Painting a piece of furniture is one of the easiest ways to transform it into something that looks like new, but you have several choices of type of paint to use. Choosing isn’t as simple as matching a material to a paint type. Here are the pros and cons of three common types.
This week’s Arlington Pet of the Week is Chase.
Once a stray in wild and wonderful West Virginia, Chase is now living the high life in Clarendon, romping around award-winning million-dollar dog parks and engaging in recreational bird watching.
Here’s what Chase’s owner, Bennett, had to say about him.
Chase is a 4-year-old Brittany spaniel. He was placed in a rescue shelter as a stray in West Virginia and then moved to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. After one visit with Chase I knew he would make a great addition to my home and life. He has certainly contributed great joy to the Arlington community; enjoying the James Hunter Dog Park, watching the birds and squirrels run around, and walking around Clarendon smiling and saying hello to anyone who will stop to greet him,
Chase was previously a bird-hunting dog and therefore, birds come first. He still has quite the hunting personality and will sniff and point his way around Arlington when given the chance. He enjoys running and playing with other dogs, chewing on his bones, and sleeping on his back with one of his front legs stretched out.
Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email arlingtonnews@gmail.com with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!
Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care is the winner six consecutive Angie’s List Super Service Awards, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year and a proud supporter of the Arlington County Pawsitively Prepared Campaign.
Becky’s Pet Care provides professional dog walking and pet sitting in Arlington and all of Northern Virginia, as well as PetPrep training courses for Pet Care, CPR and emergency preparedness.
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Montgomery Animal Watch Washington Post These cases were received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center's hours and location in Derwood, ... |
Prince William County community calendar, March 3-9, 2016 Washington Post AARP income-tax preparation help Thursdays and Tuesdays 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sundays noon-3 p.m. Chinn Park Regional Library, 13065 Chinn Park Dr., Woodbridge. 703-792-4800; and Thursdays noon-8 p.m. Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays 10 a.m.-6 ... and more » |
Hours after Apple and the FBI faced off before a Congressional panel on the matters of encryption, privacy, and law enforcement, the company officially filed its objection to a court order directing it to assist the FBI in unlocking an iPhone that belonged to one of the terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, CA, on Dec. 2, 2015.
Last month, a United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California ordered Apple to aid federal law enforcement in circumventing privacy protections on an iPhone found in the possession of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.
In a one-sentence filing [PDF] provided to the court last night, Apple says it “hereby formally objects to the Court’s February 16, 2016 Order Compelling Apple Inc. to Assist Agents in Search, referring to the motion to vacate [PDF] if filed last week.
In that motion, Apple contended that “This is not a case about one isolated iPhone,” but instead is a question of “the Department of Justice and the FBI seeking through the courts a dangerous power that Congress and the American people have withheld: the ability to force companies like Apple to undermine the basic security and privacy interests of hundreds of millions of individuals around the globe.”
Apple maintains that “no court has ever authorized what the government now seeks,” which is for Apple to create a back door to bypass iPhone encryption “making its users’ most confidential and personal information vulnerable to hackers, identity thieves, hostile foreign agents, and unwarranted government surveillance.”
The company says that if the FBI wants the authority to compel Apple and others to weaken their encryption, it should do it through Congress, not through the courts, which Apple says is a “forum ill-suited to address the myriad competing interests, potential ramifications, and unintended consequences presented by the government’s unprecedented demand.”
Apple’s motion to vacate also called out the FBI’s insistence that this is an isolated instance that doesn’t pose a bigger-picture concern.
“The government says: ‘Just this once’ and ‘Just this phone,’ But the government knows those statements are not true,” reads the motion, pointing to other pending attempts to compel Apple to hack its own devices.
The government ran into a significant roadblock in one such case earlier this week, when a federal magistrate judge in New York sided with Apple [PDF], denying law enforcement’s efforts to compel the company to assist in unlocking a crime suspect’s phone.
While Apple has said it has offered suggestions to the FBI on how agents may be able to unlock the device, the company has repeatedly, and publicly, pushed back against calls for it to assist in this matter.
“The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers — including tens of millions of American citizens — from sophisticated hackers and cybercriminals,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a Feb. 17 note to customers. “The same engineers who built strong encryption into the iPhone to protect our users would, ironically, be ordered to weaken those protections and make our users less safe.”
