(NEW YORK) — More than 3,500 Americans have died from long COVID-related illnesses, according to new federal data.
The report, published early Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, looked at death certificate data from January 2020 through the end of June 2022.
The NCHS team looked for several key terms including “long COVID,” “long haul COVID,” “chronic COVID” and “post COVID syndrome.”
Results showed long COVID played a role in 3,544 deaths, with the condition listed as either an underlying or a contributing cause of death.
“This is the first time that we’ve used death certificate data from the National Vital Statistics System to identify deaths with long COVID,” Farida Ahmad, a health scientist at the NCHS, told ABC News. “Because this is a new analysis and the first time we’re looking at long COVID in death certificates, I think a lot of the aspects of the report stand out as unique.”
While not an insignificant number, this means long COVID deaths made up less than 1% of the more than one million COVID-19 related deaths during this period.
Long COVID occurs when patients who have cleared the infection still have symptoms at least four weeks after recovery. In some cases, these symptoms can persist for months or even years.
Patients can experience a variety of lingering symptoms including fatigue, difficulty breathing, headaches, brain fog, joint and muscle pain, and continued loss of taste and smell, according to the CDC.
It’s unclear what causes people to develop long COVID but research is ongoing.
The report found February 2022 was the month with the highest number of long COVID deaths with 393.
Additionally, the percentage of deaths linked to long COVID peaked in June 2021 at 1.2% and in April 2022 at 3.8%, both of which coincided with decreasing numbers of COVID-19 deaths, according to the report.
The team then looked at differences in COVID-19 deaths and long COVID deaths between males and females over a 12-month period from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
While a larger percentage of COVID-19 deaths, or 56%, occurred among men, long COVID deaths were more evenly split with 51.5% occurring among males.
Similarly to COVID-19, long COVID deaths were most common among elderly Americans.
Those between ages 75 and 84 accounted for 28.8% of long COVID deaths followed by those aged 85 and older at 28.1% and those aged 65 to 74 at 21.5%.
There were also disparities when it came to race. White Americans made up the most deaths from long COVID at 78.5% followed by Black Americans at 10.1% and Hispanic Americans at 7.8%
Comparatively, Asian Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives and other multiracial Americans made up less than 2% of long COVID deaths per group.
However, the long COVID death rate was highest among American Indian/Alaska Native people at 14.8 per 1 million. Meanwhile, white Americans had the second highest rate at 6.7 per 1 million.
Although Black and Hispanic Americans have traditionally higher COVID-19 mortality rates, they had lower long COVID death rates at 6.4 per 1 million and 4.7 per 1 million, respectively.
According to the report, this may be because Hispanic and Black Americans have higher COVID-19 death rates, meaning there are fewer survivors to experience long COVID, as well as fewer diagnoses due to less access to health care.
Ahmad said she hopes the report is a first step in being able to more accurately track long COVID deaths.
“We don’t use an official classification code for long COVID on death certificates and so this report is kind of that first step and if we do, it might be easier to track these kinds of deaths over time,” she said. “And if there is a need for kind of guidance for how deaths certificates should be filled out, when long COVID is suspected as a contributing cause of death, that might help have more accurate data on the death certificate.”
(NEW YORK) — It was any mother’s worst nightmare. In April 2019, Kari Hoffmann witnessed a man toss her 5-year-old son over a third-floor balcony while shopping at a mall. As a result, her son suffered multiple life-threatening injuries including broken arms, a broken leg and skull fractures.
Three-and-a-half years later, after her son made a miraculous recovery, Hoffmann decided she was ready to share her story and spoke first to ABC News’ Good Morning America about the incident.
“I was frozen in time until I was able to speak, and now is the time that is right in our lives where we’ve done a lotta healing, where it’s time to move forward with the story of the miracle of Landen,” said Hoffmann.
Hoffmann had taken her son Landen and one of his friends to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. She said they had just completed a parent-teacher conference day and were looking for a way to “celebrate” when a stranger approached them.
“We were just looking at the alligator at the Rainforest Café, and a stranger came up and was whispering to these two little boys. And I thought that he was gonna turn this alligator on for them,” said Hoffmann. “He snatched [Landen] and ran. And I was just frozen … It happened so fast. I screamed, ‘No!’ after he was already thrown.”
