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Pete Buttigieg is back where it all started -- the exact place he hinted he had his eyes on The White House -- but this time around he's no longer a starry-eyed, long shot mayor ... he's not even a mayor at all!

Mayor Candidate Pete spoke Thursday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual winter meeting in Washington D.C. ... exactly one year after he announced he was launching a 2020 exploratory committee at the same event.

Though he wouldn't officially announce his presidential campaign until April, he made it clear at the 2019 conference his sights were set on The White House ... and spelled out exactly why he thinks he's the right guy for the job.

Flash forward to today -- we asked Buttigieg to recap the past 365 days and he tells us it's "hard to believe" ... including his early retirement as the mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

Pete stepped down from the role and passed the torch to his successor, James Mueller, on New Year's Day, so he can focus on the tough race ahead for the Democratic nomination.

A Massachusetts woman accused of repeatedly taking dumps in a parking lot is s**t outta luck ... she's finally in custody after essentially getting caught with her pants down.

Cops in Natick, Mass. say they've arrested 51-year-old Andrea Grocer after she allegedly made a habit of pooping outside a sporting goods store. She's being charged with 8 counts of wanton destruction of property.

Police say they started investigating the woman's alleged dirty habit in December after the store owner claimed he routinely found mounds of human feces in the parking lot.

Cops say they initially believed an animal was doing the damage, but investigators eventually found toilet paper and wipes in the area. Plus, the bowel movements were caught on surveillance footage, according to police ... but they say Grocer's license plate was always shielded from camera.

Police increased patrols in an effort to catch the serial pooper redhanded, and officers say they caught Grocer preparing to poop in the lot Wednesday morning around 7 AM.

'Bachelorette' contestant Tyler Gwozdz -- who competed for Hannah Brown -- was hospitalized for at least a week following a suspected overdose ... TMZ has learned.

According to Boca Raton PD, officers and paramedics rushed to a home on Monday, January 13 ... responding to a 911 call for a possible drug overdose. They ended up transporting Tyler to a hospital where he was admitted to the ICU.

We know Tyler remained in the hospital for a week and was listed in critical but stable condition. Come Tuesday, he was no longer a current patient in their system.

TMZ Sports has obtained the 911 call made during Antonio Brown's alleged altercation with a moving company driver ... and the alleged victim claims the NFL star was high, and making threats.

We broke the story ... AB is accused of throwing rocks at a moving truck outside of his Hollywood, Fla. home and assaulting the driver over a payment dispute.

In the call, the driver -- who has a thick accent -- claims AB smoked in front of him and was under the influence at the time of the incident.

"The guy is high, he smoked, he threatened me. He's trying to fight, he throws stones at my truck," the caller claims.

"I'm trying to make delivery to the gentleman. I called him and told him he has to pay the balance for us to unload ... The guy refused to pay in the proper form."

The call -- which lasted for roughly 30 minutes -- paints a wild scene outside of Brown's mansion.

The caller says Brown and the NFL star's friends fought him when he initially arrived because they didn't want to pay his drop-off fee ... and he said while he was driving away some 50 yards up the street to get away from them, Brown hurled rocks at his truck.

Kodak Black can start marking the days off his calendar -- if that's allowed in federal prison -- because we've just learned when he'll be released.

Kodak will be free again on or about Aug. 14, 2022 -- according to the feds. He could get out a few days earlier because the 14th falls on a Sunday. It's federal policy to let inmates out early if their release date falls on a weekend.

The rapper also knows the Bluegrass State will apparently be his home until then. Kodak's currently being transferred to a federal prison in Oklahoma City -- a temporary stop before one more transfer. His attorney says he'll end up in a federal pen in Kentucky.

Joycelyn Savage handled some legal issues in her battery case, but the real drama was outside the courthouse ... where her mother ran up and begged to talk to her.

R. Kelly's girlfriend had a hearing in Chicago Thursday morning, and pled not guilty to battery for allegedly attacking and injuring Azriel Clary -- Kelly's ex and Joycelyn's former roommate.

As Savage left the courthouse, she was flanked by a couple of girls who we're told are her younger sisters -- and they were trying to get Joycelyn's attention while she's on the phone.

Then, Joycelyn's mother approaches and yells she needs to talk to her ... but gets shut down. Joycelyn hurries away and hops in a car with a woman believed to be her lawyer.

