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Morning Buzz: 5 things to know for March 8

Posted at 10:42 AM, Mar 08, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-08 10:42:23-05

1. In the market for some new furniture? Ashley Furniture Homestore is having its grand opening ribbon-cutting at its new location on 28th Street today.

It's the site of the former MC Sports across from the Woodland Mall, which closed last year.

This is the first Ashley Homestore in lower Western Michigan. The store will also have a family event on Saturday, complete with food, giveaways, face painting, and a live DJ.

2. Registration is now open for Nana's Run, a 5k Run-Walk that benefits the ALS Association of Michigan Chapter and the ALS Clinic at the Mercy Health Hauenstein Neurosciences.

This is the 5th year for the event which will be held on May 5.

Registration is $30 before April 28th, and runners who sign up before April 13 guarantee themselves a Dri-Fit race shirt.

Just visit nanasrun.com to register and for more information.

3. African American students from high schools across the country gathered in West Michigan for a special conference.

Wednesday marked the third annual African American Male Achievement Conference in Grand Rapids.

The Urban League of West Michigan puts the event on, along with Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids Public Schools, and Grand Valley State University.

The goal is to remind male students of their potential, with this year's theme being challenges, choices, and change.

Organizers say about a thousand people attended the event and there are plans to expand the conference to Muskegon, Holland, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo.

4. It's International Women's Day, a day aimed at recognizing the cultural, political, social, and economic achievements of women around the world.

The initiative also sheds light on gender parity and closing the pay gap.

The World Economic Forum estimates that global gender equality won't be achieved until 2133.

5. Apparently, some Alexa owners are worried that their devices are becoming self-aware. That's because there have been reports of Alexa randomly laughing at people.

The unprompted laughter consists of three short "ha" sounds in a female voice that does not resemble Alexa's normal voice.Needless to say, people are super creeped out.

One Twitter  user even reported an Amazon Echo that began listing the names of local funeral homes and cemeteries without prompting.

Amazon says it is aware of the issue and working to fix it.

The company didn't say what is causing the problem or how many users are dealing with it.