*Mornings Archives

Happy Headline from United Federal Credit Union – Monday, November 30

November 30, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Happy Headline of the Day
Six years ago, Sam Sanchez of San Antonio, Texas, started helping kids living at a nearby homeless shelter. She wanted to make sure those kids felt safe and warm, even though they were dealing with difficult situations – and was able to help those kids by providing blankets to them.
Well, fast forward six years, and Sam continues on her mission with her charity group Sam’s Covers.
So far this year, Sam has donated more than 150 fleece blankets to children living in nearby shelters.
She has learned that just providing blankets is a big deal – but it’s not the most important thing she does. Instead, she’s realized that talking to them, being present and learning about their background has an even bigger impact on their happiness.
Her efforts in helping others with Sam’s Covers has inspired her to take next steps with her career. Sam will be attending Baylor University next year – and pursuing a degree in psychology, that she expects will be able to help even more kids in the future.

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The Daily Dish – Monday, November 30

November 30, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, The Daily Dish
Star Wars fans are mourning the loss of one of its biggest stars — who never said a word on screen.
David Prowse, who actually wore Darth Vader’s black suit and mask, has died at age 85.
The six-foot-seven British actor played Vader in the original three movies. His other credits include portraying Frankenstein’s monster three times — most notably in the early James Bond spoof Casino Royale. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2000.
Prowse died Saturday following a short illness. (Hollywood Reporter)
George Lucas paid tribute over the weekend, saying, “He made Vader leap off the page and on to the big screen, with an imposing stature and movement performance to match the intensity and undercurrent of Vader’s presence.” (Hollywood Reporter)
Friends star Matthew Perry is engaged for the first time.
The 51-year-old actor told People magazine (quote) “I decided to get engaged. Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time.”
He proposed to 29-year-old Molly Hurwitz. They started dating about two years ago, though they briefly split during the pandemic.
A close friend said that Molly has been a grounding influence on Matthew, who has struggled for decades with addiction. The unnamed source said, (quote) “He’s sober and doing better than he has in a long time with Molly in his life. She literally gave him something to live for.” (People)
And, Comedian Rebel Wilson lost weight over the Thanksgiving Day break.
She entered a wellness retreat, VivaMayr, rather than indulge over the long holiday. On Sunday, she proudly announced how she reached her goal weight of 165 pounds. She arrived one-month ahead of schedule.
Rebel wrote at Instagram Stories, (quote) “Hit my goal with one month to spare! Even though it’s not about a weight number, it’s about being healthy, I needed a tangible measurement to have as a goal and that was [165 pounds].” (People)

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Coffee Talk from Honor Credit Union – Monday, November 30

November 30, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Coffee Talk
TODAY IS: Cyber Monday: Experts believe this Cyber Monday will be the biggest online shopping day in U.S. history, with projected sales of $10.8 billion to $12.7 billion. (Qz)
The first Snow Storm of Fall / Winter 2020 is … today. The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Warning early this morning to run through tomorrow at 9am due to blowing snow and high winds, and a likely band of Lake Effect Snow that will set up over Berrien and Van Buren counties, dumping snow that could total up to one foot in some places.
For those of you that think getting COVID-19 is no big deal for you personally, the side effects and after effects seem to be worse than the onset. The Sun says some coronavirus patients are losing their teeth. Doctors say this is the newest symptom along with fatigue, hair loss and brain fog.
CBS says all three Denver Broncos quarterbacks were ineligible for yesterday’s game because they had contact with another quarterback, who tested positive for the coronavirus. Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles all tested negative after coming in contact with Jeff Driskel. They were ruled ineligible because they were not wearing masks. The Broncos lost to the Saints 31-3. Wide receiver-turned-quarterback Kendall Hinton completed one of nine passes for the Broncos.
Sarah Fuller made history on Saturday when she became the first woman to play in a Power 5 college football game when she kicked off to start the second half between Vanderbilt and Missouri. The Vanderbilt University soccer star was asked to step in after a number of players were unable to play due to COVID-19. Fuller had “Play Like a Girl” on the back of her helmet. (ESPN)

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Music News – Monday, November 30

November 30, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Music News
Taylor Swift confirms one long-discussed rumor about Folklore in her new documentary — her boyfriend Joe Alywn is William Bowery.
Bowery was credited as a co-writer on two tracks, “Exile” and “Betty,” and Alwyn or Billie Eilish have been rumored as Bowery since then. In Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions Taylor says, “There’s been a lot of discussion about William Bowery and his identity because it’s not a real person. William Bowery is Joe, as we know.”
She adds that it wasn’t just a vanity project. “Joe plays piano beautifully. He’s always just playing and making things up and kind of creating things. And ‘Exile’ was crazy because Joe had written that entire piano part. He was singing the Bon Iver part. And so I was entranced and asked if we could keep writing that one. It was pretty obvious that it should be a duet.”
Saturday Night Live has a star-studded musical lineup scheduled for December. Among the artists are Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, who will taking the stage December 12th. It’s just his fourth musical appearance — and third with the E Street Band — on the long-running show. Timothee Chalamet will host.

