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Morning Buzz: 5 things to know for July 17

Posted at 10:49 AM, Jul 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-17 10:49:25-04

1. Soon the hot Michigan summer will be over, and then Michiganders will have to head south to soak up some rays. Luckily for us, Gerald R. Ford International Airport will soon offer more flights to south Florida.

American Airlines will start offering non-stop service from Grand Rapids to Miami starting in the winter. The daily flight will start on December 19, just before the busy "end of the year" travel season.

We already know departure time is 6:05 a.m. from Ford International. It's the 25th non-stop flight out of Grand Rapids, and the 8th to a Florida destination.

Want to book your tickets? They're on sale right now.

2. A taste of the West Coast is coming to Kalamazoo in the form of pizza!

TSFR Restaurant Group says a lease has been signed for a "Mod Pizza  Restaurant" at Century Avenue. The location is near the intersection U.S. 131 and Stadium Drive, near Costco.

The restaurant will be among more than 300 locations worldwide including 11 other restaurants open in Michigan.

Mod pizza was founded in Seattle in 2008 and is known for its individual, artisan-style pizzas and salads.

The new restaurant is expected to bring 30 jobs to the area.

3. IHOP is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a special breakfast deal: 60 cent pancakes!

Going on now until 7 p.m., the nationwide chain will be offering a short stack of pancakes for just 60 cents. The deal is for dine-in customers only, and cannot be combined with any other discount or coupon. It's also limited for one per person.

4. Nationals player Bryce Harper edged out Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber in the 2018 Home Run Derby at Nationals Park Monday night.

Schwarber, the first hitter in the final round, swatted 18 home runs, with a 453-footer ranking as his longest.

Harper rallied to win with 19 home runs; his longest was 473 feet.

Both players qualified for the 30-second bonus time in the final round, and Harper needed a furious run in the final minute to tie the score heading into his bonus time, where he pulled off the win.

5. Amazon Prime Day was so popular, that it caused the website to crash hours after the sale started.

Users say the site kept looping back to a landing page and showing an error message.

The made-up holiday is meant to lure customers to the site with discounts.

Amazon warned customers it was aware and working on the issue. The sale runs through Wednesday.