(TOKYO) – The USA men’s Olympic basketball team lost to France 83-76 in the team’s opening game of the 2020 Olympics.
It is the first loss for the men’s team at the games since 2004, ending a 25 game winning streak.
France’s Evan Fournier led the game with 28 points. Jrue Holiday was the leading scorer for Team USA with 18 points.
Team USA led after the first and second quarters, but a 25 point third quarter by the French had them leading by 6, 62-56, entering the fourth.
Team USA opened the final quarter on a 13-1 run, to put them up 69-63, with Holiday, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring 12 points.
The Americans led the way until the final minute when Fournier, who plays for the Boston Celtics, hit a three-pointer with 57 seconds left to put France up 76-74. Team USA missed its next five shots, including three three-point attempts, before free throws iced the game for France.
Team USA plays Iran and the Czech Republic in its next two games of group play. They must win both games to advance to the medal rounds.
(TOKYO) — Each day, ABC News will give you a roundup of key Olympic moments from the day’s events in Tokyo, happening 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time. After a 12-month delay, the unprecedented 2020 Olympics will take place without fans or spectators and under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
US men’s basketball loses 1st game since 2004
The U.S. men’s basketball team lost 83-76 in their opening game against France, the first game the team has lost since 2004. The loss hasn’t knocked Team USA out of the running, they will have two more games in the group round to qualify for the next round. Since basketball’s introduction to the Olympics in 1936, the U.S. men’s team has won a medal in every competition except the 1980 Games, which was boycotted by the United States.
US wins 1st gold medal after 1st-day drought
U.S. swimmer Chase Kalisz won the gold medal in the men’s 400m individual medley, his first gold as well as the first medal overall for Team USA at the 2020 Games. Though it was the first time in decades that the United States failed to win a medal on opening day competition, the U.S. swimming team won 6 of 12 medals in the days’ competition, including Kalisz’s gold, two silvers and three bronze.
US women’s gymnastic team finds itself in unfamiliar position: 2nd place
The often dominant U.S. women’s team saw another team leading the scoreboard after the qualifying round on Sunday. ROC, the athletes competing for Russia, finished the competition nearly a full point ahead of Team USA. Simone Biles finished first in the all-around, followed by teammate Sunisa Lee.
Coronavirus cases increase to 137 among Olympic athletes and personnel
Among the 10 new cases since yesterday, two are athletes and one of those, a Dutch rower, was staying at Olympic Village. Not included in that tally was golfer Bryson DeChambeau, who tested positive for coronavirus before leaving the United States and will no longer compete. New cases that have been reported in the Tokyo area now stand at 1,763, an increase in the rolling 7-day average of 146.5%.
Skateboarding makes debut at Olympics
Skateboarding debuted at the 2020 Games with local star Yuto Horigome of Japan winning the gold medal and Team USA’s Jagger Eaton taking home the bronze in the men’s street competition.
US softball heads to gold medal rematch against Japan
After defeating Australia 2-1 in their fourth win, the U.S. softball team heads to the gold medal game against Japan. This rematch from 2008, was the last time softball was at the Olympics and resulted in a silver medal for the team. The team was led by pitchers Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman, the only two players who were on the team for the loss in 2008.
Intense heat could cause rescheduling for outdoor events
Olympic skateboarders, who compete at the unshaded Ariake Urban Sports Park, said the heat was already intense at 9 a.m. a sentiment echoed by tennis players Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. The International Olympic Committee said they would make backup plans if necessary.
(SALT LAKE CITY) — Thousands of fans gathered in Wisconsin to celebrate the Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA championship, but scenes of celebration soon turned into chaos when gunfire rang out.
Two shootings broke out early Wednesday in downtown Milwaukee that wounded three, sent people running for their lives and left the community shell-shocked.
The shootings are only a snapshot of the skyrocketing gun violence that has swept the nation in recent months. Between Saturday, July 17, and Friday, July 23, the Gun Violence Archive tracked at least 915 shooting incidents — or, a shooting every 12 minutes — that left at least 430 people dead and 1,007 wounded. In total, more than 1,000 were wounded or killed this week alone. These numbers are not static, and are constantly updated as data comes in.
