BALTIMORE — It is by no means too late to seek out love, the truth is the Golden Bachelorette says her love story is simply starting.

Joan Vassos is a 61-year-old non-public college administrator from Rockville, Maryland. She’s diving again into the relationship pool as ABC’s first Golden Bachelorette.

“It represents thousands and thousands of individuals which can be of their 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s, which can be on this second half of their life that deserve to seek out love,” stated Vassos.

Vassos shares that she was shocked by how many individuals reached out to her after showing on Gerry’s season of the Golden Bachelor.

“As you grow old, you are anticipated to take a again seat, that you just’re presupposed to now be in a help mode. Being on the Golden Bachelor really cured me of that feeling. I went to that home and I met these 21 different wonderful ladies, and once I talked to them, I assumed, effectively in fact you deserve a second probability at life and also you deserve love. And why would I believe that was true for them and never for myself,” stated Vassos.

After just a few episodes, Vassos left to be with household, sharing that her daughter was coping with postpartum melancholy.

Vassos is a mother of 4 and grandmother of three. Her husband John, whom she was married to for 32 years, died in January 2021 of pancreatic most cancers.

“Proper earlier than he handed away, he gave me his blessing. He referred to as me over. He was laying on the couch. He wasn’t actually capable of get up anymore. He stated, I would like to speak to you about one thing essential. I do not need you to cease residing. I need you to seek out any individual. You need to have love and to reside your life, a full life after I am gone,” stated Vassos.

Vassos shares what her youngsters take into consideration their mother being the primary Golden Bachelorette.

“It was slightly simpler for them to simply accept Golden Bachelorette than it was to simply accept Golden Bachelor, as a result of Golden Bachelor was unexplored territory. They did actually have robust opinions about me kissing males on TV and about fantasy suites. So apart from that, they have been okay with it. I believe I must warn them earlier than I kiss anyone on TV, that they need to shut their eyes,” stated Vassos.

So who will get the golden rose? Vassos dishes on her sort of man.

“I’m slightly on the shyer aspect, so I really like having that person who walks in a room and feels snug instantly, in search of any individual that has a way of journey, able to journey. I actually desire a gentleman in my life. The boys on this season, they have been actually good matches,” stated Vassos.

Vassos provides that viewers can count on thrilling dates to locations like Disneyland and Las Vegas.

“The Golden Bachelorette” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on WMAR.

A congressional listening to on hate crimes drew costs of the bigotry it was meant to handle after a Republican senator advised the feminine Muslim head of a thinktank to “disguise your head in a bag” and accused her of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.

John Kennedy, the GOP senator for Louisiana, drew condemnation from Democrats in addition to Muslim, Jewish and civil liberties teams for the comment, geared toward Maya Berry, the chief director of the Arab American Institute, at a listening to staged by the Senate judiciary committee.

The proceedings witnessed additional disruption when Ted Cruz, the Republican senator for Texas, was interrupted by a spectator protesting the variety of Palestinians killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza. “You speak in regards to the fucking Jews and the Israelis. Speak in regards to the 40,000. Speak about all these individuals. Why is it about antisemitism?” the protester shouted, earlier than being ejected from the chamber.

Cruz responded: “We now have an illustration of antisemitism. We’ve got an illustration of the hate.”

Republicans criticised the theme of Tuesday’s listening to – set by the committee’s Democratic chair, Dick Durbin – for conflating antisemitism with bigotry in opposition to Muslims, Arabs and different teams.

“The purpose was to have a listening to about why it’s so onerous to go to high school in case you’re Jewish,” stated Lindsey Graham, the Republican rating member of the committee and the senator for South Carolina. “For those who’re Jewish, you’re being knocked down. You’re being spat on. It’s simply fully uncontrolled. This isn’t the listening to we’re getting, so we’ll work with what we’ve received.”

A Republican-led subcommittee within the Home of Representatives has already staged a collection of extremely charged hearings targeted on the rise of antisemitism on college campuses following Hamas’s lethal assault on Israel final October, which noticed round 1,200 individuals killed and 250 taken hostage, and which triggered a devastating ongoing Israeli navy retaliation.

