On Today’s Show

➢ A 24-year-old woman in San Francisco who refused to wear a mask, got violent, and intentionally coughed on her Uber driver has turned herself into police.  A video of it went viral last week, and she’s facing a bunch of charges . . . with a maximum of 20 YEARS in jail.  

➢ A 50-year-old man has set an embarrassing record by failing in his attempt to get a driver’s license for a 192nd time. The unnamed man in Poland has reportedly been trying to pass his test for 17 years. Fortunately, his miserable attempts to get a license haven’t occurred on the road. In Poland, a person must pass a theory test before taking their actual driving test. Not only has retaking these tests cost him hundreds of hours of time, he’s also had to fork out the equivalent of US$1,565.

➢ A guy in Michigan had a virtual court hearing last week after his license got suspended.  And the judge wasn’t happy when he showed up for it while sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked car.  He claimed it was his boss’ car, and he was only using it for the meeting, but it’s not clear if that’s true.  The judge ended up putting him on a payment plan to pay off all the fines and tickets he’s racked up.

➢ Lots of people use social media to try and make money, but a Toronto man is using it to give money away. Since last summer, Juwon Thomas has been hiding bills around the city, and uploading videos to TikTok showing clues of where his followers can cash in. He tries to find unique locations for his hiding spots and has been known to tape money onto street signs, and to stuff it into nooks and crannies. The 22-year-old says he hides money because he wants to give back to people who have been struggling during the pandemic. He has given away as much as $300 during a single money hunt and has amassed over 100,000 likes across his videos. 

COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE

Kenny Chesney began a three-week ride at #1 with “Living In Fast Forward” in 2006.

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Mistakes We Make in the Morning That Ruin Our Productivity

Well, here’s a list of things you might be doing in the A.M. that make you less productive . . .

1.  Forcing yourself to wake up too early.  Don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t an early bird.  You might actually get more done throughout the day if you get more sleep

2. Not getting dressed.  Believe it or not, staying in sweatpants all day isn’t great for productivity.  Getting dressed tells your brain something new is about to happen and helps you shift gears.

3. Skipping breakfast and not drinking water.  Being hungry and dehydrated makes it harder to focus.  So eat and stay hydrated to be at your best.

4. Starting the day in reactive mode instead of proactive mode.  Being proactive means spending some time thinking about your priorities that day and making a plan.  Not reaching for your phone first thing can help.

5. Not prepping the night before.  It’s hard to do MORE at the end of a long day.  But preparing ahead of time can make a big difference in productivity.  

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FOUR RANDOM FACTS 

1. Disney originally passed on “The Little Mermaid”because they thought its plot conflicted too much with another movie they were planning . . . the sequel to “Splash” called “Splash Too”.  Obviously they changed their mind.

2. The opening scene in “Saving Private Ryan”where troops storm the beach at Normandy cost $12 million . . . almost one-fifth of the movie’s entire budget.

3. It takes a surprisingly long time for your garbage to decompose . . . like one to five years for a cigarette butt . . . 10 to 20 years for a plastic shopping bag . . . 450 years for a diaper . . . and one million years for a glass bottle.

4. The U.S. Forest Service created Smokey the Bear in 1944 after their deal ran out with Disney to use Bambi on their forest fire prevention posters.

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GOOD NEWS 

A 77-year-old former substitute teacher who was living in his car was gifted with a $27,000 check by a one-time student. Jose Villarruel, lovingly known as “Mr. V” by his students, was a substitute teacher for decades, but in 2020 he resigned after schools changed over to distance learning due to the pandemic. 

He made all the arrangements for his pension, but the money didn’t last long, and Villarruel has been living out of his car ever since. His former student, Steven Nava, came across Villarruel in his car and recognized him. 

Nava initially gave Villarruel $300, and then decided to start a GoFundMe page to help him get back on his feet. He shared it all over social media, including on TikTok, where it went viral with over 1.7 million views. Villarruel was presented with a $27,000 check from the money raised, along with other gifts.

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BIRTHDAYS 

[58] Vanessa Williams, actress 

[51] Queen Latifah, actress 

[47] Philip Sweet, country singer (Little Big Town)

[32] Lily Collins, actress 

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LOOSE COW IS STILL ON THE RUN IN RHODE ISLAND

It’s amazing how crafty cows can really be. Police in Rhode Island say a cow escaped while being unloaded on February 4th, and the animal is still on the loose. The steer spent some time in the local area, and was soon spotted in Providence, about 10 miles away. Police are urging the public to keep their distance from the steer, and to report any sightings to them. They hope to keep the runaway contained to wooded areas where it cannot endanger drivers or itself. 

Penguin Leaps Into a Tour Boat to Avoid Being Eaten By Killer Whales

A dinghy full of tourists saw the nature film of a lifetime, right in front of their eyes. A penguin that was being chased by a pod of orcas made a desperation leap for safety into their boat. 

The successful jump happened only after a first attempt had failed, when the small animal flung itself headfirst into the side of the boat and bounced back into the perilous water. Travel blogger Matt Karsten and his wife Anna were taking a tour through the icebergs of the Gerlache Strait in Antarctica, when they saw the incredible chase unfold.

BEARS BREAK INTO CALIFORNIA HOME, TEAR APART PROPERTY 

Warmer weather means many bears across are coming out of hibernation. Police in a California town say recently, a family of black bears forced their way into a home. 

They say the mama bear and three cubs peeled siding off of the home to break into the basement. Police say the bears tore apart the home, even managing to break a gas line. Authorities discovered the break-in after a neighbor smelled the gas and called 9-1-1. Fish and Wildlife officials came to remove the bears from the home. 