Last year marked the deadliest year for shooting-related incidents in the U.S. in at least two decades, according to Gun Violence Archive data with more than 43,000 gun deaths. But GVA’s data suggests 2021 is on track to surpass those figures with more than 24,000 gun fatalities reported so far.
ABC News partnered with its owned stations and affiliates across the nation to track the devastation. The findings reveal that gun violence, for many Americans, isn’t far removed from everyday life.
Gun violence in all its forms
As attention turned toward the shooting outside the Nationals game last Saturday, across the country in a dark church parking lot in Utah, 13-year-old Lance Moorehead was shot in the head around 1:40 a.m.
Lt. Richard Bell of the West Jordan Police Department called the shooting “a truly unfortunate, tragic accident” during a press conference. He said that Moorehead and his 15-year-old friend had snuck out and that one had brought a gun.
The two were “not being safe” with the gun which resulted in the 15-year-old unintentionally shooting and killing his 13-year-old friend, Bell said. He added that there was some criminal culpability and the 15-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention center on suspicion of manslaughter.
According to the 911 dispatch call, the teens did not know the gun was loaded.
“We’ve got a 13- and a 15-year-old. They’re inside a vehicle. Did not know the gun was loaded. The juvenile’s been shot in the head,” a 911 dispatcher told officers in a recording of the call.
Derek Thatcher, the heartbroken father of Moorehead, said in a statement to local station KSL-TV that his son “loved to skate, play football and video games. He had a contagious smile that could warm anyone’s heart. You couldn’t help but smile back.”
“Gun safety is of the utmost importance to prevent this kind of tragedy and heartache our family has experienced. We can’t stress enough how important gun safety is,” Thatcher said in his statement.
The tragedy shows that even children aren’t spared from this spike in gun violence.
In west Philadelphia last Saturday, a white Jeep pulled up to a store and an unknown number of occupants began to shoot indiscriminately into the store, striking two people, including a year-old child who was there with their mother, according to Joel Dales, deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department. He said a man inside subsequently returned fire.
Police said one person had been arrested in connection to that shooting, Philadelphia ABC station WPVI reported.
“They don’t care who’s around when they use these guns. It’s a big problem. This is not OK. … I’m tired of this. I’m sick and tired of this,” Dales said during a press conference.
In San Antonio early Tuesday morning, 15-year-old Tristan Jaden Rosas was playing video games in his bedroom with his younger cousin when a stray bullet entered the room and hit him in the head.
“Dudes were fighting in the back. They were shooting at each other and they brought it up here to the front,” Ray Rosas, the victim’s uncle, told San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT.
Rosas told ABC News that after the bullet struck his nephew, his cousin tried to keep him alive.
“I should have been there, because when you tell your kid you’re going to protect him, that’s a promise you can’t ever take back,” Epi Rosas, Tristan’s father said.
San Antonio police told ABC News no one has been arrested in the case.
Altogether, more than 800 Americans under 18 years old have died from gun violence so far in 2021, with 174 of them under 12, GVA data shows.
Some of those incidents have been mass shootings, defined as involving four people or more who were injured or killed — not including the suspect. So far, there have been 18 mass shootings in 12 cities across the U.S. this week, according to the GVA’s data, with 19 dead and 74 wounded.
The epidemic of gun violence also includes suicides, which are the cause of about 60% of adult firearm deaths, according to the Department of Justice. In 2019, an average of 66 people each day died by suicide with a gun, according to the Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence. This year alone there have been more than 13,500 suicides by gun, GVA data shows.
There are also gun violence incidents that erupt from alleged domestic disputes.
In Wichita, Kansas, on Monday, Kamden Campos, 21, allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend and her two children and brought them to a nearby lake. The woman jumped into the car and sped away as he fired shots towards the vehicle, wounding her 2-year-old daughter, the Reno County Sheriff’s Office said.
After a manhunt, Campos was booked into jail on attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated kidnapping and possession of stolen property charges, the sheriff’s office announced on Facebook. Officials said the child underwent surgery and is in stable but critical condition.
