One of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid was carefully unwrapping the old ornaments to decorate the tree. Of course, if you didn’t safely store them last year, you might be greeted by a box of decorative broken glass. Luckily there are a few simple ways to keep them intact.
A lot of people refuse to try meditation because they don’t want to sit in silence for extended periods of time. Walking meditation let’s you enjoy all of the mental benefits while adding some physical benefits as well.
Probiotics—or so-called “good” bacteria—have garnered some Kardashian-level celebrity status in the health world for their benefits on your digestion and links to overall health. Then there are prebiotics. Wait, they’re the same thing right? Not at all. Let’s clear the confusion.
There obviously aren’t enough sites streaming video content these days, so NBC decided to make another one. Seeso, as this one’s called, is acutely focused on comedy, and comes with a much easier-to-stomach price tag of $3.99 per month.
Facebook’s process for determining what goes into your News Feed is frustratingly opaque. However, a recent profile in Slate helps explain some of the behind the scenes, and it’s rather informative.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis police say a teen who stepped out of a car to help a stranded motorist at an intersection was shot to death by assailants who opened fire, wounding three others.
The 17-year-old was waved down by a woman whose car had broken down Thursday night around 7:30 p.m.
Memphis police say in a news release that two suspects exited another vehicle, approached on foot and began firing at the teen and another 15-year-old.
The teens were shot and the stranded motorist, along with an 18-year-old woman who was with the teens, were hit by bullet fragments. Police say the three suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The suspects fled on foot and Memphis police are continuing to investigate.
The teen, who wasn’t identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The post Memphis teen fatally shot after stopping to help motorist appeared first on WTOP.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine Gov. Paul LePage apologized Friday for saying this week during a town hall meeting that drug dealers with the names “D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty” come from New York City and Connecticut, sell their drugs and then “half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave.” It’s not the first time LePage has felt the need to explain controversial comments.
Here’s a look at other off-color remarks made by the two-term Republican governor:
September 2010
As a candidate for governor, LePage told a group of fishermen at a forum that he wouldn’t be afraid to tell President Barack Obama to “go to hell.” He later said he regretted the words but didn’t back down on criticism of the administration.
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January 2011
After the director of the state’s NAACP chapter said the group felt neglected when LePage declined invitations to attend two Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, citing scheduling conflicts, a reporter asked LePage about it. He answered: “Tell them to kiss my butt.” On the holiday, LePage ended up attending a breakfast honoring the slain civil rights leader, an event sponsored by a Rotary club and a senior citizens’ group.
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February 2011
LePage dismissed the dangers of bisphenol-A, a chemical additive used in some plastic bottles, by saying the worst that could happen was “some women may have little beards.” LePage later said he was joking.
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December 2011
LePage used a scatological barnyard epithet when he was asked about a meeting he had with three unemployed workers and a lawmaker. When a reporter asked him for his thoughts about the meeting, LePage used the expletive, then repeated it slowly.
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April 2012
At a town hall meeting, LePage was asked about state fees. LePage’s response: “The problem is, middle management of the state is about as corrupt as can be.”
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July 2012
LePage, in a radio address, assailed a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the health care overhaul law, saying Americans had no choice but to buy health insurance or “pay the new Gestapo — the IRS.” He later said he didn’t mean to offend the Jewish community or minimize the Holocaust.
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June 2013
Expressing his frustration over the state budget, LePage used a vulgar phrase to describe a Democratic opponent, saying the lawmaker “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.” Again, he refused to back down, saying later: “Damn it, that comment is not politically correct, but we got to understand who this man is. This man is a bad person. He doesn’t only have no brains. He has a black heart and so does the leadership upstairs.”
The post Governor’s ‘white girl’ remark not his first controversy appeared first on WTOP.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — The latest on a preliminary hearing in the murder trial of an Oklahoma man accused of beheading a co-worker (all times local):
11:40 a.m.
An Oklahoma judge says a man accused of beheading a co-worker at the food processing plant where they worked must stand trial on a first-degree murder charge.
Alton Nolen is accused of beheading Colleen Hufford in September 2014 at a food plant in Moore. Special Judge Steve Stice heard testimony Friday from three people, including a man who witnessed the attack.
Gary Hazelrigg said he was speaking with Hufford when Nolen burst into the office carrying a large knife, and that he wouldn’t stop attacking Hufford even after other employees tried to intervene.
Nolen was previously found competent to stand trial. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the death penalty.
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10:35 a.m.
An Oklahoma man has described watching his co-worker being beheaded to a judge who is deciding if there’s sufficient evidence for the suspect in the grisly attack to stand trial for first-degree murder.
Alton Nolen is charged in the September 2014 death of Colleen Hufford, who was killed at a food processing plant in Moore. At a preliminary hearing Friday, Special Judge Steve Stice heard testimony from Gary Hazelrigg, who witnessed the attack.
Hazelrigg testified that he was speaking with Hufford when Nolen burst into his office carrying a large knife. Hazelrigg said Nolen immediately began attacking Hufford and didn’t stop even when other employees tried to subdue him.
In October, a judge found Nolen mentally competent to stand trial. He has pleaded not guilty.
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7 a.m.
A judge in Oklahoma will decide whether a man accused of beheading a co-worker at a food processing plant will be tried on a first-degree murder charge.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled Friday for 31-year-old Alton Nolen.
Prosecutors are expected to present evidence about the September 2014 attack in which 54-year-old Colleen Hufford was killed and a second co-worker was injured at the Vaughan Foods plant in Moore.
Special Judge Steve Stice will decide whether there is probable cause that a crime was committed and that Nolen committed it. A not guilty plea has been entered on Nolen’s behalf.
Investigators say Nolen had been suspended from his job when he walked into the company’s administrative office and attacked Hufford with a large knife.
