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Elsewhere
It might be the middle of summer, but for one major retailer it's more like October 31st. Starting today, Home Depot is rolling out 2024 Halloween decorations. Halloween is big business. According to the National Retail Federation, last year, we spent over 12-billion-dollars on Halloween and that's a 50-percent increase from 2020.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91157387/home-depot-unveils-new-2024-halloween-decorations
A country superstar is packing them in. Morgan Wallen is adding a second show at Neyland Stadium in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. It was announced on Wednesday due to overwhelming demand for the original show scheduled for September 22nd. At one point, as many as 70-thousand people were waiting to get tickets when Ticketmaster's site showed that tickets for September 20th would be be available. Both of Morgan Wallen's homecoming shows, with special guests Hardy and Ernest, are expected to draw over 150-thousand fans.
Comedian and TV star Bob Newhart has died. He starred in two successful sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show in the 70s and Newhart in the 80's. The latter ended with a surprise finale in which he wound up in bed with his original TV wife, Suzanne Pleshette, telling her that the past eight seasons had been a dream. Newhart's publicist says he died yesterday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. Bob Newhart was 94.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bob-newhart-dead-sitcom-legend-1235952438/
T. Rex is being dethroned. A stegosaurus skeleton that's 150-million-years-old was sold for a record 44-point-six-million-dollars at Sotheby's. It was the most ever paid for a fossil, surpassing the almost 32-million-dollars paid for a T. Rex skeleton called Stan, four years ago. This bidding war lasted 15-minutes with seven bidders from around the world on the phone. The winning bidder was hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. Sotheby's says it's the most complete and best preserved specimen of it's size ever discovered. Griffin reportedly wants to put the stegosaurus in a museum.
Elvis' private jet is back in Memphis, but it was driven there and not flown. Elvis Presley bought the 1962 Lockheed Jetstar on December 22, 1976, just shy of eight months before his death. The jet sat idle in New Mexico for decades until aircraft enthusiast Jimmy Webb bought it at auction for 234-thousand dollars. It featured six red velvet passenger seats and Webb's kept the interior intact but has removed the wings and tail, so now it's basically a mobile home He's on tour with the jet and shoppers at the Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid in Memphis got to see it as it passed through on Wednesday.
A New York City landmark is paying tribute to comedian Bob Newhart, who passed away yesterday at the age of 94. While older generations remember Newhart for his TV shows in the 70s and 80s, younger people remember him as Will Ferrell's dad in the movie "Elf," which was partly filmed at the Empire State Building. The building tweeted a photo of Newhart in his elf costume saying "We will miss you Papa."
https://people.com/celebrities-pay-tribute-to-bob-newhart-after-his-death-8680453