Apple is reportedly working on an upgrade to the iPhone that would make the device unhackable, even by its makers.
After the rather underwhelming and unsurprising launch of the Quesalupa last month, it appears that Taco Bell is attempting to replicate the popularity of its Doritos Locos Tacos, by once again raiding the pantry at Frito-Lay and stuffing Cheetos inside its Crunchwrap sliders — at least in Canada.
Taco Bell announced that the limited-time cheesy, chip-y creation, only available in Canada, comes in three options: spicy chicken, beefy cheese, or supreme.
The $3 mini meals are just a smaller version of the classic crunchwrap, but come with the addition of jalapeno-flavored Cheetos stuffed between pieces of meat and cheese.
“Bringing unique and innovative products to its customers has always been a top priority for Taco Bell and the Cheetos Crunchwrap Slider is no exception,” Taco Bell Canada said in a statement.
It “took months of tasting and trying different ingredient combinations” to come up the “epic collaboration between two fan faves,” the company says.
It’s unclear if Taco Bell will expand the limited-time offering south of the Canadian border.
The Pentagon is joining a long list of companies and organizations in opening the door to hackers by asking for the public’s help in testing the cybersecurity infrastructure of some of its websites.
In the first so-called “bug bounty” program offered by the federal government, the Department of Defense is asking vetted outside hackers to find and identify problems with its cybersecurity systems.
Under the pilot program, known as “Hack the Pentagon,” participants will be required to register and submit to a background check.
Once vetted, hackers will participate in a controlled, limited duration program allowing them to identify vulnerabilities on a predetermined department system.
Hackers who find an issue could receive monetary rewards or other recognition, the Defense Digital Services department, which will oversee the program, said in a statement.
“Bringing in the best talent, technology and processes from the private sector not only helps us deliver comprehensive, more secure solutions to the DoD, but it also helps us better protect our country,” Chris Lynch, the department’s Defense Digital Service Director, said in a statement.
Of course some areas of the Department, such as “critical, mission-facing systems,” will be off-limits during the pilot.
Department of Defense Secretary Ash Carter says he’s “confident” the initiative will strengthen the agency’s digital defenses and “ultimately enhance our national security.”
The program is modeled after similar bug bounty programs used by companies such as United Airlines, Google, General Motors, and Tesla.
Four months ago, the Department of Transportation banned e-cigs from being checked in baggage after a couple dozen fires and explosions. Now, the agency is taking another step toward safety by actually banning the devices from being used during flights.
The DOT unveiled the finalized rule on Wednesday officially banning the use of electronic cigarettes on all commercial and charter flights to, from, or within the United States.
While the agency believes that its previous regulations banning smoking on flights were sufficiently broad to include e-cigarettes, it revised the rules to explicitly define “smoking.”
“The Department took this action to eliminate any confusion over whether its ban includes electronic cigarettes,” the agency said in a statement.
The finalized rule treats electronic cigarettes, pipes, cigars, and other devices the same as tobacco cigarettes, which are also banned from use on U.S. flights.
“This final rule is important because it protects airline passengers from unwanted exposure to aerosol fumes that occur when electronic cigarettes are used onboard airplanes,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. “The Department took a practical approach to eliminate any confusion between tobacco cigarettes and e-cigarettes by applying the same restrictions to both.”
Although further study is needed to fully understand the risks of electronic cigarettes, the DOT says it believes that a precautionary approach is best.
In October, the DOT announced rules prohibiting passengers and crew members from carrying any battery-powered portable electronic smoking devices (e-cigarettes, vaporizers, e-cigars, etc.) in checked baggage.
That rule also prohibited passengers and crew members from charging the devices or their batteries on aircraft.
The often criticized piecemeal approach to recalling vehicles equipped with shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags continued today as Toyota announced the recall of nearly 200,000 cars in the U.S.
Toyota expanded two of its recalls of vehicles with Takata airbags on Wednesday in order to add certain model years to the lineup.
The recall, which affects 198,000 vehicles in the U.S., covers model year 2008 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles, as well as model year 2008 to 2010 Lexus SC 430.
According to Toyota, which hasn’t submitted the recall notice to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yet, the affected vehicles contain Takata-produced dual-stage front passenger airbag inflator which could potentially be susceptible to rupture when deployed in a crash.
