(MIDLAND, Texas) — The head coach and six members of the University of the Southwest men’s and women’s golf teams were among nine people killed in a head-on vehicle crash in Texas, authorities said.
The crash occurred Tuesday night near Midland, Texas, and only two people aboard the college team’s van survived, according to a statement from the University of the Southwest in Hobbs, New Mexico.
The college confirmed that Tyler James, the head coach of both the men’s and women’s golf teams, was among those killed. The coach and his teams were returning home from a tournament in Midland when the crash occurred, according to the school’s statement.
“The USW campus community is shocked and saddened today as we mourn the loss of members of our university family,” school officials said in the statement to ABC affiliate station KMID in Midland.
The names of the students killed were not immediately released.
Two passengers in the team van who survived the wreck were in critical condition Wednesday at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, the school’s statement said.
“We would ask for prayers for their recovery and for comfort and strength for all of families and friends and students of those whose lives have been lost,” school officials said in the statement.
Sgt. Steven Blanco of the Texas Department of Public Safety said the crash happened around 8:17 p.m. Tuesday on a two-lane road about nine miles east of Andrews, Texas, when the 17-seat passenger van carrying the golf teams collided with a pickup truck.
Two people in the pickup truck were killed, authorities said.
A preliminary investigation indicates that the driver of the southbound pickup truck for unknown reasons veered into the northbound lanes, colliding with the van, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday. The agency said both vehicles caught fire following the crash.
Blanco said the cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Texas Highway Patrol’s West Texas Region.
“It’s a very tragic scene. Very very tragic,” said Blanco, describing the crash when officers first arrived.
University officials confirmed that James was driving the vehicle when the collision happened.
James was in his first year as head coach of both the women’s and men’s golf teams, school officials said.
School officials said they were working Wednesday to notify the families of all those involved in the crash and to provide counseling and religious services to all students, faculty and staff on campus.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released a statement Wednesday asking Texans to join in praying for the families of those whose lives were lost and for the recovery of two critically injured students.
“We grieve with the loved ones of the individuals whose lives were horrifically taken too soon in this fatal vehicle crash near Andrews last night,” Abbott said.
(NEW YORK) — Russian forces are continuing their attempted push through Ukraine from multiple directions, while Ukrainians, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are putting up “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The attack began Feb. 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation.”
Russian forces moving from neighboring Belarus toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have advanced closer to the city center in recent days despite the resistance. Heavy shelling and missile attacks, many on civilian buildings, continue in Kyiv, as well as major cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol. Russia also bombed western cities for the first time this week, targeting Lviv and a military base near the Poland border.
Russia has been met by sanctions from the United States, Canada and countries throughout Europe, targeting the Russian economy as well as Putin himself.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Mar 16, 12:38 pm
UN’s top court orders Russia to halt invasion
By a vote of 13-2, the United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, made a preliminary ruling that Russia “shall immediately suspend military operations.”
The two votes against were from Russia and China.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted on Twitter, writing that “Russia must comply immediately.” But the ruling is mostly symbolic as the ICJ has no direct means to enforce it.
-ABC News’ Cindy Smith
Mar 16, 11:09 am
House and Senate leadership to receive classified briefings
House and Senate leadership, along with ranking members of relevant committees, will receive a classified briefing on the war in Ukraine following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s personal and emotional plea to Congress for more help.
The House briefing will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday and the Senate will follow at 3:30 p.m.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Mariam Khan
Mar 16, 10:49 am
Jake Sullivan warns of consequences if Russia uses chemical or biological weapons
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Russian counterpart, Nikolay Patrushev, on Wednesday “to reiterate the United States’ firm and clear opposition to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine,” National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.
She said Sullivan told Patrushev that Russia should stop attacking Ukraine if it’s serious about diplomacy and warned “about the consequences and implications of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.”
Horne said Sullivan “clearly laid out” that the U.S. will continue “imposing costs on Russia” as well as support Ukraine and defend NATO’s eastern flank.
This conversation marked the first high-level engagement between the U.S. and Russia since the Kremlin launched its war against Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez and Conor Finnegan
Mar 16, 10:43 am
Putin justifies invasion, says troops ‘doing everything possible’ to avoid harming civilians
In a speech Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin falsely claimed that Russia’s military tactics have been “completely justified” and that Russian troops are “doing everything possible” to avoid harming Ukrainian civilians.
