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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/celebrity-makeup-artist-aj-crimson-dead-at-27/3625616/
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The makeup world is mourning the loss of one of their very own.
Celebrity makeup artist and beauty mogul AJ Crimson died on March 30 at the age of 27, his family said in a statement to E! News.
"AJ Crimson was a makeup industry leader that set a standard of beauty that was elevated, beautiful, and accessible to people of all color," the message read. "We as a family are heartbroken and devastated by his passing, but thankful for the lessons that he laid on each of us with his truth, directness, and leadership."
Thanking fans for their kind words about Crimson, the family said he was an "inspiration to us as much as he was a bright light to the rest of the world. There are no words that can sum up his whole. Until we meet again!"
Michele Marie PR said in a statement to E! News that they are "devastated" and "absolutely loved AJ, truly one of the sweetest, most humble people we have ever had the pleasure of working with."
Celebrity Deaths: 2022's Fallen Stars
Details surrounding Crimson's death have not been released to the public.
Entertainment News
The self-taught makeup artist founded his cosmetic brand in 2012.
After starting with just lipstick and glosses, his beauty products expanded into an inclusive line of powder and cream foundations, which are now being sold at Nordstrom and on Amazon.
His celebrity clientele included the likes of Angela Bassett, Brandy, Fergie, Regina King, Missy Elliott, Amerie, Hilary Duff and many more.
Following the news of Crimson's passing, several stars took to social media to mourn his loss, including actress Bresha Webb, who shared a touching post about her late friend on Instagram on March 31.
"I'm blessed to have been apart of your journey and I will keep your legacy alive," the A Fall From Grace actress wrote. "And wow did you leave a legacy. Praying for your spirit to be lifted up to the heavens and that the angels usher you in with all of the harmony and sweetness that you shared on this earth."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/oscars-producer-says-police-offered-to-arrest-will-smith/3625645/
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Oscars producer Will Packer said Los Angeles police were ready to arrest Will Smith after Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage.
“They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment," Packer said in a clip released by ABC News Thursday night of an interview he gave to “Good Morning America.” “They said we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges, we can arrest him. They were laying out the options.”
But Packer said Rock was “very dismissive” of the idea.
“He was like, ‘No, no, no, I’m fine,” Packer said. "And even to the point where I said, ‘Rock, let them finish.’ The LAPD officers finished laying out what his options were and they said, ‘Would you like us to take any action?’ And he said no.”
The LAPD said in a statement after Sunday night's ceremony that they were aware of the incident, and that Rock had declined to file a police report. The department declined comment Thursday on Packer's interview, a longer version of which will air on Friday morning.
More Will Smith and Chris Rock Coverage
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences met Wednesday to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations against the group’s standards of conduct. Smith could be suspended, expelled or otherwise sanctioned.
The academy said in a statement that “Mr. Smith’s actions at the 94th Oscars were a deeply shocking, traumatic event to witness in-person and on television."
Without giving specifics, the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre, but refused to do so.
Smith strode from his front row seat on to the stage and slapped Rock after a joke Rock made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, when he was on stage to present the Oscar for best documentary.
On Monday, Smith issued an apology to Rock, the academy and to viewers, saying “I was out of line and I was wrong.”
The academy said Smith has the opportunity to defend himself in a written response before the board meets again on April 18.
Rock publicly addressed the incident for the first time, but only briefly, at the beginning of a standup show Wednesday night in Boston, where he was greeted by a thunderous standing ovation. He said “I’m still kind of processing what happened.”
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/disney-spurs-far-right-media-organizations-push-into-kids-content/3625595/
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The conservative media organization The Daily Wire announced plans to invest $100 million to create programming for children to counter "woke media companies."
The move follows Disney's opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education act — which critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — which was signed into Florida law this week. The law restricts discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms. A group of over a dozen students, parents, educators and advocates filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education.
The Daily Wire said Wednesday it plans to roll out live-action and animated children's entertainment. It also will spend another $100 million on similar content for adults. The programming is scheduled to launch on The Daily Wire's subscription streaming service in spring 2023.
"Americans are tired of giving their money to woke media companies who hate them," Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing said in a statement. "They're tired of giving their money to woke media companies who want to indoctrinate their children with radical race and gender theory. They want to do more than just cancel them. They want alternatives."
Read the full story at NBCNews.com
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/taraji-p-henson-chris-paul-named-to-black-colleges-board/3625578/
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President Joe Biden is naming actor Taraji P. Henson and the NBA's Chris Paul to a presidential advisory board on historically Black colleges and universities.
They are among nine men and nine women Biden is appointing to the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the White House announced Thursday.
Several HBCU presidents, the president of United Airlines and the first Black woman to become administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency are among Biden's selections.
They will join Tony Allen, the president of Delaware State University, and Glenda Glover, the president of Tennessee State University, who are serving, respectively, as chairperson and vice chairperson of the board, which was established during the Carter administration.
Henson is a Washington, D.C., native who studied acting at Howard University, a historically Black school and the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris. Paul is a 12-time NBA All-Star with the Phoenix Suns and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Besides Allen and Glover, the presidents of five other HBCUs will also join the board. They are Virginia State University, Norfolk State University in Virginia, Alabama State University, Prairie View A&M University in Texas and Dillard University in New Orleans.
Lisa Jackson, who became the EPA's first Black administrator in the Obama administration, and United Airlines President Brett Hart will also join the board.
U.S. & World
Biden also intends to appoint Paige Blake, a 20-year-old junior at Bowie State University, an HBCU in Maryland.
The White House said the administration has committed $5.8 billion in support to these historically Black colleges and universities through a combination of pandemic relief funding, grants and forgiving capital improvement debt.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/white-house-hosts-transgender-jeopardy-star-amy-schneider/3625584/
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President Joe Biden marked Transgender Day of Visibility on Thursday by denouncing “hateful bills” being passed at the state level as the White House played host to “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider, the first openly transgender winner on the popular quiz show.
Schneider met with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who joined Rachel Levine, the assistant health secretary and the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate, for a conversation with transgender kids and their parents.
Schneider used the moment in the Washington spotlight to speak out against bills affecting transgender people.
“They’re really scary and some of them in particular that are denying medical services to trans youth, those are, those are lifesaving medical treatments," Schneider told reporters. "These bills will cause the deaths of children and that’s really sad to me and it’s really frightening.”
“Jeopardy!” star Schneider spoke of “being a trans person out there that isn’t monstrous and isn’t threatening and is just a normal person, like we all are,” and said "the more that people like me can be seen, the harder it is to sustain the myths that are ... kind of driving a lot of this hate and fear.”
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/i-team-russia-owes-new-york-city-101000-for-unpaid-parking-tickets/3625370/
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As the international community seeks ways to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine, diplomats from the rogue nation continue to enjoy generous parking privileges in New York City. That, despite U.S. State Department rules which suggest Russia should be temporarily blocked from acquiring diplomatic plates.
An I-Team analysis of summonses issued to vehicles with Russian plates shows the country owes more than $100,000 in unpaid parking fines. When asked about the diplomatic parking bill, a State Department spokesperson referred the I-Team to a policy which indicates three or more unpaid violations since 2003 will result in a nation being suspended from registering or renewing diplomatic license plates.
According to New York City’s database of open parking violations, Russia currently has 46 parking tickets that have gone unpaid for more than 100 days since 2003 — far more than the three outstanding summonses that would trigger a suspension.
The State Department declined to say definitively whether Russia is currently suspended from registering or renewing diplomatic plates, but stressed the policy is applied evenhandedly, irrespective of geopolitics or sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
"This policy is enforced for every mission, including the Russian Federation," the State Department wrote in an email to the I-Team.
Email and phone messages to the Russian Federation Mission to the United Nations were not returned by the deadline for this article.
In total, member countries of the United Nations have racked up more than $16 million in unpaid New York City parking fines. Most of that figure stems from violations that took place prior to 2002.
In Nov. 2002, the State Department and the government of New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that calls for much tougher penalties for scofflaw nations that don’t pay parking bills.
Despite the promise of those tougher penalties, the I-Team spotted Russian diplomatic vehicles flouting city traffic laws just this week. On East 67th Street, near the country’s UN mission, there were three Russian vehicles parked on sidewalks. Several others were illegally parked in No Stopping zones. One Russian diplomat parked his vehicle in a spot reserved for the fire station across the street.
Some neighbors who live and work near 67th Street said Russia’s flagrant parking violations should draw swift enforcement – especially because much of the international community is searching for new ways to condemn the country for waging war in Ukraine.
"I don’t think they should be given diplomatic immunity whatsoever for parking tickets," said Barbara Evans-Butler, a neighbor who said she was once married to an Australian diplomat.
Jack Murray said he routinely sees illegally parked Russian vehicles on his block. "We should be disallowing their parking here," he said.
Still others suggested questions of parking enforcement should be kept entirely separate from discussions of how to deter Russian aggression.
"Right now I think the main focus should be on how we can make the biggest impact," said Jose Cabrera, "and I don't necessarily think that's the biggest impact we can think about right now."
The 2002 Memorandum of Understanding allows New York City to tow diplomatic vehicles parked on sidewalks or in No Stopping zones. A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams declined weigh in on whether Russia should have its illegally parked vehicles towed or maintain its diplomatic parking privileges.
Although diplomats enjoy immunity from the laws of host countries – that immunity only applies to activities done in their official capacity as representatives of their nations. In its response to the I-Team, the US State Department stressed that foreign diplomats are still obligated to follow local traffic laws.
"Diplomatic plate holders are expected to pay for parking and moving violations," the email said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/red-hot-chili-peppers-honored-with-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star/3625729/
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A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled Thursday honoring the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the latest honor for the band inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and the recipient of six Grammys.
All four members of the band -- lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante -- spoke at the 11:30 a.m. ceremony in front of Amoeba Music where they will give the first music performance at its new Hollywood location next Thursday.
Emmy-winning actor Woody Harrelson, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame funk singer George Clinton and singer turned chemical dependency counselor Bob Forrest are also set to speak. The ceremony will be streamed on the Walk of Fame's website, www.walkoffame.com.
The star is the 2,717th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the first 1,558 stars.
Red Hot Chili Peppers were selected for a star in 2008 but just scheduled the ceremony "a few months ago,'' Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, told City News Service.
The ceremony comes one day before the release of the band's first studio album since 2016, "Unlimited Love,'' its first recording with Frusciante since 2006.
Entertainment News
Formed in 1983 by Kiedis, Flea (who was born Michael Peter Balzary), guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons, classmates at Fairfax High School, Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold 80 million albums, generated 5 billion YouTube views, and gathered 22 billion Spotify streams, averaging 21 million monthly listeners on the platform.
Smith has been with the band since 1988. Frusciante also joined in 1988, left in 1992, rejoined in 1998, left in 2009 and rejoined again in 2019.
Red Hot Chili Peppers have received 16 Grammy nominations, the first in 1990 for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal for the single "Higher Ground.'' They won their first Grammy in 1993 for best hard rock performance with vocal for "Give It Away.''
Their other Grammys came in 2000 for best rock song for "Scar Tissue'' and in 2007 for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal and best rock song, both for "Dani California,'' and best rock album and best boxed or special limited edition package, both for "Stadium Arcadium.''
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/boy-12-shot-and-killed-in-brooklyn-while-in-parked-vehicle-police-officials/3625743/
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A 12-year-old boy was shot and killed in Brooklyn Thursday evening — an unintended victim after a group of men opened fire, police officials said.
The boy was in a minivan parked near East 56th Street and Linden Boulevard in East Flatbush just before 8 p.m., according to two senior NYPD officials with direct knowledge of the incident, when men exited a sedan and started shooting.
It is believed that the child, who was struck in the head and chest, was not the intended target of the shooting. The boy was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to senior police officials.
A 20-year-old woman was also shot in the cheek on her right side, chest and upper left leg. She is expected to survive, senior police officials said.
The five suspects took off on Linden Boulevard in a black Infiniti sedan with Connecticut license plates, as well as another black sedan.
An investigation is ongoing.
This is a developing story. Please check back with updates.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/jared-kushner-interviewed-by-jan-6-committee-for-over-6-hours/3625707/
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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol interviewed its first Trump family member and the highest-ranking official from the previous administration by meeting with Jared Kushner on Thursday for more than six hours, a source inside the room told NBC News.
The panel met virtually with Kushner — Donald Trump's son-in-law and a former top White House adviser — after he voluntarily agreed to speak with the committee Trump has accused of conducting a "witch hunt."
The source described Kushner as being cooperative and friendly.
For more on this story, go to NBC News.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/oldest-u-s-active-park-ranger-retires-at-100/3625738/
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The nation’s oldest active park ranger is hanging up her Smokey hat at the age of 100.
Betty Reid Soskin retired Thursday after more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California, the National Park Service announced.
Soskin “spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with coworkers," a Park Service statement said.
She led tours at the park and museum honoring the women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the U.S. Air Force in 1942 but quit after learning that “she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white," according to a Park Service biography.
“Being a primary source in the sharing of that history – my history – and giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling,” Soskin said in the Park Service statement. “It has proven to bring meaning to my final years.”
Soskin won a temporary Park Service position at the age of 84 and became a permanent Park Service employee in 2011. She celebrated her 100th birthday last September.
“Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission,” Director Chuck Sams said. “Her efforts remind us that we must seek out and give space for all perspectives so that we can tell a more full and inclusive history of our nation.”
U.S. & World
Soskin was born Betty Charbonnet in Detroit in 1921 but recalled surviving the devastating Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 while living with her Creole family in New Orleans, according to the Park Service biography.
Her family then moved to Oakland, California, and Soskin remained in the San Francisco Bay Area, where in 1945 she and her first husband founded one of the first Black-owned record stores in the area, the biography said.
She also was a civil rights activist and took part in meetings to develop a general management plan for the Home Front park. She has received several honors.
She was named California Woman of the Year in 1995.
In 2015, Soskin received a presidential coin from President Barack Obama after she lit the National Christmas tree at the White House.
In June 2016, she was awakened in her home by a robber who punched her repeatedly in the face, dragged her out of her bedroom and beat her before making off with the coin and other items. Soskin, then 94, recovered and returned to work just weeks after the attack. The coin was replaced.
Soskin also was honored with entry into the Congressional Record. Glamour Magazine named her woman of the year in 2018.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/report-manu-ginobili-four-others-to-be-inducted-into-basketball-hall-of-fame/3625692/
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Report: Manu Ginobili, four others to be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Basketball Hall of Fame is getting at least five new members.
Manu Ginobili, Tim Hardaway, Swin Cash, George Karl and Bob Huggins will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
It's unclear if those are the only 2022 finalists who have been voted in. Lindsay Whalen, Michael Cooper, Marques Johnson, Leta Andrews, Marianne Stanley and Hugh Evans were the other finalists this year.
The Class of 2022 will be formally announced at the Final Four of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in New Orleans on Saturday.
Ginobili is the lone first-ball inductee in the Class of 2022. A second-round pick of the Spurs in 1999, Ginobili was a key member of four championship teams in San Antonio. He logged 1,057 career games in the NBA -- all in a Spurs uniform -- but only started in only 349 of them as he established himself as one of the greatest sixth men of all time.
Ginobili was a two-time All-Star, made two All-NBA teams and claimed the 2007-08 Sixth Man of the Year award. He also led Argentina to a gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and a bronze in the 2008 Beijing Games.
Sports
Hardaway made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams throughout his 13-year career. The 1989 first-round pick spent most of his time with the Golden State Warriors, as part of the famous Run-TMC teams, and Miami Heat. Hardaway had five seasons where he averaged at least 20 points and eight seasons where he put up at least eight assists per game. He has an Olympic gold medal as well, winning it with Team USA in the 2000 Sydney Games.
Cash was a champion at the college, professional and international levels. She won two national championships at UConn, three WNBA championships (two with the Detroit Shock and one with the Seattle Storm) and two gold medals with Team USA. The No. 2 overall pick of Detroit in 2002, Cash played 15 seasons in the WNBA and was named to four All-Star Games. She won MVP in two of her All-Star appearances.
Karl sits sixth on the NBA's all-time wins list and is one of just 10 head coaches with at least 1,000 career victories. He amassed a 1,175-824 record (.588 winning percentage) over his 27 years as a head coach while working for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors, Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings. Karl's teams made the playoffs in 22 of his 27 seasons, with the 1995-96 SuperSonics reaching the NBA Finals. He also won Coach of the Year with the Nuggets in 2012-13.
