Grumpy Editor

COOLER WEATHER SEEN TRIGGERING HIGHER HOME HEATING BILLS

 

Nearly half of U.S. homes heated with natural gas can expect to spend almost a third more on bills in upcoming months compared with a year prior, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

The Energy Information Administration says bills would be 50 percent higher if the winter is 10 percent colder than average and 22 percent higher if the winter is 10 percent warmer than average.

 

The forecast rise in costs, according to EIA, will result in an average natural-gas home-heating bill of $746 from this month to March 31, compared with about $573 during the same period last year.

 

Homes heated by electricity can expect a more modest six percent increase in bills.

 

The agency points out natural gas futures this year reached a seven-year high and the likelihood of a more frigid winter than what most of the country saw last year.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

SINGER TONY BENNETT SETS RECORD.  Grammy Award-winning singer Tony Bennett, 95, set a Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to release an album of new material --- "Love for Sale," a collaboration with singer Lady Gaga.

 

KRISTOF LEAVING N.Y. TIMES.  New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says he plans to leave the newspaper — but the 62-year-old is not retiring.  Rather, Kristof reveals he is considering a run as governor of Oregon.

 

ALITALIA ENDS FLIGHTS.  Alitalia, Italy’s bankrupt national airline, made its final flights after 74 years.  Replacing it as Italy’s new national carrier is Italy Air Transport, or ITA.

 

VA TO HIRE 2,000 WORKERS.  U.S. Veterans Affairs Department plans to hire 2,000 workers to deal with an expected increase in backlogged claims that have tripled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year.

 

COLOR OF YEAR: SOFT SAGE GREEN.  Paint company Benjamin Moore says the color of the year 2022 is labeled October Mist, a soft sage green that it calls “a  springboard for creativity.”

 

MOSTLY WOMEN QUITTING JOBS.  Focusing on employment, CBS News reports “Americans are quitting in droves, and they're mostly women,” adding almost three percent of workers left their jobs in August, a record.

CHER SUING OVER ROYALTIES.  Singer Cher is suing the widow of her former musical partner and ex-husband Sonny Bono over royalties for Sonny and Cher song and record revenue.

SHOOTING BEARS WITH CAMERA GETS JAIL TIME.  Trying to get a close-up picture of grizzly bears, a 25-year-old woman from Carol Stream, Illinois is sentenced to four days in jail and banned from Yellowstone National Park for a year.  She was charged with “disturbing wildlife.”

TRUST IN MEDIA REPORTING NEWS DROPS: GALLUP

Gallup finds Americans' trust in media to report news fully, accurately and fairly has dropped from last year, notes Grumpy Editor.

The pollster says trust fell to 36 percent, four percentage points below 2020.

Gallup reports a slim seven percent of adults have "a great deal" and 29 percent "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in newspapers, television and radio news reporting.

Combined, that puts it four points above Gallup's 32 percent record low in 2016.

These findings,  from a Sept. 1-17 poll, are the latest in Gallup's tracking of the public's confidence in key U.S. institutions that began in 1972.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

WILL HOLLYWOOD BECOME GHOST TOWN?  A strike looms for Hollywood’s major industry as its key union --- representing more than 150,000 behind-the-scenes entertainment workers --- approves a strike if negotiations over working conditions and pay break down.

 TEXAS HOUSING COSTS APPEAL.  A key reason Texas is one of the fastest-growing states is housing costs, finds a University of Texas, Austin, study.  Most homes cost under $200,000.  In California. as comparison, about 58 percent of houses cost more than $500,000. 

N.Y. LIBRARY LATE FEES GONE.  Libraries in New York City no longer will charge late fees and will waive existing fees for overdue books and other materials.

 

RARE DISH SELLS AT AUCTION.  A rare 16th century dish depicting the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah sells at auction at more than $1.7 million.  Discovered in a drawer at a Scottish house, the plate measures 11 inches in diameter and is believed to have been made by Nicola da Urbino around 1520-23.

 

RETIRED AIRCRAFT CARRIERS SELL FOR ONE-CENT EACH.  The USS Kitty Hawk and the USS John F Kennedy, warships from the Vietnam and Gulf wars, are sold for one cent each to a scrap metal dealer in Texas.

SMALL HOUSE PRICE TAG DRAWS INTEREST.  In the Boston suburb of Newton, where the median home price is more than $1 million, interest is focused on a $449,900 property for sale.  But it’s only 251 square feet, yet features a loft bed, kitchenette, skylight, room for storage in the basement and a large driveway. 

SQUIRREL STORES WALNUTS IN VEHICLE.  Bill Fischer of Fargo, North Dakota, says he removed about 42 gallons of walnuts from his Chevy Avalanche pickup truck parked outside his home, after a red squirrel selected the vehicle as its winter storage area.

ANTARCTICA ENCOUNTERS VERY DEEP FREEZE.  While this year’s summer set records for heat in the U.S., Antarctica was in a very deep freeze.  Average temperature at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between April and September was minus 78 degrees, coldest on record, dating back to 1957.

BASEBALL GAME LENGTH GROWS.  Baseball games are getting longer.  Average time of a nine-inning Major League Baseball game this season is a record 3 hours, 10 minutes, 7 seconds.  Perhaps it’s time to speed up pitchers action from the mound.

SURGE IN BANK MERGERS SEEN FOR 2021

All is not quiet on the banking front.  Look for a surge in bank mergers this year, observes Grumpy Editor.

 

Those financial institutions are on pace to combine at a level not seen since the financial crisis of 2008.

 

Banks so far this year announced more than $54 billion in deals through late last month vs. $17 billion in mergers a year prior, reports The Wall Street Journal.

 

While the economy has recovered in many ways from last year, loan demand continues low while profits from lending are slim.

 

The focus is on major regional banks this year.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

BUMBLEBEES DESTINED FOR ENDANGERED LIST.  Bumblebees in the U.S. soon could be declared an endangered species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a proposed rule.

 

WORKING WOMEN FEEL BURNED OUT.  In a Time magazine survey, 42 percent of women say they have consistently felt burned out at work in 2021 than in the prior year. A new report suggests pressure put on women to balance work and child care is leading to disproportionate levels of strain. 

 

CARGO SHIPS WAIT TO UNLOAD.  Dozens of cargo ships waiting in Los Angeles-Long Beach and New York ports face weeks of delays to unload amid surging demand for goods plus the ongoing impact of the labor shortage and the upcoming Christmas season.

 

PENALTIES IN WORKS FOR KILLING MIGRATIORY BIRDS.  In efforts to protect declining bird populations, the Biden administration moves to restore criminal penalties for accidental killings of migratory birds.

 

RV DEMAND REMAINS STRONG.  Demand for recreational vehicles remains strong.  Elkhart, Indiana-based Thor Industries sales of recreational vehicles in the July quarter jumped 55 percent.

 

THE ONLY WAY TO FLY.  A retired greyhound called Lewis flies business class on Singapore Airlines from Sydney, Australia, to Italy and celebrates his birthday during the journey when the crew throws a party at 33,000 feet.

 

WORLD WAR II VET GETS SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY.  A North Carolina-based club --- CarolinaCruzin4Jeeps --- gives Coy A. Shue, a World War II veteran who just turned 100 years old, a surprise birthday party.

 

 

SHORTAGE OF FLOWERS SMACKS FLORISTS, WEDDINGS, FUNERALS

 

 A nationwide shortage of flowers is leaving florists scrambling for solutions while consumers are coping with higher prices for blossoms, notes Grumpy Editor.

The tightened flower supply is triggered by last year's global pandemic shutdown, poor weather, increased truck driver demand, higher international shipping rates --- and higher flower demand.

Especially hard hit by the shortage are weddings and funerals.

 

Farms around the world, including those in the United States, South America and the Netherlands, are key suppliers to florists.

Demand is soaring as the industry responds in large part to a boom in rescheduled weddings that had been put off during the shutdown.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

COVID-19 SURPASSES 1918-19 FLU.  The number of known Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. surpasses United States fatalities from the 1918-19 flu pandemic.

SEEKS FORMAL END OF KOREAN WAR.  South Korea President Moon Jae-in reiterates his desire for a formal end to the Korean War at a ceremony in Hawaii during which the U.S. turned over the remains of 68 South Korean soldiers who died in the conflict.  The Korean War (known as The Forgotten War) started on June 25, 1950 and ended July 27, 1953 when truce talks commenced.  A peace treaty was never concluded.

FUR IN CLOTHING TO END.  Luxury French fashion brand Saint Laurent will stop designing clothes using fur starting next year, says parent company Kering.  Another Kering brand, Brioni, is slated to be fur-free by the autumn 2022 collections.

ALL WOMAN TEAM TO BROADCAST BASEBALL.  ESPN sports announcers Melanie Newman and Jessica Mendoza will be the sports network’s first all-woman broadcast team for a nationally televised Major League Baseball game on Wednesday.

TWO JAPANESE SISTERS RANKED WORLD'S OLDEST.  Guinness World Records certifies two Japanese sisters as the world’s oldest living identical twins at 107.  Umeno Sumiyama and Koume Kodama were born the third and fourth of 11 siblings on Shodoshima island in western Japan on Nov. 5, 1913.

SALMONELLA HITS 25 STATES.  A salmonella outbreak is detected in 25 states, but the cause remains a mystery.  Over 100 people become sick but no food source is confirmed as the cause.

 

"SKINNY HOUSE" IN BOSTON SOLD.  Boston's "Skinny House," squeezed between two buildings in the city’s North End, sells for more than $1.2 million.  Built in 1890, it contains 1,165 square feet on four levels.