“I don’t even remember running down the escalators, but I was screaming the whole time, ‘No, Landen’s not gonna die,'” she added.
She said the incident quickly drew a crowd. All Hoffmann asked of them was to “pray.”
“I don’t care who was looking. If they were looking, I asked them to pray,” she said. “He’s got a heartbeat. He was breathing. We got in the ambulance, and right before they shut the door, he opened his eyes for a second.”
Hoffmann said that Landen was immediately rushed into emergency brain trauma surgery. Relatives gathered while her son was on the operating table, and they were all there when a doctor delivered the news: Her son was “going to be okay.”
“Listening to him breathing with the machine’s beeping was the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life,” said Hoffmann. “Because that meant he was alive.”
Landen was in the hospital for four months. Hoffmann said she would journal to keep track of her son’s recovery. She said he made it just in time to attend the first day of kindergarten that year, only five days after he was released from the hospital. Despite the triumph, Landen at first struggled with some behavioral issues, but has since re-learned “to follow the rules.”
In May 2019, Emmanuel Aranda, 24, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the attack. Aranda, who was reportedly banned from the mall on two other instances, said that he was “looking for someone to kill” when he tossed Landen from the balcony.
Hoffmann said she’s forgiven Aranda because “it’s a decision that you have to make so that God can do what he needs to do in your life … and that was to save Landen.”
Last year, the Hoffmanns filed a lawsuit through their attorney Mark Briol against the Mall of America, claiming that the mall security should have prevented Aranda from entering the building. The lawsuit sought unspecified damages for Landen’s medical expenses.
On Dec. 5, the family’s attorneys announced that the lawsuit was confidentially settled and released a statement saying they were working together with Mall of America on policy changes to ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
Good Morning America reached out to Mall of America for comment on the settlement, and the mall reiterated the joint statement with the family.
“Mall of America and the family have agreed to work together with a focus on safety, and already are jointly pursuing policy changes to existing trespass limits for violent criminals so as to give greater ability to preclude such persons from their premises,” said the statement, in part.
Now, Landen is 8 years old. He enjoys playing hockey and is looking forward to his birthday in January, his mother said.
“Angels caught him, there’s no denying it,” she told GMA. “Yes, he had injuries, and we had to live through all of this pain to get to the end. But sometimes God allows us to go through things to teach us something.”
(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled former CEO of cryptocurrency giant FTX and trading firm Alameda Research, with defrauding investors.
“FTX’s collapse highlights the very real risks that unregistered crypto asset trading platforms can pose for investors and customers alike,” Gurbir S. Grewal, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, said in a statement.
Bankman-Fried was arrested Monday in the Bahamas after federal prosecutors in New York filed criminal charges contained in a sealed indictment, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force. He is expected to appear in court in the Bahamas on Tuesday.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Dec 13, 5:44 PM EST
Bankman-Fried denied bail due to flight risk
Sam Bankman-Fried’s application for bail was denied on Tuesday after a judge determined he was too much of a flight risk.
He will be remanded until Feb. 8, 2023, in the Bahamas Department of Corrections.
Bankman-Fried will be held in the prison’s medical department Tuesday night with a few other inmates, according to the prison chief.
Dec 13, 3:49 PM EST
Jean-Pierre won’t say whether Biden will return donations
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not engage when asked specifically about FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest, and deferred to the Hatch Act when pressed if President Joe Biden planned to return the more than $5 million in donations that were given to his 2020 campaign.
The Hatch Act prevents federal employees, like Jean-Pierre, from engaging in political campaigning.
Jean-Pierre also wouldn’t give Biden’s opinion on the arrest and collapse of FTX. However, she was more willing to talk about what could be done to put regulations in place in the crypto sphere.
“This administration has consistently urged Congress to take action to address regulatory gaps posed by digital assets and support legislative efforts to enact crypto legislation to better protect American consumers that just last month Secretary [of the Treasury Janet] Yellen, in fact, called on Congress to ‘move quickly to fill the regulatory gaps.’ That’s a quote that she said herself and the administration has identified what those gaps look like,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “But again, we have urged this is something for Congress to do.”
