by Beth Skwarecki on Vitals, shared by Andy Orin to Lifehacker
Here’s a shocker: doctors are not entomologists. If you were ever told (or just assumed) that a festering wound was a spider bite, but you never caught the spider in the act, there’s a good chance your ailment was something else instead.
by Claire Lower on Skillet, shared by Andy Orin to Lifehacker
Cacio e Pepe (meaning “cheese and pepper”) is perhaps the most elegantly delicious pasta dish ever created, but the tasty combination can be applied to more than noodles. In the same way that simply-prepared pasta provides an environment for the cheese and pepper to really shine, biscuits can help highlight these flavors.
Shepherd’s pie—or cottage pie, depending on the filling—is classic winter comfort food. For a new take on shepherd’s pie, consider baking it in the potato skin.
by Claire Lower on Skillet, shared by Andy Orin to Lifehacker
Egg drop soup may seem like one of those magical things that can only be acquired from your favorite takeout joint, but it’s actually startlingly easy to make at home. Getting that silky texture is the real trick, but all you need is a little cornstarch.
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — Maryland wildlife officials are concerned that some bear cubs may have been drowned this winter because of fast-melting snow that could have flooded their dens.
The Cumberland Times-News (http://bit.ly/1W6fMos ) reports that the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service will begin checking bear dens on Wednesday.
Black bear project leader Harry Spiker says that when weather conditions were similar in the past, crews have gone to dens where cubs were known to have been born in January and the young bears aren’t there. He says sometimes drowned cubs are eaten by their mother.
Spiker says crews are hoping to visit the dens of nine radio-collared sows over the next three weeks in Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties. Each March, the agency sedates the sows and pulls the cubs for inspection, tagging and veterinary treatment.
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Information from: Cumberland (Md.) Times-News, http://www.times-news.com/timesnew.html
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia has become the first state with a law regulating the fast-growing but embattled online fantasy sports industry and specifying that fantasy sports betting is not “illegal gambling.”
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed a bill Monday that formally legalizes and regulates sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings, requiring them to pay a $50,000 initial registration fee and submit to regular outside audits.
The law will take effect July 1. McAuliffe said in a written statement it will “empower Virginia to regulate this emerging industry and keep consumers safe from abuses.”
The Old Dominion is one of several states where DraftKings and FanDuel have pushed for legislation to regulate the new industry, but without the heavy oversight common with more traditional gambling operations.
“Virginia is leading the way in establishing strong consumer protections while sending a clear message that, with the proper oversight, playing fantasy sports is a skill-based hobby people should be allowed to enjoy,” said Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle, who sponsored the legislation.
Fantasy sports have been under fire in some states, and attorneys general in New York, Illinois and Texas have issued opinions that they are illegal games of chance. Fantasy site operators hope their success in Virginia will translate to other states.
“We thank Governor McAuliffe for his leadership and advocacy and are hopeful that other states across the country will follow Virginia’s lead,” said Griffin Finan, a spokesman for DraftKings.
Virginia’s legislation says fantasy players must be at least 18. California and Maryland are considering bills with a minimum age of 21. Massachusetts is also looking at a 21-year minimum, through a rule-making initiative outside the legislative process.
The Virginia legislation passed both chambers of the GOP-controlled General Assembly by wide margins with broad bipartisan support. But it was criticized in recent days by smaller fantasy site operators and anti-gambling addiction advocates.
Smaller fantasy sites that operate full-season fantasy games rather than one-day contests like DraftKings and FanDuel said the $50,000 registration fee is prohibitively expensive and will force them out of Virginia.
Darren Heitner, a South Florida lawyer who represents several fantasy sports operators, said if other states impose similar fees it would be difficult for smaller companies.
“They cannot justify spending such an exorbitant amount of money just to remain active in a single state,” Heitner said.
The National Council on Problem Gambling pushed McAuliffe to try amending the legislation and offering greater consumer protection provisions aimed at limiting fantasy-related gambling addictions.
These Modern Motif socks prove that men’s dress socks don’t need to be drab and colorless, and today on Amazon, you can save $5 on a box of five pairs. There are two collections to choose from, but personally, I’m a fan of the Haberdashery collection. [Five Colorful Dress Socks, $31 with code D4Y8IFTN]
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A statewide test of Virginia’s tornado warning systems will be conducted later this month.
