Omnivore Recordings; Allman Brothers Band Recording Company
The Bangles and The Allman Brothers Band are taking part in the 2022 edition of Ten Bands One Cause.
The annual charity initiative features 10 artists reissuing albums on pink vinyl to raise money for Red Door Community, formerly known as Gilda’s Club NYC, which supports those with cancer and their caregivers. The organization was founded in memory of late comedian and Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
This year’s crop of reissues includes The Bangles’ 2014 compilation Ladies and Gentlemen…The Bangles! and the Allman Brothers’ Live from A&R Studios, which was recorded in 1971 but wasn’t released until 2016. Other artists taking part include The Black Keys, Judah & the Lion, Nas and Senses Fail.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Chris Rock didn’t hold back at a recent stand-up gig at New Jersey’s PNC Bank Arts Center, where he addressed the infamous slap at the hands of Will Smith during the Oscars in March.
“Anyone who says words hurt has never been punched in the face,” the comic quipped onstage, according to US Weekly.
Later on, he apparently noted, “I’m not a victim. Yeah, that sh** hurt, motherf***er. But I shook that sh** off and went to work the next day.
“I don’t go to the hospital for a paper cut,” he added.
Rock has remained mum on he headline-grabbing incident, even as he undertook his Ego Death World Tour. Back in April, his only reference to “The Slap” on the road was telling a comedy show crowd, “I’m OK … I’m not talking about that until I get paid.”
He had added, “Life is good. I got my hearing back.”
Smith had taken offense to a jab Rock made during the Oscars telecast referencing Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and her bald head due to alopecia. After Smith slapped Rock, he returned to his seat next and cursed out the comic.
For his part, Smith apologized. He was banned from Academy events for 10 years.
(TOPEKA, Kan.) — When Kansans head to the polls on Aug. 2 to vote in their primary election, they will also decide on a critical ballot measure that could impact the future of abortion legislation in their state.
Kansas is the first state in the nation to vote on reproductive freedom after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion. It is one of at least five states voting on reproductive rights this year, alongside California, Kentucky, Montana and Vermont. A measure that would amend the Michigan constitution to guarantee the right to reproductive freedom has also been proposed.
If the amendment passes, Kansas will be the fifth state to amend its state constitution to say it does not grant the right to abortion, joining Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.
The amendment has drawn national attention, particularly in the wake of the last month’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
“I think a lot of people see the vote here as a kind of indicator of where politics might be headed,” Richard E. Levy, JB Smith Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law, told ABC News.
Here’s what to know about the Kansas ballot measure, dubbed Value Them Both.
2019 state Supreme Court decision
The ballot measure is in response to a 2019 state Supreme Court decision on abortion restrictions. The ruling stemmed from a 2015 case challenging a Kansas law that aimed to largely ban dilation and evacuation, a method used in most second-trimester abortions.
In striking down the ban on the procedure, the judges ruled 6 to 1 that the Kansas constitution protects the “right of personal autonomy.”
“This right allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body, health, family formation, and family life — decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy,” the opinion states while prohibiting Kansas from restricting the right to an abortion “unless it is doing so to further a compelling government interest and in a way that is narrowly tailored to that interest.”
“The court adopted the most rigorous form of constitutional analysis, known as strict scrutiny,” Levy said. “So that in Kansas, under current law, regulations on abortion are valid only if they serve a compelling governmental interest and are narrowly tailored to that interest.”
Since the ruling, a lower court has upheld that a ban on dilation and evacuation is “unconstitutional and unenforceable.” Another law pertaining to abortion in the state has also been blocked. The statute, what would be considered a TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) law by abortion rights advocates, would impose certain requirements on abortion providers.
Nearly a dozen other regulations on abortion remain in effect and have not been challenged, including mandated waiting periods and ultrasounds for patients, required parental consent, a ban on abortion after viability except where necessary to preserve a woman’s life or health, and limits on the use of public funding for abortion.
