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IMDB is the go-to destination for checking out a movie. But before you decide to skip that movie with the 5.5/10 rating, check the voter demographic. You might be in for a surprise.

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We’ve noted before that there are only three things everybody agrees about when it comes to nutrition. Thanks to a meeting of nutrition researchers, we can add a few more things to that list.

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CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police: 55-year-old woman killed by police early Saturday was ‘accidentally struck’

The post Chicago police: 55-year-old woman killed by police early Saturday was ‘accidentally struck’ appeared first on WTOP.

Washington Post

Scientists worry that the Chesapeake's natural shoreline is turning into a wall Washington Post On the banks of the Potomac River, construction cranes that look like metal dinosaurs tower over Southwest Washington. They swivel in all directions, delivering concrete and other heavy material to workers building a large development behind a ... and more »

When you get a new puppy, housebreaking can become a big problem in your house. You can save time, energy, and stress by teaching your dog to use a bell when it needs to go outside to use the bathroom. Combine bell-training with a regular schedule and crate training for the best results.

EditSteps

EditSetting Up a Routine for Your Puppy

1. Understand the importance of a schedule.^[1] Your puppy needs to be on a schedule that you control. By regulating his feeding, sleeping, playing, and bathroom schedule, you help him fit comfortably into your life. The routine will bring him comfort, and you’ll have fewer “accidents” down the road.
2. Establish an eating routine.^[2] Most puppies should get four meals per day until they are 12 weeks old. After that, they should get 2-3 meals a day until they reach adulthood. Feed your puppy the amount recommended on the label. Many labels give only the total amount a dog should eat during the day. You’ll need to divide those amounts into portions throughout the day.
   • To ensure the puppy grows well, feed him in meals instead of leaving food out at all times. If he doesn't finish his food within 15 minutes, pick up and remove the rest.
   • Very small breeds often get low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). They should be fed four smaller meals spaced out to make sure their sugar levels are healthy throughout the day.
3. Set up a bathroom schedule.^[3] Let the puppy outside to use the bathroom after every meal, play session, and nap or night's sleep. He'll need a few weeks to adjust to the schedule, so expect accidents at first. But as the puppy grows up, he'll be able to go for longer periods between bathroom sessions.
   • Puppies 6-8 weeks old need to use the bathroom every hour during the day until they're housebroken. At night, you should let them out every 2-4 hours.
   • Puppies 8-16 weeks old should be able to hold it for about two hours during the day and four hours at night.
4. Get your puppy on a regular sleep schedule.^[4] This includes a regular bedtime that comes right after a bathroom break. Even when they're as young as eight weeks old, some puppies will sleep for a full eight hours during the night. Most, though, will need to use the bathroom at least once during the night. Do this 2-4 hours after putting your dog to bed.
   • It’s best to let the dog out every two hours the first night or two, just in case.
   • Begin increasing the time between wake-ups from every two hours to every four hours over several days or weeks. This will depend on the breed and how much your puppy sleeps. — Use your discretion.
   • Daytime napping is important for puppies, but if you let him nap all day, he won't sleep at night!
5. Create a play schedule for your puppy.^[5] Play-time is an important part of your puppy's development. During play, he'll learn that he's not allowed to bite or scratch, while working off his meals and growing strong and healthy. It also wears him out so he won't have excess energy that keeps him awake during scheduled nap or sleep times. A regular play schedule will keep him on his sleep schedule.
   • Training sessions should be fun enough for the puppy to count as play-time!
   • Keep your puppy safe while he plays. Help him avoid things like falling, getting stuck, or eating/chewing on things he shouldn’t.

EditCrate and Potty Training Your Puppy

1. Buy a crate for your dog. Crate training is the first step in potty training. Choose a crate with enough room for your dog to turn around comfortably. However, it shouldn't have so much room that he could use the bathroom in one corner and sleep in another. If your puppy learns to associate his crate with using the bathroom, he'll resist going into the crate to lay or sleep.
   • In the first few weeks, expect accidents in the crate even if it's the right size for the puppy. Don't lose your patience, though! He's still learning.
   • If your puppy is a larger breed, consider buying a crate with adjustable barriers that can be removed as the dog grows.
2. Get your puppy used to the crate.^[6] Place the crate in a busy room in the house, where people gather often. The den or family room is a good location for crate training. Leave the crate door open so the puppy can explore it at his own pace, and treat him whenever he goes into the crate.
   • After he's grown used to the crate, start closing the door and leaving him in it for longer periods of time. Crate him at night and anytime you aren’t home or able to watch him.
   • You can move the crate between rooms, bringing it into the bedroom with you at night, for example. But always make sure it's somewhere your dog feels safe.
3. Assign a regular bathroom spot.^[7] Take him to that same spot every time you take him out. If he associates going to the bathroom with a very specific place, he'll be less likely to have accidents in other places. It'll also make clean-up easier in the future because you'll know where he likes to go.
4. Limit the puppy's outdoor time. Minimize how much time he plays outside during the first 2-4 weeks of potty training. Playing with the dog outside in the middle of his potty training will confuse him about what he should do when he goes outside. When he's mastered potty-training, you can start spending more playtime outside with him.
5. Encourage your puppy to use the bathroom on command.^[8] Choose a specific word or phrase to serve command him to use the bathroom. "Bathroom" or "Go potty" are examples. When you take him outside, use that same phrase and the same tone of voice every time he goes to the bathroom. If your puppy uses the bathroom after you give the command, praise him with a lot of excitement and a treat.
   • You might also choose a separate command specific to encouraging your dog to defecate. Young puppies need to defecate more often, so teaching a dog to associate a specific command with defecating can be useful.
6. Crate the puppy if he doesn't potty on command. This isn't a punishment, but a training tool. If your puppy doesn’t use the bathroom within a few minutes of you giving the command, put him in his crate for 5-10 minutes. The dog may whine or cry when confined to the crate, but don’t let them out.–It will confuse the learning process.
   • After 5-10 minutes have passed, take him back outside to use the bathroom and give the command again.
   • Repeat the process until he makes an attempt to use the bathroom after you give the command.
   • When he finally uses the bathroom, repeat the command and reward him with lots of praise and a treat, then let him back into the house to play.

