(NEW YORK) — The Pacific Northwest is bracing for another heat wave as large wildfires continue to burn through the region.
While the spread of wildfires has slowed in recent days, that could soon change. Temperatures near Portland, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, are expected to approach 100 degrees by Friday and dry lightning originating from the deadly monsoons in the Southwest could spark more fires.
Currently, dozens of uncontained wildfires are burning in the U.S., with the majority of them located in the West — a region experiencing tinderbox conditions as a result of megadrought and climate change.
The Dixie Fire near the Feather River Canyon in Northern California has grown to nearly 218,000 acres, destroying more than a dozen structures, and was 23% contained. Crews are prepping for structure protection in Taylorsville, California. The fire is now the largest burning in the state and more than 8,000 people are under evacuation orders, according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, currently the largest in the country and the third-largest in state history, has burned through more than 413,000 acres and was 53% contained by Tuesday.
The Tamarack Fire near Gardnerville, Nevada, has scorched more than 68,000 acres by Monday and was 59% contained.
A heat wave is blanketing much of the country outside the West as well.
The heat dome is continuing to build from the north and central Plains to New Orleans. Fifteen states are currently under heat warnings and advisories.
The humidity and high temps will make it feel more like 110 degrees for some areas. Some cities in the upper Midwest, such as Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Minneapolis, could break records as temperatures climb toward 100 degrees.
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for 2016 Essence Festival
Rapper and singer Tink made her return in 2021 with her Yung Bleu-assisted single, “Selfish.” Now, the Chicago native is ready to drop her new album, Heat of the Moment.
The new project will features appearances from Jeremih, Kodak Black and Nigerian superstar Davido. Hitmaka, who produced EricBellinger’s 1-800-EAZY, will serve as executive producer.
It’s been months since we last heard from Tink on her December 2020 EP, A Gift and a Curse, and her Valentine’s Day 2021 follow-up, Hopeless Romantic. The 26-year-old also released a handful of singles, including “Bottom B****”, “I Ain’t Got Time Today,” and fan-favorite, “Cut It Out.” Yet Tink’s widely known for singles such as “Treat Me Like Somebody,” and the Timbaland-produced track, “Million,” which samples Aaliyah‘s “One in a Million.”
Dierks Bentley’s Beers on Me tour kicks off in just a few short weeks, and the singer says he’s especially excited about the company he’ll have on the road: opening acts Parker McCollum and Riley Green.
Talking about his role as tour boss, Dierks points out, “I try to make sure that the tour’s really fun. For some of these guys, it’s their first big tour. I know for Parker, it’ll be the first time he’s gone to some of these states before!”
Mentoring up-and-comers isn’t a job Dierks takes lightly, and that’s partly because of his experience on the road with Kenny Chesney back when he was a newcomer himself.
“I want to make sure they look back on this tour the same way I look back on the Chesney stuff, how well Kenny treated me and how much fun it was,” he says. “An emphasis on music and fun.”
But keeping the emphasis on music and fun shouldn’t be too hard: Not only does Dierks admire Parker and Riley as artists, but they’re his buddies, too.
“It’s just two great guys,” he says. “I really love both their music and their spirit. They’re people I text with regularly, so it’s a real natural thing.”
Dierks explains why it’s important to have camaraderie with the people you’re sharing the stage with, noting, “I think [it] translates when you get out there on the road. Fans can see that.”
To get a glimpse of the obvious camaraderie between the three singers, look no further than their high-impact cover of Jerry Reed’s “Eastbound & Down.” The Beers on Me tour kicks off August 13 in Salt Lake City.
Journey returns to the concert stage this week for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with two shows in Chicago — one tonight at the Aragon Ballroom and the second on Saturday at the Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park.
The concerts also will mark Journey’s first live performances since three new members were welcomed into the band — bassist Randy Jackson, drummer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jason Derlatka. However, keyboardist Jonathan Cain tells ABC Audio that Jackson — who previously played with Journey during the mid-1980s — will be missing the Chicago gigs.
