KFC to start testing Beyond Meat fried chicken
Kentucky fried plant-based chicken is coming to a KFC in Atlanta this week.
In a test of Beyond Meat’s latest fake meat creation, KFC will offer “Beyond Fried Chicken” at a single restaurant in Smyrna, Georgia, near Atlanta’s SunTrust Park.
Beyond Meat has added chicken to its lineup of plant-based products, which include burger, ground beef and sausage alternatives, among other meat substitutes. KFC will become the first nationwide fast food restaurant to test Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken.
Plant-based meat alternatives have grown popular in supermarkets and restaurants across the world, as people search for environmentally friendly and healthier foods to eat. Although the health benefits of plant-based meat continue to be debated, meat consumption — particularly red meat — increases people’s mortality rates, according to a study published in the medical journal BMJ last month.
Beyond Meat’s stock has surged since its May initial public offering, rising to $150 from its $25 IPO price. At one point, Beyond was trading about 10 times higher than its IPO price. The stock has cooled off since then, but investor enthusiasm remains as sales soar. Rival Impossible is rumored to be planning an IPO as well.
KFC, owned by Yum Brands, joins a growing list of fast-food and quick-serve restaurants that are adding meat substitutes to their menus. Customers are demanding them, and companies so far have been happy to oblige, and pleased with the results.
Although KFC said the Beyond Meat test will remain limited to one store for a short time, other restaurants that have tested plant-based meat alternative products have ultimately expanded their availability. Burger King recently made its plant-based Impossible Whoppers available across the United States. They started as a small test in St. Louis. Similarly, Restaurant Brands’ Tim Hortons started offering Beyond Meatbreakfast sandwiches as a small test and expanded them across Canada. Dunkin’ istesting Beyond Meat sausage and egg sandwiches in New York, and announced in July that it plans to bring plant-based sandwiches to every American store in the near future.
KFC will offer Beyond Fried Chicken in two forms: nuggets or boneless wings, each available in six or 12-piece combo meals. The wings cost $1 each ($6 for a half-dozen and $12 for a dozen), and the nuggets are $6.49 for six and $8.49 for 12. Customers can buy four plant-based chicken nuggets a la carte for $1.99.
In its advertising, KFC says the alternative chicken is “still finger lickin’ good.”
“KFC Beyond Fried Chicken is so delicious, our customers will find it difficult to tell that it’s plant-based,” said Kevin Hochman, chief concept officer for KFC US. “I think we’ve all heard ‘it tastes like chicken’ — well our customers are going to be amazed and say, ‘it tastes like Kentucky Fried Chicken!’”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/08/26/kfc-will-start-testing-beyond-meat-fried-chicken/
Photo Credit: pix11.com/twitter
Rosa Parks and Sally Ride get their very own Barbie dolls
Children everywhere are going to get the chance to have two historical female role models as part of their play sets.
Mattel is honoring Rosa Parks and Sally Ride with their very own Barbie dolls.
Rosa Parks was an American activist known as the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement and Sally Ride was the first American woman — and youngest American — to fly in space.
Each doll comes with educational material about each woman’s contributions to society, authentic clothing and unique accessories.
“Both Sally Ride and Rosa Parks made the world better for future generations of girls,” a Mattel spokesperson told CNN. “By celebrating their achievements with dolls made in their likeness, we hope girls will be inspired to pursue their dreams.”
It’s only fitting that these two new Barbies debuted on Women’s Equality Day.
“Women’s Equality Day celebrates the hard-won achievement of women’s suffrage and pays tribute to the trailblazers who paved the way for future generations,” the Mattel spokesperson said.
According to Mattel, research has shown that starting at the age of five, many girls are less likely than boys to view their own gender as smart and begin to lose confidence in their own competence — this is coined the “Dream Gap.” Showing girls more role models, historical and present, and telling their stories can help close that gap.
The new dolls are part of the Inspiring Women Series, which debuted on International Women’s Day in 2018. Its mission is to honor historical role models who paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than before.
Amelia Earhart, Katherine Johnson and Frida Kahlo are also part of this collection.
Both dolls are available for purchase Monday, August 26.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/08/26/rosa-parks-and-sally-ride-get-their-very-own-barbie-dolls/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
‘Black Panther’ Sequel to Be Released in May 2022
The Latest on Walt Disney Co.’s biannual D23 fan convention in Anaheim (all times local):
10:50 a.m.
Writer and director Ryan Coogler says that “Black Panther 2” will hit theaters on May 6, 2022. Coogler made an appearance Saturday at the Walt Disney Co.’s D23 fan convention in Anaheim.
Coogler said he wasn’t ready to reveal a title or a plot yet for the highly anticipated sequel to “Black Panther,” which became a cultural phenomenon and grossed over $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige also announced that Kit Harington is joining the cast of “The Eternals,” which will reunite him with his “Game of Thrones” co-star Richard Madden. Harington is playing a non-Eternal named Dane. “Crazy Rich Asians” star Gemma Chan has also joined the cast of the Marvel project which includes Angelina Jolie.
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10:45 a.m.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy says that “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker” is going to be an incredibly good time.
Nearly 7,000 people got a look Saturday at a new poster and some new footage from the film at the Walt Disney Co.’s biannual D23 fan convention in Anaheim.
The film which opens in theaters nationwide Dec. 20 closes out the over 40-year-old Skywalker saga. Kennedy was joined on the convention stage by writer-director J.J. Abrams and stars including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels.
R2-D2 evoked the most applause from the excited audience.
Abrams said that the late Carrie Fisher is also part of “Episode IX” thanks to unused footage from “Episode VII.”
via: https://ktla.com/2019/08/24/black-panther-sequel-to-be-released-in-may-2022/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Gunman fatally shoots man after being turned away from baptism party
A 46-year-old man was shot dead at his nieces’ baptism party in The Bronx after his family turned away a scorned ex of one of his guests, according to police and family.
Edgar Perez, 46, was shot in the back just before 3:30 a.m. on the sidewalk near Rochambeau Avenue and Bainbridge Avenue in Bedford Park, according to police.
“He was a really good guy, he never looked for any problems. I can’t believe this happened,” his 40-year-old brother, Genero Perez, told The Post.
Edgar Perez’s 26-year-old cousin, Rodolfo Rodriguez, had told the would-be gunman he couldn’t come into the party for the two tots where his ex-girlfriend was with her new man, according to the family.
“You don’t belong here,” Rodriguez told the Post he said to the man.
When the ex came back with a gun, Perez thought his 22-year-old son was involved in a fight outside the church and had gone out to break it up.
Instead he ran into the shooter.
“My uncle woke me up at 4 in the morning and said we had to go to the hospital, and when I saw my father’s cold body I…” the son, Edgar Perez, said to The Post before breaking down in tears.
EMS rushed Perez to Montefiore Medical Center, where he died.
Neighbors told The Post the church rents out its basement hall almost every weekend for raucous parties with guests stumbling out, smashing bottles and getting into fights.
A Washington man says he cut power lines to protect the US from the KGB…because Ariana Grande told him to
MAPLE FALLS, Wash. — A Washington state man is facing multiple charges after he cut power lines for a surprising reason, KOMO reported.
Whatcom County deputies said they responded to a scene Tuesday where residents said they saw a man cutting power lines and meter box wiring. Deputies said they found the man cutting lines from a power pole.
According to KOMO, the suspect told deputies he worked for the United States government and the military, according to a probable cause statement.
He told them he was cutting the lines to “prevent the Russian KGB agents from poisoning the U.S. with nuclear toxins that were being transferred from the power lines.”
According to the statement, the man was taking his orders from Ariana Grande. He was arrested for malicious mischief.
Puget Sound Energy said the man did about $5,000 worth of damage at just one scene, KOMO reported.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Hasbro strikes deal to buy Death Row Records, Peppa Pig, PJ Masks and more
Hasbro has cut a deal to buy the company that owns popular children’s cartoon Peppa Pig, expanding its push into entertainment with a bet on preschoolers.