The company will notify owners of the vehicles and dealers will replace the airbag inflator or airbag when parts are available.
Takata airbags have been at the center of a years-long worldwide recall of 25 million vehicles from 14 automakers. The safety devices can explode with enough force to spray pieces of metal into passengers and drivers.
Researchers announced last week that three factors contribute to the explosive airbags: the use of propellant ammonium nitrate, manufacturing issues, and prolonged exposure to humidity work together to cause the airbag ruptures
So far, the issue has been linked to nine deaths in the U.S. — 10 worldwide — and hundreds of injuries.
Some car safety recalls make headlines, but others slip under the radar, which means there’s a good chance some drivers will miss or ignore it. A recent study from CarFax found that about 18% of cars on the road are operating with an open safety recall. Check to see if yours is one of them.
Bloomberg reports that the troubled company filed its Chapter 11 reorganization plan in court in Delaware this morning.
The problem, as Bloomberg explains, is that although plenty of Americans are still pursuing athletic activity and fitness goals, Sports Authority just hasn’t kept up. Rival chain Dick’s — to whom Sports Authority has reportedly been considering selling their stores — has hundreds more locations and makes significantly more money in each one. Combine that with billions in debt, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
CEO Michael Foss said in a statement that the beleaguered company will, “use the Chapter 11 process to streamline and strengthen our business both operationally and financially so that we have the financial flexibility to continue to make necessary investments in our operations.”
Rumors began to circulate almost exactly a week ago that the company might need to declare bankruptcy as soon as March, after missing a January deadline to work out a deal with creditors.
Sports Authority Files Bankruptcy After Missing Fitness Boom [Bloomberg]
Walk into just about any restaurant or fast food joint and you’ll inevitably see several diners with food in one hand and their phone in the other. Chick-fil-A wants to change that, and it’ll reward customers with free dessert if they are willing to eat a distraction-free meal.
Chick-fil-A is challenging customers in about 150 stores across the country to drop their phones and spend a little time with their family, friends, or other dining companions.
Groups who are able to make it through the entire meal without retrieving their phone receive a free ice cream cone.
“We really want our restaurant to provide a sense of community for our customers, where family and friends can come together and share quality time with one another,” Brad Williams, a Chick-fil-A operator who came up with the idea, said in a statement.
So far, challenge has been a hit, the company says. Operators of other Chick-fil-A restaurants have asked for their own Cell Phone Coops. As a result, the company is opening the challenge to 150 stores, with other possibly joining in the future.
“The challenge had really taken off. We have families who aren’t successful the first time and come back to try again,” Williams said. “We even have people asking to take the boxes home with them! Our whole community is talking about it.”
[via CNBC]
The $107 billion merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller is a truly global affair, with the betrothed companies having to appease regulators on multiple continents. While the mega-deal still faces numerous challenges, it has cleared one huge hurdle with SABMiller agreeing to sell its half of China’s largest brewer for only $1.6 billion.
CR Snow, maker of one of the world’s bestselling beer brands, has been a joint venture of SABMiller and China Resources. Reuters reports that Miller has agreed to sell its 49% stake in the company to its partner, giving China Resources full control of Snow.
The selling price of $1.6 billion, however, is far below original estimates, with analysts saying they had expected a price tag of $3 billion to $5 billion before the deal was finalized.
“We think that the 49 percent stake could have attracted a higher price if offered to other brewers on the open market, but assume that ABI’s negotiations with the Chinese regulators … ended up precluding this course of action,” Canaccord Genuity analysts, who had valued the stake at around $5 billion, tell Reuters.
Wednesday’s deal is just the latest as the mega-beer merger tries to pave the way for regulatory approval. The betrothed companies previously reached a deal to sell SABMiller’s stake in the Miller/Coors brand to Molson Coors for $12 billion. AB InBev also agreed to sell its Peroni and Grolsch brand to Japan’s Asahi Group Holding for $2.87 billion.
China Resources to buy SABMiller’s Snow stake, easing AB InBev deal [Reuters]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on Wednesday after an unprecedented year in space for NASA, landing in barren Kazakhstan with a Russian cosmonaut who shared his whole space station journey.
Their Soyuz capsule parachuted onto the central Asian steppes and ended a science-rich mission at the International Space Station that began last March and was deemed a steppingstone to Mars.
