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Two men arrested in mass shooting at Dallas concert that left one dead, 16 injured

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — Two suspected gunmen were arrested in connection with a mass shooting at a concert in Dallas last month that left one man dead and 16 people injured, including three juveniles, police said Thursday.

The suspects were identified as Astonial Calhoun, 25, and Devojiea Givens, 26, according to police. They were arrested Wednesday by Dallas police, the U.S. Marshals Service North Texas Fugitive Task Force and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Crime Task Force, officials said.

Both men were charged with felony deadly conduct and were being held Thursday at the Dallas County Jail, pending an arraignment, according to the Dallas Police Department.

Dallas homicide investigators found evidence connecting Calhoun and Givens to the shooting that occurred in the early morning hours of April 3 at the Second Annual Epic Easter Bike Out & Field Party, police said in a statement. The event was billed as a family-fun trail ride and outdoor concert.

During a news conference Thursday afternoon, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia declined to disclose what evidence led homicide detectives to arrest Calhoun and Givens.

“A preliminary investigation has determined that following a fight that broke out at the event, Calhoun and Givens both fired handguns,” Garcia said. “The preliminary investigation determined Givens and Calhoun shot into the crowd.”

At the time of shooting, Givens was free on bond after being arrested in late January on another deadly conduct charge stemming from an incident in the Dallas suburb of Hutchins, Garcia said.

Garcia said the investigation is ongoing and detectives are working to identify other suspects they allege fired weapons, as well as those involved in the fight that preceded the shooting.

“Our thoughts continue to be with our victims, their families and we have an incredible team of men and women working this case to find those who were ultimately responsible,” Garcia said.

Attorney information for the two men arrested was not immediately available.

Police asked that anyone with video footage or photos of the fight and shooting to upload them to the police department’s evidence collection online portal.

A witness told ABC affiliate station WFAA in Dallas that the event was “jam-packed” with people and described a chaotic scene as gunfire prompted concert goers to run in all directions seeking cover. The chaos prevented police and emergency vehicle from quickly entering the scene to treat victims.

Police said the organizers of the concert that drew about 2,000 people did not have a permit to hold the event or an emergency plan.

The event’s organizer, Germaud Lyons, who goes by the nickname Bossman Bubba, said in a statement on Facebook April 3 that he was saddened by the shooting and blamed the incident on a higher than expected turnout.

“We took the necessary steps to offer safety by having Dallas Police officers and security personnel on scene. Additionally, emergency officers and vehicles were on standby. However, some things were still out of our control,” the statement said.

The person killed was identified by police as 26-year-old Kealon Dejuane Gilmore. Police said Gilmore was found lying near the stage with a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sixteen other people were injured in the shooting and taken to hospitals in private vehicles or by ambulances, police said.

Hulu announced as livestream platform for Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza & Austin City Limits festivals

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Music festivals are coming to Hulu in a big way.

The Disney-partnered platform announced Thursday that it’ll be livestreaming the Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits festivals this year and in 2023. According to a press release, the news “marks the first time that a platform has had streaming rights to all three of these iconic live events.”

Hulu subscribers will be able to watch select sets from all three festivals live at no additional cost, as well as additional behind-the-scenes footage.

“Hulu and Live Nation are both committed to delivering exceptional entertainment to fans, so we are thrilled to be collaborating with them, again, as we expand our offering to include these three legendary festivals,” says Hulu president Joe Earley. “Each event is unique, but all three bring people together for incredible music, artistry, and experiences, which we are fortunate to be able to share with Hulu subscribers.”

The specific artists and livestream schedules will be announced in the weeks leading up to the festivals.

Bonnaroo takes place June 16-19 in Manchester, Tennessee, and its lineup includes Stevie Nicks among its headliners. Lollapalooza, which will be held July 28-31 in Chicago, will feature headlining sets from Green Day, Metallica and more. Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the headliners for Austin City Limits, which takes place October 7-9 and 14-16 in Austin, Texas.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Senate bill would create federal watchdog for Big Tech

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Michael Bennet on Thursday introduced a bill that would create a federal watchdog for the oversight of Big Tech companies, empowering the new agency to address controversial issues like algorithm bias and transparency in content moderation.

The bill from the Colorado Democrat comes as the tech giants face heightened scrutiny from both sides of the aisle in Congress, which has generated high-profile hearings and adversarial rhetoric but has struggled to pass legislation.

The latest push for reform follows a series of bombshell revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen as well as an agreement among European Union lawmakers over a landmark law that would closely regulate the sector. The Washington Post first reported Bennet’s bill.