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams urged politicians to return the millions of dollars donated by Bankman-Fried at a press conference earlier Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Dec 13, 2:52 PM EST
More than $8 billion in FTX customer losses, federal official says
Sam Bankman-Fried defrauded customers and investors in FTX as well as lenders to his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and he violated campaign finance laws, federal prosecutors in New York said Tuesday as they discussed the fruits of a “complex and sprawling” investigation.
The criminal charges came one month after FTX filed a $32 billion bankruptcy and U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the investigation was ongoing and “moving very quickly.”
Williams said he authorized charges against Bankman-Fried on Wednesday of last week. A grand jury returned an indictment Friday.
There are more than $8 billion in customer losses, said Gretchen Lowe of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In addition to fraud and conspiracy, the indictment alleged Bankman-Fried violated campaign finance laws by making tens of millions of dollars in campaign donations — to both Republicans and Democrats — with stolen funds. The contributions were made in the name of Alameda Research with money taken from FTX, the indictment alleged.
Williams urged political campaigns and candidates who received donations from Bankman-Fried or Alameda to work with his office to return the money.
Bankman-Fried is fighting extradition from the Bahamas to New York to face all of these charges.
“Fraud is fraud,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Driscoll said. “It does not matter the complexity of the investment scheme.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Dec 13, 12:22 PM EST
Bankman-Fried doesn’t waive extradition in court appearance
Sam Bankman-Fried did not waive his rights to an extradition hearing as he made his first court appearance in the Bahamas on Tuesday.
Had he waived his rights, the U.S. would have been able to extradite Bankman-Fried immediately. It’s unclear now how quickly an extradition could happen.
The court proceedings were still ongoing as of noon.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Dec 13, 12:09 PM EST
‘No separateness whatsoever’ between FTX and Alameda Research, FTX CEO says
FTX CEO John Ray, who is overseeing the company’s bankruptcy proceedings, told House members on Tuesday that no separation existed between the operations of FTX and Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund also founded by Bankman-Fried.
“There were virtually no internal controls and no separateness whatsoever,” Ray said.
Bankman-Fried faces accusations that FTX used deposits to pay Alameda Research creditors, a claim reportedly made by former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison during a call in early November.
In an interview last week, Bankman-Fried told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that he was not aware that was true but said Alameda had a large position open on FTX that was “overcollateralized a year ago.”
Ray told House members that FTX transferred several billion dollars in customer funds to Alameda Research.
When asked by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., if there was a distinction between FTX and Alameda Research, Ray said, “Absolutely not. There’s no distinction whatsoever.”
“The owners of the company could run free reign,” Ray added, noting that Bankman-Fried owned 90% of Alameda Research.
Dec 13, 11:38 AM EST
Bankman-Fried’s lawyer offers first comment
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark S. Cohen, offered his first comments on the arrest of his client Tuesday morning.
“Mr. Bankman-Fried is reviewing the charges with his legal team and considering all of his legal options,” Cohen said in a statement.
Bankman-Fried was scheduled to make his first court appearance in the Bahamas Tuesday.
Dec 13, 11:38 AM EST
FTX CEO John Ray blasts ‘utter lack of record keeping’
John Ray, the new CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, who oversaw the dissolution of Enron, testified before House members on Tuesday that FTX lacked corporate controls to an extent he had never witnessed.
“I’ve never seen an utter lack of record keeping,” Ray said. “Absolutely no internal controls.”
Earlier this year, FTX was valued at $32 billion. Within weeks of a customer sell-off totaling billions of dollars, the company declared bankruptcy.
Company officials communicated invoice and expense reports over Slack, an internal messaging service, Ray said.
He said FTX employees used the accounting software QuickBooks, which is popular among small businesses.
“Nothing against QuickBooks — it’s a very nice tool,” Ray said. “Not for a multibillion-dollar company.”
Dec 13, 9:57 AM EST
Eight-count indictment unsealed against Bankman-Fried
The eight-count indictment from the Southern District of New York charges Sam Bankman-Fried with conspiracy and fraud.
