(SALT LAKE CITY) — A paramedic was temporarily blinded after their helicopter was affected by a laser strike earlier this month.
A Utah AirMed helicopter was struck while transporting a patient to the University of Utah hospital. A crew member aboard the flight experienced temporary blindness and blurred vision from the laser.
“They were able to safely land in our hospital, and once they were able to transfer the patient, the crew member was seen in the emergency room,” Nathan Morreale, chief flight paramedic for Utah AirMed told ABC News.
The crew member is back on the job but has experienced lingering blindness in his peripheral vision, Morreale said.
“The safety of our patients and our crews are at the forefront of everything we do,” Morreale said. “Even though our crews are highly trained for circumstances and scenarios, there’s no amount of training that can prepare you for what happens when a laser hits your eye and causes temporary blindness.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said its Flight Standards District Office is looking into the incident.
Laser incidents have been on the rise in recent years, according to the agency. The FAA reported 6,852 laser incidents in 2020, up from 6,136 in 2019. It’s the highest reported number of incidents since 2016.
Intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft violates federal law. Individuals may face up to $11,000 in civil penalties per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple incidents.
(NEW YORK) — Thrift stores, antique fairs and flea markets in New York City are prime spots for finding valuable, hidden family heirlooms. When Chelsey Brown, an avid thrifter, was shown a letter written more than 75 years ago at the end of the Holocaust by a survivor, she knew where it belonged.
“The second that I had it transcribed, I just knew it had to go back to the right family,” Brown said. She found the note in late 2021.
The letter was written by Ilse Loewenberg, a woman who jumped out of a moving train that was headed to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943. She was part of an underground Nazi resistance group called Gemeinschaft für Frieden und Aufbau, or the Association for Peace and Development.
According to later documentation from her sister, Loewenberg walked a three-day-long journey back to Berlin after escaping.
In 1944, she was recaptured and put in solitary confinement in Berlin until she was liberated by Russian troops in July 1945.
Loewenberg lost her mother, father, two sisters and husband in the Holocaust.
After she was freed, she wrote a letter to her living sister, Carla, who had immigrated to England prior to the war. Carla was the only sister and family member of Loewenberg’s to survive the tragedy.
“Through the kindness of our liberators, I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years,” Loewenberg wrote in German. “Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore. My pain is unspeakably big. My husband, whom I married 3.5 years ago, was also taken from me! … When there will be a regular mail connection, I will tell you everything in detail.”
That’s the letter that Brown bought from a flea market vendor.
Brown discovered the details of the family tree through MyHeritage.com, a global family history platform that retains historical records.
She discovered that both Loewenberg and Carla immigrated to the United States and settled in Forest Hills, New York, in 1948. Neither Loewenberg or Carla had children, but they did have extended families via their husbands.
Brown found Jill Butler, the daughter of Loewenberg’s brother-in-law’s brother. Butler and Loewenberg, who used to live near each other, were close before Loewenberg died in 2001.
When Brown sent Butler the letter, Butler and her family were moved.
“My whole family is truly in awe of all you have done for us,” Butler said in a letter back to Brown. “We all loved our Great-Aunt Ilse and are thrilled beyond words to read her thoughts in her own handwriting after she emerged from the depths of the European inferno.”
She added, “May God bless your noble work, and may you receive many blessings in return for all you do for families like mine.”
Brown, whose family also lost members in the Holocaust, now feels a deep connection to Loewenberg and said her story has inspired her.
“She’s a bit of inspiration for everyone to be better in life. After the war, Ilse actually sent supplies to the family that helped hide her in Berlin,” she said. “She really is an example of doing good in a world or being kind in a world that isn’t.”
Brown, who has done hundreds of heirloom returns, has said the stories have taught her a lot about life and relationships and that she wishes more people could be reconnected with family heirlooms.
“It does break my heart, because I’m sure that there’s a ton of items I could help reunite with her rightful families,” Brown said. “We shouldn’t be selling these items. It should be illegal. They should be going back to their families.”
She added, “The reason why people connected with my heirloom returns on social media is because it shows that there is magic in the lives of average people,” Brown said. “We each have our own unique ancestry and story, and I think that’s what our world and generation needs right now.”
Ghost‘s upcoming album Impera features a track criticizing former Vice President Mike Pence.
As frontman Tobias Forge tells Kerrang!, the song “Griftwood” is aboutPence and “anyone like him who’s willing to soil everything they’ve worked for.”
“He’s known as this sort of Bible thumper, believing that he has strong faith, and he’s just this awful, awful person in any way,” Forge says of Donald Trump‘s VP. “He tries to tell the world that he serves God, that he’s part of the good side. Whereas at the end of the day, the only thing he wants is power.”
Forge adds that “Griftwood” isn’t “necessarily…all about” Pence, rather “people like him.”
“A lot of politicians, lot of preachers, a lot of clergymen throughout the history of time,” he says.
Impera, the follow-up to 2018’s Prequelle, arrives March 11. It includes the singles “Hunter’s Moon” and “Call Me Little Sunshine.”
