HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The anniversary of the death of St. Patrick, who, according to legend, drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Of course, that was back when gas was only 3 cents a gallon.




The 1420 WACK 5-DAY FORECAST

TODAY
We will have mostly sunny this morning, but cloudy skies later this afternoon. Today’s high will be in the upper 50’s to low 60’s.

TONIGHT
It will be windy with cloudy skies and occasional showers, mainly after midnight. Tonight’s overnight low will be right around 50.

TOMORROW
Will start out mostly cloudy with showers likely in the morning tapering off to just a chance for some afternoon showers. It will continue windy with a high tomorrow in the low to mid 50’s.

SATURDAY
Partly sunny skies, a 40% chance for an early morning snow shower and a daytime high on Saturday in the lower 40’s.

SUNDAY
The forecast is calling for mostly sunny skies with a daytime high in the mid 40’s.

MONDAY
The advance forecast is calling for mostly cloudy skies, a 40% chance for some rain and a daytime high on Monday back up into the lower 50’s.




SPORTS
The Amerks Lose
After nearly 54 minutes of scoreless action, the Hamilton Bulldogs answered with two goals within the last five minutes of regulation to push past the Rochester Americans last evening for a 2-0 victory at The Blue Cross Arena.

Last night’s contest marked the final matchup between the two North Division rivals this season. With the loss, the Amerks fall to 30-32-3-3, while the Bulldogs advance to 36-24-1-6 with the victory.

The Amerks next action will be on the road this Saturday night against Grand Rapids.
. . .
NCAA Basketball Last Night
UT San Antonio defeated Alabama State 70-61
It was VCU 59 UNC 46 (VCU=Virginia Commonwealth Rams)



TOPICALITY
You Mean There's An App For That?
In Boise, Idaho, technology proved to be 21-year-old Alexander A. Welch's undoing.
He's now facing five years in prison all because of an app he got for his smart phone.

Apparently there's a police car lights app that flashes blue and red lights from your phone. Welch allegedly used the app to try and pull over another car. A driver told police that a car behind them flashed a blue and red light and when they pulled over, the car with the flashing lights pulled in behind them briefly and then drove away.

That made the first driver suspicious so he followed the other car and called police. Police eventually found both cars and it was when they were talking Welch that police found an application on his Verizon cell phone that flashed a blue and red light. At that point, he was arrested. (Idaho Statesman)

Dick Reeves Thought -- "Why don't we make it illegal to make an app like that!"
. . .
Man Scent!
An enterprising young 13-year-old boy from Marysville, Ohio has launched his own line of scented candles for men!

The manly fragrances include bacon, New York-style pizza, sawdust and the smell of a fresh leather baseball mitt. Hart Main says he got the idea for his "Mancans" when he was making fun of his sister for selling candles with girly scents for a school fundraiser.

Hart launched his company last Thanksgiving, making the candles using scores of empty cans from soup he donated to a soup kitchen. So far he's sold 500 candles at $5 bucks a pop and has made enough profit to buy himself a really nice bike! (WCMH-TV News)
. . .
Better To Spend Your Money While In Prison!
Here's a pro-tip: If you're in prison, better to spend any money you make rather than save it. Just ask Kensley Hawkins, an inmate at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois.

He was sentenced to 60 years for the 1980 slaying of a 65-year-old man and attempting to kill two Chicago policemen. While incarcerated, he joined the prison work program and started earning $75 a week -- apparently spending none of it. He's now saved up a whopping $11,000 but the state says "no way" and wants that money back claiming he owes $455,203.14 to cover the costs of his incarceration since 1982.

Hawkins is fighting in court to stop the state from seizing the money so it looks like the issue of whether the state can repossess the meager wages paid to inmates will be determined by the Illinois Supreme Court. Hawkins' lawyers, who are representing him for free, say the case defies logic. (Chicago Tribune)
. . .
Two Teen Girls, 459 Sex Charges!
In Osceola County, Florida, 40-year-old David Vaughn Joseph has been charged with 459 sex-related charges all from his interaction with two teen girls.

