2018 marked the 60th anniversary of the Grammy Awards, one of the biggest nights in the music industry. Every year, the academy names artists it feels are worthy to take home top prizes and titles for their work, including best new artists and best album. But the Jan. 28 award night brought a new level of scrutiny from music critics as the winners were announced and a noticeable absence was formed: Only one woman took home a top televised prize, and influential pieces from the rap and hip-hop genres were seemingly overlooked in favor of more “tame” pop pieces. Alessia…
Author: Central New York Heartbeat
President Donald Trump’s anniversary was last weekend, signaling one year since his inauguration. The event came amid a government shutdown, an unprecedented feat for a president whose party also controls Congress, noted NPR. In honor of the anniversary, the Associated Press created a roundup of events in the presidency. Most seemed unfavorable: his 34 percent turnover rate in upper-level administrative positions, his 39 percent approval rating, and the ongoing mysterious Russian involvement, to name a few. Yet the outlet did acknowledge his GOP victories: appointing conservative Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, creating a large tax cut and rolling back…
Last week, The Washington Post received a tip from “several people briefed on the meeting” that President Donald Trump, in a meeting with lawmakers about immigration, called several Caribbean, Central American and African nations “shithole countries.” “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” he said, according to the anonymous sources. This sparked a national outcry over racism and trust in the president’s ability to create international policy in an unbiased manner. President Trump has been distrustful of the media since his presidential campaign in 2016, often calling mainstream media’s coverage of him “fake news” along…
Oprah Winfrey moved audience members and viewers at home nationwide after giving her powerful acceptance speech at the 2018 Golden Globes. Winfrey touched on what it meant to be the first black woman to win the Cecil B. DeMille Award, given to those with “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment,” the value of the press in uncovering instances of corruption, and the “Me Too” movement and Recy Taylor, a black woman who was abducted and raped in 1944. Taylor died days ago at age 98; her rapists were never prosecuted. “She lived as we all have lived, too many…
The Finger Lakes have been abuzz after Circular EnerG, LLC, of Rochester, submitted plans and applied for a special-use permit in the town of Romulus in Seneca County to build a trash incinerator. More than 240 trucks would drive to the facility every day, dropping off more than 3,000 tons of waste. The waste would be burned for energy, with the company estimating it can create 438 million kilowatt hours of electricity every year, according to the Finger Lakes Times. The waste would eventually be moved via rail car after the existing infrastructure is upgraded and operational. Some have opposed…
Pop culture has never been able to get enough of the British royal family. In 1981, nearly 750 million people tuned in to watch Princess Diana and Prince Charles say their vows live on television. Fans will be able to recreate the feeling when Diana, a musical about the relationship and royal wedding, debuts next year, according to Vanity Fair. Kate Middleton stole hearts and media attention with her 2011 marriage to Prince William, and more recent news has been swirling about Meghan Markle – Prince Harry’s fiancé – being a rare instance of a non-royal invited to Christmas at…
On Dec. 14, the Walt Disney Company announced plans to buy portions of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion in stock, reported the Associated Press. The Fox studio is one of the top major movie studios — also known as the “Big Six” — in the country. The others are Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures. While this announcement has been exciting for comic book fans, who for years had to struggle as portions of the Marvel universe were owned separately by the two studios, it has started rumblings about the threat of monopolization…
When actress Ashley Judd came forward in October with sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein in an interview with The New York Times, it set off a chain reaction of people in Hollywood and other circles coming forward to bring light to their own experiences with sexual misconduct and assault. There is now a national conversation being had as at least 81 people – and counting – in positions of power (Hollywood directors, politicians, mainstream news employees, etc.) are facing allegations ranging from groping to rape, according to Time magazine estimates. Time announced its 2017 Person of the Year on…
The talk on what exactly to do with Interstate 81 just heated up even further with the conclusion of a $2 million study on Monday, Dec. 4. It was found that four of the nine tunnel options were considered practical, but would cost more and take considerably longer to build than the community grid and renovation options. The tunnel options would cost any where between $3 billion and $4.5 billion and take nearly 10 years to complete, while the community grid and renovation options would cost $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, with a much shorter projected construction time. No…
On Tuesday, Nov. 28, Pope Francis gave a speech in Yangon amid the ongoing refugee crisis in Myanmar. The United Nations and Western governments have described the crisis in the country’s Western Rakhine State as an “ethnic cleansing” with reports of the military burning villages, shooting civilians and carrying out rape. The pope is under heavy criticism after not mentioning the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority by name, which is a similar situation being faced by State Counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He is scheduled to meet Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,…
On Monday, Nov. 20, AT&T submitted an $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner in which the Justice Department sued to block. This approach to antitrust issues is being met with much speculation because of the relationship between President Trump and CNN. CNN’s parent company Time Warner defended this attempted acquisition, claiming that the two companies do not directly compete with each other. One side of the argument is that the purchase can be considered vertical integration, but on the other, a vendetta between the president and a network. Is the Justice Department blocking the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger because of…
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sat in front of House Judiciary Committee testifying about his connection with Russians during the 2016 election. Sessions said that he didn’t lie under oath in response to accusations of perjury. During his confirmation hearing on Jan. 10, Sessions said, “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn’t have — did not have communications with the Russians, and I’m unable to comment on it.” Multiple reports have stated that Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and he has since confirmed it multiple times. Tuesday…
This past Sunday, Devin P. Kelley killed at least 26 parishioners and injured several more in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Kelley was pronounced dead at the wheel of his vehicle from a self-inflicted wound to the head after being shot at by a bystander who then pursued him with the help of another. A police report from 2012 states that Kelley escaped from a psychiatric hospital he was admitted to for attempting to smuggle weapons onto the base he was formerly stationed and for death threats against Air Force superiors. It is an undeniable fact that with…
Anthony Rapp said to BuzzFeed News in an interview published Sunday that Kevin Spacey made a sexual advance towards him when he was only 14 years old. Spacey responded by releasing a statement on Twitter apologizing for his actions he made when he was 26 years old and decided to use this event to come out as gay. To make things worse, a lot of news mediums are catching heat from how they are covering and presenting the story. Billy Eichner and several others tweeted out how they believe the media is focusing on Spacey’s sexuality rather than the allegations…
Oct. 25th, President Trump is finally beginning to follow through on one of his campaign promises; build a wall on the United States border with Mexico. Eight concrete and steel prototypes currently stand tall in San Diego, highlighting what could potentially be part of the actual wall. A proposed $21.6 billion estimate to build the wall has yet to make any noise in Congress or strike the interest of its members. Similarly, the potential ways to fund the border wall have been a topic of hot discussion. Do you believe the United States needs to build a border wall to…