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At least she ate well. An Idaho woman was caught stealing over $170,000 from her employer — and blew most of it ordering food from delivery apps. Charlene Smith, formerly an office manager for a now-defunct tractor supply company out of Nampa, was caught embezzling the six-figure sum from 2021 to 2022 before the company closed its doors around 2023, the Idaho Tax Commission found.

The average American household is now spending $3,631 on takeout food every year - but there is one area where residents spend far above the national average. People living in the District of Columbia typically spend $6,241 a year on takeout - or $120 a week per household - according to a new study by Betway. Hawaii residents came in second, with the average home forking out $4,647 per year, followed by Maine in third with a typical spend of $4,499, Vermont with $4,443 and New Hampshire with $4,402. Oklahoma is the state where people are spending the least, with...

A 19-year-old college student developed sepsis and lost his legs and fingers after eating leftover Chinese takeout food in what a doctor described as a “perfect storm” of events. Dr. Bernard Hsu, a licensed toxicologist, described how the young man became severely ill after eating tainted leftovers, including lo mein, chicken and rice. “This was a freak accident happening in a perfect storm sequence of events,” Hsu, who did not treat the man, in a YouTube video on Feb 16. The teen’s case was first reported in March 2021 in The New England Journal of Medicine, which detailed how he...

Globally, the Italian dish was found to be the most popular Google search among online users who looked up takeout options in 2020, according to a report from British insurance comparison company MoneyBeach. The report analyzed Google search data in 109 countries, and “pizza takeaway” was the top food-related query people entered throughout 44 nations. Pizza was a top takeout search in its home country of Italy as well as Barbados, Argentina, Morocco and India, among many others. Chinese food was the second most popular search term, with 29 countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Australia, the U.K. and of course...

Less than a week after being ordered to close all dining room service and focus solely on takeout, eateries are pulling the plug on that business, too. Takeout and delivery orders in the face of crescendoing coronavirus contamination fears just aren’t pulling in enough dough to keep the lights on. Plus, it’s not safe, restaurateurs say. Cristina Castaneda on Saturday shuttered her last two remaining restaurants, including Mexican restaurant El Mitote and Mediterranean eatery Ella Social, after deciding she couldn’t continue to sell food without endangering her and her staff’s health. “I worked there all day and just couldn’t find...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Teddy's Bigger Burgers has closed its Mapunapuna location for cleaning and fired an employee after a video posted on social media shows what appears to be a rat being cooked on the eatery's grill. The video was posted on Snapchat several days ago, and subsequently shared with the company. "We are horrified that a former teenage employee would conduct themselves in that way and make such a video of which we are investigating its authenticity," said Teddy's President Richard Stula, in a statement to Hawaii News Now. He said in addition to terminating the employee, Teddy's has...

Notorious street-gang MS-13 has reportedly ordered its members to “take out” police officers in New York; hoping to send a strong message to authorities following a serious crackdown on the group throughout the region. According to the New York Post, the NYPD is on high-alert after a confidential informant told police that gang members were given a green light to murder local police officers; particularly in the nearby town of Hempstead on Long Island. “The police have been making too many arrests and it’s time to take the streets back and take out (shoot) a cop like we do in...

Editor's note: Monday's letters about a Labor Day vow by Teamsters general president James Hoffa to "take . . . out" his political opponents continue to generate a lot of interest from Newsday readers. Hoffa stood by his comments during a radio interview on Friday with KIRO-FM in Seattle. Here's an excerpt:"I'm talking about the tea party Republicans who are trying to take away everything that labor has fought for, who frustrate the president when we try and put America back to work, who are out there trying to pass right-to-work, and who are trying to take away collective bargaining...

Imagine living in China and missing Chinese food. It happens. American expatriates who grew up with popular takeout dishes like General Tso's chicken can't find it in China because it essentially doesn't exist here. Much of the Chinese food we grew up with isn't really Chinese. It's an American version of Chinese food. Chinese immigrants created it over time, adapting recipes with U.S. ingredients to appeal to American palates. Now, Americans living in Shanghai can get a fix of their beloved Chinatown cuisine at a new restaurant called Fortune Cookie. A pair of American entrepreneurs launched Fortune Cookie last year...

Tonight I went to a Chinese place and ordered "chicken chow mein" with fried rice. Why they serve rice with a noodle dish I have no idea. This is curious point # 1. When I got home with it, it was... well, not what I thought it would be. I thought chow mein was a noodle dish. It was essentially cabbage, lettuce, celery, a few carrots, and sprouts with pieces of chicken in it. All of it was swimming in a clear sauce. Served in a soup container. Curious point # 2. Now, this is not a health-inspector's dream type...

(CBS) FALL RIVER It all started with tacos and a movie and allegedly ended up as a hospital trip and testing positive for drugs. It does sound strange, but one man says it happened to him. He claims the soft tacos he bought at a fast food chain contained some sort of drug. Phillip Daggett says he grew ill after eating a soft taco he ordered from a Taco Bell on Plymouth Ave. in Fall River over the weekend. Daggett says he began feeling very strange shortly after eating one of his tacos. He claims he suffered from stomach cramps...

What should you not do at a fast-food restaurant? For starters, taking off your clothes and eating other patrons' food. David Waller, 40, of Lower Paxton, Pa., was arrested on indecent exposure and disorderly conduct charges on Oct. 1 after he disrobed, then sat down at a table occupied by two women and a 6-year-old boy and began to eat their lunch, according to police. Waller allegedly walked into the restaurant located off a local highway and headed toward the restroom. "When he left the restroom, his shorts were around his knees," Lt. Dave Hogentogler said. "He then went over...

Hi. I'm socal_parrot, and I'm a Lutheran (Hi, socal). I gave up fast food for Lent (a good chance to get right with the Lord and drop a couple lbs.). This evening, I went to a local strip mall and bought some Chinese take-out food for myself and the little woman. The restarurant was not a drive through. I actually had to park and walk in. The whole process took me 25 minutes. Would this be considered fast food? Have I kept my Lenten vow? Do I need to lay prostrate in the snow?

A suspect in the slaying of a top Venezuelan prosecutor last week was killed Tuesday in a shootout with police, an official said. The suspect, a lawyer named Antonio Lopez, was in his car when he was approached by police, police chief Henry Zerpa said. Lopez tried to escape and opened fire at police, who fired back, he said. Two policemen were wounded in the shootout in central Caracas, Zerpa said. Lopez had been sought in an investigation into the killing of prosecutor Danilo Anderson, who died in an explosion that ripped through his SUV Thursday night. The government has...

ARCADIA, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation on Thursday that would have increased the takeout on exotic wagers for races in California to help cover the soaring costs of workers' compensation policies held by horsemen. Racing officials said Schwarzenegger's veto was a major setback for an industry that is facing high operating costs in California and losing horsemen and horses to circuits in other states. The legislation, which sailed through the State Assembly and Senate with little opposition, was vetoed because the governor feared it could conflict with his long-term plans to reform the state's beleaguered workers' compensation system,...

I was chatting with an Egyptian friend in Cairo two weeks ago when she got a joke e-mailed to her cellphone, which she immediately shared with me. It said: "President Bush: Take Syria — get Lebanon for free." Now that it's become apparent that the Syrians have given military help to Saddam Hussein's army, and are alleged to be providing sanctuary for members of his despised clique, the question has been raised as to whether the Bush team might take out Syria's regime next. After all, when the Roto-Rooter truck's in the neighborhood, why not take advantage? My short answer...