The post The Latest: Judge orders Oklahoma man to trial in beheading appeared first on WTOP.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Seven staff members at the Oregon Zoo tested positive for tuberculosis after an outbreak among three elephants started in 2013, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The seven had a latent form of the respiratory disease and displayed no symptoms, according to the CDC report released Thursday.
The report adds to the somewhat thin knowledge about the transmission of tuberculosis from elephants to people, said Dr. Jennifer Vines, deputy health officer for Multnomah County. According to the CDC, the illness is one of many that can spread from pets or wildlife to humans. Those include bird flu, mad cow disease and West Nile virus.
Roughly 5 percent of the captive Asian elephants in North America are infected with the disease, the report said.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a statement Friday that the report confirms what the group has been saying for years about the risk of captive elephants to human health.
“People concerned about their own health as well as the elephants’ should stay far away from circuses, elephant rides, and any other cash-grabbing stunts still featuring elephants,” said Rachel Mathews, counsel with PETA’s Captive Animals Law Enforcement unit.
The outbreak at the Portland-based zoo began in in May 2013, when a test on an elephant named Rama was positive. At the time, the animals were checked annually for TB by testing secretions from their trunks. Packy tested positive in December 2013 and Tusko did so in June 2014.
Bob Lee, the zoo’s elephant curator, told The Oregonian (http://is.gd/XaWEX8) that the infected elephants were put on a months-long round of treatment and the zoo enacted safety measures, such as keeping the public at least 100 feet away.
While zoo staff tended to the animals, Multnomah County epidemiologists tried to identify human cases. Health officials found 118 people who might have been at risk for the disease that’s generally spread by coughing and sneezing. They included zoo staff with close contact with the animals and volunteers and members of the public who may be have been exposed to trunk secretions or elephant feces.
The report said no one who tested positive had spent time in TB-endemic countries or had other risk factors, such as a history of injection drug use. Those with positive tests had chest radiographs, were evaluated for symptoms and were offered free medication.
Two of the three infected elephants were later euthanized because of painful injuries. Rama had an old leg injury, and Tusko had a decades-old foot problem.
“TB wasn’t a factor in deciding to euthanize them,” Lee said. “They had done really well with the treatment.”
Packy, who’s 53 years old, continues to receive medication and will rejoin the herd when his treatment is finished.
The outbreak has led to increased TB testing. Lee said employees who have close contact with elephants are now tested more than just once a year, which is standard for zoo employees across the country. The zoo’s six elephants are also tested more frequently. The males are tested monthly and the females get checked once a quarter.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
The post Oregon Zoo staff infected by TB after exposure to elephants appeared first on WTOP.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Ohio authorities say an Alabama woman is dead and her husband in custody after both suffered heroin overdoses in the hospital room where their 7-month-old daughter was recovering hours after surgery.
Police say 31-year-old Mary Ann Landers of Trinity, Alabama, was found unconscious Thursday in a room at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center. Her 32-year-old husband, Wesley Landers, was unconscious in the bathroom.
Mary Ann Landers died, but her husband was revived and arrested on drug and weapons charges after authorities said they found a loaded gun in his pocket. He appeared in court Friday, where bond was set at $400,000.
Wesley Landers’ attorney did not return a phone call Friday. Tracey Bice was a friend of Mary Ann Landers. She described her as a good mother who didn’t do drugs.
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Cornwell reported from Cincinnati.
The post Police: Couple ODs in hospital after daughter’s surgery appeared first on WTOP.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police officials say a legal settlement over their department’s counterterrorism tactics in Muslim neighborhoods won’t curtail its use of informants and undercover investigators to identify threats.
The city announced Thursday it had settled two civil rights lawsuits accusing the New York Police Department of infiltrating mosques and other locations in Muslim communities in illegal fishing expeditions for terror suspects.
Police officials still deny they did anything wrong.
Civil rights lawyers say the settlement is meaningful because it will allow a civilian lawyer to serve on a panel that monitors police investigations.
The post NYPD: Intelligence-gathering won’t be limited by legal deal appeared first on WTOP.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former high-ranking Pennsylvania state police officer who helped lead a manhunt for a sniper who killed one trooper and wounded another has been demoted and given a new job.
Officials said Friday former Lt. Col. George Bivens was demoted to major and will be reassigned from deputy commissioner to director of the Bureau of Gaming Enforcement next week. The reasons for the action remain unclear. Bivens has declined to be interviewed.
Bivens became a familiar face on TV newscasts in 2014 as he conducted briefings during the 48-day manhunt for ambush suspect Eric Frein (freen). Frein has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges stemming from the ambush outside the state police barracks in Blooming Grove.
Bivens’ demotion was first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The post State police official who led manhunt demoted and reassigned appeared first on WTOP.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Taxes can eat up close to half a Powerball jackpot, but the amount taken out can vary widely depending on where a winner lives — meaning state and local taxes can mean a difference of tens of millions of dollars.
To start, all winners must pay federal income taxes. The U.S. government requires 25 percent to be withheld off the top if the winner supplies a Social Security or tax ID number. If a winner doesn’t have such a number — yes, non-citizens can win the lottery — the IRS withholding rate is 28 percent. That’s to guarantee they get at least part of their share.
But the eventual federal tax bill will be higher, because the winner will have to claim the prize on their income taxes and pay the difference between what was already withheld and the top rate of 39.6 percent.
A single winner of Saturday’s record $800 million Powerball jackpot who chooses the lump sum option would have $496 million before taxes. After paying $196.4 million in federal taxes, the winner would have $299.6 million. From here, it’s all about location.
Winners in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming really hit the jackpot, because they have no state personal income tax. Winners from California and Pennsylvania may also get to keep more of the money, since those states exempt lottery winnings from state income taxes if the ticket was bought in the state.
But most winners will have a state tax bill to reckon with.
“If you win it in New York City, that’s where you’re going to come out taking home the least,” said Gerald Prante, an economics professor at Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, Virginia.