The charges include three counts of sexual battery, 180 counts of lewd or lascivious battery, 90 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation, 60 counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition, one count of lewd & lascivious conduct, 90 counts of protection of minors of certain acts, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of kidnapping, 31 counts of battery and one count of interference of custody. And police say all of this happened just late last year with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old. He was arrested in January after the 15-year-old finally called police. (Orlando Sentinel)

. . .
Many Will Be Praying For Rain on April 8!
Many people in Florida will be praying for heavy rains on April 8!

Bozard Ford, a car dealership in St. Augustine, has promised all customers who buy a car in March their new wheels will be free if it rains an inch or more the morning of April 8.

General manager Jeff King explained, "When you buy a lottery ticket, you don't expect to win, but you sure check the numbers." He says the promotion has already generated a lot of interest. According to National Weather Service data from the last decade, it has rained on April 8 at least three times -- but topped an inch only once. And believe it or not, King says he actually hopes it does rain and he loses as he figures the enormous publicity will be well worth the payoffs. (Sun Sentinel)
. . .
Talk About Burning Your Girlfriend!
In Ottawa, Canada, 50-year-old firefighter Jean Sigouin was given 12 months probation after he branded his girlfriend's backside with a hot spatula!

His now ex-girlfriend bent over the kitchen counter and Sigouin brought the hot metal close to her rear. Someone moved and she got burned. The judge in the case determined it was "not a situation of a high-level of violence, more of a joking situation that got out of hand." But he gave the probation anyway because he said Sigouin appears to be "careless in his dealings with female partners."

That conclusion came in part from the fact that media attention to the case caught the eye of Sigouin's ex-wife, who gave prosecutors a court document showing Sigouin received a conditional discharge for making threats back in 1998 which didn't appear on his criminal record check. (CA Canoe)


THINGS THAT YOU NOW KNOW

• After Charlie Sheen's originally scheduled "Torpedo of Truth" one-man shows sold out in just 18 minutes, he has added more shows -- in New York, Connecticut and Boston.

• A busty Israeli model was posing with a large snake that bit her on her breast. The snake later died of silicone poisoning.

• Rapper 50 Cent won't be filling in as the AFLAC duck anytime soon. He also Tweeted some unfortunate comments about Japan over the weekend.

• Some new Vanessa Hudgens nude photos have made it online and the Disney princess is not happy about it.

• A newspaper editor in Iowa is doing the reverse -- for Lent, he's given up everything except beer and water.

• The teenager who wrote the app "A Note to God" was hit by a car and is in the hospital in a coma.

• "Breaking Dawn," the Twilight finale, has resumed filming in Vancouver after evacuating for the tsunami warning. Around of month's worth of filming to go.

• The second Justin Bieber comic book is set to come out in July.

• James Taylor broke his leg while skiing in Utah Monday, on the first day of a family ski vacation. Yet, he looked just fine guest-starring on Matthew Perry's new series, "Mr. Sunshine" last night.

• Courtney Cox says she has absolutely no desire to date.

• Seann William Scott, who played Stiffler in the "American Pie" movies, has checked into rehab.


According to the Irish Tourist Board:

• St. Patrick used to use the shamrock to explain the trinity-the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit-when he persuaded the Irish to Christianity. Ireland's climate keeps shamrocks green year round.


• There are 166 churches named after St. Patrick within the republic of Ireland.

• A Leprechaun is no more than 24 inches tall, dresses in bright colors, is usually skilled as a shoemaker, and if surprised, might lead you to his Pot o' Gold. Your best chance of seeing one will come if you visit one too many pubs. (Ted Kennedy see 'em all the time)

• Within the last 25 years, four of the six U.S. Presidents have claimed Irish ancestry: John F. Kennedy [County Wexford], Richard Nixon [County Kildare], Gerald Ford [County Longford], Ronald Reagan [County Tipperary].