Huggins, who just wrapped up his 37th season as a college head coach at the Division I level, is eighth all time in wins among D-I coaches with 844. He's piled up 21 combined conference championships and 25 NCAA Tournament appearances, reaching the Final Four twice. He's spent the last 15 seasons at West Virginia, with Kansas State, Cincinnati and Akron being his previous stops.
The induction ceremony for the Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 will take place on Sept. 10 in Springfield, Mass.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/suspect-arrested-after-father-son-attacked-by-dirt-bike-riding-thieves-in-harlem-police/3625762/
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A suspect was arrested after a father and son were attacked by dirt bike riders while sitting in a car in Manhattan, getting thrown out of the vehicle and beaten before having their belongings stolen, police said.
The suspects rode up to the 64-year-old man and his 36-year-old son as they were sitting in their car on West 127th Street below Saint Nicholas Park in Harlem around 4:30 p.m. on March 15, according to the NYPD.
The alleged attackers yanked both victims out of the vehicle and punched and kicked them while forcibly removing a phone, wallet and cash before fleeing the scene, police said.
Just over two weeks after the attack, police on Thursday arrested Kureem Nelson for his role in the violent incident. The 35-year-old Hamilton Heights resident was charged with two counts each of assault and robbery, as well as gang assault, petit larceny and criminal mischief.
The son said the beatdown unfolded near when the father and son collided with bikers going the wrong way. His father tried to get to a police precinct but they were quickly surrounded, the son said.
“I don’t really care about me. I worry about my dad. I ran to help my dad. They started stomping on me and I blacked out," the son said in the aftermath of the attack.
The two victims were taken to a hospital, but were recovering.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/jared-kushner-interviewed-by-january-6-committee-for-over-6-hours/3625707/
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The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol interviewed its first Trump family member and the highest-ranking official from the previous administration by meeting with Jared Kushner on Thursday for more than six hours, a source inside the room told NBC News.
The panel met virtually with Kushner — Donald Trump's son-in-law and a former top White House adviser — after he voluntarily agreed to speak with the committee Trump has accused of conducting a "witch hunt."
The source described Kushner as being cooperative and friendly.
For more on this story, go to NBC News.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/taylor-hawkins-grammys-tribute-in-the-works-days-after-his-death/3625890/
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Taylor Hawkins will not be forgotten at the 2022 Grammys.
The Grammys ceremony on April 3 will now include a tribute to the Foo Fighters drummer who died on March 25 at the age of 50, according to Variety.
"We will honor his memory in some way," CBS executive vice president of specials, music and live events Jack Sussman told Variety. "We want to figure out what is the right thing to do that is respectful to everyone involved. We're patient. We'll be planning right up until the very end."
He did not provide further details on the tribute.
The Recording Academy announced on March 24 that the Foo Fighters would be performing at the award ceremony, but E! News has learned that the band will no longer be performing at the Grammys. (Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, H.E.R. and more stars are still set to sing at the show.)
Entertainment News
The Foo Fighters said on March 29 they'd be canceling all upcoming concerts "in light of the staggering loss of our brother Taylor Hawkins."
They added, "We're sorry for and share in the disappointment that we won't be seeing one another as planned. Instead, let's take this time to grieve, to heal, to pull our loved ones close, and to appreciate all the music and memories we've made together."
Although the Foo Fighters will no longer take the stage for a performance, the group is up for three nominations at the Grammys: best rock album for "Medicine At Midnight," best rock song for "Waiting On A War" and best rock performance for "Making A Fire."
In the meantime, the National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences is working to clarify Hawkins' cause of death. In a preliminary toxicology report shared to Twitter on March 26, the Colombian Attorney General reported that there were 10 types of substances found in the drummer's body, including THC (marijuana) tricyclic antidepressants, benzodiazepines and opioids.
Machine Gun Kelly recently shed light on Hawkins' final days, telling Howard Stern about his experience meeting Hawkins two days before he died. When his and the Foo Fighters' scheduled performance in Paraguay were canceled, he hung out with the band members and got to meet the "amazing musician" that was Hawkins.
"[Taylor] went up to every single one of us and gave us each our moment," MGK said. "Like every single one of us, man, like down to my assistant. He's such a beautiful soul. He gave his heart."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/man-who-claimed-voices-made-him-kill-nyc-nurse-in-2018-charged-with-murder/3625866/
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A suspect has been charged with murder in the 2018 killing of a Queens nurse, in which he allegedly left her naked in a blanket with her teeth knocked out in her own bedroom after the two met on a dating app.
In addition to the murder charge, Danueal Drayton was charged on Thursday with two counts each of grand larceny and identity theft, as well as possessing stolen property, sexual misconduct and more.
Attorney information for the 31-year-old Drayton, of Brooklyn, was not immediately available.
Samantha Stewart was a registered nurse at Long Island Jewish Hospital and a beloved role model for her brothers and sister, her family said after her death. Her brother discovered the 29-year-old unconscious with injuries to her neck and head inside her Springfield Gardens home, police said at the time.
The brother said that Stewart appeared to have been strangled and that her tongue was sticking out and her teeth were knocked out.
In the months after the alleged slaying, Drayton said he heard voices in his head that made him do it. He told the New York Daily News from a Los Angeles jail —where he was in custody at the time on charges involving another woman he allegedly held captive in California — that he remembered strangling Samantha Stewartand talked about voices urging him to harm people.
"I really liked her. I didn't want to kill her," he said from behind a glass partition. "They told me she had to die."
Drayton said at the time that he and Stewart visited a race track and shared an artichoke pizza and he had no intention of hurting her.
"I'm a passenger in my own body," Drayton said repeatedly. "It's mind control," he said. "They use direct-energy weapons on me to control my mind."
Drayton said he strangled Stewart and tried to resuscitate her but eventually, her body went "stiff." He used bleach to partially clean up the crime scene but intentionally left his "Egyptian cologne" behind in the hope police could link it to him.
"I wanted to get caught. I took some of her things with me and used them. I kept my same phone. I knew they could track it. I didn't know how long it would take," he said.
In the weeks before the alleged killing, a New York judge released the Drayton without bail in a separate strangulation case. The judge didn't know he had a violent criminal history involving women.
That woman, Zynea Barney, told the Daily News that Drayton seemed like a "cool guy" initially, but when she broke up with him, he tried to strangle her at a park on Long Island until bystanders intervened. The next day he threatened to kill her and her family, she said.
The freeing of Drayton outraged Stewart's family and frustrated prosecutors. They and Drayton's defense lawyers believe he would still be behind bars on the Long Island strangulation charge if they and the judge had known about his rap sheet in Connecticut. His record in New York was clean at the time.
Drayton also faced charges in Los Angeles after police said he sexually attacked a different woman, attempting to strangle her and refused to let her leave her apartment, in the days after allegedly killing Stewart. He pleaded not guilty in that case. Drayton told the Daily News he also remembers choking that woman.
Two law enforcement officials previously told The Associated Press that after his arrest, Drayton claimed he had killed at least five women in Connecticut and New York.
After buying a one-way ticket to California using Stewart's credit card, Drayton landed in Los Angeles and met a woman while taking an Uber ride, he said, and they went back to the woman's apartment, where he choked her. He recalled seeing her body wedged between a toilet and the wall, thinking she was dead, but then she stirred.
Drayton said he attempted suicide with Advil before police caught up with him.
He told the Daily News he couldn't remember meeting a 23-year-old woman he also allegedly raped in Brooklyn. But he added that the voices also cause him to have blackouts.
"They make it so I can't remember," he said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-health-care-worker-shot-and-killed-in-parking-garage/3625719/
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A Long Island health care worker was shot and killed inside a parking garage near the facility where she worked, her employer said in a statement.
The victim, a 33-year-old woman who has not yet been identified, was shot multiple times in the underground parking structure on Marcus Avenue in New Hyde Park just after 6 p.m., according to law enforcement sources.
The publicly accessible garage is adjacent to physician offices and specialty care practices, said a spokesperson for Northwell Health, where the woman was a staff member.
Other Northwell employees provided medical attention immediately after at the scene in an effort to save her life. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead, Northwell Health said, referring all other questions to Nassau County police.
It was unclear what led up to the shooting. Nassau police said that a man was seen running away from the scene, heading west on Union Turnpike. It was unclear what led up to the shooting, or if the victim knew the attacker.
Nassau Police have released very few details, but it appears not arrests have been made.
Northwell Health said that it was providing counseling services to some of their staff as colleagues mourn the violent death of their coworker.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/amazon-staff-reject-union-alabama-lean-toward-it-in-nyc/3625867/
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Amazon workers in Alabama appear to have rejected a union bid in a tight race, according to early results on Thursday. But outstanding challenged votes could change the outcome.
In New York, union supporters have the edge in a count that will continue Friday morning.
Warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted 993 to 875 against forming a union. The National Labor Relations Board, which oversees the election, said that 416 challenged votes could potentially overturn that result. A hearing to go through the challenged ballots will occur in the next few days.
Meanwhile, in a separate union election in Staten Island, New York, the nascent Amazon Labor Union is leading by more than 350 votes out of about 2,670 tallied.
The close election in Bessemer marks a sharp contrast to last year, when Amazon workers overwhelmingly rejected the union.
“This is just the beginning and we will continue to fight,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is organizing the union drive in Bessemer, at a Thursday press conference. “Regardless of the final outcome, workers have shown what is possible. They have helped ignite a movement.”
Appelbaum said RWDSU will be filing objections to how Amazon handled the election but declined to be specific. He also took the opportunity to lash out at current labor laws, which he believes are rigged against unions and favor corporations.
“It should not be so difficult to organize a union in the United States," he said.
If a majority of Amazon workers votes yes in either Bessemer or Staten Island, it would mark the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the company's history. Organizers have faced an uphill battle against the nation’s second-largest private employer, which is making every effort to keep unions out.
More Unions Coverage
In New York, the ALU has led the charge to form a union along with Chris Smalls, a fired Amazon employee who now heads the fledgling group. Turnout for the in-person election was unclear but Smalls was hopeful of victory.
“To be leading in Day One and be up a couple hundred against a trillion-dollar company, this is the best feeling in the world,” Smalls said after the conclusion of Thursday’s counting.
While Smalls’ attention has been focused on securing victory in New York, similar efforts in Alabama also weighed heavily.
“I’m not too sure what’s going in Alabama right now, but I know that the sky’s the limit if you can organize any warehouse,” he said, noting that the vote in Alabama could well end up differently. “I hope that they’re successful. I don’t know what’s going on yet, but we know we show our support and solidarity with them.”
The warehouse in Staten Island employs more than 8,300 workers, who pack and ship supplies to customers based mostly in the Northeast. A labor win there was considered difficult, but organizers believe their grassroots approach is more relatable to workers and could help them overcome where established unions have failed in the past.
John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, said the early vote counts in New York have been “shocking.” ALU has no backing from an established union and is powered by former and current warehouse workers. The group had also filed for a union election after getting support from about 30% of the facility's workforce, a much lower percentage than what unions usually seek.
“I don’t think that many people thought that the Amazon Labor Union had much of a chance of winning at all,” Logan said. “And I think we’re likely to see more of those (approaches) going forward.”
Though RWDSU is currently lagging behind with challenged ballots outstanding, Logan said that the election was also remarkable because the union has made a good effort to narrow its margin from last year’s election.
After a crushing defeat last year, when a majority of workers voted against forming a union, RWDSU is hoping for a different outcome in the Bessemer election, in which mail-in ballots were sent to 6,100 workers in early February. Federal labor officials scrapped the results of the first election there and ordered a re-do after ruling Amazon tainted the election process.
The RWDSU said the election there had a turnout rate of about 39% this year, much smaller than last year. Appelbaum blamed the low numbers on high turnover — he believes thousands of people who worked for Amazon in January and were on the official list to be eligible to vote either quit or were fired. He also believes that an in-person election, which the RWDSU had asked for, would have made a difference.
Amazon has pushed back hard in both elections. The retail giant held mandatory meetings, where workers were told unions are a bad idea. The company also launched an anti-union website targeting workers and placed English and Spanish posters across the Staten Island facility urging them to reject the union. In Bessemer, Amazon has made some changes but still kept a controversial U.S. Postal Service mailbox that was key in the NLRB’s decision to invalidate last year’s vote.
Both labor fights faced unique challenges. Alabama, for instance, is a right-to-work state that prohibits a company and a union from signing a contract that requires workers to pay dues to the union that represents them.
The mostly Black workforce at the Amazon facility, which opened in 2020, mirrors the Bessemer population of more than 70% Black residents, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
Pro-union workers say they want better working conditions, longer breaks and higher wages. Regular full-time employees at the Bessemer facility earn at least $15.80 an hour, higher than the estimated $14.55 per hour on average in the city. That figure is based on an analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual median household income for Bessemer of $30,284, which could include more than one worker.
The ALU said they don’t have a demographic breakdown of the warehouse workers on Staten Island and Amazon declined to provide the information to The Associated Press, citing the union vote. Internal records leaked to The New York Times from 2019 showed more than 60% of the hourly associates at the facility were Black or Latino, while most of the managers were white or Asian.
Amazon workers there are seeking longer breaks, paid time off for injured employees and an hourly wage of $30, up from a minimum of just over $18 per hour offered by the company. The estimated average wage for the borough is $41 per hour, according to a similar U.S. Census Bureau analysis of Staten Island’s $85,381 median household income.
A spokesperson for Amazon said the company invests in wages and benefits, such as health care, 401(k) plans and a prepaid college tuition program to help grow workers’ careers.
“As a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.”
Associated Press staff writers Tali Arbel and Bobby Caina Calvan in New York contributed to this report.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/a-scene-out-of-a-horror-movie-nyc-tenants-living-in-squalid-conditions-demand-fixes/3625916/
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People living in a Manhattan apartment building say the conditions they are living in are horrid and unacceptable, as they say they have no heat or hot water, and have been dealing with all kinds of leaks, mold, rodents — and that's not all.
After seeing videos of the hell tenants say they've endured inside this Hell’s Kitchen apartment building, elected officials toured the space firsthand. What they saw shocked them.
"There are scenes in there like a scene out of a horror movie. I’m not exaggerating," said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
John Reeds, who has called the twin buildings home for the last three decades, said he and his neighbors have gone days without heat or hot water — most recently over the holidays.
“Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and New Year’s. For long stretches. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Before living at 410, he called this now-boarded up and vacant building next door home. It has been locked up and due for demolition after a fire destroyed apartments there several years ago.
“No human lives were lost on this day. What was lost was life of a building — a building where I spent Christmases, celebrated birthdays, anniversaries with my late partner,” said Reeds, who survived the fire only to live in the damaged apartment for 16 months — and then deal with flooding.
He said his landlord moved him into the building next door. He gave a tour of his latest digs, and a key wasn’t even needed to get in. Reeds pointed to open and vacant apartments tenants say are used by squatters.
“People going in there, they've found drug needles, we found condoms in the halls,” Reeds said.
Elected leaders say the buildings have operated under several management companies. City records show numerous violations, some dating back 17 years to 2005.
But now elected officials and housing advocates hope a provision in the city’s housing law will allow the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to take control.
“The city can come in and can make repairs, can do rehab, can make sure essential services are provided — ultimately billing the owner. Potentially even seizing ownership of the building," said Levine.
"We’re not going to rest until landlord is held accountable. We're not going to rest until our neighbors are safe in their homes," said NYC Councilmember Erik Bottcher.
For the first time in a long time, Reeds said on Thursday that he feels a sense of hope.
“Boy am I hopeful today. This was really a good day,” he said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/long-island-students-fight-to-change-street-named-after-ku-klux-klan-leader/3625930/
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A group of Long Island students is leading the movement to erase part of their village's racist past, as they fight to change the name of a street that was named after a Ku Klux Klan leader.
A street sign that has stood for decades is the focus of some community soul searching in the village of Malverne. Lindner Place is named after Paul Lindner, an original village resident and farmer.
However, a group of Malverne High School students say the man was also a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
"He led a bunch of cross burnings and other displays of injustice and racism," said student Jamila Smith.
The students all did research on Lindner, creating artwork, poems and documentaries. They even uncovered claims that Lindner’s KKK chapter burned down a Brooklyn orphanage.
"Right now our main focus is getting Paul Lindner off that street," Olivia Brown said.