As she's getting in, it sounds like one of the sisters urges Joycelyn to "look at the documentary," and adds ... "He's been lying!" Seemingly, this is in reference to R. Kelly and the latest Lifetime docuseries on Kelly.

As we've reported ... Joycelyn's been estranged from her parents for years, ever since leaving home and moving in with R. Kelly. Azriel did the same thing, but recently severed ties with Kelly, moved out of his Chicago condo and reunited with her family ... but not before a blowout fight with Joycelyn.

Gerald Griggs, the attorney for Joycelyn's parents, tells TMZ ... the family's still very concerned about her well-being and safety, and since she's been with Kelly she's been "completely different from the Joycelyn they have known her entire life."

Griggs says her entire family went to Joycelyn's court appearance Thursday to try to make contact with her. The family hopes to at least make contact with her attorney to open up a line of communication with her.

Vice Prez Mike Pence is feeling a big chill, courtesy of Prince Charles ... who blatantly dissed the veep -- but the only question is whether the cold shoulder was intentional.

Take a look -- the Prince walked down the line Thursday, greeting world leaders at the World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem. Handshakes all around, until he got to VP Pence and his wife. Charles looked him right in the eye ... and moved right along.

No handshake, no shoulder pat, not even a head nod.

Pence appears to reach out and tap Charles on the arm, but the Prince was already engaged with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Snub or not, Pence's office is already on the defensive ... it released a photo of the VP and the Prince sharing a moment and claims they "spoke prior to entering the event floor and after his remarks as well."

It's unclear if the handshake snub happened before or after what appears to be a friendly greeting outside the event.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West got love for each other -- as they've declared on social media posts like this one -- but now she's got a lawsuit too.

This tender moment between the Wests ended up on Kim's Instagram -- back in October 2018 -- and while more than 2.2 million people liked it, one professional photographer hates it to the point he's suing Kim.

Saeed Bolden says he's the guy who snapped the loving shot, and therefore he owns it. According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, Bolden says he never gave KKW permission to use it, nor did she pay him to use it ... so he wants a little something for his trouble.

For sure, it's a rare pic ... Kanye's smiling, after all. The photo was snapped at Nas' album release party, which Kanye produced.

As for how much the pic is worth? Bolden doesn't name a price -- he's suing for any profits Kim's made off the post, plus punitive damages.

Oddly, he's also suing Kim's shapewear line, Skims Body. because he claims it shares Kim's IG account ... though the solo Skims account never posted the photo.

Michelle Carter, the woman who encouraged her boyfriend to kill himself in a series of texts, has been released early from prison.

The 23-year-old from Massachusetts walked free Thursday morning out of Bristol County House of Correction ahead of her scheduled release ... due to 'good behavior' on the inside.

Carter -- convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Conrad Roy III's suicide -- was sentenced to 15 months, and 5 years probation last February. So, she's getting out about 3 months early.

A spokesman for the Bristol County Sheriff's Office said, "Ms. Carter has been a model inmate here at the Bristol County House of Corrections. She has participated in a variety of programs, held a job inside the jail, has been polite to our staff and volunteers, has gotten along with the other inmates, and we've had no discipline issues with her whatsoever."

The so-called texting suicide case captivated the nation due to issues of free speech, and whether someone should be convicted for someone else's suicide.

Carter was wearing the same outfit she had on the day she was sentenced as she was released from custody. Her family was there to pick her up.

Kylie Jenner's put up a billboard smack in the middle of WeHo that kills 2 birds with one stone -- celebrating Stormi's birthday and hawks the kiddo's new makeup collection.

The massive bday card -- in a prime location on Santa Monica Blvd -- shows Kylie gently cradling Stormi, who turns 2 on February 1. Obviously NOT coincidentally, Kylie's also adding to her cosmetics empire on that day ...with makeup products inspired by Stormi.

Kylie's dubbed the collection, naturally, the Stormi Collection -- and says it's something she's been waiting for since the moment she found out she was pregnant.

She says it's dedicated to Stormi and inspired by her, but the kiddo also lent a helping hand. There are butterfly-themed packages of lip kits, blushes and mini eye shadow palettes with pastel and glitter shades.

