Morning Mix

Actions

Morning Buzz- 5 things to know for July 27

Posted at 10:52 AM, Jul 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-27 10:51:59-04

1. President Obama will take the stage at the Democratic National Convention for the fourth time today.

Day two of the convention is a hard act to follow, between Hillary Clinton becoming the first woman to clinch a major party's nomination for U.S. president and her husband's emotional speech.

Obama will make an argument, only one president has made successfully in modern times; that his policies deserve a third term in the form of democratic nominee Clinton. Although he hasn't been shy in rebutting several of republican nominee Donald Trump's claims, the white house deputy press secretary says today's speech "will much more focus on how Secretary Clinton has the judgment, the toughness and the intellect to succeed him in the oval office."

2. Meanwhile, when it comes to the Republicans, vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is expected to be in Grand Rapids Thursday.

He's also planning to visit Oakland County, on the east side of the state.

The exact details of his trip haven't been released.

3. Do you remember the popular ice bucket challenge? If you dismissed it as just another social media craze, think again, because it's actually led to a breakthrough in ALS research.

The challenge which made the rounds online two summers ago, to raise money for ALS, or Lou Gherig's disease inspired three million people across the nation to donate $115 million to the ALS Association. Now a newly released study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School shows that researchers have uncovered a new gene that's behind ALS cases.

The founder of the project, who's also an ALS patient, says the funding supports the global search to find the genetic drivers of the disease.

4. Some lucky person could be a multi-millionaire after tonight, because the lottery jackpot just keeps growing.

The prize for tonight's Powerball drawing is now $422 million, with a cash payout of $291.8 million.

There hasn't been a grand prize winner since early May, when a mother and her seven children in New Jersey took home nearly $430 million.

Your odds of winning are more than 292-million to one.

5. Pokémon Go just keeps going, and now the game is inspiring new parents!

According to BabyCenter, some parents are embracing the interesting names of Pokémon and naming their babies after the franchise's beloved creatures.

With names like Venonat and Flareon, the names of Pokémon characters can be tough to pronounce, but that's not stopping some parents.

Names like Roselia, Eevee and Onyx are on the rise for girls, and for boys, Ash is rising in popularity, along with Ivy and Shay.