In honor of its 50th anniversary, Queen will be celebrated on the fourth and latest installment of ABC’s Singalong franchise, which will air November 4 at 8 p.m.
Hosted by Emmy-winning actor and singer Darren Criss, The Queen Family Singalong will feature various well-known music artists and other celebs performing hits by the iconic British band, including Adam Lambert, who currently serves as Queen’s frontman.
Lambert will be singing “The Show Must Go On” on the special. Other stars who will be performing on the special include Fall Out Boy, former Alice Cooper guitarist Orianthi, country singer Jimmie Allen, Miss Piggy, singer and reality star JoJo Siwa, OneRepublic and vocal group Pentatonix.
Previous installments of ABC’s Singalong specials have focused on Disney music, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the Queen-themed show also will feature the casts of the Broadway productions of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin, who’ll team up to perform a group rendition of “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Here’s a list of confirmed performances on the special, with more to be announced soon:
Adam Lambert –- “The Show Must Go On”
Derek Hough featuring Alexander Jean -– “Another One Bites the Dust”
Fall Out Boy -– “Under Pressure”
Jimmie Allen featuring Miss Piggy -– “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
JoJo Siwa and Orianthi -– “We Will Rock You”
OneRepublic -– “We Are the Champions”
Pentatonix –- “Somebody to Love”
The casts of Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin — “Don’t Stop Me Now”
(LANSING, Mich.) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive directive Thursday to help residents of Benton Harbor access safe drinking water, vowing to replace all lead pipes by April 2023.
The directive comes a week after officials urged locals in Benton Harbor, a city of 9,600 people, to use bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth due to elevated levels of lead in water testing.
“For six consecutive sampling periods over the last three years, the Benton Harbor water system has failed to meet the regulatory standard for lead,” the governor said in the directive.
Advocates in the city had filed an emergency petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 9 demanding a federal intervention to aid in the crisis.
In the directive, the governor announced she’ll expedite lead service line replacements to be completed in 18 months, up from the prior five-year timeline. The effort will also continue to give free bottled water to Benton Harbor residents and free or low-cost drinking water testing and health services.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has received U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA) approval to provide Benton Harbor residents specific baby formula that does not require the mixing of water.
The effort will be funded by federal, state and local resources, with additional federal funding expected through the infrastructure bill currently moving through Congress. Under Michigan’s 2022 state budget, $10 million is dedicated to replace service lines in Benton Harbor.
“I cannot imagine the stress that moms and dads in Benton Harbor are under as they emerge from a pandemic, work hard to put food on the table, pay the bills, and face a threat to the health of their children,” Whitmer said in a statement. “We will not rest until the job is done and every parent feels confident to give their kid a glass of water knowing that it is safe.”
Rev. Edward Pinkney, a local activist and president of the grassroots Benton Harbor Community Water Council, touted the directive as a victory.
“Without the petition, none of this could have happened. I am more than happy that Whitmer is now taking this a little bit more seriously,” he told ABC News. “But, I want her to tell the people that the water is unsafe to drink rather than saying this is out of ‘an abundance of caution.'”
Benton Harbor sources its water from Lake Michigan. Elevated lead levels in water has been an issue for several years in the city, where 85% of the population is Black, 5% Hispanic and about 45% have an income below the federal poverty line, according to the U.S. Census.
Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing materials and service lines contain lead corrosion. Lead exposure harms brain development in children and it causes both short and long-term health problems for adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The EPA has a lead contamination action level of 15 parts per billion. If water samples hit that mark, officials are supposed to take several actions to educate the public and restore water to a safe level.
In Benton Harbor, water testing surpassed that level in 2018. One home in 2020 tested at 440 ppb for lead. Eleven homes tested this year showed water with lead levels above 15 ppb, with one home hitting 889 ppb — nearly 60 times the EPA’s action level, according to data released by the city.
