\u27a2 Will Smith teamed up with Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith, to surprise a young fan on his Snapchat Series \u201cWill From Home\u201d. The story was about 8-year-old Aaron Moreno, who bought plants and sold them for profit to help his family out amid tough times they were facing \u2014 including sending his sister to Mexico because his family couldn\u2019t afford to keep her in the US. In the episode, the two Smiths surprised the young boy with a PlayStation 5, Dodgers tickets, an invitation to batting practice and a $10,000 donation from a community network among other generous gifts. Later, Smith shared that Aaron was able to sell enough plants to allow his family to buy a car, get a new apartment and bring his sister back from Mexico.<\/p>\n
\u27a2 An off-duty emergency worker in Thailand came to the rescue of a baby elephant that was struck by a motorcycle, performing CPR on the animal until it revived.<\/p>\n
Rescue worker Mana Srivate said he was off-duty when he came across the scene of the crash at the side of a road. Emergency medical responders were treating the motorcycle driver, who sustained only minor injuries, and he attended to the baby elephant struck by the vehicle.<\/p>\n
He said he made a guess about the location of the animal’s heart based on human physiology and an online video, and he started chest compressions. The rescue worker said he nearly started crying when the elephant started moving again. He said the animal was able to stand after about 10 minutes and eventually was reunited with its herd.<\/p>\n
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\u27a2 An Arkansas fire department said crews responded to a resident’s home to rescue an elderly horse that became stranded on the cover of a swimming pool. The firefighters moved the horse to the shallow end of the pool so it could safely be returned to solid ground. The horse was safely rescued. “He’s safe and warming up now,” the department said of the horse.<\/p>\n
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\u27a2 Sometimes moms can be harsh. Adem Waterman, of London recently shared a screenshot of a text exchange he had with his mom on Twitter. Over text, his mom asks, \u201cShall I put to just Adem or do you have a boyfriend yet?\u201d He replies back, \u201cNo boyfriend. You can just put my name on it,\u201d and she replies, \u201cOkay will do. Do you think it\u2019s your personality or your looks?\u201d Adem writes back, \u201cCome on mum. It\u2019s Christmas!\u201d and she simply says, \u201cWell your brothers and sisters have partners. X.\u201d His tweet of the conversation has over 65,000 likes and 4,000 shares.<\/p>\n
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\u27a2 87-year-old\u00a0LARRY KING\u00a0<\/strong>was\u00a0hospitalized<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0over a week ago with COVID-19.\u00a0 There’s no word on his condition, but he’s in isolation and unable to receive visitors.\u00a0 Larry survived a stroke and underwent heart surgery in 2019, then last year he lost a son to a heart attack and a daughter to lung cancer, just weeks apart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n LOUIS GOSSETT JR.\u00a0<\/strong>ended up in a Georgia hospital last week with coronavirus . . . but he\u00a0LEFT<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0after a few days, against doctors’ orders, because he got freaked out about all the people dying around him in the COVID wing.\u00a0 Lou is 84.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TODAY IS\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n COUNTRY MUSIC NOTE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n 1983\u00a0 Alabama were at #1 on the US Country music album chart with\u00a0Mountain Music, released in 1982, it is the award-winning third studio album by the country music group.<\/p>\n ________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n FINAL JEOPARDY <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The final new “Jeopardy!” episodes hosted by Alex Trebek will air next week, with highlights that promise to be memorable.<\/p>\n The first of the five episodes will air Monday and start with Trebek’s “powerful message about the season of giving,” producer Sony Pictures Television said in a release Wednesday.<\/p>\n The final episode, on Friday, will conclude with a tribute to the longtime and beloved host. He died of pancreatic cancer on Nov. 8 at age 80.<\/p>\n Trebek, who had been candid about his condition, worked up until 10 days before he died, soldiering on despite debilitating treatments and the disease’s toll.<\/p>\n It was unexpected that the episodes taped in late October would be his final ones, Sony said. Trebek had been fighting the disease for nearly two years.<\/p>\n Veteran “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings will take over as guest host starting on Jan. 11. A permanent host has yet to be announced. GOOD NEWS <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Here\u2019s something to make you smile. Teens of Chippewa Township, Pennsylvania, have been installing dozens of inflatable snowmen that stand 18-feet tall throughout the town.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As of Friday (December 18th) there were nearly 40 Frosty the Snowman inflatables installed in Highland Meadows, a single family home development in Monaca, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The massive decorations were placed in various front yards since Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The identity of the teens is unclear, but they reportedly wear Buddy the Elf and reindeer costumes and play Christmas music from a van while they install their decorations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Recent social media posts show the community has attracted lines of cars at night, checking out all the giant snowmen.<\/p>\n _________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n BIRTHDAYS <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n [64] Patty Loveless, country singer<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [55] Deana Carter, country singer<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [32] Michelle Mylett, actress (\u2018Katie\u2019 on \u201cLetterkenny\u201d since 2016)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n THINGS SCIENCE MAY ACHIEVE IN 2021:<\/u><\/strong> <\/p>\n \u27a2 Flying cars:\u00a0 By the end of 2021, there is a chance that they will be routinely zipping through the skies. With new technology, including lighter batteries and more durable, less expensive materials, many entrepreneurs are focused on the air taxi market. (Up next: air-Ubers!)