Amanda & Darik’s Three Things You Need To Know – 01-02-19

From a 2-year-old falling into a rhino exhibit at the zoo to M&Ms and child labor, and the government shutdown, here’s what you need to know this morning.

By DAVID on January 2, 2019
(Photo courtesy of Zoological Society of San Diego/Online USA)

It’s Wednesday, January 2nd of the new year. Happy New Year to you and your family! We’ve got some brief news updates to get your day started, including M&Ms vowing to combat child labor, a child who fell into a rhinoceros exhibit, and the government shutdown.

Let’s start with the child who fell into the rhino exhibit. It happened in Florida yesterday, New Year Day. At the time, the 2-year-old child and her mother were participating in an interactive exhibit. The people are separated from the animals, of course, but the child was small enough to fall through the steel posts. “At least one of rhinoceroses” came up to the girl and bumped into her. She was in the hospital, but is doing ok. More information on that story here.

The government shutdown is getting into day 12. It’s a “partial” shutdown, so they’re still running, but with “essential staff only.” Apparently toilet services are not “essential,” because many of the state park toilets are starting to overflow. Trash has long been overflowing, but the toilets is a new one for me. During the last shutdown, parks closed up totally. During this shutdown though, parks are staying open, but they’re totally understaffed. They just don’t have the manpower to handle things in a timely fashion. Here’s more info on that problem.

M&Ms are stepping up, specifically the parent company Mars. They’ve pledged 1-billion dollars to help combat child labor. How they’re planning on doing that is by making sure the sources they’re using are ethical. “Mars plans on working with independent authorities to ensure that all of their products are sourced without causing or contributing to deforestation, child labor, environmental degradation, or worker exploitation.” See some more on that awesome news over here.

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