Willie Nelson’s July Fourth picnic is virtual in virus era

SPICEWOOD, Texas — Willie Nelson’s annual Fourth of July Picnic is going ahead this year, but to reduce concerns about the coronavirus the event will be virtual.

Fans can tune in to the nearly 50-year-old music bash Saturday via luck.stream and williepicnic.com. Tickets for the picnic are on sale at williepicnic.com.


Other performers expected to play include Sheryl Crow, Ziggy Marley, Steve Earle and Nelson’s fellow Texas-based singers Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and Kinky Friedman.


Some of the artists will perform at Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Spicewood, northwest of Austin. Others will stream live from elsewhere.

Nelson’s event started in 1972 and has been held most years since, moving around Texas and occasionally outside the Lone Star State. It typically draws thousands.

The 87-year-old Nelson’s 70th album was released Friday. “First Rose of Spring” features two new tunes plus Nelson’s take on songs by Toby Keith and Chris Stapleton.

Associated Press

2 women killed, child hurt in shooting at Texas dormitory

COMMERCE, Texas  — Two women were killed and a child was wounded in a shooting Monday morning at a university dormitory in Texas, officials said.

A recommendation for students and employees to shelter in place was lifted early Monday afternoon at Texas A&M University-Commerce, and police said there appeared to be no other threats. Officials have not identified the suspected shooter.

University police Chief Bryan Vaughn said officers responding to a call at about 10:17 a.m. found two dead women in a room at Pride Rock residence hall. He said a boy about 2 years old was also in the room and was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Vaughn did not take questions after a news conference and did not say if the women were students.

Classes were canceled for the day at the university located in the city about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Dallas.

The university lifted the shelter-in-place recommendation about an hour and a half after it was announced on Twitter.

But the university said that even with the lifting of the recommendation, the residence hall and the surrounding area was still blocked off due to the ongoing investigation.

The university said the student center would be available for displaced students and that counselors were available there.

Larry Cooper III, a freshman who lives in the Pride Rock residence hall, told the Dallas Morning News that he left his room Monday just before the shelter-in-place was announced. He said he was waiting in a friend’s room on the first floor of the residence hall.

“There’s police blocking the doorways, but other than that we’re all just kind of sitting in and waiting on the news to happen,” Cooper said.

Last October, two people were killed and a dozen others injured in an off-campus shooting at a homecoming and Halloween party involving Texas A&M-Commerce students.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Families gather to remember victims of El Paso shooting

EL PASO, Texas–Families of those killed when a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart are gathering at funerals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border to remember loved ones whose lives told the story of the vibrant region.

The 22 people killed ranged in age from 15 to 90, and included citizens of Mexico and the U.S. Many had deep ties in each country, with family on each side of the border and routines that included crossing the border to shop.


The funeral for 66-year-old Alexander Hoffmann Roth was held Friday afternoon in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, located just across the border from El Paso. Born in postwar Germany, he was serving in the German air force and stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso when he crossed the border into Ciudad Juarez and met the Mexican citizen who would become his wife at a dance club.

“It’s an incredible binational place. I’ve had so many good memories in this area from Juarez and El Paso … the people, the food, the music, the ambiance, everything, everything is so warm,” said his daughter, Elise Hoffmann-Taus. “And this, this really hurts.”

Her father, she said, mindful of what had happened in his native country, would often talk about the importance of studying history and warned about the danger of letting hate enter one’s heart. He had crossed the border from his home in Ciudad Juarez on Aug. 3 to pick up groceries and medicine when he was killed.

She said that the long wait times to cross the border had made it harder as she tried to gather information about her father. The border waits have ballooned in recent months.

On Thursday in El Paso, a memorial service was held for 41-year-old Leonardo “Leo” Campos, who was killed along with his wife. Leo Campos grew up in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas but had in recent years moved to El Paso.


“He would always tell me stories about the scenic view and the culture. That it was really different up here,” his brother, David Campos, who lives in San Juan, Texas, told the El Paso Times.

David Campos said he was heartened to know his brother had made so many friends in El Paso. Visiting the city for the first time for his brother’s service, David Campos made an observation: “El Paso is just a united city; no matter what has happened, it’s united.”