The topic has been debated for years, and will finally come to a vote, as the village board will examine the students’ proposal.
"We want to have an impact on our community and this is something we think is wrong," said student Sabrina Ramharakh.
Like the recent battle over some statues across the nation, the debate has forced the community to grapple with its past. And not everyone in the village agrees with making this change, the students said.
"We made a lot of information public and there have been a lot of people who don’t care. They are set in their ways," said student Justin Obiol.
The students aren’t sure what the village board will do Thursday night, but they are proud they took on this fight and lit the fuse of the public debate.
"It’s really the symbolism behind it and what it stands for and what we want to portray ourselves as," Smith said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/six-nj-high-school-football-players-agree-to-plea-deal-in-hazing-case-sources/3625891/
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What to Know
- Six of the seven football players charged in disturbing locker room hazing incidents at a New Jersey high school have agreed to plea deals, sources with direct knowledge of the juvenile case confirmed
- Wall Township High School football team members faced criminal charges including hazing, attempted criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact, false imprisonment and harassment for the incidents that occurred inside the locker room between Sept. and Oct. 2021
- The plea deal will see the most serious charges of criminal sexual contact and false imprisonment dropped, while the six teens plead guilty to juvenile hazing and harassment, sources told News 4
Six of the seven football players charged in disturbing locker room hazing incidents at a New Jersey high school have agreed to plea deals, sources with direct knowledge of the juvenile case confirmed to NBC New York.
The members of the Wall Township High School football team faced criminal charges — including hazing, attempted criminal sexual contact, criminal sexual contact, false imprisonment and harassment — for the incidents that occurred inside the locker room between September and October 2021.
The plea deal will see the most serious charges of criminal sexual contact and false imprisonment dropped, while the six teens plead guilty to juvenile hazing and harassment, sources told News 4. The more serious charges will be dropped after the players do community service and complete a probation period, the sources said.
A seventh player charged in the scandal, who also faces sexual assault in separate incidents outside of school, was not offered a plea deal, sources said.
Christopher Adams, an attorney for one of the players charged, previously said the hazing was "sophomoric behavior by 15, 16 and 17 year old boys before football practice in front of the coaches — if there was anything sexual the coaches would have stopped it but they didn't because it was nothing more than horseplay."
Four students were suspended in late 2021 by school administrators. The student suspensions also came after the high school's athletic director was placed on administrative leave, multiple coaches were suspended and games were canceled. It followed multiple heated school board meetings that took place since the allegations came to light earlier in November.
The prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the locker room incident in which parents say was captured on cellphone video.
"We are hopeful that the lessons gleaned from this case foster a renewed focus on actively teaching juveniles in all of our schools what conduct crosses the line of acceptability, and what students must do if they are a bystander or victim of hazing, harassment, intimidation, or bullying," a prior release from Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey said.
At one of the meetings in the fall, many angry parents wanted to know why they found about about the allegations from the news and not the school, asking when district officials first found out. Among the people who took to the mic were former students who say hazing has long been part of the school and that they were bullied years ago.
A total of three coaches for the Wall High School football team were suspended, sources told NBC New York, including head coach and business teacher Tony Grandinetti. He and two others were placed on administrative leave.
So far, one school board member has resigned, citing the hazing allegations as the reason.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/as-us-opens-doors-for-fleeing-ukrainians-african-refugees-see-bias/3625938/
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Wilfred Tebah doesn’t begrudge the U.S. for swiftly granting humanitarian protections to Ukrainians escaping Russia’s devastating invasion of their homeland.
But the 27-year-old, who fled Cameroon during its ongoing conflict, can’t help but wonder what would happen if the millions fleeing that Eastern Europe nation were a different hue.
As the U.S. prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, the country continues to deport scores of African and Caribbean refugees back to unstable and violent homelands where they’ve faced rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses.
“They do not care about a Black man,” the Columbus, Ohio, resident said, referring to U.S. politicians. “The difference is really clear. They know what is happening over there, and they have decided to close their eyes and ears.”
Tebah's concerns echo protests against the swift expulsions of Haitian refugees crossing the border this summer without a chance to seek asylum, not to mention the frosty reception African and Middle Eastern refugees have faced in western Europe compared with how those nations have enthusiastically embraced displaced Ukrainians.
More Refugees Coverage
In March, when President Joe Biden made a series of announcements welcoming up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, granting Temporary Protected Status to another 30,000 already in the U.S. and halting Ukrainian deportations, two Democratic lawmakers seized on the moment to call for similar humanitarian considerations for Haitians.
“There is every reason to extend the same level of compassion,” U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Mondaire Jones, of New York, wrote to the administration, noting more than 20,000 Haitians have been deported despite continued instability after the assassination of Haiti’s president and a powerful earthquake this summer.
Cameroonian advocates have similarly ratcheted up their calls for humanitarian relief, protesting in front of the Washington residence of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the offices of leading members of Congress this month.
Their calls come as hundreds of thousands in Cameroon have been displaced in recent years by the country’s civil war between its French-speaking government and English-speaking separatists, attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram and other regional conflicts.
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch, in a February report, found many Cameroonians deported from the U.S. suffered persecution and human rights violations upon returning there.
Tebah, who is a leading member of the Cameroon American Council, an advocacy group organizing protests this month, said that’s a fate he hopes to avoid.
Hailing from the country’s English-speaking northwest, he said he was branded a separatist and apprehended by the government because of his activism as a college student. Tebah said he managed to escape, as many Cameroonians have, by flying to Latin America, trekking overland to the U.S.-Mexico border and petitioning for asylum in 2019.
“I will be held in prison, tortured and even killed if I am deported,” he said. "I’m very scared. As a human, my life matters too.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TPS and other humanitarian programs, declined to respond to the complaints of racism in American immigration policy. It also declined to say whether it was weighing granting TPS to Cameroonians or other African nationals, saying in a written statement only that it will “continue to monitor conditions in various countries.”
The agency noted, however, that it has recently issued TPS designations for Haiti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan — all African or Caribbean nations — as well as to more than 75,000 Afghans living in the U.S. after the Taliban takeover of that Central Asian nation. Haitians are among the largest and longest-tenured beneficiaries of TPS, with more than 40,000 currently on the status.
Other TPS countries include Burma, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Syria, Venezuela and Yemen, and the majority of the nearly 320,000 immigrants with Temporary Protected Status hail from El Salvador.
Lisa Parisio, who helped launch Catholics Against Racism in Immigration, argues the program could easily help protect millions more refugees fleeing danger but has historically been underused and over-politicized.
TPS, which provides a work permit and staves off deportation for up to 18 months, doesn’t have limits on how many countries or people can be placed on it, said Parisio, who is the advocacy director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
Yet former President Donald Trump, in his broader efforts to restrict immigration, pared down TPS, allowing designations for Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in West Africa to expire.
Although programs like TPS provide critical protections for vulnerable refugees, they can also leave many in legal limbo for years without providing a pathway to citizenship, said Karla Morales, a 24-year-old from El Salvador who has been on TPS nearly her whole life.
“It’s absurd to consider 20 years in this country temporary,” the University of Massachusetts Boston nursing student said. “We need validation that the work we’ve put in is appreciated and that our lives have value.”
At least in the case of Ukraine, Biden appears motivated by broader foreign policy goals in Europe, rather than racial bias, suggests María Cristina García, a history professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, focused on refugees and immigrants.
But Tom Wong, founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, said the racial disparities couldn’t be clearer.
“The U.S. has responded without hesitation by extending humanitarian protections to predominately white and European refugees,” he said. “All the while, predominately people of color from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia continue to languish.”
Besides Cameroon, immigrant advocates also argue that Congo and Ethiopia should qualify for humanitarian relief because of their ongoing conflicts, as should Mauritania, since slavery is still practiced there.
And they complain Ukrainian asylum seekers are being exempted from asylum limits meant to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while those from other nations are being turned away.
“Black pain and Black suffering do not get the same attention,” says Sylvie Bello, founder of the D.C.-based Cameroon American Council. “The same anti-Blackness that permeates American life also permeates American immigration policy.”
Vera Arnot, a Ukrainian in Boston who is considering seeking TPS, says she didn’t know much about the special status until the war started and wasn’t aware of the concerns from immigrants of color. But the Berklee College of Music sophomore hopes the relief can be extended to other deserving nations.
Arnot says TPS could help her seek an off-campus job with better pay so she doesn’t have to rely on her family’s support, as most in Ukraine have lost their jobs due to the war.
“Ukrainians as a people aren’t used to relying on others,” she said. “We want to work. We don’t want welfare.”
For Tebah, who is staying with relatives in Ohio, TPS would make it easier for him to open a bank account, get a driver’s license and seek better employment while he awaits a decision on his asylum case.
“We’ll continue to beg, to plead," Tebah said. “We are in danger. I want to emphasize it. And only TPS for Cameroon will help us be taken out of that danger. It is very necessary.”
Associated Press video journalist Patrick Orsagos in Columbus, Ohio contributed to this story.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/politics/house-passes-35-a-month-insulin-cap-for-those-insured-as-dems-seek-wider-bill/3625917/
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The House has passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation.
Experts say the legislation, which passed 232-193 Thursday, would provide significant relief for privately insured patients with skimpier plans and for Medicare enrollees facing rising out-of-pocket costs for their insulin. Some could save hundreds of dollars annually, and all insured patients would get the benefit of predictable monthly costs for insulin. The bill would not help the uninsured.
But the Affordable Insulin Now Act will serve as a political vehicle to rally Democrats and force Republicans who oppose it into uncomfortable votes ahead of the midterms. For the legislation to pass Congress, 10 Republican senators would have to vote in favor. Democrats acknowledge they don't have an answer for how that's going to happen.
“If 10 Republicans stand between the American people being able to get access to affordable insulin, that's a good question for 10 Republicans to answer,” said Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., a cosponsor of the House bill. “Republicans get diabetes, too. Republicans die from diabetes.”
Public opinion polls have consistently shown support across party lines for congressional action to limit drug costs.
But Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., complained the legislation is only “a small piece of a larger package around government price controls for prescription drugs." Critics say the bill would raise premiums and fails to target pharmaceutical middlemen seen as contributing to high list prices for insulin.
More Drug Prices Coverage
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Democrats could have a deal on prescription drugs if they drop their bid to authorize Medicare to negotiate prices. “Do Democrats really want to help seniors, or would they rather have the campaign issue?" Grassley said.
The insulin bill, which would take effect in 2023, represents just one provision of a much broader prescription drug package in President Joe Biden's social and climate legislation.
In addition to a similar $35 cap on insulin, the Biden bill would authorize Medicare to negotiate prices for a range of drugs, including insulin. It would penalize drugmakers who raise prices faster than inflation and overhaul the Medicare prescription drug benefit to limit out-of-pocket costs for enrollees.
Biden's agenda passed the House only to stall in the Senate because Democrats could not reach consensus. Party leaders haven't abandoned hope of getting the legislation moving again, and preserving its drug pricing curbs largely intact.
The idea of a $35 monthly cost cap for insulin actually has a bipartisan pedigree. The Trump administration had created a voluntary option for Medicare enrollees to get insulin for $35, and the Biden administration continued it.
In the Senate, Republican Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are working on a bipartisan insulin bill. Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has introduced legislation similar to the House bill, with the support of Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
Stung by criticism that Biden's economic policies spur inflation, Democrats are redoubling efforts to show how they'd help people cope with costs. On Thursday, the Commerce Department reported a key inflation gauge jumped 6.4% in February compared with a year ago, the largest year-over-year rise since January 1982.
But experts say the House bill would not help uninsured people, who face the highest out-of-pocket costs for insulin. Also, people with diabetes often take other medications as well as insulin. That's done to treat the diabetes itself, along with other serious health conditions often associated with the disease. The House legislation would not help with those costs, either. Collins says she's looking for a way to help uninsured people through her bill.
About 37 million Americans have diabetes, and an estimated 6 million to 7 million use insulin to keep their blood sugars under control. It’s an old drug, refined and improved over the years, that has seen relentless price increases.
Steep list prices don't reflect the rates insurance plans negotiate with manufacturers. But those list prices are used to calculate cost-sharing amounts that patients owe. Patients who can’t afford their insulin reduce or skip doses, a strategy born of desperation, which can lead to serious complications and even death.
Economist Sherry Glied of New York University said the market for insulin is a “total disaster” for many patients, particularly those with skimpy insurance plans or no insurance.
“This will make private insurance for people with diabetes a much more attractive proposition,” said Glied.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/child-sex-abuser-charged-in-the-bronx/3625957/
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The New York City Police Department is asking the public to come forward if they have any information about a man who was arrested for preying on multiple children at a Soundview school over the course of three years.
Police say that between November 2019 and July 2021, 30-year-old Gerardo Gutierrez sexually assaulted at least three girls under 12 years old during an after-school tennis program run by the New York Junior Tennis League and hosted at P.S. 100X.
Gutierrez, a resident of the Bronx, was arrested February 15 on multiple charges. He pleaded not guilty, and according to court records, was held on $150,000 bail. He was not a Department of Education employee.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/14m-jury-award-denver-protesters-could-resonate-around-us/3625964/
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A federal jury’s $14 million award to Denver protesters hit with pepper balls and a bag filled with lead during 2020 demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis could resonate nationwide as courts weigh more than two dozen similar lawsuits.
The jury found police used excessive force against protesters, violating their constitutional rights, and ordered the city of Denver to pay 12 people who sued.
Nationwide, there are at least 29 pending lawsuits challenging law enforcement's use of force during the 2020 protests, according to a search of the University of Michigan’s Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse.
The verdict in Denver could give cities an incentive to settle similar cases rather than risk going to trial and losing, said Michael J. Steinberg, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and director of the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative. It could also prompt more protesters to sue over their treatment at the hands of police.
“There’s no doubt that the large jury verdict in Denver will influence the outcome of pending police misconduct cases brought by Black Lives Matter protesters across the country,” said Steinberg, whose law students have been working on a similar lawsuit brought by protesters in Detroit.
More George Floyd Protests Coverage
Lawyers for the claimants argued that police used indiscriminate force against the nonviolent protesters, including some who were filming the demonstrations, because officers did not like their message critical of law enforcement.
“To the protest of police violence they responded with brutality,” one of their attorneys, Timothy Macdonald, told jurors.
People who took part in the protests have already made similar allegations in lawsuits filed across the country.
In Washington, DC, activists and civil liberties groups sued over the forcible removal of protesters before then-President Donald Trump walked to a church near the White House for a photo op. The claims against federal officials were dismissed last year but a judge allowed the case against local police to continue.
An investigation by the Interior Department's inspector general said last summer it was done so a contractor could install fencing, not for the photo op.
Several lawsuits alleging protesters were wrongfully arrested or that police used excessive force have been filed against New York City and its police department, including one brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James that claims police used excessive force and wrongfully arrested protesters. In Rochester, New York, people who protested the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who lost consciousness after being pinned to the street by officers during a mental health call in 2020, claim police used extreme force against them in a lawsuit that also alleges city officials have allowed a culture of police brutality against racial minorities to fester.
One of their attorneys, Donald Thompson, said he plans to raise the Denver award in settlement talks with the city and note that unlike most of the Denver protesters, some of his clients suffered lasting injuries including the loss of an eye and scarring from being hit in the face with a tear gas canister. Thompson also thinks the Denver verdict shows that the public, in the age of cellphone and body camera videos, is not as willing to give police the benefit of the doubt anymore.
"Now people see how this policing really works. You can’t be naïve,” he said.
A spokesperson for Rochester did not return a call and an email seeking comment. When the case was filed, the city said it had already revised the way police respond to protests.
Over the last two months, the city of Austin, Texas has agreed to pay a total of $13 million to four people who were hit in the head with bean bag rounds fired by police.
Even before the Denver ruling last week, the police department made some changes in response to criticism that arose from the protests, including eliminating the use of 40mm foam rounds for crowd control and changing the way officers are permitted to use pepper balls.
Denver’s Department of Public Safety, which includes the police department, said in a statement that the city was not prepared for the level of sustained violence and destruction. During the trial, lawyers and witnesses said over 80 officers were injured as some in the crowds hurled rocks, water bottles and canned food at them.
The department said it continues to evaluate its policies to “better protect peaceful protestors while addressing those who are only there to engage in violence.”
Still, the large award is not expected to lead to an overhaul of how officers respond to what experts say are inherently chaotic situations that are difficult to prepare for.