“Unfortunately, Randy’s not going to be there, ’cause he’s got back surgery,” Cain reports. “Marco Mendoza, a good friend of ours [who] plays great, he’ll fill in for now.”
Cain says he finds it interesting that Journey will launch its new chapter in Chicago, where he was born.
Journey recently released its first single with the new lineup, “The Way We Used to Be,” and Cain says the band likely will include it in their sets this week, as well as plenty of the group’s classic hits. Jonathan also notes that Journey will be playing a longer set at the Aragon Ballroom — which is considered an official Lollapalooza “Aftershow” event — so they may dig deeper into their catalog for that performance.
Journey guitarist Neal Schon, meanwhile, tells ABC Audio that he’s hoping the band will be jamming more and be doing more extended sets in the future.
“I think Journey is capable of being one of the greatest jam bands in the world ever,” he declares. “And everything in my intuition is telling me that it’s time to…encompass it all in one concert, be daring, go out on a limb with no net and create…in front of people.”
Matt Damon has finally confirmed what everybody has pretty much known for a while now — he’ll be reprising his role as “actor Loki” from Thor: Ragnarok in the Marvel franchise’s upcoming fourth installment, Thor: Love and Thunder.
“I don’t know if it’s secret or not, though everybody knows. I went down [to Australia] to shoot, and I think they sussed out, ’cause paparazzi took pictures of us, so that they sussed out what we were doing,” he said on SirusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
“We were kind of reprising a cameo that Luke Hemsworth [brother of Thor actor Chris Hemsworth] and I did in the last one,” Damon explained. “And we had a ball, and so [Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi] had us back again to kind of run that joke back and upgrade it a little bit.”
Damon also weighed in on his thoughts about Bennifer 2.0.
When asked if he was happy about longtime pal Ben Affleck rekindling his romance with Jennifer Lopez, Damon joked, “How else would I be? Like, would I be unhappy?”
“Like, I hate true love. It sucks. Yeah. Yeah. I wish them nothing, but you know, hardship,” he added sarcastically.
(TOKYO) — With Simone Biles withdrawing from the individual all-around, American gymnasts Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey will be picking up the mantle Thursday in an event the U.S. has won at four straight Olympics.
An event initially thought to be a showcase for the all-time great, the all-around field has been blown wide open with Biles’ withdrawal.
Each nation is only allowed up to two athletes to compete in the individual gymnastics event. After the qualifying event this past weekend, Biles, who came in first, and Lee were set to be the Americans in the final. Biles’ withdrawal opened up a spot for Carey.
Carey came in ninth in the qualifier overall — rankings that included Biles and a third Russian Olympic Committee gymnast ahead of her.
Lee, meanwhile, came in third behind Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. The difference between Lee’s and Andrade’s scores was 0.23 points; the difference between Carey’s and Andrade’s scores was 1.13.
The Minnesota-based Lee, 18, is a phenom on uneven bars, while Carey is strong on vault. In the qualifier, they both scored over 15 points on those respective apparatuses, accounting for two of the five above-15 scores on any apparatus from any athlete in that event.
After the individual all-around, Lee has qualified to compete in the uneven bars and balance beams event finals, and Carey has qualified for the vault and floor event finals.
Americans have won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around for the last four Olympic Games, starting with Carly Patterson in 2004, Nastia Liukin in 2008, Gabby Douglas in 2012 and Biles in 2016.
Lee is going into the all-arounds with a medal already in her pocket, having been part of the U.S. team that won silver Tuesday. Carey qualified for the Olympics as an individual, not part of the team competition.
Biles had a misstep on vault at the start of the team competition and withdrew from the rest of competition. USA Gymnastics announced her withdrawal from the all-around event on Wednesday.
“After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health,” USAG said in a statement.
The organization added that Biles “will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals.”
