Grumpy Editor

 

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MARINE CORPS DOG, SERVING IN COMBAT AREAS, HONORED FOR BRAVERY

 

Overlooked by most news media is the story of Bass, a Belgian Malinois, serving more than six years in Marine Corps special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, being awarded the Medal of Bravery on Capitol Hill for his work with the Leathernecks, notes Grumpy Editor.

In Iraq, Bass conducted more than 350 explosive detections with his handler, Staff Sgt. Alex Schnell, reports Stars & Stripes.

The award is the first of its kind issued by Angels Without Wings, a nonprofit aiming to acknowledge valor of working animals at home and abroad.

In Afghanistan, Bass was used to conduct 34 raids for high-profile individuals and lead troops during dangerous building clearings. 

Through Bass’s four deployments across three countries, there were no Marine fatalities on his missions, points out Stars & Stripes.

Bass retired from active duty last month and is adopted by his handler, Schnell.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

GULP!  What's being flushed down toilets is serving as drinking watering at San Francisco's Public Utilities Building.  Rain that falls on the roof and the water that comes out of the bathrooms are getting a first wash through the building’s engineered wetlands system that can be seen in the lobby and is being carried over the threshold of drinkable.

 

TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATING STEADY.  A Gallup poll shows 57 percent of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's handling of the economy and that, despite the impeachment inquiry, Trump's job approval is holding steady at 43 percent. Among Republicans, Trump's job approval stands at 90 percent.

 

BEAR LOCKS ITSELF INSIDE CAR.  In the Lake Tahoe area, a bear locks itself inside a resident’s car and is freed by a Placer County Sheriff and sent on its way.  But the bear does considerable damage to the car’s interior.

 

AIRLINE REACHES CENTURY MARK.  QUANTAS is marking its 100 year.  The airline, when started by World War I veterans Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness, was called Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd.

 

161-YEAR-OLD PAPER TO CLOSE.  The Martinez (Calif.) News-Gazette in the Bay area, Contra Costa County’s oldest newspaper founded in 1858, over the years reported on Civil War battles, sinking of the Titanic, the Great Depression, closes at the end of next month.  No reason is given for the closure, according to editor Rick Jones.  

 

LONELIST DOG FINDS HOME.  Britain's "loneliest dog" finds a new home after spending more than 1,000 days in kennels.  Adopters showed no interest in three-year-old Faith, a staffie, that spent almost three years in  kennels in Bath, Somerset. The dog was discovered by actor Anthony Head and his wife Sarah Fisher trying to dodge traffic in 2017 and they took her to the Bath Cats & Dogs Home.   

LONELIST CAT STILL LOOKING FOR HOME.  Toby, carrying the title of "loneliest cat," faces another solo Christmas because no one wants to adopt him.  The 11-year-old black and white cat, has spent almost a year in a shelter after being taken in Britain's Canterbury branch on Christmas Eve 2018. It normally takes just 28 days for a cat to find a new home. All his former housemates are adopted. 

NEW CALIFORNIA LAW LIMITS FREELANCE WRITERS ANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONS

 

Freelance writers are grumbling after California recently enacted a law that restricts their annual output, observes Grumpy Editor.

 

A controversial 6,700-word bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom limits Golden State publishers from assigning more than 35 stories a year to a freelance writer.

 

If publishers do not follow the new law, it would be considered a crime leading to legal headaches.

 

An active writer calls the new law “overreaching and harmful to people who prefer the flexibility that comes with being a freelancer,” adding "media outlets will look out of state, assign work to other California residents who haven’t hit the 35-project cap or slash their entire freelance budgets to avoid the hassle of record-keeping.”

 

Author of the law is a former labor organizer who originally capped freelancers to 25 submissions a year, before lifting it to 35 after protests.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

DOW ON A TEAR.  Investors today are watching the Dow Jones Industrial Average to see if it continues higher into new territory after closing Friday at 28004.89, up 222.93 points.  Behind the move are fading recession fears, brighter trade developments and a rosier economic outlook.  

 

ON-POST STORES EXPAND FOR VETERANS.  The Pentagon will expand access to discounted, on-post stores for 4.1 million veterans and some of their caregivers at the beginning of next year, says the Defense Department.

 

McCLATCHY TO CUT SATURDAY PRINT ISSUES.  California-based publisher McClatchy says it plans to eliminate Saturday print issues at all its daily newspapers Around the country by the end of the year.  The newspaper chain has over 30 publications in 14 states, including the Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Charlotte Observer.

 

CHILD PRODIGY, 9, GETS BA DEGREE, AIMS FOR PhD.  A child prodigy from Belgium is set to gain a bachelor's degree next month at the tender age of 9.  Described by staff as "simply extraordinary," Laurent Simons is studying electrical engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology, then plans to embark on a PhD program in electrical engineering while also studying for a medicial degree (his parents are doctors).

 

ANOTHER 9-YEAR-OLD CATCHES BIG FISH.  On a fishing trip with his father at Elephant Butte Reservoir in New Mexico, Alex Flores, a 9-year-old boy, catches a 42-pound blue catfish after it put up a fight for several minutes.

DESPITE STRIKEOUTS.  Baseball's major league minimum salary will rise to $563,500 next season, a hike of $8,500.

OBITUARY COVERS LIVE PERSON.  The Northern Echo, an English newspaper, apologizes for publishing an obituary on a person still alive after checking with three independent sources to confirm his passing. "We removed the story from our website and social media channels as soon as we were made aware that it was incorrect," notes the paper.

