Today is Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
It is the 190th day of the year.
175 days remain.
WHAT’S ON TAP
NOTABLE & NOTEWORTHY: A welcome major change to expand first time home buying opportunities.
DIDDY gets an official sentencing date and a radio host gets blasted for mocking PATRICK MAHOMES’ dad bod. More in SHOWBIZ.
Lizzie Borden will be the focus of Season 4 of RYAN MURPHY’s “Monster” series. Details in CASTING CALL.
Senior Royals show up in force for a major state dinner. Details in ROYALS.
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BILLY MCFARLAND wants you to buy the rights to FYRE FESTIVAL.
After the planned event failed to come to fruition twice so far this year, McFarland tried to sell the whole thing completely and let someone else run with the brand. In April, one deal included selling off parts of the brand package to an entrepreneur looking to start a music streaming service.
NOW: McFarland has put the entire Fyre brand up for auction on eBay. According to the listing, the sale includes all trademarks and marketing components.
The music streaming deal appears to still be in the works; the listing notes there are separate carve-outs for a “FYRE Music streaming platform” and a “Free Ad-Supported and Broadcast TV Platform” that will each be launching independently.
BUT WAIT: Nothing in the FYRE-sphere can go off without a hitch. McFarland announced that eBay suspended bids after an hour and 15 minutes when the auction reached a $50,000 limit. Within a few hours the issue appeared to be resolved.
The auction is active for a full week. Make your bid > [via Morning Martini]
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JEFF BEZOS continues to cash out on his life’s work, selling about 3 MILLION shares more than $665 MILLION in Amazon stock in the first week of July.
The cash-out follows $736 MILLION in stock sales in June.
Bezos announced earlier this year plans to unload about 25 MILLION shares through the middle of next year. About $50 MILLION of that reportedly went to his recent wedding.
Bezos still holds Amazon stock worth $200 BILLION-plus. [via CNBC]
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As interest rates and soaring home prices make first-time home ownership increasingly difficult, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is loosening rules surrounding credit history to secure a mortgage.
The new policy will allow potential home buyers to use rent payment history to help qualify for a federally-backed mortgage, not just credit cards and car notes.
Lenders will have the option to use the VantageScore model, which includes rent history to determine credit worthiness, in addition to the notoriously mysterious FICO score. [via ReadLion]
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Two dozen people were stung over a 30 minute period while passing by a beehive located on the terrace of a hotel in the French town of Aurillac over the weekend, leaving three in critical condition.
It is believed that the bees became aggressive while defending their hive which was being threatened by Asian hornets.
One first responder said he had never seen such an attack, “in terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries.” [via AP]
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The Transportation Security Administration is phasing out the rule that requires flyers to put their shoes through security scanners at airports.
In an official announcement, the requirement formally ended at about a dozen major airports across the country on Monday, though anecdotal reports have suggested other airports have also already scrapped the practice.
The shoe removal policy was formally instituted in 2006, though some security stations began implementing the requirement as soon as airports reopened after 9/11. [via CBS News]
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