Scotty McCreery is sharing another song from his upcoming Same Truck album. The American Idol alum dropped “Damn Strait,” one of only two songs he did not write on his new record.
“Every now and then you hear a song that sounds so much like you,” Scotty says of the song, which was written by Trent Tomlinson and Jim Collins. “I grew up as a huge George Strait fan, and when I heard this song, I raised my hand to say, ‘I want this one.’ Every country fan has a George Strait story, and everyone has a memory attached to their favorite songs.”
It was George, along with a couple of other country music legends, who inspired Scotty to become a singer.
“The first country music concert I ever went to was George Strait, Reba [McEntire] and Lee Ann Womack,” Scotty says. “When I saw that show, I said, ‘I’m gonna do that one day.’”
Same Truck will be released on Friday, September 17. Scotty’s current single from the album, “You Time,” is currently in the top 5.
A scary situation erupted right outside Ariana Grande’s Hollywood Hills home last week.
TMZ reports that a man, identified as 23-year-old Aaron Brown, showed up at Ari’s house around 2 a.m. local time on Friday and waved a knife at her security when they tried to give him the boot.
According to the report, Brown demanded an audience with the “Positions” singer and when security told him to scram, he brandished the knife, forcing security to call police.
Brown was arrested after the altercation and is now facing a felony charge.
It is unclear if Ariana was home at the time of the incident, but TMZ reports that she applied for a temporary restraining order against Brown, which was approved by a judge. The protection order will be in effect until an upcoming hearing, which will determine if the order will remain in effect.
The date of the upcoming hearing was not disclosed.
A crew member suffered serious injuries while working on the set of Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg‘s upcoming Netflix film, Me Time.
Around 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, paramedics responded to 911 calls about a 38-year-old male who had fallen through a hole in an elevated platform at Netflix’s Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, according to the Los Angeles Times.
When paramedics arrived, the man didn’t have a pulse and wasn’t breathing, according to LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey, who says on-set medical workers were performing CPR.
The man sustained fractures to both legs and one arm and was bleeding after falling from a height of about 60 to 80 feet, according to first responders, who had to use a defibrillator to resuscitate the victim.
The man’s condition remains unknown as of Wednesday morning.
(NEW YORK) — As companies continue to ramp up vaccine mandates to combat the contagious delta variant, some institutions are giving employees a chance to opt-out of getting the vaccine if they have a medical exemption.
However, medical experts who have been keeping track of COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness, say there are very few situations and conditions which would force a patient to put off getting vaccinated.
Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told ABC News that the large and growing data on the three coronavirus vaccines shows there are no immediate health issues or side effects for most people with pre-existing medical conditions.
“Other than age, there are no major exemptions that cover large groups of people,” he told ABC News.
The current guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the two-dose mRNA vaccines and the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine are safe for almost all patients.
The only major contraindication to the vaccines listed by the CDC is a severe allergic reaction to the first dose. In those cases, the person is advised to consult a physician and hold off on their second dose, according to Dowdy.
“We’re not talking about some people who had pain at the site of injection or a rash, we’re talking about anaphylactic shock,” he said.
Dowdy said the data so far shows this severe allergy is rare, and less than one in 1 million people experience it.
Dr. Jeff Linder, the chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News that research so far shows that those who have a severe allergic reaction are likely triggered by polyethylene glycol (PEG), a component in the vaccines.
“An allergy to that is pretty rare,” he told ABC News. “It would have to be documented, as a moderate or severe allergy, before I would consider giving a medical exemption.”
Overall, the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people with “moderate to severe immune compromise,” underlying conditions, pregnant women, women trying to get pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, according to the CDC.
Linder said these populations are most vulnerable to severe illness and death from the coronavirus and it is important that they get their shot.
“Anyone who says, ‘I have a medical condition,’ that is more of a reason to get vaccinated,” he said.
The CDC has some extra precautions in place for people with certain medical conditions. For example, people with a history of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), are advised to get an mRNA vaccine if they are within 90 days of illness, the CDC said. Women over 50 are also warned about a potential risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) if they chose the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.
