(NEW YORK) — The death toll in the devastating flooding that hit eastern Kentucky is continuing to rise as more rain threatens the region, according to officials.
A total of 28 people have been confirmed dead, but that number is expected to increase again, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced Sunday afternoon. The death toll includes at least four children, Beshear said on Saturday.
“We do know of additional bodies that have been recovered but we cannot confirm those deaths at this time,” Beshear said in a recorded video posted online.
Beshear described “widespread damage” that displaced thousands of people, including power outages for thousands of people as well as washed out roads, destroyed homes and flooded schools. Beshear is expected to visit some of the regions impacted by the flooding on Sunday.
More rain is forecast in the area on Sunday and Monday as search and rescue teams continue to look for those who are unaccounted for. The additional precipitation could potentially cause water levels to rise again, with 2 inches to 4 inches of rain possible in the same area that experienced the catastrophic flooding that began with heavy rains on Wednesday.
More than 600 people have been rescued by aircraft and boat since the flooding began, Beshear said.
The destruction in Kentucky is the latest extreme flooding event to take place in the U.S. in less than a week.
Heavy downpours caused flash flooding in Las Vegas on Friday, with rising waters seen on roadways and parking garages in busy parts of Sin City.
The megadrought has caused the soil in the region to become so dry that it could not absorb the heavy rains, which helped to contribute to the flooding.
Earlier in the week, a flash flooding emergency occurred near St. Louis, which had a record-breaking 8.56 inches of rain in less than 24 hours. One person was found dead in a car on Tuesday after the water began to recede, officials said.
Kentucky is working to establish shelters, Beshear said, asking those who want to help to donate cleaning supplies or water. Last week, President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration.
“Let us wrap our arms around eastern Kentucky and pray for those impacted,” Beshear said.
ABC News’ Matt Foster, Kenton Gewecke and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
(RONALD TOWNSHIP, Mich.) — Two cyclists were killed and three others injured when a car ran into them at Ronald Township, Michigan, Saturday morning, law enforcement officials announced.
The cyclists were participating in the Make-A-Wish Michigan 35th Annual Wish-A-Mile Bicycle Tour, a three-day endurance ride throughout most of Michigan, when they were struck, officials said.
Texas police search for suspect in death of world-class cyclist
According to the Ionia County Sheriff Office, the men were traveling southbound when they were hit by an SUV traveling northbound.
One bicyclist was declared dead on the scene, while the other was flown to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids but died from his injuries. The three cyclists who survived are hospitalized with severe injuries, police said.
The police aren’t releasing information on the driver pending an investigation, but he was arrested on two counts of Operating While Intoxicated Causing Death.
“It is with heavy hearts we remember our riders impacted by the tragedy yesterday,” Make-A-Wish Michigan tweeted on Sunday. “Our staff and the entire Make-A-Wish family are heartbroken and offer our deepest sympathy for the riders involved, their loved ones, and all members of the Wish-A-Mile (WAM) community at this time.”
The cyclists’ names will be released once all next-of-kin are notified.
(NEW YORK) — Bill Russell will be remembered as a tremendous rebounder, legendary post defender and NBA Hall of Famer. But more than anything, he will be remembered as the greatest winner in basketball history.
The Boston Celtics legend, who won 11 NBA championships as a player, including two as a player-coach, on his way to the Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 88, his family announced Sunday.
The family said Russell died peacefully with his wife, Jeannine, by his side. Arrangements for his memorial service will be announced soon, the statement said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a statement calling Russell “the greatest champion in all of sports.”
“The countless accolades that he earned for his storied career with the Boston Celtics — including a record 11 championships and five MVP awards – only begin to tell the story of Bill’s immense impact on our league and broader society,” Silver said.
“At the height of his athletic career, Bill advocated vigorously for civil rights and social justice, a legacy he passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps” Silver added. “Through the taunts, threats and unthinkable adversity, Bill rose above it all and remained true to his belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.”
Silver said that in the 35 years since Russell completed his trailblazing career as the NBA’s first Black head coach, he continued to attend every major NBA Event, including the NBA Finals, where he presented the Finals MVP trophy that was renamed for him in 2009.
“I cherished my friendship with Bill and was thrilled when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Silver said. “I often called him basketball’s Babe Ruth for how he transcended time. Bill was the ultimate winner and consummate teammate, and his influence on the NBA will be felt forever.”
There’s no level of play and no role in the sport in which Russell was not a winner. Most notably, he won 11 NBA championships as a player with the Boston Celtics in the late-1950s and ’60s. The last two titles — in 1968 and 1969 — came as both a player and the head coach.