According to the petition filed with the EPA, Benton Harbor has 5,877 total service lines, 51% of which “are known to contain lead, are known to be galvanized lines previously connected to lead, or are of unknown material but likely to contain lead.” Just 2% of service lines contain zero lead.
The crisis echoes the Flint, Michigan, crisis in 2014 and 2015 where the state switched the city’s water supply to come from the Flint River. An investigation later found there were highly toxic levels of lead in the water.
(EDISON, N.J.) — First lady Jill Biden hit the campaign trail Friday, hoping to help deliver victories for Democrats in two gubernatorial elections.
Biden stumped in New Jersey for Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday afternoon and is traveling to Virginia Friday evening to help elect Terry McAuliffe.
“I came here to ask the people of New Jersey to reelect Phil Murphy as your next governor. You know, he’s used this office to lead New Jersey through one of the darkest times in modern history,” Biden said in Edison, New Jersey, Friday afternoon. “Joe and I know Phil. We know that he’s going to fight for you and your family every single day.”
An incumbent Democratic governor hasn’t won reelection in New Jersey since the 1970s, but public polling indicates Murphy is better positioned heading into November than McAuliffe. Polls conducted in mid-September from Stockton University and Monmouth University showed Murphy with a nine-point and 13-point lead, respectively, over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman.
While Virginians rejected former President Donald Trump at the ballot box twice and Democrats made significant gains in the commonwealth, including securing a trifecta government when he was in office, McAuliffe only has a slim 2.5-point lead over GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average.
Despite the race tightening over the last few weeks, McAuliffe is confident Virginians will back his record and he’ll once again break the so-called “Virginia curse” of candidates losing Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial race if they have the same party affiliation as the current occupant of the White House.
“We’re gonna win this again and make history again with this,” McAuliffe told reporters Thursday. “I am the first candidate for office of either party in 80 years to win every single city and county (in the primary). … Why? I think a.) people were happy with my job as governor before and b.) because I have a real agenda.”
The first lady is not the only high-profile surrogate hitting the road for the two candidates — former President Barack Obama will also stump for both men next week.
Obama will hold back-to-back events in the states on Oct. 23, 10 days before Election Day and coinciding with the first day of in-person early voting in New Jersey’s history.
Georgia heavy-hitters Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who were both on the president’s shortlist for vice president, are also headed to Virginia on Sunday to campaign for McAuliffe.
After McAuliffe said during the last debate that he doesn’t “think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” the Youngkin campaign rallied around education as his closing message. Having the first lady, an educator who began her career in 1976, join McAuliffe on the trail could serve as an opportunity to speak to the issue and reassure parents who may be wary of his stance.
Biden, who currently works as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, has made education one of the top priorities in her role as first lady.
The first lady is not the first Biden to campaign for McAuliffe in the state — President Joe Biden also made a campaign stop on behalf of his longtime friend in July — though recent polling has shown Biden’s approval ratings in the state fall, leading McAuliffe to distance himself from the president.
“We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through,” McAuliffe said during a virtual rally last week. He’s also said he’s frustrated that Congress still hasn’t passed the infrastructure package, saying the “inaction on Capitol Hill … is so damaging.”
Despite the comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that she expected the president would continue to advocate for McAuliffe’s candidacy.
“I think the president of course wants former Governor McAuliffe to be the future governor of Virginia. There is alignment on a lot of their agenda, whether it is the need to invest in rebuilding our roads, rails and bridges or making it easier for women to rejoin the workforce,” Psaki told reporters.
“We’re going to do everything we can to help former Governor McAuliffe and we believe in the agenda he’s representing,” she added
And McAuliffe has since made clear that Biden is still welcome in Virginia, telling reporters Tuesday, “He’ll be coming back. You bet he will.”
ABC News’ Meg Cunningham contributed to this report.
However, two big questions remain: Where will they be broadcast — and even more importantly, will any celebs show up?
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the journalist organization that run the awards show, didn’t answer those two questions, but said the 79th annual event will be held on January 9.
The HFPA also released its deadlines for submissions, and say nominations will be revealed on December 13.
In February of this year, a Los Angeles Times exposé revealed the HFPA hadn’t had a Black member in 20 years. Following the controversy — and the ouster of one of its heads over racially insensitive emails — Hollywood shunned the organization. Tom Cruise even went so far as to return his three trophies in protest.
In August, the HFPA announced reforms to its bylaws and membership rules with the intention of bringing diversity to its ranks.
(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its official public health guidance for the 2021 holiday season, offering up mostly general advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The recommendations urge people to get vaccinated ahead of the holidays if they haven’t done so already. For young children who aren’t yet eligible for the vaccine, the CDC suggests reducing risk of exposure by making sure the people around them are vaccinated.
The CDC also recommends that people continue to wear masks indoors in public spaces.
“We fully expect that families and friends will gather for the holidays this year and we have updated our guidance on how to best to stay safe over the holidays,” the agency wrote in a statement. “The best way to minimize COVID risk and ensure that people can safely gather is to get vaccinated or get the booster if you’re eligible.”
The holiday guidance is notably less prescriptive than last year, when vaccines were not available to the general public.
In 2020, for example, the CDC warned against traditional trick-or-treating by knocking on doors and instead suggested individually wrapped goodie bags that families could “grab and go” from a distance.
This year, the CDC doesn’t provide holiday-specific advice. However, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has said she thinks trick-or-treating can be done safely if kids stay outdoors and stick to small groups.
“If you’re able to be outdoors, absolutely,” Walensky told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
When it comes to big family gatherings, the CDC suggests “additional precautions” such as testing in advance or avoiding crowded indoor spaces before making the trip.
The 2021 guidance follows some confusion earlier this month when the CDC provided a technical update to its website that appeared to be its new recommendations for the season. The agency later removed the page, which was outdated.
Holidays have been a major driver of the pandemic, with hospitalizations and deaths spiking to its highest levels following the 2020 holiday season. Last January, the death toll peaked at around 3,600 people per day.
Those numbers plummeted following the rollout of vaccinations, only to surge again this summer with the arrival of the delta variant sickening unvaccinated populations.
According to CDC data collected from hospitals and state health officials last August, an unvaccinated person was 11 times more likely to die from COVID than a vaccinated person.
Health officials are again warning caution ahead of this holiday season so cases don’t spike again, although vaccines have made gatherings considerably safer.
One bright spot for families of children who remain ineligible for the vaccine: Federal regulators are expected to greenlight shots for kids as young as 5 in early November.
The dose of the Pfizer pediatric shot is a third smaller than the dose given to adults, but would still require two shots three weeks apart. And like adults, a child would not be considered immunized until two weeks after their second shot.
A vaccine for infants and children under age 5 isn’t expected until early 2022.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos contributed to this report.
Kelly Clarkson’s holiday project, When Christmas Comes Around, arrived on Friday, and the track list boasts some impressive collaborators. Among them is Chris Stapleton, who lends his voice to one particularly soulful song, “Glow.”
Kelly and Chris trade verses on the song, a love ballad about the one special person who’s missing from an otherwise perfect Christmas.
“Nothin’ has changed, I still wish you could be / Wrapped up in my arms, spendin’ Christmas with me,” the pair harmonize in the chorus. “When it gets cold is when I notice the most / With all the lights on the trees, even Christmas can’t compete with your glow…”
This is the first time Kelly’s ever teamed with Chris, but the pop star’s no stranger to country collaborations in general. In fact, “Under the Mistletoe” — her duet with Brett Eldredge — is a bonus track on When Christmas Comes Around.
Kelly also snagged a number-one country hit back in 2011, thanks to her duet with Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”
Starz has released an epic first trailer to the second season of their hit crime-drama Power Book II: Ghost.
The new promo teases Michael Rainey Jr.‘s original Power character, Tariq, and his deeper dive into the world of crime following the events of season one. As previously reported, Power alum Larenz Tate has been upped to a series-regular role for the second season of the Power spinoff. He joins Mary J. Blige, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Woody McClain and others, who will also return. Season two of Power Book II: Ghost premieres November 21 on Starz.