“Bankman-Fried, along with others, engaged in a scheme to defraud customers of by misappropriating those customers’ deposits, and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research,” the indictment said.
The indictment also said Bankman-Fried provided false and misleading information to lenders about the true financial condition of Alameda, his privately held crypto hedge fund.
There’s a final count of conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws through political donations that concealed the source and exceeded the permissible amount.
“In or about 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried, the defendant, and one or more other conspirators agreed to and did make corporate contributes to candidates and committees in the Southern District of New York that were reported in the name of another person,” the indictment said.
Federal prosecutors were expected to elaborate on the charges at an afternoon news conference in Manhattan.
Dec 13, 8:51 AM EST
‘It’s serious’: Former prosecutor says public statements could hurt FTX founder
While the full criminal charges have yet to be released, the Securities and Exchange Commission released it’s complaint against Sam Bankman-Fried early Tuesday.
“It’s serious,” said Brendan Quigley, a former federal securities fraud prosecutor in New York who is now a partner at Baker Botta. “Assuming they can show promises were made to counterparties, investors or clients about where money was going to go, and that it didn’t go there, that’s a serious offense, probably wire fraud at least.”
Bankman-Fried’s public statements could come back to haunt him, including an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
“The big thing will be if SDNY can shows conflicts either between his public statements or between his current public statement and something that was said or promised to investors,” Quigley said.
Dec 13, 8:32 AM EST
Bankman-Fried built ‘house of cards’: SEC
Though cryptocurrency can seem a mystical world, the civil complaint from the Securities and Exchange Commission reads like a standard case of securities fraud, accusing Sam Bankman-Fried of building a “house of cards.”
Bankman-Fried raised $1.8 billion for FTX while “orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire,” the complaint said.
Customers sent billions of dollars to FTX believing their assets were secure but, from the start, the SEC said Bankman-Fried “improperly diverted customer assets to his privately-held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC, and then used those customer funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.”
Federal prosecutors in New York said they would unseal related criminal charges later Tuesday.
“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
The civil complaint seeks penalties and fines, but also to prohibit Bankman-Fried from “participating in the offer or sale of securities including crypto asset securities” in the future, a move that would complete his fall as the poster child for the emerging cryptocurrency marketplace.
Dec 13, 8:32 AM EST
Bankman-Fried refused request for Senate testimony
While Sam Bankman-Fried was set to give testimony to a House committee Tuesday, later canceled after his arrest late Monday, he continues to reject requests from the Senate for a hearing of its own.
In a joint statement Monday afternoon, prior to his arrest, the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Banking Committee called Bankman-Fried’s refusal to appear “an unprecedented abdication of responsibility.”
“Virtually every CEO, financial regulator, and administration official for Republicans and Democrats has agreed to testify in front of both the Senate and House when called upon — that is how congressional oversight works,” Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said in a statement. “We have offered Sam Bankman-Fried two different dates for providing testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and are willing to accommodate virtual testimony. He has declined in an unprecedented abdication of accountability.”
The committee will continue efforting an appearance from Bankman-Fried because he is “unwilling to accept service of a subpoena.”
Dec 13, 8:32 AM EST
What to know about former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried?
Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of FTX, quickly ascended to the top of the cryptocurrency sector, garnering goodwill in recent years as a philanthropist and leading proponent of industry regulation.
The cover of Fortune Magazine in August asked readers whether Bankman-Fried, known by some as “SBF,” was “the next Warren Buffett.”
After the sudden bankruptcy of FTX, however, he faced withering questions over the mismanagement of billions in customer funds.
Meanwhile, his net worth plummeted from $16 billion to $0 in less than a week, according to an estimate from Bloomberg.
(LONDON) — Prince William and Kate are getting into the holiday spirit with their annual Christmas card.
The photograph features the prince and princess of Wales with their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in Norfolk, England, where they have a country home, Anmer Hall.
In the family photograph, which was taken by Matt Porteous earlier this year, George, Charlotte and Louis are all smiles as William and Kate link hands with them.