As Mary J. Blige prepares to perform during halftime at Super Bowl LVI on February 13, she faces the dilemma of selecting only one song to sing from her 30-year catalog.
The Queen of Hip Hop Soul tells Elle that she’s leaning toward “Family Affair” from her triple-platinum 2001 album No More Drama. She co-wrote the number-one hit with Dr. Dre, who also produced the track, and who’s one of the four superstars she’ll be sharing the stage with at the Super Bowl. Mary believes the song is appropriate, because hip hop has influenced family life around the world.
“We are the culture,” the nine-time Grammy winner says. “We give people a way to walk. We give people a way to talk. We give people a way to think.”
In addition to Dre, Mary J. will join Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg on stage at the Super Bowl. She says the lineup represents hip hop’s global appeal.
“Hip hop is East Coast. Hip hop is West Coast. Hip hop is Europe — this is why it’s going to be so major, because this is what the Super Bowl is showing to people,” the 51-year-old entertainer says. “[Hip hop] is everywhere.”
Meanwhile, the “Not Gon’ Cry” singer says the title of her upcoming album, Good Morning Gorgeous, was inspired by her daily mantra during her painful 15-year marriage to Kendu Isaacs, who she divorced in 2018.
“I was feeling so low. I had to pay myself the highest compliments, even if I didn’t believe it, just so I could build myself up,” Blige recalls.
Mary says she still recites the same words every day: “Good morning, Gorgeous. I love you. I got you. I need you.”
Last week, Adele hit pause on her Las Vegas residency Weekends with Adele because, she said, “My show ain’t ready.” So when might we actually see it? Well, one Vegas entertainment expert says getting Adele back on the schedule at Caesars Palace may be challenging.
First of all, Las Vegas Review-Journal columnistJohn Katsilometes, who covers the Sin City entertainment scene, tells ABC Audio that Adele’s show was going to be a huge production. “They wanted a lake on the stage. There were water trucks outside the loading dock at the Colosseum,” he says.
“One person who was familiar with the production — two people actually — told me that there was going to be, like, a storm inside created for her. There was an aerial [effect] to lift her around…[a] choir that was contracted out of Las Vegas, 60 singers to sing ‘Skyfall,'” he continues.
“A giant staircase was being assembled for this. It was a lot,” he adds. “A friend of mine, who has worked in Cirque du Soleil, said it was ‘Cirque on steroids’ that they were planning over there.”
Then, there’s the issue of scheduling.
“There’s no way you can return Adele to the stage until after the summer and into the fall, because the schedule is booked up,” Katsilometes says of the Colosseum. “They’ve taken her equipment out. Her set pieces have all been hauled out…work has stopped inside the theater.”
Katsilometes says currently, his sense is that the show is “more like an ‘if’ than a ‘when.'”
“I think that that’s got to be on the table, because Caesars Entertainment/Live Nation…they have a venue to fill,” he explains “And if they can’t guarantee that the show is going to be ready to go on a certain date and for an extended period of time…? It’s like the classic line ‘We have a business to run,’ y’know?”
Katsilometes suggests that to make it up to fans, Adele should simply “do the show.”
“Reset it, explain what’s going on and say…’We’re going to give you guys a show that you expect,'” he says. “[And]…put people’s minds at ease.”
Don’t ever let it be said that Lady Gaga isn’t ambitious: She says one person she’d love to play on-screen is one of the most iconic figures in the Christian Bible.
In an interview with Deadline, Gaga is asked whether — since she plays a real person in her movie House of Gucci — she’d like to play “anyone else in history.” “You know what? I always wanted to play Mary Magdalene,” she responds.
“But I think that’s because I was fascinated by her growing up, because she was seen as this harlot that was essentially Jesus’ girlfriend and she washed the feet of Christ,” Gaga continues. “She’s in so much iconography…and she’s so important. She was there at the Ascension. She was also there at the Crucifixion.”
Gaga adds, “She’s this essential piece of history, but she’s also seen as a dark figure, a harlot. She’s very much The Scarlet Letter.” She also notes that her song “Bloody Mary,” from her album Born this Way, is about Mary Magdalene.
“It was all about this woman that was willing to do anything to love who she believed to be the greatest gift to Earth,” Gaga explains. “I always thought that that could be interesting, the story of her. I guess I’m interested in women’s stories.”
And while Gaga was eager to tell the story of Patrizia Reggiani in House of Gucci, she reiterates that it wasn’t necessary for her to have Reggiani’s “blessing” to portray her.
“I think the blessing that you need is when you are on a world stage — the way that I am very often — is that of the audience,” she explains. “And when the audience embraces you and trusts you to tell them a story, that’s the blessing that I need.”
Breland’s got his first-ever country radio single — not to mention, his first-ever top-twenty and rising hit — in the form of “Beers on Me,” his Dierks Bentley-led collaboration that also includes Hardy.
Dierks, Hardy and a few other co-writers penned the song at a writing retreat in Colorado, but when Dierks asked Breland to be a part of it, the up-and-comer asked if he could add a verse of his own.
