After embarking on their Takeover tour in 2021, Twenty One Pilots took over ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night.
The “Stressed Out” duo performed “The Outside,” from their new album Scaled and Icy, which dropped last year.
The Columbus, Ohio duo, consisting of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, last appeared on the show in 2015.
You can catch Twenty One Pilots live on their Icy North American headlining tour, kicking off in August.
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(WASHINGTON) — As climate change increases the severity of natural disasters, low-income school districts face disproportionately greater obstacles when attempting to recover from them, according to a Government Accountability Office report (GAO) obtained exclusively by ABC News.
Districts in high-poverty areas are already plagued with challenges — like outdated building infrastructure or a lack of resources — and when hit with the havoc wrought by a major disaster, the recovery process can be a tedious, uphill battle, according to the report released Tuesday. At the same time, natural disasters pose a disproportionate threat to students in already vulnerable educational settings, the report states.
There have been more than 300 “presidentially-declared major disasters” in every state and territory since 2017, and more than half of the nation’s public school districts are located in counties that were subject to major disasters from 2017-2019 and make up more than two-thirds of the nation’s students, according to the report.
But most districts that received certain federal recovery grants after major disasters that occurred during those years “had elevated proportions of students from certain socially vulnerable groups,” according to GAO’s analysis of federal data.
“Many natural disasters have had devastating effects on K-12 schools and the communities in which they are located — especially socially vulnerable communities for whom disaster recovery is more challenging,” the report reads. “We have found that school districts affected by natural disasters have faced a range of recovery challenges, including trauma and mental health issues among students and staff, lost instructional time, staff burnout, and financial strain.”
GAO spoke to officials from five school districts in socially vulnerable communities that detailed challenges their schools faced when recovering from a major disaster, and in most instances, physical recovery was one of them, according to the report.
A previous GAO report from 2020 showed that thousands of school buildings across the country could need critical repairs due to natural disasters, and revealed that “about half (an estimated 54%) of public school districts need to update or replace multiple building systems or features in their schools.”
The report, released on Tuesday, cites a “subject matter expert,” who reportedly told GAO that “socially vulnerable groups are more likely to attend under-resourced and poorly maintained schools, which in turn are more likely to suffer extensive damage due to disasters, causing extended school closures and student displacements.”
And in some instances, “low-income school districts can be denied funding or receive less funding than needed” from one of FEMA’s programs, because these are designed to provide funding to return a property to its previous condition.
“Officials from one state explained that districts must adequately document the condition of the building to prove that damage was caused by the disaster rather than neglecting to make an earlier needed repair, such as fixing a leaking roof,” the report states. “Poorer districts and those with fewer resources often do not have sufficient staffing or expertise to maintain the necessary maintenance records, according to these officials.”
Additionally, four out of the five districts that spoke with GAO said their district was still in the process of its physical recovery, “in some cases, years after the natural disasters.” Some of these districts told GAO they were forced to use temporary facilities, which also disrupted students’ learning.
“For example, in one district multiple classes had to share one classroom space, while in another district, a temporary facility lacked adequate Wi-Fi, requiring students and staff to rely on physical materials, according to district officials,” the report says.
House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott, D-Va., said in a statement: “This GAO report confirms what we have long known: Schools in vulnerable communities do not have the support they need to keep their facilities safe for students and staff.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters nationwide have been powerful reminders that our public school buildings are in urgent need of repair; however, we cannot expect schools to prepare for our changing climate or recover from future disasters without dedicated federal funding for school infrastructure,” he added.
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(NEW YORK) — As the fight for voting rights stalls in Congress, the NBA Social Justice Coalition continues its call for lawmakers to act urgently to protect the right to vote.
The NBA Social Justice Coalition was formed in 2020, after the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake. The group, which includes players, owners and staffers, has advocated for policy changes regarding voting rights, criminal justice, policing and justice reform, by reaching out to lawmakers in targeted efforts in Congress and state and local legislatures.
Over the past two years, the group has been active across the country and in Washington, D.C.
Voting rights were at the forefront for the NBA Social Justice Coalition in 2020. The NBA opened up 23 league facilities to help increase voting participation by using them as polling locations and voter registration locations.
