On Today’s Show

Ontario schools will remain closed to students until at least May 4th.

Based on current advice from the Ontario Medical Officer of Health, the Ministry of Education is planning to allow teachers back in schools on May 1 with students returning on May 4. However, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce says they will extend the closure if necessary, to protect the health of students and staff.

The Province of Ontario has an agreement to make digital learning supports available at all universities and colleges. The agreement with eCampus will provide post-secondary schools with the technology they need to conduct year-end assessments while maintaining student privacy. Ontario will also offer digital learning to Indigenous Institutes and private career colleges.

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There’s already a coronavirus MOVIE it’s a Canadian thriller called CORONA, and it’s already finished, and being shopped to streaming services.

“Corona” isn’t really about this pandemic itself . . . because it was just a so-called “Chinese virus” when the idea was conceived.  The director says it was inspired by the stories he heard about Chinese tourists being attacked. They filmed it last month . . . before the virus had exploded worldwide.The thriller uses the coronavirus as a symbol to “explore fear and racism among apartment tenants that get trapped in an elevator together at the first stages of the COVID-19 crisis.”

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The star of Netflix’s Tiger King, Joseph Maldonado-Passage (better known as Joe Exotic) is one of the most outlandish characters to ever hit the small screen, so it’s no surprise that so many celebs want the chance to play that character themselves.

Dax Shepard may be the first actor to throw his hat into the ring to play the outrageous former zookeeper, when he wrote on Twitter, “If I don’t get cast as Joe Exotic in the eventual biopic, Hollywood is broken. The following day, Oscar winner Edward Norton told Shepard that he, too, was interested. “Um, step aside, pal. You’re way too young and buff and you know it,” Norton wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Jared Leto hosted a virtual viewing party and dressed up in his most exotic outfits for the occasion. “#JaredLetoTigerKing,” Leto wrote on Twitter, alongside a series of photos of himself rocking a shiny blue and gold shirt, a cowboy hat, and a stuffed tiger.

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TODAY IS……………….

“April Fool’s Day”. Many say the custom of playing practical jokes on this day originated with the reform of the calendar when “New Year’s Day” was moved from April 1 to January 1. Those who clung to the old “New Year’s Day” were scoffed at as ‘fools’ and sent fake party invitations and prank gifts.

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COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

George Strait‘s Troubadour album was released in 2008.

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COVID UPDATES

The owner of a café in Melbourne, Australia saw how many people were lined up for unemployment.  So he went to the bank . . . took out $10,000 . . . and gave everyone a hundred bucks to buy groceries.

A few years ago, a dental group in Montana accidentally ordered WAY too many facemasks . . . like a million of them.  And they still had 700,000 left in storage.  So now they’re donating them to make sure hospitals don’t run out.

A guy in Chicago who deals with a lot of shipments from China managed to get 10 million face masks sent to hospitals in Illinois.

A restaurant in San Francisco has been flooded with orders after they launched a program called ADOPT A DOCTOR OR NURSE that lets you send meals to hospital workers.

There’s a new trend where people drive to hospitals at night and flash their headlights to support healthcare workers.  About 50 cars pulled up to a hospital in Oklahoma Friday night.  And hundreds showed up at a hospital in Kentucky on Sunday.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY would like you to know that we’re at war, and quarantining is the BRAVE thing to do.

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FOUR RANDOM FACTS

1. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.

2. The longest traffic light at a regular intersection in the U.S. is in West Milford, New Jersey.  It stays red for five minutes and 33 seconds.

3. The first color cartoon on TV was “Colonel Bleep” in 1957.  It was about an alien who lived on a fictional island on Earth.

4. The “para” in “Paralympics” doesn’t come from the words paralyzed or paraplegic.  It comes from the Greek word “para,” which means “beside,” because the Paralympics stand side-by-side with the Olympics.

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GOOD NEWS

A state trooper pulled over a doctor for speeding on an east-central Minnesota interstate, told her she should know better and sent her on her way grateful for receiving only a warning and not a ticket.

The doctor had just wrapped up her work when she was pulled her over for going 85 mph in a 70 mph zone on southbound I-35.

As she struggled to apologize and thank the trooper, “he reached in to hand me what I assumed was my license back. It wasn’t until my hand had closed around what he was giving me that its unexpected bulkiness drew my eyes to it. Five N95 masks from the supply the state had given him for his protection.”

Dr. Sarosh Ashraf Janjua a cardiologist, said “I burst into tears, I think he teared up a little as well before wishing me well and walking away.” “This complete stranger, who owed me nothing and is more on the front lines than I am, shared his precious masks with me, without my even asking,” she wrote“

The N95 mask has been a persistent point of emphasis for many weeks among politicians, medical professionals and private industry as a vital — and all too scarce — tool in keeping health care providers safe from the virus.

“Trooper [Brian] Schwartz said he noticed what appeared to be … used N95 masks in [her] purse that he assumed she was reusing,” the patrol’s chief spokesman, Lt. Gordon Shank, said. “Trooper Schwartz said he heard there was a shortage of personal protective equipment and thought [the doctor] could use the extra masks.”

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 BIRTHDAYS

[59] Susan Boyle, singer/TV talent show contestant (“Britain’s Got Talent” 2009)

[34] Hillary Scott, country singer (Lady Antebellum)

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WHAT TIME DO YOU USUALLY EAT DINNER?
An on-going, online poll of over 1,500 people reveals how they answered the above question (respondents could choose more than one answer):

36% 5pm-6pm

27% 6pm-7pm

20% whenever I get around to it

13% 4pm- 5pm

12% early dinner, before or at 4pm 

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Things to Look Forward to in April

It feels like everything’s been cancelled because of the crisis.  But here are five things you can STILL look forward to in April . . .

