hallways, and afraid to leave her parents, with whom Button had reconnected after years of estrangement.

Now she spends her time working on legislative issues surrounding human trafficking, and is earning a certification to become a counselor for at-risk youth.

“There are still some days that are a struggle,” Button said. “The process of piecing things together that I don’t want to remember is hard for me. But the longer I’m here, the more my mind is being put back together, the more I’m at peace.”

___

Now 32, Genesis was offered her first hit of crack cocaine by her mother when she was 13. By 18, she had a criminal record. She spent her teenage years in and out of strip clubs before becoming the property of a violent pimp. By 21, Genesis had lost a baby and become addicted to drugs.

For years under a violent trafficker, Genesis said she was never allowed to leave his house. The rooms were bugged, the bathroom had no doors. She said her pimp used to tie her and other women he trafficked to a weight bench, beat them and starve them.

The legal system sent Genesis to Samaritan Women, where she’s been living for six months. After three months, Genesis said she had only just begun to remember some of the trauma she suffered.

“I didn’t know I was in hell,” she said. “I thought it was just life. Over those years I was held hostage, shot at, beaten with a pistol. And somewhere in my sick mind I thought this is how life is supposed to be.”

___

Follow Linderman at Twitter.com/julietlinderman.

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MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida equestrian center where 22 horses were poisoned by tainted feed has reached a settlement with the company that produced and sold the feed.

Two horses had to be euthanized Friday, bringing the death toll at Masterpiece Equestrian Center in Davie to six since October, said Andy Yaffa, the attorney representing the center and the owners of 20 of the horses.

All the horses at the center ate the contaminated feed, and all are expected to eventually die. Their owners can do little except keep vigil over the animals as their health fails.

The terms of the settlement last week with Lakeland Animal Nutrition are confidential, but Yaffa said Monday that his clients will be able to buy new horses and care for the remaining ailing horses — all of which are expected to die.

The afflicted horses range from ponies worth $25,000 to $50,000 to elite competitors worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“The remaining horses continue to deteriorate — unfortunately,” Yaffa said. “We knew they would but did not want to believe it. We also did not realize it would be so fast.”

The feed arrived at the center in September but it was weeks before anyone realized something was wrong with all the horses at Masterpiece.

Since the first deaths in October, the horses’ owners have tried to keep their animals comfortable, lavishing attention on them with “spa days” in their stables. All riding lessons were suspended, and the parents of the center’s youngest riders struggled to explain how all the horses, not just one or two, were dying and there was nothing anyone could do except give the horses extra treats and grooming.

Lakeland Animal Nutrition has said the contamination was limited to the feed at Masterpiece, and no other horses elsewhere were reported sickened because of it. The Lakeland-based company recalled the product, stopped producing equine feeds and acknowledged that feed delivered to Masterpiece contained monensin and lasalocid, anti-bacterial additives safe for livestock such as cattle and some poultry but toxic to horses’ muscles.

General manager Jonathan Lang said the 95-year-old company was devastated by the losses at Masterpiece.

“Although their beloved animals could never be replaced, it is our hope that this settlement will bring them some peace and allow them to continue pursuing their passion for equestrian care and sport,” Lang said in an email.

Necropsies performed on four horses that died at Masterpiece before the settlement last week confirmed monensin poisoning. The remaining horses all showed the same progressive symptoms, including difficulty standing, but no more necropsies will be needed, Yaffa said.

“We know what’s causing this,” Yaffa said, adding that Lakeland Animal Nutrition had “acted honorably throughout the restoration process.”

Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is investigating.

___

Follow Jennifer Kay on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jnkay .

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grand Ole Opry legend Little Jimmy Dickens has been hospitalized with an undisclosed illness.

Jessie Schmidt, a publicist for the Opry, said in a news release Sunday that Dickens was admitted to a Nashville-area hospital on Dec. 25 and that he’s in “critical care.”

His last performance at the Opry was Dec. 20 as part of his birthday celebration. He turned 94 a day earlier.

Dickens, who is 4-foot-11, has performed on the Opry almost continuously since 1948. He became an Opry member in 1948 and was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983.

His hits include “Take An Old Cold Tater (And Wait),” ”Country Boy,” ”Out Behind The Barn,” and “May The Bird Of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose.”

The post Grand Ole Opry’s Little Jimmy Dickens hospitalized appeared first on WTOP.

WASHINGTON — It’s not even New Year’s Day and maybe you’ve packed on the holiday pounds.

How about 30 more?

The Washington Humane Society is hoping you’ll decide to gain 30 pounds or more by adopting one of their bigger dogs at the top of the year. On Jan. 3 and 4, you can kick off 2015 by adopting one of these bigger dogs for a discounted rate of $30.

Zenit Chugtai, online communication specialist with the Humane Society, says that’s a hefty price break; the normal adoption fee is $170.