Ed Obayashi, a use-of-force consultant to law enforcement agencies and a deputy sheriff and legal adviser in Plumas County, California, said society may have to bear the cost of such settlements because innocent people can be injured during protests as outnumbered police try to react on the fly, including to people intent on violence.
“It really goes south in an instant because there are individuals out there who want to cause chaos,” he said.
Obayashi said there is not much police training for protests, which have been relatively rare. He said it would be prohibitively expensive to have officers practice deploying equipment such as tear gas canisters. Because projectiles used in crowds and considered “less lethal” by police, such as rubber bullets and pepper balls, have less velocity and less power to hurt people, it is harder to ensure they hit their intended target, he said.
Lawyers representing people who have also alleged police misconduct and violation of their constitutional right to protest can now use the Denver damage award as part of their own settlement negotiations, said Mark Silverstein, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented some of the winning Denver protesters.
The decision came nearly two years after thousands of people angry about Floyd’s death took the streets nationwide, a relatively quick result for the legal system and soon enough for others who allege misconduct by police to file a claim. In Colorado and many other states, there is a two-year statute of limitations for such lawsuits, Silverstein said, leaving only a few months for others to sue.
The city attorney’s office said it has not decided whether to appeal the verdict, but appeals in such big cases are common, said Gloria Browne-Marshall, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Outside lawyers will also scrutinize the case to try to determine if there are unique circumstances that may have led to a “lightning in a bottle” verdict that is less likely to be repeated.
However, she thinks the verdict sends a significant message that regular people respect the right to protest and demand change from the government, which she believes police and prosecutors have been undermining.
"It should send a message to both, but whether or not they listen is a different issue,” Browne-Marshall said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/march-jobs-report-another-solid-month-hiring-expected-despite-obstacles/3625974/
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Defying a pandemic and supply chain disruptions, the U.S. economy has cranked out more than 400,000 jobs every month for nearly a year — a blazing winning streak in wildly uncertain times.
And despite surging inflation, the hiring wave likely continued last month in the face of yet another jolt: Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has unsettled the economic outlook and catapulted gasoline prices to painful levels.
Economists surveyed by the data firm FactSet expect the Labor Department’s jobs report for March to show that employers added 478,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate dipped from 3.8% to 3.7%. That would mark the lowest unemployment rate since just before the pandemic struck two years ago, when joblessness reached a 50-year low of 3.5%.
The government will issue the March jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.
“With the war in Ukraine, economic uncertainty rising and surging energy prices, we may see a modest slowdown in hiring in March,’’ said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at the jobs website Glassdoor. “However, employer demand remains strong, which should sustain a healthy level of hiring.''
The booming U.S. job market reflects a robust rebound from the brief but devastating coronavirus recession, which wiped out 22 million jobs in March and April 2020 as businesses shut down or cut hours and Americans stayed home to avoid infection.
But the recovery has been swift. Fueled by generous federal aid, savings amassed during the pandemic and ultra-low borrowing rates engineered by the Federal Reserve, U.S. consumers have spent so fast that many factories, warehouses, shipping companies and ports have failed to keep pace with their customer demand. Supply chains have snarled, forcing up prices.
More Jobs Coverage
As the pandemic has eased, consumers have been broadening their spending beyond goods to services, such as health care, travel and entertainment, which they had long avoided during the worst of the pandemic. The result: Inflation is running at 40-year highs, causing hardships for many lower-income households that face sharp increases for such necessities as food, gasoline and rent.
It’s unclear whether the economy can maintain its momentum of the past year. The government relief checks are gone. The Fed raised its benchmark short-term interest rate two weeks ago and will likely keep raising it well into next year. Those rate hikes will result in more expensive loans for many consumers and businesses.
Inflation has also eroded consumers’ spending power: Hourly pay, adjusted for higher consumer prices, fell 2.6% in February from a year earlier — the 11th straight month in which inflation has outpaced year-over-year wage growth. According to AAA, average gasoline prices, at $4.23 a gallon, are up a dizzying 47% from a year ago.
Squeezed by inflation, some consumers are paring their spending. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending rose just 0.2% in February — and fell 0.4% when adjusted for inflation — down from a 2.7% increase in January.
Still, the job market has kept hurtling ahead. Employers posted a near-record 11.3 million positions in February. Nearly 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs, a sign of confidence that they could find something better.
“We’re still seeing a very tight labor market,’’ said Karen Fichuk, CEO of the staffing company Randstad North America, who noted that the United States now has a record 1.7 job openings for every unemployed person.
But so many jobs were lost in 2020 that the economy still remains more than 2 million shy of the number it had just before the pandemic struck. Over the past year, employers have added an average of 556,000 jobs a month. At that pace — which isn't guaranteed to continue — the nation would recover all the jobs lost to the pandemic by June. (That still wouldn't include all the additional hiring that would have been done over the past two years under normal circumstances.)
Brighter job prospects are beginning to draw back into the labor force people who had remained on the sidelines because of health concerns, difficulty finding or affording daycare, generous unemployment benefits that have now expired or other reasons.
Over the past year, 3.6 million people have joined the U.S. labor force, meaning they now either have a job or are looking for one. But their ranks are still nearly 600,000 short of where they stood in February 2020, just before the pandemic slammed into the economy.
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As Moscow's forces bog down in Ukraine, many young Russians of draft age are increasingly jittery about the prospect of being sent into combat. Making those fears particularly acute is an annual spring conscription that begins Friday and aims to round up 134,500 men for a one-year tour of military duty.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pledged at a meeting of the military brass this week that the new recruits won't be sent to front lines or “hot spots.”
But the statement was met with skepticism by many in Russia who remember the separatist wars in the southern republic of Chechnya in the 1990s and early 2000s, when thousands of poorly trained young men were killed.
“I don't trust them when they say they won't send conscripts into combat. They lie all the time,” said Vladislav, a 22-year-old who is completing his studies and fears he could face the draft immediately after graduation. He asked that his last name not be used, fearing reprisals.
All Russian men aged 18-27 must serve one year in the military, but a large share avoid the draft for health reasons or deferments granted to university students. The share of men who avoid the draft is particularly big in Moscow and other major cities.
Even as President Vladimir Putin and his officials say that conscripts aren’t involved in what Russian authorities call “the special military operation in Ukraine,” many appeared to have been taken prisoner during its initial days. Videos emerged from Ukraine of captured Russians, some being shown calling their parents, and were put on social media.
The mother of one of the prisoners said she recognized her 20-year-old draftee son in a video even though he was shown blindfolded.
“I recognized him by his lips, by his chin. You know, I would have recognized him by his fingers,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Lyubov, for security reasons. "I breastfed him. I raised him.”
The Defense Ministry was forced to walk back its statements and acknowledge that some conscripts were sent to Ukraine “by mistake” and were taken prisoner while serving with a supply unit away from the front.
More Russia-Ukraine War Coverage
There have been allegations that before the invasion, some conscripts were forced to sign military contracts that allowed them to be sent into combat — duty that is normally reserved only for volunteers in the army. Some of the captured soldiers said they were told by their commanding officers that they were going to a military exercise but suddenly found themselves fighting in Ukraine.
Lyudmila Narusova, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, spoke in early March about an entire company of 100 men who were forced to sign such contracts and were sent into the combat zone — and only four survived. Military officials did not comment on her allegation.
Svetlana Agapitova, the human rights commissioner in St. Petersburg, said Wednesday that relatives of seven soldiers had written to her to complain the men had been forced to sign the contract and sent to Ukraine against their will. She said two of them already had been brought back to Russia.
In recent years, the Kremlin has emphasized increasing the share of volunteer contract soldiers as it sought to modernize the army and improve its readiness. The force of 1 million now has over 400,000 contract soldiers, including 147,000 in the infantry. If the war drags on, those numbers could be insufficient to sustain the operations.
The Kremlin could eventually face a choice: Keep fighting with a limited number of troops and see the offensive stall, or try to replenish the ranks with a broader draft and risk public outrage that could fuel anti-draft sentiment and destabilize the political situation. Such a scenario occurred during the fighting in Chechnya.
Dmitry, a 25-year-old IT expert, has a deferment that should keep him out of the draft for medical reasons. But he's still nervous like many others, fearing authorities could abruptly waive some deferments to bolster the military.
“I hate the war. I think it's a total disaster,” said Dmitry, who also asked that he not be identified by his last name, fearing reprisals. “I fear that the government could change the rules and I could face the draft. They also were saying for months that they wouldn’t attack Ukraine, so why should I trust what they say about the draft now?”
Proposed legislation would facilitate the draft by allowing military recruiters to call up conscripts more easily, but the bill has been put on hold for now.
Still, it added to the public’s anxiety.
Alexei Tabalov, a lawyer who advises conscripts, said medical panels at recruitment offices often admit youths who should be exempt from service because of illness. Now, he added, their attitudes could grow even tougher.
“It's quite probable that doctors may shut their eyes to conscripts' illnesses and declare them fit for military duty,” Tabalov said.
In addition to lowering the medical standard for draftees, there are fears that the government could try to impose some sort of martial law that would ban Russian men from leaving the country and, like Ukraine, force them to fight.
“We have received a lot of calls from people fearing mobilization,” Tabalov said. “People now are afraid of everything in this situation. No one even thought before about the need to analyze the law on mobilization.”
The Kremlin has strongly denied any such plans, and military officials insist the army has enough contract soldiers to serve in Ukraine. Still, many Russians remain skeptical of the officials' denials, given their track record.
“What kind of trust could there be if Putin says one day that conscripts will not be sent there ... and then the Defense Ministry recognizes that they were there?” Tabalov asked.
An existing law allows for a 21-month alternative civil service in hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities for those who view military duty as incompatible with their beliefs, but military conscription offices often broadly ignore requests for such service.
After the war began, Tabalov said his group saw a large increase in inquiries about the alternative service law, which is vaguely phrased and allows military officials to easily turn down applications.
“We are worried that in the current militarist mood, military conscription offices can take a tougher attitude and reject appeals for the alternative civil service,” he said.
Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
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The New York City Police Department is asking the public to come forward if they have any information about a man who was arrested for allegedly preying on multiple young girls at a New York City school.
Police allege that between November 2019 and July 2021, 30-year-old Gerardo Gutierrez sexually assaulted at least three girls under 12 years old during an after-school tennis program run by the New York Junior Tennis League and hosted at P.S. 100X in the Soundview section of the Bronx.
Gutierrez, a resident of the Bronx, was arrested February 15 on multiple charges. He pleaded not guilty, and according to court records, was held on $150,000 bail. He was not a Department of Education employee.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
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An NYPD officer is on modified duty while investigators look into her possible ties to the "Shooting Boys" gang, whose members were hit with a lengthy federal indictment on Thursday.
Ten members of the Bronx gang face charges including murder, racketeering and narcotics offenses. All but two were arrested Thursday morning; the others remain at large.
Law enforcement sources say a female NYPD officer has been placed on modified duty at the 52nd Precinct because of her alleged ties or relationship with a member of the gang.
The officer is not charged with any crime, the sources said, but investigators want to know if she provided any law enforcement-related information to gang members.
An NYPD spokesman had no comment; the investigation is ongoing.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-boy-eating-in-car-with-aunt-8-year-old-shot-dead-as-5-attackers-leap-from-vehicle/3626125/
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A 12-year-old boy whose 20-year-old aunt had pulled their car over in Brooklyn Thursday so they, along with an 8-year-old girl, could eat was shot and killed when a group of men got out of a sedan and started opening fire, authorities say.
Police say the boy, whose identity has not been released, was not the intended target of the shooting near East 56th Street and Linden Boulevard in East Flatbush. He had been in the front passenger seat and was hit in the head and chest.
The boy was pronounced dead at the scene, according to senior police officials.
Also shot was the boy's aunt in the driver's seat. She was wounded in the head, right cheek, chest and upper leg and underwent surgery late Thursday at Kings County Hospital. She is expected to survive, police say, but was last said to be in critical condition.
The 8-year-old girl, who was in the rear passenger seat, wasn't hurt.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the shooting, ror if the car itself was the target. Police said that the victims live in the area.
The five suspects took off in a black Infiniti sedan with Connecticut license plates, as well as in another black sedan.
News
NYC Mayor Eric Adams spoke at a police press conference at the scene hours after the shooting, calling for an end to the violence as he acknowledged that "as long as we have guns and a revolving door system, we're going to continue to come to crime scenes like this."
"The question I continue to ask: What about the innocent people? The people that are sitting in their cars and are shot and killed. We hear so much about those who are fighting, but when are we going to start fighting for the innocent people of this city?" Adams said. "I'm going to do that, and this police department is going to do that. we're going to catch this shooter ... Time for it to stop."
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/peacock-pride-jersey-city-celebrates-saint-peters-magic-ncaa-tourney-run-with-parade/3626002/
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Get ready for some powerful Peacock pride on display!
They were the underdogs, the little Jesuit school from New Jersey that took on a number of Goliaths — and won three times. The Peacocks put Saint Peter’s University on the map during their improbable Elite 8 run, and now Jersey City is getting ready to honor their heroes.
The celebration will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, as Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop will be joined by state and local leaders during a parade through the city. Fulop said earlier in the week that keys to the city will be given out as part of the honors.
“I think everyone across the country identified with this team,” Fulop said Monday. “They didn't get a lot of recognition. There were not highly recruited and they came together. They were the little engine that could, knocking off all these big powerhouses.”
It will kick off at the statue of Abraham Lincoln and march down JFK Boulevard, ending right in front of Saint Peter's University campus — where a rally will be held to show the team how much their efforts meant to the community.
The team became the first-ever 15 seed to make it all the way to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament, and the Peacocks didn't have an easy road. They took down perennial powerhouse Kentucky in the first round, then faced off against Murray State — which at the time sported the nation's longest winning streak, with 21 consecutive wins.
After topping the Racers, Saint Peter's was up against Purdue, which earlier in the season was the top-ranked team in the country. A nail-biting 67-64 win over the Boilermakers earned them a spot in the Elite Eight, where their magical Cinderella run came to a halt against North Carolina.
There have been some tangible returns on what the wins meant for the school as well. Applications were up 56% compared to the same time in 2021 and contributions rose from $500,000 for the corresponding week to roughly $2 million, Saint Peter's President Eugene Cornacchia said, adding he had not even reached out to some long-time donors.
And while losing Head Coach Shaheen Holloway to Seton Hall stings a bit, Friday's celebration is about more than just the team's future on the court — it's about recognizing the great achievements by the scrappy team that no one outside of them saw coming.
The team shattered all expectations during their journey, and on Friday the Peacocks will get to strut their stuff for their hometown fans.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/navy-ship-to-be-named-after-late-supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg/3626090/
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A Navy fuel ship will be named for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in recognition of her efforts to advance women's rights and gender equality, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said Thursday.
The future John Lewis-class replenishment oiler — a ship that transfers fuel to the Navy's operating carrier strike groups — will be the eighth such vessel to be named for a historic figure who fought for civil and human rights.
Others include former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth, gay rights icon Harvey Milk and civil rights leader John Lewis.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/red-cross-way-to-facilitate-mariupol-evacuations-but-aid-blocked/3626142/
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The International Committee of the Red Cross says it’s not sure that a planned delivery of aid into Mariupol and an evacuation of civilians out of the besieged Ukrainian city will happen Friday.
Spokesman Ewan Watson told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that the humanitarian group has sent three vehicles toward Mariupol and a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces, but two trucks carrying supplies for the city were not accompanying them.
Dozens of busses that have been put together by Ukrainian authorities to take people out also have not started approaching the dividing line, he said Friday.
Watson called it an “extremely complex” operation, adding that “not all details are in place to ensure that this happens today.”
He said the hope was that “thousands” of people could be ferried out, and their destination would be into parts of Ukraine less affected by the fighting that has been ongoing since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24.
U.S. & World
"We’re running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered," Watson said. "The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and it’s now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave, and aid supplies be allowed in."
This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/watch-olympian-laurie-hernandezs-reaction-to-her-college-acceptance-deserves-a-gold-medal/3626229/
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Laurie Hernandez's latest TikTok deserves a perfect score!
On March 30, the gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast, 21, posted a video of the heart-stopping moment when she discovered that she'd been accepted into New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.
"OK, here we go," Hernandez says at the beginning of the clip. The athlete can be seen anxiously staring at her computer screen with her girlfriend, fellow gymnast Charlotte Drury, at her side.
