Lawsuit alleges Texas police refused to help Biden bus from ‘terrorizing’ Trump train

Lawsuit alleges Texas police refused to help Biden bus from ‘terrorizing’ Trump train
Lawsuit alleges Texas police refused to help Biden bus from ‘terrorizing’ Trump train
DNY59/iStock

(NEW YORK) — Just before the 2020 presidential election, a bus carrying Biden-Harris campaign staffers and volunteers through Texas was tailed by Trump supporters, some of whom were “driving in a way that appeared to be an attempt to push the bus off the road onto the shoulder,” according to court documents.

A lawsuit was filed Friday by former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis and two former campaign staffers who were on the bus, along with the bus driver, alleging negligence by the San Marcos Police Department.

“For at least ninety minutes, including during the entirety of the stretch of I-35 inside the San Marcos city lines, the Trump Train pursued and terrorized the Plaintiffs,” the lawsuit alleges. “Plaintiffs tried to get help. They repeatedly called 911. They requested police escorts. San Marcos refused to help.”

The suit alleges that the San Marcos Police Department laughed and refused to provide assistance when a staffer called in to report the situation on Oct. 30 2020. ABC News has reached out to the police department for comment.

“I am so annoyed at New Braunfels for doing this to us,” a dispatcher said to one of the police officers over the radio, according to a 911 transcript included in court documents. New Braunfels is a city next to San Marcos, and the bus was heading over the city line.

“They have their officers escorting this Biden bus, essentially, and the Trump Train is cutting in between vehicles and driving — being aggressive and slowing them down to like 20 or 30 miles per hour,” the dispatcher reportedly said. “And they want you guys to respond to help.”

Matt Daenzer, a corporal with the department who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, reportedly replied, “No, we’re not going to do it. We will close patrol that, but we’re not going to escort a bus.”

The dispatcher, according to the transcript, told Daenzer the caller was “really worked up over it, and he’s like breathing hard and stuff, like, ‘they’re being really aggressive.’ OK. Calm down.”

Daenzer agreed and reportedly told the dispatcher, “Yeah, well, drive defensively, and it’ll be great.”

When the dispatcher informed the campaign staffer who called 911 for help that the San Marcos Police Department would not provide a police escort, the unnamed staffer replied, “They’ve cut in on me multiple times. They’ve threatened my life on multiple occasions with vehicular collision. I would like an escort immediately.”

The lawsuit alleges the “Trump Train” went unchecked without any police escorting the bus.

“Despite these multiple calls for help from Plaintiffs and others, for the roughly 30 minutes it took to drive through San Marcos on the main highway that runs through it, there were no officers from San Marcos or any other police cars in sight — not on the I-35 exit or entrance ramps, nor on either side of the highway,” it states.

When then-President Donald Trump learned about the situation after videos of the incident were posted to Twitter, he retweeted a video and wrote, “I LOVE TEXAS!,” the court documents also state.

Also listed as defendants in the lawsuit are San Marcos Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp, San Marcos Police Department Assistant Chief of Police Brandon Winkenwerder and the City of San Marcos.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

COP26 live updates: Biden speaks on methane reduction, forest conservation

COP26 live updates: Biden speaks on methane reduction, forest conservation
COP26 live updates: Biden speaks on methane reduction, forest conservation
oonal/iStock

(GLASGOW, Scotland) — Leaders from nearly every country in the world have converged upon Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference that experts are touting as the most important environmental summit in history.

The conference, delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was designed as the check-in for the progress countries are making after entering the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, a value that would be disastrous to exceed, according to climate scientists. More ambitious efforts aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Not one country is going into COP26 on track to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement, according to experts. They will need to work together to find collective solutions that will drastically cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need to move from commitments into action,” Jim Harmon, chairman of the World Resources Institute, told ABC News. “The path to a better future is still possible, but time is running out.”

All eyes will be on the biggest emitters: China, the U.S. and India. While China is responsible for about 26% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all other developed countries combined, the cumulative emissions from the U.S. over the past century are likely twice that of China’s, David Sandalow, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, told ABC News.

Here’s how the conference is developing. All times Eastern:

Nov 02, 8:09 am
Putin, Bolsonaro appear virtually at conference

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro made what may be their only appearances at COP26, as neither leader is attending the summit in person.

