Actress Markie Post has died at age 70 after a nearly four-year long battle with cancer. The news was confirmed to Deadline by her manager, Ellen Lubin Sanitsky.
Post was widely known for her role in The Fall Guy from 1982 to 1985 and on the sitcom Night Court, which ran for six seasons from 1984 until 1992.
In a statement to the publication, Post’s family paid tribute to who she was outside of her career.
“But for us, our pride is in who she was in addition to acting; a person who made elaborate cakes for friends, sewed curtains for first apartments and showed us how to be kind, loving and forgiving in an often harsh world,” they said.
Post is survived by her husband Michael A. Ross, daughters, actress Kate Armstrong Ross and Daisy Schoenborn. She also leaves behind her son-in-law Bryce Schoenborn and a five-month-old granddaughter.
Jessie J has apologized to Nicki Minaj after telling an apparently inaccurate account of how Nicki came to be featured on her 2014 hit “Bang Bang.”
Last week, Nicki took exception to the fact that Jessie told Glamour magazine that the rapper asked to be on the track after hearing Jessie and Ariana Grande’s verses. Nicki said the record label actually asked her to be on the song.
“I’m sorry I got the story wrong all these years, I was told you heard the song and wanted to be on it by someone clearly gassing me up at the label. (Bless them and my naive a**),” Jessie wrote in an Instagram post over the weekend.
She also acknowledged there has been some “weird energy” between her and Nicki and wondered if it might have stemmed from a meme that was made of Jessie jokingly mouthing along to Nicki’s verse in the song.
“If we can’t laugh in the lives we have been blessed with. What’s the point,” Jessie wrote. “It really isn’t that deep.”
Jessie also apologized to Ariana, saying she had no idea Ari had co-written the song with Max Martin.
“I’m the first person to admit Bang Bang would NEVER have been what it was without you guys,” she said of Nicki and Ariana.
Jessie then joked that all three of them should go out to dinner, or record “Bang Bang part two,” before finishing with, “Look, the song did it’s damn thing. I will never say you asked to be on the song ever again….Always love and light from me babes.”
Lovelytheband has found a new collaborator in Bryce Vine.
The group is featured on the “Drew Barrymore” artist’s newest song, “Miss You a Little.” Vine describes the track as being about “what we all go through in the aftermath of breaking up,” a subject with which the “Broken” trio is quite familiar.
“It’s that period of romanticizing the past through rose-colored glasses, but the reality of it is that maybe some of those memories weren’t all we thought they were,” Vine says.
You can download “Miss You a Little” now via digital outlets.
Lovelytheband released their new album, conversations with myself about you, last August. They’re also featured on the single “Games,” by Tessa Violet.
The High ‘n’ Dry 40th Anniversary Retrospective will feature new interviews with all five members of the group.
Singer Joe Elliott, drummer Rick Allen and bassist Rick Savage will share behind-the-scenes stories about the 1981 album, while guitarists Phil Collen and Viv Campell — who joined Def Leppard in 1982 and 1992, respectively — will discuss the impact High ‘n’ Dry had on them and the rock world in general.
The band members also will be answering select questions from fans, who can submit written or video queries now to events@leppardvault.com.
Tickets to the event and ticket bundles offering special merch items can be purchased now at LeppardVault.com, although you must be a Def Leppard Vault member to access them.
Released on July 11, 1981, High ‘n’ Dry helped establish the band in the U.S. in advance of their massive 1983 breakthrough, Pyromania. MTV’s heavy rotation of a performance video for the High ‘n’ Dry track “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” earned Def Leppard a lot of American fans, and the album eventually peaked at #38.
To date, High ‘n’ Dry has sold over two million copies in the U.S.
(NEW YORK) — Red flag warnings are persisting across parts of the West as dozens of large wildfires continue to scorch through homes and dry earth.
A cold front bringing gusty winds and the possibility of thunderstorms is expected to pass through parts of southern Montana and southern Wyoming Sunday afternoon. Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 50 mph in some regions, while humidity will remain low — at just 12% to 18%, according to forecasts.
The Dixie Fire, now the second-largest fire in California history after it has been burning near the Feather River Canyon since July 13, had singed through more than 463,000 acres by Sunday morning and was just 21% contained.
Firefighters had previously made progress on containing the Dixie Fire, but the fire re-exploded after jumping containment lines last week amid dangerous fire conditions. It has now destroyed 404 buildings as well as 185 other minor structures, damaged 27 structures and is continuing to threaten 13,871 structures.
