Scotty McCreery’s son may not even be born yet, but he’s already a New England Patriots fan — and he’s got the jersey to prove it.
On social media, the country singer shared a special gift he got from his favorite football team: A baby-sized jersey, which reads “McCreery” and the number “1” across the back. “Baby’s first jersey!!!” he wrote as he showed off his unborn son’s new Patriots swag.
Even though he grew up in North Carolina, Scotty is a lifelong Patriots fan who grew up watching games with his New England-born dad. “I’m like the lone wolf,” he joked in a 2016 interview with the sports team’s website. “But it’s fun to be a Patriots fan down here because most folks, they’re Pats haters for sure.”
Scotty and his wife, Gabi, announced earlier this month that they’re expecting a baby boy. Due in November, the new addition to the family will be the country star couple’s first child.
Billie Eilish, Finneas, Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow have been added to the star-packed lineup of NBC’s upcoming special Ukraine: Answering the Call, according to Billboard.
The new additions join previously announced celebrities José Andrés, Jon Batiste, Kristen Bell, Brandi Carlile, Brian Cox, Jeff Daniels, Vera Farmiga, Lena Headey, Alicia Keys, Simu Liu, Julianne Moore, Brad Paisley, Rosie Perez and more.
The hour-long primetime special, per the network, “is aimed at educating, raising funds for those whose lives have been shattered by the crisis, and spreading awareness through the power of entertainment – an answer to the call from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has challenged Americans to use their voices to reach those who want peace.”
Zelenskyy will address Americans during the special. NBC News will also share reports on the stories of real people all around the world who are impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine: Answering the Call airs Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.
Bret Michaels was reportedly hospitalized in Nashville, just before taking the stage on Thursday.
While there’s no official word on why he was hospitalized, Michaels, 59, TMZ reported he’s being treated after suffering a bad reaction to medication, triggered by his diabetes.
Before the medical emergency, the Poison frontman was set to take the stage with his band mates as part of the Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. According to TMZ, the rest of Poison took the stage to announce that they wouldn’t be performing their set.
Fans were bummed by the news, with one tweeting, “Came all the way from KC to watch poison. Bret Michaels was admitted to hospital. No poison in Nashville.”
It’s unclear how long Michaels will be out of commission. The next tour stop is scheduled for Saturday, July 2 in Jacksonville, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — With Independence Day approaching, and plenty of associated picnics and barbecues on the way, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is warning of the dangers of foodborne illness and providing some helpful tips to keep people safe.
Four easy steps can help you avoid food poisoning: clean, separate, cook and chill.
First, find out if there is a clean water source before you grill or eat outdoors. If not, pack water for food preparation and cleaning as well as clean cloths, alcohol-based moist wipes, and hand sanitizer to clean hands and surfaces.
“If you are grilling out at a public park, and [they] have grills and tables there, be sure to check the grill and use a grill brush to scrub off any excess debris. You can also make sure to bring some disinfecting wipes to disinfect any kind of patio furniture, tables, and chairs that you may be using, especially if they’re going to be in contact with food,” said Kenneth King, a USDA food safety expert.
Keep raw meats, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from any other ready-to-eat foods to avoid cross-contamination. Use a separate cutting board for fresh produce and another one for raw meat products.
Always use a food thermometer to ensure that all foods are cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature.
“For hamburgers, you want to insert the food thermometer through the side of the patty until the probe reaches the center … the temperature should read 160F [when] your hamburger is safe to eat,” King said. “For hot dogs, they need to reach 165F and you can do this by sticking the thermometer into the end of the hot dog all the way until the probe reaches the center.”
If you’re transporting food in a cooler, make sure it is stocked with ice or frozen gel to keep perishable food cold. The “danger zone” in which bacteria grow rapidly is in between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Additionally, you should avoid leaving any food out longer than two hours, or one hour if the outside temperature surpasses 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep any pack beverages in a separate cooler from perishable food.
“The scary thing about bacteria is that we can’t really see it, the food may look okay, but in actuality, it’s not,” King said. “We always recommend to people [that] when you’re out grilling, and you have some food sitting out on the table too long and no one’s eating it, please be sure to put that food back into a refrigerator. Or if you’re grilling outside, and you have a cooler with some ice, nestle that food under some ice in the cooler to keep it cold.”
An estimated 48 million people in the U.S. — 1 in 6 Americans — get sick from foodborne diseases each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Certain groups are at risk of more serious illness from food poisoning. Adults aged 65 and older, children under the age of 5, those with weakened immune system due to health conditions or medicine, and pregnant people should take extra care when eating food.
