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Ten years ago Matchbox Twenty released their album More Than You Think You Are, their last full album. The band is back and getting ready to drop their latest effort called North on September 4th.

The band spent most of their time writing the new album in Nashville last summer and recording it in a California studio. Paul Doucette, the guitarist, tells the Rolling Stone,

We went into this record with a lot of material. Many different songs that could have taken us in many different directions. It sort of overwhelmed us for a bit. But, at a certain point, we figured it out. We figured out where ‘North’ was.”

While writing, the band admits to spending $100,000 on wine! A little excessive, but hopefully they got their monies worth!

Rob Thomas tweeted that the

first single SHE’S SO MEAN to come in the next couple weeks!

I’m actually looking forward to this album being released on September 4th. What is your favorite Matchbox Twenty song?

To help your memory, here are a few of their videos!

youtube

A few years back, Santino, a chimpanzee at a zoo in Sweden, made big news. He was gathering rocks in the morning, storing them and then later in the day he would hurl them at unsuspecting people enjoying a lovely day at the zoo.

Funny right? I thought it was a first, but then all of a sudden I started thinking, isn’t this how Planet of the Apes began?

Some researchers were skeptical that Santino really was planning for a these sneaky attacks.

Santino is back in the news, because now he is hiding the rocks under piles of hay or behind logs to get a closer and better aim. This is more evidence that he is thinking ahead like humans do.

By hiding the stones and then trying to deceive zoo visitors into thinking that his intentions were peaceful, (researchers) argue, Santino was actually anticipating and planning for a future situation rather than simply responding repetitively to a past one.

Santino is a pretty smart chimp! Check out the video below where he paints! Well, he sniffs the paint and then decides to taste it but then he really does start using a paint brush.

via Stone-Throwing Chimp Is Back — And This Time It’s Personal – ScienceNOW.

Feng Li/Getty Images

An eclipse like this only happens once every twenty years, and it will be viewable in Texas Sunday; partially anyway.

A solar eclipse is when the moon blocks out the sun for a time, and leaves a ring of fire around its circumference. The sky gets a little spooky-looking for a bit and then the moon and sun part like a good Dancing with the Stars release move, and life goes back to normal.

Spots like Reno, NV and Albuquerque, NM will have the most spectacular views of the complete eclipse, but the entire path of the eclipse stretches from China to Texas. Plenty of folks will have the opportunity to see the rare show of nature.

Space.com says 6 million people live in the path of the eclipse and many of them will be outside Sunday looking up at the sky with funny glasses on, viewing a piece of history.

Yes, you must view the eclipse with special glasses on or you’ll burn your retinas! The fun doesn’t come without a little risk. Ouch.

Yahoo News offers some of the best info on what exactly a solar eclipse is, how long it will last, and where to see it. We might catch a glimpse in Lufkin and Nac, but if you want better views, hop in the car and go visit your friends in Lubbock.

When will the next full solar eclipse be seen in East Texas? Uh….April 8, 2024. Start planning those solar eclipse viewing parties now.

YouTube

It was revealed a couple of weeks ago that a major character on “Grey’s Anatomy” would die in the season finale. The two hour season finale airs tonight on ABC and the first 6 minutes of tonight’s show has been released.

Now, I don’t typically watch this show, but I do know it has a huge following so I know a lot of East Texans will be watching it tonight or at least DVR’ing it!

Last week’s show ended with the main characters going down in a plane crash in a forest. The teaser from the show in the video below contains some “really shocking, horrible moments”. The footage is pretty graphic and opens with the staff realizing they’ve been involved in a plane crash.

The show begins tonight at 8p on ABC.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

After battling cancer, Donna Summer died this morning at the age of 63.  TMZ reports that Summer was working on a new album and trying to finish it up and tried her best to keep the extent of her illness away from the public.  Donna Summer was the queen of disco and had a string of hits throughout the 70′s and 80′s.

Donna won 5 Grammy Awards during her distinguished career and was the first woman to win a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in 1979 for her song “Hot Stuff”.

More details will be posted as they become available.

Jason Merritt/Getty

A few years ago, it looked as if Jennifer Lopez had lost her clout as a celebrity. But since she joined ‘American Idol‘ two years ago, Lopez has reinvigorated her career in a dramatic way. And now, she’s made the top spot on Forbes’ list of the 100 most powerful celebs in the world. As Lopez herself might say, that’s enough to give us “goosies.”

