It appears that the cross-genre hitmaker has taken up painting as a pastime, taking to Twitter to unveil his latest creation. But he admits that it’s not his best work, sharing a picture of the painting that shows a distorted face with misplaced eyes and mouth, along with dark blue shapes drawn above it with gold, brown and black paint smeared throughout.
“Think I should stick to singing!!” the “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” singer confesses in the caption.
But fans were much gentler on the artist, with one encouraging, “the thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful art,” while another shares, “no judgment when it comes to art because art is self expression. Someone somewhere will see beauty in it.”
When he’s not working to become the next Picasso, Darius has several tour dates booked throughout the summer, including a stop at CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium on June 9.
(NEW YORK) — A group of residents in Llano County, Texas, is suing county officials for removing books from public libraries because officials “disagree with the ideas within them.”
The residents say the county is violating their first amendment rights by removing award-winning books from shelves due to their content and terminating “access to over 17,000 digital books” from the local library system.
“Public libraries are not places of government indoctrination,” the lawsuit filed Monday reads.
It continued, “They are not places where the people in power can dictate what their citizens are permitted to read about and learn. When government actors target public library books because they disagree with and intend to suppress the ideas contained within them, it jeopardizes the freedoms of everyone.”
Several of the books listed in the lawsuit that have been removed from libraries include adult works about oppression and racism like Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by journalist Isabel Wilkerson, and They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.
The lawsuit also listed some of the children’s books that have been removed: Maurice Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen is about a boy’s dream of making a cake, and Robie H. Harris’ It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health is a sex education book about the biology of the human body.
“Though Plaintiffs differ in their ages, professions, and individual religious and political beliefs, they are fiercely united in their love for reading public library books and in their belief that the government cannot dictate which books they can and cannot read,” the lawsuit read.
The complaint states that the library system’s policy claims that “in no case should any book be excluded because of race or nationality or the political or religious views of the writer.”
The local fight over book bans has been ongoing.
In December 2021, the Llano County Library shut down for several days to review the children’s books in the library. The move followed a directive from Matt Krause, the chairman of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating.
He asked districts to provide insight into library material that discussed human sexuality “or contain[ed] material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.”
Shortly after, in January 2022, the court voted to dissolve the existing library board and appointed a new board of residents advocating for the removal of the aforementioned books, according to the lawsuit.
Several plaintiffs wanted to join the new board but say they were refused due to their “public stances against ongoing censorship efforts in the County.”
One plaintiff, according to the lawsuit, “holds a master’s degree in Library and Information Science, previously managed the rare books collection at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and formerly served on a library board in Wichita Falls.” He says he was refused a position on the new board.
Other plaintiffs say they were fired from the previous library board or would not be considered for a position on the new board.
The lawsuit also claims that one librarian was fired after refusing to remove books from the shelf.
Llano County declined to comment to ABC News about the lawsuit.
In a past statement, County Judge Ron Cunningham told The Washington Post that the county was “cognizant of the concerns of our citizens pertaining to our library system.”
He claimed that “a portion of the public and media have chosen to propagate disinformation that Llano County (and other rural communities) are operating with political or phobic motivations,” and said that such was not the case.
Llano County is just one of many nationwide fired up about the restriction of subjects in public libraries and schools.
Republican-backed efforts across the country, including what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida or the anti-race education legislation, aim to limit speech and/or content on race, gender and sexual orientation.
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has tracked a record-breaking number of book challenges, or attempts to ban or remove books, in 2021.
“In 2021, libraries found themselves at the center of attacks orchestrated by conservative parent groups and right-wing media that targeted books about race, gender, and LGBTQIA+ issues for removal from public and school library shelves and, in some cases, included threats of book burning,” the organization stated in its “State of America’s Libraries” study.
When it came to recording his first duet, Cole Swindell wanted to be intentional with selecting his partner, and he had a feeling that Lainey Wilson was meant to be the one on “Never Say Never.”
The Georgia native reveals that “Never” was written years prior to him and Lainey taking it to #1 on the country charts, but notes that it was waiting for the right person to pitch the song to.
“I’ve always loved this song…but we knew it had to be a duet, so we knew we had to find the right person. I can’t even imagine anybody else singing on this song than Lainey,” Cole professes, noting that he already was a fan of her hit “Things a Man Oughta Know.”
“I was like, ‘This just makes sense,'” Cole recalls. “I didn’t know how our voices were going to sound together, any of that. I just knew I was a fan of her.”
In trusting that instinct, Cole sent the demo of the track to Lainey while she was on vacation in Mexico. Cole was hesitant at first to send it, but once he did, both singers knew it was going to be an important song in their careers.
“After I sent her the song, the next three minutes felt like three hours. I was waiting to see what she thought about it, but her response was, ‘I’m in. This sounds like a big song,'” he remembers. “She knows that as much as she’s thankful I asked her to be on it, I’m thankful that she agreed to do it. We’ve said from the minute we heard the final mix of it that this is gonna change things for both of us.”
In the new AMC drama series, 61st Street, Courtney B. Vance stars as Franklin Roberts, a lawyer working to prevent Tosin Cole‘s character, Moses Johnson, from becoming a victim of Chicago’s infamously corrupt criminal justice system. In addition to telling the all-too-familiar story of “a Black man’s life in jeopardy at the hands of police,” Vance says he hopes the show continues the real-life conversation on police reform.
Speaking with ABC Audio on the history of police in America, Vance says, “Their job was to keep African American males in line, so that is the idea of protecting and serving.”
The series’ plot — authorities seeking revenge against Moses for the killing of an officer — falls right in line with what Vance says is the reason that police as an organization was initially created.
“Their mission in the beginning was slave captures and making sure that the Black community was kept where they’re supposed to be, because we’re quote-unquote ‘animals,'” Vance maintains.
While there are many aspects to the reform conversation, Vance says one of the most important factors to examine is that of police training.
“What is the unspoken rule and what is the unspoken training when it comes to people of color?” he says. “No one really wants to talk about the training, when they confront an African American young man as opposed to a white young man.”
Vance then points out, “We all know what the training is [when police confront a Black man,] because we see the results of it, that the gun…clip is empty. Not one bullet…15.”
Regarding his own interest in affecting positive change, Vance says, “I believe that humans are bigger and more important than any system. Because the system is made up of us.”
Envy of None, the new band featuring Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, released its self-titled debut album earlier this month.
The band, which also features bassist Andy Curran of the veteran Canadian rock group Coney Hatch, guitarist/keyboardist Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, mostly recorded the album remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has yet to play any concerts.
Curran tells ABC Audio that while he and Lifeson are “not in any rush to get out and start touring in a huge way,” they’re not ruling out doing some performances.
“I think we’re…excited to see where this thing might end up,” Andy says about the Envy of None album, “and if people are excited and if it’s like lightning in a bottle, I think we’d be open to doing…a handful of special shows.”
Curran also notes with a laugh that during a recent interview, Wynne, who at age 25 is far younger than her Envy of None band mates, revealed that her mother “was really hoping that we could play on Jimmy Kimmel [Live!]”
Adds Andy, “So if Jimmy Kimmel reaches out, maybe you’ll see Envy of None on [his show]. But I think it’s kind of like a ‘we’ll see.’ We’re certainly just being open-minded about it at this point.”
Up to now, the members of Envy of None have been promoting the album with select interviews and a few music videos.
On Monday, the band premiered its latest video, for the song “Never Said I Love You.” The clip, which you can watch now at the Kscope label’s official YouTube channel, features footage of a professional dancer named Sapphire Sumpter dancing expressively down the hallway and around a room of a high-rise hotel.
Peacock’s original comedy, Killing It, stars Craig Robinson as an underdog pursuing the American Dream, facing relatable — yet absurd — obstacles in order to make it big.
This hilarious new series highlights the insanity of today’s get-rich-or-die-trying culture, and is brought to you by the duo who produced The Office and Brooklyn Nine Nine. Of course, chasing after a dream often times comes with a few “no’s,” something Robinson tells ABC Audio he can relate to.
“That’s the beautiful part about being told “no” as an actor,” he says. “Like there are some projects where if I had gotten a yes, I wouldn’t have been on The Office. You know what I mean? So it’s like, no’s aren’t always bad. You just gotta be able to keep going.”
In Killing It, Robinson says his character is “relentless in his quest to achieve that American dream.”
“He’s figured out what he wants, he’s trying different things, and now there’s one thing separating him and that Saw Palmetto farm he wants to get. Well there’s a lot of things, a lot of snakes,” he explains.
Speaking of snakes, a lot of people fear the reptiles, including Robinson, that is up until six years ago.
“I got over my fear of snakes because I was in Australia and I went to an animal sanctuary and I ended up holding a snake,” he shares. “Snake felt amazing. I held another one. That one felt amazing. I realized snakes mean me no harm.”
“We’ve been lied to by the Bible and Indiana Jones. So once I got this offer, I was like, yeah, I’m down! I ain’t worried about it. Let’s do it,” he adds.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he pardoned three people who have “demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation,” including 86-year-old Abraham W. Bolden Sr., who was the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.
The president also commuted the sentences of 75 people who are currently serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.
“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities,” Biden said in a statement.
Tuesday’s action was the first time Biden used his clemency powers during his presidency and came after advocates and progressive Democrats urged the president to fulfill his long-awaited campaign promise to use his executive authority to address mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system, a crisis that was accelerated through policies like the 1994 crime bill, sweeping legislation authored by then-Sen. Biden that experts now say disproportionately impacted people of color.
Biden touted his clemency executive action as “important progress.”
“My administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms that advance equity and justice, provide second chances, and enhance the wellbeing and safety of all Americans,” the president said.
While advocates and criminal justice experts have praised Biden’s clemency actions, some experts told ABC News the measures fall short of ensuring a streamlined process to address the backlog of petitions requesting clemency grants to nonviolent offenders.
“It’s great that 78 people received clemency in some form today, but it fades into the background of 18,000 petitions pending on the President’s desk,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. “The President needs to come up with a system for ensuring that those thousands of petitions receive a careful and thorough review and the attention they deserve. It’s not clear to me that the current process is up to the task.”
In addition to the clemency actions, the Biden administration released plans to expand economic opportunities and ease reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals.
The myriad of new measures include a $145 million investment in job training programs for convicted felons in Bureau of Prison facilities, which will be done through collaboration between the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. The administration also plans to expand employment opportunities post release, access to small business loan investments, as well as higher education.
Analysis from a 2017 report from the National Reentry Resource Center reveals that evidence-based reentry policies and programs have been shown to improve the outcomes of formerly incarcerated individuals.
“The actions we’re taking today will have a real impact for someone trying to land a job, find a safe and affordable place to live with their children and get back on their feet,” Susan Rice, Domestic Policy Advisor for the Biden administration, said while praising the new measures during a White House Roundtable with formerly incarcerated Americans.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
San Francisco 8 Oakland 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Seattle 8, Tampa Bay 4
NY Yankees 12, Baltimore 8
Kansas City 6, Chi White Sox 0
Minnesota 5, Detroit 4
Toronto 6, Boston 5
Houston 5, Texas 1
LA Angels 4, Cleveland 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Atlanta 3, Chi Cubs 1
San Diego 9, Cincinnati 6
Milwaukee 12, Pittsburgh 8
Philadelphia 10, Colorado 3
Miami 5, Washington 2
NY Mets 3, St. Louis 0
Arizona 5, LA Dodgers 3
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS
Miami 97, Atlanta 94 (Miami wins 4-1)
Final Memphis 111, Minnesota 109 (Memphis leads 3-2)
Phoenix 112, New Orleans 97 (Phoenix leads 3-2)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 4, Columbus 1
Toronto 3, Detroit 0
NY Islanders 4, Washington 1
Edmonton 5, Pittsburgh 1
Boston 4, Florida 2
Final Carolina 4, NY Rangers 3
Ottawa 5, New Jersey 4 (OT)
Arizona 5, Minnesota 3
Calgary 5, Nashville 4 (OT)
Dallas 3, Vegas 2 (SO)
Colorado 5, St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5, Seattle 2
Anaheim 4, San Jose 2
(WASHINGTON) — Capt. Samuel Choe, a former resident of Fort Gordon in Georgia, flew 17 hours from his deployment in South Korea to testify before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday about the mold exposure he said his family endured in private military housing and the chronic health issues suffered by his 8-year-old daughter, including a skin condition called severe atopic dermatitis — or severe eczema.
The degree of her condition, which he described as “potentially fatal,” had caused her to wake up in the middle of the night to parts of her body caked in blood from minor scratches or irritation, he said, adding that it would “haunt” his daughter “for the rest of our lives.”
“I do not recall ever seeing the type [of] conditions that we have lived under while we were at Fort Gordon,” said Choe, who has served in the military for 12 years and grew up in military housing with his parents.
Choe was among the family members and advocates who testified Tuesday at the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations about what they said was mismanagement, neglect and abuse they suffered in private military housing paid for using defense appropriations funds for service members’ on-base accommodations.
Their concerns — focused on one of the Army, Air Force and Navy’s largest private housing providers, Balfour Beatty — ranged from environmental hazards, including unaddressed mold, to logistical failures leading to delayed repairs. In total, Balfour provides housing on 55 separate Army, Navy and Air Force bases across 26 states, with a total of over 43,000 on-base homes occupied by roughly 150,000 residents, according to the company.
The hearing was held hours after the subcommittee released a bipartisan “Mistreatment of Military Families in Privatized Housing” report detailing alleged negligent responses and deceitful practices by Balfour Beatty.
The same company pleaded guilty last year to fraud after a Department of Justice investigation that uncovered instances of falsified data in Balfour’s internal data management software. Artificially augmenting the number of resolved work orders allowed Balfour employees to receive larger bonuses — which at the time was part of the company’s financial compensation policy, the probe found.
The plea deal included a $65 million fine and three-year probation during which an independent compliance body monitors the company’s activity.
The report released Tuesday specifically examines conditions at Balfour housing units on Georgia’s Fort Gordon Army Base and Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas between late 2019 and early 2022.
Tech. Sgt. Jack Fe Torres, who said his wife and children also suffered a host of medical problems after being exposed to mold in a Balfour home at Sheppard Air Force Base also testified. The family’s issues began with an insufficient water heater repair, he said, which led to a flood and then to mold.
While trying to address this issue, Torres said he noticed that work orders submitted to Balfour on his family’s behalf were doctored to minimize the severity of the situation.
“At one point, we were told that a large spot of mold in our mechanical room wall was just a burn mark,” he said.
The hearing included interviews with over a dozen military families and former Balfour employees. Two Balfour executives, including President of Facility Operations, Renovation and Construction Richard Taylor, testified as well.
“I reject the suggestion that it’s a systemic failure,” he said in response to Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., detailing a host of concerns flagged by residents. Taylor suggested Choe’s daughter, for example, could have contracted her illness outside the home.
Paula Cook, Balfour’s vice president of military community management, said the company did all it could for its residents.
Both insisted they were not aware of the data manipulation that had occurred, insisted there was no longer fraudulent activity going on at Balfour and said the issues the company was accused of were isolated and unrelated. An unnamed third party now fields Balfour military housing complaint calls, they testified, and the company has a new system to keep Balfour on-site employees from editing work order histories.
At one point, Ossoff bluntly asked, “Did your senior executives know that for six years, the company was engaging in fraud?”
Taylor said that “no,” he did not.
Ossoff followed up: “Would you know now if your company was continuing to engage in fraud?”
(CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wisc.) — Police said Tuesday they’ve arrested a suspect in connection with the death of a 10-year-old girl whose body was found on a Wisconsin walking trail.
Lily Peters, a fourth grader, was reported missing by her father on Sunday night, said police in Chippewa Falls, a city about 100 miles east of Minneapolis.
Lily had been at her aunt’s house on Sunday and never made it home that night, police said.
On Sunday night officers found Lily’s bike in the woods by a walking trail near her aunt’s house, police said.
Around 9:15 a.m. Monday, Lily’s body was found in a wooded area near the walking trail, Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm said at a news conference.
On Tuesday evening, Kelm said the police arrested an unidentified juvenile suspect who was not a stranger to the girl. Kelm said that the suspect was known to the family.
“While nothing will bring back Lily Peters, we are grateful to deliver the news of an arrest to the family,” he said at a news conference.
The chief said the police received over 200 tips, and some were critical to the arrest.
The investigation was ongoing. Kelm had earlier said police are considering this a homicide investigation.
ABC News’ Matt Foster and Darren Reynolds contributed to this report.
