Lunchline: Car-sharing market gets more crowded

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Monday, March 26, 2012 I saw "The Hunger Games" last night. I didn't think the child violence would bother me, but it did. Greatly, in fact. It's not gory per se, but the psychological buy-in required to take the film seriously might stay with you in a way you don't like. I've seen more hoodies in the past week than I've ever seen in my life. The nation has donned the gear in a show of solidarity with Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teenager who was shot and killed last month by a neighborhood watch patroller. The Post's Katherine Boyle explains the history of the garment. More explicitly, The Post's Jonathan Capehart points out that reaction to this incident has given him hope that America has a new understanding of a perennial fear among blacks. And don't forget, this stuff still happens. Zipcar has some competition in D.C. The car-sharing service that seems to have the market cornered with its funny-named cars and orange posts all over the city will now have Car2Go and Hertz On Demand. While the latter company is still in its early stages with only 25 vehicles, Car2Go flooded the market with 200 smart cars that seem super tiny, even for their kind. Capital Business' Abha Bhattarai reports on how more major companies are moving in to the shared car business. The image of a polar bear floating on a block of ice is iconic. And as the amount of ice in the Arctic disappears at a faster rate, polar bears are at greater risk of going the way of the dodo. Now, scientist are suggesting that captivity might the only way to maintain the genetic biodiversity of the species. Problem is, keeping polar bears is an extremely expensive proposition. The Post's Juliet Eilperin breaks down the difficult process of keeping an animal population's numbers up. If you plan to buy a car anytime soon, make sure to read the fine print on the safety ratings. Most car companies will only advertise what happens in a crash with a male dummy in the car. But if you're a woman, elderly or obese things might be different. Ever since the federal government started using a more diverse mix of crash test dummies last year, they've been able to prove, somewhat unsurprisingly, that smaller bodies will likely not fare as well in a car crash. The Post's Katherine Shaver reports. Yesterday's game was one the Caps had to have. After their disappointing loss Friday night to Winnipeg, they needed a win not only for momentum, but to get back in the playoff race. Alex Ovechkin played a huge part in yesterday 3-0 win over Minnesota, which put the Capitals back into the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference. The Post's Katie Carrera has the gamer from Sunday's victory. Also, there is big news in D.C. sports blog country. Extra Bites • If you don't know who Bert Sugar is, I feel for you. The man is one of the all-time great characters in sports and one of the original "Mad Men." He passed away Sunday at age 75. • It looks like Facebook is making official forays into your dating life and not just in the form of stalking and background checks. • Five words: Chick-fil-A food truck. April 9. Check out my Facebook fan page, my Twitter feed, or e-mail me at clinton.yates@wpost.com Get The Washington Post, your way. Want to stay on top of the latest news, features, commentary and more? Here's how: Mobile: Alerts: Social Media: Applications Web site E-mail SMS RSS Feeds Facebook Twitter SEND TO A FRIEND UNSUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER CENTER GET HELP Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20071 ©2012 The Washington Post Privacy Policy