The state Department of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service say the tornado drill is set for March 22.
Officials say the severe storm system that spawned eight tornadoes and caused five deaths last month in Virginia illustrates the importance of being prepared.
The drill will start with a test tornado warning sent by the weather service to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radios. That system will sound a tone alert and show a test message to simulate what people would hear or see during an actual tornado warning. Local radio stations, TV stations and cable outlets will broadcast the test message via the Emergency Alert System.
WASHINGTON — From new schools to new roads and parks, millions of dollars in improvements may now come from local tax dollars rather than the contributions housing developers pay as part of zoning approvals for new projects.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed proffer changes into law this week over the opposition of a number of local governments across the commonwealth. Proffers are often used to pay or provide for all or parts of schools, parks, roads, libraries or other community amenities.
Supporters say the changes will cut down on unreasonable costs developers pay that can be passed on to people who buy new homes.
Opponents, such as Loudoun County Board Chairman Phyllis Randall, asked for exemptions for Northern Virginia to maintain developer requirements that Loudoun County says help it keep pace with growth, pay for affordable housing and cover broader transportation improvements.
Also, Loudoun County asked that the bill be amended to allow proffers to fully cover sidewalks, highway interchanges, libraries, senior centers and community centers, and enhanced landscaping to protect neighbors from “annoying and property-devaluing noise, light and visual impacts.”
Fairfax County and Prince William County leaders also opposed the law, and Fairfax County staff agree with much of Loudoun County’s assessment.
Developers and some realtors who back the law say it could lower the prices of new homes by lowering the costs for developers.
Like Loudoun County, Fairfax County is still trying to figure out the complete impact of the law, which will apply to residential zoning and rezoning applications filed in July 2016 and beyond.
Fairfax County’s current proffer system has been in place since the 1970s when rapid growth led to calls for developers to cover the costs of increased traffic and other impacts of new developments.
The new law puts the burden on the county to show that proffers are reasonable, and only address impacts “specifically attributable” to the proposed new development. Also, the law requires that the development see a direct and material benefit, and the law gives the developer the right to take the case to court.
That could mean things that had been offered in the past for certain new interchanges, parkways, entire schools, fire and police stations or libraries might not meet the new standards.
Proffers are considered to be offered on a voluntary basis, but once they are approved, things such as landscaping, design or other promises become a permanent part of the zoning rules that must be followed for a property.
Fairfax County legislative staff says it believes the Board of Supervisors could designate any areas they choose that meet the requirements for an exemption. (Courtesy Loudoun County Office of Mapping and Geographic Information) Click on image to see it larger.
There are exemptions to the limits in the new law for specific areas around Metro stations, other transit services and areas with certain other mixed-use or multistory development.
Fairfax County legislative staff, in preliminary analysis of the law, says it believes the Board of Supervisors could designate any areas they choose that meet the requirements for an exemption.
A staff report prepared late last month suggests the areas around all of Fairfax County’s Metro stations, the Annandale Community Business Centers, Dulles Suburban Center, Merrifield Suburban Center, Fairfax Center Area and Richmond Highway Corridor Area could qualify for the exemptions. But the Centreville, Flint Hill, Lorton, Baileys, Seven Corners, Kingstowne, McLean and Springfield areas are likely covered by the new law’s restrictions.
In those areas where the new rules apply, the developer contributions may not be allowed to include sidewalks, crosswalks, bike projects or shuttles for residents to VRE or Metro stations.
Initially, Loudoun County believes the new rules would apply everywhere except for around the Loudoun Gateway and Ashburn Metro stations that are scheduled to open in a few years as part of the second phase of the Silver Line.
Fairfax County’s Department of Planning and Zoning calls the proffer system the “major tool” used to ensure that people who buy homes can be confident in what their neighborhoods will look like in the future.
However, a 2009 outline of the proffer system recognized several issues with the system.
“Applicants are not always willing to volunteer commitments early in the process before they know the full extent of the issues that may be identified or whether or not staff will be recommending approval of their proposal. This reluctance may lead to delays in resolving the issues. In addition, some applicants are reluctant to make certain commitments until they ascertain whether staff’s identification and evaluation of development issues is shared by the public and by the District Supervisor and Planning Commissioner,” the outline says.
