(NEW YORK) — Saturday kicks off the NFL Regular Season finale with two huge games in the first ever Saturday Doubleheader on ABC and ESPN.
Watch ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark break down the big showdowns happening this weekend:
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Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town will split a bill once again: They’re co-headliners for a 2022 iteration of The Bandwagon Tour, which will kick off this spring.
It’s a return of the two act’s 2018 tour of the same name, and this time around, The Cadillac Three will join Miranda and Little Big Town’s traveling show as an opening act. The full lineup will kick things off on May 6 with a show in Houston, Texas, hitting amphitheaters across 15 dates and wrapping in June.
“The Bandwagon tour is BACK!! Been dying to share this news,” Little Big Town wrote on social media this morning.
“This is one of the most fun tours I’ve ever done,” Miranda added on her socials. “See y’all for round two!”
Before the party starts in earnest, Miranda and The Cadillac Three will kick things off a little early, playing three shows without Little Big Town starting a week before the full tour launches.
Tickets go on sale next Friday, January 14 at 10 a.m. local time, except for the May 6 Houston stop, which opens up to ticket sales on January 21. Additionally, there’s a special presale for Citi cardholders starting the Tuesday before tickets open up to the general public.
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(NEW YORK) — More than 45 million people on Tuesday morning were under snow alerts from Virginia to Maine. The first significant snowstorm of the season in the Northeast, has hit New York and Boston, after wreaking havoc earlier this week, when weather conditions left people trapped on the highway for more than 24 hours in Virginia, including the state’s governor.
A winter storm warning is in effect for Connecticut, Rhode Island and into Boston, and all of coastal New England. Some of those areas could see a foot and a half of snow.
A state of emergency has been issued in New Jersey and there is a blizzard warning in effect for eastern, coastal Maine.
This same storm system brought traffic to a standstill in part of the the Mid-South, from Kentucky to Tennessee where dozens of accidents were reported. Nashville, Tennessee, saw record daily snowfall — 6.3 inches — the average there is 4.7 inches for the entire winter.
Some other records were broken as well. Lexington, Kentucky, received a whopping 9.9 inches, breaking that city’s daily record as well.
As of Friday morning, here’s how much snow has fallen across the region:
An arctic blast with the coldest air of the season is following the snow. The Midwest is already seeing below-zero temperatures with wind chill near negative 53 degrees.
Wind chills are also dropping into the teens Friday morning from Texas to Alabama, and it feels like it’s freezing in Florida’s panhandle.
On Saturday, the coldest air of the season will move into the Northeast. Wind chills will be near zero in Boston, and in single digits in New York City, Philadelphia and D.C.
Black ice will be a major problem Saturday morning in the Northeast as the slushy snow will freeze on the streets and roads.
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(NEW YORK) — It was a New York buzzer-beating win for the books, heading into the weekend. The New York Knicks RJ Barrett launched a game-winning shot into the basket with 1.5 seconds left in Thursday night’s game, capping off a 25-point comeback for the team.
Watch the full report and the winning shot below:
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Monday’s planned red carpet premiere for the fifth latest installment of the Scream franchise has been scrapped, according to Variety. The film’s stars, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, along with their supporting cast, were expected to attend the event in Los Angeles. Media screenings, as well as the wide theatrical release of the horror flick, will still proceed on the big screen as planned. Scream opens nationwide January 14…
Filming on the Paramount+ drama Star Trek: Picard has been shut down since Monday, according to sources who tell The Hollywood Reporter that more than 50 members of the large production tested positive for COVID-19. The insiders say filming should resume early next week, if not sooner, though details remain in limbo. Picard was renewed for a third season in September, with seasons two and three being filmed back-to-back in a bid to control costs and accommodate production schedules, according to THR. Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Jeri Ryan, Orla Brady, John de Lancie, Annie Wersching and Brent Spiner…
Deadline reports the Super Bowl is still on for February 13, according to Los Angeles County’s public health director and the chair of its Board of Supervisors. “It will be challenging if the surge continues into February”, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, but the department is “working closely with both the NFL and SoFi Stadium” to see that the appropriate safety precautions are in place to keep the community safe. Adds Ferrer, “My hope is that by the time we get to February, we’re on the downside of seeing this massive amount of community transmission.” She went on to note that, unlike the Grammy Awards and similar events that have postponed their ceremonies, the Super Bowl is held outdoors…
(NOTE LANGUAGE) The first extended trailer for Ozark‘s fourth and final season dropped on Thursday, and things don’t seem to be going well for Jason Bateman‘s Marty, who warns his former protégé Ruth, played by Julia Garner: “Don’t get yourself killed. Her response: “Like you f****** care.” The exchange comes as Ruth partners up with Darlene, played by Lisa Emery, on a drug enterprise that doesn’t sit well with the Navarro cartel, headed by kingpin Omar and nephew Javi, played respectively by Felix Solis and Alfonso Herrera. Omar also has a warning for Marty to end the clip: “Your greatest threat will always come from the inside.” The first seven episodes of Ozark season four premiere January 21 on Netflix, with the final seven due later this year… (Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)
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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 833,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 07, 8:45 am
CDC director stands by new guidance, despite criticism
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is standing by her agency’s new quarantine and isolation guidance for COVID-19, which the nation’s largest association of physicians has criticized as “confusing.”
