Here some headlines from Cheddar News that are Good 2 Know.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL EXPANDS
The National Park Service is set to expand the Lincoln Memorial with a new exhibit space underneath the iconic monument. The exhibits will highlight the history of the monument as a backdrop throughout the Civil Rights movements. Singer Marian Anderson sang at the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of 75,000 people after being denied the right to perform at a Washington, D.C. concert hall in 1939. The new space is set to open in 2026 ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
MARDI GRAS BEGINS
Break out the King Cake. It's Fat Tuesday and the start of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Mardi Gras is the last day to revel in food and drink before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of lent. Over the years, the celebration has evolved into a citywide party featuring foods, dance crews, and elaborate floats.
TIKTOK TRIVIA
TikTok is hosting a series of live trivia events this week, starting tomorrow and running through Sunday. All users who are 18 or older can play. Each round will be live-streamed on the app. The questions will be multiple choice with categories such as beauty, sports, lifestyle, music, and entertainments. Players will have a chance to win a pooled prize worth $500,000. The rounds will be held twice a day from 8-9 p.m. and from 9-10 p.m. ET.
The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year's Day, it was estimated to stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow. Wisconsin-La Crosse fired Gow on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, after learning Gow and his wife have been producing and appearing in pornographic videos. Gow maintains the firing violated his free speech rights.
The U.S. military is now putting independent lawyers in charge of its investigations of sexual assault and other major crimes, what Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has called the "most important reform" to the military justice system in recent history.
A decades-old law bans Medicare from paying for weight loss drugs. Now, drugmakers and a wide-ranging bipartisan coalition of lawmakers are gearing up to push for that to change next year.
Barring a court order, in March Texas police will start being able to arrest people they suspect have entered the U.S. illegally, but increases in border crossings since a 2021 law authorizing some arrests shows the limits of that approach in the face of desperation that causes people to risk everything and travel thousands of miles to the U.S.
Mexico began clearing tents, both occupied and unoccupied, from the encampment in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, starting Tuesday.