In other news, Kevin Durant‘s Apple TV+ series, Swagger, has dropped its first trailer. Inspired by Durant’s childhood experiences playing basketball in Washington, D.C., the series follows the young athletes, families and coaches as they “walk the fine line between dreams and ambition, and opportunism and corruption.” Swagger stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isaiah Hill, Quvenzhané Wallis, Tristan Mack Wilds, Jason Rivera and others. The series hits Apple TV+ on Friday, October 29.
Finally, John Boyega has teamed up with Converse for The Create Next Film Project, a new initiative that will help nurture the next generation of Black filmmakers. As part of the project, Boyega will work with five London filmmakers, who will receive funding to create a five-minute short film, as well as be supported through mentoring from Boyega and a team of creatives. The program’s design is to help “highlight issues people of color face working in the industry.” Boyega shared the news on his Instagram with the message, “The next generation deserves a proper shot ! Let’s do this.”
According to a press statement, the Hard Rock Live concert will be the most intimate performance The Stones have given in more than a decade. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Monday, October 18, at 10 a.m. ET, and will be available at MyHRL.com.
“[W]e are honored to have the privilege of hosting perhaps the most iconic rock band of all-time on the final date of their North American tour,” says Hard Rock International executive Keith Sheldon. “With what will be by far the most intimate performance on the No Filter Tour, we know this will be an incredibly special evening at our 6,500 seat Hard Rock Live venue.”
The Rolling Stones next concert will take place Sunday, October 17, in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, the second of two shows the band has scheduled at the venue.
Just Announced – The Stones will bring the No Filter tour to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida on November 23. Tickets go on sale this Monday, October 18 at 10am ET. pic.twitter.com/0KMk1PDkmp
Rob Thomas‘ holiday album Something About Christmas Time is out next week, but you don’t have to wait to hear a preview of one of the duets that’s featured on the project.
Ingrid Michaelson joins Rob for a version of “Christmas Time,” a 1985 holiday tune by Bryan Adams, a snippet of which is posted right now on Ingrid’s Instagram Story. The album’s title is taken from the lyrics of the song. The project also includes collaborations with Bebe Winans and country star Brad Paisley, as well as an updated version of “A New York Christmas,” which Rob originally put out in 2003.
Ingrid also has her own holiday release: a deluxe version of her 2018 album Songs for the Season, due November 5. That project includes collaborations with, among others, Jason Mraz and actress/singer Zooey Deschanel.
Here’s the track listing for Something About Christmas Time:
“Save Some Christmas for Me”
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
“Christmas Time” (Ft. Ingrid Michaelson)
“That Spirit of Christmas” (Ft. Bebe Winans)
“Small Town Christmas”
“New Year’s Day”
“Santa Don’t Come Here Anymore” (Ft. Brad Paisley)
“I Believe In Santa Claus” (Ft. Abby Anderson)
“A New York Christmas ‘21”
“Doesn’t Feel Like Christmas (Samy’s Song)”
(WASHINGTON) — As the U.S. economy struggles to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic, supply-chain disruptions across the country are driving up prices and leading to a growing shortage of goods.
The supply chain bottlenecks — around the world — have caused record shortages of many products that American consumers are used to having readily available, from household goods to electronics to automobiles.
Moody’s Analytics has warned that problems “will likely get worse before they get better.”
“As the global economic recovery continues to gather steam, what is increasingly apparent is how it will be stymied by supply-chain disruptions that are now showing up at every corner,” Moody’s wrote in a report.
Here is how experts answer some key questions:
What’s causing the disruptions?
Analysts say that the lingering effects of COVID-19 mitigation strategies essentially reduced the production of goods and services, and the supply chain shortages now happening are the result of struggles to return to pre-pandemic levels.