New York City winners will pay the state tax of 8.8 percent and the city tax of 3.9 percent, Prante said. Combined with the federal rate, a city resident ends up paying 48.5 percent of the winnings in taxes, taking home $255.6 million. That means, Prante said, when you factor in state rules about deductions, that a New Yorker could pay $44 million more in taxes than a California winner.
Hawaii has one of the highest state income tax rates at 11 percent, but a resident would have to buy the ticket elsewhere, since the state doesn’t sell Powerball tickets. A winner there, Prante said, would take home about $260 million.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Five states besides Hawaii — Alaska, Alabama, Nevada, Mississippi and Utah — do not participate.
Lottery officials typically advise large jackpot winners to contact attorneys and tax experts before cashing in a ticket, because tax policies vary by state, and consider strategies for setting up trusts and managing investments.
Donating money to tax-deductible charities is one strategy to reduce taxable income. But giving money to relatives or leaving it as part of an estate may present the opposite problem, eating up even more of the money in estate, inheritance or gift taxes.
To save on taxes, a winner could take the annuity payment instead of the lump sum and spread the tax burden over 29 years. Powerball jackpots are always advertised in the amount won before taxes taken as an annuity paid out over time — thus the $800 million. No one takes that much home.
“Almost everyone chooses the lump sum, but you do take a pretty significant hit,” said Mark Luscombe, principal federal tax analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. “I guess people just feel they can do better than waiting 30 years to get all their money.”
The post Powerball take-home depends highly on taxes where you live appeared first on WTOP.
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Juvenile court records detailing rape allegations in a case involving high school basketball players have been released in east Tennessee.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press (http://bit.ly/1PU2tan ) reports the documents say a 17-year-old used a pool cue on the freshman teammate while two 16-year-old players pinned him on a bed.
The records confirm that the freshman suffered injuries that required surgery and hospitalization for several days.
Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith announced Wednesday that the Ooltewah High School season was called off.
The three are charged with aggravated rape Dec. 22 at a Gatlinburg cabin.
A Sevier County judge released the documents Friday. Under Tennessee law, judges may release juvenile orders if the defendants are accused of a severe charge such as aggravated rape and were at least 14.
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com
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WASHINGTON — A sensational, but false story about a gang rape at a University of Virginia frat house could all come down to a case of “catfishing” a love interest.
According to The Washington Post, new court documents suggest the alleged rape that eventually led to a now-debunked Rolling Stone article was all part of an elaborate scheme to win over a classmate. The documents were filed by lawyers representing the university’s Associate Dean Nicole Eramo, who is suing the magazine for defamation.
The woman, who has been identified simply as “Jackie,” had become friends with Ryan Duffin when they were both freshman. Court documents show Jackie wanted a romantic relationship, but Duffin preferred maintaining the friendship.
According to those documents, Jackie created “Haven Monahan,” an upperclassman she told Duffin and her other friends that she was dating. Monahan would text and communicate with Duffin, often sharing Jackie’s thoughts and feelings about Duffin.
In late September 2012, Jackie told Duffin and other friends that Monahan had gang-raped her at a university frat house. She then asked Duffin to comfort her.
But days later, Jackie told Duffin that she had forgiven Monahan for what had happened, causing Duffin to become suspicious about his existence.
After the Rolling Stone story had been debunked, an investigation by the university and Charlottesville police determined there was no Monahan.
Duffin told The Post on Friday that if the magazine had interviewed him or the two other people who met with Jackie the night of the attack, the story would not have “blown up” like it has. “It’s weird to think that an entire portion of my life was consumed by these events that looking back looks so dumb,” he said.
The Post has reached out to Jackie and her lawyers, who have not responded to requests for comment.
The post Debunked UVa gang rape may be connected to grand ‘catfishing’ plan appeared first on WTOP.
Patch.com |
80 K9 Teams Train in Manassas Patch.com Manassas Regional Airport hosted K9 teams from federal, state and local agencies to work on drug and bomb sniffing exercises. Manassas, VA. By Greg Hambrick (Patch Staff) January 8, 2016 12:56 pm ET. ShareTweetGoogle PlusRedditEmailComments0. and more » |
Patch.com |
Manassas Ice Skating: Dates, Cost, More Info Patch.com After a few days of repairs, Manassas will keep skating into March. All the details here. Manassas, VA. By Greg Hambrick (Patch Staff) January 8, 2016 5:07 pm ET. ShareTweetGoogle PlusRedditEmailComments0. Manassas Ice Skating: Dates, Cost, More ... |
Washington Post |
Man who allegedly went to DC to kidnap Obamas' dog arrested Washington Post WASHINGTON — Officials in Washington say they've arrested a North Dakota man who allegedly traveled to the nation's capital to kidnap a dog belonging to President Barack Obama. D.C. Superior Court documents say Secret Service agents interviewed ... Suspect arrested after allegedly planning to steal White House dogPolitico Man drove truck filled with weapons to DC to kidnap Obamas' dogStars and Stripes This Guy Claiming To Be Jesus Just Brought An Arsenal With Him To Kidnap Obama ...Daily Caller all 317 news articles » |
Volkswagen may buy back tens of thousands of vehicles in the United States if the company can’t find an easy way to remove “defeat devices” that allow the cars to evade emissions standards.
The potential buyback is just one of several options being weighed by the carmaker in order to satisfy federal regulators who uncovered the emissions cheating scandal in September, Bloomberg reports.
VW, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Air Resources Board are currently in discussions on ways to resolve the emissions issues plaguing more than 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. and 11 million worldwide.
According to sources who were briefed on the matter, VW has concluded that it would be easier after to repurchase some of the more than 500,000 vehicles equipped with defeat devices in the U.S. than it would be to fix them.
For now, the figure being linked to a potential buyback is about 50,000 vehicles, but that number could increase.
“We’ve been having a large amount of technical discussion back and forth with Volkswagen,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told Bloomberg on Thursday. “We haven’t made any decisions on that.”
So far, McCarthy says proposals brought forth by VW have been “inadequate.”
