A Posthumous Aaron Carter Album Is On The Way And A New Single Is Dropping Soon

 

Aaron Carter's posthumous album, The Recovery Album, is scheduled for release on May 24, 2024, as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. The album will feature previously unreleased music recorded over 10 years ago, including the single "Recovery", which was released on April 26, 2024. Carter's twin sister, Angel Carter Conrad, and his producer, Aaron Pearce, released the single. A portion of the proceeds from the album and single will benefit On Our Sleeves, a mental health nonprofit.

Here is that brand new song Aaron Carter was working on shortly before he passed away 2 years ago. Make sure to spread the word to all of your friends and or family. Thank you

By clicking on the link above The word ("Song") you can listen to his latest song on Spotify.

Thank you!

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Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underway

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial.

“This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad to say about his behavior,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said. “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

• Follow AP’s live coverage of opening statements.
• Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case.
• A jury of his peers: A look at how jury selection will work in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial.
• Trump is facing four criminal indictments, and a civil lawsuit. You can track all of the cases here.

A defense lawyer countered by assailing the case as baseless and attacking the integrity of the onetime Trump confidant who’s now the government’s star witness.

“President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes. The Manhattan district attorney’s office should never have brought this case,” attorney Todd Blanche said.

The opening statements offered the 12-person jury — and the voting public — radically divergent roadmaps for a case that will unfold against the backdrop of a closely contested White House race in which Trump is not only the presumptive Republican nominee but also a criminal defendant facing the prospect of a felony conviction and prison.

It is the first criminal trial of a former American president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury. Befitting that history, prosecutors sought from the outset to elevate the gravity of the case, which they said was chiefly about election interference as reflected by the hush money payments to a porn actor who said she had a sexual encounter with Trump.

“The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. Then he covered up that criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again,” Colangelo said.

The trial, which could last up to two months, will require Trump to spend his days in a courtroom rather than on the campaign trail, a reality he complained about Monday when he lamented to reporters after leaving the courtroom: “I’m the leading candidate ... and this is what they’re trying to take me off the trail for. Checks being paid to a lawyer.”

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The TikTok ‘ban’ just got very real

The bill is expected to get through the Senate as soon as this week, and will almost certainly be signed into law by President Biden.

After years of raising concerns about the mega-popular, Chinese-owned app, the US took its biggest step yet to banish TikTok from American phones.

The House passed a bill on Saturday requiring a forced sale or ban of TikTok in the US within a year. The bill is expected to get through the Senate as soon as this week and will almost certainly be signed into law by President Biden.

Why go after TikTok? Lawmakers in both parties consider the app a threat to US national security.

• Since TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, officials fear that the data of TikTok’s 170 million US users could wind up in the hands of the Chinese government.
• There’s also concern that Beijing could put its thumb on TikTok’s algorithm to promote its interests and influence American public opinion.

TikTok maintains it has never sent US user data to the Chinese government and wouldn’t do so if it was requested. The app said the bill “would trample the free speech rights” of its users, and Elon Musk agrees.

How this bill gained more support

It has at least two things going for it:

1. It is attached to a $95 billion foreign aid package that will send funds to Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel, and Gaza, making it highly likely to be passed by the Senate.
2. A previous incarnation called for ByteDance to find a buyer within six months. This version extends the deadline to nine months, with room for making it a full year if a sale appears close.

But a sale won’t be simple. TikTok’s price could be in the range of, oh, several hundred billion dollars, and American tech companies with that kind of money (Meta, Alphabet, etc.) would probably be prevented from buying it over antitrust concerns. Individuals including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and ex-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick have reportedly been rallying a team of investors to explore bids.

Plus, TikTok is China’s most successful app globally, and it’s not going to give it up easily. Beijing has signaled it’s not going to allow a sale by ByteDance, adding further uncertainty to TikTok’s fate in the months ahead.—DL

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Special Weather Statement From Lacrosse Weather

 This is for Sparta, WI and also Lacrosse, WI

Weather Alert
Special Weather Statement issued April 22 at 4:39AM CDT by NWS La Crosse WI

The combination of low relative humidity values
A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely.
A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location or timing is still uncertain.
An advisory is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely.

