William Shatner‘s all-star prog rock album Ponder the Mystery is getting reissued for its 10th anniversary, with a new mix by famed producer Jürgen Engler.
Originally released October 8, 2013, the album features guest appearances by rockers like Yes’ Rick Wakemen, guitarist Steve Vai, The Doors’ Robby Krieger, The Clash’s Mick Jones and more. At the time of the release, Shatner called the project “quite possibly the most creative thing I have ever done.”
Shatner has given fans their first taste of the reissue, dropping the new version of the title track, which features Vai on guitar.
The new mix of Ponder the Mystery will be released August 25 on CD, vinyl and digital and is now available for preorder.
Here’s the track list for Ponder the Mystery:
“Red Shift”
“Where It’s Gone…I Don’t Know” feat. Mick Jones
“Manhunt” feat. Simon House
“Ponder The Mystery” feat. Steve Vai
“So Am I” feat. Al Di Meola
“Change” feat. Rick Wakeman
“Sunset” feat. Joel Vandroogenbroeck
“Twilight” feat. Edgar Winter
“Rhythm Of The Night” feat. Nik Turner
“Imagine Things” feat. Vince Gill
“Do You See?” feat. Edgar Froese
“Deep Down” feat. Robby Krieger
“I’m Alright, I Think” feat. Dave Koz
“Where Does Time Go?” feat. George Duke
“Alive “feat. Zoot Horn Rollo
(WASHINGTON) — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is expected to sit for an interview on Wednesday with investigators in special counsel Jack Smith’s office, the secretary’s spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
Raffensperger, the top election official in Georgia, was the recipient of former President Donald Trump’s infamous phone call in January 2021, during which the then-president asked Raffensperger to “find” the exact number of votes he needed to win the state. Trump has repeatedly defended the call, calling it “perfect.”
Smith, who is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, issued subpoenas to election officials in Georgia and states across the country in late 2022 for communications with or involving Trump, his 2020 campaign aides, and a list of Trump allies involved in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, ABC News previously reported.
A steady drumbeat of witnesses involved in the Jan. 6. Insurrection and other efforts to stymy the peaceful transition of power in early 2021 have been spotted in recent weeks entering the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where a grand jury has been convened by Smith’s office.
Smith is also investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency. That investigation has resulted in a 37-count indictment against Trump for allegedly refusing to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has launched a separate investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
News of the interview was first reported by the Washington Post.
(CHICAGO) — Canadian wildfire smoke is infiltrating the Midwest on Tuesday and the air in Chicago has deteriorated to the Air Quality Index’s “very unhealthy” category.
The AQI in hazy Chicago reached 209 on Tuesday afternoon. Any number over 100 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson warned in a statement Tuesday, “We recommend children, teens, seniors, people with heart or lung disease, and individuals who are pregnant avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors. For additional precautions, all Chicagoans may also consider wearing masks, limiting their outdoor exposure, moving activities indoors, running air purifiers, and closing windows.”
The worst air quality in the world Tuesday morning was in Wisconsin.
The state’s Department of Natural Resources issued a statewide air quality advisory in effect until Thursday.
On Tuesday afternoon the AQI in Milwaukee registered in the “very unhealthy” category.
“The most significant air quality and health impacts are anticipated between noon on Tuesday, 6/27 and noon on Wednesday, 6/28,” Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources said. “This is a dynamic situation, and conditions may change rapidly over the next few days. It is important to pay close attention to the air quality in your area and take action, especially if you don’t feel well.”
Earlier this month the Canadian wildfire smoke drifted toward the Northeast, blanketing New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in a dangerous orange haze and prompting serious air quality alerts in over a dozen states. On June 7 New York City’s AQI hit 484, the highest level on record.
(WASHINGTON) — The federal government squandered more than $200 billion in its aggressive rush to prop up small businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to shatter the U.S. economy, according to a report published Tuesday by the inspector general of the Small Business Administration.
The hefty sum, which amounts to approximately 17% of the $1.2 trillion dispersed by SBA, updates previous estimates from the inspector general, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, as investigators from several federal agencies continue to trace and recover millions of dollars lost to fraud, waste and other abuses that occurred during the pandemic.