The service for 15-year-old Javier Amir Rodriguez is set for Saturday at an El Paso church. The teen, who was starting his sophomore year in high school, was at the Walmart with his uncle when he was killed. The avid soccer player was remembered as a fun-loving teen who was a good teammate during a vigil held Monday at the Horizon High School football stadium in El Paso.

The funeral was Friday in El Paso for 77-year-old Juan Velazquez. He and his wife, Nicholasa Velazquez, were shot Saturday after parking their car at the Walmart. She was injured and he died Monday.


Cruz Velazquez told The New York Times that his father, who was born in the Mexican state of Zacatecas, moved first to Ciudad Juarez and then to Denver, where he lived for 30 years. He eventually moved to El Paso because it was peaceful.

“He fought to get ahead in the United States,” said Cruz Velazquez, who said his father had become a U.S. citizen. /jpv

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

After Texas shooting, Democrat O’Rourke accuses Trump of stoking racism

EL PASO, United States — Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke accused President Donald Trump Saturday of inciting hatred after a mass shooting in his Texas hometown that police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

Speaking to reporters outside a hospital in El Paso where he was visiting victims of the shooting, O’Rourke said Trump had proven himself a racist with his recent attacks on four ethnic minority congresswomen and his past branding of Mexicans as rapists.


“He is a racist and he stokes racism in this country. And it does not just offend our sensibilities, it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence,” said O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in the US Congress until recently.

“We’ve had a rise in hate crimes every single one of the last three years during an administration where you have a president who’s called Mexicans rapists and criminals.”

O’Rourke was responding to questions about a manifesto purportedly written by the gunman which railed against the Hispanic “invasion” of Texas which borders Mexico.

More than 80 percent of El Paso’s population is Hispanic, according to US census figures.


Asked if any of the contents of the manifesto should “fall at the feet” of Trump, O’Rourke replied: “Yes.”

“There are still details that we are waiting on but I’m just following the lead that I’ve heard from the El Paso police department where they say there are strong indications that this shooter wrote that manifesto and that this was inspired by his hatred of people here in this community.”

A suspect being questioned by police over the shooting has not been named by the authorities, although US media have identified him as Patrick Crusius, a 21-year-old who lives on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas.

After nearly ousting the incumbent Texas Senator Ted Cruz in last year’s mid-term elections, O’Rourke had been one of the favorites to challenge Trump for the presidency when he announced his candidancy in March. His campaign, however, has faltered since then.

Trump has faced growing accusations of racism since he attacked the four left-leaning lawmakers last month in a series of tweets, saying they should “go back” to their countries of origin. The president insists he hasn’t “a racist bone” in his body.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Dallas suspect claims to have planted bombs—police chief

WASHINGTON—Dallas police exchanged gunfire early Friday with a suspect in a deadly shooting that has killed four officers who warned negotiators there were “bombs all over the place” in downtown Texas, officials said.

“The suspect that we are negotiating with that has exchanged gunfire with us over the last 45 minutes has told our negotiators that the end is coming, and he is going to hurt and kill more of us, meaning law enforcement. And that there are bombs all over the place in this garage and in downtown,” Police Chief David Brown told reporters.

“So we are being very careful in our tactics so we don’t injure our citizens in Dallas as we negotiate further.”

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Lady Gaga acts like a pig onstage to ‘inspire’ fans

AUSTIN, Texas – Lady Gaga kicked off 24 hours in the spotlight at South By Southwest in typically memorable fashion.

The pop provocateur began her appearance at Stubb’s BBQ on Thursday night during the annual music festival and conference by roasting herself on a spit like a gutted pig as her dancers basted her with barbecue brushes—and then things got really weird.

Part S&M sex club homage, part affirmational session, the show sponsored by Doritos to benefit her Born This Way Foundation included moments meant to provoke and others meant to inspire.

Gaga began the evening by taping a segment on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in which she wore a puffy white dress complete with a huge hat that mostly obscured her face. By the time she hit Stubb’s a little after 10, she had stripped down to a black bikini on an unusually chilly night at the outdoor venue and put on long blonde dreadlock extensions. (She was to deliver the SXSW keynote address the next morning.)