Taylor Swift Broke Streaming Records In Just 1 Day

 “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone),” the lead single from 

“Tortured Poets,” also broke a record, 

becoming Spotify's most-streamed song in a single day, and as of 

Monday afternoon the song had 

more than 39 million streams.

Taylor Swift is breaking records. Again.
Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” 
which dropped on Friday, became the most-streamed
 album on
 its first day across Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.
The pop star’s 11th studio album raked in a stunning 
300 million 
streams in a single day on Friday on Spotify alone,
becoming the most-streamed album in a single day in 
just 12 hours.
Amazon and Apple also said Swift’s album broke records 
across their respective streaming platforms.
“The album broke the record for biggest pop album of all 
time by first-day streams,” Apple Music said.
Amazon Music reported “The Tortured Poets Department” 
had in just three days become the music service’s most-streamed
 album worldwide in its first week.
The album’s opening track, “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone),” 
also received laurels, becoming the most-streamed song in a 
single day on Spotify.

Swift surprised fans with the album in February, announcing the 

“secret” album’s April release while accepting the

 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for her 

2022 release, “Midnights.”

Swift’s 10th studio album, “Midnights,” previously held the 

Spotify title while also making her the most-streamed 

artist in a single day. 

Swift’s fourth rerecorded album, “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” 

also broke Spotify’s most-streamed artist in a single 

day record in 2023.

In 2023, Swift also became Spotify’s most-streamed 

artist, garnering over 26.1 billion streams worldwide.
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North Of Kansas Had A Tornado Yesterday To On 4/16/2024 Damage Drone Video

 

Tornadoes cause damage in Kansas and Iowa as severe storms hit Midwest

(Video Above) 

A tornado touching down in Houghton/Salem, Iowa- Large Tornado on 4/16/2024

Strong storms caused damage in parts of the central U.S. Tuesday and spawned tornadoes in Kansas and Iowa, including one that left two people hurt.

An EF-1 tornado touched down shortly after 6 a.m. near the northeastern Kansas town of Richland, the National Weather Service said. The twister reached speeds of up to 100 mph and was on the ground for about 20 minutes, the service said.

Two people were injured when their RV flipped over during the tornado. Details about the injuries were not immediately available. Buildings and trees also were damaged in the neighboring town of Overbrook.

In central Iowa, a barn was demolished and other buildings were damaged after a tornado touched down in a rural area of Dallas County. The weather service also reported ping pong ball-sized hail in Bloomfield, just north of the Missouri line. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Iowa State Trooper Paul Gardner was on duty when he spotted a tornado and caught it on camera, sharing the video on social media.

At least two homes sustained "substantial damage" in the eastern Iowa communities of Yarmouth and Mediapolis, the Des Moines County Sheriff's Office reported, but there were no injuries. 

The weather service said the central U.S. was under threat of severe weather through Tuesday. Thunderstorms were expected in parts of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and northwestern Illinois, potentially with large hail and damaging winds. Some isolated storms were also possible in the mid-South, the service said.

In Missouri, Chicago-bound American Eagle Flight 3661 returned to Kansas City International Airport just before 6 a.m., soon after it took off, due to a possible lightning strike, American Airlines spokesperson Gianna Urgo said in an email. Maintenance workers were inspecting the aircraft to see if it was damaged. Passengers were later put on other flights, Urgo said.

A camper was blown over and the roof was ripped off a building when a strong storm hit the area around Smithville Lake in western Missouri, the Clay County Sheriff's Department said. An 11-year-old boy and his parents lived in the camper and sheltered in a campground bathroom, officials said. 

"They and their pets are safe, but they lost nearly everything else," the Clay County Sheriff's Department said. 

In Iowa, the Sioux County Sheriff's Office said the "fast-moving storm popped quick and spawned many small tornadoes." Photos from the area show backyard children's play equipment destroyed by downed trees.

Downed trees and power lines were reported in several communities near Kansas City.

