(WASHINGTON) — In his first court appearance on Wednesday, a judge denied the release of the suspect accused of a series of shootings targeting homeless people in Washington, D.C., and New York.
30-year-old Gerald Brevard III appeared in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia where he is facing charges stemming from three attacks on homeless people in D.C., including one murder.
Brevard is accused of five shootings of people experiencing homelessness, two of which were fatal, in New York and D.C. this month.
In D.C., Brevard is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill and first-degree murder while armed.
According to investigators, the same firearm was used in the D.C. shootings and firearm casings from the New York shootings have been preliminarily linked to the same gun, court filings show.
Attorneys for Brevard claimed prosecutors did not prove probable cause and requested his release.
Attorneys for Brevard listed inconsistencies in some of the witness descriptions, claiming Brevard did not meet the descriptions of the shooter, and requested that he be released, but the judge sided with prosecutors, saying they had established probable cause.
Prosecutors said that cellphone evidence places Brevard in D.C. and New York at the times of the shootings and that the incidents were unprovoked attacks against vulnerable people, some of whom were sleeping when they were shot.
Prosecutors also noted that the attacks were all committed within a short period of time, with all five shootings happening between March 3 and March 12.
The judge found probable cause, saying the inconsistencies in the case against Brevard does not defeat the probable cause.
After 19 seasons, more than 3,200 episodes, and 64 Daytime Emmy Awards, The Ellen DeGeneres Show will wrap up on Thursday, May 26 — and Ellen has lined up some big names to help her say goodbye.
Producers of the series have announced that among DeGeneres’ final guests will be “longtime friends of the show,” including, former First Lady Michelle Obama; David Letterman; Jennifer Garner; Channing Tatum; Serena Williams; Diane Keaton; husband and wife Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo; and Ellen’s wife, Arrested Development vet Portia de Rossi.
“The lineup of special guests will pay tribute to the trailblazing host and share their favorite memories from DeGeneres’ 19 iconic seasons,” the show promises.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show first premiered on September 8, 2003. In May of 2021, and following a toxic work environment scandal that led to the dismissal of several high-ranking producers, Ellen announced she would be ending her talk show the following year.
Slipknot‘s “Tortilla Man” has finally been unmasked.
The mystery percussionist, who joined the Knot in 2019 following the departure of longtime member Chris Fehn, has been officially identified as Michael Pfaff. Slipknot confirmed the news in an Instagram post announcing a Reddit AMA with Pfaff.
Pfaff had long been rumored to be person behind Tortilla Man — a nickname earned thanks to his mask’s golden hue — with fans pointing out that he previously played in M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan‘s Dirty Little Rabbits side project. That theory seemed to be proven true when a photo of Clown, drummer Jay Weinberg and someone who looked a lot like Pfaff were spotted at Slovenia’s Postojna Cave tourist attraction during Slipknot’s 2020 European tour.
Even with all the rumors, Slipknot never officially revealed Pfaff’s identity until today. When Kerrang! asked Clown about who Tortilla Man was during a 2019 interview, Clown responded, “The position you may or may not be talking about is nobody’s f***ing business.”
As for what caused Slipknot’s change of heart, we may never know. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the band’s Knotfest Roadshow tour kicks off tonight in Fargo, North Dakota.
After taking a three-month break from social media — which caused fans to worry that something bad might have happened to him — the “Montero” rapper returned on Wednesday with a killer joke.
“why are people surprised i’ve been away for so long?” he wrote. “have y’all really never heard of maternity leave?”
As you may recall, Nas X referred to his debut album, Montero, as a “baby” that he was “giving birth to,” complete with pregnancy photos. The “baby” is now six months old.
The star then teased, “i’m so happy i’m back on the internet. i missed me so much.”
But the best news is that Lil Nas X has new music for us: He tweeted a picture of two different songs — “Late to the Party,” featuring NBAYoungBoy, and “Down Souf Hoes,” featuring Saucy Santana — and asked, “Which one y’all want first?”
