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Liz Cheney to ABC News on Pence testifying: ‘I would hope that he will do that’

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, once a rising star in the Republican Party and considered a potential speaker of the House, told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl that she has no regrets about her political career, including her primary landslide election loss in Wyoming on Tuesday, saying she now is laser-focused on keeping Donald Trump out of the White House.

During an exclusive and wide-ranging interview set to air Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Cheney, who serves as vice chair of the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the Capitol attack, told Karl she still hopes former Vice President Mike Pence testifies before the committee in the near future and that conversations with his legal team are still ongoing.

Pence had indicated this week that he would consider testifying before the committee if he were invited to do so.

“We’ve been in discussions with his counsel,” Cheney said, speaking with Karl in the Jan. 6 committee hearing room where millions of Americans have watched her during this summer’s series of hearings.

“Look, he played a critical role on January 6. If he had succumbed to the pressure that Donald Trump was putting on him, we would have had a much worse constitutional crisis. And I think that he has clearly, as he’s expressed, concerns about executive privilege, which, you know, I have tremendous respect. I think it’s, you know, hugely important constitutional issue in terms of separation of powers,” Cheney said.

“I believe in executive privilege. I think it matters. But I also think that when the country has been through something, as grave as this was, everyone who has information has an obligation to step forward. So, I would hope that that he will do that,” Cheney said.

“So, you think we’ll see him here in September in this room before the committee?” Karl asked.

“I would hope that he will understand how important it is for the American people to know every aspect of the truth about what happened that day,” Cheney said.

Cheney was asked if Trump would be asked to testify but she demurred.

“I don’t want to make any announcements about that this morning. So, let me just leave it there,” she said, adding that Trump’s interactions with the committee would be under oath.

Buttigieg calls on airlines to improve customer service, launches website to help flyers

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Just ahead of Labor Day weekend, the federal government is doubling down on U.S. airlines, calling disruptions seen over the past few months “unacceptable” and demanding change.Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote to carriers on Thursday, calling on them to improve their customer service and warns airlines that new rules may be coming to better empower travelers who face flight disruptions within the airlines control.

“Americans expect when they purchase an airline ticket they will arrive at their destination safely, reliably, and affordably,” the secretary wrote.

According to data from the department, roughly 24% of domestic flights of U.S. airlines have been delayed and 3.2% have been canceled during the first six months of this year.

DOT said it will launch a new website in the coming weeks where travelers can see exactly what they are owed and the differences in compensation among all major airlines.

“When passengers do experience cancelations and delays, they deserve clear and transparent information on the services that your airline will provide, to address the expenses and inconveniences resulting from these disruptions,” Buttigieg wrote.

Buttigieg said airlines need to “assess” their customer service plans, and asks that carriers, at minimum, provide meal vouchers for delays of three hours or more and hotels for passengers who must wait overnight at an airport due to disruptions within the airline’s control.

Airlines for America (A4A), the group that lobbies on behalf of all major U.S. airlines, responded to the letter saying its members are “committed” to working with stakeholders to overcome these challenges.

Carriers have pointed to increased demand and staffing issues for the disruptions. A4A also cited data that indicates 63% of the cancelations for the first five months of 2022 were caused by weather and the National Airspace System (NAS) collectively.

The DOT letter comes amid a push for consumer rights – earlier this month the department announced a new rule that would “strengthen” protections for customers seeking refunds.

The rule, if enacted, would define the terms of a “significant” change and cancellation for the first time and also require airlines to issue refunds for flights delayed by three hours.

Hello from the (metal) side: Halestorm covers Adele

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Halestorm has shared a cover of the Adele hit “Hello.”

Lzzy Hale and company took on the 2015 single in response to a fan asking them to “put a metal spin on that.” They pretty much do just that, replacing the piano with heavy guitar riffs that crash around Hale’s vocals.

You can watch Halestorm’s version of “Hello” streaming now on YouTube.

Halestorm has been in a covering mood lately, having also recently shared renditions of Fleetwood Mac‘s “The Chain” and Dolly Parton‘s “Jolene.”

As for original music, Halestorm released their newest album, Back from the Dead, in May. It features the singles “Back from the Dead,” “The Steeple” and “Wicked Ways.”