"COLOR OF YEAR" SELECTED FOR 2022.  “Evergreen Fog” is Sherwin-Williams’ “color of the year 2022.”   It’s a mix between a light gray and green to make a room feel like a calming forest, and “offers a naturistic ambiance and serene, earthy depth to a room while also blending in with just about any piece of furniture,” says the paint manufacturer.

IN BASEBALL, LONG HAIR MAKES SOME PLAYERS LOOK ALIKE

With the upcoming baseball playoffs leading to the World Series, many TV viewers will be confused in identifying many of the look-alike players with similar long hair, notes Grumpy Editor.

It contrasts with earlier days when players were well shaven with neat short hair.

However, the New York Yankees continue to spotlight a team that resembles the “neat” look.

Since 1973, Yankees management has enforced appearance of its players.  They must have hair cut above the collar of their Yankee jersey.  No beards are permitted.

The policy stems from former club owner George Steinbrenner, after seeing several players' hair covering their numbers during the pre-game performance of the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Steinbrenner then declared “all players, coaches and male executives are forbidden to display any facial hair other than mustaches (except for religious reasons), and scalp hair may not be grown below the collar.”

The appearance policy may have been inspired by Steinbrenner's veteran status with the U.S. Air Force, which like other military branches also has a similar appearance policy.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

AND AWAY WE GO.  Dog and cat take a ride on a scooter.

 

DOG, CAT RIDE SCOOTER.  A pair of Canadian pets set a Guinness World Record for the fastest time on a scooter by a dog and a cat. Lollipop, a five-year-old Boston terrier and seven-year-old Bengal cat Sashimi formed a close friendship when they were very young.  They rode a scooter together for a distance of 16.4 feet in just 4.37 seconds.

  

COPENHAGEN RATED SAFEST CITY.  Copenhagen is named the world's safest city for the first time.  Denmark's capital jumped from eighth place in 2019 to the top of the list, largely thanks to the introduction of an environmental security section  along with personal security.

 

SNAKE CAUSES BLACKOUT.  North Carolina utility officials say a snake is responsible for a substation fire that left more than 1,400 Duke Energy customers in Denton and the surrounding area without power.  The snake came into contact with equipment at a substation, sparking a fire.

RECORD TOMATOES ON SINGLE STEM.  A British gardener harvested 839 tomatoes from a single stem, nearly double the Guinness World Record.  Seeds were planted in March and harvested this month.  It almost doubles the 448 grown on a single truss by the previous record holder in 2010.

COVID-19 HITS ZOO.  Six African lions, a Sumatran tiger and two Amur tigers in the Smithsonian National Zoo tested positive for Covid-19.  Symptoms in the big cats include decreased appetites, coughing, sneezing and lethargy.

AT 101, SHE STILL TENDS LOBSTER TRAPS.  Virginia Oliver, 101 years old, continues to tend to her lobster traps off Rockland, Maine.  She is the oldest lobster fisher in the state and possibly  in the world,

COWS TOILET TRAINED TO CURB GAS EMISSIONS.  Sixteen cows in Germany are toilet trained in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.    At a farm owned by the Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, the cows  were placed in a “MooLoo pen” and rewarded with food for urinating.

 

TOWN WANTS PHONE BOOTH RETURNED.  Residents of Cope, a small Colorado town, are pleading for the return of a stolen phone booth that served as a landmark and centerpiece of a public park for decades. Residents of the town of t56 people, say the booth didn't provide phone service but attracted travelers who would pose for photos.

 

2021 BRINGS HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD

As autumn nears, the contiguous U.S. recorded its hottest summer on record, topping the previous high set in 1936 by less than a hundredth of a degree, tallies the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, notes Grumpy Editor.

NOAA’s climate report says between June and August, average temperature in the lower 48 states was 74 degrees Fahrenheit, adding 18.4 percent of the contiguous U.S. experienced extreme or record-breaking heat during the summer months.

California, Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Nevada are especially hard hit by heat.

At one point last month, more than 200 million Americans were under heat advisories.

The record temperatures come one year after research suggests heat waves that caused the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, resulting in record-setting heat in the summer of 1936, were 2.5 times more likely to occur due to climate change. 

"It is likely that there will be more extreme heat wave conditions in the central U.S. in the future, given the rise in greenhouse gases levels, so communities and governments need to be prepared for this eventuality," study author Dr. Tim Cowan says.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE... 

MACHINE PULLS CARBON FROM AIR.  In Iceland, the world’s biggest machine captures carbon from the air.  Operators say the Orca plant can suck 4,000 tons of CO2 out of the air every year and inject it deep into the ground to be mineralized. Experts say the carbon capturing plant in southwest Iceland could eventually play an important role in reducing greenhouse gases that are warming the planet.

 

ELVIS'S HAIR-RAISING PRICE.  A baseball-sized clump of hair that came from the head of Elvis Presley sold for $72,500 in an auction that also includes the $1,012,500 sale of the performer's iconic jumpsuit from a 1972 Madison Square Garden performance. 

CANINE JOY RIDE ON BUS. A lost dog in England is reunited with his owner after climbing aboard a city bus, where passengers soon realized the canine was riding solo. Concerned riders posted pictures of the dog on social media that led to the dog being united with his family.

PAINT GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE.  Going the toilet paper route?  Paint is getting costlier and harder to find, making home improvement somewhat aggravating as lack of supplies and higher prices are making life more difficult for do-it-yourselfers.

 

OPENS BUSINESS, WINS LOTTERY.  Brian Woodle, 46, of Callahan, Florida just opened a car repair shop. "At the end of our first day,” he says, “I stopped by Circle K to get a few things and picked up a lottery ticket. Just like that, we won a million bucks!"  With the scratch-off ticket, Woodle chose to take a one-time payout of $880,000.

 

GOLD COINS FOUND IN FRENCH MANOR.   Builders discovered a stash of 239 gold coins at a manor in northwestern France that could earn up to 300,000 euros ($356,490) at auction later this month.

 

ROBOTS SERVE RESTAURANT PATRONS.  A restaurant owner in Dallas, Texas, is getting creative amid the nationwide staff shortage.  The operator of the Latin American restaurant La Duni, uses three robots to help serve hungry customers.

SCARCE TOILET PAPER HAPPENING AGAIN?

 

Toilet paper becoming scarce again on grocery shelves? asks Grumpy Editor.

 

Looks that way.

 

With increased demand showing up, Procter & Gamble, a major producer and maker of Charmin toilet paper, is increasing production and running factories around the clock, seven days a week.

 

As The Wall Street Journal points out:  The recent jump in demand comes after many months in which paper-product sales plummeted to below pre-pandemic levels as stocked-up Americans stopped buying.”

 

“PG&G,” it adds, “says government stimulus, preparation for back to school and rising Covid-19 cases have Americans buying more household staples.”

 

It mentions, “the U.S. supply chain is plagued by shortages of raw materials and labor.”

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

ALL CIVILIANS SET FOR SPACEX.   SpaceX’s launch Sept. 15 will mark the world’s first all-civilian space flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  It will orbit Earth for three days.

CHINA ADDING BEIJING STOCK EXCHANGE.  China is setting up a stock exchange in Beijing in efforts to give that nation's capital and political center more influence in the business and finance world.

BEER SHORTAGE HITS BRITISH PUBS.  For thirsty Brits, there are reports of a national beer shortage.  Some pubs say they are running low on pints of Carling and Coors --- latest victims of the United Kingdom’s supply chain crisis, sparked by Brexit and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

N.Y. APARTMENT DWELLING COUGAR MOVES.  Owner of an 80-pound, 11-month old female cougar, keeping it in a New York City apartment, surrendered the cat to the Humane Society of the United States where it will go to more suitable accommodations.

HATE CRIMES IN U.S. JUMP.  The FBI says hate crimes in the U.S. jump to the highest level in 12 years.  More than 10,000 people reported to law enforcement last year that they were victims of such crimes because of their race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion or disability.

NEWLYWEDS SEND INVOICES TO NO-SHOWS.  A newlywed Chicago couple send $240 invoices to invited wedding guests who RSVP’d but did not show for the ceremony.  Bills were to cover costs.

 

NO MORE ZIPPING AROUND THE EIFFEL TOWER.  In efforts to make Paris, France, more pedestrian friendly and reduce accidents, the city changes the speed limit to 30 kph --- that’s less than 19 m.p.h.

AP NAMES JULIE PACE TO TOP POST.  Longtime Washington. D.C. journalist Julie Pace is named executive editor and senior vice president of The Associated Press.  She has been AP's Washington bureau chief since 2017 and succeeds Sally Buzbee who became executive editor of The Washington Post in June.

ALL TROOPS DUE TO RECEIVE VIRUS SHOTS

Mandatory COVID-19 inoculations for U.S. Armed Forces personnel seems to be a normal routine, so why the fuss by some, asks Grumpy Editor.

Military personnel need protection from dangerous infections they can contract during training, based on occupation, during overseas deployment or because of underlying health status.

Yet, there is some static.

Despite a massive effort by the Pentagon to promote the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. military's opt-out rate for vaccinations may be far higher than the 33 percent figure defense officials have used publicly, reports CNN, adding conversations with military medical officials and service members, as well as data from several bases and units around the country, suggest the current rejection rate may be closer to 50 percent.

Grumpy Editor recalls a time years ago when just-inducted military recruits, who become government property, did not have much to say when lined up for physicals.  They received an experimental flu shot that was not entered on their shots record.  But it worked.  No flu, even in cold regions.

Things are changing. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is preparing to issue a mandate for all troops to receive the coronavirus vaccine after the Food and Drug Administration gave its full authorization for one of the shots.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

AVERAGE AGE --- 22.   Among the 13 U.S. service members lost to a suicide bomber in Afghanistan, 10 of them were from Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base near San Diego. Average age: 22.