Officials said the government watchdog report represents the first comprehensive estimate of fraud to date.
At the advent of the pandemic, government agencies pushed through several program meant to support small businesses, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL).
The programs flooded businesses with easy access to cash that likely rescued the economy, experts say. But for all the jobs they helped rescue, these programs’ legacies may be tarnished by unprecedented amounts of fraud — a turn of events that experts fear may impair efforts to pass future emergency relief programs.
All government programs suffer some amount of fraud, experts have said. And emergency programs are even more susceptible, due to the inherent tension between the pressure to approve loans quickly and the need to screen applications and maintain other fraud-prevention measures that may prolong the process.
In an October 2020 report, Ware’s office found that “to expedite the process, SBA ‘lowered the guardrails’ or relaxed internal controls, which significantly increased the risk of program fraud.”
“A decision was made at the outset of the pandemic: speed was the key,” Michael Horowitz, the chairman of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a federal watchdog charged with tracking how much money was defrauded from the government during the pandemic, told ABC News in an interview in March 2022. “It was a bad choice. It was the wrong choice. It never should have happened.”
Ware predicted in a 2021 interview with ABC News that, “in terms of the monetary value, the amount of fraud in these COVID relief programs is going to be larger than any government program that came before it.”
Ware will appear before Congress in July to discuss his findings under oath. Pandemic relief fraud has attracted attention from lawmakers across the political spectrum.
Many of those who defrauded the pandemic relief programs also victimized individual Americans in the process. Thousands of fraudsters who applied for funds used social security numbers stolen from innocent people, according to the PRAC. The committee wrote in a recent report that nearly 70,000 potentially suspect Social Security numbers were used to successfully apply for EIDL or Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.
Both the SBA and the White House have pledged to offer better assistance to victims in the future, and to improve fraud reporting systems by using multi-factor authentication and a new process to pause billing once someone has reported identity theft, SBA spokesperson Christina Carr said in a statement earlier this year.
Many of those reforms will be guided by an expected executive order from President Joe Biden, who pledged over a year ago to sign an order in the “coming weeks” that would direct “new actions to support the victims of identity fraud.”
Administration officials told ABC News that the action is still expected to come soon, though they didn’t provide concrete timing.
All told, the government has doled out an estimated $5 trillion in relief funds since the beginning of the pandemic, across several programs. A Secret Service official told Congress that its investigators had recovered more than $1.43 billion in wrongfully obtained funds.
Wolfgang Van Halen has released a new song called “Take a Bow” with his Mammoth WVH band.
The track was recorded using the original Frankenstein guitar owned by Wolf’s dad, Eddie Van Halen, as well as an amp belonging to the late Van Halen shredder.
“I played the solo on the original Frankenstein guitar and through dad’s original Marshall head and one of the original cabinets,” Wolf shares. “It’s straight up what he used on the earliest Van Halen records. It makes me happy to capture some of dad’s history on this song forever.”
“Take a Bow” will appear on the upcoming sophomore Mammoth WVH album, Mammoth II, due out August 4. Mammoth II also includes the previously released songs “Another Celebration at the End of the World” and “Like a Pastime.”
Mammoth WVH will be on tour throughout the summer and fall, playing shows with Metallica, Alter Bridge and Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard.
(CONCORD, N.H.) — The focus of the Republican primary has turned to New Hampshire on Tuesday, with former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holding competing events.
The scheduling pileup in the first-in-the-nation state has some primary voters excited about the front-runners’ campaign activity while others are disappointed with the simultaneous stops — which stirred drama in a locally influential GOP group.
DeSantis spoke first, on Tuesday morning, in a stump speech in Hollis a few hours before Trump headlines the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women’s (NHFRW) Lilac Luncheon an hour north in Concord. Trump is also set to open his state campaign office on Tuesday.
When news broke last week that DeSantis had added a visit to the key primary state, the NHFRW put out a statement citing their disappointment with him for scheduling a campaign event during their event with Trump.