Russia has pledged to get to net zero by 2060, Putin said, adding that 20% of all forests are located in Russia.

“I am convinced that the conservation of forests and other natural ecosystems is a key component of international efforts to address global warming and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,” Putin said in a pre-corded video played at an event on protecting forests Tuesday.

Bolsonaro also expressed support for the Glasgow Declaration on Forests, saying he is committed to ending illegal deforestation by 2030.

“Forests are important to me because they cover more than 60% of my country,” Bolsonaro said. “They are a source of health and life and are home to the greatest natural wealth and biodiversity on the planet. We are committed to eliminating illegal deforestation by 2030.”

Pedro Castillo, the president of Peru, spoke about protecting the Peruvian Amazon in pre-recorded remarks.

Nov 02, 8:36 am
Biden, world leaders push to conserve global forests

On his second day at COP26, Biden outlined the United States’ plan to join the world in its mission to reduce deforestation.

“Preserving forests and other ecosystems can and should play an important role in meeting our ambitious climate goals as part of the net-zero emissions strategy we all have,” Biden said.

The plan has four components: to incentivize restoration and conservation, to encourage private sector investment, to increase data collection and accountability and to meet a $9 billion U.S. funding goal through 2030 – subject to approval by Congress.

Biden hopes this plan will restore 200 million hectares of forest and other ecosystems by 2030.

Biden unveiled new rules to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas methane on Tuesday.

The U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan expands on policies and standards set by the Obama administration that were repealed by former President Donald Trump.

As a part of the plan, the Environmental Protection Agency now requires states to develop methane reduction plans for oil and gas industries, aiming to reduce emissions by 75%. There will new regulations on large transmission lines and at-home pipes to lower the risk of methane leaks. Additionally, the Department of the Interior will work on shuttering abandoned oil and glass wells.

During his speech at COP26, Biden referred to his $1.75 trillion infrastructure bill that is awaiting passage in Congress.

“My ‘Build Back Better’ framework will make historic investments in clean energy,” Biden said. “[It’s] the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis that any advanced nation has made ever.”

Nov 01, 4:55 pm
Israeli energy minister misses leaders’ summit due to wheelchair inaccessibility

Karine Elharrar-Hartstein, Israel’s national infrastructures, energy and water resources minister, was not able to attend COP26’s leaders’ summit because the venue was not handicap accessible.

Elharrar, who uses a wheelchair, tweeted she was disappointed with the United Nations, which she said promotes accessibility for people with disabilities, but in 2021, does not provide accessibility to all of its events.

UK Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan denounced Elharrar-Hartstein’s treatment at COP26.

“I am disturbed to hear the @KElharrar was unable to attend meetings at #COP26,” Wigan tweeted. “I apologise deeply and sincerely to the Minister. We want a COP Summit that is welcoming and inclusive to everyone.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kane Brown’s “Famous Friend” Chris Young expected a run-in with the law during their video shoot

Kane Brown’s “Famous Friend” Chris Young expected a run-in with the law during their video shoot
Kane Brown’s “Famous Friend” Chris Young expected a run-in with the law during their video shoot
Jeff Johnson

In a little more than a week, Chris Young and Kane Brown could take home the CMA trophy for Music Video of the Year for their multi-week #1, “Famous Friends.”

While the upbeat clip is nothing but fun, Chris reveals the shoot wasn’t entirely that way. 

“There was a very nerve-racking part of the video for me,” he confesses, “which is Kane didn’t want to drive… And they were like, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta get a shot of you guys, but we don’t really have a good way to do it. And I know the streets aren’t closed off, but we’re gonna put this camera on the outside of the car.'”

“I had to climb over the seat,” he continues, “get in the driver’s seat from the passenger side, and they just basically stuck this really expensive camera on the outside of the car, with tennis balls hanging off the edge of it and said, ‘Don’t hit anything.'”

So, did Chris hit anything?

“No, luckily!” he reveals. “But I was driving through like tiny streets in traffic with this thing hanging off the side of my car.”

“I was surprised I didn’t get pulled over, but I didn’t,” he adds. “They said, ‘Go!’ And I was like, ‘Okay, here we go!'”

Chris and Kane are also up for Musical Event and Single of the Year, with Chris picking up two additional nods for producing the song. They’re also set to perform it on the show, which starts at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, November 10 on ABC. 

Chris was previously nominated for New Artist of the Year in both 2010 and 2011, as well as Musical Event in 2016 for “Think of You” with Cassadee Pope. So far, he’s yet to take home country music’s most coveted award.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Scoreboard roundup — 11/1/21

Scoreboard roundup — 11/1/21
Scoreboard roundup — 11/1/21
iStock

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:

NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Indiana 131, San Antonio 118
Philadelphia 113, Portland 103
Cleveland 113, Charlotte 110
Toronto 113, New York 104
Chicago 128, Boston 114
Atlanta 118, Washington 111
Memphis 106, Denver 97
Orlando 115, Minnesota 97
LA Clippers 99, Oklahoma City 94

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Tampa Bay 3, Washington 2
Chicago 5, Ottawa 1
Edmonton 5, Seattle 2

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Kansas City 20, NY Giants 17

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
LA Galaxy 1, Seattle 1 (Tie)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Huma Abedin, longtime Clinton aide, defends decision not to name senator she says kissed her

Huma Abedin, longtime Clinton aide, defends decision not to name senator she says kissed her
Huma Abedin, longtime Clinton aide, defends decision not to name senator she says kissed her
ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, accustomed to spending her life behind the scenes, told ABC’s The View on Monday that she’s taken control of her story with the release of her new memoir, Both/And.

“After 25 years of living most of my life in public service and in public, I felt like somebody else was telling my story. And if you let somebody else tell your story, they’re writing your history. And for me, writing the book, was just such an incredible therapy,” she said in an exclusive daytime interview.

“I thought it’s a good story to share, and maybe it’ll help some women and some brown girls and some Muslims,” added Abedin, who is of Indian and Pakistani descent.

Among reported details in her new memoir, Abedin recalls an incident from her twenties — she’s now 45 — in which she says, following a Washington dinner that she writes was attended by “a few senators and their aides,” one senator invited her up to his apartment for coffee, asked her to get comfortable on the couch, and then kissed her without her consent — describing it not as a “sexual assault” as some headlines have stated, but as an “uncomfortable situation.” Some have said she should identify the person in case others might make similar allegations.

“He plopped down to my right, put his left arm around my shoulder, and kissed me, pushing his tongue into my mouth, pressing me back on the sofa,” she writes in the book, saying the senator apologized when she pushed him away and said he had “misread” her “all this time.”

“Why not name him?” asked The View co-hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin.

“I chose to include my full truth,” Abedin replied. “I did bury that incident. I think back in the 2000s — that is just how you had to act. I mean, to me, one of the surprising things to myself is that I apologized, myself. The way I reacted is, I said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and I left, and I don’t think this is you know exclusive to being in politics,” she said.

She defended her decision not to name the senator, saying this is her story, not his.

“I totally buried the story until I was watching Doctor [Christine Blasey] Ford on TV — literally being questioned for her convenient memory,” she said, apparently sarcastically, referring to Ford’s testimony during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, “and as I see her being questioned, that memory comes flooding back to me.”

Abedin first entered “Hillaryland,” as she called it, when she started as a White House intern in 1996 before following the former Democratic nominee for president first back to the Senate and then to the State Department. She served as a top adviser to Clinton on both of her campaigns for president but not without some costs to her own personal life and mental health, she says.

“When you put this book down and read the last page, and maybe half the country will disagree with me, but this woman is an extraordinary human being, aside from the fact that she was the most qualified person, in my opinion, to ever run for president. Full stop. Period,” she said of Clinton.

The View co-hosts asked about a detail in the book in which Abedin describes considering walking off a subway platform in 2019, and Abedin went back to her headspace in the wake of the 2016 election.

“I did not have balance in my life. My work was my life for much of it. And it was only when I stepped off the treadmill and realized I had to deal with all this anger — because I had so much anger and bitterness towards my spouse for so much of my early marriage and after, you know, the first scandal,” she said. “I just wanted my life back.”

“At the end of the campaign, I was kind of on my own. I was alone, a single parent, and so it was I had my hard moment, and that’s when I realized I needed help. And I got it,” she said.

Following the sexting scandals of her then-husband, embattled former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., Abedin became enveloped in controversy when her emails became a large part of the 2016 presidential campaign after the FBI announced days before the election that investigators would re-examine Clinton’s use of a private email server. It was determined that Abedin had forwarded some emails to personal devices used by both she and her then-husband.

