These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 36-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past day.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
DALLAS STARS STARS FIRE JIM MONTGOMERY ‘DUE TO UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT’
The Dallas Stars fired second-year coach Jim Montgomery on Tuesday for what the team called unprofessional conduct. General manager Jim Nill said Montgomery had acted inconsistently with “core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.” He did not elaborate. Nill said he became aware Sunday of an act by Montgomery and the decision to fire him came after an internal investigation that included discussions with the team’s general counsel. Nill said only that it was not because of a criminal act, had no connection to players, past or present, and didn’t involve another employee of the team. Nill, who hired Montgomery, called the incident a “total surprise.” Montgomery did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
[SOURCE: tsn.ca]
6 KILLED IN NEW JERSEY GUNBATTLE, INCLUDING POLICE OFFICER
Six people, including a police officer and three bystanders, were killed in a furious gun battle Tuesday that filled the streets of Jersey City with the sound of heavy fire for hours, authorities said. The dead included the two gunmen, Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly said. The slain officer, Detective Joseph Seals, 40, was credited by his superiors with having led the department in the number of illegal guns removed from the streets in recent years, and might have been trying to stop an incident involving such weapons when he was cut down by gunfire that erupted near a cemetery, authorities said. The shooting then continued at a kosher supermarket about a mile away, where five more bodies were found, Kelly said. Authorities believe the Jewish market was targeted by the gunmen, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop tweeted Tuesday night. Fulop, whose public safety director said earlier in the day that terrorism wasn’t suspected, did not elaborate on why authorities now believe the market was targeted. Two other officers were wounded but were later released from the hospital, authorities said.
[SOURCE: apnews.com]
YOU CAN CAMP IN IT, TOO! TESLA JUST UNVEILED A NEW TRAILER AND OUTDOORSY CONFIG FOR ITS CYBERTRUCK
It’s been a few weeks since Elon Musk shattered expectations with his polarizing polygonal Cybertruck, and the shocks keep coming: The Tesla CEO has revealed there’s a new ultra-tough trailer in the works, as well as another Cybertruck configuration designed specifically for camping. Musk said that Tesla is planning a “sick attachment for the Cybertruck,” according to Electrek, and the marque subsequently released a new render of the electric pickup truck with its own trailer. As you would expect, the Cybertruck’s singular “monoplane” design extends to the trailer—it’s just as curve averse and looks like a Cubist’s take on an Airstream. It’s just an exterior rendering, so both layout and interior features remain a mystery—for now, at least. During the Cybertruck reveal, Musk went to great lengths to highlight the Cybertruck’s lofty towing capacity, stating it has the ability to pull “near-infinite mass” while showing a video of the pickup pulling a Ford F-150 uphill. This coupled with the Cybertrucks impressive specs—the tri-motor version has a payload capacity of up to 3,500 pounds and a towing capacity of 14,000 pounds—suggest that heavy-duty trailer is the most natural fit. But for travelers who’d rather explore the great outdoors sans cumbersome trailer, the marque also unveiled a new self-contained camper configuration for the Cybertruck. Judging by the image, it appears a tent can be attached and erected on top of the 6.5-foot-long bed to create sleeping quarters. Underneath this bed platform, there looks to be retractable bench space complete with an array of kitchen accessories.
[SOURCE: yahoo.com]
RUNNER WHO SLAPPED REPORTER’S BUTT ON LIVE TV IDENTIFIED AS YOUTH MINISTER
The runner who slapped a TV reporter’s behind is a local youth minister who claims he wants to “correct the situation” — while the journalist on the receiving end of his hand says he “hurt me, both physically and emotionally.” Tommy Callaway was identified as the Savannah, Ga., 10K racer who slapped WSAV-TV anchor Alex Bozarjian, after online sleuths found him thanks to his race number shown in other photos. Callaway is a youth group leader at his church, Pittman Park UMC, as well as a Boy Scout leader, according to Heavy, based on social media sites that he quickly took down as he was outed and banned from future races. His lawyer, Joseph Turner, called him a “loving husband and father who is very active in his community” and local church, insisting he was “working with those involved to correct the situation.”
[SOURCE: nypost.com]
CHILEAN AIR FORCE C-130 CRASHES NEAR ANTARCTICA WITH 38 ABOARD
A Chilean military plane with 38 people on board has crashed on its way to Antarctica, Chile’s air force said Tuesday. Air force officials say they have not been able to locate the Hercules C-130 transport, but based on the number of hours it has been missing, have determined it likely crashed. A search and rescue mission is ongoing, The Associated Press reports. The plane took off Monday from the city of Punta Arenas in Patagonia, headed for King George Island, Antarctica. The crew had been assigned to help perform maintenance tasks at a Chilean base there, the BBC reported. Air force Gen. Eduardo Mosquiera told local media that the plane did not activate a distress signal and may have been forced to perform a water landing. He also said the pilot had extensive flying experience. The air force said it lost contact with the plane 450 miles into what should have been a 770-mile flight. On Twitter, officials posted a map of the plane’s last point of contact, somewhere within the remote Drake Passage, an icy, penguin-populated stretch of ocean off the edge of the continent.
[SOURCE: npr.org]
ROXETTE SINGER MARIE FREDRIKSSON DEAD AT 61
Singer Marie Fredriksson died Monday after a 17-year battle with cancer, her management company has confirmed. The 61-year-old was a successful solo artist in her native Sweden before joining with Per Gessle to form Roxette, the act that went on to achieve global fame. The duo’s breakout single was “The Look,” reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1989. Another single, “It Must Have Been Love,” became a smash hit after featuring in the soundtrack of the 1990 romantic comedy “Pretty Woman,” starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Roxette toured extensively, with Fredriksson gaining recognition as a talented live performer. In 2002 she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, from which she recovered following aggressive treatment. By 2009, Roxette were performing again, and even made several more albums. But by 2016 doctors had advised Fredriksson to stop touring in order to prioritize her health.
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
MLB LIFTS WEED BAN FOR MINOR LEAGUERS, ELIMINATES MARIJUANA TESTING
Weed is now LEGAL in the MLB … the league is lifting its ban on marijuana for minor leaguers, removing the drug from its prohibited substance list. As part of the MLB’s efforts to crack down on opioid use in and around its league … it has agreed to stop testing minor leaguers for weed, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. Of course, the MLB already didn’t test its big leaguers for marijuana … but the rule change for everyone else is a big deal for the sport. Previously, minor league players faced a 25-game suspension for a first positive weed test, a 50-game suspension for a second test, a 100-game suspension for a third and a ban for LIFE for a fourth. Ex-Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress is among the list of several current MLB players who have previously been popped for using weed in the minors. As for the why now … MLB officials are clearly trying to deter players from turning to opioids to fix their issues — this after Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs tragically died from an accidental overdose on fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone this past year. MLB still lists dozens of recreational drugs on its banned substance list … including cocaine, LSD and MDMA.
[SOURCE: tmz.com]
MERRIAM-WEBSTER DECLARES ‘THEY’ ITS 2019 WORD OF THE YEAR
A common but increasingly mighty and very busy little word, “they,” has an accolade all its own. The language mavens at Merriam-Webster have declared the personal pronoun their word of the year based on a 313% increase in look-ups on the company’s search site, Merriam-Webster.com, this year when compared with 2018. Peter Sokolowski, a lexicographer and Merriam-Webster’s editor at large, and his team monitor spikes in searches and “they” got an early start last January with the rise of model Oslo Grace on top fashion runways. The Northern Californian identifies as transgender nonbinary, walking in both men’s and women’s shows around the world. Another look-up spike occurred in April, when U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, got emotional while talking of her gender-nonconforming child during a House committee hearing as she advocated for LGBTQ rights legislation. Merriam-Webster recently added a new definition to its online dictionary to reflect use of “they” as relating to a person whose gender identity is nonbinary. In October, the American Psychological Association endorsed “they” as a singular third-person pronoun in its latest style guide for scholarly writing. The American Dialect Society, which is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, named “they” its word of the year for 2015, in recognition of its emergence among people who reject “he” and “she.”
[SOURCE: apnews.com]
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
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