CONNECT SELECT A wide selection of interesting and trending stories – rip ‘em, read ‘em & post ‘em! FOR THURSDAY, JULY 2nd, 2020

TODAY IS…  I FORGOT DAY – For once, you have a great excuse to forget. The point of the day is to make amends for all the stuff that slipped your mind and made someone really, really angry at you.  NATIONAL ANISETTE DAY– Raise a glass to the fancy liqueur made from aniseed. The herb-flavored drink is made for sipping, and is especially popular in Spain, Italy, France and Portugal. It’s also used for baking boozy cookies.  WORLD UFO DAY – Are we alone? Plenty of people don’t think so. Today is World UFO Day, held to raise questions about UFOs' and to encourage governments to declassify their UFO files. How do you celebrate? The official website suggests watching UFO movies or talking with friends about the possibility of an alien life. It’s also the 73rd anniversary of the supposed UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico (in 1947).  WALMART’S 58TH ANNIVERSARY – They’re everywhere today, but the very first Walmart was opened on July 2nd, 1962 by Sam Walton (hence the name ‘Walmart’). There are more than 47-hundred Walmart stores in the US, and a total of 11,501 stores around the world. Kodiak, Alaska boasts the world’s most remote Walmart.  40th ANNIVERSARY OF ’AIRPLANE’ – Today marks 40 years since the release of the comedy ’Airplane!' The disaster-drama spoof starred Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson. Surely, the film is still regarded as one of the funniest of all time. ‘And don’t call me Shirley’

BIRTHDAYS:

 LARRY DAVID, 73 – Seinfeld creator, Curb Your Enthusiasm star. Here’s hoping this birthday is ‘pretty, pretty, pretty good’.  MARGOT ROBBIE, 30 – Actress. Star of ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Suicide Squad.’  LINDSAY LOHAN, 34 – Actress. She went from playing adorable twins on ‘The Parent Trap’ to Hollywood’s favorite hot mess.  ASHLEY TISDALE, 35 – Actress. She was featured in more than 100 ads before getting her big break in ‘High School Musical.’ That’s showbiz, baby!  ALEX MORGAN, 31 – Women’s Soccer player, 3-time World Cup winner, and Olympic Gold Medalist (2012). GOOOOAL! She currently plays for the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League.

TRENDING/ODD:

SNOW IN THE WEST! (00:18) While the central US sweats through a hundred-degree heatwave, out west – they’ve got snow…because weird things happen in 2020! Idaho, Utah, Montana and Wyoming are looking more like Christmas than Independence Day. They got upwards of 6 inches of snow. Outside of Salt Lake City, they recorded their first June/July snowstorm ever!

WORLD’S LARGEST SCOREBOARD GOES UP IN LA (00:22) Everything might be bigger Texas, except for the scoreboards. The new NFL stadium in Los Angeles now has the biggest video screen in pro sports: it's a massive 360-foot, double-sided 4K scoreboard that's 3-times the size of the video screen the Dallas Cowboys made history with. It's so big, it's longer than the actual field! The new SoFi stadium will host both the Rams and Chargers next season.

CALIFORNIA IS LOCKING DOWN AGAIN (00:20) California is starting to close down again. The governor has ordered restaurants and bars in 19 counties to shut down, including Los Angeles and Sacramento. The order also includes movie theaters, bowling alleys and arcades. Restaurants can still operate, but only for take-out, delivery and outdoor dining. They'll reconsider RE-reopening in 3 weeks.

NHL HUB CITIES CHOSEN? (00:23) There's word the NHL has chosen Toronto and Edmonton as its hub cities for when they resume playoffs next month. That's IF they resume. The NHL says 10 percent of their players have already tested positive for COVID, and now that training camps are about to start, they worry more could become infected. Las Vegas was supposed to be one of the hub cities, but that was before a recent COVID outbreak there.

COUNT YOUR PENNIES; AMERICA HAS A COIN SHORTAGE (00:23) Next time you pay cash, better bring exact change, because America's experiencing a coin shortage. The US Federal Reserve says the pandemic has really messed with their ability to make coins, and now pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters are becoming more scarce. The government has been limiting how many coins they've been sending to banks, and that's left a lot of retailers short changed, so to speak.