To make the deal even better, Chugtai says you still get an animal who is spayed or neutered, and micro-chipped. You can get a free session with a Washington Humane Society partner trainer to help make the transition into your home a smooth one.

But doesn’t a bigger dog mean more work?

“All dogs are individuals” Chugtai says. “Even a large dog may not be even the most active dog. They may even consider themselves a lapdog. We have plenty of dogs here who have no idea how large they are and are more than happy to squeeze into  your lap.”

WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.

Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

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NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) — Tommy Vaughn knows his clients may be distrustful when a court appoints him to handle their case. Without enough money to hire their own lawyer, defendants are often suspicious that court-appointed attorneys will provide a poor defense or just try to coerce a quick guilty plea.

“I kind of assume that’s what they’re thinking when I first meet them,” said Vaughn, who has worked as a defense attorney in Texas for 2½ years.

The issue of trust has long been part of a larger discussion about the quality of indigent defense in the U.S. Now, the Central Texas county where Vaughn works will be the first in the country to give these individuals the ability to choose their own attorneys at the government’s expense.

It’s part of a pilot program in Comal County that could determine whether the idea could be adopted in other jurisdictions and provide a new wrinkle to how the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments are exercised.

Under the new system, a defendant who is declared indigent will be given a list of 30 to 50 attorneys who have been approved by the county. An individual will have a day to make a choice.

Legal experts have suggested that defendants will be more invested in their cases, and there will be more accountability for attorneys.

“When the attorney has to earn the business for these indigent defense appointments, as opposed to being their turn in the rotation, they have new and stronger incentives to provide good quality services,” said Edwin Colfax, project manager for the Texas Indigent Defense Commission, which gave Comal County a $200,000 grant for the program, tentatively set to begin Jan. 12.

In countries such as Australia, Canada and England, indigent defendants have for years been able to choose their own lawyer.

In Texas, the most common indigent defense model is the “wheel” system, where judges appoint whichever lawyer on a previously approved list is next up on the rotation. Some court systems in Texas and across the country also use public defender offices or contract with attorneys or law firms to provide indigent defense services.

The commission envisions the idea working in Comal partly because of its manageable size. The county has about 118,000 residents between Austin and San Antonio.

It’s unclear how well the concept would work in larger jurisdictions with an increased number of cases and possible issues with determining how defendants would be informed about the quality of attorneys. The program will be tested for a year.

Alex Bunin, chief public defender with the Harris County Public Defender’s Office in Houston, said attorney choice could be tried in large counties, but issues such as funding for adequate pay, investigative services and other resources would have to be addressed.

Otherwise, the idea “will only be a novelty,” he said.

San Antonio resident Valerie Williams said she’s had mixed success with appointed attorneys.

Williams said she was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2002 and was convicted, placed on probation and fined $2,000 after her court-appointed attorney did little work. Recently, another court-appointed attorney in Comal County managed to get her DWI and drug charges dismissed.

“I think (Comal County’s program) would make people feel a little more confident about what they are going through,” said Williams, 40.

Over the years, indigent defense has been much criticized across the U.S., in part because of underfunding. Court-appointed attorneys usually earn far less than privately hired lawyers.

Dib Waldrip, a judge in Comal County, said he’s unsure simply “throwing money” at indigent defense will fix its problems and is looking forward to finding out if attorney choice can make courts more efficient.

Ernie Lewis, executive director of the National Association for Public Defense, said any improvements from attorney choice won’t mean much without additional funding to provide attorneys with resources to mount strong defenses.

“A good public defender system is going to be a check on an overaggressive police department or a prison system that is depriving inmates of their fundamental human rights,” said Lewis, who ran Kentucky’s public defender system for 12 years. “We as a society have to have good, adequately funded, high-quality public defender systems if it’s going to play those roles.”

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70

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BERKELEY, Mo. (AP) — A protester who advocated for peaceful demonstrations in Ferguson was charged Saturday with setting fire to a convenience store in a neighboring suburb.

A St. Louis County jail official said Joshua Williams, 19, of St. Louis, was being held on $30,000 bond. He is charged with arson, second-degree burglary and stealing less than $500.

Williams, who was frequently quoted and photographed protesting Michael Brown’s death, is accused of using lighter fluid to set multiple fires inside and outside a QuikTrip in Berkeley. Court records said Williams confessed in a videotaped interview, and that his actions were captured by surveillance video and by news media.

The QuikTrip was looted after a white Berkeley police officer shot and killed Antonio Martin, a black 18-year-old, late Tuesday at a nearby gas station. Separate surveillance footage appeared to show that before the shooting, Martin pulled a gun on the unidentified 34-year-old officer.

St. Louis County police spokesman Shawn McGuire said it wasn’t immediately known if Williams had an attorney. Williams didn’t immediately return a phone message.