CBS Chicago reports the area faced an evening severe storm threat on Tuesday, with damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes possible. A tornado watch expired at 10 p.m. for LaSalle and DeKalb counties, west of Chicago, as well as for counties farther west in Illinois and in south-central and southwest Wisconsin. Rockford, Dixon, Peoria, and Quincy in Illinois, and Janesville and Madison in Wisconsin, were all affected.

The heavy rain forced Major League Baseball to postpone a Tuesday night game between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals at Chicago's Guaranteed Rate Field. It will now be held Wednesday as part of a double-header.

The forecast holds "more active storms tonight and tomorrow … just pushing father eastbound and southbound," meteorologist Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel told CBS News. "So, active storms in Milwaukee, Chicago, eventually tomorrow Michigan, Ohio."

For Wednesday, Bettes said, "We've got a severe weather threat across Detroit, Fort Wayne, Columbus and Cleveland."

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How much did it rain Tuesday in Wisconsin?

 

Storms moving through Wisconsin late Tuesday resulted in nearly 0.5 inches of rain in Milwaukee and more than an inch across other parts of the state.

The storm system is still moving through the state and scattered showers are expected in the Milwaukee area on Wednesday. New rain amounts are forecast between a tenth and quarter of an inch, with higher amounts possible in thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service.

Highs on Wednesday are expected to be near 65 with a sound wind of 10 to 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph, according to the NWS.

The National Weather Service is also looking into whether a tornado occurred near Beloit, said Aidan Kuroski, a meteorologist a the local NWS.

More rain is forecast later this week on Thursday with a chance of precipitation of less than a tenth of an inch possible, according to the NWS.

How much did in rain in Milwaukee, Madison and other Wisconsin cities on Tuesday night?

Here are the most recent Wisconsin rain totals, according to the NWS . The NWS will finalize rain totals at 9 a.m.

• Madison: .9 inches
• Milwaukee: .45 inches
• La Crosse: .9 to nearly 1.2 inches
• Racine: .9 to 1.3 inches
• Oshkosh: .5 inches

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FBI opens criminal investigation into Baltimore bridge collapse

 

The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that is focused on the circumstances leading up to it and whether all federal laws were followed

BALTIMORE (AP) — The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that is focused on the circumstances leading up to it and whether all federal laws were followed, according to someone familiar with the matter.

The person was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

FBI agents were aboard the cargo ship Dali on Monday conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity, the agency said in a statement. It didn't elaborate and said it wouldn't comment further on the investigation, which was first reported by The Washington Post.

Meanwhile, Mayor Brandon Scott on Monday announced a partnership with two law firms to “launch legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible” and mitigate harm to the people of Baltimore.

The massive Dali left Baltimore’s port in the early hours of March 26, laden with cargo and headed for Sri Lanka, when it struck one of the bridge’s supports, causing the span to collapse into the Patapsco River and sending six members of a roadwork crew plunging to their deaths.

Divers have recovered three of the six bodies.

The Dali experienced apparent electrical issues before leaving port, according to a different source with knowledge of the situation. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment, said alarms went off on the ship’s refrigerated containers while it was still docked in Baltimore, likely indicating an inconsistent power supply.

The ship’s crew was aware of the issues and indicated they would be addressed, according to the source.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board have said their investigation will include an inquiry into whether the ship experienced power issues before starting its voyage.

Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said last week that the investigation is focused on the ship’s electrical system generally. The ship experienced power issues moments before the crash, as is evident in videos that show its lights going out and coming back on.

Homendy said information gleaned from the vessel’s voyage data recorder is relatively basic, “so that information in the engine room will help us tremendously.”

In his statement announcing the partnership with law firms, Scott said the city “will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy, including the owner, charterer, manager/operator, and the manufacturer of the M/V Dali, as well as any other potentially liable third parties.”

He said with the ship's owner already seeking to limit the company's liability, the city needs to act quickly to protect its own interests.

The Dali is managed by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd., both of Singapore. Danish shipping giant Maersk chartered the Dali.

