News

Sorry, Gavin Newsom ... try valiantly as you have, but it seems there's no way you can stop people from flocking to the Pacific to catch a glimpse of those bioluminescent waves ... beach closures be damned!!!

Check out the scene this weekend at Toes Beach in the L.A. neighborhood, Playa del Rey ... there's a caravan of cars stretching around the block and large groups of people descending on the sand ... all just to see the glowing blue ocean.

It's pretty insane actually ... people were waiting in line in their cars just to snag a parking spot, hop out and trudge over the dunes to see the neon action caused by an annual algae bloom.

As you know ... L.A. County beaches remain closed due to the raging pandemic, but people are having a hard time staying away and following orders because of the beautiful show put on each night by Ma Nature.

The beach was crammed with hundreds of people, and while most were social distancing, some were mowing over the caution tape set up to keep people off the sand.

The neighborhood was packed with families, couples, photographers and the like ... and the crowds were reminiscent of July 4, only instead of fireworks in the nearby marina, people wanna see the bioluminescence.

Cali's also under a shelter-in-place order ... so no one's gonna classify this as an "essential" trip out of the house. Sure, neon waves are amazing, but it seems slightly less pressing than say ... finding toilet paper or getting food.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... no one called the cops on the crowds, but if they did, police would respond and educate folks about social distancing.

There's a war on the beach in Orange County!

There's also a giant penis on the beach in Orange County!

And, local news covered 'em both!

Here's the deal ... with California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordering the closure of all Orange County beaches, several people hit the sand Friday to protest the decision.

One excited beachgoer decided to send a message by drawing a giant design on the shore ... a giant phallus!

And, as the whole thing was being covered by the good people at KTLA, the sand schlong made the shot!

The best part of the whole thing ... the reporter talking about a "hard closure" just as they pan over the wiener.

Stay safe, everyone!

Costco is making some big changes in the face of the coronavirus pandemic ... the superstore is requiring anyone walking through its doors to cover their faces.

The new nationwide change goes into effect Monday, and the rules require all members, guests and employees to wear masks or face coverings that cover the mouth and nose at all times while inside the superstore.

Costco says members who do not cover their faces will not be permitted inside its stores. However, the company says the mask policy does not apply to children younger than 2 or people who are unable to wear a mask or face covering due to medical conditions.

Seems many Costco members are already wearing masks ... as you can see at this Costco in Washington D.C. Wednesday, most shoppers are wearing masks and face coverings inside the superstore.

Elon Musk has been way off with his coronavirus predictions from the start, but now he's doubling down with his asinine thoughts ... by urging the U.S. to reopen and be "free" again.

The Tesla honcho just tweeted to his 33 million followers, "FREE AMERICA NOW" ... following a couple other tweets encouraging states to ease pandemic lockdown restrictions, despite health experts' warnings that doing so could lead to a spike in deaths.

Musk -- who on March 19 tweeted about COVID-19, "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April" -- has been one of the loudest cynics of stay-at-home orders and has referred to the pandemic as overblown panic several times ... despite nearly 60,000 deaths in the U.S. in a relatively short time.

Now he seems to be joining the chorus of naysayers like Tucker Carlson -- who declared on his show Monday night that the coronavirus is "just not that deadly" and shutdowns don't really work -- who want to ignore the serious dangers of COVID-19 and get back to normal.

Truth is, it's just not that easy -- or safe, or smart -- and Elon's suggestion is dumbfounding.

However, as we've reported, he's not alone -- there are a lot of Americans who are quitting quarantine to head to beaches or attend parties ... and it feels like things are coming apart at the seams.

Now, this is a story all about how life in America got flipped-turned upside down, and now Will Smith would like to take a minute, so just sit right there, and he'll tell you about reuniting the cast from "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

That's right, big Willie is wrapping up his Snapchat show, "Will From Home," with a 2-part finale featuring some of the show's favorite cast members. That, of course, includes Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali, Karyn Parsons, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Joseph Marcell and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

It's the first time the cast is reuniting on-screen since the incredibly popular NBC sitcom ended its 6-season run in May 1996. The Snapchat Original series followed Will practicing social distancing at home with his family. The show proved popular ... with 15 million unique viewers in the first 3 episodes.

