Mask disputes fuel spike in air rage incidents

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — With the rise in airline passengers has come a rise in violence and aggression in our nation’s airports and onboard flights throughout the country.

On Tuesday, two federal U.S. agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) sounded the alarm on the increasingly unfriendly skies.

The FAA announced nearly 100 more in-flight incidents with unruly passengers — a week after it’s worst weekly report of unruly passengers this summer — bringing this year’s total to 3,509 reports. An overwhelming majority of these incidents, 2,605, involve passengers who refuse to comply with the federal mask mandate.

These acts of aggression are happening before boarding as well.

TSA Acting Administrator Darby LaJoye told the House Subcommittee on Transportation & Maritime Security Tuesday morning that there have been more than 85 physical assaults on TSA officers since the beginning of the pandemic. That figure includes 25 assaults since the end of May.

LaJoye said there were two assaults reported at checkpoints on Monday alone.

“There has been some frustration over the mask mandate that’s been widely reported,” he said.

But a number of the assaults have also been alcohol related.

“Passengers have pushed and shoved officers and in some cases passengers have literally bitten TSOs,” Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., said. “All too often these assaults occur simply because a crew member was doing their job in seeking to enforce common sense mask policies designed to protect fliers from COVID-19.”

Assaulting a TSA officer can result in a civil penalty of up to almost $15,000 and a ban from TSA PreCheck. The FAA says its maximum penalty for interfering with flight crew is $35,000, but the agency has proposed fines as high as $52,000.

Last month, the TSA warned of staffing shortages as air travel rebounded more quickly than expected.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said checkpoint lines in Miami were the longest he’s ever seen — recalling the line for TSA PreCheck was “nearly 50 yards long from front to back.” He expressed concerns that lines might get even longer when international and business travel picks up.

“We have hired about 4,700 officers,” LaJoye said at the hearing on Tuesday. “Just the last two weeks…we brought on almost 500 officers and we are on pace to meet the 6,000 number that we knew we needed, through the summer.”

The assaults can’t help, but he explained retention issues are mostly because of pay.

“It’s common for the most hardworking people to be treated the worst,” Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-N.J., said. “These front line workers are not being compensated to the levels and degree of the importance of their job… Now TSOs are being assaulted across the country.”

Justin Bieber becomes youngest solo artist to score 100 entries on ‘Billboard’ Hot 100

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Justin Bieber has become the youngest solo artist to hit 100 entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“Stay,” his song with The Kid LAROI, debuted at number three this week, officially bringing his career-spanning total to 100 at 27 years, four months and three weeks of age.

Justin surpasses Drake, who previously held the title for scoring 100 career entries on the chart when he was 28 years, 11 months and two weeks old in 2015. Drake currently has the most Hot 100 hits of any artist, with 235.

Lil Wayne is the third youngest soloist to have scored 100 Hot 100 hits, doing so when he was 29 years, five months and three weeks old in 2012.

California pioneers new free lunch program to feed more than 6M students

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(LOS ANGELES) — An unexpected budget surplus in the 2021-22 fiscal year acted as a catalyst to serve free lunches to 6.2 million public school students in California.

Starting this fall when schools and classrooms reopen, all students regardless of their family’s income will have the option to eat school meals for free.

“I am excited about the interconnected nature of these historic investments that move forward universal access to school meals for all students, universal preschool, and afterschool expanded learning programs, such as the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program—all critical areas in ensuring equitable opportunities for California’s students,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in a statement.

The 30% budget increase in California public school funding, includes a jump of up to $80.4 billion from $69.3 billion in 2020.

After a year of uncertainty around the U.S. with new initiatives, waiver extensions and a to-go program to help families gain access to meals for their children and prevent the stigma of accepting free lunches, this marks the largest free student lunch program in the country.

School officials, lawmakers, anti-hunger organizations and parents have hailed this pioneering project to further alleviate the negative connotations around food assistance programs.

“This is so historic. It’s beyond life-changing,” Erin Primer, director of food services for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District on California’s central coast said in a statement.

While other major cities including New York, Boston and Chicago have free school meals in place, statewide universal meal programs have been called too costly and unrealistic.

Late last month, California was the first state to adopt a universal program, followed shortly after by Maine which created a similar plan.

“We’ve completely leveled the playing field when it comes to school food,” Primer said, adding that this funding will allow her to offer “tastier, better quality food such as fresh bread, produce and cheese from local producers.”

According to the USDA Food and Nutrition service, a family of four must make less than $34,000 a year to qualify for free meals and $48,000 to qualify for reduced-price meals. While caps shift annually, it’s based on federal poverty measures that don’t take into account taxes and high cost of living in California.

Over 200 organizations back the “School Meals for All” coalition, including longtime universal free meals advocate Sen. Nancy Skinner and other lawmakers, and have pushed for funding in the state budget to gain momentum.

The $262 billion budget provides $54 million for the coming school year, supplementing funding from the Biden administration through June 2022. After that, California will spend $650 million annually.

