(NEW YORK) — Severe weather caused significant damage across southeast Texas on Tuesday, as dangerous tornadoes were confirmed.
A “large and destructive” tornado was confirmed moving over Deer Park, in the Houston metro region, around 2:30 p.m. local time, the National Weather Service said.
The agency later warned of a “large and extremely dangerous tornado” that was confirmed over Pinehurst, near the Texas-Louisiana border, around 4:30 p.m.
Several communities in the Houston region were conducting rescues and surveying damage as the storm moved through the area.
Pasadena officials said 911 call centers were inundated, with reports of building collapses, gas leaks and downed powerlines.
At least one non-life-threatening injury was reported, which was “unbelievable” considering the “amount of damage,” Pasadena Fire Chief Lanny Armstrong said during a press briefing.
Bayville officials reported several building collapses and a structure fire Tuesday afternoon. Multiple power lines were also downed and at least one home reported damage, officials said.
More than 97,000 customers were without power in Texas Tuesday evening, primarily in southeast Texas, according to PowerOutage.us.
(NEW YORK) — Nearly one year after two congressional reports found heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in popular baby foods, the federal agency that oversees food safety has proposed a change.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday released draft guidance proposing new limits for the amount of lead allowed in processed foods, such as those packaged in jars, pouches and boxes, for kids under the age of 2.
The new limits would help reduce exposure to lead in those foods by as much as 27%, the agency said.
“For more than 30 years, the FDA has been working to reduce exposure to lead, and other environmental contaminants, from foods. This work has resulted in a dramatic decline in lead exposure from foods since the mid-1980s,” FDA commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf said in a statement. “The proposed action levels announced today, along with our continued work with our state and federal partners, and with industry and growers to identify mitigation strategies, will result in long-term, meaningful and sustainable reductions in the exposure to this contaminant from foods.”
The FDA’s guidance is not yet final and will go through a review process before being formally adopted, but it is a strong signal to baby food manufacturers that they will likely need to comply with these new levels soon.
The new limits on lead mark the next step in the FDA’s continuing effort called “Closer to Zero,” which aims to reduce levels of exposure of lead and other metals to the lowest level possible for babies and young children.
Toxicologists say that at very low levels, heavy metals are unlikely to pose a serious health threat, but there are no known safe level of heavy metals in foods for children.
In order to suffer detrimental effects, a person would have to be exposed to toxic heavy metals for a prolonged period of time. Periodic ingestion of the levels found in baby food products would generally not be considered dangerous.
The FDA stressed in its announcement that the new draft guidance is “not intended to direct consumers in making food choices.”
“To support child growth and development, we recommend parents and caregivers feed children a varied and nutrient-dense diet across and within the main food groups of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein foods,” Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement. “This approach helps your children get important nutrients and may reduce potential harmful effects from exposure to contaminants from foods that take up contaminants from the environment.”
What to know about heavy metals in baby foods
Exposure to toxic heavy metals poses a specific risk to toddlers and infants because they absorb more than adults and their brains are still developing, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Even low levels of lead in blood may go on to affect IQ, a child’s ability to pay attention and academic achievement, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
“The concern is not that the amount that’s in baby foods or the amount that babies are consuming is going to make them acutely sick,” Dr. Stephanie Widmer, an ABC News medical contributor, board-certified emergency medicine physician and medical toxicologist, told ABC News last year. “The concern is long-term effects on neurodevelopment, brain function, possibly the long-term risk of cancer down the road, and it’s really difficult to establish what levels are increasing your risk for danger.”
Experts point out that heavy metals are naturally occurring and are found in all of our foods, which makes it hard to tell parents a specific type or brand of baby food to avoid.
“Rattling off a list of which ones are safe, which ones are not would be probably impossible,” Widmer said. “Because everything really out there has some level of heavy metals in it. It’s in the soil and things that grow in the soil.”
Diagnosing heavy metal poisoning can also be difficult and symptoms may be easy to miss. Those symptoms include things ranging from changes in behavior and learning, vomiting and abdominal pain to joint pain, anemia, numbness and weakness, according to the NIH.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening for elevated lead levels in children 9 to 12 months old, and again around age 2.
Therapies to help children who have been overexposed to heavy metals are available.
What parents can do
Here are four things Widmer said she did when her two children were in their baby food stages.