While at the University of San Francisco, he won back-to-back NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956. He won the award for the tournament’s most outstanding player in 1955 and was the UPI collegiate player of the year in 1956. He averaged 20.6 points and 21 rebounds per game as a senior.
And after wrapping up the NCAA title with the Dons in 1956, he went to the Melbourne Summer Olympics and won the gold medal with Team USA. He was captain and led the team in scoring.
The 6-foot-10 Russell caught the eye of legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach in the 1956 NBA draft, so much so that he parted with star center Ed Macauley for Russell, who was drafted No. 2 overall by St. Louis. Russell joined college teammate K.C. Jones as part of the Celtics’ draft class.
The partnership between Russell and Auerbach became the greatest in basketball history. The Celtics won the title in his first season as he averaged 13.9 points and 24.4 rebounds per game.
The Celtics came up short in Russell’s second season in the NBA, through little fault of Russell. He won his first of five MVP awards in 1958, but an injury in the NBA Finals gave an opening for the St. Louis Hawks — the same team that had traded Russell on draft night — to win the title.
It was one of just two times he wouldn’t win the NBA championship. In his 13 years in the league, he failed to win a title in only his second and 11th seasons.
The Celtics, led by Russell, won eight straight titles from 1959 to 1966.
In 1959, the NBA and the country was introduced to the greatest rivalry in the game: Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain. The two weren’t just giants in the paint, they were ultra-athletic, too. They revolutionized a game previously dominated by lumbering centers like George Mikan.
Chamberlain, acknowledged as the best offensive center in the game, and Russell, acknowledged as the best defensive center in the game, would battle for the rest of Russell’s career. Chamberlain, who played for the Warriors and then Sixers, usually got the better of the scoring battle — but Russell’s Celtics won the game.
The two met in the 1960 and ’62 playoffs and then the 1964 NBA Finals after the Warriors relocated to the West Coast. He averaged 11.2 points and 25.2 rebounds per game in a five-game series victory in the Finals. Traded back to the East, the two tangled in the 1965 and ’66 playoffs — both wins for Russell’s Celtics.
Before the 1966-67 season, Auerbach decided to leave the bench and move into an executive role. He passed the role to Russell, who would be a player-coach for the next three seasons.
Russell also made history as the NBA’s first Black head coach.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975 — the first Black player to be so honored — but declined to attend the ceremony. He wouldn’t accept his ring until a private ceremony in 2019. He announced on Twitter he had finally accepted the honor, saying he didn’t deserve to be the first Black player to go into the Hall of Fame.
The Celtics retired his No. 6 in 1972 — an event he also did not attend due to a stormy history with Boston media and the city’s racist past. He did later attend a ceremony in 1999 “re-retiring” his jersey. Chamberlain, who died just five months later, was among those in attendance.
Russell’s family recalled his accomplishments off the court, saying in their statement, “But for all the winning, Bill’s understanding of the struggle is what illuminated his life.”
“From boycotting a 1961 exhibition game to unmask too-long-tolerated discrimination, to leading Mississippi’s first integrated basketball camp in the combustible wake of Medgar Evers’s assassination, to decades of activism ultimately recognized by his receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2010,” the family said, “Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo, and with a powerful example that, though never his humble intention, will forever inspire teamwork, selflessness and thoughtful change.”
Former President Barack Obama, who presented Russell with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, released a statement, saying, “Today, we lost a giant.”
“As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher — both as a player and as a person,” Obama wrote. “Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead. On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. Off of it, he was a civil rights trailblazer — marching with Dr. King and standing with Muhammad Ali. For decades, Bill endured insults and vandalism, but never let it stop him from speaking up for what’s right. I learned so much from the way he played, the way he coached, and the way he lived his life. Michelle and I send our love to Bill’s family, and everyone who admired him.”
Accolades for Russell poured in from current and former NBA players.
Current Celtics star Jaylen Brown posted on Twitter a photo of him and Russell along with the message, “thank you for paving the way and inspiring so many.”
Former Celtics great Paul Pierce posted an undated photo on Twitter of him and other NBA player sitting around a table speaking with Russell. “I’ll never forget this day we was like kids sitting around a camp fire listening to your stories,” Pierce wrote.
NBA Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson posted a series of tweets, writing, “I’m heartbroken to hear about the passing of the greatest winner the game of basketball has ever seen, a legend, hall of famer, mentor and my friend for over 30 years, Bill Russell.”
“Bill Russell was my idol. I looked up to him on the court and off. His success on the court was undeniable,” Johnson tweeted. “Off the court, Bill Russell paved the way for guys like me.”
Johnson added, “Despite all of his achievements, he was so humble, a gentle giant, a very intelligent man, and used his voice and platform to fight for Black people. Since the day we met, he mentored me and shared advice,” Johnson wrote. ‘He was one of the first athletes on the front line fighting for social justice, equity, equality, and civil rights. That’s why I admired and loved him so much. Over the course of our friendship, he always reminded me about making things better in the Black community.”
ABC News’ Bill Hutchinson and Julia Jacobo contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Boston 7, Milwaukee 2
Cincinnati 3, Baltimore 2
San Diego 3, Minnesota 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto 4, Detroit 1
Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 3
Chi White Sox 4, Oakland 1
Final Houston 3 Seattle 2
Kansas City 8, NY Yankees 6
Texas 5, LA Angels 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
St. Louis 5, Washington 0
Atlanta 1, Arizona 0
Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 2
NY Mets 9, Miami 3
LA Dodgers 7, Colorado 3
San Francisco 4, Chi Cubs 0
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Chicago 95 Connecticut 92 (OT)
New York 89, Phoenix 69
Las Vegas 94, Indiana 69
Washington 78, Seattle 75
Minnesota 84, Los Angeles 77
During a stop on NBC’s TODAY, Maren Morris took some time to meet one of her biggest fans.
The singer hopped off stage to meet Lily, a blind super-fan who knows every single one of Maren’s songs. They’d actually interacted a little bit in the past — Maren signed a guitar pick for Lily, and the young fan thanked her for the gift when they finally got to meet in person.
Lily also had a question for the country superstar about her two-year-old son, Hayes. “What is Hayes’ favorite song of yours and how is he doing?” Lily asked.
“He’s good. I think he’s home watching right now — I hope,” Maren replied. “I’m gonna say ‘Hummingbird’ because it’s about him…and he’s a feature on it.”
“Hummingbird” comes off of the track list of Humble Quest, Maren’s most recent studio album, and it features a clip of Hayes saying “Mama” at the beginning of the track. It was also written for him by Maren the day she found out she was pregnant.
“I have the record and his name is on it,” Lily says, in response to Maren’s answer to her question. Maren and Lily also posed for some pictures together before the singer left the TODAY set.
For country artists, CMA Fest is a benchmark: It happens annually, and each year, performers get to watch their careers grow from the smallest stages all the way up to a headlining slot at Nissan Stadium.
“CMA Fest, for me, has been huge,” says Luke Combs, one of this year’s main stage artists. Though he’s playing Nissan Stadium now, he had to work his way up through the ranks, and looking back on his early years at the festival is a chance to see how his career has grown.
“It’s like this moment in time that exists at the same time every year,” the singer continues. “And you go, ‘Okay, last year I did the stage in the hotel lobby, and now I’m doing the stage in the bar. And then you’re at Riverfront, and then you’re at Ascend, and then you’re here.”
“Here,” of course, is Nissan Stadium: The pinnacle of the festival, where every artist playing CMA Fest hopes to one day end up.
“You can really watch your career progress,” Luke continues. “Obviously, Nissan is the thing that you want to be able to do, and I’m lucky to have gotten to do that.”
CMA Fest 2022 happened in June, but fans can revisit all the action in the CMA Fest television special, which is airing on ABC on August 3. Dierks Bentley and Elle King will host the show.
Fans who tune in will get a front-row seat to all the performance highlights of the most recent festival, including Luke’s set. The special will feature his performances of “Beer Never Broke My Heart” plus his new single, “The Kind of Love We Make.”
Has it really been a year since Billie Eilish released her Happier than Ever album?
The Grammy winner celebrated the sweet anniversary with her fans via a suprise intimate concert at Amoeba Music, an independent record store in Hollywood, on Friday. Billboardreports fans lined up outside the landmark location — some dressed head to toe in Billie merch — to get into the surprise show.
The “bad guy” singer was met with cheers and shouts when she appeared onstage and dove into a performance of fan-favorite “Billie Bossa Nova.” Her brother, FINNEAS, assisted with an acoustic guitar.
Aside from singing tracks off her sophomore album, Billie also performed her newest track, “TV.” The topical track reflects the singer’s concerns about the current political and pop culture landscape.
Billie intended to make her pit stop a three-song deal, which she had intended to close out with her album’s title track. But, she had a change of heart and instead asked her fans what song they really want to hear. Fans shrieked for “Getting Older,” and the two singers performed an acoustic rendition.