According to an article written by Forbes staffer Dorothy Pomerantz, Lopez’s success started with her stint on ‘Idol,’ which “gave her a platform to promote her music and turn her image around.” Then, after divorcing husband Marc Anthony, Lopez “lapped up the media attention and scored lucrative endorsement deals with companies like L’Oreal and Gillette.”

From there, Lopez created a line of clothing at Kohl’s, a fragrance and netted herself a $20 million deal for her second season on ‘Idol.’ And let’s not forget that Lopez has also established herself as a “master of social media” with 6.6 million Twitter followers and 12 million Facebook fans.

Interestingly, Lopez unseated Lady Gaga for the top spot on the list, and now ranks higher than Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber, who came in second and third, respectively.

What do you think? Is Lopez truly the most powerful celeb in the world? And will she be able to maintain the top spot if the rumors are correct and she leaves ‘Idol’?

Source: TheFW.com

Old Shoe Woman/flickr

Oh, Congress! I love this story! Last year Congress was battling over the health of school lunches, and now pizza is a vegetable! Well, kinda.

First to be clear, Congress never declared pizza as a vegetable, but they did leave some loop-holes so schools nationwide can declare pizza a vegetable!

How did this happen? Well, it was a small little step. Congress declared that an eight of a cup of tomato paste has the same nutritional value as a half a cup of vegetables. Oops! That backfired a bit! If that’s true then wouldn’t a snickers bar equal a serving of nuts?

No fear though, because a Jared Polis, congressman from Colorado, has introduced an act for school lunch improvements. It’s called The Slice Act, (Yeah, the humor of that name does not escape me!) which will allow the Department of Agriculture to put new standards on pizza and and tomato paste.

Polis told CBS news in Denver “What Congress has done, believe it or not, is defy logic.” He’s not against pizza he’s just against it being called something it isn’t. “Pizza may be fine to eat from time to time, but it ain’t a vegetable,” he said.

Thank you Mr. Polis!

via Rep. Polis Doesn’t Want Pizza Classified As A Vegetable Anymore « CBS Denver.

Herkie, flickr

Seeing how the spring semester recently wrapped up for a lot of college students and with high school graduation coming up soon, the graduation invitations are in the mail and going out. With their arrival a couple of questions came to my mind.

When you get the invitation, do you feel obligated to attend the graduation? If you send a gift to the graduate, how much is too much to spend?

Maria Menounos and Derek Hough were the latest celebrity couple eliminated from Dancing With The Stars last night on ABC. That now sets the stage for the finals coming up Monday evening with the winner being announced next Tuesday. Celebrities remaining in the competition to win the famed Mirror Ball trophy are – William Levy, Katherine Jenkins and Donald Driver. In other DWTS news, ABC announced plans yesterday for the fall edition of the dancing competition, it’s going to be an all-star season!

ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee wouldn’t reveal any celebrity names during a press conference, but he did say that he would “love to see some of the fan favorites from the last seasons come back. We have many from the past 14 seasons”

TV Guide recently said that an all-star edition could feature the return of Melaine Brown (Scary Spice), Sabrina Bryan, Mario Lopez and Gilles Marini.

One of the potential stars for this special edition isn’t keeping it secret though. Mario Lopez broke the news on “Live With Kelly!” about the all-star edition saying,

You know what Kelly? They’re doing a ‘Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars’ this next season. They called me to do it.”

ABC is hoping the all-star edition will do better in the ratings than previous years.

If you could assemble the all-star celebrity cast, who would you put in it?

Nate Shron, Getty Images

Graduating seniors at Lufkin High School received $114,000 in scholarships from the Alumni Association Monday night at a ceremony at Tom Jack Lucas Auditorium. Big bucks! The LHS Alumni Association said that’s the highest dollar amount ever for them.

Contributions by other donors topped $3.1 million, and added up to hundreds of scholarships for 180 students. All that studying DID pay off. I know I thought all the hard work might never end, and then suddenly it did and then I wondered where all the time had gone. Scholarships are a nice way to ease the transition to college. They’re a pat on the back, and provide a financial boost in the fall.

We’ve highlighted some of the local winners here:

Valedictorian Ruth Watkins got the first ever John Mitchell Memorial Scholarship, named for the beloved teacher.

Morgan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wallace and Amy Zhang were the winners of the Virginia and Bayo Hopper Memorial Scholarship. Wallace has spent much of this year in a battle with cancer, and the crowd supported her with an ovation and whooping applause Monday.

Conner Groom won the first ever Coach John Outlaw Memorial Scholarship.