<\/p>\n \u27a2 A.I. will become even I\u2019er:\u00a0 A.I. can help augment our own problem-solving abilities, and it can take on tasks, freeing up human minds to tackle other problems, like information security, collapsing biodiversity, and climate change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u27a2 Feeding the planet will receive a boost:\u00a0 Continued work with genetically-modified organisms could be essential. While climate change continues to change things like rainfall and soil composition, developing hardier crops could prove to be a vital issue.<\/p>\n \u27a2 Making us more serious about public health:\u00a0 The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public health and epidemiology, or the study of how disease spreads within a community. Computer modeling could help predict the next big epidemic, and not only help us gain a better understanding of disease, but also how to prevent deadly outbreaks before they happen.<\/p>\n ____________________________________________________________________________<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n SMARTPHONE FITNESS APPS AND WEARABLE ACTIVITY TRACKERS BOOST PHYSICAL ACTIVITY <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n People walk almost an extra mile each day if they have an activity tracker on their smartphone or watch, a study has found.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overall, people walked an average of 1,850 more steps if they had an app — a significant increase in daily workouts. Most people take somewhere around 2,000 steps to walk a mile.<\/p>\n Authors of the study said doctors might consider prescribing such apps and trackers for patients looking to get fitter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Health experts typically recommend that people aim to take 10,000 steps a day, and that mark is used as a default goal on most step counting apps.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A study last year, though, found that the optimal number may be much lower, depending on your age. The research found that women whose step counters reached 4,400 each day had a 41% lower rate of death<\/a>\u00a0than women who took 1,700 fewer steps each day.<\/p>\n The average number of steps taken by adults is between 4,000 and 5,000 per day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n MONDAY JANUARY 4TH<\/sup> \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n BETWEEN: Eighth Line (CK #14) and Middle Line (CK #8).<\/p>\n REASON: Sanitary sewer installation across the roadway.<\/p>\n DETOUR ROUTE: Eighth Line (CK #14) \u2013 Bloomfield Road (CK #27) \u2013 Middle Line (CK #8)<\/p>\n DATE & TIME: Monday, January 4, 2021 at 7:00 AM to Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 5:00 PM.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Browns beat the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong>\u00a0in Pittsburgh yesterday, to finish the season 11-5, and to secure their\u00a0first<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0playoff berth\u00a0since 2002.\u00a0 At 18 years, that’s\u00a0the NFL’s\u00a0longest<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0playoff drought. That year, they lost in the first round to the Steelers.\u00a0 This year, they’ll also have to take on the Steelers\u00a0in Round 1.\u00a0 The game is set for next Sunday at 8:15 P.M. Eastern.<\/p>\n The rest of the\u00a0playoff picture<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has already been set.\u00a0 In the AFC, the\u00a0Miami Dolphins<\/strong>\u00a0missed the cut, despite going 10-6. While in the NFC, the\u00a0Chicago Bears<\/strong>\u00a0got in despite an\u00a08-8 record . . . and the\u00a0Washington Football Team<\/strong>\u00a0made it despite a LOSING 7-9 record\u00a0. . . which was good enough to win the NFC East. Finally, in the aftermath of\u00a0Tom Brady’s<\/strong>\u00a0split from the\u00a0New England Patriots<\/strong>, Brady came out the winner.\u00a0 He and the\u00a0Tampa Bay Bucs<\/strong>\u00a0are in the playoffs after going 11-5.\u00a0 The Patriots went 7-9 and missed the cut.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n DARIUS RUCKER SAYS HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH HAS ‘NO SHOT’ AT GETTING INTO ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The annual list of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees is announced in January, and it’s anyone’s guess who will make the coveted short list, but according to\u00a0Darius Rucker<\/strong>, you’ll never hear Hootie & The Blowfish’s name called. In fact, he says he and his longtime rock band have “no shot.”<\/p>\n [“Never gonna happen\u00a0<\/strong>(laughs). It’s never gonna happen. When CNN does a show on the music of the 90s and don’t even mention Hootie & The Blowfish, for us to think that we were gonna get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is pretty crazy, don’t ya think? We got no shot. We don’t have the kind of respect you need to get in there. Do I think we deserve to be in there? Absolutely. We changed music. We saved music. We changed radio, but, you know, that’s not enough for them. If we got in I’d be really happy but I’m not holding my breath.”]<\/strong><\/p>\n Darius recently become an investor with Music City Baseball, a group trying to bring Major League Baseball to Nashville. He also joined the group as an Advisory board member.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brad Paisley Is Helping a Musician Affected by the Nashville Bombing<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n BRAD PAISLEY<\/strong>\u00a0is helping a country singer named\u00a0Buck McCoy<\/strong>, who was in his apartment when the bomb exploded in Nashville on Christmas Day.\u00a0 Buck made it out safely but most of his stuff was destroyed.<\/p>\n That included his car, his clothes, and his musical equipment.\u00a0 When Brad heard about it he hooked him up with a brand new guitar so he could get back to playing and making a living.<\/p>\n He also offered the guy unlimited groceries from his nonprofit The Store, which provides free food for those in need.<\/p>\n One more thing about Buck.\u00a0 His cat Molly was lost after the explosion and he had no idea where she was.\u00a0 But they were reunited six days later when he\u00a0saw<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0her in one of the animal cages that authorities were taking away from the scene.<\/p>\n ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/u>\u27a2 Finding an actual habitable planet:\u00a0 Thanks to improved observation techniques, scientists are getting closer. NASA has identified nearly 1,000 promising planets. That could point us in the direction of extraterrestrial life, and could prove useful in the far future, when humans may want to settle on planets outside our solar system.<\/p>\n\n
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