 

NEWSPAPER SELLS BOOZE.  The newspaper in Stapleton, Neb., finds a way to increase its revenue and supplement the entire town of 267 residents:  it opens a liquor store in the backrooms of its offices.  Asked “what residents would like to see in the town and wine and spirits was pretty much at the top of the list,” says Marcia Hora, owner and publisher of Creative Printers.

 

"TERMINATOR" LOSES SPONSOR.   Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger's rant about people who don’t wear masks cost him a corporate sponsor, REDCON1, a sports supplement company, at his upcoming bodybuilding competition in Columbus, Ohio.  In an interview with CNN, the former California governor called Americans who oppose wearing face masks "schmucks."

FRB RATES TO CHANGE.  The Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed plans to dial back its ultra-low-interest rate policies this year as long as hiring continues to improve, signaling the beginning of the end of the Fed's response to the pandemic recession. 

BORDER ENCOUNTERS JUMP.  U.S. Border Patrol reports nearly 200,000 encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border last month, highest monthly total in more than two decades.  The number of monthly encounters had fallen to 16,182 in April 2020, shortly after the coronavirus outbrteak. 

 

PAROLE VOTED FOR SIRHAN SIRHAN.  More than 50 years after he was convicted of killing former U.S. Attorney General and Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, California officials vote to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan.

MORE JOURNALISTS SET FOR KC STAR.  McClatchy, with 30 newspapers in the family, promises more journalists and an expanded Sunday print edition for The Kansas City Star and three smaller publications.

 

WW II VET MEETS KIDS HE SAVED.  World War II Army veteran Martin Adlder, 97, visiting in Italy, meets three Italians who, when children, were saved by the then soldier as the Nazis retreated northward in 1944.

 

FACTORS BEHIND BOOST IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC DEATHS

Speeding has boosted this year's highway deaths, greatest in more than a decade, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Traffic data indicates an increase in the death toll is linked to higher average speeds in conjunction with roads seeing more drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol, along with a slight decline in seatbelt use.

 

But Grumpy Editor points to another factor behind the speeding:  TV commercials.

 

Viewers this year have seen TV spots from various American and foreign manufacturers showing speeding vehicles on winding mountain roads, sliding sideways on city streets, splashing through small streams, and kicking up dust and rocks while zooming off roads.

 

Think that doesn't give viewers ideas?

In California, for example, tickets issued by the Highway Patrol for speeding in excess of 100 m.p.h. from January to June were nearly double pre-pandemic levels.  The number of tickets for reckless driving citations also jumped.

 

Nationwide traffic deaths last year rose 7.2 percent to 38,680 even after a 13.2 percent reduction in the number of miles traveled.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

SOCIAL SECURITY BUMP COMING UP.  Social Security recipients are in line for the biggest percentage bump for inflation in 40 years.  Likely cost of living adjustment for 2022, to be announced in October, is predicted to be 6.2 percent.

READY TO HELP VETS.  The Department of Veterans Affairs urges Afghanistan War veterans  to seek mental health care if they need help coming to terms with the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan…a country where hundreds of thousands of veterans served in the 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

FALSE ONLINE INFORMATION EYED.  Amid rising concerns over misinformation online, including that of COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines, Americans are a bit more open to the idea of the U.S. government taking steps to restrict false information online. A majority of the public continues to favor technology companies taking such action, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

 

THURSDAY SPOTLIGHTS CANINES.  International Dog Day, observed on Thursday, encourages dog ownership of all breeds.  It celebrates all dogs and encourages adoption.

UNRULY BEHAVIOR IN AIR DRAWS FINES.  Fines for unruly behavior during commercial air flights soar this year, with the Federal Aviation Administration reporting it has proposed more than $1 million in penalties in 2021.  The FAA receives almost 4,000 reports of aggressive behavior since January.

VETERANS TOUR D.C. MONUMENTS.   A flight organized by Honor Flight Chicago, sends more than 100 veterans from three wars to Washington, D.C. for a whirlwind tour of monuments around the nation's capital that were built in their honor.  In attendance:  Three veterans from World War II, 33 from the Korean War and 76 from Vietnam War.

 PELICAN ESCAPES AGAIN.  A great white pelican escaped for a second time from an Irish zoo and was spotted more than 100 miles away.  The pelican flew the coop and was spotted in Wexford --- the same place it visited after an earlier escape in 2018.

INJURED CANADA GOOSE DRAWS WIDE ATTENTION

Goose activity at the New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, which treats thousands of animals a year, attracts the attention of Grumpy Editor...and others.

 

Executive Director Zak Mertz says a recent case involving a Canada goose, stands out from all the rest.

Named Arnold by the staff, he was brought it for treatment of a badly damaged foot.

“Prepping him for anesthesia --- giving him meds --- we hear this faint tapping at the door," Zak recalls.

Turns out it's Arnold’s mate.

"My guess is that she saw us capture him the day before and he was probably honking in the cage overnight," Zak adds.

After surgery, Arnold was moved to another floor for recovery, where his mate, now named Amelia, comforted and preened him --- the avian embodiment of "in sickness and in health."

Geese mate for life. And Amelia visited him during his convalescence period until he was finally released.

After Arnold’s release, Zak points out, "I think it gave us all a new respect for how social these animals are and sort of the depth they have in their emotions. 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

JULY HOTTEST MONTH IN HISTORY.  July was the hottest month on record worldwide, reports NOAA, adding the Northern Hemisphere land-surface temperature was several degrees above normal while temperatures set a record for Asia and second hottest for Europe.

INSPIRATION FOR TERRORIST ATTACKS?  Upcoming 20^th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could inspire extremist attacks, warns the Department of Homeland Security, noting the U.S. is in a “heightened threat environment.”

FLOODS HIT OTHER PARTS OF WORLD.  While it may be dry in most of the U.S., floods caused thousands to be evacuated in North Korea, while there was severe flooding in northern and western Japan, torrential downpours and flooding in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

LIFEGUARD DOGS USED IN ITALY.  Italy employs “lifeguard dogs” that patrol 30 beaches with 300 units made up of one dog and trainer each.  The head of the dog patrol says the canines are integral to Italy’s lifeguard operations, especially when helping large groups of people.

MORE HOMES ADD PETS.  Roughly 13 million U.S. households added a pet last year as breeders and shelters were overwhelmed by Americans stuck at home and craving companionship.

ROUGH TREATMENT FOR DOG WALKER.  In New York, Upper West Side resident Dora Marchand, 29, is handcuffed, tossed into a police holding cell and treated like a criminal after a minor infraction:  walking her two Australian shepherds without a leash in Riverside Park, she tells the New York Post. 

 

WOMAN TO LEAD ARMY COMBAT UNIT.  Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson is confirmed by the Senate in a unanimous voice vote to become the next commander of the Army’s U.S. Southern Command, which will make her the second woman in history to lead a combat unit.

  

BORDER CROSSINGS JUMP.  More than 210,000 people attempted to cross the U.S. southern border illegally last month, the most in 21  years and three times as many as in January, reports the Border Patrol.

 

EXPENSIVE TICKET FOR SPACE TRIP.  It’ll take almost a half million dollars ($450,000 to be exact) for a seat on Virgin Galactic’s space flights.  Want to take the family?  There’s an option to buy out the entire six-seat cabin.

WILDFIRE DESTROYS CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN TOWN

 

 

 

Wildfires continue to sweep through California and one mountain town is left in ashes, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Greenville, a community of about 800, 115 miles northeast of Sacramento, is about 75 percent destroyed, the result of the Golden State’s largest current wildfire, called the Dixie Fire.

 

Some of its downtown area’s wooden buildings are more than a century old.

 

“We just lost Greenville tonight,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R., Calif.), whose district includes the town, says in a video posted on Facebook.

 

The Dixie Fire in the past few days burns about 322,500 acres, making it the second largest fire in California history. 

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

STAMPS TO COST MORE.  Postage rates are going up again.  First class stamps rise to 58 cents from 55 on Aug. 29.

 

RAIN SOAKS NORTH KOREA.  Things may be dry in many parts of the U.S., but heavy rain over four days in North Korea last week brought a whopping almost two feet of rain in Puryong County in North Hamgyong Province.

 

NEXT SEASON'S BASEBALL STARTS SAME DAY FOR ALL.  Next year’s baseball season will have all teams starting on the same day --- March 31 .  That's the first time since 1968 that every team will play its first game on the same day.

 

UNVACCINATED CNN WORKERS FIRED.  In an effort to keep the virus from spreading in its offices, CNN fired three workers who came to work without getting a Covid-19 vaccine.

 

N.Y. TIMES AD REVENUE REBOUNDS.  Reflecting a strong rebound in advertising business, New York Times’ second quarter revenue rises 24 percent while operating profit almost doubles from a year earlier, reaching $73.3 million.

 

CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS PENGUINS.  Research published in Global Change Biology finds that by 2100, 98 percent of Emperor penguin colonies may be pushed to the brink of extinction if no changes are made to current rates of carbon emissions and climate change.

 

100-YEAR OLD POWERLIFTER.  Tampa’s Edith Murway-Traina, who turned 100 yesterday, receives word that she is a Guinness World Record holder as the oldest competitive powerlifter. Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift.

RECORD BIG MAC EATER.  Donald Gorske, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who holds the Guinness World Record for lifetime Big Mac consumption since 1999, gets his record updated to 32,340, averaging two McDonald's signature sandwiches a day,  part of his routine since 1972.

CALIFORNIA POWER PLANT CLOSED.  Drought-stricken California shuts down one of its largest hydroelectric plants.  The six-turbine Edward Hyatt Power Plant is off-line after the water level in the Oroville Dam reservoir that feeds it drops to an historic low of less than 642 feet above sea level.