EditBell Training Your Puppy

1. Incorporate the bell into potty training. Hang the bell by the door you use each time you take the dog out. It should hang low enough for your puppy to reach with his paw or nose. Use the bell only with a single door at first. You can move the bell or add more bells at other doors once the puppy understands how the bell system works.
   • Very small breed dogs and very young puppies may not be able to hold it long enough to reach the door that leads outside. In that case, hang the bell wherever the dog spends the most time — the living room, for example. You can move the bell to the outside door when the puppy can hold it a little longer.
   • It helps to keep the dog’s living area small during the stage until potty training is well established. You might use a puppy gate and attach a bell to it.
2. Teach your puppy to associate the bell with positive things.^[9] If your puppy seems scared by the bell sound, you need to make him comfortable with the sound before using the bell as part of potty training. Hold out treats near the bell, and ring it when the dog comes to retrieve the treats. You might smear a little cheese or some other treat on the bell, and, when the dog touches the bell, reward him with an additional treat. Repeat this process until the dog knows to associate the bell with reward.
3. Teach the puppy to ring the bell himself.^[10] When you are going outside on scheduled bathroom break, set him down next to the bell. Always open the door immediately after any hint of the bell ringing, and give lots of praise. There are a few different ways to train your puppy to ring the bell:
   • Without ringing the bell yourself, tap your fingers on the wall or door next to it, and say "Outside." Your puppy should learn to jump up to your fingers, ringing the bell in the process.
   • Hold a treat just behind the bell, and say "Outside." The puppy’s nose will ring the bell when he goes for the treat.
   • Physically take your puppy’s paw, hit the bell with it, and say "Outside."
   • Skip the bell training if you’re rushing out for a bathroom emergency. Only use the bell with scheduled bathroom breaks.
4. Be consistent. Your puppy is very smart, and has a great sense of cause and effect. Anything he observes before the door opening/praise/treat will be seen as a cause of the desired effect. If you let variation creep into what your dog experiences before the door opens, he can become confused. Make it easy for him to learn what he needs to do to be let out. Keep it simple. For example, only use one of the methods outlined in the previous step — don't mix and match.
5. Expand bell usage after the puppy has learned how to use it. You can either move the bell to different doors or hang a different bell by each exterior door. When you travel, take a bell with you so the dog can use it while on the road. Similarly, send the bell with your dog if he stays at another home while you’re away on a trip. If you need to find a new home for your dog, let the new owners know he's bell trained, and encourage them to make a bell available at the new home.

EditVideo

EditWarnings

• Make sure the string holding the bell isn’t long enough to reach around your dog’s (or cat’s) neck.
• Make sure the bell is hung securely enough that your dog can’t pull it down.

EditTips

• Use treats judiciously. Treats can fill up a small puppy quickly and discourage it from eating full meals. And because puppy food is full of important vitamins and minerals, it’s more valuable to their diet than treats are. So give your puppy treats according to its size and consider buying smaller treats or splitting treats into smaller pieces.
• If your puppy is very intelligent, or very bored, it may start ringing the bell as a game to go outside for other things than to use the bathroom. Judge whether your dog’s potty training is well established enough that it isn’t false alarm before automatically opening the door.
• Bell training your dog can be more challenging if you live in an apartment because the dog may need to go further to reach a bathroom area. You can still use bell training as long as you learn to anticipate when your puppy will need to go.

EditRelated wikiHows

• How to Completely Housebreak a 4 Year Old Dog
• How to House Train a Puppy
• How to Prevent a Dog from Defecating in its Crate
• How to Teach a Dog to Tell You when He Wants to Go Outside

EditSources and Citations

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TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) — The Catalina Island fox, one of the world’s most endangered species, suffered from frequent tumors for the past decade until scientists discovered a relatively simple solution: treating ear mites.

Research by veterinarians at the University of California, Davis and the Catalina Island Conservancy shows treating ear mites with an anti-parasitic drug helps block cancer, according to the Daily Breeze of Torrance (http://bit.ly/1TlxOBL). Ear infections that can lead to cancer were reduced from 98 percent to 10 percent among foxes that received the drug during a six-month trial.

Efforts to save the foxes, one of the six subspecies of the island gray fox native to the Channel Islands, began in the late 1990s when residents noticed the population declined — a result of canine distemper brought by visitors. The disease killed roughly 90 percent of the island fox population.

As of 1999, roughly 100 foxes remained, said Winston Vickers, associate veterinarian at University of California, Davis, and lead author of the study. As a result, all fox populations on the island were listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Scientists noticed the prevalence of ear mites and the incidence of cancer. A pilot study spearheaded by the conservancy began with 100 foxes to determine whether the drug ivermectin would be effective, administered through a syringe into the animal’s ear canal.

“It’s an oily based treatment that coats the inside of the ear and kills the mites,” said Calvin Duncan, wildlife biologist for the Catalina Island Conservancy and co-author of studies.

Initial lumps that indicate early stages of most tumors are no longer being seen, Vickers said.

In 2014, the fox population was surveyed at 1,717, and Duncan said this year’s data should indicate similar numbers.

