On Today’s Show

There’s a Christmas tree shortage this year, so that means higher prices.  And in some places . . . it means INSANELY higher prices.

Apparently in New York City, some larger Christmas trees are selling for as much as $6,500.  And people are actually buying them.  A tree lot in Manhattan selling 20-foot trees for that price says they sold out.

They say that price DOES come with some perks, though:  Four decorators come to your house to help you out, 9,000 lights are included, plus ornaments, a custom tree skirt and topper . . . and free delivery.

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The bat used by Babe Ruth to hit his 500th home run was auctioned on Saturday for more than $1 million. Ruth hit his 500th homer on Aug. 11, 1929, in a game against the Cleveland Indians. According to SCP Auctions, the ball cleared the right-field wall at League Park and rolled down Lexington Avenue.

Ruth was the first of just 27 Major League Baseball players to reach that mark.

He gave the autographed bat to his friend, former Suffern, New York, Mayor Jim Rice, in the 1940s. It has been in the family for nearly 75 years.

Another Ruth bat used to hit the first home run out of Yankee Stadium in 1923 sold for nearly $1.3 million in 2004.

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ENTERTAINMENT

“Jumanji: The Next Level” raked in $60.1 million at the box office in its first weekend, easily making it the #1 movie at the box office.  “Frozen 2” was a distant second, making another $19.2 million in its fourth week.

Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell”, tanked, with only $5 million.  It’s one of the worst openings in his career as a director.

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Danny Aiello passed away last Thursday, after a brief illness.  He was 86.  Some of his memorable movies were: “Moonstruck”, “Do the Right Thing”, “Once Upon a Time in America”, “The Godfather Part 2” and “Harlem Nights”.  He also had a pivotal role in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”.

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TODAY IS……………….

• “Chocolate Covered Anything Day”.

• “Tea Party Day” in Boston MA, anniversary of the original 1773 ‘Boston Tea Party’, a protest over taxation by American colonists.

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

2003 [16] Shania Twain becomes the first woman with three Diamond albums when her fourth album, “Up!” is certified with 10 million in sales. Her second and third albums, “The Woman in Me” (1995) and “Come On Over” (1997) also went Diamond.

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MAN WHO SLAPPED REPORTER’S BUTT SAYS HE GOT ‘CAUGHT UP IN THE MOMENT’

The 43-year-old Georgia man who slapped a female reporter on the butt as he ran by while she was on TV live covering the race he was in is now speaking out, telling Inside Edition that he got, quote, “caught up in the moment.”

Video of the incident involving Tommy Callaway during the Savannah Bridge Run went viral, with stunned reporter Alex Bozarjian pausing for a moment before going on with her report.

Callaway, a married father of two, told Inside Edition, “There was a misjudge in character and decision-making. I touched her back. I did not know exactly where I touched her. . . . I just kept on running, and if I did see her facial reaction, I would have been embarrassed. I’d have felt ashamed, and I was have stopped, turned around and went back and apologized to her.”

Bozarjian called Callaway out on Twitter before he’d been publicly identified, and she said on CBS This Morning Tuesday that she’s filed a police report and supports criminal charges being brought. She said, “It’s not okay to help yourself to a woman’s body just because you feel like it. It’s not playful. He hurt me, both physically and emotionally.”

Callaway’s attorney said he’d acted, quote, “out of character”

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GOOD NEWS

A guy in San Diego named Brad Keiller co-owns a shop called Nomad Donuts.  And last month, he got a one-star review on Yelp that had to do with a homeless guy who likes to hang around outside.

His name is Ray Taylor, and he’s 58.  Brad’s been letting him loiter for about a year, because he’s nice and never bothers anyone.  People do sometimes give him donuts, but he never asks for food or money.

Anyway, the Yelp person complained that it was annoying to see him there all the time.  And Brad posted the best response.

Quote, “I know I probably lose some business . . . possibly yours too . . . because of my choice not to chase him away.  But I WON’T.  He’s not looking for handouts and he tries not to bother anyone.  If you stop and talk with him, maybe you’ll come to like him too.”

The story’s slowly gone viral over the past two weeks.  And Brad’s seen a huge BOOST in sales because of it.  A lot of people have stopped in to thank him for being so nice.  And the person who posted the one-star review ended up taking it down.

Meanwhile, Brad also started a GoFundMe campaign to try and put some cash in Ray’s pocket.  And people have now donated over FIVE GRAND.

Obviously Ray’s excited about the money.  But he told a reporter that just having someone stick up for him also meant a lot, because it’s been a long time since anyone has.

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BIRTHDAYS

[56] Benjamin Bratt, San Francisco CA, TV actor (“Star” 2016, “Private Practice” 2011-13)/movie actor (“Doctor Strange”, “Miss Congeniality”)

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CAN’T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES:
Weird time for the Christmas tree industry these days.

There are fewer of them being grown than 10-15 years ago, but more people are buying them.

Why are there fewer being grown? Because of the recession 10 years ago. Unlike most manufactured goods and even most crops, there’s a huge lag between the time Christmas trees are planted and when they’re ready to be sold. That means the trees you see now are actually a product of the economy in which they were grown years ago.

In 2008-09, sales of Christmas trees were so slow that tree growers couldn’t harvest their trees, and when they can’t cut trees, they don’t have the space to grow more. It takes about 8-10 years to grow a Christmas tree. But don’t worry.

The National Christmas Tree Association in the US assures us that despite the shortage, there are still enough to go around.