2022 BIG YEAR FOR WEDDINGS.  An estimated 2.5 million weddings are planned for 2022, the most for the U.S. since 1984, according to a forecast by The Wedding Report, a market research firm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIGHER BRAZIL COFFEE PRICES TRIGGERED BY DROUGHT

Drought is what’s socking it to coffee prices from Brazil, the world’s biggest coffee producer, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Arabica coffee prices, main variety from Brazil, in June rises to six-year highs in global markets.

 

The drought results in the biggest slump in coffee output for farmers in almost 20 years.

 

It was just last year that Brazil produced a record coffee harvest.

 

It illustrates how weather can affect crop output.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

GREENLAND ICE MELT.  Rising temperatures in the Arctic results in Greenland experiencing a significant melting event.  The amount of ice that melted on one day last week is enough to cover the entire state of Florida in two inches of water. Greenland lost more than 8.5 billion tons of surface mass last Tuesday and 18.4 billion tons since two days prior, according to the Denmark Meteorological Institute.

 

PAIR OF BLUE SUITS.  A photo of President Joe Biden with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Washington shows them wearing identical color blue suits and ties --- something media failed to note in stories.

 

SAILOR CHARGED WITH SHIP FIRE.  The U.S. Navy charges an American sailor with starting a fire that heavily damaged an amphibious assault ship last year.  The ship burned for more than four days in San Diego.  The vessel was scrapped rather than rebuilding it at a price tag of $3.2 billion.

 

TOSSED WEDDING DRESS.  Tollway officials in Texas said they are trying to find the owner of an unusual piece of debris rescued from the side of a highway --- a wedding dress.

WASHINGTON POST REQUIRES SHOT PROOF.  The Washington Post will require all employees to provide proof that they have been vaccinated if they plan to return to the paper's newsroom on Sept. 13.

SUNSHINE STATE TRANSPORTS SALMON.  California is trucking millions of young salmon to cooler water to prevent them from dying in in Northern California’s Klamath River, where warmer water temperatures can be fatal to the fish. 

FLOW OF AFGHANS TO U.S. STARTS.   More than 200 Afghan interpreters and their families arrived in the U.S. last week, the start of an effort to evacuate thousands of Afghans who face retribution by the Taliban.

SEAFOOD PRICES JUMP.  With a shortage of seafood, prices have jumped about 11 percent in the year ended last month.  Factors causing the shortage and price spikes: Ports are congested, there aren’t enough fishermen or truck drivers, and demand for seafood at restaurants is soaring.

BASEBALL'S CLEVELAND INDIANS TO BECOME CLEVELAND GUARDIANS

Big talk in the sports world is the pending Cleveland Indians name change, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

The Cleveland team, playing under that name since 1915, plans to drop Indians, which has been criticized as racist, at the end of this season, to become known as the Cleveland Guardians.

 

The name change is triggered by protests around the U.S. against racial injustice.

 

Caught up in the movement earlier is the NFL’s Washington football team saying it will no longer be known as Redskins.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

CURTAILING WATER TO FARMERS PLANNED.  Look for higher food prices if California regulators succeed in stopping thousands of farmers from taking water from major Golden State rivers.  The State Water Resources Control Board votes on an “emergency curtailment” order Aug. 3.

 

OHTANI'S ALL-STAR JERSEY SETS AUCTION RECORD.   Los Angeles Angels’ 2021 American League Shohei Ohtani's autographed All-Star jersey breaks an auction record, going for $130,210.

GREAT SALT LAKE WATER LEVEL SINKS.  The southern portion of Utah’s Great Salt Lake drops to its lowest level on record.  Record-breaking drought accelerates its fall in recent months as the average daily water level drops about an inch below the previous record of 4,194 feet, set in 1963.

 

MORE MONEY BOOSTS LONGEVITY.  Northwestern University researchers say every time another $50,000 is accumulated by middle age, an individual’s risk of death drops, adding for those who stash $139,000 more than siblings, chances of outliving them increase.

 

JOURNALISM HAVES, HAVE-NOTS.  Axios reports there is a sharp divide in American journalism between haves and have-nots. "While national journalists covering tech and politics on the coasts reap the benefits of booming businesses and book deals, local media organizations, primarily newspapers, continue to shrink," it finds.

 

INFLATION BRINGS NEW TERM.  “Shrinkflation” is spreading.  It’s a new term, spurred by inflation, meaning getting less for your money because a manufacturer reduces the size of its product in a bottle or a container.

 

HUGE GOLDFISH WASHES ASHORE.  A 100-pound tropical goldfish washes ashore in Oregon in what aquarium officials call a rare occurrence.

MILITARY RECRUITING BECOMES DIFFICULT JOB

 

The U.S. is finding recruiting for the military is getting to be a tough job, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

“Due to attrition and retirement, the military needs to find more than 150,000 new recruits every year to meet its overall 'end strength' goal," reports Bloomberg.

“In 2020, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines all hit their annual recruitment goals --- but those figures were distorted by a historically weak job market, as active-duty service members delayed plans to re-enter the civilian sector, reducing the need for new hires,” continues Bloomberg.  “Last year’s target of 61,200 new Army enlistees, for instance, was 20 percent lower than in 2018, when the Army failed to meet its goal.”

Bloomberg points out “this limited supply compromises national security,” adding, “recruits tend to be drawn from a shrinking segment of the population --- from a small number of mostly southern states and families of veterans, a group whose share of the population is lower than at any time since World War II.”

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS MAY SEE BIG BOOST.  For the 69 million Americans who collect Social Security, estimates project they're on track to get a 6.1 percent cost-of-living adjustment, the biggest increase since 1983.  Official figures are announced in the fall.

FLOODS HIT GERMANY, WESTERN EUROPE.  While parts of the U.S. cope with a long dry spell, worst flooding in decades hits Germany, Belgium and other parts of Western Europe following days of heavy rain that swelled rivers. 

U.S. OVERDOSE DEATHS SOAR.  Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, estimates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adding it eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year.

VENICE NIXES LARGE CRUISE LINERS.  Declaring Venice waterways a “national monument,” Italy is banning mammoth cruise liners from sailing into the lagoon city.

 

NUMBER OF CRUISE SHIPS TO JUMP.  Shipbuilders are busy.  More than 70 cruise ships are scheduled to debut between now and 2027.

 

FRENCH FRIES AT $200 A PLATE.  Serendipity3, a restaurant on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, creates the world's most expensive French fries to coincide with National French Fry Day:  $200 a plate..

ANOTHER MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE FOUND.   A 9-year-old girl visiting a Hawaii park with her family finds a message --- in English, Spanish and Japanese --- inside a mud-caked glass bottle that was launched from Japan 37 years ago.

BRAZIL DROUGHT LEADS TO HIGHER COFFEE PRICES.  A drought in Brazil coupled with an increase in demand for coffee as the world reopens after the coronavirus pandemic leads to higher coffee prices on grocers shelves.

 

$915,000 FOR ELTON JOHN'S PIANO.  Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay adds to his vast music collection in buying at auction Elton John's Steinway & Sons Model D Grand Piano for $915,000.  It was used on tours from 1974 to 1993.

HIGHER MAILING RATES SEEN AS DAMAGING BLOW TO SMALLER NEWSPAPERS

The U.S. Postal Service’s plan to boost mailing rates could add a damaging blow to the nation’s community newspapers already reeling from the coronavirus pandemic and a drop in advertising revenues, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Impact of a rate increase for delivering periodicals — up by about 8 percent starting  Aug. 29 — is expected to be felt most by small daily, weekly and rural newspapers after shifting from using independent contractors.

 

To cope with that, publishers could be forced to reduce staff or forgo home deliveries and instead put newspapers in communal news racks — or just shutter their publications, warns Paul Boyle, senior vice president, News Media Alliance, a trade associtaion representing nearly 2,000 U.S. news organizations.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

 

U.S. TROOPS MARK FOURTH YEAR AT BORDER.  Stretching into a fourth year, about 3,800 troops are deployed along the southwest border in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. The troops are a mix of active-duty service members and National Guard troops from nearly two dozen states.

 

JUNE SETS TEMPERATURE RECORD.  Last month was the hottest on record in North America, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  NOAA adds the exceptional heat waves that swept the western U.S. helped push June 2021 to the top of the list after 127 years of record keeping. Average June temperature across the contiguous U.S. was more than four degrees above average at 72.6 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 

MASSIVE DIAMOND UNEARTHED.  An enormous 1,174-carat diamond is unearthed in Botswana, the second massive diamond to be found in the country in the space of a few weeks.

HELICOPTER LIFTS TRAPPED HORSE.  Caliifornia’s Orange county firefighters use a helicopter to lift a trapped-on-its-back horse to safety after the spooked equine flees from its rider becomes stuck in concrete debris.

PYTHON ESCAPES FROM MALL ENCLOSURE.  Authorities search for a 12-foot white Burmese python that slithers out of its enclosure inside Louisiana’s largest shopping mall in Baton Rouge.

MEDIA GROUP TO HIRE 250 JOURNALISTS.  Overstory Media Group, a startup media group that operates newsletter-based journalism outlets in British Columbia, says it plans to hire 250 journalists and launch 50 outlets by 2023.

ILLINOIS SCHOOLS TO TEACH ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY.  With hate crimes against Asxian-Americans in the news, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker signs a law that requires public schools to teach a unit of Asian American history, a move education experts say is the first of its kind nationwide.

NINE YEAR OLD GIRL BECOMES PUBLISHER.  A nine-year-old girl in Monroeville, Pa. is publishing a neighborhood newspaper that spotlights uplifting stories and important information to neighbors.

