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Scientists returned to the scene of the crime to finish the job they started last week -- and it appears they succeeded, snatching not just one, but TWO queen murder hornets.

Officials from the Washington State Department of Agriculture went out on another mission earlier this week to remove a tree they suspected still had quite a fair amount of hornets in its trunk, not to mention at least one queen that escaped their clutches last time around.

Turns out, they were right and then some ... not only was there a queen still burrowed in there, but there was a second fully-grown one as well. And, the crew got both!

Check out this video that documents their process. First, they cut the tree in question down, wrapped in plastic, sawed down the middle, pumped its innards with carbon dioxide to stun the hornets and then pried it open with heavy-duty tools to remove what they found.

What that was ... two massive queens, whose size you can see from the tubes they were housed in after the fact. Scientists believe one might be a newbie queen, and one might be the OG ... which helped spawn the hive -- where several other almost fully-developed were growing in what the crew calls white-capped cells. It's gnarly all around ... watch.

Kendall Jenner had a party on top of a party Saturday night ... celebrating Halloween and her birthday.

Kendall hosted the bash at Harriet's Rooftop in WeHo, where 100 guests wished her a happy 25. Among those who showed ... Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Travis Scott, Scott Disick, Jaden Smith, Paris Hilton, The Weeknd, Justine Skye, Quavo, Doja Cat, Winnie Harlow and Saweetie.

Kendall transformed herself into Pam Anderson in "Barb Wire," with the help of a blonde wig and a skin-tight, black one-piece. She blew out the candles on her birthday cake, which had a screen-printed pic of her from back in the day.

It's interesting ... the flyer for the party read ... "take all the photos you want, but please do not post on social media of any kind."

An event to bring voters to the polls deteriorated into violence Saturday, when police pepper sprayed the crowd.

Around 200 people in Graham, North Carolina marched to a polling place for an event called "I Am Change." Marchers were there not just to vote but also to honor black Americans who were killed at the hands of police.

After a moment of silence to honor George Floyd, the march got underway, but not long after, authorities called it an unlawful assembly because the marchers were obstructing the roads.

Police ordered them to disperse, and when they didn't the pepper spray came out. One woman who was wheelchair-bound was hit with pepper spray and fell out of her chair. Eight people were arrested for failing to disperse and with one instance of assault on a law enforcement officer.

Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump and George Floyd's niece, Brooke Williams, were slated to speak, but that never happened because of the police confrontation.

Rod Wave might want to "Pray 4 Love" ... but we really need to be praying for this stage he and his crew fell right through as they were making their way out for a show.

The St. Petersburg rapper was doing a big-time walkout Saturday night as he was being introduced for a concert he was doing at Morris Brown College in Atlanta ... but, before he could even get one song out -- the floor beneath him and his homies literally gave out!

Check it out -- Rod and co. make their way to the front of the stage, when all of a sudden ... a big chunk of the stage collapses and starts sucking people in. Rod stumbled back and fell, but he was fortunately able to avoid the pit of doom -- unlike some of his buddies.

Unclear why the stage caved in the way it did, but as you can imagine ... the jokes started to fly, sometimes at Rod's expense. Doesn't seem like it was his fault at all though -- just looks like a freak accident that was waiting for the right amount of poundage to set it off.

Halloween in Hollywood was different this year -- face it, everything's different this year -- but the costumes were still pretty awesome, and in some cases, pretty spectacular.

There's a ban on trick or treating this year, but fear not ... lots of celebs put on some epic costumes. For e.g., Kris Jenner transformed herself into Jack Skellington from "Nightmare Before Christmas," Lizzo was all about "WAP," and Cardi B was an awesome Medusa.

Then there's Genie Bouchard who became Mileena from Mortal Combat. Gabbie Union and Dwyane Wade went as a s'mores fam ... and they had all the accouterment, including chocolate and graham crackers.

The Weeknd killed with his Eddie Murphy character from "The Nutty Professor." BTW ... it took 6 hours to prepare the prosthetic make-up.

Kelsea Ballerini decided on social relevance, dressing as a Karen. Her shirt read, "I need to speak to the manager." Of course, she had the requisite Karen cut.