DOG READY FOR ADOPTION.  Lucas, a dog found barely alive in July after plunging off a Santa Barbara, California cliff, is ready for adoption. The canine was rescued after falling more than 70 feet to the beach, breaking two of his legs and damaging his hip.  He was lying motionless in the sand for six hours before being discovered by Good Samaritans who called first responders to transport the dog to an emergency animal hospital.

VETERANS DAY TODAY MARKS ITS 100TH ANNIVERSARY

Today marks the 100^th anniversary of  Veterans Day, reminds Grumpy Editor, in case your local newspaper overlooks this.

Originally called Armistice Day, the federal holiday is the special day first observed one year after the end of World War I.

 

Major hostilities of World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.  That’s when the armistice with Germany went into effect.

 

U.S. veteran organizations in 1954 urged that Armistice Day be renamed Veterans Day.

 

Veterans Day, distinct from the Memorial Day public holiday in May, celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day honors those who died while in military service.

Another military holiday remembrance is Armed Forces Day, also in May, honoring those currently serving in the military.

President Donald Trump today will be the first president to kick off New York City’s Veterans Day Parade.

Trump will address the 100th annual opening ceremony of the parade, then will lay a wreath at the Eternal Light Memorial at Madison Square Park.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

 

BOLTON REACHES BOOK DEAL.  John Bolton, former national security adviser, reaches a book deal --- reportedly worth about $2 million --- with Simon & Schuster.

 

OWING $8.41 LEADS TO FORECLOSURE ON HOUSE.  A Southfield, Michigan resident fails to pay $8.41 in property tax due.  That oversight leads the local county treasurer to foreclose on the house, sell it and pocket the proceeds.  The case is now before the state's Supreme Court.

 

SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BECOMES NON-PROFIT.  The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah's largest newspaper, is becoming a non-profit.  It's a new approach in a struggling industry.  The 148-year-old newspaper now gets to accept tax-deductible donations from readers and foundations.

STOLEN PARK BOULDER REAPPEARS.  A one-ton boulder, stolen two weeks earlier, is returned last week at Prescott National Forest in Arizona.  Known as “Wizard Rock,” it is popular with people snapping pictures of it while others admire it.

 

ANOTHER HORSE DEATH AT SANTA ANITA.   Another horse dies at Santa Anita Park.  That’s 37 horse fatalities at the track since last Dec. 26.  Most have been unexplained.

 

FAMILY CIRCLE ENDS RUN. Family Circle magazine, launched in 1932, ends its run with the December issue.

ALMOST ONE FOURTH OF U.S. NEWSROOM STAFFERS LIVE IN N.Y., L.A. OR D.C.

 

Almost one-in-five (22 percent) newsroom employees live in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. metro areas, according to a Pew Research Center analysis, notes Grumpy Editor.

The analysis is based on U.S. Census Bureau data from 2013 to 2017.

By comparison, the three metro areas --- financial, entertainment and political capitals of the United States –- are home to 13 percent of all U.S. workers, points out Pew.

 

As media capital of the world, New York, at 12 percent, has the greatest share of all U.S. newsroom employees – reporters, editors, photographers and videographers in the newspaper, broadcasting and internet publishing industries.

Los Angeles and Washington metro areas, are each home to 5 percent of the nation’s newsroom employees.

 

The remaining seven metro areas – Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Philadelphia and Houston – each have between one percent and three percent of newsroom staffers.

 

Pew also finds between 2008 and 2018, the number of U.S. newsroom employees dropped from 114,000 to 86,000.

 

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

MADE THE SWITCH TO STANDARD TIME?  With the clock adjustment every year, seven out of 10 Americans prefer not to switch back and four to mark daylight saving time, according to a poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs research.

NATIONAL GUARD ON THE MOVE.  It's the trusty U.S. National Guard members that began moving into eastern Syria with heavy armored vehicles as part of the Pentagon’s new mission to secure oil fields wrestled from the Islamic State.  Specifically, they are soldiers with the North Carolina-based 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment and the South Carolina-based 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade.  They are deployed to Deir al-Zour to protect American-held oil fields around that city.

FOX'S HERRIDGE MOVES TO CBS.  Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge is joining CBS News.  She’ll be based at the Washington bureau.

21-YEAR-OLD BOTTLE FLOATS TO HAWAII.  An Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researcher at a remote Hawaiian island finds a message in a bottle from a 1998 Washington state kindergarten class. The bottle also contains drawings and photo from the class in North Bend along with a typed message dated June 15, 1998.

 

WORLD SERIES VIEWERS DIP.  This year’s World Series baseball action averages 13.91 million viewers, down 1.3 percent from last year and third lowest on record, notes Nielsen.

 

NO DRAPED FLAGS.  Did TV viewers observe that there was a lack of usual patriotic decorations of the stadium in Houston?

 

AIR FORCE ALLOWS UNLIMITED REENLISTMENTS.  Starting Nov. 18, those in the Air Force with at least 12 years of service at their date of discharge can reenlist for an unspecified period, extending their enlistment term to the year they must be promoted or face separation, also known as the high year tenure mark.

 

APPLES RECALLED FROM MARKETS.  A Michigan produce supplier is recalling half a dozen apple varieties due to concerns the fruit might be contaminated with listeria. The recall involves nearly 2,300 cases and two bulk bins of fresh apples shipped between Oct. 16 and 21 to distributors and retailers in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

HIGHER SEA LEVELS MAY AFFECT MORE.  Rising sea levels are on track to affect about three times more people by 2050 than originally thought. New research by Climate Central suggests 300 million homes will be affected by coastal flooding in the next 30 years.