The CDC also recommends that those at higher risk should avoid undercooked or raw food from animals, raw or lightly cooked sprouts, unpasteurized milk and juices, and soft cheese that has not been made with pasteurized milk.
Symptoms of food poisoning include upset stomach, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. Visit a health care provider if you or a loved one develops severe symptoms such as bloody diarrhea, a high fever, frequent vomiting, signs of dehydration and diarrhea that lasts more than three days.
The USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline can be reached at 1-888-674-6854. You can also chat live at ask.usda.gov. Representatives can help address any food safety questions people might have from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
“We recommend that while you’re preparing for the July 4 weekend, make sure to give us a call if you have any questions. Or you can look up our website at foodsafety.gov,” said King.
(NEW YORK) — Rain, heat and fire are all in the forecast this 4th of July weekend.
Here’s what to know:
South
Heavy rain is pounding the Texas coast and western Louisiana on Friday.
The heaviest rain will be from Beaumont, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where up to 6 inches of rain is possible.
Rainfall rates could reach 2 to 4 inches per hour on Friday.
A flood watch has been issued for Houston, Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles through Friday evening.
Northeast
In the Northeast, it’ll be a scorcher on Friday. Temperatures are forecast to reach 91 degrees in Boston; 92 in New York City; 94 in Philadelphia and 93 in Washington, D.C.
Factoring in humidity, the heat index (what temperature it feels like) could be close to 100 degrees from New Jersey to Virginia.
Then a cold front will move into the Northeast on Saturday, bringing severe weather threat for the Interstate 95 corridor from D.C. to Boston. Damaging winds and some hail are possible.
In the West, fire danger will be high Saturday through Monday due to dry and windy conditions expected in Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
The strongest wind gusts will be on Sunday when they could approach 45 mph.
Billie Eilish, Finneas, Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow have been added to the star-packed lineup of NBC’s upcoming special Ukraine: Answering the Call, according to Billboard.
The new additions join previously announced celebrities José Andrés, Jon Batiste, Kristen Bell, Brandi Carlile, Brian Cox, Jeff Daniels, Vera Farmiga, Lena Headey, Alicia Keys, Simu Liu, Julianne Moore, Brad Paisley, Rosie Perez and more.
The hour-long primetime special, per the network, “is aimed at educating, raising funds for those whose lives have been shattered by the crisis, and spreading awareness through the power of entertainment – an answer to the call from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has challenged Americans to use their voices to reach those who want peace.”
Zelenskyy will address Americans during the special. NBC News will also share reports on the stories of real people all around the world who are impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.
Ukraine: Answering the Call airs Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.
Dancing with the Stars pro Sharna Burgess and her boyfriend, actor Brian Green Austin, welcomed their first child together, a boy, on Tuesday.
Burgess, 37, shared the news Thursday on Instagram, writing, “Zane Walker Green 06/28/2022 at 12:12pm,” alongside a black and white photo of the baby clutching his dad’s finger.
“My heart is now forever outside of my body,” she added.
This is Green’s fifth child. The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum has a 20-year-old son, Kassius, with actress Vanessa Marcil. He also shares Noah, 9, Bodhi, 8, and Journey, 5, with ex-wife Megan Fox.
Stranger Things has regained the top spot as Netflix’s most popular TV show of all time, according to the streamer. Netflix’s list of most popular titles is calculated based on viewership during a title’s first 28 days of availability. It was temporarily displaced by the third season of The Umbrella Academy, which premiered on June 22. The second half of the final season of Stranger Things dropped Friday..
Modern Family alum Sarah Hyland has been tapped to host Peacock’s revamped version of Love Island USA, according to TVLine. Hyland replaces Arielle Vandenberg, who hosted the show’s first three seasons on CBS. She’ll be joined by British comedian Iain Stirling as narrator, replacing Matthew Hoffman, who served as the reality show‘s narrator during its time on CBS. Love Island USA season four premieres July 19 on Peacock…
Variety reports Dune: Part Two, the second chapter in the Warner Bros. and Legendary sci-fi epic, originally set to open in theaters October 20, 2023, has been postponed until November 17, 2023. Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem are returning for Dune: Part Two, with Florence Pugh, Austin Butler and Christopher Walken set to join the cast. The Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel, which follows the second half of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel, is set to start shooting later this year…
Peacock has scratched the TV adaptation of Field of Dreams from its roster. The drama series, based on the 1989 film starring Kevin Costner, was picked up straight to series in August 2021, with The Office writing alum and Parks and Recreation co-creator Michael Schur set to produce, but it won’t stream on the platform, an insider tells The Hollywood Reporter. Universal Television is reportedly in the process of talking to interested buyers…
(WASHINGTON) — Republican lawmakers are proposing what they call “pro-family” platforms following the Supreme Court’s scrapping of the constitutional protections around abortion to try to help people who, in some states, could now be forced to carry a pregnancy to term.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio put out a sprawling framework last week, while Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Mitt Romney of Utah and Richard Burr of North Carolina put out their own proposal pushing for a monthly cash stipend for working families pulled from other tax benefits.