“We haven’t identified a satisfactory way forward,” McCarthy said, noting that the EPA is “anxious to find a way forward so that the company can get into compliance.”
A spokesperson for VW tells Bloomberg that the company is working with regulators to reach a solution, but declined to provide details on the discussions.
The company is also working to create its own remedies for the three generation of VW and Audi vehicles found to be non-compliant with emissions standards.
Sources tell Bloomberg that the oldest cars in the mix are currently being equipped with SCR catalytic converters, which includes the installation of a tank of urea-based solution that reduces emissions.
VW Weighs Buyback of Thousands of Cars in Talks With U.S. [Bloomberg]
An analysis in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report from the CDC says that 89% of U.S. adults were consuming more salt than recommended between 2009-2012, citing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.
Men between the ages of 19-51 ate about 4,400 mg a day, while women consumed around 3,100 mg a day, the CDC says. Adults 51 and over had slightly lower numbers. About 90% of children of all ages exceeded their daily amounts of salt intake as well, with boys and girls 9-13 getting about 3,300 mg and 3,000 mg respectively, which is a big increase from the recommended 2,200 mg for that age group.
Again, it’s not like we’re all whipping out the salt shaker every time we face a piece of broccoli. The CDC says most of the sodium we consume is coming from processed foods and meals served in restaurants. You might not be aware of that fact, or have any way to find out how much sodium you’re getting.
“It’s very difficult for individuals to lower consumption on their own, because there’s so much sodium in everything they eat,” Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, told NPR’s aptly named blog, The Salt.
Though many food companies have made an effort in the past few years to reduce sodium in their products, it’s not enough, Frieden says.
“Some companies have made significant progress, but across the whole industry we need to see steady reduction,” he says. “The bottom line is we want to put choice into consumers’ hands about putting it in, since you can’t take it out once it’s in there.”
Some of the saltiest products out there: Bread, deli meats, pizza, poultry, soups, cheese, pasta dishes, meat mixed dishes, and savory snacks like popcorn.
If you’re worried about your sodium intake, read the label when you can. If it’s a deli meat, well, just assume it’s chock-full of sodium. And for those living in or visiting New York City, you’ll soon be able to spot foods with high levels of sodium just by looking for the salt shaker warning labels that became a requirement for chain restaurants in the city in December.
We Eat Too Much Sodium Because Companies Keep Dumping It In Our Food [The Salt]
When employees of a Pennsylvania Walmart learned that there was a car on fire in the parking lot early in the morning on New Year’s Day, they didn’t sit around, stare into space, and wait for the fire department to show up. An overnight employee ran outside with a fire extinguisher to put out the blaze… and that’s when he noticed an unconscious woman inside the locked vehicle.
“We all responded as quickly as we could,” he told TV station KDKA (warning: auto-play video), “I got out there first. I believe I was the first one from the store.”
She was sitting in the driver’s seat, passed out or napping, with her head against the window. This was around 7 AM on New Year’s Day. While the car was locked, its windows were open, and the employee was able to reach in, unlock the car, and pull the woman out of the vehicle.
It was mostly the front of the car that was on fire, and he was unable to put the fire out before rescuing the driver. The brave employee then woke up the still-unconscious driver and walked her into the store. Police said that the woman smelled of alcohol and was charged with drunk driving, but wasn’t injured. They didn’t share the cause of the fire.
Don’t call the Walmart employee a hero, though. He rejected that label, saying, “I work with a lot of amazing associates. If it hadn’t been me out here, somebody else would have done what needed to be done.”
Walmart Employee Saves Woman From Burning Car In Parking Lot [KDKA] (warning: video may start automatically)
Wal-Mart employee pulls unconscious woman from burning car [Sharon Herald]
We’ve already seen caffeinated Cracker Jacks, chewing gum, and peanut butter (some of which are already off the market), and now the founder of Jelly Belly is hoping to give a jolt to the candy market with caffeinated jelly beans.
Back in the mid-’70s David Klein came up with the idea of Jelly Belly — a jelly bean that would have flavor throughout the bean, not just on the outside — which he then sold off a few years later for a few million dollars.
Now, the L.A. Times reports, Klein is trying to get back into the candy game with a caffeine-infused jelly bean.
Unlike traditional jelly beans that tend toward sweet — or really gross with flavors like grass — the new candy fits more with its “slightly caffeinated” concept with coffee-inspired flavors.
The idea for Original Coffee House Beans was cooked up by Klein and his business partners as a way to cater to adults looking for a more sophisticated candy, you know, with a kick.
“Everybody goes to Starbucks or those kinds of places, but nobody has actually made a line of jelly beans that was inspired by the flavors of the coffee that they drink there,” Klein said.
With flavors like hot cocoa, peppermint, chai tea, coffee and doughnuts and caffe macchiato, Klein believes the candy will appeal to all kinds of coffee drinkers.
Klein and his partners recently launched a Kickstarter campaign seeking $10,000 to launch the new brand.
“We have seen people that have been able to fund their business almost immediately, and you don’t have to give up any equity portion,” he said. “We felt with Kickstarter, people would be aware of our product.”
Analysts tell the L.A. Times that the unusual candy-coffee-caffeine combination could end up being a lucrative concept.
Viraj D’Costa, an anylst with IBISWorld, says the coffee and snack industry has seen an increase in revenue in recent years, and a niche candy would be a welcome addition.
“Those actually might be things that adults are actually interested in buying,” he said. “He might have a good shot at having a product that fits in to the market.”
Still, the idea of caffeinated anything doesn’t always sit well with health advocates and regulators.
In May 2013, Wrigley pulled its Alert Energy caffeinated gum just months after it was released, shortly after the Food and Drug Administration announced it would investigate the gum and other products with additional caffeine.
And in November 2015, lawmakers urged the FDA to look into the safety of caffeinated peanut butter.
