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Those 'Hygienic' Toilet Seats At O'Hare May Not Be So Clean

If you have to go while at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, then you need to know this:

"Motorized 'hygienic seats' that a controversial new janitorial contractor installed recently at O'Hare Airport are not very hygienic after all," the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Designed to automatically cover the seats with a fresh plastic wrap after each use, the gizmo "drags up liquid from the rim of toilet bowls and leaves drops of that liquid atop seats, on the clear plastic film," according to the newspaper. It has video here.

The contractor, according to Crain's Chicago Business, has been controversial because United Maintenance Co. did not tell authorities that it had sold a large stake of itself to another firm before winning the city business. Crain's, which has said the nearly $100 million contract now needs to be investigated, says " city law would appear to clearly require that bidders fully disclose their ownership to the city, so that aldermen and the public know who's getting what."

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NPR

Dan Brown: 'Inferno' Is 'The Book That I Would Want To Read'

Dan Brown, author of the blockbuster The Da Vinci Code, is back with his first novel in four years. Inferno follows academic hero Robert Langdon on a chase through Italy as he attempts to avert a biological catastrophe.
NPR

'Picture Cook': Drawings Are The Key Ingredients In These Recipes

Designer Katie Shelly's upcoming cookbook offers 50 illustrated recipe "blueprints" for basic meals — from simple snacks to more hefty dishes like eggplant Parmesan. She hopes they'll inspire any level of cook to improvise in the kitchen.
NPR

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

The Model S from electric car manufacturer Tesla has been named Motor Trend Car of the Year. But the company's business model is under attack by a formidable foe: the National Automobile Dealers Association, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington.
NPR

Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes

Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.

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