January 2021
Friday, January 1, 2021 - Edition #166
Furball Ratty’s Gang Caught: Overview of Top of Gang
Yesterday the rest of Furball Ratty’s gang was caught. We give you a short overview of the top 3 gang members.
Jannice O'Possum
Jannice O’Possum is a known criminal around New Prairie Town. She specializes in robbing sweet stores. She was spotted outside of Gerbil Town and arrested. Jannice was found to be helping Furball Ratty sell his wares on the black market and helping to organize his robberies.
Brian Saltyfur
Brian Saltyfur started out as a fishermouse in New Guinea Pig City. In 2015, he was reported to have stolen a diamond ring. Officials think he joined Furball Ratty shortly afterwards and quickly became his top advisor. Brian was caught trying to flee in his boat. Fortunately, the current was against him.
JR Sunflower
Janet Raven Sunflower is a skunk, and knows its advantages. Experts think Janet was found by Furball Ratty and grew up with his gang. She is bad and planning, but knows how to make the guards unconscious.
Monday, January 4, 2020 - Edition #167
Furball Ratty’s Story: Early Life
Furball Ratty was born in 2000 in Hamsterville, Hamstington to Alex Ratty and Patricia Ratty.
In 2008, Furball started at Hamsterville School for Rodentia. However, in fifth grade Furball dropped out after his parents divorced. He moved with his mother to Squirrel Village. There his mother homeschooled him until 7th grade. At the beginning of 7th grade, Patricia decided to enroll in Furball at the Squirrel Village School.
Shortly afterwards, Patricia fell ill and was no longer active in Furball’s school life. So, she failed to notice that he had started stealing. Furball started a smuggling club with some of his friends.
All this would contribute to Furball’s later career in smuggling and stealing.
Tuesday, January 5, 2021 - Edition #168
Interview: Yuma Mountain
Interview with Yuma Mountain, Mr. Masamoto’s new employee.
Reporter: Hello Yuma! You are a coati from Japan, correct?
Yuma: Yes. I was born in Japan and recently moved to New Guinea Pig City.
Reporter: Why did you seek work at the Little Takayama Seaweed Café?
Yuma: My parents know the Masamoto family, and when I saw the hiring ad I decided to try it out. It's very fun.
Reporter: Can you elaborate on the issues the café is recently having?
Yuma: Yes. A couple weeks after I was hired, the winter in Hamstington really started to get worse. Before, Mr. Masamoto had been able to do take-out, etc. However, he currently decided to close over the winter. He is teaching me how to cook in the traditional style over CamChat.
Reporter: What is CamChat?
Yuma: Its a online place where you can do video calls.
Reporter: Thank you for this interview, Yuma! Good luck!
Wednesday, January 6, 2021 - Edition #169
Mrs. Angelina Berryfrost’s Meditation Studio
Mrs. Angelina Berryfrost owns a meditation studio in the Squirrel Village area.
Sora Blackberry, a harvest mouse, is a regular student and recommended the studio to The Daily Squeaker.
Mrs. Berryfrost’s meditation studio can be found on the outskirts of Squirrel Village. She has a large patio where classes are held. A clear covering covers the patio in case it rains.
Mrs. Berryfrost only accepts 6-8 rodents per class. Classes are held Monday through Friday from 10:00am - 11:30am. Rodents sit outside on cushions, classes may be canceled due to bad weather.
If you ever have a free day, or are in the Squirrel Village area stop by the Berryfrost Relaxation Studio!
Thursday, January 7, 2021 - Edition #170
Ms. Guinea - Headache Issues
Owner of Cafe Guinea suffering from Headaches
Ms. Guinea, owner of Café Guinea in New Guinea Pig City, recently closed her café for a couple days due to a severe headache.
Since January 3, 2021 Ms. Guinea has kept her café closed. Many regular guests were puzzled about why. One guest, Dawn Flowers, managed to call Ms. Guinea about her café.
She was hard to hear and sounded weak, Dawn reported. Dawn started a suggestions box outside Café Guinea, where rodents could put in ideas to help cure the headache.