Officer-involved shootings also play a role in the violence, which includes instances where cops are the victim as well as the perpetrator.
In Clark County, Washington, a sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed Friday night and police are looking for suspects who may be armed and dangerous.
“This is a difficult time for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement agencies in Clark County and the surrounding Clark County, Portland metro area,” the sheriff’s office said in a press conference after the shooting.
ABC News and the GVA’s assessment of this past week’s gun violence found that in all, two people had been killed and five people had been wounded every hour.
The assessment found that practically every state in the nation had been affected over the last week, with at least one gun-related incident in 47 states and the District of Columbia.
Of all the states, Illinois had the highest number of gun violence incidents, with 109 incidents tracked. Texas followed with 63 incidents, and then Pennsylvania, California and New York, where there were 59, 52 and 48 incidents, respectively, over the last week.
When it came to gun-related incidents that led to death, Texas had the highest rates with 35 fatalities. Illinois, meanwhile, topped the list for most people wounded from firearms at 124.
Over the last week, the worst day for gun violence was July 18 and the most violent time on any given day was between midnight and 3 a.m. — a time period when about 22% of all incidents occurred.
“This week is indicative of a big longer-term systemic issue where people are becoming afraid to go out to parks and afraid to go to malls because they know when they go to a baseball game, there is going to be a drive by [shooting],” Mark Bryant, the executive director of GVA, said. “It’s been a very average week and we should be horrified.”
Disparities in gun violence
While no part of the country is immune to gun violence, as ABC News dug into the data, it found that the violence occurs disproportionately in poorer, urban areas — from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York City.
More than two-thirds of all the gun violence incidents reviewed unfolded in census tracts across the nation, where more than 50% of residents are nonwhite.
Over half of the incidents occurred in the nation’s poorest census tracts, where the median household income is $40,000 a year or less. About 17% of shootings occurred in census tracts where people make more than $60,000.
In New York City, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told ABC News that the city saw a 73% increase in shootings in May 2021 when compared to the same time last year. When asked if people are brazen with carrying weapons, he said, “I don’t think there’s any doubt. … The data here in New York City is [there are] more guns on the scene of shootings, more rounds being fired.”
He said that factors contributing to the surge in gun violence include gang violence, police budget cuts and COVID-19 shutdowns in the court system, which have caused a backlog of more 5,000 gun cases.
“Taking the gun off the street is great, but really, what we need is we need the individual carrying the gun off the street,” he said.
Shea said there had been a drop in the rate of gun-related cases in June 2021 after the department increased gun-related arrests and police targeted repeat offenders, but he says the drop still isn’t enough.
“When you look at who’s getting shot in this city right now, it’s about 97% of people of color,” he said. “It’s way off the charts.”
ABC News spent time at the Oakland, California, headquarters of ShotSpotter, a company that works with law enforcement across the country to record and track gunshots in the area and alert authorities.
“We published 240,000 gunshot alerts, real verified confirmed gunfire alerts in 2020,” ShotSpotter CEO Ralph Clarke said. “On a year-to-date basis, 2020 to 2021 is over 20% [in gunshot activity]. And we haven’t reached the peak part of the summer yet.”
In Philadelphia on Wednesday, where the gun-related death toll has already surpassed 300 this year, three teens were shot — two of them died from their wounds. As ABC News embedded with Philadelphia police, they repeatedly pointed out streets where shootings had once occurred.
Later that night, a person was shot dead in front of what some might consider Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak restaurants, Pat’s and Geno’s. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told ABC News the shooting was due to a parking dispute.
During a time in which policing has received extra scrutiny after the death of George Floyd, Outlaw, a Black woman, sees the struggle from both sides.
“Because I have all of these lived experiences and these different perspectives, I understand why the police do what we do,” she said. “But I also understand the hurt and torment in our communities.”
Like so many other communities across the nation, in Suitland, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., one community is mourning the death of Taya Ashton. The 20-year-old transgender woman was killed last Saturday night in her apartment.
DeAllen Price, 27, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection to Ashton’s killing. He was arrested a day after her death on unrelated charges in Virginia and is pending extradition to Prince George’s County, authorities said. Police say the suspect and victim knew each other.
