Grumpy Editor

GROUNDHOG PHIL SLATED TO PREDICT WEATHER

 

Grumpy Editor says look for Punxsutawney (Pa.) Phil to grab front page space on Wednesday.

 

And who is "Phil?"

 

He's a groundhog.

 

According to lore, if he leaves his borrow and fails to see his shadow, it means winter will end soon.  But if the woodchuck casts a shadow, winter will continue for six more weeks.

 

He is considered the town's ace "public relations person."

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

 

 

KITTY HAWK ON LAST VOYAGE.  Aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk is on its last voyage, making its way from the West Coast to a scrap yard in Brownsville, Texas.  Sailors who served on board over the years are sad to see it go that way, preferring it to become a museum.  At 280 feet wide and more than 1,000 feet long, it's keel was laid on Dec. 27, 1958, at New York Shipbuilding, Camden, N.J.  Cost then was $178 million.

U.S. TROOPS ON ALERT.  Soldiers from the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions along with troops from other units are among the roughly 8,500 service members who have been placed on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe should NATO request help deterring Russia from invading Ukraine.

VIETNAM WAR ANNIVERSARY.  Forty-nine years ago, U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War effectively came to an end. North Vietnam began freeing American prisoners of war, and by the end of March 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam.

INFLATION HIGHEST IN 40 YEARS.  U.S. inflation was 5.8 percent for 2021 as measured by the personal consumption expenditures index. The annual number is the highest since 1981.

MINNIE MOUSE GETS NEW OUTFIT.  Minnie Mouse will soon be changing into a smart blue pantsuit.  It replaces her long-seen traditional red polka dot dress while keeping her iconic bow.

OLDEST GORILLA DIES IN ATLANTA.  Ozzie, 61, a western lowland silverback and the world's oldest male gorilla, dies at Zoo Atlanta.   Cause of death is not known.

 

TV REPORTING FROM FIELD CAN BE RISKY

TV reporting in the field can be perilous sometimes, notes Grumpy Editor.

 

A reporter often faces hazards such as standing in the rain, wading through a flooded street, coping with a windy snowstorm and such.

 

Latest outside live standup event has WSAZ, Dunbar, West Virginia reporter Tori Yorgey getting knocked down after getting clipped by a car. While obviously shaken, she showed what a pro she is by getting up and continuing to report…on the weather.

 

Yorgey, working solo (as many others in TV), picked up her camera and said, “I am so glad I’m okay”  while comforting the woman driver who hit her.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

HIGH RATE OF BANK OFFICE CLOSURES.  U.S. banks closed 2,927 branches last year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. It comes after 2020 set the previous high as the Covid pandemic accelerated digital adoption.

 

BABY PACIFIERS RECALLED.  Nearly 334,000 baby pacifiers are being recalled because they could pose a choking risk. A posting by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission notes “the base of the silicone nipple has a fine slit that can cause the nipple to detach from the plastic shield, posing a choking hazard."

 

WOMAN TO HEAD L.A. FIRE DEPARTMENT.  The Los Angeles Fire Department selects a 22-year veteran --- deputy chief Kristin Crowley --- to become the first woman to lead one of the nation’s largest fire departments.

 

PET SNAKES LIVE IN HOME.  At least 124 snakes and a 49-year-old dead man are found inside his home in Charles County, Maryland.  The snakes, some identified as venomous, were in cages.

OUTER SPACE GEM SET FOR AUCTION.  A rare gem from outer space is set for a Sotheby’s auction next month.  The auction house expects the large 555.55-carat black diamond to sell for at least $6.8 million in Dubai.

 

TWO TATTOOS POPULAR.  Rasmussen Reports, in a national survey, finds 67 percent of American adults do not have tattoos, while 21 percent have two or more tattoos. 

 

 RARE OCTOPUS SEEN IN AUSTRALIA. Known for cape-like webs enclosing its tentacles, a rare blanket octopus is spotted in a “once in a lifetime” encounter off the Australian coast. 

 

 

 

Yes, it was a hot year — temperaturewise — last year, notes Grumpy Editor.

Average global surface temperature in 2021 reached the sixth highest level since record keeping began 142 years ago. 

Average temperature across land and sea surfaces last year was 1.51 degrees above average over the past century, calculates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That makes 2021 the 45th consecutive year in which global readings were above average.

Last year saw the hottest summer since 1936.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

ARMY OFFERS BIG BONUS FOR RECRUITS.  The U.S. Army, seeking to attract highly skilled recruits, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to those who join for six years.

FEWER DOCK WORKERS POSE PROBLEMS.  The pandemic continues to affect unloading of about 100 container ships at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.  A big problem is with unavailable dock workers — about one in 10 of the daily work force, due to Covid-related reasons.

VETERINARIANS GROWTH SEEN.  A veterinarians.org study focusing on the census of veterinarians in the nation finds there is a projected growth of 17 percent in veterinary practice by 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

POPE VISITS RECORD SHOP.  In Rome, Pope Francis came out of a record shop with a CD in hand.  He didn’t buy anything but shop owners gave him classical music.

CREDIT CARD SPENDING ON RISE.  Latest consumer data show credit card spending and debt levels are once again on the rise.  Federal Reserve data show revolving credit levels in November at $1.02 trillion, highest since March, 2020. 