1. I varied my kids’ diets.
“I made sure there was variability in their diet,” Widmer said. “Heavy metals are in everything, so if you’re not eating the same thing, the same food group every day, you are decreasing your risk.”
Widmer said varying her kids’ diets included switching back and forth between feeding them homemade baby food and store-bought baby food, as well as frequently rotating the types of foods they were eating.
“Bananas one day, baby spinach another day and just making sure that variability is there,” she said. “Not getting the same repeat exposure to the same food and whatever compounds are in that food is the best thing that parents can do.”
2. I didn’t lose sleep over it.
“Parents of little ones have plenty on their plate already, they have plenty of things on their minds and plenty of things to worry about, and I would not put this at the top of the list,” said Widmer, who noted that babies only eat baby food for a short period of time. “I would not lose sleep over this.”
She added, “It’s something that is being paid closer attention to and will be regulated more and more and more, and parents shouldn’t feel pressure. The thing you can do is pay more attention to the variability in the diet.”
3. I tried to avoid a few key foods.
“Rice tends to have a lot of high levels of heavy metals,” Widmer said. “So avoiding foods and cereals that are rice-based is probably best practice.”
In addition to rice, Widmer said she also recommends trying to limit foods that grow in the ground, like carrots, potatoes and sweet potatoes, as they can be exposed to heavy metals in the soil.
Widmer said parents shouldn’t skip those foods entirely, but rather ensure they are not a daily staple in a baby’s diet.
4. I washed foods when I made homemade baby food.
“If you are making baby food at home, really washing the foods beforehand helps,” she said. “If you are going to use a rice-based cereal or rice-based food, really soaking the rice and washing it with boiling water after would help.”
Widmer also recommends that parents wash their baby’s hands before they eat, too.
The AAP notes that heavy metals can get into tap water, so if that is a concern, the recommendation is to contact your local health department to have your water tested.
Grunge pioneers Mudhoney have announced a new album called Plastic Eternity.
The 11th full-length effort from the “Touch Me I’m Sick” rockers will arrive April 7. You can listen to lead single “Almost Everything” now via digital outlets.
“We like each other and we like being in a band together,” says frontman Mark Arm of Mudhoney’s continuing output. “Some people have poker night or whatever the f***, and they have the excuse to get together with their friends. For us, this [band] is that. This is what we do.”
Plastic Eternity is the follow-up to 2018’s Digital Garbage. Here’s the track list:
“Souvenir of My Trip”
“Almost Everything”
“Cascades of Crap”
“Flush the Fascists”
“Move Under”
“Severed Dreams in the Sleeper Cell”
“Here Comes the Flood”
“Human Stock Capital”
“Tom Herman’s Hermits”
“One or Two”
“Cry Me an Atmospheric River”
“Plasticity”
“Little Dogs”
(EAST BATON ROUGE, La.) — A Louisiana State University student who died after she was hit by a car while on her way home from a bar was allegedly raped shortly before the fatal crash, authorities said.
The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office arrested four people on Monday, including three teenagers, in connection with the alleged sexual assault.
Madison Brooks, 19, was struck by a car while on the roadway early on Jan. 15 and died at a local hospital, authorities said. The driver, who was determined not to be impaired and contacted emergency personnel immediately, has not been charged, the sheriff’s office said.
Within hours of the deadly incident, Brooks was captured on surveillance footage stumbling and falling at a Baton Rouge bar, before leaving with the four suspects, according to the arrest warrant affidavits.
Kaivon Washington, 18, and a 17-year-old male were arrested and charged with third-degree rape, court records show.
Casen Carver, 18, and Everett Lee, 28, were also arrested and charged as principles to third-degree rape, court records show.
Carver, Lee and Washington were booked on Monday and appeared in court for a bond hearing Tuesday morning, during which their bail was set at $50,000, $75,000 and $150,000, respectively, according to the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court.
The 17-year-old was booked into juvenile Detention and has not been identified by the sheriff’s office because he is a minor.
The four suspects met the victim at the bar, Reggie’s, and were taking her home, when two of them allegedly raped her, according to the arrest warrant affidavits.
During an interview with detectives on Jan. 16, Carver reportedly stated that while walking to his car from the bar, Brooks “was very unstable on her feet, was not able to keep her balance, and was unable to speak clearly without slurring her words,” the affidavits stated.