Prince George’s County Police said they don’t believe it was a random crime, but also said that they have “uncovered no evidence suggesting Taya’s murder was due to her gender identity.”
Taya’s grandfather, Stuart Anderson, held a vigil in her honor on Wednesday where around 100 friends and family members hugged one another, sang and released purple balloons in her honor.
Anderson denounced the gun violence that has wracked the community.
“I’m tired of doing vigils,” Anderson told ABC News. “If whoever it is that shot my grandchild hadn’t had the gun, my grandchild would be right here. We got to get these guns off the streets.”
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also reach the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741741.
(SALT LAKE CITY) — As President Joe Biden completed 100 days in office, the country was optimistic about the coming year, but now, just after hitting the six-month mark, Americans’ optimism about the direction of the country has plummeted nearly 20 points, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll finds.
A majority — 55% — of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a marked change from the roughly one-third (36%) that said the same in an ABC News/Ipsos poll published May 2. In the early May survey, Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic by a 28-percentage point margin. Optimism is now under water by 10 points. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, fewer than half — 45% — now report feeling optimistic about the way things are going, a significant drop from about two-thirds (64%) in the May poll.
The decline in optimism has occurred across the board among Democrats, Republicans and independents. Optimism is down about 20 points among Democrats and Republicans and down 26 points among independents. Among Democrats, about 7 in 10 (71%) now say they are optimistic about the direction of the country over the next 12 months. That’s much lower than the near universal (93%) approval from Democrats on Biden’s handling of the pandemic. In politics today, partisans usually are more unified in their support or opposition to particular issues or people.
The optimism-pessimism flip comes as Americans give Biden his lowest approval rating for his handling of the pandemic yet in ABC News/Ipsos polling. A little over 6 in 10 (63%) approve of the president’s response to the coronavirus, according to the poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
Although still a majority, it’s a nine-point drop from late March — the high for Biden. It likely reflects the growing concern that lockdowns could be reinstated and already vaccinated Americans could need a booster shot as the highly contagious delta variant now is estimated to account for 83% of all new coronavirus cases in the United States. As of Friday, according to Health and Human Services data obtained by ABC News, the United States’ daily case average was up 47% compared to the prior week, and on Wednesday, the nation recorded its highest single-day new case total since April.
Worry about a resurgence of the virus is also apparent when looking at how concerned the public is about contracting the virus.
According to this ABC News/Ipsos poll, about 6 in 10 Americans are concerned — 20% very and 42% somewhat — that they or someone they know will become infected with the coronavirus; about 4 in 10 (39%) are not concerned about this.
That’s the lowest level of concern in polling by ABC News/Ipsos going back to March 2020, but there is a significant gap since this question was last asked in early March of this year, when less than 20% of the U.S. population was at least partially vaccinated. Since then, every American 12 years and older has become eligible to receive a vaccine. In this ABC News/Ipsos poll, about three-quarters (74%) of U.S. adults say they have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, which, similar to other recent surveys, slightly overstates the number of Americans who have been vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent CDC report, which could lag actual vaccinations by a few days, shows that 68.8% of the adult population had received at least one dose.
Concern about infection, according to this poll, is higher among those who are at least partially vaccinated than those who are not, 67% compared to 46%. But while a majority of unvaccinated U.S. adults say they are not concerned that they or someone they know will be infected with the virus, public health experts, including the CDC director, have warned that this is becoming a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
While ABC News/Ipsos did not poll on the level of concern for contracting the virus over the last four to five months, other polls have, and the public’s concern appears to be rising again.
In a Monmouth University poll conducted in mid-June, about a quarter (23%) of Americans said they were very concerned they or someone in their family would become seriously ill from COVID, and about 2 in 10 (19%) said they were somewhat concerned about this — both record lows in Monmouth’s polling. About a quarter (24%) said they were not so concerned about this, and over 3 in 10 (32%) said they were not at all concerned — both record highs in Monmouth’s polling.
Additionally, the level of approval for the president’s handling of the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic has also dropped by seven points since late March, when 6 in 10 approved, according to ABC News/Ipsos polling. Although jobless claims were expected to hit a new pandemic-era low Thursday, instead, they increased to a level last seen in mid-June, though it’s too soon to know if that will become a trend.