The agency currently advises holding off on immediately getting the vaccine under two circumstances.
If a person is currently diagnosed with COVID-19 or under quarantine for a suspected case, they are advised from getting their shots until the quarantine period is over, according to the agency’s guidelines. If a patient is receiving monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma for COVID-19 treatment, they are advised to hold off on their vaccine appointment for 90 days, the CDC said.
Dowdy said neither scenario should stop someone from getting any of the vaccines once they’re eligible.
“People ask, ‘If I’ve gotten COVID in the past can I get the vaccine?’ The answer is yes, getting the vaccine adds additional protection,” he said.
Dr. Jay Bhatt, an internal medicine physician, an instructor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and an ABC News contributor, added that special care should be taken for patients who are awaiting an organ transplant, recently received an organ transplant or are receiving metastatic cancer treatment. Those patients should talk with their physicians and set up a timetable for the earliest and safest time to get their shots.
“It’s less about not being vaccinated, it’s more about when they want to do it,” he said. “If they’re in the midst of treatment…you want to make sure they’re situated appropriately.”
Researchers say it’s highly unlikely that that list of medical exemptions will change in the near future. Over 178 million Americans over 12 have been fully vaccinated since December and there have been no reports so far of any adverse effects to patients who have medical conditions, according to Linder.
“The idea that we’re missing something that’s even rare or severe seems very unlikely to me,” he said.
Linder recommended that anyone who is still hesitant about getting the vaccine over a medical issue should consult their doctor and review the data that has overwhelmingly shown the vaccines are safe.
“The risk for COVID is still high,” he said. “At the end of the day, we know the COVID vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death.”
Anyone who needs help scheduling a free vaccine appointment can go to vaccines.gov.
Congratulations are in order for Fast and Furious star Jordana Brewster, who announced Tuesday that she is engaged to Mason Morfit.
Following reports that she was seen with a massive sparkler on her ring finger, the 41-year-old actress took to Instagram to confirm the happy news. Sharing a photo of the two cozying it up by the beach, Brewster gushed, “JB soon to be JBM,” and decorated the caption with red heart emojis.
The photo also shared a closer look at the F9 star’s engagement ring, which appears to be a circle-cut diamond, yellow in color, nestled on a brilliant gold band.
Brewster and Morfit, a businessman, first sparked dating rumors last year but have remained relatively private about their love life. The actress was previously married to movie producer Andrew Form, her husband of 13 years. The two share sons Julian and Rowan, who are eight and five, respectively.
Brewster opened up in June about her divorce in an op-ed published by Glamour, writing that the two drifted apart because they wanted different things in life.
“Most of why my marriage didn’t work was not my ex-husband’s fault. He loves work. He loves being on set, on location. I knew this from ages 27 to 32, but it became a problem for me once the kids were older,” she wrote at the time. “I wanted a partner.”
She also opened up about Morfit, saying she found him “cute” and “charming” when they first met and that she could see herself marrying him one day.
Brewster nor Morfit have hinted when they will walk down the aisle.
(SEOUL, South Korea) — North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missiles were launched from central North Korea and soared nearly 500 miles before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. It’s the second time this week that the reclusive country has test-launched missiles.
“North Korea fired two unidentified ballistic missiles off its East Coast,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea told ABC News in a statement Wednesday. “South Korea and the U.S. intelligence are analyzing for details.”
The United States Indo-Pacific Command described the North Korean missile launch as “destabilizing” but said there was no “immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies.”
“We are aware of the missile launch and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” the command said in a statement Wednesday. “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program. The U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains ironclad.”
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the launch “simply outrageous,” condemning it as a “threat to the peace and security” of the region and a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from engaging in any ballistic missile activities.
“We will work closely with the U.S., South Korea and other concerned nations to resolutely protect the lives of our citizens and their peaceful lives,” Suga told reporters Wednesday.
The missile launch came just two days after Pyongyang announced that it had fired a newly developed cruise missile twice over the weekend, marking the country’s first weapons test in six months. North Korean state media on Monday described the long-range missile as a “strategic weapon of great significance.”
Analysts in Seoul saw the consecutive ballistic tests as a provocation on the heels of a strongly-worded statement released last month by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She criticized South Korea for taking part in an annual joint military drill with the United States and warned that “a dear price will be paid.”
Nevertheless, Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded think tank in Seoul, said the recent missile tests posed “no real threat to the U.S. mainland.”
“North Korea is walking a tightrope of crossing the promise Kim Jong Un made with former [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump at the Singapore summit to refrain from firing long-range missiles or conducting nuclear experiments,” Koh told ABC News on Wednesday.
Cha Du Hyeogn, a visiting research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, an independent, non-profit think tank in Seoul, said the provocative launches were “not surprising.”
“We could see this as a low-intensity provocation in a short interval to call for the U.S. attention,” Cha told ABC News on Wednesday. “The communist state is trying to show the world that they are keen on developing a weapons system, but at the same time is being careful not to break the nuclear moratorium.”
North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests since 2017, but the country’s leader said in 2020 that he will no longer be bound by such restrictions.
Pyongyang’s latest missile launch — the fifth this year — coincided with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Seoul, where he met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and other senior officials to discuss the stalled nuclear talks with the North. When asked by reporters for comment on the ballistic test, Wang emphasized the importance of resuming dialogue and bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.
China is North Korea’s last major ally and biggest source of aid and trade.
Just days after announcing her engagement, Britney Spears has disappeared from Instagram — but have no fear, she’s only taking a breather.
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, the 39-year-old pop icon addressed concerns surrounding why her account on the social media app went missing, tweeting, “Don’t worry folks … just taking a little break from social media to celebrate my engagement [ring emoji] [wink face emoji] !!!!”
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised.
Spears’ absence from Instagram comes a few days after she revealed that she got engaged to her 27-year-old boyfriend, Sam Asghari. The pair, who first met while filming Britney’s 2016 music video, “Slumber Party,” shared the exciting news with the world on Sunday that the two are one step closer to marriage.
While the “Toxic” singer’s Instagram shows a broken link, Asghari’s Instagram is still active.
Don’t worry folks … just taking a little break from social media to celebrate my engagement 💍😉 !!!! I’ll be back soon 💋🌹✨
(WASHINGTON) — After announcing their lawsuit last week, the U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday evening filed for an immediate injunction to halt Texas’ enforcement of their restrictive law banning most abortions in the state.
“The State of Texas adopted S.B. 8 to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights,” the DOJ says in their motion. “This attempt to shield a plainly unconstitutional law from review cannot stand. The United States seeks a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of S.B. 8.”
Department officials wrote that the order “is necessary to protect the constitutional rights of women in Texas and the sovereign interest of the United States in ensuring that its States respect the terms of the national compact,” adding that “it is also necessary to protect federal agencies, employees, and contractors whose lawful actions S.B. 8 purports to prohibit.”
“The United States has the authority and responsibility to ensure that Texas cannot insulate itself from judicial review for its constitutional violations and to protect the important federal interests that S.B. 8 impair,” the DOJ’s motion says.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last week that the Justice Department had filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas, challenging its abortion law. The move set up a high-stakes legal battle after the Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect earlier this month. Garland also said at the time that the DOJ was seeking an immediate court order preventing the enforcement of SB8 in Texas.
The lawsuit accuses Texas lawmakers of enacting the law — which bans physicians from providing abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, or as soon as six weeks into a pregnancy, and does not contain exceptions for cases of rape or incest — “in open defiance of the Constitution.”
And in a press conference, Garland said Texas Republicans are crafting a “statutory scheme” through the law “to nullify the Constitution of the United States.”
