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:
KORI GAUTHIER, MISSING LSU STUDENT, IDENTIFIED AS BODY FOUND IN MISSISSIPPI RIVER
A body found in the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish was identified Wednesday as Kori Gauthier, the LSU freshman missing since last week whose disappearance rocked the Baton Rouge community and spurred extensive search efforts as her loved ones hoped for the best. Law enforcement officials said over the weekend that no foul play or criminal activity was suspected in her death, a message they reiterated in a statement released to media Wednesday evening. Her uncle Spencer Gauthier, who helped organize the search efforts, said in a Facebook live video Wednesday that the family can start their healing process, though the road to closure began in tragedy.
[SOURCE: theadvocate.com / ENGAGEMENT: 35.04%]
FLORIDA WOMAN WHO COUGHED IN CANCER PATIENT’S FACE INSIDE STORE RECEIVES JAIL SENTENCE AND FINE
Debra Hunter, who was filmed coughing on a cancer patient inside a Florida store will face a fine and jail time as a result of her actions. Hunter will spend 30 days in jail, as well as pay a $500 fine, serve six months of probation and attend anger management classes as well as receive a mental health evaluation after she was arrested at a Pier 1 import store for deliberately coughing, open mouth, into the face of the person videoing her, who was being treated for cancer at the time. Heather Sprague, the victim, had to have herself and family tested for the virus, which thankfully ended up being negative. Sprague is receiving treatment for a brain tumor. Upon her arrest, Hunter pleaded not guilty and asked the judge to have mercy on her and her own family. The justice in charge of the case took note of this.
[SOURCE: comicsands.com / ENGAGEMENT: 11.95%]
FORMER BACHELOR COLTON UNDERWOOD COMES OUT AS GAY
Colton Underwood, 29, has something he wants Bachelor Nation to know. In a Good Morning America interview on Wednesday, the former football player turned star of season 23 of The Bachelor told Robin Roberts that he is gay. “I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time. I’m gay, and I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it,” he said. “The next step in all of this was sort of letting people know.” The announcement comes after a difficult two years for the reality star. After professing his love to Cassie Randolph in his Bachelor finale in March 2019, the couple chose to pursue a relationship off-camera rather than getting married. In March of 2020, Underwood tested positive for COVID-19, and spent several weeks recovering in Huntington Beach, Calif., with Randolph and her parents. But in May 2020, Underwood and Randolph announced their breakup on Instagram. “Sometimes people are just meant to be friends,” wrote Underwood, “and that’s ok.” Things took a dark turn several months later, when Randolph was granted a restraining order against Underwood, due to alleged harassment and stalking. (She ultimately dropped the order in November of last year.) Talking to Roberts about the breakup, Underwood said, “I would like to say sorry for how things ended… I messed up.” When asked to address the women who may feel “misled” by his appearance on The Bachelorette, The Bachelor, and Bachelor in Paradise, Underwood said, “I would understand why they would think that way… I do think I could have handled it better, I’ll say that.” Though he’s sorry for “dragging people into my own mess of figuring out who I was,” Underwood admitted that he’s grateful for his experience on the show. “Without The Bachelor franchise, I don’t know if this would have ever came out.”
[SOURCE: ew.com / ENGAGEMENT: 7.81%]
WOMEN AMEND LAWSUITS VS. TEXANS’ DESHAUN WATSON TO DISCLOSE NAMES; NEW SUIT FILED WHILE ANOTHER ONE IS DROPPED
Twenty women who had filed lawsuits alleging inappropriate behavior and sexual assault by Deshaun Watson have amended their petitions to disclose their names, while a new lawsuit against the Houston Texans quarterback was filed Wednesday afternoon at the Harris County District Clerk’s office. The latest lawsuit was filed by a freelance makeup artist who says Watson reached out to her via Instagram direct message on Sept. 2, 2020, asking if she offered massages. The lawsuit details two separate incidents that occurred during massage sessions in September and November, during which Watson allegedly assaulted and harassed the woman “by exposing himself, touching her with his penis and groping her.” The plaintiff alleges that while she was massaging Watson the second time, he “instructed her to grab his penis.” She said no before eventually doing as Watson instructed because “the pressure from Watson’s relentless instruction coercing her against her will left her powerless.” This week, one of the original 22 lawsuits filed against Watson was dropped by a plaintiff “for now,” according to court documents. Another one of the existing lawsuits is expected to be refiled by Thursday after an emergency hearing was canceled on Wednesday.