It was a triumphant homecoming for Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko after 340 days in space. Kelly pumped his fist as he emerged from the capsule, then gave a thumbs-up. He smiled and chatted with his doctors and others as photographers crushed around him in the freezing cold.
“The air feels great out here,” NASA spokesman at the scene, Rob Navias, quoted Kelly as saying. “I have no idea why you guys are all bundled up.”
Clearly animated and looking well, he said he didn’t feel much different than he did after his five-month station mission five years ago.
Kelly and Kornienko had checked out of the space station 3½ hours earlier. In total, they traveled 144 million miles through space, circled the world 5,440 times and experienced 10,880 orbital sunrises and sunsets during the longest single spaceflight by an American.
Kelly posted one last batch of sunrise photos Tuesday on Twitter, before quipping, “I gotta go!” His final tweet from orbit came several hours later: “The journey isn’t over. Follow me as I rediscover # Earth!”
Piloting the Soyuz capsule home for Kelly, 52, and Kornienko, 55, was the much fresher and decade younger cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, whose space station stint lasted the typical six months.
The two yearlong spacemen faced a series of medical tests following touchdown. Before committing to even longer Mars missions, NASA wants to know the limits of the human body for a year, minus gravity.
As he relinquished command of the space station Monday, Kelly noted that he and Kornienko “have been up here for a really, really long time” and have been jokingly telling one another, “We did it!” and “We made it!”
“A year now seems longer than I thought it would be,” Kelly confided a couple weeks ago.
Not quite a year — 340 days to be precise, based on the Russian launch and landing schedule. But still record-smashing for NASA.
Kelly’s closest U.S. contender trails him by 125 days. Russia continues to rule, however, when it comes to long-duration spaceflight. The world record of 438 days was set by a Russian doctor during the mid-1990s.
“A really smart person said to me one time, ‘Teamwork makes the dreamwork in spaceflight,’ and spaceflight is the biggest team sport there is,” Kelly said Monday. He acknowledged each of the 13 U.S., Russian, European and Japanese space fliers with whom he and Kornienko lived during the past year. “It’s incredibly important that we all work together to make what is seemingly impossible, possible.”
For NASA, that mission possible is Mars.
Scientists are hoping for more one-year subjects as NASA gears up for human expeditions to Mars in the 2030s. Radiation will be a top challenge, along with the body and mind’s durability on what will be a 2½-year journey round trip. With his one-year mission, Kelly has “helped us take one giant leap toward putting boots on Mars,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.
The choice of the pioneering Kelly turned out to be a bonanza. His identical twin, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, offered himself up as a medical guinea pig so researchers could study the differences between the genetic doubles, one in space and the other on the ground. They provided blood, saliva and urine samples, underwent ultrasounds and bone scans, got flu shots and more, all in the name of science.
“My brother @StationCDRKelly is back home on our planet! Talk about aliens. He’s been off the planet for a year,” Mark Kelly joked via Twitter.
Kelly and Kornienko were due to split up later Wednesday. Kelly heads to Houston with two flight surgeons and several other NASA reps, arriving late Wednesday night. That’s where he’ll be reunited with his two daughters, ages 21 and 12; his girlfriend, a NASA public affairs representative at Johnson Space Center; and his brother and his brother’s wife, former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
“Excited to welcome him back in Houston,” Giffords tweeted.
Kornienko returns to his home in Star City, Russia, near Moscow, to his wife, daughter and toddler grandson.
Kelly has spent more time in space, altogether, than any other American: 520 days over the course of four missions. Realizing this is likely his last journey, it was “a little bittersweet” saying goodbye to his orbiting home. He’ll have plenty of pictures, at least, for the scrapbook — he posted 1,000 dramatic, color-drenched pictures of Earth on his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
“What a ride he took us on!” fellow astronaut Reid Wiseman said in a tweet from Houston.
“Those of us who dream of sending astronauts to deep space thank Scott Kelly for his sacrifice,” said Jim Green, director of planetary science for NASA, “and are thrilled to welcome him home.”
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Online:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/content/one-year-crew/
Kelly’s photos: http://windowsonearth.org
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri has raised a record amount of money at its annual fundraiser, a week after the Archdiocese of St. Louis suggested that local troops shouldn’t be a part of its parishes.
