Yahoo’s board has apparently approved a $1.1 billion deal to buy blogging site Tumblr, a move the San Jose Mercury News calls CEO Marissa Mayer’s boldest yet. Though Tumblr has yet to make any real revenue (it made about $13 million last year) it has a ton of “cool factor,” something Yahoo is desperately in need of as it tries to remake its image.

Columnist Bill Keller takes to the New York Times editorial section this morning to outline the arguments for legalizing pot. He says one political path is the lottery model, where it’s sold as having a tax benefit for the greater good. By some estimates the sale of legalized marijuana is poised to be a $35 billion to $45 billion industry and advocates are trying to make sure it doesn’t become like big tobacco, instead looking to the wine industry for inspiration.

What does “unlimited” vacation really mean?  More companies are letting employees decide for themselves how much time they can take away, says the New York Post. The deal includes paid vacation time and sick leave; the idea is the employees should be able to decide how much time they can afford to not be at work. So don’t people abuse the policy? Quite the opposite, says the Post. Most employers must remind their employees to “take time off to recharge.”

No need to step on that critter next time it crawls into your kitchen. The Washington Post says bugs are actually a great source of nutrition. And not only that, eating them can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and livestock pollution. Beetles and caterpillars are the most commonly noshed, though small grasshoppers and water bugs have almost as much protein as lean beef does—with a fraction of the calories.

Forget dogs. The Anchorage Daily News says a swarm of honeybees in Croatia has been trained to sniff out land mines. Bees have a “perfect” sense of smell and researchers are exploiting that skill by training them to detect the scent of TNT by mixing it with the smell of their food. Experts say that bees are ideal for sniffing out bombs because larger investigators like dogs and rats can trigger an explosion with their weight.

The New York Times has an obituary in today’s paper for the man who discovered the hole in the ozone layer. Joseph Farman died over the weekend at the age of 82. Farman began taking ground-level readings in Antartica in 1957. He continued to do so for the next 25 years, despite pushback from his superiors who said the research wasn’t valuable. But it was his “commitment to the prosaic first principles of data collection” that convinced the world of its ozone problem.

Spring has sprung in the Midwest. Tornados were spotted across the middle of the country all weekend. The Wichita Eagle caught this one touching down in southeast Kansas, though luckily no one was injured.

I don’t know why anyone would want to, but if the desire to brush your teeth with frosting-flavored paste ever hits, Cupcake Toothpaste is the brand for you. USA Today says it’s easy to find birthday-cake flavored anything these days, from vodka to lip gloss to protein powder. Marketers say it’s not kids driving the trend, but rather nostalgic adults looking for their white cake-white icing fix.

I know two wrongs don’t make a right.  But this guy is still kind of my hero.  National Review theater critic Kevin Williamson destroyed the cell phone of a fellow patron of the arts.  A woman kept texting during an off Broadway show.  Williamson told her to stop. The ushers told her to stop.  Finally in the second act he grabbed the phone from her hand and threw it at a wall. The New York Post says Williamson called his reaction one of “activism.”

According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, race car legend Dick Trickle committed suicide at a North Carolina cemetery last night. He was 71. The man with the unforgettable name was a Wisconsin legend, an “old-school character,” and a mentor for young drivers. Trickle’s granddaughter was buried in the cemetery where his body was found. Friends say he had a hard time getting over her death in a 2001 car accident.

“End it Like Beckham” is the headline in the Daily Mail this morning. At 38, David Beckham is hanging up his boots…again. But he’s not likely to take up gardening just yet. The paper says Beckham is poised to cash in on his 21-year career by focusing on “Brand Beckham,” something marketing experts say will grow be worth more than $450 million over the next 20 years.

After staying away from the spotlight for years, Steve Jobs’s widow has emerges as a philanthropist, says the New York Times. Laurene Powell Jobs is worth an estimated $11.5 billion, making her the ninth richest woman in the world. Friends say she has spent the last year in mourning, but is now ready to take on a more public role championing the causes she believes in—education has been a long-time passion and gun control is a newer one.

If you’ve always admired the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, now is the time to act. The Wall Street Journal says there are 20 homes by the storied architect now on the market. And they don’t cost an arm and a leg—the one in Cincinnati is under $2 million.  But owning an architectural landmark does come with its pitfalls, says the Journal, like Wright’s penchant for small kitchens and closets. He also rarely built homes with basements.

