*Mornings Archives

Highly trending last night and this morning on Twitter is Michelle Obama: The former first lady gave an impassioned speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention. The convention isn’t actually a convention this year at all, as all of the speakers taped their speeches individually safe at home.

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Also trending is Google Meet. The videoconferencing service has been under fire for being slow and sometimes dropping out completely for some users during meetings, conferences or video learning. Google says they will be beefing up the service and capacity of the popular service.

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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools to attempt to bring students on campus for in-person learning, said Monday that it will shift to all-remote classes for undergraduates after testing has shown the spread of COVID-19 on campus.

The decision comes just a week after classes started for 30,000 students at the university, as 177 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed out of the hundreds of students tested. Another 349 will be quarantined both on and off campus after they were possibly exposed to the virus.

The order for remote-teaching for undergrads will go into effect today and the school will allows students to vacate campus dorms without economic penalties. (The Washington Post)

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Because it’s Pinot Noir Day – and it’s 2020 … You can now get a shower wine glass holder – with a Bluetooth speaker. It even has a built-in microphone – so you can call your friends while you’re singing in the shower. (Pop Sugar)

Northern California has unfortunately been suffering from some wildfires lately. But one fire got a lot worse recently with a phenomenon known as a FIRE TORNADO. The New York Times says fire tornadoes spawn in a combination of extreme heat from fire, turbulent winds and uneven terrain, according to meteorologists. No thanks!

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Who says hard seltzers are only for summer? Just in time for Pumpkin Spice Season, VIVE hard seltzer is releasing a Pumpkin Spice flavor. (PRNewswire) Not to be outdone, Delish magazine says Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts have hit store shelves. A box of eight sells for $3.68. Pop-Tarts launched their pumpkin pie pastries early this year because of the Pumpkin Spice craze.

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You’d think that these days – where no one is going, well, anywhere — FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, wouldn’t be a thing. But according to experts, FOMO hasn’t gone away – it’s just changed. Instead of looking at other’s people’s vacation pics from exotic locations and feeling terrible about yourself, now people are looking at pics of people doing amazing things during their time at home – while they’re just sitting on the couch. “It’s shape-shifted,” says Jennifer Wolkin, a New York-based neuropsychologist, “It might not be looking at pictures of someone’s vacation or their parasailing trip or swimming with dolphins. It now becomes ‘They’re making sourdough starters,’ and ‘They’re going for a hike in these woods with their family, and I’m just on the couch and doing nothing and surviving and trying to find my breath.'” (USA Today)

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Speaking of FOMO … There’s a company in Southern California that will set up a picture-perfect beach picnic for you. Bliss Beach will create the Insta-perfect beach day for you – with pillows, lounge chairs, a table, umbrella, cooler … everything you need for ultimate relaxation. No more schlepping all your stuff to the sand – just show up and it’s all there. (Travel & Leisure)

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Fox News says the oldest person in the United States turned 116 on Saturday. Hester Ford has 12 children, 50 grandchildren and 120 great-grandkids. She credits her long life to family and a strong faith in God.

KTVE says an inexpensive head lice medication is showing positive results in treating the coronavirus. Doctors in West Monroe, Louisiana have been treating patients with Ivermectin. They say the patients were in bad shape before taking the medication, but quickly improved after several doses. Doctors say Ivermectin may remove the virus from the body. Doctors have yet to see any side effects.

The FDA says, “People should not take any form of Ivermectin unless it has been prescribed to them by a licensed health care provider and is obtained through a legitimate source.”

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For those of you hoping we’ll have an NFL season with healthy players that follow quarantine orders so they can play, think again. Real GM.com says the Seattle Seahawks recently cut a rookie player after he was caught on video trying to sneak a woman into the team hotel. She was wearing Seahawks apparel in an attempt to disguise herself as a player. The team says the unnamed rookie cornerback put the other players at risk because of the coronavirus.

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WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids says a family was recently boating off the coast of Grand Haven on Lake Michigan when they found a dog swimming four miles from shore. The family used a pole to bring the dog into their boat. They took her to a veterinarian, who scanned her microchip and reunited her with her owners.

Today is:

Some famous lefties: Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Presidents Obama, Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Reagan; The Queen of England, Prince Charles and Prince William; Oprah, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Babe Ruth, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Armstrong, Paul McCartney, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Keanu Reeves, Lady Gaga, Tina Fey, Justin Bieber.

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The coronavirus is beginning to completely mess up shooting for shows and movies so deeply that some of them aren’t even premiering on time for Fall. Deadline Hollywood says “The Voice” will not premiere on NBC in September as it usually does. ”America Ninja Warrior” will replace the series until it is ready to air.

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The Sun newspaper says a blow-up doll shortage is occurring because of the coronavirus. Many of the dolls are made in China where factories have been shut down due to covid-19. Blow up doll orders have spiked by 51% since the start of the pandemic.

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Vladimir Putin‘s claim that Russia has the first coronavirus vaccine ready to be administered was met with worldwide skepticism, and Dr. Anthony Fauci certainly isn’t buying it.

The country’s top infectious disease expert is casting doubt on the science and safety of the Russian vaccine and believes they are taking an unnecessary risk. Fauci says he hopes Russia has “actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they’ve done that.” He added that the U.S. is working on a number of vaccines and “if we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people or giving them something that doesn’t work, we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to. But that’s not the way it works.” (ABC News)

The most-talked-about trending news of yesterday involved two different spectrums of topics: Politics, and Football. In politics, Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his Vice Presidential running-mate. And in Football, the Big 10 and Pac-10 conferences cancelled their football seasons due to concerns over the coronavirus. Locally, Lake Michigan Catholic was the first local school to cancel their Football season.

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Have you ever been the subject of a backhanded compliment? Or perhaps gave one and didn’t realize it until later? Al Roker was recently featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show to talk about his new book, You Look So Much Better in Person. But it’s not just a funny book title – it’s a backhanded compliment both he and Kelly get from fans regularly. During the interview Kelly said, “I love the title. Anybody that knows me that sees your book, buys your book, reads your book, is going to laugh because literally the thing said most to me in my life, in my career … is, ‘You look so much better in person.’ I honestly thought it was just me.” (Country Living)

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I know it’s mid-August, but since the year has been so bad for most brands and retailers, they’re already preparing for and talking about Christmas. So Chicago Candy company Brach’s is releasing a bag of candy corn with flavors that taste like a Thanksgiving dinner. Each candy corn is a different flavor of the dinner — Green Beans, Roasted Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Ginger Glazed Carrot, Sweet Potato Pie, and Stuffing. (Delish) So if you already hate candy corn for Halloween, you’re sure to hate it for Thanksgiving.

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Speaking of the holidays and Halloween candy … You’re going to see Halloween candy in stores much earlier than usual. Candy companies like Hershey have requested that retailers set up their Halloween displays earlier this year in an effort to help with sales — since Trick-or-Treating will likely be cancelled due to COVID concerns. Don’t expect to see fancy packaging this year either. Mondelez, the company behind Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish will focus on family-size packs of their candies because they predict parents will arrange small get-togethers instead of typical Halloween celebrations. Even Hershey announced limited Halloween packaging, choosing to save money and keep their normal packaging due to the uncertainty of the season. (Eater)