KELLYANNE CONWAY'S DAUGHTER ANTI-TRUMP ON TIKTOK (00:21) TikTok, the kids love it and parents grumble. Take Kellyanne Conway. Her daughter is quite vocal in her opposition to President Trump on her TikTok, and boy have people noticed. Claudia is only 15 and has over 40-thousand followers. She posts pro-Black Lives Matter videos too. Claudia says she and her mom get into it over politics but still have a "best friend" relationship.

NURSE IN WEDDING DRESS HELPS AT ACCIDENT SCENE (00:22) Don't need to be in scrubs to be a nurse. In fact, a bride in her wedding dress jumped into action after a bad car crash near her home in Grove Heights, Minnesota. She held in her arms a woman with a leg injury. The bride's new hubby snapped photos and it's gone viral. The young wife, a recent nursing school graduate, says she had been lacking confidence in her abilities up until that moment.

CRIME

NYPD LOSES A BILLION IN FUNDING (00:24) Those "defund the police" chants were heard loud and clear in New York City. What will the Big Apple look like with a billion dollars cut from police funding? We're about to find out. With the coronavirus, New York isn't the money maker it once was and the city council cut budgets. Plans to hire 16-hundred new NYPD officers have been cancelled. There will also be a shift away from the police monitoring the homeless and school safety.

LOS ANGELES TO USE UNARMED RESPONDERS INSTEAD OF POLICE (00:16) In Los Angeles, the Black Lives Matter movement has been vocal about police tactics. Now in L-A, many 911 calls will be diverted to a new crisis response team. Calls about the homeless, mentally ill, or non-violent drug cases will be referred to unarmed trained responders instead of cops.

WOMEN GET MILLIONS IN WEINSTEIN SETTLEMENT (00:27) A massive 19-million dollar settlement has been reached for the women who say they were sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein. The deal lets women make claims of between 75-hundred and 750- thousand dollars. Weinstein does not have to admit to anything, but the women can now speak openly. They've been released from non-disclosure agreements. The former Hollywood producer was convicted earlier this year of rape and sexual assault against two women. He got just over 20 years in prison.

HEALTH/SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY

STUDY: THE BEST FABRIC FOR MAKING YOUR OWN MASK (00:25) Scientists have figured out the best fabric to use if you're making your own face mask, and your grandma's gonna love it! A study published in the journal of Physics of Fluids finds that a fitted, sewn mask made from two layers of quilting fabric is best at filtering droplets. The worst one they tested was a plain-old bandana. They think the quilted fabric catches germs better because of its two-ply ridges. Now, go raid nana's quilting drawer!

US SCOOPS UP WORLD’S SUPPLY OF COVID DRUG (00:21) The US has just bought up the world's supply of a promising COVID drug…and that's got the rest of the world hating us for it! The federal government scooped up all the available Remdesivir (rem- DEZ-eh-veer), with plans to dole it out to Americans only. The World Health Organization says that's not cool, since other countries are suffering too and now can't get their hands on any more of it.

YOUR MONEY/SHOPPING

COSTCO STOPS MAKING POPULAR HALF-SHEET CAKES (00:15) Now that big gatherings have been banned, Costco has quietly stopped selling their popular half- sheet cakes. They're a top seller for birthday and office parties. (Wait... they're not single-serve?). Costco has replaced them with a 10-inch round cake that can safely be shared with a few people…. Or not.

MCDONALD’S PAUSES REOPENING U.S. EAT-IN SERVICE (00:18) It's gonna be a while before you can eat-in at a McDonald's. The chain isn't 'lovin' the current spike in COVID cases across America, so McDonald's decided to hold off on re-opening dine-in service at all of its U.S. locations. They'll reconsider in about 3 weeks. Until then, you'll have to settle for drive- thru or take out.

