Medical money, Snoop investments, lunch money, finally an Eagle, big sharks and four percent bling
Photo courtesy of oceandiving.org | Did divers film the world’s thiccest shark?
- Ohio dispensaries sold $75,000 worth of medical marijuana on their first legal day of operation. According to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program, the total volume of product sold was 8.7 pounds. Eventually, close to 60 dispensaries, including seven in the greater Cincinnati area, will open (Jan. 17).
- The body of a newborn baby girl was found in the women’s restroom at an Amazon warehouse in Arizona. Phoenix police said they had contacted the mother but have not revealed her identity. Amazon released a statement describing the discovery as “terribly sad and tragic” and added that workers are cooperating with police in the investigation (Jan. 17).
- Rapper Snoop Dogg continued to demonstrate that he’s got his mind on his money and his money on his mind by investing in the Swedish company Klarna Bank. The start-up founded in 2015 provides finance options for consumers and currently exists in 14 countries. Snoop Dogg previously appeared in a video for the bank, where he is referred to as “Smooth Dogg” (Jan. 17).
- A 12-year-old student in Georgia faces a 10-day suspension after using a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for his lunch. The student said he got the bill from his father, who in turn said he got it from a fast food joint and did not realize it was fake. A lunchroom worker discovered the bogus bill’s true nature and reported it to school administrators, who handed down the suspension (Jan. 18).
- After 35 years, a former New Hampshire police officer earned his Eagle Scout rank. Bob Hildreth replaced street signs as part of his 1983 project, but a car accident forced him to miss his board of review. “It means I finally got there,” Hildreth said (Jan. 18).
- The dog world lost an icon when the pomeranian Boo, dubbed the “World’s Cutest Dog,” passed away. His owners made the announcement on Boo’s Facebook page, which had earned more than 16 million followers. The post speculated that the loss of his beloved companion Buddy last year may have contributed to the heart issues that ultimately led to his death (Jan. 19).
- Deep Blue, thought to be the world’s largest shark, was captured on film by divers off the coast of Hawaii. It is estimated that the great white shark measures around six meters long — about half the length of a bus — compared to the average size of 4.6 meters and weighs two and a half tons, . The aptly named Ocean Ramsey, a member of the team, added that Deep Blue might have been pregnant and posted a video of the encounter on her Instagram page (Jan. 19).
- Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown recently made a quick stop at a Pittsburgh jewelry store to spend $500,000 on some new bling, including five carat diamond earrings. Given that he’s due to make $12.9 million in 2019, that price amounts to about four percent of his salary, the layman’s equivalent of a Target run (Jan. 20).
- WhatsApp is reducing the number of times a message can be forwarded from 20 to five in an attempt to limit the spread of false information. The update debuted in India, whose government had asked the company to intervene after several lynching incidents last summer were connected to messages forwarded via the app (Jan. 21).
This post was assembled by U.S. & World News Editor Jack Dunn.