The family is dressed in casual outfits. George Charlotte and Louis wear blue shirts and shorts, while William and Kate wear blue jeans and button-down shirts.
“Sharing a new picture of the family for this year’s Christmas card!” the caption reads.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) December 13, 2022
In recent years, the Waleses have opted for a more relaxed look for their Christmas photos.
William and Kate’s 2021 card featured them with their kids during a trip to Jordan. In the photograph, William, George and Louis wear shorts and polo shirts, while Kate and Charlotte are seen in casual dresses.
The previous year, they smiled in photographs with their three children at their home in Norfolk, posing on haystacks.
The family’s last formal holiday photograph was taken in 2017 at Kensington Palace and featured William, Kate, George and Charlotte in more formal attire.
William and Kate have shared a Christmas photo as a family since 2015. Their first photograph featured the couple with their children George and Charlotte.
In August, Kensington Palace announced William and Kate’s move to Windsor. Their three children started a new school, Lambrook School in Berkshire, in September.
This will be the family’s first Christmas since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, William’s grandmother and his children’s great grandmother. In past years, they have joined the royal family in spending Christmas at Sandringham House, Elizabeth’s estate in Norfolk, England, which now belongs to her son King Charles III, William’s father.
The royal family has not yet been publicly announced where William, Kate and their children will spend Christmas this year.
(NEW YORK) — As the so-called “tripledemic” of flu, RSV and COVID-19 continues across the United States, health officials are encouraging people to wear face masks again, especially children.
Health officials in multiple states, including New York, California and Arizona, are strongly recommending people wear masks because of the ongoing threat of flu, COVID-19 and RSV happening all at once.
The U.S. has already surpassed 10 million cases of flu-like illnesses, leading health experts to warn this could be the worst flu season the country has seen in a decade. Currently, over 40 states are reporting high or very high rates of flu-like illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition, COVID-19 cases and deaths rose by 50% over the past week, despite the rate previously remaining flat for a long period of time, according to the CDC.
The number of cases of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, hit a two-year high in November, leading the CDC to issue an official health advisory in response to the rise in respiratory infections in children.
The ongoing higher rates of flu, RSV and COVID-19 come at a time when children tend to be indoors more often due to colder weather, and when families tend to be busy with school activities and holiday gatherings.
With the ongoing surge, health officials highly recommend wearing a face mask when in crowded, indoor spaces to avoid both spreading and catching viruses.
The CDC continues to recommend mask-wearing for children and adults on public transportation, including trains, planes and buses.
ABC News’ Good Morning America spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a mom of two and a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, New York, to answer parents’ questions about wearing face masks once again.
1. When and where should kids wear face masks?
Both children and adults should wear face masks when possible in indoor, crowded settings, according to Murray, who is also a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In the absence of mask mandates, Murray said that families need to make the best decisions for themselves, knowing that each family and each individual child is unique.
“It would be so awesome and so easy if we could just kind of say, ‘You always do this,’ or, ‘You never do that,’ and it really is not at that point,” she said. “But as we head into the holidays and we want to make sure we’re healthy to see our families, now is the time to really take those precautions.”
Murray gave the example of her own family, noting that her oldest daughter, at age 13, can make decisions on her own about where and when a mask would help.
“She is able to, at her age, to kind of make decisions of, ‘I’m in a big group working close with a bunch of people, so now is a good time for me to wear a mask,’ versus, ‘I’m sitting in a study hall with three other students and we’re all spaced out so I probably don’t need to wear a mask at this point,'” said Murray. “She also is really active in a lot of extracurricular activities that are really important to her, so she is more comfortable wearing a mask during school or in large group activities because she wants to make sure that she stays healthy so she can participate in her cross-country meet and participate in her school play and things like that.”
On the other hand, Murray said her 6-year-old daughter struggles with wearing a face mask in school, where it is not required.
“We found that [wearing a mask] is really not something we were able to do with her because nobody else is doing it,” Murray said. “So for her, we’re focusing on other things like making sure she does a really good job of washing her hands. At any sign of an illness, we’re making sure we’re keeping her home so she won’t be spreading illness. And we do outdoor activities or other things with smaller groups of people where she’s not having as many exposures.”