Has the quest for speed turned the America’s Cup into a deathtrap? The San Jose Mercury News says technological advances have turned cloth sails into towering 13-foot carbon towers and instead of deck shoes sailors wear helmets, oxygen tanks and knives. The high-tech boats of today can reach 50 m.p.h., about 4 times faster than old sailing yachts, which some critics think is way too fast and dangerous.

Women of New York City, there is something important the NYPD would like you to know: It’s totally legal to go topless. In 1992, a judge ruled that women have the right to take their shirts off in public, just like men. But even though the rule is an old one, there are always a few cops who didn’t get the memo. So this year, the department decided to be more clear. The Times says police were read a command informing them that going topless is not an arrest-able offense at ten consecutive roll calls.

Google is coming for Facebook like never before, says the San Francisco Chronicle. At its developer conference yesterday, the search giant rolled out an impressive list of upgrades to Google +, things like self-editing photos, better messaging and automatic hashtags. One of the coolest features: the ability to use a computer algorithm to find your best pictures out of a big batch by scanning for things like whether people are smiling or whether the shot is blurry or in focus.

Duke’s storied basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski was paid $9.7 million in 2011. USA Today says that’s the greatest one year comp for a college coach since the paper began tracking these numbers in 2006. $1,978,401 of that is in base pay, while the rest was paid in bonus incentives and deferred compensation. Other coaches with big paychecks include Kentucky coach John Calipari ($5.4 million) Louisville’s Rick Pitino, and Kansas’ Bill Self (about $5 million each), though the paper says it’s tough to compare public and private school salaries.

ABC has announced that “Dancing with the Stars” will be pared back to just one show per week to reduce “viewer fatigue.” In today’s paper, the New York Post speculates that Fox may do the same thing with its stalwart “Idol” and drop the standalone results show each week. According to insiders, Fox is more interested in stemming the tide of viewers leaving the show than returning it to the numbers of its “glory days.”

Anyone who wants to name a place in this country must go in front of the Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. But before you make your plea for Pat’s Place or Kiernan’s Corner know this: the federal government has a wacky aversion to the apostrophe. Apparently the policy dates back to President Benjamin Harrison, who ordered that about 250,000 apostrophes be erased from US maps.

Allergy sufferers will appreciate the New York Times today, which does a super helpful round up of some of the air purifiers on the market these days. While none of them offered total relief at the height of allergy season, several seemed to do a decent job. And one product, the CritterZone, also worked extremely well at eliminating household odors…though it does so by emitting ozone.

Watch your mouth next time you’re in Seattle. According to a new study, residents of Washington state use obscenities far less than their counterparts in other states. To crown the least foul-mouthed, researchers analyzed about 600,000 calls made by a mobile-advertising firm and recorded how many obscenities customers used. The Seattle Times says in the Evergreen State only one out of every 301 people dropped the f-bomb, 50 percent lower than the national average. Ohioans had the worst record, followed by folks in Maryland and New Jersey.

It’s been six months since Superstorm Sandy ravaged the Jersey Coast leaving one of the Shore’s best-known attractions standing in middle of the ocean. That changed yesterday, when workers began dismantling the iconic Jet Star roller coaster, which has sat as a reminder of Sandy’s wrath. The Asbury Park Press says the demolition was a tough decision as the coaster’s new location “drew so much attention to the storm-ravaged borough, but needed to come out as a symbol of the recovery effort.” VIDEO

Can Angelina Jolie affect the Supreme Court? Jolie wrote an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday about her decision to have a double mastectomy once she discovered she carried the BRCA1 gene, a mutation that greatly increases a women’s risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. USA Today’s Richard Wolff says the Supreme Court is about to weigh in on whether the company that discovered the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes should be able to hold a patent for them. Critics complain that the monopoly makes testing for the genes prohibitively expensive for many women. Read the Op-Ed

“Houston, we have a superstar,” says the Washington Post this morning. They’re talking about Commander Chris Hadfield, otherwise known as the coolest astronaut to ever hold the job. The Canadian has used social media to explain things like why you can’t cry in space, how one might wring out a washcloth in zero gravity and why eating while in orbit is like eating with a head cold. Along the way, he’s gathered over 920,000 Twitter followers.

Though his 55th birthday is rapidly approaching, his rhinestone-encrusted cane isn’t about age. The Minneapolis Star Tribune scored a rare interview with Prince, who talked about everything from aging (“I don’t have time for old people.”) to his new all-girl back-up band, 3rdEyeGirl (“It’s time for their legacy.”), to his new album, which is coming out later this year.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the growth of slightly-flavored water for those who have sworn off soda but are bored with plain water. Now you can crack a seltzer with natural fruit juices, squeeze a “liquid water enhancer” into your plain glass of tap or buy a bottle that will squeeze a real lemon for you—and keep the seeds away. Though most of the these “flavored waters” are marketed as “natural,” almost all of them have artificial flavors added.