And the list of costumed celebs goes on and on ... Vanessa Hudgens, Tracee Ellis Ross, Celine Dion, Nick Young, Kim Kardashian, Taraji P Henson, January Jones, Conor McGregor, Kate Upton, Kerry Washington, Rosalia, Snoop Dogg and Alicia Keys.

Lori Loughlin will not be sprung early from her 2-month prison sentence in the college admissions scandal, but she does have one possible early out.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Lori will be isolated for the first 2 weeks of her stay at Dublin Federal Prison in Northern California. That's normal, because prison officials are extremely concerned about the spread of coronavirus behind bars.

There have been federal prisoners who have gotten out early because of COVID -- notably Michael Cohen, who's serving the remainder of his sentence under house arrest -- but given the judge in her case, he's unlikely to spring her early. The judge has made it clear ... he wants her to serve the entire sentence.

The Board of Prisons does have the ability to release her early if COVID spreads at the facility, but so far that's not even on the table.

You may have heard that federal prisoners only have to serve 85% of their sentence, but that doesn't apply to Lori. The 85% rule applies only if someone is serving a sentence longer than a year. That's why you see some sentences that are 1 year and a day, because that makes the inmate eligible for early release. Again, not the case with Lori.

As election night draws near, banks and apartment complexes from coast-to-coast are gearing up for unrest -- cautioning folks to be ready for the worst.

TMZ has learned one bank in Washington D.C. sent a letter to its customers saying it would remain open, but with boarded-up windows "due to concerns of potential unrest" before and after the election.

It also shut down its ATM for the time being, and says it will close if it feels employees are in danger.

As we've already told you ... businesses and shops in D.C. have been boarding up in anticipation of election violence, and police across the country are bracing for protests that could get out of hand.

Likewise, an apartment complex in L.A. -- with 5 separate buildings -- sent a notice to its hundreds of residents, saying there would be an increase in security "in an abundance of caution" over potential election chaos.

The complex says it will also be cracking down to make sure only residents and their guests are able to get onto the grounds. It's warning everyone to be on alert for strangers.

There are plans to board up businesses across the country, including on Bev Hills' famed Rodeo Drive.

Like it or not, Floyd Mayweather is a genius -- and played the "game of boxing" better than anyone else in the history of the sport ... changing it forever, so says Max Kellerman.

There will always be an argument about who's the best pure boxer of all time -- Floyd? Muhammad Ali? Joe Louis? -- but when it comes to the business side of the sport, Max tells us there's only one name in the conversation.

"He retired undefeated. He made hundreds of millions of dollars. He never took a bad beating. He has a very good point that he's the best ever at playing the boxing game," the "First Take" star told us in NYC.

"Boxing, at its core, is basically fans and networks exploiting fighters. And, what Floyd and [his business partner] Al Haymon did is they flipped the paradigm around. They said 'No no, you're not gonna exploit us' -- in fact, the fighters, in this case, Floyd, are gonna exploit the fans and networks. 'I know you wanna see us in the maximum kinda risk situation but in fact, I wanna put myself in the minimum risk, maximum reward situation.'"

Max points out Floyd navigated his career masterfully with 3 main factors -- "The timing of when he picked the opponents, his boxing style and then, of course, his own excellence."

Think about it ... Floyd has some incredible names on his resume -- from Canelo Alvarez to Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao even Conor McGregor.

We also asked Max -- a boxing savant -- about the upcoming Gervonta Davis vs. Leo Santa Cruz fight ... and if he thinks Ryan Garcia would have a shot against Teofimo Lopez.

Kim Kardashian's Halloween costume blew Carole Baskin away ... Carole tells us after seeing Kim dress up like her, she just can't live up to her own image anymore.

As you know, Kim dressed to the nines with her Carole Baskin costume, complete with animal print, a flower crown and her kids dressed as tigers ... and Carole tells us Kim's look is a "beautiful version" of herself.

Kim's best friend, Jonathan Cheban, also dressed as Joe Exotic.