In 2021, NBA all-star forward Karl Anthony Towns, from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Caron Butler, an assistant coach of the Miami Heat, held a virtual roundtable with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., on the topic of policing reform.
Last year, the group publicly endorsed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and pushed for the passage of the EQUAL Act, a bill that seeks to eliminate the federal differences in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine.
Privately, the group has also held several bipartisan meetings with lawmakers.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers told ABC News, fighting for equal rights “has been part of my life throughout my life.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Rivers, 60, grew up going to Operation Breadbasket, a 1960s era program that fought for jobs and services on behalf of the Black community.
Rivers was only three years old when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965 and stressed that Americans should not normalize the fight for voting rights.
“You should be able to vote and you should be fighting for everyone to be able to do it. And the more people you can get engaged in the fight to vote, which shouldn’t be a fight anymore,” he said.
The coach added, “We can’t normalize it that for a long period of our history, and not just Black Americans, women, minorities, were kept out of the right the vote, which is literally the single most important thing about democracy being able to vote, and it’s been attacked throughout my lifetime.”
In August, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed in the House of Representatives. However, in the months since, the bill has stalled due to partisan gridlock.
Rivers told ABC News, “this shouldn’t be controversial … This has nothing to do with color. This has to do with equal rights.”
“It’s been made hard for targeted groups throughout my lifetime to vote, and I don’t care if you’re Democrat or Republican, the one thing that everybody should be fighting for is not making it harder to vote, but making it easier for everyone to vote,” Rivers said
When asked what he would say to lawmakers today on the issue of voting rights, he said he’d simply ask them to protect his right to vote.
“Can you protect my right to vote? Don’t make it harder for me, or certain groups make it easier for all groups. Protect our rights, and we love using the Constitution. That is constitutional,” he said.
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(WASHINGTON) — A dispute over a Boston flagpole, the Christian flag and the First Amendment is testing the limits of free speech on government property.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments over whether the city of Boston engaged in unlawful discrimination and censorship when it denied the request of a local civic organization to fly the Christian flag on a flagpole outside City Hall.
Designed in the late 1880s, the white banner with red Latin cross has been adopted by many American Protestant communities as a nondenominational symbol of their faith.
The city says its policies forbid promotion of religion on its flagpoles and that doing so would violate separation of church and state.
Hal Shurtleff, founder of the nonprofit group Camp Constitution, which brought the case, argues the flagpole was effectively treated by the city as a public forum open to all viewpoints for more than a decade.
“It’s a public access flagpole,” Shurtleff said in an interview with ABC News Live about his 2017 request to raise the flag at a planned Constitution Day event on City Hall Plaza.
“It’s kind of ludicrous to think flying a flag on a flagpole for maybe an hour or two will somehow get people to think, ‘Oh my goodness, look at the city of Boston now endorsing the Protestant or the Christian faith,'” he said.
City officials had approved 284 private flag-raising events over a dozen years, including flags to mark Veterans Day, Columbus Day, LGBTQ Pride Month and numerous ethnic and cultural communities across Boston.
Shurtleff’s request was the first and only one denied, court records show.
“This is an 83-foot-tall flagpole in front of City Hall that’s associated with the government. That’s why, you know, this religious group wants to use it, because it carries with it some government imprimatur,” said Patrick Elliott, senior counsel with the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is backing Boston in the case. “So we say the city can control that.”
In court documents, Boston lawyers also argue that approved private flag-raisings were almost always “in connection with publicly recognized days of remembrance” and that the city had “never flown a purely private flag on a random day.”
Lower courts sided with the city, concluding that the flagpole was not public forum and that the city officials could exercise discretion in approving requests to raise flags on its flagpole.
“The city, for its own speech, does not want to get into the issue of religion,” said attorney Doug Hallward-Driemeier, who is arguing the case for Boston. “It’s said that it didn’t want to fly a flag that was offered as ‘the Christian flag,’ because that wasn’t the message that the city itself wanted to communicate.”