Williams has been arrested at least twice during Ferguson-related protests for unlawful assembly as well as refusal to disperse.

An MSNBC profile of Williams in September quoted him as saying, “We have to come together as one and show them we can be peaceful, that we can do this. If not, they’re going to just want us to act up so they can pull out their toys on us again.”

During a Ferguson Commission meeting earlier this month, Williams said black people should be able to walk into stores without being followed around like thieves.

“When the police go out there in their uniforms, they don’t see nothing but thugs,” he said. “All they see is targets in the streets.”

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They each turned a moment of violence into a call to action. For James Brady, that moment came when he was shot and wounded by a would-be presidential assassin. For Chung Eun-yong, it was the killings of his two children during the Korean War.

Brady took up a personal campaign for increased gun control after surviving a head wound when a man tried unsuccessfully to kill President Ronald Reagan, for whom Brady was press secretary. Chung began a years-long quest for justice, which eventually prompted the U.S. Army to acknowledge having killed civilian refugees at No Gun Ri.

Brady and Chung, who died within days of each other in August, are among the notables who left the world in 2014.

Others included political figures who catalyzed war and peace and scientists who changed our lives. And we lost beloved entertainers, some remembered for bringing audiences decades of smiles and tears and others who left the stage long before their time.

Among the political figures who died in 2014 was Ariel Sharon a hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister whose efforts to reshape the Middle East caused some to call him a war hero and others a war criminal. Another was Marion Barry, the former Washington, D.C., mayor whose accomplishments were often overshadowed by his arrest for drug use.

British politician Tony Benn, former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski and former Georgia president Eduard Shevardnadze also died this year.

Among scientists and innovators was Rostislav Belyakov, the chief designer of the Russian MiG fighter jets, Nobel Prize winner Martin Perl, who discovered a subatomic particle, and S. Donald Stookey, the inventor of Corningware.

A feeling of untimeliness defined several of the deaths in the entertainment arena in 2014.

The suicide of actor and comedian Robin Williams touched off a national conversation about depression. The overdose deaths of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, model Peaches Geldof and heavy metal frontman Dave Brockie were reminders of the scourge of drug use.

Other artists and entertainers included: actors Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Suchitra Sen, Harold Ramis, Lauren Bacall, Ken Takakura and Eli Wallach; musicians Pete Seeger, Sabah, Tommy Ramone, Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Cerati and Big Bank Hank; filmmakers Mike Nichols and Run Run Shaw; radio host Casey Kasem; comedian Joan Rivers and writers Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka.

Here is a roll call of some of the people who died in 2014. (Cause of death cited for younger people, if available.)

JANUARY:

Saul Zaentz, 92. Music producer whose second career as a filmmaker brought him best-picture Academy Awards for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” ”Amadeus” and “The English Patient.” Jan. 3.

Run Run Shaw, 107. Pioneering Hong Kong movie producer whose studio popularized the kung fu genre that influenced Quentin Tarantino and other Hollywood directors. Jan. 7.

Amiri Baraka, 79. Militant man of letters and tireless agitator whose blues-based, fist-shaking poems, plays and criticism made him a groundbreaking force in American culture. Jan. 9.

Ariel Sharon, 85. Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East. Jan. 11.

Suchitra Sen, 82. Legendary Indian actress known for her memorable roles in both Bengali-language and Hindi Bollywood films. Jan. 17.

FEBRUARY:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46. He won a best actor Oscar in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in “Capote” and created a gallery of other vivid characters, many of them slovenly and slightly dissipated comic figures. Feb. 2. Apparent heroin overdose.

Joan Mondale, 83. She burnished a reputation as “Joan of Art” for her passionate advocacy for the arts while her husband, Walter, was vice president and a U.S. ambassador. Feb. 3.

Ralph Kiner, 91. He slugged his way to the baseball Hall of Fame and then enjoyed a half-century career as a popular broadcaster. Feb. 6.

Shirley Temple, 85. Dimpled, curly-haired child star who sang, danced, sobbed and grinned her way into the hearts of Depression-era moviegoers. Feb. 10.

Harold Ramis, 69. Comedy actor, director and writer best known for his roles in movies such as “Ghostbusters” and “Stripes.” Feb. 24.

MARCH:

Sheila MacRae, 92. Veteran stage, film and TV performer best known for playing Alice Kramden in the 1960s re-creation of “The Honeymooners.” March 6.

Tony Benn, 88. Committed British socialist who irritated and fascinated Britons through a political career spanning more than five decades and who renounced his aristocratic title rather than leave the House of Commons. March 14.

L’Wren Scott, believed to be 49. She left her small-town Utah home as a teenager to become a model in Paris, then a top Hollywood stylist and finally a high-end fashion designer best known as the longtime girlfriend of Mick Jagger. March 17. Apparent suicide.