Viola Davis to release memoir, ‘Finding Me’, in April 2022

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Viola Davis is ready to tell her story, in her own words.

On Tuesday, HarperOne announced that Davis’ forthcoming memoir, Finding Me, will be released on April 19, 2022 in partnership with Ebony Magazine Publishing. Described as a story of “overcoming,” Davis’ book will share details of her “incredible, inspiring life from her coming-of-age in Rhode Island to her present-day career.”

“I’m an artist because there’s no separation from me and every human being that has passed through the world. I have a great deal of compassion for other people, but mostly for myself,” Davis says in a statement.

Davis’ recent Best Actress Oscar nomination for her work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom made her the most-nominated Black actress in the history of the Academy Awards. Already an Oscar winner for her starring role in the 2016 film adaptation of August Wilson‘s stage drama, Fences, Davis also won an Emmy for ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, and Tony Awards for her Broadway performances of Fences and King Hedley II.

This year it was announced she’ll executive-produce and star in the Showtime anthology series First Ladies, where she will portray former first lady Michelle Obama. She’ll next be seen in The Suicide Squad, debuting in theaters August 5.

Vaccinated Pelosi staffer, WH official test positive for COVID-19 amid visit from infected Texas lawmakers

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A fully vaccinated spokesperson for House Speaker Pelosi tested positive for COVID-19 this week after interacting with several infected Texas Democratic state legislators who traveled to the capital.

“Yesterday, a fully-vaccinated senior spokesperson in the Speaker’s Press Office tested positive for COVID after contact with members of the Texas state legislature last week. This individual has had no contact with the speaker since exposure,” Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told ABC News.

“The entire press office is working remotely today with the exception of individuals who have had no exposure to the individual or have had a recent negative test. Our office will continue to follow the guidance of the Office of Attending Physician closely,” he added.

A fully vaccinated White House official also tested positive for COVID-19 off-campus, the White House disclosed Tuesday. News of both “breakthrough” infections was first reported by Axios.

“I will say that we — according to an agreement we made during the transition to be transparent and make information available, we committed that we would release information proactively if it is commissioned officers. We continue to abide by that commitment,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

At least six of the more than 50 Texas Democrats who fled Austin last week to block dual Republican-backed bills that would revise the state’s voting and election laws in ways voting rights advocates say would make it harder for Texans to cast a ballot have since tested positive for COVID-19 in Washington. The infections prompted a flurry of contact tracing on Capitol Hill and at the White House, where they have met with legislators and senior administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., on Tuesday suggested that House leaders could discuss “whether going back to [masks on Capitol Hill] work,” but added that the Office of the Attending Physician, who addresses the medical needs of Congress, “has not suggested” a return to the practice.

In a memo distributed to House offices on Tuesday, Attending Physician Brian Monahan did not announce any changes to House masking policy.

“Vaccinated individuals seeking to further reduce their risk of disease, or further reduce potential risk of transmitting disease to vulnerable household members, may consider additional protective actions such as wearing a well-fitted, medical-grade filtration mask when they are in a crowded or interior location,” he wrote. “Individuals have the personal discretion to wear a mask and future developments in the coronavirus Delta variant local threat may require the resumption of mask wear for all as now seen in several counties in the United States.”

Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard says band is heading for an “‘OK Computer’/’Kid A’ moment”

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Next year, Pearl Jam will finally be able to tour behind their most recent album, 2020’s Gigaton, but guitarist Stone Gossard is already looking ahead to the band’s next record, which he says may be a distinct left turn for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers.

Referring to some of the more unexpected moments from Gigaton, like “Dance of the Clairvoyants,” Gossard tells Kerrang!, “There’s some new territory there, and I think it bodes well for whatever comes next. I think we’re still scratching the surface in terms of what really could be significantly different sounding songs.”

“I guess I would probably compare [what I’m thinking of] to an OK Computer/Kid A moment, thinking about Radiohead’s transformation and the journey that they went on,” he adds.

Of course, OK Computer marked a huge change, stylistically, sonically and lyrically, for Radiohead, and the 1997 album is now hailed as one of the greatest of all time. But Gossard won’t go as far as to say the next Pearl Jam album will be that disruptive.

“It’s not going to be OK Computer, obviously, but a moment where we stumble onto something that is significantly different…that prospect always intrigues me,” he explains to Kerrang!. “I’d like to make another record that really shocks people – that makes them go, ‘Wow, that’s unexpected!’”

Pearl Jam’s 2021 concert schedule consists of several appearances at front man Eddie Vedder‘s Ohana Festival, which is running over two weekends: September 24-26, and October 1-2. Pearl Jam will headline the festival’s September 26 date, as well as both October dates.

Watch trailer to Ryan Coogler doc ‘Homeroom’; Kerry Washington, Larry Wilmore’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ lands at Onyx & more

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Ryan Coogler‘s “inspiring and powerful” documentary Homeroom has released its first trailer.

