Las Vegas – October 01, 2026 -- Nicotine brand LUCY has signed NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton as the face of a new campaign challenging the dominant tobacco players in the convenience store aisle.

LUCY pairs Payton's intensity with CEO David Renteln's calmer pitch

The campaign features Payton, known for his aggressive on-court style and trash talk, alongside LUCY CEO David Renteln in digital and social content aimed at reaching new customers. Payton already appeared under the partnership at Power Slap in Las Vegas on July 10, 2026, and at a Gary Payton charity golf tournament on August 3.

Payton heads to the NACS Show in Las Vegas from October 7 to 9

The rollout continues with retail appearances and meet-and-greets, including a confirmed stop at the NACS Show in Las Vegas. LUCY says key moments from each appearance will be shared across its social platforms.

Chester County, Tenn. – October 01, 2026 -- Animal Rescue Corps (ARC) removed 24 surviving animals from a property in rural Chester County, Tennessee, after law enforcement requested emergency assistance with an animal cruelty case on Sept. 26, 2026.

Rescuers pulled 12 dogs, 10 cats and kittens, one rabbit and one goat from the property

Many of the animals were emaciated, chained or confined in small, dirty enclosures. Investigators at the scene also discovered the remains of multiple animals that did not survive.

San Francisco – October 01, 2026 -- Siip Coffee has launched a free app and personalized subscription designed to match coffee drinkers with beans suited to their actual taste, not just what they think they like.

The app builds a "Taste Profile" for each user by tracking every coffee they rate, whether from their subscription, a cafe, or a grocery shelf. Users scan a bag and answer one question -- "How was this coffee?" -- and that rating refines future picks.

Users often misjudge their own preferences, Siip's data shows

In onboarding surveys, Siip users most frequently say they prefer chocolate and nutty flavors, but across tens of thousands of ratings, those flavors are consistently outperformed by less familiar categories like floral and berry notes. Roast preference shows a similar gap: six in ten users say they like medium roast, yet they rate lighter roasts higher.

Newark, Del. – October 01, 2026 -- Roughly one in four travelers gets their electronic travel authorization wrong on the first try, according to a new analysis from Service eVisa, a platform that helps applicants prepare documents for destinations like the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The company's Travel Readiness Index reviewed more than 10,000 anonymized applications for the UK ETA, US ESTA, Canada eTA, New Zealand NZeTA and Australia ETA submitted between January 1 and September 1, 2026. It found that 76% of applications passed caseworker review with no corrections needed.

Vancouver – October 01, 2026 -- MiniTool Software Limited has launched MiniTool Video Converter 6.0, adding video cutting, video merging, and GPU acceleration to its Windows-based multimedia tool.

Users can now split videos into segments and trim unwanted parts

The new cutting feature lets users split videos into segments, remove unwanted sections, and trim the start or end of a clip. Edited clips can be exported separately or combined into a single file. The tool supports input formats including AVI, 3GP, VOB, WebM, WMV, MP4, MOV, FLV, MKV, MPG, MPEG, MXF, M4V, TS, F4V, M2TS, and ASF.

New York – October 01, 2026 -- The Ad Council has launched The Secret to Motherhood, a new maternal mental health campaign urging new and expecting mothers to prioritize their own well-being as part of caring for their children.

One in five mothers face a maternal mental health condition

According to the CDC, these conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. Despite this, three in four cases go untreated, largely due to stigma surrounding the topic.

A new PSA series called 'What's Her Secret?' anchors the effort

Developed with Mischief USA on a pro-bono basis, the campaign is available in English and Spanish and includes broadcast and digital creative, strategic partnerships and talent activations. All materials direct mothers to a resource hub at LoveYourMind.com/moms, also available in Spanish at ConAmorTuMente.com/mama.

New York – September 30, 2026 -- Mediaplanet has launched its Future of Healthy Living Campaign, a health-awareness initiative distributed today as a magazine insert in USA TODAY and online at the campaign's digital hub, futureofpersonalhealth.com.

The campaign gathers editorial contributions from organizations including the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Public Health Association, the American Podiatric Medical Association, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Actor Ricco Ross fronts the cover story on prostate health stigma.

Ross discusses why conversations about prostate health should be normalized and urges men not to delay talking with their healthcare providers about appropriate screening.

Washington – September 30, 2026 -- Pickswise has launched "NFL Career," a free-to-play football simulation that compresses a 20-season pro career into roughly four minutes, available now on mobile and web.

Players create a character across 12 playable positions, from quarterback to punter, and guide them from draft night through retirement. Along the way, the simulation presents decisions on contract negotiations, injury management, and locker room conflicts.

Choices carry real in-game trade-offs

Signing a large contract with a rebuilding team can boost individual statistics, while accepting a pay cut to join a title contender offers a faster route to championships. The game is designed so that achieving both outcomes easily is rare, forcing players to prioritize.

Santa Monica, Calif. – September 30, 2026 -- STARZ says Verizon Fios customers could lose access to all STARZ channels, STARZ On Demand and the STARZ app unless the two companies reach a new distribution agreement soon.

Negotiations remain unresolved as a deadline looms

Alison Hoffman, President of STARZ Networks, said the company has been negotiating in good faith with Verizon but warned that viewers "should be prepared for Verizon to remove STARZ" unless a deal is struck imminently.

Losing the deal would cut off several exclusive shows

A removal would block Verizon Fios subscribers from the full "Power" Universe and the upcoming "Power: Origins," every episode of "Outlander" and its prequel "Outlander: Blood of my Blood," the next season of "P-Valley," the current season of "S.W.A.T. Exiles," and the upcoming premiere of "Tip Toe."

Fans would also lose STARZ's film library, including the global hit Michael.

Austin – September 30, 2026 -- Tickets are now on sale for the 62nd Annual Austin Trail of Lights, powered by H-E-B, which will light up Zilker Park from December 10 through 23 with more than 2 million lights.

The holiday display features 96 illuminated trees and over 70 lighted tunnels and installations.

The event, which began in 1965 as a small gathering around a yule log, now draws visitors from across the country to Austin's capital city each winter.

General admission is free on seven nights starting at 7 p.m.

Free entry runs December 10–11 and 13–17. On December 12 and 18–23, general admission costs $8 per person, though children under 12 get in free every single night.