ZWF: Wendy's learns it may have gone too far
Zander's Weekend Facts #108: Sunday, March 3, 2024
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, a look at what Zander’s been reading this past week. Plus, a compilation of the top headlines you need to know about from the last seven days.
Also, go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 133 features an update on the current NBA season, at the All-Star Break, with Zander’s Facts NBA analyst Hill Billy. Download the Zander’s Facts podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, March 3, 2024:
What Zander’s been reading
Wendy’s was not on the internet’s good side last week after the company’s CEO announced plans to implement “dynamic pricing” beginning next year. Many believed that would allow Wendy’s to raise prices on items during the busiest times of the day. Wendy’s came out with a statement saying the situation had been misinterpreted. Here’s what to know about our beloved frostys:
Check out this week’s featured article at Fortune - Wendy’s insists its trial with ‘dynamic pricing’ is all about prices going down at times and it has ‘no plans’ for surge pricing like Uber or Lyft - (Apple News link)
Rapid-fire Facts
These are top news headlines from the past week in rapid-fire fashion:
Government Shutdown: The federal government passed a short-term spending bill last week that delays the possibility of a government shutdown. The bipartisan deal will fund some government agencies through March 8, with the remainder having funds until March 22. The federal government would have shut down last Friday without the deal. Congress must now pass, and the president must sign, deals funding the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development before Friday.
Presidential Primaries: Three states held their elections in the Republican presidential nominating contest on Saturday, with former President Donald Trump claiming victory in all three. Idaho, Michigan, and Missouri all held their GOP caucuses on Saturday, with Trump dominating his only remaining rival in the race, former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nicki Haley. Back on Tuesday, the Michigan primaries were held for both Democrats and Republicans, with President Joe Biden and Trump both cruising to victory. Looking ahead to this week, 16 states and American Samoa will be holding elections on Super Tuesday. The states holding elections on Tuesday include California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Texas Wildfire: A wildfire in the Texas Panhandle grew to the largest in state history last week. Dubbed the ‘Smokehouse Creek fire’, over one million acres has now burned since Monday. The blaze is still largely uncontrolled as of Sunday morning, having destroyed thousands of crops and claiming two lives. The fire began near the town of Canadian just south of the Oklahoma state line and has been fueled by unusually warm and dry conditions. Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared a State of Emergency last week and has said that 400 to 500 structures in the region have been destroyed.
Mitch McConnell: Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the longest serving Senate Republican leader in U.S. history, announced he would step down from the job in November. McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1985 and has been the GOP leader in the chamber since 2006. The 82-year old McConnell is expected to serve out his current term, which ends in January 2027. McConnell has consistently been in disagreement with former President Donald Trump, the current leader in the Republican presidential nomination race. However, McConnell voted to acquit Trump in February 2021 despite McConnell acknowledging that “the mob” that broke into the Capitol on January 6, 2021 was “provoked by the president.”
Covid Isolation: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its Covid-19 guidelines last week. As part of the new guidance, the CDC has dropped the five-day isolation period for people who contract Covid. While the CDC is still advising those who get the virus to stay home, it now advises that people can return to their normal activities after their symptoms continue to improve over a 24-hour period and they no longer have a fever without the use of fever-reducing medications. The recommendations also include those recovering from Covid to take precautions such as wearing masks, maintaining distance from others, and washing hands for the next five days.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the top headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score over 40,000 career points. James passed the 40,000 mark last night in the Lakers’ 114-124 loss to the Denver Nuggets. James holds the league’s all-time scoring record, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 points last season. James is second all-time in the NBA for minutes played, sitting at 55,961, behind Abdul-Jabbar’s 57,446 career minutes. The Lakers are currently 10th in the Western Conference with a 33-29 record, 10 games back of first place.
UEFA Champions League: The second leg matches of the UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16 get underway this week as clubs look to advance to the Quarterfinals. On Tuesday, Bayern Munich host Lazio, who are up 1-0 on aggregate, with Paris Saint-Germain up 2-0 on aggregate over Real Sociedad, who host Tuesday’s second leg. On Wednesday, Manchester City host FC Copenhagen with City holding a 3-1 aggregate lead, while Real Madrid carry a 1-0 lead into their home match against RB Leipzig. All the matches will kickoff at 3:00 pm et and air on Paramount+, with Sociedad-PSG and City-Copenhagen also available on CBS.
Caitlin Clark: Iowa women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark announced her intentions to enter the WNBA Draft on Thursday. Clark is the all-time NCAA women’s basketball record-holder in career points and is 18 points away from breaking Pete Maravich’s record of 3,667 career points. #6 Iowa’s final regular season game takes place later today at 1:00 pm et at home against #2 Ohio State on Fox. Clark is projected to be picked first in the WNBA Draft, which will be held on April 15. The Indiana Fever hold the first pick in this year’s draft.
Formula 1: The 2024 Formula 1 season began in Bahrain on Saturday with the first Grand Prix of the year. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the three-time reigning World Driver’s Champion, took first place in the Bahrain Grand Prix, winning the event for the second straight year. Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, finished second 22.4 seconds behind Verstappen, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking third place. The next race on the calendar is the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, taking place on Saturday at 12:00 pm et on ESPN2.
NFL Combine: The annual NFL Scouting Combine is currently taking place in Indianapolis, featuring some of college football’s top prospects who will be entering the NFL Draft next month. While many players took part in drills, USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who is projected by some to be the top overall pick, did not participate in throwing drills on Saturday. Other top quarterbacks to not throw included LSU’s Jayden Daniels and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy broke a combine record with a 40-year dash time of 4.21 seconds, breaking John Ross’ 4.22 seconds in 2017.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episodes of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to the latest episode of the podcast, along with every episode of Zander’s Facts, wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also listen to every episode of the podcast on this very website. All Zander’s Facts podcast episodes are now available on zandersfacts.com under the “Zander’s Facts” tab for your enjoyment! That includes the next episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which comes out this Wednesday!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return next Sunday, March 10, 2024.