The Home hearings prompted the resignations of two college heads after they gave responses to questions on their establishments’ insurance policies on requires genocide in opposition to Jews that had been deemed insufficiently condemnatory.

Graham tried to enter comparable territory when he requested Berry whether or not she believed that it was purpose of Hamas, the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah or Iran to destroy the one Jewish state. Berry answered that “these are difficult questions”.

That ultimately led to Berry’s hostile change with Kennedy, who requested her: “You assist Hamas, do you not?”

“Hamas is a overseas terrorist group that I don’t assist,” Berry replied. “However you asking the chief director of the Arab American Institute that query very a lot places the give attention to the difficulty of hate in our nation.”

When Kennedy adopted up by asking whether or not she supported Hezbollah or Iran, Berry answered: “Once more, I discover this line of questioning terribly disappointing.”

Ending his interrogation by expressing “disappointment” at Berry’s unwillingness to declare outright opposition to the three named entities, Kennedy declared: “It is best to disguise your head in a bag.”

Invited by Durbin to answer the outburst, Berry stated: “It’s regrettable that I, as I sit right here, have skilled the very concern that we’re trying to cope with right this moment. This has been, regrettably, an actual disappointment, however very a lot a sign of the hazard to our democratic establishments that we’re in now. And I deeply remorse that.”

The judiciary committee – with Durbin’s approval – later endorsed Berry’s response by posting it on X, with accompanying commentary studying: “A Senate Republican advised an Arab American civil rights chief that ‘you must disguise your head in a bag.’ We is not going to amplify that horrible clip. However we WILL amplify the witness’s highly effective response calling it out.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) accused Kennedy and different Republicans of treating Berry with hostility.

“Maya Berry went earlier than the committee to debate hate crimes. Each Ms. Berry and the subject ought to have been handled with the respect and seriousness they deserve,” stated Robert McCaw, Cair’s authorities affairs director. “As an alternative, Sen Kennedy and others selected to be an instance of the bigotry Arabs, Palestinians and Muslims have confronted in latest months and years.”

Anthony Romero, government director of the American Civil Liberties Union, condemned what he referred to as a “discriminatory and vitriolic assault” on Kennedy.

“To make use of a listening to in regards to the disturbing rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and antisemitic hate crimes to launch private and discriminatory assaults on an knowledgeable witness they’ve invited to testify is each outrageous and inappropriate,” he stated.

Sheila Katz, chief government officer of the Nationwide Council of Jewish Girls, referred to as Berry’s therapy “heartbreaking”.

“[T]he solely Muslim witness confronted biased questions on supporting Hamas & Hezbollah regardless of her clear condemnations,” she wrote on X. “This listening to ought to fight hate, not perpetuate it. The Senate should do higher.”

Final week, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy performed the position of involved politician with consummate aptitude when he made his approach round southeast Louisiana, assuring Hurricane Francine victims he was there for them of their time of want.

This week, he’s again in Washington and bringing the improper sort of consideration to our state. 

If Kennedy was simply marching out his fake corn pone character but once more, his wearisome schtick can be simple sufficient to disregard. However our Republican junior senator went past the pale Tuesday along with his unacceptable questioning of Maya Berry, director of the Arab American Institute, whom Kennedy stated “ought to cover her head in a bag.” 

The event was a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to on antisemitism and anti-Arab hate. The subject has been on the forefront since final October when the terrorist group Hamas attacked a music pageant in kibbutz Re’im, killing greater than 700 individuals and taking up 100 extra  hostage. 

Since then, the Israeli demise toll has surpassed 1,000 in subsequent Hamas assaults, whereas the Jewish state’s navy response in Gaza has killed greater than 41,000 Palestinians. 

The continuing struggle has led to tense showdowns on U.S. school campuses, with politicians wandering into the fray. So you’d assume lawmakers would watch out to not add extra gasoline to what’s already an incendiary scenario, particularly members of such an esteemed physique because the U.S. Senate.