Jeremiah Denton, 89. Former Alabama senator who survived 7½ years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and alerted the U.S. military to conditions there when he blinked the word “torture” in Morse code during a television interview. March 28.

APRIL:

Mickey Rooney, 93. Pint-size actor and all-around talent whose more than 80-year career spanned silent comedies, Shakespeare, Judy Garland musicals, Andy Hardy stardom, television and the Broadway theater. April 6.

Peaches Geldof, 25. Model and media personality who was a daughter of Irish singer Bob Geldof and member of a talented, troubled family who grew up in the glare of Britain’s tabloid press. April 7. Heroin overdose.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 87. The Nobel laureate whose novels and short stories exposed tens of millions of readers to Latin America’s passion, superstition, violence and inequality. April 17.

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, 76. Boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice. April 20.

Bob Hoskins, 71. British actor whose varied career ranged from noir drama “Mona Lisa” to animated fantasy “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” April 29.

Walter R. Walsh, 106. He captured gangsters as an FBI agent in the 1930s and went on to train Marine Corps snipers and become the longest-lived Olympian. April 29.

MAY:

Jeb Stuart Magruder, 79. Watergate conspirator-turned-minister who claimed in later years to have heard President Richard Nixon order the infamous break-in. May 11.

Jerry Vale, 83. Beloved crooner known for his high-tenor voice and romantic songs in the 1950s and early ’60s. May 18.

Jack Brabham, 88. Three-time Formula One champion who famously pushed his car to the finish line to claim his first season title. May 19.

Ruth Ziolkowski, 87. She carried on her late husband’s dream of honoring Native Americans by carving the massive likeness of warrior Crazy Horse into the Black Hills in South Dakota. May 21.

Jaime Lusinchi, 89. Former Venezuelan president who struggled to tame an economic crisis sparked by plunging oil prices in the late 1980s and then saw his reputation tarnished by allegations of corruption after leaving office. May 21.

Wojciech Jaruzelski, 90. Communist leader who imposed harsh military rule on Poland in 1981 in an attempt to crush the pro-democracy Solidarity movement but later allowed reforms that ended up dismantling the regime. May 25.

Bunny Yeager, 85. Model turned pin-up photographer who helped jump-start the career of then-unknown Bettie Page. May 25.

Maya Angelou, 86. Author and poet who rose from poverty, segregation and violence to become a force on stage, screen and the printed page. May 28.

JUNE:

Ann B. Davis, 88. Emmy-winning actress who became America’s best-known housekeeper as the devoted Alice Nelson of TV’s “Brady Bunch.” June 1.

Alexander Shulgin, 88. Respected chemist famed for dusting off a decades-old recipe for the psychedelic drug ecstasy. June 2.

Chuck Noll, 82. Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers. June 13.

Casey Kasem, 82. Radio broadcaster with a cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades. June 15.

Tony Gwynn, 54. Hall of Famer whose sweet left-handed swing made him one of San Diego’s best-loved athletes and earned him the nickname “Mr. Padre.” June 16. Cancer.

Eli Wallach, 98. Raspy-voiced character actor who starred in dozens of movies and Broadway plays and earned film immortality as a quick-on-the-draw bandit in the classic Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” June 24.

Howard H. Baker Jr., 88. Moderate Republican ex-senator who, during the 1973 Watergate hearings, sought to learn Richard Nixon’s role by asking what the president knew and when he knew it. June 26.

JULY:

David Greenglass, 92. He served 10 years in prison for his role in the most explosive atomic spying case of the Cold War and gave testimony that sent his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, to the electric chair. July 1.

Louis Zamperini, 97. Olympic distance runner who, during World War II, survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed, then endured two years in Japanese prison camps; subject of the book and movie “Unbroken.” July 2.

Metropolitan Volodymyr, 78. Head of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church who was credited with stabilizing the church. July 5.

John Seigenthaler, 86. He edited The Tennessean newspaper, helped shape USA Today and worked for civil rights during the Kennedy administration. July 11.

Tommy Ramone, 65. Co-founder of the seminal punk band the Ramones and last surviving member of the original group. July 11.

Alice Coachman Davis, 90. First black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. July 14.

Dick Smith, 92. Oscar-winning “Godfather of Makeup” who amused, fascinated and terrified moviegoers by devising unforgettable transformations for Marlon Brando in “The Godfather” and Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” among many others. July 30.

AUGUST:

Chung Eun-yong, 91. Ex-policeman whose half-century quest for justice for his two slain children led the U.S. Army in 2001 to acknowledge the Korean War refugee massacre at No Gun Ri. Aug. 1.

James Brady, 73. Affable, witty press secretary who survived a devastating head wound in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, then undertook a personal crusade for gun control. Aug. 4.

