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Worth a Click: 8 Stories You Need to Read Today

By DNAinfo Staff | October 8, 2015 4:57pm 

 Jessica Mendoza, seen here at the 29th Annual Women's Sports Foundation Awards Gala in 2008, made history Tuesday when she became the first woman to call a nationally broadcasted MLB postseason game.
Jessica Mendoza, seen here at the 29th Annual Women's Sports Foundation Awards Gala in 2008, made history Tuesday when she became the first woman to call a nationally broadcasted MLB postseason game.
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Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

Jessica Mendoza Makes History, Deals with Twitter Backlash

TV analyst and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Jessica Mendoza made history Tuesday when she became the first woman to call a nationally televised MLB playoff game. Mendoza — once a softball slugger for Team USA — joined John Kruk and Dan Shulman in the booth at Yankee Stadium to break down the American League Wild Card Game.

Mendoza is getting wide praise for her insightful commentary, but not everyone's happy to see a woman in a traditionally male role. Detractors took to Twitter to shoot her down, but none as spectacularly as an Atlanta radio jock who launched an ugly Twitter attack on the analyst. 

When asked about her detractors on Good Morning America Thursday, Mendoza said, "I want to get to a point when we hear a female voice on NBA, NFL, or just anything in men’s sports, and it is like, ‘Sweet. She’s doing a good job.’” [Huffington Post]

Putin Has a Putin-esque Birthday

Would anyone be surprised if Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his birthday playing hockey live on Russian television and then firing off 26 missiles at Syria? Because that's exactly how Putin spent his busy 63rd birthday, according to the Washington Post. [Washington Post]

Who Runs New York?

For anyone who doesn't want to follow the twists and turns of Albany, state politics can be tricky to untangle. Luckily the reporters at the Observer have rounded up a list of 40 people they say keep New York state running — or not. [Observer]

Kitty Genovese’s Brother Reexamines Her Murder in New Documentary

The 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in Kew Gardens is one of the most infamous homicides in New York City history. Now it's the subject of a new documentary “The Witness,” which was just screened at the New York Film Festival.

The new documentary, told through the eyes of one of Kitty's brothers, Bill Genovese, reexamines the case and discovers that, contrary to common belief, there actually were several people who tried to help his sister. [New Yorker]

D.C. Leading the Way on Paid Paternal Leave?

New parents in Washington, D.C. could soon receive 16 weeks paid leave under a new bill introduced by the City Council this week. While still a far cry from Sweden’s 68 weeks of paid parental leave, the new policy would be the most generous in the country. Funded by a new payroll tax, the policy would pay the full salary of all non-federal workers earning $52,000 or less; and higher earners would receive 50 percent of their income up to $3,000 a week. Federal workers could pay a fee to join the program. [Fast Company

Facebook Tests More Than Just Likes

If you've ever wanted more than a "Like" button to express your feelings about a friend's post on Facebook, you could soon get your wish. Developer Chris Cox announced today that the social media site is testing out six reaction buttons: "Love," "Haha," "Yay," "Wow," "Sad" and "Angry." The reactions will pop up when someone hovers over or holds down the "Like" button. Users in Ireland and Spain are beta testing the reactions before the company rolls out the feature to everyone. [NBC News]

Nobel Prize Winners Who Can’t Believe They Won

This year’s Nobel Prize winners were announced this week, so the Wall Street Journal asked several past and present winners about the moment they first heard the big news. A common thread? Many thought it was a prank.

"The first thing I said was 'You must be kidding!’ and, I thought, the first thing I did after that was to ask for a way to verify that this could be genuine because it just seemed impossible,”  William C. Campbell, one of this year’s winner for the prize in physiology or medicine told an interviewer, according to a transcript on the Nobel Prize website. 

You can listen to the full interview below.

We're Headed for a Pumpkin Shortage

Troubling news came out of Illinois earlier this week — crop experts say there might be a canned pumpkin shortage this Thanksgiving thanks to record rainfalls in June that washed out crops.

“I would not wait until Nov. 20," University of Illinois professor Mohammad Babadoost told the Associated Press. "I'd buy it whenever it comes to the store." [Chicago Tribune]

This column has been compiled by DNAinfo staff members Lisha Arino, Julia Bottles, Jeanmarie Evelly, Emily Frost, Noah Hurowitz, Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska and Shaye Weaver.