On Today’s Show

A farm in Michigan was robbed of almost 400 pumpkins in a matter of a few hours, and that doesn’t even include what’s been taken from the actual pumpkin patch.  They’re worried the number could double after a full count and that it could total thousands of dollars lost.  Here’s the owner talking about what happened.

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According to a new study, there are absolutely NO health benefits to eating a gluten-free diet for most people. The study found that, despite the fact that people spend $2.7 billion per year on gluten-free products, eating flour which does contain gluten is safe for healthy people.

One of the authors of the study, says: “There are no negative effects of gluten if you don’t have any symptoms of celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity.”

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ENTERTAINMENT

Jennifer Aniston was on Kimmel last night talking about how she broke the Guiness World Record for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram… she did it in five hours and 16 minutes.  (From “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Wednesday, October 16 2019)

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Felicity Huffman reported to a federal prison in Northern California on Tuesday to start a 14-day sentence for her role in the massive college admissions scandal that rocked elite universities around the United States. She surrendered to authorities at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. Huffman, a one-time Oscar nominee and the wife of actor William H. Macy, will also have to pay a fine of $30,000 and perform 250 hours of community service under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani last month.

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TODAY IS……………….

• “Pasta Day”, celebrating the Italian staple that’s popular worldwide. There are over 350 varieties of pasta in Italy. A typical Italian eats over 60 lbs. of the stuff per year.

2018 [01] The sale of recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada. Canada is the second country to do so, after Uruguay

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band topped the Billboard chart with “Fishin’ In The Dark” in 1987.

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THE LAST BLOCKBUSTER

The last remaining Blockbuster in the world will remain open after seeing a surge of sales from visitors treating it like a museum.

The video rental store in Bent Oregon was due to close its doors this year following the announcement that the second last store in Perth, Australia, had shut.

But hundreds of people have since flocked from all over the world to visit the final branch before it is gone – which is still renting and selling DVDs to avid fans every day.

What was once a household name has now reached tourist attraction status – with owners even selling T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the iconic blue and gold logo to let customers take one last trip down memory lane.

The last remaining branch’s owner, Ken Tisher, described the last remaining Blockbuster like a rare animal in a zoo that visitors are desperate to catch a glimpse of.

‘And who knows how long people will be interested in coming to look at that animal,’ he told Retail Dive. ‘I’m just enjoying the run.’

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RANDOM REPORT

2.  There was an organization called BADD in the ’80s . . . it stood for Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons and was for parents who believed Dungeons and Dragons was evil, satanic, and corrupting their children.
3. Zippers became popular during the Great Depression, because buttons were considered too costly.
4. Pandas don’t have specific spots for sleeping.  They simply fall asleep wherever they happen to be.
5. Only two countries use purple on their flag . . . Nicaragua, and the island of Dominica.  Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic nearby.

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GOOD NEWS

A woman in Florida named Katheryn Strang lost her two-year-old dog Dutchess back in 2007 when her 12-year-old son left a door open.  And they never saw her again.

The dog had a microchip though.  And even after a decade, Katheryn kept paying the $15 yearly fee to keep it activated, just in case.

She says paying for it each year meant she didn’t have to give up hope.  And that alone was worth 15 bucks, even though she never expected to see Dutchess again.

But then last week, the dog finally resurfaced in Pittsburgh, more than a THOUSAND miles from where she went missing.

Someone found her hiding under their shed outside in the cold.  Then they brought her to a shelter, where one of the workers scanned the microchip.

Katheryn spent two days driving from Florida to Pittsburgh last week.  And she picked up Dutchess on Friday, more than 12 years after she went missing.

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BIRTHDAYS

[61] Alan Jackson, country singer

[60] Norm MacDonald, Quebec City

[59] Rob Marshall, director (“Pirates of the Caribbean”, 2002 Oscar-“Chicago”)

[50] Rick Mercer, St John’s NL

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KELSEA BALLERINI IS A FAN OF ‘EXCITABLE PEOPLE’ – (08/10/2018)

Kelsea Ballerini appreciates when her loyal fans freak out about meeting her because she can relate. Kelsea admits no one fangirls harder than she does when coming face-to-face with her musical heroes, something that recently happened backstage during the taping of this week’s CMA Fest TV special.

[“I try to keep it together when I’m meeting people, but, like, I saw Kelly Clarkson, which, I mean, I should not be allowed around her. Like I can’t handle it, but I act cool and then I freak out afterwards, but oh my gosh, I love like when I meet people and they’re actually excited. Like I love excitable people, you know, cause you want to have that moment. You want to know that they’re happy and you want to know that that 30 seconds or minute that you get with someone counts so I love when people are excited or crying or whatever.”]

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EATING MORE PUMPKIN CAN HELP YOUR HEART

Pumpkin flavored foods and drinks are everywhere you look right now, and it’s easy to forget that pumpkin is actually a nutritious fruit.

The festive, orange fruit is an excellent source if Vitamin A (which is important for eye health), Vitamin C (which helps strengthen the immune system), potassium, magnesium, and also contains carotenoids (which give the pumpkin its color and also act as antioxidants.)

