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Regardless of what strange beliefs still abound about cats — of the black or other varieties — it’s safe to say that most people feel fortunate to have them in their lives.
Just in time for All Hallows’ Eve, be sure to show off your bewitching black beauties in our black cat gallery!
For more fun reading about black cat mythology, check out this previous post.
Scotland's police chief has said he will not resign following the death of a couple who lay in a crashed car for three days after it was first reported to the force.
Lamara Bell, 25, was critically injured in the crash off the M9 near Stirling on Sunday July 5 and died in hospital yesterday, while her partner, John Yuill, 28, died at the scene.
They were only found in the car on Wednesday, around 72 hours after the accident, despite the incident having been reported to police on the day it happened.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House said he believes it is right for him to stay and provide leadership within the organisation.
He said: "In anything like this I consider my position. I think you would be inhuman if you didn't. You see what's happened over the last week and think about that, and I certainly have.
"I believe the right thing to do is to stay to get through this process, to get through this tragic event and the series of events that followed it and to see what can be done to fix the situation.
"I don't want anyone out there thinking I'm the type of person that says 'I'll never go, I'll have to be forced out'.
"If I come to the conclusion that I should resign then I will resign. I don't believe that's the case at this moment in time.
Sir Stephen last week apologised to the relatives of the two crash victims and admitted police had ''failed both families''.
He said today the force is in the middle of "massive change'' in how it handles calls which still has some way to go.
"I remain confident and convinced the reforms we're pushing through is the right way to go and provides a more efficient and more professional service,'' he said.
"The tragedy is that I'm saying this against the background of two people who have died and that's been our error which we've acknowledged.
Scottish Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has ordered Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) to undertake an urgent review of all police call handling following the incident.
The case is also subject to an independent probe by the police investigations and review commissioner (Pirc).
Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Elaine Murray has said that Sir Stephen should be considering his position, while acting Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said the Justice Secretary is "the only person in Scotland who still has confidence in the chief constable''.
The couple were reported missing after visiting Loch Earn, Stirlingshire, in a blue Renault Clio.
It emerged that a member of the public contacted Police Scotland at around 11.30am on Sunday July 5 to report that they could see the vehicle down an embankment near the M9 slip road at Bannockburn.
The call was answered, but ''for reasons yet to be established'' it was not entered on to the police systems and no action was taken at the time.
The car was found when officers were called to the scene by another member of the public on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Ms Bell's brother Martin has posted his thanks on Facebook to the community in Falkirk.
He wrote: "I'm blown away by the effort and time our community in falkirk are putting into making the loss of my sister as painless as possible for my family.
"There has been two donation pages been set up one for my family and johns family for any funeral arrangements ...and another where any money raised will go to the kids that have been left behind with out a parent (sic).
Observed: Ceiling vents in kitchen area found not clean. Required: Shall be cleaned as often as necessary to keep them clean.
Observed: Vents in walk-in cooler found not clean. Required: Shall be cleaned as often as necessary to keep them clean.
Observed: Several cutting boards discolored and severe scoring. Required: Cutting boards shall be resurfaced or replaced if they can no longer be effectively cleaned and sanitized.
Observed: A lot of ice build up on the floor of the walk-in freezer. Required: Shall be cleaned as often as necessary to keep clean.
Observed: Sponges found by dish machine. Required: Sponges may not be used in contact with cleaned and sanitized or in-use food-contact surfaces.
Observed: In serving station area shelving found not clean that is used for storing plates and bowls. Required: Nonfood-contact surfaces of equipment shall be kept free of an accumulation of dust, dirt, food residue, and other debris.
Observed: Lights in hood above cooking station and light over serving station not shielded. Required: Light bulbs shall be shielded in area where there is exposed food, clean equipment, utensils, linens, and single service articles.
Observed: Not properly documenting time when using "Time as a Public Health Control". Required: Maintain proper documentation when using time control.
Observed: Large ice machine had build up of debris on the inside. Required: Clean at a frequency necessary to preclude accumulation of soil or mold.