Dawn is planning on bringing the suggestions to Ms. Guinea on Friday. Please note, since the box is already almost overflowing, two more boxes were added, please choose the one with the least letters to put in your suggestion.
Friday, January 8, 2021 - Edition #171
Georgia Ginger moves to Little Lemming
Georgia Ginger, a guinea pig on the international ice skating team recently announced that she was moving to the new city of Little Lemming.
Little Lemming is a very new city, finished in October 2020. It surrounds the Paw-print lake.
Georgia recently owned an apartment in New Lemmington, there were a couple contributing factors why. One of the main reasons why she moved were her new apartment neighbors. There was only a thin wall connecting the apartments and Georgia could hear everything that was going on. Another reason is that the ice skating team practice are in New Guinea Pig City and Little Lemming is closer and has a easier accessible train station.
Georgia bought a waterfront property, with a canoe, that has a large garden and small, Japanese styled, house.
Monday, January 11, 2021 - Edition #172
Robert Greenpaw Caught & Confesses
Mrs. Lea Lemure saw him early yesterday morning slinking through the streets of New Prairie Town. Mrs. Lemure had been making her morning cup of tea when she saw him and promptly called the police.
Robert Greenpaw was caught without a fight and confessed what had happened. Mr. Strictfur and Detective Gerbilia’s hunches had been correct. Robert Greenpaw would not reveal why he robbed the bank though.
Robert Greenpaw robbed the Bank of Hamstington. The case was closed in August when Detective Gerbilia found Robert Greenpaw guilty. Since then, Robert Greenpaw has been on the run.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 - Edition #173
Austin Furball Wins Golf Tournament!
The annual Hamstington Golf Tournament was held yesterday. The tournament was held this year in Hamsterville. Many rodents are very happy that the wintery weather has left Hamstington and the day was pleasant and warm.
The winner of the tournament was Mr. Austin Furball. The 88 year old chinchilla has been winning the annual golf tournament for the past 26 years! There were some new faces at the tournament this year.
Lillah Racoon entered the tournament and won second place
Alberta Ria won 5th place in the tournament. Racoons seem to be very good at golf
Robert Kat is a ring-tailed lemur and one of the new judges of the annual golf tournament
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 - Edition #174
Interview with two cats!
We interviewed Melissa Cielo-Invernale, and Teresa Oros. They are two cats living in Hamsterville who were inspired by Lizzie Overmeer’s story to speak out.
Reporter: Good evening, Ms. Melissa Cielo-Invernale! How are you?
Melissa: Very well, I recently had a bad case of flees though.
Reporter: Just out of interest, what does Cielo-Invernale mean?
Melissa: Cielo-Invernale is Italian for Sky-Winter or Winter-Sky.
Reporter: Are you Italian?
Melissa: Yes.
Reporter: As a cat, how are you treated in Hamsterville?
Melissa: I already lived in Hamsterville when the law came out “banning” cats. A VERY unpleasant rat law official came to my door demanding to see my papers. My papers are all in order, so I was allowed to stay. I work in a pizzeria and most rodents are used to me, but whenever foreign rodents see me …
Because of foreign rodents I lost my job at multiple cafes and restaurants.
Reporter: Why do you think rodents are so scared of cats?
Melissa: I think most rodents know that cats won’t hurt them, but I think it's just an old, natural instinct.
***
Reporter: Hello, Mrs. Oros! How are you?
Teresa: Ok, I’m very *yawn* tired.
Reporter: You are a writer, correct?
Teresa: Yes, I have a column in the Hamsterville Harold on star-gazing and I have published several crime novels. One of them, By the Queen’s Flippers, is currently on the Hamstington Bestseller list.
Reporter: How does the rodent public react to your books?
Teresa: I have found that writing about penguins seems to have helped. I don’t write about cats or rodents so they don’t see my books as a threat.
Reporter: Thank you for this interview, Mrs. Oros!