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Eat Exactly Three Vegetables and Two Fruits a Day . . . More Is Overkill

A new study on healthy eating just came out.  And here’s the part that caught our attention:  When it comes to fruits and vegetables . . . don’t overdo it.

Researchers followed the eating habits of more than 100,000 people for 30 years.  And the ones who ate at least five servings of fruit and veggies a day lived longer. But they also found that five is the upper limit.  More than that won’t hurt, but it also doesn’t help.

The perfect amount is three vegetables and two servings of fruit a day.  People who ate that combo lived longer than people who ate more fruits than veggies.

Unfortunately, only 1 in 10 people eat that much produce a day.  But we should, because it lowers your cancer risk by 10% . . . heart disease by 12% . . . respiratory diseases by 35% . . . and your overall risk of premature death by 13%.

Not all fruits and veggies count though.  They found that leafy greens make a big difference.  But starchy vegetables like corn, peas, and potatoes don’t help us live longer.  And fruit juice doesn’t help either. 

1990  Randy Travis was at #1 with “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” released as the second single from the album No Holdin’ Back. The song spent four weeks at #1 on the chart and in doing so, became the first song to stay that long atop the chart for 12 years; the last to accomplish the feat was the 1978 song, “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

THURSDAY MARCH 18TH  

1. You may not know marathon runner Dick Hoyt, but he’s part of one of the most inspirational father-son stories in sports.  He died on Monday.  Here’s Scott Van Pelt with a touching tribute. (He pushed his son in a special marathon wheelchair.  From “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” on Wednesday, March 17, 2021.)

2. VAN 3 – OTT 2 SO WPG 4 – MTL 3 OT EDM 7 – CGY 3 

VGK 5 – SJS 4 LAK 4 – STL 1 NYR 9 – PHI 0

3.   Now that older people are vaccinated, we’re seeing lots of videos of grandparents hugging their kids for the first time in a year.  An 81-year-old woman in New York named Evelyn Shaw broke down in tears after her doctor wroteout a prescription telling her to hug her granddaughter.

4.   This guy does a pretty good imitation of comedian Sebastian Maniscalco doing a routine about the Texas blizzard.  Check it out, here.

31 Years Ago, on March 18th, 1990: The Largest Art Heist in the History of the World 

This sounds like something straight out of a movie.  At 1:24 A.M. on March 18th, as St. Patrick’s Day crowds stumbled around the streets of Boston, two fake cops showed up at the city’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

They duct taped and handcuffed the two guards and embarked on a massive smash-and-grab.

They stole roughly $500 million worth of art, but in an absurd way . . . like, they left the museum’s most valuable piece of artwork but stole candy bars out of the vending machine.

When it was all over, it was the biggest art heist in history, and the largest private property theft as well.  The crime continues to hold both distinctions today.

So who did it?

In 2013, the FBI essentially confirmed the top public theory, that one of Boston’s organized crime gangs was behind the robbery.

The wheelman for the head of one of the organizations stole the art, ostensibly as a bargaining chip to spring his boss, who was locked up on racketeering charges at the time, from prison. Shockingly, that plan didn’t work.

The statute of limitations on prosecuting the crime ended in 1995, but the suspected perpetrator was murdered in 1991, so no one has ever faced prosecution.

The art all still remains missing to this day, and the Gardner Museum still has the stolen paintings’ empty frames on its walls, eternally waiting for their return.

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NIKO MOON CHARTS FIRST NUMBER ONE AS AN ARTIST 

Niko Moon recently earned his first Number One single as an artist with his debut release, “Good Time.” 

Niko has found that the song has been a relief of sorts to people during the pandemic and the global quarantine.: [“I’ve had a lot of people tell me, it’s like, you know, ‘Sometimes when I have gotten stressed this past year I’ll put on “Good Time” and it’s like I can go on a three-minute-thirty-second-vacation,’ and that’s made me really happy to know that it’s been a way for people to kind of put the stress of life aside for just a minute and just close their eyes and just have a good time.”]  

Niko has written hit songs for Zac Brown Band (“Homegrown”, “Beautiful Drug”, “Keep Me in Mind” and “Loving You Easy”) and Rascal Flatts (“Back To Life”).

Maren Morris Admits She Needs to Do More to Help Country Music Diversify

MAREN MORRIS was on “Ellen” recently talking about her son Hayes Andrew, who will be turning one next week.  She said the silver lining of the pandemic has been spending time with him instead of being on the road.

Ellen congratulated her for “The Middle” passing a billion streams on Spotify . . . and for her ACM Video of the Year nomination for “Better Than We Found It”. 

That led to a discussion about diversity in country music.  Maren said she sees disparities in race AND gender, and she’s planning to do her part.  

Quote, “There are so many black women and men who adore country music and don’t feel the door is open for them even a crack.  So, I’ve been doing so much of my own homework the last couple of years, especially since George Floyd.  

“Country music as a genre . . . we all have so much room to grow, myself included . . . but I think country music definitely is stepping up to the plate, slowly but surely.”  

CHRIS STAPLETON POSTPONES START OF TOUR 

Chris Stapleton’s tour has been pushed back, again. The first three shows in April will now be postponed until next year. The dates moved are for Toledo and Columbus, Ohio as well as Lexington, Kentucky.

The All-American Road Show tour is one of dozens of tours that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For now, his 2021 scheduled is set to begin on June 5 in San Bernardino, California.

So far, Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks are scheduled to be the first country artists to launch large venue tours for this year. Both set to begin on May 1.

Categorised in: Mornings

This post was written by Dave Palmer