Spokeswoman Aurrice Duke-Rollings says the organization’s event Thursday in St. Louis netted more than $350,000 from 500 guests as they enjoyed a variety of desserts inspired by Girl Scouts cookies.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1Sfgmkx ) reports that the event was planned far in advance of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson’s unexpected announcement urging priests to sever ties with the Girl Scouts. He said the organization promotes values that are “incompatible” with Catholic teachings.
“We must stop and ask ourselves — is Girl Scouts concerned with the total well-being of our young women?” Carlson wrote in the letter. “Does it do a good job forming the spiritual, emotional, and personal well-being of Catholic girls?”
The letter specifically addressed the Girl Scouts’ support of Planned Parenthood and other organizations that advocate for access to birth control and abortion.
The event, which marked the delivery of Girl Scout Cookies and the opening of special cookie sale booths, broke all previous fundraising efforts, including when the organization celebrated its centennial in St. Louis in 2012.
“Community support has been very affirming,” said Bonnie Barczykowski, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri CEO. She lamented the erosion of a 100-year partnership with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri leaders said Monday that they had an unusual number of requests from out-of-state residents to purchase cookies, received several calls from businesses offering to host cookie booths in their lobbies and heard numerous stories of girls running out of some flavors.
A majority of the money raised during the fundraising event was collected during a paddle raise in which people publicly pledge donations. The $93,000 acquired from the paddle raise was matched by the Berges Family Foundation, which supports regional programs facilitating cultural engagement, youth empowerment, and preparedness in science, technology, engineering and math.
The donations will be used to support Girl Scouts leadership development programs for girls.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s highest court has upheld the robbery conviction of a man who was stripped of his right to a court-appointed attorney because he couldn’t get along with five previous lawyers.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that Joshua Nisbet willfully waived his right to counsel through his behavior, which included threats. It also found that Nisbet’s actions proved detrimental to justice, and that the judge had no lesser alternative.
Nisbet handled his own defense in 2014 with two standby attorneys who also represented him at his sentencing. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years.
His latest appeal was handled by lawyer No. 8.
Nisbet may be the first criminal defendant in Maine forced to represent himself after being stripped of his constitutional right to an attorney.
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This story has been corrected to show the man’s name is Joshua Nisbet, not Gregory Nisbet.
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INDIO, Calif. (AP) — A California school district has reversed course and will now ask students wearing anti-gay stickers on their identification badges to remove them pending further investigation.
The Desert Sun newspaper reports (http://desert.sn/1Qqi6WV ) that the Desert Sands Unified School District sent a letter Monday to staff saying it will ask a dozen students wearing the symbols to remove them while at school.
Administrators had previously said they couldn’t ask students at Shadow Hills High School to stop donning the image of a small rainbow inside a circle with a line through it, citing free speech rights.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the change at the school near Palm Springs, California.
The students began using the stickers last month and classmates and teachers complained, saying gay and lesbian students felt targeted.
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Information from: The Desert Sun, http://www.mydesert.com/
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In South Carolina, it’s still technically illegal to work — or let people dance — on Sundays. Juveniles can’t play pinball. And it’s illegal to challenge anyone to a sword or gun fight.
Those are among the antiquated laws legislators are seeking to repeal. A bill advanced unanimously Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee would repeal 11 state laws.
One that dates to 1880 makes adultery or couples living together outside of marriage illegal. State law still calls for violators to be separately punished by up to a year in jail and a $500 fine.
Anyone who operates a “dancing hall” between midnight Saturday and midnight Sunday could spend 30 days in jail.
Another law says it’s illegal to sell virtually anything on Sundays, from clothing to clocks to cars.
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So far this year, Chicago has seen about twice as many homicides and shootings as in the same period in 2015, according to police, and the number of illegal guns seized has dropped. Here’s what we know about the crime figures:
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MORE VIOLENCE: At the end of February, the city had recorded 95 homicides and more than 400 shootings for 2016. Those are double the numbers from last January and February. February alone saw 165 shootings and 43 homicides.
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FEWER GUN SEIZURES: Police seized at least 110 fewer illegal guns than in the same period last year, a sharp contrast from the administration of former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who often displayed seized weapons at news conferences. Officers made many fewer street stops, too.