• The official emblem of Ireland is a silver-and-gold Irish harp on a blue background. The oldest Irish harp in existence is the "Brian Boru Harp," dating from the 14th century and named after the most famous king in early Irish history.

• The shillelagh was named for a village in County Wicklow where oak and blackthorn trees are plentiful. It was first displayed in battle in 1209.

• The tri-colour Irish flag [green, white, and orange] first gained acceptance as the flag of Irish independence in 1848, and became the national flag when Ireland finally achieved its independence in 1921.

• The potato did not originate in Ireland. The lowly spud was actually brought to the Emerald Isle in the 17th century from America by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had a large estate at Youghal [pronounced "Yawl"] in County Cork.

• The original "Tara" is actually a mound 500 feet above sea level that was the religious and cultural capital of Ireland in ancient times. It is about 30 miles from Dublin, in county Meath. St Patrick is said to have preached there.

• In the 6th century, an Irishman named St. Brendan the Navigator is said to have discovered America and returned to Ireland to tell the tale. To prove the legend, Tim Severin sailed successfully from Kerry to Boston in 1976 using a replica of St Brendan's 36-foot leather boat.

• On Columbus's 1492 trip to the New World, he stopped at Galway to pick up Irishman Rice de Culvy as part of his crew.
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St. Patrick's Day Facts:
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 33.1 million Americans are of Irish descent -- almost 10 times the population of Ireland, 3.8 million. Here's bit more information on the Irish for St. Patrick's Day:

• St. Patrick's Day is not party time but a solemn religious holiday in Ireland, which has only about 30 parades nationwide that day.

• The world's first St. Patrick's Day parade stepped off in New York City on March 17, 1762. It was staged by Irish soldiers serving in the British army, to celebrate their heritage.

• It's not true that St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland, as popular legend claims. But he did convert most of the Irish from paganism to Christianity by the time he died in 461.

• Watch who you're calling Paddy: Some Irish consider this an insult. The name sprang up in the mid-1800s, when the Irish were among America's most abused immigrants. It's where we get "paddy wagon," the police vehicle that hauled people to jail.

• "Leprechaun" is based on an Old Irish word literally meaning "small body." They're a mischievous race of elves that are compelled to give up their hidden gold to anyone who catches them. According to one leprechaun story, an Irish gentleman caught a leprechaun, who took him to a bush under which his gold was buried. To mark the spot, the man tied a red handkerchief to the bush before running home to get a shovel. When he returned to the area, he found that the tricky leprechauns had tied red handkerchiefs to every bush in the field.

• "May these who love us, love us. And those that don't love us, may God turn their hearts. And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so we'll know them by their limping." -- Irish toast.
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Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day
(Netscape) And that means you should wear green. But why?

Although some historical accounts originally link the color blue with St. Patrick's Day, that changed in the 17th century when green became the holiday's special color. Here are the four reasons green is equated with St. Patrick's Day:

1. Green is one of the three colors in the Irish flag.
2. With its lush, green landscape, Ireland is known as the "Emerald Isle."
3. Green is the color of spring.
4. Green is the color of the shamrock.

. . .
Origin
Originally a Roman Catholic feast day for Ireland's patron saint, St. Patrick's Day was only celebrated in Ireland before the 1600s. By the 1700s, it had evolved into a secular holiday as Irish immigrants to the United States began holding the first St. Patrick's Day parades. These festivities were a chance to not only show off their patriotism for Ireland, but also make a political statement about their discontent with their low social status in America.

. . .
Corned Beef and Cabbage
Why do we eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day?

Although cabbage and potatoes are staples of the Irish diet, the traditional meat eaten on St. Patrick's Day in Ireland is Irish bacon--not corned beef.

