Apartment City

RIO DE JANEIRO ― Seven years ago, Vila Autódromo was little more than a tranquil fishing village on the edge of Jacarepagua Lagoon, next to the racetrack for which it was named. Like the hundreds of other favelas that dot Rio de Janeiro ’s landscape, it had long been neglected by the city government , and it lacked many basic public services that are standard in the fast- growing wealthier neighborhoods just across the water. But to the more than 600 families that lived there, it was home. “This was a paradise,” said Luiz Cláudio Silva, who lived in Autódromo for more than 20 years. “I thought that I would live here for the rest of my life.” By the time the Rio Olympics are over, just 20 of the families who lived in Autódromo in 2009, the year the International Olympic Committee chose the city to host the games, will remain. The community, which sits less than a mile away from Rio’s Olympic Park, was crushed so that the city could build new access roads to connect Olympic venues . ...

The Northwest Georgia Housing Authority has been selected to participate in a research trial of a new chemical product to get rid of bed bugs without displacing apartment dwellers for an extended period of time. The housing authority also approved a new “Working Preference” policy that will impact residents of five public housing complexes in Rome and Rockmart. Norman Pleger, the director of technical services for the housing authority , told the board of directors Wednesday the agency will be the only housing authority in Georgia to participate in the study being led by Professor Nina Jenkins at Pennsylvania State University . “It’s an all natural bio-insecticide,” Pleger said. “You don’t have to move out of the house, but they recommend that you do stay out of the house about four hours after the application.” Pleger said the treatment completely eradicates bed bugs within four to seven days. He said the early research recommends application in areas that are prone to bed bu...