Thursday, January 14, 2021 - Edition #175
Bertram Winters: NGPC Channel Cleaner
Mr. Bertram Winters is the NGPC Channel Cleaner. He was delighted to tell us about his job. Bertram is a water rat. He loves the ocean, channels, streams, rivers, and lakes of Hamstington. He was born in Squirrel Village.
Due to this year’s harsh winter, Bertram is experiencing issues cleaning the channel. Bertram lives year-round on his narrowboat, Lady Skylark.
Every day he cruises up and down the NGPC City Channel and fishes out leaves, branches, and trash. He makes sure that the waterway is free of trash. He also trims trees and bushes that are hanging into the channel.
There are also multiple bridges crossing the City Channel that Bertram cleans almost every day.
Bertram is currently the only City Channel cleaner. He is a 72 year old rat and is thinking of retiring. He only hopes that his profession won’t die out and that the NGPC officials find another Channel Cleaner.
Even when he retires he plans on continuing to live on the City Channel on Lady Skylark.
Friday, January 15, 2021 - Edition #176
Explaining: Hamstinton VS Froggy-World
All rodents know that there has been some tension between Hamstinton and Froggy-World in the past. However, not many rodents actually know what this was about.
It all started in 1590. At this point in history, Rodentus wasn’t split up into countries yet. All the animals lived together on what is now Hamstinton. In 1590, the royal family ruling Hamstington banished all frogs. They were given 48 hours to leave.
Sir Leo Green, an explorer, had found a large island some weeks before. He organized a way for all frogs to be moved to this island within the next 48 hours.
That is when Froggy-World was born. The rulers named the country Froggy-World because they were cut off from the rest of the planet. They were their own ‘world’.
Until 1933, the two countries ignored each other. Up to that point, both countries had thriving space programs and were traveling throughout space. In 1932, when the prime minister of Froggy-World traveled to Hamstinton he realized that both programs had flaws that the other could fix. In 1933, the two programs combined and formed IRSTA (International Rodent Space Travel Association). They realized that the rodents were better at becoming astronauts, and that the frogs had a knack for building excellent space ships.
In 1980, the two countries had another disagreement and ignored each other for the next 25 years. Thankfully, IRSTA stayed out of politics and continued to operate.
Monday, January 18, 2021 - Edition #177
Hamstinton Got Talent!
This weekend, Hamstington held its first ever, national talent show!!! Over 200 rodents competed. The talent show was divided into 5 talents: dance, music, poetry & writing, art, and other.
The band 2 Paws to the Left won the music metal. The reggae star ‘Crazy Blue’ won the other metal for a self-written song and dance routine. Ariana Basil won the dance metal for ballet routine to the classical piece ‘Ocean Breeze’ by Henric Paw. The poetry & writing metal went to Josh Paw for a short poem:
Spring Starlight
Bright Bluebells
Warm, Sunny Days
Those
Little things
Bring the most joy
The final metal, art, was awarded to Carrie Lain who drew a picture of ‘Crazy Blue’ with pastels.
The judges for the event were Mira Beachram, Willow Furball, and Peter Electrified-Teeth. To view all the submissions for the talent show visit hamstingtontalent.org/submissions.
Tuesday, April 19, 2021 - Edition #178
Rising Hamsterwood Star: Who is Angelina Chai?
Angelina Chai is a lemur and actress living in Hamsterville. The most popular film she starred in was Great Aunt Anne, she played the maid Elizabeth.
Angelina Chai started acting when she was 10 years old. At the time, her dream job was to be a professional ice skater. Then, she took a 10 week long summer acting camp. She was hooked on acting. She continued to take acting classes year-round and studied drama in high school and college. Then she landed her first role in Hamsterwood. A small role in the rodent movie Captain Earth: Willow Tree.
That was in 2014. Since then Angelina Chai has had roles - large and small - in over 10 films. While still acting, Angelina took classes at the Squirrel Village college in astronomy and Skunkish.
Angelina published her first autobiography in June 2018. Her second book, Dreaming of Stars, will be published in October 2021.
She is currently starring in the movie Lemur Stories: The Lost Legend as Lilly Amber. On the side is the not yet ‘official’ movie poster
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 - Edition #179
Hamstington Gardens: Tea Party!