2. Did wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic cause the surge of illness now?
According to Murray, children’s immune systems were not permanently damaged by wearing masks during the pandemic.
“The mask just helps to decrease transmission of a lot of the common illnesses,” said Murray. “Now that people are not wearing masks anymore, now that schools are back in an in-person setting and now that it’s fall and winter when we see some of these germs start to come around, it makes sense that everything is back.”
She continued, “We had years when kids just were not seeing as much illness and now everybody’s getting sick because all of the germs are back at once.”
3. What type of face masks should children wear?
Murray recommends that children wear “high-quality” masks that they feel comfortable in and will wear.
“There are different styles that can work equally well, so really making sure that you have a mask that your child likes and fits comfortably on their face is important,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to find smaller masks but there are good resources out there.”
In order for a mask to be effective, it needs to fit over the nose and cover under the chin and should lay flat on the skin.
Experts say it is fine for kids to use clips or bands to relieve pressure on their ears when wearing a mask.
One technique to check the quality of your child’s mask is to hold the mask up to the sun. If you can see light through the mask as you hold it stretched, it’s not thick enough.
4. At what age can a child start wearing a face mask?
Children can start wearing face masks starting at age 2, according to both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
5. Do adults need to wear face masks too?
Yes, adults are also encouraged to wear face masks in crowded, indoor settings. Murray said it is especially important for parents and caregivers to wear masks in order to set an example for their children.
6. What else can parents do to protect their kids from flu, RSV and COVID-19?
Murray said it is critical that children and adults are up to date with their vaccinations.
Children ages 6 months and older are eligible to get a flu vaccine as well as a COVID-19 vaccine, with “rare exceptions,” according to the CDC. Both vaccinations are free and are widely available at doctors’ offices and local pharmacies.
Murray said she also encourages her patients and others to stay home if they are sick and to keep their children home from school and activities if they are showing symptoms of illness.
“I think people have a lot of pressure to get back to work and all of those things, but still we really need to make sure that regardless of what you’re sick with, when people are ill, they need to stay home,” she said.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Philadelphia 123, Sacramento 103
Milwaukee 128, Golden State 111
Houston 111, Phoenix 97
Utah 121, New Orleans 100
Boston 122, LA Lakers 118 (OT)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Florida 4, Columbus 0
Dallas 4, New Jersey 1
Buffalo 6, Los Angeles 0
Toronto 7, Anaheim 0
Carolina 1, Detroit 0
Tampa Bay 6, Seattle 2
Boston 4, NY Islanders 3 (SO)
Edmonton 6, Nashville 3
Vegas 6, Winnipeg 5
Washington 7, Chicago 3
Colorado 3, Philadelphia 2
San Jose 3, Arizona 2
Lee Brice‘s latest contribution to the Christmas canon is the unexpected “Santa Claus Was My Uber Driver,” which happens to be based on real life. And the “Memory I Don’t Mess With” hitmaker hints there may be more to come.
“I’m gonna go make a whole gospel record one day. I’m gonna make a whole acoustic record one day,” Lee says. “You know, I wanna make a Christmas record one day, but I want to do it kinda how I want to do it.”
“I want to write songs that I love, and that are fun and unique,” he continues. “And, I mean, do some classics possibly too, right? You know, just my own version of ’em.”
The South Carolina native’s last studio album, Hey World, came out in 2020. Although a yuletide offering is on his bucket list, Lee expects it’ll take him awhile.
“I just dig a little deep and a little hard, and it takes me a little longer to be satisfied with the music I’m gonna put out,” he says. “So it’s a little harder for me to, you know, get a whole album done of just something like that.”
“But for now, it’s just gonna be, like, ‘Here’s a song this year.’ You know, maybe we’ll get another one next year or something,” he predicts.
Lee put out his version of the classic “Go Tell It on the Mountain” two years ago.
The Beach Boys recently released the new six-CD box set Sail on Sailor -1972, which focuses on their early ’70s releases, Carl and the Passions and Holland. At the time, the band was moving away from their customary sound and image to blend in more with the music of the day. They were so committed to the new direction they actually contemplated a name change.
