The Jonas Brothers finally gave us a release date for their new song, “Wings.” Fans can now presave the song, which arrives February 24. The band also shared the song’s artwork, which features Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas standing in front of rose gold clouds and a blue sky.
Demi Lovato flexed their makeup skills by showing off how they do their own glam. Demi shared two back-to-back selfies to their Instagram Story, with one makeup-free and the other where they’re dolled up, with manicured eyebrows, red lips and dramatic eyeshadow. “Did my own glam,” Demi captioned the latter photo.
Sam Smith will be on the cover of Perfect magazine, which hits the shelves February 18. Sam shared the magazine’s sensual cover, which sees them in a barely there pink latex outfit as they rest provocatively on the floor. Apparently the shoot was titled “Honey roasted Sam.”
Dua Lipa helped “Habits” singer Tove Lo write her new single, called “Borderline.” Tove Lo shared a brief clip of the ’80s-sounding track on Twitter and also wrote, “tons of love to @DUALIPAfor trusting me with this baby!! This is the very first song we wrote together and the very start of our friendship so this feels extra special.”
Pink‘s new song, “Trustfall,” becomes her first track to chart in the BillboardHot Dance/Electronic Songs’ Top 10. The track has risen to #8 after fans streamed it 3 million times and purchased 6,000 copies over the past week. That sales number has allowed “Trustfall” to become her first #1 on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart.
After Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed during an investment call Wednesday that the company was readying a third Frozen film, a fifth Toy Story adventure and a second Zootopia movie, Josh Gad had a bit of fun on social media.
First, Gad confirmed he’d be returning as Frozen‘s lovable snowman, Olaf, by posting a GIF of his animated co-star Elsa, captioning it, “Excited to head back…into the unknown.”
But then he took things a little further. With a photo featuring Elsa, Toy Story‘s Woody and Zootopia‘s plucky bunny cop Judy Hopps standing on a Frozen background, Gad jokes, “I mean I guess it could also just as easily be a crossover event. ToyFroTopia?”
A Twitter user suggested an “Olaf and Flash buddy comedy,” showing both the snowman and the fan favorite Zootopia sloth; Gad enthusiastically replied, “Let’s go.”
So far, there are no release dates for the three films — or Gad’s Avengers-like crossover one, for that matter.
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
(TALLAHASSEE) — The College Board has addressed the Florida Department of Education’s rejection of AP African American Studies courses and subsequent criticism of the program, as well as the controversy that ensued.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ DOE initially rejected the course on Jan. 12 in a letter obtained by ABC News, calling it “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value.”
Florida’s “Stop WOKE” Act restricts certain race-related content in workplaces, schools and colleges in the state. Supporters of the legislation argued that some lessons taught “kids to hate our country or to hate each other,” according to DeSantis in a 2021 statement on the law.
Critics claim the legislation will be used to remove important lessons on race, racism and oppression from classrooms.
According to an open letter from the College Board on Thursday, the College Board said it never received written feedback from the Florida DOE specifying how the course violates Florida law, despite repeated requests.
“On three occasions beginning in September 2022, we requested from FDOE specific information about why the pilot course was deemed out of compliance with Florida law,” the College Board open letter read. “We received a commitment that such feedback would be provided, but it never was.”
College Board also claimed that in a Feb. 7 letter from the state DOE, the department characterized course topics as “historically fictional” but did not specify which topics were as described, or why they were deemed as such.
“If the course comes into compliance and incorporates historically accurate content, the department will reopen the discussion,” a Florida DOE official told ABC News in January about the course rejection.
The College Board denied it provided the FDOE with a preview of the official course framework and that “no topics were removed because they lacked educational value. We believe all the topics listed in your letter have substantial educational value.”
The FDOE did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. An alleged letter from the Florida Department of Education, reported on by the New York Times, claimed Florida officials and the College Board were in consistent communication about the state’s complaints concerning the course.
The official framework was released on Feb. 1 in honor of Black History Month.
The course was first piloted during this 2022-23 school year in just 60 schools and will be expanded to hundreds of additional schools with the official course framework for the next round of pilot courses in the 2023-24 school year.
The College Board said that all piloted courses go through revision before they are officially launched.
The framework was missing some of its most controversial material – including lessons on intersectionality, Black queer studies, Black Lives Matter and critical race theory, which particularly angered some conservatives and the DeSantis administration.
However, the College Board claims it was not influenced by Florida officials.
“Many AP courses, especially those based in history and culture, deal with contested topics. The AP Program navigates those challenging waters by relying on our AP Principles,” the open letter read. “These principles make it abundantly clear that we stand against censorship and indoctrination equally.”
