Connect with us

NewsBeat

It took ten years to make this album

Published

on

It took ten years to make this album

JILL SCOTT does not rush records. She only goes into the studio when she feels she has got something she needs to say.

The American singer’s sixth album, To Whom This May Concern, arrives a decade after her last effort for exactly that reason.

Jill Scott only goes into the studio when she feels she has got something she needs to sayCredit: Supplied
The American singer’s sixth album arrives a decade after her last effortCredit: Supplied

“It took me 27 years to make Who Is Jill Scott?,” she says of her landmark debut. “And all the experiences in those years I put into that album.

“These projects don’t just happen overnight, it doesn’t work that way. So, it took me ten years to make this album.

“Why did it take so damn long? Because it takes time to make a great meal. It takes time to decorate your home. You don’t rush it. I took my time because I care.”

Advertisement

Writing only when there is something urgent to say, and letting the music lead the message, is the way the Grammy-winning artist and actor creates.

READ MORE MUSIC INTERVIEWS

Advertisement

THE BIG INTERVIEW

‘If you have a big voice, people want to hear it’ says Nathaniel Rateliff

Advertisement


KILLING IT

We feel like The Beatles on stage, says The Killers’ Brandon Flowers

Advertisement

She says: “I wait for it to come and the things that came out of me for this album shocked the hell out of me, too.

“On some songs, I’m an anthropologist, studying people. I’m on social media and hearing how a lot of people are not satisfied and that’s a damn shame.

Advertisement

“It’s a little harder for me to just sit on a park bench and watch people.”

I meet Scott at her publicist’s office in central London.

I am very excited about the musicianship on this album. The horn players and the bass, which is all over this album, is amazing.

Advertisement


Jill Scott

Dressed in orange, she is bright, friendly and effortlessly glamorous, although she says the jet lag has been hard to deal with.

She’s been over here for a week of promotion, including an album launch where she introduced tracks from To Whom This May Concern and took questions from fans.

“That was a pretty exciting night,” she says. “And the response was great, which was good as I was scared because it’s the first time playing this new music for a bunch of people in a room.

Advertisement

“I am very excited about the musicianship on this album. The horn players and the bass, which is all over this album, is amazing. It’s not a plug-in, it’s a player.”

At 19 tracks long, this is an impressive album. Collaborators include Trombone Shorty, Maha Adachi Earth, DJ Premier and rappers Tierra Whack, JID and Ab-Soul.

Recent single Pressha and Don’t Play touch on relationships.

Jill says: “Pressha is about a toxic past relationship while Don’t Play is a template for how to have a date where you actually want to get to know someone.

Advertisement

“It’s not just about what box they tick or what salary they earn. Then BPOTY — Biggest Pimp Of The Year — I wrote after looking at society and thinking, ‘My God, these folks are pimping us’.

“Like the pharmaceutical companies. I had been taking some medication and I didn’t really need it, I was being pimped and so it began with that story.”

‘Music is medicinal’

A diverse record blending soul, rap and jazz, it features beautiful ballads such as Me 4 and Àse, showcasing the poetic storytelling Scott has long been celebrated for.

“When I heard how diverse the music was, it made sense as an album,” she explains.

Advertisement

“People are going to get what they’re going to get what they need from it at different times. I believe music is medicinal. Like when I first heard of Billie Holiday, I didn’t really hear her until I got my feelings hurt.

“Then I listened again and everything clicked and made sense — how poignant her words were — and that’s why this album is called To Whom This May Concern.”

Be Great is a superb track as both a declaration and mantra, designed for everyday moments of courage.

“I want people to play it before their auditions, job interviews or anything that matters to you,” says Scott. “Go ahead and be fantastic at it, whatever it is.

Advertisement

“I just got the music and the lyrics popped out. I see it as Golden’s cousin [her 2004 anthem]. Yeah, they’re definitely related.”

Offdaback, which Scott says is her favourite track on her new album, pays homage to her heroes who came before her, artists and pioneers who stood up for freedom and music.

“The ancestors have to be honoured,” she explains.

Scott pays homage to her heroes who came before in her latest recordCredit: Supplied
Her sixth album celebrates the poetic storytelling Scott has long been celebrated forCredit: Supplied

“Whether it was your grandmother who worked in somebody’s house in order to make sure your mother had food, or it was your dad who worked three jobs so you could go to college or so you could live your dream.

Advertisement

“As an artist every day I’m reminded of how many people have made a way for me to be here.

“My office wall has photos of all the people who have inspired me. Diana Ross, Missy Elliott, Led Zeppelin and Queen Latifah are on there.

“I admire so many. Nina Simone for being so frank and fearless; Tina Turner for being so brave and using her voice.

“The list goes on. Frankie Beverly was beloved to me and Prince was my number one, and Bette Midler showed me that you don’t have to be around, knocking on doors all the time. You can disappear for a while, too.

Advertisement

“I went to see Frankie Beverly and Maze and they’d not had a record out for 25 years but everyone at the show is up and singing at the top of their voices.

“Music is about that feeling, about camaraderie and unity. I feel really honoured that anyone would feel that about my music.

“However, I’m still working on the other stuff that comes with that.”

There was a recent social media post of Scott being stopped by a fan who recognised her on the street — and she tells me she still finds that side of fame difficult.

