1. Police in Portland are asking the public for assistance in locating a missing 14-year-old girl from Portland. Police say Hilda Vanessa Sanaguaray-Upaya was last seen at 8 a.m. Jan. 27 in the area of Northgate Shopping Center on Auburn Street when she ran away from family members. She is a Deering High School student and lives in the North Deering neighborhood. Police say the teenager has not been to school or had any contact with friends or family members since her disappearance. She was last seen wearing a black-hooded jacket and blue jeans and is believed to have had with her a small pink wallet with a small amount of cash. Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is asked to call the Portland Police Department at 207-874-8575. (NewsCenterMaine)
2. Business Insider reports that OTS, a new inventory-management system designed to make Whole Foods stores more efficient, has led to barren shelves and employees breaking down in tears—if they even bother sticking around. “We’ve lost team leaders, store team leaders, executive coordinators, and even a regional vice president,” said an employee of a Georgia Whole Foods. “Many of them have left because they consider OTS to be absurd. As an example, store team leaders are required to complete a 108-point checklist for OTS.” Added a West Coast supervisor, “I wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares about maps and inventory, and when regional leadership is going to come in and see one thing wrong…The stress has created such a tense working environment. Seeing someone cry at work is becoming normal.” Business Insider notes that some employees are optimistic that Amazon, which recently purchased Whole Foods, “will fix the new system.” (Business Insider)
3. Rob Gronkowski, now out of concussion protocol, spoke to the media Thursday during New England’s final team availability before Super Bowl LII. The Patriots tight end had missed the previous three opportunities in Minnesota because he was still in the protocol. “It feels good,” Gronkowski told reporters, when asked how it feels to be cleared to play. “I mean, that was probably the plan the whole time. It’s part of the process. The plan was obviously to get cleared. I knew it was going to happen.” (Boston.com)
4. After blowing a 25-point, third-quarter lead to New England in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons were subject to a barrage of 28-3 jokes. And one that apparently stung was Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s decision to include 283 diamonds in the team’s championship rings. “I said to Robert, ‘You didn’t have to do the 28-3 in the ring.’” Falcons owner Arthur Blank told The New York Times. “It kind of pissed me off.” (Boston.com)
5. The world’s most famous groundhog emerged from his hole at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, this morning and saw his shadow–which presumably means we’re in for six more weeks of winter. (Of course, Phil’s had a spotty track record over the years, correctly predicting the weather only half of the time.) (USA Today)
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