Early Addition: Gritty's Origin Story Revealed

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/serenitbee/39890484153/in/pool-gothamist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bee collins' flickr</a>

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• Trump now says he'll deliver his State of the Union address once the federal government reopens, whenever that may be.
• Gritty's gritty origin story has finally been revealed.
• Multimillionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross "doesn't understand why" federal workers are going to homeless shelters and food banks during the shutdown.
• Vampire Weekend shared two new songs ("Harmony Hall" & "2021") from their upcoming album Father Of The Bride.
• Author Stephen Elliott is seeking a court order commanding Google to turn over early drafts, data logs, and even emails of the media professionals who contributed to the "Shitty Media Men" list which named him as an alleged abuser.
• "Crazy White Rats" are freaking out residents of an Italian village.
• Can a plan to close the Brooklyn Promenade because of BQE work be averted a la the L train shutdown plan?
• Jared Kushner is useless.
• Did you know about this nifty Google Docs hack?
• BuzzFeed is apparently planning to lay off 15% of its staff.
• Over a third of Generation Z knows someone who identifies as non-binary.
• And finally, this is a look that screams "don't judge me:"