AVERAGE PET INSURANCE PREMIUMS ARE MODERATING

With more pets in U.S. households, Grumpy Editor notes there are signs of pet insurance trending lower.

Money magazine says according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, average cost of insuring a pet cat against accident and injury has gone down from $349 a year in 2019 to $341 in 2020 while  premiums for dogs rose at a much more modest rate than in any other year since at least 2016.  

Between 2018 and 2019, the annual premium increase for insuring an average dog was $26.47, tallies the magazine.  From 2019 to 2020, the same number went up by  $8.75, about a third of the previous year’s hike.

New pets are the reason average premiums have moderated, says Rick Faucher, CEO and cofounder of The Connected Pet Company and president of NAPHIA. “We’ve seen double-digit growth in gross written premiums, which have increased by 25.5 percent, as well as double-digit growth in the number of pets insured, which grew by 22.5 percent. When a market expands that quickly, you see a unit cost flattening, because you have a larger pool to spread the risk.”

“Pet insurance premiums are a relatively hefty expense,” points out Money.  “On average, you’ll pay around $700 a year to insure a dog and $350 or so to cover a cat. Even a moderation of the premium hikes of recent years could result in spending hundreds of dollars less over your pet’s lifetime than might have been the case. And that in turn could reduce the sting of having pet insurance that rarely if ever pays out, as our analysis suggests will be the case for most dog and cat owners.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

WORLD'S LARGEST YACHT HAS SIX DECKS.  The world's largest yacht when it is launched in 2024 will be fitted with 39 apartments on six decks, along with restaurants, bars and an onboard beach club. At 728 feet, it is to be built by Norwegian ship designer and builder VARD at a cost of around $600 million.

 

IRS FACING MILLIONS OF UNPROCESSED RETURNS.  The tax filing season ends with the Internal Revenue Service facing 35.3 million unprocessed tax returns, higher than in the 2019 pre-pandemic filing season.

 

COUPLE FACES FINE FOR BULLDOZING JOSHUA TREES.  A San Bernardino, California, couple is facing an $18,000 fine after bulldozing 36 Joshua trees from land where they plan to build a home because it is illegal to remove or kill a Joshua tree, a candidate for the California Endangered Species Act.

 

GIANT HAILSTONE DROPS ON TEXAS.  A hailstone that fell one mile south-southwest of Hondo, Texas, measures “an unheard size” of 19.73 inches in circumference and 6.4 inches in diameter and weighs 1.26 pounds, which labels it the largest hailstone to drop on the state.

 

DOG RETURNS, RINGS DOORBELL. Spooked by fireworks, a dog called Rajah runs away from home in Greenville, South Carolina.   She returns home hours later and somehow rings the doorbell to be let in.

 

ROBOCALL DEADLINE ENDS FOR PHONE COMPANIES.   June 30 was the deadline for telephone companies to report to the Federal Communications Commission whether they are implementing the agency's required robocall blocking technology.  Did they meet the deadline?  We’ll find out soon.

 

RUSSIA AND CHINA EYE HAWAII?  Japanese deputy Yasuhide Nakayama tells the Hudson Institute Russia and China are coordinating military drills to threaten not only Taiwan but also Hawaii, and the U.S. should be wary of a Pearl Harbor style surprise attack.

AMERICANS KEEPING THEIR VEHICLES LONGER

Helped by improved quality, Americans are keeping their vehicles longer, notes Grumpy Editor.

Average vehicle age, rising steadily over the past 15 years, now is a little over 12 years, finds IHS Markit Ltd., an American-British information provider based in London.

The trend to a longer age accelerated during the pandemic.

Twenty years ago it was common for a car to change hands once or twice over its 100,000-mile run, says Todd Campau of HIS Markit.  That compares with today’s cars with multiple owners lasting 200,000 miles or more, he adds.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

U.S. FIGHTER JETS FLY COMBAT MISSIONS FROM BRITISH CARRIER.  Not getting much mention in media:   U.S. Marine Corps fighter jets aboard a British aircraft carrier fly combat missions over the Middle East last week.  It marks the first time U.S. warplanes went into combat from a foreign warship since World War II. 

POSTAL SERVICE HONORS BASEBALL CATCHER YOGI BERRA.  The U.S. Postal Service issues a 55-cent stamp honoring the late baseball Hall of Fame New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra.

PETS JOIN MASTERS AT WORK.  Businesses between June 21 and 25 saw many pets brought to work, marking “Take Your Pet to Work Week.”  Experts say pets are great stress reducers and help both owners and coworkers feel more relaxed.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE STAFFERS TAKE BUYOUTS.  Almost 40 Chicago Tribune journalists are taking buyouts and leaving the paper.  The action follows hedge fund Alden Global Capital’s acquisition of Tribune Publishing, owner of the Tribune and other publications, for $633 million.

MOSCOW HEAT BREAKS JUNE RECORD.  Extreme heat makes its way to Moscow where the temperature breaks an all-time June record, reaching 94.6 degrees Fahrenheit.  Previous record:   94.46 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in 1901.

POLICE RESCUE MISSING GOLDEN RETRIEVER.  A golden retriever, missing for 16 days, is reunited with its owners following a water rescue in a New Jersey bay conducted by the New Jersey State Police.

RESTAURANT PATRON LEAVES $16,000 TIP.  A Londonberry, New Hampshire, restaurant patron tacks on a $16,000 tip to his $37.93 tab for two chili dogs, pickle chips and some drinks.

U.S. SCRAMBLES JETS WITH RUSSIAN SHIPS NEAR HAWAII.  Russian naval vessels, including those with combat aircraft, pass between 23 and 34 miles of the Hawaiian Islands at one point during exercises in the region last week.  It prompts scrambling of U.S. combat aircraft --- F-22 Raptor stealth fighters.   

BITING CALIFORNIA CANINES ZERO IN ON POSTAL WORKERS

California ranks No. 1 in many areas and now adds a new category:  dog bites against postal workers, notes Grumpy Editor.

The U.S. Postal Service reports five California cities rank among the top 25 in most dog attacks in the nation with Los Angeles in third place with 54 attacks.

San Diego is tied for 10th spot with 35 attacks, followed by Sacramento tied for 16th, with 22; Long Beach tied for 18th, with 20, and San Francisco, tied for 24th with 14.

That is nothing to bark about.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

AP TO CURB NAMING MINOR CRIME SUSPECTS.  Associated Press says it no longer will name suspects in brief stories about minor crimes in which there is little chance AP will provide coverage beyond the initial arrest.

GIRL SCOUTS FACE UNSOLD COOKIES.  Because of the pandemic, Girl Scouts have 15 million boxes of unsold cookies.  This will be felt by local councils and troops that depend on cookie sales to fund programming, travel, camps and other activities.

 

JUNIOR LAWYERS PAY RISES.  Junior lawyers salaries at many top law firms are rising above $200,000, “following a year of record-breaking profits in the legal industry and competition to retain a workforce that has billed long hours at home during the pandemic,” reports The Wall Street Journal.

 

SENIORS SMACKED BY SCAMS.  The FBI reports senior citizens lost almost $1 billion in scams last year.  The shady activity was highest in California, Florida and Texas.

 

GRANDMOTHER, 92, GETS DIPLOMA.  A Utah grandmother, Barbara Stanley, picks up her high school diploma --- at age 92.   She grew up during the Great Depression, put ambitions on hold to help her sisters raise their kids, then married early in her 20s, giving birth to 17 children (eight boys and nine girls). 

MISSISSIPPI CRUISES RETURN.  American Queen, one of the largest cruise lines operating on American waterways, resumes offering cruises at reduced capacity and with enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols, on two of its boats sailing the Mississippi, Ohio and Cumberland rivers.

PANDEMIC CONTRIBUTES TO COMEBACK OF VINYL RECORDS

 

Vinyl records, popular years ago, are making a comeback, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Aiding in the revival is the pandemic with music lovers at home listening to favorite tunes.

 

Vinyl record sales last year jumped 29 percent to $626 million, surpassing compact disc sales revenue, according to the Record Industry Association of America.

 

Such activity is putting smiles on faces of owners of about 1,400 record stores around the nation.  And new record stores are opening.

 

The first commercially available long-playing record, designed for playback at 33 1/3 rpm, was introduced by RCA Victor in 1931.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

ALLIGATOR VISITS POST OFFICE.  The post office in Spring Hill, Florida, has an unusual early morning visitor — a seven-foot alligator roaming around the lobby, obviously looking for something better tasting than stamps.

 

U.S. TV ANCHORS IN GENEVA.  In Geneva to cover President Biden’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin are network anchors:  ABC’s David Muir, CBS’s Norah O’Donnell and NBC’s Lester Holt.  

 

BRIEFING ROOM BACK TO NORMAL.  The White House’s James S. Brady Press Briefing Room is back to 100 pewrcent capacity with all 49 assigned seats filled— plus with people standing in the aisles.

 

NURSE WHO INSPIRED TV SHOW DIES.  Cathy Drake, a Korean War nurse who worked in the operating room and was the inspiratiion for the TV show M*A*S*H, dies at 96 in Evansville, Indiana.

 

AMERICAN AIRLINES DROPS IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE.  American Airlines is dropping its in-flight magazine, oldest continuously published magazine in the airline industry, dating to 1966.

 

IBM U.S. EMPLOYEES BACK IN OFFICES IN SEPTEMBER.  International Business Machines Corp. tells U.S. employees they will be going back to work at company offices the week of Sept. 7, citing, "improving U.S. clinical conditions and broad access to Covid-19 vaccines” for the company’s decision.