“At that time, we felt we needed to get away from the California culture and just start over,” Al Jardine tells Variety. “We were in the process of even changing our name. I had an idea to call ourselves ‘the Beach,’ you know? Take the ‘Boys’ out, because we were branded with that.”
He adds that the band was in the midst of an “identity crisis” and were questioning, “Who are they? What is this all about? This is another direction.”
They of course opted against the name change.
Sail on Sailor – 1972, which can be ordered here, contains newly remastered versions of both albums, along with 80 previously unreleased recordings, including unreleased outtakes, alternate versions and mixes and isolated backing tracks.
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a massive fan of the National Treasure movies. Starting Wednesday, she’ll expand the story in Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of Historyas the nefarious Billie Pearce.
The actress told ABC Audio she’s “thrilled” to finally join the franchise and believes fans of the original films will appreciate this “intriguing” new chapter.
Said Zeta-Jones, “There’s no denying those two movies stand alone and maybe there’s people out there asking, ‘Why? Why do you want to paint another Picasso?’… But the story and the premise [goes] on.”
“I’m a huge history buff, so there’s a plethora of stories, and they’re finding treasures every day. Even today,” she stressed. “I think what we’ve done is we’ve taken a great concept [and] injected it with young blood and also the technology that one has today.”
The actress explained the audience will be in for a ride, adding the interactive series will present a different clue every episode that helps explain the overarching mystery. Zeta-Jones also hinted there will be some twists that even the best sleuth won’t see coming — because she was fooled by some of the show’s curveballs.
The new series also stars Lisette Olivera as Jess, a clever “Dreamer” who races to save a lost Pan-American treasure that she says has “a very strong tie” to her character.
She also explained the series builds off of the “little hints in the second film,” saying, “In this particular instance, we’re just picking up from a different point of view.” She also hinted some familiar faces will “help us out on the path to finding the treasure … if we find it.”
National Treasure: Edge of History, which picks up 15 years after the second National Treasure movie, is streaming on Disney+.
(WASHINGTON) — Late Georgia Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement who served in Congress for decades, will be memorialized with a new postage stamp in 2023.
“Devoted to equality and justice for all Americans, Lewis spent more than 30 years in Congress steadfastly defending and building on key civil rights gains that he had helped achieve in the 1960s,” the U.S. Postal Service said in a news release on Tuesday.
“Even in the face of hatred and violence, as well as some 45 arrests, Lewis remained resolute in his commitment to what he liked to call ‘good trouble,'” the agency said.
Lewis died in July 2020, some seven months after he announced he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Also known as the “conscience of the U.S. Congress,” Lewis represented Georgia’s 5th Congressional District as a Democrat from 1987 until his death.
A force in the 20th-century civil rights movement, Lewis joined the Freedom Riders in demonstrating against segregated buses; spoke at the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. famously delivered his “I Have a Dream” address; and was violently beaten in 1965’s “Bloody Sunday” while crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America,” Lewis said as he delivered remarks at the bridge in March 2020 for the 55th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”
“I thought I was going to die on this bridge, but somehow and some way, God almighty helped me here,” Lewis said then. “We cannot give up now, we cannot give in, we must keep the faith, keep our eyes on the prize.”
In 2018, Lewis spoke out against then-President Donald Trump in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
“As a nation and as a people, we have come so far. We have made so much progress. Here in Georgia, when I visit schools, whether it’s elementary school students, middle school students, they’re Black, they’re white, they’re Latino, they’re Asian American, they’re Native American. And they look like the dream and act like the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We have come so far. We made so much progress. And I think this man, this president, is taking us back to another place,” Lewis said.
The photograph of Lewis that is being used for the new postage stamp was taken in 2013 by Marco Grob for Time magazine. The stamp design is preliminary and subject to change.
The postal service on Tuesday announced seven new subjects for stamps in 2023, including the “art of the skateboard” and the “Florida Everglades.”
The announcement adds to a list of 2023 stamps that also includes late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, authors Toni Morrison and Ernest J. Gaines and Native American civil rights leader Chief Standing Bear.