Advertisement

Staying human

She says: “I value my time in just taking a walk, I really do. It’s important to me and it helps me balance everything else. The guy was sweet and I loved his freckles but being stopped in the street is not easy for me.

“Yes, 26 years later, I’m still working on it. I get good advice about it. My mentors tell me the value of maintaining the private self and staying human.

“When people put you on a pedestal it’s a very dangerous game and it’s not the game I play.”

When Scott emerged in 2000 as the voice in neo-soul, blending R&B, jazz, soul and spoken word, she found the spotlight overwhelming.

Advertisement

“It was terrifying and exciting,” she says with a smile. “I had a good two or three weeks where I was like, ‘This is so fun’. And then it didn’t stop.

“People were driving by my house playing the album at full capacity at three o’clock in the morning.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because that’s not where I live — I live in grace and gratefulness all the time.

“It just was never my priority. I see people who are far more famous than me, and God bless them, but balance really matters to me. I’m a writer first, I just happen to sing.

Advertisement

“I have to be human and recognise how flawed I am and how much I’m working through things and honouring myself in all the things.

`’So, my goal is to be grand and gracious and have patience with other people. And when I can’t, I go into the house. That’s how I live.”

I think as a society, we’re holding on to a lot of people that don’t benefit our lives.

Advertisement


Jill Scott

Pay U On Tuesday is a fun song which Scott says: “Comes from being exhausted of family members who I used to be friends with that just don’t value the same things.”

It’s a direct song which even comes with a disclaimer (in the form of a track called Disclaimer) before it.

She laughs and says: “Oh yes there’s a disclaimer. But cutting ties is sometimes needed.

Advertisement

“Maybe they’re not ready to be respectful now, but I think as a society, we’re holding on to a lot of people that don’t benefit our lives.

“What I’ve learned in these 53 years is that I love when the people around me bloom and I want to continue to bloom.

“This album has been brought to you by education for your home. For your family.

“I definitely don’t like being perimenopausal. That’s not fun. It’s made certain things a lot more challenging, like staying fit, and sometimes you don’t sleep and a dress doesn’t fit but I count on the joys.

Advertisement

“I’m a big advocate for a book called The Celestine Prophecy, which reminds me to constantly look for beauty.”

Growing up in North Philadelphia, “Jilly from Philly” says she owes her positivity and happy childhood to her mother and grandmother. “My mother showed me art and creativity and I’m grateful,” she tells me.

Although there was a lot of drugs and violence around her, she also saw “kind and beautiful-spirited people” — and that spirit is at the heart of the track Norf Side.

“It’s a celebration of the place,” she says.

Advertisement

For that song, she wanted another voice from North Philly and her son Jett suggested Tierra Whack, a brilliant MC and remarkable poetess. “We are both a reflection of that place,” she says.

Scott, who has a charitable foundation in North Philadelphia which has been sending kids to camp and to college for more than 20 years, says she could have made an album about what’s going on in the US politically but chose a theme of personal revolution over performative outrage and political frustration.

‘Joy, passion, rage’

“I think that’s another album,” she says. “Right now, I’m really focused on growth and healing — the human stuff.

“Then maybe there will be the kind of revolution that this kind of turmoil deserves.”

Advertisement

On the death of mum-of-three Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis last month, she says: “This has been going on in the United States for longer than my whole life — it’s not new.

“It just happened to happen to a Caucasian woman so the world is shaken and they’re seeing it.”

Making a name for herself in acting as well as music and poetry, she has starred in 2007 comedy Why Did I Get Married? and TV series The No1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Scott says she is taking her time when it comes to choosing her next role, paying close attention to both the director and the writing.

Advertisement

Live performance, however, is non-negotiable. “I will be touring. That is a fact.”

For now, the focus is firmly on this record. “I just want people to come back and listen to it again and again,” she says.

“I’ve sprinkled levels of joy, frustration, passion and even rage. When that last chord plays, I want people to sit with it — and then start all over again. Each time, there’s something new.”

  • To Whom This May Concern is out on February 13.

JILL SCOTT

To Whom This May Concern

★★★★★

Jill Scott’s sixth album, To Whom This May ConcernCredit: Amazon
Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NewsBeat

Tesco F&F releases trendy gilet perfect for the springtime

Published

on

Cambridgeshire Live

The gilet can easily be thrown over any outfit for some extra warmth.

Advertisement

The end of winter is in sight, which means the weather will soon be getting sunnier. It can be hard to style chic outfits in between seasons when the weather is likely to be more unpredictable.

If you are looking for some new spring clothing to add to your wardrobe, you might want to visit a Tesco store to check out its clothing brand F&F. The brand has just launched the F&F Edit Sleeveless Gilet in Khaki that is a “cool and comfortable layer” for throwing on over a jumper.

The gilet has “two flap pockets and a concealed zip fastening” and has a “loose fit style” that is great for layering over long sleeved tops. The gilet is currently being sold for £29.50 and will be a staple piece to have in your springtime wardrobe.

The gilet was posted to the Tesco F&F Instagram page, which currently has 886K followers, in a video with a few of the brand’s other spring pieces. The video was captioned: “Outfits of the week with @debbielegrainger. Which one is your fave?”

Advertisement
Content cannot be displayed without consent

Fans of the clothing brand have already taken to social media to share their opinions on the new springtime items. One commenter said: “So many gorgeous pieces,” and another said: “Love the blazer suit.”