The numbers have rebounded so much that the Catalina Island fox may no longer be listed as an endangered species. The designation, which prohibits hunting of the animals and other restrictions, is under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

___

Information from: Daily Breeze, http://www.dailybreeze.com

The post Drug shows promise in California for endangered fox appeared first on WTOP.

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man was reunited with his wedding ring this month after it fell off his finger and sank to the bottom of the ocean while he was fishing.

Jay Bradford’s ring fell in the water off Long Branch while he was pulling an anchor in during a frustrating day searching for blackfish earlier this month, The Asbury Park Press reported (http://on.app.com/1OqYsuS ).

“He texted me and said his day was going wrong. I said ‘don’t worry you will find the fish,'” said his wife Meagan Bradford, 29. “He texted me back, ‘it’s not the fishing, I lost my ring in the water.’ I nearly threw up.”

Bradford, 27, and boat captain Nick Barsa returned to the spot four days later with salvage diver Mark Thompson. Barsa steered the boat using GPS coordinates to the exact spot where the ring was lost, while dealing with 35-mile-per-hour winds and a big southeast swell.

“People thought I was crazy to try and go back for it,” Barsa said. “The odds are against finding it. It’s a big ocean out there.”

Thompson, who said he has found people’s lost cellphones and watches in the ocean, dove in and searched rock ledges and sifted through thousands of mussels. He says he found the ring resting on a rock in 10 minutes.

“When they found it I was ecstatic, I was amazed,” Meagan Bradford said. “I nicknamed Nick “Capt. St. Nicholas,” for this time of year because these two did perform a Christmas miracle for us to have that ring back.”

Jay Bradford said he will likely wear a cheap metal or rubber ring when he goes back out fishing.

___

Information from: Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, http://www.app.com

The post At the bottom of the ocean, a lost wedding ring is found appeared first on WTOP.

PITTSFORD, Vermont (AP) — Residents of an adult living community in Vermont awoke Christmas morning to find that a Grinch-y thief or thieves had stolen food, gifts and walkers overnight.

Vermont State Police say the National Church Residences Village Manor in Pittsford was hit sometime Thursday by a thief or thieves who pinched Christmas cookies, salad, several turkeys, frozen chicken, loaves of bread, canned vegetables and 10 pounds of potatoes. Also taken were Christmas CDs, puzzles, a television, stereo and 10 walkers.

The burglary didn’t stop Christmas from coming, though: Police say the community rallied around the Manor’s 30 residents and supplied them with enough food for a Christmas feast and meals into next week.

The post Vermont Grinch takes food, walkers from adult community appeared first on WTOP.

ATLANTA (AP) — Even the iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has to come down after the holidays.

For the ninth year in a row, the tree set aglow during a televised ceremony and visited by an estimated 500,000 people each year, will be milled into lumber for Habitat for Humanity projects.

The 2014 tree, an 85-foot tall Norway spruce from Danville, Pennsylvania, is being used in five Philadelphia homes still under construction. Chris Clarke, vice president of marketing and communications for Habitat, said projects are selected close to where the annual tree grew, ensuring it’s re-used close to home.

Each family receives a piece of lumber from the tree etched with a small Christmas tree and the year, usually placed somewhere it can be seen. Volunteers on the chosen project usually sign another piece.

In Lisa Wilson’s newly built Philadelphia home, both pieces are visible under her basement stairs.

“It’s an honor to have it placed in my home,” Wilson, a mother of a 19-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy, said the day before her Philadelphia home’s dedication ceremony. “We’re a part of such meaningful history.”

The partnership between the nonprofit and Tishman Speyer, the company that owns Rockefeller Center, is young compared to the tradition of the tree. Workers at the Rockefeller Center construction site in 1931 took up a collection to buy a Christmas tree, while the first official lighting was held in 1933.

Pamela Banks, a 49-year-old mother of seven, said she didn’t know anything about the tree’s history until Habitat officials at the Philadelphia affiliate delivered news that her house would include some of the 2014 lumber. She’s hoping the lumber will be used somewhere visible, letting her point it out to visitors after the house is completed this spring.

“I’ll say ‘This came from New York,'” Banks said, laughing. “It’s the whipped cream on top of the pie.”

Banks put in 350 hours of work on other Habitat projects, a condition of the organization’s mortgage program. Participants also take classes and meet with financial advisers, learning how to save a certain amount each month and preparing for other tasks that come up during homeownership.

Banks is looking forward to a basement where her 8- and 10-year-old sons can play, bedrooms where they can study undisturbed and enough living space to host her five grown daughters and their families for big meals.

Clarke said the lumber donations don’t save Habitat an enormous amount of money despite the size of the tree each year. Building a house, after all, takes a lot of lumber. But the partnership does help remind people of those without safe or affordable housing, he said.

“The gift of the tree helps remind people there are a lot of folks who need a hand up,” he said. “The holidays are generally a big time for any nonprofit to raise funds, so we do see a spike and I believe firmly that the story of the tree helps.”

Recipients of lumber from the 2015 tree, grown in upstate New York and weighing 10 tons, haven’t been determined yet. Previous homes have been in Pascagoula, Mississippi; New York City; Stamford, Connecticut; and Newburgh, New York.

The post After holiday, Rockefeller tree used by Habitat for Humanity appeared first on WTOP.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Despite its reputation as the trigger-happy heart of American gun culture, Texas is late to the open carry party, at least when it comes to handguns. On New Year’s Day, it’ll become the 45th state to legalize carrying a pistol in plain sight.

The relaxed rules passed the GOP-controlled state Legislature only after police groups defeated a provision backed by an unlikely coalition of tea party conservatives and Democrats that sought to bar law enforcement from asking Texas residents whether they had a proper license to carry guns that are visible.