Specific states have also touched on new or forthcoming tools for new parents, such as a website to connect moms with resources that South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Kristi Noem discussed on ABC’s This Week.
Yet implementing these small handful of new plans, which would institute policies that would be novel in some states, could prove easier said than done, critics and experts say — raising concerns over the resources that will be available for new parents in the 12 states and counting without access to abortion.
“This ruling and the result that people are going to be forced to have unplanned pregnancies and care for children that they weren’t planning for … means that people are going to be suffering economic consequences,” Amy Matsui, the director of income security and senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center, told ABC News. “These plans nod to that fact, but don’t actually do anything to address it in a meaningful way.”
Among the top concern cited is a historic lack of investment in social safety net programs by states that are restricting or outlawing abortion.
An amicus brief filed by pro-abortion rights groups in the Supreme Court case that overturned constitutional abortion protections showed that 14 states with the most restrictive laws also demonstrated poor maternal and child health outcomes, including early need for prenatal care, low infant birthweight and infant mortality.
And while some early proposals appear intended to combat precisely those scenarios, experts warn that those trends indicate some states are on poor footing to implement any substantial solutions.
“When you look at the overlay, the states that have restricted or banned abortion are the same states that have not invested in their safety nets. They do not have the same kinds of supports for low-income families, for pregnant people, for health care, for child care, for supporting workers or for education that states that generally support abortion rights do,” said Elizabeth Nash, a state policy analyst at the pro-abortion rights Guttmacher Institute.
“So basically, they are not providing the health care that people need or the supports that they need,” Nash said. “And now, sort of as an afterthought and because of public outcry, they’re saying, ‘OK, well, let’s pull together sort of a quick package.'”
To be sure, Republicans insist their plans are feasible, casting them as prudent proposals.
“For the past 50 years, our country built a massive, pro-abortion commercial infrastructure. There are commonsense, bipartisan steps we can take to support American families and protect life, instead of ending it,” Rubio said in a statement.
“This will be a big boost for parents and families that won’t increase the debt and will make federal policy work better for families across the nation — I hope to see all my colleagues get behind this plan,” Daines added.
But digging deeper, some experts expressed concern about the plans’ specific planks, warning that they would force pregnant people to make difficult choices.
Rubio’s plan, for instance, would allow new parents to invest in paid parental leave by pulling forward up to three months of their future Social Security benefits.
And in the proposal from Daines, Romney and Burr, the monthly cash benefit for working families is paid for by “consolidating the family portion of the [earned income tax credit] to not vary depending on the number of dependents” and eliminating the head of household filing status and child portion of the child and dependent care credit.
“That is great, and continuing to have an expanded child tax credit is important for the well-being of families and children,” Matsui said of a monthly cash benefit. “But to fund it by taking away the head of household filing status or restricting the EITC or taking away the child portion of the child and dependent care tax credit is basically robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
“Another example is the purported parental leave provision that is in Sen. Rubio’s package. It offers new parents the opportunity to borrow against their future Social Security benefits,” she added. “They need it now and they need it later. And we’re asking them to bear the cost rather than provide new and additional supports. It really is just kind of a shifting shell game.”
Rubio’s plan also offers expanded tax relief for adoptive parents, though activists said that does little to help someone during a pregnancy. The plan also includes a provision to “expand access to social services by lowering barriers to faith-based organizations’ participation,” but the experts who spoke with ABC News warned of past discriminatory language by such groups, particularly against the LGBTQ community.
“That is just completely inappropriate,” Nash said.
Experts did not disagree with every aspect of the plans. For instance, Nash called Rubio’s provision to boost the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (also known as WIC) and to extend the postpartum benefit eligibility period from one to two years “helpful.”
But overall, experts and critics spoke on the recently proposed plans with skepticism, chiefly over how novel their proposals are in some of the most impacted states.
“I think that even a really great plan, which I don’t think either of these are, even a really great plan that isn’t tested is a bad idea,” said Susan Polan, associate executive director of public affairs and advocacy at the American Public Health Association. “We can’t piecemeal it together and build the plane as we’re flying it.”