IPHONE 12 MIGHT NOT COME WITH A POWER ADAPTER (00:20) If you're saving up for the new iPhone 12 better save a little extra. Not only is Apple considering ditching the free earbuds that have come with every iPhone, but now there's talk they'll stop including chargers too. The thinking is that everyone's already got one, so why bother. It also gets more iPhone users to consider buying a wireless charger.

BIGGEST PIZZA HUT CHAIN FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY (00:25) Pizza Hut, it's the pizza you crave at the airport or completely drunk. The company that runs 12- hundred Pizza Hut restaurants has filed for bankruptcy. They also own nearly 400 Wendy's locations in the U-S. The franchisee is nearly a billion dollars in debt and the pandemic only made matters worse. The restaurants will remain open through Chapter 11. Let's hope so; the bankruptcy could impact the jobs of nearly 40-thousand people in 27 states.

VOLVO - MAJOR SEAT BELT RECALL (00:13) Volvo is recalling more than two million cars because of front seat belt problems. It's the biggest recall ever by the company. A steel wire connecting the seat belts can experience wear and tear in models from 2006 to 2019.

LIFE/FAMILY

STUDY: THE THING AMERICANS ARE MOST EMBARRASSED ABOUT FORGETTING (00:24) What's the most embarrassing thing to forget? It's not your kids at the mall. According to new research, the most embarrassing thing to forget is someone's name right after you've been introduced to them. A third of Americans say that is the worst, followed by forgetting a partner's birthday. And 2-in-10 Americans say missing an anniversary makes 'em want to hide under the bed. By the way, today is National 'I Forgot' Day (but you'll probably forget).

COVID SPREADS THROUGH WEDDING LEAVING THE GROOM DEAD (00:18) The groom is dead and at least 100 guests got sick after a wedding in India turned into a COVID super-spreader. The 30-year-old husband-to-be tried postponing the wedding when his fever spiked, but his family just told him to take some aspirin and get out there. He died on the way to the hospital two days later. (India now has one of the highest COVID infection rates in the world).

ENTERTAINMENT

RINGO AND PAUL TO PLAY "VIRTUALLY" TOGETHER (00:17) Ringo Starr is reuniting with Paul McCartney for a virtual jam session. Ringo is turning 80, and the two are gonna play for charity online. It'll be an hour of music and conversation. Proceeds will go to various organizations including Black Lives Matter. The show will be July 7th (8pmET) on Ringo's YouTube channel.

COVID WON'T STOP HOT DOG EATING CONTEST (00:18) It's a 4th of July tradition, the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog-Eating Contest. ESPN runs the event live (12pET Saturday). It's usually outdoors in Coney Island, but not this year. It'll happen at a private location because of COVID-19. Joey Chestnut is going for his 13th win. Hold onto your stomach now, his record is 74 hot dogs in ten minutes.

WEEKEND / “ICYMI”

DRIVERS GOING FASTER ON THE ROAD (00:24) What was that whizzing by? New driving analytics data shows that since the pandemic, there are less cars on the roads and less accidents, but people are driving faster than ever! Pedal-pushers are clocking a hundred miles an hour twenty percent more than they did pre-Covid. And when accidents do happen, they're happening at faster speeds – fifty percent faster than usual. The experts suggest taking it easy on the road and sticking to speed limits.

"THE SIMPSONS" STOPS USING WHITE ACTORS FOR NON-WHITE VOICES (00:21) On Friday, producers of the animated hit "The Simpsons" said they will no longer use white actors to provide the voices of their non-white characters. "The Simpsons" has been on the air for thirty years and is the longest-running scripted prime time show in TV history. The news comes in the wake of actresses Jenny Slate and Kristen Bell announcing last week that they were giving up their bi-racial character voice roles.

VALVE FACE MASKS NOT EFFECTIVE (00:17) They may look high tech and cool, but those face masks with the little round valve on the side may not stopping the spread of COVID-19. Bacterial experts say the coin-sized valves allow for the exhaling of potentially infectious respiratory droplets in the air. (Ewww!) The CDC recommends a simple cloth mask instead.

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