What’s on the ballot
In the wake of the 2019 ruling, the Republican-led state legislature attempted to pass a ballot measure that would reverse the decision. That measure failed in 2020 before passing the state House and Senate in 2021 to get on the ballot this year.
This is what voters will see as they head to the polls:
Explanatory statement. The Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion, including, but not limited to, in circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or when necessary to save the life of the mother.
A vote for the Value Them Both Amendment would affirm there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and would reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion.
A vote against the Value Them Both Amendment would make no changes to the constitution of the state of Kansas, and could restrict the people, through their elected state legislators, from regulating abortion by leaving in place the recently recognized right to abortion.
If the amendment wins with a simple majority, this passage, included on the ballot as well, will be adopted into the state constitution:
§ 22. Regulation of abortion. Because Kansans value both women and children, the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion. To the extent permitted by the constitution of the United States, the people, through their elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, laws that account for circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or circumstances of necessity to save the life of the mother.
What voting ‘yes’ means
Voting “yes” on the ballot measure supports amending Kansas’ constitution to state that it does not grant the right to an abortion and leaves regulation in the hands of the state legislature.
“The Kansas state Supreme Court overreached in 2019,” Mallory Carroll, a spokesperson for SBA Pro-Life America, which is part of a coalition working to pass the amendment, told ABC News. “The purpose of the amendment is to neutralize this decision so that this is an area for the people to use the tools of democracy to decide through their elected officials, not judges.”
The ballot measure is not an abortion ban. However, opponents, including the coalition Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, argue that the bill’s language could open the door to one.
“If the amendment passes, there will be an effort by the legislature to quickly ban abortion with no or very few exceptions,” Ashley All, a spokesperson for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, told ABC News, pointing to a failed bill introduced in the last legislative session that would have criminalized abortion in most cases.
“The language very clearly says that legislators may pass any law they want regarding abortion, and even in situations of rape, incest and the life of the mother. So we’re pretty confident that that’s where we’re headed,” All said.
Carroll said “anything is possible” when it comes to future abortion legislation if the amendment passes.
“That’s exactly because they’ll be using the tools of democracy to debate and find consensus,” she said. “We don’t know what consensus is going to look like in Kansas.”
One thing is clear — if the amendment passes, the laws targeting abortion providers and the second-trimester abortion procedure will “go into effect almost immediately,” Levy said. With no “trigger law” in place in Kansas, a general abortion ban would require further legislative action, he said.
What voting ‘no’ means
A “no” vote would maintain the status quo and affirm that reproductive rights are protected by the state constitution. The current enacted regulations on abortion would remain in effect, Levy said.
“There would still be a lot of regulations in place,” he said. “Some of those limitations might be vulnerable, but it’s unlikely.”
Opponents of the amendment have argued that abortion is already “heavily regulated” in Kansas even after the state Supreme Court ruling, while proponents are pushing for stronger pro-life policies.
If the amendment fails, Levy wagers that the state legislature might work to “test the limits” of the abortion protections in the state constitution.
Voter turnout a question
The ballot measure is being voted on in a primary election, which is expected to favor abortion opponents. Primary elections also historically draw fewer voters than general elections and might alienate independents, who otherwise have no reason to show up to the polls.
The primary coming weeks after the Dobbs decision may have helped generate interest in the ballot measure, Levy said. Early voter turnouts have been reported to be higher than usual in some areas as well.
“People are paying attention,” Levy said. “Whether that translates into high turnout, that’s another question.”
(CHICAGO) — The young man accused of carrying out a mass shooting at a suburban Chicago Fourth of July parade, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others, has been indicted on 117 counts, prosecutors in Lake County, Illinois, said Wednesday.
Robert “Bobby” Crimo III is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder (three counts for each victim) as well as 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm (for each person hit by a bullet, bullet fragment, or shrapnel), prosecutors said.
“Our investigation continues, and our victim specialists are working around the clock to support all those affected by this crime,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in a statement.