Well over 100 home sand businesses in the downtown area of Greenville, California, about 150 miles northeast of Sacramento were decimated after dry, gusty conditions fueled the flames even further on Wednesday night.
Four people in the vicinity of the Dixie Fire are missing, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday. Four firefighters were injured Saturday night while battling the Dixie Fire after a tree branch fell and hit them, according to officials.
The River Fire, near Colfax, California, is now 56% contained after its explosion last week prompted evacuations.
The McFarland Fire in Wildwood, California, just north of the Mendocino National Forest, has blazed through more than 30,000 acres and is 21% contained.
Six firefighters were injured on Friday while battling the McFarland Fire in Shasta Trinity National Forest. The heat was so intense that some suffered from first and second-degree burns, officials said.
Places around the world like the Western U.S. have become a “tinderbox ready to burn with any spark,” Kristina Dahl, senior climate scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday.
“Around the world what we’re seeing is that very hot conditions tend to worsen any drought conditions that places might be experiencing,” Dahl said. “So you end up with severe drought, coupled out with the drying out of vegetation, and that vegetation then becomes fuel for fires to burn.”
Michael Mann, director of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center, told Stephanopoulos that “dangerous” climate change has already arrived.
“We can see the impacts of climate change playing out now in real time on our television screens and in our newspaper headlines,” Mann said. “…at this point it’s a question of how bad we’re willing to let it get.”
The effects of the fires are also being experienced up to 1,000 miles away as the smoke from the fires travels east with the jet stream. Air quality alerts have been issued for nine states.
On Saturday afternoon, Denver had the worst quality ranking in the world, according to IQ Air, a data tool that measures and ranks air quality in cities around the world. Denver remained in the second spot on Sunday afternoon.
Air quality was also dangerous in Utah near Salt Lake City, prompting the National Weather Service to warn residents to remain indoors as much as possible.
8/6 – Smoke concentrations will become very noticeable as the day goes on today. Unhealthy air is expected. What will this mean for you? Avoid/reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. Move activities indoors or reschedule to a time when the air quality is better. #UTwxpic.twitter.com/QldLAhmrHC
Closer to the fires, white ash from the Dixie Fire was falling in the Lake Tahoe Basin, SF Gate reported.
Residents in Sacramento reported seeing hazy skies as a result of the smoke as the weekend rolled in, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Air quality alerts have also been issued in Southern California. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District a health alert Saturday stating that the changing weather pattern would affect air quality in the area through Monday afternoon.
Experts advised residents in the Bay Area that they could expect smoky skies and bad air quality for decades to come.
“I think residents of the Western US are just going to have to get used to smoky skies and bad air quality as we go through the next few decades,” Craig Clements, director of San Jose State University’s Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center, told ABC San Francisco station KGO. “These fires are burning hotter, they’re burning more intensely and so, they are creating a lot of smoke and it could really impact communities. So, we have to get used to that unfortunately.”
ABC News’ Brittany Borer and Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said Sunday he believes vaccine requirements could make a difference in slowing the rapid spread of COVID-19 and acknowledged how politics has polarized public opinion on pandemic mitigation strategies.
“Why is it that a mandate about a vaccine or wearing a mask suddenly becomes a statement of your political party? We never should have let that happen.” Collins told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos.
“Come on, America — we’re incredibly polarized about politics, we don’t really need to be polarized about a virus that’s killing people,” Collins continued. “We ought to be doing everything we can to save lives.”
Saturday marked the fourth consecutive day of more than 100,000 new daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Friday, the U.S. recorded its highest daily COVID-19 case count in six months, with more than 120,000 new cases reported.
And though more than 50% of Americans are fully vaccinated and that rate increased by 25% in the last week, according to the CDC, due to the rapidly spreading delta variant, some states and counties have reimplemented mitigation strategies, such as mask mandates.
“As a person who runs the National Institutes of Health with 45,000 employees and contractors, I am glad to see the president insisting that we go forward requiring vaccinations or if people are unwilling to do that, then regular testing, at least once or twice a week, which will be very inconvenient,” Collins said.
“I think we ought to use every public health tool we can when people are dying,” Collins added.
“That was about as close as a yes as you could get. You clearly believe that vaccine mandates could make a difference,” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“I do believe they should make a difference,” Collins responded. “I understand how that can sometimes set off all kinds of resistance. But isn’t that a shame?”