But, as the new law looms, some officers are backing off, saying they won’t demand to see a license if they have no other reason to stop a gun carrier. Not doing so could avoid harassment lawsuits — even if would-be criminals could carry guns without fear of getting caught.

“We’re going to assume they’re a license holder, probably,” Austin Police Department training commander Andy Michael said of asking after licenses.

Texas already allows openly carrying rifles and shotguns, but has banned having handguns visible since just after the Civil War. It’ll be the largest state to sanction some form of open carry, with California, Florida, Illinois, New York and South Carolina still banning it.

Texas had nearly 826,000 concealed license holders in 2014, which ranks among the nation’s highest. Openly carrying a gun will require obtaining the same license concealed weapons holders have — be at least 21, have clean criminal and psychology records, complete a training course and pass a shooting test. Concealed handguns are even allowed inside the Texas Capitol, where license holders can bypass metal detectors.

Texas also has the country’s most federal firearms license holders, from manufacturers to dealers, and the state cites its relaxed gun ownership rules in lobbying gun makers to move here. The National Rifle Association has traditionally pumped tens of thousands of dollars into Texas’ state political races, more than it spent many other places, though contribution totals look to be waning recently.

The original open carry bill included a “no-stop” provision barring police from demanding to see the license of someone simply for openly carrying their gun. Tea party legislators didn’t want 2nd Amendment rights infringed, while Democrats worried about racial profiling, concerned that blacks and Hispanics might be asked for their licenses more than their white counterparts.

“If I get a gun, I guess I’d better put my hands up,” state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston Democrat who is black, said when the measure was debated on the Senate floor.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo was an outspoken critic of the “no-stop” provision, saying it would effectively bar police from doing their jobs while endangering the public. Under pressure from Acevedo and other police chiefs, as well as state law enforcement organizations, that language was stripped from the final open carry bill.

But Michael, who is readying Acevedo’s force for the new law, said he doesn’t expect many officers to ask for licenses. The department is even training its dispatchers to educate the public on the law change, anticipating a barrage of 911 calls about someone openly carrying a gun.

“The call-taker will say it’s now legal to do that,” said Michael, who said his department has been discussing preparations for open carry for months with police departments across Central Texas.

Police “don’t want to not act and then have something devolve into a mass shooting incident, but harassing every person with a holster gun isn’t going to solve that,” said Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental relations for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association.

“The irony is that you saw many law enforcement agencies lobby strongly against that provision that would have restricted them outright from ever asking if someone had a license absent other evidence of a crime,” Edmonds said, noting that’s changed after a number of those same agencies talked with their legal counsels.

Not demanding to see licenses, though, could also make it easier for unlicensed Texas residents to take advantage of the don’t-ask environment.

“We’ve changed things here a lot and we’ve not thought this through,” said Charley Wilkison, executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, the state’s largest law enforcement officers’ union. “People will drive without a license and we can sure count on them to carry a weapon without training or license.”

The post Texas police say they’ll take new open carry law in stride appeared first on WTOP.

CHICAGO (AP) — The latest on the shooting deaths of a man and woman by Chicago police responding to a domestic disturbance call (all times local):

10:15 p.m.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has issued a statement on the fatal police shooting of a man and woman after authorities said officers responded to a domestic disturbance call.

In the statement on the early morning shooting issued late Saturday by the mayor, Emanuel says that “anytime an officer uses force the public deserves answers, and regardless of the circumstances, we all grieve anytime there is a loss of life in our city.”

Authorities said the shooting around 4:25 a.m. Saturday happened after officers were confronted by a “combative subject.” The Cook County medical examiner’s office and family members say 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones were killed.

Police said late Saturday that Jones was accidentally struck.

Emanuel’s statement notes the shooting is being investigated the by city’s Independent Police Review Authority and that findings will be referred to the county prosecutor for review.

___

9:45 p.m.

Chicago Police say a 55-year-old woman fatally shot by one or more officers was “accidentally struck and tragically killed.”

A statement from Chicago Police also says the department extends its deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.

The woman, Bettie Jones, was one of two people killed by police in the shooting early Saturday. The other was identified as 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier.

The statement said the officer or officers involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days as a result of the shooting.

___

5:50 p.m.

The father of a 19-year-old killed by a Chicago police officer says he had invited his son to a holiday gathering before the shooting but he chose not to go.

Antonio LeGrier tells the Chicago Sun-Times when he returned to his apartment early Saturday, his son Quintonio LeGrier appeared to be a “little agitated.” He says he heard loud banging on his locked bedroom door around 4:15 a.m. and that his son tried to bust the door open.

He says he kept the son from breaking the door down and called police.

LeGrier says he called his downstairs neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones, and warned her about his son and not to open the door unless police arrived. He says Jones told him she saw Quintonio outside with a baseball bat.

When police arrived, LeGrier says he started making his way down from the second floor and heard gunshots. He says he saw his son and Jones lying in the foyer.

He says his son had emotional problems, but that it didn’t warrant him getting shot and killed.

___

12:48 p.m.

The brother of a 55-year-old woman shot and killed by a Chicago police officer says his sister was the mother of four daughters and a son.

Melvin Jones tells the Chicago Tribune that more than a dozen family members celebrated Christmas with Bettie Jones on Friday. Jones says his sister “had an excellent Christmas.”

Authorities say Bettie Jones and 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier were killed early Saturday when police responded to a domestic disturbance call.

Bettie Jones, a neighbor of LeGrier, lived in a first-floor apartment with her boyfriend. Her children range in age from 19 to 38. They include 19-year-old twins.