Because Irish immigrants to the United States could not afford Irish bacon, they substituted corned beef, a much cheaper meat they learned about from Jewish immigrants.
. . .
If You Don’t Wear Green
If you forget to wear green, why might get pinched? If you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day, prepare to possibly be pinched. But only if you're in the United States.

This is an American tradition that is traced to the 1700s. An old Irish legend has it that those who wear green are invisible to leprechauns, those fairy creatures who randomly pinch people no matter what color they're wearing. So folks started pinching anyone who didn't wear green as a reminder of the leprechauns and their sneaky ways.


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TOP 5 MOVIES TO WATCH ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY


1. "Leprechaun Air"
2. "Shillelagh and the Tramp"
3. "Fantastic Four Leaf Clover"
4. "The Hills Have Irish Eyes (and they're not smiling)"
5. "B is for Blarney"




. . .
SIGNS YOU CELEBRATED WAY TOO MUCH ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY

1. You vaguely remember smoking four-leaf clovers
2. Monday at work, you get flowers and a card from a leprechaun
3. You kissed so many Blarney stones, you have chapped lips
4. You're 50% Irish, but only until you go to the bathroom
5. You woke up this morning and your Shillelagh was painted green


. . .
TOP FIVE SIGNS YOUR NEIGHBOR MIGHT BE A LEPRECHAUN

1. Needs a step-ladder to reach the mailbox
2. Always wearing that stupid "Sham Rock Cafe" t-shirt
3. Rainbow always seems to end in his backyard
4. Thinks everyone is always after his Lucky Charms
5. Plays in the same rec basketball league as Mini-Me


. . .
A Respite from St. Patrick’s Day Stuff
Hiring managers provided Careerbuilder.com with the following examples of the most outrageous excuses employees offered for arriving late to work:

• My heat was shut off so I had to stay home to keep my snake warm.
• My husband thinks it's funny to hide my car keys before he goes to work.
• I walked into a spider web on the way out the door and couldn't find the spider, so Ihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif had to go inside and shower again.
• I got locked in my trunk by my son.
• My left turn signal was out so I had to make all right turns to get to work.
• A gurney fell out of an ambulance and delayed traffic.
• I was attacked by a raccoon and had to stop by the hospital to make sure it wasn't rabid.
• I feel like I'm in everyone's way if I show up on time.
• My father didn't wake me up.
• A groundhog bit my bike tire and made it flat.
• My driveway washed away in the rain last night.
• I had to go to bingo.



BIRTHDAYS

In 1834 Auto pioneer, Gottlieb Daimler (Mercedes)

In 1895 Actor/comedian, "Shemp" Howard (Shemp-The Three Stooges)

In 1902 Golf Hall-of-Famer, Bobby Jones (4 Grand Slams) [d: 12-18-71]

In 1919 Singer, Nat King Cole (Ramblin' Rose) [d: 2-15-65]

In 1938 Ballet star, Rudolf Nureyev [d: 1-6-93]

In 1944 Patti Boyd (Mrs. George Harrison, Mrs. Eric Clapton) (67)

In 1944 Singer/songwriter, John Sebastian (Lovin' Spoonful) (67)

In 1949 Actor, Patrick Duffy (Bobby-Dallas, Frank-Step By Step) (62)

In 1951 Actor, Kurt Russell (Tombstone, Stargate, Executive Decision) (60)

In 1955 Actor, Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Mission To Mars) (56)

In 1964 Actor, Rob Lowe (St. Elmos Fire, Wayne's World, Sam-West Wing) (47)

In 1976 Actress, Brittany Daniel (Eve-Dawson's Creek) (35)



IT WAS ON THIS DAY

In 461 St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, dies in Saul.

In 1776 British forces evacuate Boston during the Revolutionary War.

In 1910 The Camp Fire Girls organization is formed.

In 1966 A U.S. midget submarine locates a missing hydrogen bomb which had fallen off an American bomber into the Mediterranean off Spain.

In 1969 Golda Meir becomes prime minister of Israel.\

In 1911 St. Patrick's Day.