Lorde marks one-year anniversary of ‘Solar Power’ with “Oceanic Feeling” video

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Lorde has premiered the video for “Oceanic Feeling,” a track off her latest album, Solar Power.

The clip finds the “Royals” singer back on the beach previously seen in the videos for other Solar Power cuts, including “Fallen Fruit,” “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)” and the title track.

You can watch the “Oceanic Feeling” video streaming now on YouTube.

The video’s premiere coincides with the one-year anniversary of Solar Power, which dropped August 20, 2021. The album, Lorde’s third studio effort, was not initially as critically or commercially successful as the New Zealand artist’s previous releases, which she revealed in a newsletter to fans earlier this year was “at times painful to sit with.”

“I learnt a ton about myself and how I’m perceived by making and releasing this album,” Lorde wrote. “I feel significantly more connected and alive in my art practice and life than pretty much ever before.”

John Corbett’s Aidan Shaw set to join ‘Sex and the City’ revival

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Another fan favorite is returning to the Sex and the City franchise.

Actor John Corbett will reprise his role as Aidan Shaw, a furniture maker who was the on-again, off-again boyfriend of Sarah Jessica Parker‘s Carrie Bradshaw in the original series. The couple got engaged in season 4, but ultimately broke it off. Aidan also made an appearance in the 2010 film Sex and the City 2.

The character will return in HBO Max’s reboot of the series, And Just Like That…, for multiple episodes, Deadline confirms.

And Just Like That… premiered in December 2021 focusing on three of the four main leads: SJP, Cynthia Nixon as Miranda and Kristin Davis as Charlotte. Kim Cattrall, who portrayed Samantha in the original Sex and the City, did not return to the role.

In the first episode of the revival, Carrie’s husband, Big, portrayed by Chris Noth, shockingly died from a heart attack after using a Peloton bike. In February, executive producer Michael Patrick King said it was “possible” that Corbett would return as Aidan in the new series.

Season 2 of And Just Like That… is slated to premiere in 2023.

Vast majority of the youngest Americans remain unvaccinated against COVID

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — It has now been two months since the start of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for the youngest Americans, and despite some initial enthusiasm from a select group of parents, the vast majority of children under the age of 5 remain completely unvaccinated.

About 941,000 children, under the age of five have now received their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, newly updated federal data shows. The overall total represents approximately 4.8% of the 19.5 million U.S. children in that age group.

Just 182,000 of those children, or less than 1%, have been fully vaccinated.

When broken down by age group, data shows that the majority of children under 5 who have received at least one shot are between the ages of 2 and 4 — 682,000, compared to just 259,000 children under the age of 2.

Preliminary data reported by states shows that several states in the Northeast currently have the highest share of children under 5 vaccinated with at least one dose. Washington, D.C. continues to lead the nation with nearly 15% of its jurisdiction’s children under 5 vaccinated with their first shot, followed by Vermont (10.4%), and Massachusetts (6.87%).

Mississippi has the lowest percentage of children under 5 vaccinated, with 0.47% of children with their first shot, followed by Alabama (0.64%) and Louisiana (0.79%).

The overall totals, thus far, are notably lower than prior predictions, which had already suggested the initial rollout would be sluggish.

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey found that many parents remain reluctant to vaccinate their young children.

As of July, 43% of parents with children ages 6 months to 4 years old said they will “definitely not” get their child vaccinated against COVID-19. In comparison, when polled in April, 27% of parents had stated they would “definitely not” get their child vaccinated against the virus.

Thirteen percent of parents said they would only inoculate their child, if required, and 27% reported they were waiting to see whether to vaccinate their child.

Only 7% of parents reported they got their child vaccinated right away, while another 10% of parents said that they were still planning to get their child vaccinated “right away.”

However, some officials have said that more children, particularly those under 5, may be vaccinated as the rollout continues, and they visit their pediatrician for their annual visit.

To date, about 29.6 million children ages 17 and under have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. However, data also shows that just under 43.4 million eligible kids are still completely unvaccinated.

Less than a quarter of eligible children, ages 5 to 17, have also been boosted.

Powerful solar weather brings northern lights farther south

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — The Northern Lights may be visible as far south as Pennsylvania and Iowa on Friday, Space Weather Prediction Center from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The remarkable sky lights may come down farther south due to a geomagnetic storm that began on Wednesday, experts said.