Carver reportedly told detectives that she had asked for a ride home and “he admitted that he agreed to give her the ride because he did not want to leave her while very intoxicated and the bar was closing,” according to the affidavits.
Carver stated he asked for Brooks’ address but “she fell over and could not answer him,” according to the affidavits.
He reportedly told detectives he soon parked at a nearby street, at which point the 17-year-old allegedly asked her “five times” to have sex and she consented, according to the affidavits. Then, Carver reportedly told detectives he heard Washington “ask the victim numerous times if she wanted to have sex, and she consented,” according to the affidavits.
Carver and Lee, who was identified as Washington’s uncle, allegedly remained in the front seats of the car the entire time, according to the affidavits.
Carver reportedly stated “we got to stop this, let’s go,” according to the affidavits. He started driving and ultimately dropped her off in a subdivision, according to the affidavits.
Brooks was hit by a car while in the middle of a roadway near the subdivision shortly before 3 a.m., about 50 minutes after leaving the bar, authorities said. Her blood alcohol content upon being admitted to the hospital was .319, according to the affidavits. The state’s legal limit to drive is .08.
When asked if Brooks was too impaired to consent, Carver allegedly replied, “I guess,” according to the affidavits.
The 17-year-old suspect and his mother did not want to provide a statement to detectives, while Lee reportedly confirmed to detectives that he was in the passenger seat that night, according to the affidavits.
Washington waived his right to an attorney and agreed to provide a statement on Jan. 21, during which he reportedly denied having sex with the victim, according to the affidavits. When asked to conduct an oral DNA swap, he “requested an attorney,” according to the affidavits.
In a phone interview with ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ before his surrender, Washington denied raping Brooks and said the sex was consensual, WBRZ reported.
His attorney, Ron Haley, also denied the rape allegations and told WBRZ that they have video proof that refutes the claims.
Attorney information for Carver and Lee was not immediately available.
In a statement to the school community following news of the arrests, LSU President William Tate called this a “horrific scenario.”
“Madison was a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a niece, a classmate, and a friend to many of you,” he said. “By all accounts, she was an amazing young woman with limitless potential. She should not have been taken from us in this way. What happened to her was evil, and our legal system will parcel out justice.”
Tate also condemned that Brooks and three of the suspects were underage yet “able to consume alcohol at a local bar.”
“As such, our action plan starts with a deep and relentless focus on any establishment that profits off our students by providing alcohol to underage individuals,” he said. “In the coming days, we will call a meeting with these business owners to discuss how their responsibilities directly impact the safety of our students. We will work openly against any business that doesn’t join us in efforts toward creating a safer environment for our students. Enough is enough.”
State regulators announced on Tuesday they have temporarily suspended Reggie’s liquor license over “recent incidents at this establishment.”
“Due to the seriousness of the allegations and the potential threat to public safety, an emergency suspension will be issued today,” the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control said in a statement. “This action immediately suspends the service or sale of alcoholic beverages at this location. An emergency hearing will be held next month to determine what penalties (if any) should be imposed following a presentation of the evidence.”
In a statement to WBRZ, Reggie’s said the bar’s owner “has fully cooperated with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police and the East Baton Rouge [Alcoholic Beverage Control] office since their first requests for assistance in their ongoing investigations and will continue to do so.”
(YAKIMA, Wash.) — A man accused of fatally shooting three people at a Circle K convenience store and gas station in Yakima, Washington, early Tuesday is in custody following an hours-long manhunt, authorities said.
After the shooting at the Circle K around 3:30 a.m. local time, the gunman went across the street to an ampm convenience store where he allegedly shot into a car and then stole it, Yakima Police Chief Matthew Murray told reporters.
It is possible the gunman shot the person in the car as he stole it, the chief said. If so, the driver would be the fourth shooting victim.
Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Jarid Haddock of Yakima County. He allegedly fled in a car believed to be a gray or silver Chrysler 200, the chief said.
Around 2:15 p.m. local time, a family member of the suspect called police to report that he was “behind some warehouses” in the city, Yakima police said.
Responding officers quickly found the suspect, who was injured by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. No officers fired at the suspect, who was being treated by first responders, according to Murray.
Murray called the Circle K shooting an apparent random attack. The gunman “just walked in and started shooting,” he said.
Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony are celebrating the 28th anniversary of the Van Halen album Balance, and marked the occasion by sharing a performance of the song “Amsterdam” from The Jon Stewart Show, which aired on MTV in 1995.