If you want to get the gilet or any of the new pieces, you can go to the Tesco website to browse all of its clothes. You could also go to a Tesco store with a clothing department.

If this gilet is not quite in line with your style, you might want to check out Boden instead. There is this Gloucester Mac, which would be a trendy addition to your wardrobe, or this Linen Scoop Neck Waistcoat that can be worn with the matching Kensington Linen Trousers.

New Look also has plenty of options to look through. There is this Brown Double Pocket Belted Short Belted Mac that is great for throwing over a nice outfit when going out or this Blue Mid Wash Denim Jacket, which is a staple to have in spring.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Six Nations 2026 table, fixtures, schedule and results as tournament begins

Published

on

Six Nations 2026 table, fixtures, schedule and results as tournament begins

France have stormed to an early lead in the 2026 Six Nations, dispatching Ireland with ease in the curtain-raiser to lay down the gauntlet for title hopefuls England.

They nipped out to an early lead through Louis Bielle-Barrey and scarcely looked back, though it was not quite a perfect outing. The reigning champions shipped two second-half tries to take the final score to 36-14 in their favour.

Steve Borthwick’s men arrive in fine form, though, having pieced together 11 straight wins last year, and will fancy their chances of breaking the recent stranglehold held on this tournament by Ireland and current holders France, who meet in Paris for a star-studded opener on Thursday.

Advertisement

It is new-look Wales up first for England and while Super Saturday features two potential title deciders, the early rounds of this year’s condensed competition also bring their fair share of eye-catching match-ups.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has high hopes for his side, too, and the fixtures have aligned well for a talented group desperate to hoist the Six Nations trophy for the first time.

Position

Team

Advertisement

P

W

D

L

Advertisement

PF

PA

PD

B

Advertisement

Pts

1

France

1

Advertisement

1

0

0

36

Advertisement

14

+22

1

4

Advertisement

2

England

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

3

Italy

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

4

Scotland

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

5

Wales

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

0

Advertisement

0

0

0

6

Advertisement

Ireland

1

0

0

Advertisement

1

14

36

-22

Advertisement

0

0

Six Nations fixtures and results

England vs Wales (4:40pm, Allianz Stadium, ITV1)

Advertisement

Ireland vs Italy (2:10pm, Aviva Stadium, ITV1)

Scotland vs England (4:40pm, Murrayfield, ITV1)

Wales vs France (3:10pm, Principality Stadium, BBC One)

England vs Ireland (2:10pm, Allianz Stadium, ITV1)

Advertisement

Wales vs Scotland (4:40pm, Principality Stadium, BBC One)

France vs Italy (3:10pm, Stade Pierre Mauroy, ITV1)

Ireland vs Wales (8:10pm, Aviva Stadium, ITV1)

Scotland vs France (2:10pm, Murrayfield, BBC One)

Advertisement

Italy vs England (4:40pm, Stadio Olimpico, ITV1)

Ireland vs Scotland (2:10pm, Aviva Stadium, ITV1)

Wales vs Italy (4:40pm, Principality Stadium, BBC One)

France vs England (8:10pm, Stade de France, ITV1)

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Gossip Girl to return with ‘sequel’ about Blair Waldorf’s life as an adult in NYC 14 years after show’s end

Published

on

Gossip Girl to return with 'sequel' about Blair Waldorf's life as an adult in NYC 14 years after show's end

GOSSIP Girl is making a comeback with a “sequel” novel centered around Blair Waldorf as an adult in New York City, over a decade after the show’s end.

The series, which was adapted from the book of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar, aired on The CW for six seasons from 2007 to 2012.

Gossip Girl is returning with a ‘sequel’ novel, over a decade since the show’s endCredit: Alamy
The new book centers around Blair Waldorf, played on TV series by Leighton Meester, 20 years after the original novelCredit: Alamy

According to Deadline, the author is revisiting the character’s story, portrayed by Leighton Meester on-screen, for a new standalone novel titled Blair.

Alloy Entertainment sold the novel to Karen Kosztolnyik, VP, Executive Editorial Director of Fiction at Grand Central Publishing, in a major book deal, per the outlet.

The book will be published in the U.S. and through Charlotte Mursell, Publisher of Orion Fiction at Orion, a division of Hachette UK, for a global English-language release.

Advertisement

Blair will reportedly take place 20 years after the original Gossip Girl series was released, with the former snobby overachiever in her 40s, returning to the Upper East Side to regain her dominance in the food chain.

CON THE RECORD

Real-life Gossip Girl was ‘blackmailing entire city by posting shock claims’

Advertisement


Advertisement

Big Reveal

Gossip Girl star Taylor Momsen strips completely NAKED in new music video

Advertisement

The novel’s tentative release date is Summer 2027.

It’s unknown if the book could make its way to the small screen, but Alloy Entertainment – which is also behind other successful book-to-series favorites including The Vampire Diaries, You, and Pretty Little Liars – has obtained film and television rights if it drums up interest.

The original novel surely did, having sold over 6 million copies and spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list after its 2002 release.

Advertisement

There have been no reports on whether anyone else in Blair’s former inner circle will appear in the book, although her relationships with many of them translated differently in the TV series.

Serena van der Woodsen was the other main character in the book and in the show, as Blair’s BFF and sometimes nemesis, played by Blake Lively.