Melvin Jones says he’s “numb right now.” He says there is “a whole lot of anger, a whole lot of tears.”

___

12:20 p.m.

The mother of a 19-year-old man shot and killed by a Chicago police officer says her son was studying engineering at Northern Illinois University.

Janet Cooksey tells the Chicago Tribune that Quintonio LeGrier graduated from Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy in Chicago and “was going somewhere.” Authorities say LeGrier and 55-year-old Bettie Jones, both of Chicago, died in the police shooting early Saturday.

Cooksey tells WLS-TV that her son was “having a mental situation.” She says sometimes he would “get loud, but not violent.”

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11:20 a.m.

The Cook County medical examiner has identified two people killed in a Chicago police shooting as a 19-year-old black man and 55-year-old black woman.

Spokeswoman Becky Schlikerman says Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones were killed early Saturday on the city’s West Side. Jones was pronounced dead at Loretto Hospital at 4:51 a.m. LeGrier was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 5:14 a.m.

The medical examiner’s office says autopsies have not been scheduled.

Earlier Saturday, Chicago police said an officer responding to a domestic disturbance shot and killed two people after being “confronted by a combative subject.”

Police said the shooting is under investigation and the case has been referred to the city’s main police oversight agency.

___

10:24 a.m.

Chicago police say an officer responding to a domestic disturbance shot and killed two people.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement that the shooting happened at about 4:25 a.m. Saturday after responding officers “were confronted by a combative subject” on the city’s West Side.

Police said the shooting is under investigation and the case has been referred to the city’s main police oversight agency.

Independent Police Review Authority spokesman Larry Merritt confirmed Saturday that the agency was investigating but had no further information. The race of the officer and those fatally shot were not disclosed.

The Chicago Police Department is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation, which came after the release of a video showing a white officer shooting a black teenager 16 times in 2014.

___

This story has been corrected throughout to show the first name of the 19-year-old killed is Quintonio instead of Quientonio, the last name is LeGrier instead of Legrier and the first name of the 55-year-old killed is Bettie instead of Betty.

The post The Latest: Chicago mayor issues police shooting statement appeared first on WTOP.

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Three suspects are in custody after leading authorities on a 300-mile chase in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office news release, authorities were alerted to a boat theft in Fort Myers Beach, about 125 miles south of Tampa, early Thursday.

When officers arrived, the suspects allegedly attempted to ram their vessel with the stolen 36-foot Invincible. The sheriff’s office says the suspects then fled, outrunning local and federal authorities in an open fishing boat capable of speeds over 70 mph.

Authorities chased the suspects for over 20 hours off the Florida coast. Petty Officer 3rd Class Ashley Johnson tells the News-Press (http://newspr.es/1mjvgJy ) that they eventually were stopped about 65 nautical miles off the coast of Cuba.

The Coast Guard is bringing the suspects and the stolen boat back to Florida.

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Information from: The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press, http://www.news-press.com

The post 3 detained after leading authorities on 300-mile sea chase appeared first on WTOP.

PORTER, N.Y. (AP) — Nearly three dozen pet cats housed in an upstate New York shed have died in a fire.

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office says the 34 cats were discovered by firefighters responding to a blaze Saturday morning. It’s unclear what sparked the fire. Fire marshals are investigating.

Officials haven’t named the homeowner. But the sheriff’s office says the resident dialed 911 after noticing flames in the 12-by-20-foot structure in the front yard of the rural property in Porter, about 15 miles north of Niagara Falls.

Niagara County SPCA shelter manager Kelley Casale says the residence had no history of animal cruelty complaints.

She says the homeowner likely took in strays but failed to neuter and spay them, causing the cats to multiply. She calls the fire deaths horrific.

The post Sheriff: 34 pet cats die in upstate New York shed fire appeared first on WTOP.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — At 95 years old, when most people are well into their golden years and decades beyond the workforce, Harriett Clopper still drives herself to work to her job at McDonald’s on Sharpsburg Pike in Hagerstown — something she’s been doing for the last 20 years.

Clopper has the distinction of not only being the fast-food restaurant’s oldest employee in the nation, but the most dedicated, at least according to her colleagues.

“If I could get a 1,000 Harrietts, I’d be a happy man,” said Mark Levine, owner and operator of several Hagerstown-area McDonald’s. “She treats the customers better than I treat the customers. She is the nicest greeter and host here. She makes everybody feel right at home.”

To celebrate her 95th birthday and 20 years as a greeter at McDonald’s, Levine hosted a surprise party for his star employee.

Surrounded by co-workers, friends, family and Ronald McDonald himself, Clopper was visibly stunned when she walked through the doors Monday morning ready to start her workday.

What the pint-size dynamo heard above the flash of cameras and cellphones, were plenty of cheers and well-wishes from a packed crowd.

“I’m just in shock,” she said. “I’m just flabbergasted.”

Dressed in her uniform, which includes a vest displaying some 80 pins recognizing her outstanding performance, Clopper was all smiles as she posed for seemingly endless pictures.

“She says ‘the secret to longevity is to keep working,'” Kathy Yates of The Golden M Co. in Hagerstown said in a written proclamation honoring Clopper. “… People love Harriett because she makes them feel special from the moment they walk in the door. She’s young at heart, has a great sense of humor and is proud of the fact that she works at McDonald’s. In essence, she is our brand, the McDonald’s brand.”

Clopper, who said she has no immediate plans to retire, has had a job most of her life. She worked 27 years at the Fairchild aircraft plant in Hagerstown, before retiring in 1979.

“The young people look up to me and look out for me,” Clopper said, about her much younger colleagues. “I appreciate that they help me take the trash out and make sure I arrive home safely in bad weather.”