Her set began with an attractive woman provocatively eating barbecued sausages. Soon after completing the smoked meats portion of her hour-long show, Gaga invited friend Millie Brown on stage to assist on “Swine.” Brown, a “vomit painter,” proceeded to drink a full bottle of neon green liquid before forcing herself to throw up on the singer as she played drums.

Not to titillate
The pair then climbed aboard a mechanical bull-like pig equipped with a ball gag and a keyboard. Gaga straddled Brown atop the pig and played the keys as they bucked in circles. Brown then painted Gaga with a black liquid that stained the singer’s skin throughout the performance.

The entire show wasn’t meant to titillate; there were moments aimed at inspiration.

“I love my fans because they always let me be myself and they don’t care what anybody says,” Gaga told the crowd.

A little while later, she set up her somber song “Dope” with a self-reflective moment.

“It’s so much easier to be yourself than it is to be somebody else,” she told the crowd as she played melancholy notes on the piano. “Because then you have to pretend to be someone else and like things that you don’t like and do stuff that you don’t want to do.”

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Ministry guitarist Mike Scaccia dead at 47

Guitarist Mike Scaccia, known for his work with Ministry, Rigor Mortis and the Revolting Cocks, has died after suffering a seizure on stage. He was 47.

He was performing at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas, last night with Rigor Mortis, and collapsed during the show. He was taken to hospital while a band member is reported to have told fans: “It doesn’t look good.” He died soon afterwards.

Vocalist Bruce Corbitt, who’d put on the event to celebrate his 50th birthday, posted on Facebook: “My brother is gone! The only reason I am who I am is because of this man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be in a band. RIP Mike – the greatest guitar player I ever knew. I’m proud to say that I was always Mike Scaccia’s biggest fan, and always will be.”

The guitarist co-formed Rigor Mortis in 1983 and they released their acclaimed debut self-titled album six years later. He was invited to join Ministry as a touring member by mainman Al Jourgensen in 1990. The tour went so well that he joined the industrial metal pioneers permanently. Scaccia appeared on Ministry’s Psalm 69 and Filth Pig albums before leaving the band.

He reformed Rigor Mortis in 2003 and went back to Ministry around the same time, where he’d remained since. He’d also performed with RevCo in recent years.

Earlier this year Scaccia discussed his relationship with Jourgensen, telling Westword: “We’ve had our ups and downs together. We’ve lived through a really very long and intense heroin addiction together. We’ve survived it – we got out of it. We’re like brothers, and we have fought like brothers in the past. About four years ago, we decided no more of that dumb shit. We’re best friends, man; let’s write music together. I don’t even think we’ve had an argument for four years now.”

In the same interview he said he was looking forward to completing a new Rigor Mortis album. He was also involved in the Dusters, Blohole, Lard, the League of Blind Woman and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. Gibson  employed him to run guitar clinics across the world.

source: classicrockmagazine.com

Singer / singwriter Fiona Apple arrested - police mugshot revealed

Fiona Apple has been arrested in Texas for possession of drugs found by police in a routine search of her tour bus.

The singer-songwriter, who came back with her first album in seven years earlier this year, was caught in possession of hashish by police in Sierra Blanca, Texas.

TMZ reports that Apple is still being held in Hudspeth County Jail. Fellow musicians Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg have both been arrested in Texas on similar charges in the past.

source: gigwise.com

Cities in Southern US found to be the 'most vain'

With their balmy weather, sandy beaches and aging population southern U.S. cities, particularly in Florida, are among the vainest in the country, according to a new ranking.

Tampa topped the list and Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando were among the top 20 cities most concerned about appearance in a report in Men's Health magazine that studied what people are willing to do to look their best.

Other southern cities also ranked high including Plano, Texas, which captured the No. 2 spot, followed by Atlanta at No. 3 and Dallas, which came in fifth.

Matt Marion, the executive editor of the magazine, said the weather is a huge factor in explaining why southern cities are so vain.

"In Florida you have some of the highest average temperatures year round and people aren't hiding under sweaters and bulky clothes. Their bodies are on display a lot more often than elsewhere in the country," he said in an interview.

"You are on display, warts and all, and if you can get rid of some of those warts through surgery, all the better."

The magazine looked at a variety of factors to compile the ranking, including the number of cosmetic dentists, plastic surgeons and tanning salons per 100,000 people.