However not Kennedy, who felt compelled to exhibit the necessity for such a listening to when he pressed Berry, an Arab American, to reply whether or not she supported Hamas and Hezbollah, one other terrorist-connected political group.

Unfazed, Berry withstood the onslaught from Kennedy, who continued to ask whether or not she supported both group even after she made it clear she backed neither. 

“Oddly sufficient, I’m going to say thanks for that query as a result of it demonstrates the aim of our listening to at the moment,” Berry instructed the senator. 

Undeterred or maybe unable to listen to over his personal prattle, Kennedy pressed on and completed along with his “head in a bag” remark, drawing groans from different committee members. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, then allowed Berry to reply.

“This has been regrettably an actual disappointment however very a lot a sign of the hazard to our democratic establishments that we’re in now,” she stated in conclusion.

Kennedy’s boorish show will seemingly go over huge along with his extra ardent constituents in addition to people on the far proper who encourage such intolerance. This follows the senator’s sample of Donald Trump-style demagoguery and enjoying as much as the MAGA crowd, whose problem to their leaders appears to be not “how far can you are taking us?” however “how low are you able to go?” within the contest to be essentially the most hateful, insensitive and divisive.

Throughout his political ascension, Kennedy really held promise as a constitutional scholar and voice of motive and customary sense. He delivered on the promise you’d count on from a graduate of Vanderbilt College, Virginia Faculty of Regulation and Oxford College. That held true even after he switched from the Democratic to the Republican Occasion in 2007. 

However upon successful a seat within the U.S. Senate in 2017, Kennedy assumed a persona that’s equal components Foghorn Leghorn, Huckleberry Hound and Jar-Jar Binks — a chimera unwittingly spawned from the Sid and Morty Krofft laboratory.

Louisiana deserves higher than a mean-spirited caricature within the U.S. Senate. On the very least, Kennedy must be despatched a message that the extent of rudeness he displayed Tuesday towards Berry doesn’t sit properly with the house crowd. 

Extra importantly, Louisiana must have a zero-tolerance coverage for the individuals we elected to signify us: No racism, no bigotry, no misogyny, no dogmatism, no extra refusal to budge from intransigent views.

Till we do, brace yourselves for extra embarrassment.

NEW YORK (AP) — The hidden figures of the area race had been acknowledged with Congress’ highest honor at a medal ceremony on Wednesday.

The Congressional Gold Medal was offered to the households of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Darden on the U.S. Capitol. Darden watched the ceremony from her Connecticut residence.

A medal was additionally given to all the ladies who labored as mathematicians, engineers and “human computer systems” within the U.S. area program from the Thirties to Seventies.

“By honoring them, we honor the perfect of our nation’s spirit,” stated creator Margot Lee Shetterly, whose e book “Hidden Figures” was tailored into a movie in 2016.

The Nationwide Advisory Committee for Aeronautics – a precursor to NASA – employed tons of of girls to crunch numbers for area missions. The Black girls employed labored in a segregated unit of feminine mathematicians at what’s now NASA’s Langley Analysis Middle in Virginia.

Johnson’s hand-written calculations helped John Glenn develop into the primary American to orbit the Earth in 1962. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 – the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Vaughan rose to develop into NASA’s first Black supervisor and Jackson was NASA’s first Black feminine engineer. Darden is greatest identified for her sonic increase analysis.

___

The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives assist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group. The AP is solely chargeable for all content material.

The Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse within the 2024 presidential race, changing into the one one of many nation’s main 10 unions to not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

In an announcement, the union stated it had “few commitments on prime Teamsters points from both former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris—and located no definitive help amongst members for both occasion’s nominee.”

The Teamsters is likely one of the largest unions within the U.S., with 1.3 million members, together with massive numbers of transportation and public works workers.

After the Teamsters basic govt board introduced it could not endorse, a number of joint councils representing most lively and retired Teamsters within the battleground states of Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin got here out in help of Harris.

“As Vice President of essentially the most pro-union administration ever, Kamala Harris labored with the Teamsters and different union staff to go the historic Butch Lewis Act which has saved the pensions of over one million retirees thus far,” stated Invoice Carroll, President of Teamsters Joint Council 39, in Wisconsin. “This November we’ll work with tens of millions of union staff throughout the nation to defeat Donald Trump as soon as once more.”