In West Virginia, farmers and fans of raw milk celebrated this week as the governor signed a bill that, among other things, legalizes the sale of raw milk to consumers. Some delegates celebrated by drinking cups of raw milk from a local farm, or at least tasting it. Some of them are now sick with a mysterious gastrointestinal illness. Is it a coincidence or deep irony?
It’s a coincidence, argues Delegate Scott Cadle, who had brought the raw milk from a farm in his district in for his colleagues to try. The bill signing was on Thursday, and that’s when he poured drinks for other delegates. Some of the delegates who tried it got sick, but some people who didn’t try the milk were sick, too. Sometimes illnesses just circulate within a workplace.
Cadle himself was out with a stomach bug on Monday, but he and others point out that a similar illness had been circulating around the state capitol building for weeks. “It ain’t because of the raw milk,” he told the Charleston Gazette-Mail. “With that many people around and that close quarters and in that air and environment, I just call it a big germ.” The illness includes diarrhea, vomiting, and a fever, and sounds like our old fast-spreading pal norovirus.
While fans prefer the flavor of unpasteurized cow’s milk and claim that it has health benefits, pasteurization kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites like E. coli and Salmonella. Its legal status varies from state to state.
Health officials are investigating the milk incident.
WASHINGTON — Seven people, including four D.C. firefighters were hurt after a serious accident between a firetruck and a van Wednesday morning near Capitol Hill.
The crash happened around 9:40 a.m. at 11th Street and Maryland Avenue Northeast.
It was initially reported as a crash with a Metro Access van because the van used to be owned by Metro. It is now used by Salara LLC.
D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Tim Wilson says firetruck No. 10 was responding to a call for a gas leak when the collision happened.
Wilson says four D.C. firefighters were hurt, one of them seriously. The other firefighters have minor injuries.
Three people in the van were also hurt. Two of them have critical injuries and one has serious injuries.
WASHINGTON — There’s a growing concern among conservationists in the D.C. region as more and more bald eagles are experiencing lead poisoning. They say it is due, in part, to the resurgence of the species.
It’s not deliberately done by sport hunters, says Edward Clark of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, but bald eagles scavenging for food are ingesting lead bullets.
“In 2014, we admitted 42 bald eagles. Eighty percent of those birds had measurable amount of lead in their blood stream,” Clark says.
Even a shard the size of a grain of rice can cause the bird’s organs to shut down, he says. Typically, eagles in the mid-Atlantic range in size but grow no larger than 15 pounds.
“When the birds ingest the lead, it has a very damaging effect on their nervous system. So it causes them to lose sight. It causes their reflexes to go off normal perimeters and dramatically effects internal organs and causes them to shut down,” Clark says.
While the birds are naturally fish eaters and live along waterways, such as the Chesapeake Bay, both an increase in population and more human development is forcing the birds to find alternative habitats.
“So these birds are moving away from the rivers, moving inland … to a habitat that’s not quite prime, and as a result, they have to change their food source,” Clark says.
He doesn’t feel that there needs to be any legislation or fines for sportsmen who he thinks do not realize they are harming bald eagles.
“Its’ a matter of educating hunters that the ammunition they choose has profound consequences not only for their quarry, but for unintended victims like bald eagles.”
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens addressed their passing game Wednesday, reaching agreement on a two-year deal with free agent tight end Benjamin Watson and giving wide receiver Kamar Aiken a second-round tender.
Watson had 74 catches for 825 yards and six touchdowns with New Orleans last season.
The 35-year-old Watson fills out a position for Baltimore that was in desperate need of depth. Starter Crockett Gillmore had offseason surgery on both shoulders; reserve Nick Boyle received a 10-game suspension in February for using performance enhancing substances; and it is unlikely veteran Dennis Pitta will return from a second hip injury.
Watson was selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL draft by New England. Over 12 years with the Patriots, Cleveland and the Saints, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Watson has 434 receptions for 4,963 yards and 38 TDs.
He’s durable, too: Over the last four seasons, Watson has missed just one game.
Aiken had 75 catches for 944 yards and five touchdowns in 2015, all career highs. After starter Steve Smith was lost for the season on Nov. 1, Aiken had at least five receptions in nine straight games — the longest such run in franchise history.
