(NEW YORK) — The maker behind the popular Calico Critter toys said Thursday that it is recalling millions of toys with parts that may pose a choking hazard for children.
Epoch Everlasting Play LLC made the announcement in cooperation with the Consumer Product Safety Commision.
The recall impacts more than 3.2 million units of the company’s Calico Critters flocked animal figures and sets that include bottle and pacifier accessories.
The Pine Brook, New Jersey-based company said it knew of three reported incidents involving the pacifier accessories specifically, two of which resulted in fatalities, including a 2-year-old in New Mexico in 2018 and a 9-month-old in Japan in 2015.
The impacted bottle and pacifier accessories were manufactured in China, imported by Epoch Everlasting Play LLC and sold between January 2000 and December 2021 at major retailers such as Meijer and Walmart and online on the Calico Critters website and on Amazon, according to a CPSC recall announcement. They were sold in multiple colors, according to the company.
“The bottle accessories were sold in yellow, pink, blue and orange colors. One style of the bottle has two yellow handles. The pacifier accessories were sold in yellow, orange, pink, dark pink, blue and teal colors,” Epoch said on its official recall website.
Epoch and the CPSC have advised anyone in possession of a recalled accessory to “please immediately take them away from children” and destroy them.
In order to properly destroy the accessories, the company stated, adults should use scissors to “cut the top off of the bottle and cut the handle [off] the pacifier.”
The toy company has a full list of recalled products and associated item numbers on its recall website and has created a request form for impacted individuals to register, submit a photo of the destroyed recalled item and request a free replacement accessory.
Consumers who wish to contact Epoch can also call (800) 631-1272 Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, or email productsafety@epocheverlastingplay.com.
(NEWARK, N.J.) — A new monument honoring Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman was unveiled Thursday in downtown Newark, New Jersey.
“Shadow of a Face” sits in the town’s newly created Arts and Education District, replacing a statue of Christopher Columbus.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka told ABC News that amid citizens across the nation removing statues of historical figures during nationwide racial protests, their city “got ahead of it,” and removed Columbus’ statue in the summer of 2020.
“We also wanted to make sure that we put something up because it wasn’t just about removing things, it was also about representing the wholeness and fullness of history,” Baraka said. “And so, we wanted to do that in Newark, and be one of the first folks to put something up in place of statues that were taken down.”
The multi-sensory exhibit offers viewers a new take on historic monuments, with a partnership with Audible providing an auditory experience, in addition to visual and touch.
The center of the piece features an abstract interpretation of Tubman around 25 feet tall and totes a learning wall, featuring educational text that will couple with narrations from citizens of Newark, including Newark native and Grammy-award-winning artist Queen Latifah.
“I learned so much during the creation of this project, and we hope this monument brings Harriet Tubman’s resistance and integrity to people everywhere who really need to hear it. We want people to know, to feel, to understand what was at stake and how incredibly brave Harriet Tubman was,” Latifah said during the press event.
The city issued a nationwide call for artists to apply to produce the piece, and Nina Cooke John was one of five finalists city officials and members chosen.
John, 50, prides herself in abstract expression regarding her architecture and public art piece. She told ABC News that this piece is special to her in addition to being her first permanent public art piece.
“I drew inspiration from Harriet Tubman herself. Really thinking about how to represent this complex woman,” John said. “So just as a humanitarian all around, she was a really amazing woman. So how do I kind of put her up on a pedestal, but really allow us to connect with her one-to-one as a woman.”
Arts and Cultural affairs director at the City of Newark fayemi shakur spearheaded the project for the town, sharing the importance it has to the city specifically.
“People should be able to see themselves in the art around them. And most of our monuments, you know, are of white men or of times of war, very few women figures, very few Black people, people of color, and so this was an opportune time for us to think, really intentional about how we could reimagine public art,” shakur said.
Newark was the location of stops and safe houses on the Underground Railroad, and there is a town legend, according to city administrators, Tubman led runaway slaves to Newark’s First Presbyterian Church – which still stands in downtown Newark today.
The creation of the project took over two years, and was funded by the city, Audible and the Mellon Foundation’s Monument Project, a 2020 initiative focusing on creating monuments throughout the nation of those “who have often been denied historical recognition.”
“With the unveiling of the Harriet Tubman monument this morning, we tell a more complete account of history, and we at Audible are extremely honored to play a small role in that,” Bob Carrigan, CEO of Audible, said at the event.
Sen. Cory Booker, former Newark mayor, also shared his excitement and thanks for the project during Thursday’s event by sending a video.
“This monument will spark an appreciation for a woman who was defined as courage, and a humble, powerful radicalism based in the fundamental ideals of love. It should inspire all of us to action, it should inspire all of us to love our country, not through what we say or the symbols, but through what we do,” he said.