At this rate, Stormi might end up snatching Mom's crown for youngest billionaire in history.

Vanessa Hudgens was the life of the party in the crowd at the Knicks vs. Lakers game ... cheering and snappin' pics while Kyle Kuzma played.

Hudgens hit up Madison Square Garden on Thursday for LA's matchup with New York .. one day after she was spotted at an intimate dinner with Kuz in Brooklyn.

The recently single actress made sure to check out her new man(?) at work ... cheering him on and drinkin' a beer as he scored 10 points and picked up 7 rebounds.

Other huge names in attendance include J. Cole, Spike Lee, Sterling Shepard, Howard Stern, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Jim Gaffigan ... so yeah, the big names came out of the woodwork to see LeBron James and Co. ('cause who's coming to see the 12-33 Knicks??)

Back to Hudgens -- no word on whether things are getting serious with the 24-year-old hooper ... but she has been getting a lot of Kuz in her life this week.

Neil Young's officially ready to keep on rockin' in the free world, and soon ... he'll be free to express his hatred for Donald Trump in a voting booth.

The legendary rock 'n' roll artist was granted U.S. citizenship Wednesday at the Convention Center in downtown L.A. ... and he's clearly proud to be an American.

Accompanied by his wife, Daryl Hannah, Neil excitedly waved his mini Old Glory as he left the Oath Ceremony while clutching his naturalization documents.

If ya don't know ... Neil's from Canada, but he's been a Southern (California) Man off and on since the '60s, and he recently decided to pursue dual citizenship so he could vote in the 2020 election.

Tony Rock has another nickname for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to trade their Royal Family roles for life in Canada -- think "Coming to America" sequel ... but lighter.

The comedian was in Bev Hills Wednesday night when we asked him about "Megxit" ... he tells us it's like a real-life version of the 1988 Eddie Murphy flick where he gives up his life as a prince to find true love.

Tony describes it a little differently for Harry and Meghan, but still ... it's an apt comparison.

Chris' younger brother also tells us he doesn't think Meghan's going to get her wish for more privacy for their son, Archie ... because the kid's just way too famous. Once again, he hilariously evokes a scene from "Coming to America" to make his point.

As for the actual sequel to the classic comedy -- scheduled to open wide in theaters in December 2020 -- Rock reveals he's not involved in the project at all ... and it seems like he feels a bit snubbed.

Gigi and Bella Hadid -- along with Paris Jackson making her runway debut -- took part in a farewell runway show at Paris Fashion Week ... and it was a doozy.

The sisters and Paris glammed up Wednesday for the Jean-Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2020 Show at Paris' Théâtre du Châtelet. The show was an extremely significant one for the iconic French designer -- his last one ever after a storied 50 years in the biz.

Jean-Paul -- who famously created Madonna's famed cone bra and corset for her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour -- drew tons of famous models from past and present at his final show.

From the younger generation ... Gigi sported a sailor motif that included a revealing striped top, while Bella just went with a see-through dress. Paris dialed it back quite a bit, rocking a chic-hippie look. Solid runway debut, for sure.

Wendy Williams says she didn't violate girl code by sharing NeNe Leake's plans to leave 'Real Housewives' ... and says she's sitting on an even bigger NeNe bombshell.

As you know, Wendy is getting tons of backlash for sharing -- on her talk show -- NeNe's private texts talking about bolting from 'RHOA.' NeNe even chided Wendy for blabbing.

However, after Nene aired her feelings on Twitter ... our sources say she and Wendy spoke after about what happened.

JB Smoove had something to prove on the streets of New York -- he ain't as grouchy as Larry David is with autograph seekers, and we know this because he put pen to flesh.

We got the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Wednesday afternoon as he was greeted by a swarm of fans and autograph hounds chirping for signatures. JB kept it pretty real with them, saying he couldn't sign all of 'em. He held firm too.

Of course ... this reminded our camera guy, Ezra, of his costar Larry David's recent L.A. run-in with an autograph brigade that ended with a super-heated confrontation and scolding.

Ezra tried to ask JB about it, and he cut us off ... insisting he didn't have as much of a problem with it as LD does. Then, he took it a step further ... signing for Ezra -- ON HIS NECK!!!

Check it out ... it seems like the skin game brought these two fellas damn close in the end. They even made a pinky-promise of sorts to each other.