Jelly Belly inventor hopes caffeinated jelly beans will fuel his comeback [Los Angeles Times]
Humidifiers come in all shapes, sizes, and apparently, animal likeness. While variety is always a good thing for consumers, knowing which product is best for your specific needs and home can be a daunting task.
To clear up some of the confusion, our colleagues at Consumer Reports put together an interactive video for humidifier-buyers, detailing the various tests they perform, along with a few tips for picking the unit that makes the most sense for their needs.
The video is divided into five chapters — Cool Mist, Warm Mist, Key Features, Room Size, and Maintenance — that viewers can use to jump to features that matter most to them in their search for a new device.
There are generally two types of humidifier: cool mist and warm mist. Each device is suited for a different need. While cool mist humidifiers are great for warm, dry climates, warm mist humidifiers are suited more for dry, cool climates.
Cool and warm mist devices also differ in their construction, cool mist uses filters, while dry mist doesn’t. Warm mist uses more electricity, while cool mist doesn’t.
These are all factors CR suggests potential buyers keep in mind, as well as whether or not a unit is convenient for your home and lifestyle.
For example, size really does matter. If you opt for too large of a unit, you could end up with excess condensation, which can result in a mold problem.
The interactive video also has you covered once you bring home your unit, with tips and tricks to keep your humidifier in tip-top shape.
If you buy tickets on StubHub, they come with a guarantee, which is great. Additionally, any seller who cancels tickets after they’ve been sold could face a financial penalty for doing so. But that penalty doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the most unsavory sellers from violating the rules.
This week, an L.A. Lakers fan made national news after he complained to The Lead Sports about having his StubHub tickets to Kobe Bryant’s final game canceled after he’d already purchased them.
Back in November, before Bryant officially announced that this season would be his last, the fan and three of his friends figured they might as well buy tickets for the last game of the season just in case it was also Kobe’s final outing in a Lakers uniform.
So he bought the tickets — four seats in row 17 of Sec. 106 of the Staples Center — and then got incredibly lucky (or so he thought) when Kobe subsequently confirmed his plan to retire.
Then, on Dec. 15, two weeks after dropping the retirement bomb, the fan got an email from StubHub giving him the bad news: The order had been cancelled because the “seller let us know that they were listed incorrectly.”
Rubbing salt in the wound, StubHub said that no replacement tickets could be provided because similar seats were now going for nearly $2,000 each — ten times what he’d paid for his seats.
You can read the full, disheartening email chain on The Lead Sport, but it basically involves the fan fruitlessly banging his head against a wall of incompetence and general shruggery at StubHub, where someone actually had the temerity to conclude a response with “I do hope you find cheaper tickets very soon.”
Speaking with SFGate.com, a rep for StubHub was apologetic and pointed out that the company’s user agreement states that “Under no circumstances may Sellers cancel orders at one price and repost the same tickets for a higher price. Failure to fulfill your orders will lead to charges as stated in the Seller Policies.”
But as Sports Illustrated’s Brendan Maloy noted, that penalty is only “20% of the ticket price.”
The fan originally paid $195 each for his tickets. So the seller was hit with about a $40/ticket penalty.
Right now, if you want to purchase four tickets in that same section, you’ll pay at least $1,325 — per ticket. In fact, there are four seats in the very row where he was supposed to be sitting… at a price of $1,500 a pop:
Assuming the original seller for these tickets was able to get at least $1,000 each for the seats he’d originally sold for $195, that means he made $4,000 minus the approximately $160 in penalties… so $3,120.
We’ve seen the same thing happen with ticket resellers at the Super Bowl, where they realize — as late as the day before the very game — that they can make more money by canceling bona fide orders and selling to some deep-pocketed latecomer.
“The reality is that these instances happen less than 1% of the time,” says the StubHub rep, who probably doesn’t realize how huge that small percentage actually is in real-world terms.
Think about it: The Staples Center seats 19,000 people for a basketball game. One percent of 19,000 is 190. Even it’s one-tenth of 1%, you’re still talking about 19 fans who could be getting screwed over by greedy resellers — and that’s for a single game at a single venue, for a team that is really, really horrible at basketball right now.
Even if it’s just this fan and his four friends, that’s still not acceptable. There is no reason to give sellers such an easy out.
And in fact, it’s possible that StubHub could have done something to compel this seller to make good on his offer.
In addition to the 20% penalty for canceling purchased tickets, StubHub “reserves the right in its sole discretion to charge your payment method the full amount of the replacement costs StubHub incurs under the FanProtectT Guarantee (including costs in excess of 20% of the ticket price).”
To us, that means that if StubHub had to go and get this fan some pricey new tickets from someone else, the company had the legal right to charge that cost to the greedy reseller who canceled the original order.
There is a happy ending to this story. After his tale of woe got heard ’round the world, various NBA sponsors and other companies looking for good publicity reached out to offer him better tickets than the ones he’d been screwed out of.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The cable that caused an explosion at a crowded Rhode Island beach last summer, injuring a woman, may have counterparts lying under beaches, harbors and waterways at dozens of sites nationwide.
There are 48 sites in 12 states where U.S. Coast Guard lights — in lighthouses, buoys or other beacons — were converted to solar power but inactive sub-cables that formerly powered them are still in the service’s database, according to a list the Coast Guard provided to The Associated Press in response to a records request.
The cables’ presence in the database indicates they are probably still there, though there’s no way of knowing for sure without digging. The Coast Guard couldn’t immediately say specifically where the cables are or whether they run beneath or near a beach.
The July 11 explosion at Salty Brine Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island, was probably caused by hydrogen that built up around corroded copper in a Coast Guard cable, scientists said. The blast hurled Kathleen Danise, of Waterbury, Connecticut, from her beach chair and threw her against a rock jetty 10 feet away, fracturing two ribs. Scientists were initially stumped.
Michigan has the most potential sites, with 21, according to the list. Wisconsin has eight, Illinois five, Indiana and Ohio three each, and Minnesota two. Rhode Island, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and New York have one each.