The overwhelming majority (88%) of Democrats approve of the president’s handling of the economic recovery, but only about half (49%) of independents do and less than 2 in 10 (16%) Republicans do.
On other issues, Biden’s approval is underwater, and lackluster even among his own party.
Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans approve of the president’s handling of immigration and the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, crime and gun violence. Republicans have hounded Biden and Democrats over all three, as border crossings and violent crime rates, especially in Democrat-run U.S. cities nationwide, surge. That’s reflected in Republicans’ high level of disapproval — ranging between 86% and 92% — of the president’s handling of the three issues, according to this poll.
Among all Americans, the disapproval figures for crime and gun violence track closely with each other — both around 6 in 10 each — and disapproval of Biden’s handling of gun violence has ticked up slightly since late March among the public, from 57% to 61%.
An exception to these low ratings on issue- or policy-based performance is the president’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, for which a majority (55%) of Americans approve.
Asked how well Biden’s delivered on his campaign promises, Americans are divided: 52% say he has done an excellent or good job keeping those promises, while 47% say he’s done a not so good or poor job.
METHODOLOGY – This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs’ KnowledgePanel® July 23-24, 2021, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 527 adults. Results have a margin of sampling error of 5.0 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 31-24-36%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. See the poll’s topline results and details on the methodology here.
ABC News’ Dan Merkle, Ken Goldstein and Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As cities around the world start to reopen after COVID-19 lockdowns, the effects of the pandemic are starting to show on people’s faces.
Experts in cosmetic medicine say they have begun to notice an uptick in Botox treatments among younger generations. They say people, particularly women, in their early 20s — aged from the pandemic and wearing less makeup than before — spent so much time looking at themselves during Zoom meetings that they started to notice their “imperfections,” and for the first time, turned to Botox and fillers.
“I would say that my average age of patients shifted down considerably this year, and it’s now early 20s,” Skinly Aesthetics founder Dr. Dmitriy Schwarzburg said. “And they’re coming not just for Botox, but for all kinds of procedures that they would otherwise consider at a much later point in their lives.”
Amy Shecter, the CEO of Ever/Body said, “The Zoom effect is real, and it has definitely been a catalyst for increased interest in cosmetic dermatology treatments.”
According to Stacy Garrity, a nurse practitioner at Ever/Body, many of their clients over the past year have admitted that they only started to notice their fine lines because of Zoom, and now that things are opening up, they’re anxious to get out of their quarantine funk and look and feel better.
The number of patients in their early to mid 20s “is a phenomenon that was not seen five years ago,” Garrity said.
Schwarzburg said the pandemic accelerated what was already happening with people’s interest in Botox. He said the median age of patients at his clinic has actually been declining for about four years, “and it’s 100% because of social media — especially filters.” Schwarzburg said patients often come to him with photos of themselves with Instagram filters on and ask him to make them look that way. His biggest requests this year: “smooth skin, full lips, nice cheeks, sharp jawline.”
Priya Patel, a physician assistant and Botox expert at Plump, agreed social media is to thank for the younger audience, and for the slow but steady de-stigmatization of Botox and cosmetic procedures in general.
“You can easily go on Instagram or TikTok and watch the procedures being done and realize like, ‘Oh, it’s not really what I thought it would be,'” she said. “And you can also follow those posts and see what their results look like.”
But what’s different about this younger population of first-time Botox users, Schwarzburg said, is that many of them are choosing to embrace wrinkle relaxers before their “dynamic lines” turn “static.” In other words, it’s all “preventative,” whereas some years ago, it was used purely to treat an already existing “problem.”
He explained that all Botox — a protein approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration — does is temporarily paralyze one’s muscle receptors so that even when the brain sends the muscle a signal to move, it stays put. It takes about 12 weeks for the Botox to have full effect. Researchers also believe that the injections give the skin a chance to produce collagen to erase whatever fine lines may have developed over time. That’s why those lines disappear. So, by using Botox early, millennials and Gen Zs are essentially taking control of how they age — at least externally.
