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'What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep'

Brett Kavanaugh's got jokes. At least the Supreme Court nominee did in 2015, alluding to secrecy at the high school he attended when he allegedly sexually assaulted a girl. "What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep," Kavanaugh said during a speech at Catholic University. "That's been a good thing for all of us, I think." A clip of the joke, tweeted by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., caused a stir Wednesday. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford faces a chorus of doubt, laying bare how sexual assault claims are minimized, even in the post #MeToo age. It's a pattern so common, psychologists say, that it has an acronym: DARVO — or "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." And here's a rundown of the controversy around Kavanaugh's confirmation.

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'Do you hide or do you run?': Gunman opens fire inside office

Judy Lahmers, an analyst at a Wisconsin software company, said she was working at her desk when she heard shots. She fled, hiding behind a car outside as the building's glass door shattered. The gunman wounded four as panicked employees fled for safety Wednesday at WTS Paradigm's office in Middleton. “I’m not looking back, I’m running as fast as I can," Lahmers said. "You just wonder, ‘Do you hide or do you run?’ " An ambulance "with the suspect" later departed for a hospital, per police radio traffic, with at least two officers involved in the shooting.

Mosquitoes are eating plastic. Here’s why that’s a big problem for the food chain

Young mosquitoes who eat even small pieces of plastic could be contaminating other insects, birds, and mammals. U.K. researchers found that when a mosquito larva eats microplastic, that plastic can remain in the insect's body into adulthood. Why is that a problem? The microplastic could then be transferred to whatever might eat that mosquito, including birds. It's not a stretch to think that plastic could move up the food chain in this way.

She helped kidnapped Elizabeth Smart. And now she's free.

The Utah woman convicted of kidnapping for her part in the infamous abduction of Elizabeth Smart 16 years ago was released from Utah State Prison Wednesday. Wanda Barzee, 72, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and other charges in 2003. Her husband, Brian David Mitchell, slipped into a window of Smart's home to kidnap her at age 14. "She would encourage him to rape me," Smart said of Barzee this week to "CBS This Morning." Smart has urged authorities to have Barzee institutionalized. Mitchell, 64, is serving life without parole.

Tom Brady 'had enough' of Bill Belichick? A new book says yes

Quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots has "had enough" of coach Bill Belichick and would "divorce" him if he could, according to an anonymous source in a new book on the coach's life. Excerpts of "Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time," published on ESPN Tuesday night, painted Brady as a man who "felt trapped" with his longtime coach this offseason amid previously reported discord between the two. The book, by ESPN's Ian O'Connor, reportedly draws from 350 interviews. Belichick himself would not participate.

‘You don't want to be a lawnmower parent. But you probably are’

Move over helicopter parents, it’s time for the lawnmower parent. A viral Facebook post by a Weareteachers.com member, an online community for teachers, explains that lawnmower parents mow down all of their children's challenges, discomforts and struggles. Here’s one example: A parent of a high school student asked a teacher to walk a student to class to assure that the student would not be late. The problem is not a parent's willingness to help a child succeed. The issue is a parent's repeated efforts to eliminate any and all struggles so that children are ill-equipped when they grow up and life inevitably goes sideways, says Hannah Hudson, WeAreTeachers.com editorial director.

This compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network was brought to you by Josh Hafner and Mabinty Quarshie.

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