Crimo, 21, allegedly took his legally purchased high-powered rifle and opened fire from a roof, shooting people who were enjoying the Highland Park parade.
Crimo has not entered a plea. His arraignment is set for Aug. 3.
Authorities said they believe the mass shooting had been planned for weeks.
Crimo told police he wore women’s clothing during the shooting and used makeup to hide his facial tattoos and blend in with the crowd during the chaos, prosecutors said. Crimo was apprehended hours later and prosecutors said the 21-year-old confessed to the shooting.
After the shooting, the suspect’s father, Bobby Crimo Jr., told ABC News he was “shocked,” adding, “I had no — not an inkling, warning — that this was going to happen.”
“This isn’t Bobby,” he said. “I guess that’s why it’s so hard to wrap yourself around it. It doesn’t add up.”
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering last week pleaded with Congress to pass a federal assault weapons ban.
“Less than a minute is all it took for a person with an assault weapon to shoot 83 rounds into a crowd, forever changing so many lives,” Rotering told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “And the most disturbing part, this is the norm in our country.”
(WASHINGTON) — Two leading House Democrats are requesting a government watchdog step away from an investigation into deleted text messages sent by the Secret Service around the time of the U.S. Capitol attack.
Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of House Homeland Security Committee, and New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent the request Tuesday to the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
In their letter, Thompson and Maloney wrote they have “grave concerns” about Joseph Cuffari, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general — including what they said was his failure to promptly notify Congress of “crucial information” while investigating Jan. 6.
“Inspector General Cuffari failed to provide adequate or timely notice that the Secret Service had refused for months to comply with DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) requests for information related to the January 6 attack and failed to notify Congress after DHS OIG learned that the Secret Service had erased text messages related to this matter,” Thompson and Maloney wrote.
“These omissions left Congress in the dark about key developments in this investigation and may have cost investigators precious time to capture relevant evidence,” Thompson and Maloney argued.
The letter raises other concerns about Cuffari’s performance, including “reports that he sought to censor findings of domestic abuse and sexual harassment by DHS employees” and his past refusal to investigate Secret Service actions.
The inspector general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.
Thompon and Cheney’s request for a new inspector general to complete the Jan. 6-related investigation comes amid myriad questions about how and why the Secret Service texts were deleted — after being sought — and why they may not be able to be recovered.
The DHS watchdog had requested the messages sent and received by 24 Secret Service members between December 2020 and January 2021, the period around the Jan. 6 attack.
But the agency said the texts in question were deleted as part of a “device-replacement program” even as the inspector general said that the deletions occurred only after his office requested the messages. The Secret Service insisted they had not acted “maliciously” and sought full cooperation with investigators.
A letter to the House Jan. 6 committee obtained by ABC News last week showed that the Secret Service ultimately provided a single text exchange from that day.
A criminal probe was opened by the DHS inspector general earlier this month.
The House committee subpoenaed the agency for the records on July 15.
The Secret Service has said it is working with the Jan. 6 committee, and spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told ABC News last week that the agency also delivered an initial set of records in response — including “thousands of pages of documents, Secret Service cell phone use and other policies, as well as operational and planning records.”
But the House panel has gone so far as to suggest the agency’s handling of the electronic communications may be a violation of federal record-keeping laws.
“Four House committees had already sought these critical records from the Department of Homeland Security before the records were apparently lost,” the Jan. 6 committee said in a statement last week. “Additionally, the procedure for preserving content prior to this purge appears to have been contrary to federal records retention requirements and may represent a possible violation of the Federal Records Act.”
Thompson and Maloney are asking the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to respond to their request by Aug. 9.
The Secret Service has already been under heightened scrutiny amid the Jan. 6 hearings.
Testimony from several witnesses suggested former President Donald Trump wanted to join his supporters at the Capitol last year and clashed with members of his security detail when they refused to take him there.
The agency has said it will respond to the testimony but has yet to make any official statement.