“As a country, we should take pride that most of the world’s leading tech companies were founded in America. But they aren’t start-ups anymore. Today they rank among the most powerful companies in human history,” Bennet said in a statement on Thursday.

“It’s past time for a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to regulating digital platforms that have amassed extraordinary power over our economy, society, and democracy,” he added.

The new agency would develop and enforce rules that regulate company conduct, mimicking the role played by oversight bodies that police pharmaceutical drugs or media standards, according to a summary of the bill provided by Bennet’s office.

The proposed legislation calls for the formation of the Federal Digital Platform Commission made up of five members, who would hold hearings, carry out investigations, and implement new rules. The agency would also include a Code Council featuring individuals from the industry and civil society who can offer further technical expertise, the bill summary said.

The bill will likely face a difficult path to passage in the Senate, where Democrats hold a narrow 50-50 majority due to a potential tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. While some Republicans have criticized Big Tech firms over perceived anti-conservative bias and other faults, they have also shown a reluctance to expand the regulatory reach of the federal government.

Meanwhile, some Big Tech leaders have expressed support for a sector-specific regulatory agency like the one outlined in the bill. At a congressional hearing in March 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a new agency “could be very effective and positive for helping out.” Microsoft President Brad Smith last month at a privacy summit signaled his approval of such an oversight body.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), led by legal scholar and Big Tech critic Lina Khan, serves as a major regulatory agency for the tech giants. Last July, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that called on the FTC to develop rules on data collection and to challenge prior company mergers. But progress on regulation at the agency remains limited.

In a separate effort from the Biden administration, the Justice Department has brought a lawsuit against Google over alleged antitrust violations.

Current watchdogs have proven insufficient for the new challenges posed by the tech industry, said Tom Wheeler, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who called the proposed bill “historic.”

“Our existing regulatory agencies were built in the industrial era on industrial-age concepts, and the challenge of 21st-century regulators is: How do you take statutes built in response to entirely different realities and relate them to what’s happening in the digital world?” said Wheeler, who previously called for the formation of such a watchdog.

“Let’s create an inherently digital agency,” he added.

Heavy Duty Rock and Roll: ‘This Is Spinal Tap’ sequel set for March 19, 2024

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

They’ve toured the world and elsewhere, but apparently David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel, and Derek Smalls — better known as Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer from Spinal Tap — are playing one last show.

That’s the idea behind an apparent sequel to the beloved 1984 mockumentary, from its director, Rob Reiner.

Reiner, who played Scorsese-spoofing filmmaker Martin “Marty” DiBergi in the original, there to document “England’s loudest band,” tells Deadline he’ll be back to direct Spinal Tap II, with a March 19, 2024 release date.

“The plan is to do a sequel that comes out on the 40th anniversary of the original film and I can tell you hardly a day goes by without someone saying, why don’t you do another one?” Reiner explains.

“For so many years, we said, ‘nah.’ It wasn’t until we came up with the right idea how to do this. You don’t want to just do it, to do it. You want to honor the first one and push it a little further with the story.”

According to Reiner, the band is forced to reunite.

“They’ve played Albert Hall, played Wembley Stadium…They haven’t spent any time together recently, and that became the premise,” he explains. “The idea was that Ian Faith, who was their manager, he passed away…Ian’s widow inherited a contract that said Spinal Tap owed them one more concert.”

“She was basically going to sue them if they didn’t,’ Reiner goes on. “All these years and a lot of bad blood we’ll get into and they’re thrown back together and forced to deal with each other and play this concert.”

COVID-19 nurse reflects on 1 million American virus deaths: ‘We are still mourning losses’

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Last July, a tearful Felicia Croft sat in her car after a long shift in the COVID-19 intensive care unit, and expressed her deep despair about watching young patients die of the virus.

“People are younger and sicker, and we’re intubating and losing people that are my age and younger people with kids that are my kids’ age that are never going to see their kids graduate. They’re never gonna meet their grandkids,” the nurse from Willis-Knighton Medical Center, in Louisiana, told ABC News at the time.

With vaccination rates lagging in Louisiana — fewer than 40% then — Croft said she was frustrated to see preventable deaths occurring.

“We have seen people [in the hospital] that have been vaccinated, but they usually go home to raise their kids, and to hug their husband or their wife. I can’t explain the feeling of defeat. When you do everything you pour everything into a patient and it’s not enough,” Croft explained.

Now, as the nation mourns the loss of 1 million lives to COVID-19, Croft shared a new video diary reflecting on the milestone and the last two years, expressing her relief that fewer patients are dying of the virus at her hospital.

“Today, I am standing here, and I am doing an empty room, in our empty COVID Unit, at the hospital, which is really, really exciting,” Croft said.