Robin Williams, 63. Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades. Aug. 11. Apparent suicide.

Lauren Bacall, 89. Slinky, sultry-voiced actress who created on-screen magic with Humphrey Bogart in “To Have and Have Not” and “The Big Sleep” and off-screen magic in one of Hollywood’s most storied marriages. Aug. 12.

Jay Adams, 53. Colorful rebel who helped transform skateboarding from a simple street pastime into one of the world’s most spectacular sports. Aug. 14. Heart attack.

Richard Attenborough, 90. Actor and Oscar-winning director whose film career on both sides of the camera spanned 60 years. Aug. 24.

SEPTEMBER:

Andrew Madoff, 48. Bernard Madoff’s last surviving son, he turned his father in and insisted he had been duped into believing history’s most notorious Ponzi king was an honest financier. Sept. 3. Cancer.

Joan Rivers, 81. Raucous, acid-tongued comedian who crashed the male-dominated realm of late-night talk shows and turned Hollywood red carpets into danger zones for badly dressed celebrities. Sept. 4. Fatal complication during a medical procedure.

S. Truett Cathy, 93. Billionaire founder of the privately held Chick-fil-A restaurant chain. Sept. 8.

Rev. Ian Paisley, 88. Protestant firebrand who devoted his life to thwarting compromise with Catholics in Northern Ireland only to become a peacemaker in his twilight years. Sept. 12.

Deborah Mitford, 94. Dowager duchess of Devonshire and the last of the witty, unconventional Mitford sisters. Sept. 24.

James Traficant, 73. Colorful Ohio politician whose conviction for taking bribes and kickbacks made him only the second person to be expelled from Congress since the Civil War. Sept. 27.

OCTOBER:

Jean-Claude Duvalier, 63. He presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt, brutal regime as the self-proclaimed “president for life” of Haiti until an uprising sent him into a 25-year exile. Oct. 4. Heart attack.

Oscar de la Renta, 82. Worldly gentleman designer who shaped the wardrobe of socialites, first ladies and Hollywood stars for more than four decades. Oct. 20.

Gough Whitlam, 98. Flamboyant Australian prime minister and controversial social reformer whose grip on power was cut short by a bitter constitutional crisis. Oct. 21.

Ben Bradlee, 93. Hard-charging editor who guided The Washington Post through its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Watergate scandal and invigorated its newsroom for more than two decades. Oct. 21.

Jack Bruce, 71. British musician best known as the bass player and vocalist of the power blues trio Cream. Oct. 25.

Thomas Menino, 71. Boston’s longest-serving mayor whose mumbling and occasional bumbling belied his political ingenuity and endeared him to a city whose skyline he helped reshape. Oct. 30.

NOVEMBER:

Tom Magliozzi, 77. He was one half of the brother duo who hosted National Public Radio’s “Car Talk,” where they bantered with callers and commiserated over their car problems. Nov. 3.

S. Donald Stookey, 99. He was the scientist who forever changed cooking with the invention of CorningWare, a versatile glass found in millions of American kitchens. Nov. 4.

Mike Nichols, 83. Director of matchless versatility who brought fierce wit, caustic social commentary and wicked absurdity to such film, TV and stage hits as “The Graduate,” ”Angels in America” and “Monty Python’s Spamalot.” Nov. 19.

Marion Barry, 78. Former District of Columbia mayor whose four terms were overshadowed by his 1990 arrest after being caught on videotape smoking crack cocaine. Nov. 23.

Sabah, 87. Lebanese singer and actress who was an icon of Arab music. Nov. 26.

DECEMBER:

Herman Badillo, 85. Bronx politician who became the first person born in Puerto Rico to become a U.S. congressman. Dec. 3.

Queen Fabiola, 86. She was inseparable from her husband, the late King Baudouin, and popular across much of Belgium. Dec. 5.

Ralph Baer, 92. Video game pioneer who created both the precursor to “Pong” and the electronic memory game Simon and led the team that developed the first home video game console. Dec. 6.

Joe Cocker, 70. Raspy-voiced British singer with a contorted performing style, known for his frenzied cover of “With a Little Help From My Friends” and the teary ballad “You Are So Beautiful.” Dec. 22.

The post Final goodbye: Roll call of some who died in 2014 appeared first on WTOP.

LONDON (AP) — Snow and icy weather swept through parts of Europe on Saturday, stranding drivers overnight and leaving thousands of homes without power in Britain.

Snow also covered parts of Switzerland and southwestern Germany, and more than 20 centimeters (nearly eight inches) of snow has fallen in higher parts of Germany’s Black Forest.

Many motorists in Britain were forced to abandon their cars or were trapped in vehicles for hours after becoming snowed in. Dozens of people traveling from Sheffield to London spent the night in a church after their bus became stuck.