Supporters of the policy say it also protects the city from unwanted association with divisive messages and, in this case, a flag that critics allege has been coopted by hate groups.
“The Christian flag is associated with Christian nationalism. This is the same flag that was used during the Jan. 6th insurrection,” said Elliott, referencing publicly available images showing the flag being carried by some rioters as they stormed the U.S. Capitol last year. “So this is really akin to them trying to take over City Hall and saying, ‘Hey, this is a Christian place.'”
Shurtleff dismissed the comparison and insinuation that the flag was a symbol of extremism.
“I don’t know of any white nationalists carrying Christian flags. That may have happened, but I don’t know. But this flag certainly represents Christianity and was designed by a couple of Sunday school teachers. Not exactly white supremacists,” he said.
The Supreme Court has limited the display of religious symbols by governments on government property, but it has also said that public forums are different and that censorship of viewpoints there isn’t allowed.
The ACLU is siding with Camp Constitution in this battle, saying a win for Boston would threaten free speech.
“When the government opens its public property for private speakers, it has to treat everybody equally,” said David Cole, ACLU national legal director. “This case is really about private citizens’ access to government property to express themselves. And that access is critical to our ability to speak to each other, to express our views and the like.”
Boston insists it never intended to make the flagpole open to anyone, for any reason, telling the high court that if a majority sides with Camp Constitution, the city may end its flag-raising program altogether.
“We’re optimistic that they will rule in our favor and that we will be allowed to raise the flag,” said Shurtleff, “although I understand the city will most likely cancel its flag raising events. So we’ll see what happens.”
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(CLEVELAND) — Over the last few decades, it has been considered taboo to reveal tattoos, piercings or even unconventional hair colors in a professional work setting, but one woman is challenging that idea after showing off her full sleeves of arm tattoos in her company headshot and going viral on LinkedIn.
“As soon as it started going viral, I thought, ‘I know how this works. If I put myself out there, and it’s something that is controversial, I should be prepared,'” Jessica Leonard said.
Leonard, 36, received over 30,000 reactions and nearly 3,000 comments on her LinkedIn post, which showed a two side-by-side images — one of her posing in a suit jacket and one of her exposing her tattoos.
“I did get some comments where people felt like they needed to advise me or others to still be careful about tattoos, because there is still judgment out there,” she said. “And you certainly don’t want to close any professional doors by being too forward.”
After roughly two years of heightened lifestyle and work changes, ranging from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to “the great resignation,” Leonard’s post proves that the concept of what is deemed acceptable in a professional setting is rapidly changing. With one in four Americans working remotely last year, according to Upwork’s “Future of Workforce Pulse Report,” a tattoo or piercing in view doesn’t seem to hold as much weight as it did before.
Leonard, a Cleveland, Ohio, native, said she was initially nervous about posting the tattoo photo, but her boss actually gave her the confidence boost she needed.
“‘Loud and proud’ is what he said,” Leonard said, recalling her conversation with her boss. “I read the text message aloud and I was literally brought to tears. And then my husband got a little emotional about it too. It was such a shocking response to have that kind of inclusion from someone that you work for, and just overall acceptance of who I am. I felt so moved.”
After being in public accounting for nearly 14 years, Leonard said she was ready for a change. Although she loved her former firm and they never had an anti-tattoo policy, she never felt like she could divulge her tattoos in internal or client meetings, as she was fearful that work or promotional opportunities could be at stake. She especially felt that way when she went to a women’s conference and received some comments at dinner.
“I found it a little surprising,” she said. “I came without a jacket on and that’s when the conversation turned. I thought, ‘That’s weird. We just came out of a conference talking about women empowerment, and now I’m kind of being told that I can’t be a leader because of my tattoos.'”
Last September, Leonard decided to leave the more traditional firm she worked at and take a position as a partner at Evolution Capital Partners, a small business private equity firm in Cleveland. When it was time to take headshots, she said she had the photographer take some photos with her jacket on for LinkedIn and the company website and some photos showing her tattoos to keep for herself. It was her manager that encouraged her to post both online.
“It is the content of one’s character that is most important to us,” said Jeffrey Kadlic, founding partner of Evolution Capital Partners. “Authenticity and transparency are cornerstones of the culture we are working to create. We see Jess for who she is and embrace all of her because she shares our core values and is a tremendous talent. At the end of the day, that is all that really matters.”
Leonard said she is very proud of her ink and not shy in talking about it. Some of her more fun tattoos include Harry Potter-themed art while others hold deeper meanings. One is in memory of her nephew who passed away from brain cancer at just 4 years old.
“I actually had a father reach out to me who is in public accounting,” she said. “He asked me very pointed advice about advising his daughter on getting tattoos — maybe in places that could be easily covered — because, as a father and as a professional, he was guiding her in that way. After seeing my post, he said he would consider having another perspective.”
Leonard said many people have approached her with positive feedback, and some have said they feel ready to get more tattoos or piercings, especially since many are working from home.
“I think everyone needs to go where they feel comfortable in their skin,” she said. “They shouldn’t feel like they work in an environment where it’s hindering them as an individual. There are a lot of places you can work where you’re not going to feel that.”
“I hope this will resonate or help someone who may have experienced judgment or bias in the past,” Leonard added. “There are leaders that are super inclusive and accepting, and if you haven’t found them, just know they exist and they are out there. I’m glad I could inspire at least one person in my network.”
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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Boston 104, New Orleans 92
Charlotte 97, New York 87
Washington 117, Philadelphia 98
Cleveland 114, Brooklyn 107
Memphis 119, Chicago 106
LA Clippers 139, Indiana 133
Atlanta 121, Milwaukee 114
Portland 98, Orlando 88Miami 104, Toronto 99
Phoenix 121, San Antonio 107
Dallas 104, Oklahoma City 102
LA Lakers 101, Utah 95
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Detroit 3, Buffalo 2 (OT)
Colorado 4, Minnesota 3 (SO)
Arizona 5, Montreal 2
San Jose 6, Los Angeles 2
Seattle 3, Chicago 2 (SO)
NY Islanders 4, Philadelphia 1
St. Louis 5, Nashville 3
Pittsburgh 5, Vegas 3
New Jersey at Toronto (Postponed)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
LA Rams 34, Arizona 11
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Purdue 96, Illinois 88
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(COLLEYVILLE, Texas) — The Texas rabbi who threw a chair at a gunman to help himself and two others survive a hostage situation held a prayer service in the wake of the deadly ordeal.
Just two days after a gun-wielding suspect took Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and two other congregants hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, the rabbi lead a service aimed to “put this terrible event behind us and be thankful for a good result,” according to a post on the synagogue’s Facebook page.
Cytron-Walker, greeted with applause at the outset of the service, spoke briefly, thanking law enforcement, first responders, clergy, political leaders and people around the world who have reached out with support. He then continued the service by describing both the beauty and cruelty that exist on Earth.
“God, I long to feel your presence — not just this day but every day,” the rabbi said. “I do not pretend to know your ways.”
He thanked the “three amazing individuals” who were with him at the synagogue Saturday, saying that they managed to make it through the traumatic ordeal.
“Very few of us are doing okay right, now,” he said. “We’ll get through this.”
Cytron-Walker was greeted with applause at the outset of the service. He spoke briefly, thanking law enforcement, first responders, clergy, political leaders and people around the world who have reached out with support.
Congregants gathered at the healing service, many in masks and spaced several seats apart. Several took to the stage to sing prayer songs in Hebrew.
Cytron-Walker also evoked Martin Luther King Jr., quoting the civil rights activists on the holiday dedicated to him.
“Without love, there’s no reason to know anyone,” Cytron-Walker said. “For love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.”
The rabbi was preparing for Shabbat services on Saturday when the suspect, identified by the FBI as 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, knocked on a window of the temple. The Rabbi invited Akram in for tea, and heard the click of a gun during the Shabbat service, which was attended by only a handful of congregants. He and three other male congregants were initially taken hostage, but Akram freed one of them.
Cytron-Walker told the others to run before throwing the chair at Akram after the suspect grew visibly frustrated and belligerent that his demands were not being met, the rabbi said. Cytron-Walker and other members of the congregation had previously taken active shooter drills from the Colleyville Police Department, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League and a local group called the Secure Community Network.
Akram was shot and killed by an elite FBI hostage rescue team who breached the synagogue.
At the end of the service, he gave an emotional talk, noting that the incident could’ve been much worse and that he was grateful that the traditional prayer of mourning was not being said.
Cytron-Walker said in an interview with CBS News Monday morning that he was looking forward to returning to his house of worship, describing it as a crucial step in the healing process.
“It won’t necessarily be an easy thing,” he said, “but it’s a really important thing.”
ABC News’ Marilyn Heck and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
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We know how he met their mother, now it’s time to go on the journey of how she met their father.
The highly anticipated new Hulu sitcom How I Met Your Father debuts today, but star and producer Hilary Duff warns How I Met Your Mother fans that while there’s lots of good stuff for fans of the original, it’s not a reboot.
Duff, who admits she didn’t watch HIMYM the first time around, tells ABC Audio, “We see what some of the fans that are so diehard about the original, say. And we’re like, cool, cool, like, maybe we’re not going to be your cup.”
Elizabeth Berger created How I Met Your Father with Isaac Aptaker and says she’s excited for people to see to see it, but also a little nervous.
“Obviously when something has a built in, loyal fan base and so many people that are very invested on how you take it on and what you do with it, of course there is a pressure [but] we were also extremely excited,” she says. “It’s a show that we were fans of…Isaac and I went to college in New York City and we’re roommates and we identify with these stories really strongly.”
That said, Berger also thinks HIMYM, and other network sitcoms of the like, need to get with the times.
“I think the way groups of friends look have changed over the years, that it was very important to us to sort of have that kind of representation and have different points of views on the show, bring people together that don’t all have the same experience,” she says, explaining that, “it makes for more interesting life and it makes for more interesting television.”
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No one may sing like him anymore, but the children of Chris Cornell seem to be forging their own musical path.
In a recent Instagram post, the late Soundgarden frontman’s widow Vicky Cornell shared a photo of their children, Toni and Christopher, playing music together.
“Sneaked a pic,” Vicky wrote in the caption. “My babies all grown up working on songs together.”
Last month, Toni guested on The Tonight Show to perform a cover of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Her father’s version of the Prince-penned Sinéad O’Connor classic is posthumously nominated for Best Rock Performance at this year’s Grammys.
Chris also had a child, Lily, with his first wife, Susan Silver. Lily hosts an ongoing mental health series called Mind Wide Open.
In related news, the YouTube channel of Chris’ band Audioslave recently unearthed a batch of footage from a 2003 performance for AOL. The sessions featured performances of songs including “Cochise,” “Like a Stone” and “I Am the Highway.”
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Rick Wakeman is preparing to return to North America in February for a new leg of his Even Grumpier Old Rock Star solo tour, but the former Yes keyboardist also says he’s making progress on a new concept album on which he’s been working for a while.
As he told ABC Audio late last year, the project is called A Gallery of the Imagination. Explaining the concept, the 72-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer noted, “[I]f you go into an art gallery, you’ll see all kinds of paintings…from surrealistic to renaissance paintings to modern art…So I wanted to have an album which was a gallery of all different kinds of music.”
In a recent post on his website, Rick said of the project, “I am really pleased with how it’s coming together and I now am going to spend some time playing around with the song melodies and the lyrics ready to send to [singer/sax player] Hayley [Sanderson] and also some more work from me is [needed] as regards the keyboard arrangements for the instrumentals.”
Wakeman told ABC Audio that in conjunction with the album, he plans to encourage fans to create works of art inspired by each track, and then “we want to collect them all and…get hold of a big gallery somewhere…and have those pictures [displayed].”
Rick envisions people who visit the gallery will put on headphones and listen to the songs from the album while looking at the corresponding pieces of art inspired by the tracks.
He added, “I suppose [it’s] the next stage of being interactive with the audience.”
Wakeman’s 2022 The Even Grumpier Old Rock Star Tour starts on February 22 in Seattle and is mapped out through a March 14 show in Toronto.
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