(MARQUETTE, Mich.) — Deep in the rough waters of Lake Superior, researchers have discovered a 19th century ship that had actually sank twice before its final demise.
The 144-foot barquentine named Nucleus was found under 600 feet of water around 40 miles northwest of Vermilion Point Nature Preserve on Lake Superior, according to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.
The ship was carrying a load of iron ore after leaving Marquette, Michigan, when it sank on Sept. 14, 1869, amid a storm, researchers said. Once the Nucleus started to take on water, the crew abandoned the vessel on a lifeboat.
After a few hours on the water, officers aboard the S.S. Union reportedly spotted the crew struggling in the storm but did not rescue them, according to researchers.
“What a bunch of jerks, right?” Corey Adkins, communications director for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, told ABC News.
After about five hours in rough waters, crew members were picked up by a schooner called Worthington, researchers said.
“Lake Superior is often referred to as a freshwater ocean. It’s one of the biggest lakes on the planet,” Adkins said. “So I’m sure during this storm in September 1869, it was probably not very hospitable — to the crew of the Nucleolus or the ship.”
The Nucleus is nicknamed the “Bad Luck Barquentine” due to its multiple accidents — one of them occurring in 1854 when it rammed and sank a side-wheeler called S.S. Detroit in Lake Huron. In the two previous incidents, the Nucleus was re-floated, repaired and reused, Adkins said.
Researchers first detected the shipwreck in the summer of 2021 using marine sonic technology from the surface of Lake Superior, Adkins said. It was then positively identified as the Nucleus in 2022 after researchers used a remotely operated vehicle to explore the site further.
The ship was one of the oldest to go down along Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast, making it a “significant discovery,” Shipwreck Society Executive Director Bruce Lynn said in a statement.
The wreck site is “littered” with shovels and some dinner plates, which speaks to the crew’s work and shipboard life, Lynn said.
The ship is mostly intact, Darryl Ertel Jr., the historical society’s director of marine operations, said in a statement.
“At first, I thought it was totally in pieces on the bottom,” Ertel said.
Ertel had a “very good year of shipwreck hunting” in 2021, finding 10 in that year alone, Adkins said.
(BOSTON) — A Massachusetts legislator said he’s going to change a proposed bill that would have given state inmates reduced sentences if they signed up to donate an organ, following an outcry from several groups.
Last month, Democratic Rep. Carlos Gonzalez co-introduced a bill that would establish an individual bone marrow and organ donation program for Massachusetts inmates. As part of the originally proposed program, eligible inmates would be able to reduce their sentences by as little as 60 days to as much as a year “on the condition that the incarcerated individual has donated bone marrow or organs.”
Word of the bill’s language set off a slew of criticism from prisoner’s rights groups and advocates for organ donations who called the move a quid pro quo.
Alexandra Glazier, the president and CEO of New England Donor Services, which coordinates organ and tissue donation in the area, told ABC News she was surprised by the bill.
“There is substantial concern that our system is free of coercion or personal gain,” she said. “That public trust in the system has to be based on people making a free and fair choice.”
Gonzalez told ABC News in a statement on Wednesday that even though his proposal was never intended to be a quid pro quo for prisoners, he was amending the language to remove the incentives.
He said the bill was created to allow inmates who wanted to voluntarily donate an organ to family members to cut through red tape.
“It is crucial to respect prisoners’ human dignity and agency by respecting their choice to donate bone marrow or an organ,” Gonzales said. “No law currently prevents incarcerated individuals from being donors. Inmates should have the same basic rights every citizen has in Massachusetts.”
The representative said he will be working with prison legal services and advocates to rework the bill’s language.
Elizabeth Matos, the executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, a non-profit group that represents inmates in the state, told ABC News that similar bills were introduced in the past in other states, but they didn’t gain traction. Matos said she was also surprised that the original language included the sentence reduction incentive.
“It’s not recognizing the power dynamics and how desperate people are to be reunited with their loved ones,” she said of that clause.
Matos said she has heard about the concern from inmates about donating organs to loved ones and was glad that Gonzales, who she said has pushed for major prison reforms in the past, is taking the issue head on.
She said her group is now in talks with the legislation’s sponsors about improving the bill’s scope and purpose as well as addressing other inmate health needs.
Glazier said she is also open to speaking with lawmakers about the issue.
She said that people who volunteer to donate an organ or tissue to a family member in need have to go through an extensive screening process that includes visits to approved clinics.
Inmates face a barrier as they likely have to coordinate with their prison system and the department of corrections with time off to visit the facility, undergo the screening and ultimately surgery for the donation, according to Glazier.
“I think there are a number of logistical and cost concerns for the population that needs to be considered when it comes to organ donations for that population,” Glazier said.