RUSSIAN SAILORS RESCUE DOG IN ARCTIC.  A dog is rescued by Russian sailors after wandering through the Arctic ice for more than a week. 

FRENZIED HOUSING MARKET MAKES HOMEOWNERS AFRAID TO SELL

The housing market may be hot right now but some homeowners are afraid to sell, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

As The Wall Street Journal points out:  “Plenty of households could sell their homes for a big profit, but then they would have to find a new place to live.”

 

It adds that “many are unwilling to compete in this frenzied market, where they could be subjected to fierce and costly bidding wars.”

Fear of failing to find a new home is a key reason people are staying in their current residences longer than in earlier days.

 

Young families seeking to trade up fear being priced out of the neighborhoods.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

D-DAY OBSERVANCE QUIET.  Observance of D-Day, when 150,000 Allied soldiers landed on Nazi-occupied Normandy shore on June 6, 1944, sadly went by rather quietly this year.

 

LOOK FOR BUSY HURRICANE SEASON.  The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be a busy year as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts above-average activity, with up to 10 hurricanes and up to five major storms.

 

POSTAGE STAMP AUCTION GRABS ATTENTION.  “One-Cent Magenta,” as the 1856 postage stamp from British Guiana is called, that sold for nearly $10 million in 2014, goes on auction tomorrow in New York where it is expected to sell for as much as $15 million.

 

DOGS WELCOMED AT VEGAS STRIP CASINO.  Las Vegas Strip hotel Encore at Wynn now welcomes canine clientele with a luxury dog-friendly resort program. A room or suite accommodates up to two canine guests that are offered exclusive amenities ranging from chow to clothing.

 

SHRINKFLATION SPREADS.  “Shrinkflation” is a new term being used to describe companies charging the same amount for a product in a smaller package, such as smaller cans.

 MOTOR VEHICLE CRASHES MOUNT.  More than 38,600 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. last year, estimates the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  That’s the highest number of fatalities in more than a decade.

 THE SHOW MUST GO ON.  In India, a bride-to-be dies of a heart attack during a wedding ceremony.  So her sister fills in and marries the groom --- with the sister’s body in a nearby room.

 

MAJOR BLAZE HITS UNIVERSAL STUDIOS LOT.  Exactly 13 years after a major blaze on its lot, Universal Studios in Hollywood encounters another huge fire --- at the “Despicable Me” attraction under construction.

 

FLAG STEALERS BEING SOUGHT.  Police are seeking the culprits who stole a huge American flag and several smaller flags from a Southern California veterans cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend.

 

 LONDON POLICE SEIZE $7 MILLION.  London's Metropolitan Police seize $7 million in cash --  largest amount ever taken by the capital's police force -- after noticing a man struggling to carry bags stashed full of money.

 

 

 

MEMORIAL DAY HONORS, MOURNS MILITARY PERSONNEL

 

Memorial Day today may be a pleasant time to relax and be with family and friends, but it's also a solemn time of remembrance, reminds Grumpy Editor.

 

The federal holiday honors and mourns military personnel who have died in the performance of military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

 

From the Memorial Day Foundation (its mission is to increase awareness and respect for Memorial Day) here are a few customs aimed at honoring fallen service members:

• Fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until noon
• Observe a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time
• Place flags or flowers on veterans' graves

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

OSCARS SLATED FOR MARCH.  After a year of disruption, look for Hollywood’s 94^th Oscars to be held next March 27. It will be broadcast on ABC.

 

NAVY SHIP SHORTAGE ILLUSTRATED.  Shortage of U.S.  Navy ships is illustrated with the USS Ronald Reagan --- the only aircraft carrier based in the Asia-Pacific region --- shifting to the Middle East this summer to cover U.S. and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan.

 

WORLD WAR II VETERAN RECEIVES COLLEGE DEGREE.  Bill Gossett, 97, from Illinois, who left college to serve in the Army Air Corps in World War II returned to finish his education nearly 80 years later.  He completed his Associate of Arts degree in 2020, but had to wait until recently for a graduation ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

LONG-TERM SHELTER DOG FINALLY FINDS HOME.  An Ohio animal shelter finally finds a home for Mica, a 10-year-old German shorthaired pointer/Labrador mix in a shelter for six and a half years, reports the League for Animal Welfare.

EIFFEL TOWER REOPENS JULY 15.  Paris’s Eiffel Tower, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world, will reopen July 15 after being shuttered for a second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

EXPENSIVE SANDWICH TO DEBUT IN DISNEYLAND.  The Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, California, on Friday introduces one of the most expensive sandwiches in the world: $99.99.  But the panini sandwich will serve six to eight guests.

 

HUGE ANTARCTIC ICEBERG BREAKS OFF.  The world's largest iceberg breaks off the western side of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica's Weddell Sea. The iceberg measures around 105 miles in length and 15.5 miles in width.

NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE SET TO RESUME TRIPS.  Subject to approval by obtaining a conditional sailing certificate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Norwegian Cruise Line plans a return to sailing in the United States from Aug. 7, more than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the industry to a virtual standstill.

U.S. HOUSING MARKET SIZZLES, TRIGGERING BIDDING WARS

House prices are skyrocketing around the nation, bidding wars are the norm and supply is scarcer than ever, notes Grumpy Editor.

Bloomberg also finds the market is too hot even for homebuilders.

“Demand is so fevered and construction costs are climbing so quickly,” observes Bloomberg, “that overwhelmed builders are suppressing orders and shifting away from fixed prices.”

Bloomberg adds, “In a global economy roiled by supply shortages, the U.S. housing market is struggling with a collision of pandemic-related forces that’s holding back new inventory just when it’s needed most. Buyers are stampeding for new homes as remote work upends employment, while soaring lumber costs and a shortage of workers are slowing construction. The result is home prices, already reaching unaffordable levels for many Americans, are set to keep rising.”

 

About 19 percent of builders are delaying sales or construction and 47 percent have added escalation clauses into contracts, allowing them to lift prices as costs increase, according to an April survey by the National Association of Homebuilders.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

AP MARKS 175TH YEAR.  The Associated Press is celebrating its 175th anniversary this month.  The AP was formed in May, 1846 when five New York city newspapers funded a Pony Express route through Alabama to carry news about the Mexican War to the northern part of the country. Today, it has bureaus in 250 locations in more than 95 countries and produces 2,000 daily stories and more than a million photographs a year. 

MEDAL OF HONOR AWARDED --- FOR KOREAN WAR ACTION.  President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor on Friday to Ralph Puckett Jr., a 94-year-old retired Army colonel who led the capture and defense of a hill during the Korean War against an overwhelming Chinese attack.

VANDENBERG GETS NAME CHANGE.  Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, gets a periodic name change --- this time to Vandenberg Space Force Base. Space Force in 2019 was created as the sixth uniformed military branch.

 

NEW MISS UNIVERSE.  Andrea Meza, who holds a software engineering degree, is the new Miss Universe.  She edged ahead of Miss Brazil.

 

FOR DOGS...NO BARKING?  North of the border, Calgary's pet ownership bylaws are being updated and some of the proposed changes have some dog behavior experts worried...namely no barking.

 

GREENLAND OFF THE MARKET.  The U.S. is no longer interested in buying Greenland, says President Biden’s secretary of state, Antony Blinken.  “I can confirm that’s correct,” he tells reporters.  Former President Donald Trump eyed purchasing Greenland, a self-governing part of Denmark, even as its leaders said it wasn’t for sale.

 

 

AP's BUZBEE BECOMES EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE WASHINGTON POST

Sally Buzbee, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press, will become the new executive editor of The Washington Post, succeeding the recently retired Marty Baron, notes Grumpy Editor.

As AP’s top editor since 2017, her emphasis on live coverage of breaking news events in all formats, augmented by deep enterprise reporting, has helped yield top awards.

Along with Buzbee’s new post, Paul Farhi of  The Post notes women are now in charge at CBS News, ABC News, NPR, MSNBC, Reuters, Financial Times, Guardian and the Economist.

Selected after a wide search of potential candidates, Buzbee starts her new job on June 1. 

Meanwhile,  AP is searching for a new executive editor.

Fred Ryan, the Post’s publisher and chief executive, says “Sally Busbee has an exceptional record of achievement and a tremendous wealth of experience in leading a global news organization.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

ELLEN DeGENERES GRABS MAJOR SPACE.  Getting more print space than the president in the past week:  Ellen DeGeneres on departing her daytime talk show next year. The announcement even grabbed a chunk of space, with photo, in The Wall Street Journal.

SUPPORT DOG GOES ON THE RUN IN NEW YORK CITY.  Lucy, an emotional support dog that escapes a Manhattan home, is rescued after 10-hours on the run in New York City that takes her across busy streets and into the New York subway system where she is safely rescued before going into a tunnel.

NBC CANCELS GOLDEN GLOBES.  The Golden Globes awards show, with sagging ratings, is an endangered species as NBC cancels next year’s presentation.

BEAR CLIMBS UTILITY POLES.  Downtown Douglas, Arizona, sees a bear climb two utility poles.  The bear eventually descends and scampers off, sending about two dozen onlookers scattering. 

 

TEA DRINKERS GETTING UNEASY.  Tea-drinking British (and many in the U.S.) are getting uneasy over reports that climate change --- namely rising temperatures and erratic rainfall --- is hitting tea-growing countries.  For example:  Kenya, as the world's biggest exporter of black tea, is suffering more floods and droughts than ever before.

AUSTRALIAN DESTROYER DISLODGES WHALES.  Two dead endangered whales are dislodged from the hull of the Australian destroyer HMAS Sydney, after it docks at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.

FOX NEWS ADDS TWO COMMENTATORS.  Fox News Channel will debut weekend shows for commentator Dan Bongino on June 5 and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy June 6.