In Two Harbors, Minnesota, a Coast Guard cable runs underneath a sidewalk, next to a rocky beach and out to the breakwall, said Stuart Anderson, lead lineman for the city’s electrical department. Anderson said he doesn’t know whether the cable, which is on the list, is a cause for concern.
“We don’t mess with their stuff,” he said. “You would think they would be on top of it more if they had a problem.”
Ed Golder, a spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources, said he didn’t know about the cables and that he would contact the Coast Guard.
Environmental officials in states with multiple sites referred questions to the Coast Guard and elsewhere or said they’re evaluating their next steps.
Coast Guard officials don’t believe the other sites pose a risk because there have been no other reported or related incidents and because environmental factors at the sites, such as sand and water, differ, said Lt. Sarah Janaro, a spokeswoman.
But there’s clearly a problem that needs to be addressed, said Chris Reddy, who has closely followed the investigation in Rhode Island as a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and an expert in marine chemistry and geochemistry.
Reddy cautioned, though, against a “knee-jerk reaction” to dig up all the cables.
The Coast Guard should thoroughly analyze the risks vs. rewards of removing them, Reddy said. For instance, a worker could get hurt hitting a potentially explosive cable with a shovel, but on the other hand, a future explosion could injure a beachgoer.
Unburying the cables could be expensive. The Coast Guard is removing a section of cable protruding into the water in Rhode Island but hasn’t awarded a contract.
One of many options could be signs to warn people to stay away, Reddy added.
The Coast Guard may want to deal with the oldest cables first, Reddy said. The dates the cables were installed and disconnected aren’t in the database. The one that caused the Rhode Island explosion was installed in the 1950s.
The Coast Guard said that it follows utility and construction industry practice of leaving disconnected cables in place, and that its policies don’t require inspections of these cables.
The Coast Guard is waiting to decide whether to act at the other sites until it reviews the findings from Rhode Island, Janaro said. Rhode Island officials are reviewing scientists’ final report.
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The cable that caused an explosion at a crowded Rhode Island beach last summer, injuring a woman, may have counterparts lying under beaches, harbors and waterways at 48 sites in 12 states, according to a list the Coast Guard provided to The Associated Press in response to a records request. A list of the Coast Guard lights — lighthouses, buoys and other beacons — once powered by the buried cables:
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MICHIGAN (21 sites)
— Harbor Beach Light 2
— Round Island Passage Light
— De Tour Reef Light
— West Neebish Channel (Downbound) Light 32
— West Neebish Channel (Downbound) Light 30
— Little Rapids Cut Light 96
— Little Rapids Cut Light 98
— Brush Point Range Front Light
— Grand Marais Harbor Of Refuge Outer Light
— Marquette Breakwater Outer Light
— Marquette Breakwater Inner Light
— Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Light
— Portage Lake North Pierhead Light
— Manistee North Pierhead Light
— Ludington North Pierhead Light
— Pentwater North Pierhead Light 3
— Muskegon South Pierhead Light
— Muskegon Lake Light
— Holland Harbor North Pierhead Light
— St. Joseph North Pierhead Light
— St. Joseph North Pier Inner Light
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WISCONSIN (8)
— Bayfield Harbor South Breakwater Light
— Superior Entry South Breakwater Light
— Kenosha Light
— Milwaukee Breakwater Light
— Milwaukee Pierhead Light
— Sheboygan North Pierhead Light
— Manitowoc Breakwater Light
— Two Rivers North Pierhead Light
___
ILLINOIS (5)
— Calumet Park 101st Street Pier Light
— Chicago Harbor Light
— Chicago Harbor Entrance South Side Light
— Chicago Harbor Southeast Guide Wall Light
— Waukegan Harbor Light
___
INDIANA (3):
— Michigan City East Pierhead Light
— Indiana Harbor East Breakwater Light
— Indiana Harbor Light 5
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OHIO (3)
— Lorain Harbor Light
— Huron Harbor Light
— Sandusky Harbor Breakwater Light
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MINNESOTA (2)
— Two Harbors East Breakwater Light
— Grand Marais Light
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DELAWARE
— Bulkhead Bar Range Front Light
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NEW JERSEY
— Florence Upper Range Front Light
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NEW YORK
— Sodus Outer Light
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PENNSYLVANIA Enterprise Lower Range Front Light
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RHODE ISLAND
— Point Judith Harbor of Refuge West Entrance Light 3
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VIRGINIA
— Smith Point Light
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HONOLULU (AP) — The owners of Hawaii’s last sugar plantation say they’re getting out of the sugar-growing business. Miles of sugar cane fields once spread across the islands, providing work to thousands of immigrants and shaping Hawaii life. Soon, they’ll be gone. Here’s an explanation of why sugar grew to dominate Hawaii and why it faded.
HOW DID SUGAR GET TO BE A BIG BUSINESS IN HAWAII?
Sugar was farmed on a relatively small scale in the islands until the U.S. Civil War. But the conflict cut the North off from sugar grown in Louisiana, leading to a surge in imports from Hawaii. In the 1870s, the U.S. and what was then the Hawaiian Kingdom signed a treaty that eliminated U.S. tariffs on sugar and rice and Hawaiian tariffs on cotton and other products. Plantation profits almost doubled. Sugar cane growing expanded further after the U.S. annexed Hawaii and property rights for plantation owners became more secure, said Sumner La Croix, a University of Hawaii economics professor.
Acres planted with sugar cane exploded from 15,000 in 1876 to 238,000 in 1941.
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HOW HAS SUGAR SHAPED HAWAII?
Entrepreneurs from the U.S., Britain and beyond — including several descendants of Protestant missionaries to Hawaii — got into the business. They brought in laborers from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico and elsewhere for the crushing work of plowing, planting and cutting cane. A distinct language, Hawaiian pidgin or Hawaiian Creole English, emerged as immigrants and Native Hawaiians looked for ways to communicate.