“What millennials want is for those dynamic lines to be less expressive, so they never reach the point of static lines. And they start early, so they never have to worry about developing static lines,” Schwarzburg said. “That’s a huge shift, I would say.”
Botox clinics are adapting to this younger population
Dr. Carolyn Treasure, the co-founder of Peachy, opened the Botox clinic in New York’s SoHo neighborhood at the peak of the pandemic, but has already secured a cult-like following of younger fans, including influencers, who love her services. This is not because Peachy is the only place in Manhattan to get wrinkle-relaxers — there are hundreds — but because clinics like hers are catering to a younger audience by making the experience of cosmetic procedures feel more trendy and casual than scary, taboo and hospital-like.
Also, Peachy uses a technology to apply Botox that was made precisely for the digital times we’re living in. When a patient goes into the clinic, the nurse or doctor who will deliver the treatment first takes photos of the patient’s face using an iPad. Then, Peachy’s own Botox app will analyze the photos and suggest the number of Botox units that should be applied to each of the three FDA-approved points: forehead, frown lines and crow’s feet. Of course, those numbers can be tweaked depending on the patient’s desired look.
After the procedure — which takes about five minutes — the patient can sit down in the clinic’s cozy, pink relaxation room, enjoy a complimentary sparkling water, ice their Botox points and take selfies on the many mirrored walls.
“Our mission at Peachy is really balancing fun and approachability with clinical excellence and scientific rigor,” Treasure said. “I really try to fight against the ‘Botox bar’ stereotype in that we do have a clinically excellent environment and phenomenal providers and nurse practitioners who are really here to educate people on wrinkle prevention, and particularly prevention that doesn’t alter or change how you naturally look. And it’s a novel model of health care delivery.”
Peachy, Plump, Skinly Aesthetics and Ever/Body — with their pastel-colored decor, bright white lights ideal for photos and stylish waiting rooms — look more like spas you want to post on Instagram than clinics where you get injected in. At the same time, many of the doctors and nurse practitioners who deliver the treatments have become social media stars, and often run in the same circles as fashion influencers or celebrities.
Treasure, who graduated from Harvard Medical School and was previously a resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said Peachy is like no other health care environment she’s ever worked in, and that is exactly the draw. Young patients see getting Botox as a fun experience they want to brag about, whereas their parents likely believed in the myths associated with the procedure and thought it taboo.
The FDA does not recommend Botox cosmetic use in people under 18, and says any side effects are generally minor, such as redness, headache or nausea, according to the medication guide.
One common misconception is that Botox gives you a plastic or “deformed” look, but experts said that is actually the result of too much filler — which is not the same. Another myth is that Botox is bad for the health, but Garrity said, “Neuromodulators are FDA-approved and have been used cosmetically in the U.S. since 1991. When injected judiciously and by a skilled medical provider, there is very little risk to people of any age.”
Schwarzburg, at Skinly Aesthetics, said those are the exact misconceptions that caused the yearslong stigma against Botox, and which millennials and Gen Zs are helping to eliminate.
“I can tell you that most of the 40-plus patients keep it to themselves or to a very close circle of friends, while 20-year-olds could be posting it as I’m doing it and then they’ll tell everyone and that will generate more traffic,” Schwarzburg said. “It’s a lifestyle kind of achievement.”
The experts also agreed that while Zoom, Instagram and TikTok have certainly pushed younger people to try out Botox for the first time, so have they. Now that medical professionals have different platforms, health, skin care and scientifically backed cosmetic procedures have begun trending.
“People are now more interested in what is results-oriented — what has data behind it. Because in this space there’s historically been a lot of pseudo-science, and that’s what we’re fighting against,” Treasure said.
(SALT LAKE CITY) — The southern portion of the Great Salt Lake in Utah has dropped to its lowest level ever, the U.S Geological Survey said Saturday. Lake levels have been declining for some time, but the record-breaking drought hitting the West has accelerated its fall in recent months.
Average daily water levels dropped about an inch below the previous record of 4,194 feet, set in 1963, with records dating back to 1847.