Parts of northern England saw 11 centimeters (4.3 inches) of snow. Western Power Distribution said 36,000 customers were without power, and another 69,000 had short interruptions to supplies. Staff worked through the night to reconnect customers, but thousands in the East Midlands region were still affected.

Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and Leeds Bradford International closed late Friday as workers cleared snow from the runways. The airports have reopened.

British weather forecasts predict more snow showers, mainly in the north, though the main threat would be ice on roads.

The snow was welcomed in the French Alps, which have seen hardly any since the start of the ski season. But with up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) predicted this weekend above 2,000 meters (yards) altitude, one of the busiest vacation weeks of the year looked more promising — if drivers could reach the mountains.

Traffic jams snarled many of France’s major highways on Saturday, with more than three-quarters of the country under severe weather watch. Only 7,000 drivers of 36,000 expected were able to reach their destination in Savoie, one of the Alps regions, according to the Interior Ministry. Emergency shelters have been set up along the way for potentially thousands who are going to be forced to stay on the road overnight.

In the north, the port of Calais closed because of wind gusts.

Snow and ice led to a roughly 20-kilometer (12.5 mile) traffic jam on the A8 highway near Stuttgart in southern Germany.

Parts of Germany’s south and west saw more than 10 centimeters (4 inches) of fresh snow, helping some ski areas which had been struggling.

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This is a sponsored post by veterinarian Elizabeth Arguelles, owner of Just Cats Clinic at Lake Anne Plaza. She writes weekly on Reston Now.

Have your ever heard your cat sneeze and noticed watery eyes, a runny nose or even congestion? While it may appear that your cat has caught a cold, there are actually several possibilities that make up feline upper respiratory issues. One of the most common causes is feline herpes, or feline viral rhinopnumonitis or FVR.

The virus is a leading cause of upper respiratory diseases, conjunctivitis, and inflammation of the eyes. FVR is very common and affects a large percentage of cats, but it’s important to remember herpes is not always the cause of your kitty’s upper respiratory symptoms.

 How does a cat get feline herpes?

FVR is caused by the Type 1 feline herpes virus, which like most of its peers, is species-specific. Also like other viruses, feline herpes is passed through direct contact with viral cells that are secreted in an infected cat’s saliva, nasal discharge and tears.

A previously healthy cat can get infected when it shares a litter box, food or water dishes with other felines. The virus can also be passed through mutual grooming or even through contact with viral cells shed onto an inanimate object. One of the most common means of transmission is from pregnant cat to the kittens in her womb.

Once a cat is infected with feline herpes, an incubation period of up to five days usually passes before the kitty starts showing symptoms.

Just like the human form of the virus, feline herpes will remain in the cat’s body forever. Though it largely remains dormant, the virus will become active from time to time, leading to the symptoms mentioned below for about 10-20 days. The cause is most often stress, which is why frequently these symptoms appear during boarding, traveling, moving, or even introducing a new family member or pet into the house.

What are the symptoms of feline herpes?

Unfortunately, many of the symptoms of feline herpes can also indicate other diseases. Some common feline herpes symptoms are:

• Frequent and repeated sneezing
• Discharge from the nose and eyes
• Conjunctivitis and/or lesions around the eyes
• Chest and nasal congestion
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Drooling

These symptoms can also turn into an upper respiratory infection if left untreated. If you notice fever, loss of appetite, drooling, or colored discharge from the eyes or nose, please see your veterinarian immediately.

How is feline herpes treated?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for feline herpes, and the virus stays in the cat’s body forever. The good news, however, is that the disease’s symptoms can be treated easily. Once your veterinarian has determined that they are not caused by other issues, he or she can prescribe oral antibiotics or antiviral medications if needed.

For mild flare ups, lysine treats or paste can help control symptoms and even reduce the number of flare ups. Eye creams can also reduce any inflammation and irritation of the lining. As with any medical issue, please do not administer any medication to your cat unless you have discussed it with your veterinarian.

The post Live Beyond 9 Lives: How to Spot FVR in your Cat appeared first on WTOP.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — A Hagerstown police officer still mourning the death of his K9 partner in October soon will get a new police dog.

Hagerstown City Council members on Tuesday approved of two new dogs for Hagerstown police, one of which will be assigned to Officer Tom Bartles.

The Herald-Mail reports (http://bit.ly/16TJgCc ) that Bartles lost his longtime K9 partner, a German shepherd named Queen, in October after her battle with lung cancer.

Bartles estimates that Queen worked on 1,000 assignments in her 7.5 years with the department. Those included hunting down evidence in robberies, tracking suspects and sniffing out drugs.

He was so close with Queen that he still keeps her ashes in an urn on his bedroom dresser. Her badge, photograph and end-of-watch date sit alongside.