Though the nationwide Teamsters union has endorsed Democrats since 1996, when it didn’t endorse a candidate, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke on the Republican Nationwide Conference in July. The final time the Teamsters endorsed the GOP candidate in a presidential election was in 1988 for then-candidate George H.W. Bush. Additionally they endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and Richard Nixon in 1972. 

Within the announcement of its choice Wednesday, the labor union cited an absence of dedication from each Trump and Harris to “to not intervene in crucial union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ proper to strike.” The union stated neither candidate pledged to keep away from authorities intervention in railroad or airline strikes. In 2022, Mr. Biden signed laws that imposed a labor settlement on rail staff to avert a strike through the holidays. 

The Teamsters famous that Harris did pledge to signal the PRO Act, which might strengthen the fitting to unionize, and Trump wouldn’t decide to vetoing “proper to work” laws in a second time period. 

O’Brien compelled the union’s first-ever roundtable interview course of for the 2024 endorsement on the finish of final yr, inviting all major-party candidates to make their case for the union’s help. Union management met with former President Donald Trump, as properly President Biden earlier this yr. In July, Harris changed Mr. Biden because the Democratic nominee and met with the Teamsters on Monday.

O’Brien stated the Monday assembly with Harris centered on the identical questions because the earlier roundtables with Trump and Mr. Biden. O’Brien stated the rank-and-file members advocated for the passage of the PRO Act and the veto of any “Proper to Work” legal guidelines. He added that Harris acknowledged the variety of political opinion among the many Teamsters, whereas additionally criticizing her Republican opponent through the dialog.

“The roundtable went very well,” O’Brien stated. “One factor that is vital, we’ve the identical roundtable that we have had for all of the presidential candidates which have are available in. We have requested the identical query to every candidate, largely Teamsters particular points. We additionally ask questions concerning laws such because the PRO Act, chapter reform and antitrust.”

O’Brien stated earlier this month on CBS Information’ “Face the Nation” he hadn’t endorsed within the 2024 presidential race but as a result of he had but to satisfy Harris, and “you do not rent somebody except you give them an interview.”

The Teamsters govt board met on Wednesday following its assembly with Harris to debate the  endorsement choice. 

The union carried out polling earlier than Mr. Biden exited the presidential race, and located a plurality of its members backed him over Trump, 44% to 36%. However in a subsequent ballot of Harris and Trump, the previous president gained much more help, 60% to 34%, and in a second ballot that concluded on Sept. 15, members once more selected Trump by a big margin, 58% to 31%.  

In an announcement, the Trump marketing campaign touted the ballot numbers displaying help, saying that “whereas the Govt Board of the Teamsters is making no formal endorsement, the overwhelming majority of rank-and-file working women and men on this vital group need President Donald Trump again within the White Home.”

In response to the Teamsters’ choice, Harris spokesperson Lauren Hitt touted Harris’ ties to organized labor, declaring that she walked with a United Auto Employees picket line in 2019. Hitt additionally famous Trump’s current feedback throughout an interview with Elon Musk suggesting that placing staff ought to be fired. The United Auto Employees filed federal labor prices towards Musk and Trump, accusing them of attempting to “intimidate and threaten” staff. 

“Because the Vice President informed the Teamsters on Monday, when she is elected president, she is going to look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file it doesn’t matter what,” Hitt added.

“I work with lots of Republicans… and I am getting lots of constructive push for Trump,” stated Brett Ohnstad, a Teamsters member and corrections officer in Minnesota. “Nevertheless, we’re not taking a look at who’s going to be the candidate that fills the entire gamut. We’re trying right here at simply who’s going to help labor.” 

“Our members are the union, and their voices and opinions should be on the forefront of all the things the Teamsters do,” O’Brien stated. “Our last choice round a potential Presidential endorsement is not going to be made calmly, however you could be certain will probably be pushed immediately by our numerous membership.”