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THE IMPLICATIONS: The statistics could be another sign that officers have become less aggressive since the release of a video showing the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. The death of the black teenager led to weeks of protests and murder charges against one officer. Interim Police Superintendent John Escalante said he was so concerned about officers possibly holding back that he filmed a video for the entire department in which he encouraged them to do their jobs.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The second defendant in a carjacking, sexual assault and crash that killed a mother and three children in north Philadelphia has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to 50 to 100 years in prison.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/1WTMEkw ) reports 25-year-old Cornelius Crawford apologized Tuesday for his role in the July 2014 case.
Crawford pleaded guilty to murder, robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, aggravated assault and conspiracy.
Twenty-one-year-old Jonathan Rosa pleaded guilty in January to murder and related charges in a deal calling for a 45- to 90-year sentence.
Prosecutors say Crawford and Rosa carjacked a real estate agent as she left a showing, assaulted her and later crashed her SUV into a family selling fruit on a street corner to raise money for a church.
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police in North Carolina’s largest city say they are investigating allegations of excessive force after a videotape surfaced showing an officer apparently punching a man repeatedly.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department spokesman Rob Tufano said Tuesday that the department’s internal affairs unit is gathering information, interviewing witnesses and reviewing video footage.
Several Charlotte television stations posted the video on their webpages.
Tufano said the man who was punched is a suspect in a hit-and-run earlier Tuesday. He said police located him near an apartment complex, but when they tried to take him into custody, he resisted and tried to pull away.
Tufano said one officer “delivered strikes” to the man’s back to get him to comply. He said the suspect was eventually taken into custody, and didn’t request or require medical treatment.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities in New York City say minor offenses like urinating in public will now result in summonses, not arrests, in Manhattan.
The policy shift was announced Tuesday by the New York Police Department and the Manhattan district attorney’s office in an effort to reduce a backlog of cases. It’s to take effect next Monday.
The change applies to low-level, nonviolent offenses including riding between subway cars, drinking alcohol in public and littering.
There will be no arrests for minor offenses unless there is a demonstrated public safety reason.
Offenders with open warrants will still be taken into custody but will only have to deal with a summons, not a new criminal case.
Authorities estimate that the changes will result in 10,000 fewer cases going through Manhattan Criminal Court each year.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina sheriff says he fired and arrested a deputy for defacing a poster in a crime victim’s garage by turning it into a racial slur.
News outlets report that Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Tuesday he fired 25-year-old Kaleb Broome and arrested him on a charge of misconduct in office.
The sheriff says Broome was responding to a domestic dispute Feb. 23 and that as deputies helped the victim, Broome circled Nigeria on a poster map of Africa and turned it into a racial slur.
Lott says Broome also took a piece of double-sided tape. The sheriff says Broome committed a crime by taking the tape that was worth less than a dime, and broke department rules by writing the slur.
Lott said another deputy reported the incident.
It was not clear if Broome has a lawyer.
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DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Police in southwest Ohio say a sport utility vehicle with six children inside was stolen from a market parking lot, and they were found safe minutes later after the thief apparently left the vehicle parked near an apartment complex.
Dayton police tell WHIO-TV (http://bit.ly/1TQsJVn ) the adult who left the youngsters unattended in a running vehicle Tuesday night could be charged with child endangerment. The children are between 18 months and 10 years old.
Shortly after the SUV was found, officers spotted a stolen vehicle matching the description of one connected to the earlier theft, and a pursuit began. Police used spiked sticks to deflate the tires and stop the car.
A male and female arrested after the chase were being questioned as persons of interest in the SUV theft.
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Information from: WHIO-TV, http://www.whiotv.com
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia lawmakers have passed legislation designed to prevent localities from moving Civil War monuments.
The Daily Press reports (bit.ly/1QpJmkW) that the measure passed the Senate this week on a 21-17 vote. Gov. Terry McAuliffe has not said whether he supports the bill.
A law passed in 1998 forbids local governments from removing or damaging war monuments.
But Republican Del. Charles Poindexter, the bill’s sponsor, said a judge in a recent court case regarding the removal of the Confederate flag said the law protects only monuments raised since 1998.
Republican Sen. Thomas Garrett, who supported the bill, said removing monuments is “censoring” state history.
Democratic Sen. Mamie Lock, chairwoman of the legislative black caucus, said after the vote that the state shouldn’t tell localities “how to remember the past.”