“Think about masks in the way that they ought to be thought about: this is not a political statement or an invasion of your liberties. This is a lifesaving medical device.” https://t.co/KfLFZu3Wd8pic.twitter.com/G6BtGJxemH
If more people had gotten vaccinated when vaccines became widely available, the current surge fueled by the delta variant could have been mitigated, Collins said earlier in the interview, responding to a USA TODAY front page headline: “We are failing one another.”
“I’m afraid we should not really have ever gotten in the place we are,” Collins said. “In that regard, yes, we are failing. … Now we’re paying the terrible price.”
As more children are currently hospitalized than at any other point in the pandemic, Stephanopoulos asked Collins whether the delta variant is more serious for children.
“We don’t have rigorous data to show for sure,” Collins responded. “But this is a virus that is not only more contagious, but potentially more lethal.”
With the school year set to begin across the nation, Collins said he would ask parents to think about masks as a “life-saving medical device” and ask their children to wear them.
“We know that kids under 12 are likely to get infected and if we don’t have masks in schools, this virus will spread more widely,” Collins told Stephanopoulos. “It will probably result in outbreaks in schools and kids will have to go back to remote learning which is the one thing we really want to prevent.”
“It’s a small price to pay for being able to keep kids where they need to be to learn,” Collins added.
“Think about masks in the way that they ought to be thought about: this is not a political statement or an invasion of your liberties. This is a lifesaving medical device.” https://t.co/KfLFZu3Wd8pic.twitter.com/G6BtGJxemH
While the current vaccines have high efficacy in stopping the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, Collins said he worries about “the day when a variant arises that is so different from the original Wuhan virus” that it evades the current vaccines and requires the quick development of a booster shot.
“The best way to prevent that from happening is to reduce the number of infections because that’s how mutants happen. It’s because people are infected with the virus and it copies itself slightly wrong and then you get something that’s even worse,” Collins said.
.@NIHDirector tells @GStephanopoulos that health officials “don’t have anxieties yet” about vaccines not protecting against other COVID-19 variants.
As the country awaits the Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the COVID-19 vaccines, Collins said he has been in close contact with the agency and they hope to issue full authorization within the next month.
“But meanwhile, while people are waiting for that — and I understand that would help — please be clear about this, the vaccines have incredible evidence for their safety and effectiveness. They work against delta. They will save your life,” Collins said.
(NEW YORK) — This weekend, some of Florida’s largest school districts have moved to require masks for students, the latest in a weeklong saga that began when Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order aimed at preventing districts from mandating face coverings for kids.
However, the mandates — issued by districts including Hillsborough (Tampa), Orange (Orlando), and Palm Beach — come with a catch: parents are allowed to opt their children out of them, without providing a reason.
The state’s biggest school district, Miami-Dade, has not announced whether it will mandate face coverings for students. Its latest protocols, issued July 29, require them on school buses but not inside school buildings.
Broward Public Schools, the state’s second-largest district, has not updated its guidance from Wednesday, which said masks are required for students. The guidance did not mention the choice of opting out.
Some large school districts, like Polk, Pinellas, and Lee, are making masks optional for students, according to their most updated guidance.
Florida reported 23,903 COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making it the state’s third straight day with over 20,000 new COVID cases.
As of Saturday, according to the Florida Hospital Association, there are 13,348 people hospitalized across the state — the highest figure the state has had during the pandemic. Nearly 30% of inpatients have COVID and 43.3% of adult intensive care unit patients have COVID.
(TOKYO) — A historic 2020 Olympics is coming to a close today, one that saw world records smashed, surprising defeats and teary moments of sportsmanship. Thank you for joining us every day for our daily coverage of the competitions, today will be our concluding roundup of key moments from the past two weeks.
US women’s basketball wins 7th consecutive gold medal
The United States women’s basketball team defeated Japan 95-70 to take home the gold for the seventh consecutive Olympics. This is the fifth Olympic gold medal in basketball for Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who most likely have played in their final Olympic game.
The effort was led by Brittney Griner who scored 30 points, the most by a U.S. player in a gold medal game.
US women’s volleyball win first-ever gold medal
The U.S. women’s volleyball team has won its first-ever gold medal after defeating Brazil in straight sets, 25-21, 25-20, 25-14. The team has won three silver medals and two bronze since 1984.
US wins most gold medals, most medals overall
The United States has finished the Olympic Games with 39 gold medals, edging out China on the last day of action. Team USA finished with 113 medals overall, leading second-place China by a large margin.
