'A Profound Experience’: Shatner On His 10-Minute Trip To Space

ACROSS AMERICA — Good morning! It’s Thursday, Oct. 14. We’re nearly halfway through spooky season, so if you’re still thinking about attending a Halloween party this year, you better get on the search for a costume. Before you head out, though, catch up on the stories we’re following today:

• Social Security payments are about to see the biggest increase in decades.
• Know a terrible guitar player? The “Fart Pedal” may be the perfect holiday gift this year.
• California just became the first state to ban “stealthing.”
• An autographed Michael Jordan card recently sold for $2.7 million.

Social Security Gets Boost

Americans on Social Security will receive a 5.9 percent increase in benefits in 2022 — the largest boost in a generation.

The cost-of-living adjustment is the biggest in 39 years. It amounts to about $92 a month more for the average worker. By comparison, Social Security increases have averaged only 1.7 percent over the last decade. » Biggest Social Security Boost In A Generation: 5 Things To Know, via Across America Patch

The ‘Fauci Effect’

Medical school applications are surging across the country in places such as Phoenix and Buffalo thanks to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Call it the Fauci Effect: More and more people are being inspired to help in whatever way they can. » Fauci Effect: Doctor Sparks Surge In Medical School Applications, via Phoenix Patch

Shatner Goes To Space

From 66.5 miles high in the sky, the 90-year-old actor who played Captain Kirk in "Star Trek" was able to look out over the Texas desert. Ten minutes later, William Shatner and the rest of the crew in the fully automated capsule constructed by Jeff Bezos' space tourism company, Blue Origin, safely parachuted back down to the ground.

"What you have given me is a profound experience," Shatner told Bezos after exiting the capsule. "I hope I can maintain what I feel now."

See photos of the launch and landing of the historic flight that made Shatner the oldest person ever to have traveled to space. » 9 Photos: William Shatner In Space As Himself, Not 'Captain Kirk', via Across America Patch

‘Fart Pedal’ Takes Off

Serial silly-idea man Steve Gadlin, who once charmed $25,000 out of Mark Cuban on "Shark Tank" to launch a custom cartoon cat drawing business, didn’t expect that many people actually would want to buy his “Fart Pedal,” a guitar stomp box that offers "dry" and "wet" fart sounds that really bring out a guitar's "low-end,” he told Patch columnist Mark Konkol.

So imagine his surprise when a reporter broke the news of his Fart Pedal crowdfunding effort on Guitar World, the highest circulation music magazine in the world. As of Wednesday, Fart Pedal's Kickstarter campaign had raised $59,446, nearly double its funding goal, with two weeks to go. » Fart Pedal Is Perfect Christmas Gift For Crappy Guitar Players, via Chicago Patch

California Bans ‘Stealthing’

The Golden State this week became the first in the nation to outlaw "stealthing," the act of removing a condom without permission. The law adds stealthing to the state's civil definition of sexual battery, and allows the victim to press charges for damages. » CA Is The 1st State To Ban Nonconsensual Condom Removal, via Los Angeles Patch

Where Is Brian Laundrie?

Wednesday marks one month since Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of his fiancee, Gabby Petito, fled his parents' home. But are authorities any closer to finding him? Patch breaks down everything we know about the case and the FBI-led search for Laundrie. » Where Is Brian Laundrie? Gabby Petito's Fiance Fled 1 Month Ago, via Sarasota, Florida, Patch

House Porn

If you’ve seen the 1968 movie "Yours, Mine and Ours" starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, you may know it was based on the real-life story of Frank and Helen Beardsley, who had 18 children between them when they got married. Now, the four-bedroom California home where the Beardsleys raised their brood is for sale.

This Day In History

In 1947, American test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier.

Around ‘The Patch’

• 'No Organs Were Missing': Jelani Day's Mother Dispels Claims, via Chicago Patch
• Trump In Final Talks To Sell DC Hotel In Old Post Office, via Washington, D.C. Patch
• Autographed Michael Jordan Card Sets Record With $2.7M Sale, via Chicago Patch
• Hurricane Pamela Makes Landfall; Sets Sights On Texas, via Across America Patch
• North Carolina Girl Shoots Incredible Golf Round Of 57, via Across America Patch
• Deputies Find 32 Migrants Hiding In Florida Man's Truck, Boat, via Brandon Patch
• Boosie Badazz Spends Night In Jail After On-Stage Vandalism Charges, via Atlanta Patch
• United Airlines Gives Every Employee $1,000 Pandemic Bonus, via Newark, New Jersey, Patch
• Parents Of New Jersey Teen Killed At Six Flags Win Settlement, via Middletown Patch

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