“Due to the magnitude of the incident, there are various government agencies conducting investigations, in which we are fully participating," Synergy Marine spokesperson Darrell Wilson said in a statement Monday. “Out of respect for these investigations and any future legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

The investigation comes amid concerns about the safety of thousands of U.S. bridges and days after more than two dozen river barges broke loose and struck a closed span in Pittsburgh.

Story Source: AP News or WXOW News19 or please CLICK HERE

The Latest | Jury selection set to begin in Trump's history-making hush money trial

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump arrived Monday at a New York court for the start of jury selection in his hush money trial, marking a historic moment as the former president and presumptive nominee for this year's Republican presidential ticket answers to criminal charges.

It’s the first criminal trial of any former U.S. commander-in-chief and the first of Trump’s four indictments to go to trial. Scores of people are expected to be called into the courtroom to begin the process of finding 12 jurors, plus six alternates. Trump’s notoriety would make the process a near-herculean task in any year, but it’s likely to be especially challenging now.

The former president is accused of falsifying internal Trump Organization records as part of a scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign, particularly as his reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.

The allegations focus on payoffs to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he alleged Trump had out of wedlock. Trump says none of these supposed sexual encounters occurred.

Currently:

— Here’s what to know about the hush money case

— How a hush money scandal tied to a porn star led to Trump’s first criminal trial

— A jury of his peers: A look at how jury selection will work in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial

— Tracking the criminal and civil cases against Donald Trump

Here is the latest:

PROSECUTORS ASK JUDGE TO FINE TRUMP $3K OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS ABOUT WITNESSES

Prosecutors have asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to fine Donald Trump $3,000 over three social media posts they say violated a gag order that bars Trump from commenting on witnesses.

The gag order, imposed March 26, bars the ex-president from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors. It was later expanded to bar him from talking publicly about relatives of the judge and of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, though Trump is free to speak about the officials themselves. Trump’s attorneys are fighting the order in an appeals court.

Last week, Trump used his Truth Social platform to call two important witnesses — his former lawyer Michael Cohen and the adult film actor Stormy Daniels — “two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly!”

Prosecutors also called for Trump to be ordered to take down the “offending” posts.

“The defendant has demonstrated his willingness to flout the order. He’s attacked witnesses in the case,” said Christopher Conroy, one of the trial prosecutors.

One of Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche, maintained that the three posts in question don’t violate the gag order. He said Trump was just responding to the witnesses’ own public statements.

JUDGE BLOCKS DETAIL OF McDOUGAL'S STORY AND PLAYING OF ‘ACCESS HOLLYWOOD TAPE'

Judge Juan M. Merchan on Monday agreed to bar prosecutors from eliciting testimony to the effect that Donald Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant while former Playboy model Karen McDougal claimed to have had an affair with him.

Prosecutors can still tell jurors about alleged efforts to suppress McDougal’s story.

McDougal was paid $150,000 in 2016 by the parent company of the National Enquirer for the rights to her story about her alleged 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s. Trump has denied any affair took place.

The charges in the case pertain only to $130,000 in hush money payments made, through Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen, to porn actor Stormy Daniels. She alleged a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

But prosecutors also plan to bring up McDougal’s claims and payment, arguing that it’s important context for what they have called a scheme “to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information” about Trump.

Merchan on Monday also blocked playing of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump described grabbing women sexually without their permission. But Merchan said prosecutors will be able to present internal campaign emails that Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said contained “powerful evidence of the campaign’s reaction to the incendiary language contained” in the video.

MERCHAN DENIES REQUEST TO EXPAND JUROR QUESTIONNAIRE

Shortly after court convened Monday, Donald Trump’s attorneys asked Judge Juan M. Merchan to expand the already extensive questionnaire filled out by prospective jurors to weed out people who oppose the former president. Merchan declined the request, dismissing the notion that the jury questions were slanted to the benefit of prosecutors.

Over the coming days, the defense and the prosecution will both jockey for potential advantages as a jury pool of regular people is winnowed down to a panel of 12, plus six alternates.