The storm is the result of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, which is a powerful burst of magnetized plasma from the sun’s corona, its outermost layer.

Scientists detected two CMEs erupting on the sun and aimed for Earth, which they expected to arrive on August 18.

The CMEs can combine to create a geomagnetic storm, scientists say, to reach strong levels that may create auroras closer to the equator than usual.

The auroras, which make up what we know as the Northern Lights, form when high-energy particles from the sun collide with Earth’s atmosphere. The particles glow because they excite the gasses in the sky.

Stronger energy brings the glowing particles farther from the poles, experts say.

Leading up to the stronger storm, scientists said a coronal hole high-speed stream arrived on Thursday night to create a more minor geomagnetic storm.

A coronal hole is a cooler area in the sun’s outermost layer that can generate high-speed solar wind that is full of charged particles that can get spread across the solar system.

These high-speed streams can create auroras on Earth, too.

Typically, auroras are most visible from December to February, but viewers have strong chances from September to November, too, experts say.

Stronger solar weather is needed for such a view in the summer months.

Alaska is known as a top U.S. destination for seeing the lights, but visitors can also expect a view in northern Maine during favorable conditions, scientists say.

Experts say that less densely populated areas, where the night sky remains darkest, are most favorable for northern viewing of the magical sky lights.

The Struts premiere new single, “Fallin’ with Me”

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

The Struts have premiered a new single called “Fallin’ with Me.”

“‘Fallin’ With Me’ is something that The Struts have never done before,” says frontman Luke Spiller. “We’ve done a lot of straight-up rock, but this feels different.”

Spiller adds that the track was inspired by the iconic Sunset Strip of Los Angeles.

“The song’s lyrics were written down whilst on numerous nights out with someone that I was seeing at the time,” Spiller shares. “We always kept meeting at the same place on the Sunset Strip, and after a while I had a collection of phrases and lines that all had a certain feel to them.”

You can listen to “Fallin’ with Me” now via digital outlets and watch its accompanying lyric video streaming now on YouTube.

“Fallin’ with Me” follows The Struts’ 2020 album Strange Days, which includes guest spots from Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello, The Strokes‘ Albert Hammond Jr., and Def Leppard‘s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen. They also released a collaboration with Paris Jackson, “Low Key in Love,” and a cover of the Queen classic “We Will Rock You” in 2021.

Eddie Vedder celebrates Joe Strummer’s 70th birthday with Mescaleros cover

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Eddie Vedder has released a cover of “Long Shadow,” a song by late Clash icon Joe Strummer and his backing band The Mescaleros.

The Pearl Jam frontman recorded the track in honor of what would have been Strummer’s 70th birthday this Sunday, August 21.

The original “Long Shadow” was included on the 2003 Mescaleros album Streetcore, which was released a year after Strummer’s death in 2002.

“I just think that what Joe did with The Mescaleros and those records, and those songs, and those words, it was a very communal sound,” Vedder says. “I think when you have a communal sound, the listener feels like they can be part of that community.”

You can watch Vedder’s “Long Shadow” performance streaming now on YouTube.

As previously reported, in commemoration of Strummer’s milestone birthday, a box set collecting all of his work with The Mescaleros will be released on September 16.

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years features remastered versions of the group’s three studio albums — 1999’s Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, 2001’s Global a Go-Go and Streetcore — as well as a disc titled Vibes Compass that boasts 15 rare and previously unreleased tracks.

Kane Brown’s “Grand” earns a nod for 2022 VMAs Song of the Summer

August 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Kane Brown’s latest pop release, “Grand,” is getting some love at the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards.

The song is one of 16 nominees in the fan-voted Song of the Summer category. He’s up against heavy hitters like Beyoncé, Lizzo, Charlie Puth, Harry Styles and many more. Voting in the category opens on August 25 at 11 a.m. ET, and fans can tap to vote on MTV’s Instagram Story through August 27.

Kane will also be performing his new song on the VMAs stage during the awards show. He’ll be making history when he takes the stage: It will be the first time a male country act has ever performed at the VMAs. Country artists who have performed at the all-genre show in the past include Taylor Swift and Kacey Musgraves.

“Grand” is the third single off of Kane’s upcoming Different Man album, which is set to drop September 9.

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