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Morning Buzz: 5 things to know for January 2

Posted at 10:41 AM, Jan 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-02 10:41:51-05

1. Not every birth gets this much attention, but it does when you're the first baby of the new year- and decade- at Spectrum Health Butterworth.

The very first baby of 2020 is a girl, and her name is Kendra Rose Ivey, weighing in at 7 pounds 4 ounces.

She arrived at 12:19 a.m. on Wednesday. Mom and dad, Natisha and Brian, came in from Howard City. She'll have three older sisters, and everyone is doing just fine.

2. Talk about hitting those exercise goals right out of the gate! Hundreds of people in Kalamazoo laced up their shoes for the 37th annual John Daley Memorial One One Run on Wednesday.

Participants only ran a few miles, but raised thousands of dollars for The Boys and Girls Club of Kalamazoo.

Daley was big in the running community there, and was an executive at Borgess Hospital who believed in healthy living.

3. The Mackinac Bridge's MacPass toll card is being replaced with a windshield-mounted sticker that's automatically scanned when a driver pulls up to the toll booth.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority says the switch could mean travelers who frequently cross the bridge, that links Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, will see shorter wait times at its toll booths.

The new sticker can only be used by those with a MacPass account.

Those who aren't account holders will still have to roll down their window and pay at a toll booth each time they cross.

4. Forget about driving over the water, how about hopping right in? Hundreds of people splashed into the new year taking a dip in the chilly waters of New York City's Coney Island for the 116th annual Coney Island Polar Bear Club Plunge.

The temperature was about 40 degrees. Participants say it's worth it because of the money they raise for local charities.

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club was found back in 1903, and is the oldest winter bathing organization in the country.

Find members taking a swim in the chilly waters every Sunday between November and April.

5. UPS is gearing up for what's expected to another record day today on what's known as National Returns Day.

The company estimates shoppers will send 1.9 million packages back to retailers. That's a 26 percent increase from 2018.

The National Retail Federation says more than half of shoppers plan to return or exchange any unwanted gifts within a month of receiving them.