April 21, 2022

The world's oldest living dog is a chihuahua named TobyKeith. At 21 years old, TobyKeith currently resides in Florida — easily the goodest snowbird of them all. According to his owner, his favorite snack is a slice of turkey. So next time someone asks you TobyKeith's favorite snack, now you know. 

Speaking of Florida, Ponce de León arrived there in search of the Fountain of Youth but instead found the "tree of death." Read today's Wrap about the world's deadliest tree.

― Key Stories

Disney's Doom?
Overview

• Disney is set to lose a special district in Florida that lets it govern the land where its theme parks sit
• The Florida Senate passed a bill to eliminate the district; FL’s House and governor are expected to make it law
• Since 1967, FL has let Disney operate w/o “red tape” and provided hundreds of millions in tax benefits
• Disney has had a falling out with Florida’s Republican-led government, though, over the company's opposition to a Florida law that bans classroom education on sexual orientation and gender identity through the third grade

Bird Flu Kills 36 Bald Eagles
Overview

• The US’ worst bird flu outbreak in 7 years has spread to the bald eagle population
• The outbreak has killed at least 36 bald eagles across 14 states. The strain has been detected from Maine to Florida and as far west as Kansas
• Since the disease was first detected 2 months ago, over 23M birds have died — most from being culled to stop the spread, but also some from the sickness itself
• While the disease began amongst wild birds, most of the deceased are chickens or turkeys that had been raised for human consumption

European Airlines Keep Masks
Overview

• AIrlines’ mask policies are splintering in the wake of a US judge blocking the public transportation mask mandate on Monday
• The major US airlines — American, United, Delta, and Southwest — have made masks optional
• UK carriers have done the same for many flights, but not to places where mandates remain in effect. Other European airlines, including RyanAir — Europe’s largest airline — and those in France and Germany, are keeping mask mandates
• In the US, Uber, Lyft, and Amtrak have all lifted their mask mandates

Astronomers Discover a New "Nova"
Overview

• Astronomers have observed a new kind of nova — a “micronova” — for the first time
• A nova forms when a star sheds its outer layers, leaving only the core. It then becomes a “white dwarf,” an extremely dense, hot, planet-sized mass
• When a white dwarf exists near another star, it can suck the hydrogen out of that star, causing explosions on the dwarf's surface
• Depending on the size, those explosions were either “novas” or “supernovas” — until now. Newly identified “micronovas” are localized novas, with about one millionth of the strength of a nova

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Popcorn

Culture & Sports

• Keeping up with the ratings: Hulu's season premiere of The Kardashians proved the biggest in the streamer's history
• F****n' problems: Rapper A$AP Rocky was arrested at LAX in connection to a November 2021 arrest. Rihanna was reportedly with him
• Villanova's Jay Wright will retire after 21 seasons as head basketball coach of the Wildcats. The 60-yo coach won 2 national championships 

• It's a love story baby just say 'sold': Taylor Swift's childhood home is up for sale! The Pennsylvania house has an asking price of $999,900
• Operation thermostat: Italy is prohibiting schools and public spaces from setting thermostats beneath 25 C (77 F) amid its energy crisis
• But where did the fun go? Johnny Depp told the jury he once locked himself in the bathroom to avoid the wrath of his ex-wife Amber Heard
• California cousins will attempt the first-ever, mid-air "plane swap." The stunt involves each skydiving into the other's plane at the same time

― Roca Wrap

A Newsletter Exclusive

­­­­­­­Beware the Manchineel Tree: Eat it, touch it, breath its scent… you may die.
 
The Manchineel Tree is known as the deadliest tree in the world. Every part of the tree, from its bark and sap to fruit and leaves, is poisonous.
 
Contact with its bark or sap causes blisters. Inhaling its aroma can lead to internal burning. A single bite of its small apple-like fruit can trigger intense abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding, and even death from a single bite.
 
Native to South Florida and the Florida Keys, the tree can also be found in parts of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Many are labeled with large warning signs telling passersby to keep their distance.
 
Perhaps the most well-known casualty of the tree is conquistador Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish explorer who led the first official European expedition to present-day Florida. While there in 1521, he met resistance from indigenous people, who dipped arrows into the tree’s poisonous sap and shot them at de León and his men.
 
Legend has it one of those arrows struck de León’s thigh and he soon died from the poison. Word spread of the tree’s dangers amongst the Spanish, leading to a nickname which remains today: Arbol de la muerte – “tree of death.”
 
Mystery surrounds the tree of death. Researchers have only been able to partially identify its toxins. And they have a bigger question: Why is it poisonous at all? “There really isn’t an evolutionary answer to its being toxic, other than to just say it’s a biological mistake because it certainly doesn’t gain anything by being toxic to humans,” botanist Roger Hammer told Atlas Obscura.
 
There aren’t many left in Florida these days. The tree is now endangered, so despite the danger it poses, it's protected. That’s good news for the only mammal that appears immune to its toxins: iguanas.
 
While the manchineel is the deadliest tree in the United States, it’s not technically the country’s deadliest plant. That honor goes to the spotted water hemlock, of which just a quarter inch of its stem can kill a person. Where is that found? Florida as well…

 Roca Clubhouse

Yesterday's Poll:

Yesterday's Question:

20 Questions: 16-20

― Final Thoughts