Putin sought to justify Russia’s invasion, claiming that all “diplomatic possibilities were exhausted” and Russia had “no choice” but to launch its operation. He claimed that the “appearance of Russian troops near Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities” is not connected “with a goal of occupying that country” and that it is about defusing a supposed threat to Russia.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Mar 16, 9:38 am
Zelenskyy asks Congress to back no-fly zone over Ukraine
In a virtual address to members of Congress Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the U.S. to back a no-fly zone over the war-torn country.
If a no-fly zone is not possible, Zelenskyy asked for aircraft “to help Ukraine.”
“Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands” — a “terror” Europe hasn’t seen in 80 years, Zelenskyy said.
In an emotional appeal, Zelenskyy asked members of Congress to put themselves in the shoes of Ukrainians by remembering Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks.
Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for U.S. involvement, but called on Congress to do more.
“New packages of sanctions are needed constantly … we propose that the United States sanction all politicians in the Russian Federation who remain in their offices and do not cut ties with those who are responsible for the aggression against Ukraine,” he said.
“Members of Congress, please take the lead. If you have companies in your districts who finance the Russian military machine… you should put pressure,” he said.
“The destiny of our country is being decided,” he said. “Russia has attacked not just us… it went on a brutal offensive against our values, basic human values.”
Zelenskyy received a standing ovation before and after his remarks.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that a no-fly zone “is escalatory and could prompt a war with Russia.”
“Providing the planes, our military did an assessment that’s based not just on the risk but whether it would have a huge benefit to them,” Psaki said. “They assessed it would not because they have their own squadron of planes and because the type of military assistance that is working to fight this war effectively is the type of assistance we’re already providing.”
Mar 16, 9:10 am
Fox News correspondent injured in Ukraine is safe, out of the country
Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who was reporting in Ukraine when he was injured by incoming fire that killed two colleagues, is now safe and out of the country, according to the network.
Hall “is alert and said to be in good spirits,” Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer reported Wednesday.
Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, was newsgathering with Hall on Monday in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire, the network said. Zakrzewski was killed while Hall was injured and hospitalized in unknown condition.
Ukrainian producer and fixer, 24-year-old Oleksandra Kuvshynova, who was working for Fox News during the war, was also killed in the shelling, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Mar 16, 6:44 am
Russia claims Ukraine willing to give up NATO hopes
Russia’s lead negotiator in peace talks with Ukraine said on Wednesday Ukraine had proposed adopting a “neutral status,” along the lines of Austria or Sweden, that is a country that is not part of NATO but has its own military and close ties to the West, including European Union membership.
There has been no official confirmation from Ukraine, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said in recent days that Ukraine understands it will not be allowed to join NATO.
“The preservation and development of the neutral status of Ukraine, its demilitarization Ukraine — a whole complex of questions connected with the size of the Ukrainian army,” Russia’s negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, was quoted as saying by Russian media. “Ukraine proposes the Austrian, Swedish option of a neutral demilitarised state, but within that a state possessing its own army and navy. All these questions are being discussed at the level of the leaderships of the ministry of defense of Russia and Ukraine.”
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, claimed on Wednesday that the negotiators in the fourth round of talks were discussing “concrete formulations” that are “close to agreement.”
An agreement that Ukraine wouldn’t seek to join NATO raises questions. Ukraine’s constitution includes a pledge to join the alliance that would likely need to be changed, which would be highly controversial.
If the Sweden-style status is acceptable to Russia that would also mean the Kremlin has significantly lowered its war aims. Ukraine was not close to joining NATO before the conflict and a commitment not to would be little more than affirming the status quo before Russia’s invasion.
“The goal pursued by Russia at these negotiations is exactly the same as the goal set by Russia at the very beginning of the special military operation,” Medinsky said. “We need a peaceful, free and independent Ukraine, a neutral one, not a member of some military blocs or a member of NATO, but a country that would be our friend and neighbor, so that we could jointly develop relations and build our future and that would not serve as a bridgehead for a military and economic attack on our country. So, our goal is unchanged.”
This is why “practically every digit or letter in the agreements” is being thoroughly discussed with the Ukrainian side, Medinsky said.
“We want this agreement to last for generations, so that our children live in peace, the foundation of which is laid by this negotiating process,” he said.
Russia is also pursuing other demands in the talks, including the recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and the Russian-controlled separatist regions as independent. They also want changes in laws giving more guarantees for Russian-speakers in Ukraine.
Mar 16, 6:34 am
Russian forces ‘struggling’ with terrain: UK military
Russia’s military forces are “struggling to overcome” Ukraine’s terrain as they attempt to push further into the country, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.
“Russian forces have remained largely tied to Ukraine’s road network and have demonstrated a reluctance to conduct off-road manoeuvre,” the Ministry said in an update. “The destruction of bridges by Ukrainian forces has also played a key role in stalling Russia’s advance.”
Ukraine’s military has “adeptly exploited” Russia’s difficulty moving through the country, “frustrating the Russian advance and inflicting heavy losses on the invading forces,” the update said.
Garth Brooks is adding another stop to his Stadium Tour for 2022. The superstar will play at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Bank of America Stadium, which is the home of the Carolina Panthers.
It’ll be Garth’s first time playing the venue, and his first show in Charlotte in more than 20 years. It’s a make-up date of sorts: He first planned a Stadium Tour date in Charlotte in 2021, but that show was one of five that got canceled after a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
Before that show had to be pushed, over 70,000 fans had purchased tickets, selling out the venue. Between all the canceled dates, over 350,000 tickets were refunded to Garth’s pushed 2021 shows; he’s been mounting a return to the dates he wasn’t able to make last year. Recently, Garth also announced 2022 dates at Nashville and Cincinnati, two cities he wasn’t able to hit last year.
Tickets for Garth’s Charlotte show go on sale March 25 at 10 a.m. ET, and the concert itself will take place July 16. As always for Garth’s Stadium shows, the concert will feature in-the-round seating, and tickets retail for $94.95 apiece, all-inclusive.
Tank has done it again. The singer has racked up his sixth #1 on R&B radio with “I Deserve.”
The song, which Tank also wrote and produced, is the second single off his upcoming 10th studio album, R&B Money. It follows his previous #1 R&B hit, “Can’t Let It Show.”
“I feel like Jordan in ’98 winning his sixth title with the Chicago Bulls! I’m so grateful to all the R&B music lovers because this couldn’t happen without you,” Tank says in a statement about “I Deserve” hitting #1. “This is a blessing, and I’m here to share more with the fans as I gear up for the release of R&B Money.”
R&B Money is due out later this year. In the meantime, Tank has some performances lined up, including shows at Orlando’s Soul Festival, Cincinnati Music Festival, and Club Quarantine Live in Las Vegas over Labor Day Weekend.
Jack Harlow is ready to launch his second studio album, announcing the title and release date on Wednesday.
The rapper’s Come Home the Kids Miss You album is due out May 6, he told Rolling Stone. He also admitted “Nail Tech” is “probably my least favorite song on the album” because his upcoming work is “more serious” to reflect the journey he is on.
“I want to be… the face of my generation, for these next 10 years,” he explained. “We need more people in my generation that are trying to be the best, and you can’t do that with just ear candy, vibe records. You got to come out swinging sometimes… I got to dig deeper this time.”
In order to be “one of the best in my generation,” the “Industry Baby” singer decided to make a few life changes. One included quitting alcohol, which he did a year ago. Though he didn’t have a drinking problem, Harlow said simply didn’t like how he felt the day after drinking and so decided to ditch “boyish things.”
“I’m sick of waking up with a dry throat, sick of feeling bloated, I’m sick of the decisions I make on it,” he explained. “I’m in my well-oiled-machine era. Because I can see my future right in front of me. And I feel there’s so many people counting on me outside of myself.”
As one of the few white men in the rap game, Harlow says he hasn’t been asked if its “right” for him to be in the genre, because “people see I have an innate passion for rapping, so they don’t ask me that question.” Instead, he plans on “honoring the competition.”
“I’m gonna go out on that court and play as hard as you’re playing,” he vowed.
(NEW YORK) — Teachers in Florida and around the country are speaking out as the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill heads to the governor’s desk.
The controversial bill bans discussion “on sexual orientation or gender identity” in Florida’s K-3 classrooms. Officially known as the “Parental Rights in Education” bill (HB 1557), it is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, if Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has indicated his support for the bill, signs it into state law.
One of the stipulations in HB 1557 states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
House Rep. Joe Harding, who sponsored the bill in the Florida House, spoke to ABC News after the bill passed.
“What we’re preventing is a school district deciding they’re going to create a curriculum to insert themselves,” he said in an interview with ABC News’ “Start Here” podcast. “The school district doesn’t need to insert themselves at that point when children are still learning how to read and do basic math.”
High school students, especially LGBTQ youth have been protesting the bill, saying the pending legislation will be harmful to students who are already at higher risk for abuse and mental health conditions.
Some teachers and their unions are also calling out the bill, saying it’s politicizing the classroom and warning that the legislation could lead to bullying.
Karla Hernández-Mats, the president of United Teachers of Dade, a local union that represents 30,000 employees of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, told GMA she has heard from both teachers and parents about the “Parental Rights in Education” bill.
“Teachers find it ludicrous that we’re being used as scapegoats because, first of all, teachers don’t teach children to be gay. That’s absurd,” Hernández-Mats said, pointing out that sexual education is not a part of the existing K-3 curriculum in the state.
She went on, “We know that the curriculum for every school in Florida is set by the Florida Department of Education. So we understand that this is an attack on teachers, an attack on students, an attack on their freedom. Despite these attacks, we’re gonna keep on pushing forward.”
Hernández-Mats said parents are being misled about what is actually being taught in K-3 classrooms. She also argued that teachers should have the ability to guide students when new ideas and concepts are brought up by students themselves.
“The reality is that if there is a child that has something that they want to say that maybe they only feel safe in our school district, then we should be able as educators not only to embrace them and listen to what it is that they’re saying but provide them the resources also so that they can get the help that they need,” said Hernández-Mats, who has also worked as a middle school special education science teacher.
Some educators are also voicing their support for LGBTQ students and speaking out on social media and using the hashtags #dontsaygay and #dontsaygaybill on platforms like TikTok and Twitter.
Meghan Mayer, a public school teacher in North Port, Florida, shared a TikTok video with her perspective, saying in part, “Public education in America is under attack … we’re now going after our most vulnerable student population, or LGBTQ+ students. These students already face a higher rate of bullying and are at higher risk of suicide as compared to their straight cisgender peers.”
“As a Florida educator and honestly as a parent in Florida, I’m feeling pretty helpless,” Mayer said, before telling viewers to vote with their wallets and boycott corporations that have donated to lawmakers behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The middle school reading teacher, who is considering switching to the elementary level, told “GMA” she is concerned about its real-world impact on students, some of whom have come to her asking for more information about the bill.
“It’s something that definitely concerns me, making that transition from middle to elementary because I want all of my students to feel loved and to feel seen and heard and valued and it’s gonna be really difficult to tell a student, ‘No, you can’t talk about your family. No, we’re not allowed to do that,'” she said. “I mean, how do you say that to a kindergartener or a first grader?”
Mayer said she read the text of the bill and found its language “so vague.”
“I just feel like it is really going to open the door for just a lot of discrimination. I think it’s going to do a lot of harm to a lot of our students,” she said.
Mayer also said it’s not just students who might be affected but her fellow teachers as well.
“When teachers have been through so much already, just like a lot of other essential workers have, a bill like this just continues to invalidate us as educators, like we don’t know what’s best,” she said. “I think that’s the thing that bothers me the most is that, ‘Do you think so little of us that you really think that we don’t know what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate to talk about with students in our classroom?’ Once again, we’re just not respected as educators.”
“This bill worries me for educators too, who are LGBTQ,” Mayer continued. “Because does that mean that they can’t have a picture of them and their spouse on their desk for fear that somebody might ask about it and then that’s going to lead to some sort of conversation? I feel like it specifically targets LGBTQ students and teachers.”
President Biden has called the bill “hateful” and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said his department opposes the state bill.
“Leaders in Florida are prioritizing hateful bills that hurt some of the students most in need,” he said in a statement. “The Department of Education has made clear that all schools receiving federal funding must follow federal civil rights law, including Title IX’s protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We stand with our LGBTQ+ students in Florida and across the country, and urge Florida leaders to make sure all their students are protected and supported.”
(NEW YORK) — A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Japan late Wednesday, triggering a tsunami threat and leaving more than 2 million households without electricity, officials said.
Preliminary reports put it at a 7.3 magnitude. The earthquake occurred just off the coast from Fukushima.
A tsunami threat was issued for the east coast of Honshu, Japan, by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center based on preliminary earthquake parameters. The center warned of possible hazardous tsunami waves for coastal communities within 186 miles of the epicenter.
A tsunami is not expected in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia or Alaska, according to the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center.
Japan’s NHK World news service reported that the Tokyo area is under large power outages with more than 2 million households currently without power.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck around 11:36 p.m. local time and its epicenter was pinpointed about 20.5 miles below the sea.
In 2011, a strong earthquake struck in the same general area causing a tsunami and causing a nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Japan’s nuclear regulator reported Wednesday that preliminary information indicates no abnormalities at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(SEATTLE) — Starbucks says green isn’t just a bold color for its logo or signage, but an aspiration and reminder to be a resource positive company that helps the planet in proactive ways.
Ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting Wednesday and the announced retirement of CEO Kevin Johnson, Starbucks is sharing some of its efforts to help the company reduce waste by 50% by 2030.
The efforts will include reusable cup programs and a new app to help employees better sort where waste and recycling should go at a specific location, the company said in a press release Tuesday.
Over the last few years the Seattle-based coffee company has tested and prepared to scale various sustainability initiatives including a pilot program for reusable cups.
“We have a bold long-term sustainability vision and ambitious goals for 2030,” Johnson said in a statement. “Starbucks partners around the world are passionate about protecting our planet and are at the very center of driving the innovation that enables us to give more than we take from the planet.”
To help reach its goal, Starbucks says it will shift away from single-use plastics and pilot more of the reusable cup programs in six markets around the world.
By the end of 2023, customers will be able to use their own personal reusable cups at U.S. and Canada locations for both in-store and drive-thru or mobile orders, the company says.
“Our goal, by 2025, is to create a cultural movement towards reusables by giving customers easy access to a personal or Starbucks provided reusable to-go cup for every visit, making it convenient and delightful to reuse wherever customers are enjoying their Starbucks Experience,” the company said.
The company announced Wednesday that Johnson will be step down and remain a special consultant to the board through September. Howard Schultz will serve as interim CEO and help with the search process and onboarding of the company’s next leader.
Kassi Ashton is now engaged to Travis Myatt, general management of Nashville-based publishing company Twelve6 Entertainment, after five years of dating. The “Dates in Pickup Trucks” singer posted about the magical moment on Instagram, revealing that her now-fiancee popped the question in Key West, FL on the pier where they first met. He organized it so that her family was also part of it, secretly waiting on the beach to congratulate them after she said “yes.”
“He surprised me with this trip, my dream ring, my dream antique ring box, and my dream photographer, @ktcrabbphoto. I asked him how I was to repay him and he said, ‘marry me,'” she describes in the caption alongside a gallery of photos that show Travis down on one knee with a ring in hand under the stars, Kassi falling to her knees in tears. “It’s almost as if you and fate planned this all along. I love you so much @jtmyatt.”
“I was in love with her before she knew my first name… now she’s taking my last name,” Travis wrote in his own post wherein Kassi is showing off the massive diamond on her engagement ring.
Travis Denning, Little Big Town‘s Karen Fairchild, Grammy winning songwriter Lori McKenna and Jon Pardi‘s wife Summer were among the many people who shared congratulatory messages in the comment section.
Samir Hussein/WireImage; Hector Vivas/Getty Images for amfAR
Rod Stewart, Gloria Gaynor, The Commodores and Dolly Parton will all be participating in a three-day virtual event being staged next week by AARP, the organization that focuses on issues affecting people aged 50 or over.
The event, called AARP Celebrates You, runs from March 24 to March 26. It’ll feature musical performances, celebrity chats, a movie screening and informational discussions, and it’s free.
Stewart will be performing March 25 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. Organizers promise he’ll sing hits like “Maggie May,” “You’re in My Heart” and “Have I Told You Lately.”
Gaynor and The Commodores, as well as DJ Jazzy Jeff, all will perform as part of a two-hour event called “Daybreaker Live! Motown Dance Party” that’s scheduled for March 26 at 11 a.m. ET.
As for Parton, she’ll appear virtually with author James Patterson for a conversation about Run Rose Run, the new book they co-wrote. That event will air March 25 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
AARP Celebrates You will kick off on March 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET with a moderated discussion featuring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
You can register for the event, and find out more about all the stars who’ll be taking part and the sessions being offered, at AARP.org/celebrates.