Penn Badgley, Chase Crawford, Ed Westwick, Kelly Rutherford, Matthew Settle, Taylor Momsen, and Jessica Szohr also portrayed prominent characters in the TV adaptation.

Gossip Girl got a reboot on HBO Max in 2021, featuring an all-new cast, with Kristen Bell returning as the narrator.

Advertisement

However, the show didn’t hit like the original and was cancelled after two seasons.

Many complained that the show’s teachers’ actions were “predatory,” and the overall allure was nowhere near that of the original namesake.

The revival also didn’t seem to thrust its cast into the same level of stardom as the former series did for stars such as Blake, Leighton, and Penn.

Blake has starred in a number of films since her Gossip Girl run ended, including the romance, It Ends with Us, which was the matchbox that sparked her ongoing legal war with her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Leighton has had fans swooning over her since joining the cast of the Netflix series Nobody Wants This, alongside fellow Gossip Girl alum Kristen Bell and her husband, Adam Brody.

Penn also cemented his place in another TV series, playing a vastly different character than the “Lonely Boy” from Brooklyn, Dan Humphrey.

The actor portrayed obsessive stalker and serial killer Joe Goldberg in the Netflix series, You, for five seasons from 2018 to 2025.

Gossip Girl is available to stream on multiple platforms, including HBO Max, Netflix, and Hulu.

Advertisement
The book will follow Blair’s life in her 40s as she returns to New York City and regains her dominance in the food chainCredit: Alamy
Cecily von Ziegesar, the author of the original bestselling novel, is the writer behind the next installmentCredit: Little, Brown and Company
The original book and show also featured Blair’s BFF, Serena van der Woodsen, played by Blake LivelyCredit: Alamy

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Norway investigates former PM Jagland over alleged Epstein links

Published

on

Norway investigates former PM Jagland over alleged Epstein links

Pål K. Lønseth, head of Økokrim – the economic crime unit investigating Jagland – said: “We consider there are reasonable grounds for investigation, given that he held the positions of chair of the Nobel Committee and Secretary General of the Council of Europe during the period covered by the released documents.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Campaigners launch legal action in bid to stop puberty blocker trial

Published

on

Campaigners launch legal action in bid to stop puberty blocker trial

Baroness Hilary Cass, who led that review, has previously said her report “uncovered a very weak evidence base” for the benefits of puberty blockers for children and young people with gender dysphoria, but that “given that there are clinicians, children and families who believe passionately in the beneficial effects, a trial was the only way forward to make sense of this”.

Source link

Continue Reading

NewsBeat

A man whose mother’s body was among 189 corpses stashed in a Colorado funeral home speaks out

Published

on

A man whose mother's body was among 189 corpses stashed in a Colorado funeral home speaks out

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Derrick Johnson buried his mother’s ashes beneath a golden dewdrop tree with purple blossoms at his home on Maui’s Haleakalā Volcano, fulfilling her wish of a final resting place looking over her grandchildren.

Then the FBI called.

It was Feb. 4, 2024, and Johnson was teaching an eighth-grade gym class.

“‘Are you the son of Ellen Lopes?’” a woman asked, Johnson recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

Advertisement

There had been an incident, and an FBI agent would fly out to explain, the caller said. Then she asked: “‘Did you use Return to Nature for a funeral home?’”

“‘You should probably google them,’” she added.

In the clatter of the weight room, Johnson typed “Return to Nature” into his cellphone. Dozens of news reports appeared, details popping out in a blur.

Hundreds of bodies stacked on top of each other. Inches of body decomposition fluid. Swarms of bugs. Investigators traumatized. Governor declares state of emergency.

Advertisement

Johnson felt nauseated and his chest constricted, forcing the breath from his lungs. He pushed himself out of the building as another teacher heard his cries and came running.

Two FBI agents visited Johnson the following week, confirming his mother’s body was among 189 that Return to Nature’s owners, Jon and Carie Hallford, had stashed in a Colorado building between 2019 and Oct. 4, 2023, when the bodies were found.

It was one of the largest discoveries of decaying bodies at a funeral home in the U.S. Lawmakers overhauled the state’s lax funeral home regulations. And besides handing over fake ashes to grieving families, the Hallfords also admitted to defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in pandemic-era aid for small businesses.

Even as the Hallfords’ bills went unpaid, authorities said they spent lavishly on Tiffany jewelry, luxury cars and laser-body sculpting, pocketing about $130,000 clients paid for cremations.

Advertisement

They were arrested in Oklahoma in November 2023 and charged with abusing nearly 200 corpses.

Hundreds of families learned from officials that the ashes they ceremonially spread or kept close weren’t actually their loved ones’ remains. The bodies of their mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and babies had moldered in a room-temperature building in Colorado.

Jon Hallford will be sentenced Friday, facing between 30 to 50 years in prison, and Carie Hallford in April after a judge accepted their plea agreements in December. Attorneys for Jon and Carie Hallford did not respond to an AP request for comment.

Johnson, 45, who’s suffered panic attacks since the FBI called, promised himself that he would speak at Hallford’s sentencing and ask for the maximum penalty.

Advertisement

“When the judge passes out how long you’re going to jail, and you walk away in cuffs,” he said, “you’re gonna hear me.”