Reflecting on earlier experiences caring for a dear family friend, Croft described the pain of seeing people steadily deteriorate as they were intubated, and terribly sick with COVID-19.

As she spoke to the mother of her friend on the phone, Croft recalled feeling helpless as she was not able to truly comfort to his family.

“I remember his mom crying, and me not being able to go to her, and not being able to just love on and comfort somebody that I love, because we’re trying to save another life. That was so difficult,” Croft said.

And although at Willis-Knighton, the need for COVID-19 related care has slowed, Croft said she and her colleagues are still mourning the losses of all of the patients, friends, and family members that died of COVID-19.

“COVID has thankfully dwindled down, but we are still mourning losses, and seeing the effects of just how it’s changed a lot of people, a lot of people’s long-term health, a lot of people’s outlook and it’s just very humbling. It’s been a very humbling experience,” Croft said.

David Spade reveals Norm Macdonald shot material for a “secret” final stand-up special

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

In the months before his death from cancer in September of last year, stand-up comic Norm Macdonald recorded a final stand-up performance.

His former SNL co-star, David Spade, revealed as much in an installment of his Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey.

“We went to a memorial…and it was supposed to be more of a celebration, we never had a funeral for him,” recalled Spade, who noted Netflix cameras were documenting everything for an upcoming project.

“The audience was peppered with SNL people, writers, comedians, Conan O’Brien hosted, Bill Murray from SNL, comedians, [Adam] Sandler…,” Spade told Carvey.

Afterward, Spade and five others were “sequestered” in a private room, and watched the last stand-up set Macdonald ever performed.

“He just said, ‘You know, I keep trying to do my set,’ and he was getting weaker, which we didn’t know,” Spade of Macdonald before his death. “They keep shutting down theaters [for COVID], and they wouldn’t let him go, so then he goes, ‘I’m just gonna run it once, just kind of say it out loud.'”

Spade described the footage, shot by Macdonald’s assistant, with no audience, featured, “classic Norm stuff,” but added some of it was unpolished. “But for what he does, it was perfect. I was excited to be a witness for that,” Spade said.

“I definitely cried,” he admitted. “…You’re watching a guy…he looks a little different, a little gaunt, [but] he was better than my special,” Spade added with a laugh.

Delaware officials call for investigation into alleged racial profiling of lacrosse team

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Delaware officials are calling for an investigation into allegations of racial profiling after Georgia deputies conducted a drug search of a bus transporting female student-athletes at a historically Black university.

The Delaware State University Women’s Lacrosse Team was returning home from a game in Florida on April 20 when officers in Liberty County, Georgia, pulled the bus over for an alleged traffic violation.

Deputies then proceeded to conduct a drug search of the team’s bags in the luggage racks beneath the bus, including with the use of a K9, video and body-camera footage from the scene shows. Nothing illegal was found, authorities and school officials said.

The incident came to light after one of the team’s lacrosse players wrote about the search in the school’s newspaper last week with the headline, “Delaware State Women’s Lacrosse Team Felt Racially Profiled by Police in Georgia.”

The student-athlete also posted a video of the incident that was referenced by Delaware State University President Tony Allen in a message to the school community this week. In the video, a deputy informed the team that they were going to search their luggage.

“If there is anything in y’all’s luggage, we’re probably gonna find it,” the deputy said in the video. “If there is something in there that is questionable, please tell me now because if we find it — guess what? We’re not gonna be able to help you. We are in the state of Georgia. Marijuana is still illegal in the state of Georgia.”

Allen said videos such as this one “clearly show law enforcement members attempting to intimidate our student-athletes into confessing to possession of drugs and/or drug paraphernalia” and called the incident a “trying and humiliating process” for the team.

An incident occurred in Georgia when the Delaware State University Women’s Lacrosse Team was returning home from a game in Florida. Read a message from President Allen in which, again, he says, “We shall not be moved.” https://t.co/IihQ6yV3pt pic.twitter.com/RBC6jZF5C2

— Delaware State University (@DelStateUniv) May 9, 2022

Sophomore lacrosse player Sydney Anderson, who was behind the school’s article and video, told ABC Philadelphia station WPVI there was “a clear indication of racism” in the search.

“If we got pulled over for a traffic violation, there’s no correlation between them checking our personal luggage and violation of traffic,” she told the station.

The team’s head coach, Pamella Jenkins, also charged that it was an incident of racial profiling.

“I definitely felt it by the accusatory tone of the police officer,” Jenkins told WPVI. “And while talking about narcotics, he went straight to marijuana.”

In response to the allegations, Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman said this week that the deputies followed protocol and that there was probable cause for the luggage search due to an alert from the K9.

“At the time, or even in the weeks following, we were not aware that this stop was received as racial profiling,” Bowman said. “Although I do not believe any racial profiling took place based on the information I currently have, I welcome feedback from our community on ways that our law enforcement practices can be improved while still maintaining the law.”

The sheriff’s office this week also released body-camera footage from the incident, which showed deputies interacting with the bus driver and student-athletes and going through their bags.

“Believe it or not, the majority of the drugs and large amounts of money, trafficking children, trafficking anything up and down these interstates, that’s what we look for,” the deputy can be heard telling the student-athletes on the bus. “We’re not saying that it’s even happening here. But however, this is how we start an investigation.”

Prior to conducting the search, the deputy can be heard while in his cruiser saying, “There’s a bunch of dang school girls on the bus. There’s probably some weed. Maybe.”

Bowman said the traffic stop is being reviewed to ensure there were no policy violations.

The university’s president said the school has contacted Delaware officials, including the governor and attorney general, and is “exploring options for recourse — legal and otherwise.”

“We do not intend to let this or any other incident like it pass idly by,” Allen said. “We are prepared to go wherever the evidence leads us. We have video. We have allies. Perhaps more significantly, we have the courage of our convictions.”

He further called for an investigation following the release of the body-camera footage and pushed back against statements from the sheriff’s office, including the claim that no personal items were searched. Bowman later clarified that while the front luggage area was checked, no players were searched.

“It has become abundantly more clear that this incident must be investigated by objective, external authorities,” Allen said in a statement Wednesday. “We continue to push forward toward that objective.”

Delaware Attorney General Kathleen Jennings said Wednesday that she has written to the U.S. Department of Justice about the incident “urging a full examination and I have every reason to believe one will occur.”

Lizzo says we’re all doing that viral “About Damn Time” dance craze wrong

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Lizzo is not hating the fact that she spawned a TikTok dance craze thanks to her new hit “About Damn Time,” but the Grammy winner has one tiny request: Put your heart into it.

Taking to TikTok on Wednesday, Lizzo called out the people who aren’t dancing to the song as if their life depended on it.

“I’m tired of seeing it, okay?,” the singer expressed with mock anger before setting down the phone so she could back up fully into frame.

Leaning into an aggressive alter ego that would be at home on Dance Moms, Lizzo then delved into the song’s choreography step-by-step, stressing that each move should be done with deliberate passion.

“It’s About! Damn! Time!,” she instructed while clapping loudly between each word before repeating a less-enthused version of the move and declaring, “Not it’s ‘About Damn Time.'”

Lizzo encouraged those who want to join in on the dance craze to throw their whole body into it, even when it comes to the more sensual moves. Her tone grew more exacerbated as she went over the choreography, declaring that she doesn’t appreciate people’s half-hearted attempts at it.

The funniest part came at the end, when Lizzo stuck her arms over her head and waved her hands around for the “Balenci-enci” part. The singer showed how many times one needs to rotate their hands before pantomiming how she’s seeing other people do it, and asked, “What the hell is this?!”

Some fans felt called-out by Lizzo’s comedic post, with one remarking, “She prob saw my video.” Others vowed to redo their videos with the right amount of gusto.

Nashville notes: Dustin Lynch and more

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Dustin Lynch is keeping the “Party Mode” rolling this summer: He just announced that his Party Mode Tour has a newly added summer leg. The shows now wrap in October.

Ty Herndon’s got a new album coming out on July 15. He says the project, called Jacob, is his most personal work to date.

Woman files suit after losing pregnancy at Astroworld

May 12, 2022 by WDNY Radio

A woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit after losing her pregnancy allegedly due to injuries she sustained at last year’s tragic Astroworld festival in Houston.

According to documents obtained by ABC News, Shanazia Williamson and her husband Jarawd Owens of Dayton, Ohio, are suing Travis Scott, Live Nation and others involved in the festival.

“While in attendance at the festival, Shanazia was trampled and crushed resulting in horrific injuries and ultimately the death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child,” the suit reads. “In addition, Shanazia sustained injuries to her shoulder, back, leg, chest, stomach and other parts of her body.”

“Defendants’ failure to plan, design, manage, operate, staff, and supervise the event was a direct and proximate cause of Shanazia’s injuries and death of her and Jarawd’s unborn child,” the suit added.

The suit was filed in December 2021 but had not previously been reported. It’s among hundreds of lawsuits filed in the wake of the festival, during which 10 people — not counting the unborn child — died and thousands were injured in a massive crowd surge.

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