Bob Odenkirk is in stable condition after experiencing a “heart-related incident” on set, a rep for the Better Call Saul star told ABC News Wednesday.
“He and his family would like to express gratitude for the incredible doctors and nurses looking after him, as well as his cast, crew and producers who have stayed by his side,” the rep said in a statement. “The Odenkirks would also like to thank everyone for the outpouring of well wishes and ask for their privacy at this time as Bob works on his recovery.”
The 58-year-old actor collapsed while shooting the sixth and final season of the AMC series in New Mexico on Tuesday and was rushed to the hospital, according to a source.
No other details were immediately available.
Nate Odenkirk, the actor’s son, tweeted Wednesday evening that his father was “going to be okay.”
Odenkirk starred as Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad before going on to star in Better Call Saul, a spinoff prequel series focused on the scam artist-turned-lawyer.
(MILWAUKEE, Wis.) — A judge announced Wednesday that he has found probable cause to bring homicide charges against a Wisconsin police officer, five years after a local district attorney declared the officer was justified in his use of deadly force on a man he found sleeping in a car in a suburban Milwaukee park.
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Glenn Yamahiro said at a hearing that there is probable cause that former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah committed the crime of homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon when he killed 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016.
“This decision has not been taken lightly, nor was it predetermined. It is the result of a careful and extensive review of the evidence in this case,” Yamahiro said.
Yamahiro came to his conclusion after holding a rarely used “John Doe hearing,” which provides a forum and a procedure in Wisconsin for a citizen to ask a court to review a district attorney’s decision not to issue criminal charges in cases where the citizen believes one or more crimes have occurred.
“There is reason to believe, based on the testimony, that Officer Mensah created an unreasonable, substantial risk of death,” Yamahiro said as he read his lengthy decision in a courtroom packed with Anderson’s relatives.
Yamahiro said he will appoint a special prosecutor within 60 days to review the case and “decide which charge or charges, if any, they believe can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, a far higher standard than probable cause.”
Anderson’s loved ones, including his parents, burst into tears and applause upon hearing the judge’s decision. Outside the courtroom, a large crowd of supporters cheered and began chanting Anderson’s name.
“It’s awesome, I can breathe,” Anderson’s mother, Linda Anderson, said after the hearing.
Anderson’s father, Jay Anderson Sr., added, “We feel good. This is something that should have been done five years ago. This is justice, you guys, this is justice.”
Now a Waukesha County, Wisconsin, deputy sheriff, Mensah left the Wauwatosa Police Department after fatally shooting 17-year-old Alvin Cole in 2020, an incident that sparked large protests in and around the Milwaukee area.
It was the third on-duty fatal shooting in five years that Mensah was involved in. His use of deadly force was justified by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm in each case, including the 2015 killing of 29-year-old Antonio Gonzales.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Yamahiro’s ruling.
“What happened today is historic not just for the state of Wisconsin but for this country,” said Kimberley Motley, an attorney for the Anderson family who requested the John Doe hearing.
Motley also represents the families of Gonzales and Cole.
Anderson’s death unfolded just after 3 a.m. on June 23, 2016, when Mensah found him sleeping in a car in Madison Park.
“Approximately five and one-half minutes after Officer Mensah entered the park, Mr. Anderson was shot,” Yamahiro said.
Mensah claimed he opened fire in self-defense when Anderson “lunged for a gun” that was in the passenger seat of the car he was in, according to evidence presented at the John Doe hearing Yamahiro held between Feb. 19 and May 19 of this year.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Yamahiro said Mensah failed to activate his body-worn camera until after the shooting and did not turn on his squad car’s emergency lights, which would have automatically switched on his vehicle’s dashboard camera. Mensah’s body-worn camera, however, activated automatically and recorded about 25 seconds of the incident without audio and captured the shooting.
“The court has also heard testimony that Officer Mensah failed to activate his emergency lights or recording equipment at the time Antonio Gonzales was shot in 2015,” Yamahiro noted.
In an interview with Milwaukee Police Department investigators, the agency assigned to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting, Mensah claimed that when he approached the vehicle Anderson was in, he saw a handgun through the open passenger-side window lying on the passenger seat.
Mensah claimed that Anderson initially complied with orders to put his hands up, but during the encounter, he claimed Anderson appeared to reach for the gun with his right hand four different times before he lunged for the weapon, according to his statement to investigators.
During the John Doe hearing, two retired police homicide detectives testifying as expert witnesses claimed Mensah’s story of how Anderson was shot conflicted with the physical evidence at the crime scene and the findings of an autopsy that showed Mensah was shot three times in the right side of his head and once in the right shoulder.
Ricky Burems, a retired Milwaukee Police Department detective who has investigated more than 1,000 homicides, testified that if Anderson had been lunging for the gun, he would have sustained wounds to the front of his body, the front of his head or his upper chest and even the top of his head. Burems also said there would have been blood on the passenger seat.
“All of the blood was on the driver’s seat, the driver’s floor, the roof of the driver’s seat, the backrest, the pad or bottom where your legs and butt are and also the driver’s headrest,” Burems said, according to a transcript of his testimony that Yamahiro read in court Wednesday.
“So that tells me that when Mr. Anderson was shot, he was facing straight ahead. If Mr. Anderson had been lunging toward the passenger seat, that’s where his body would have been,” Burems testified. “So there’s no way that he could be shot while extending or leaning or lunging toward the passenger seat and then afterward be upright in the driver’s seat with his hands on his lap.”
Yamahiro also said that before Milwaukee police investigators arrived at Madison Park, the crime scene was compromised by other Wauwatosa police officers who removed the gun from Anderson’s car without first taking photos of the weapon and the position it was in when Anderson was shot.
“That is critical evidence that the Milwaukee Police Department didn’t get to, because Wauwatosa had already handled the gun and already moved it from the car, and already cleared it,” Yamahiro said. “I don’t know if that means they unloaded it or if they looked and saw there were no bullets in it, to begin with.”
Efforts by ABC News to reach Mensah on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
The Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office, where Mensah now works, released a statement saying, “In light of Judge Glenn Yamahiro’s decision regarding Joseph Mensah, Sheriff Eric Severson will be reviewing all of his options, and will have a more detailed statement and decision forthcoming.”
Wauwatosa Police Chief James MacGillis, who has been on the job for just three days, read a statement during a brief news conference, saying, “The officers of the Wauwatosa Police Department continue their dedication to public safety for all citizens and understand that this is a time for community healing and trust-building.”
MacGillis said he has contacted the Anderson family in private to express his condolences.
“Now is the time to process the judge’s decision and then move forward,” MacGillis said. “The legal process has played itself out, and it’s going to continue to play itself out. My role is to lead this department, look at processes, look at how we function as an organization.”
(WASHINGTON) — In a key test vote Wednesday evening, the Senate voted in favor of beginning debate on a $1.1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that would provide funding for core items like roads, bridges, waterways and broadband.
Negotiators announced earlier in the day that they had reached a deal on the major aspects of plan.
Shortly after news broke that a deal had been reached, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he would hold the test vote on the bill Wednesday, a critical first step to its passage.
Republican negotiators, all of whom blocked the procedural motion last week, said that they were ready to vote to move the bill forward and on Wednesday evening, 17 Republicans — including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — voted with all of the Democrats to advance the legislation, which was still being finalized. In a surprise split in the Republican leadership, McConnell’s deputy, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., voted no.
Details about the agreement were still emerging, but an aide close to the talks confirmed to ABC News that the top-line value for new spending has decreased from $579 billion in the original bipartisan agreement to $550 billion.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the lead Republican negotiator for the bipartisan group, said the bill is “more than paid for,” an essential priority for Republicans, without raising taxes on those making under $400,000 a year, a red line for President Joe Biden.
