Not everyone needs spell check
You know you've done it. When it's too hard to remember how to spell that word (i before e, except after WHAT!?), so you just randomly type the closest thing and then, voila!, the beauty of autocorrected spell check keeps you from looking like an idiot. Yea, no, these kids don't do that. Co-champions Jairam Hathwar, 13, and Nihar Janga, 11, are sharing the Scripps National Spelling Bee trophy! (This is the third year in a row there has been a tie.) Things to know: H-U-H. This year the words were harder. C-R-Y-I-N-G. There's a couch for that. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. The youngest contestant was eliminated after he missed his second on-stage word, “bacteriolytic,” but then got a standing ovation. D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y. Did you know the bee is a family tradition? W-I-N-N-I-N-G. This year’s winner will take home $40,000 in cash, a trophy and other prizes. And his or her dignity. We lost what remained of ours on the last misspelled Google search while writing this blurb.
The Obamas' post-White House crib looks incredible
Basically it's a castle. Neighbors will include the vice president of these United States, whose official residence is at the nearby Naval Observatory, and any number of ambassadors and dignitaries who live along Embassy Row in the nation's capital. (Speaking of VPs: check out USA TODAY's Power Rankings.) The Obamas plan to stay in Washington to allow daughter Sasha to finish her final two years at Sidwell Friends. Older daughter Malia will graduate from the school this year and plans to attend Harvard in 2017 after a gap year. But about that house, though. Zillow says it has nine bedrooms and eight and a half bathrooms. (No need for the sisters to sharesies.) It last sold in 2014 for $5,295,000. We tried looking up the White House on Zillow to compare ... and teehee, it's there with a Zestimate of $380,803,448. Sixteen beds, 35 baths — and not for sale.
Baylor sidelines football coach, demotes president amid sex assault scandal
The law firm that Baylor hired to investigate the school's institutional responses and handling of sexual assault cases made public Thursday a damning report, leading to the pending ouster of football coach Art Briles and reassignment of school president Ken Starr. Briles won two Big 12 titles in his eight seasons after taking over a program mired at the bottom of the conference. But he came under fire after two players were convicted of sexual assault, and the report from firm Pepper Hamilton found the football program used its own punishment system and did not report instances of sexual violence. Now, he’s out.
The Donald hits that magic number ... in other news, will he debate The Bern?
It’s official: Donald Trump has secured enough delegates to wrap up the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Associated Press. The AP announced Thursday that enough unbound delegates have said they were willing to support Trump to put him over the threshold to win the nomination. Meanwhile, Democrat Hillary Clinton keeps saying she won't debate Bernie Sanders ahead of the California primary ... but Trump might. Here's what the real estate mogul said Wednesday night on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live about it. (Trump added Thursday he'd be willing to debate, but the Vermont senator would have to put up "something over $10 million" for charity.) It's hard to imagine this happening, but one has to assume the two would have a good time agreeing they're better than Clinton.
Does a $70,000 minimum wage work? USA TODAY crunches the numbers
About a year ago, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price turned the national debate over a $15 minimum wage inside out by announcing that he was raising the salaries of his 100 or so employees to at least $70,000. Gravity, which processes credit card transactions for small businesses, has released its financial results over the past year to USA TODAY. The narrative provides something of a case study on the impact of big raises on a company’s bottom line. In a nutshell: It’s complicated. Big pay hikes may yield surprisingly beneficial results, especially in the current tight labor market. But the outsized, across-the-board increase Price shelled out should not be a benchmark for most companies, experts say. Our full report is here.
Extra Bites
- Can't stop watching those cooking videos on Facebook? You're not alone. USA TODAY's Hadley Malcolm looks at the recipe for success behind the viral sensations.
- Snow in June, freezing temperatures in July, a killer frost in August: "The most gloomy and extraordinary weather ever seen," according to one Vermont farmer. It was 200 years ago when we endured a "year without a summer."
- A touching photo captured the raw emotion of West Point graduation for a Haiti-born cadet, who says he never thought he would fulfill his American dream.
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This is a compilation of stories across USA TODAY.