Consistent dread and disruption caused by COVID-19
The reminders of the global pandemic were abundant as the athletes competed in nearly empty stadiums in Tokyo. Athletes were subject to daily tests, medalists had to celebrate with loved ones via screens and everyone present was subject to very strict procedures to remain safe.
Even with the safety protocols in place, 436 people at the Tokyo Olympics tested positive for COVID-19, including many athletes that had to leave competition. The surrounding city of Tokyo consistently reached record numbers of reported cases, reporting 4,066 new cases on the last day of the Olympics.
Looking back on the games: Allyson Felix makes history again and again
Allyson Felix won her 10th and then her 11th medal to first become the most decorated female track athlete in the world and then surpassing Carl Lewis as America’s most decorated track athlete with the latter win. Felix won the bronze in the individual 400m, and the next day won the gold in the women’s 4x400m relay.
The 35-year-old sprinter has most likely finished her Olympic career, competing in five different Olympic Games.
Looking back on the games: Simone Biles overcomes adversity to take home a medal
After Simone Biles withdrew from the overall team competition because of a case of the “twisties” — a vertigo-like affliction that disables gymnasts from knowing where their body is relative to the ground — she received unrivaled amounts of attention, both supportive outpourings and sharp criticisms.
Biles subsequently withdrew from individual events in the vault, uneven bars and floor exercises but returned for her final competition in the balance beam to win the bronze medal.
Looking back on the games: Gold medal shared for the first time in over 100 years
Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim had both cleared 2.37m in the men’s high jump final but each failed in their three events to clear the next height of 2.39m. Instead of going to a jump-off, Tamberi turned to the Olympic officials and asked if they could share the gold medal. The official said yes, and Barshim agreed.
The unbelievable act of sportsmanship between the two friends brought tears to the eyes of spectators as they watched Tamberi jump into Barshim’s arms, the Italian quickly shedding some tears of his own.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Saturday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 4 Chicago Cubs 0
Final St. Louis 5 Kansas City 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 5 L.A. Angels 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Yankees 5 Seattle 4
Final Toronto 1 Boston 0
Final Oakland 12 Texas 3
Final Detroit 2 Cleveland 1
Final Houston 4 Minnesota 0
Final Boston 2 Toronto 1
Final Tampa Bay 12 Baltimore 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 5 N.Y. Mets 3
Final Washington 3 Atlanta 2
Final Cincinnati 11 Pittsburgh 3
Final Colorado 7 Miami 4
Final San Francisco 9 Milwaukee 6
Final San Diego 6 Arizona 2
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Final Atlanta 3 Columbus 2
Final tie Orlando City 1 Cincinnati 1
Final Minnesota 2 Houston 0
Final tie New York City FC 2 Toronto FC 2
Final FC Dallas 2 Austin FC 0
Final tie Sporting Kansas City 0 Colorado 0
Final Portland 3 Real Salt Lake 2
(PLUMAS COUNTY, Calif.) — Four people are missing as the Dixie Fire rages on in California, the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Saturday.
“We are seeking the public and the media’s assistance is helping us locate the individuals so we can report back to their loved ones,” they said, adding that their investigation unit has already located 21 other individuals who were previously unaccounted for.
The sheriff’s office had said earlier that eight people remained unaccounted for, but some have since been found.
“We request if you know where any of these people are to contact them and have them call the Sheriff’s Office at 530-283-6300 to let us know they are safe, so we can report back to the person(s) looking for them,” the police said.
The names of the five unaccounted for individuals are: Robert Nelson of Chester, Donna Shelton of Greenville, Dianne Doppert of Greenville and Shenandoah Lisenbee of Greenville, according to the statement. Authorities said Shelton was reported safe, but they have not made contact with her.
Cal Fire public information officer Rick Carhart said Saturday afternoon that four firefighters were injured in the west zone during the morning. They were taken to area hospitals. Three have been released, while one remains in the hospital in stable condition.
The Dixie Fire has been burning near Feather River Canyon for weeks and has now scorched through more than 446,723 acres since it sparked on July 13.
It is 21% contained and is now considered the third-largest fire in California history. More than 5,100 fire personnel are currently working on containing and putting it out, according to Cal Fire.
The fire “burnt down our entire downtown. Our historical buildings, families homes, small businesses, and our children’s schools are completely lost,” Plumas County Supervisor Kevin Goss wrote on Facebook.
It is one of 90 large wildfires, many of them uncontained, that are currently burning in the West.