While Hernandez nervously laughs ahead of the big reveal, Drury sweetly comforts her by saying, "No matter what happens, I'm so, so proud of you."
As the couple learns the good news, Drury leaps into the air, shouting, "You got in!" An overjoyed Hernandez raises two celebratory fists into the air.
They might've even gotten a little bit too excited. As Hernandez reaches out for Drury, the camera falls over. When it is righted, both gymnasts can be seen laughing hysterically as Hernandez asks, "Are you OK?"
Drury nods in response.
Dancing With the Stars Winner Laurie Hernandez on How the Show Changed Her Life
"LETS GOOO," Hernandez captioned the video before adding the hashtag #Tisch.
Entertainment News
The future NYU student won't be far from her Old Bridge, NJ, stomping grounds when attending the school.
As for what she'll study there? Well, if we had to wager a guess, dance might be a key element.
After all, Hernandez has already proved that she's a phenomenal dancer in addition to being an Olympian -- she won "Dancing With the Stars" with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy back in 2016.
"I realized because of ["Dancing With the Stars"] how much I love to dance... I'm glad I'm able to go out and keep on dancing," she shared at the time. "It's a passion of mine."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/ford-recalling-737k-vehicles-to-fix-oil-leaks-trailer-brakes-that-wont-work/3626305/
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Ford is issuing two recalls covering over 737,000 vehicles to fix oil leaks and trailer braking systems that won't work.
The oil leak recall includes the 2020 through 2022 Ford Escape SUV and the 2021 and 2022 Bronco Sport SUV with 1.5-Liter engines. A housing can crack and oil can leak onto engine parts, which can create a fire hazard.
Dealers will replace the housing if needed. Owners will be notified starting April 18.
The trailer braking recall includes F-150 pickups from 2021 and 2022, as well as the 2022 F-250, 350, 450 and 550. Also covered are the 2022 Maverick pickup, and Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs.
A software error can stop trailers from braking, increasing the risk of a crash.
Dealers will update brake control software. Owners will be notified starting April 18.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/panama-gets-new-national-holiday-honoring-victims-of-1989-us-invasion/3626284/
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What to Know
- About 300 Panamanian soldiers and 214 civilians were killed during the invasion, according to official estimates.
- The decree signed by President Laurentino Cortizo establishes Dec. 20, the date of the invasion, as a national day of mourning. People in Panama will have the day off.
- “By enacting this law, we settle a debt with the nation, with those who died in that tragic event, who we remember with respect,” Cortizo said.
The president of Panama on Thursday declared an annual national holiday to commemorate Panamanians who died during the 1989 U.S. invasion of the country.
The decree signed by President Laurentino Cortizo establishes Dec. 20, the date of the invasion, as a national day of mourning. People in Panama will have the day off.
“By enacting this law, we settle a debt with the nation, with those who died in that tragic event, who we remember with respect,” Cortizo said.
A truth commission that was set up years ago documented about 20 disappearances from the U.S. military action which toppled strongman Manuel Noriega.
During the month-long so-called "Operation Just Cause," the U.S. sought to remove Noriega and bring him to the U.S. on drug and racketeering charges. Noriega was deposed and stood trial in the U.S.
About 300 Panamanian soldiers and 214 civilians were killed during the invasion, according to official estimates, while the U.S. military reported 23 deaths among its troops. Human rights groups believe the number of Panamanian dead could be higher.
U.S. & World
“It took us a long time to achieve this demand, and finally, the day has arrived,” said Trinidad Ayola, president of the Association of Friends and Relatives of Victims of Dec. 20.
Questions remain about where some of the Panamanians were buried.
Forensic workers have exhumed several bodies from a Panama City cemetery to determine their identities. The cemetery contains more than 100 people killed during the invasion that were first exhumed months after the invasion because they had been buried in common graves.
DNA testing is expected to take months.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/why-jim-carrey-is-probably-retiring-after-sonic-the-hedgehog-2/3626489/
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After starring in more than 50 movies and almost 20 TV shows, is Jim Carrey done with acting? According to the actor himself: Yes Man.
The 60-year-old comedian -- whose most recent credits included lending his voice to the upcoming animated sequel, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" -- opened up about why he feels like he's "done enough" in his professional life.
"I am retiring," he said during the March 31 episode of Access Daily. When asked if he was kidding, he answered, "I am being fairly serious. It depends -- if the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink, that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might. I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break."
For Carrey, taking a step back from the main stage allows him time to enjoy a much simpler life. "I really like my quiet life," he shared. "And I really love putting paint on canvas, and I really love my spiritual life, and I feel like -- and this is something you might never hear another celebrity say as long as time exists -- I have enough. I've done enough. I am enough."
Prior to starring in both "Sonic the Hedgehog" installments -- in 2020 and 2022 respectively -- Carrey's last roles in the big screen included "The Bad Batch" and "Dark Crimes," both in 2016.
However, the "Saturday Night Live" alum found himself back on the infamous improv show and slipping into his presidential shoes when he played the role of Joe Biden in late 2020. That December, he announced he would step down from the guest role -- especially since it was one that was extended beyond the original term.
"Though my term was only meant to be 6 weeks, I was thrilled to be elected as your SNL President...comedy's highest call of duty," he wrote. "I would love to go forward knowing that Biden was the victor because I nailed that s---."
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/study-ivermectin-does-not-reduce-hospitalization-from-covid-19-infection/3626431/
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A new peer-reviewed study published on the New England Journal of Medicine shows anti-parasitic drug ivermectin isn’t effective in battling COVID-19 and did not reduce hospitalization like many anti-vaccine advocates promoted.
The experiment enrolled 3,515 symptomatic COVID-19 patients in Brazil who were randomly assigned different treatments for the disease – 679 received ivermectin, another 670 got placebo and the remaining group got another treatment.
The study found that 14.7% of patients in the ivermectin group and 16.3% of the placebo group had to go to the hospital.
“Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of COVID-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of COVID-19,” the study concluded.
Ivermectin, a drug that is mainly used to treat parasitic diseases in animals, surged in popularity with a 2,400% increase in prescriptions last year during the wave of the delta variant. Anti-vaccination groups and some Republican politicians promoted the use despite lack of proven evidence to back their claims.
Several doctors, including health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, warned against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19, due to the rising in prescriptions of the drug.
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Despite the warning, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin continued to advocate for the use of ivermectin. In Indiana, Republican state Rep. Curt Nisly proposed a bill in the state legislature to allow pharmacists to dispense ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
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A New York mobster who killed three people and attempted to kill two others has escaped from federal custody after recently being moved to a halfway house, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
Dominic Taddeo, a hit man from a Rochester-area crime family, escaped on March 28, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
Taddeo, 64, had been imprisoned at a medium-security lockup in Florida before being transferred to a residential halfway house, also in Florida, in February.
Taddeo pleaded guilty in 1992 to racketeering charges that included the killings of three men during mob wars in the 1980s.
A federal judge in western New Yorkdenied Taddeo's request for compassionate release last year, rejecting his claim that health problems including hypertension and obesity put him at risk for serious complications from COVID-19. Prosecutors said medical records did not show that Taddeo was particularly unhealthy.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson did not immediately return a call seeking information about the circumstances of Taddeo's escape.
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The pilots on a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Washington, D.C. decided to bring their jet down in Denver Thursday after the cockpit windshield shattered above 30,000 feet. The crew repeatedly told passengers to remain calm until they landed.
“They came on the loudspeaker saying that the windshield had shattered, and we were diverting to Denver in about 10 minutes," Rachel Wright, one of the 198 passengers on the plane, told Salt Lake City's KUTV.
A photo of the windshield taken by a passenger shows the glass, though lined with cracks, didn't fall from its frame. Commercial airline pilots said jetliner windshields can be two inches thick, with several layered panes of glass, the station reported.
The crew announced the diversion about 90 minutes into the flight, after the plane reached cruising altitude, which is above 30,000 feet, passengers said.
“They kept coming on saying for everyone to stay calm, to be calm, and we were calm so being told to stay calm while we were calm made us feel a little panicky,” Wright said.
Passengers were able to see the shattered glass once they landed in Denver.
“I’m really good at playing what-if? And so, my mind goes to kind of what could have happened, worst case scenario and I’m grateful,” Wright said. “It could have been really bad, it could have gone very differently."
U.S. & World
Another passenger, Kirk Knowlton, snapped a pictureand tweeted that the crew had announced that the windscreen appeared to crack spontaneously.
Delta gave a statement to KUTV calling it “a maintenance issue mid-flight.”
"Out of an abundance of caution, the flight crew diverted into Denver and the plane landed routinely. Our team worked quickly to accommodate customers on a new plane, and we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans,” the airline statement said.
Passengers boarded a new plane in Denver and continued on to Washington. Wright praised Delta for bringing the jet down safely, and said the airline was very accommodating.
“I’ve never been more grateful to spend an extra three hours in an airport,” Wright said.
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Emergency relief and evacuation convoys for the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol remained in doubt Friday following reports of Russian interference, while Russian officials accused Ukraine of flying helicopter gunships across a border between the two countries and striking an oil depot.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said the alleged airstrike caused multiple fires and two people were injured. A Kremlin spokesman said the incident on Russia’s territory could undermine negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives that resumed by video link Friday.
“Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied when asked if the strike could be viewed as an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim that Ukrainian helicopters targeted the oil depot or several nearby businesses in Belgorod also reported hit. Russia has reported shelling from Ukraine before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace.
Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
The negotiations follow a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey on Tuesday where Ukraine reiterated its willingness to abandon a bid to join NATO and offered proposals to have its neutral military status guaranteed by a range of foreign countries.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, wrote on social media that Moscow's positions on retaining control of the Crimean Peninsula and expanding the territory in eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed separatists “are unchanged.”
The International Committee for the Red Cross said complex logistics were still being worked out for the operation to get emergency aid into Mariupol and civilians out of the city, which has suffered weeks of heavy fighting with dwindling water, food and medical supplies.
“We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered,” ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson said Friday during a U.N. briefing in Geneva. “The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and it’s now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave and aid supplies be allowed in.”
He said the group sent three vehicles toward Mariupol and a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces but two trucks carrying supplies were not accompanying them. Dozens of buses organized by Ukrainian authorities to bring people out of the city had not started approaching the dividing line, Watson said.
On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area, and only 631 people were able to leave in private cars, the Ukrainian government said.
Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies trying to make it to Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands of residents managed to leave in the past few weeks through humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week. But continued Russian attacks have repeatedly thwarted aid and evacuation missions.
Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
“We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote Friday on the Telegram messaging app.
In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its “main goal” now is gaining complete control of the Donbas, where Mariupol is located. The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014 and have declared two areas as independent republics.
Western officials said there were growing indications Russia was using its talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply and redeploy its forces for a stepped-up offensive in the east.
Russian forces have subjected both Chernihiv, a besieged and blockaded city in northern Ukraine, and the capital of Kyiv to continued air and ground-launched missile strikes despite Moscow saying Tuesday it planned to reduce military activity in those areas.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have retaken the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, which are south of the besieged northern city of Chernihiv and located along one of the main supply routes between the city and Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, according to Britain's Defense Ministry.
Ukraine has also continued to make successful but limited counterattacks to the east and northeast of Kyiv, the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian withdrawals in the country's north and center were just a military tactic to build up strength for new attacks in the southeast.
“We know their intentions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”
Hours later, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram early Friday that the fire at the oil depot “occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at a low altitude.”
The depot run by Russian energy giant Rosneft is located about 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of the Ukraine-Russia border.
Separately, Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said Russian troops pulled out of the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site in northern Ukraine early Friday after receiving “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the closed plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim. Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers it said were exposed to radiation, and it did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.
The agency, which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, said it had been informed by Ukraine that Russian forces at Chernobyl had transferred control of the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster to the Ukrainians in writing.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi wrote on Twitter that he would visit the decommissioned plant as soon as possible and his agency's “assistance and support” mission to Chernobyl “will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine.”
Grossi was in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad Friday for talks with senior officials about nuclear issues in Ukraine. Nine of Ukraine’s 15 operational reactors are currently in use, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya facility, the agency said.
Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, raising fears they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce there oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.
Five weeks and one day into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine, there seemed little faith that the two sides would find agreement on their respective demands any time soon.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said conditions weren’t yet “ripe” for a cease-fire and he wasn’t ready for a meeting with Zelenskyy until the negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a Thursday telephone conversation with the Russian leader.
Following a plea from Zelenskyy when he addressed Australian Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that his country would send mine-resistant armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
“We’re not just sending our prayers," Morrison said, adding that Australia was also sending guns, munitions, humanitarian aid, body armor and the Bushmaster vehicles.
Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
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Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.
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April Fools! Here are some of the best trick plays in sports history originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
There are few things better in sports than a well-executed trick play.
Like a good joke or prank, a player/team outsmarting their opponent through trickeration creates a humorous feeling when pulled off to perfection.
On April Fools’ Day, let’s take a look back at some of the best trickery and deception in sports history.
Andre Miller’s fake timeouts
It’s safe to say Andre Miller mastered the art of the fake timeout during his time in the NBA. The crafty point guard fooled teams with the trick multiple times as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, casually dribbling the ball to the hash mark to lull opposing players to sleep before darting to the rim for a lay-in.
Boise State football’s trickeration in 2007 Fiesta Bowl win
The Boise State football team converted not one, not two, but three trick plays late in their thrilling 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma.
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Trailing by seven in the final minute of regulation, the Broncos dialed up a hook and ladder on fourth-and-18. Quarterback Jared Zabransky found wideout Drisan James a few yards shy of the first-down marker. Instead of fighting for the first down, James flipped the ball to Jerard Rabb, who took it all the way to the house for the game-tying touchdown.
The Broncos again found themselves down by seven in overtime after Adrian Peterson scored for the Sooners. On a fourth-and-2 from the 5-yard line, Boise State receiver Vinny Perretta took the snap out of a wildcat-like formation, rolled to his right and lofted a touchdown pass to Derek Shouman.
Rather than going for the tying extra point, the Broncos’ offense remained on the field and went back to the trick play well once again. This time, they broke out the statue of liberty, as Zabransky faked a swing pass to his right and left the ball behind his back for Ian Johnson, who ran untouched into the end zone. Johnson, you may remember, proposed to his girlfriend, who was a Boise State cheerleader, after the game-winning two-point conversion.
Three trick plays, all in do-or-die situations, leading to three scores and a massive bowl game triumph. Just incredible.
Dan Marino’s fake spike vs. Jets
This list wouldn’t feel complete without a mention of the New York Jets getting fooled. In November 1994, the Miami Dolphins faced a three-point deficit against the Jets inside the final minute of the AFC East showdown.
After completing a pass to New York’s 8-yard line, Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino rushed the Dolphins’ offense to the line like he was going to spike the ball on the next play. The Jets were so convinced Marino was going to spike it that they clearly got caught off-guard when he didn’t throw the ball into the ground and instead tossed it to Mark Ingram Sr. for the game-winning touchdown.
Jason Kidd spills drink on court for extra timeout
This was undoubtedly the most memorable moment of Jason Kidd’s coaching tenure with the Brooklyn Nets. Here was the scenario: the Nets were out of timeouts and trailing the Los Angeles Lakers by two with under 10 seconds remaining in their November 2013 matchup. After Lakers guard Jodie Meeks made his first of two free throws, there was a delay in the action due to a spilled drink along the Nets’ sideline.
Upon further review, not only was Kidd the one who dropped the drink, but he instructed Nets guard Tyshawn Taylor to bump into him. The spillage essentially created an extra timeout for Kidd to draw up a play for his team.
The refs didn’t catch Kidd’s trickery in the moment, allowing the Nets to get off scot free without a delay of game or technical foul. However, Paul Pierce missed the potential game-tying 3-pointer for Brooklyn and the NBA fined Kidd $50,000 for the incident the following day.
Kenny Pickett’s fake slide in 2021 ACC Championship
One Pitt alum, Dan Marino, had the fake spike and another, Kenny Pickett, had the fake slide. In the opening minutes of the 2021 ACC Championship Game against Wake Forest, Pickett avoided a sack and darted upfield for a big gain. With a couple of defenders closing in on him, the Pitt quarterback slowed up and bent over like was going to give himself up and slide.
But Pickett didn’t go to the ground, and his mind-blowing fakeout left defenders flat-footed as he rumbled all the way to the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown.
