Free Republic

The mayor was caught with a mask off while hanging out with celebrities. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot faced criticism for continuing to hold a music festival in the midst of reinstating COVID-19 restrictions. Despite announcing plans to resume more pandemic restrictions in the city, the Democrat mayor continued to host Lollapalooza, which is one of the largest music festivals in the country. "At the same time she's threatening possible restrictions if cases rise above 200 per day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is moving forward with plans to bring 100,000 a day to Grant Park for Lollapalooza," Chicago Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt...

That little ol’ band from Texas is now, sadly, littler. Dusty Hill, one-third of ZZ Top for the last 51 years, was revealed Wednesday to have died of indeterminate causes. On Thursday, remaining members Billy Gibbons announced that the tour they just began would resume Friday after a brief lull, with their guitar tech of three decades filling in. A funeral is expected to take place next week, but it’s perhaps not surprising that the survivors would work through their grief by wrapping some of their scheduled road dates around a memorial that will represent friends’ and family’s last chance...

...the announcement that Jagger and company will try again, at the postponed 2021 Jazz Fest, caught just about everyone by surprise — even members of the Jazz Fest staff and board. Until Thursday, the Stones organization managed to keep secret not just the Oct. 13 New Orleans appearance but the band's entire 13-date fall stadium tour. “There may never have been anything that was so big and so quiet,” said Quint Davis, the Jazz Fest's longtime producer and director. “It’s the biggest band in the world doing an American tour that nobody knew about. And they’re playing Jazz Fest.” ...an...

...Wednesday ...Spears detailed in court testimony the “abusive” nature of the conservatorship that her father... obtained... ...(allegations) including that individuals involved with her conservatorship have forced her to take birth control, preventing her from having another child, put her on lithium after she disagreed with dance choreography, and forced her into concert tours. ...(on) Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, McGowan called Spears’ testimony a “cultural reset” and said she believes the pop star is “ready to blow the lid” on who has wronged her in Hollywood and what has been done to her over the last 13 years. “...And I know...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it plans to move quickly to add a warning about rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults to fact sheets for the Pfizer/BioNTech (PFE.N), and Moderna (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccines. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory groups, meeting to discuss reported cases of the heart condition after vaccination, found the inflammation in adolescents and young adults is likely linked to the vaccines, but that the benefits of the shots appeared to clearly outweigh the risk... ...Health regulators in several countries have been investigating whether the Pfizer/BioNTech...

Homicide rates are rising once again across the country after last year’s spike, and Houston is faring worse than the largest U.S. cities. Four homicides in Houston in the last 24-hours have brought the total this year to 199, a 35% increase over 2020. Compare that to only a 5% increase in homicides so far over last year in Chicago, a 17% increase in New York and a 23% increase in Los Angeles. The total number of homicides is also higher in Houston than in Los Angeles, a city with nearly twice the population. It’s also higher than New York...

A former Tennessee governor's administration helped fund a contract murder of a key federal witness decades ago while embroiled in the state's largest political scandal, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday. The new details revealed for the first time Wednesday have elements that ring of a movie: a trusted ally of union boss Jimmy Hoffa gunned down after testifying about a corrupt governor selling prison pardons and a gunman who donned a wig and blackface to throw authorities off the scent. Investigators in Hamilton County, which encompasses Chattanooga, have been chipping away at the 42-year-old cold case of Samuel Pettyjohn since...

At least 16.9 million of the masks were distributed for use in hospitals and pharmacies in 2020. They are rated FFP2, contain ‘biomass graphene’, and were manufactured by a Chinese company At least 60.5 million face masks rated as FFP2 and distributed to health workers should no longer be worn to protect against Covid, as inhaling their particles could be toxic for the lungs, health authority Santé publique France (SPF) has said. The masks, rated FFP2, contain “biomass graphene”, and should no longer be worn as they can cause respiratory issues, the authority said. The masks are being recalled from...

The Quebec government is asking school boards, daycares and health networks to stop using a type of mask that Health Canada warned can be toxic to the lungs. People have even been asked to "immediately store the boxes of masks in a secure and isolated location" after the alarming warning. The grey and blue masks are identified by the code SNN200642 and are from the supplier Metallifer, the province said. According to a statement provided to CTV News, the province distributed 30.6 million SNN200642 masks to networks under the ministry of family, education and higher education. Since January, the province...

Texas businesses cannot require their customers to prove their COVID-19 vaccine status under a bill soon to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The measure, Senate Bill 968, outlaws so-called “vaccine passports” and prevents businesses from asking consumers to show their vaccine cards to receive services. Abbott had issued a similar executive order in April, though that applied only to state agencies and other organizations that receive public funding. “I’m signing a law today that prohibits any business operating in Texas from requiring vaccine passports or any vaccine information,” Abbott tweeted Monday. “Texas is open 100 percent without any restrictions...