The New York Times gives confidence to those who want to try frying chicken at home. Writer Julia Moskin says it doesn’t have to be messy or fattening. It’s much easier, she points out, than cooking a whole turkey dinner, something most of us do annually. First thing to do is invest in a cast-iron skillet. The next thing to think about is whether to brine or not. Opt for the latter, says Moskin and spend your time thinking about the most crucial part of fried chicken: the crust.

Here’s some of the chatter about “Crowd Rules” to get you pumped up:

• Pat talks to CNBC about his Top 5 Rules for Small Businesses.

• The New York Post gives “Crowd Rules” three stars.

• And the New York Daily News calls the show a “Crowd Pleaser.”

Anyone up for a Cicada Crunch Custard? Folks all over the east coast are bracing for a summer of cicada love, but are the noisy critters a nuisance or our next meal? The Washington Post says some are looking forward to the invasion with a frying pan on the ready. Apparently, when sautéed in butter, cicadas are “crunchy on the outside, but soft in the middle.”

According to the New York Times, the art market has become a favorite of money launderers, mainly because it’s already a “famously opaque” market.  In other words: who can say whether a painting is worth $100 million or just $8 million? Also helpful: “having a transaction where the seller is listed as ‘private collection’ and the buyer is listed as ‘private collection.”

Ted Turner can keep his bison. A Montana judge just ruled that an agreement the media mogul made with the state’s Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks is valid. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle says Turner, who has been caring for dozens Yellowstone Park bison on his private ranch, can keep 75 percent of the bison’s offspring. Wildlife advocates argue that it’s unfair for a private citizen to benefit from animals held in a public trust.

Michael Wolff has an excellent column in USA Today this morning about the TV network “upfront” ad presentations that begin this week. That’s when advertisers are given a locked in rate if they commit to buying advertisement for the fall season now. But Wolff says the ad industry has yet to catch up to the choices consumers are making about video on demand—like the fact that there really isn’t a fall season any more.

The New York Times’ Bill Carter had a busy Sunday—he breaks two big media stories in today’s paper. First up, Carter says Seth Meyers has officially gotten the nod from NBC for the 12:30 slot when Jimmy Fallon moves up. And then news that Barbara Walters has set a retirement date. She tells Carter it will be a year from now, and to will be a “decisive retirement.”

My new small business competition show premieres tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on CNBC. And the morning, the New York Post’s Linda Stasi gives “Crowd Rules” a three star review. She says it’s like “Shark Tank” but “more relatable to regular Joes.” She also divulges that all three competitors on tomorrow’s debut will be in the specialty food business but not who leaves with a check for $50,000.

Details of a brazen credit card heist fill the pages of the New York Daily News this morning. A group of computer hackers amassed about $45 million from ATMs in 26 countries by hacking into credit card systems of several banks and manipulating the balances of hundreds of prepaid credit cards. Then “cashers” would fan out and withdraw the money from ATMs. In one hit, thieves were able to withdraw about $400,000 in a little over two hours from ATMs around New York City.

Some advice for recent graduates on the opinion page of the Wall Street Journal this morning from Kirk McDonald.  McDonald, who runs an ad tech company, says if you want a job in media or technology, it would behoove you to learn some computer programming—otherwise he won’t be hiring you. You don’t have to gain the expertise of people who “hack into NASA’s computers for fun,” but knowing what an API is and being able to discuss it intelligently will go a long way in your hunt for a job.

Go to your room has a whole new meaning. In an attempt to keep their kids out of trouble, more parents are investing money in spaces within their homes that teenagers want to hang out in. And these “teen lounges” feature more than just a bean bag chair. Think DJ mixing stations, hidden passages a la Harry Potter and fully equipped video game arcades. Most of these spaces also feature ways for parents to keep on eye on their children’s computer usage.

The Social Security Administration released the most popular names for babies yesterday with Sophia and Jacob leading the pack once again. The Chicago Tribune notes that attention-grabbing names seem to be picking up steam with expecting parents—both King and Messiah are becoming more popular choices for boys. So is Major. That seems like a lot to live up to, doesn’t it?