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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com

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CINCINNATI (AP) — A baby gorilla raised by human keepers wearing hairy vests is ready to be placed with other gorillas and will move to the Columbus Zoo, the Cincinnati Zoo said Friday.

Kamina, a young, female Western lowland gorilla, was born in August at the zoo in Oklahoma City but was shunned by her mother, so she was sent to Cincinnati in September. The human surrogates taught her to act like a gorilla and then placed her with two female gorillas.

When they didn’t bond with her, keepers decided Kamina’s best option was moving to Columbus. The Cincinnati Zoo’s curator of primates says the rejection was surprising but such introductions are delicate and don’t always work out.

“Kamina has learned all of the behaviors she needs to know in order to be successful in a gorilla group,” Ron Evans, primates curator, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, neither of the adult females that we hoped would bond with her did.”

Officials are working out details of her transfer to the Columbus Zoo, which has previous experience with surrogacy placements.

After Kamina arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo in September, 17 volunteers, nearly all zoo workers, took turns holding the baby around the clock, teaching her how to be a gorilla.

Volunteers wore hairy vests to give Kamina something to cling too, bottle-fed her and crawled on their hands and knees so Kamina could practice abdominal and back riding. They used low grunting sounds to soothe her and coughing sounds to discourage behaviors.

A previous surrogacy at Cincinnati worked out a little better, with keepers successfully raising “Gladys,” a gorilla baby that came to Cincinnati in February 2013 from Brownsville, Texas, and was eventually incorporated into the zoo’s gorilla troop.

Columbus also has a long history of caring for gorillas. The first gorilla born in captivity, Colo, was born at the Columbus Zoo and celebrated her 58th birthday earlier this week.

The post Baby ostracized by other gorillas will switch zoos appeared first on WTOP.

The western Ohio plant that builds Airstream travel-trailers is seeing such hot demand that there’s a three-month backlog on orders, and ground has been broken on a major expansion that will increase production capacity. Some factoids about the Airstream:

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WAY BACK WHEN

Wally Byam built the first Airstream trailer as a tent contraption on a Model T chassis, eventually replacing the tent with a teardrop-shaped permanent shelter. The riveted aluminum, aviation-inspired design emerged in the 1930s and hasn’t been tweaked greatly since then. Since 1952, they’ve been built at a factory in Jackson Center, Ohio, north of Dayton. Byam would spend much of the rest of his life leading Airstream caravans around the world.

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LOTS OF FANS

Airstream owners are enthusiastic, loyal and love to hang out with one another. Organized chapters of the owners association — called the Wally Byam Caravan Club International — put together rallies around the world and stay in touch through active message boards and social media. An annual camping event at the Ohio factory sponsored by Airstream Life magazine draws 120 to 150 units. It’s called “Alumapalooza.”

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NASA’s FAVORITE

The first stop for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins when they got back from the moon in 1969 was a modified Airstream trailer. They were quarantined until doctors cleared them from any harmful germs they might have brought back from space. President Richard Nixon congratulated the astronauts from the window. A drivable Airstream RV shuttled astronauts to the launch pad for years.

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ON THE BIG SCREEN

Airstream trailers have been a part of American culture for decades, so naturally they’ve rolled through dozens of Hollywood movies and TV shows, ranging from “Raising Arizona” and “Independence Day” to “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” Matthew McConaughey spent a month on the road in his Airstream promoting his 2005 movie “Sahara.” He told Architectural Digest his home on wheels was “a beautiful piece of art.”

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AIRSTREAM RANCH

An RV dealer named Frank Bates buried eight Airstream trailers halfway in the ground alongside Interstate 4 just outside of Tampa, Florida, in 2007. Known as Airstream Ranch, the “sculpture” has survived despite a legal battle over local government efforts to get rid of it. Some people call it art. Some people call it an eyesore. It’s definitely become a tourist attraction.

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Sources: Airstream; “Airstream: The Silver RV,” by Tara Cox; Wanderlust: Airstream at 75,” by Russ Banham.

The post Things to know about the enduring Airstream appeared first on WTOP.

DEERING, N.H. (AP) — A falcon in New Hampshire that had eye surgery to remove cataracts is doing well with her new synthetic lenses but has limited vision and isn’t flying.

Banner, a 4-year-old falcon, hasn’t been able to fly or hunt since losing her sight more than a year ago. In September, a team at Capital Veterinary Emergency Services in Concord performed the surgery. Banner’s owners said it was the first time such a procedure had been done on a falcon.

Nancy and Jim Cowan of the New Hampshire School of Falconry in Deering told the Concord Monitor (http://bit.ly/1AQYfrK ) that Banner can see well enough to live outside, but a wrinkle in one lens means she has limited vision in that eye, and there is scarring from the cataracts in the other eye.

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Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com

The post New Hampshire falcon’s post-surgery vision limited appeared first on WTOP.

