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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jan 7, 2014
January 7, 2014
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Engaged:
EMMA ROBERTS and EVAN PETERS apparently made it through their little rough patch with flying colors 'cuz they're headed to the altar! "Extra" reports the dashing groom-to-be popped the question with a pink gold and diamond ring over the holidays and his leading lady said yes. The two work together on "American Horror Story," began dating in 2012 and made headlines last year after she was arrested for allegedly assaulting him in Montreal. (Lee)
He's dead, Jim:
Canadian voice-over guy LARRY MANN, who did the voice of Yukon Cornelius in the animated Christmas TV show, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," has died at age 91. Old age. He was also in dozens of TV shows and movies during his career, which began in the 1950s and included "Gunsmoke," "Bewitched" and "Hill Street Blues."
I'm a Poll Man:
No real surprise that public support for legalizing recreational marijuana continues to rise. A new CNN/ORC poll shows 55-percent of Americans now in favor of legalizing marijuana, with 44-percent still opposed. The CNN/ORC findings are similar to a Gallup poll conducted last October.
Just 16-percent of Americans favored legalization back in 1987. (Pacelli)Our diminishing natural resources:
Dishwashers vs. hand-washing? Which is better?
According to a widely cited European study, hand-cleaning 12 place settings guzzles, on average, 27 gallons of water. Compare that to a load in a new, Energy Star-certified dishwasher: All machines must use less than 5.8 gallons per cycle, and the best of the bunch sips just 1.95 gallons. The difference sounds stark, but that's not the whole story.
Many of the test subjects ran the hot water continuously as they washed up. Some left the tap on even as they dried the dishes. Anecdotally, this isn't far from what plenty of Americans do, too. It stands to reason that washing dishes with conservation in mind will use much less water. But with the typical kitchen sink spewing 3 to 5 gallons per minute, can the conscientious cleaner really beat the dishwasher standard of 2 gallons or less?
If you have two sinks, one filled with hot, soapy water, you do your washing in there and rinse clean under the faucet in the other sink. To increase efficiency, do dishes quickly, before food has a chance to congeal which makes it easier to scrape every bit of food you can into the garbage disposal before washing. Many faucets also have an aerator mode to choke off the water flow to a mere one gallon per minute. (Maiman)Gone in 60 Seconds:
Cops in Long Island, New York are investigating a case of a real life Hamburgler.
Nassau County Police say a man ordered a hamburger at a Burger King, paid his bill and left. He came back a few minutes later and ordered more food. That's when police say he calmly reached into the register, grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash, and ran out. Nobody was injured. So far, no arrests have been made. (Still)Grace notes:
The all-star BEATLES tribute concert later this month will also include a major reunion. ANNIE LENNOX and DAVE STEWART are set to perform together as EURYTHMICS for the first time in decades. The big event is called "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles," and it will be taped January 27th, which is the day after the Grammy Awards, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. You'll be able to see it on CBS February 9th, exactly 50 years after The Beatles made their U.S. TV debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The artist and song lineup is still being put together, and, of course, there is talk that both PAUL McCARTNEY and RINGO STARR will be there to perform. (Marino)
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