Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jan 4, 2018

Babies:

Congratulations to BINGWA, a cheetah at the St. Louis Zoo, who gave birth to a total of eight cubs --three males and five females-- back on Nov 26. Bingwa is four years old and can now claim the largest litter of cheetah cubs ever delivered at the zoo --the average litter is three or four cubs.
PS: Bingwa means "champion" in Swahili.

Small-town politics:

2018 is proving to be a very challenging year for a few Oregon residents. If you hadn't heard, locals in the Beaver State can now (wait for it...) pump their own gas!Although this doesn't sound like a problem for most Americans, a few lost souls chimed in on social media that they don'twant to smell like petrol and "don't even know HOW to pump gas!" Fear not --gas stations can still offer full service pumps and the mandate is for rural counties with less than 40-thousand residents.
Editor's rant /phoner: My husband remarked the other night that there's tons of hipsters with full beards drinking stout ale who can't change a tire! What simple skill should people absolutely, positively need to know? Should it differ between the sexes? (Lee)

Survivor: real life:

Be careful what you eat and what doctor you go to.
A 41-year-old woman from England, suffered with abdominal distress for years before she was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. She lived with the on-and-off symptoms for six years before doctors felt she should have surgery, since she wasn't responding to regular treatments. The surgery revealed a small mass in her small intestine and when it was cut open, doctors found a Heinz ketchup package had pierced the wall off her intestine!
She doesn't remember eating a meal and using the ketchup, but it's been five months since the surgery and she's now symptom free. (Myers)

Look what I found:

A fishing team in Australia set a new record with their giant catch.
EDDY LAWLER of Peak Sportfishing Adventures was on a boat with his crew when they reeled in a massive 1,089-pound blue marlin. On average, blue marlins weigh between 200 and 400 pounds. Lawler's fish beat the previous Australian record of 996-pounds set back in 1999. The local community plans to make a fiberglass cast of the fish to use as an educational tool. (Still)