Will's guests have included Kevin James, Guy Fieri, Johnny Knoxville, Tyra Banks and even Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The 2-part finale -- broadcasting Wednesday morning with part 2 set for Thursday at 6 AM ET on Snapchat's Discover page -- will include a special tribute to Uncle Phil, the late James Avery.

The federal government admits it's sent stimulus payments to more than 80 million people so far, but some of 'em will never get the dough ... 'cause they're dead.

As the IRS rushes to distribute cash to roughly 150 million Americans, the first wave of deposits went directly into bank accounts of folks who filed a tax return in 2018 or 2019 and got a refund.

Pretty streamlined process, in theory, but the problem is ... some of those people have died since then -- and the government didn't know -- so they still got the money.

Reports of the dead getting paid started coming out last weekend, mostly from surviving spouses or those with bank accounts still open to settle the estates of family members who have passed.

Though these people may have reported the deaths, and the IRS is supposed to check death records before approving payments ... there are apparently gaps in the process and delays in reporting to the Treasury Dept.

As for whether these dead folks can keep the money -- there's some mixed messaging. President Trump said Friday, "Sometimes you send a check to somebody wrong ... We’ll get that back."

Some legal experts think otherwise, though, and an IRS spokesperson added ... "We are aware of all the various issues involving surviving spouses and other heirs and are still working on them."

Meanwhile ... thousands, if not millions, of people who truly need the money -- from disabled veterans to Social Security retirees to families living below the poverty line -- are still waiting to be paid.

When NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan began their missions more than 6 months ago, nobody had ever heard of COVID-19 -- now they're back, and a whole lot has changed.

The 2 astronauts -- along with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka -- just touched down back on Earth safe and sound. They landed in Kazakhstan in a Soyuz spacecraft at 1:16 AM ET.

The successful touchdown came after Meir spent 205 days living in space onboard the International Space Station, while Morgan did it for 272 days. It was the first mission for both of them.

Obviously, NASA's elated to get its bold travelers back home safely, but it's gotta be a bit strange and surreal for the astronauts. As soon as they returned they came face-to-face mask with the coronavirus pandemic.

As you can see ... all of the members of the recovery crew were wearing masks as a health precaution while carrying the astronauts and cosmonaut after they landed.

Plus, with all of the social distancing and stay-at-home orders across the globe, it's probably going to make it more difficult for Meir, Morgan and Skripochka to see all of their friends and loved ones in person again.

The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on the regularly thriving smartphone industry in China, but there's cause for hope ... it's starting to show signs of life again.

Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the sale of smartphones, which reportedly resulted in Apple having one of its worst months ever in China in February ... with only half a million iPhones sold to its 1.4 BILLION people.

That low amount's due to 3 factors -- reduced supply because of factory shutdowns, retail stores being closed, and of course ... loss of expendable income for Chinese citizens.

A survey of 1,300 smartphone owners found that 37 percent were holding off on purchasing a new one, and 32 percent were delaying an upgrade to 5G ... something that was widely anticipated in 2020.

Compare this to 40 percent responding that they've delayed buying cars, furniture and appliances, as well ... it's fair to say smartphones are lumped into the big-ticket item category that's low on people's purchase priority list.

On the plus side, sales bounced back slightly in March ... with total mobile phone shipments from all companies increasing by 3 times over February. Apple shipped nearly 5 times more units ... but smartphone sales overall were still down 20 percent in March compared to 2019.

Clearly could be worse, though, and with China being the first country to go on lockdown ... it's hopeful it can be the first to bounce back.

George Stephanopoulos says he's tested positive for coronavirus -- a few weeks after his wife contracted it -- but says, so far, he's not suffering.

The 'GMA' anchor made the revelation Monday morning ... telling his cohosts, Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan, that his spouse, Ali Wentworth, was on the mend and getting better after a recent bout with COVID-19 that left her with a high fever and other symptoms.

In the same breath, George -- who is working from home -- said he too had recently tested positive. The somewhat good news is GS says his case of coronavirus appears to be asymptomatic ... he says he hasn't shown any of the typical signs of illness.

In fact, George even goes so far as to say he's feeling great. It also sounds like George is gonna keep working. He shares two daughters with Ali, and he's been their primary caretaker while his wife has been under the weather.

As we've reported ... NBC, CBS and CNN -- all based in NYC -- have had staffers test positive, including Chris Cuomo ... who has been battling symptoms.

That's more a sign of how badly NY has been hit by the pandemic, than anything else.