5 things you need to know Wednesday
1. Earth Day turns 45
One billion of us are expected to participate in Earth Day events this year. The day celebrating the environment has come a long way since the first event in 1970 with 20 million people (OK, that's still a lot of people). Do you know the top five most-recycled items? Are you ready to up your environment-saving game? Try kicking the plastic habit. And look cute, not crunchy, while you do it.
2. Mom in court after child falls into cheetah pit
A childcare worker from Ohio is due in court Wednesday after she dropped her 2-year-old into a cheetah exhibit at Cleveland Zoo earlier this month. Michelle Schwab was holding her son and another child when her son fell into the pit, a fire official said. Witnesses say the child was dangled over the railing and that after the boy fell, family members jumped into the exhibit with the cheetahs. The child's parents were able to retrieve the toddler and the cheetahs didn't attempt to attack them.
3. Comcast, Time Warner Cable seek merger blessing
Comcast and Time Warner Cable are expected to meet Wednesday with Justice Department officials in an attempt to gain approval for their planned merger. The two companies announced their $45.2 billion merger in February 2014. Last week, Time Warner Cable refuted a report from Bloomberg that Justice Department staff attorneys were expected to recommend that the merger be blocked. The department could file a suit to prevent the deal if it thinks the merger violates antitrust laws by being anti-competitive.
4. Look up: April's top meteor shower is here
The Lyrids, April's top meteor shower, is expected to peak just before dawn Wednesday and Thursday. NASA is predicting 15 to 20 meteors visible per hour, and no special equipment is needed to see them. The Lyrids are bits and pieces of debris from Comet Thatcher and have been seen each April for more than 2,600 years, making them one of the oldest known meteor showers.
5. Ceremonial swearing in for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants to focus attention on preventing disease in America. Murthy, who took office in December, has a ceremonial swearing-in on Wednesday. He says he hopes to reduce chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease by promoting physical activity. "The shift we have to make as a country is from one that is predominantly focused on treatment to one that is focused much more on prevention," Murthy says.
What else is on our reading list this morning:
New Postal Service fleet could include drones
Earth Day, bah! Hybrid, electric-vehicle owners shift to SUVs
And, the essentials:
Weather: Wintry weather will plague the northeastern U.S. while more severe storms rattle the southern Plains on Earth Day.
Stocks:U.S. stock futures made gains Wednesday.
TV Tonight: Can't decide what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at The Middle and The Americans.
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