A series of images released by Utah’s Division of Water Resources showed the clear contrast between what the Great Salt Lake — the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere — looked like at its highest and average levels versus the new record low.
The drought numbers in Utah this year illustrate how dire the situation is there. The latest U.S Drought Monitor report released on Thursday shows nearly 100% of the state is experiencing extreme drought conditions — level 3 out of 4.
To make matters worse, more than two-thirds of the state is now in an exceptional drought — the highest drought level. Just one year ago, there were no exceptional drought conditions reported in Utah.
The impacts of the relentless drought are far from over.
“Based on current trends and historical data, the USGS anticipates water levels may decline an additional foot over the next several months,” Ryan Rowland, data chief for the USGS Utah Water Science Center, said in a statement.
The USGS and Utah officials said they continue to closely monitor lake levels and the drought situation in the state as potential impacts could cascade through not only the state’s natural resources, but also through the economy.
“We must find ways to balance Utah’s growth with maintaining a healthy lake,” Brian Steed, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement.
“Ecological, environmental and economical balance can be found by working together as elected leaders, agencies, industry, stakeholders and citizens working together,” he added.
The Great Salt Lake is a major tourist destination, with over 1.14 million people visiting the lake’s three biggest state parks — Willard Bay, Antelope Island and Great Salt Lake — in 2018, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.
Drought conditions are only expected to get worse in the coming weeks with limited chances for widespread, significant rainfall.
Michael Goulding/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — Rodney Alcala, a convicted serial killer who was on California’s death row, has died, authorities said Saturday.
Alcala, 77, died of natural causes at 1:43 a.m. Saturday at a hospital in the community near Corcoran State Prison, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement.
Alcala was known as “The Dating Game” killer for his appearance as a winning contestant on the television game show in 1978.
After representing himself in Orange County court, he was sentenced to death in 2010 for the 1979 murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe and the murders of four other women — 18-year-old Jill Barcomb and 27-year-old Georgia Wixted, both in 1977; 32-year-old Charlotte Lamb in 1978; and 21-year-old Jill Parenteau in 1979.
He was previously sentenced to death twice for the murder of Samsoe — in 1980 and then again in 1986 — though those sentences were later overturned in appeals and he was granted new trials.
Alcala also pleaded guilty to the murders of two other women in New York — Cornelia Crilley in 1971 and Ellen Jane Hover in 1977. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in 2013.
He has been linked to or suspected of murders in other states. In 2016, he was charged by Wyoming prosecutors with the murder of 28-year-old Christine Ruth Thornton, who disappeared in 1978 when she was six months pregnant and whose body was found four years later, though authorities ultimately decided not to extradite him to Wyoming for trial due to his failing health.
Alcala’s execution in California had been postponed indefinitely due to a moratorium on the death penalty instituted by the state in 2019.
A successful photographer, Alcala often would lure women and girls by approaching them on the street and offering to take their picture before attacking them, investigators said. While investigating the murder of Samsoe in 1979, investigators found hundreds of photographs in a Seattle storage locker belonging to Alcala of unidentified women, girls and boys, as well as jewelry believed to be trophies of some of his victims.
In 2010, the Huntington Beach Police Department released the photos taken by Alcala confiscated decades earlier to determine whether they may have been victimized by him. Prior to his death, he had not disclosed whether there were other victims.
(WASHINGTON) — First lady Jill Biden spent her final day in Japan cheering on Team USA at three Olympic events as the Games got underway in Tokyo on Saturday.
With fans unable to attend, Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron were part of a sparse crowd watching the women’s 3-on-3 basketball game between the United States and France.
The first lady was patriotically dressed for the occasion, sporting an American flag top and an official Ralph Lauren Team USA Navy blazer as she cheered on the U.S. competitors to a 17-10 victory.
In a video posted by USA Basketball after the game, Biden was seen congratulating the players on their win.
“Congratulations. We’re so proud,” Biden can be heard saying.
“Thank you for coming. It means a lot,” Stefanie Dolson, a member of the team replied. “First one’s done, so we’re good now,” she joked.
Biden also cheered on USA Swimming during a competition Saturday, appearing in the stands and receiving her own shoutout from the swimmers, who chanted “Dr. Biden!”