Some factions inside the Teamsters, such because the Teamsters’ Nationwide Black Caucus, broke with O’Brien earlier this yr and endorsed Harris. 

James Curbeam, the pinnacle of the Teamsters Nationwide Black Caucus, stated he was not shocked by the board’s choice however expressed skepticism about how reflective the polling is of the rank-and-file, claiming solely a fraction of the whole Teamsters membership participated within the on-line polling. CBS Information has reached out to the Teamsters for additional particulars on the polling.

“It is a disappointment that our total worldwide [board] did not do it, however locals and joint councils know the fitting factor to do,” Curbeam added.

The choice might affect sure battleground states within the Nov. 5 election the place union membership is robust, together with Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. 

O’Brien made waves at this yr’s Republican Nationwide Conference after delivering one of the crucial anti-big enterprise speeches in current RNC reminiscence and changing into the primary boss within the group’s 121-year historical past to handle the conference. He was not invited to talk on the Democratic Nationwide Committee.

“Right this moment, the Teamsters are right here to say we aren’t beholden to anybody or any occasion,” O’Brien stated through the July speech. “We are going to create an agenda and work with a bipartisan coalition, prepared to perform one thing actual for the American employee. And I do not care about getting criticized.”

Worldwide Union Cites Robust Political Divides, Few Commitments from Candidates

(WASHINGTON) — The Common Government Board of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday elected to not endorse any candidate for U.S. President.

After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up practically a yr of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all main candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on prime Teamsters points from both former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris—and located no definitive assist amongst members for both occasion’s nominee.

In knowledge publicly launched earlier within the day, President Joe Biden gained the assist of Teamsters voting in straw polls at native unions between April-July previous to his exit from the race. However in unbiased digital and cellphone polling from July-September, a majority of voting members twice chosen Trump for a attainable Teamsters endorsement over Harris.

The union’s in depth member polling confirmed no majority assist for Vice President Harris and no common assist among the many membership for President Trump.

“The Teamsters thank all candidates for assembly with members face-to-face throughout our unprecedented roundtables. Sadly, neither main candidate was capable of make severe commitments to our union to make sure the pursuits of working persons are at all times put earlier than Huge Enterprise. We sought commitments from each Trump and Harris to not intrude in crucial union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ proper to strike—however had been unable to safe these pledges,” stated Teamsters Common President Sean M. O’Brien.

“Our mission as union representatives is obvious: to be sincere and upfront, to be inclusive and, above all, to be clear with our membership. Because the strongest and most democratic labor union in America, it was very important for our members to drive this endorsement course of. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly name our union residence, and we now have an obligation to signify and respect each certainly one of them. We strongly encourage all our members to vote within the upcoming election, and to stay engaged within the political course of. However this yr, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters’ Worldwide Union.”

Throughout the Teamsters Rank-and-file Presidential Roundtables, the union shared suggestions from members within the railroad and airline industries who work below the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and are on the mercy of presidency intervention that usually prevents work stoppages. Whereas 10,000 Teamsters at United Airways are presently negotiating a brand new settlement, tens of hundreds of railroad Teamsters had been pressured to just accept a brand new contract applied by Congress with out member assist in 2022. In roundtable discussions with Trump in January and Harris this month, neither candidate promised to not intervene to pressure related RLA contracts, which undermines employees’ bargaining leverage.

Whereas Harris pledged, if elected, to signal the PRO Act, an important piece of labor laws strengthening union protections, and criticized harmful “proper to work” legal guidelines which can be enacted to bankrupt unions, Trump wouldn’t decide to veto nationwide “proper to work” laws if he returned to the White Home.

“‘Proper to work’ legal guidelines solely exist to attempt to kill labor unions,” stated Teamsters Common Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “It’s a crimson line for the Teamsters and have to be for any union when a candidate for elected workplace doesn’t oppose such anti-worker laws. It’s too necessary a problem for the labor motion as a complete to be left as much as state legislatures.”

Based in 1903, the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million hardworking folks within the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Go to Teamster.org for extra data. Observe us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Fb at Fb.com/teamsters.