On the first day of free agency, the Ravens did not offer a tender to wide receiver Marlon Brown, safety Brynden Trawick and defensive tackle Micajah Reynolds. Brown had only 14 catches last season and missed the final six games with a back injury.
Although Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco now has a new target in Watson, the offensive line lost Kelechi Osemele, who left to sign a five-year deal with Oakland with up to $60 million.
Veteran backup quarterback Matt Schaub, who started two games for Baltimore last season, signed with Atlanta.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
While Amazon might not be ready to unleash its Prime Air drones into the skies just yet, that doesn’t mean the e-commerce company isn’t preparing to launch its own fleet of Amazon aircraft. The company has inked a deal to lease planes to carry out some of its fulfillment services.
Amazon finalized a deal with airline leasing company Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) to lease 20 Boeing aircraft to operate its own air cargo network aimed at improving its fulfillment deliveries, ZDNet reports.
The deal, which stipulates that ATSG, ABX Air and Air Transport International will operate the planes, is for at least five years.
If the network proves to be successful, Amazon has the option to acquire ATSG shares and expand the deal into the future.
ATSG CEO Joe Hete tells ZDNet that the companies have been working on the deal since last summer, noting they want to “demonstrate that a dedicated, fully customized air cargo network can be a strong supplement to existing transportation and distribution resources.”
Amazon’s current delivery includes using a combination of UPS, USPS, and FedEx services, as well as its own Flex and Prime Now delivery drivers. The company has been looking to beef up its own offerings, including the use of drones to deliver packages in recent years.
Instead of having to divide your attention between side-eyeing your third cousin’s 30,000th essential oils post and watching the big game, you could pay attention to both simultaneously.
Facebook is reportedly in talks with the National Football League to score streaming rights to “Thursday Night Football,” along with others in the tech world.
Dan Rose, Facebook’s vice president of partnerships, recently confirmed the social network’s interest in partnering up with the NFL to Variety.
“We’re talking to a lot of folks about live (video). There are a ton of types of content that can fit under this format,” Rose said.
The NFL said in a statement that it’s expecting to reach a deal for over-the-top streaming rights soon, but didn’t name any bidders.
It could be a win-win for both sides: Facebook — or whoever wins the rights — gets people interacting and talking about a shared experience using its platform. In the meantime, the NFL could stir up competition for the rights and thus, command higher prices, one research expert explains to the Los Angeles Times.
“The more customers, the higher price the NFL can command,” Brett Sappington, director of research at Parks Associates told the LAT. “For Facebook, the NFL would drive huge volumes of consumption to get advertising and data. Facebook has to remain relevant. With other social media platforms emerging, Facebook has to push the envelope.”
For those looky-loos out there who couldn’t be on the scene when Google’s car ran into a Mountain View city bus while changing lanes in autonomous mode, the Associated Press has posted a video of the incident, including footage from inside the bus.
In one minute and 39 seconds of video that matches the intensity of The English Patient, we see every last dull second of the encounter: first we see the Google car on the right-hand side from the point-of-view of the bus driver, moving out of sight as the bus drives forward. Then there are some shots of people inside the bus doing what people inside buses do, which is, sit, and probably think about what they’re going to eat for dinner that night.
Next, a truly thrilling moment as we see — again, from inside the bus — the car sort of next to the bus, which cuts to the bus driver looking out the side of the vehicle like, “What the heck just happened?”
Perhaps most riveting of all is the moment when we can actually hear people grumbling as they shuffle off the bus. Make sure you’ve got your volume turned up!
Photos of the scene afterwards are probably more exciting than the moving images: the Google car with its front left side smushed in, and a piece of the Google car stuck in the bus’ door. Michael Bay movie it isn’t, but stuff is broken.
Don’t take my word for it. Grab a comfy seat, get the wine chilled, and watch the action unfold for yourself.
One of the more famous faces in advertising is set to change, as Dos Equis beer plans to retire the current version of the “Most Interesting Man In The World” and replace him with someone who is presumably of equal interest, globally speaking.
AdAge reports that new Dos Equis ads will feature the beer brand’s worldly and multi-talented mascot — played since 2006 by actor Jonathan Goldsmith — setting off on a one-way, one-man mission to Mars.