Last week, in the Jan. 6 committee’s second prime-time hearing, witnesses revealed that members of the security detail for Vice President Mike Pence were greatly concerned for his safety and well as their own as the violence at the Capitol escalated.
“The members of the VP detail at this time were starting to fear for their own lives,” a witness the committee identified only as a “White House security official” said in an interview.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas’ “trigger” law, which raises the penalty for performing abortions, is set to go into effect on Aug. 25, after the U.S. Supreme Court formally issued its judgement overturning Roe v. Wade on Tuesday.
“Trigger” laws only take effect when certain events occur, in this case the law required a judgement overturning Roe, which had established a constitutional right to abortion at the federal level, or a case establishing states’ right to regulate abortion.
The so-called trigger law will establish civil and criminal penalties for performing banned abortions and prohibit nearly all abortions, with few exceptions including cases where a pregnancy poses a risk of death or serious impairment of a pregnant woman. The law will not apply to individuals seeking or attempting abortions, according to the law’s documentation.
The law criminalizes any attempt by a medical professional to perform, induce or attempt an abortion, making it a second-degree felony. However, if the pregnancy is successfully aborted, the offense becomes a first-degree felony, according to the law.
According to the Texas Penal Code, the punishment for a first-degree penalty could be up to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The penalty for a second-degree felony is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The law also states that the Texas attorney general “shall file an action” seeking civil damages for those who perform abortions of no less than $100,000 per abortion performed, in addition to the possibility of requesting attorneys’ fees and costs incurred.
Any physician or provider who attempts, performs or induces an abortion could also have their medical license revoked. Medical licenses are regulated at the state level, not by the federal government.
While the court had released its opinion overturning Roe in June, it formally issued its judgement in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health on Tuesday, allowing so-called trigger laws in states, including Texas, to take effect.
The Texas “trigger” law, passed in September 2021, will go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court issued its judgement, according to the Texas State Law Library.
Another Texas law in place, called SB8, places a near-total ban on abortions at 6 weeks and allows people to sue anyone who “aids or abets” an illegal abortion, to collect a bounty of at least $10,000.
Idaho and Tennessee also previously enacted laws that would ban nearly all abortions 30 days after the Supreme Court issues its judgment overturning Roe.
At least 13 states have ceased nearly all abortion services. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have near-total bans. Abortion providers in Arizona and Wisconsin have suspended abortion services due to confusion over the law. Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have banned abortions after embryonic cardiac activity is detected — which is generally around six weeks — before many women know they are pregnant.
Earlier this month, Texas’ attorney general sued President Joe Biden’s administration after it issued an executive order telling doctors to perform abortions in medical emergencies.
-ABC News’ Devin Dwyer and Ely Brown contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Another day, another TikTok trend, and the most recent beauty craze comes in the form of calamine lotion.
Content creators have been sharing videos of themselves using the over-the-counter medication, which is typically used to treat itchy skin, as a makeup primer.
Videos tagged with the #calamineprimer hashtag have racked up millions of views so far on the social platform, with users curious to know whether the method actually works.
Beauty influencers and content creators like @tiasamudaa have been using calamine lotion under their makeup for some time now, but the trend has picked up steam in recent months.
One digital creator, who goes by @brittanybowmann1 on TikTok, posted a now viral video of herself applying the lotion to treat “acne scars + dark marks” back in May (a process she later said dried out her existing blemishes but didn’t lighten any of the discoloration). The video currently has more than 7.3 million plays.
A few days later she posted another video in which she’s seen applying the calamine lotion with a makeup brush before adding on a layer of foundation on top. Toward the end of the video, which Bowman says was filmed following an “8-hour shift,” her makeup appears to still be perfectly in place.
“10/10 would recommend,” Bowman captioned the clip.
Other TikTokers have been swapping calamine lotion into their routines as well, with similar results. In a video on April 28, TikTok user Whitcharae tested out the trend on half of her face while using her regular primer on the other half, beneath a full face of makeup. She reported that, by the end of the day, the side of her face with the calamine lotion seemed to be “way more matte” than the side with regular primer.