Congrats to all, and toss that cap high at graduation! It won’t be long and you’ll be COLLEGE grads and you’ll be working 9 to 5 and married with 2.5 children and a dog. Enjoy the new beginning!

topgold/flickr

Facebook has become a way of life for of us, I thought! A new survey came out and says that’s not true. What?

The survey was conducted by AP-CNBC and it found that almost half of Americans think Facebook is a fad. Only 13% that were polled trust the social network to protect their data. The really interesting thing that I found out from this survey was %57 of facebook users don’t click on the ads and another 25% said they rarely will click on ads!

Not the best news for a company that goes public later this week, and is justifying it’s value of $105 because of it’s advertising business! Also not good, General Motors is pulling their Facebook advertising because they say it doesn’t work. That’s 10 million dollars of advertising!

But have no fear, I have a feeling Facebook will continue to make loads of money and will around for a long time!

Christopher Polk/Getty Images

I’m always looking for local honey, since I’ve heard it’s good at helping with local allergies. Getting too scientific about it might make my head explode, but I’ve heard ingesting what the bees produce is supposed to help fight off seasonal allergies. I’m giving the kids a teaspoon a day and they don’t have many sniffles.

With the Farmer’s Market is open in Nac, you can not only get local honey, but just about anything else homegrown too.

The Farmer’s Market says it has baked goods, local organic beef, homemade candles, ceramics, Texas artisan cheeses, local organic chicken, free range eggs, local organic tilapia fish, flowers, various handcrafted items, herbs, local honey, jewelry, plants, preserves, local produce, homemade soaps and locally made fruit wines.

The Nacogcoches Farmer’s Market is open every Wednesday from 3-6pm, and Saturday’s from 8am-Noon. On Saturday’s they break out the breakfast burritos and tacos. Yum!  It’s located at the “hitch lot” at the corner of West Main and Pearl Streets. See ya there.

Jeremy Miles, Flickr

The Social Security Administration has come out with its annual list of the most popular baby names, and for the 13th straight year Jacob was the number one name for a boy. This is part of a broader trend toward names from the Old Testament (or possibly ‘Twilight‘), with Noah snagging the fifth spot and Elijah and Joshua at 13 and 14.

But the number two boy name in America seems to draw its inspiration from a completely different kind of source. Mason, which jumped 10 spots to snag number two, started its rise up the ranks when reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian gave birth to Mason Kardashian in December of 2009.

For girls, Sophia ended Isabella’s two-year reign at the top (again with the ‘Twilight’ thing), bumping it to number two. Emma, Oliva and Ava rounded out the top five.

The biggest riser among girl names was Briella, which jumped from the 394th spot to 497. Briella Calafiore stars in the reality show ‘Jerseylicious‘ and is likely responsible for the name’s sudden popularity.

There are, however, limits on pop culture’s influence on naming. We’ve listed the top 20 names for boys and girls below, and you will notice there is no Kim or Khloe or Kourtney. (Or Lamar or Kris or Kanye or Scott, for that matter.)

GIRLS
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Mia
10. Chloe
11. Elizabeth
12. Ella
13. Addison
14. Natalie
15. Lily
16. Grace
17. Samantha
18. Avery
19. Sofia
20. Aubrey

BOYS
1. Jacob
2. Mason
3. William
4. Jayden
5. Noah
6. Michael
7. Ethan
8. Alexander
9. Aiden
10. Daniel
11. Anthony
12. Matthew
13. Elijah
14. Joshua
15. Liam
16. Andrew
17. James
18. David
19. Benjamin
20. Logan

Source: TheFW.com

stevegarfield/flickr

It’s Take A Picture Day. Grab your camera and click away! It’s all about capturing a day in the life of the planet.

Take A Picture Day encourages everyone, whether you are an amateur or professional photographer, to take a picture of your home, traveling, or at work on May 15. There is a tutorial video on their website of how to upload your pics.

The images will be published on the Internet. The pictures will also be compiled into a book and then buried in a time capsule! Let’s just hope they remember where the time capsule is!

abc.com

Emily Maynard is the latest bachelorette for ABC’s popular reality TV series. Emily appeared on ABC’s The Bachelor last season and ended up engaged to Brad Womack. However, the engagement didn’t last long, the couple split after the season’s finale aired. Emily will be returning to find true love again as The Bachelorette.

The show premieres tonight on ABC at 8:30p and features a couple of major changes. One big change is the shows location, usually shot in Los Angeles, the show is being shot where Emily lives in Charlotte, North Carolina because she has a 6 year old daughter and didn’t want to uproot her and move to LA for the show. So just about everything is taking place in Charlotte this year. This is the first time the show is featuring a single mom in the role of the bachelorette.