Just how filthy was that fake slide? Days after Pickett led the Panthers to their first ever ACC title, the NCAA outlawed the maneuver.
Louisville women’s basketball tricks Duke into defending wrong hoop
You know a trick play is good when you fool the entire opposing team.
To start the second half of a January 2017 game versus Duke, Louisville’s Briahanna Jackson started dribbling toward what appeared to be the wrong basket -- only it wasn’t. The Cardinals set up on their own end of the court to try to trick the Blue Devils into defending the wrong hoop. And it worked, as Jackson got a wide-open layup.
The Louisville players at the other end of the floor were even laughing prior to the play, but Duke still didn’t catch on to what was happening.
Marcelo Huertas hides behind Erik Spoelstra for surprise steal
Imagine an NBA player hiding behind an opposing coach in an attempt for a surprise steal and it actually working? Well, Marcelo Huertas pulled off just that as a member of the Lakers in March 2016.
As teammate Lou Williams was attempting a free throw, Huertas hid behind Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on the sideline. After the Heat rebounded the miss, Goran Dragic began dribbling the ball up the court and Huertas came from out of nowhere for the swipe.
From the replay, it looks like Spoelstra may not have even been aware that Huertas was behind him.
Music City Miracle
The Buffalo Bills grabbed a one-point lead over the Tennessee Titans on a field goal with 16 seconds left in the 1999 AFC wild card round. Buffalo kicked the ball short back to Tennessee on the ensuing kickoff, with fullback Lorenzo Neal catching it at the 25-yard line.
Neal quickly handed the ball back to tight end Frank Wycheck, who took only a couple steps to his right before firing a pass cross-field to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Wycheck’s pass, along with a couple of lead blocks, allowed Dyson to run 75 yards untouched for the game-winning touchdown.
The play, which the Titans called “home run throwback,” is even more legendary considering the backstory on it (courtesy of ESPN’s Turron Davenport). Dyson wasn’t originally supposed to be involved but was a late insertion due to a couple of Titans injuries. Since Dyson wasn’t versed at all in the play, Jeff Fisher broke down what to do during the TV timeout. The wideout didn’t exactly carry out his head coach’s instructions either as Fisher told Dyson to stay 10 yards behind Wycheck.
In a game against the Bills this past season, the Titans actually tried to recreate the Music City Miracle on a punt return. There was no miracle the second time around.
Philly Special
“You want Philly, Philly?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
That was the interaction between Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles and head coach Doug Pederson leading up to one of the most iconic plays in Super Bowl history.
Faced with a fourth-and-goal before halftime of Super Bowl 52 against the New England Patriots, Foles suggested a play that would call for a direct snap, a reverse and a pass from a tight end to Foles. Pederson concurred, and the rest is history.
Trey Burton’s touchdown pass to Foles helped Philadelphia take down the Pats for the franchise’s first ever Lombardi Trophy.
Like the Titans, the Eagles also tried to recreate the Philly Special in 2021 and failed miserably.
Vince Carter appears to suffer injury, dunks seconds later
In addition to being a great dunker and scorer, Vince Carter was also a great actor.
During a February 2013 game against the Golden State Warriors, Carter appeared to suffer a lower-body injury on a missed jumper. The Dallas Mavericks collected the offensive rebound off the miss and began to wind down the second-quarter clock as Carter was limping around and hunched over in the corner.
Seemingly thinking Carter was too hurt to be a threat offensively, Harrison Barnes left the Mavs forward alone to double-team Elton Brand in the paint. Turns out, Carter was healthy enough to make a back-door cut and rise up for a two-handed slam.
The Warriors wound up winning the game, which had to be karma from the Basketball Gods for Vinsanity’s theatrics.
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Queen Bee is no stranger to the Grammy Awards. She has been nominated more than 70 times for music's most prestigious award and has 28 Grammy wins under her belt. Continue reading to learn more about Beyoncé's iconic history with the award show ahead of the 64th annual Grammy Awards taking place this Sunday, April 3.
How many Grammys has Beyoncé won?
Beyoncé has garnered a whopping 28 Grammy awards during her career. She earned her first Grammy in 2001 at 19 years old when she was a part of Destiny's Child. The group won two that night for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the song “Say My Name.”
In 2002 and 2004, Destiny's Child won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals two more times for "Survivor" and "The Closer I Get to You." 2004 also marked the first year Beyoncé won a Grammy outside of the girl group. She won Best Contemporary R&B Album for "Dangerously in Love" and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Dangerously in Love 2." Along with Jay-Z, she also took home the Grammy awards for Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Crazy in Love" (featuring Jay-Z.)
Her most recent wins were in 2021 when she took home four Grammys for Best R&B Performance for "Black Parade," Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for "Savage" (remix by Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé,) and Best Music Video for "Brown Skin Girl" (by Beyoncé, Saint Jhn and Wizkid featuring Blue Ivy Carter,) which marked Beyoncé and Jay-Z's daughter's first Grammy award win. Blue Ivy Carter was nine years old at the time.
How many Grammys has Beyoncé been nominated for?
Beyoncé has been nominated for 79 Grammy awards. She is the most-nominated woman in Grammy history.
Is Beyoncé nominated for a Grammy for 2022?
Beyoncé is not nominated for a Grammy this year. This marks the first year since the 58th Annual Grammy Awards that the superstar hasn't been in the nominations category.
Want so see who is nominated this year? Here's a full list of Grammy 2022 nominees.
Does Beyoncé hold the record for most Grammy wins?
While Beyoncé does have the most Grammy awards than any other woman, she does not have the most Grammys of all time. The late conductor Georg Solti, who passed away in 1997, has won 31 Grammy awards. Solti's first win was at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording and his most recent win was at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording.
Beyoncé is tied with Quincy Jones in second place for the most Grammy wins. They both have 28.
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After Eric Church received backlash for canceling his April 2 tour to attend an NCAA basketball game, Jason Aldean admitted to E! News' Daily Pop that he actually understands the decision. Well, to an extent. "I don't know that I could cancel a show to make it to a game," he told hosts Loni Love and Melissa Peterman. "I feel like people buying a ticket to come see your show, you kind of have to hold up your end of the deal on that."
Not wanting to dive too deep into the drama, he wrapped up by sharing that he wouldn't follow by Church's example: "I don't know if I could pull it off."
And while Aldean won't be at the 2022 Grammys April 3, he's got a lot of faith in his "If I Didn't Love You" duet partner Carrie Underwood.
"We've had a chance to perform this live a few times, and she nails it every time," he shared. "She's just one of the best female singers of our era, so it was fun to work with her."
These days, he's focused on his upcoming album, Macon, Georgia, dropping April 22. Named after his hometown, the disc gave the country superstar the opportunity to revisit his past.
As he explained, "It was cool to do that and be able to show my hometown some love."
In addition to celebrating the new album, he recently celebrated his seventh wedding anniversary with wife Brittany Kerr on March 21. And for as much as he loves his partner, he doesn't quite understand her recent late-night purchases. Who knew picnic tables for squirrels were a thing?
"I ended up having to go out and put all those picnic tables on trees and fill 'em up with food," he joked. "So, they are now scattered all around our farm at the house."
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Does anybody smell some overpowering cologne?
Abercrombie & Fitch, the preppy clothing brand that dominated shopping malls and high school halls in the mid-2000's, is the subject of "White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch," a documentary premiering April 15 on Netflix.
The brand, synonymous with elitism as much as fashion, eventually had a public reckoning over its questionable and often discriminatory practices.
"They didn't invent evil," the trailer says. "They didn't invent class. They just packaged it."
In 2006, Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries caused widespread outrage in an interview with Salon, in which he discussed the hiring process at the company's stores.
"That's why we hire good-looking people in our stores," Jeffries said. "Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that."
And that wasn't the end of it.
"In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids," he said. "We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."
The documentary focuses on some of the people -- and former employees -- that Abercrombie knowingly excluded.
"Abercrombie said it wasn't that we were being racially discriminated against," says a Black woman in the trailer. "it was that we weren't good looking enough."
In 2015, Abercrombie made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Samantha Elauf filed a lawsuit against the company in 2009, alleging that she applied for a job at an Abercrombie location in Kentucky, but was told her hijab, worn in accordance with her religious beliefs, violated the company's "Look Policy."
The Court eventually heard the case and ruled 8-1 against Abercrombie. Elauf's story is told in the documentary.
Despite its fall from grace, Abercrombie has recently gone under a rebrand. A 2021 earnings report showed the company had its best second-quarter operating income and margin since 2008, according to Business of Fashion.
Still, the stench of the old Abercrombie & Fitch lingers.
Relive the era of overpriced sweatshirts and jean skirts when "White Hot: The Rise &Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch" premieres April 15 on Netflix.
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New vehicles sold in the United States will have to travel an average of at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026 under new rules unveiled Friday by the government.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its fuel economy requirements will undo a rollback of standards enacted under President Donald Trump. The new requirements increase gas mileage by 8% per year for model years 2024 and 2025 and 10% in the 2026 model year.
For the current model year, standards enacted under Trump require the fleet of new vehicles to get just over 24 miles per gallon in real-world driving.
Agency officials say the requirements are the maximum that the industry can achieve over the time period and will reduce gasoline consumption by more than 220 billion gallons over the life of vehicles, compared with the Trump standards.
Trump's administration rolled back fuel economy requirements so they rose 1.5% per year, which environmental groups said was inadequate to limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions that fuel climate change.
But the new standards won't immediately match those adopted through 2025 under President Barack Obama. NHTSA officials said they will equal the Obama standards by 2025 and slightly exceed them for the 2026 model year.
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The Obama-era standards automatically adjusted for changes in the type of vehicles people are buying. When they were enacted in 2012, 51% of new vehicle sales were cars and 49% SUVs and trucks. Last year, 77% of new vehicle sales were SUVs and trucks, which generally are less efficient than cars.
Some environmental groups said the new requirements from NHTSA under President Joe Biden don't go far enough to fight global warming.
“Climate change has gotten much worse, but these rules only require automakers to reduce gas-guzzling slightly more than they agreed to cut nine years ago,” said Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Center at the Center for Biological Diversity.
He said the final rule is about 2 mpg short of the strongest alternative that NHTSA considered.
Officials said that under the new standards, owners would save about $1,400 in gasoline costs during the lifetime of a 2029 model year vehicle. Carbon dioxide emissions would drop by 2.5 billion metric tons by 2050 under the standards, the NHTSA said.
The agency did not give figures for how much the standards would increase the cost of vehicles. Auto dealers say more stringent requirements drive up prices and push people out of an already expensive new-car market.
The NHTSA sets fuel economy requirements, while the Environmental Protection Agency develops limits on greenhouse gas emissions. NHTSA officials said their requirements nearly match rules adopted in December by the EPA, so automakers don't have to comply with two rules.
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The owner of a downtown Los Angeles building where an explosion injured 12 firefighters has been allowed to enter a judicial diversion program that allows him to avoid jail time and potentially have all charges dismissed.
A court commissioner on Wednesday granted the diversion request for Steve Sungho Lee. He and his companies must pay more than $15,000 in investigative fees, make sure the property meets fire and building codes and arranging for Fire Department training.
Lee owned a commercial building on East Boyd Street in the city's Toy District that caught fire on May 16, 2020. Firefighters had to run for their lives when a ball of flames shot out the building and scorched a fire truck across the street.
Firefighters inside the building had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in fire.
Fire officials said the building was a warehouse for Smoke Tokes, a wholesale distributor of supplies for smoking and vaping products including butane hash oil, a concentrated cannabis extract that can be eaten, smoked or vaped. Highly flammable butane is used in the manufacturing process.
Most of the injured firefighters still haven't returned to work and one, Capt. Victor Aguirre, was hospitalized for more than two months and all of his fingers had to be partially amputated, according to a lawsuit he filed against the building and business owners.
Aguirre alleged that the area contained “hundreds of illegally and improperly stored butane canisters and thousands of illegally and improperly stored nitrous oxide cylinders.”
A fire department report concluded that the blaze, which spread to a nearby building, was fueled by an “excessive quantity” of the containers.
Investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded that the fire started under a storage rack in the building and that a worker with a lit cigarette was seen in the area. The cause of the fire was ruled accidental.
However, city prosecutors filed more than 300 misdemeanor charges of violating fire and safety codes against Lee, his companies and owners of businesses in the building and nearby properties. That included more than 160 counts against Lee and his companies.
If Lee meets all conditions of his judicial diversion program for two years, the charges will be dismissed.
“Mr. Lee will be deemed by law to have never been charged," said his attorney, Blair Berk. “The exhaustive federal investigation of the tragic fire objectively concluded that the cause was accidental, and there was no finding of any wrongdoing by Mr. Lee or his companies.”
City Attorney Mike Feuer opposed diversion for Lee, noting the severity of the fire, the injuries suffered by the firefighters and Lee's alleged failure “to take steps which could have mitigated the extent of the blaze."
The owners of Smoke Tokes and another business, Green Buddha, agreed in November 2020 to pay $139,000 each to cover investigative costs and to move out of the building. Charges against them were later dismissed.
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Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church's misguided missionary zeal.
Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment from the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26.
More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior.
The Canadian government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse was rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages. That legacy of that abuse and isolation from family has been cited by Indigenous leaders as a root cause of the epidemic rates of alcohol and drug addiction now on Canadian reservations.
After hearing their stories all week, Francis told the Indigenous that the colonial project ripped children from their families, cutting off roots, traditions and culture and provoking inter-generational trauma that is still being felt today. He said it was a “counter-witness” to the same Gospel that the residential school system purported to uphold.
“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask forgiveness of the Lord,” Francis said. “And I want to tell you from my heart, that I am greatly pained. And I unite myself with the Canadian bishops in apologizing.”
The trip to Rome by the Indigenous was years in the making but gained momentum last year after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves outside some of the residential schools in Canada. The three groups of Indigenous met separately with Francis over several hours this week, telling him their stories, culminating with Friday's audience.
Francis spoke in Italian and the Indigenous read his remarks in English translations. The president of the Metis National Council, Cassidy Caron, said the Metis elder sitting next her burst into tears upon hearing what she said was a long-overdue apology.
“The pope's words today were historic, to be sure. They were necessary, and I appreciate them deeply,” Caron told reporters in St. Peter's Square. “And I now look forward to the pope's visit to Canada, where he can offer those sincere words of apology directly to our survivors and their families, whose acceptance and healing ultimately matters most.”
The spiritual adviser of the Assembly of First Nations' delegation, Elder Fred Kelley, echoed the sentiment.
“Today is a day that we’ve been waiting for. And certainly one that will be uplifted in our history," he said. “It’s a historical first step, however, only a first step.”
He and other Indigenous leaders said there was far more for the church to do on the path of reconciliation, but that for now Indigenous leaders insisted on being involved in organizing the papal visit to make sure Francis stops in places that hold spiritual importance to their people.
Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, thanked Francis for addressing all the issues the Indigenous had brought to him. “And he did so in a way that really showed his empathy towards the indigenous people of Canada,” he said.
Nearly three-quarters of Canada’s 130 residential schools were run by Catholic missionary congregations.
Last May, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation announced the discovery of 215 gravesites near Kamloops, British Columbia, that were found using ground-penetrating radar. It was Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school and the discovery of the graves was the first of numerous, similar grim sites across the country.
Even before the grave sites were discovered, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission specifically called for a papal apology to be delivered on Canadian soil for the church’s role in the abuses.
In addition, as part of a settlement of a lawsuit involving the Canadian government, churches and the approximately 90,000 surviving students, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. The Catholic Church, for its part, has paid over $50 million and now intends to add $30 million more over the next five years.
Francis said he felt shame for the role that Catholic educators had played in the harm, “in the abuse and disrespect for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” he said. “It is evident that the contents of the faith cannot be transmitted in a way that is extraneous to the faith itself.”
“It is chilling to think of determined efforts to instill a sense of inferiority, to rob people of their cultural identity, to sever their roots, and to consider all the personal and social effects that this continues to entail: unresolved traumas that have become inter-generational traumas,” he said.
After the papal apology, the audience continued with joyous performances of Indigenous prayers by drummers, dancers and fiddlers that Francis watched, applauded and gave a thumbs up to. The Indigenous then presented him with gifts, including snowshoes.
Francis' apology went far beyond what Pope Benedict XVI had offered in 2009 when an Assembly of First Nations delegation visited. At the time, Benedict only expressed his “sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the church.” But he did not apologize.