Also pumpkin is high in fiber and low in calories, so it’s a healthy choice to full up on if you’re trying to lose weight. If you’re reaching for canned pumpkin just be sure nothing is added to it, like sugar, and it’s just as healthy as fresh pumpkin.

Some other things to note: pumpkin seeds are very healthy, pumpkin-spice flavored things don’t actually contain pumpkin, and the healthiest way to eat fresh pumpkin is to grill it and add cubes or slices of it to your salads, kebabs, or simply pair it with your favorite protein.

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Would You Rather Work Four 10-Hour Days? Because That’s Now a Trend

Here’s yet another sign the era of the Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 job is going to be history soon enough.

The four-day work week is becoming a SERIOUS trend.

According to a new study, 27% of companies now offer their employees the option of working four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days.  You’re still working 40 hours for the week . . . but you get a three-day weekend.

And according to the companies that are offering it, they’ve seen a serious rise in morale.

The study also found that working from home and unlimited vacation time are also becoming more popular at businesses around the country.

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THURSDAY OCTOBER 17^TH                                             

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

[61] Alan Jackson, country singer

[60] Norm MacDonald, Quebec City

[59] Rob Marshall, director (“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, 2002 Oscar-“Chicago”)

[50] Rick Mercer, St John’s NL

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1. MLB

Game 4 of the  American League Championship Series between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees was rained out last night (October 16th) in the Bronx. Game 4 will now be played tonight, with Houston leading 2 games to 1, and Game 5 was pushed back to Friday night, also at Yankee Stadium. The series will return to Houston for Games 6 and 7 on Saturday and Sunday, if  necessary. The ALCS winner will face the Washington Nationals, who swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series 4 games to 0.

NHL

Washington        4              Toronto                3

Edmonton           6              Philadelphia       3

Pittsburg              3              Colorado              2              (ot) First Avalanche loss of the year

2. Racing pigeons, and Google’s new gesture controlled phone.  (From David Spade and Trevor Noah on Wednesday, October 16, 2019)

3. If you want to call this Utah state trooper a hero, I won’t disagree.  He pulled an unconscious driver from a car that was stopped on railroad tracks AS the train was approaching.  He gets him out ONE SECOND before the engine plows into the car.

The driver had a medical issue, which is why the car was stopped.  Neither of them was injured by the crash.  The squad car’s dash cam filmed the whole thing.

4. Jerry Seinfeld says he convinced his parents to get him the Superman costume when he was a kid, but when he wore it, he looked NOTHING like Superman, especially when they made him wear a coat.

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KANE BROWN   –              CMT AWARDS

On Saturday, Kane Brown’s drummer Kenny Dixon died in a car accident.  Last night, Kane was very emotional during his speech after receiving a “CMT Artist of the Year” award.  (From the “CMT Artists of the Year Awards 2019” on Wednesday, October 16, 2019)

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BLAKE SHELTON RETURNS TO THE ROAD WITH ‘FRIENDS AND HEROES 2020’ TOUR –

Blake Shelton will kick off the new year with a 16-date beginning in February. The Friends And Heroes 2020 Tour will launch on February 13th in Portland, OR with special guest Lauren Alaina as well as appearances by The Bellamy Brothers, John Anderson and Trace Adkins.

Tickets in all cities except Los Angeles, Wichita and Detroit will go on sale on October 25th at 10 a.m. local time.

3/21 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena*

BROTHERS OSBORNE OFFER UP ‘LIVE AT THE RYMAN’

Brothers Osborne‘s brand new album, Live At The Ryman, was recorded during their three-night, sold-out run at the famed auditorium earlier this year. TJ Osborne tells us that getting to play there, much less record an album, is a real dream come true. [“The fact that we recorded at the Ryman, it really, it’s incredible in a lot of ways. This room, every time we play here, there’s just a special experience, a special memory every time and it’s something that we don’t want to take for granted. And it’s cool that we had a three-night stint here and we were able to record that and have that out, especially with all the history that’s happened in this room. I just think of all the people that have been in these seats over the many years that this place has been here, and the people have been on that stage, and it’s right in our backyard now that we are Nashvillians. This place never loses its charm and its luster, and I hope it never does for me. It’s always a special, special spot.”]

RASCAL FLATTS RAISE MORE MONEY FOR VANDERBILT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL –

Rascal Flatts wrapped the fourth-annual Celebrity Golf Classic on Monday (October 14th) with proceeds benefitting Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

The event took place at the Golf Club of Tennessee and included celebrity friends Vince Gill, Lady A‘s Charles Kelley, Tracy Lawrence, LOCASH, Jimmie Allen, Joe Diffie, Eric Paslay, Jamey Johnson, Mitchell Tenpenny, Shawn Booth, D.B. Sweeney, Eric Decker, Cortland Finnegan, Scott Hamilton, Brett Hull, Rob Riggle and more.

As longtime supporters of Children’s Hospital, Rascal Flatts has raised a total of $5,850,000 for the hospital, which renamed its Pediatric Surgery Center to The Rascal Flatts Surgery Center in 2010.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer