These are the top maybe-not headlines from the past 84-hours presented by The Conversation Project from raw engagement data from our social media to the headlines posted over the past weekend.
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The 8 topics that our followers ranked as the most conversational are:
CANADIAN FORCES SNOWBIRDS JET CRASHES IN KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds’ cross-country tour to raise people’s spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic turned to tragedy Sunday when one of its planes plunged into the ground in Kamloops, B.C., killing one member and injuring another. The Snowbirds jet crashed shortly after takeoff and burst into flames in the front yard of a house. Capt. Jenn Casey, a public affairs officer with the Snowbirds, died in the crash, the Canadian Armed Forces said in a statement. The pilot of the CT-114 Tutor aircraft, Capt. Richard MacDougall, sustained serious injuries in the crash, but they are not considered life-threatening. Capt. Casey is from Halifax and joined the Canada’s Armed Forces in 2014 after several years working as a journalist, according to her biography on the Royal Canadian Air Force website. The crash happened before noon PT, shortly after the jet took off from the Kamloops Airport. Witnesses say it was following another jet when it appeared to veer upward and circle the tarmac before going into a nosedive. Video shows two puffs of black smoke coming from the plane and appears to show at least one person ejecting from the jet shortly before it hit the ground in a residential area near Glenview Avenue and Schreiner Street.
COMMENTARY: This is a double-sad event. First, for the loss of life and second for the reason behind the situation where this happens.
[SOURCE: cbc.ca]
ALABAMA QB TAULIA TAGOVAILOA ANNOUNCES TRANSFER DESTINATION
Now-former Alabama sophomore quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is transferring to Maryland, he announced Friday. Tagovailoa entered the NCAA transfer portal one week ago. In Maryland, Tagovailoa is teaming up with former Alabama offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who coached the Crimson Tide offense during a record-breaking season in 2018. The younger brother of former Crimson Tide star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Taulia appeared in five games this past season and took over as the backup signal-caller after his brother went down with a dislocated hip in mid-November. Taulia threw for 100 yards and a touchdown while completing 75 percent (9-of-12) of his passes as a true freshman at Alabama. A former 4-star recruit at Thompson (Ala.) High School, Taulia was the nation’s fifth-best, dual-threat quarterback, the No. 8 player in the state of Alabama and the 180th overall prospect in the 2019 recruiting cycle, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. Taulia’s departure leaves the Crimson Tide with three scholarship quarterbacks — redshirt junior Mac Jones, who started four games a season ago, redshirt freshman Paul Tyson, who played in one game last year, and freshman Bryce Young, an early 5-star enrollee.
COMMENTARY: There isn’t much news going around in the sports world and college football fans are hungry info and nervous about whether they will get actual games in a few months. This is something. Not much, but something.
[SOURCE: 247sports.com]
J.C. PENNEY FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY, PLANS STORE CLOSINGS
J.C. Penney, reeling from a one-two punch of the department store industry’s struggles and the coronavirus pandemic, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday. The company, which had racked up an unsustainable amount of debt in recent years, plans to close an unspecified number of stores permanently in a bid to survive bankruptcy. The retailer had 845 stores at the end of 2019, according to real estate data source CoStar Portfolio Strategy. The bankruptcy filing comes after several years of declining sales and strategic missteps as J.C. Penney careened from one reinvention strategy to another. Nothing seemed to work. J.C. Penney lost money in eight of the last nine years, totaling $4.45 billion, according to FactSet. Having racked up the second-most debt of any distressed retailer at $4.2 billion – ranking behind only luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus, according to Moody’s Investor Service – J.C. Penney engaged in talks with creditors in recent weeks in hopes of avoiding bankruptcy. But those talks faltered as it became clear that the retailer’s prospects looked increasingly grim.
COMMENTARY: This action has been a long time coming. The economic impact of COVID-19 is exposing a lot of businesses that were not as prosperous as thye were leading their shareholder s to believe, but Penney’s has not been doing well for a while, and its faults have all been on public display.
[SOURCE: usatoday.com]
THE RICHEST NEIGHBORHOODS EMPTIED OUT MOST AS CORONAVIRUS HIT NEW YORK CITY
Hundreds of thousands of New York City residents, in particular those from the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods, left as the coronavirus pandemic hit, an analysis of multiple sources of aggregated smartphone location data has found. Roughly 5 percent of residents — or about 420,000 people — left the city between March 1 and May 1. In the city’s very wealthiest blocks, in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, the West Village, SoHo and Brooklyn Heights, residential population decreased by 40 percent or more, while the rest of the city saw comparably modest changes. Some of these areas are typically home to lots of students, many of whom left as colleges and universities closed; other residents might have left to care for friends or family members across the country. But, on average, income is a strong simple predictor of a neighborhood’s change: The higher-earning a neighborhood is, the more likely it is to have emptied out. Relatively few residents from blocks with median household incomes of about $90,000 or less (in the 80th percentile or lower) left New York. This migration out of the city began in mid-March, and accelerated in the days after March 15, when Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he was closing the city’s schools. The highest-earning neighborhoods emptied first.
COMMENTARY: if anything is unsurprising since the coronavirus outbreak, its news like this. People with resources at their disposal will use and often abuse those resources to remove themselves from a hard situation. People without are often stuck dealing with the problem head on.
[SOURCE: nytimes.com]
REvil, LAW FIRM HACKERS, DOUBLE RANSOM DEMAND, THREATEN DONALD TRUMP
The ransom demand for the secret files of a cyber-attacked lawyer to A-list stars has doubled to $42 million — as the hackers now threaten to reveal “dirty laundry” on President Donald Trump in just a week if they are not paid in full. Attorney Allen Grubman — the most prominent entertainment attorney in the world, whose firm represents stars including Lady Gaga, Madonna, Mariah Carey, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Priyanka Chopra and Bette Midler — was being shaken down by hackers who attacked his New York law firm for $21 million until today. Hacking group REvil got into his firm’s server and stole 756 gigabytes of confidential documents, including contracts and personal emails from a host of Hollywood and music stars. They also deleted or encrypted the firm’s backups. The only way they can be decrypted is to pay the criminals for a key. Grubman, we’re told, is refusing to negotiate. A source said, “His view is, if he paid, the hackers might release the documents anyway. Plus the FBI has stated this hack is considered an act of international terrorism, and we don’t negotiate with terrorists.” On Thursday, the hackers upped the ante by posting a chilling new message saying, “The ransom is now [doubled to] $42,000,000 … The next person we’ll be publishing is Donald Trump. There’s an election going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry on time. Mr. Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever. And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don’t want to see him as president … The deadline is one week.
COMMENTARY: Of all the crazy news stories that surround Donald Trump, this one is getting little play in the media. We don’t know if this is getting handled or being ignored. We’ll see if we have a significant update before the week is out.
[SOURCE: pagesix.com]
FRED WILLARD, ‘BEST IN SHOW’ AND ‘A MIGHTY WIND’ ACTOR, DEAD AT 86
Fred Willard, the prolific and beloved comic actor and master of the mockumentary genre who stood out in ensemble comedies like Best in Show, For Your Consideration and This Is Spinal Tap, died Friday at the age of 86. Willard’s rep Glenn Schwartz confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death was natural causes. Willard’s daughter Hope Mulbarger said in a statement, “My father passed away very peacefully last night at the fantastic age of 86 years old. He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much! We will miss him forever.” Willard is best known for his work in Guest’s comedies — Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, For Your Consideration and A Mighty Wind — as well as scene-stealing moments in This Is Spinal Tap, Anchorman, Austin Powers and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. A veteran of the stage and sketch comedy, the Shaker Heights, Ohio-born Willard made his big-screen debut in a little-seen 1967 film titled Teenage Mother. After a decade of bit parts, Willard landed a role on the Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman spinoff Fernwood 2 Night in 1977 as announcer Jerry Hubbard to Martin Mull’s Barth Gimble. Willard’s work with Guest first began in 1984 when the two appeared onscreen together in Rob Reiner’s groundbreaking mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap in a scene where Willard’s Air Force lieutenant gives Spinal Tap, including Guest’s Nigel Tufnel, a tour of the military base. “Just about the funniest human ever to walk the planet,” This Is Spinal Tap co-star Harry Shearer tweeted. “An amazing talent, in telekinetic contact with the very wellspring of comedy.” Guest would later cast Willard in prominent roles in five mockumentaries he helmed, most recently 2016’s Mascots.
COMMENTARY: This was a shocking news event this weekend. Fred Williard was a very versatile and extremely loved in the community. His work will be missed by many.
[SOURCE: rollingstone.com]
LOS ANGELES FIRE: AN EXPLOSION MELTED FIREFIGHTERS’ HELMETS. 4 RESPONDERS ARE IN THE ICU
An explosion in downtown Los Angeles forced firefighters to walk though “a fireball,” setting their coats ablaze and sending four crew members to an intensive care unit. Firefighters initially responded to a blaze near Little Tokyo and Skid Row on Saturday evening when “light to moderate” smoke was coming out of a building, Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph M. Terrazas said. The fire prompted a “Mayday” call, and more then 230 firefighters responded to the scene. The blaze may have started at Smoke Tokes Wholesale Distributor — “reportedly a supplier for those who make butane honey oil,” LAFD said. Some firefighters entered on the ground while others climbed up on a ladder to try to ventilate the roof, Scott said. But firefighters started to hear a rumbling, high-pitched sound, and a call was made for everyone to get out. Suddenly, an explosion shot flames and smoke into the sky. Scott said crew members had to “go through a fireball” when they were coming down the ladder. Smoke from the explosion could be seen from a distance across Los Angeles. Witnesses said some of the firefighters’ coats were on fire as they escaped, LAFD said. At least 11 firefighters were injured, and all are expected to survive, officials said. Four were taken to the Burn Intensive Care Center at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, LAFD Medical Director Dr. Marc Eckstein said.
COMMENTARY: We are giving lots of kudos to first responders who are dealing with COVID-19 panic. We need to make sure we are giving just enough if not more kudos for doing their actual jobs.
[SOURCE: cnn.com]
DIRECTOR LYNN SHELTON DEAD AT 54
Lynn Shelton, a leading voice in the world of independent film and the director of several popular television series, died in Los Angeles on Friday. She was 54. Shelton died of a previously unidentified blood disorder, her publicist Adam Kersh confirmed, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Comedian Marc Maron, who was Shelton’s romantic and creative partner for the past year, shared that he is “in complete shock” and is trying to grasp how to move forward with the loss. The Seattle native made her directorial debut in 2006 with the indie film We Go Way Back, and her career later took off with Humpday in 2009. In the last 14 years, Shelton wrote and directed eight feature films, including Your Sister’s Sister and Sword of Trust, which starred Maron in 2019. Shelton also has credits on some of the most popular television shows, including recent Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere, The Morning Show, Mad Men, The Mindy Project, Fresh Off the Boat, and New Girl.
COMMENTARY: This week’s podcast is shaping up for another round of shocking and surprising celebrity deaths. This is not a welcome trend. We are sending thoughts to all suffering from a loss at this time.
[SOURCE: people.com]
Eight Things To Talk About uses the raw engagement data from the social media engagement from The Conversation Project to generate the top-ranking headlines over the course of a weekend.
A full weeks’ data (from Friday to Friday) is compiled, weighed, and sorted to produce the content for the Wrap-Up Show with J Cleveland Payne, published every Saturday as a podcast available at ThisIsTheConversation.com or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.
To ‘participate’ in the rankings of the headlines for this newsletter or the podcast, follow the Conversation Project on social media and engage with the posts to give them more ‘votes.’ The Conversation Project can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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