Agatha Sparrow held a Tea Party in the Hamstington Botanical garden in Volington yesterday. Her guest list included Lady Woodmouse (author of Rodents of the Sea), Linda Snowball (famous scary-story author), and Sir Shortwhiskers (Top Sports Coach).
The rodents (and birds) enjoyed a picnic lunch provided by Agatha Sparrow and had a “mini book conference”. Agatha Sparrow, who publishes her 5th book Wings in May 2021, chatted with the other rodents about books, writing, and author visits. Sir Shortwhiskers, one of the top sports in Hamstington, has a column in the Hamsterville Harold on sports, sports tips, and sports team members. So, he also had something to contribute to the discussion.
The authors agreed on doing some group author visits to schools, high schools, and universities. They will also be doing group writing classes. The benefit of the group writing classes are that rodents will learn biography, newspaper, and fiction writing.
Thursday, January 21, 2021 - Edition #180
Parrota Family starts Dance School in Ratstown!
Alexandra Parrota decided to open a Dance School for rodents and birds in Ratstown. Alexandra lives in Ratstown with her husband, Pete, and her sister, Viviana. Her entire family has agreed to help Alexandra create her dream of opening a dance school. This is the same dream that her mother and grandmother had before her.
The school will provide classes for both rodents and birds. The official opening date is January 22! Classes will be four days a week and will be 1 hour long. The Parrota family will also be doing private/individual classes. Just ask!
Many different types of dance will be taught at the Parrota Dance Studio (the official name). Marcia Parrota (Alexandra’s grandmother) will be teaching traditional parrot/bird/rodents dances. Viviana Parrota (Alexandra’s sister) will be teaching modern dances. Finally, Alyssa Parrota (Alexandra’s mother) will be teaching classic dances (waltz, etc).
The official opening will be tomorrow at 3:30pm sharp.
Parrota Dance Studio address is:
2267 Green Street,
Ratstown, Hamstinton
Friday, January 22, 2021 - #181
Walnut Tree Falls in Squirrel Village!
Yesterday in Squirrel Village one of the prized Walnut Trees fell over due to high winds. The tree fell during the daytime and caused a large panic. Thankfully, the tree that fell was at the edge of the grove and did not hit any other trees or homes.
Annabeth Badger, sister of Bella Badger (see BONUS ARTICLES), takes care of the Walnut Grove in Squirrel Village and is very distressed. Annabeth lives near the Walnut Grove and fears that more trees could fall over. Possibly striking her house. Another issue is that the 2020 nut crop was poor and a lack of trees could damage this year’s walnut crop.
The woodshop of Squirrel Village has organized a team to lift the walnut tree out of the grove and to bring it to the woodshop. There the wood can be used to create things for the rodents of Squirrel Village. High winds are expected for the rest of the weekend. Rodents are not recommended to walk in the Squirrel Village tree groves until further investigation by the Rodent Wildlife Safety Organization.
Monday, January 25, 2021 - Edition #182
Tapas Truck!
Señor Wild-Color started a new tapas food truck. Tapas are small dishes, like an appetizer, that originate from Spain. Since Froggish is a Spanish dialect and Froggy-Land has many Spanish traditions.
Señor Wild-Color’s tapas truck is called Little Bites. The truck will be moving throughout Hamsterville daily.
Little Bites’s menu will include traditional tapas, as well as Señor Wild-Color’s food creations. The tapas truck will also be serving hot chocolate, seasonal lemonade, and soda. Little Bites has been open for about the week now, and Señor Wild-Color says his most popular dish is his goat cheese and fig toasts.
If you stop by in Hamsterville and are searching for Little Bites, the best places to check are:
Downtown Hamsterville
By the Hamsterville Cinema
On North Carrot Lane
Seaside Library Branch
Hamsterville weekly Farmers Market
Little Bites is a small, blue food truck with blue and white striped overhang and a chalkboard menu.
Interview with Señor Wild-Color tomorrow!!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - Edition #183
Señor Wild-Color Interview
Reporter: Why did you decide to open a tapas truck?
