https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/interactive/2023/rat-hunters-dc-dogs/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f005

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Washington has a rat problem. During the earliest months of the pandemic, the rodent population dispersed as restaurants shut down and office workers stayed home. But when people and their trash came back into the public sphere, so did the rats — with a vengeance. As of July, there had been nearly 11,000 service-request calls to the city this year regarding rat infestations, according to the D.C. Department of Health. There were approximately 13,000 calls for the entirety of 2022.

The city does not provide rat-abatement measures inside businesses or private property. But when someone reports an outdoor infestation, workers try to address it using two methods, says Gerard Brown, who oversees rodent control at D.C. Health: They will fill their burrows with carbon monoxide to suffocate them, and they will spray a poisonous tracking powder that gets on a rat’s fur and is ingested when they groom themselves.

The dogs are not a part of its rat regiment, says Brown, adding: “The department does not support, participate in or endorse the hunting and killing of rats with dogs.”

Most of the Ratscallions own terriers, a category of dogs that was historically bred to hunt small mammals. Freeman, the ringleader, is a breeder of Bedlingtons, and her dogs are immaculately groomed and have won prizes at major dog shows. She started letting them hunt rats as a test of their abilities.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/08/28/dc-chipotle-child-labor-settlement/

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D.C. alleges that Chipotle broke child labor law 800 times in the past three years by failing to adhere to restrictions on how much employees under 18 can work



Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay the District $322,400 and adopt new workplace protocols to resolve allegations that the fast-food giant violated D.C.’s child labor laws at least 800 times over the past three years, D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb (D) announced Monday.

Schwalb’s office said it found hundreds of instances dating to April 2020 in which Chipotle allowed children under 18 to work after 10 p.m., work more than eight hours in a single day, work more than 48 hours in a week or work more than six consecutive days in a week. All of those are violations of the city’s labor laws, according to the settlement agreement.

The settlement says that Chipotle denied D.C.’s allegations and noted the agreement is not an admission of wrongdoing. A Chipotle spokesperson did not immediately return an email and phone call requesting comment.

Chipotle, which operates 20 restaurants in the city, agreed to provide training on complying with the law to general managers and apprentice-level employees. The company must personally review the city’s child labor policy with all newly hired minors moving forward, the settlement says.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html



New York
CNN
—
The Chinese economy has hit a rough patch. That might be the catalyst needed to finally cure the West of its inflationary woes.

What’s happening: Chinese consumer spending, factory production and investments in long-term assets like property or machinery all slumped last month. Youth unemployment has hit record highs while an ongoing real estate and debt crisis has investors fearing the worst.

On Monday, the Chinese government surprised investors by deciding not to cut an important interest rate that influences mortgages. Economists say the move will make it tough to revive confidence in the country’s real estate sector, and they’ve been downgrading their forecasts for Chinese growth this year.

The world’s second largest economy, responsible for almost one-fifth of world GDP, is decelerating, and that has serious and direct implications for the rest of the world.

“All else equal, a flagging Chinese economy may be one of several catalysts that could lead to recession later this year or early next,” wrote Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds, strategists at investment management company Glenmede, in a note Monday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/17/ron-desantis-awkward/



After watching awkward videos of Ron DeSantis, Derek Guy had a horrifying realization.

Guy, a fashion writer known as the “Menswear Guy” to his large following on social media, had noticed people on X, formerly known as Twitter, making fun of the Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful for throwing off weird vibes on the campaign trail. Some of these moments have been captured on video, as things tend to be during a presidential campaign: DeSantis struggling to make small talk with voters; bursting into strange paroxysms of wide-mouthed laughter; appearing to sugar-shame a child drinking an Icee at an Iowa fair.

“What’s your name?” DeSantis asked a voter in a recent clip from a New Hampshire diner.

“Tim,” the man responds.

“Okay,” says DeSantis.

In another video, from a party after the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner, DeSantis stands ramrod straight, taking gulps of beer and checking the time on his phone and telling potential voters that normally he would already be asleep.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/15/business/janet-yellen-magic-mushrooms-china/index.html

New York
CNN
—
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ate a “magic mushroom” on a recent trip to Beijing, but the aftereffects don’t sound that special.

CNN’s Erin Burnett spoke to her Monday, asking about the “mushroom experience” that set off a social media frenzy and dramatically boosted business for a Yunnan restaurant chain, where Yellen ate the local jian shou qing.

“There was a delicious mushroom dish. I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later,” Yellen said about the group dinner that clarified that she didn’t organize nor did she do the ordering.

She didn’t have any strange visions, the “Erin Burnett OutFront” anchor joked. Yellen then said that she had “read that if the mushrooms are cooked properly, which I’m sure they were at this very good restaurant, that they have no impact.”

“But all of us enjoyed the mushrooms, the restaurant, and none of us felt any ill effects from having eaten them,” Yellen said.

https://www.arlnow.com/2023/08/12/breaking-numerous-crashes-block-i-395-after-tractor-trailer-hit-and-run-suspect-steals-arlington-ambulance/



(Updated at 11 p.m.) A suspect in a truck crashed into multiple vehicles on I-66 and I-395, then led police on a wild chase in a stolen Arlington ambulance.

The incidents started shortly after 3:30 p.m., with reports of a stolen Freightliner truck striking vehicles on I-66 in the Rosslyn area and again on northbound I-395 just before the 14th Street Bridge. I-395 was blocked by the crashes and at least two people were hurt, including one with reported significant injuries.

The same hit-and-run suspect then allegedly stole another truck before hopping in and stealing an Arlington ambulance around 4:15 p.m. Medics tried to pull the suspect out of the ambulance but he drove off, leading Virginia State Police — followed by Arlington police — on a chase through parts of Crystal City and Pentagon City. The suspect struck numerous vehicles on the northbound HOV lanes of I-395 as he fled into D.C., according to Virginia State Police.

Eventually the ambulance was stopped on I-395 in southwest D.C. and the suspect taken into custody, according to Virginia State Police.

https://twitter.com/STATter911/status/1690477210635816960

https://twitter.com/STATter911/status/1690511384121913344

https://twitter.com/STATter911/status/1690550030439002112