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There’s Been a Huge Jump in Head and Neck Injuries Because of Cell Phones

If you’ve ever been walking down the street, staring at a text message on your phone, and walked headfirst into a lamp post . . . well, you’re DEFINITELY not the only one.

There’s a new report in a medical journal about a STEEP rise in head and neck injuries in the past 20 years.

And the doctors behind it say it’s a DIRECT result of people tripping, falling, and slamming into things when they were distracted by their phone.

An estimated 76,000 people in the U.S. between January of 1998 and December of 2017 hurt themselves so badly while they were distracted that they had to go to the hospital.

And the rate of those injuries went way up after 2007, when the smartphone revolution really started kicking in.

Most of the injuries are pretty mild, but there have been some people who’ve wound up with traumatic brain injuries.  There were also people who had broken noses because they were in bed, looking at their phone, and dropped it on their face.

The doctors say the study is a good reminder to, quote, “Be self-aware.  Answer a text message, fine, but you shouldn’t be walking around reading articles on your phone.”

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MONDAY DECEMBER 16^TH                                             

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

[56] Benjamin Bratt, San Francisco CA, TV actor (“Star” 2016, “Private Practice” 2011-13)/movie actor (“Doctor Strange”, “Miss Congeniality”)

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1. NHL

WPG 7 – PHI 3                    CHI 5 – MIN 3                      LAK 4 – DET 2                      VGK 6 – VAN 3

2. “Jumanji: The Next Level” raked in $60.1 million at the box office in its first weekend, easily making it the #1 movie at the box office.  “Frozen 2”was a distant second, making another $19.2 million in its fourth week.

Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell”, tanked, with only $5 million.  It’s one of the worst openings in his career as a director.

• “Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown 2019” (CW): A countdown of the world’s best holiday commercials; Kevin Frazier and Keltie Knight host.
  • “Nick Cannon’s Hit Viral Videos — Holidays 2019” (FOX): Cannon and celebrity guests Kelly Osbourne, Jeannie Mai and J.B. Smoove showcase the funniest and most unbelievable viral videos.

3. There’s a 32-year-old woman named Sunny Ray Firestone, and she was at a Walmart in Uniontown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday.  And she tried to shoplift an entire cart full of stuff by walking out with it. BUT . . . she didn’t realize at that moment, the Walmart was hosting a “shop with a cop” event, where cops were buying toys for underprivileged kids. So someone spotted Sunny trying to steal all the stuff . . . and the many, many cops in the store quickly swarmed and arrested her.

She’s been charged with retail theft.

4. Danny Aiello passed away last Thursday, after a brief illness.  He was 86.  Some of his memorable movies were: “Moonstruck”, “Do the Right Thing”, “Once Upon a Time in America”, “The Godfather Part 2” and “Harlem Nights”.  He also had a pivotal role in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”.  Check out a montage of some of his work.

No winning ticket was sold for the $31 million jackpot in Friday night’s Lotto Max draw.

The jackpot for the next draw on Dec. 17 will be approximately $40 million.

A ticket holder in Quebec won the $9-million jackpot in Saturday night’s Lotto 649 draw.

The draw’s $1-million prize went to a ticket holder in Ontario.

The jackpot for the next Lotto 649 draw on Dec. 18 will be approximately $5 million.

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BRETT YOUNG EXCITED TO SPEND FIRST CHRISTMAS WITH BABY GIRL

Brett Young and his wife, Taylor, are thrilled to celebrate their first Christmas as parents to infant daughter Presley. Although the baby clearly has no concept of the holiday, Brett tells us she will have her fair share of presents under the tree. [“She’s gonna be a little over a month old Christmas this year and she doesn’t know yet but it still doesn’t matter. We’re excited! We’re gonna buy her stuff she doesn’t need just because we’re excited about it so, I think just to be on the other end of it, to be able to share this with Taylor who we have such a long story with. We’re both just really excited.”]

Brett continues on the road, playing his last show of the year on Saturday (Dec. 14th) in New York state.

His latest single, “Catch,” continues climbing the country charts.

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LADY A’S HILLARY SCOTT’S GIRLS OLD ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE THE ‘MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS’

Christmas is less than two weeks away, and for Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum, this year is going to be very exciting. She tells us: [“So, this will be the first year that all three of my girls are running around like mad. Last year, the twins were a little smaller and not as mobile as they are now. So, it’ll be awesome. I think they’ll be able to understand a little bit more the magic of Christmas.  And my oldest, Eisele, is 6 and so she’s in like full blown, like, ‘How many days until Christmas?’ She’s getting so excited, so I think it’s going to be really special.”]

Lady Antebellum head into the holidays with their latest single, “What If I Never Get Over You,” which sits inside the Top 10 and climbing on the country charts. The song is featured on their new album, Ocean.

GARTH BROOKS BREAKS RECORD WITH TICKET SALES IN CINCINNATI – (12/16/2019)

Garth Brooks continues to break records. He sold out Cincinnati, Ohio in the shortest time yet. 65,000 tickets were sold in less than an hour. It was the most people to ever show up for ticket sales.
Garth stated: “I know this sounds crazy, but I swear it feels like everything is starting to wake up.  2020 is off to the best start of any year in our career.”
The concert will be Saturday, May 16th, at Paul Brown Stadium.

FAST FACTS

This will be Garth’s first time playing at Paul Brown Stadium and the only Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia date on The Stadium Tour.

Garth Brooks is the 7-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, a first for any artist.

Garth is the #1-selling solo artist in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA with over 148 million album sales.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer