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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jan 19, 2015
January 19, 2015
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Martin Luther King, Jr, holiday:
The National Parks Service is providing free admission to all 405 National Parks today to honor Dr King; the list can be found HERE... Of course, there's already a large number of parks which are free of charge, but several of the larger parks are waiving their admission fees, including Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Olympic National Park.
PS: If you can't make it --there's another free National Parks weekend in February for Presidents' Day.Sucking the life out of the wire services:
Forget about GEORGE CLOONEY, GWYNETH PALTROW or ANGELINA JOLIE --the most popular gal in Hollywood is named BETTY WHITE! The "Golden Girl" was treated to a birthday surprise last Friday on the backlot of "Hot In Cleveland." People.com features video of the sassy actress pulling up to a huge flash mob dressed in Hawaiian gear as she clapped along to the music of the islands. Co-stars VALERIE BERTINELLI, JANE LEEVES and WENDIE MALICK joined in for the fun and gave her a hula-themed cake.
The fun gal was thrilled with the display and revealed: "at 93 you shouldn't be doing this!"
Editor's note: Check out the video here. Her quote is at 2:00. (Lee)The Bill Cosby mess:
Couple of developments in the ongoing BILL COSBY mess over the weekend. First, Bill's lawyer says he wasn't even at the Playboy Mansion on the night that CHLOE GIONS accused him of drugging her --back on Aug 09, 2008. Bill's lawyer, MARTY SINGER, says he was in New York on that date.
Meanwhile, Cosby was in Colorado over the weekend. In Pueblo, Friday night, there were a couple of dozen protesters outside the venue, chanting "no means no" and "Colorado believes the women." But inside, there was no demonstrations.
In Denver's Buell Theater on Saturday night, where he had two shows scheduled, there were about 100 demonstrators led by GLORIA ALLRED, who waved signs outside the theater and chanted: "Rape is not a joke!" and "No means No!" Inside the theatre the crowd was supportive and gave him a standing ovation.
But before the show, former model BETH FERRIER, who's now 55, claimed that Bill put drugs in her coffee when she went to see one of his shows in Denver in 1986. She said the next thing she remembered was waking up hours later in the back of her car "practically naked."
Bill was scheduled to perform in Turlock, California, last night, half-way between Fresno and Sacramento.Collegiate capers:
Chemistry students in England were shocked when they were asked on a test how to make methamphetamine.
Students at the University of York were asked to explain how the character WALTER WHITE manufactured meth on the hit AMC show Breaking Bad. The question was created by chemistry professor DAVID SMITH who adds, "I'm particularly proud of the Breaking Bad exam question." Smith later tweeted: "Obviously any students scoring full marks on my exam question will be reported to the DEA." (Still)Broadcast, cable and video news:
Comedy Central's replacement for STEPHEN COLBERT's show, "The Nightly Show with LARRY WILMORE," debuts tonight.
"The Nightly Show" will reportedly be a blend of satire and talk. It will feature a rotating group of comedians and experts. Tonight's guests will be Sen. CORY BOOKER, TALIB KWELI and BILL BURR. Wilmore says "We'll have a nice balance of the scripted element and the non-scripted."
For those of you who don't know Wilmore --he was a writer on both "In Living Color" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." He was also the creator and executive producer on "The Bernie Mac Show," and won an Emmy for writing the pilot episode. And he was a writer on ABC's new show, "Black-ish."
Also debuting tonight --ABC Family's shows "The Fosters" (8 pm) and "Chasing Life" (9 pm).Viral video dep't:
You may have seen the video of the cop from the Dover, DE, police department lip-synching to TAYLOR SWIFT's hit, "Shake it Off" --the video already has close to nine million views on YouTube.
The guy who did it, Master Cpl. JEFF DAVIS, is a 19-year veteran of the department, a father of four and says he knows "Shake it Off" so well because of his 10-year-old daughter. He's driving around in his patrol car when the song comes on, and he diddy-bops to the beat, complete with head rolls and finger pointing... as long as he thinks nobody is watching (at one point, he stops bopping and waves to a passer-by, but then drives on and continues). But the video was captured by the car's dashboard cam, and the folks who pull the video from the cars noticed it and posted it on the internet.Grace notes from Vinny Marino:
Now that the Seattle Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl, PEARL JAM is selling its limited edition 12th Flag Needle Shirt, while supplies last. Some of the proceeds from the sales of the T-shirts will go to the NFL Kick Hunger Challenge and Food Lifeline. You'll need to order it by tomorrow if you want to wear it for the big game. Go to pearljam.com for all the info. (Marino)
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