Carole's getting the Halloween treatment for the first time this year ... and she says it's weird to see total strangers wearing flower crowns, cat prints and gaudy jewelry to channel their inner Carole Baskin.

You know you've made it when Kim K is dressing up like you for Halloween and not the other way around!!!

'Tiger King' is a huge hit with costumes this year -- Kelly Ripa dressed as Joe Exotic and Ryan Seacrest went as a tiger -- and Carole says Joe's the perfect icon for Halloween because he represents "pure evil."

Carole also tells us she's been so flattered by all the "clever renditions" of her look, she started a costume contest on her Big Cat Rescue Facebook page. Good luck looking better than Kim!

Shawn Kemp admits he smoked marijuana during his days as an NBA superstar ... and flat out says he has zero regrets, 'cause weed is way SAFER than pain pills.

TMZ Sports talked to the 50-year-old former hooper -- a 6x All-Star who played in the league from 1989 to 2003 -- about weed in the NBA ... and the "Reign Man" was honest when we asked if he blazed as a player.

"When I played, absolutely we smoked pot back in the day when we played. We was responsible with it but we definitely smoked," Kemp says.

Shawn tells us pro athletes put a ton of wear and tear on their body, and need pain relief ... and Kemp says pot is a much safer alternative than addictive and dangerous pain killers.

"For me, with arthritis and different pains in your body, [marijuana] is the perfect solution," SK says.

"Sometimes guys don't like to pop the pills, some guys, they don't wanna take those chances, so this is another way of taking care of yourself professionally, with doing it the right way."

BTW, Shawn knows what he's talking about when it comes to smoking.

Cameron Monaghan's quick-thinking neighbor told cops he caught a woman red-handed doing a shameless act ... and now the suspect is in jail.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD got a call last month around 9 AM from a man telling the dispatcher he was following a woman on foot, claiming he witnessed her setting the "Shameless" star's rosebush on fire, which was promptly put out.

We're told the neighbor initially saw the woman set the rosebush on fire and leave ... but when she returned to the area the neighbor followed her and called cops. It wasn't long before cops caught up to the man and detained the woman. It's unknown if Cameron -- who played William H. Macy's stepson/nephew in the Showtime hit series -- was home at the time.

According to police ... there's home surveillance of the woman lighting the fire. We're told the 44-year-old suspect was ultimately arrested and the L.A. County District Attorney's Office has now charged the woman with 1 count of felony arson and 1 count of misdemeanor possession of a smoking device.

Double the star power means double the fun ... And that is exactly what these celebs have experienced by dressing up as their favorite stars!

These celebs have decided to switch things up, and are making it clear that even famous people are obsessed with each other!

Get star struck times two with Kelly Rowland as Donna Summers, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita as Billie Eilish and Finneas, and Brad Goreski as Jennifer Lopez!

There are plenty of other scary similar snaps to see ... Just scroll through our gallery of stars dressed as stars to see who else has gotten all dressed up!

Barack Obama was on fire this weekend stumping for his former VP in Michigan -- and that's no coincidence seeing how he was in the GROOVE after sinking a trey beforehand.

Prior to Joe Biden's Detroit rally, Barack was putting up shots in the Northwestern High School gym -- and right before showtime ... he threw up a beauty from the far right corner, and watched it fall cleanly. Quite the impressive feat, and BO was clearly feeling himself.

The crowd cheers and someone in the distance says "Walk off!" As Barack casually saunters away, he looks back and says, "That's what I do!" Just to make sure everyone heard him, he removed his mask and said it again loud and clear. Yes, 44 owns the 3 -- take notice, y'all.

Barack must've been on one after his stirring speech earlier in the day at a previous rally in Flint -- where he blasted President Trump and his recent comments (not to mention behavior) regarding COVID. Namely, Barack couldn't believe Trump said doctors were juking up the stats in hospitals so they could get paid out for patients deemed to have died from the virus.

That actually marked the first time Barack shared the stage with Joe at an in-person rally -- before that, Barack was already on the campaign trail on his behalf, but Joe hadn't appeared alongside him until this weekend. No better time to join forces ... Election Day's Tuesday.

