May 27, 2022

35 years ago, U2 jammed so hard at a concert in Rome that they set off earthquake alarms. Must be wild to hear sirens and then run out to "it's a beautiful day!" But speaking of beautiful days, we hope you enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend. Kick it off with some 20 Questions! 

Also, 'tis the final day of our inaugural Roca Treasure Hunt. Best of luck with today's clue and stay tuned for the announcement of winners and a NEW TREASURE HUNT on Tuesday. 

In today's edition:

• Winnie the Pooh goes to the dark side
• Treasure Hunt Clue 5
• 20 Questions: This or That edition

 Key Stories

Winnie the Killer

An upcoming horror movie, “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” is one of the first Winnie the Pooh adaptations since Disney lost the brand's copyright

• The director said Pooh and Piglet are “the main villains” of the film, which features them “going on a rampage” after Christopher Robin leaves for college without giving them any food
• Disney’s copyright for Pooh expired on Jan 1, meaning anyone can make Pooh-themed content, so long as it doesn’t use Disney’s specific interpretation of Pooh and friends
• The film’s release date hasn't been set

Kevin Spacey to be Charged

UK prosecutors confirmed that they are charging Kevin Spacey with 4 sexual assault offenses

• The 4 offenses allegedly took place against 3 men between 2005 and 2013. The men were 20-30 years younger than Spacey, who is now 62
• Spacey was first accused of sexual misconduct in 2017, when an actor said Spacey had made unwanted advances on him when he was 14
• A wave of assault and misconduct allegations followed, including from 20 people who worked at a London theater where Spacey was an executive for 11 years

• Spacey won Oscars for best actor (American Beauty, 2000) and best supporting actor (The Usual Suspects, 1996). Should people stop or continue watching the movies of Spacey and other allegedly criminal movie stars? Let us know in today's poll of the day!

The Purpose of Yawning

A new study analyzing yawning concluded that it is a way to increase alertness

• Yawning’s causes appear to include state change (waking up/going to sleep), stress, and rising brain temperatures. A yawn’s length is strongly related to the yawning animal’s brain size and complexity
• The study concludes that yawning is contagious within highly social species, including humans, lions, and dolphins. Contagiousness is defined as a yawn within 3-5 minutes of seeing another animal yawn
• Contagious yawning appears to be a method of synchronizing alertness within a group

• What is a yawn? Per the study: "An involuntary and powerful gaping of the jaw, a temporary period of peak muscular contraction with head titling and eye closure and a passive closure of the jaw"

Uvalde Police Clash with Parents

Some families of the Uvalde shooting victims are blaming police for not acting quickly enough

• The shooter was active outside the school for 12 minutes before entering. “There was not an officer readily available and armed,” one official said
• Video shows police blocking parents from the school while the shooter was inside it. “There were at least 40 lawmen armed to the teeth but didn’t do a darn thing until it was far too late,” a victim’s father said
• Another official said the police were there “within minutes” and “pinned down” the shooter. At least 3 police were wounded in the attack

• “The police were doing nothing,” said another parent. “They were just standing outside the fence. They weren’t going in there or running anywhere.” Texas officials have said they will investigate the response

• The first person to send a Google Street View screenshot of the correct place wins $5,000, second wins $3,000, third wins $2,000 
• No in-person photos will be accepted. This is an entirely virtual game
• You have only 1 guess and it can not be changed
• You can guess at any time by replying to a newsletter, which goes out at 11:00 AM ET daily 
• Winners will be announced on May 31
• Full rules are at the bottom of this email!

• RIP, good fella: Actor Ray Liotta, star of Goodfellas, died at 67 in his sleep while filming a movie in the Dominican Republic
• Just keep swimming: A tearful Ellen DeGeneres bid farewell to her show of 19 years, recalling that she couldn't say "gay" when the show started
• Buy, buy, buy: Justin Timberlake sold his entire song catalog to music company Hipgnosis for $100M, giving up 100% of his ownership

 What do you think?

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 20 Questions

Riders! It has been a fantastic week of unbiased news and treasure hunting. We're thrilled that so many of you have joined our mission of making the news fun – and that we will have new people responding to 20 Questions. 

This week's 20 Qs are This or That: Say which of the 2 items you prefer in each prompt, and we'll take the average and include it next week. As always, send your answers to Max@RocaNews.com, and answer as many or few as you want. (That link opens an email with the questions already in it!)

1. Dogs/Cats
2. Working in the office/working at home
3. Mini Golf/Bowling
4. Ping Pong/Foosball
5. On a bagel: Butter/Cream cheese
The next 5 questions refer to chicken wings:
6. Buffalo/BBQ
8. Wings/Drumsticks
9. Ranch/Bleu Cheese
10. Boneless/bone-in
10. Celery/carrots
Back to regular questions:
11. Sax solo/guitar solo
12. Diet Coke/Coke Zero
13. Clam chowder/French onion soup
14. Google Chrome/Safari
15. Xbox/PlayStation
16. Colon/Semi-colon
17. Dentist visit/Running 10 miles
18. Shark week/Toyotathon
19. Steve Carrell/Will Ferrell
20. Oat milk/Almond milk

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Spread the Wave!

 Final Thoughts