MIAMI (AP) — Shohei Ohtani stole his forty ninth base and moved nearer to turning into the primary participant in main league historical past with 50 homers and 50 steals in a season because the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 8-4 Wednesday evening.

Ohtani, who started the day two shy of every mark, singled to steer off the sport then swiped second. He flew out to left, struck out, lined out to proper and struck out in his subsequent 4 plate appearances.

“What a season – it’s outstanding that he can hit as a DH however what’s extra outstanding is that he retains his legs unfastened to have the ability to steal,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned.

Tommy Edman hit his sixth homer within the final eight video games for the NL West-leading Dodgers (90-62), who remained 3 1/2 video games forward of second-place San Diego. Enrique Hernández and Will Smith additionally went deep and Freddie Freeman had three hits.

The Dodgers reached 90 victories for the eleventh consecutive season of 162 video games.

“It’s fairly spectacular. It’s probably the greatest organizations in baseball so far as consistency of successful,” Roberts mentioned. “You may’t take it without any consideration as a result of attending to play in October isn’t a ceremony of passage for any group.”

Dodgers starter Landon Knack (3-4) gave up two hits over 5 scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out seven. For Knack, the outing overcame the frustrations of his earlier begin, when he gave up 5 runs and 7 hits in two innings towards Atlanta final Friday.

“Clearly, not pleased with that one,” Knack mentioned. “I used to be very offended and able to bounce again.”

Smith gave Los Angeles an early lead together with his solo homer within the second. He drove a fastball from Miami starter Ryan Weathers over the wall in left for his nineteenth homer.

The Dodgers broke it open with a five-run fourth towards Weathers (3-6). Edman hit a two-run homer and Hernández added a three-run drive.

“I’ve had some dangerous habits that I’ve developed and I’ve been working onerous to right these,” Edman mentioned of his current energy surge. “It’s nonetheless a piece in progress however I feel it’s getting higher.”

Miami narrowed the deficit on Otto López’s two-run single off Zach Logue and Nick Fortes’ sacrifice fly towards Blake Treinen within the seventh.

Chris Taylor elevated Los Angeles’ lead with a two-run single within the eighth.

Weathers’ outing ended after Freeman’s one-out double within the fifth. The left-hander, who made his first look since June 7, gave up six runs and eight hits whereas putting out 5. He was sidelined due to a left index finger pressure.

“I used to be joyful to be again,” Weathers mentioned. “I want I might have thrown the ball higher.”

Wednesday’s crowd of 17,138 put the Marlins season attendance at 1,007,039, forward of solely the Oakland A’s.

Earlier than the sport, the Dodgers activated right-handed reliever Joe Kelly from the injured record and chosen Logue’s contract from Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis. Kelly relieved Knack and pitched an ideal sixth. The membership optioned right-handed pitchers Bobby Miller and Michael Grove to Oklahoma Metropolis.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw (left large toe bone spur) threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and Roberts thought of it an necessary step in his rehab. … INF Miguel Rojas was a late scratch as a result of he was “feeling below the climate,” based on Roberts.

Marlins: RHP Max Meyer (proper shoulder bursitis) is constant his rehab program on the membership’s spring coaching advanced in Jupiter, Fla. He will likely be evaluated within the subsequent days for a potential throwing program.

UP NEXT

RHP Jack Flaherty (12-7, 3.04) will begin the collection finale for the Dodgers on Thursday whereas the Marlins will go together with RHP Edward Cabrera (4-7, 4.55).

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AP MLB:

The Seventies singer-songwriter wrote classics for the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and his personal tasks through the years

LOS ANGELES — John David “JD” Souther, a prolific songwriter and musician who helped form the country-rock sound that took root in Southern California within the Seventies along with his collaborations with the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, has died on the age of 78.

Souther, who collaborated on a number of the Eagles’ greatest hits, comparable to “Better of My Love,” “James Dean,” “New Child in City,” and “Heartache Tonight,” died Tuesday at his house in New Mexico, in line with an announcement on his web site.