Observed: Few ceiling vents and walls with accumulation of debris. Required: Physical facilities shall be cleaned as often as necessary to keep them clean.
Observed: Several utensils being stored unclean in kitchen area. Required: Utensils shall be stored clean to sight and touch.
Observed: Dish machine not properly chemically sanitizing when the chlorine concentration read less than 50ppm. Establishment instructed to set-up sanitizing sink until machine is serviced. Required: Dish machine chlorine concentration should be between 50-100ppm.
Observed: Not properly documenting time when using "Time as a Public Health Control" for all phf items. Required: Maintain proper temperature documentation when using "Time Control".
Observed: Can opener blade found with excessive dried food debris. Removed from service to be properly cleaned. Required: Properly clean within 4 hours of use with a potentially hazardous food.
Observed: Soda gun nozzle at bar is not clean. Required: Maintain soda soda nozzles clean.
Observed: Can opener blade being stored not clean. Required: Can opener blade required to be cleaned within 4 hours of use with a potentially hazardous food.
Observed: Dish machine not properly chemically sanitizing.when chlorine reads less than 10 ppm. Required: Chlorine concentration should be in the range of 50-100 ppm.
Observed: No thin probed thermometer available. Required: Need to have thin probed thermometer.
Observed: Some uncovered food items in dry storage area. Required: Food items required to covered at all times.
Observed: Employee preparing ready-to-eat foods with bare hands. Food was discarded and issue reviewed with management. Required: Employee must wear gloves when handling ready-to-eat foods.
Observed: Can opener blade being stored not clean. Required: Can opener shall be properly cleaned within 4 hours of use with a potentially hazardous food.
Observed: Utensils being stored unclean in the kitchen. Required: Food contact surfaces and utensils shall be stored clean to sight and touch.
Observed: Not properly documenting time when using Time as a Public Health Control. Required: Properly document times when food is placed out and discarded.
Observed: The refrigertaion unit fan blade covers in the walk-in cooler have excessive mold/debris build-up. Required: Maintain refrigeration equipment clean to prevent potential contaimination of food.
Chicken salad and shrimp salad found stored past use by date. Must be used within 7 days of prepared. Product discarded.
Product in containers in walk in cooler found not datemarked. Must be marked with date made or discard date. Correct on site.
Chemicals found stored next to food and food contact surfaces. Must be stored seperately to prevent contamination. Corrected on site.
Ground beef found stored on top of whole cuts of beef. Must be stored seperately to prevent contamination. Corrected on site.
Back door found not tight fitting. Must be insect and pest tight.
Employee personal items found stored on serving line.
Floor around dividing wall in kitchen and under ice machine found unclean.
Found knives and meat slicer not clean to sight and touch. Items were either taken to dish area or cleaned by washing, rinsing, and sanitizing.
Found open drink in food prep area. All drinks must have a lid and straw. Drink was removed from area.
Found food not protected under sneeze guard protection on buffet area. Install sneeze guard. A re-inspection will be performed.
Found Potentially Hazardous Foods on buffet not being cold held at or below 41ºF. All items on buffet have been placed on time control.
Found mold on shelves, fan, walls, and ceiling in walk-in. Walk-in should be cleaned more frequently.
Found salt on the line not covered, cake in walk-in not covered.
Found ice machine deflector plate not clean with mold build up.
Found dead insects on wall not being removed by walk-in.
Found cooked chicken breasts not cooling properly, being stored covered sitting out at room temperature. Chicken was 92-100F, so was re-heated to 165F, then cooling process started again.
Found open drinks in the kitchen area. The drinks were discarded.
Found several items in the walk-in and line cooler that were missing the date-mark, deli ham, cooked noodles, etc.. Items were properly date labeled before end of inspection.
Found bar sink sanitizer too strong. Sanitizer was re-made and tested between 50-100ppm for chlorine.
Found shrimp being held 48-50F on self serve buffet when requred to be cold held at or below 41F. Shrimp was discarded.
