In light of the tragic shooting that took place at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., this weekend, Garth Brooks has delayed the on-sale date for his July 23 show at Highmark Stadium. A new date for when tickets will go on sale will be announced in the coming weeks.
George Strait has announced two new dates for his Las Vegas residency, Strait to Vegas. He’ll perform at T-Mobile Arena on December 2 and 3 with Caitlyn Smith. Tickets go on sale to the public on May 27 at 1 p.m. ET.
Morgan Wade and Brittney Spencer are nominated for Emerging Act of the Year at the Americana Awards. The ceremony will take place during AmericanaFest in Nashville September 13-17.
On Monday, Netflix let rip with the trailer to its 2022 edition of Geek Week, a celebration of bingeworthy content for “the geek, the geek adjacent, the geek curious — basically anyone who likes to geek out.”
Stranger Things veteran David Harbour provides the R-rated voice-over for the sizzle reel, which shows tantalizing peeks of the upcoming fourth season of Stranger Things, the third season of The Umbrella Academy, and a look at the adaptation of Neil Gaiman‘s TheSandman comic, The Gray Man with Chris Evans and RyanGosling, Jamie Foxx‘s vampire hunting action pic The Day Shift, and more.
Geeked Week runs from Monday, June 6, through Friday, June 10, and Netflix subscribers will get more content from the forthcoming projects, and a peek of Netflix’s new online gaming capabilities to boot.
(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 vaccines could have prevented at least 318,000 virus-related deaths between January 2021 and April 2022, a new analysis found.
The analysis used real-world data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The New York Times and was done by researchers from Brown School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Microsoft AI for Health.
Their findings suggest that at least “every second person” who died from COVID since vaccines became available might have been saved by getting the shot.
“At a time when many in the U.S. have given up on vaccinations, these numbers are a stark reminder of the effectiveness of vaccines in fighting this pandemic,” said Stefanie Friedhoff, associate professor of the practice in health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, and a co-author of the analysis. “We must continue to invest in getting more Americans vaccinated and boosted to save more lives.”
Although the national average indicated that approximately 50% of deaths were preventable, researchers said there were large differences among states — ranging from 25% to 74% vaccine-preventable deaths.
West Virginia, Wyoming, Tennessee, Kentucky and Oklahoma lead the list of states where the most lives could have been saved by COVID-19 vaccines, while states with higher vaccination rates, such as Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Vermont and Hawaii, showed the lowest numbers of vaccine-preventable deaths.
“This compelling data illustrates the trajectory of 50 states with 50 different fates during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the important role of vaccines in protecting lives in each state,” added Thomas Tsai, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor in health policy and management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study comes just as the nation surpasses 1 million lives confirmed lost to COVID-19.
“It is really painful as a scientist, a physician and a public health official to see the overwhelming data that showed the difference between vaccinated versus unvaccinated and boosted when it comes to hospitalizations and deaths,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, said during an interview with CNN last week. “You have this disparity of morbidity and mortality, that staring you right in the face and it’s amazing — 1 million deaths.”
To date, more than 220 million Americans have been fully vaccinated, 100 million of whom have received their first COVID-19 booster, according to CDC data. However, about 92 million eligible Americans — about half of those currently eligible — have yet to receive their first booster shot.
“Certainly, we could have prevented at least a few 100,000 of those deaths of people who were eligible to be vaccinated, gotten vaccinated,” Fauci said. “I just wish people would look at the data and believe the data it’s not made up. It’s real.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Food and Drug Administration and Abbott Nutrition have agreed on a plan to resume operations at its infant formula facility in Sturgis, Michigan, the company announced on Monday.
While the news will be welcomed by frustrated dealing who are struggling find formula on shelves, it still could be several more weeks before they see relief.
According to Abbott, the agreement with the FDA lays out “the steps necessary to resume production and maintain the facility” but remains subject to court approval. Abbott said that once the FDA gives it the official green light, it could restart operations at the site within two weeks and that it would take six to eight weeks after that before the product is back on shelves.
“Our number one priority is getting infants and families the high-quality formulas they need, and this is a major step toward re-opening our Sturgis facility so we can ease the nationwide formula shortage. We look forward to working with the FDA to quickly and safely re-open the facility,” said Robert B. Ford, chairman and chief executive officer of Abbott.
It’s estimated that Abbott Nutrition is one of only four companies that controls 90 percent of the market. The industry was already dealing with supply chain issues when federal inspectors found evidence of a deadly bacteria at the Sturgis plant and shut it down.
Abbott maintains that there is still no evidence linking its formula to four infant illnesses, which included two deaths.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) — Investigators in South Carolina have made a significant break in the case of a teen who went missing in 2009 while vacationing for spring break.
A suspect in the disappearance of Brittanee Drexel, who disappeared in 2009 after traveling to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for spring break, has been arrested and charged with her murder after her remains were found in a wooded area in Georgetown County, South Carolina, last week, authorities announced at a news conference Monday.