To celebrate the occasion, Barack and Joe shared an almost-elbow bump -- both jokingly trying not to touch to be distance-safe. It was a little awkward, but charming nonetheless.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello's Halloween almost turned a little scarier than they might've liked -- and it's all thanks to her many rambunctious dogs.

The pop star couple were attempting to walk the pooches Saturday in Camila's Miami neighborhood -- where the two are currently quarantining together -- and they seemed to have a difficult time getting a handle on the three canines going down the street.

Camila was handling her Shih Tzu, Leo, and what appears to be a younger relative of hers was dealing with her long-haired Chihuahua, Eugene, while Shawn took the reins on Camila's black German Shepherd, Thunder. All 3 pups seemed jumpy about something from across the way, and Camila and co. had to hold back their leashes tightly to keep them in check.

Soon enough, the mysterious trigger was revealed ... it was another dog that its owner was also walking ... and Leo, especially, wanted to get a whiff. Watch ... chaos briefly ensued as the Shih Tzu got away from Camila and chased the other dog before they could grab it.

All's well that ends well though (we think). Shawn threw up a Halloween photo of the two of them later in the day, and they seemed pretty chummy ... which leads us to believe nothing terrible happened in the furry fracas.

Beverly Hills may be an omen of what's coming next week, because things got crazy on the streets and cops started swinging their billy clubs at both Anti-Fascist and Pro-Trump demonstrators.

SWAT teams, local police officers and private security were deployed all throughout Bev Hills Saturday in anticipation of major unrest over the next few days. City officials had already announced they'd be doing this -- along with shutting down ritzy Rodeo Drive -- but it appears they wanted to get the muscle out well ahead of time to set a tone.

Check out these shots we got of armored trucks lining the streets, with officers in full tactical gear ... ready to rock and roll if s*** hits the fan. Not only that, but several different shops, storefronts and boutiques along Rodeo were doing a full board-up blitz as well.

Might've been a good move to get the ball rolling on this, because as it turns out ... there are dueling protests happening nearby right now, and violence appears to already be breaking out between anti-fascists and Trump supporters. The former were seen marching toward the latter near the famous Beverly Hills Sign in Beverly Gardens Park. Apparently, these clashing demonstrations have become a regular thing around there, especially lately.

We've got eyes on the ground ... and we're told cops are already breaking up some of the fights, which is leading to more aggressive behavior and violence by default. One of our brave photogs, Melanie, even got shoved to the ground by a cop -- which you see in our clip -- this just seconds after they declared the protests unlawful assemblies and started dispersing the crowds.

Vanessa Bryant and her daughters are all smiles this Halloween -- the first without Kobe and Gianna Bryant -- and for good reason too ... their costumes are freakin' amazing.

The Bryant family did a double shot of Halloween fun this year with a photo shoot that featured two sets of matching costumes between Vanessa and her three girls -- the themes being 'Madeline' (the beloved children's book series) and a classic choice ... 'Star Wars!'

For the former set, Mamba Bear dressed up as the boarding school teacher, Miss Clavel, while Natalia and her baby sisters, Bianka and Capri, donned the traditional uniform of Madeline and her classmates ... y'know, from the house in Paris covered in vines.

Needless to say ... they look incredible, almost like they were torn right out of the page. It's crazy, 'cause this is actually more realistic and faithful to the illustrations than the live action movie from the '90s.

On that latter shoot, it was less realism ... and more adorable than anything. Vanessa was a shorter version of Darth Vader, Natalia was a much taller version of BB8 -- and the two little ones were a Storm Trooper and an Ewok, respectively. These outfits were like the family-friendly ones you might find at a Target or something ... which played well for the camera.

The get-together seemed like a pretty joyous event, but of course ... the shadow of Kobe and Gigi still loom large, which makes the shoot pretty heart-breaking at the same time. Like we mentioned, this marks the first Halloween without them around -- and yet, the Bryants carried on with the family tradition of dressing up like champs.

Thankfully, Natalia's got a great shot of her and Gigi goofing around together this time last year. They were rockin' 'Wizard of Oz'-themed costumes -- with Natalia as the Scarecrow and Gianna as the Tin Man.