 

U.S. PLANES FLY NEAR NORTH KOREA, SORT OF LIKE THE EARLY 1950s

Reminiscent of the Korean War days in the early 1950s, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force spy planes fly near North Korea several times in recent days, as Pyongyang condemned Washington's North Korea policy and the latest satellite imagery showed activity at Nampo shipyard, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

It was during the Korean War that the newly-independent U.S. Air Force became involved.

But in those days U.S. aircraft could chase the “bad guys” only to the Yalu River, thus allowing enemy planes to escape into China.

At that time it was common for F-86 Sabre jets to tangle with Soviet MIG-15 fighters.

World War II-era prop-driven P-51D Mustangs were pressed into ground-air support role and large formations of B-29 Superfortresses were used on strategic bombardment missions.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

BROADWAY GOES 100 PERCENT SEPT. 14.  New York City’s Broadway, closed since March, 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic, is set to resume shows at 100 percent capacity on Sept. 14. 

FORBES IN ACQUISITION TALKS.  Forbes Media enters talks to be acquired by a group led by GSV Asset Management, in a deal that values the business-news publisher at more than $600 million, reports Bloomberg News.

PRESERVING COAST GUARD CUTTER SOUGHT.  A U.S. Coast Guard cutter with an historic tie to 9/11 may be headed to Indonesia, but a former crew member is campaigning to preserve it as a memorial to the terrorist attacks in New York City.

ARMY TO OFFER BONUSES IN SOME POSITIONS.  The U.S. Army, in an attempt to bolster recruiting as the pandemic stretches into a second year, will offer extra bonuses starting next week to individuals who commit to serve in 11 high-demand positions.

GEORGIA WOMAN HEARS LOTS OF BUZZING.  A Decatur, Georgia woman was shocked to find a swarm of at least 100,000 bees living in her house.  It marks the fourth time she has had to remove bees from her home.

PET PYTHON ESCAPES FROM CAGE.  A  28-pound, 11-foot-long pet python escaped from a cage in a Yokohama, Japan, man’s home, prompting a search and sending shudders through the local community.

ORBITING BOTTLE OF WINE SET FOR AUCTION. Up for auction is a bottle of Pétrus 2000, made from merlot grapes in France’s Bordeaux region, that spent 14 months orbiting Earth as part of a privately-funded research study on food and agriculture.

 

U.S. BIRTH RATES SLUMP.  Showing a continuing U.S. fertility slump, birth rates last year were the lowest since the government began compiling them in the 1930s.

 

BULL FIGHTING RESUMES IN MADRID.  Thousands show up in Madrid as bullfighting returns after more than a year absence stemming from the pandemic. 

SCIENTISTS POINT TO CLIMATE CHANGE BEHIND FASTER-MELTING GLACIERS

 

Scientists are blaming climate change for faster-melting glaciers which have lost 31 percent more snow and ice per year than they did 15 years earlier, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

Half the world’s glacial loss is coming from the United States and Canada.

 

A study in last Wednesday’s journal Nature reports scientists from 20 years of recently declassified satellite data calculated the world’s 220,000 mountain glaciers have been losing more than 328 billion tons of ice and snow per year since 2015.

 

The annual so-called melt rate from 2015 to 2019 was 78 billion more tons a year than it was from 2000 to 2004.

 

Global thinning rates, different than volume of water lost, doubled in the last 20 years.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

CHINA FOCUSES ON TAIWAN.  The U.S. "is coming to fear that it may no longer be able to deter China from seizing Taiwan by force,” reports The Economist, adding, "Taiwan is an arena for the rivalry between China and America...if the Seventh Fleet failed to turn up, China would overnight become the dominant power in Asia.”

U.S. ECONOMY UP 6.4 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER.  The economy grows at a 6.4 percent rate in the U.S. first quarter this year as the country emerges from the pandemic.

 

TV NEWS CREW AIDS IN NABBING MURDER SUSPECT.  An Atlanta TV station WSB-TV  news crew spotted an Arizona murder suspect near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and flagged police, resulting in the man being taken back into custody after a daylong search.

 

BIDEN PICKS PUFFY DANDELION FOR FIRST LADY.  As President Joe Biden and Jill Biden headed from the White House to the helicopter, on the way to Atlanta, the president suddenly stopped to pick a white puffy dandelion and handed it to the first lady. 

ROBO-DOG ENDS BEAT IN NEW YORK.  The New York Police Department is returning “Digidog,” a robotic police dog, ending its contract with Boston Dynamics.

ALLIGATOR, COW DELAY HOUSTON TRAFFIC.  An alligator along with a cow delay Houston traffic, turning a commute into a nightmare.

 

VEGAS COUPLE FIND ICE AGE BONES IN YARD.  A Las Vegas couple will have to wait to continue building their pool after construction crews unearthed a set of bones dating back to Earth’s most recent ice age.

 

OLDEST KNOWN WHISKEY TO HIT AUCTION.  A bottle of what’s believed to be the oldest known whiskey in existence will hit the auction block next month where it’s expected to sell for betwen $20,000 and $40,000.  Experts say the rare bourbon was likely produced between 1762 and 1802.

 

Officials around the country are wondering why so many drivers are speeding these days.

 

Grumpy Editor has the answer:  TV commercials.

 

Just about every spot pitching cars shows the vehicles speeding on --- and off --- city and country roads.

 

The speeding is prompting cities and states to toughen enforcement.

 

As reported in The Wall Street Journal, Michael Hanson, director of Minnesota’s Office of Traffic Safety, declares:  “I am literally somewhat terrified by what could happen on the roads in Minnesota, and really across the country, if we don’t get a handle on some of this really dangerous driving.”

 

About 42,000 people died in car crashes last year, up eight percent from 2019, estimates the National Safety Council.

 

Law enforcement officials note an uptick in excessive speeding, with some vehicles going over 100 m.p.h. on highways.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

HOW STRANGE CAN HOLLYWOOD GET?  Last night’s Academy Awards, held at Los Angeles’ Union Station, the 82-year-old transit hub in downtown Los Angeles, saw few journalists and no bleachers where fans can cheer the nominees.  

 

HOME SALES SOAR.  New home sales jump 20.7 percent last month, the highest level since 2006, with the median sales price $330,800.

 

COYOTE SPOILS TV REPORTER'S LIVE SHOT.  A coyote came out of nowhere to spoil a Winston-Salem, N.C. TV reporter’s live shot for the 10 o’clock news --- on a story about coyote sightings.

FLUFFY CAT NABBED SMUGGLING NARCOTICS.  A drug-runner’s fluffy white cat is caught trying to smuggle narcotics into a prison in Panama.  The feline, carrying the contraband in a pouch tied around its neck, is stopped outside the Nueva Esperanza Prison in the province of Colon.

 TV AND MOVIES PRODUCT PLACEMENT GETS BOOST.  Product placements on TV and in movies get a boost as items now can be digitally added to scenes and closeups such as bottles or advertising signs.

FULL MOON AFFECTS MEN, SAY RESEARCHERS.  Researchers find a full moon leaves men stressed and sleepless.  They believe solar radiation reflected by a full moon could cause changes in brain activity and blood chemistry.

 

COFFEE DRINKERS MORE FOCUSED.  European scientists say three to five cups of coffee a day can make coffee drinkers more focused while also displaying greater memory and learning abilities.

TOILET PAPER SALES DROP FROM YEAR AGO

In contrast to last year when there was a run on toilet paper stemming from the spread of COVID-19, current sales are (pardon the expression) going down the toilet, notes Grumpy Editor.

In clearing grocers’ shelves, Americans spent more than $11 billion on toilet paper last year, up from a typical year’s $9 billion.  The gain is attributed to a combination of increased use, with many people working from homes, and stockpiling.

 

The Wall Street Journal notes current sales are sinking below pre-pandemic levels, with January sales off more than four percent from the prior January.

 

The newspaper points out “demand for toilet paper shot up in the outbreak’s initial weeks, doubling in the second week of March, and remained elevated throughout most of 2020.”

 

Sales of toilet paper drop 32.7 percent in the 12 weeks ended April 3 from the same period a year ago, according to market research firm NielsenIQ, which tracks point-of-sale data from retailers.

 

Papermaking mills, operating at 100 percent capacity most of last year, are now running around a more normal 90 to 95 percent capacity, says an analyst.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

NORTH KOREA BUILDS UP NUKES.  After decades of sanctions, threats and diplomacy, North Korea has more nukes than ever and missiles that can hit the U.S., according to latest information.

 

GIANT RABBIT STOLEN.  The British owner of Darius, a stolen giant rabbit, puts up a $2,748 reward. The gray-brown rabbit, measuring four feet, three inches, disappeared from his enclosure in the backyard in the village of Stoulton. The rabbit holds the Guinness World Records citation as the world’s longest rabbit.

 

SNAKE FOUND IN LETTUCE FROM GROCERY STORE.  A Sydney, Australia, lettuce buyer returning from a grocery store, notices a small venomous snake hanging out in a produce bag.  It is identified as a pale-headed snake, scientifically known as an hoplocephalus bitorquatus.

 

 PBS AIRS VINTAGE GREAT PERFORMANCE.   PBS on Friday went back in time (48 years, to be exact) in a Great Performance  with “Beethoven in Beijing” featuring a visit by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

 

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS SHELVE ANNUAL DINNER.  The White House Correspondents’ Association says it is canceling its annual Washington, D.C. dinner --- usually held in April --- for the second year in a row over concerns about the ongoing pandemic.

