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Good morning and welcome to KID News.
I'm Kim.
Today is Friday, September 5th, 2025.
And we begin with a powerful Pacific storm bearing down on Paradise.
Kiko is, as of this, recording a major Category 4 hurricane marching toward Hawaii, with an arrival as soon as next Tuesday.
Forecasters, with the National Hurricane Center, say it's too early to tell if it'll make a direct hit, brush by or weaken, but they're warning residents and visitors alike to keep an eye on the storm embrace for high winds and dangerous surf, regardless of its ultimate track.
Robots are stepping up to the plate in professional baseball.
Tomorrow, the Oakland Ballers will let artificial intelligence call most of the shots in their home game, making them the first pro baseball team to try it.
The Ballers play in the Pioneer League, one of MLB's partner leagues.
For one game only, manager Aaron Miles will let AI decide things like pitching changes and pinch hitters, coming straight to his tablet in the dugout.
One thing AI can't do is wave runners home from third base.
The stakes for this game are lower than normal since the team's already playoff bound.
Still Miles will be ready to override the robot, and decisions concerning player health and safety will remain firmly in human hands.
It just keeps on climbing.
No one won the 14 billion Powerball jackpot Wednesday night, which means all that money and more rolls into tomorrow night's drawing.
By the time the six lucky numbers are drawn at 1059 p.m.
Eastern, the top prize could be up to $1.7 billion, third most in Powerball history.
And that is sparking a buying frenzy from one coast to the other, with tickets this week being snatched up at a rate of more than 3700 every minute.
A real lightsaber from Darth Vader is up for grabs for a hefty price.
The iconic red laser prop used in two of George Lucas's original Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, went on the auction block yesterday in Los Angeles.
At the time of this recording, the highest bid was 12 million, with estimates projecting it could sell for as much as 3 million.
This is the exact lightsaber that was used in the famous scene where Darth Vader tells Luke Skywalker, I am your father.
Experts verified the prop's authenticity by matching the cracks and paint scratches that show up on screen.
This is the first time this particular lightsaber has been offered at public auctions.
Amazon's free shipping feature is about to get a little less shareable.
Until now, members could pass the prized perk to other people, even if they lived at a different address.
Starting October 1st, that option ends and the only way to share is through the company's Amazon Family Program, which allows one other adult in the same household, plus up to four kids and four teens, to ship free, but only if the teens were added before April 7th.
If not, they're out of luck.
Amazon is now encouraging people to sign up for their own accounts by offering an entire year's worth of Prime membership for 1499.
If you miss the December 31st deadline, the price jumps to $139 a year, or $14.99 per month.
Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World is getting a makeover.
The Florida theme park just announced plans to paint over the pink and bring back the castle's classic blue and gold palette in time for next year's 55th anniversary celebration.
According to Disney Imagineers, the paint is UV and weather tested to withstand years of the harsh Florida sun.
They also use car paint on hard-to-reach spots on the roofs to keep touch-ups rare.
And to make sure all those Magic Kingdom photos are picture-perfect, gold accents are strategically added to the spires to make sure they sparkle as the sun sets.
Still to come, college kids and Legos, sometimes they fit just right.
But first, today's Kid News quiz.
What's the name of the Pacific hurricane that's moving toward Hawaii?
Kiko.
Which pro baseball team is using AI to make decisions in its game tomorrow?
The Oakland Ballers of the Pioneer League.
What colors were brought back in the new paint job on Cinderella's Castle?
Blue and gold.
What two Star Wars movies did the lightsaber up for auction appear in?
The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
In today's Kid News Kicker, a college student from Portland has turned a daydream into Lego history.
Alex, Solly now 20, first sketched his colorful Italian Riviera design when he was 17, ahead of a family trip.
And now the building kit is on store shelves as part of the Lego Ideas line.
The nearly 3300-piece set includes three cliffside buildings with removable roofs, a gelato shop, fish market, a fishing boat and even a mini figure of Alex holding a camera.
Only about 80 fan design sets have ever been produced since Lego Ideas launched in 2008, and Alex's project was one of just two chosen last year out of thousands submitted.
The lifelong Lego fan admitted it was pretty unexpected.
He's now hard at work on a new design of a coral reef commissioned by Stanford University.
Teachers and parents, a reminder that our weekly word search is back.
If you signed up, it's in your emails.
Now, shout outs for our Kid News classrooms.
Mrs. Pullen and her Mustangs at Los Medanos School in Pittsburgh, California.
Mrs. McNulty and her Titans at Bryantville School in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Mrs. Lipke and her Rams at Resurrection Lutheran School in Rochester, Minnesota, and Ms.
Meyer and her fantastic fourth graders at PS219 in Flushing, New York.
Thanks for listening.
Have a wonderful weekend, and we'll see you back here for more Kid News Monday morning.