“She lied”

Jon and Carie Hallford were a husband-and-wife team who advertised “green burials” without embalming as well as cremation at their Return to Nature funeral home in Colorado Springs.

She would greet grieving families, guiding them through their loved ones’ final journey. He was less seen.

Johnson called the funeral home in early February 2023, the week his mother died. Carie Hallford assured him she would take good care of his mother, Johnson said.

Advertisement

Days later, she handed Johnson a blue box containing a zip-tied plastic bag with gray powder, saying those were his mother’s ashes.

“She lied to me over the phone. She lied to me through email. She lied to me in person,” Johnson told the AP.

The following day, the box lay surrounded by flowers and photos of Ellen Marie Shriver-Lopes at a memorial service at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs.

Johnson sprinkled rose petals over it as a preacher said: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

Caught on video

On Sept. 9, 2023, surveillance footage showed a man appearing to be Jon Hallford walk inside a building owned by Return to Nature in the town of Penrose, outside Colorado Springs, according to an arrest affidavit.

Advertisement

Camera footage inside showed a body laying on a gurney wearing a diaper and hospital socks. The man flipped it onto the floor.

Then he “appeared to wipe the remaining decomposition from the gurney onto other bodies in the room,” before wheeling what appeared to be two more bodies into the building, the affidavit said.

In a text to his wife, Hallford said, “while I was making the transfer, I got people juice on me,” according to court testimony.

The neighborhood mom

Johnson grew up with his mother in an affordable-housing complex in Colorado Springs, where she knew everyone.

Advertisement

Johnson’s father wasn’t around much; at 5 years old, Johnson remembers seeing him punch his mom, sending her careening into a table, then onto a guitar, breaking it.

It was Lopes who taught Johnson to shave and hollered from the bleachers at his football games.

Neighborhood kids called her “mom,” some sleeping on the couch when they needed a place to stay and a warm meal. She would chat with Jehovah’s Witnesses because she didn’t want to be rude. With a life spent in social work, Lopes would say: “If you have the ability and you have the voice to help: Help.”

Johnson spoke with his mother nearly everyday. After diabetes left her blind and bedridden at age 65, she’d ask Johnson to describe what her grandchildren looked like over the phone.

It was Super Bowl Sunday in 2023 when her heart stopped.

Advertisement

Johnson, who had flown in from Hawaii to be at her bedside, clutched her warm hand and held it until it was cold.

A gruesome discovery

Detective Sgt. Michael Jolliffe and Laura Allen, the county’s deputy coroner, stood outside the Penrose building on Oct. 3, 2023, according to the 50-page arrest affidavit.

A sign on the door read “Return to Nature Funeral Home” and listed a phone number. When Jolliffe called it, it was disconnected. Cracked concrete and yellow stalks of grass encircled the building. At back was a shabby hearse with expired registration. A window air-conditioner hummed.

Someone had told Jolliffe of a rank smell coming from the building the day before, the affidavit said.

Advertisement

One neighbor told an AP reporter they thought it came from a septic tank; another said her daughter’s dog always headed to the building whenever it got off-leash.

It was reminiscent of rancid manure or rotting fish, and struck anyone downwind of the building.

Jolliffe and Allen spotted a dark stain under the door and on the building’s stucco exterior. They thought it looked like fluids they had seen during investigations with decaying bodies, the affidavit said.

But the building’s windows were covered and they couldn’t see inside.

Allen contacted the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agency, which oversees funeral homes, which got in touch with Jon Hallford. Hallford agreed to show an inspector inside the next afternoon.

Advertisement

Inspector Joseph Berry arrived, but Hallford didn’t show.

Berry found a small opening in one of the window coverings, the affidavit said. Peering through, he saw white plastic bags that looked like body bags on the floor.

A judge issued a search warrant that week.

Bodies stacked high

Donning protective suits, gloves, boots and respirators, investigators entered the 2,500-square-foot (232-square-meter) building on Oct. 5, 2023, according to the affidavit.

Advertisement

Inside, they found a large bone grinder and next to it a bag of Quikrete that investigators suspected was used to mimic ashes. Bodies were stacked in nearly a dozen rooms, including the bathroom, sometimes so high they blocked doorways, the affidavit said.

There were 189.

Some had decayed for years, others several months, according to the affidavit. Many were in body bags, some wrapped in sheets and duct tape. Others were half-exposed, on gurneys or in plastic totes, or lay with no covering, it said.

Investigators believed the Hallfords were experimenting with water cremation, which can dissolve a body in several hours, the document said. There were swarms of bugs and maggots.

Advertisement

Body bags were filled with fluid, according to the affidavit. Some had ripped. Five-gallon buckets had been placed to catch the leaks. Removal teams “trudged through layers of human decomposition on the floor,” it said.

Investigators identified bodies using fingerprints, hospital bracelets and medical implants, the affidavit said. It said one body was supposed to be buried in Pikes Peak National Cemetery.

Investigators exhumed the wooden casket at the burial site of the U.S. Army veteran, who served in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. Inside was a woman’s deteriorated body, wrapped in duct tape and plastic sheets.

The veteran’s body was discovered in the Penrose building, covered in maggots.

Advertisement

“Ashes to ashes”

Following the call from the FBI, Johnson promised himself he would speak at the Hallfords’ sentencing. But he struggled to talk about what had happened even with close friends, let alone in front of a judge and the Hallfords.

For months, Johnson obsessed over the case, reading dozens of news reports, often glued to his phone until one of his children would interrupt him to play.

When he shut his eyes, he said he imagined trudging through the building with “maggots, flies, centipedes. There’s rats, they’re feasting.” He asked a preacher if his mother’s soul had been trapped there. She reassured him it hadn’t. When an episode of the zombie show “The Walking Dead” came on, he broke down.

Johnson started seeing a therapist and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He joined Zoom meetings with other victims’ relatives as the number grew from dozens to hundreds.

After Lopes’ body was identified, Johnson flew in March 2024 to Colorado, where his mother’s remains lay in a brown box in a crematorium.

Advertisement

“I don’t think you blame me, but I still want to tell you I’m sorry,” he recalled saying, placing his hand on the box.

Then Lopes’ body was loaded into the cremator and Johnson pushed the button.

Justice

Johnson has slowly improved with therapy, engaging more with his students and children. He practiced speaking at the Hallfords’ sentencings while in therapy. Closing his eyes, he envisioned standing in front of the judge — and the Hallfords.

“Justice is, it’s the part that is missing from this whole equation,” he said. “Maybe somehow this justice frees me.”

“And then there’s part of me that’s scared it won’t, because it probably won’t.”

Advertisement

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Twilight star buys historic Highland movie theater in LA: ‘Something for the community’

Published

on

Twilight star buys historic Highland movie theater in LA: ‘Something for the community’

Kristen Stewart has purchased the historic Highland Theater in Los Angeles, which was closed down in 2024, and will be restoring it into “something for the community”.

The Oscar-nominated actor confirmed the news to Architectural Digest, saying she was “fascinated by broken-down old theaters”.

“I didn’t realise I was looking for a theater until this place came to my attention. Then it was like a gunshot went off and the race was on. I ran toward it with everything I had,” she said.

The theater opened in 1925 and closed after nearly a century in operation. It was designed by Lewis Arthur Smith and began as a vaudeville and silent-film house before shifting to mainstream releases. It was eventually subdivided into a triplex in the 1980s.

Advertisement

Owner Dan Akarakian told the Los Angeles Times in March 2024 the theatre was unable to recover in the post-pandemic world and he was forced to shut it down.

It closed permanently on 29 February 2024, six days before its 99th anniversary, with the final films screened including Madame Web and Bob Marley: One Love.

Stewart said she intended to turn the theater into a community space.

“It’s an opportunity to make a space to gather and scheme and dream together. This project is about creating a new school and restructuring our processes, finding a better way forward,” the actor said.

Advertisement

“We want to make it a family affair, something for the community. It’s not just for pretentious Hollywood cinephiles,” she added.

“I see it as an antidote to all the corporate bulls***, a place that takes movie culture away from just buying and selling. I think there’s a huge desire and craving for what this kind of space can offer.”

Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day

New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.

Advertisement

Try for free

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Apple TV+ logo

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day

New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.

Try for free

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Advertisement
Kristen Stewart says she will turn the historic Highland Theater in Los Angeles into ‘something for the community’
Kristen Stewart says she will turn the historic Highland Theater in Los Angeles into ‘something for the community’ (Getty)

The Spencer star acknowledged the challenge and scale of the restoration work. “There are so many beautiful details that need to be restored,” she said. “There’s a way to bring the building back to life in a way that embraces its history, but also brings something new to the neighborhood and something new to the whole LA film community.”

Stewart’s purchase of the theater puts her in the league of film figures who have taken an active role in preserving Los Angeles’ cinema heritage.

Quentin Tarantino bought the New Beverly Cinema in 2007 and the Vista Theater in 2021, telling Deadline in 2014 he bought the former theater to ensure it wouldn’t get turned into a commercial multiplex and remain dedicated to film screenings.

In 2022, the Village Theater in Westwood was bought by a group of investors that included Jason Reitman, Steven Spielberg, and Bradley Cooper after fears the site could be redeveloped.

Recently, while promoting her directorial debut The Chronology of Water, Stewart said “probably not” when asked if she thought she would stay in the US while Donald Trump was president.

Advertisement

“Reality is breaking completely under Trump,” the actor, 35, told The Sunday Times. “But we should take a page out of his book and create the reality we want to live in.”

She called Trump’s threat of tariffs on films made outside the US “terrifying” for the industry and said she “can’t work freely” in the US.

“But I don’t want to give up completely,” she added. “I’d like to make movies in Europe and then shove them down the throat of the American people.”

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Husband watches mother-in-law get slapped by father-in-law and then shoots him dead in response, police say

Published

on

Husband watches mother-in-law get slapped by father-in-law and then shoots him dead in response, police say

A Florida man is facing first-degree premeditated murder charges after he allegedly shot dead his father-in-law after the man reportedly slapped his mother-in-law.

Shaun Simon, 42, has been arrested and jailed after he was accused of shooting dead Bill Toth in Seminole County.

The incident allegedly occurred on Tuesday around 11:30 p.m in the Markham Woods neighborhood where Simon lived with his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and his wife, according to WESH.

According to court records, Toth’s reportedly worsening dementia was causing friction inside the house. Making matters worse, Toth’s wife reportedly was suspicious that he was not being faithful.

