Good morning and welcome to Kid News. I'm Tori. Today is Friday, May 14th, 2021.

And we begin with a momentous mask announcement and a huge incentive to get that COVID shot.

Yesterday in the U.S., the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people no longer have to cover up or socially distance even indoors.

The few exceptions, planes, trains and hospitals.

The biggest easing of rules to date for those who've gotten their shots.

The state of Ohio is going one step further. It's dangling a big wad of cash to get people off the vaccine fence.

For the next five Wednesdays, anyone over 18 who's received at least one dose is eligible to win a million dollars in a weekly lottery.

Also, a shot sweepstakes for vaccinated teens. Five full scholarships to a state university, including tuition, room and board, and books are up for grabs.

We have to believe the idea looked better on paper. Two college students from the Central California coast decided to jerry rig a boat out of two kitty pools, 20 orange home depot buckets, a little plywood and some duct tape.

Did it float? It sure did. What it didn't do was return to shore. The tide kept pushing them and their wacky plastic water craft farther out into the Pacific.

Fortunately, a witness with a sinking feeling called for a rescue. Afterwards, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department tweeted the sponge bob jingle.

If not a call nonsense, be something you wish while local news reports were quick to point out that the two boys were not engineering students.

The cicadas we've been talking about the past few months are taking their sweet time surfacing by now. The brewed 10 bunch was supposed to make its every 17 year deafening debut up and down the east coast, but a recent cold snap has for the most part snapped their plans.

It's not that they don't like chilly weather or that it would be bad for them. It's just that the thermometer lets them know when it's time to make their grand entrance.

In all 16 states we'll see and hear the little buggers. Georgia and the Carolinas have already gotten a sneak peek, but entomologists tell CNN that the big event will likely be the end of next week.

The more cicadas, the louder things get. Parts of Baltimore, Washington DC and Cincinnati are expected to top the cicada decibel charts.

As it turns out, the pipeline hack that led to gas shortages in the southeastern US didn't just fix itself.

Reports out yesterday confirmed that the company, Colonial, paid a shadowy foreign group $5 million in ransom money to unlock its computer network.

According to Bloomberg News, the untraceable cryptocurrency payment was made within hours of the cyber attack, and a decoding tool was given in return.

But undoing the damage took days. In hard hit North Carolina and Virginia, it could be another 24 to 48 hours before gas stations and pumps catch up to demand.

When it comes to pandemic recovery, rescue dogs appear to be getting the short end of the stick. Lockdowns began with a record number of first-time owners swarming shelters in search of a furry companion, and now that restrictions are lifting and people are working and traveling again, a record number are bringing them back.

Moms and Muts Colorado Rescue reports double the number of surrender dogs this year, over last.

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