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President-elect Biden Selects All-Female White House Senior Communications Team

November 30, 2020 *Mornings, News Daypop

On Sunday, President-elect Joe Biden announced an all-female White House senior communications team. In a statement, Biden’s transition team issued a statement declaring the team the “first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better.”... [Read Full Story]

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Happy Headline from United Federal Credit Union – Monday, November 23

November 22, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Happy Headline of the Day
In Los Angeles, 8-year-old Aaron Moreno made a big impact on the life of his family members by starting a business — that has allowed them all to move from a shed into an apartment.
When all this coronavirus stuff started, Aaron’s family was struggling. So, Aaron started his own business, calling it Aaron’s Garden. He raised money to start the business with a GoFundMe campaign — and then started selling plants.
It didn’t take long for his business to take off.
Thanks to his hard work, Aaron has made enough money to move his family into a nice apartment — and even buy his mom a car, the first car she’s owned in four years.
Even though Aaron has enjoyed big success, he says he’s not done. Now that they’re no longer living in a shed, Aaron plans to set aside space in their new garage to keep building his business.

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The Daily Dish – Monday, November 23

November 22, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, The Daily Dish
Most people probably realize this already, but under that gruff exterior, Gordon Ramsay has a heart of gold.
According to TMZ, Ramsay donated $50,000 to help Ben Watkins in his fight with cancer. The Masterchef Junior contestant died this week at age 14.
Apparently Ramsay made the contribution very quietly back in August. The show is also exploring ways to honor Ben on the air.
Matthew McConaughey tells Sky One that he is interested in doing stand-up comedy. ”Why I’m interested in doing stand up, is my raw expression goes through four filters before it gets to the screen. I’m doing someone else’s script, I’m being directed by someone else, I’m being filmed by someone else, I’m being edited by someone else before it’s put in a capsule and put in front of you on screen. Where do you go where there is no filter? That’s stand-up. So the plan before Covid was, I was planning on taking to the road and telling stories in an hour of stand-up.”
OK! magazine says Lori Loughlin is struggling behind bars. A source tells the magazine, “This is Lori’s worst nightmare in so many ways, and she’s scared and lonely beyond belief right now. Going into this sentence, she was putting on a brave face and saying she was focused and pleased to be getting it over and done with. But Lori’s not as tough as she pretends to be. Lori is finding out the hard way that she has to be humble, pay her dues and act like any other felon who’s serving her debt to society. She’s lonely, ashamed and incredibly sad that her life has come to this — but at the same time, she knows it could have been so much worse.”
The NY Post says Lori’s husband, Mossimo, began his five-month prison sentence yesterday in California

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Coffee Talk from Honor Credit Union – Monday, November 23

November 22, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Coffee Talk
An extremely important world figure is immune to the coronavirus — Santa Claus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says that St. Nick “is exempt from this because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity.” He adds that it’s good news not just because he’ll be able to visit all the good little children on Christmas Eve, but because “Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody.”
Obviously, kids around the world have been concerned. With his age and belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly, there’s no denying he has numerous risk factors. Nonetheless, children, you’ll still want to stay in your beds and not try to get a close look when he visits. (USA Today)
Military experts in America and England say we’re just 15 years away from having an army made up of robot soldiers.
To be clear … These experts aren’t talking about humanoid robots like The Terminator — at least for now. Instead, they’ll be machines that can make their way over any terrain and beam back information to soldiers to help the military with positioning and decision-making.
But still … scary stuff because that Terminator thing can’t be too far away … can it? Express)
NBC says dentists are seeing a rise in jaw pain and cracked teeth because of the coronavirus. They say people are clenching and grinding their teeth because the pandemic is stressing them.
Dr. Andrea Taliento tells the network, “People tend to clench their teeth more when they are stressed because it actually triggers and makes a happy feeling in the brain. If people aren’t sleeping through the different stages of sleep they are supposed to, they aren’t able to control their body’s pain, and a lot of times it comes out in jaw pain.”

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Music News – Monday, November 23

November 22, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Music News
Sam Smith has released a new holiday track.
“The Lighthouse Keeper” comes with an animated video Smith directed that’s streaming on Facebook. Sam says, “If any year could make me look forward to the sounds of Christmas, it would be 2020 as more than ever before we are yearning to be around our friends and family once again. Christmas symbolizes that for me, and earlier this year I was inspired to write a Christmas love song. Labrinth and I poured our hearts into this one and it has honestly been pure joy to create and make.”
Taylor Swift is the master of the short-and-snappy pop song, but one of her best ones started life as a 10-minute epic.
Tay tells Rolling Stone that “All Too Well,” which clocked in at five minutes on her Red album, could’ve been twice as long. She recalls, “I was like a broken human walking into rehearsal, just feeling terrible about what was going on in my personal life. I just started singing and riffing and ad-libbing this song that basically was ‘All Too Well.'”
Once those floodgates opened, there was no turning back. “It was that song but probably had seven extra verses. I included the F-word, and I remember my sound guy was like, ‘I burned a CD of that thing you were doing in case you want it.’ I ended up taking it home and listening to it and was like, ‘I actually really like this, but it’s 10 minutes long. I need to pare it down.'”
Blake Shelton tells USA Today that he is a role model to Gwen Stefani’s children. “It’s one thing for me to be with the kids all the time and be their buddy. But then you do have to consider after awhile, that they’re starting to listen to things that you say, and there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that, which is new to me.” It is indeed new to Blake, seeing as how he is beginning his third marriage but has never had children of his own.

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Furry Friends Friday with Winky from Cass Co Animal Control – November 20

November 20, 2020 *Mornings, *Podcasts, Blogs, Furry Friends

Meet Winky! Winky is the sweetest little Tortoiseshell cat you’ll ever meet! She is a senior girl with special needs who is looking for a loving home to care for her. She requires medication every day, but it doesn’t stop this sassy queen from demanding love and attention! Winky is also spayed and front declawed. Her adoption fee is only $30. Please contact Cass County Animal Control at 269-445-3701 to learn more about our sweet and wonderful Winky.... [Read Full Story]

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