 

STOLEN ROMAN STATUE RECOVERED.  A Roman statue dating back to the first century BC is recovered almost a decade after it was stolen from an archaeological site in Italy.  Two Italian officers came across the sculpture of a headless figure wearing a toga at an antique shop in Belgium.  The "Togatus" statue has been missing since 2011 and is believed to be worth around $120,000.

 

TERRIERS CHASE BEAR FROM HOUSE.  A bear that enters a house near Sacramento is chased off by two terriers.  Film footage shows the bear slowly walking around the kitchen, spending a lot of time near the fridge. At one point, the bear appears to react to something off-camera and then exits the house. The two dogs appear and charge at the bear towards the exit. The bear then stands in the backyard for a second, looking back in on the house. The terriers stand their ground and the bear decides to leave without a fight.

MAYAN URN RETURNS TO MEXICO.  A Mayan urn, made between 900 and 1600 AD, is returning to Mexico after spending more than 50 years at Albion College in Michigan.  The artifact will be placed alongside a twin urn that is on display at the Museo de los Altos in Chiapas.

CORONAVIRUS REQUIRES SEVERAL AP STYLEBOOK CHANGES DURING YEAR

 

Coronavirus has had an effect on the Associate Press stylebook, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

In the past year AP’s “coronavirus topical guide” has been updated several times, says Paula Froke, AP Stylebook editor.  The current version, published March 10, contains 74 entries, 43 of which are new to the stylebook.

 

The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida, points out the guide "includes medical terms — hydroxychloroquine and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children — as well as phrases to describe the socially distant lifestyle many have adopted since the pandemic’s start. Pods, as in learning pods or social pods, get their own entry, and AP now recognizes that FaceTime, Skype and Zoom can be used as verbs.”

 

“The goal is to help writers and editors everywhere have a consistent approach to terminology —  consistent and accurate, above all, and clear so that in this often very quickly changing and big complicated news story, editors can have some guideposts for how to lay this out most clearly for the public to understand,” Froke adds.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FIRST ORBITAL FLIGHT REMEMBERED TODAY.  Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first orbital flight --- space shuttle Columbia from Orlando, Florida. It revolutionized space exploration…with its accomplishments and tragedies.

 

POMPEO JOINS FOX NEWS AS CONTRIBUTOR.  Fox News hires former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a contributor.  A frequent guest on the network, Pompeo is familiar to the network's viewers.

 

FOR SALE SIGN ON LOUISVILLE NEWSPAPER BUILDING.  Nearly 75 years after it was built, The Courier Journal building in Louisville, Kentucky, is up for sale.  The building has been largely devoid of Courier Journal staff the past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic necessitating a work-from-home schedule. 

 

JILL BIDEN SAYS HONOR MILITARY FAMILIES.  First Lady Jill Biden revives a decades-old initiative challenging Americans to do things  — from mowing lawns to dropping off meals for families with loved ones in the armed forces.

 

TIGER WOODS CRASH INFO DRIBBLES OUT.  Tiger Woods auto crash on Feb. 23 continues to make headlines with new revelations.  During the week a story reveals authorities say he was driving more than 80 m.p.h.

 

FUN IN TH SUN.  About two dozen monkeys break out of a zoo in Loeffingen, Germany, near the Swiss border before being recaptured.

 

MAN STEALS VAN GOGH PAINTING.  Dutch police arrest a 58-year-old man suspected of stealing an 1884 painting by Vincent van Gogh last year.

 

U.S. POPULATION GROWTH SLOWS.  America's population grew only 0.48 percent in 2019, an amount unseen since the end of World War I in 1918.  Key elements in the population slowdown include fewer births, fewer immigrants and the overall graying of Americans. The birth rate and immigration have historically driven the nation's changing population dynamics.

 MILITARY MEETING DEMANDS REDUCED.  The Government Accountability Office finds the U.S. military's ability to meet demands has largely degraded over the past two decades, pointing out domain readiness did not meet readiness recovery goals identified by the military services."

POST-ELECTION SEES FEWER PRIME-TIME CABLE NEWS VIEWERS

Post-election cable news viewers have gone to other things, notes Grumpy Editor.

As The Wall Street Journal points out, cable-news viewership fell for all major networks in this year’s first quarter.

It cites Fox News losing 32 percent of prime-time viewers in the first three months of 2021 compared with last year’s fourth quarter, based on Nielsen data, with CNN and MSNBC showing smaller declines of 16 percent and 7.8 percent respectively,  “though each fell more substantially from highs they hit in January.”

The Journal points out “Fox News retained the No. 1 spot among prime time viewers for the full quarter, averaging 2.58 million, though its lead has narrowed.  MSNBC is second in that category with 2.29 million viewers and CNN, which was No. 1 in the weeks after November’s election, is now No. 3 with 1.99 million.”

Following the election, cable news networks have made significant programming changes.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 CHURCH MEMBERSHIP EBBS.  American church membership falls below the majority for the first time, Gallup finds.  It tracks church membership over the past 80 years, starting with 73 percent membership in 1937 and peaking just after World War II with 76 percent.  The past 20 years have seen a sharp dropoff, falling from 70 percent to 47 percent.  Church membership was strongest among those born before 1946, with 66 percent claiming membership, compared to 58 percent of baby boomers, 50 percent of Gen X and 36 percent of millennials.

EARLY BLOOM IN JAPAN.  Cherry blossoms in Japan reach their peak much earlier this year.  Usually in full bloom in April, this year’s peak appeared on March 26.

 

BIDENS DOGS CONTINUE TO GRAB HEADLINES.  President Joe Biden’s dogs continue to grab headlines.  Latest concerns which of his two dogs --- Major or Champ --- left a “deposit” in a White House red-carpeted hallway. That news follows a report last week of Major’s second biting incident in March.

 

WELLS FARGO SEES STAFFERS BACK IN OFFICES IN SEPTEMBER.  With the pandemic fading, Wells Fargo & Co. plans return of home-bound employees to offices on Sept. 6.  A bank officer mentions, “We believe most of us benefit by being physically together.”

 

AUCTION SET FOR LOCK OF WASHINGTON'S HAIR.  A lock of George Washington’s hair is set for auction with bids of nearly $2,000 for the historic relic that is contained within a brass and glass locket.

 

FAMOUS GIRAFFE EUTHANIZED.  April, the giraffe that became famous via coverage of her 2017 pregnancy, is euthanized because of advancing arthritis.  The 20-year-old giraffe started to show mobility problems last summer.

 

DATE TRIGGERS WEDDINGS.  The calendar on Saturday triggered more than 1,000 people to wed in Las Vegas.  Reason: the date 4.3.21.  That doesn't happen often.

 

N.Y. TIMES STAFFERS' OUTSIDE PROJECTS BEING CHECKED BY A COMMITTEE

 

New York Times staffers doing outside work now have to run those projects past a committee to make sure there is no conflict or take away from their Times jobs, observes Grumpy Editor.

 

A memo, cited by Tom Jones at The Poynter Report, says “The committee will primarily review outside projects that have the potential to be competitive with our journalism and business, could conflict with or distract from your work or The Times, involve payment or could be covered in any other way by the policies defined by the Ethical Journalism Handbook.”

 

The memo cites examples of outside work might include book deals and TV and film projects, including consulting work, adding the committee will review audio projects such as podcasts, paid or unpaid newsletters and “any activity requiring you take a leave of absence from The Times.”

 

Jones points out that "the latest mandate appears to be in reaction to a recent controversy involving longtime Times columnist David Brooks, who was receiving money from an Aspen Institute project that was partly funded by Facebook. Brooks mentioned the project he was working on and Facebook in his writing, but never revealed that he was being compensated for it.”

 

Jones cites "news outlets should be a lot more liberal in what they allow their journalists to do, such as books or podcasts. In most of those cases, the news outlet benefits from the exposure their journalists are providing. In other words, if a journalist writes a book that gets plenty of attention, it’s not only good for the journalist, but good for the outlet that the journalist works for.”

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

EARTH SAFE FROM ASTEROID --- FOR NOW.  NASA, the space agency, confirms Earth is "safe" from the once-feared asteroid Apophis for at least the next 100 years.  It is regarded as one of the most dangerous asteroids to Earth after its discovery in 2004.

 

$5 GOLD PIECE SELLS FOR $8.4 MILLION.  The only known 1822 half eagle $5 gold piece in private hands sold at auction in Las Vegas for $8.4 million.  The coin is one of three of its kind in existence and the auction price was the highest for a U.S. gold coin struck by the U.S. Mint.

INVESTORS BUSINESS DAILY ACQUIRED.  News Corp., publisher of the Wall Street Journal and other financial publications, is boosting its portfolio of business publications, with plans to pay $275 million to acquire Investor’s Business Daily from O’Neil Capital Management. 

 

BALD EAGLE POPULATION GROWS.  The number of American bald eagles quadruples since 2009 with more than 300,000 birds in the lower 48 states, say government scientists.

NEWSPAPER SHOWS BLANK FRONT PAGE.  In the Kansas City area, the front page of the Northeast News on Wednesday had no headline, no big story, nothing.  For 23 years Publisher Michael Bushnell says his publication has been covering stories that matter to northeast Kansas Citians.  “This is what it looks like when a community has no newspaper," he mentions, pointing out it is an example of how COVID-19 has hit every business.

J.C. PENNEY CLOSING MORE STORES.  J. C. Penney, one of the largest retailers to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the  COVID-19 pandemic, plans to close 18 more stores in May, bringing total closures to 174.

TROUBLEMAKER SQUIRREL STEALS PACKAGE.  A squirrel in Chicago is caught on camera stealing a package then scaling the side of a two-story building with an Amazon envelope, making it all the way up to the roof.  There's no word on what was inside the package, but neighbors tell the local ABC outlet that the squirrel is a known troublemaker.