The deal includes $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations, $17 billion for ports, $25 billion for airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water, a $65 billion investment in high-speed internet and more.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., the chief Democratic negotiator, told reporters that she expects some of the bill text to be available Wednesday with further updates released as the remaining details are worked out.
A “small, tiny thing” related to transit and a “small thing” related to broadband must still be addressed, Sinema said, adding that negotiators are “very excited” to have a deal.
Sinema said she spoke with Biden and said he too is “very excited” about and “committed to” the plan.
Biden released a statement Wednesday afternoon hailing the deal as a signal to the world that “our democracy can function, deliver, and do big things.”
“As the deal goes to the entire Senate, there is still plenty of work ahead to bring this home,” Biden wrote. “There will be disagreements to resolve and more compromise to forge along the way.”
Portman announced the agreement flanked by the four other Republicans in the core negotiating group early Wednesday afternoon.
“As of late last night and really early this morning we now have an agreement on the major issues we are prepared to move forward,” Portman said. “We look forward to moving ahead and having the opportunity to have a healthy debate here in the chamber regarding an incredibly important project to the American people.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who was part of the bipartisan negotiation group, touted the deal as a much-needed signal that bipartisanship is possible, even in an evenly divided Senate.
“I am delighted that we’ve been able to come together as a bipartisan group,” Collins said. “America needs to see us be able to tackle an important issue that will affect the lives of Americans throughout this country.”
It’s still not clear if all Democrats are going to support the bipartisan deal. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip, said Wednesday morning that was an “unanswered question.”
“We certainly don’t have a whip or people signing on the dotted line,” Durbin said. “We need some assurances that we are all in this together.”
Wednesday’s test vote in the Senate was expected to be the first in a long series of hurdles to pass this bill and Biden’s other agenda priorities. In addition to the procedural hurdles which still threaten to trip up the bipartisan deal on the floor, Democrats are also working to push through a second, larger budget bill containing the remainder of Biden’s American Families Plan priorities along party lines.
Schumer has long insisted that both the budget bill and the bipartisan bill need to pass together using a “two-track” approach.
But Sinema threatened to derail that plan on Wednesday, announcing in a press release that she won’t support spending the $3.5 trillion that Budget Committee Democrats agreed to as a top line for the budget bill.
“I have told Senate leadership and President Biden that I support many of the goals in this proposal to continue creating jobs, growing American competitiveness, and expanding economic opportunities for Arizonans,” Sinema said. “I have also made clear that while I will support beginning this process, I do not support a bill that costs $3.5 trillion — and in the coming months, I will work in good faith to develop this legislation with my colleagues and the administration to strengthen Arizona’s economy and help Arizona’s everyday families get ahead.”
To pass the budget bill, Democrats will need the support of every Democrat serving in the Senate. Sinema’s opposition points to the possibility of a long road ahead for many of Biden’s infrastructure priorities.
(PORTLAND, Maine) — One company is taking used sails from sailboats and creating something totally brand new: summer tote bags.
Sea Bags, founded in Portland, Maine, makes unique tote bags out of locally recycled materials. Since 1999, the company says it has saved over 700 tons of material from going into landfills.
“Our materials come from Maine first; New England, second; and [the] U.S.A, third,” it says on the company’s website.
Located right on the water on Custom House Wharf in Portland, Sea Bags employs 200 workers.
Employee Dillon Leary, who has been working for Sea Bags since high school, said he’s proud of his role in producing the bags.
“We get to see the process from the very beginning,” said Leary, “Out of the thousands of pounds of sails that we’re taking per year, every single one of those starts in this building.”
Timeiqua Nixon, who has been a part of the design team for over six years, said that pride goes into each product.
“Everything is handmade. So I love that we just do it ourselves,” she said. “Which is, we’re the main source for it. We don’t have to outsource anything.”