Co-host Sara Haines asked Abedin to respond to those who might question why she stayed with her disgraced ex-husband for so many years.

“I think a lot of people now when they look back at my marriage, they’re looking at it from 2021 perspective, which is hindsight is 20/20,” she replied. “If I’d written this book in 2017 or 2018, when maybe it would have been more newsy, I think it would have been an angry or bitter book because I had to go through that process.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Alice Cooper lines up brief 2022 US tour in January and February

Alice Cooper lines up brief 2022 US tour in January and February
Alice Cooper lines up brief 2022 US tour in January and February
Credit: Jenny Risher

Alice Cooper has announced plans for his first series of U.S. shows in 2022.

The shock rocker has lined up eight concerts in the Midwest and Southeast prior to his previously headlining appearance on next year’s Monsters of Rock Cruise in February.

The performances kick off on January 28 in Cincinnati and run through a February 8 show in Orlando, Florida.

Tickets for the concerts go on sale to the general public this Friday, November 5, at 10 a.m. local time, while a VIP pre-sale tickets will be available starting today, November 2, at 10 a.m. local time.

As previously reported, the 2022 Monsters of Rock Cruise sets sail from Miami on February 9 and visits the Haitian island of CocoCay and Labadee in the Bahamas before returning to port on February 14.

Besides Alice, the cruise will feature more than 30 other acts, including Queensryche, Winger, Cinderella‘s Tom Keifer, Skid Row, Great White, LA Guns, Kix, Pat Travers, Lit, Vixen, Michael Monroe of Hanoi Rocks, Loudness, Y&T, Faster Pussycat, current Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra, ex-Motley Crue singer John Corabi, former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes and many more.

Cooper also is scheduled to mount a major European tour that kicks off in May of next year.

Alice continues to promote his latest studio album, Detroit Stories, which was released in February. The record is an homage to the hard-edged rock music of Cooper’s childhood hometown.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘Dancing with the Stars 30’ recap: Olivia Jade achieves the highest score of the season

‘Dancing with the Stars 30’ recap: Olivia Jade achieves the highest score of the season
‘Dancing with the Stars 30’ recap: Olivia Jade achieves the highest score of the season
ABC/Eric McCandless

Monday night’s Dancing with the Stars put the cast “Under Pressure” for Queen Night because, for the first time this season, everyone was challenged to perform two routines: a regular dance and a relay.  As an added curveball, the competitors had the chance to score up to four extra bonus points in the relay and that allowed one competitor to achieve the highest score of the season.

Thanks to the judges unanimously awarding four bonus points during the relay, Olivia Jade broke JoJo Siwa‘s hot streak and finished the night with a final score of 42 out of 40.  The judges also raved over her quickstep to Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls,” with Derek Hough praising, “You are just so genuine when you perform, it’s just so infectious to watch… You didn’t miss a step!”

Siwa fell to second place with an overall score of 39 out of 40 after Judge Len Goodman docked a point because her “Body Language” tango lacked the “slow, deliberate walks” he wanted to see. 

Shockingly, the Nickelodeon star was also sent into the bottom two alongside WWE star Michael “The Miz” Gregory.  The four judges voted unanimously to save Siwa and caused Gregory’s DWTS journey to come to an end.

That wasn’t the only jaw-dropping moment on Monday night. 

Suni Lee raised concern when she unexpectedly sprinted off the ballroom following her paso doble to Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and host Tyra Banks announced the Olympian had been wrestling with stomach issues all day.  Luckily, Lee was able to power through the Viennese waltz relay and was rewarded with a bonus point for her hard work.

Peloton instructor Cody Rigsby also tugged on the heartstrings when he tearfully opened up about his best friend, Oscar, who lost his battle with addiction in February 2020 and admitted he blames himself for not having “done enough to save him.”  His pro dance partner, Cheryl Burke, shared her own struggle with addiction while coaching Rigsby through his guilt and sincerely told him, “There’s nothing you could have done.”

The two celebrated Oscar’s life with their foxtrot to Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend.”

While the night was full of emotional and jaw-dropping moments, next week is sure have even more in store.  Banks announced that there will be a double-elimination, which means everyone is in danger of going home. 

DWTS will salute the legacy of icon Janet Jackson when it returns next Monday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Here are the current standings:
Olivia Jade, influencer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 42/40
JoJo Siwa, Nickelodeon star, with Jenna Johnson — 39/40
Jimmie Allen, country music singer, with Emma Slater — 38/40
Melora HardinThe Office actress, with Artem Chivensky — 38/40
Cody Rigsby, Peloton instructor, with Cheryl Burke — 36/40
Suni Lee, Olympic Gold medalist, with Sasha Farber — 34/40
Iman Shumpert, NBA player, with Daniella Karagach — 34/40
Amanda KlootsThe Talk co-host, with Alan Bersten — 34/40

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Why the John Deere strike is being viewed as harbinger of a new labor market

Why the John Deere strike is being viewed as harbinger of a new labor market
Why the John Deere strike is being viewed as harbinger of a new labor market
iStock/Wolterk

(NEW YORK) — Members of the United Auto Workers Union are set to vote Tuesday on a tentative agreement that would end the ongoing strike of more than 10,000 John Deere workers.

News of the tentative deal, which would give approximately double the wage increase compared the previously rejected offer that kicked off the strike on Oct. 14, comes as unique labor market conditions have resulted in workers wielding new power as the pandemic wanes.

An apparent shortage of workers accepting low-wage jobs has left many major companies reeling for staff and has been linked to the spate of strikes that have rocked the private sector in recent weeks. The labor crunch — combined with recent record-high rates of people quitting their jobs and record-high job openings, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data — have resulted in workers gaining new leverage as they seek to bargain for better pay or working conditions.

UAW leadership and John Deere announced a tentative agreement had been reached between the union’s elected national bargaining team and officials at the agricultural machinery giant Saturday, but workers remain on strike until the ratification vote Tuesday.

The terms of the new agreement would guarantee a 10% wage increase for all union employees in the first year of the contract, and 5% each in the third and fifth year of the deal, as well as 3% lump sum payments in the second, fourth and fifth years of the deal, according to a contract breakdown document shared with ABC News by the union. Moreover, employees would receive an $8,500 ratification bonus.

There would also be improved retirement benefit options and no changes to the cost of their health insurance.

The UAW on Oct. 14 rejected a contract offer that would have offered a ratification bonus of $3,500 and immediate raises of 5% to 6%.

“Our UAW John Deere national bargaining team went back to our local members after the previous tentative agreement and canvassed the concerns and priorities of membership,” UAW President Ray Curry said in a statement announcing news of the new tentative agreement.

“We want to thank the UAW bargaining team and striking UAW members and their families for the sacrifices they have made to achieve these gains,” Curry added. “Our members have enjoyed the support of our communities and the entire labor movement nationwide as they have stood together in support and solidarity these past few weeks.”

John Deere, meanwhile, confirmed in a statement on its website that a second tentative agreement on a labor contract had been reached with the union and that the “UAW will call for a vote on the new tentative agreement.”

The striking John Deere workers have received well-wishes and support from lawmakers and the public, as new employee activism during so-called “Striketober” has fueled momentum for the post-pandemic labor movement.

A GoFundMe set up to support the striking Deere workers has raised more than $135,000 from over 3,000 donors.

The first strike in more than three decades at John Deere comes after the company reported earning a record-high $4.68 billion during the first nine months of the 2021 fiscal year, more than double the $1.993 billion reported during the same time last year.

John Deere’s chairman and CEO John May, meanwhile, earned compensation of some $15.58 million in fiscal year 2020, according to a company SEC filing. This would make the ratio of the CEO’s total compensation to a median employee’s total compensation in 2020 approximately 220 to 1, the SEC filing states.

The recent bout of employee activism that has manifested in work stoppages and strikes in recent weeks comes after the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic that took an inordinate toll on workers deemed “essential,” but also after decades of soaring income inequality in the U.S., experts have said.

“I think workers have reached a tipping point,” Tim Schlittner, the communications director of the coalition of labor unions AFL-CIO, told ABC News last month shortly after the Deere strike commenced. “For too long they’ve been called essential, but treated as expendable, and workers have decided that enough is enough.”

Schlittner said the pandemic also exposed some deep “imbalances of power in the economy.”

“The pandemic has made clear what’s important and what’s not, and workers are looking at work in a new way, and demanding more of a return on their labor and demanding things like basic respect, dignity and safety on the job,” he said. “The pandemic has put on display for everyone to see how important workers are to this country, and you can’t call workers essential for 18 months and then treat them like crap when they all come back on the job.”

 

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dia de Los Muertos offers healing for COVID-19 victims’ Latinx families

Dia de Los Muertos offers healing for COVID-19 victims’ Latinx families
Dia de Los Muertos offers healing for COVID-19 victims’ Latinx families
iStock/Cavan Images

(NEW YORK) — This year, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, many Mexican Americans will find solace in celebrating Día de los Muertos.

The holiday, which is celebrated from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, is meant to honor loved ones that have passed away. People do so by setting up ofrendas, or altars, for those they’ve lost.

When she set up her ofrenda this year, Destiny Navaira included a photo of her grandmother, whose life was cut short by COVID-19.

The glossy photo stood among paper marigolds, teal sugar skulls, candles and even beef jerky for her cousin, who also died.

Navaira’s grandmother Consuela Llamas died from COVID-19 in December 2020. It was her who taught Navaira about the tradition behind the ofrenda, and the belief that it is a way for ancestors to come back from the world of the dead to visit their families for a few days.

Navaira said she is excited to celebrate Día de Los Muertos this year because it is also her grandparents’ anniversary and their spirits finally get to celebrate with family on Earth.

She said she found the process of making an altar for her late loved ones healing.

“I couldn’t invite my grandpa and not invite her, because she wouldn’t have it!” Navaira joked.

The native San Antonian recalled how her abuela spent two weeks on a ventilator before passing away, and her uncle Joe Navaira spent a month fighting for his life in a hospital bed. She’s not alone. Over half of Latinos living in the U.S. this year said that they know someone who has died from COVID-19, according to Pew Research.

“I’m angry that my family and I’ve lost family members, but at the same time, things happen in the world and all we can do is to make them better,” Navaira said.

In the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Church of the Epiphany will celebrate Día de los Muertos with a community ofrenda. The church has been setting up a community ofrenda since the early 1970s to honor members of the community and Chicano leaders like Cesar Chavez and Sal Castro.

“There’s pain, and there’s celebration, and there’s memory,” said the Rev. Tom Carey of the ceremony.

Members of the community are invited to write the names of their late loved ones on a scroll and share their stories. Churchgoers will speak the names of the dead followed by cries of “Presente!” or “Present!” in English.

Along with a community altar, the church set up one altar made by students at Lincoln High School, one by the neighborhood council and another to honor those who have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Due to COVID-19, the church did not have its Día de los Muertos celebration in 2020. This year, it will have COVID-19 precautions in place.

“We want to really honor our culture and our customs and we don’t want them to disappear,” said Rev. Richard Estrada from the Church of the Epiphany. “We continue to celebrate our tradition on our heritage.”

Navaira said she’s spending this holiday surrounded by the music her Tejano legend uncle, Emilio Navaira, taught her.

She also has advice to help her non-Latino friends who’ve lost loved ones find peace.

“Take advantage of the time they have here with the people who they love while they’re here on Earth,” she said. “It’s important to talk about death as part of life. Yes, it’s sad. Yes, it is devastating that somebody literally isn’t in your life anymore because they are not physically here. But if you’re able to keep them alive, to do their favorite things, to tell stories of them, to have memories, even just a picture? I think that that can offer such peace to somebody who’s truly grieving somebody.”

 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Franz Ferdinand dropping new song Tuesday

Franz Ferdinand dropping new song Tuesday
Franz Ferdinand dropping new song Tuesday
Adrián Monroy/Medios y Media/Getty Images

Do you want to hear new Franz Ferdinand music? Well, you won’t have to wait much longer.

The “Take Me Out” rockers have announced they’ll be releasing a new song Tuesday, November 2. It’s set to debut on BBC Radio 6 at noon ET, followed by a world YouTube premiere at 2 p.m. ET.

The song, the name of which has not yet been revealed, will be Franz’s first to follow their 2018 album Always Ascending. It’ll also be the band’s first offering since founding drummer Paul Thomson announced his departure last month. His replacement is Glasgow drummer Audrey Tait.

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