The bill comes at a time when the country has seen a jump in organ donations, according to Glazier.
Last year, there were 14,903 deceased organ donors in the U.S., which represented a dozen consecutive years of growth, she said. In the New England region, nearly 500 organ donors were responsible for 1,325 life-saving transplants in 2002, she added.
When it comes to inmates looking to donate their organs to loved ones, Glazier said that it would be imperative for corrections departments to hammer out rules if lawmakers want to see immediate results.
“We support removing any barriers with common sense proposals,” she said.
(PHOENIX) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with a “high-value theft” amid Super Bowl festivities in Phoenix, police said Thursday.
Officers responded to the report of a theft at a parking garage in downtown Phoenix on Saturday. Approximately $100,000 worth of production equipment had been taken from the location, police said.
The production equipment was “being utilized for events downtown,” according to Phoenix Police spokesperson Sgt. Robert Scherer.
The victim was a third-party vendor for the Super Bowl Experience, occurring nearby, ABC Phoenix affiliate KNXV reported.
George Rodriguez, 36, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the incident and was booked on theft charges, police said.
Information gathered during the information led police to identify Rodriguez as “one of the people involved,” Scherer said in a statement.
Booking records show Rodriguez was booked on Wednesday on one count of theft. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 16 in the case. Online court records do not list attorney information for Rodriguez.
The stolen production equipment was located and returned to the victim, police said.
“The investigation remains an open investigation as detectives continue to follow up on leads associated with the case,” Scherer said.
The Super Bowl Experience is being held at the Phoenix Convention Center ahead of Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at Phoenix’s State Farm Stadium.
Police said they have ramped up security ahead of Super Bowl 57, including updating security cameras around the downtown area.
Billy Schuerman/Newport News Daily Press/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — The teacher shot in class by her 6-year-old student in Newport News, Virginia, claims the shooter had a history of violent behavior at school and accused the school’s assistant principal of failure to act despite being told repeatedly that the student had a gun at school, her lawyer alleged in a letter notifying the district of the intent to file a lawsuit.
The letter is one of three intent-to-file lawsuit letters sent to the school district and obtained by ABC News. Two other letters were submitted by parents of students who go to Richneck Elementary School.
In the letter, a lawyer for Abigail Zwerner, the teacher who was shot, alleged that four teachers, including Zwerner, and a guidance counselor all warned the school’s assistant principal, Ebony Parker, about the shooter’s behavior on the day of the shooting, but Parker failed to act when she was first notified, between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m., and when Zwerner was shot at 1:59 p.m.
Zwerner sustained a gunshot wound through her hand and into her chest on Jan. 6 when the student brought a gun into a classroom at Richneck Elementary School and intentionally shot and wounded her, according to police. A bullet remains lodged in her body, according to Diane Toscano, Zwerner’s lawyer.
The letter also alleged that the shooter had a history of concerning behavior at Richneck Elementary School, which Parker was aware of.
The student had allegedly been removed from the school a year prior after he “choked his teacher until she couldn’t breath,” according to the letter.
“This school year, the shooter was put on a modified schedule in the fall of 2022 after the school year had started because he constantly cursed at the staff and teachers and then one day took off his belt on the playground and chased kids trying to whip them,” according to the letter.
The shooter had been suspended the day before the shooting because he “slammed Ms. Zwerner’s phone breaking it” and had cursed at the guidance counselors,” according to the letter.
Zwerner also alleged that she told Parker that the student was in a “violent mood” and had already threatened to beat up a kindergartner on the day of the shooting.
Parker resigned from her position on Jan. 25, according to a school spokesperson.
In a second letter, the parents of one student alleged their daughter, Emari Nieves, who was in Zwerner’s class, was bullied by a student and witnessed the shooting.
Emari’s parents alleged they repeatedly notified Newport News Public Schools of the bullying and claim that the school division “did not take reasonable and appropriate actions to protect Emari and ensure Emari’s opportunity to attend a safe school environment. In addition, Emari was present in the classroom when the January 6, 2023 shooting occurred and suffered emotional harm as a result,” they wrote in the letter.
It is not clear whether the student who bullied Emari is the student who shot Zwerner.
The family is asking for all documents, information, video and audio recordings to be kept for the case.
The parents of the second student, Mark Garcia Jr., allege their son was feet away from the shooting.
According to lawyers, Garcia, who was allegedly in a classroom adjacent to the one where the shooting happened, also sent an intent-to-file lawsuit letter. Garcia’s lawyer said she is representing the student for “injuries sustained during” the shooting. They also are asking for the preservation of materials in this case.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the district said it will install metal detectors at every school. Richneck Elementary School reopened to students on Jan. 30.