She was also in the stands to support the U.S. women’s soccer team as they delivered a decisive, 6-1 win over New Zealand Saturday evening.
In addition to cheering on the games, the first lady kept busy on her three-day trip leading the U.S. presidential delegation.
She hosted a virtual conversation with members of Team USA, attended the Olympic opening ceremonies and held a watch party of the U.S. vs. Mexico women’s softball game for foreign service officers and their families at the U.S. Embassy.
She also penned an open letter to Team USA, congratulating and thanking them for helping to bring the country together through the games.
“Your entire nation is cheering you on and we are grateful for what you’ve given us: the chance to come together in common awe and appreciation for your accomplishments and the shared joy of rooting for our country on the edge of our seats,” she wrote in a note published by NBC News.
“In these moments, we are more than our cities or states or backgrounds. We are more than our jobs or our political parties. We are united. We are all, first and foremost, Team USA.”
Biden’s trip to Japan came as COVID-19 cases among athletes and Olympic personnel continue to rise, increasing concerns about the games and athlete safety.
She followed “strict protocols and precautions set by the White House COVID team, the government of Japan, and the Olympics to keep the public, athletes and the delegation safe,” according to her office.
She and President Joe Biden wanted to show the “highest level of support for our Olympic Athletes and the Games,” with Biden’s attendance, the statement said.
While in Japan, the first lady dined with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Mrs. Mariko Suga at Akasaka Palace and held a bilateral meeting with Mrs. Suga.
Even from afar, she highlighted the Team USA spirit back home in Washington, D.C., tweeting a photo of the White House illuminated in red, white and blue.
(MACON, Ga.) — One person is dead and six others injured, including one critically, after two boats collided on a Georgia lake Saturday, officials said.
A person has been charged with boating under the influence after allegedly fleeing the scene of the deadly early morning crash, officials said.
The incident occurred before 3:40 a.m. on Lake Tobesofkee in Macon, Mark McKinnon, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ law enforcement division, said in a statement to ABC News.
All seven victims were aboard a pontoon boat when it collided with a “cigarette boat” occupied by two people, McKinnon said.
William Childs, 22, suffered an open head injury and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Bibb County coroner Leon Jones told ABC News.
“I knew he was going to die,” Jones, who was in the hospital responding to a separate incident, said of the moment he saw Childs brought into the emergency department.
A woman in her early 20s was in critical condition in the intensive care unit with a head injury, Jones said.
The other five people on the pontoon boat sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The two people aboard the cigarette boat were not injured in the crash, officials said. They allegedly abandoned the boat and were found at a nearby residence, and the operator has been arrested for boating under the influence, McKinnon said. No further details on the arrest were provided.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Critical Incident Reconstruction Team is investigating.
Lake Tobesofkee, a recreational lake located just outside Macon’s city limits, has 35 miles of shoreline and is a popular spot for boating and fishing.
(VANCOUVER, Wash.) — A Washington state sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed in the line of duty Friday night as police launch a search for suspects.
The deputy involved in the shooting that unfolded around 7 p.m. has not been named.
Clark County Sheriff Sgt. Brent Waddell said in an initial press conference the deputy was hospitalized after being “seriously injured,” but by 11:30 p.m. the department announced the officer died.
Waddell said there were “multiple suspects” involved in the shooting and they may be “armed and dangerous.”
Two persons of interest have been detained and a search is ongoing for a third person of interest, Vancouver Police, which is handling the investigation said Saturday, according to The Columbian.
Officials did not offer details about the circumstances under which the deputy was shot.
Police were involved in a standoff with someone at a Vancouver apartment complex late into the night, local ABC affiliate KATU reported.
— Clark Co Wa. Sheriff (@ClarkCoSheriff) July 24, 2021
Several police departments searched for suspects in the area of Interstate 205 near Northeast Padden Parkway well into the night.
“This is a difficult time for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement agencies in Clark County and the surrounding Clark County, Portland metro area. Clark County law enforcement appreciates the support and understanding of the community in these tough times,” the department said in a news release. The investigation remains ongoing.