BACK TO OFFICE STILL FROWNED ON.  The share of remote workers who would consider leaving jobs if they were asked back to the office before they felt safe rose to 55 percent as of Jan. 6, up from 45 percent a week prior, according to pollster Morning Consult.

MISUSED, OVERUSED AND USELESS WORDS FOR 2022

Some fresh four-letter words are being frowned on, notes Grumpy Editor.

“Wait, what” tops Michigan’s Lake Superior State University’s annual list of words/phrases deemed misused, overused and useless for 2022.

"Wait, what?" should "not go together under any circumstances,” the university stresses.

Other phrases include "new normal," "you're on mute," "asking for a friend," "supply chain," "at the end of the day," "that being said," "circle back" and "deep dive.”

The university adds, “avoid error in and exploitation of everyday language.  In short, do the opposite of what the public and the media did in the past year.”

The university has published the list since 1976, citing the need to "uphold, protect and support excellence in language.”

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

PAYING ATTENTION TO NEWS DECLINES IN 2021.  Engagement with news content plummeted last year compared to 2020, and given the ongoing decline in interest in news about COVID-19 and politics, it doesn't look like 2022 will be much better, finds Axios.

NORTH KOREA SAYS NEW MISSILE HITS TARGET.  North Korea says its first weapons test of the new year, involving a hypersonic missile, “precisely” hits a target about 435 miles away. 

 

MANSION FOR SALE CARRIES HIGHEST PRICE TAG.  A 105,000-square-foot hillside mansion in Bel Air, California dubbed "The One," could become the most expensive property to sell in the United States when it hits the auction block next month. It spans 3.8 acres, listed at $295 million.  The home boasts 360-degree views from ocean to downtown Los Angeles.

 

COMPANY MAKES 4-DAY WORK WEEK PERMANENT.  San Francisco-based e-commerce developer Bolt makes a four-day workweek permanent.  Testing the program last fall, the results were "overwhelmingly positive,” says CEO Ryan Breslow. “I couldn’t imagine running a company any other way,” he says, adding, productivity has increased, work has been streamlined and employees are happy.

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES JAB U.S.  Experts at lightning research firm Vaisala, based in Finland, tally 194 million cloud-to-ground and in-cloud lightning events in the continental U.S. last year.

 

AIRCRAFT CARRIER SAILS WITH FEMALE SKIPPER.  Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln is steaming toward the western Pacific on a routine deployment with a female officer in charge --- Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt.

 

WORLD'S OLDEST PERSON MARKS BIRTHDAY.  In Japan, Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest living person, turned 119 years old. Born in 1903, Tanaka married a rice shop owner at the age of 19, and worked in the family store until she was 103. She lived through a multitude of historical events, surviving two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu.

 

TOP DOG BREEDS IN MOVIES.  Top 10 most famous dog breeds that appeared in films, compiled by Country Living magazine.

1. German Shepherd (562 films and TV credits)
2. Bulldog (284)
3. Poodle (209)
4. Doberman Pinscher (176)
5. Chihuahua (167)
6. Rottweiler (153)
7. Great Dane (149)
8. Golden Retriever (146)
9. Dachshund (126)
10. Saint Bernard (108)

CONSUMER PRICES IN FASTEST JUMP SINCE 1982

Yes, your wallet is getting thinner --- fast, observes Grumpy Editor.

In the latest reporting period, November’s 5.7 percent increase in consumer prices over the past year is the fastest pace since July, 1982.

That increase, reported by the Commerce Department, follows a 5.1 percent rise for the 12 months ended in October, continuing a string of annual price gains that have run well above the 2 percent inflation target set by the Federal Reserve.

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

ASTEROID NEARS EARTH.  A “potentially hazardous” asteroid more than twice the height of New York’s Empire State Building will make a close encounter with Earth on Jan. 18.  It won’t occur again for another 200 years.

CEOs WORRY ABOUT JOBS.  A  survey finds 72 percent of chief executive officers are worried about losing their jobs in 2022 because of business disruptions. “That’s eye-poppingly high,” says Simon Freakley, CEO of management consulting firm AlixPartners, source of the survey.

FRANCE PUSHES MORE DAYS WORKING FROM HOME.   France will make working from home compulsory three days a week to contain the spread of the omicron variant. This is the second time during the pandemic that France has set such a rule, first doing so between March and May of last year. 

COFFEE SHOPS IN ICELAND.  In case you are planning a trip to Iceland, Forbes runs an article detailing the top seven coffee shops in Reykjavik, Iceland selected “for their comfy ambiance, top-notch coffee, and easy access for exploring other attractions and sites around the city.”

ALASKA ISLAND GETS WARM.  Kodiak Island in southern Alaska hit 67 degrees last week, warmer than it was in Southern California on that day.  It was the warmest December day in Alaska, according to the National Weather Service in Anchorage.  Statewide temperature records in Alaska date back to 1953.

 

BANK MAKES SURPRISE DEPOSITS.  Two thousand business accounts receive a surprise gift totaling the equivalent of $176 million from Santander bank in the U.K.  Seems the accounts were processed twice in a “scheduling issue” that the bank says has been corrected.

 

COVID-19 IMPERILS TV SPORTS.  High Covid-19 cases imperils as much as $400 million in college playoff commercials for ESPN sports network because of the growing risk of games being cancelled.