The US toymaker said Thursday that it had reached an agreement to buy eOne for $4 billion. The entertainment company, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, owns the animated brands PJ Masks and Ricky Zoom.
eOne also owns Death Row Records, the notorious label co-founded in Los Angeles by rap mogul Marion “Suge” Knight, who is serving a 28-year prison sentence for manslaughter. The record company has released multi-platinum hip-hop albums by artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac.
The deal would combine those brands with Hasbro’s popular titles, including My Little Pony, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly and Power Rangers.
“Hasbro will leverage eOne’s immersive entertainment capabilities to bring our portfolio of brands that have appeal to gamers, fans and families to all screens globally,” Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said in a statement.
The deal, which is still subject to some regulatory approvals, is expected to close by the end of this year. Top eOne executives will join the Hasbro team, the companies said, without naming the executives.
But shares of eOne shot up more than 35% Friday, climbing above the price Hasbro agreed to pay. That sparked speculation that eOne could receive a competing bid.
Hasbro has sought to recover from the closure of Toys “R” Us, a major partner by striking creative new deals.
That includes a partnership with Netflix, which said in June it would make an animated series based on Hasbro’s “Magic: The Gathering” trading card game.
Photo Credit: Entertainment One/Death Row Records
Doubling down on racist comments, council candidate says she opposes interracial marriage
MARYSVILLE, Mich. – Marysville City Council candidate Jean Cramer said she doesn’t have any plans to back out of the race despite coming under fire for racist comments she made at an election forum Thursday night.
Mayor Dan Damman and other local leaders, however, have called for her withdrawal.
“I would say that I probably came to the conclusion this morning,” he said Friday. “After the initial shock of what she said really sank in and (given) the deep-seated viewpoints that she has, I don’t believe that she is fit to serve as an elected official in Marysville or anywhere else.”
Cramer, one of five residents vying for three council seats in November’s election, responded to a question at a city candidates’ forum about attracting foreign-born residents to the community with: “Keep Marysville a white community as much as possible.”
After the forum, she expanded on her beliefs, particularly that people of different races shouldn’t get married.
Jean Cramer is opposed to interracial marriage
During a follow-up interview outside her Marysville home Friday afternoon, Cramer doubled down on her statements. Asked if she understood why that might upset her neighbors, she said: “If there is the biracial marriage in the family, yes.”
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“Because those people don’t know the other side of it,” she said. “For whatever reason, I’ve heard, they love each other, whatever, but there’s also such a thing as remaining single. People don’t necessarily have to get married, and, if they love somebody, love them single. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Cramer, 67, has cited the Bible in backing up her ideology. Despite the widespread condemnation of her views, she said she didn’t believe she was racist.
“As far as I know, as long as we’ve been here, Marysville has been a white community, a white city,” she said. “… If we have seen a black person here and there, whatever, we’re not bothered by it. I’m not bothered by it.”
‘I know in my heart she’s in the minority’
Kevin Watkins, president of the Port Huron chapter of the NAACP, said he also thought it was appropriate for Cramer to withdrawal from Marysville’s City Council race.
But he added it was important that the initial call came from that city’s own leaders.
Watkins said the local minority community was always aware that racism exists in the area — as in other communities. He said he believed individuals like Cramer are more recently emboldened to come forward, “taking a play out of the Trump playbook.”
“The good news is now that we can see you and (hear) how you feel,” he said. “I know in my heart that she’s in the minority.”
Maryland: House censures Democratic who used racial slur while referring to a district
Both Watkins and Damman said that the local controversy that has arisen from Cramer’s comments will ultimately spur a more constructive conversation for local residents.
And Damman said he wants to “ensure that everyone is heard.”
“It just tells us that as far as we have come as a society, there is still a very disappointing, close-minded, oppressive viewpoint out there,” the mayor said. “And I think we have to have the conversations that make all areas a better place for people of all races, nationalities and origins.”