He additionally labored with James Taylor, Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and lots of extra, and likewise discovered success as a solo artist. He was about to begin a tour with Karla Bonoff on Sept. 24 in Phoenix, now canceled.

When he was inducted into the Songwriters Corridor of Fame in 2013, Souther was described as “a principal architect of the Southern California sound and a serious affect on a era of songwriters.” He was additionally on the coronary heart of the social scene, his girlfriends together with Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, who in a 1982 interview with Excessive Occasions journal remembered him as “very, very, very male chauvinistic and really candy and cute and great however very Texas.”

An early reference to a future Eagles member

Souther was born in Detroit and grew up in Amarillo, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles within the late Sixties, the place he met fellow Michigan native Glenn Frey, a founding member and guitarist of the Eagles. The 2 started a longtime partnership, beginning with a band referred to as Longbranch Pennywhistle. Frey would credit score Souther with introducing him to nation music.

“Our first 12 months collectively will all the time look like yesterday to me,” Souther stated in an announcement after Frey died in 2016. “His wonderful capability for the massive joke and that sensible groove that lived inside him are with me, even now, on this loss and sorrow. … The music and the love are indestructible.”

Souther was so near the Eagles, he even appeared on the again cowl of their 1973 album, “Desperado,” with Souther and others reenacting the seize of the legendary Dalton Gang. He described his begin with Frey at The Troubadaour, the favored West Hollywood music membership, as “one of the best research in songwriting I can think about.”

“So many nice songwriters got here by — Laura Nyro, Kris Kristofferson, Randy Newman, Elton John, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, Carole King, Rick Nelson, Joni Mitchell, Neil Younger, Waylon Jennings, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Taj Mahal and extra,” he stated in an announcement on his web site. “It appears not possible now to think about that a lot music in a 12 months and a half or so, however that was my life and the Troubadour was our college.

“It’s additionally the place I met Linda Ronstadt and the place Don Henley and Glenn Frey met to kind this little nation rock band referred to as Eagles that might go on to make musical historical past,” Souther wrote.

Duets with Linda Ronstadt

On his personal, Souther recorded his self-titled debut in 1972 earlier than forming The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band with former Byrds member Chris Hillman and Poco’s Richie Furay. A second solo effort in 1976, Black Rose, included a duet with Ronstadt, his one-time girlfriend, “If You Have Crying Eyes.” Different duets he had recorded along with her embrace “Prisoner in Disguise,” “Generally You Can’t Win” and “Hearts Towards the Wind,” the latter featured within the 1980 movie “City Cowboy.”

His greatest hit as a solo artist was “You’re Solely Lonely,” from the 1979 album of the identical title.

Different songs he wrote embrace “Run Like a Thief,” for Bonnie Raitt, and “Faithless Love” and “White Rhythm and Blues” for Ronstadt. He collaborated and sang with James Taylor on “Her City Too.”

Amongst different artists he labored with as a singer have been Don Henley, Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg and Roy Orbison.

He appeared as an actor on tv in “thirtysomething,” “Nashville” and “Purgatory” and within the movies “Postcards from the Edge,” “My Woman 2,” and “Deadline.”

Copyright 2024 NPR

After months of anticipation, the Federal Reserve lower rates of interest on Wednesday by half a proportion level.

That may have an effect on the housing market — but it surely’s unlikely to make an enormous distinction for these struggling to afford a house.

Let’s have a look.

Mortgage charges may not really drop a lot additional proper now

Mortgage charges have been fairly excessive for the final couple of years, particularly in contrast with the historic lows they reached through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charges bottomed out beneath 3% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage throughout 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic led to lockdowns, however they then climbed to almost 8% final 12 months amid a strong economic system and rising inflation.

However the prospect of charge cuts has already helped ship mortgage charges decrease, even earlier than the Fed introduced its precise choice on Wednesday. Lengthy-term fixed-rate mortgage charges at the moment are at 6.2%, the bottom since February 2023. (It is price noting, although, that different components apart from the Federal Reserve’s benchmark rate of interest affect mortgage charges, together with financial situations.)