The Argentine pope is no stranger to offering apologies for his own errors and for what he himself has termed the “crimes” of the institutional church. Most significantly, during a 2015 visit to Bolivia, he apologized for the sins, crimes and offenses committed by the church against Indigenous Peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas.
He made clear those same colonial crimes occurred far more recently in Canada at the Catholic-run residential schools.
“Your identity and culture has been wounded, many families separated, many children have become victims of this homogenization action, supported by the idea that progress occurs through ideological colonization, according to programs studied at the table rather than respecting the lives of peoples," he said.
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The top-ranking Ukrainian Catholic cleric in the United States warned Thursday that religious minorities in the Eastern European country stand to be “crushed” if Moscow gains control, as fighting raged on more than a month after the Russian invasion began.
Groups at risk include Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox who have broken away from the patriarch of Moscow, Archbishop Borys Gudziak said. He also cited reports that Russian forces have damaged two Holocaust memorials and Moscow's false portrayal of Ukraine, which overwhelmingly elected a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as a “Nazi” state.
“What is at stake for the people of faith is their freedom to practice their faith,” Gudziak said during an online panel discussion on the war, hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.
“Ukrainian Catholics, over the last 250 years, every time there’s been a Russian occupation where they live and minister, they’ve been strangled,” he continued.
Gudziak is head of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and president of Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. He also oversees external relations for the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The name of the church, whose members account for an estimated 10% of Ukraine's population, refers to its loyalty to the pope and its use of Greek or Byzantine liturgy, which is similar to that of Ukraine's majority Orthodox population.
The archbishop predicted that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine — which broke from the Moscow Patriarchate and was recognized in 2019 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople over fierce opposition from Moscow — “will undoubtedly be crushed if there’s a Russian occupation.”
Guziak did not specifically mention the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is separate from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and has remained loyal to Moscow Patriarch Kirill, a strong supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite that historic fealty, Ukrainian Orthodox Church leaders have fiercely denounced the Russian invasion and in some cases are refusing to mention Kirill's name in public prayers, a ritually potent snub.
Kirill has backed Putin's justifications for the war, saying both countries are part of a “Russian world” and alleging that the U.S. and other foreign forces have sought to foster enmity between them.
Gudziak also cited the plight of Muslim Tatars who “have been persecuted for these last eight years” since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in southern Ukraine in 2014.
The U.S. State Department has similarly denounced intimidation and harassment of Tatars and other religious groups in Crimea and areas of eastern Ukraine under control of Russia-backed separatists. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said this month that Moscow's “aggression toward religious freedom (in those territories) is an indicator that much worse will follow ... as Russia expands into Ukraine.”
Gudziak rejected Russia's claims that it is on a mission to denazify Ukraine, where the Jewish Zelenskyy won election with 73% of the vote. Such altruistic assertions also ring hollow, he argued, given the reported damage to the Holocaust memorials in Kyiv and near Kharkiv.
"All those who desire to live in freedom will lose a lot or everything. If there is an occupation, that is what is at stake for Ukrainians,” Gudziak said. “What is at stake for Europe, for the broader world, is will there be an advance of systems, ideologies and worldviews that crush people?”
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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Throughout her lengthy career, Taylor Swift has made her mark in all facets of the music industry, including the Grammy Awards, which is often referred to as music's biggest night.
Swift has been nominated more than 40 times and has won 11 Grammys total, but that number could increase this weekend during the 64th annual Grammy Awards taking place Sunday, April 3. Continue reading to learn more about Swift's history with the award show and what to expect this weekend.
How many Grammys has Taylor Swift won?
Swift has won 11 Grammys total. Her first wins were in 2010 when she was 20 years old. She took home the awards for Album of the Year and Best Country Album of the Year for "Fearless" and Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song for "White Horse."
In 2012, she won Best Country Solo Performance and Best Country Song for "Mean." After stepping away from country music and entering the world of pop, Swift won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for "1989" and Best Music Video for "Bad Blood" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) in 2016.
Swift's most recent win was in 2021 when she took home the Album of the Year award for "Folklore."
How many Grammys has Taylor Swift been nominated for?
Swift has been nominated for 42 Grammys during her time in the music industry. Her first nomination came in 2008 at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, but Amy Winehouse ended up taking home the award. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Swift took home four awards.
Does Taylor Swift have any nominations for the 2022 Grammys?
Swift is nominated for Album Of The Year for "Evermore" at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Want so see Swift's fellow nominees? Here's the full list of Grammy nominations for this year.
Does Taylor Swift hold any Grammy records?
Swift's 2008 album "Fearless" became the most-awarded album in country music after it won a American Country Award, Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music Award, and Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
When "Folklore" won Album of the Year at the Grammys in 2021, Swift became the first woman to ever win the coveted award three times. She previously won the award for for “Fearless” in 2010 and “1989” in 2016. If she wins the award this Sunday for a fourth time, she will be tied with mastering engineer Tom Coyne, engineer/mixer duo Serban Ghenea and mix engineer John Hanes — who have all won the award four times for their work on various albums — for the most Album of the Year wins of all time.
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A moment stolen by the infamous slap.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Summer of Soul" producer Joseph Patel took to Twitter to share how he felt about accepting an Academy Award moments after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars 2022 ceremony on March 27.
Patel -- who went onstage with co-producers Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein and director Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson to accept the award for Best Documentary Feature -- emphasized that he was speaking on behalf of himself and not his "Summer of Soul" coworkers.
Reflecting on the moment, Patel shared that he felt Smith's actions were "selfish."
"It robbed the category of its moment," Patel wrote in a March 30 tweet. "It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs. And it robbed Summer of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film."
Will Smith "Refused" to Leave Oscars Ceremony After Outburst, Academy Says
Patel explained that after the altercation occurred, many were left in a state of confusion.
Entertainment News
"Once we realized the Chris Rock/Will Smith interaction wasn't a bit, everything got turned upside down," he wrote. "Everyone was still trying to make sense of it when Chris persevered and started to read the nominees," later adding, "We were in shock walking to the stage -- not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened."
Patel also shared that his grievances extended to Rock as well for making a factually incorrect dig at Patel and his fellow producers, as they took the stage to accept their win.
"What I didn't hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner's card -- the winner is Summer of Soul ... Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and ... four white guys.' WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F--K?????," he wrote.
Patel said that the comment from Rock angered him not only because there were three producers, rather than four, but because he is South Asian.
As the producer wrote, "The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award."
Concluding his thoughts, Patel noted that he "probably never will" watch the ceremony again after the events that unfolded.
E! News has reached out to reps for Smith and Rock for comment.
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New York LiveDaily lifestyle show giving viewers the best in all things New York -- 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 7:15 p.m. Fridays
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New York LiveDaily lifestyle show giving viewers the best in all things New York -- 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 7:15 p.m. Fridays
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New York LiveDaily lifestyle show giving viewers the best in all things New York -- 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 7:15 p.m. Fridays
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New York LiveDaily lifestyle show giving viewers the best in all things New York -- 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday and 7:15 p.m. Fridays
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A Staten Island judge on Friday struck down New York City's mask mandate for toddlers, calling it "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable" and issuing a permanent injunction against it.
The mandate for kids ages 2-4 had been expected to expire Monday, though Mayor Eric Adams was set to address its status later Friday afternoon. The single-page ruling from Judge Ralph Porzio may have complicated the mayor's plans.
Things have changed since he first announced a plan on March 22 to make masks optional for the youngest kids. Positivity rates and case totals are rising, and transmission rates in the city are up 19% over that time.
The more critical metrics -- hospitalizations and deaths -- remain on the decline, and officials have said they don't expect a new severe surge linked to BA.2. That said, the city is still erring on the side of caution.
Right now, the community COVID alert level citywide is low, under the new benchmark system Adams unveiled earlier this month. It doesn't get any lower. So far, the risk level hasn't changed since the school mandate lifted on March 7, which the mayor called a "great sign" as he declared it time to "peel back another layer."
Kids younger than 2 have not been subject to mask mandates since the pandemic started.
News
While BA.2 does appear to be "inherently more transmissible" than the original omicron strain, the World Health Organization has said, experts say they don't expect it to trigger a major resurgence given high vaccination rates and so many people having been recently infected with the first omicron strain.
BA.2 is now the dominant COVID strain in both New York and America. Earlier this week, the feds authorized a second booster dose for millions more Americans to help stem the potential tide of new infections among the most vulnerable.
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The Centers for Disease Control announced Friday that it is ending a policy that limited asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The use of public health powers had been widely criticized by Democrats and immigration advocates as an excuse for the United States to shirk its obligations to provide haven to people fleeing persecution. The policy went into effect under President Donald Trump in March 2020. Since then, migrants trying to enter the U.S. have been turned away more than 1.7 million times.
The policy, known as the Title 42 authority, named for a 1944 public health law to prevent communicable disease, will end on paper April 1, but it will not take effect until May 23, to allow border officials time to prepare.
“After considering current public health conditions and an increased availability of tools to fight COVID-19 (such as highly effective vaccines and therapeutics), the CDC director has determined that an order suspending the right to introduce migrants into the United States is no longer necessary,” the CDC said in a statement.
The decision is expected to draw more migrants to the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security said this week that about 7,100 migrants were coming daily, compared with an average of about 5,900 a day in February — on pace to match or exceed highs from last year, 2019 and other peak periods. But border officials said they are planning for as many as 18,000 arrivals daily.
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A Texas woman who said her 3-year-old son was killed in a road-rage shooting has been arrested on a child endangerment charge, police said Thursday.
Lacravivonne Washington, 26, the mother of 3-year-old Jalexus Washington, was arrested Wednesday and was taken to Dallas police headquarters to be interviewed about her son's death.
"When she was here, she declined to talk to our detectives, further we placed her into custody,” said Kristin Lowman, Asst. Director of the Dallas Police Department's Public Information Office.
Washington was taken to the Dallas County Jail for outstanding warrants out of Carrollton related to a speeding ticket and failure to use a child safety seat. Dallas police said she was also charged with tampering with physical evidence and endangering a child related to her son's death.
Investigators determined that Washington concealed a handgun during the investigation. The weapon is owned by Washington.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5, Washington told police that she was involved in a road rage incident on Monday as she left a business with her three children, 2-year-old Layla Washington, 4-year-old Janiyah Washington and Jalexus, all of whom were unrestrained in her car.
U.S. & World
Police said they left a donut shop around 9:38 a.m., about 20 minutes before the shooting.
She said the driver followed her and that she pulled into a neighborhood to try to lose the person. She said she parked next to Forest Meadows Park in the 9100 block of Arbor Park Dr. and that as she was getting her children out of the car, the driver returned and shot at them, striking her son. She said she then drove him to a nearby hospital, Medical City Dallas.
Police said Washington signed a consent form at the hospital allowing police to search her vehicle for evidence. They said she stated there were no firearms in the vehicle, but while searching the vehicle for evidence of the road rage incident, police found a handgun in the glove compartment.
Investigators later learned the gun was one of two that had been purchased on March 4 by Washington. The second gun was not found in the car or in a search of her home, police said. It was later determined to be in possession of her husband.
During a subsequent videotaped interview at the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center, police said Washington waived her Miranda rights and gave a voluntary statement where she said during the road rage incident she reached for her handgun in the glove compartment twice but never pulled it out. She said during this time her children were freely moving from the front to the back seats and that she then heard two gunshots, the first of which she said sounded far away.
Police said the investigation into the road rage story stalled after officers were unable to locate a crime scene. According to the arresting document, police said they found no evidence of a road rage incident.
"What’s important to us right now and what we’re confident in is that we have detectives that are working around the clock to answer a lot of questions to find out who is responsible, the person or persons responsible for the death of this child and ultimately bring justice for the baby," said Lowman.
Additionally, according to the boy's autopsy referenced in the affidavit, there was unburned gunpowder residue on the boy's body, indicating the gunshot that killed him came from close proximity and ruling out his being shot by someone in a passing vehicle.
The charge of endangering a child was added, police said, because a weapon was accessible to her children who were unrestrained in the vehicle. Police have not released any additional information about how the boy was shot.
Washington is currently in the Dallas County Jail on a bond of $25,000. It's not clear if she's obtained an attorney.
Washington's husband, Jalexus Washington Sr., was also arrested on March 30 for outstanding traffic warrants and for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Police said he waived his rights and gave a statement, saying he was at work when his son was shot and that he was unaware of the location of his wife's gun but that it would have been in her care. The gun he was carrying, police said, was the second one purchased by his wife on March 4.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has had past involvement with the family, agency spokeswoman Tiffani Butler told NBC 5, though further details weren't available due to state confidentiality laws. DFPS is investigating the fatality alongside Dallas Police, she said.
Police are asking for anyone with information regarding this investigation to contact Homicide Detective David Grubbs, #9159, at 214-671-3675 or by email at david.grubbsjr@dallascityhall.com. Please reference case number 053933-2022.
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All eyes of soccer fans turned toward Qatar this afternoon as the draw for this year’s FIFA Men’s World Cup takes place Friday for the 32 teams before the tournament kicks off on Nov. 21.
Twenty nine of the 32 countries will be drawn into eight groups of four, as the three qualifiers are still to be determined through playoffs this summer. One of the most-heard terms around this time of the world competition is “Group of Death.”
What is ‘Group of Death?’
It’s the term given to the pool of the World Cup with the most competitive teams. The term was originally coined in 1970 by Mexican journalists who referred to one group as the “grupo de la muerte.”
That Group of Death included England, Czechoslovakia, Romania and the eventual champion Brazil. However, the Group of Death isn’t always clear. Sometimes multiple groups appear to have the toughest teams. But it usually means that one of the really good teams doesn’t advance past pool play in the World Cup.
How Does the Drawing Work?
The qualified teams will be put into four different pots based on their performance on the FIFA’s World Cup ranking. One team from each of the four pots will be drawn into each of the eight groups.
Since no team from any pot can end up in the same group, the teams in a group will have similar performance. Except for Europe, countries from the same continent also can't be drawn into the same group.
Which Countries Are in Which Pots?
Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain and Portugal
Pot 2: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Uruguay, Croatia, United States and Mexico
Pot 3: Iran, Japan, Serbia, Morocco, Poland, South Korea, Senegal, Tunisia
Pot 4: Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Canada, Cameroon, Wales/Ukraine/Scotland, New Zealand/Costa Rica and Peru/Australia/United Arab Emirates
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Here’s what you need to know about the 2022 World Cup originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The World Cup is upon us and all eyes will descend on Qatar…in eight months?
The 2022 World Cup, hosted by Qatar, will buck the summer tradition to take place in November. However, it’s not too early to start hedging your bets on who will come out on top with 29 of the 32-team field already being set on the heels of the last qualifiers this week.
With soccer largely considered the most popular sport in the world, over a billion people will be expected to tune in to the quadrennial competition, picking up on the international stage right where we left off with the Tokyo Olympics.
Read below for everything you need to know ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
When was the first World Cup?
Sports
Soccer took the international stage by storm at the turn of the 20th century. After it made its Olympic debut at the 1900 Games in Paris, national teams continued to form and international federations followed with FIFA being established in 1904.
However, it wasn’t until 1930 that the World Cup officially kicked off, after considerable debate over the Olympics and the amateur status of athletes. FIFA named Uruguay, the two-time defending Olympic champion, the host of the inaugural tournament, much to the ire of many European countries who protested the decision to pick a country so far away from Europe.
FIFA president Jules Rimet eventually persuaded Belgium, France, Romania and Yugoslavia to make the trip to Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital and the host of all the tournament’s games, and join Mexico, the U.S. and seven South American countries. Uruguay won the tournament, establishing a tradition of host countries winning the tournament, one that has been repeated five times since.
How many countries have won a World Cup?
Eight countries have won the World Cup in the tournament’s 92-year history.
Brazil leads the pack with five trophies, followed by Germany and Italy with four apiece. Argentina, France and Uruguay have all won two titles, and England and Spain round out the champions’ corner with one trophy each.
Which country has the most World Cup appearances?
Brazil’s five World Cup championships are the result of 21 consecutive appearances, making them the only country to participate in every World Cup.
Seven other countries have appeared in 15 or more World Cups. The list of top 10 World Cup appearances is below.
- Brazil (21)
- Germany (19)
- Italy (18)
- Argentina (17)
- Mexico (16)
- France (15)
- England (15)
- Spain (15)
- Uruguay (13)
- Belgium (13)
The U.S. is 16th out of 77 countries that have participated, with ten appearances to its name.