"It turns out that there are a lot of ways to measure vanity," said Marion, adding that ranking reflected how cities rank in relation to each other.

It also compared the use of Botox and sales of hair dyes, teeth whiteners and shapewear clothing, rates of cosmetic surgery, and surveys in which people said what they would do to look better and younger.

"In Florida you have a demographic that could embrace procedures to help them look younger, everything from surgical to non-surgical, even dying gray hair," Marion explained.

The state's high unemployment rate may also play a part, he added, with people eager to look their best in a competitive job market.

While southern cities dominated the top, Midwestern urban areas were in abundance at the bottom of the list with Des Moines, IA, Lincoln, NE and Sioux Falls, SD, ranked as the least vain U.S. cities.

"You can interpret a lot of things from it. One is that it is reflective of a Midwest sensibility of being more practical and down-to-earth," said Marion.

Despite being the center of the entertainment industry, Los Angeles was No. 60 on the list, way behind New York and Washington, which ranked 17th and 18th.

Marion stressed that the ranking did not reflect any value judgments about the cities at the top or the bottom of the list.

"It is good, obviously to a certain degree, to care about your appearance and to try to look good. By the same token you can also take it to an extreme. Obsessing too much can be bad." - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Comedian Gallagher hospitalized after suffering heart attack

The comedian Gallagher is hospitalized in stable condition after suffering a heart attack at a Texas bar before going on stage for a show.

Gallagher's promotional manager, Christine Scherrer, says the 65-year-old is sedated and "slowly recovering" after collapsing Wednesday night.

Marc Cummins, the manager of Coach Joe's Hat Tricks, says says the club's promotions director performed CPR on Gallagher before paramedics arrived.

Last March, the comedian best known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer suffered a minor heart attack after collapsing during a performance in Minnesota. His full name is Leo Anthony Gallagher.

source: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/03/15/comedian-gallagher-hospitalized-after-suffering-heart-attack/

'Biological clock' is linked to heart attacks

Ventricular arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat, occurs most frequently after waking in the morning -- and also to a lesser degree in the evening hours -- and causes a high number of deaths.

Reporting in the journal Nature, researchers in the United States said they had uncovered the first molecular link between this risk and circadian rhythm, the term by which biological processes vary according to a 24-hour period.

The finger points at levels of a protein called Klf15, they said.

Previous research has found Klf15 to be a circadian controller -- and, startlingly, is also lacking among some patients with heart failure.

The team created mice that had been genetically engineered to either lack Klf15 or make the protein excessively.

In both cases, the rodents had a much higher risk of arrythmias compared to normal counterparts.

"It is the first example of a molecular mechanism for the circadian change in susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias," said Xander Wehrens of Baylor College School of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

"If there was too much Klf15 or none, the mice were at risk for developing the arrhythmia."

Klf15 is only one step in a complex molecular cascade, the researchers believe.

It controls another protein, KChIP2, which affects potassium-generated electrical current that flows though heart muscle cells called cardiac myocytes.

When levels of KChIP2 fluctuate, this causes electrical instability in the myocytes.

As a result, the heart muscle's action becomes impaired and it takes longer (or conversely, less time) to empty the ventricle -- the heart's pumping chamber. The heart loses the regularity of the beat and labours to pump blood efficiently.

Co-author Mukesh Jain of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio said that further work could well uncover other circadian-related causes.

The discovery opens up intriguing paths of research, in pinpointing individuals at risk of nocturnal death and devising drugs to shield them, Jain added. — Agence France Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Tour Alert: Dave Matthews Band Announce Dates After Year-Long Hiatus

Dave Matthews Band
After taking a summer off in 2011, Dave Matthews Band has announced yet another North American summer tour for 2012. The tour is in celebration of their forthcoming album, which will be released this summer as well. The band - which ranked as the biggest ticket-seller of the past decade - will kick off their tour in May in Texas.





