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Additional details revealed after 4 law enforcement officers are killed in Charlotte, NC shooting

Additional details have been revealed by authorities in North Carolina after 4 law enforcement officers were killed, and four others were wounded, in shooting in Charlotte while trying to serve a warrant Monday afternoon. , Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a press conference that the suspect left the house while armed, and officers opened fire and shot him in the front yard, where he was pronounced dead. He was identified by police as Terry Clark Hughes Jr., 39.

Jennings said that the U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force, comprised of officers from multiple agencies, was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on a man for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in east Charlotte when the shooting began. Jennings said that when officers approached a house to arrest the suspect, they were immediately met with gunfire and they returned fire.

CNN reported that an internal law enforcement memo shows officers are looking for the person who bought the firearm used in the shooting to potentially bring federal charges. Evidence from the residence is still being processed, and the amount of evidence that will be collected is expected to be “well over 100 rounds of gunfire of projectiles and casings.”

During a Tuesday news conference, Jennings called the shooting “an absolute tragic day for the city of Charlotte and for the profession of law enforcement,” and added that the investigation is active and ongoing. Jennings said: “We saw officers going into the line of fire to save their brothers in blue who have gone down in an act of trying to keep our community safe. To me, that’s truly heroic. When you hear the gunshots and the rapid fire and they are running directly into it because they know there are people who need help – they risked their own lives to do that.”

Editorial credit: Jillian Cain Photography / Shutterstock.com

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News Daypop

Donald Trump removes social media posts after being held in contempt of court, fined $9,000

Donald Trump was held in contempt of court Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case. Trump must pay the fine by the close of business on Friday, and the former president has since deleted, as ordered, the offending posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website on Tuesday.

New York Judge Juan M. Merchan found nine violations by Trump, and warned if he continues to violate the gag order he could be jailed. Merchan wrote that Trump “is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.”

In detailing the violations, Judge Merchan ruled that a Trump post quoting Fox News host Jesse Watters’s claim that liberal activists were lying to infiltrate the jury “constitutes a clear violation” of the gag order. Merchan noted that the words contained within the quotation marks in Trump’s April 17 post misstated what Watters actually said.

The ruling from Merchan came at the start of the second week of testimony, with Manhattan prosecutors alleging that Trump and his associates took part in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by burying negative stories.  The former president has pleaded not guilty.

Editorial credit: Jonah Elkowitz / Shutterstock.com

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Go Country 105

Carly Pearce on teaming with CMA Foundation to be “a voice for music education”

Having grown up with big music dreams, Carly Pearce knows the importance of helping young students with similar aspirations.

That’s why she teamed with the CMA Foundation recently to pay a surprise visit to students at Knoxville, Tennessee’s Bearden Middle School.

“I asked [these kids] if they knew what they wanted to do when they grew up and so many of them raised their hands,” Carly tells the press. “I hope that that childlike ambition and wonder stays with them, and that nobody makes them believe that they can’t do what they want to do because they can.”

Being a child with huge, sometimes unconventional music dreams is something Carly relates to.

“I think for me, I felt a little bit like the odd kid out because I wanted to do music and I wanted to write songs, and I wanted to be on stage,” she says, adding that it’s important to encourage and nurture young talents. “I know that that changed my life as a kid, just having teachers [who] believed in me and opportunities and instruments and all that kind of stuff.”

“If it weren’t for Les Woodard, my fifth-grade music teacher, I don’t know that I would have had such a young belief in myself that I could do this,” Carly continues, emphasizing why being “a voice for music education with the CMA Foundation” is imperative for her.

“For me, my biggest dream was to sing country music, and now I’m playing on the biggest stage that our format has,” Carly says of CMA Fest, which all artists volunteer their time to play at. “I think that’s a beautiful thing and it really does matter what we’re taught as kids.”

This year’s CMA Fest takes place June 6-9, with ticket proceeds supporting the CMA Foundation’s music education programs. For tickets and the full lineup, visit cmafest.com.

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Country Daypop

Craig Morgan, Lauren Alaina, and more to perform at the Grand Ole Opry’s ‘Salute the Troops’ event

The Grand Ole Opry will partner with Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) for their ‘Salute the Troops’ event, a special night to support active-duty military and veterans. The Grand Ole Opry will invite active duty and veteran service members, their spouses, and their children to join a red carpet parade into the Opry House.