The CDC updated its guidelines on Dec. 27, saying asymptomatic people who test positive for COVID-19 should self-isolate for five days rather than 10. In a scathing statement released Wednesday night, the American Medical Association (AMA) said the new recommendations “are risking further spread of the virus.”
“The American people should be able to count on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for timely, accurate, clear guidance to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Instead, the new recommendations on quarantine and isolation are not only confusing, but are risking further spread of the virus,” the AMA’s president, Dr. Gerald E. Harmon, said in the statement. “With hundreds of thousands of new cases daily and more than a million positive reported cases on January 3, tens of thousands — potentially hundreds of thousands of people — could return to work and school infectious if they follow the CDC’s new guidance on ending isolation after five days without a negative test.”
But Walensky defended the new guidance, telling ABC News’ Cecelia Vega in an interview Friday on Good Morning America that the CDC “make[s] these recommendations in the context of science, in the context of ongoing epidemiology and in the context of what is feasible in collaboration with our public health and local and state public health partners.”
“I’ve read the AMA statement and I have deep respect for the AMA,” Walenskey said, “but I will also say we’ve heard a lot of support for ongoing guidance from public health partners, from other clinical and laboratory partners as well.”
Walensky referenced “dozens of studies” that have shown a COVID-19 patient is most infectious in the one to two days before symptoms and the two to three days after symptoms.
“So by five days after your symptoms, the vast majority of your contagiousness is really behind you,” she said. “And what we say at day five then is, are your symptoms gone? Are you feeling better? Is your cough gone, sore throat gone? And if so, then it is safe to go out if you are wearing a mask all the time. And that means not going out to restaurants, not going out to gyms, not going out and visiting grandma, but really conscientiously wearing your mask for those last five days.”
Walensky noted that people may choose to take an antigen or at-home test at day five, if they have access to one. But it’s not required.
“If that test is positive, you should stay home for those extra five days. But if that test is negative you should go out and continue to wear your mask,” she said. “You know, these tests are actually not authorized for the purpose of evaluating contagiousness.”
Jan 07, 8:43 am
Florida allowed up to 1 million COVID-19 tests to expire, official says
Florida allowed up to a million COVID-19 rapid test kits to expire last month, according to Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie.
Guthrie admitted during a press conference Thursday that the stockpile of unused tests, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, sat idle in a Florida warehouse amid a lack of demand for them.
“We had between 800,000 and 1 million test kits — Abbott rapid test kits — in our warehouse that did expire,” Guthrie told reporters. “We tried to give them out prior to that, but there was not a demand for it.”
The tests expired between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30, after being granted a three-month extension, according to Guthrie. Meanwhile, the country has been grappling with a winter surge of COVID-19 infections, fueled in part by the highly contagious omicron variant and holiday gatherings, that has sparked an increased demand for tests, leading to shortages and long lines across the nation.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, has accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health of stockpiling tests amid hourslong lines at testing sites in some parts of the Sunshine State.
Jan 06, 10:47 pm
Global COVID cases top 300 million
The number of global cases of COVID-19 crossed 300 million on Thursday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. continues to have the most cases in the world — as it has all pandemic — with over 58 million cases. India (35 million), Brazil (22 million), the U.K. (14 million) and France (11 million) round out the top 5 countries by total cases.
Global cases crossed 200 million on Aug. 4, 2021, and 100 million on Jan. 26, 2021, according to JHU.
With many people now experiencing second bouts of the virus, it’s unclear how many total people have been infected globally.
Jan 06, 7:18 pm
Chicago cancels classes for 3rd day
Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district, canceled instruction on Friday for the third day in a row amid an impasse over in-person learning.
