Super Tuesday is back! So is tornado season and Deflategate. It’s Tuesday, and here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
1. Campaign 2016
So what are they calling today, Super Tuesday VI? We’ve lost count. But at any rate, this should be a pretty solid sequel. The two front-runners — The Donald and Hillz — look strong going into this five-state slate of contests. Clinton’s camp feels confident enough to start floating names of possible VP picks. And with a strong enough showing, Trump could blow that Ted Cruz-John Kasich alliance out the water. Next up on this traveling roadshow tour: Indiana.
2. Racists texts
Does the San Francisco PD have a racist officer problem? It’s a valid question to ask after CNN exclusively obtained dozens of offensive texts sent by one cop. They’re pretty ugly. And it’s the second time in two years the SFPD has been mired in a racist texting scandal. The police chief says the problem is limited to just a handful of officers, but critics say its a broader cultural problem within the ranks.
3. Tamir Rice
The city won’t acknowledge fault, but Cleveland will still pay Tamir Rice’s family $6 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed after the boy’s death. Rice was the 12-year-old boy killed by police gunfire in November 2014 after brandishing what appeared to be a toy gun. Cleveland’s mayor said yesterday he hopes the settlement brings everyone closer to closure.
4. Weather
If you live in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas, you definitely want to keep an eye to the sky today. That’s because there’s a strong possibility that powerful tornadoes and larger-than-baseball-size hail could hit those states this afternoon. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar says this could be a massive tornado outbreak, with multiple funnel clouds that stay on the ground for 30 minutes to an hour or longer. One school district near Oklahoma City has already closed schools.
5. Deflategate
Deflategate — the never-ending saga where Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are accused of improperly inflating footballs before the 2015 AFC Championship game — is back! Yesterday a federal appeals court reinstated a four-game suspension against Brady. Now all eyes are on NFL commish Roger Goodell to see if he will indeed keep Brady off the field for four games next season.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
‘We got a thing going on…’
The man behind the 1970s hit “Me and Mrs. Jones” is dead. Singer Billy Paul’s song about an adulterous affair earned him a Grammy. He was 80.
Bed bugs and beyond
Turns out bedbugs have favorite colors. They really like red and black, which is bad news for UGA fans.
Bey and Jay
Beyonce’s “Lemonade” — with its songs of a cheating spouse who may, or may not, be Jay-Z — kicks the meme-making machine into high gear.
Good deeds
A Georgia waiter feeds a customer with no hands and the Internet develops a serious lump in its throat.
Hot zone
Planning your next vacation? Forget about Disney, Vegas or a national park. The next big thing in tourism may be Chernobyl. Yes, that one.
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH
Here’s what’s happening today.
What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate
Now that Disney and ABC execs have apologized to Kelly Ripa, to Michael Strahan and to their reps, the pair will return to “Live!” this morning. To borrow another show’s tagline: Watch what happens!