Found hand wash sink in disrepair in server area. Sink was fixed before end of inspection.
Found fan covers, electrical conduit, and walls with mold.
Found ice deflector plate not clean. Ice deflector plate was cleaned before the end of the inspection.
Found evidence of dead insects. Frequency of cleaning under equipment should be increased and a more frequent schedule created.
Found can opener not clean. All food contact surfaces must be stored clean to sight and touch. Corrected by being washed, rinsed, and sanitized at dish area.
Found meat slicer not clean. All food contact surfaces must be stored clean to sight and touch. Corrected by washing, rinsing, and sanitzing all parts of the meat slicer.
Found employee with open drink in dish machine area. Drinks are required to have a lid and straw. Corrected by replacing drink with lid and straw.
Found chemical bottles at dish machine area not properly labeled. Corrected by labeling chemical bottles with common name.
Found utensils/knives not being stored clean. All food contact surfaces must be stored clean to sight and touch. Corrected by taking utensils/knives to dish area to be washed, rinsed, and sanitized.
Found items on the buffet/self-serve area not cold holding properly. All cold hold items must be held at or below 41 degrees F. Food was discarded.
Found hand wash sink not being used for only hand washing. Corrected by removal of lettuce being stored in the sink.
Found inside of ice machine not clean.
Found bulk storage items, flour, sugar, rice not being stored properly with a cover. Items were re-arranged and stored covered.
Found single serve containers being re-used instead of as a single serve items.
Observed several utensils being stored unclean in kitchen area. Items pulled from service to be properly cleaned.
Not properly cold holding a potentially hazardous food when the calamari and shrimp being cold held on the salad bar both read above 50F when required to be held at 41F or below. Items were discarded.
Meat slicer observed being stored unclean when required to be properly cleaned within 4 hours of use with a potentially hazardous food. Properly cleaned at the time of inspection.
One of the two and wash sinks in kitchen is not working. Repair and a reinspection will be performed on 08-27-2015.
Some uncovered food items in the freezer.
Reach-in cooler missing a thermometer.
Michael Preteroti was person in charge at time of inspection.
Beth Clark was person in charge at time of inspection. Some of these violations were the result of a complain investigation.
Inspection Frequency Food establishments are inspected one to three times a year using the Missouri State Food Code. The frequency of inspection is based on the type of food served, the population served, the difficulty level of food preparation, and the inspection history of the facility. Restaurants preparing food fr...
Food Inspection Violations Food inspection violations found during an inspection fall into the priority or non-priority category. Priority items can have a direct impact on the safety of the food. Non-priority items are usually sanitation or maintenance issues and are the items most often observed by the public while d...
Non-priority Violations Non-priority items play an important role in the overall performance of the facility but alone do not directly affect food safety. Examples of non-priority violations include: Dirty floors; Dirty non-food contact equipment; Grease on the floor; Outside trash cans not covered; Repair issues; Stic...
The US Justice Department last week filed an antitrust suit over a real estate industry rule that it considers unfair to online estate agents and consumers by allowing estate agents to opt-out of having their properties exhibited on internet listings.
This policy prevents consumers from receiving the full benefits of competition and threatens to lock in outmoded business models and discourage discounting, said the Department in its case against the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
According to the Department, in most markets, real estate brokers share information about properties for sale, known as listings, through the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – a joint venture among competing brokers. Participation in the local MLS makes it possible for a broker to provide customers with listings f...
Traditionally, brokers provided listings for properties to their customers in a variety of ways, such as by hand at their offices, or by mail, fax, or email. But some brokers have recently begun offering brokerage services to their customers over the internet, using so-called virtual office websites, or VOWs.
VOWs are password-protected internet sites that allow the broker's customers to search the MLS database on their own, using their home computers to obtain the same information that would be available in a broker's brick-and-mortar office.
This gives consumers more control over their search for a home, allowing them to educate themselves about their options at their own pace and on their own time. It also allows brokers to reduce the time that their agents spend searching the MLS database or showing homes the customer dislikes.