Good Questions: Presidential Debates, Fish Ages & Coach Uniforms
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Patrick from Watertown watched the Republican primary debate this week, so he wants to know: Who pays for them?
Each debate is sponsored, and those sponsors range from Facebook to Fox News to CNBC. This past Wednesday's debate was sponsored by the Reagan Library Foundation and CNN.
According to a spokesperson for the Reagan Library Foundation, CNN paid for all of the lighting, staging and rigging. The Reagan Foundation paid for the guests (receptions, shuttles and security) and the media (staging and filing rooms). No one is releasing information on how much it all cost.
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After a 13-year-old boy caught an 86-inch sturgeon in Wisconsin last weekend, Peggy from Grand Rapids asks: How do you determine a fish's age?
"There are many ways, but we use the scales and ear bone of a fish," DNR Fisheries research scientist John Hoxmeier said.
It is similar to the how the age of trees are determined by the number of rings. Fish develop rings for each season on their scales, which allow people to determine age while the fish is still alive. But a more accurate way to determine age is by counting the rings on a fish's otolith, which is inside its head and the equivalent of an ear bone.
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Why do baseball managers and coaches wear uniforms?
MLB historian John Thorn says the tradition dates back to the late 1800s when the captain, who was also a player, determined batting order, pitchers and substitutions. Eventually, that player/captain/manager role went away, but the uniform stuck.