“There is no asymmetry in the questionnaire when looked through the lens of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Merchan said. “This is by far the most exhaustive questionnaire this court has ever used,” he added.

JUDGE TO ALLOW INTRODUCTION OF EVIDENCE ABOUT NATIONAL ENQUIRER PLOY

The National Enquirer helped boost former President Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy by identifying and suppressing negative stories — a practice known as “catch and kill.”

Judge Merchan said on Monday that such material would be permitted under a state law allowing evidence of alleged prior bad acts.

Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen met with ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker at Trump Tower in August 2015 to discuss the supermarket tabloid’s role in helping his presidential run. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told the judge the meeting was the root of a scheme to suppress three potentially damaging stories about Trump, including porn actor Stormy Daniels’ claims she had a sexual encounter with him in 2006.

Steinglass said the evidence will show that Trump approved, rejected or suggested changes to flattering National Enquirer stories about him and stories attacking his 2016 Republican primary opponents that were “timed perfectly to achieve maximum impact.”

Trump lawyer Todd Blanche argued the evidence “would do nothing but confuse the jury about the actual crime charged.”

MERCHAN REJECTS ANOTHER REQUEST TO RECUSE HIMSELF

As the court day started, Judge Juan M. Merchan turned down a request that Donald Trump's lawyers had filed asking the judge to recuse himself — a move they also unsuccessfully made earlier in the case.

The Trump legal team pointed largely to the judge’s daughter’s work as a political consultant whose firm has worked for prominent Democrats, including President Joe Biden.

Trump’s lawyers have argued that the daughter’s job represents a conflict of interest for Merchan, and they also claimed she had posted an image of Trump behind bars on social media. The court system said she had closed the social media account before the photo was posted.

Trump’s attorneys also argued that an interview Merchan gave to The Associated Press last month violated judicial rules about not making out-of-court comments about a pending case.

The article, which largely concerned Merchan’s oversight of Manhattan’s mental health court, reported that he declined to discuss the Trump case but said preparations for the historic trial were “intense.”

Merchan added that he was striving “to make sure that I’ve done everything I could to be prepared and to make sure that we dispense justice,” emphasizing his confidence in court staffers.

“There’s no agenda here,” the judge said in the interview. “We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done.”

TRUMP'S LAWYERS REQUEST DAYS OFF TO ATTEND HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATIONS

Donald Trump’s lawyers have requested that the trial not be held on May 17 so that the former president may attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. A Trump lawyer has also requested the trial not be held June 3 so that he could attend his own son’s graduation.

Judge Juan M. Merchan said he was not prepared to rule on either request, but that if the trial proceeds as planned he’s willing to adjourn for one or both days.

“It really depends on how we’re doing on time and where we are in the trial,” Merchan said.

LIVESTREAM OF PROCEEDINGS LIMITED TO ONE ROOM IN COURTHOUSE

Only one room can watch a livestream of the proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money case — and it’s in the courthouse.

A pair of video monitors are airing the proceeding to an overflow room adjacent to the main courtroom. The room was packed Monday morning with press, court officers and a few members of the public.

Among the attendees was prominent Trump critic and attorney George Conway, who is reporting for The Atlantic. Conway was married to Kellyanne Conway while she served as a senior presidential adviser in the Trump White House.

Ron Sinibaldi, a former accountant from Long Island, said he began lining up at the courthouse just before midnight to ensure he could get inside “for the historic day.”

“I read presidential biographies, I go to presidential libraries, I’m here for the history,” Sinibaldi said. “If they were doing this to Jimmy Carter, I’d be here too.”

MEDIA OUTNUM

BER TRUMP SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE

Donald Trump supporters rallied outside the courthouse Monday morning ahead of the start of Trump's hush money trial, but members of the media outnumbered them.

Dozens of Trump supporters were outside the courthouse and roughly 40 other individuals were there protesting against the former president.

One group of demonstrators carried a banner that read, “No one is above the law.”

Another group chanted that the judge overseeing Trump’s trial, Juan M. Merchan, should recuse himself. Trump had unsuccessfully pushed for the judge to remove himself from the case.

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