Providence Journal files / Mary Murphy
Steven Iacobucci, the Cranston rodent control coordinator, inspects a trap before reloading it with bait in the Auburn neighborhood of Cranston in June 2012. At left is Jim Holt, Cranston's minimum housing inspector.
CRANSTON, R.I. -- It's spring and a young city worker's thoughts turn to... rats.
Yes, rats.
Four city workers this week hope to complete a two-day course in pesticide training offered by the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.
If they pass, the mostly highway and parks and recreation workers will have another part-time duty: checking 400 poison-filled boxes on neighborhood lawns and business lots.
Officials hope to train two more employees by the end of next month. The pest control graduates will work under Steven Iacobucci, the city's rodent control coordinator.
The city, grappling with a growing rat problem since last summer, has spent about $24,000 on rat control.