WASHINGTON — When it comes to various services in the D.C. area, how do you know you’re getting the best bang for your buck?

Washington Checkbook Magazine has some tips when it comes to getting the best value for services and products such as health care, tools and tires.

The magazine’s president, Robert Krughoff, spoke with WTOP about some highlights from the magazine’s research on savings.

 

Veterinarians

The magazine evaluated 222 area vets and found big differences in quality and price. For example, to neuter a 6-month-old, 30-pound dog, vets charged between $154 and $830.

The difference in price can mirror the quality of care, but Krughoff says sometimes consumers don’t shop around enough to know a bad price when they see it.

“I think people really tend not to shop very much for the price of vets, so they don’t know better,” he says. “They don’t really realize when they are paying $800 for a service they could have had for $150 or $200.”

You should look for whether the vet takes your finances into consideration and discusses various treatment options with you.  Also, pet owners need a vet who is reachable by phone and available in case of an emergency.

 

Hardware Stores

Many D.C.-area shoppers grapple with whether they should shop at bigger hardware stores or smaller, independent shops. Krughoff says bigger stores may have more savings and more items, but they may not focus on the customers’ needs.

Lowe’s and Home Depot are, on average, 25 percent less expensive than independent hardware stores in the area, the magazine found.

Experienced clerks can be an asset in a hardware store — they can act as consultants and teachers. And some independent stores may have better clerks, the magazine found.

“If you go to a good hardware store, you can expect that kind of really good helpful advice; and some of the independents stores actually rated very high in the quality of advice you get — much higher than the quality of advice you get in the Lowe’s and Home Depot,” Krughoff says.

Larger stores may have volume and variety, but some small stores have an impressive selection, too.

“Independent stores — though they don’t have near as much space — have an enormous amount of variety, and actually know how to find it and know where it is, and they can tailor that variety to their neighborhood — things that people in that neighborhood tend to need,” he adds.

There can be big price differences: 50 feet of copper piping can cost between $58 and $150 at area hardware stores.

 

Tires

Checkbook found that one set of Michelin tires — and the installation and rotation that come with them —  can cost anywhere between $934 and $1,360.

The lowest prices locally were found at Walmart, Costco, BJs, Sams Club, NTB and Sears. Dealerships tended to cost the most, Krughoff says.

One alternative to save money is to shop for tires online, he says.

“You can have them shipped to you and you can pay your local repair shop to do the installation,” Krughoff says.

And taking good care of your tires can be a way to save money in the long run, he adds.

 

Pest Control

There is a big difference in the quality of area pest-control companies, Krughoff says. Checkbook evaluated 88 local pest control services.

Independent companies ranked better than some of the bigger-name companies such as Orkin. The independent ones ranked better because customers saw better results based on cost, Krughoff says.

While some charge $150 or less for a single visit, others require customers to sign up for long-term contracts that cost $450 or more.

“Checkbook finds so often there is no relationship between quality and price,” he says. “There are really high-quality firms that will do great work that are among the lowest price firms in the area, so you don’t need to pay more.”

Asking about a company’s strategy and guarantee are important when choosing which company to go with.

 

House cleaners

Those who want to get their house cleaned may have a hard time deciding whether to go with a company or an individual.

Checkbook surveyed D.C.-area residents and found that most were more likely to be happy with individuals instead of companies — 76 percent gave individuals a superior score, as opposed to the 54 percent who gave companies a superior ranking.

“These people are coming into your home, so if you find a good person, you are more likely to be satisfied,” Krughoff says.

Checkbook also found there can be big price differences. For one three-bedroom, two-bathroom house cleaning, prices ranged between $75 and $185.

The best way to prevent surprises is to call first and get a quote. Then, get the price guarantee in writing.

“When you have a [house cleaner] come to your home, get them to write down what’s going to get done and what the price will be,” he says.

Customers should also evaluate how often they want to get their house cleaned.

“It tends to be substantially cheaper to have someone come once a week or every two weeks, as opposed to one-time cleanings,” he adds.

 

Doctors

Checkbook asked practicing doctors in the area to identify physician specialists they “would consider most desirable for care of a loved one.”

There is a close relationship between the doctors’ ratings and their quality of care, he says.

“Doctors who are recommended by other doctors are much more likely to be board-certified; they are very unlikely to have disciplinary actions against them,” Krughoff says.

Krughoff has some recommendations to make sure patients get the most bang for their buck:

• Make sure it’s easy to communicate with the doctor.
• Find a doctor who explains things to you.
• Be able to get an appointment and see the doctor within a day or two.
• Have a doctor who can talk about preventative measure with you.

Follow @WTOP on Twitter and WTOP on Facebook.

The post How to find the best-value D.C.-area doctors, house cleaners and more appeared first on WTOP.

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