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BALTIMORE (AP) — Officials say a woman has been stopped at an airport security checkpoint with a pair of gun-shaped stiletto heels.
Multiple media outlets report Transportation Security Administration agents stopped the woman Sunday afternoon at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein says the shoes, which had stiletto heels in the shape of handgun barrels and also featured what looked like bullets, were in the woman’s carry-on luggage, along with bracelets lined in faux bullets.
Farbstein says the woman was told that she could put the items in her checked luggage.
The agency prohibits passengers from carrying “replica guns or ammunition” through airport security checkpoints.
Officials say the woman tried to check the items, but ended up leaving them with the TSA in order to catch her flight.
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When you think of promoting healthy body acceptance, the first thing to come to mind probably isn’t putting Barbie in a bunch of swimsuits and parading her around in ads and other marketing materials. But now that the iconic doll comes in a variety of body types, that’s just what Target is doing to publicize its 2016 swim collection.
Target announced Tuesday that in an effort to eliminate body insecurities — and sell a few swimsuits — it’s using Mattel’s revamped doll line to showcase its designs.
The campaign features the new curvy, tall, and petite Barbie in a variety of skin tones modeling miniature versions of Target’s new swimsuits, and is aimed at helping customers “feel confident and fearless.”
“As part of our 2016 swim campaign, we’re encouraging guests on social to tag #NOFOMO (no fear of missing out!), which is all about shaking off body insecurities and not letting anything get in the way of having fun in our swimsuits,” the company said.
Of course, Mattel is also hoping to get a sales boost out of this partnership. It just so happens that the new campaign is announced on the same day the more realistic Barbies hit Target shelves.
A cat’s coat is his crowning glory – and it can tell you a lot about his overall health, too. While cats are very tidy animals and do their best to keep clean, sometimes they need a little extra help. Periodically brushing, bathing, and checking your cat for fleas will reduce fur balls and keep his skin healthy and his coat full, shiny, and free from tangles.
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Frustrated by a piecemeal approach of recalling batches of affected vehicles here and there, lawmakers and safety advocates recently pushed for a recall of all cars equipped with shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags. But federal safety regulators say that this sort of all-at-once recall may actually do more harm than good.
A recall of all vehicles with Takata airbags would simply strain the replacement part production process too much and would only create more uncertainty for consumers about whether or not their cars are safe to drive.
That was the message that National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Mark Rosekind tried to get across in a letter to senators who had urged the complete recall of Takata airbag-equipped vehicles, The New York Times reports.
“A blanket recall of all inflators would be easier to explain, but it would not serve safety and could run the risk of exceeding NHTSA’s statutory authority,” Rosekind wrote.
Rosekind says the agency’s current approach, which has thus far led to the recall of 24 million vehicles from 14 automakers, is adequate and ensures that the highest risk vehicles — generally those that are older — are fixed first.
“Both field and test ruptures have been limited to older vehicles,” Rosekind wrote, noting that the current recall list “ensures that the oldest, and therefore highest-risk, inflators are addressed soonest.”
The problem, safety advocates and lawmakers say, is that the piecemeal recalls have left millions of potentially unsafe vehicles on the roads.
Rosekind countered that assertion, saying in his letter that even if all the vehicles were recalled there simply aren’t enough replacement parts available to fix the issue.
About 74% of the replacement inflators for recalled cars are made by suppliers other than Takata, but for the remainder there are no readily available non-Takata replacements, he said in the letter.
“For some vehicles the only remedy currently available is a newer version of the same part, which may also degrade over time and need to be replaced again,” Rosekind wrote, mentioning the recent discovery of the root causes for the airbags’ explosions.
Last week, a group of scientists announced that three factors — the use of propellant ammonium nitrate, manufacturing issues, and prolonged exposure to humidity work together to cause the airbag ruptures, that have been linked to nine deaths in the U.S., 10 worldwide, and hundreds of injuries.
Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who urged NHTSA to initiate a complete recall of vehicles with the Japanese parts maker’s airbags, tells the Times he’s not convinced the agency is doing all it can.
“I remain troubled by the fact that NHTSA still seems to be deferring to Takata on a number of important issues,” he said in a statement. “If there’s one thing we have learned from our investigation, it’s that Takata can’t be trusted.”
Auto Safety Agency Resists Broader Recall of Takata Airbags [The New York Times]