While the TikTok trend continues to grow in popularity, skin care experts and dermatologists aren’t too keen on the idea.
“Calamine lotion acts like an astringent, meaning that it dries out the skin,” board-certified dermatologist Dr. Whitney Bowe told “Good Morning America.” “That could be good in the short-term if you’re treating something like a bug bite, but if you consistently use it over time, it can damage something called the skin barrier. Think of it as a smart protective shield. It traps moisture in the skin, but it blocks out things like allergens, irritants and pollutants — and you don’t want those in the skin because they can drive inflammation.”
Bowe explained that a damaged skin barrier “can show up as blotchy skin, breakouts, it can even accelerate the aging process and you just lose the elasticity in the skin.”
To keep your skin looking healthy, Bowe instead recommends an alternative called “skin cycling.”
Here’s how to incorporate skin cycling into your routine:
Night 1: Exfoliation
On the first night of the “skin cycle,” you should cleanse and follow with an exfoliating product — “one that contains ingredients like glycolic acid, salicylic acid,” Bowe said.
“It’s going to just slough away that dead layer of skin,” she added.
This process helps to brighten the skin overnight and prep it for night two.
Night 2: Use a retinoid
To build collagen and smooth fine lines, take a tiny pea-sized amount of retinoid, dab it all over your face and rub it in. “This is going to help with texture, fine lines, wrinkles,” she said.
Night 3 & 4: Recovery
On the third and fourth nights, Bowe advised cleansing and dabbing on a product with ingredients such as hyaluronic serum to help nourish and repair the skin barrier.
During this time, Bowe said the most important step is moisturizer. She recommended her own recently launched Bowe Glow Microbiome Nourishing Cream, which includes ingredients like squalane, ceramides and sunflower seed oil, which help nourish and repair the skin barrier, she said.
Ozzy and Sharon‘s son, Jack, announced Wednesday that his fiancée, Aree Gearhart, gave birth to a baby named Maple Artemis Osbourne on July 9.
“Aree and Maple are doing great and are happy and healthy,” Jack wrote in a tweet.
Sharon also shared the news on Twitter, writing that she and Ozzy are “over the [moon].”
Jack and Aree announced they were expecting in March following their engagement at the end of 2021. Maple is their first child together; Jack has three kids with ex-wife Lisa Stelly.
Meanwhile, Jack’s sister Kelly announced in May that she was expecting her first child with Slipknot‘s Sid Wilson.
In addition to welcoming a new grandchild, Ozzy’s been promoting his upcoming new album, Patient Number 9, which arrives September 9. Last week, he made his debut at San Diego Comic-Con, where he set the record for the largest signing at this year’s event, according to a press release.
Ahead of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix event next month, Tim McGraw has a special T-shirt available in his merch store: a vintage-inspired McGraw NASCAR tee.
Carrie Underwood, CeCe Winans and more will perform at a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Barbara Mandrell’s induction to the Grand Ole Opry this Saturday, July 30. The living legend will attend both shows that day. Tickets are available now.
American Idol champ Laine Hardyreturned to social media this week to debut an unreleased new song called “Party I Can Play.” It’s his first appearance on social media since April, when he was arrested and accused of planting a recording device in an ex-girlfriend’s dorm room.
The rapper has been honored with an RIAA plaque commemorating 95 million units certified throughout the course of his career. This makes him one of the top-achieving gold and platinum-certified rappers of all time.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate that Future now has 95 million RIAA certified units spanning 9 albums and 68 separate singles!” COO of RIAA Michele Ballantyne says in a statement.
She adds, “He’s in an elite group – very few artists have achieved this level of success in the history of our nearly 65 year old program. Congratulations to Future and his incredible Epic Records and Freebandz teams!”
Future was also presented with a plaque for his latest album, I Never Liked You, reaching gold status.