This will apparently be the 77-year-old Goldsmith’s final appearance as the Most Interesting Man, but just like James Bond, Batman, Superman, and Doctor Who, the character will carry on in the form of a different actor. The identity of the new guy, who will be stepping into some pretty big and stylish shoes, has not been identified, but Dos Equis parent company Heineken tells AdAge that he will debut in the fall, and that there will be some sort of continuity… because that’s apparently important.
“There will be a hand-off of sorts — one day it won’t just be somebody new,” explains a Dos Equis marketing VP. “There will be elements that are very, very recognizable, that are super iconic to us, but it will have a very fresh take on things. It will not feel like we’ve just swapped actors.”
If you recently tried to purchase a gift card and were told you had to use cash or had to stick to a smaller denomination, you’re not alone. The way in which retailers sell gift cards has changed in the five months since new credit card rules went into effect.
Under the rules, which took effect in October, retailers are now liable for fraudulent purchases if they haven’t upgraded their checkout technology to accept more secure, but far from perfect, chip-enabled cards.
In response, some retailers who have yet to implement the more secure technology have made an effort to rein in fraudsters who purchase gift cards using stolen credit card information by restricting gift card purchases, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to executives with the National Grocers Association, fraudulent gift card purchases have contributed to the $3.89 billion in counterfeit payment-card losses that were incurred by issuers in 2014.
Those losses have spurred some retailers to rethink their gift-card purchase policies. In some cases, retailers have implemented restrictions on gift cards: limiting purchases to certain denominations, requiring customers use cash, and limiting repeat purchases.
For example, Kroger, which is in the midst of implementing the new checkout technology, has limited the number of gift-card purchases that are made on a credit card within a 24-hour period, Chris Hjelm, the chain’s chief information officer, tells the WSJ.
“We have done some different things for nonchip transactions to make sure we are mitigating the risk,” he said.
Another grocer, Safeway, has reportedly begun pulling open-loop gift cards — those backed by credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard that can be used anywhere.
While Safeway declined to comment on gift card restrictions, customers say they’ve seen associates remove the open-loop cards from register racks, and been told by employees that cards can only be purchased with cash.
Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc., a company that distributes gift cards, tells the WSJ that retailers’ changing policies have contributed to a decline in revenue for the company.
“Some of our retail distribution partners who are not compliant have taken measures to limit exposure to those credit-card losses in their stores,” Chief Executive Talbott Roche told analysts recently when the company reported quarterly earnings. She cited efforts to limit or control the sale of higher-denomination open-loop cards.
While we haven’t reached the flying-car future of The Jetsons quite yet, that didn’t stop one SUV from crash-landing on the roof of a Giant Eagle supermarket.
Police in Greenfield, PA tell CBS Pittsburgh that the driver was uninjured after the crash on Tuesday morning, after going veering off the road, going through a chain link fence and landing right-side up on the store’s roof.
As seen in photos from WPXI-TV, the incident was not as weird as it could be: the supermarket’s roof is slightly below street level, with a road next to it.
According to officials, the man claims another driver cut off his Kia Sorrento on the road above the store, causing him to crash through a fence and onto the roof of the Giant Eagle, hitting part of a brick wall as he went.
The store was evacuated and closed temporarily out of concern that the car was leaking gas into the supermarket below. And because a roof is not a great final resting place for a car, crews brought a crane to move the SUV back to solid ground.
I just want to know if he had time to whisper, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need!” before landing.
As part of the settlement, which was filed with a federal court in Atlanta and must still be approved by the court, Home Depot will set up a $13 million fund to reimburse affected shoppers for their out-of-pocket losses, Reuters reports.
The company also agreed to spend $6.5 million to fund 18 months worth of cardholder identity protection services for about 40 million people who had their card information stolen and 52 to 53 million who had email addresses stolen — there is expected to be some overlap between the groups.
While Home Depot didn’t admit to wrongdoing or liability in the settlement, Reuters reports that the company agreed to take steps to improve data security over a two-year period and hire a chief information security officer to oversee progress.
“We wanted to put the litigation behind us, and this was the most expeditious path,” Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said. “Customers were never responsible for any fraudulent charges.”
Tuesday’s settlement, if approved, would resolve more than 50 proposed class-action lawsuits that were consolidated into one in Atlanta.
The lawsuits came after Home Depot announced in September 2014 that its in-store payment systems had been breached for many months.