Señor Wild-Color: I love cooking, especially small, little appetizers - and tapas best fit that description.
Reporter: How did you choose whether to do a food truck or restaurant?
Señor Wild-Color: With a restaurant, you don’t meet as many people. Yes, people come by, you have some regular customers, but that's it.
Reporter: When did you come to Hamstington?
Señor Wild-Color: I came here in 2018, I was living in Froggy-World until then.
Reporter: Are you happy with Little Bites?
Señor Wild-Color: Very, she’s not too big - but there's plenty of kitchen space.
Reporter: do you work alone - or do you have a helper?
Señor Wild-Color: I work alone, I collect 3-5 orders and write them down and then create them.
Reporter: What are you planning to do during winter or during cold weather?
Señor Wild-Color: I plan to open my Tapas Truck, I have warm drinks and warm food. Who doesn’t love hot cocoa on a cold day???
Reporter: Good point. You mentioned using traditional recipes - and your own. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Señor Wild-Color: Yes, some people love traditional food, while others wonder - what would happen if I add orange to a brownie? - I’m that kind of person. I love experiments and different flavors.
Reporter: Thank you for this interview, Señor Wild-Color!
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - Edition #184
New Prairie Town Pottery Closes
The Ceramic Cup was the pottery owned and run by Susan Woodmouse. Susan, age 95, finally decided to retire and close the shop after over 60 years.
Susan decided to close the shop on her 95th birthday, January 25. She had tears in her eyes as she handed over the keys to Lucy Woodmouse, her niece, of 1883 Chinchilla Lane.
The Ceramic Cup has been in the Woodmouse family for 3 generations. Lucy will not be continuing the tradition, and is planning on turning the former pottery into a bakery.
Susan Woodmouse was the only person who was in the pottery, she had no helpers. Still she managed to create cups, vases, mugs, and other items for the pottery to sell.
Many rodents expressed sadness that the pottery was closing and business boomed in the last few weeks. With rodents coming in almost every week to pick out a new vase or coffee cup.
Susan still plans on doing pottery in her home on the edge of New Prairie Town, but will not be selling the items.
“I love what I do, but at 95, upholding the shop is just too much.”
Susan told reporters on her birthday.
Thursday, January 28, 2021 - Edition #185
Froggy-World: Hockey Team
Froggy-World is a warm, tropical island. With sandy beaches, palm trees, and nice weather. However, many rodents forget that a part of Froggy-World is cold and snowy: the Mountains.
In the Froggy-World mountains it's cold all year long and snowy in most of the seasons. The climate is one of the reasons that Froggy-World has only had a hockey team in winter. This means that there isn’t enough time to properly train a team in the art of playing ice hockey.
In 2019, the frogs decided to build an indoor skating rink in their capital city of Raintropia. The ice rink will be for the general public as well as the newly founded Froggy-World Ice Hockey Team. The first international Rodentus Ice Hockey tournament will be in Fall 2022 between Lake of Hope, Hamstington, and Froggy-World!
Many frogs have decided to buy their own ice skates for the celebrations.
The rink opens tomorrow, January 29, and for one day only NO admission fee will be charged. Normally, the admission fee will be $5 for kids and seniors and $7 for adults.
Friday, January 29, 2021 - Edition #186
Ice Hockey Rink Opens
Ice Hockey has never been a particularly popular sport in Froggy-World. Largely due to the fact that Froggy-World is a tropical island and that it is only cold in the mountains or in winter. That's about to change, with the construction of an indoor ice rink that opened today.
Señor DeRana, the mayor of Raintropia, gave a speech today at the opening of the rink and cut the red ribbon in front of the doors.
The ceremony was held at 12:00 and by 2:30 the rink was packed with frogs learning how to ice skate and frogs who already knew how to ice skate. At around 3:00 volunteers were asked to play a round of ice hockey. The end score being 0-1.
Couch Maria Garcia took note of who played in the game and had an all team meeting with the players afterwards for tips on ice skating and ice hockey. Maria Garcia will also be the coach for the Froggy-World Ice Hockey team.