Clopper said her fondest moment on the job was when a customer she didn’t know handed her two $50 bills, wishing her a Merry Christmas.

“(That is) proof that her ‘can do’ attitude and strong work ethic did not go unnoticed,” Yates said.

 

 

___

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

The post Hagerstown McDonald’s honors its oldest worker in the nation appeared first on WTOP.

WASHINGTON –  The latest showdown over expanding Medicaid in Virginia to cover about 400,000 more people could come down to private meetings between Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Republican finance leaders in the General Assembly.

“What I’d like to do, as I did with the budget, you know the chairs the Republicans [finance committee chairs] Chris Jones and Walter Stosch who I negotiated with, we did it privately, behind closed doors on the budget [this year]…I assume it’ll be the same, lets come and talk,” McAuliffe said on WTOP’s Ask the Governor this week.

Republicans have flat-out rejected McAuliffe’s proposals to expand Medicaid for the last two years, and have promised to do so again during the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 13. GOP leaders say they have concerns about the existing program’s costs and execution, and about whether the federal government would actually provide the promised money to support the expansion as required under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

Earlier this month, the association representing Virginia hospitals said the hospitals would be willing to pay a tax to cover the state’s costs of expanding Medicaid.

McAuliffe, a Democrat, says that means the state would have no new financial obligations for the program over his two-year budget.

Hospitals will put up that difference, you know they get a multiplier back for every dollar they put up,” he says.

Many of the people who would be covered under the Medicaid expansion do not have insurance coverage now, so hospitals expect they would get more income. Medicaid costs are split between the state and federal government.

“We’re in a totally different place today,” McAuliffe says, compared to the last two years.

Republican leaders like Del. Kirk Cox, however, are not convinced.

The House majority leader told reporters earlier this month that Medicaid expansion is something the House will not budge on.

“There are philosophical differences and I think that’s good for the system I gotta tell ya, I mean I think there are certain things we just have very strong beliefs on, and so you’re probably not going to see a lot of cooperation [on those],” Cox said.

Republicans control both houses of the General Assembly.

McAuliffe suggests he does not want the upcoming 60-day session to be completely dominated by the Medicaid expansion fight.

“This is about $150 million I can save in our biennium budget that I just introduced, keep in mind it’s a $109 billion budget, I don’t want people to get all caught up in $150-plus million dollars, but it’s important, it’s important for these folks,” he says.

Asked whether he needs to have his boxing gloves ready, McAuliffe responded: “I hope not, but you know you’ve got to fight for what you believe in.”

McAuliffe and Republican leaders all say that despite differences over Medicaid, they expect to work together on issues like economic development.

The post Bang or whimper? Medicaid showdown could slip behind closed doors appeared first on WTOP.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — No medical or mental health care. No subsidized college or work training. For many who leave the U.S. military with less-than-honorable discharges, including thousands who suffered injuries and anguish in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, standard veterans benefits are off limits.

The discharge serves as a scarlet letter of dishonor, and the effects can be severe: Ex-military members with mental health problems or post-traumatic stress disorder can’t turn to Veterans Affairs hospitals or clinics; those who want to go to college aren’t eligible for the GI Bill; the jobless get no assistance for career training; the homeless are excluded from vouchers.

“It’s an indelible mark of their service that follows them for the rest of their lives into the workforce, through background checks, social relationships, and it precludes them from getting the kind of support that most veterans enjoy,” said Phil Carter, an Iraq War vet and senior fellow at the Center for A New American Security.

The Department of Defense said of nearly 207,000 people who left the military last year, just 9 percent received what’s referred to as “bad paper.” Still, that’s more than 18,000 people last year and more than 352,000 since 2000, Defense Department data shows.

U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican who’s on the House Armed Services Committee, believes many of those men and women suffered battle-related problems that affected their behavior, especially PTSD and traumatic brain injury. A 2005 study showed Marines deployed to combat who were diagnosed with PTSD were 11 times more likely to receive less-than-honorable discharges, said Brad Adams, an attorney who works with the San Francisco-based organization Swords to Plowshares.

Josh Redmyer, 30, served in the Marines for seven years, including three stints in Iraq, where he watched a close friend die and developed PTSD. Redmyer said he developed alcohol and drug addictions that led to bad behavior, and he received an other-than-honorable discharge in 2012. He said he’s survived suicide attempts and “near-death” overdoses.

Now living in California, Redmyer’s working as a delivery driver and trying to restore his VA medical benefits. He said he takes responsibility for “mistake after mistake after mistake,” but can’t understand how someone who risked his life for his country can’t get treatment for PTSD.

“What it did to my life after what I gave to them, I don’t think it’s ethical or moral or fair,” he said.

Varying levels of bad paper discharges exist. A general discharge is for those whose service was generally satisfactory, but who engaged in minor misconduct or received non-judicial punishment. Recipients are usually eligible for VA medical and dental services, VA home loans and burial in national cemeteries, but can’t receive educational benefits through the GI Bill.

Virtually no post-military benefits are available below that level.

An other-than-honorable discharge is an administrative action for those with behavior problems such as violence or use of illegal drugs. A bad conduct discharge is punishment for a military crime, and dishonorable discharges are for offenses such as murder or desertion. With those discharges, the VA doesn’t consider the former service members veterans for the purposes of VA benefits.

“There is a small percentage of folks who were court-martialed and convicted, and they have earned their bad paper,” Carter said. “The vast majority of this population was discharged administratively, generally because of some minor misconduct.”