Sugar growers began diverting vast quantities of water from wetter parts of islands to drier areas with arable land. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar, which ran the plantation that plans to harvest its last cane this year, has been diverting water from 19 streams in east Maui and several others in central Maui to irrigate its 36,000 acres. Some of the old plantation irrigation infrastructure today supports housing subdivisions and golf courses on arid land.
___
WHY HAS IT DISAPPEARED?
Plantations started to close in the 1950s. The pace accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s.
U.S. tariff and quota protections for sugar began declining in the decades after World War II amid broader trade liberalization.
Plantation workers first began to organize effective unions in the 1930s, which helped build Hawaii’s middle class but also made the industry less competitive compared with other countries. Then Hawaii’s land values began to spike as the introduction of passenger jets reduced travel times to Hawaii and launched a tourism boom. Many landowners found they could make more money building hotels and homes than growing cane.
The last Maui plantation’s parent company lost $30 million on its agriculture business last year.
La Croix said the end of the sugar industry is a watershed moment for Hawaii but not a surprise.
___
WHERE ELSE IS SUGAR GROWN IN THE U.S.?
Sugar cane accounted for 43 percent of the sugar grown in the U.S. last year, with the rest coming from beets, according to data from the American Sugar Alliance.
Florida is the biggest producer of U.S. cane sugar, with over 2 million tons last year, followed by Louisiana with 1.5 million tons. Hawaii produced 165,000 tons worth about $83 million last year.
Brazil is the world’s biggest sugar grower.
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WASHINGTON — The end of a meal is often the most stressful part.
As soon as the dishes are cleared, the pens and calculators come out — long before the taste of creme brulee has a chance to leave your mouth.
You might find yourself asking, “Was the soup hot enough? Was the wine selection what I expected? And did the service live up to my expectations?” — all before scribbling a number on the bottom line of the check and closing the black book.
But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. A handful of restaurant owners are doing away with tipping.
In October, Danny Meyer announced plans to change the way he pays his employees. The chief executive officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, which oversees 13 high-end restaurants in New York, is eliminating tipping.
“It’s an experiment that I think a lot of people in the business are watching and really pulling for,” says journalist Corby Kummer, who wrote about the topic in a recent article in New Republic.
Meyer, who is also the founder of the popular burger chain Shake Shack, attempted to do away with tipping 20 years ago, but received too much pushback from the wait staff to make the change work, Kummer says. However, with minimum wage on the rise in many states, including New York, he’s trying again, and he’s hoping it will solve a number of issues present in the industry.
When the minimum wage goes up, chefs and restaurateurs have to pass the cost burden along to the customer in the form of higher menu prices. And when diners add an additional 20 percent for service on those bigger bills, the only ones who benefit are the wait staff.
Kummer explains that even if tips are pooled among staff (a common practice in many restaurants), it’s illegal in several states to distribute those profits to non-service employees — such as the chef, the dishwasher and even the sommelier.
This creates a noticeable disparity between the front-of-the-house staff, and those behind the scenes.
“Cooks sweating in the back of the house can’t get any money at the end of the night and have nothing to show for a busy Saturday night, while the waiters are high-fiving each other,” Kummer says. “It’s just a dead, antiquated system and I think it’s time to go.”
In an interview with NPR’s Kelly McEvers, Meyer says in the last 30 years, he’s seen a 200 percent increase in income among wait staff. Those in the back of the house have only seen wages increase 22 to 25 percent.
“Restaurant owners know they’ve got to do something to even out this disparity,” Kummer says.
This no-tipping thing — how’s it going to work?
Meyer’s plan is to increase the prices by a certain percentage on the menu and pay all of his employees a fair amount, not the standard minimum wage for tipped employees. (There is a difference between minimum wage and minimum wage for tipped employees. In 43 states, the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour.)
The extra profit made from the food will be divided evenly among staff. Since it isn’t technically a service charge, no law prohibits Meyer from excluding non-service employees.
Aphra Adkins, co-owner of the D.C. restaurant Sally’s Middle Name, doesn’t accept tips at her H Street eatery, and hasn’t since day one.
“We wanted to try to give everyone who worked here the best opportunity possible,” Adkins says.
Unlike Meyer, the cost is not passed down to the customer in menu prices. The restaurant includes an automatic 18 percent charge on every check. Staff start out making D.C.’s minimum wage ($10.50 an hour), and the extra profit is split evenly.
“Everyone from the dishwasher to the bartender gets an equal amount of that,” Adkins explains. “One of the things that we really wanted to do was just bring everyone who worked here together toward the same goals and kind of working toward the same thing and not feeling divided by a difference in pay structure.”
Kummer says a no-tip model, such as those put in place by Meyer and Adkins, will help attract and retain culinary talent. In high-rent cities, it’s not uncommon to have culinary graduates working in the front of the house to make ends meet, instead of fulfilling their dreams to be a chef.
The new approach will also help add some stability to an otherwise unpredictable industry. Kummer cites stories of waiters bursting into tears after serving a large group of European diners who didn’t leave a tip because they are accustomed to it being included, or slow nights that yield an empty dining room, and thus, empty pockets.
A common fear among service staff is that they will make less once no-tipping policies are instituted. To address this concern, at least during the transition, Meyer has promised to match the average wage by the same position last year, The New York Times reports.
Adkins says she thinks, moneywise, it all shakes out in the end. Plus, an even wage gives more options to those who can’t leave their income to circumstance.
“Some people’s lifestyles are conducive to waiting for those really big nights where you know it’s going to be super busy, you’re going to make a bunch of money,” she says. “Other people’s lifestyles are a little more conducive to knowing, ‘This is exactly how much I’m going to make this week, and I can set that aside for my kid’s doctor’s bills or whatever it may be.’”
Kummer predicts that customers may initially balk at the change, but says the idea of not having to turn into a human calculator at the end of a meal will likely help them swallow the cost of a $13 hamburger.