A spokesperson for the Newport News Public School district did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment. Parker could not immediately be reached for a comment.
Legendary composer Burt Bacharach passed away Wednesday at the age of 94. Bacharach worked with a whole host of artists over the years and several of them, including Dionne Warwick and Elton John, paid tribute to him on social media.
Warwick, who teamed up with Bacharach for such hits songs as “Walk On By” and “I Say A Little Prayer For You,” shared on Twitter that Bacharach’s death “is like losing a family member.”
“These words I’ve been asked to write are being written with sadness over the loss of my Dear Friend and my Musical Partner,” she wrote. “On the lighter side we laughed a lot and had our run ins, but always found a way to let each other know our family, like roots, were the most important part of our relationship.”
Elton, who recorded “That’s What Friends are For” with Warwick, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, shared a picture from the recording session, writing, “@burtbacharach ,the amazing composer and songwriter, has left us with a treasure trove of unique melodies to savour forever. He was the Rolls Royce of songwriters.”
Knight also paid tribute to the composer, sharing, “Rest well my dear friend Burt Bacharach… Your soul will be missed and your art and impact here forever cherished.”
And Richard Marx, who collaborated with Bacharach on the song “Always,” called him a “remarkable talent” and “an extraordinary man,” offering, “I’m completely heartbroken over this loss but so filled with gratitude that I got to be in his company and even better, to create something so beautiful with him.”
Other artists took to social media to pay tribute:
Sheryl Crow – “One of the great thrills and honors of my life was getting to know @BurtBacharach – one of the greatest songwriters of all time. There will never be anyone like him and as a songwriter, he set the bar. Burt, you will be missed but your music will live on. My love to his family.”
Tony Bennett – “‘Music breeds its own inspiration. You can only do it by doing it.’ – Burt Bacharach. Saddened to hear about the passing of the great American composer Burt Bacharach. Rest in peace.”
Brian Wilson – “I’m so sad to hear about Burt Bacharach. Burt was a hero of mine and very influential on my work. He was a giant in the music business. His songs will live forever. Love & Mercy to Burt’s family.”
Kiss’ Paul Stanley– “Burt Bacharach… What a loss but what a treasure of amazing songs he’s left us. His work with Hal David, Carole Bayer Sager and others, share an effortless combination of simplicity & sophistication. Walk On By? That’s What Friends Are For? Alfie? This Guy’s In Love With You? WOW.”
(SAN FRANCISCO) — At least one civilian and one firefighter were injured in a massive, three-alarm fire that impacted three homes in San Francisco on Thursday, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
The civilian is in serious condition and the firefighter is in stable condition, the department said.
(WASHINGTON, Kan.) — A spill of more than 500,000-gallons of crude oil from the Keystone Pipeline in December in Kansas was caused by a combination of a faulty weld and “bending stress fatigue” on the pipe, the conduit’s operator announced Thursday.
TC Energy, the pipeline’s Canadian operator, said the cause was determined by an independent lab analysis on the failed section of the 2,687-mile conduit.
“Although welding inspection and testing were conducted within applicable codes and standards, the weld flaw led to a crack that propagated over time as a result of bending stress fatigue, eventually leading to an instantaneous rupture,” TC Energy said in a statement.
The faulty weld in a fitting girth connecting two sections of pipe “was completed at a fabrication facility,” TC Energy said.
The cause of the bending stress of the pipeline remains under investigation.
At full operation, the pipeline normally pumps about 622,000 barrels, or more than 26 million gallons of oil per day from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Texas, Illinois and Oklahoma, according to the company.
“The metallurgical analysis identified no issues with the strength or material properties of the pipe or manufactured fitting. The pipeline was operating within its operational design and within the pipeline design maximum operating pressure,” the company said.
TC Energy estimated that cost of cleaning up the oil spill was $480,000.
The Kansas oil leak is the biggest in the United States in more than a decade and the largest in the 12-year history of the Keystone Pipeline.
The leak in Washington County, Kansas, was first detected Dec. 7, about 20 miles south of the pipeline’s Steele City, Nebraska, terminal. The leak in the 36-inch diameter pipeline spilled down a hill and into a creek, prompting TC Energy to shut down the entire line.
The leak was the latest in a series of accidents on the pipeline. A federal report released in 2021 showed the conduit recorded 22 accidents between 2010 and 2020 and found the severity of spills has “worsened” in recent years. The report conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed the previous incidents leaked a total of 11,975 barrels of crude oil, or a little over 500,000 gallons.
The report found that four of the biggest Keystone Pipeline oil spills between 2010 and 2020 were caused by issues related to the original design, manufacturing of the pipe or construction of the pipeline.