5/18 Woodlands, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion*
5/19 Dallas, TX - Gexa Energy Pavilion*
5/20 Gulf Shores, AL - Hangout Music Fest
5/22 Atlanta, GA - Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood**
5/23 Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre**
5/25 Hartford, CT - Comcast Theatre***
5/26 Hartford, CT - Comcast Theatre %
5/28 Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain %
5/29 Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center %
6/3 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center $
6/5 Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center %
6/6 Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center %
6/8 Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center #
6/9 Saratoga Springs, NY - Saratoga Performing Arts Center #
6/12 Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre @
6/13 Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre @
6/16 Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live ^
6/17 Virginia Beach, VA - Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach ^
6/22 Noblesville, IN - Kilpsch Music Center ^
6/23 Noblesville, IN - Kilpsch Music Center +
6/26 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center ~
6/27 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
6/29 Hershey, PA - Hersheypark Stadium
6/30 Bethel, NY - Bethel Woods Center for the Arts +
7/3 Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center ~
7/6 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Center
7/7 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Center ~
7/10 Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Center ~
7/11 Maryland Heights, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre ~
7/13 Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion &
7/14 Burgettstown, PA - First Niagara Pavilion &
7/18 Tampa, FL - 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre ?
7/20 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre ?
7/21 West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre ?
8/31 George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre =
9/1 George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre =
9/2 George, WA - The Gorge Amphitheatre =
9/7 Chula Vista, WA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre ¢
9/8 Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre ¢
9/9 Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre ¢

* with Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
** with The Head and the Heart
*** with Mariachi El Bronx
$ with Blind Pilot
% with Carolina Chocolate Drops
# with Lettuce
@ with Fitz and the Tantrums
^ with Gary Clark Jr.
+ with Delta Spirit
~ with Brandi Carlile
& with SOJA
? with Tower of Power
= with The Avett Brothers
¢ with Allen Stone


source: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tour-alert-dave-matthews-band-announce-dates-after-year-long-hiatus-20120215

Live Music in Austin: Where and when to go

Austin, Texas is well known for its music. In fact, Austin is considered to be the "live music capital of the world." Austin is host to the famous Austin City Limits festival and South by Southwest festival, just to name a few of the local music events. If you've never experienced Austin's jam packed music scene and you're not sure where to start, here are a few places to try. No matter what your music taste is, Austin has something to offer for everyone.

1. Antone's

Antone's is one of the best destinations for live music in the city. There are blues acts playing each and every night at this venue including legends like Joe Ely and Jimmy Vaughan. Open since 1975, it began as a blues club and has now launched into country and rock music. It's been host to some major acts such as Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello and B.B. King. Antone's is located at 213 W. 5th Street.

2. Stubb's Bar-B-Q

Stubb's Bar-B-Q is one of the most well known restaurants and live music venues in Austin. There's a small indoor music stage and a large outdoor stage in addition to the restaurant. Indie and alternative rock are the name of the game at Stubb's with acts such as Cake, the Year Yeah Yeahs and Imogen Heap making recent appearances. If you decide to go to Stubb's make sure to get there early because the venue can get packed quickly! Stubb's is located at 801 Red River Street.

3. Continental Club

This venue has been around since 1957 and has evolved from a burlesque club to a great live music venue. The Continental Club specializes in swing, rockabilly, country and retro roots music. It features many great local acts but is also a stop for some major talent. It's located at 1315 S. Congress Avenue.

4. Momo's

If you're looking for a more intimate venue to listen to eclectic live acts, look no further than Momo's. It's located on 618 W. 6th Street and you can hear anything from R&B to swing to folk to pop music. To visit, you'll have to go to the second floor - it's located right above Katz's Deli. You can choose from sitting at the bar or right in front of the stage. There's also a deck where you can enjoy the night sky while listening to music.

5. Bass Concert Hall

Located on the University of Texas Campus, the Bass Concert Hall is home to dozens of symphonies and dance performances each year. You can also find large musical acts performing here like Seal, Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor. It's located at 23rd Street and Robert Dedman Drive.

6. Lucky Lounge

This chic downtown club has many different seating options to give the audience a varied listening experience. There is standing room near the stage, bar stools, lounge chairs and a raised area behind the bar. There are also pool tables available. The booking agent for this club has great taste in local bands and features a variety of different genres of music.

This list just scratches the surface of what is available in Austin. Whether you're just visiting or are a local looking for more exposure to the music scene, you can start with any of these venues.

Joe Cline writes articles for Austin Texas real estate. Other articles written by the author related to Austin realtor and Westlake Hills realtor can be found on the net.

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