Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz went on trial Monday on charges that they accepted bribes as they colluded with gamblers who made hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on individual pitches.

Their careers and possibly their freedom are at stake in the jury trial in Brooklyn federal court.

Happy Election Day in New York, where no doubt all you civic-minded Daily Brief readers will be hitting your local polling sites today to vote on a number of important elections happening throughout the city and the state, as well as five ballot proposals that affect city policies like sidewalk cafés, bike lanes and building permits.

If you need a refresher on the active races and ballot measures, you can check out this site.

But, as is our tradition on election day, we’re here to offer you a palate cleanser with a very non-election storyline to freshen up your Tuesday afternoon.

Like how about the fact that, in New Jersey, four Spirit Halloweens — the famous costume store that pops up every fall in empty commercial retail spaces to sell thousands of full-body crayon costumes to adults who’ve had all year to think of something better — have already converted to Spirit Christmases? Spirit’s Yuletide variation deals in Christmas decorations, clothing and toys. Spirit Christmas plans to open 44 stores in 15 states this holiday season, including five in New York.

This will be only the third year of operation for Spirit Christmas, which debuted in 2024 with a run of 8 pilot stores in the Northeast. Apparently there was enough of an appetite for discount nutcrackers, because the following year the chain grew to 30 stores in 12 states. At this rate, we’re a few years from Spirit Valentine’s Day.

If only we could all evolve at the speed of Spirit, what couldn’t we accomplish?

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Applicants should be happily challenged to tell the news of a major event in 200 words or less and post updates on a rolling basis.

Four-year college degree and two years post college experience required.

Send resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Put in subject line: App for News Hound

You can stream almost anything.

A Norwegian crime drama from 2012. A Korean game show. Every episode of “Gilligan’s Island.” A documentary about competitive dog grooming.

But you cannot stream “Murphy Brown.”

Remember the show? Candice Bergen played the title character, a hard-charging investigative journalist at “FYI,” a fictional CBS newsmagazine modeled on something like “60 Minutes.”

The problem is music. “Murphy Brown” used a lot of it. Music was part of its storytelling DNA from the start — the pilot ended with Murphy singing Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” a song the show reprised years later when her baby, Avery, was born. 

Read on to learn more.

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