“I wanted to be able to add some of my own flavor to it, so I was really glad that they were cool with me trying to write my own thing,” Breland remembers. “And it came together really fast. It might have been, like, 10 minutes, 15 minutes or so.”
His verse was a hit with his duet partners, and “Beers on Me” became a big song for Dierks: He sent it to country radio, and borrowed its title for his tour.
But that day in the studio, when Breland asked to make changes to “Beers on Me,” he had no idea just how important the song was. Looking back on it, he says, that was a good thing.
“You know, I’ve never had a song at country radio before,” the singer points out. “So it was a really big opportunity for me. I’m glad I didn’t know that when I was writing the verse. Then I probably would’ve been second, third-guessing myself.”
Breland’s currently on the road with Russell Dickerson for the All Yours, All Night Tour, which kicked off on Tuesday in New York City.
Tonight, Bastille kicks off a series of intimate U.K. shows to preview the band’s upcoming album, Give Me the Future. For frontman Dan Smith, the run allows him to return to one of his “favorite things in the world.”
“I think about the countless hours I’ve spent crammed up against complete strangers, sweating and shouting along to music that I love,” Smith tells ABC Audio.
As heard in the singles “Distorted Light Beam” and “No Bad Days,” Give Me the Future is perhaps Bastille’s most electronically-driven album. Fittingly, its themes are related to technology and virtual spaces, which Smith hopes to represent with a “stage space that feels totally transportive and totally futuristic.”
Still, Smith wants to stay true to the grounded nature of the live show, which he feels is the “antithesis” of Give Me the Future.
“To use the language of our album, the gig is like the ‘Shut Off the Lights’ moment,” Smith says. “It’s being pulled into reality, it’s being tangibly close to other people, these things we’ve not done for a couple of years.”
“It’s about human contact,” he adds. “It’s about being in a room with other people, with strangers who have this common enjoyment of one thing.”
After the winter U.K. run, Bastille will return to their home country in the spring for a more expansive tour, followed by a trip to the U.S. kicking off in May.
“I’m excited for people to see the show,” Smith says. “And to hopefully explore, like we do with the videos and everything else, the ideas of the music and the ideas of the lyrics in more depth on a bigger scale.”
America‘s self-titled debut album was released 50 years ago this month in the U.S.
The trio of Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek, whose fathers were U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in the U.K., formed America after graduating from the same London high school.
All three were talented singer-songwriters who contributed multiple songs to the America album. The album was released in the U.K. in December 1971, initially without the lead single, the Bunnell-penned folk-rock classic “A Horse with No Name.”
When “A Horse with No Name” began enjoying some chart success, it was added to the U.S. version of the album. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks in the spring of 1972, while the album spent five straight weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 around the same time.
Reflecting on the band’s immediate success, Beckley tells ABC Audio, “It doesn’t happen too often. We had a number-one single and album with our very first release. We’d barely been together a year. It was a rocket ship that basically burned pretty solid for almost 10 years.”
The album’s follow-up single, the Beckley-written ballad “I Need You,” also was a hit, reaching #9 on the Hot 100.
America was co-produced by Warner Bros. staff producer Ian Samwell, whom Beckley says was tasked with recording the songs simply, without much studio embellishment. Beckley also recalls that the album was recorded quickly and inexpensively, and he credits engineer Ken Scott — known for his work with David Bowie and The Beatles — for keeping the sessions going smoothly.
America was the group’s only album to top the Billboard 200, and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million in the U.S.
Here’s the America track list:
Side One
“Riverside”
“Sandman”
“Three Roses”
“Children”
“A Horse with No Name”
“Here”
Side Two
“I Need You”
“Rainy Day”
“Never Found the Time”
“Clarice”
“Donkey Jaw”
“Pigeon Song”
It may be the longest Netflix title ever — the show The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, debuting on Friday, tells the story of a woman who witnesses a gruesome murder, or did she?
Don’t think this is just another psychological thriller, though. Michael Ealy, who stars in the film along with Kristen Bell, tells ABC Audio that the title should be a hint that the show doesn’t take itself too seriously.
“The shortest way to describe it is a satire on the psychological thriller genre itself,” he explains. “I think the title, The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, I mean you can’t say that without kind of smiling, right? You can’t say that without kind of questioning what am I getting myself into?”
Even though Ealy describes the show as a satire, he admits that after filming one rather gruesome scene early on, he wasn’t exactly sure how it would play out.
“I remember shooting it and being like…is this going to be funny?” he recalls. “It’s so tragic and you’re like, is it OK to kind of laugh at this? I mean, really?”
The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, which consists of eight 30-minute episodes is perfect for bingeing, according to Ealy, because even though it’s a satire on the genre, it’s very subtle.
“I got through the first one and was like, wow, this is intense. Got through the second one, it was like, wow, this is intense,” he says. “The third one is when you start to feel like you’re being taken, you know, a little bit to the left here. And then from there you’re just on a rollercoaster.”