Advertisement

Toth’s daughter told deputies that on Tuesday night, her father and mother were arguing about their marriage. Toth allegedly slapped his wife in view of his daughter. She says she told her husband, Simon, about the incident, after which Simon confronted Toth, ClickOrlando reports.

Shaun Simon, 42, of Sanford, Florida, was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder relating to the shooting death of his father-in-law, Bill Toth
Shaun Simon, 42, of Sanford, Florida, was arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder relating to the shooting death of his father-in-law, Bill Toth (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office)

When Seminole County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, Toth was reportedly lying on the floor with a gunshot wound in his chest.

Simon’s wife called 911 after the shooting.

Toth was taken for treatment at a local hospital in critical condition but died at the facility around 2:15 a.m.

According to Fox 35 Orlando, Simon reportedly told deputies that he shot Toth once in the chest. He also reportedly told investigators that Toth had made his “life miserable,” and called the man a narcissist.

Advertisement

A neighbor, Jan Hall, told WESH that she thought Toth was a “nice guy” and said she believed he was afraid of Simon, who she described as a “violent man.”

A judge denied Simon bond during his court appearance on Wednesday. Simon is allowed to have contact with his wife but has been barred from contacting his mother-in-law.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

White House launches discount drug site TrumpRx offering GLP-1 weight loss and other medications at cheaper rates

Published

on

White House launches discount drug site TrumpRx offering GLP-1 weight loss and other medications at cheaper rates

President Donald Trump announced the official launch of his TrumpRx online pharmaceutical drug market during a press event in Washington, D.C.

The site, which goes live tonight, is a direct-to-consumer, government-operated market allowing Americans to purchase prescription drugs at discounted prices, according to the president on Thursday evening.

“This is a big deal, this is a very big deal, people are gonna save a lot of money and be healthy,” Trump said.

The president confirmed that all Americans will be able to purchase “dozens” of the “most commonly used prescription drugs” through the portal.

Advertisement

Trump said specifically that popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs will be included, noting that Ozempic “will come down from $1,000 to $199. “

Donald Trump announced the launch of his ‘TrumpRx’ website on February 5, 2026. Americans can visit the site to purchase discounted pharmaceutical drugs

Donald Trump announced the launch of his ‘TrumpRx’ website on February 5, 2026. Americans can visit the site to purchase discounted pharmaceutical drugs (AFP via Getty Images)

“Novo Nordisk will be slashing the price, as an example of Ozempic, from more than $1,000 to to $199,” he said.

He also said that the price of Wegovy, another GLP-1, will drop from $1,300 to $199.

Advertisement

The president claimed that the reduced drug prices secured by his administration mark the “largest reduction in prescription drug prices in history by many, many times, and it’s not even close.”

The discounted prices offered on the website represent Trump’s oft-touted “most favored nations” pricing scheme. Drug companies have agreed to sell the American public prescription drugs at the same rate as the nation that is paying the least for the drug, thereby ending what Trump described as the American people “effectively subsidizing the cost of drugs for the entire world.”

President Donald Trump said his administration’s new TrumpRx discount pharmaceutical website will offer popular weight-loss drug Ozempic at $199 per month, down from $1,000 per month

President Donald Trump said his administration’s new TrumpRx discount pharmaceutical website will offer popular weight-loss drug Ozempic at $199 per month, down from $1,000 per month (AFP/Getty)

He noted that, while prices will come down significantly for Americans, they are likely to increase in other nations.

Advertisement

Dr Mehmet Oz, Trump’s Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke during the event and demonstrated how the site works.

The website provides access to the direct-to-consumer purchasing platforms for major pharmaceutical companies and has links to coupons that can be taken to a pharmacy for in-person drug purchases.

During his presentation, he said TrumpRx would protect the “most vulnerable” Americans by providing them access to affordable drugs.

“One in three Americans are turned away from the drugstore,” Oz said. “They can’t afford the drugs. No more. Our most vulnerable are protected.”

Advertisement
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 14: Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a confirmation hearing with the Senate Finance Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Oz is U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 14: Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks during a confirmation hearing with the Senate Finance Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on March 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. Oz is U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Thursday’s announcement comes after months of hype from Trump and top administration officials who have made the planned TrumpRx website a central plank in their pitch to voters who remain skeptical of the president’s work to tackle the cost-of-living problems that led voters to return him to the White House despite multiple criminal indictments — and convictions on more than 30 felonies in his former home state of New York.

Trump and other administration figures have teased the TrumpRx website for months as he has hosted various pharmaceutical industry leaders in the Oval Office to announce pricing agreements under which their respective companies would offer American customers the same prices for their prescriptions that are paid in foreign countries and make investments in American manufacturing facilities.

Trump’s “most favored nation” pricing model is aimed at making medications more affordable for low-income Americans, including those on Medicaid, by connecting consumers directly with manufacturers who will charge prices equivalent to those paid by patients in countries with single-payer health care systems.

Advertisement

The president first pushed the idea of forcing drug companies to match prices offered abroad during his previous term, but faced significant resistance from the industry, including pushback in a lawsuit that resulted in a federal court order blocking his administration from carrying the plan out because it had failed to follow proper regulatory procedures.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Washington, as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz watch.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Washington, as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz watch. (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

After returning to the White House, he revived the plan in an executive order he issued in May, which directed his administration to take various actions to bring drug prices in the U.S. in line with prices negotiated between pharmaceutical companies and foreign countries that have single-payer health systems, such as the British NHS.