“In the last week, we’ve confirmed that Brittanee lost her life in a tragic way, at the hands of a horrible criminal who was walking our streets,” said FBI special agent in charge Susan Ferensic.
Drexel was last seen on the night of April 25, 2009, as she was leaving a friend’s room at the Blue Water Resort to walk back to the hotel where she was staying — about a mile-and-a-half walk down the busy Myrtle Beach strip, ABC Rochester station WHAM reported.
She was about halfway to her destination when she is presumed to have disappeared, investigators believe, based on surveillance footage from cameras on 11th Avenue and Ocean Boulevard.
The suspect, Raymond Moody, 62, allegedly buried Drexel’s dead body, said Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver. Her remains were found less than 3 miles from a motel where Moody had been living at the time of Drexel’s disappearance, Weaver said.
Moody is being held without bond at the Georgetown County jail and is expected to be charged with rape, murder and kidnapping — in addition to a charge of obstruction of justice that he was initially brought in for, said Jimmy Richardson, solicitor for Horry and Georgetown Counties.
Authorities did not answer reporters’ questions on how Drexel’s remains were found or what in the investigation led them to believe Moody was a suspect. In 2012, he had been identified as a person of interest in the disappearance, but there was not enough evidence to name him as a suspect, officials said.
Investigators believe Drexel was held against her will and killed.
Drexel’s parents, Dawn Pleckan and Chad Drexel, were in attendance at the press conference. There, they asked for privacy and thanked investigators and volunteers for their work over the past decade.
“This is truly a mother’s worst nightmare,” Pleckan said. “I am mourning my beautiful daughter Brittanee as I have been for 13 years. But today, it’s bittersweet. We are much closer to the closure in the piece that we have been desperately hoping for.”
Drexel would have been 30 years old on Monday, WHAM reported.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
Jack Harlow‘s “First Class” continues to rule atop the Billboard Hot 100, notching a second week at number one on the prestigious chart.
The rap hit, which samples Fergie’s number-one 2007 hit song “Glamorous,” rebounded from last week’s third-place finish. Fans streamed “First Class” over 31.1 million times and snatched up an additional 8,000 downloads of the single.
Harlow also performed his smash hit at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday and pulled out all the stops for his spectacular set.
Harry Styles’ “As It Was” remains in second place on this week’s chart, boasting 23.2 million additional streams and 7,500 additional copies sold. The song will be featured on the British singer’s forthcoming album, Harry’s House, which arrives this Friday.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” jumped from 19th to ninth place thanks to the song’s newfound viral fame. It’s been streamed 16.9 million times over the past week and sold an additional 17,500 copies. This is her fourth top 10 hit, her previous three being “Truth Hurts,” “Good as Hell” and “Rumors,” which featured Cardi B.
Former White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held her first briefing in her new role as press secretary on Monday afternoon.
Upon taking the podium to address journalists’ questions — the first Black and openly gay woman to do so on an official basis — Jean-Pierre opened the briefing by mentioning the names of the Black lives lost in Saturday’s Buffalo supermarket shooting.
Replacing former press secretary Jen Psaki, who served in the role under President Joe Biden from January 2021 to May 13 of this year, the Fort-de-France, Martinique, native acknowledged the historical accomplishment and honored those who made the feat possible.
“I would not be here today if it weren’t for generations of barrier-breaking people before me,” she said. “I benefit from their sacrifices, I have learned from their excellence. I am forever grateful to them.”
In an emotional speech from the podium in which she announced her departure earlier this month, Psaki welcomed her successor, saying, “She will give a voice to so many.”
Almost a year ago this month, Jean-Pierre anchored her first White House briefing, where ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked her about making history at the podium.
“It’s a real honor to be standing here today,” Jean-Pierre said. “I appreciate the historic nature, I really do, but I believe that being behind this podium, being in this room, being in this building is not about one person. It’s about what we do on behalf of the American people.”
While Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman to officially hold the title, she is preceded by Judy Smith, a deputy press secretary who took the podium in 1991 on behalf of President George H.W. Bush.
The Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks remix of “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” has been released as an advance track from the forthcoming official soundtrack album to the hit Netflix series’ new season.
Two volumes of the album, titled Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4, will be released digitally in the coming weeks, on May 27 and July 1, respectively, coinciding with the premiere dates of the show’s two-part season.
Volume 2 will feature all of the songs that appear on Volume 1, as well as additional music heard in the second run of episodes of Stranger Things‘ fourth season.
The full Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4, including both volumes, will be released on CD and cassette on September 9, while a two-LP vinyl edition will be made available later in 2022.
Those who preorder the Stranger Things Season 4 soundtrack will receive an automatic free download of the “Separate Ways” remix.
