Something's Been Bugging Me

Turns out the Big Apple is no longer the bedbug capital of the US.  That honor goes to Philly, but here in Cincy, we're the new #2 and Ohio in particular has been hit hard by the pests.

 

The dubious honor is bestowed by Terminix, a Memphis-based pest-control firm that compiles bedbug data every year from its 300 branches across the country. The city rankings are created "by evaluating service calls from customers, as well as confirmed cases by service professionals," the company explained in a press release.

• Philadelphia wasn't the only city to pass New York in the rankings; Cincinnati moved up to No. 2, pushing NYC down to third.
• Ohio remains a hotbed of bed bug activity in general, with three of its cities -- Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland -- included in the top 15 for the third year in a row.
• Chicago and Detroit round out the top five, followed by Washington, Columbus, San Francisco, Denver and New Haven, Connecticut.
• The rest of the top 15 are Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Miami and Cleveland.

Given the fact that bedbugs really do require professional extermination measures to deal with and careful spraying over multiple visits (bed bug foggers are pretty much useless) is necessary between visits, not to mention the fact that hotels around the NKY/Cincy area have been battling the pests for a couple of years now it's no wonder that they are a growing problem in the Midwest.

New York has slammed down hard on the little bastards, but Cincy doesn't have the money.  Hamilton County is $20 million in the hole this year as it is and that means hundreds more if not thousands more jobs lost.  Bedbug fighting?  Not real high on the list when Republican budget cuts at the state level leave counties gasping for air and having to slice more cops, firefighters, and safety officials from the rolls.

The greatest, wealthiest country on earth?  Doesn't have the money to stop bedbugs.  Nope.  Let's cut taxes more and hope we can drown the vermin in the Laffer curve.