Directed by Peter Nicks and executive produced by Coogler, the Hulu Original doc will premiere on both Hulu and in select theaters on Thursday, August 12. The film follows an Oakland High School’s class of 2020 as they confront an “unprecedented year” due to anxiety over test scores, college applications, the pandemic, and their attempt to defund the school district’s police force. Homeroom is billed as Nicks’ final chapter in a trilogy of films which include 2012’s The Waiting Room and 2017’s The Force. The three docs examine the relationship between health care, criminal justice, and education in Oakland, CA over the past decade. All three films will be available to stream on Hulu on August 12.

In other news, the Kerry Washington and Larry Wilmore-produced legal drama Reasonable Doubt has been scooped up by Hulu’s Onyx Collection, Variety has learned. The series, which was initially set up to be developed at ABC in 2019, follows Jax Stewart, a brilliant and fearless Los Angeles defense attorney, who has “questionable ethics and wild interpretations of the law.” According to Variety, the show has opened a writers room with an all-Black staff.

Finally, ViacomCBS has renewed their critically acclaimed original series, The Good Fight, for a sixth season on Paramount+. The first four episodes of the 10-episode Season 5 are currently available to stream, with new installments dropping every Thursday. The series, starring Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald, follows the lives and cases of a Black law firm in Chicago.

Bruno Mars postpones Las Vegas shows due to “unforeseen circumstances”

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Two Bruno Mars concerts at MGM Park Theater in Las Vegas — part of Bruno’s ongoing residency in Sin City — have been called off for this Friday and Saturday due to “unforeseen circumstances,” reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

No reason was given for the scrapped shows; when the Review-Journal asked if the reason was COVID-related, a hotel spokesperson declined to give the paper any additional information.

Those dates have been rescheduled to August 27-28. Previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates, or fans can receive refunds through August 13. However, fans who purchased the Luxury VIP Experience “A Trip to Mars” must call to make other arrangements. Those packages, which include premium seats, hotel accommodations, special merchandise, food and beverage credits and other amenities, ranged in price from $2500 to $6529 — and they were all sold out.

Bruno has two shows scheduled for July 30-31 as well, but a source tells the paper that they’re now “up in the air.”

Tokyo Olympics leader doesn’t rule out canceling games at last minute

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The chief of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee addressed concerns of rising COVID-19 cases during a press conference on Tuesday and did not rule out the possibility of a last-minute cancellation of the games.

“We can’t predict what will happen with the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue discussions if there is a spike in cases. I think that is all I can say at this juncture,” said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto, in a response translated from Japanese.

Muto said the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee will continue to monitor cases and make decisions based on the current situation at hand.

“We agreed that based on the coronavirus situation, we will convene five-party talks again. At this point, the coronavirus cases may rise or fall, so we will think about what we should do when the situation arises,” Muto said.

As of Tuesday, Tokyo Olympic organizers said 71 people accredited to the games, including athletes in the Olympic Village, have tested positive for the virus just days ahead of the opening ceremonies set for Friday.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said last week there is “zero” risk of athletes in the village passing on the virus to Japanese citizens or other residents of the village, according to the Associated Press.

Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto recognized the public’s general concern over hosting the games during the Tuesday press conference.

“The problems [with the Olympics] have given rise to many people feeling discontent and anxiety about the Tokyo Games,” Hashimoto said in Japanese.

Hashimoto said “safety is paramount” and promised to give the general public of Japan a “sense of security” throughout the games.

At the beginning of the month, Japan announced a state of emergency due to large outbreaks in the greater Tokyo area, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Tuesday, the country reported 2,477 new cases.

‘Black Widow’ star David Harbour wants to explore a Red Guardian vs. Captain America Cold War

July 20, 2021 by WDNY Radio

One of the highlights of Marvel Studios’ most recent release, Black Widow, was David Harbour‘s Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian. The Stranger Things veteran steals scenes as the former Soviet Union’s now-past his prime answer to Captain America, and the actor can’t get enough of the character.

In fact, Harbour said at a recent press conference that he’d love to see the two super soldiers duke it out in a throwback project set years ago.

“I do think that the classic Cold War thing is a really fun and funny dynamic between these two guys and the fact that they basically came up as nuclear warheads, like in an arms race together.” Harbour added, “I think it’s just a really great concept that could be explored further.”

Alexei isn’t only full of super soldier serum and vodka — he’s pretty full of himself, as well, which makes him less than reliable about his glory days as Mother Russia’s great protector. This tickled the man playing him. “[H]e has all these stories about his life and about what went on. And [it’s] questionable whether or not they’re real,” Harbour says. “And I like the explanation of like, what is real and what isn’t real, and how hard he had to construct these realities for himself and how durable those realities are.”

Black Widow is now in theaters and streaming via Disney+ Premiere Access.

Disney is the parent company of ABC Audio.

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