Morning News – 12/26/14

CYNTHIANA / HARRISON

Driving past the Harrison County bus garage or Board of Education building may have raised an eyebrow if you’ve noticed buses marked for Oldham County Schools. The Harrison County School Board has purchased four used buses from Oldham County at a cost of $10,000 each; the buses will be joining the fleet for regular use, along with three brand new buses that were approved for purchase earlier this year. Harrison County Superintendent Andy Dotson remarked that, “Opportunities like this purchase will not happen every year,” in regard to acquiring the buses from Oldham County.

KENTUCKY

Kentucky soft-drink manufacturer Ale-8-One was recently honored by the Department of Defense on Monday for their continued support of U.S. Military troops. Ale-8 has been sending care packages abroad to troops for ten years, providing Kentucky’s sons and daughters deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas a “Taste of Home” while they aid in serving and protecting our nation and world. For more information on how to aid in Ale-8’s support, visit http://www.ale8one.com/military.

Police in Lexington responded to a bomb threat at Commonwealth Stadium late last night, shortly after 11:00PM. Officers combed the area with explosives trained search dogs, however they did not find anything. Police cleared the scene around 1:00AM. http://www.lex18.com/story/27708897/police-work-bomb-threat-at-commonwealth-stadium

NATIONAL

Santa leave a gift-card in your stocking instead of something you really wanted? You might be able to turn that little bit of plastic into something you like, thanks to an online gift-card exchange program and it’s partnership with Walmart. Cardcash–a company that purchases gift-cards at a discount rate has teamed up with the retail giant to turn cards from other retailers and restaurants into Walmart e-giftcards that can be used online or in-store as soon as they are issued. For more information, visit http://walmart.cardcash.com.

http://time.com/money/3646649/walmart-gift-card-exchange-holidays/

ENTERTAINMENT

The Interview–the film that sparked buzz across the world, due to it’s negative reception by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un–was released by Sony, despite earlier announcements of being shelved. Sony had announced that the film would not be released due in part to threats made against theaters showing the film. On Christmas Eve, however, Sony released the film to numerous online film distributors and retailers–a day before it premiered at select theaters across the nation. Only three theaters in Kentucky debuted the film on Christmas–the Theaters of Georgetown was one of them.
http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/24/3610151/three-theaters-in-kentucky-in.html
http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/The-Interview-debuts-in-front-of-large-crowds-in-Georgetown-286846511.html

WEIRD

A Nevada goat farmer and fire department have teamed up to recycle “live” Christmas trees. Vince Thomas–the farmer and long-time volunteer firefighter–got the idea from watching the goats graze, when he tossed a piece of pine to the herd and watched it be devoured. From there, the idea of safely and naturally discarding of former Christmas trees was born. After the goats have fed on the needles, the remaining branches and trunk are then chipped and turned into mulch. Why go to the trouble? J. Merriman–communication director of a local group that chips the remains of the trees–explains, “A lot of people dump it out on the desert and that’s really a problem because people think it’s a natural thing and it will decompose; but because we’re out in the desert, they don’t decompose, it will just get drier and drier and it really becomes a serious fire hazard.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/nevada-goats-eat-recycle-christmas-trees-27829995

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1799 – Four thousand people attend George Washington’s funeral where Henry Lee III declares him as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

1846 – Trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resort to cannibalism.

1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.

1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

1963 – The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There” are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.

1982 – Time’s Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.