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Elsewhere
Los Angeles Police are investigating a reported break-in attempt at the family home of Billie Eilish. A witness saw a person in dark clothing jump over a fence and onto the property in Highland Park at about 9:15 last night. It's unclear who was home at the time of the alleged burglary attempt. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
https://people.com/music/billie-eilish-finneas-oconnell-family-home-burglarized-la-suspect-arrested/
The oldest person in the U.S. has died. Bessie Hendricks of Iowa died on Tuesday after celebrating her 115th birthday just last month. Hendricks was born in Iowa in 1907 and lived through two world wars, the Great Depression and two pandemics. She spent her career as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse and raised five children. The Gerontology Research Group says with her passing, the country's oldest living person is now 114-year-old Edie Ceccarelli of California.
https://nypost.com/2023/01/05/oldest-us-person-dies-at-115-after-sharing-secret-to-long-happy-life/
A family from Tennessee had given up hope of ever seeing their beloved pet Daisy the bloodhound again after she escaped from their yard two years ago. But, good news, Daisy was microchipped and, last month, they got a call from New Jersey that led to a reunion. She was one of 180 animals removed from a filthy home last month owned by a couple of hoarders. The Tennessee family drove eleven hours to reclaim Daisy. Half of the animals, dogs and cats, have been adopted but the rest are still in Jersey shelters waiting for their "furrever" families.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" continues to climb up the all-time box office list. The sequel film is now the tenth highest grossing film ever after just 20 days of being released in North America and 22 days internationally. "Furious 7" previously held the number ten spot with a one-and-a-half-billion-dollar lifetime gross. The milestone means the Avatar franchise now holds two of the top ten spots on the list. The original Avatar film remains the all-time top earner at the box office.
https://news.yahoo.com/james-cameron-avatar-gamble-pays-100502313.html
An Oscar-nominated actor is finding out he's related to Pocahontas. On the PBS Show, "Finding Your Roots," Edward Norton discovered the daughter of a 17th century Native American chief is his 12th great-grandmother. Host of the program, historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., confirmed the news by saying "You have a direct paper trail, no doubt about it." Edward Norton replied, "It just makes you realize what a small piece of the whole human story you are."
According to the weather monitoring company Vaisala (vay-SAL-uh), Texas had more lightning strikes than any other state in 2022. There were over 27-and-a-half million lightning strikes in the Lone Star state last year, well ahead of Florida which came in second at just under 19-million strikes. The lightning capitol of Florida is in our backyard--the Four Corners area, just west of Disney World, where the borders of Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk counties meet.