When Saucy Santana, who, like Lil Nas, is an openly gay rapper, reacted to the post, Nas announced, “we finna fck the summer up.”
Fans, of course, were overjoyed. One joked, “Ever since lil nas x came back i have gotten a girlfriend, a stable job, healthy hobbies that I love to do every day, my family has re-accepted me I to their lives and I’ve been the happiest I’ve been in a long time. I could not have done it without you.”
Another wrote, “he’s back!!!! the world is healing!”
But one fan cautioned, “Don’t ever do that again without warning us first!”
Lil Nas X will return to TV on April 3 as a performer at the Grammy Awards; he’s up for five trophies in all.
It appears that Russell Dickerson‘s one-year-old son Remington is getting adjusted to life on the road!
One of the words the young tot is already familiar with is “bus,” as demonstrated in a video where the country singer challenges viewers, “tell me you have a road baby without telling me you have a road baby.” He then pans over to Remington, who is sitting in his high chair playing with a toy steering wheel.
“Bus,” the baby says in response to his dad after he says “beep beep,” imitating a bus noise, drawing laughter from the singer. “All he want to do is ‘go go’ aka drive the tour bus,” Russell captions the candid moment with the hashtags #Tour#RemDog.
The “Home Sweet” hitmaker and his wife Kailey welcome Remington in September 2020. Russell is currently on his headlining All Yours, All Night Tour before heading out with Tim McGraw as an opening act on the McGraw Tour from April through June.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kim Kardashiansat down with Ellen Degeneres on Wednesday, and raved about reaching a new chapter in her life with Pete Davidson.
The chat happened just days after the reality star and fashion mogul, 41, went “Instagram official” with the 28-year-old Saturday Night Live cast member. “I guess it’s like not official until you post,” Kim joked.
The pair have been linked since October 2021, eight months after she filed for divorce from Kanye West.
Kim explained that she showed restraint by only posting what pics she did of her and Pete last week. “I have the cutest pictures of us and I want to be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re so cute!'” Kim told Ellen. “But then I’m like, ‘Don’t be so desperate. Don’t be posting so much, just give a glimpse.'”
The 41-year-old influencer added, “I haven’t dated in since before Instagram existed…I don’t know what the rules are.”
When the talk show host told the star of Hulu’s new show The Kardashians that she seemed more at ease than she’s been, Kim agreed, saying, “It feels good! I think it’s just in life…I just think I encourage my friends and the people that I love just to be happy.”
She added, “And I went for it. I was like, ‘You know what, I’m in my 40s, like f*** it, just go for it. Find your happiness.’ I went for it and I took my time. I found it and it feels so good. I want to hold on to that forever.”
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for his violent invasion Ukraine, including attacks on civilians.
The president initially told a reporter “no,” when asked if he was ready to label Putin a war criminal, but moments later Biden circled back, asking her to repeat the question which he appeared to have initially misunderstood.
A short time later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was speaking “from the heart” at an afternoon press briefing after he made the comment, while carefully noting there is still a State Department review of whether it considers Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian civilians a war crime.
Despite the evidence, the White House until now had gone out of its way not to label Putin a war criminal, repeatedly noting there was an official review underway before they could formally accuse Putin of war crimes.
Earlier this month, Biden said it was “clear” Russian forces were targeting civilian areas but said that it was too early to call them war crimes.
“Do you believe Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine?” Biden was asked on March 2.
“We are following it very closely. It’s early to say that,” he said.
The shift in characterization follows a wave of U.S. sanctions on Russia including personal sanctions on Putin and following a powerful appeal from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Congress, in which he called on Biden to do more to aid Ukraine.
One year ago to the day that Russia forces began invading Ukraine, Biden told ABC News Anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview that be believed Putin was a “killer.”
(WASHINGTON) — A major effort to combat climate change — reducing methane emissions — is now underway as $1.15 billion flows to states to help close unused oil and gas wells that release pollution and greenhouse gases.
The funds stem from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which in total allocated $4.7 billion over nine years for a new federal program to address orphan wells. This is the first funding phase.
There are over 130,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to a preliminary analysis from the Department of the Interior.
“This is something I have heard about from the day I became a senator. And it’s got the support of counties all across the state because they see the need to clean up these leaking wells in their backyards,” said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in an interview with ABC News. Colorado is now receiving $39,006,000 to clean up the wells.
Although the terms “orphaned” and “abandoned” are often used interchangeably, a significant component distinguishes orphaned wells and makes them more difficult to find.
“There’s no known owner like it’s truly — it’s just out there in the wild, nobody can be attached to it,” said Josh Axelrod, a senior advocate for the National Resources Defense Council.
In these instances, the lack of a known owner means the burden for cleanup ends up falling on state governments and, in turn, taxpayers. It also makes the wells more challenging to track.
While state governments and environmental groups have worked on their own to fill wells, the process can take years, with residents struggling to get wells filled in their own backyards.
The new funding focuses specifically on orphaned wells, a subset of the estimated 2 to 3 million abandoned wells in the United States that, combined, release greenhouse gases equal to 1.5 to 4 million cars annually, according to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
They are the nation’s tenth-largest methane emitters, according to a study conducted at McGill University, and the gas warms the planet at 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide.
Various groups are working with states to find unidentified orphaned wells through multiple processes, including using drones. The funding from the infrastructure bill only addresses already-identified wells.
There are currently 9 million Americans who live within one mile of an orphaned well, according to a study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund and McGill University.
Tyson Price, an elementary school principal in West Virginia, worries the well in his backyard is polluting the local river and harming deer that frequently use it as a drinking source. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for closing wells and maintains a list that ranks cleanup projects in order of urgency.
“Two years ago, I was 43 on the list in West Virginia. And a couple of weeks ago, I reached back out to the DEP… I’m in the 60s now; I think it was 65. So in that two-year span, I’ve actually moved down the list,” said Price, who has spent six years trying to get the well closed.
On top of gaseous pollutants, orphaned wells can leak leftover oil and carry a risk of combusting. But the cost, technical challenges and environmental concerns prevent residents from dealing with the wells on their own. The cleanup process requires filling the wells with cement and restoring the surfaces.
“There’s just no way that I could afford to plug this thing myself and do it, you know, in an environmentally safe way,” Price said.
Although Tyson and his family have felt no ill effects from the well, reports have emerged of health issues brought on by proximity to unplugged wells. West Virginia is now receiving $55,293,000 from the first round of funding to help clean up the state’s 6,309 orphaned wells.
The push to close the wells comes as global methane emissions have ballooned in recent years, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At last year’s COP26 climate summit, President Joe Biden and other world leaders announced a Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions 30% by 2030.
“It’s a fundamental part of our energy transition in this country to make sure that we don’t leave these orphan wells behind…I would expect there to be real momentum to do whatever is necessary to clean up the rest,” Bennet said.
The LA and NYC dates are, so far, Florence’s only announced U.S. shows for 2022. In April, the band will play a trio of concerts in the U.K., followed by some European festival performances in the summer.
Just last week, Florence + the Machine announced the details of their next album, Dance Fever. The follow-up to 2018’s High as Hope will arrive on May 13.
Machine Gun Kelly has officially premiered his collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon, “Maybe.”
The “Bloody Valentine” rocker and Horizon frontman Oli Skyespreviously teased the joint tune at a Los Angeles event earlier this month. Kelly then confirmed that the song would appear on his forthcoming album, Mainstream Sellout, when he revealed the record’s track list earlier this week.
Mainstream Sellout arrives March 25, and reunites Kelly with his Tickets to My Downfall producer, Travis Barker. It also includes the previously released songs “Emo Girl” and “Ay!,” featuring WILLOW and Lil Wayne, respectively.