1. First and foremost:  Experts think we’ll see the number of coronavirus cases start to trend DOWN later this month.  Probably peaking in about two weeks.  So stay safe, hang tight, and remember it won’t last forever.

2. Sports are on hold right now.  But WrestleManiais happening this weekend.  And the first round of the NFL Draft is still scheduled for April 23rd.

3. There’s a ton of TV to watch:  The “Modern Family”finale is next Wednesday.  The “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” reboot starts the same night.  The new “Bachelor” spin-off “Listen to Your Heart” lands April 13th.  The sixth season of “Bosch” hits Amazon Prime on April 17th.  And “The Grammy Salute to Prince” airs April 21st.

4. The holidays:  Obviously the big one is Easter on April 12th.  But tomorrow is National Burrito Day . . . National Beer Day is April 7th . . . Passover starts April 8th . . . National Pet Day is April 11th . . . and Earth Day is April 22nd. And since everyone’s working from home right now, this last one is easier to celebrate than ever . . . April 16th is “Wear Pajamas to Work Day.”

WEDNESDAY APRIL 1^ST                                               

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

[59] Susan Boyle, singer/TV talent show contestant (“Britain’s Got Talent” 2009)

[34] Hillary Scott, country singer (Lady Antebellum)

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1. Ontario schools will remain closed to students until at least May 4th. However, Minister of Education Stephen Lecce says they will extend the closure if necessary, to protect the health of students and staff.

The Province of Ontario has an agreement to make digital learning supports available at all universities and colleges. The agreement with eCampus will provide post-secondary schools with the technology they need to conduct year-end assessments while maintaining student privacy

2. The U.S. government gave its first official projection of the potential toll from the coronavirus pandemic.  The experts are now projecting between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths. . . and that’s WITH social distancing bringing the numbers down.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, says, quote, “There’s no magic bullet.  There’s no magic vaccine or therapy.  It’s just behaviors:  Each of our behaviors translating into something that changes the course of this viral pandemic over the next 30 days.”

3. A video was posted yesterday of Larry David ripping on the “idiots” that won’t stay home.  If you don’t know, he’s a big germaphobe.  Just last week on his HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm”, he had hand sanitizer on every table of his new coffee shop.  The episode was shot long before coronavirus was even a concern.

4. Girl Scout cookies online, Bob Dylan’s new song, Subway restaurant offers a free medical mask, and “stress baking.”  (From Jimmy Fallon, David Spade, and Jimmy Kimmel’s home shows on Tuesday, March 31, 2020)

Google will be holding off on its notorious April Fools’ Day jokes this year. The company, which is infamous for its elaborate pranks that typically touch on nearly every major product the company makes — won’t be participating due to the serious threat of the coronavirus that continues to impact the entire world. According to a leaked email, Google will “take the year off from that tradition out of respect for all those fighting the COVID-19 pandemic”. The email says: “Let’s save the jokes for next April, which will undoubtedly be a whole lot brighter than this one.”

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CMA FEST 2020 CANCELED

The Country Music Association has decided to outright cancel this year’s CMA Fest, which was scheduled to take place June 4-7 in downtown Nashville. The organization issued a statement yesterday (Tuesday, March 31st) which reads in part, “As the world is still greatly affected by the spread of COVID-19, we cannot in good conscience risk the health and wellbeing of our fans, artists, staff and Country Music community.”

Four-day passes purchased for this year’s event will be honored for CMA Fest 2021 or will be refunded.

CMA Fest 2021 is scheduled for June 10-13.

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CARLY PEARCE SAYS TIME AT HOME WITH HUBBY IS ‘BLESSING’ OF QUARANTINE

Carly Pearce and Michael Ray are trying to follow the recommended guidelines for self-quarantining these days. While the coronavirus is a serious matter, Carly tells us that getting to spend so much time together has been the silver lining. [“We’ve never had this much time to just rest. We’ve never had this time together. We’ve never been able to just really be normal so I take it as a blessing. He left to go to Florida to see his family for a few days. I’m leaving to go do social distancing with my mom who has a lung disease, but we didn’t want to leave each other so, you know, we’re figuring it out. It’s hard.”]

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BRANTLEY GILBERT SAYS HE GOES TO WORK WHEN HIS FAMILY GOES TO BED

Brantley Gilbert is accustomed to late night hours, and says that when he’s home, that doesn’t change. After his wife, Amber gets the kids to bed, he goes to work. Brantley explains: [She knows if something’s pressing. Like, if I take a phone call, she knows it’s important. But most of the time I head up to my office and I work from about 9:00 or 9:30 to 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, most of the time, which is kind of a cool set up because I can return emails and get a lot done. You know sometimes when you return emails and then somebody sends it directly back, so you feel like you can’t get caught up, that doesn’t happen to me. And if there’s ever anybody that’s been like texting me and getting on my nerves, that I don’t want to talk to that much, I’ll just light ‘em up at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.  Just text ‘em, ‘Hey, sorry, I just got to this. You know, blow ‘em up at  2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. They’ll quit texting you. So yeah, my business hours are really late but that does allow me during the day – you know, I get up about 10:00, and from 10:00 until 8:00 I’m right there and don’t answer the phone unless it’s absolutely, really important.]

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BIG & RICH have released a quarantine-inspired song called STAY HOME“.  They said in a statement that they’re addressing all the serious stuff going on right by offering us a “two-and-a-half minute ear-to-ear grin.”

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer