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Major sports and entertainment events canceled, rescheduled due to rising COVID-19 cases

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — With a rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation alongside spread of the new omicron variant, several major events this week have been rescheduled or canceled.

New York and Washington, D.C., on Friday and Wednesday, respectively, reported the most COVID-19 cases in a single day, breaking their pandemic records.

In sports
The NFL on Friday rescheduled its Saturday game between the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders to Monday 5 p.m. ET.

According to a statement from Cleveland Browns Senior Vice President of Communications Peter John-Baptiste, all members of the organization who recently tested positive were vaccinated.

Sunday’s games between the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles, and between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks were also postponed to Tuesday.

In a statement, the NFL said they made these schedule changes “based on medical advice” after “seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus.”

This trend is observable in other sports as well, as the NHL earlier announced it was rescheduling all games for the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least the Christmas weekend amid a COVID-19 outbreak.

The organization pointed to rising positive cases within the last two days and the continued spread of COVID-19 as a concern.

A shutdown on the Calgary Flames, which has already had six games postponed, has been extended through Dec. 23.

In entertainment
Rising cases have also affected events within the entertainment sphere. Shows like “A Christmas Carol” in Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre were canceled due to breakthrough infections among the show’s cast.

In New York, The Rockettes canceled four shows of “The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes” scheduled for Friday also due to “breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the production,” a representative said.

On New York’s Broadway, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway” also canceled its Friday show due to positive cases within the show company.

Earlier this week, several other Broadway shows like “Hamilton” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” had also canceled shows due to infections, local ABC affiliate WABC-TV reported.

On Dec. 12, singer-songwriter Doja Cat pulled out of future iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball Tour performances after testing positive for COVID-19.

She announced on Instagram that she tested positive after a few members of her production team also tested positive.

Russia makes sweeping demands for security guarantees from US amid Ukraine tensions

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Russia published a list of sweeping new security guarantees it wants from the United States and NATO on Friday — including a promise not to expand the alliance — staking out demands for de-escalating the crisis it has stoked around Ukraine.

The radical proposals would rewrite the post-Cold War security order in Europe, obliging the U.S. and NATO to commit to not admitting any new members, including Ukraine, but also effectively prohibiting any NATO military activity in Eastern Europe and most of the former Soviet Union.

The demands were presented in two draft treaties that Russia’s foreign ministry published on Friday, with Russia saying it had passed them to the Biden administration earlier this week.

But the U.S. and NATO countries have already previously ruled out Russian demands for a veto on the alliance’s expansion and on Friday a senior Biden administration official immediately rejected the two key Russian proposals to bar Ukraine from ever joining or NATO expanding farther eastward.

“We will not compromise on key principles on which European security is built,” the administration official told reporters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“All countries have the right to decide their own future and their own foreign policy, free from outside interference, and that goes for Ukraine and it also goes for NATO allies and the alliance itself,” the senior administration official said, adding President Joe Biden made that clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their call last week.

Russia made the proposals against the backdrop of its military buildup near Ukraine, where the U.S. says Russia has massed over 100,000 troops, with the implicit threat it could use force if its demands are not met.

Western countries fear Putin may be preparing a new major military incursion against Ukraine and have been trying to understand whether the Russian leader is really prepared to escalate the conflict this winter.

Friday’s proposals addressed a grievance the Kremlin has nurtured for nearly three decades about NATO’s expansion since the Cold War — into what Moscow views as its sphere of influence.

The Russian draft treaties call for NATO to remove any troops or weapons from countries that joined the alliance after 1997, meaning most of Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Baltic states and Balkan countries. It also calls for the U.S. and Russia to refrain from deploying troops in areas where they could be perceived as a threat to each countries’ national security, and a ban on sending their aircraft and warships into areas where they could strike each other’s territory. The treaty would also ban the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

The limits on NATO in Eastern Europe are seen as a non-starter by most experts. Most analysts in Moscow believe the Kremlin itself is aware that the proposals are unrealistic. Some said that rather than real goals, they may represent an opening gambit aimed at winning some concessions.

“This is a bargaining position — [the Kremlin] is trying to get some degree of partial acceptance,” Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, told The Moscow Times.

The senior Biden administration official said that while it rejected out of hand the proposed limits on NATO membership for Ukraine and others, it was reviewing the other Russian proposals, hinting it was possible there might be some areas for discussion.

The official noted that several of the issues raised by Russia — arms control for example — were already being dealt with in different talks between the U.S. and Russia. The official said the U.S. would respond with a “more concrete” proposal to the Russians next week after consulting with allies, but added it will include a list of their own concerns “about Russia’s posture and behavior.”

But other analysts found the unrealistic nature of Russia’s demands disturbing, interpreting them as perhaps a sign the Kremlin is laying the groundwork now to justify an invasion that it will paint as the result of failed negotiations.

“I don’t see this as something aimed at a productive negotiation, even if some parts of this could have been discussed and considered privately,” Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat and current foreign affairs commentator, told ABC News.

Dmitry Trenin, the director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, wrote on Twitter that Russia publishing the demands now “may suggest that Moscow (rightly) considers their acceptance by west unlikely.” That means Russia is more likely to use military force to ensure they are realized, he said.

Russia’s buildup has not stopped since Biden and Putin’s call last week, with satellite imagery showing vehicles and equipment continuing to appear at new sites near Ukraine. Most experts believe the Russian troops will not withdraw while the Kremlin continues its diplomatic push for concessions.

Eric Clapton to release new single, “Heart of a Child,” on Christmas Eve

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Eric Clapton is planning a little holiday gift for fans, announcing plans to release a new song called “Heart of a Child” next Friday…Christmas Eve.

The digital track can be pre-saved and pre-added now.

Interestingly, Clapton co-wrote the song with Robin Monotti, an Italian film producer and architect who identifies as a pro-vaccine-safety advocate, and who apparently espouses similar anti-lockdown views to Eric.

“Heart of a Child” was co-produced by Clapton and his longtime studio collaborator Simon Climie. Musicians joining Eric on the track include Sonny Emory on drums, Nathan East on bass, Dirk Powell on mandolin, Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins on guitar, Climie on keyboards and percussion, and Sharon White and Katie Kissoon on backing vocals.

Strings on the track were arranged and conducted by Nick Ingman, and the strings were led by violinist Everton Nelson. Ingman also arranged and conducted strings on Clapton’s recent single “This Has Gotta Stop.”

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Coolidge tease ‘Legally Blonde 3’

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Reese Witherspoon and her Legally Blonde series co-star Jennifer Coolidge sat down via Zoom with Backstage, and dished not only about their respective hit shows, The Morning Show and White Lotus, but also teased a third Legally Blonde movie.

Coolidge explained Reese is “the keeper of the keys” when it comes to the long-gestating threequel. But rest easy, Elle Woods fans, Reese is as eager to get going on Legally Blonde 3 as you are.

Saying she’s “dying to know more,” Coolidge sat intently while Reese teased out an update. “I wish I could take a poll of everybody watching and say like, ‘What do you wanna see us do?'” Reese joked. “I mean, just the idea of being anywhere with Jennifer would be the greatest,” the actress and producer explained, as was the idea of “visiting characters 20 years later to see what’s changed about them and what hasn’t.”

Mindy Kaling is currently “in the process of writing it,” Reese explained.

As for Legally Blonde‘s longevity, Witherspoon opined, “The movie is such a feminist movie, too, at the time, about really that your life doesn’t have to be defined by your romantic relationships; it can be defined by your girlfriends, by your sense of self-worth, by your job, your education, your accomplishments.”

Notre Dame restoration kicking off in France

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(PARIS) — After 2 1/2 years of cleaning and consolidating — and a pandemic that halted French workers for a few months — the restoration phase of the Notre Dame cathedral is set to kick off this winter.

The night of April 15, 2019, a massive fire tore through the roof of world famous cathedral in Paris, collapsing the spire. The first block of wood to be used in the new spire — at the very base of a structure that should rise 255 feet above ground — was produced in a lumbermill in the western France town of Craon on Thursday.

Rebuilding Notre Dame is a colossal national project. Mickael Renaud, owner of a lumbermill called The Giants, told ABC News, he was proud to play a part, adding that his lumber mill had to expand storage capacity simply to house the huge blocks of wood required.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised in July 2020 that everything lost in the fire would be rebuilt in its original form — over 1,000 centennial trees were carefully selected from French forests and sent to sawmills across the country.

According to the head of the establishment for the conservation and the restoration of Notre Dame, Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, the plan is to reopen the church to the public in 2024.

While hundreds of artisans are focused on reproducing an exact replica of the cathedral, there also are plans to change the interior lighting and liturgic design. Those plans include a different entrance for the public, adding holograms of biblical phrases in several languages and integrating contemporary art, changes that are causing a stir among some critics. The plan was partially validated by the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture on Dec. 9.

For Monseigneur Aumônier, the bishop in charge of the interior design of the cathedral on behalf of the Catholic Church, the updates are part of an effort to recognize the building’s value not just for France but the whole world.

“The Catholic liturgy will be celebrated in Notre Dame as ever,” he told ABC News. “But, naturally with the new visibility of Notre Dame, it’s very helpful for us to guide people who will visit.”

Art Historian Didier Rykner told ABC News that such major changes threatened the integrity of the medieval structure.

“Nobody wants this — we want Notre Dame back as before,” he said. Tourists “will want to see Notre-Dame like it was before, not like it will be now.”

Tiger Woods returns to competitive golf alongside 12-year-old son Charlie

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Just months after sustaining serious injuries in a car accident, Tiger Woods made his return to competitive golf on Friday.

Woods, who suffered comminuted open fractures to his right tibia and fibia in February, hit the links with his 12-year-old son, Charlie.

The father-son duo are participating in the PNC Championship, a tournament in Orlando, Florida, that allows former major champions to compete alongside their family members.

“To be out here with my son like this, it’s the best,” he said in an interview with the Golf Channel. “We’re here to have fun.”

Woods played with his son in the tournament for the first time last year, finishing seventh out of 20 pairs.

Woods, 45, told Golf Digest last month that the idea of playing with Charlie has been a motivating factor in his recovery. Charlie is the golfer’s youngest child with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren; the former couple also share a 14-year-old daughter, Sam.
For Woods, who has won the Masters five times and the PGA Championship four times, seeing his son follow in his footsteps has been a gratifying experience. He’s also been able to impart some of the wisdom he’s picked up from his years as a golfer.

“I went to golf tournaments to watch him play, and I’m looking at some of these scores he’s shooting and I said, ‘How the hell are you shooting such high scores? I gotta go check this out,'” he said. “So I’d watch him play and he’s going along great. He has one bad hole, he loses his temper, his temper carries him over to another shot and another shot and it compounds itself.”

Woods continued: “‘Son, I don’t care how mad you get. Your head could blow off for all I care just as long as you’re 100% committed to the next shot. That’s all that matters. That next shot should be the most important shot in your life. It should be more important than breathing. Once you understand that concept, then I think you’ll get better.’ And as the rounds went on throughout the summer, he’s gotten so much better.”

‘Shopping cart killer’ linked to at least 4 Virginia slayings, police say

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(HARRISONBURG, Va.) — Police in Virginia said they believe an alleged serial killer whom they’ve dubbed the “shopping cart killer” may be responsible for the deaths of four people — and possibly more.

Authorities said Friday that a suspect who was previously charged with the murders of two women, whose bodies were found in a lot in Harrisonburg in November, is believed to be connected to the deaths of two more people whose remains were found this week in a wooded area of Alexandria.

“We’re here today to talk about a serial killer — and that is a phrase that I’ve used sparingly in my three decades in this profession,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a press briefing.

“He preys on the weak and preys on the vulnerable,” Davis added. “Our shopping cart killer does unspeakable things with his victims, and it’s our collective duty and responsibility to bring justice and closure to all of our communities.”

Two missing Virginia women — Allene Elizabeth “Beth” Redmon, 54, of Harrisonburg, and Tonita Lorice Smith, 39, of Charlottesville — both were found dead on Nov. 23 near each other in an open lot in the commercial district of Harrisonburg, police said.

Authorities allege that both women connected with the suspect, Anthony Robinson, 35, of Washington, D.C., through dating sites and met him on separate occasions at a hotel. Their bodies were found with blunt force trauma, and investigators believe they were transported to the scene in a shopping cart.

“After he inflicts trauma to his victims and kills them, he transports their bodies to their final resting place, literally in a shopping cart, and there’s video to that effect,” Davis said.

Robinson was arrested last month based on video surveillance and cellphone records that connected him to the two victims, according to Harrisonburg Police Chief Kelley Warner. He’s been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two felony counts of concealing, transporting or altering a dead body.

More charges are forthcoming in connection with the deaths of two people found Wednesday in Alexandria near the Moon Inn, Fairfax County police said.

One victim is believed to be a missing woman from Washington, D.C. Police said cellular data placed Cheyenne Brown, 29, and Robinson at the same location on Sept. 30, the night of her disappearance.

Authorities are awaiting DNA confirmation, but believe the remains to be Brown’s based on a distinct tattoo positively identified by her family.

The remains of a second person found in a large plastic container along with Brown’s have yet to be identified, police said. A shopping cart also was found next to the container.

Robinson has a “remarkable absence” of any criminal history, Davis said. He’s being held without bond at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 27. His attorney, Louis Nagy, declined to comment on the charges and latest allegations when contacted by ABC News.

Authorities said they’re coming forward with their findings because they believe there may be additional victims.

“We need to act right now with our law enforcement partners to figure out who else our killer has had contact with, and what’s his M.O. — dating sites, motels, blunt force trauma, shopping cart, final resting place,” Davis said. “He’s killed four already. And we suspect that he has more victims.”

Jimmie Allen’s hoping to keep the cross-genre duets coming, and he’s got a special message for Beyoncé

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

Jimmie Allen saw his star skyrocket in 2021, capping off a big year with a Grammy nomination in the all-genre Best New Artist category.

In a new interview with Billboard, he says the magnitude of that mention didn’t fully hit him until much later, during a conversation with a songwriter friend in the pop and R&B worlds.

“He said, ‘This nomination is bigger than you because you are a Black man from Delaware having success in country music,’” Jimmie remembers his friend saying. “‘Your Grammy nomination came from your success in country music, a genre of music that [people] don’t really associate Black people with too much. Win or lose, you have the ability here to inspire people that want to do something [similar], but they don’t see a lot of people that look like them.’”

Jimmie’s profile in the genre and beyond has also risen due to versatile collaborations. For example, the deluxe edition of his Bettie James album features guest spots from the likes of R&B singer-songwriter Babyface and pop/soul star Monica, as well as country stalwarts like Brad Paisley, whose duet with Jimmie, “Freedom Is a Highway,” is a country radio hit.

He’s not planning to slow his collaborations game down, either: Jimmie would love to team up with other out-of-genre artists like Will Smith and Stevie Wonder, plus country legends like Shania Twain.

“Beyoncé and Jay-Z are definitely two dream people on my list,” he adds. “There were rumors about her wanting to do a country song or a country record. Listen, Beyoncé: I’m here. Let’s get cracking.”

Parents refuse to give up hope in search for missing 26-year-old daughter

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(DALLAS) — Mercedes Clement was last seen in surveillance video on Oct. 11, 2020, walking across the parking lot of the Koko Apartments in Dallas, Texas, with a man.

She hasn’t been seen or heard from again.

“In the beginning, it didn’t matter if it was a street lead or if it was an anonymous tip or if it was a psychic, we followed the lead,” said Clement’s mother, Alicia Gazotti.

She and her husband, Clement’s stepfather Emiliano Gazotti, have been searching for their 26-year-old daughter for a little over a year. They haven’t given up.

“Mercedes, she was just a gift. She was always saving her money for the homeless people, always just had this huge heart of gold, always,” said Alicia Gazotti.

On the night her daughter went missing, Gazotti said that around 10:30 p.m., Clement made some worrisome phone calls to friends.

“She called a couple of her friends and she told one girl in particular she was scared, she needed a ride to her car. Her friend said it was just eerily quiet,” said Gazotti. “And the phone disconnected and that was it. About the fourth day, when there’s no anything. Then I got worried.”

“The next day we got a piece of mail that her car had been towed and a lot of alarm bells went off for me then,” said Gazotti.

Gazotti said she went to the tow yard that same day to pick up the car, and she was alarmed to find most of her daughter’s belongings still inside.

“Her purse was in her car, her wallet was in her car, her car key was on the front seat, her bra was on the passenger seat,” said Gazotti. “We just knew something was wrong.”

In the following days, she said she tried to retrace her daughter’s steps and visited the Koko Apartment Complex where her daughter’s car had been towed from. She found crucial surveillance video she would later provide to the police.

On Oct. 26, 2020, Gazotti said she and her husband officially filed a missing persons report.

“Mercedes Clement’s case victimology, that’s very important in an investigation,” said Patty Belew, a homicide detective with the Dallas Police Department.

After nearly nine months, Belew was assigned ro Clement’s case after it was transferred from a missing persons case to homicide. She said the case was transferred because investigators suspect foul play.

“A missing persons is a warrant to locate and usually they’ll canvas a little bit and then that’s pretty much it and then they’ll move on. When it’s a homicide, then we’re out just constantly digging, trying to get information,” said Belew. “I believe that [what] we’re looking at is something has happened to her.”

During their investigation, detectives found that the surveillance camera, which captured the last time Clement was seen, had stopped recording the night of her disappearance for seven hours.

“The video we had, we’re told that it had a glitch in it. So it stopped recording, unfortunately,” said Belew.

According to Belew, she had asked the camera’s video company if glitches were normal and they said, “Not so much.”

Also in the surveillance video, detectives said they noticed the purse Clement is seen with while walking into the apartment complex is the same purse that was later found in her car.

“So either she brought it back or the people who took her put it in the car, and their intentions were to come back to the car, but the car was towed before they were able to do that,” said Belew.

The detectives with the Dallas Police Department said they are currently investigating multiple people of interest, including acquaintances from her past she knew when she was involved in drug use. They’ve also identified the man Clement was last seen with as 36-year-old Tanner Losson.

“We’ve tried to question him and he’s basically refused to speak with us,” said Belew.

Losson is currently in Dallas County Jail on unrelated charges. He did not respond to a request for comment.

“The guy that she was with, he’s not talking. He’s not talking to anybody. He maintains he doesn’t know anything,” said Gazotti.

Gazotti said she’s afraid her daughter’s case may run cold.

“I think that the media, police, missing persons units- there’s always a stigma around certain people, if they look a little different or if they’re living a different life,” said Gazzotti. “They don’t get treated with that same urgency or that same consideration or that same care.”

Of the 500,000 reported missing persons, almost half were people of color, according to the FBI.

The Dallas Police Department told ABC News that shining a spotlight on Mercedes Clement’s case could bring in tips they need to solve it and that if anyone has information about Mercedes Clement, they can call the North Texas Crime Commission at 1-877-373-TIPS.

Gazotti said she refuses to give up the search for her missing daughter.

“My daughter’s life mattered,” she said. “Everyone deserves to be found. Everybody deserves closure.”

The unvaccinated are ‘looking at a winter of severe illness and death’: White House

December 17, 2021 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The White House’s chief coordinator for the U.S. coronavirus response has a strong warning for unvaccinated Americans ahead of a projected surge in cases over the next few weeks.

If you’re vaccinated, “we’ve done the right thing, and we will get through this,” White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients said.

“For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm.”

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, Zients and the White House COVID-19 task force, which includes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky and chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci, highlighted the importance of initial vaccines, which offer strong protection against severe illness, but strongly emphasized the need for fully vaccinated Americans to go out and get their booster shots, which offer the best protection against the new omicron variant.

“The optimum protection is fully vaccinated plus a boost,” Fauci said.

“So the bottom line of what we’ve been telling you all along: It is critical to get vaccinated. If you are vaccinated, it is critical for optimal protection to get boosted,” he said.

Asked if the task force is considering recommending people get boosters earlier than six months after their final shot, the current standard, Fauci said it’s “on the table.”

“You still get protection that’s reasonably good against hospitalization [with two shots]. We want to make that better with the booster,” he said.

“Whether or not we’re going to change what the time interval between your last vaccination and your boost, we always have these on the table for discussion, but right now there has not been a decision on that,” Fauci said.

Only 30% of fully vaccinated Americans have been boosted so far, and about half of fully vaccinated seniors over the age of 65 have been boosted.

But Zients said those numbers are slightly higher among eligible Americans — people who are six months past their final shot.

“The right way to think about the percent boosted is those eligible. And we’ve now boosted about 60 million Americans. That’s about 40% of the eligible Americans. Importantly, of those over 65 we are now more than 60%. And that’s important because they are the most vulnerable,” Zients said.

Still, that means the percentage of boosted Americans with optimal protection against omicron is quite low, at about four in every 10 vaccinated people. And around 40% of the country still remains completely unvaccinated.

The warnings from the White House come in the lead up to Christmas and New Year’s — the first since vaccines became widespread in the US. The holiday season has coincided with the presence of omicron, the most transmissible variant to date.

Yet the holiday guidance from the White House COVID task force continues to be that Americans can and should gather, given the existence of vaccines — a powerful mitigation tool against the virus.

But vaccines alone are not sufficient to ensure full protection, the CDC director warned, and Americans should return to the basics to steer clear of a holiday outbreak among family members.

That includes indoor masking in all public places, ruling out indoor dining or bars, social distancing, hand-washing and spending time in well-ventilated areas. But historically, the country has had a hard time sticking to these measures and is particularly fatigued two years in — circumstances that do not bode well for avoiding a surge this holiday season.

“I think we’re in a very different place this year than we were last year, and we really do want people to be able to gather and gather safely,” Walensky said.

“We have the tools now to do it and what we’re really saying is please rely on those tools. Get vaccinated. If you’re eligible for a boost, get boosted. And importantly, a week before the holidays, indoor mask in these areas that have — 90% of our counties have substantial or high transmission,” Walensky said.

“Use the next week to make sure you’re practicing those safe prevention mitigation strategies, so that when you come together for the holidays, that people have been not exposed to the virus because in fact they’ve been vaccinated, boosted and masked. And for that extra reassurance as we have more disease in this country right now, do a test and make sure that you’re negative before you mix and gather in different households,” she said.

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