Maj. Ben Sakrisson, a Defense Department spokesman, said there is “substantial due process” for all cases where people receive a less-than-honorable discharge. Its statistics show that last year, 4,143 service members received other-than-honorable discharges, 637 received bad conduct discharges and 157 were dishonorably discharged.

Once people are discharged, the Department of Veterans Affairs can extend medical and mental health benefits on a case-by-case basis to those whose disabilities were service-connected, the VA said.

But Adams said that recourse is help to very few. “The onus is on the veteran,” he said. “The standards have imposed a very high burden.”

Studies show those who are less-than-honorably discharged are far more likely to end up in prison than honorably discharged veterans, and more likely to be suicidal. Jobs are harder to get because background checks highlight an undesirable military discharge.

“They have a hard time maintaining employment and navigating the transition back to civilian life,” said Jamison Fargo, associate professor of psychology at Utah State University.

An analysis published this fall in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which Fargo co-wrote, tracked nearly 450,000 VA patients who served in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2001 to 2011. While 5.6 percent had general discharges for misconduct, they accounted for 28.1 percent of those who’d been homeless within their first year out of the military. That didn’t even take into account those with discharges that made them ineligible for VA care, and who were potentially more likely to be homeless.

Sakrisson said the Defense Department has made a “concerted effort” to assist those with PTSD who seek to have their discharge upgraded, through media campaigns, outreach to advocacy groups and military service organizations, even tracking down homeless ex-service members identified by the VA.

Coffman said a better approach would be for the military to work with troubled service members earlier, so more leave with honorable discharges.

And while being discharged for bad behavior might draw little sympathy, Adams said, “We’re talking about people who have deployed multiple times, served in combat. That has to account for something.”

The post Some military discharges mean no benefits after service ends appeared first on WTOP.

It’s bacon and eggs stuffed into buttery bread. It cooks in under 15 minutes. It’s shaped like a wreath and can feed eight people. What more can you ask for in a breakfast treat?

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Unless you have special band-aids, cuts and scrapes on your knuckles are really annoying to deal with. If you need a knuckle bandage, you can modify a typical, rectangular band-aid with a few cuts from a pair of scissors.

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Alton Brown knows a thing or two about kitchen gadgets , and making sure they’re multipurpose. In this hilarious video from the Daily Dot, he makes fun of some more colorful ones, and explains why most of these “unitaskers”aren’t worth your money.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Santa Claus is coming to town, and for the 60th consecutive year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command will continue its tradition of telling youngsters the location of Kris Kringle on his annual storybook world tour.

The so-called Santa Tracker’s hub is at Colorado’s Peterson Air Force base, where hundreds of volunteers will be answering calls from an estimated 125,000 children around the globe looking for Santa’s whereabouts.

In places like Alaska, however, remote NORAD identification technicians who monitor computer screens 24 hours a day for possible air incursions also spend Christmas Eve serving as official Santa “trackers.”

The technicians in Canada and the U.S. report “sightings” of a sleigh full of toys pulled by flying reindeer, said Tech. Sgt. John Gordinier, an Alaska NORAD spokesman.

“It’s one of the largest military community relations events we have,” Gordinier said.

___

HOW DOES NORAD TRACK SANTA?

A system of radar stations and satellites monitor all air traffic entering U.S. and Canadian airspace. All aircraft have a code to identify themselves. If an aircraft doesn’t have a code, Gordinier said, NORAD can scramble jets to see who it is and what they’re doing.

Luckily, Santa is good at keeping in touch with NORAD, Gordinier said.

“When he pops up, we call him Big Red One,” he said. “That’s his call sign.”

The nose on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a tipoff. It gives off an infrared signature similar to a missile launch, Gordinier said.

___

WHAT IS SANTA’S ROUTE?

On his mythical journey, Santa generally departs the North Pole, flies to the international date line over the Pacific Ocean, then begins deliveries in island nations. He then works his way west in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Alaska is usually his last stop before heading home, Gordinier said.

___

HOW DO CHILDREN PARTICIPATE?

Starting at 10 p.m. Alaska time on Dec. 23, and for 23 hours covering most of Christmas Eve, children can call a toll-free number, 877-446-6723 (877-Hi-NORAD) and speak to a live phone operator about Santa’s whereabouts.

They can also send an email to noradtracksanta@outlook.com.

NORAD has 157 telephone lines and hundreds of volunteers ready to answer calls, including first lady Michelle Obama, who takes a break from her Hawaii vacation to take forwarded calls.

NORAD also created a website, www.noradsanta.org; a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/noradsanta; and a Twitter account @NoradSanta for the program.

The sites include games, movies and music. “Santacams” stream videos from various locations.

___

HOW DID NORAD GET INVOLVED WITH TRACKING SANTA?

A 1955 newspaper advertisement for Sears Roebuck and Co. listed a phone number for “kiddies” to call Santa Claus but got it wrong.

The number was for a crisis phone at Air Operations Center at Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD’s predecessor, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Air Force Col. Harry Shoup took a call from a child and thought he was being pranked. When he figured out he was talking to a little boy, he pretended he was Santa.

More children called. Shoop eventually instructed airmen answering the phone to offer Santa’s radar location as he crossed the globe.

That sparked the tradition that is heading into its 60th year.

The post Military ‘tracks’ storybook flight of St. Nick for 60th year appeared first on WTOP.

WASHINGTON — Montgomery County police are gushing over a card they received from a child telling them to “think of unicorns, rainbows and pie” when they get into “bad stuff.”

The child wrote: “Police – You get into bad stuff a lot. I know. So when stuff happens just think of pie. Also think of unicorns, rainbows and pie.”

The department tweeted a photo of the card Wednesday.

