Grazing the Net: Coprophobics need not apply
If you live in California, you're not coprophobic (afraid of feces), and want to donate some time to a good cause, the National Park Service could use some help. Specifically, NPS needs volunteers to gather urban coyote poop. NPS biologist Justin Brown says researchers need to know how urban coyotes survive, and so they need to know what the animals eat, which can be determined from the coyotes' scat. "We are looking for around 20 volunteers to help collect poop," Brown said, "and then we're looking for another 10 to 20 volunteers to help us analyze what's in the poop."
FBI nabs man for spraying poison on food
The FBI has arrested a man who sprayed a poisonous mixture on open food in multiple Michigan grocery stores. About 15 stores - including Whole Foods Market and a Kroger - in five cities may have been targeted.
The suspect allegedly sprayed a combination of hand cleaner, water and mouse poison on produce over the past two weeks.
Authorities have not speculated on a motive, but the case brings back memories of the 1982 deaths of seven people who swallowed cyanide-laced Tylenol in the Chicago area. Those murders remain unsolved, but the incident forever changed the way consumer goods are packaged and sold.
Bundy trial date set
A federal judge has set Feb. 6, 2017, as the trial date for Cliven Bundy and 18 others charged in the 2014 armed standoff in Nevada. Bundy and most of the defendants opposed the trial date on grounds it would violate their constitutional right to a speedy trial. But the judge said the "ends of justice" would be served by moving the trial to February. She also declared the case complex and set a series of deadlines for pre-trial motions. Prosecutors have until tomorrow to turn over a large share of the evidence they have accumulated over the last two years.
Domino's slices antibiotics
Domino's Pizza Group, the independent British branch of the international pizza-delivery giant, told the media last month that it has stringent limits on antibiotics usage. Domino's suppliers in the U.K., "use antibiotics only when necessary to treat disease" and while "under strict veterinary supervision." That might sound like a common-sense approach but it stands in marked contrast to the way most meat and poultry suppliers routinely treat animals with medicine to defend against illness and encourage growth.