Maryland Man Ripped Off 12-Year-Old Girl’s Clothes, Molested Her as Wife Was in Labor
Authorities in Maryland have accused a man of molesting a 12-year-old girl while his wife was in labor.
News outlets report 29-year-old Luis Perez-Giron is being held without bond and faces up to 20 years if convicted of third-degree sexual offenses.
Montgomery County police said Perez-Giron molested the girl earlier this year and came to her home again in May while she was alone and his wife was in the hospital.
A charging document says the girl twice locked herself in a bathroom, only to be attacked by Perez-Giron, who ripped off her clothing. It says he was hiding in a closet before attacking her again, and threatened to rape her after she repeatedly fought him off.
Perez-Giron’s lawyer, Esteben Gergely, said his client denies the allegations.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Mom forced to breastfeed son on train floor when no one offered her a seat
A UK mom said she was forced to breastfeed her 1-year-old son on the floor of a filthy train car — because not a single commuter got up to offer her a seat, according to a new report.
Sophie Molineux, 22, her toddler Chester Moore and partner Rob Moore were heading from Shropshire to Ludlow for a family outing Tuesday when they couldn’t find a seat on the packed train, Molineux told The Mirror.
They boarded around 11:40 a.m. and not one of the dozens of passengers — including those in priority seats meant for people who are disabled, pregnant, over 65 or have a child under 3 — got up for Sophie as she cradled her baby, she said.
So Sophie and Rob stood in the aisle, juggling a stroller and taking turns holding Chester during the 30-minute trip.
Chester became hungry — and the young mom was forced to sit in a corner on the floor of the train car and feed him. Commuters, meanwhile, gave her “blank expressions so they didn’t have to give up their seat,” she said.
“I was so shocked,” she told the paper. “There were around 50 people in the carriage and not one person moved. We were stood in the aisle with seats either side of us so both sides of the train could see us stood there and no one moved.”
“Obviously I’d rather not sit on the dirty floor of a moving train breastfeeding him — it wasn’t the nicest place — but I didn’t really have much choice,” she added.
Sophie told the outlet she’d been breastfeeding for more than a year and never had that type of problem before.
“I’m fairly confident about breastfeeding in public but I would probably have felt more uncomfortable about the situation if my partner hadn’t have been with me,” she told the outlet. “I just hope that people might be a bit more considerate in future, it should just be common sense to give up your seat for a child.”
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Parents avoid jail after strict vegan diet left 19-month-old baby without teeth, weighing 10.8 pounds
SYDNEY – An Australian couple, who fed their baby daughter a strict vegan diet resulting in severe malnourishment, have avoided jail time, according to CNN affiliate Seven News.
The mother and father, who are both in their 30s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to failing to provide necessities in life and causing injury to the child. The couple were sentenced to a 18-month jail term to be served as a community order.
Authorities discovered the couple’s child so malnourished that at 19-months she weighed just 4.9 kilograms (10.8 pounds).
Further medical tests revealed that her bones had not developed since birth. Her development was so stunted she didn’t even have any teeth, Seven News reported.
Her parents said they had kept the girl on a strict vegan diet. The child hadn’t been vaccinated and hadn’t received any medical care since birth, reported CNN affiliate Nine News.
The Sydney judge overseeing the case, Judge Sarah Huggett, called the child’s vegan diet “completely inadequate” — was only fed oats, bananas, peanut butter jelly sandwiches and rice, Seven News reported.
“This is not the case of an isolated act or omission or a momentary decision made in a pressured context, that led to a danger of serious injury to their child,” Huggett said, according to Seven News.
“Neither offender was particularly young, immature, uneducated or inexperienced as a parent or caregiver to young children.”
However, Hugget also said she believed the crime was committed out of recklessness rather than malice, and that the mother may have been dealing with a depressive mental illness at the time, Nine News reported.
On top of the community service, the parents must now complete parenting and nutrition programs.
The little girl, now aged three, has been placed under the care of a relative, and has reportedly made progress in her development. She has since been vaccinated, and is undergoing speech therapy and physiotherapy, according to Seven News.
Photo Credit: Getty Images