(HONG KONG) — In a speech celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping strongly reaffirmed the territory’s autonomy under the promise of “One Country, Two Systems” but with one very strong caveat: Beijing has full jurisdiction and Hong Kong must respect that.
“One Country, Two Systems is an unprecedented great initiative of historical significance,” Xi declared in a victory lap of a speech now that the opposition in the city has either been silenced or behind bars. “There is no reason to change such a good system, and it must be maintained for a long time.”
Xi’s words run counter to the view of many in the city who supported the now-silenced pro-democracy activists and Western politicians around the world who view Beijing’s increasing direct influence in the city as reneging on the agreement made between the United Kingdom and China that led to the handover on July 1, 1997.
Also marking the occasion, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a video statement on Twitter saying, “We made a promise to the territory and its people and we intend to keep it, doing all we can to hold China to its commitment”
“We simply cannot avoid the fact that for some time now, Beijing has been failing to comply with its obligations. It’s a state of affairs that threatens both the rights and freedoms of Hong Kongers and the continued progress and prosperity of their home.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken added, “it is now evident that Hong Kong and Beijing authorities no longer view democratic participation, fundamental freedoms, and an independent media” as a part of its promise.
In Xi’s view, the Chinese government is fulfilling its obligations in allowing the former British colony to choose its path and thrive economically, if not politically, over the past quarter century.
“Hong Kong will maintain the original capitalist system unchanged for a long time and enjoy a high degree of autonomy” Xi, who is on a two-day visit to the city, told a 1,300-strong gathering of Hong Kong’s political and business elite at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Center. But he warned that residents must “consciously respect” the rule of Chinese Communist Party and its socialist system in the mainland.
Having implemented a far-reaching security law two years ago to silence dissent, Xi mostly sidestepped security and political concerns and focused on Hong Kong’s economic development, signaling an intention to turn the page on the turmoil of the last decade.
The Chinese government has long believed that the vast chasm of economic inequality in the city, exacerbated by unaffordable housing costs, was the chief reason for popular discontent which, in Beijing’s telling of events, were then exploited by “foreign forces” to foment anti-government protests.
“Hong Kong cannot afford more chaos,” Xi told the newly inaugurated administration led by Hong Kong’s former security official John Lee.
“The public has good expectations to have better livelihoods, that they can live in a wider and bigger home, with more job opportunities, better education for the children, and can be better taken care of when they are old,” Xi continued.
“The new government should not disappoint them and should place these expectations as top priorities,” stressed the Chinese leader.
“The major issue for John Lee is to deliver better housing and relieve economic inequality and poverty and if possible, find new engines for economic growth,” David Zweig, Professor Emeritus at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, told ABC News.
“Economic problems that Hong Kong has faced for past 20 years were due largely to the [real estate] tycoons who would not allow [the Hong Kong leader and legislature] to resolve these core issues,” Zweig explained, which led to the younger generation insisting on a more representative system which, in Beijing’s eyes, threatened to shift the power in the legislature.
In the wake of the 2019 protests, Zweig believed that when the popular opposition was positioned to take over the legislature and replace Beijing’s “executive-led government” with a de-facto parliamentary one, the Chinese government was unwilling to take that risk.
In response, Beijing reformed the electoral system to ensure “only patriots can govern Hong Kong.”
“Our mistake as observers was not to realize that, while China could support a more open system, under ‘One country, Two systems’ it would never let the opposition take over,” said Zweig.
At an event earlier this week, the last British governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten recalled a pro-Beijing businessman explaining this dynamic to him as the two governments were hashing out the final details before the handover. “You don’t understand the Chinese,” Patten remembered the individual telling him, “they don’t want to rig the elections, they just want to know the result in advance. Well, yes, I see that, but it’s not what’s called democracy.”
“John Lee and Beijing, having established an authoritarian regime, must deliver on the core economic issues,” Zweig told ABC News.
After spending less than 10 hours in the city over two days, Xi and his wife left Hong Kong via the high speed rail link that physically ties the center of Hong Kong to the mainland.
The new Hong Kong chief executive has his work cut for him. Hong Kong’s strict COVID measures and sealed borders over the past two years has endangered Hong Kong’s status as an aviation hub and international financial center. Its economy contracted 4% in the first quarter of this year — one of the worst performances in 30 years.
Coupled with the security crackdown, Hong Kong residents have been voting with their feet. Since the beginning the year there has been 154,000 net departures from the city, the highest rate since Hong Kong returned to China.
“We won’t let President Xi down,” Lee told the press after the Chinese president’s departure. “We won’t let the people down.”
