Story Archive

Splatatouille

Residents in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago, Ill., are upset that “someone” filled a pothole in the street. It wasn’t a normal pothole: it was where a layer of asphalt had paved over a rodent, and when that thin layer broke away, what remained was a rat-shaped (or maybe squirrel-shaped) hole in the pavement. It became a viral neighborhood attraction — “Chicago’s Stonehenge”, commented the New York Times. “Someone did this,” Jonathan Howell grumped to a reporter after the hole was filled. “Some vandal did this.” State representative Ann Williams announced she was “shocked and saddened” by the situation, and is “closely monitoring this developing situation.” Um, “developing”? Yes: Howell used his license plate to scrape out the fill, explaining, “As a Chicagoan, I feel the preservation of history is important.” Williams was satisfied with the development, commenting, “This is what community is all about.” (RC/New York Times) ...And who better to point and laugh at the love of a rat than a New Yorker.