Classes were first canceled Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, after a majority of the Chicago Teachers Union’s membership voted this week in favor of remote learning during a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The district said Thursday evening that all classes will be canceled on Friday, though some schools may be able to offer in-person activities for students.
“Our schools are the best, safest place for students to be during this pandemic, and we are working tirelessly to get everyone back in class every day,” Pedro Martinez, head of the school district, said in a letter to families, noting that they are continuing to work with the union “to resolve this situation.”
The teacher’s union is calling for more robust school COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
Jan 06, 6:43 pm
J&J says vaccine offers lower initial efficacy but more stable protection over time
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine offers lower initial efficacy compared to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, but protection against breakthrough infection remains more stable over time, according to a new study sponsored by the pharmaceutical company.
The study found that the J&J vaccine was 74% effective against breakthrough infection in the weeks following the shot. This level of protection held steady over the next three months and started waning after the fourth month.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, meanwhile, were 88% and 92% effective, respectively, against breakthrough infection in the weeks following the second dose, the study found. This level of protection started waning after the second month, falling progressively over six months.
Protection against severe illness remained more stable over time for all three vaccines.
The analysis, which has not been peer-reviewed, looked at data from 168 million people between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7 of last year. It covers a period of alpha and delta variant dominance, but the results could change now that the omicron variant is also present.
The data supports current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for booster shots after two months for the J&J vaccine to bring initial efficacy higher, and booster shots for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines after five and six months, respectively, to boost efficacy after a period of waning.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Jan 06, 4:44 pm
Less than 0.1% of fully vaccinated adults get severe COVID-19: CDC
COVID-19 vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of severe illness and death from the virus, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Thursday.
The study looked at 1.2 million fully vaccinated adults who received either two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Just 0.18% of patients had breakthrough COVID-19 infections, and 0.015% developed serious illness that led to hospitalization, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, intubation or death.
The small portion of people who did become seriously sick or die of COVID-19 after being vaccinated were primarily older adults, immunocompromised people or those living with multiple underlying medical conditions.
The study was conducted before the emergence of the omicron variant, which appears to more easily evade — at least partially — the protection offered by vaccines.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
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James Corden, host of CBS’ The Late Late Show, announced on Thursday that he’s tested positive for COVID-19, making him the third late-night host this week to contract the virus.
“I just tested positive for covid 19. I’m fully vaccinated, boosted and because of this am fortunate enough to say I feel completely fine,” Corden wrote on Instagram. “The show will be off the air for the next few days. Stay safe everyone. All my love, James x.”
Repeats of The Late Late Show will air this week and next as Corden recovers, with new episodes set to return on Jan. 18, a source close to the show tells Variety.
The announcement comes two days after Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s Late Night, tweeted on Tuesday that he’d tested positive for COVID-19, forcing him to cancel this week’s shows. Also, earlier this week, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon revealed that he had tested positive over the Christmas break.
COVID-19 has also struck daytime TV hosts, with Today’s Hoda Kotb and The View’s Whoopi Goldberg both revealing this week that they had the virus.
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(WASHINGTON) — Employers added a lackluster 199,000 jobs last month — significantly lower than economists’ expectations — and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, the Department of Labor said Friday.
Hiring in December was even less than the revised figure for the previous month, when 249,000 jobs were added to the economy in November. The stalled job growth comes as new coronavirus variants continue to sow uncertainty and threaten the post-pandemic economic recovery — though the data for December was collected in the earlier half of the month, before the full extent of omicron’s severity unfolded.
The unemployment rate remains heightened compared to the pre-pandemic 3.5% seen in February 2020, indicating the labor market recovery still lags nearly two years into the health crisis. As of last month, employment is up by 18.8 million jobs since the April 2020 low but still down by 3.6 million compared to February 2020.
December’s hiring data is also significantly less than 2021’s average job growth of 573,000 jobs per month seen during the past year.
The DOL said employment continued to trend upwards in the pandemic-clobbered leisure and hospitality sector (which gained 53,000 jobs last month), but employment in the industry is still down by 1.2 million jobs (or 7.2%) compared to February 2020.
Employment in professional and business services gained 43,000 jobs last month and notable job gains were also seen in manufacturing (where hiring rose by 26,000 in December).
Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose by 19 cents last month to $31.31 an hour. Economists have linked the rising wages to struggles major firms have reported in hiring in recent months and the new wave of workplace activism brought on by that trend. Just this week, the Labor Department separately reported that a record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November.
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Just a reminder that the star-studded A Bowie Celebration virtual concert event commemorating what would’ve been David Bowie‘s 75th birthday takes place this Saturday, January 8, starting at 9 p.m. ET.
As previously reported, the presentation was organized by longtime Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, and will feature performances by Def Leppard, Duran Duran‘s Simon Le Bon and John Taylor, Noel Gallagher, Living Colour, Rob Thomas, WALK THE MOON, and actors Gary Oldman and Evan Rachel Wood, among others.
In addition, Ricky Gervais will make a special appearance during the show, part of the proceeds from which will benefit the Save the Children charity.
Garson will lead a house band featuring various musicians who toured and/or recorded with Bowie.
The event will be dedicated to legendary late photographer Mick Rock, and also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jim Henson fantasy film, Labyrinth, which starred Bowie as the Goblin King and featured five songs he wrote.
Tickets and ticket bundles for the event are available now at RollingLiveStudios.com/Bowie.
Meanwhile, a contest has been launched in conjunction of the livestream offering a variety of special prizes.
The grand prize features Bowie’s new 18-LP Brilliant Adventure box set, a one-on-one Zoom with Garson, a ticket to the streaming event, access to a virtual Q&A with some of the show’s musicians, a signed copy of Garson’s book Bowie’s Piano Man, t-shirts and other goodies.
To enter, fans must follow @bowietour, @licoricepizzarecords or @rollinglivestudios on Instagram, leave comment under the post about the contest, tag at least five friends and ask them to follow. The person who generates the most follows wins the contest. The winner will be announced at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
Seven additional randomly chose winners each will receive a different Bowie album.
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(NEW YORK) — As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 833,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
About 62.4% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 06, 10:47 pm
Global COVID cases top 300 million
The number of global cases of COVID-19 crossed 300 million on Thursday night, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The U.S. continues to have the most cases in the world — as it has all pandemic — with over 58 million cases. India (35 million), Brazil (22 million), the U.K. (14 million) and France (11 million) round out the top 5 countries by total cases.
Global cases crossed 200 million on Aug. 4, 2021, and 100 million on Jan. 26, 2021, according to JHU.
With many people now experiencing second bouts of the virus, it’s unclear how many total people have been infected globally.
Jan 06, 7:18 pm
Chicago cancels classes for 3rd day
Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third largest school district, canceled instruction on Friday for the third day in a row amid an impasse over in-person learning.
Classes were first canceled Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, after a majority of the Chicago Teachers Union’s membership voted this week in favor of remote learning during a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The district said Thursday evening that all classes will be canceled on Friday, though some schools may be able to offer in-person activities for students.
“Our schools are the best, safest place for students to be during this pandemic, and we are working tirelessly to get everyone back in class every day,” Pedro Martinez, head of the school district, said in a letter to families, noting that they are continuing to work with the union “to resolve this situation.”
The teacher’s union is calling for more robust school COVID-19 testing and contact tracing.
Jan 06, 6:43 pm
J&J says vaccine offers lower initial efficacy but more stable protection over time
Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine offers lower initial efficacy compared to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s, but protection against breakthrough infection remains more stable over time, according to a new study sponsored by the pharmaceutical company.
The study found that the J&J vaccine was 74% effective against breakthrough infection in the weeks following the shot. This level of protection held steady over the next three months and started waning after the fourth month.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, meanwhile, were 88% and 92% effective, respectively, against breakthrough infection in the weeks following the second dose, the study found. This level of protection started waning after the second month, falling progressively over six months.
Protection against severe illness remained more stable over time for all three vaccines.
The analysis, which has not been peer-reviewed, looked at data from 168 million people between Jan. 1 and Sept. 7 of last year. It covers a period of alpha and delta variant dominance, but the results could change now that the omicron variant is also present.
The data supports current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for booster shots after two months for the J&J vaccine to bring initial efficacy higher, and booster shots for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines after five and six months, respectively, to boost efficacy after a period of waning.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
Jan 06, 4:44 pm
Less than 0.1% of fully vaccinated adults get severe COVID-19: CDC
COVID-19 vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of severe illness and death from the virus, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Thursday.
The study looked at 1.2 million fully vaccinated adults who received either two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Just 0.18% of patients had breakthrough COVID-19 infections, and 0.015% developed serious illness that led to hospitalization, ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, intubation or death.
The small portion of people who did become seriously sick or die of COVID-19 after being vaccinated were primarily older adults, immunocompromised people or those living with multiple underlying medical conditions.
The study was conducted before the emergence of the omicron variant, which appears to more easily evade — at least partially — the protection offered by vaccines.
-ABC News’ Sony Salzman
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