...The Baytown nurse is one of 117 healthcare workers now suing Houston Methodist. The lawsuit claims it’s illegal to force employees to participate in a vaccine clinical trial. Bridges said they have a hearing in federal court this week. “If we can win that battle, we won’t be fired. If we don’t and they win, we will get terminated, but it will go to the Supreme Court as a wrongful termination lawsuit. We will fight this until the bitter end,” she said. Bridges started a GoFundMe page to raise money for the group’s legal representation. Dr. Marc Boom, CEO and...

You might think that you’d do a lot to support your favorite artists, but chances are your story wouldn’t match that of Bruce Iglauer’s. When he wanted to hear an album by his favorite Chicago blues act that didn’t actually exist, he created an entire record label just to have something to put on his home stereo and to spread the word on the artist. Now, more than 350 releases later, Alligator Records will mark its 50th anniversary this month with a 3-CD label anthology 50 Years of Genuine Houserockin’ Music. It comes out on June 18, the same day...

Donald Trump is promising "fun, fun, fun" on his four-city tour with Bill O'Reilly. The former president and O'Reilly will discuss "exactly how things were accomplished, as well as challenges, both good and bad!" Their exclamation point, not ours. The Houston date is Dec. 18 at Toyota Center, followed by Dec. 19 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. June 14 at the Toyota Center site for the local date. Trump in a statement promises "wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where we'll talk about the real problems happening in the U.S., those that the Fake...

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Legislature approved a bill Friday that will loosen alcohol restrictions on Sunday mornings. Starting Sept. 1, Texans will be able to purchase beer and wine at stores at 10 a.m. Under current law, stores can’t sell booze until noon. The Texas House approved House Bill 1518 on Friday by a vote of 115-24 with two lawmakers voting present. That approved the House bill with a Senate amendment that allows hotels to sell alcohol to hotel guests at any time of day. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Harold Dutton Jr., D-Houston, sponsored the bill. Lawmakers...

A bill expected to soon be signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott will allow police to charge protesters with a felony if they are accused of obstructing emergency vehicles when blocking the street. House Bill 9, which passed in both bodies of the Texas Legislature on Monday, would make blocking an emergency vehicle a state-jail felony punishable by up to two years in jail. It also requires anyone who receives probation for blocking a roadway to serve at least 10 days in jail. ...Abbott tweeted his support for the bill Saturday. "Peaceful protest doesn’t include blocking roadways and preventing...

Warning, Will Robinson! You may recognize Bill Mumy from one of his alter egos, such as Will Robinson from TV’s Lost in Space. But Mumy has been part of musical groups The Jenerators, Barnes & Barnes, Seduction of the Innocent, The Be Five and Redwood. His last solo album is Lockford, a collection of original songs that look back lovingly on the Americana sound. A1aWNsguU6L._SL1500_ The Kingston Trio, The Kingston Trio Shortly after this album, they started doubling the three-part harmonies and utilized the legendary Capital echo chamber to greater effect, but this is the album that single-handedly started the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is pushing a new reason to swipe right: vaccination badges and “super swipes” for people who've gotten their coronavirus shots. The Biden administration said Friday it's teaming up with dating apps to showcase the benefits of getting a shot. Apps like Hinge, Tinder, Match and Bumble are offering special incentives to people who roll up their sleeves, including badges showing vaccination status and free access to premium content. BLK and Chispa will boost profiles of those who are vaccinated, to make them more visible to potential matches. And OKCupid will even let users filter...

Roger Hawkins, one of the most influential, accomplished and danceable drummers in American music history, has died. Hawkins was 75. Hawkins was a member of Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the studio musicians better known as The Swampers, thanks to being immortalized in the lyrics to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Southern-rock anthem “Sweet Home Alabama.” The Muscle Shoals Music Foundation confirmed Hawkins’ death to AL.com. In recent years, Hawkins suffered from myriad health problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and died after an extended illness. “We are going to miss his funny memes and texts and calls to us at the studio,”...

After taking 2020 off due to the pandemic, Riot Fest is returning to Chicago for 2021. My Chemical Romance were originally supposed to headline the festival in 2020 and then again in 2021, but after again postponing their reunion tour, they won’t play Riot Fest until 2022. That left a huge gulf at the top of the 2021 poster, which has been filled by none other than Nine Inch Nails. Riot Fest just announced its updated 2021 slate, which carries over a lot of bands from last year’s initial announcement, including headliners Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies, and Run The Jewels. The...

The family of Rhogena Nicholas was slated to receive key information from the city of Houston following a judge’s ruling in their civil case. However, last Thursday the Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion asking for the key information to not be released. “From what we’ve said from the get-go, it’s one big cover-up. It’s always blocking us,” said John Nicholas in an interview with KPRC 2 Investigates. When asked who is blocking the family now? John Nicholas quickly responded, “The DA’s office it looks like because the judge has done told the city of Houston to produce...