These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 84-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past day.
The 8 headlines that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
LONGTIME YANKEES BROADCASTER KEN SINGLETON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT
Ken Singleton, a Yankees analyst since 1997, announced Saturday that Sunday would be his final game before retiring, a goodbye act he has tried to pull off for years only for YES voices to persuade him to stay a bit longer. Singleton thanked a slew of people around the network and team during the fourth-inning announcement of Game 161, Yankees-Rays at the Stadium. Singleton first announced he would retire in 2018 to spend more time with his family, before YES Network swayed him into returning by reducing his schedule.
[SOURCE: nypost.com / ENGAGEMENT: 25.80%]
BODY BELIEVED TO BE MISSING 19-YEAR-OLD MIYA MARCANO FOUND IN FLORIDA
A body believed to be 19-year-old college student Miya Marcano, who has been missing for just over a week, was discovered Saturday morning, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced. Authorities searched around the Tymber Skan apartments in Orange County, Florida, on Saturday and discovered a body in a wooded area nearby “that we believe to be that of Miya Marcano,” Sheriff John Mina said. Marcano, a student at Valencia College, was last seen at the Arden Villas apartments complex in Orlando where she lived on Sept. 24. Mina said Marcano’s family has been notified about the discovery of the body, which was found around 10:45 a.m. Saturday. He said a purse with Marcano’s identification was found near the body as well.
[SOURCE: abcnews.go.com / ENGAGEMENT: 9.09%]
CHINA REPORTS ANOTHER DEATH FROM H5N6 BIRD FLU
Two more people in mainland China, including a man who died, have tested positive for H5N6 bird flu, health officials announced on late Thursday. A rise in isolated cases has worried some researchers who have called for increased surveillance. The Hong Kong Health Department said in a statement on Thursday that it was notified about two additional cases of H5N6 bird flu in mainland China, one of which occurred in the same city as the fatal case reported on Wednesday. There was no word from local officials. The first of the two new cases involved a 55-year-old man from Guilin, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, who visited a live poultry market before developing symptoms on August 23. He was hospitalized on August 30 and remains in serious condition. The second case on Thursday involved a 72-year-old man from Chongqing who developed symptoms on September 16 after contact with sick poultry, according to officials in Hong Kong, who are monitoring cases on the mainland. The man was hospitalized after three days and has since died.
[SOURCE: bnonews.com / ENGAGEMENT: 3.55%]
KELLY CLARKSON DIVORCE JUDGE RULES THE MONTANA RANCH IS HERS
Kelly Clarkson is now poised to boot her ex-husband from the Montana ranch they once shared, because a judge just made it clear … it’s all hers. Brandon Blackstock argued the ranch — where he’s living now — is “marital property” — meaning it’s as much his as hers. But, the judge begged to differ, saying the ranch falls within the prenup, which essentially means whatever Kelly bought with the money she earned is hers and hers alone. TMZ broke the story … after a trial on the validity of the prenup — something Brandon was hotly contesting — the judge ruled it was valid. As such, any money Kelly earned during the marriage is hers … and that’s a lot. She rakes in around $1.9 mil a month! Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Kelly wants Brandon off the ranch, but he’s not moving. We’re told Kelly believes Brandon is pretty much just a squatter at this point, and she’s contemplating action to get him out.
[SOURCE: tmz.com / ENGAGEMENT: 3.32%]
ILLINOIS STATE POLICE TROOPER DEAD AFTER BEING FOUND SHOT IN HIS SUV ON EXPRESSWAY
An Illinois State Police trooper died after he was found with a gunshot wound inside his cruiser on the Dan Ryan Expressway on Friday afternoon. Gerald Mason, 36, was an 11 year veteran with the Illinois State Police. A passerby saw that trooper inside his car. That’s when she ran over to him and had to use the trooper’s car radio to call for help. Witnesses told CBS 2’s Asal Rezaei they saw people frantically running over to the trooper’s vehicle. Moments later, police arrived, and witnesses saw officers place him in an unmarked police car and speed to the hospital. Sources said the trooper was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition. The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed the trooper later was pronounced dead.
[SOURCE: chicago.cbslocal.com /ENGAGEMENT: 3.00%]
ALEX JONES JUST LOST 2 SANDY HOOK CASES
Infowars host Alex Jones has lost two of several lawsuits filed against him by relatives of Sandy Hook victims after he routinely failed to comply with requests to produce documents related to his involvement in spreading lies about the deadly shooting. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Monday issued her ruling for default judgments against Jones in two different cases, which means he and the conspiracy-theory-spewing outlet Infowars have been found liable for all damages and a jury will now be convened to determine how much he will owe the plaintiffs. The new rulings became public Thursday. In the filings, Gamble eviscerated Jones and reasoned that default judgments should be ordered because “an escalating series of judicial admonishments, monetary penalties, and non-dispositive sanctions have all been ineffective at deterring the abuse,” caused by Jones’ unwillingness to turn over documents related to the cases, the Texas judge ruled.
[SOURCE: huffpost.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.68%]
KACEY MUSGRAVES PERFORMED ON “SNL” WEARING ONLY HER COWBOY BOOTS AND GUITAR
Kacey Musgraves borrowed inspiration from the ’90s classic Forrest Gump for one of her SNL performances on October 2. The musician took the stage for an acoustic rendition of her introspective, emotional star-crossed song “Justified” stripped bare — literally. All Kacey appeared to wear onstage was a pair of cowboy boots and her guitar, similar to the scene from Forrest Gump where Jenny performs her Bob Dylan-esque songs naked but for her guitar. The stage setting was cleverly lit with a dim glow in order to give the illusion of nudity, and she was seated while covered entirely by the guitar. Kacey later confirmed that she took inspiration from the 1994 film, tweeting out a pic of the Forrest Gump scene in question. Like Jenny, Kacey wore her hair long and loose, though she skipped Jenny’s ’60s headband and traded pumps for cowboy boots.
[SOURCE: msn.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.58%]
NBCUNIVERSAL, YOUTUBE TV REACH SHORT-TERM EXTENSION ON CHANNELS
The live-TV streaming service reached a short-term extension with NBCUniversal to keep the media company’s channels. In a statement emailed to USA TODAY, NBCUniversal said both parties have agreed to a short extension while talks continue. NBCUniversal did not say how long the short-term extension would last. Google, the owners of YouTube TV, could not be immediately reached for comment. NBCUniversal maintains channels including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, Syfy, The Golf Channel and various NBC Sports channels. In an email sent to subscribers earlier this week, YouTube TV said if the agreement wasn’t renewed and channels were dropped, they would lower the monthly price for the service from $64.99 to $54.99.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com / ENGAGEMENT: 2.54%]
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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