[SOURCE: espn.com / ENGAGEMENT: 7.18%]
FORMER POLICE OFFICER KIM POTTER WILL BE CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN FATAL SHOOTING OF DAUNTE WRIGHT
Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, was arrested Wednesday morning on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, authorities said. The 48-year-old bonded out on a $100,000 bail and is due to appear in court on Thursday. Potter’s arrest came a day after she resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department and three days after her shooting of the 20-year-old Black man. She faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Wright’s death, which occurred as he fled a police traffic stop, heightened already-high tensions in and around Minneapolis due to the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for last year’s killing of George Floyd. Body camera video footage from Potter during Sunday’s confrontation suggests she believed she had pulled out a Taser when she pointed the weapon at Wright and fired after he twisted away from another officer who was trying to handcuff him next to his SUV. Wright had been pulled over by police in Brooklyn Center for having expired license plates and an air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror. Police then tried to arrest Wright after learning that he was wanted on an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court in a criminal case, where he was charged with carrying a gun without a permit, as well as with fleeing from police in June. Potter frantically and repeatedly yelled “Taser!” before shooting Wright as he sat in his vehicle’s driver seat after ducking away from the other officer.
[SOURCE: cnbc.com / ENGAGEMENT: 3.27%]
MY PILLOW CEO MIKE LINDELL SAYS COSTCO HAS STOPPED SELLING HIS PRODUCTS OVER HIS VOTER FRAUD CLAIMS
My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell said that Costco is going to stop carrying his products over his claim that there was widespread fraud during the 2020 election. Lindell said in February that more than 20 retailers decided not to sell his products anymore and that he lost $65 million for his support of former President Trump’s election claims. Lindell said Costco “said they were going to discontinue us but they were going to honor their contract, which I’m not sure what that means.” He believes Costco’s decision was a part of “cancel culture” that led other companies to drop him for his political beliefs, the New York Post reported. “Management has no comment at this time,” a Costco spokesperson told The Hill. There has been a petition with more than 108,000 signatures urging Costco, Walmart and Amazon to drop Lindell’s products.
[SOURCE: hill.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.64%]
NM GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM PAYS AT LEAST $60G IN ALLEGED CROTCH-GRABBING SETTLEMENT
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham paid out at least $62,500 to settle with a former staffer who accused her of grabbing his crotch in 2018, according to reports. James Hallinan, a former spokesman for Grisham’s campaign, accused her of assaulting him at the home of state Rep. Deborah Armstrong during a meeting months before the 2018 election. The settlement story was first reported by the Albuquerque Journal. Hallinan claimed Grisham dumped water in his lap and then reached toward his genitals, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. “Governor Lujan Grisham and Mr. Hallinan have resolved any differences or issues to their satisfaction. I am not able to provide any further information,” Hallinan’s attorney Rachel Berlin Benjamin told Fox News in a statement. Both Grisham’s office and Armstrong have denied any such event occurred.
[SOURCE: foxnews.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.41%]
RENÉE ZELLWEGER TO STAR IN MICHAEL PATRICK KING-DIRECTED GOLF COMEDY ‘THE BACK NINE’ FOR MRC’S LANDLINE PICTURES
Renée Zellweger has come attached to star in The Back Nine, a comedy that Sex and the City’s Michael Patrick King will direct from a script he wrote with Jhoni Marchinko and Krista Smith. The film is set at Landline Pictures, the new label of MRC Film formed by Amy Baer, the former senior executive at Sony Pictures and CBS Films. Baer will make this her first film, and she will produce with King. Zellweger and Carmella Casinelli will be executive producers for Big Picture Co., along with Marchinko and Smith. Zellweger, who is coming off the Best Actress Oscar win for Judy, plays Casey Jones, who gave up a golf career so that her husband could have one. When she wakes up one morning to find her 25-year old marriage in free fall and her son off to college, she dusts off the clubs she tossed aside years ago in an effort to finally turn pro and redefine the “back nine” of her life.
[SOURCE: msn.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.18%]
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 the past day.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Weekly Wrap-Up 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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