“Happy anniversary to ‘Balance’! The ‘Balance’ record was such a great record, but it was during hard times for the band, and a very hard record to make,” Sammy shares. “A lot of painful dark images, bickering amongst the band, health issues, but this live performance of ‘Amsterdam’ on the Jon Stewart show shows how great this band was live.”
Anthony adds, “By the time the ‘Balance’ record came out, there was lots of tension within the band, personally, and professionally.” He noted, “One thing that was understood though was that the music was the important thing, and when we got together to play live we kicked a**, be it in concert or guesting on a TV show.” He adds, “This clip of us on Jon Stewart shows we were still delivering the goods!!!”
Balance, Van Halen’s 10th studio album, was released January 24, 1995, and was the last to feature Sammy on vocals. It went to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart and in 2004 was certified triple Platinum by the RIAA.
On the Emmy-winning animated show Rick and Morty, scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty always manage to escape close calls, but now the guy who voices them, Justin Roiland, has hit a dead end with Adult Swim.
TheCartoon Network Studios-owned property said in a tweet it has “ended its association” with the 42-year-old veteran voice actor, who is also the show’s co-creator.
Variety reports Roiland was charged with “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit” in an incident that reportedly took place on January 19, 2020, with an unnamed woman he was dating at the time.
Roiland pleaded not guilty in 2020 and recently appeared at a pretrial hearing; he has another one on April 27, according to the trade.
Adult Swim’s brief message, to which replies were not allowed, added, “Rick and Morty will continue. The talented and dedicated crew are hard at work on Season 7.”
On the Emmy-winning animated show Rick and Morty, scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty always manage to escape close calls, but now the guy who voices them, Justin Roiland, has hit a dead end with Adult Swim.
TheCartoon Network Studios-owned property said in a tweet it has “ended its association” with the 42-year-old veteran voice actor, who is also the show’s co-creator.
Variety reports Roiland was charged with “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit” in an incident that reportedly took place on January 19, 2020, with an unnamed woman he was dating at the time.
Roiland pleaded not guilty in 2020 and recently appeared at a pretrial hearing; he has another one on April 27, according to the trade.
Adult Swim’s brief message, to which replies were not allowed, added, “Rick and Morty will continue. The talented and dedicated crew are hard at work on Season 7.”
Austin Butler says receiving an Oscar nomination for his role as Elvis Presley in the Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic “feels like a dream.”
“It’s very surreal,” he told Good Morning America.
Butler, 31, who recently won a Golden Globe for his role in Elvis, recalled how he landed the film’s lead role, and how actor Denzel Washington and Butler’s ex-girlfriend played a part.
“Denzel was very kind, and we’ve done a play together and, I mean, he’s my hero,” Butler said. “So I am very grateful to him because he sort of called Baz and vouched for me after we worked together.”
Although it wasn’t a childhood dream to play Elvis, Butler said, “It was kind of this moment of all the stars aligning when I heard that Baz was making a movie. Now we’re here. It’s so surreal.”
Butler’s nomination comes almost two weeks after the death of Lisa Marie Presley — the only child of Elvis and Priscilla Presley — with whom Butler became close during the movie’s production. Lisa Marie came out to support Butler and the film earlier this month at the Golden Globes.
When asked about what he thought Lisa Marie would say about his nomination in particular and the film’s seven other Oscar nominations, Butler said, “I know she’s smiling down right now.”
“You know, life is full of so many ups and downs, and while this is such a positive moment, the grief is just so deep with the loss of Lisa Marie,” he continued. “I know she’d be really happy right now.”
He called his relationship with her “the most meaningful thing to me.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd has added a new show to their 2023 tour schedule. The band is set to headline the Lost Highway Motorcycle Show and Concert, taking place in the Poconos, Pennsylvania, May 19 to 21.
The Southern rockers will headline the Friday night bill at the Amphitheater at Poconos Park, with The Marshall Tucker Band, Rick Monroe & the Hitmen, The Jess Zimmerman Band and Seth Enslow also on the bill. Saturday’s lineup will be announced at a future date.
In addition to the concerts, the Lost Highway Motorcycle Show and Concert will feature charity rides, motorcycle giveaways, two motorcycle shows and more.
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, January 27, at 10 a.m. ET. More information can be found at losthighwayshow.com.