Last July, he sent letters to leading drug companies demanding that they bring down prices offered to Americans to match the negotiated prices available in foreign countries.

Advertisement

In the eight months since, 14 major drug companies gave in to his demand by striking agreements to offer “most-favored nation” prices to Americans and participate in the TrumpRx website.

But the purportedly lower prices offered by the website may not make much difference to voters who are reeling from skyrocketing insurance premiums in the wake of his administration’s decision not to support extending Covid-era tax credits that lowered the cost of health plans purchased on Affordable Care Act exchanges.

In January, Trump unveiled an alternative plan that would institute direct payments as a substitute for the direct federal subsidies that expired at the end of last year.

A screenshot showing the TrumpRx.gov prescription drug site's homepage. President Donald Trump announced the website's launch on February 5, 2025. He said that 'dozens' of the 'most popular prescription drugs' will be available at deeply discounted prices through the site.

Advertisement
A screenshot showing the TrumpRx.gov prescription drug site’s homepage. President Donald Trump announced the website’s launch on February 5, 2025. He said that ‘dozens’ of the ‘most popular prescription drugs’ will be available at deeply discounted prices through the site. (TrumpRx.gov)

Millions of Americans were left facing massive rate increases for their plans in 2026 as Congress left in December without finding a legislative path to extend the premium tax credits.

The White House plan also calls for a crackdown on pharmacy benefit managers and broadening the scope of medicines that can be purchased over-the-counter, which the administration hopes will cut down on doctor’s appointments. It also asks Congress to codify the “most-favored nation” status the White House has used to secure trade agreements aimed at lowering drug prices.

The TrumpRx website rollout also comes as the White House is facing headwinds on affordability matters with just nine months remaining until voters decide whether to extend the Republican Party’s unified control of Washington.

Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

NewsBeat

Denzel Washington action thriller fans can’t stop rewatching leaving Netflix

Published

on

Manchester Evening News

Fans of John Wick are told they have to watch the film before it is too late

Content cannot be displayed without consent

A ‘gruesome’ action thriller that some claim is ‘superior to John Wick’ is quietly disappearing from Netflix.

Advertisement

Featuring legendary actor Denzel Washington, The Equalizer first arrived in cinemas back in 2014. The film serves as a reboot of the beloved 1980s television series of the same name.

Washington takes on the lead role of former CIA operative Robert McCall. He’s a figure of enigmatic background who believes he has left his brutal past behind and commits himself to building a peaceful new existence.

Nevertheless, when he encounters Teri, a young woman who has been mistreated by ruthless Russian gangsters, he simply cannot turn away. Armed with his impressive abilities, McCall abandons his self-imposed retirement and resurfaces as a vengeful guardian, prepared to eliminate anyone who terrorises the defenceless.

Whilst the picture may not have won over critics, it still succeeded in earning a remarkable $192 million at the global box office. This level of commercial triumph eventually spawned two follow-up films, reports the Mirror.

Advertisement

READ MORE: ‘Dark and gripping’ crime drama fans should watch with lights on leaving NetflixREAD MORE: ‘Gory’ war movie from American Primeval director is leaving Netflix soon

The Equalizer’s original theatrical release was somewhat eclipsed by a comparable production that debuted around the same period – John Wick. Throughout the years, the two films have inevitably found themselves being contrasted by audiences.

Advertisement

It remains a contentious discussion, but those who have yet to witness whether Washington’s performance surpasses Keanu Reeves’ are running short on time. Although the movie joined Netflix’s catalogue last summer, it’s scheduled to vanish from the streaming platform within days.

A notice now shows that the final day to view the film on the platform is February 28. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, it can also be accessed via Sky Cinema or NOW.

Therefore John Wick devotees who haven’t yet experienced Washington’s action thriller are encouraged to watch it without delay. As one viewer suggests: “Well if you’ve watched John Wick, then you have got to see this. Not only it has such badass moments intricately represented by Denzel Washington but also has moments that give you that ‘feel good’ when you see him going about his business.”

They continued: “Action is neatly choreographed and in certain scenes you don’t need to think how that guy went down. Special mention to the subtlety that The Equalizer brings to the table which seemed to be lacking in John wick. Definitely worth your time!”.

Advertisement

Another user posted on Reddit with the headline ‘The Equalizer is better than John Wick. Change my mind’ and argued: “They managed to make The Equalizer a much deeper movie, with a slower pace and much better character development. The gruesome violence has much more impact and is better filmed, without that gratuitous barrages of bullets and bulletproof jackets. One could also argue that Denzel being a better actor helps The Equalizer to stand out.”

Someone else declared: “It’s like Sherlock Holmes meets John Wick with a hint of the Accountant. Best of all there is compassion and a will to do good.”

Yet another remarked: “Amazing movie. Ten out of ten. Could watch on repeat and would never get bored.”

Advertisement

Meanwhile there are several who simply say that both movies are just as worth your time. As one individual summarised: “It’s pure entertaining action drama which gives you John Wick type vibes. I’m not comparing the movies, both are good in their own style.

“The story was simple and effective, the screenplay was good but little bit loose, the direction was good and the performances were also good especially Denzel’s.”

The Equalizer is streaming on Netflix until February 28.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

Advertisement

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2025