Officials with Home Depot say the hackers accessed their systems with stolen credentials from a third-party vendor.
It’s believed that hackers then navigated Home Depot’s main computer network by exploiting a vulnerability in Microsoft’s operating system. From there the hackers were able operate as Home Depot employees with high-level permissions.
The hackers then targeted roughly 7,500 self-checkout machines at stores in the United States and Canada in order to deploy malicious software to steal the financial information.
Do you remember the Great PlayStation Network Hack of 2011, which caused a 23-day outage and a massive credit card breach? I didn’t: I had to look it up. If you were one of the estimated 70 million people affected, and you happened to know about a class action suit settled in 2014 to file a claim, you can expect to receive some game credits soon. Make sure that the claims administrators know where to find you.
If you filed a claim, you also had the opportunity to choose cash, games, or themes at the time. You needed to have an account with PlayStation Network, Qriocity, or Sony Online Entertainment before May 15 of 2011 and to have filed the claim form by September 4, 2015.
If you filed a claim for identity theft due to the breach, you’ll receive that sometime after March 2 of this year. Cash payments will come by check to the address on file, and game codes will be e-mailed to the e-mail address that the claims administrator has on file.
There’s an episode of Friends in which Monica’s identity is stolen and she goes on to become best friends with the woman posing as Monica Geller, you know, before she goes to jail. Things didn’t so quite the same for a Los Angeles woman who says she confronted a couple she alleges used her identity to open credit card accounts and file income tax returns.
The woman tells CBS Los Angeles that she confronted a man and woman she suspected had stolen her identity while they were attempting to open a jewelry store credit card in her name.
The ordeal began recently when the jewelry store called the woman to inform her that a couple was using her information, which had a fraud alert in place, to open a credit.
After receiving the call, the woman drove to the mall, snapped photos of the couple, and approached the couple.
“I felt like I was a detective. I was just very, very nervous,” the identity theft victim tells CBS Los Angeles. “I went over to her and told her that you stole my identity and I grabbed her arm and she started running. He ran, the guy, in a different direction.”
While the couple got away, the woman says they left the ID — which included the woman’s information but a different photograph — they had used at the jewelry store.
“I was just in tears. I couldn’t believe that. So violated that somebody stole my information,” she said.
The woman says this isn’t the first time the couple has used her information. In fact, she alleges they filed a federal tax return in her name, and opened several department store credit cards, including one with a $10,000 credit limit at Macy’s.
The Los Angeles Police Department says they are investigating the case, but the woman continues to worry that the couple will attempt to open even more accounts in her name.
On Monday, we shared the news that the parent company of Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Fire Mountain, Ryan’s Steakhouse, and other centers of face-stuffing abruptly shut down restaurants on Sunday. Today, an auction company announced a nationwide restaurant equipment sale in multiple states. Yes, some of the very same ones closed for inventory on Sunday. The “inventory” thing wasn’t a ruse: on Wednesday, they’ll be selling everything that isn’t nailed down.
That’s a common expression, but also is exactly what’s happening during the sale. “You will be able to remove any items that are not permanently affixed to the building with the exception of leased and proprietary items,” the auction notice says. Some things might have been carried off to other buffets, but the starting bid for the contents of each restaurant is $6,500.
If it’s not rented or attached to the building, it’s for sale, and they’re happy to sell everything to one buyer if anyone is interested. That means you can’t buy linens or waffle irons, but furniture, plates, and steel tables are all available.
Will the other restaurants shut down on Sunday close permanently? Will they go up for auction, too? We’ll keep you posted.
In an apparent effort to pre-empt a norovirus outbreak like the one that sickened more than 150 people in Boston a few months ago, Chipotle has temporarily closed a restaurant in the nearby town of Billerica after a worker there was diagnosed with the virus.
TV news reports out of Boston say that no customers have turned up ill and that the temporary shutdown is a voluntary measure on the part of Chipotle.
In the wake of the earlier norovirus incident, along with a recent 9-state E. coli outbreak, Chipotle made policy changes intended to reduce the odds of future problems.
NORTH BERGEN, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a New Jersey man with a suspended license was driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone when he struck and killed two teenagers and critically injured a third.
Hudson County prosecutors say 23-year-old Eric Patterson, of Jersey City, faces two counts of death by auto and an assault by auto charge.
Patterson’s bail was set at $1 million during his initial court appearance Monday. He told the judge he plans to hire an attorney.
Officials say 17-year-old Bryan Rodriguez and 16-year-old Noel Herrera were walking home when they were struck Saturday night in North Bergen. Witnesses said the car crossed over two lanes and went over a curb before it hit the teens on a sidewalk.
Seventeen-year-old Manny Sanchez suffered multiple fractures to his legs. He’s hospitalized in stable condition.
EAST HAMPTON, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut couple have been charged with animal cruelty after authorities seized more than 130 animals from their property.
Police say 36-year-old Thomas Olajos and 37-year-old Melanie Olajos are charged with 35 counts of animal cruelty.
Officials seized 32 horses, 78 chickens, 19 rabbits and two dogs from Fairy Tail Equines in East Hampton last month. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture says the animals were malnourished and living in unhealthy conditions.
The couple were released on bond and are scheduled to appear March 15 in Middletown Superior Court. A voice message left at their residence wasn’t immediately returned.
The couple breeds Friesian, Andalusian and Gypsy Vanner horses.
Are you the person who filed 6500 noise complaints against National Airport? Washington Post In a weekend story about noise complaints tied to new flight patterns and out of Reagan National Airport — one statistic leaped out at many Post readers. Officials at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority received 8,670 noise complaints in ...
2 Live Crew may be best known for its raunchy 1989 hit “Me So Horny” and the group’s public spats with family values groups and censors, but 22 years ago today, Luther “Luke Skywalker” Campbell and the Crew scored an important victory before the U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling that affirmed that parody constitutes a protected “fair use” of copyrighted material.
On its 1989 album As Clean As They Wanna Be — the scrubbed-up version of the then-filthy As Nasty As They Wanna Be — 2 Live Crew included a song called “Pretty Woman,” an unabashed parody of the 1964 Roy Orbison hit “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
The original song’s publisher, Acuff-Rose Music, sued Luke Skywalker Records over the tune’s unapproved use, alleging violation of copyright. A U.S. District Court granted summary judgement in favor of the rappers, noting that the 2 Live Crew version was clearly a parody and therefore protected by the Fair Use Doctrine in U.S. Copyright Law, which provides guidelines for when copyrighted material can be used without receiving permission from the copyright holder.
While the law does not strictly mention parody, it does specifically list “criticism” and “comment” as categories of fair use, and some courts had previously held that parody fell under those umbrellas.
Acuff-Rose appealed, and this time the court sided against the rappers, explaining that while the 2 Live Crew song is indeed a parody, the commercial nature of the new song made it presumptively unfair. The appeals panel also said the rappers borrowed too much from the original work, and that it could result in market harm to the Orbison song.
But then, on March 7, 1994, a unanimous Supreme Court overturned the appeals court ruling, holding that the appeals court had erred in all three of its considerations of fair use.
First, SCOTUS held that the mere commercial nature of a parody does not automatically render it as an unfair use.
“The statute makes clear that a work’s commercial nature is only one element of the first factor enquiry into its purpose and character,” wrote Justice David Souter. “The Court of Appeals’s rule runs counter… to the long common law tradition of fair use adjudication.”
While the appeals panel had ruled that 2 Live Crew’s use of the Orbison song’s first line of lyrics and its opening bass riff were unfair because they represented the “heart” of the original, SCOTUS noted that in this case, that’s really the whole point.
“[T]hat heart is what most readily conjures up the song for parody, and it is the heart at which parody takes aim,” explained Souter, who also pointed out that, aside from this material taken from the original song, the rest of the 2 Live Crew piece “departed markedly from the Orbison lyrics and produced otherwise distinctive music,” would would qualify as a transformative use.
Finally, there was the matter of whether the 2 Live Crew “Pretty Woman” would harm the potential market for or value of the Orbison original.
The appeals court had held that, because the rappers were using the parody for commercial gain, there was the likelihood of significant market harm for the original.
But SCOTUS disagreed, noting that the concern for market harm is intended to be a question of “market substitution, not any harm from criticism.” In other words, would consumers buy the 2 Live Crew version as a substitute for the Orbison song?
“As to parody pure and simple, it is unlikely that the work will act as a substitute for the original, since the two works usually serve different market functions,” noted Souter.