Audible founder Don Katz and distant niece of the Underground Railroad trailblazer Michele John Gavin were also in attendance.
“Let’s forever remember Harriet Tubman for her compassion, courage, bravery, service to others, her patriotism, and her commitment to faith, family, fortitude and freedom,” she said during the event.
The unveiling comes just one day before Harriet Tubman Day on March 10.
“This commission has meant a lot to me as an artist, as an architect, as a woman, and as a mother of Black girls,” John said. “It means a lot to me not only because it provided me with the opportunity to create art in public space, telling the multi-layered story of a powerhouse of a woman.”
(NEW YORK) — White supremacist propaganda, including the mass distribution of flyers containing hateful language and images, projections on buildings and in-person gatherings, reached a record high in the United States in 2022, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
The organization’s yearly assessment of propaganda activity found 6,751 incidents in 2022, the highest number since the ADL began tracking such incidents in 2017. This total includes racist, antisemitic or anti-LGBTQ content and efforts.
The count represented a 38% increase over the previous year, according to the ADL.
According to Carla Hill, Director of Investigative Research with ADL Center on Extremism, said the rise represents a commitment to recruitment and membership within hate groups.
“They’ve clearly bought into the idea that the more attention they get by distributing propaganda, the more people that will embrace their position,” she said, asserting that propaganda normalizes hate speech and messaging.
The organization found that propaganda was reported in every state except Hawaii, with the highest levels of activity found in Texas, followed by Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Utah, Florida, Connecticut and Georgia.
“There’s no question that white supremacists and antisemites are trying to terrorize and harass Americans and have significantly stepped up their use of propaganda as a tactic to make their presence known in communities nationwide,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO, in a statement. “This is a cowardly attempt to intimidate marginalized communities and those who don’t align with their twisted worldview and draw in new recruits.”
White supremacist groups increasingly used banners, often draped over highway overpasses, to publicize their hate-filled messages.
ADL tracked at least 252 banner drops and 167 in-person white supremacist events, a 38% and 55% increase, respectively, from 2021. The distribution of white supremacist propaganda on school campuses saw a 6% decrease, totaling the lowest number since ADL began tracking it in 2017.
“The sheer volume of white supremacist propaganda distributions we are documenting around the country is alarming and dangerous,” said Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism.
Segal continued, “We need a whole-of-society approach to combat this activity, including elected officials, community leaders and people of good faith coming together and condemning this activity forcefully.”
Fender is paying tribute to George Harrison with a new collection of guitar accessories inspired by the late Beatle‘s record label, Dark Horse Records.
The George Harrison Dark Horse Capsule Collection consists of three items: a Dark Horse floral guitar strap, another guitar strap with the Dark Horse logo, and Dark Horse pick tin with Dark Horse Records graphics and six medium-gauge printed picks.
All three items are available now on Fender.com and range in price from $11.99 to $44.99.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Pedro Pascal can currently be seen shepherding two special kiddos on two hit shows, The Last of Us and The Mandalorian.
However, not too long ago he was famous for being the guy who got his skull crushed in a fight between his Oberyn Martell and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson‘s hulking Ser Gregor Clegane, best known as The Mountain, on Game of Thrones.
But despite the grisly scene, Pedro revealed on the hot wings-eating show Hot Ones he actually fell asleep while The Mountain gouged out his eyes.
“It was the best part of the day,” he enthused. “It was so hot when we were shooting that scene. He’s over me and he puts his thumbs into my eyes and they’ve got piping — or tubing — through his body into his forearms to his thumbs pumping this cool blood.”
He calls the actor “the gentlest guy ever. I felt no pressure at all, he was so hyperaware of it.”
He explains, “There were all of these fleshy bits that they were placing all over my face and pumping blood so that it would pool and spread through the amphitheater … And I was dead asleep. It was so hot and this stuff was so cooling to the touch and you had to be really, really still. That was the most relaxing and knowing also that we had gotten to the end of this four-day fight … it was very cathartic and I went into the deepest sleep I’ve been in.”
A poor sleeper normally, Pascal laughed, “I realize now that I need to be [masked with] pieces of flesh, gelatinous pieces of meat, cool to the touch, face meat and cooling blood, and maybe I’ll finally get a f***ing good night’s sleep.”
Depeche Mode has shared another tune from their upcoming album, Memento Mori. The latest is the track “My Cosmos Is Mine,” which followed the previously released single “Ghost Again.”
Memento Mori, dropping March 24, is the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers’ first new album since 2017’s Spirit and their first release since the death of band member Andy Fletcher, who passed away in May 2020.