And then there was none. Randy Jackson, the last of the original “American Idol” judges, announced that he’ll be leaving the show after the current season concludes. The LA Times says Jackson’s decision to end his 12-year tenure comes on the heels of rumors that all four current judges would be let go after this season wraps. The “Idol” alum says he wants to spend time focusing on his “other business ventures.”

There’s an interesting media sotry in the New York Times today about the rapid rise of the Daily Mail’s online version. Seventeen million visitors a month come to the British website from the US. Understandably, the company has identified the US as a key market for growth. Other media companies say Mail Online’s ethics are shaky and that its stories are often taken from other websites with little or no attribution.

South Florida has a new celebrity, says the Sun Sentinel. Filomena Tobias has been dubbed the “bird lady” and become the latest Internet meme after unceremoniously jamming her middle finger in the face of Chicago Bulls player Joakim Noah earlier this week. The Sentinel calls Tobias a millionaire socialite who’s familiar with the spotlight, thanks to a lengthly legal battle over her late husband’s estate. Despite her support, Heat players lined up to lament her actions.

Back in 2002, the US armed forces had two kinds of camouflage—one for the woods, one for the desert. Fast-forward 11 years and that number has grown to ten. Air Force pilots have their own pattern, as do Marines in the desert—there’s even a special camouflage just for Afghanistan. The Washington Post says this is a classic example of one of the government’s biggest problems: duplication. When multiple agencies work on the same thing, you get ten different types of camouflage, or 16 programs to teach personal finance.

Those who’ve ever attended a city council meeting know it’s not the most desirable place to find yourself. But to pay for the honor of being bored to death? That seems even less desirable. The New York Times says that’s the aim of a new experimental play opening this weekend. The script for “City Council Meeting” was taken from transcripts of actual community meetings around the country and is intended to get its audience to think about “why some people get involved in local government and others — that is, most of us — do not.”

USA Today tries to decipher whether McDonalds’ tweet in the wake of the Ohio kidnapping story was tacky or nice. Charles Ramsey, the neighbor who helped free Amanda Berry from the house where she and two others were held cative for 10 years, told news camera after news camera how he heard Berry scream while sitting down on his porch to enjoy a Big Mac. McDonalds interpreted that as a PR opportunity, tweeting “We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey — we’ll be in touch.”

Baseball is not a leisurely pastime for everyone. The New York Times has a scary piece about how dangerous it is to be a pitcher when a batter hits a powerful line drive. Officials have been on the hunt for something to protect the heads of a pitcher when a ball comes whizzing by at 60 miles per hour. But a better helmet isn’t always enough—in 2007 a base coach was killed after catching a line drive in the neck.

Red snappers are making a comeback, says the Orlando Sentinel, 18 years after federal regulations limited how many could be caught. Now Florida fishermen want those rules relaxed so they can take advantage of the bounty. But conservationists say red snappers need more time to regenerate before they are out of troubled waters. They point to the sea bass as a recent success story of how patience is rewarded.

Going to college guarantees you’ll make a better salary, right? Wrong, says the San Francisco Chronicle. A new study from the Brookings Institute says that graduates from less selective schools almost never make as much much as those from highly competitive schools. Also math, engineering and science majors are much more likely to break even than those majoring in art of literature. And if you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, go to a public school.

The New York Times says the latest place to spend the noontime hour is at a club. Nightclubs are opening their doors during the daylight to accomodate a growing swell of young workers who’d rather dance than wait in line at Chipotle. Yes, there are drinks involved but promoters say the idea is networking, not unwinding. The woman considered the “mother of this mini-movement” said she was inspired by the movie “Fight Club.”

There’s a cool story in the New York Times about making trees that glow in the dark. A group of scientists and entrepreneurs have started the project in hopes that one day glowing trees and shrubs could replace electric street lamps. The project is garnering a lot of attention not only for its ambitious end goal, but also for the DIY way it’s being run—by hobbyist scientists around the country, instead of in an academic or corporate lab.

Merry Christmas™! Disney has dropped its bid to trademark the phrase ‘Dia de los Muertos,’ reports the Arizona Republic, after outraged citizens called the company out for trying to “trademark a cultural tradition.” The Latino holiday celebrates the spirits of the dead, and has for centuries. Disney, which said it was only trying to secure the merchandising rights for an upcoming film about Dia de los Muertos, withdrew its trademark application yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Boehret takes a look at iTunes features you might not know about in today’s paper. The one that appeals to me is giving your kids a monthly digital allowance, ranging anywhere from $10 to $50. Boehret also tackles the difference between iCloud and iTunes Match, how to share a library with your friends or family, and how to give an iTunes gift without a giftcard.