“The result of that imbalance between supply and demand eliminated all the inventory and eliminated all the grease that allows the wheels of commerce to work smoothly,” said Steve Ricchiuto, chief U.S. economist at Mizuho Securities.
Not enough warehouse workers, truck drivers
Economists believe there are several issues at work behind the supply chain shortages, including a growing number of workers quitting jobs key to keeping things running smoothly.
A record 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August — the most since the Department of Labor started tracking this data in 2000.
“You have a bunch of sectors that just pay minimum wage and labor is just going to veer over to where it finds the most profit,” said Vidya Mani, an associate professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
The Labor Department in July reported that the warehouse industry had a record 490,000 job openings. Companies such as Walmart, Target and Amazon are going to great lengths to attract warehouse workers with attractive benefits, including free college tuition.
With growing inflation jitters, many large retail employers are increasing their wages to keep up with rising prices, intensifying the competition among companies to make their most compelling job-offers amid the pre-holiday rush to hire workers.
The American Trucking Association in 2019 estimated that it would be short some 60,000 drivers, but those shortages increased due to retirements, and new truck drivers being trained due to COVID-19 closures.
“There is a shortage of drivers, and it is one of several issues contributing to problems in the overall supply chain,” said Sean McNally, an ATA spokesman. “However it is a reflection of the strong demand for goods – and everything consumers buy is delivered in a truck.”
At the same time, economists say large employers preparing to bring their staffs back to work in larger numbers had led to large purchases of bulk items.
So, what happens now?
Supply chain experts say that the best option for consumers right now is to wait and start tapering their demands for goods, or they may ultimately end up paying a higher price once those long-awaited products become available.
“It’s good to be aware of the fact that when we make our purchases that whatever we order is going to land at some point in time,” said Mani. “We see these immediate shortages and we just keep ordering and ordering. A lot of those consumer goods companies are going to just pass on those price increases to you.”
The Biden administration has made a concerted effort to try to close supply chain gaps and has pushed the president’s infrastructure plan as a means of addressing systemic supply chain issues. President Joe Biden announced that the port of Los Angeles would begin 24/7 operations to ease bottlenecks ahead of the holiday season.
“Strengthening our supply chains will continue to be my team’s focus,” said Biden. “If federal support is needed, I will direct all appropriate action, and if the private sector doesn’t step up, we’re going to call them out and ask them to act.”
But experts believe that untangling supply chain woes could take much longer.
How long before things return to normal?
“We are in for at least four to six months for it to actually catch a break,” said Nick Vyas, executive director at the Kendrick Global Supply Chain Management Institute at University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
“So I think we’re going have to go through the peak seasons with this bottlenecks, and although the bottlenecks may actually move from the ports into the inland, but the delay is, I do anticipate to be continued through the holiday season.”
Disruptions to the supply chain at the pandemic’s onset, which caused months of shortages in PPE including N95 respirators, gloves, cleaning supplies and other critical care hospital equipment took nearly a year to resolve.
The federal government, specifically FEMA, had no clear guidance on the distribution of supply to the states leading to an oversupply of goods in some portions of the country while others experienced severe shortages.
Though the supply crunch is driving up prices, companies now have an opportunity to begin figuring out solutions, given the vulnerabilities that recent supply chain crises have exposed, including the deepening cargo ship gridlocks at the world’s busiest ports.
Gooten, a U.S. based supply chain company, facilitates brands and retailers in using on-demand manufacturing to grow their retail and e-commerce businesses on a global basis.
Companies that utilize on-demand production begin producing products only once they are purchased by a consumer, as opposed to forecasting what the demand for a product might be and then producing a set number of those products.
“We have to start that same just-in-time manufacturing model with everything else we produce, whether its apparel, wall art, home goods, toys we just have to shift our thinking,” said Mark Kapczynski, chief marketing officer at Gooten.
“If you’re a retailer, or you’re a brand and you have ten thousand pieces of, let’s say t-shirts, sitting on a box in a boat how do you sell anything?” he said.
