Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 22, 2017

Idle gossip & unconfirmed rumors:

The fine coeds at Penn State got quite a surprise when DNCE popped onto the stage during their annual dance marathon (called "Thon") to raise money for childhood cancer patients. The NY Post's Page Six gossip column reports JOE JONAS and the boys played for a half-hour, included their smash hit "Cake by the Ocean" in the set and the event raised a whopping $10-million-dollars! (Lee)

Broadcast, cable and video news:

Whiskey drinker alert! WGN America is getting ready to do a movie about the life of JACK DANIEL. Jack, as you may know, was a Civil War era moonshiner, who began distilling moonshine as a boy and went on to build the world's biggest whiskey empire in Tennessee.
The Hollywood Reportersays the movie, "Blood and Whiskey," is based on PETER KRASS' biography, "Blood and Whiskey: The Life and Times of Jack Daniel," but no stars have been cast yet for either Jack as a boy, or later as a man.

Small-town politics:

A federal judge has halted a Texas plan to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood from that state's Medicaid program. Reuters reports that TX Attorney General KEN PAXTON said his office would appeal that ruling, saying "the decision is disappointing and flies in the face of basic human decency."
Planned Parenthood originally filed a lawsuit a year ago to try blocking Texas from stripping its Medicaid funding, but the lawsuit sat idle before the state issued its final legal notice. (Pacelli)

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

BEST COAST will headline an all-star show to help save Planned Parenthood. Pitchfork.com says "Don't Sit Down: A Planned Parenthood Benefit," will also feature performances from VERUCA SALT, MUNA, a DJ set from WAVVES, and a "special appearance" by LIZ PHAIR. The concert happens March 4th at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles. (Marino)