The organization’s president, Elizabeth Girard, claimed the move was a slight: “This attempt to pull focus from our Lilac Luncheon only diminishes the efforts of Republican women in New Hampshire who are volunteers, working hard to provide opportunities for our membership to have access to all of the candidates.”
However, Girard’s statement was not agreed upon by all members of her group, and two of them resigned.
Kate Day, who had been the public relations chair for the NHFRW, wrote on Twitter that the statement violated the group’s neutrality policy in the primary.
She echoed that to ABC News. “We often have same day multiple campaign events. It is not an issue. In this case, the DeSantis event was not announced until after the NHFRW luncheon was sold out. There was no foul by the DeSantis campaign whatsoever,” Day said. “However, beaching neutrality is.”
The back-and-forth underlines New Hampshire’s continued importance in the GOP primary campaign. Whomever wins there next year heads into the following primary contests with the boost of voter approval — something DeSantis hopes to win in his quest to defeat Trump. Early polls show the former president is still leading the primary nationwide and in the Granite State.
DeSantis’ campaign declined to comment on the dust-up over his Tuesday event. A spokesperson for the pro-DeSantis political group Never Back Down said in a statement, however, that they feel he has momentum building “across the country, and Never Back Down’s historic grassroots efforts are accelerating his support in the first four primary states.”
“Our canvassers have knocked nearly 84,000 in New Hampshire alone, turning votes to the Governor as more Republicans learn his story and record of fighting for American families. By mid-July, we expect to have talked to every one of our primary targets,” the spokesperson said. “No other candidate’s on-the-ground efforts come anywhere close to ours, which is why you’ll continue to see Gov. DeSantis’ support grow.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung shot back in a statement of his own: “DeSantis is drawing tiny crowds and micro poll numbers. If he’s not careful, he could kill his chances in 2028.”
Outside Republican operatives are encouraging the flurry of activity, with many believing the split-screen provides an opportunity for undecided or independent voters, who make up 41% of New Hampshire voters, an ability to shop around.
Greg Moore, a conservative activist and state director for the group Americans for Prosperity, described the events as a “big day for the primary.”
“Obviously, we’ll be comparing their styles, their messaging and watching how the crowds react,” Moore said. “That’s particularly true for Gov. DeSantis, who’s still introducing himself to Granite Staters.”
Democrats also weighed in.
“The Trump people believe that there shouldn’t be anyone else in the state when Trump’s in the state,” New Hampshire Party Chair Raymond Buckley said. “And the DeSantis people are going to do whatever they can to try to goad him into behaving badly with the hope that that might garner some votes for DeSantis.”
New Hampshire state Sen. Donna Soucy was more succinct, joking that the snafu has been “kind of fun to watch.”
Since announcing their respective presidential runs, Trump has visited New Hampshire three times while Tuesday’s speech by DeSantis will mark his second official visit to the state.
Fellow GOP candidate Nikki Haley will also make an appearance in New Hampshire on Tuesday, hosting a town hall.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.
Nashville’s country music community will be coming together on August 7 for A Covenant Knight at the Grand Ole Opry House.
The benefit concert, which will honor victims and families affected by the tragic Covenant School shooting back in March, will feature performances from Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Old Dominion, Lee Brice, Maddie & Tae and more. Radio veteran Storme Warren will serve as the night’s host.
“This event stands as a powerful testament to the unwavering strength of Nashville’s country music community, friends, neighbors, and especially parents,” shares music industry veteran and Covenant School parent Houston Phillips, who will co-produce the show with fellow veteran and Covenant School parent Chad Schultz as well as the Covenant School staff and Opry Entertainment Group.
“I was truly moved by the inherent goodness of those who offered support, no questions asked, as we worked to create an event that would lift up our community and contribute to Covenant School’s ongoing recovery efforts,” he adds.
Tickets to the benefit concert go on sale Friday, June 30, at 10 a.m. CT at axs.com. All proceeds from the event will go to The Covenant School Community Fund.
Yes fans hoping to see a reunion between bandmates Steve Howe and Jon Anderson probably shouldn’t hold their breath waiting for it to happen.
In a new interview with Classic Rock, Howe explains why a reunion isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. He tells the mag he’s “absolutely hesitant” to do it because of what he calls “the fiasco of the Union tour,” which took place in 1991 and featured eight past and current members of Yes.
