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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 17, 2015
March 17, 2015
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Cities with the largest Irish-American populations (by percentage):
Twenty-two million Americans --or about 7.2 percent of the population-- say their "primary ancestry" is Irish, according to the US Census's American Community Survey. Another 13.5 million Americans claim at least some Irish ancestry, bringing the total to 35.5 million Americans --or 11.6 percent of the population-- who have at least partial Irish ancestry.
10. Wilmington, DE, 13 percent
9. Long Island, NY, 13.1 percent
8. Philadelphia, PA, 14.2 percent
7. Camden, NJ, 14.8 percent
6. Worcester, MA, 14.8 percent
5. Syracuse, NY, 15 percent
4. Albany, NY, 15.6 percent
3. Peabody, MA, 16.9 percent
2. Middlesex County, MA, 16.9 percent
1. Boston, MA, 20.4 percentSome Irish stats:
The personal finance website WalletHub released its 2015 St. Patrick's Day By The Numbers report, which includes the following factoids:
-- 52.3 percent of Americans plan to celebrate St Patrick's Day --of those, 82.4 percent plan to wear green!
--45 pounds of vegetable-based dye is used to turn the Chicago River green.
-- St Patrick's Day ranks fourth among the most popular drinking days of the year --right behind New Year's Eve, Christmas and the Fourth of July.
-- 13 million pints of Guinness... will be consumed worldwide on St Patrick's Day
-- $1.258 million... is the current market value of a leprechaun's pot of gold, which contains a thousand gold coins weighing one ounce each.
--St. Patrick's partiers will spend an average of $36.5 to celebrate on the big day this year.
--There's a 70 percent increase in cabbage shipments during St. Patrick's week
-- 33.3 million US residents claim Irish ancestry --or about seven times the current population of Ireland.
--Irish is the second most frequently reported European ancestry behind German
Editor's note: For a nice graphic for your station's website, head HERE.Three famous Irishmen:
-- ARTHUR GUINESS, who opened his brewery in Dublin in 1759.
-- JOHN JAMESON, who opened his distillery in Dublin in 1780.
--Whoever invented Bailey's Irish Cream. Gilbeys of Ireland reportedly introduced the mixture in 1974 to prop up their international sales. Although legend has it the drink was created by ANDREW BAILEY of the R-A Bailey Company, PETER O'CONNOR of Bailey's says "There's no Mr or Mrs Bailey. We wanted a name that was Irish, but not 'show' Irish. The R-A Bailey was a way of putting a name behind the factory, a way of getting across that the product comes from Ireland."Fashion Emergency:
MELISSA McCARTHY's first-ever plus-sized clothing line launches this August. People says the collection is being called "Melissa McCarthy Seven7." It will be sold in department and specialty stores. The focus will be on casual sportswear, with prices ranging from $59 to $159. ( Bartha)
Wasted away again in Margaritaville:
30-thousand dollars worth of stolen Wild Turkey bourbon turned up in a Kentucky backyard.
Franklin County Sheriff PAT MELTON says his deputies got a phone tip which led them to the rural home. Melton says they recovered five barrels of stolen bourbon from a Wild Turkey distillery in nearby Lawrenceburg. They also confiscated "a significant amount" of anabolic steroids and over 25 firearms. Melton says each of the barrels weighed 400 to 500 pounds. He added, "I've never seen anything like this."
Deputies charged 45-year-old GILBERT THOMAS CURTSINGER with four counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. ( Still) -
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