FEELING RIVIAN BLUE
A recent report from Bloomberg shares a history of serious health and safety violations at automaker Rivian’s plant in Normal, Illinois, including a former employee claiming to have experienced “Rivian Blue” bile after painting R1T pickup trucks without PPE. Notably, 20-year-old Addison Zwanzig told Bloomberg that within weeks of beginning to work at Rivian in July 2023, she complained of dizziness, alongside other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, leading to weight loss. After requesting that her supervisor provide her with a respirator—which she reportedly saw other colleagues using—her request was declined. By September, Zwanzig said she was seeing doctors regarding what she described as blue-tinted vomit. Following this symptom, Rivian then provided a respirator the following month and further provided personal protective equipment (PPE) to other employees.
PUMPKIN SMASHDOWN
It’s an age-old question: can a Mercury Sable sedan withstand the gravitational force of a giant pumpkin? At this year’s Damariscotta Pumpkinfest and Regatta in Damariscotta, Maine, event organizers attempted to answer this question by dropping a 1,000-pound pumpkin onto said vehicle. This year’s event saw the Pumpkin Drop back in full force when a roughly 1,000-pound pumpkin was dropped by a crane from 200 feet off the ground and onto a Mercury Sable sedan. In a video of the event, the pumpkin successfully crushes the vehicle’s roof panel, buckling the rear doors and bending the A-pillars at a seasonally appropriate scary angle.