“It was very, very difficult and out of control,” Howe says. “Sometimes I might have thought, ‘Well, one day maybe,’ and one never wants to say never, but basically I can’t see it.”
Howe says that while he loves Anderson, “I’m a lot older now, and so is he, and the only terms I work on is that I’m happy working on this. I’m not going to take a sudden load on my back that I either don’t need or want.”
He adds, “My music’s always guided me, and it’s not telling me to do those things. It’s telling me to go forwards. If it keeps steering me where it is now, then it’s great to have this live and vibrant Yes.”
Former Law and Order star Chris Nothtook to Instagram to address a story claiming he’s been “iced out” by his former Sex and the City colleagues.
The New York Post ran with a Radar Online story that claimed Noth “has been persona non grata” with Sarah Jessica Parker and the rest of the cast after he was accused in 2021 of sexual assault by two women.
“He’s not invited to their parties. He doesn’t get greeting cards or happy birthday texts,” Radar said, quoting a source. “He wonders why SJP and her troupe continue to leave him out in the cold.”
Noth replied on Insta to the Post‘s boosting of the story, noting, “I usually don’t respond to this kind of thing, And I do know that people like drama and gossip…but this article by [Post reporter] Samantha Ibrahim is absolute nonsense. Just thought you’d like to know.”
Noth was never charged for the accusations, which reportedly took place in 2004 and 2015. In a statement, he called them “categorically false” and maintained “the encounters were consensual.”
Noth was, however, dismissed from The Equalizer, and his agency let him go in the wake of the headlines. Although his character had been killed off And Just Like That… prior to the accusations, a plan to have him reappear in the second season was also reportedly scrapped.
At the time, SJP and her co-stars Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon co-signed a statement on Instagram Stories noting in part, “We are deeply saddened to hear the allegations against Chris Noth. We support the women who have come forward and shared their painful experiences…”
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a strong rejection of a controversial legal theory that threatened to upend state election laws nationwide and give state legislatures unchecked power over federal election rules.
In a 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court sided with a group of North Carolina voters who challenged an attempt by state Republican lawmakers to circumvent a state court decision that struck down a new gerrymandered election map.
Roberts was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
At the heart of the case was a controversial legal concept dubbed the “independent state legislature” theory, which contends the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides state legislators alone the power to govern federal elections unencumbered by traditional oversight from state constitutions, courts and governors.
Election and democracy experts warned the theory, if adopted in its most extreme application, could have a dramatic impact on how elections are run and voting rules are written in the U.S. Challengers said the theory would’ve unleashed a dangerous and unprecedented scheme on the eve of the 2024 presidential election.
Roberts roundly repudiated the theory, stating the Elections Clause “does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review.”
“In interpreting state law in this area, state courts may not so exceed the bounds of ordinary judicial review as to unconstitutionally intrude upon the role specifically reserved to state legislatures by Article I, Section 4, of the Federal Constitution,” Roberts wrote.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented.
The justices argued the case should have dismissed given state-level developments. The North Carolina Supreme Court, under a new Republican majority, in April reversed its previous ruling that said the gerrymandered maps were illegal.
“This is a straightforward case of mootness,” Thomas wrote. “The federal defense no longer makes any difference to this case — whether we agree with the defense, disagree with it, or say nothing at all, the final judgment in this litigation will be exactly the same.”
Abha Khanna, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the ruling as a “resounding victory for free and fair elections in the United States.”
“The independent state legislature theory is a dangerous, fringe legal theory that has no place in our democracy. In its most extreme form, the Independent State Legislature Theory could have weakened the foundation of our democracy, removing a crucial check on state legislatures and making it easier for rogue legislators to enact policies that suppress voters and subvert elections without adequate oversight from state court,” Khanna said in a statement. “We are incredibly relieved that the Supreme Court decisively rejected this dangerous theory.”
Voting rights advocates also praised the decision as upholding a key protection for voters. Former Attorney General Eric Holder described the decision as win “for our system of checks and balances, the cornerstone of American democracy.”