We love receiving cards from children, and this one takes the cake! Or, should we say pie? pic.twitter.com/80EFfyNWFa

— Montgomery Co Police (@mcpnews) December 23, 2015

Cue the awws…

The post Child’s advice to police: ‘when stuff happens just think of pie’ appeared first on WTOP.

CHIMES, Ark. (AP) — A $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible for the poisoning and shooting of nearly 60 dogs in a northern Arkansas county is being offered by the Humane Society of the United States.

The organization announced the reward Wednesday and asked people with information to call the Searcy County Sheriff’s Department.

Workers looking at an uninhabited piece of timber property in Searcy County last week came across some of the bodies of the dogs. Investigators determined the dogs had been fed sleeping pills inside of hotdogs before being shot. Some of the dogs survived but were euthanized because of severe injuries.

The Searcy County Humane Society is caring for a handful of dogs that survived.

The post Dozens of dogs poisoned, shot in Arkansas; reward in case appeared first on WTOP.

This week’s Pet of the Week is Theo, a friendly mixed-breed who loves treats, travel and presents.

Some of his favorite spots to walk and watch airplanes land are Glencarlyn Park and Gravelly Point. He also loves snow and is likely anxiously awaiting the day some falls in Arlington.

Here’s what Theo’s owners had to say about their energetic furry friend:

Hello Arlington! I’m Theo, which is Greek for “Gift from God.” I am a 5-year-old English Pointer/Black Labrador mix, or “Pointador” for short.

My favorite daily activities include going on long walks and sitting at the front door of my house watching “doggie TV.” After dinner, I usually take over the bed where my humans sleep and make myself comfortable. For special treats, I love going to Glencarlyn Park and to Gravelly Point where I can chase airplanes as they are landing — one of these days I might even catch one!! I even have fun vacations each year when we travel to Rehoboth Beach and Cape Cod. Snow in the winter time is also a blast, romping around and playing with sticks puts a big ol’ smile on my face.

Oh, I love getting presents. In October, we celebrate my birthday and I get special doggie cakes. At Christmastime, my stocking goes right in the middle of the mantle. It has pride of place — just as it should be!

Children also make me happy. If you ever see me on one of my daily walks, don’t be afraid to let you children say hello. They just might get a big kiss!

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.

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

DC Animal Watch Washington Post These cases were handled by the Washington Humane Society, which operates its shelter at 7319 Georgia Ave. NW, and the District's, at 1201 New York Ave. NE. For information or assistance, call 202-723-5730 or go to washhumane.org. Window on flight ... and more »

We’ve shared a lot of stories about dead and dying malls, and we wouldn’t blame you if you thought that the American mall is an endangered creature. Only it isn’t: high-end malls are doing just great. It’s malls in middle-class communities geared to middle-income customers that are suffering from high vacancy rates and failing tenants.

You’ve probably seen this in action in the area where you live: you’ll find multiple sad malls on life support in less affluent areas. (One in my city became self-aware and still has a Facebook page, years after being demolished.)

Then there’s that one mall in the wealthy part of town. You know, the one with the Nordstrom, the designer purse stores in the middle, and the Tesla store. Keep your own city in mind when looking at these numbers: Bloomberg Businessweek shared research from Green Street Advisors showing that there are around 270 malls with “A” ratings––that’s the fancy mall in your city. There are about 700 malls with lesser grades, which range from malls past their prime to malls on life support with only a few stores remaining.

Why is that? Shouldn’t malls for average Americans be booming, while the rich can tap their Apple Watch a few times to order a pair of artfully distressed jeans for $300? Middle-class malls may be disappearing with the middle class itself.

Two malls in Atlanta serve as an example: the Lenox Square has a Cheesecake Factory, a Neiman Marcus, and a Bloomingdale’s, with Microsoft, Apple, and Tesla stores inside. Stores that sell electronics and cars boosts a mall’s average sales per square foot, which in turn makes the mall more appealing to retailers.

Only eight miles away is a C-grade mall, Northlake, which offers a Macy’s, a JCPenney, and a Sears, along with other lesser-name anchors. There aren’t any destination restaurants or stores selling MacBooks or cars. Its anchors are all chains that have been closing stores as people shop less at department stores in general.

These Malls Didn't Get the Memo They're Dying [Bloomberg Gadfly]

Going through airport security is about to get a bit different for some passengers: the Transportation Security Administration can now require some travelers to go through body scanners even if the person asks to get a full-body pat-down instead.

The TSA announced the mandated screening change [PDF] Wednesday morning, noting that the new system would be “warranted by security considerations in order to safeguard transportation security.”

Currently, passengers undergoing screening can decline using the body scanners, known as Advanced Imaging Technologies, or AIT, in favor of full-body pat-downs by TSA agents. Under the new mandate, not everyone can opt for the pat-down procedure.

According to the TSA’s update, the new policy was created to safeguard airline security during heightened terrorism concerns.

“Given the implementation of Automatic Target Recognition (ATR, the process of identifying the location of an object) and the mitigation of privacy issues associated with the individual image generated by previous versions of the AIT not using ATR, and the need to respond to potential security treats, TSA will nonetheless mandate AIT screening for some passengers as warranted by security considerations.”

The TSA reiterated on Twitter that the use of body-scanning technology “improves threat detection capabilities for both metallic and nonmetallic threat objects.”

The TSA reminded passengers on Wednesday that AIT scanners don’t store images or any personally identifiable information, CNN reports.

[via CNN]

Loudoun County Animal Watch Washington Post These were among cases received by the Loudoun County Department of Animal Services. For animal shelter hours and location, and information on adoption, licensing, rabies clinics and low-cost neutering, call 703-777-0406 in eastern Loudoun or ... and more »