Earth Day

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, created in 1970 in response to the dangerous state of the American environment. Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, was a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin at the time, and the first to propose a nationwide environmental protest in hopes of forcing the issue of the environment onto the national agenda. Its concept originated from Pentecostal minister John McConnell Jr. in 1969. On April 20, 1970, Americans took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to speak out about the importance of a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, organized massive coast-to-coast rallies-inspiring thousands of colleges and universities across the country to organize protests against the deterioration of the environment. As a result, the U.S. government created the Environmental Protection Agency; the Clean Air, Clean Water Act; and the Endangered Species Act. Senator Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to civilians in the United States, for his role as Earth Day founder. On Earth Day 1990, a group of environmental leaders asked Hayes to organize another big campaign. Hayes decided to take Earth Day global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and bringing environmental issues to the world stage. In 2000, the Earth Day movement enlisted the Internet in order to link activists around the world. Thanks to the Web, 5,000 environmental groups reached out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries on Earth Day in 1990.

Today is also - Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.  Mike remembers when his daughter, Erin was in school. She’d come in and do the weather throughout the morning. Ahh, those were the days!

101 Number One Song of the Day doesn’t sound like Elvis but the King’s influence was responsible for his choice of stage names although it wouldn’t be obvious to the casual fan. Glyn Ellis was born in Manchester, England and by 1965, even people from Manchester were considered to have the Liverpool sound. But it was more of a Memphis sound that inspired Glyn when he started plying his trade in the pubs and clubs around his hometown. So when he came to change his name he took one from one of Elvis’s backup musicians. As for his group’s name, that came from a horror film playing at the local cinema. And that brings us to today’s 101 number one song which ruled the charts on April 22, 1965– True Elvis fans would recognize the name of his drummer, D. J. Fontana and that’s how Glyn Ellis became Wayne Fontana. The horror flick was titled “The Mindbenders” – “Game of Love”

A new thrill ride has opened in Las Vegas. The Stratosphere will throw you off their observation deck a thousand feet in the air. Luckily, you’ll be attached by a harness and cable to a decelerator. It’s a free fall of 829 feet before you start to slow down for a soft landing. . You throw us from a thousand feet in the air…that’s no longer an ‘observation’ deck. That’s the poop deck!

7-Eleven stores are starting to sell their own store-branded beer. The convenience store chain is the third largest beer retailer in the country – so it makes sense to have their own brand. It’s called ‘Game Day Beer’ and promoted as a premium beer at a discount price. But beer industry analysts say no one has ever been successful selling a store brand beer. It’s around 9 bucks a 12 pack. We’ll have to check it out…