The government is set to release the prices that hospitals charge for the first time today, says the Washington Post. And the discrepancies are pretty astounding. In New York City, prices varied about 321 percent between hospitals located just 63 blocks away from each other; at one, asthma complications racked up a $34,000 bill while the other charged only $8,000 for the same treatment. READ THE FULL REPORT

Horrible details are emerging from the house where three young women, missing for 10 years, were rescued from their captors on Monday. According to USA Today, Cleveland police received multiple calls from concerned neighbors, who reported seeing “naked women on leashes crawling on all fours” in the backyard. There are also reports that the women were beaten severely and possibly kept locked up in chains.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s “very private” decision to get Lap-Band surgery “exploded in the public eye yesterday,” says the Newark Star-Ledger. Christie had gone to great lengths to keep the surgery quiet, using fake names and secret appointments, but that fell by the wayside Tuesday after the governor held a press conference. He insists the decision was for his health and not to quell talk that he is “too fat to run for president” but political watchers aren’t convinced.

The State calls Mark Sanford the “Comeback Kid” in today’s paper. The former governor of South Carolina, who famously claimed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail while actually canoodling with his mistress in Argentina, will be heading to Washington after handily winning a seat in Congress. In his victory speech, Sanford said “I want to acknowledge a God not just of second chances, but a God of third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth chances because that is the reality of our shared humanity.”

Wisconsinites know their cheese. So it makes sense, says the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, that a Wisconsin woman was behind the winning idea for the new cheesy Lays Potato Chip flavor. The 45-year-old mother of three will take home $1 million or one percent of this year’s sales for her cheesy garlic bread flavored potato chips, whichever is higher. Karen Weber-Mendham says she’s not planning on gambling with her chip money—it’s going towards “braces and college.”

Three young women have been found alive in Cleveland almost 10 years after they disappeared, reports the Plain-Dealer this morning. The discovery came after one of the young women, Amanda Berry, managed to make a call to 911 and give police information about where she was being held. Police say they have taken three brothers, all in their 50s, into custody.

You, hear me! Give this fire to that old man. Pull the black worm off the bark and give it to the mother. And no spitting in the ashes! It sounds odd, but according to linguists, if you said that phrase to hunter-gatherers 15,000 years ago, they would understand you. The Washington Post says the words above have remain unchanged from a language that died out at the end of the Ice Age. The life span for most words is about 8,000-9,000 years.

After a 17-year hiatus, cicadas are planning their return en masse this summer, and it what a loud return it will be says the Staten Island Advance. In some places on the East Coast, entomologists predict that cicadas will outnumber humans, 600 to 1.  But have no fear, these swarms of bugs aren’t looking to suck your blood—they only have one thing in mind: sex. After they successfully mate, they will die and their offspring will return underground for another 17 years.

The Internet sales tax bill passed its Senate vote yesterday and will now move on to the House for approval. USA Today says major retailers and brick-and-mortar stores would be the big winners if the bill is ultimately successful. Online retailers say it’s too much of a hassle to compute sales tax state-by-state and say they would have to hire additional employees to deal with the policy change. eBay has been the legislation’s loudest opponent, arguing that it unfairly targets small business owners.

The Wall Street Journal puts a surprising move by the SEC on its front page this morning. The regulator has charged the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with fraud for failing to fully disclose its financial troubles to bond investors. It is the first time the SEC has come down on a municipality and experts say Harrisburg could be the first in a long line.

The Obama administration is now formally pointing the finger at China. It had been presumed for several months that China’s military was behind cyber attacks on US government computer systems. Now the New York Times says the government has “explicitly” made the allegation. Officials believe China wanted to steal industrial technology but also wanted to get an idea about how US policy makers think.

Just because the technology exists doesn’t mean others have to like it. The New York Times has a story about the backlash against Google Glass. As one might expect, casinos in Las Vegas are not a fan. They say anyone wearing glasses with a built-in video recorder will not be welcome. And West Virginia legislators are trying to pass a law making it illegal for people to don the wearable computers while driving.

The Sun Sentinel says Florida police have a arrested a man for “truck-en driving.” After witnessing a red Mitsubishi rip through a 35-mile zone going 57 mph cops began to trail to trail the car. But when the car finally stopped, officers couldn’t see anyone inside. When the car took off again, and then stopped once more, they were even more baffled to again find no one inside. After some recon, however, they noticed something moving and realized the 28-year-old driver had been hiding in the trunk each time cops tried to bust him.