Depeche Mode fans won’t have to wait too long to hear the band playing these new songs live. They are set to kick off a new world tour March 23 in Sacramento, California. A complete list of tour dates can be found at depechemode.com.
Jimmie Allen has teamed up with The Frozen Farm to launch a special peach cobbler-flavored Frobert named after his mom.
“Y’all, I am so excited to finally announce my partnership with The Frozen Farmer and introduce you to — MISS ANGIE’S PEACH COBBLER FROBERT,” he writes on Instagram alongside an announcement video. “Frobert is a blend of ice cream and sorbet, so prepare your tastebuds for this epic explosion of flavor and get used to hearing that word!”
“We took my mama’s secret peach cobbler recipe and packed it into creamy, pint-sized goodness! With fresh-from-the-farm peaches and spoonfuls of sticky sweet cobbler crumbles, we promise this is a treat you’ll want an extra scoop or two of!” Jimmie adds.
Jimmie and The Frozen Farmer’s Miss Angie’s Peach Cobbler Frobert will be available in more than 2,100 of Kroger Co.’s family of stores, including Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Fry’s and Ralphs, this month.
Taylor Swift has made it onto yet another syllabus at a prestigious university. The singer’s 10-minute version of “All Too Well” is being taught at Stanford.
Stanford is offering the course “All Too Well (Ten Week Version)” for its winter semester, which has students performing “an in-depth analysis” of the song’s lyrics.
The song has been integrated into the institution’s ITALIC 99 courses that, according to the website description, “offer students an introduction to topics taught by alumni of the program.”
The website states classes are student-led and “focused on hands-on learning and have included topics such as travel sketching, watercolor, music composition, improv acting, animation, and digital art, among many others!”
As for the Swift offering, the class will be led by Nona Hungate, who graduates in 2024. According to The Stanford Daily, the lesson “recognizes Swift’s brilliant songwriting skills while giving Stanford students the opportunity to learn how to analyze literature.”
This isn’t the first time the hitmaker has inspired a college course. New York University offered a course on Swift, focusing on her entrepreneurship, how she fits into the history of pop music “prodigies,” and how the experiences of youth and girlhood are “often exploited” by the media.
Then, the University of Texas at Austin began offering a class that focused specifically on Taylor’s songwriting.
The White Stripes are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their fourth studio album, Elephant, this year and they’ve got a lot of treats in store for fans. The band just announced two new releases in conjunction with the anniversary, a new digital release and a new vinyl edition.
The digital release, Elephant (Deluxe), is due out March 31 and will include remastered HD audio of the album, along with the 27-song live recording of the band’s July 2, 2003, show at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. And they’ve already shared a little taste of that live recording, with a video for “The Hardest Button to Button (Live at the Aragon Ballroom, July 2, 2003),” which features never-before-seen photos of Jack and Meg White from the tour.
Then, on April 21, the White Stripes are releasing a limited-edition two-LP edition of Elephant, which will feature a red smoke- and a clear with red and black smoke-colored vinyl. It is available for preorder now.
And that’s not all. There’s also a new line of Elephant merch available at whitestripesstore.com, with more items to be announced throughout the year.
Elephant, which officially turns 20 on April 1, featured such White Stripes classics as “Seven Nation Army,” “Black Math” and “Ball and Biscuit.” It sold 4million records worldwide and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
“The Banshees of Inisherin” — Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios
Need to catch up on all the films nominated for the 95th annual Academy Awards before the ceremony on Sunday night? Here’s where you can stream several of the contenders.
Over on HBO Max, watch a friendship fall apart in The Banshees of Inisherin, which picked up an impressive nine nominations this year. Also on HBO Max, stream Elvis, the biographical musical that tells the story of the legendary rock ‘n’ roll icon. It’s nominated for eight Oscars, including best actor for Austin Butler.
Make your best actress prediction by watching the front-runners: there’s Cate Blanchett’s performance in TÁR, streaming on Peacock, and Michelle Yeoh’s multiverse-spanning turn in Everything Everywhere All at Once, available on Showtime Anytime.
On Netflix, catch the new adaptation of the classic war story All Quiet on the Western Front, and then over on Hulu, witness power dynamics turn upside down in the bitingly funny drama Triangle of Sadness.
In case you somehow missed the year’s highest-grossing film at the domestic box office, you can stream Top Gun: Maverick over on Paramount+.
If that’s not enough, all of the best animated feature film nominees are also available to watch at home.
Make a double feature out of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and The Sea Beast over on Netflix, before meeting the lovable Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, available to watch on Showtime Anytime.
Turn on Pixar’s Turning Red, available on Disney+, before finishing your movie marathon with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which arrives Friday on Peacock.
Tune in to find out which films will come away with Oscars during the live ceremony on Sunday, March 12, only on ABC.