Soundtracks for previous seasons of Stranger Things have included a variety of hits from the 1980s, reflecting the period during which the sci-fi horror series is set.
(BUFFALO, N.Y.) — The city of Buffalo, New York, is grieving following a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket that left 10 people dead and another three wounded on Saturday.
Resident Myles Carter was just a few blocks from the scene that day, and the sounds of his neighbors crying out in agony over the news has been replaying in his head since the attack.
“It’s a heart-wrenching sound,” Carter told ABC News. “I heard that sound over and over and over again, for a long period of time.”
The attack, which authorities are calling a racially motivated hate crime, left the predominantly Black community shaken, residents say, but they remain strong in their efforts to take care of and protect one another in the face of white supremacy.
“We just need to go ahead and make plans to take care of ourselves because it is clear that these elected officials aren’t going to do it,” said Shaimaa Aakil, a community advocate in Buffalo.
A 180-page document believed to have been written by alleged shooter Payton Gendron describes racist motives behind the shooting, including “replacement theory,” a white supremacist belief that non-whites will eventually replace white people because they have higher birth rates.
In the document, he allegedly said he planned to attack the supermarket because it’s located in a predominantly Black neighborhood. It’s one of the only grocery stores available in the area, residents told ABC News.
In response, people working with community fridges, funds and food drives are stepping up to ensure that residents are cared for following an attack intended to erase them.
Residents say some non-Black community members are offering to get groceries for their Black neighbors, while some are stepping up as security for places of worship and community centers.
Taking care of each other is something Buffalo residents know how to do well, according to Herbert L. Bellamy Jr., a Buffalo native who lives down the road from Tops.
Bellamy, who also is president of Buffalo Black Achievers, said the neighborhood-grown efforts bring him comfort, knowing the community he knows and loves is taking care of itself.
“We’re a close-knit community, so we’re in touch with everyone,” Bellamy said. “We’ve worked hard to develop that neighborhood. Things like this can be a huge setback for our community, with a food desert and people not being able to shop for food.”
And though the community’s resilience is shining in this moment, others say they are tired of having to be resilient. They say real change needs to come from this moment.
“We shouldn’t be responding to this,” said Carter, who is also a local social justice activist. “We’ve got to fix the problems so that we don’t have to have a community response.”
The attack not only signaled the country’s radical alt-right movement, but also highlighted the way white supremacy has permeated the community’s basic functions, Carter said.
Residents ABC News spoke with say the fact that there are limited places to buy affordable, healthy food in a predominantly Black part of a highly segregated city highlights longstanding issues of race.
“Don’t let them make you believe that this is a one-time issue, an isolated event,” Aakil said. “A lot of elected officials right now are going to imply that this is not a problem that’s bred here, that he is from four hours away. But Buffalo has a really deep problem with segregation.”
The tragedy has spurred a city-wide movement against racism as locals call on leaders and citizens alike to address white supremacy in communities and institutions across the country.
“You feel it even though you’re not here,” Carter said. “If white supremacy can do this in the heart of liberal Buffalo, New York — we got a Black mayor. We have Black people on our common council. We’ve got Black people in our Erie County legislator.”
If it can happen there, he said, “it can happen anywhere in America.”
Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(LAGUNA WOODS, Calif.) — One person was killed and five were wounded in a shooting at a church in Laguna Woods, California, on Sunday, authorities said.
Four were critically hurt and one person suffered minor injuries from the shooting inside the Geneva Presbyterian Church, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office tweeted. All victims are adults and range in age from 66 to 92 years old, the sheriff’s office said.
A group of churchgoers detained the suspect and hogtied his legs with an extension cord and confiscated two handguns from him before more people could be shot, according to Jeff Hallock, undersheriff at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
“That group of churchgoers displayed what we believed exceptional heroism, heroism and bravery in interfering or intervening to stop the suspect,” Hallock said.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said later Sunday that it had arrested a suspect who was described as an Asian man in his 60s.
The man was taken into custody and two firearms were recovered at the scene, authorities said.
The suspect was identified Monday in Orange County jail records as 68-year-old Las Vegas resident David Chou. He has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder and is being held on $1 million bail, jail records show.
Investigators are working to determine whether he has any connections to the church or its congregants.
“The Presbytery of Los Ranchos is deeply saddened by a fatal shooting that occurred at a lunch reception honoring a former pastor of the Taiwanese congregation that nests at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods,” Tom Cramer, Presbytery head of staff, said in a statement Sunday. “Please keep the leadership of the Taiwanese congregation and Geneva in your prayers as they care for those traumatized by this shooting.”
The suspect opened fire at a lunch banquet at the church following a morning service, Hallock said.
The shooting was reported at about 1:26 p.m. local time, authorities said.
Hallock said a motive and whether the suspect had an intended target is unknown.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI are en route to assist local officials.
There were 30 to 40 people inside the church when the shooting began, officials said.