The Americans made their World Cup debut in 1930 at the inaugural tournament held in Uruguay and competed again in 1950 before a 40-year drought kept them out of competition. They qualified in 1990, one tournament ahead of hosting the country’s first World Cup in 1994. This return to the competition on the international stage marked a 24-year streak, during which the U.S. posted an 8th place finish at the 2002 World Cup, played in both Korea and Japan.
Who are the leading goal scorers in World Cup history?
Some athletes are just built for the big moments, and Miroslav Klose is certainly one of them.
The German national scored 16 goals from 2002 to 2014, leading Germany to its fourth World Cup championship in his final appearance and overtaking Ronaldo’s record 15 goals in the process. While Klose built an impressive club resume, playing in both Serie A and Bundesliga and winning two league championships with Bayern Munich, his career was largely defined by his performance on the international stage.
Thirteen players have notched double-digit goals, including Jurgen Klinsmann, former coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, who scored 11 goals for Germany across three World Cups, including a tournament victory in 1990.
What countries have hosted the World Cup in the past?
Seventeen countries have had the honor of hosting a World Cup.
Five countries have hosted the tournament twice: Brazil, Italy, France, Germany -- once as West Germany and once as Germany -- and Mexico. Another 12 countries have hosted once: Argentina, England, Spain, Japan, Sweden, Chile, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Uruguay and the U.S.
Qatar is the newest addition to the list, set to host in November 2022 followed by the North American trio of Mexico, Canada and the U.S. This will be Canada’s first time hosting the tournament and the second and third times for the U.S. and Mexico, respectively.
2026 will also be only the second time multiple countries have shared hosting responsibilities, the first done so by South Korea and Japan in 2002.
How do countries qualify for the World Cup?
The World Cup truly is a global event, with countries from around the world competing to represent their corner of the world on the international stage.
With the exception of the host country -- in this case Qatar -- that receives an automatic bid, the other 31 competing countries all receive bids through FIFA’s previously-determined quotas for each continental governing body. The allocations are:
- Africa (CAF): 5
- Asia (AFC): 4, plus 1 for host (Qatar)
- Europe (UEFA): 13
- North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3
- South America (CONMEBOL): 4
- Intercontinental playoff qualifiers: 2 spots
As of the end of March, 29 of the 32 spots had been filled. The remaining three playoff qualifiers will be held in June with Wales taking on either Scotland or Ukraine, Peru taking on either the United Arab Emirates or Australia, and Costa Rica taking on New Zealand.
Who is hosting the 2022 World Cup?
FIFA’s decision to select Qatar as the 2022 World Cup host is now over a decade in the making and has not been without its controversy.
Qatar, a peninsular country that shares a border with Saudi Arabia, has come under fire for accusations of corruption, bribery and human rights violations, particularly regarding inhumane working conditions at the venues and the country’s well-documented discrimination against the LBGTQ+ community.
Furthermore, due to the exceptionally hot climate, with summer temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the traditional schedule with games typically running from mid-June to mid-July was determined not feasible. Rather, the tournament will begin November 21 with the finals scheduled for December 18. This will be the first time the World Cup will be held during winter in the northern hemisphere.
Who are the favorites to win the 2022 World Cup?
Brazil once again looks set to continue its run of dominance, currently leading the odds eight months out from the opening game. However, they’ll have stiff competition from the European forces headlined by the defending champions France and joined by England, Spain, Germany and Belgium.
Partial odds for the 2022 World Cup are below. The complete standings are available here.
- Brazil +500
- France +600
- England +700
- Spain +700
- Germany +900
- Belgium +1000
- Argentina +1000
- Portugal +1400
- Netherlands +1600
- Denmark +2800
- Croatia +5000
- Uruguay +5000
- United States +7000
What countries are hosting the World Cup in the future?
Canada, Mexico and the U.S. will team up in 2026 to become the first trio of countries to host the World Cup together. The 16 cities are yet to be determined, but it’s believed that the majority of matches will be held in the U.S. The North American trio beat out a bid from Morocco 134-65.
Looking ahead to 2030, no host country has been determined, but a number of countries have placed bids. Following the successful joint bid for 2026, the majority of the countries have joined forces with their neighbors in their quest to put on the tournament.
The four confirmed bids are:
- Morocco (rumored to potentially add Tunisia and Algeria to its application)
- Uruguay-Paraguay-Argentina-Chile
- Romania-Greece-Bulgaria-Serbia
- Spain-Portugal
There are several other unconfirmed bids. The process is set to officially open sometime in 2022 with the vote scheduled for the 74th FIFA Congress in 2024.
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It's April Fool's Day, and everyone has jokes. Some, however, are a little better than others.
These are some of the funnier NYC-themed gags on social media so far this year.
Move the Empire State Building?
Who says government can't have a sense of humor? The NYC Department of Buildings scored some points with this one.
Fly Across Queens?
JetBlue is on a hiring spree in the New York City area, so it makes sense the airline would have a little fun with the locals.
3rd Avenue, the Bike Superhighway?
Would you believe a well-respected transit blog if it told you the mayor was going to radically reshape Manhattan traffic by turning Third Avenue into a bicycle highway?
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/alaska-airlines-cancels-dozens-of-flights-as-pilots-picket/3626858/
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Dozens of flights along the West Coast were canceled Friday as Alaska Airlines pilots picketed during an impasse in contract negotiations with the airline that have lasted nearly three years.
More than 100 Alaska Airlines flights were canceled by the airline, including 66 in Seattle, 20 in Portland, Oregon, 10 in Los Angeles and seven in San Francisco, according to the flight tracking website flightaware.com. Flights were also expected to be affected in Anchorage, Alaska. Pilots planned to hold a rally and picket in all those cities on Friday, according to a union website.
Pilots with the Air Lines Pilots Association also protested last week in New York City outside the airline’s Investor Relations Day in a precursor of Friday's picket.
The bargaining actions come as air travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels and demand is surging as many Americans head off on spring break for long-delayed vacations. Frustrated travelers vented on social media about botched vacation plans and reported that there was up to a 10-hour wait to speak with an airline representative about rescheduling flights. Many said they couldn't fly out for a day or two.
Robyn Dold, of Battle Ground, Washington, had planned to fly to Missouri on Friday with her husband, daughter and son-in-law to attend her father-in-law's funeral. The family received an email from Alaska at midnight — six hours before they were to take off — that said their flight was canceled.
Dold spent hours Friday on hold with the airline, and then in line at Portland International Airport, only to learn Alaska could not get them to the funeral on time — or even to a city within 10 hours' driving distance.
“We’d go with the flow if it was a vacation, but this is something that has a due date that we can’t change and it’s heartbreaking,” she said in a phone interview. “My husband is beside himself. His father was his very best friend.”
U.S. & World
Dold, who was to deliver the eulogy, will instead watch the funeral on a one-way livestream with her husband from home, she said.
“What I think really irritates me the most, honestly, is that we weren't given any notification ahead of time that this was a possibility. We could have made other arrangements ahead of time if they had said, ‘Hey, you know, the pilots might go on strike April 1,’” said Dold, who said she didn't know enough about the contract negotiations to pass judgment on the strike. “That's what's really disappointing.”
Pilots have been in contract negotiations with the airline for nearly three years and the two sides are at an impasse.
The union says Alaska Airlines did not adequately prepare for a return to air travel after the pandemic and didn't take the necessary steps to retain or attract pilots as demand bounced back. Issues that still need to be resolved include job security, work rules and quality-of-life provisions that provide flexibility and reasonable schedules, it said in a statement, and the current pilot contract falls well behind those at comparable airlines in several key sections.
Alaska Airlines said Friday that it values its pilots and respects their right to picket, but it also needs to negotiate a deal that allows the airline to maintain growth and profitability. Alaska Airlines is working to recover $2.3 billion in losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, it said in a statement.
The airline said it currently offers competitive salaries for its pilots. For example, an Alaska Airlines captain’s average salary is currently $341,000 per year, the airline said.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/ariana-grande-pledges-to-match-up-to-1-5-million-to-fight-anti-trans-bills/3626909/
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Ariana Grande has pledged to match up to $1.5 million in donations to LGBTQ advocacy groups to help counter the wave of anti-trans bills circulating through state legislatures.
From Jan. 1 to March 15, state lawmakers proposed a record 238 bills — or more than three a day — that would limit the rights of LGBTQ people, with about half the bills specifically targeting transgender people, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the American Civil Liberties Union and the LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans.
In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility on Thursday, March 31, Grande urged her more than 302 million Instagram followers to raise money for 18 local LGBTQ organizations fighting the legislation.
"[R]ight now there are hundreds of disgraceful bills pending in state legislature that target trans youth and aim to curb their rights," the pop star wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. "[T]his will provide critical funds to organizations advocating for the rights of trans youth."
Read the full story at NBCNews.com
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/arizona-governor-wont-say-transgender-people-exist-when-talking-new-law-limiting-their-rights/3626797/
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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey refused to say Thursday if transgender people actually exist, twice dodging direct questions on the subject just a day after he signed legislation limiting transgender rights.
The Republican worked instead to defend his signatures on bills that bar transgender girls and women from playing on girls high school and women's college sports teams and barring gender affirming surgery for anyone under age 18.
When specifically asked if he believed that there “are really transgender people,” the governor paused for several seconds before answering.
“I’m going to ask you to read the legislation and to see that the legislation that we passed was in the spirit of fairness to protect girls sports in competitive situations,” Ducey said, referring to the new law that targets transgender girls who want to play on girls sports teams. “That’s what the legislation is intended to do, and that’s what it does.”
Asked again if he believed there are “actual transgender people,” he again answered slowly and carefully.
“I ... am going to respect everyone, and I’m going to respect everyone’s rights. And I’m going to protect female sports. And that’s what the legislation does,” Ducey said.
Ducey's response was “appalling,” according to the Arizona director of the Human Rights Campaign, a national civil rights group that advocates for equality for LGBTQ people. The organization worked to ensure families and transgender young people came to the Capitol to testify against the bills as the Republican-led House and Senate considered them this session.
“It's quite shocking that he can't even address trans people or even say that he thinks they exist,” Bridget Sharpe said.
Wednesday's signing of the two transgender bills and a third that bars abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy and is currently unconstitutional put Ducey right in the middle of two top issues national Republicans are highlighting in the runup to November's midterm elections.
Ducey also signed election legislation that minority Democrats said amounted to voter suppression by requiring longtime Arizonans to be thrown off the voter rolls if they did not prove their citizenship and residence location.
The governor leads the Republican Governors Association, which is charged with helping elect GOP chief executives in U.S. states. He in is the last year of his second term as Arizona governor and term limits bar him from seeking reelection.
The top Democrat in the state House, Rep. Reginald Bolding, called Wednesday “probably one of the darkest days we've seen in the history of Arizona."
“With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Ducey has hurled Arizona backwards to its ugliest past,” Bolding said Wednesday. “And today, he put in jeopardy pregnant people, transgender youth in danger and curtailed voting rights for people of color.”
Social conservative groups and the Arizona Republican Party praised Ducey's action. The Center for Arizona Policy, whose president shepherded the abortion and women's sports bills through the Legislature, called it a victory.
"Thank you, Governor Ducey, for taking a bold stand for women athletes, vulnerable children, and the unborn by putting your signature on (the bills) in the face of intense opposition from activists," Center for Arizona Policy president Cathi Herrod said in a news release she posted on Twitter.
She said the legislation protects the unborn, ensures a level playing field for female athletes and shows that “Arizona will do everything it can to protect vulnerable children struggling with gender confusion” by enacting the surgery ban.
Ducey said the surgery ban protects children from irreversible decisions.
“These are permanent surgeries of reassignment that are irreversible, and those discussions can happen once adulthood is reached,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Association has vowed to sue over the surgery ban. U.S. Supreme Court precedent currently says women have a constitutional right to abortion until about 24 weeks of pregnancy, although it is considering whether to uphold a 15-week ban enacted in Mississippi and may overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision enshrining a woman's right to choose.
Arizona joins 13 other states in enacting laws preventing transgender girls and women from playing on girls teams. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a transgender sports ban in his state, saying it would harm transgender girls, but the Legislature overrode the veto. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb also vetoed a sports bill, but lawmakers hope to override his action as well.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/house-passes-landmark-marijuana-legalization-bill/3626812/
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The House passed legislation Friday that would legalize marijuana nationwide, eliminating criminal penalties for anyone who manufactures, distributes or possesses the substance.
Lawmakers approved the measure 220-204 in a largely party-line vote. Republicans Tom McClintock of California and Matt Gaetz and Brian Mast of Florida voted in favor of the legislation, while Democrats Chris Pappas of New Hampshire and Henry Cueller of Texas voted against it.
The legislation, dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, passed in the House last year, but did not move forward in the Senate. In addition to decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, the bill would establish procedures for expunging previous convictions from people's records and impose a tax on the sale of cannabis products.
The tax would begin at 5 percent and eventually increase to 8 percent. Funding raised through the tax would go toward a fund to provide job training, mentoring, substance-use treatment, legal aid, re-entry services and youth recreation programs. It would also provide loans to help small businesses in the cannabis industry that are "owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals," a summary of the bill said.
The bill now once again will head to the Senate.
Read the full story here on NBCNews.com
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/man-who-brought-small-armory-to-capitol-on-jan-6-sentenced-to-46-months-in-prison/3626898/
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An Alabama man who brought a truckload of weapons, ammunition and Molotov cocktails near the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Friday.
Lonnie Coffman, 72, who has been detained since his arrest nearly 15 months ago, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
He pleaded guilty in November. Under a plea deal, 46 months was at the top of the agreed upon sentencing guideline range. Kollar-Kelly agreed with the probation office that 46 months was appropriate in Coffman's case.
For more on this story, go to NBC News.
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/red-cross-says-it-couldnt-reach-mariupol-will-try-again-saturday/3626877/
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The International Committee of the Red Cross says a team intending to help people leave the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine was unable to reach the port city on Friday.
The Red Cross said in a statement that the team hopes to try again Saturday.
“Arrangements and conditions made it impossible” for the convoy of three vehicles to get safely to Mariupol and they returned to Zaporizhzhia, it said.
“For the operation to succeed, it is critical that the parties respect the agreements and provide the necessary conditions and security guarantees,” the organization said.
Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/us-man-abducted-in-afghanistan-appears-in-newly-posted-video/3626802/
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An American man kidnapped in Afghanistan two years ago is seen in a video pleading for his release so that he can be reunited with his family, according to a recording posted Friday by The New Yorker magazine.
The video of Mark Frerichs marks the first time that the Navy veteran and civilian contractor has been seen by the public since his abduction in Kabul on Jan. 31, 2020. Frerichs, of Lombard, Illinois, is believed to be held by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network, and U.S. officials across two presidential administrations have tried unsuccessfully to get him home.
Frerichs appears by himself in the video, sitting upright before a dark curtain and wearing what appears to be traditional Afghan clothing. In the video, which he says was recorded last Nov. 28, he says he has patiently awaited his release and adds: “I'd like to ask the leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: please release me. Release me so that I may be re-united with my family. Thank you."
Videos of hostages are sometimes released to show proof that they are alive and to facilitate negotiations for a release, though it was not immediately clear if that was the case here.
The video was posted Friday by The New Yorker, which says it obtained it from an unidentified individual in Afghanistan.
An FBI spokeswoman in Washington declined to comment on the video's authenticity, but a sister of Frerichs, Charlene Cakora, said in a statement Friday that she was grateful to the Taliban for releasing the video and described it as "public confirmation of our family’s long-held belief that he is alive after more than two years in captivity.”
She appealed to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to step up efforts to get Frerichs released.
“We consider this to be an important indicator of the Taliban’s interest in seeking to arrange for Mark’s immediate release. President Biden and Secretary Blinken, we urge you to take bold and decisive action to bring Mark home," she added.
The Taliban has made clear to U.S. officials that it seeks the release of a convicted drug lord named Bashir Noorzai, but the U.S. government has not moved forward on any sort of prisoner trade or exchange that could get Frerichs home.
The video of Frerichs surfaced on the same day that the State Department announced the release from Afghanistan of U.S. citizen Safiullah Rauf and Anees Khalil, a lawful permanent resident. The State Department said that they were now in Qatar before traveling home but offered no additional details about their activities in Afghanistan.
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