The Oscar winner took a moment to salute her album before heading offstage and told the audience, “Not only is this the anniversary of the album, it’s also [Finneas’] birthday [on Saturday]. He’s going to be 25!”
She then delighted fans by performing “Happier than Ever.”
Billie released her sophomore album on July 30, 2021. It was nominated for Album and Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
A Perfect Circle hasn’t released an album since 2018’s Eat the Elephant. While the Maynard James Keenan-fronted band doesn’t currently have any concrete plans, the project never strays too far from guitarist Billy Howerdel‘s mind.
“[I’m] always thinking about what would be a good start for a next APC record, should that come,” Howerdel tells ABC Audio.
As Howerdel explains, his collaborative process with Keenan usually involves him coming up with an instrumental idea and sending it to the Tool vocalist for his thoughts.
“I’ll just say, ‘Hey, are you interested in this?’ And get his take,” Howerdel says of working with Keenan. “He’s the one that’s gotta be turned on by it, and find something … his best work, and anyone’s best work, comes from being inspired by what he hears.”
“So I just try and let go of expectations and throw some things at [Keenan] that I think he might like,” Howerdel adds. “But he’s surprised me before with things he’s picked.”
One such surprise was the song “The Doomed,” which turned out to be the lead single off Eat the Elephant. The track’s origins trace back to a short orchestral section that Howerdel wrote while working on a film score. After Keenan expressed interest in just that small part, Howerdel ended up writing what became “The Doomed” in just two days.
“You have a foundation of something you think has a solid possibility, has potential,” Howerdel muses. “Then having the energy of someone say, ‘Let’s go forward with this,’ I think my best work comes like that.”
Meanwhile, Howerdel just released his debut solo album, What Normal Was, in June.
The singer/guitarist was the de facto leader of The Dead, inspiring an entire subculture of “Deadheads” who’ve embraced the San Francisco area group’s mix of rootsy, laid-back music and psychedelic jams, as well as the counterculture lifestyle the band espoused.
Garcia co-wrote most of The Dead’s songs, usually in collaboration with lyricist Robert Hunter, including well-known tunes like “Casey Jones,” “Ripple,” “Friend of the Devil,” “Truckin’,” “Bertha,” “Alabama Getaway” and “Touch of Grey.”
Outside of The Grateful Dead, Garcia was involved in a variety of solo and side projects, including the Jerry Garcia Band, the bluegrass group Old and in the Way and as a duo with mandolinist David Grisman. He also lent his talents to many other artists’ recordings.
Garcia was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Grateful Dead in 1994. When he declined to attend the ceremony, his bandmates jokingly brought a life-size cutout of him to the event.
Jerry died of a heart attack on August 9, 1995, at age 53. Since his passing, Garcia’s surviving Dead bandmates have carried on his legacy by continuing to perform and record — together, individually and in varying combinations.
In 2015, Garcia was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Hunter, who died in 2019 at age 78.
A variety of events have been scheduled to commemorate Garcia’s milestone birthday. Among them, three Major League Baseball teams will be hosting Jerry Garcia-themed celebrations at their home games in the coming days — the New York Yankees on Monday, the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday and the Boston Red Sox on August 9.
Veteran actress Pat Carroll, best known as the voice of Ursula in Disney’s 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid, died Saturday in Cape Cod, Mass. while recovering from pneumonia, her daughter Kerry Karsian tells The Hollywood Reporter. She was 95.
The boisterous comedienne was a TV mainstay dating back to the 1950s, when she appeared with the likes of Red Buttons, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney and Steve Allen. Her work on Sid Caesar‘s variety show, Caesar’s Hour, earned her an Emmy Award in 1957.
Carroll also played Bunny Halper, the wife of nightclub owner Charley Halper — portrayed by Sid Melton — on three seasons of The Danny Thomas Show in the early ‘60s; Ted Knight‘s newspaper co-owner Hope Stinson, on the last season of Too Close for Comfort; and appeared opposite Suzanne Somers on the 1987-89 series She’s the Sheriff.
Her other notable appearances included playing the hospital roommate of Mary Tyler Moore‘s character Mary Richards in an episode of the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lily Feeney, the mother of Cindy Williams’ character, on a 1976 episode of Laverne & Shirley.
On film, she played Doris Day’s matchmaking sister in 1968’s With Six You Get Eggroll.
Additionally, Carroll was a game show favorite, appearing on To Tell the Truth, The Match Game, I’ve Got a Secret, Password All-Stars, You Don’t Say and The $10,000 Pyramid, among others.