It’s unclear when the judge might rule on the DOJ’s emergency request.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 663,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 63% of Americans ages 12 and up are 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:
Sep 15, 3:22 am
Alaska’s largest hospital begins rationing care amid COVID-19 surge
The largest hospital in Alaska is beginning to ration care as COVID-19 patients flood the facility.
“While we are doing our utmost, we are no longer able to provide the standard of care to each and every patient who needs our help,” Dr. Kristen Solana Walkinshaw, chief of staff at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday by The Anchorage Daily News. “The acuity and number of patients now exceeds our resources and our ability to staff beds with skilled caregivers, like nurses and respiratory therapists. We have been forced within our hospital to implement crisis standards of care.”
“What does this mean? In short, we are faced with a situation in which we must prioritize scarce resources and treatments to those patients who have the potential to benefit most,” she continued. “We have been required to develop and enact policies and procedures to ration medical care and treatments, including dialysis and specialized ventilatory support.”
Walkinshaw explained how what happens at Providence Alaska Medical Center and other hospitals in Alaska’s biggest city “impacts our entire state” because “many specialty cares can only be provided in Anchorage.”
“People from all around Alaska depend on Providence to provide medical care for people statewide. Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to meet this need; we no longer have the staff, the space or the beds,” she wrote. “Due to this scarcity, we are unable to provide lifesaving care to everyone who needs it. Our emergency room is overflowing; patients wait in their cars for hours to see a physician for emergency care. On a daily basis, our transfer center is unable to accept patients who sit in emergency rooms and hospitals across the state, people who need care their current facility is unable to provide. If you or your loved one need specialty care at Providence, such as a cardiologist, trauma surgeon or a neurosurgeon, we sadly may not have room now. There are no more staffed beds left.”
Walkinshaw urged people to wear face masks, even if they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and to get the vaccine if they are eligible and have not done so yet.
“We ask that you help us to open our beds again so that we may continue to care for all Alaskans,” she wrote.
Sep 14, 7:07 pm
Regeneron lands $2.94B deal with US government for more monoclonal antibodies
Regeneron has reached a $2.94 billion agreement with the federal government to supply more doses of its monoclonal antibody cocktail to treat COVID-19.
Under the new agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, Regeneron will furnish another 1.4 million doses of the treatment by the end of January 2022.
The one-dose therapy will be made available to any member of the American public who is eligible to receive it. It currently is authorized to treat COVID-19 patients ages 12 and up who have mild to moderate symptoms and are at high risk of severe illness.
The deal comes as orders of monoclonal antibodies from states have gone up 1,200% in recent weeks during the delta surge, ABC News reported last month.
Last week, the White House outlined plans to boost the average pace of weekly shipments of the treatment by 50%, as part of a new six-part strategy to combat the delta variant.
This week, Thomas Rhett claims his 18th #1, as “Country Again” tops the chart. While his last dozen singles have made it to #1, that wasn’t always the case.
“Minus the sunglasses, I wanted to be Eric Church,” he admits. “I used Eric’s producer. I tried to sing like him… My first two singles… did not do anything at all. My first two number ones… were songs that my dad wrote…”
“I put this song out called ‘Make Me Wanna,’ which was very strange to the radio at that point in time,” he continues. “It was like seventies-disco-meets-country-lyric. I was like, ‘Should I put this song out?’ My manager Virginia said, ‘If you’re okay with this song dying at number 40, then that should be your gut feeling and you should go with it.'”
That, it turns out, made the difference.
“It sat at 40 for like 20 weeks,” TR recalls, “and then all of the sudden, it started to catch. And then it became a hit, and that gave me the confidence to put a song out like ‘Crash and Burn.'”
“And then [it] kind of changed this whole trajectory for me,” he reflects. “I was in this lane, and then all of the sudden, I kind of veered left. And it kind of just gave me this confidence to put out songs that may or may not have worked.”
Ultimately, TR hopes he’s helped country’s next generation.
“I followed my gut on a lot of the releases,” he declares. “And I hope that… made a way for a lot of other artists to be able to put some of these songs out… as well, because people like Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert and Jason Aldean did that for me.”