This year’s Salute the Troops event will take place on May 21, with Opry member Craig Morgan, who serves as an Army Reserve Warrant Officer, performing alongsidethe 313th U.S. Army Band in addition to Opry member Lauren Alaina, Lee Brice, HunterGirl, Austin Snell and more.  Special guests for the evening will include Lieutenant Jody Daniels, Chief of the Army Reserve and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command. She is the first woman to command the Reserve. Additionally, Jr. Vice Commander-in-Chief of the VFW, Carol Whitmore will be in attendance. She is the first woman to hold the position in the VFW.

This year’s “Salute The Troops” will be filmed to air as a special “Opry Live” during Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 25 on the Opry’s Facebook and YouTube platforms, with free streaming on the Circle Now app.

The public is invited to arrive at 5 p.m. to see the 313th U.S. Army Band perform in the Opry Plaza before they lead the red carpet parade guests at 5:45 p.m. Tickets are available at 615-871-OPRY and opry.com.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

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Country Daypop

Miranda Lambert adding new dates on 2024 spring/summer tour

Miranda Lambert is on the road with a slew of new spring and summer tour dates, sharing on her socials“Vegas is done and now I’m goin back on the road!”

Said Miranda: “I’ve been touring since I was 19 years old, so it was nice to step away from the road for a bit and settle into Vegas. That gave us time to miss touring though, so I cannot wait to get back out there on Elvira, my home away from home, and visit the fans across the country that we haven’t seen in a while.”

The 17-date trek, which kicked-off April 19 in Ashland, Kentucky at Rock The Country Festival, will hit California, Texas, South Carolina, New York and more, before concluding in Gautier, Mississippi at The Sound Amphitheater on September 27.

Tickets to the newly added shows are on sale now via Miranda’s website.

Editorial credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Dua Lipa to serve as ‘Saturday Night Live’ host and musical guest on May 4th

Singer-songwriter Dua Lipa is set to guest host and serve as musical guest on the May 4 episode of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

The show’s X social media feed read: “DOUBLE DUTY DUA!!!!!!!!”

Lipa, 28, is gearing up for the release of her latest album, Radical Optimism, set for release on May 3 and the follow-up to Lipa’s Grammy-winning 2020 album, Future Nostalgia.. She recently dropped her latest single “Illusion,” as well as an accompanying music video, off Radical Optimism.

Editorial credit: Fred Duval / Shutterstock.com

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Pop Daypop

Taylor Swift makes history with 14th No. 1 on Billboard 200 with ‘The Tortured Poets Department’

Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department’ has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated May 4, earning the superstar her 14th chart-topping album. Billboard reports that “TTPD” debuted with 2.61 million equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 25, with 1.914 million units traditional album sales (vinyl purchases alone representing 859,000) and on-demand streams of 891.34 million units. The album also made history with the largest streaming week for an album, ever – and the second-largest week for an album in general since the Billboard 200 started measuring by units in December 2014. It also is the third-largest sales week since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991, and the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era.

Swift is now tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1 albums among soloists in the nearly-70-year history of the Billboard chart, second to The Beatles, with 19 No. 1s overall.  Swift herself reacted to the record-breaking success of ‘TTPD’ in a post on social media, writing on Instagram beneath a carousel of polaroids from the recording process: “My mind is blown. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album. 2.6 million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming, and welcoming Tortured Poets into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed. I was already so fired up to get back to the tour but you doing THIS?? May 9th can’t come soon enough 🤍 — Taylor Swift, the Chairman of TTPD 🤍💿

Additionally, Swift’s song “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone) has landed on top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her seventh Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 debut, and her 12th overall No. 1 on the chart.  Swift also became the only artist in history to hold the entire top 14 on the Hot 100 with tracks off “TTPD”, and she’s broken the record for most consecutive new albums with a Hot 100 No. 1 hit (with eight), as well as breaking the record for most simultaneous Hot 100 debuts (with 31).

Just days after “TTPD” dropped on April 19, (along with the surprise accompanying LP, The Anthology), Swift broke her own record for most weekly vinyl album sales, moving 700,000 copies, and about 1.5 million U.S. sales after the three-day period across all formats. The album also became the first album to hit one billion Spotify streams within its first week, beating a record that was previously held by Swift’s last album, Midnights.

Editorial credit: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com