“There’s going to be sticker shock and owners are going to be worried about it,” Kummer says. “But when the check comes, there’s one total and there’s no line for an additional gratuity — that’s it.”
Adkins says since opening this summer, customer feedback on the no-tipping policy at Sally’s Middle Name has varied, but overall “it’s been pretty well received.”
“It’s been pretty widely publicized so when people come in, they know to expect that. And I think the people who are unhappy with it, or who are uncomfortable with it choose not to come in. And that’s fine; it is different and we can’t expect everybody to like everything all the time,” she says.
“We’re not trying to say this is better or this is the way that everyone should do it. This is a different way to do it and it works for us.”
Tom Colicchio of Bravo’s “Top Chef” fame also eliminated tipping during lunch service at his New York restaurant Craft, but Kummer says all eyes are on Meyer to see if the new standard works across a larger pool of restaurants.
“I think everybody in the business is watching Danny Meyer and crossing his fingers, hoping the waiters don’t all go away, that it isn’t a failure and that customers don’t desert the restaurant,” Kummer says.
Adkins says even if the model works, she’s not sure all restaurants will be able to switch to a no-tipping system, but she’s happy it’s becoming part of the conversation.
“I think more and more people who are opening restaurants, or who have established restaurants, are realizing that there’s not only one way to do it, and that there can be a conversation about changing different aspects of it or changing the whole process. I think that’s really great, just people realizing that there’s flexibility and that you can adjust things to be based on the business model that you have in mind. It doesn’t have to be set in stone.”
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The season kicks off with the new catalog from the W. Atlee Burpee Company (or just plain “Burpee” to us) as they celebrate their 140th year in the business.
The star of this year’s big Burpee show is a “meatball” — that’s the name of a new hybrid eggplant they’re introducing that’s said to be the meatiest eggplant ever. Also new is the “razz” blueberry — a perennial whose fruits are said to have a little raspberry kick mixed into their classic blueberry taste.
And while not a new plant, the garden tower — a combination planter/composter/worm bin that allows you to grow 50 different plants while turning your kitchen scraps into their food (!), all in a 2-foot-wide footprint — looks like something our many space-challenged garden listeners have long been yearning for. (It’s a composter! It’s a planter! It’s both!)
A 2016 bonus: You’ll get a free packet of pollinator-friendly seeds with every order—and $10 off that order if you mention my name (“Mikey”) at checkout. Visit the website or call 1-800-888-1447.
Gardens Alive has long been known as a premier supplier of non-toxic fertilizers and pest and weed controls, but at this time of year, their catalog also is filled with seeds. And, to stay close to their mission, they specialize in seeds of varieties that prevent problems before they start by being naturally pest and/or disease resistant.
One example is the “Organic Iron Lady” — a nice-sized slicing tomato that’s naturally resistant to early blight, the dreaded late blight and leaf spot. And the plants used to produce the seeds were grown organically!
There’s also a big selection of plants designed to do well in small spaces, including “Windsor,” a new pumpkin you can grow in a regular container or one of their space-saving “grow tubs” (kind of like a movable raised bed). And of course, more organic fertilizers and common-sense pest controls than you can shake a watering can at.
Bonus: Get $25 off an order of $50 or more by using the code 0168393. Visit the website or call 513-354-1482.
Bluestone Perennials has been around since 1972, specializing in the class of plants once famously defined by a gardening wag as “having the ability to live for many years had you not killed them.”
Bluestone gives you a great shot at dodging that definition and achieving actual perennialization with their hand-grown, carefully packed plants. Featured in this year’s catalog is the 2016 Perennial Plant of the Year — a new anemone named “Honorine Jobert,” whose white flowers with frilly yellow centers provide much-needed late summer color.
Bonus: If you act in the next few weeks (before Jan. 20), you can save money on plants that are deer-resistant, fragrant and/or new this season. Use coupon code 1600 to save $2 on any deer-resistant plant; use code 1603 to save $1.50 on a fragrant variety, and use code 1607 to save $2 on any plant that’s new for 2016 (such as the unpronounceable anemone above).
Spend $75 or more and get a free “surprise” plant (code 1604). Visit the website or call 1-800-852-5243.
The new Territorial Seed Company catalog features some intriguing introductions. “Chocolate sprinkles” is a new “bite-sized” tomato, meaning that the fruits are bigger than cherry tomatoes, but smaller than salad types. The tasty treats are a deep, almost chocolatey, color, and bred to resist cracking — an important attribute when summer weather swings from drought to deluge.
“Butterfly milkweed” is a new variety whose bright orange blooms will attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees while the leaves provide food for baby monarch caterpillars.
And “Little White Snowpea” is said to produce its first tasty little pods just 30 days after the seeds sprout in your springtime soil. Yikes! That’s twice as fast as standard snow peas!
Of special note: Territorial says that their trial gardens and personal farms are managed using either organic standards, biodynamic or both. Visit the website or call 1-800-626-0866.
Pam in Tappahannock speaks for many when she writes, “The beautiful shrubs and bulbs I planted this fall are trying to bloom! How damaged will they be come spring? Will I get any blooms?”
Well Pam, over the years I’ve always been able to answer questions like this by saying, “don’t worry; the plants have been through weather like this before” — but that’s no longer true. As we leave behind the warmest fall and early winter in recorded history, we enter uncharted territory, and springtime bloom in 2016 will likely fall somewhere between sporadic and chaotic.
All we can do at this point is not panic and try to help the plants. Do not feed your plants; do not mulch them, and do not prune them. But do trust them. The plants want to live, and even if this year’s springtime show is a bit subpar, there’s no reason to believe that they won’t be healthy in the long run.
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Patch.com |
Coyotes Spotted in Manassas Area Patch.com More coyotes will likely be seen in the area as breeding season begins, according to Prince William County Police. Manassas, VA. By Greg Hambrick (Patch Staff) January 7, 2016. ShareTweetGoogle PlusRedditEmailComments0. Coyotes Spotted in ... and more » |