The show hasn’t wrapped up filming yet, so it’s not clear of she’s found her true love just yet.

The question I have is, do you like to see the rejected or turned down contestants on the show return as the main player or would you like to see someone new in the role each year?

KTRE

A few weeks ago we brought you the story of Loren Huffstetler, who hadn’t missed a day of school her entire life and was on her way to a pretty amazing attendance streak that stretched from kindergarten and elementary school, to middle school and junior high, then high school. Well, the school year has ended now for Loren at the Hudson ISD, and she did it. Perfect attendance feat accomplished.

That’s thirteen years of not missing a day. She’s never taken a sick day or faked the flu to get a day off, so she doesn’t know what it means to make up work or ask a classmate to borrow notes. Pretty impressive!

What’s the secret?

Huffstetler is on the Hudson Highlights drill team, and like any extra-curricular activity, if you miss school you can’t participate. That may have had something to do with the discipline to stay in class. But Huffstetler told the Lufkin Daily News she just doesn’t get sick. And, she says, she likes going to school, and if she stayed home she would probably “just eat all the time and gain weight.”

Huffstetler plans to attend Blinn Junior College this fall. The professors might as well go ahead and mark her down as being in class every day. Congrats Loren!

D Dipasupil, Getty Images

Last week it was announced that Britney Spears would be joining the X Factor as a judge this fall and now TMZ.com has confirmed that Demi Lovato will be the fourth judge joining Spears, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid on the panel.

Demi is scheduled to be in New York City tomorrow when it is to be announced that she’s joining the show along with Britney. It appears as if the show is set all that’s missing is the host/ess.

Lovato has a summer tour scheduled, but so far there are no conflicts in dates.

What do you think about the judging panel for the revamped X-Factor?

Check out Demi Lovato’s latest song “Give Your Heart A Break”.

abc.go.com

The Bachelorette starts tonight and Emily Maynard is looking for love.

It will be a different type of Bachelorette this season, because this will be the first time the show is focusing on a single mother. Emily even insisted that most of the filming would take place in North Carolina, so she could be close to her daughter.

Chris Harrison said there isn’t the “frat-house humor” and “superficial drama,” adding that viewers should expect a season “that’s drastically different than anything we’ve ever done.”

via 5 Things About ‘The Bachelorette’ Emily Maynard – Yahoo! TV.

time magazine

Yikes! Have you seen the new cover of Time magazine? It shows a woman breast feeding her almost 4 year old son! The woman is standing next to her son, who is standing on a chair breastfeeding while looking gazing at the camera.

The magazine is marking the 20-year anniversary of “attachment parenting”, a phrase coined by Dr. Bill Sears and his wife Martha in The Baby Book, a best-seller that came out in 1992.

Attachment parenting advocates for keeping your baby as close to your body as possible — at pretty much all times. Parents are supposed to wear their babies in slings, instead of pushing them in strollers. Mothers breastfeed their toddlers, some through nursery school. And parents co-sleep with their kids in the same room, with babies in attached bassinets and older kids in the bed.

The mother, Jamie Grumet is 26. She has another son, who is 5 years old, that she still breastfeeds. Jamie comes by it naturally because she herself was breastfed til the age of six! How do you feel about this? How old is too old to be breastfed?

via Has attachment parenting gone too far? Time magazine’s cover says yes – Daily Dose: A Boston Globe blog with health news, advice, and information..

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The phones have been ringing in here for the last two days, thanks to all of YOU who have taken the time to call and donate to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Together, we are making a difference in a child’s life and getting one step closer to beating cancer!

THANK YOU from all of us here at the station!Today is the last day to become a Partner In Hope during the KICKS 105 St. Jude Radiothon, and we need YOUR HELP to achieve our goal this year!

If you’ve already called in, you can still challenge your friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers, to do the same, or share the stories on our website on your Facebook page to spread the word.

For just $20 per month, less than 70 cents per day, you help kids beat cancer – and that’s what this radiothon is all about! There’s no better feeling than knowing your money supports the research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and they in turn share FREELY with everybody – other doctors and hospitals around the world - any treatments, protocols and cures.

Become a Partner in Hope before 7:00 p.m. tonight, and you’ll be entered to win a Galveston Getaway!

Call now at 1-800-795-1800 or click here to donate online

St. Jude Children's Hospital

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital