Michael Lang, co-organizer of the 1969 Woodstock festival and its subsequent anniversary events Woodstock ’94 and Woodstock ’99, died on Saturday, January 8, at age 77, Variety reports.
Family spokesperson Michael Pagnotta revealed to the publication that Lang passed away at a New York City hospital from a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In 1969, Lang teamed up with songwriter and music producer Artie Kornfeld and financial investors Joel Rosenman and John Roberts to co-create the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held August 15-18 in Bethel, New York.
Billed as “3 Days of Peace, Love and Music,” the festival became one of the iconic events of the “Flower Power” era, featuring performances by many of the biggest rock acts of the day, including Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, The Who, Janis Joplin, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker and many others.
For many years, Michael served as Joe Cocker’s manager, and he also managed several other acts.
Lang also helped organize the 25th anniversary Woodstock festival, Woodstock ’94, which was held August 12-14 on a farm near of Saugerties, New York. That event featured a mix of artists who’d played the 1969 fest and contemporary acts from various genres.
Five years later, Lang co-produced the ill-fated Woodstock ’99 festival, which was held July 22-25 on a former Air Force base in Rome, New York. The event has been portrayed as the antithesis of the 1969 Woodstock, and has become known for the many reported incidences of violence, alleged sexual assaults, fires and other vandalism by some of the attendees.
Lang also attempted to organize a 50th anniversary Woodstock festival that initially was scheduled to take place in August 2019 in Watkins Glen, New York. A huge, star-studded lineup with major artists from various genres was confirmed, but the festival, called Woodstock 50, was thrown into limbo when the company providing financial backing pulled out. Michael and his fellow organizers tried to find a new financial backer and a new site for the fest, but the event eventually was canceled.
Lang is survived by his wife, Tamara, and five children.
A message paying homage to Michael has been posted on the official Woodstock socialmediapages that notes, “He was a producer, father, environmentalist, friend, husband and most of all, one-of-a-kind dreamer whose mark on the world is undeniable.”
At least 19 people are dead, including nine children, following a massive fire in New York City on Sunday, officials said.
More than 200 firefighters responded to the scene of the five-alarm fire that originated Sunday morning in a duplex apartment on the third floor of a high-rise building located in the Tremont section of the Bronx, officials said. More than 60 people were injured in the fire, according to the New York City Fire Department.
At least 13 others have life-threatening injuries in Bronx hospitals, officials said.
Many of the injured victims were located on the upper floors, officials said, adding that they likely suffered from severe smoke inhalation, New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro said during a press conference Sunday afternoon.
Firefighters arrived on the scene within three minutes of the initial 911 call and were met with fire in the hallways, Nigro said. A door that was left open allowed the fire and smoke to spread, Nigro added, describing the fire as “unprecedented.”
“This is going to be one of the worst fires we have witnessed here in modern times in the city of New York,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters Sunday.
Approximately 200 FDNY members are operating on scene of a 5-alarm fire at 333 East 181 Street in the Bronx. There are currently 31 serious injuries to civilians. pic.twitter.com/yrTYwOfonH
Dramatic pictures posted to social media show fire gushing out of multiple windows in the building. FDNY began receiving calls from multiple residents on upper floors just before 11 a.m.
The fire has since been put out.
Additional details, including the conditions of the other victims, were not immediately available.
This was the second major fire in the Bronx over the weekend. A four-alarm fire in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx that began early Saturday morning injured a firefighter and displaced three families, ABC New York station WABC reported. A lithium-ion battery sparked the fire, officials said.
A total of 73 people died in New York City fires in all of 2021.
Last week, a fire that broke out on the second story of a row house in Philadelphia killed 13 people, including seven children.
In life, former U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who died at age 82 on December 28, was a huge Killers fan. On Saturday, the band’s front man, Brandon Flowers, performed at a memorial service for Reid, attended by President Joe Biden, former president Barack Obama and other dignitaries.
At the service, Reid’s son Leif Reid explained that his father was such a huge Killers fan that in his final days before losing his battle with pancreatic cancer, the band’s music was the only thing he wanted to hear.
“We took his phone out, we were shuffling through his songs, asking what he wanted to hear. Bob Dylan? No response. Bruce? Nothing. Then we said, ‘Brandon? You wanna hear The Killers?’ And he smiled and gave us a huge thumbs up,” Leif recalled.
At the service, Flowers reminisced about his friendship with Reid, which was based on their mutual love of their home state of Nevada. He said in 2009, he’d met Reid and was given a tour of the U.S. Capitol.
“It was just an inspiration for me because here was the Senate majority leader and he came from basically the same dirt that I came from and we shared the same faith,” Flowers recalled. He laughed, “And it wasn’t five minutes into the meeting when he waved for Senator Chuck Schumer to come over and he had me sing the Nevada state song in the office!”
Flowers then performed that song, “Home Means Nevada,” a cappella at the service, as well as “Be Still,” from The Killers’ 2012 album Battle Born.
(LAKE FURNAS, Brazil) — At least five people are dead and as many as 20 are missing after a slab of a cliff broke off Saturday afternoon and crashed down onto three tourists boats in a lake, officials said.
The incident took place at Lake Furnas, a popular tourist spot roughly 260 miles north of Sao Paulo, around 12:30 p.m., according to the Minas Gerais state fire department. The Brazilian Navy and local firefighters were deployed to the scene to help the victims.
Five people were killed, 32 people were hospitalized and 20 people were missing, as of Saturday evening, the fire department told ABC News. Six victims were taken to the hospital in serious condition, officials said.
The fire department told ABC News that 23 of the hospitalized victims could be released soon.
Romeu Zema, the governor of Minas Gerais, tweeted updates on the incident during the afternoon and said heavy rains were a factor in the cliff collapse. The rescue efforts were ongoing, Zema tweeted.
“I sympathize with the families during this difficult time,” he tweeted in Portuguese.
The Brazilian Navy is overseeing the investigation into what caused the collapse, according to authorities.
(ALEXANDRIA, Virginia) — Virginia police believe they have found a fifth victim linked to an alleged serial killer dubbed the “shopping cart killer,” as authorities identified two others and continue to search for more.
The update comes nearly a month after authorities announced that a suspect who was previously charged with the murders of two women whose bodies were found in a lot in Harrisonburg is also believed to be connected to the deaths of two more women whose remains were found in a wooded area of Alexandria in Fairfax County.
The possible fifth victim, also a woman, was found covered by a blanket in a shopping cart on Sept. 7 in Washington, D.C., by a passerby, who reported the discovery to police, authorities said.
The Fairfax County Police Department said it received a tip this week that their suspect in the Alexandria murders, 35-year-old Anthony Eugene Robinson, of Washington, D.C., may be linked to the D.C. case.
“We believe this may be Anthony Eugene Robinson’s fifth victim,” Fairfax County Police Major Edward O’Carroll said during a press briefing Friday night. “This is based on digital evidence that puts him in the same vicinity around the time of the victim’s disappearance. It’s sad and tragic.”
The body of Sonya Champ, 40, was found near Union Station in a shopping cart, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The case is currently under investigation. Fairfax County police said they are sharing information with MPD during the death investigation.
Fairfax County police also said Friday they have positively identified the two victims found in Alexandria as Cheyenne Brown, 29, of Washington, D.C., and Stephanie Harrison, 48, of Redding, California. Police initially had believed Brown to be one of the victims, based on distinctive tattoos identified by her family, but were awaiting DNA confirmation.
The remains of the two women were found on Dec. 15 near the Moon Inn in a container next to a shopping cart, police said. Robinson is the primary and sole suspect in their murders, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
“Robinson was the last person to be seen alive with Cheyenne,” Davis told reporters Friday. “Cheyenne interacted with Robinson on the Plenty of Fish dating app. It is believed that Robinson used this Plenty of Fish dating app to lure his victims. We believe Robinson has also used the Tagged dating app.”
Cellular data placed Brown and Robinson at the same location on Sept. 30, the night of her disappearance, police said. Receipt records also showed that they stayed at the Moon Inn on the same day, and that Robinson has stayed at that motel on at least five other occasions, Davis said Friday.
Robinson was also charged in connection to the murders of two Virginia women found dead on Nov. 23 near each other in an open lot in the commercial district of Harrisonburg, police said. Video surveillance and cellphone records connected him to the two victims, according to Harrisonburg police.
Authorities allege that both women — Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville — connected with Robinson through dating sites and met him on separate occasions at a hotel.
Their bodies were found with blunt force trauma, and investigators said they believe the women were transported to the scene in a shopping cart.
Robinson has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body. His attorney, Louis Nagy, said he is not commenting on the charges or allegations when previously connected by ABC News.
Fairfax County police said Robinson, who is currently incarcerated in the Rockingham County Adult Detention Center while awaiting trial on the Harrisonburg homicides, will face additional charges in their cases.
“Thankfully, he’s incarcerated and it gives us the ability to work backwards while he’s still not out there killing,” Davis said. “The fact that he is awaiting trial in Harrisonburg, Virginia, allows us to continue to build our probable cause to charge him eventually here in Fairfax County.”
Detectives are looking for anyone who may have connected with Robinson on dating apps as part of their investigation.
“We believe there are survivors out there,” Davis said. “We remain very determined to continue to dig deep and get to the bottom of this.”
ABC News’ Benjamin Siu contributed to this report.
(SAN DIEGO, Calif.) — A sea lion managed to make its way onto a busy California highway Friday, before animal rescuers, first responders and a couple of good Samaritans were able to help get the stranded marine mammal to safety.
Drivers came across the unusual sight Friday morning, which halted traffic on a freeway east of downtown San Diego several miles from the bay, where the animals are commonly found.
Josefine Jandinger told ABC San Diego affiliate KGTV she was driving east on State Route 94, just west of Interstate 805, when she saw two “amazing humans” stop their car, get out and direct traffic around the animal as it crossed the freeway.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Jandinger, who captured a video of the man and woman aiding the sea lion. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
This little guy somehow made it to the 94 and 15 this morning. Our officers are there standing by waiting for @SeaWorld to come to the rescue. pic.twitter.com/n7dUJzZKwg
California Highway Patrol reported that the animal crossed four lanes on the 94 East highway before stopping in the median. Officers ran several traffic breaks to prevent the sea lion from getting hit by any cars before animal rescuers could arrive.
CHP Media Information Officer Jim Bettencourt tweeted from the scene at about 10 a.m. local time.
“This little guy somehow made it to the 94 and 15 this morning,” he said. “Our officers are there standing by waiting for @SeaWorld to come to the rescue.”
Bettencourt later updated that SeaWorld San Diego, which had been contacted by CHP and several members of the community about the stranded sea lion, was able to rescue it.
“Great work from the SeaWorld San Diego rescue team, who responded to several calls to help relocate this curious sea lion who made his way onto busy streets this morning,” the park said on Twitter, while sharing footage of the sea lion caught on the side of the freeway in a safety net. “We’re grateful for the CA Highway Patrol for helping our team safely rescue him.”
Marine life experts are unsure exactly how the sea lion, a juvenile male weighing around 200 pounds, wound up on the highway.
“Why he crossed the road, I don’t know,” Eric Otjen, head of SeaWorld San Diego’s rescue team, told ABC News. “We’ll probably never know why.”
As to how, there’s a typically dry creek bed near the highway, which, after recent rain, may have been one path, he surmised.
Sea lions are curious, fearless animals who are good climbers and walkers, Otjen said. “Curiosity sometimes gets the best of them,” he said.
This isn’t the first time this particular sea lion has been rescued by the SeaWorld team, Otjen said. In early November, they rescued the animal on a road near the San Diego airport. After being released, the sea lion showed up again at other “odd” spots, including near a deli in Mission Bay and on the Navy Base in Point Loma, Otjen said. Most sea lion rescues the team does are along the beach, marina docks and cliffs.
“A sea lion on the freeway is really, really rare,” Otjen said. “It’s one for the record books.”
The rescue team tagged the sea lion after the first rescue, so they’ve been able to keep tabs on it since. It also has a distinctive wound across the bridge of his nose, Otjen said.
SeaWorld San Diego transported the sea lion to its park, where it will assess the animal and provide it any necessary rehabilitation, the park said.
“We really want to make sure that we do our due diligence before we return him,” Otjen said. “It could be up to and including MRIs and CT scans and the whole nine just to see what’s going on with him.”
Otjen said he is thankful for everyone who helped rescue the animal and that nobody was harmed, though he warned against approaching marine mammals.
“See lions can bite, and they can be pretty dangerous,” he said. “So just be careful and call us as soon as they see an injured or ill or, whatever, freeway sea lion.”
(NEW YORK) — After two weeks in its cosmic nest, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has spread its wings and will fly to the farthest regions of unknown space.
Crews completed the final part of the satellite’s long-awaited deployment and unfolded both its mirrored wings, which are critical for the telescope’s mission.
Scientists said this step was the most likely point for a failure for the mission, and NASA crews were seen cheering with relief after the operation completed.
The telescope has been in the works since 1996 and is a joint venture between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
The satellite, which launched on Christmas Day, will succeed the Hubble Space Telescope and operate much farther than any other telescope, roughly 1 million miles away from Earth.
The Webb telescope will use mirrors to conduct infrared astronomy and “observe exoplanets located in their stars’ habitable zones, the regions where a planet could harbor liquid water on its surface, and can determine if and where signatures of habitability may be present,” according to NASA.
Since the telescope’s instruments need to operate at extremely cold temperatures: engineers designed a sunshield to protect the instrument from the heat of the sun.
The Webb telescope has a long journey ahead. Over the next few weeks, it will align and calibrate its mirrors so they act as one uniform object to reflect light.
What’s next for #NASAWebb‘s mirrors? Once cold enough, and with the help of a star as a target, tiny motors will be used by our team to precisely align and shape each segment so all 18 will perform as one mirror. More: https://t.co/tPyWOyQQW0pic.twitter.com/gsGhajRSFZ
(ALMATY, Kazakhstan) — There are signs Kazakhstan’s president is slowly regaining control in the country, following a bloody clampdown by security forces to end days of mass protests and after Russian-led troops arrived to support the government.
For the second day in a row, Kazakhstan’s biggest city Almaty was eerily quiet and under heavy military control, according to an ABC News reporter there. The city, the former capital, was the epicenter of the protests this week, where mobs stormed key government buildings and overran the airport. But under cover of an internet blackout, security forces using live fire have cleared the streets over the past three days in clashes that have left dozens killed, according to the government.
The streets were mostly deserted on Saturday, but the occasional sound of gunshots could be heard. It was not clear, but some of the shots appeared to be warning shots fired by troops, directing people not to approach police cordons, according to the ABC News reporter, who is not being named for safety reasons. The main square, the key protest site, was occupied by security forces and blocked off with armored vehicles.
A curfew is in effect in the evening and authorities have told people to remain indoors. Military units have set up checkpoints and are controlling access to the city. Most shops are closed and people are struggling to find basic groceries, except for bread that is still being delivered, according to ABC’s reporter. The city center is wrecked, many shops looted and the roads are strewn with burnt-out cars. Several journalists on the ground have reported seeing corpses lying in the street.
The protests began a week ago, triggered by a rise in gas prices, but quickly spread and developed into the biggest uprising against Kazakhstan’s authoritarian government since it gained independence following the fall of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan’s president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday appealed to Russia for help, asking a Moscow-led military alliance of former Soviet countries to send troops. A few thousand Russian paratrooper units have since arrived in the country, along with several hundred from Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
The internet blackout in the country made it difficult to get a clear picture of the situation in other cities on Saturday, but there were signs protests had faded. Kazakhstan’s interior ministry said police now have “full control” over Aktob, a city that saw major protests. In Aktau, another protest center, a Russian-state news reporter showed police removing a small number of protesters from the central square.
Security forces were engaged in a gun battle for several hours near a village on the outskirts of Almaty, according to a reporter from the Russian state news agency, Sputnik.
Kazakhstan’s interior ministry said police have arrested over 4,400 people during the protests. At least 26 protesters and 18 security forces personnel have been killed, and hundreds of people injured in the unrest, according to the authorities.
Tokyaev on Saturday spoke to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, telling him the situation was “stabilizing” but that “hotspots of terrorism” remained and that he would fight them “with the utmost determination,” according to a readout from Kazakhstan’s president’s office.
Tokayev and the Kremlin have claimed the unrest was carried out by “foreign terrorist” groups. In many places the protests have been largely peaceful, though in Almaty they were overtaken by intense violence, with mobs of men ransacking government buildings and there was widespread looting. Men armed with assault rifles, seemingly organized, have been seen and appear to have fought with the security forces. But peaceful demonstrations appear to continue in the city — as troops advanced on the square on Wednesday, a group of young people stood holding a banner reading, “We are not terrorists.”
Kazakhstan’s security services on Saturday also arrested the former head of the country’s domestic security agency, Karim Masimov, on charges of treason, in a surprise move that fueled speculation in Kazakhstan that an internal struggle has also been going on among the elite during the protests.
Masimov had headed the powerful KNB security service until he was removed this week by Tokayev, when the president dismissed his government as a concession to the protests.
A statement published on the security agency’s website, said Masimov and other unnamed individuals, were suspected of “state treason” and that he has been held in a detention center for the past two days. The charge against him carries a maximum sentence of 15 years prison.
Masimov was a key ally of Kazakhstan’s long-time ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev, the ex-Communist party boss who has dominated the country for three decades.
Nazarbayev, who is 81, in 2019 passed the presidency to Tokayev, but had retained considerable power behind the scenes as chairman of the national security council and has the honorary title “leader of the nation.”
This week, amid the unrest, Tokayev announced he was replacing Nazarbayev as chairman of the security council, a move seen as signaling an end to Nazarbayev’s power.
Nazarbayev’s removal now combined with the arrest of his key ally in Tokayev’s government has prompted some to claim Tokayev is using the upheaval to put an end to his former patron’s influence in the government and cement his own.
Nazarbayev’s whereabouts — as has not been seen in public since the protests began — have become a subject of interest among Kazakhstanis. Nazarbayev’s spokesperson on Saturday denied multiple reports that Nazarbayev had left Kazakhstan with his daughter. The spokesperson said Nazarbayev was in the capital Nur-Sultan — named after him — and was in regular contact with Tokayev.
A journalist working with ABC News contributed to this report from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
(SPRINGHILL TOWNSHIP, Penn.) — A worker is dead after a stone mine collapsed in southwestern Pennsylvania Friday, officials said.
The roof of the Laurel Aggregates’ Lake Lynn mine in Springhill Township collapsed Friday afternoon, trapping a miner, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Late Friday night, the miner was pronounced dead at the scene after being pulled from the debris, Pennsylvania DEP said.
“DEP believes this was caused by a portion of the mine roof falling onto equipment that the individual was working in,” the agency said in a statement.
The miner’s identity hasn’t been released, but next of kin have been notified.
Pennsylvania DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety rescue team responded to the scene after the mine operator reported the collapse, and crews from the rescue team and company worked to remove loose rock to reach the equipment, officials said.
The miner was not responsive when reached and was extricated from the mine by the Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department and mine rescue team shortly after 11 p.m. local time, Pennsylvania DEP said.
The American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania also responded to the scene to provide mental health services and support, the organization said.
Pennsylvania DEP, safety regulator for underground non-coal mines, is investigating the cause of the roof collapse.
Laurel Aggregates, a limestone and sandstone mining company in Lake Lynn, said in a statement to ABC Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE: “At this time, we are focused on responding to an emergency incident at our Lake Lynn, Pennsylvania aggregate facility. The safety of our employees is our number one priority. More information will be shared when appropriate.”
ABC News’ Victoria Arancio contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Naomi Osaka on Saturday withdrew from the Melbourne Summer Set due to an abdominal injury, saying she needed to rest before the Australian Open.
“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne. Unfortunately I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the #AusOpen. Thank you to the tournament and the fans,” Naomi Osaka said in a statement released by the Australian Open over Twitter.
“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne. Unfortunately I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the #AusOpen. Thank you to the tournament and the fans.” – Naomi Osaka.
Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today, my body got a shock from playing back to back intense matches after the break I took. Thank you for all the love this past week ❤️ I’ll try to rest up and I’ll see you soon!
“Sad to withdraw due to injury from my match today, my body got a shock from playing back to back intense matches after the break I took,” Osaka said via Twitter.
Osaka was scheduled to play in a semi-final match the day she withdrew. Her scheduled opponent, Veronika Kudermetova, will advance immediately the final.
The Australian Open is scheduled to start Jan. 17.
Representatives for Osaka and the Australian Tennis did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
