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Elsewhere
Paisley Park, the Minnesota estate that Prince called home, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of "Purple Rain" with a series of special events. The celebration kicks off today and will include an exclusive tour of Paisley Park for VIP ticket holders. The Revolution will perform tomorrow, while Morris Day and the New Power Generation will perform Saturday. There will also be a block party on Saturday next to a Prince mural in downtown Minneapolis.
https://www.paisleypark.com/celebration-2024
A world-famous landmark has been vandalized. I'm talking about Stonehenge, the prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Environmental protesters used fire extinguishers to spray Stonehenge with orange powder paint. The incident took place just a day before massive crowds are expected to gather there for the summer solstice. The official Stonehenge social media account posted on X called the situation "extremely upsetting." The protesters, who belong to a group called Just Stop Oil, are currently behind bars. The group claims the paint can be washed away.
It's not just peanuts and Crackerjack anymore. A summer-league baseball team in Oregon is now the first sports team in the U.S. to legally sell cannabis-based refreshments at its games. The Portland Pickles say the Portland Parks and Recreation department gave them the thumbs up. The Pickles announced an exclusive partnership with Cycling Frog, which makes seltzer drinks that are THC-based, that is, derived from hemp. The drinks are available in passion fruit and lemon flavors for fans 21 and over.
You might remember actor Brad Pitt was in our area earlier this year making a movie about Formula 1 racing. That movie still has no title. But Apple Original Films has announced it will hit IMAX theaters on June 27th, 2025. Back in January, Pitt and co-star Javier Bardem were filming scenes for the movie in New Smyrna Beach. The film is being helmed by Joseph Kosinski, who directed "Top Gun: Maverick" and is being made in collaboration with Formula One.
Authorities in Nevada are looking into what's being called a mysterious monolith that apparently appeared out of nowhere in the desert near Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department showed a picture of it on Facebook. The ten-foot tall square column has mirrors on all four sides, and was spotted over the weekend in the desert foothills north of Las Vegas. Similar structures have been found in recent years in other parts of the world, from the Utah desert to England's Isle of Wight. Las Vegas police said they would leave it up to social media detectives to "work on this mystery."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cekk7gm97j4o
We here on Earth will soon be able to see an ancient star blow up. The explosion will be visible for a few days between now and September, burning bright enough to appear as a new star in the sky. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, so scientists have concluded the so-called "Blaze Star" explosion happened three-thousand years ago.
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2024/04/29/new-star-about-appear-night-sky-heres-how-catch-glimpse