This implies successfully that the speed lower introduced by the Federal Reserve might already be priced in — although mortgage charges are sure to fall just a little extra on condition that policymakers have made clear they intend to proceed reducing rates of interest into subsequent 12 months.

Charlie Dougherty, a senior economist at Wells Fargo, expects mortgage charges to drop “marginally” after the Fed’s charge lower on Wednesday.

He and his colleagues forecast that the common charge on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage shall be about 6.2% by the tip of this 12 months — the place it’s now.

However Dougherty expects the 30-year mortgage charge to fall nearer to five.5% by the tip of 2025, nonetheless above pre-pandemic ranges.

Decrease mortgage charges might really imply increased housing costs

This is the factor: Decrease mortgage charges might not make it simpler to purchase a house. In reality, it might make it tougher and result in increased dwelling costs.

That is as a result of decrease mortgages are prone to lure extra consumers again to the market, bringing in additional competitors for a restricted provide of homes.

That is robust for first-time homebuyers. Kim Kronenberger, an actual property agent within the Denver space, says she worries for the would-be homebuyers who hold ready for affordability to enhance.

These consumers have struggled to seek out their first dwelling as many have been scared off by bidding wars through the low-interest-rate period — after which have been rebuffed by excessive mortgage charges and still-high costs.

“Loads of these consumers, they completely have remorse,” she says of people that did not purchase a house at first of the pandemic, when charges have been low however dwelling costs hadn’t but skyrocketed. “As a result of had they purchased 4 years in the past, they’d have been in an entire completely different place than they’re now.”

Don Payne, an actual property agent in Columbus, Ohio, says there’s extra stock of bigger houses for homebuyers buying and selling up: “Builders are constructing them, and present householders have these too.”

The large downside is an absence of starter houses.

“People are attempting to get their first home, and there is a enormous scarcity on that,” he says.

Dropping rates of interest might result in extra housing provide

A key cause for prime dwelling costs at present is the shortage of housing provide: The U.S. is brief thousands and thousands of housing items. Provide has not stored tempo with demand, particularly as the big millennial era is forming households and making an attempt to purchase houses.

Excessive rates of interest did not assist, making it tougher for some homebuilders to get tasks off the bottom, particularly smaller, personal builders. That is as a result of the charges on loans that builders get for acquisition, improvement and development are intently tied to the speed set by the Fed.

So this charge lower ought to make it simpler for these builders to get constructing once more.

The truth that decrease mortgage charges are anticipated to spur extra homebuyers to purchase will even function an incentive for builders to get constructing.

That is excellent news for the availability facet of the housing equation — extra houses getting constructed and into the market will relieve among the demand that pushes up costs. However, after all, it’ll take time for these houses to be accomplished.

Affordability will nonetheless be an enormous downside

Decrease mortgage charges can definitely carry down a homebuyer’s month-to-month mortgage cost. However when dwelling costs are sky-high, it’ll nonetheless be exhausting for many individuals to discover a dwelling they will afford.

Dougherty, the Wells Fargo economist, says dwelling costs have risen by about 50% since early 2020, sooner than common family earnings progress throughout that point.

“That has been a extremely huge driver by way of making housing out of attain for lots of potential consumers,” he says.

In the course of the pandemic, an enormous variety of householders refinanced their mortgages to reap the benefits of record-low charges. Practically 60% of energetic mortgages now have charges beneath 4% — charges so low that these householders are unlikely to refinance once more.

In reality, most owners are nonetheless going to be reluctant to promote their present dwelling as a result of they’d face the next mortgage charge at present. Decrease rates of interest will considerably cut back what’s referred to as the “lock-in impact,” however they will not change householders’ hesitation.

Greg McBride, chief monetary analyst at Bankrate.com, notes that at the same time as mortgage charges have come down in latest weeks, it hasn’t actually jump-started the housing market.

“Dwelling costs are nonetheless at file highs, and stock stays beneath pre-pandemic ranges,” he says. “Neither of these variables are probably to enhance dramatically within the close to time period.”

In different phrases: It can take greater than the Fed’s charge lower to repair America’s housing issues.