(NEW YORK) — Two tropical systems are on a path toward the Gulf of Mexico and could possibly make landfall at the same time in the U.S. early next week.
The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center depicts two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday.
There are only a few times, according to the National Weather Service, when two tropical cyclones have been in the Gulf at the same time. The most recent example was in 1933.
Tropical Depression 13 is in the Atlantic near the northeastern Caribbean Islands and Tropical Depression 14 is in the western Caribbean near Honduras Friday morning.
Tropical Depression 14 is likely to become Tropical Storm Laura as early as Friday afternoon. This system is forecast to cross the Yucatan Peninsula as a strong tropical storm or maybe even a weak hurricane on Saturday. Because of that, a hurricane watch has been issued for that part of Mexico.
What will be Tropical Storm Laura is forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday morning and strengthen into strong Tropical Storm or maybe even a hurricane.
What could be Laura will approach the Texas and Louisiana coastline as a possible Cat 1 hurricane with winds of 75 mph on Tuesday.
Hurricane-force wind gusts are possible for both states. A storm surge could flood coastal areas, with flooding rain on top of that.
At the same time, Tropical Depression 13 in the Atlantic is approaching the eastern Caribbean Islands with tropical storm watches posted for Puerto Rico and the southern Bahamas.
The depression is expected to become Tropical Storm Marco early Saturday morning as it approaches Puerto Rico. It is not expected to be very strong, with winds only 40 to 45 mph, but heavy tropical rain could cause flash flooding on Puerto Rico Saturday.
By Monday afternoon, what will be Tropical Storm Marco could brush the southern Florida coast as it heads into the Gulf of Mexico.
With very warm Gulf of Mexico water, Marco could possibly strengthen into a low-end Cat 1 Hurricane on Tuesday and Wednesday, with winds of 75 mph as it heads for the Gulf Coast around the Alabama coastline.
Hurricane-force wind gusts, storm surge and flooding from heavy rain are expected in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.
Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb(LOS ANGELES) — As kids grow older, they start becoming a little more independent and try new things, like making breakfast. For actress Kristen Bell, she didn’t realize how quickly things would go off the rails when her two daughters took a crack at meal prep.
Bell hoped that her seven and five-year-old daughters Lincoln and Delta would learn how to be a bit more self-sufficient by making their own meal. Unfortunately, the girls only listened to their sweet tooth.
“Still trying to train them to make thier [sic] own breakfast,” The Frozen 2 star announced Thursday against an Instagram photo of two plates dusted with mini marshmallows, graham crackers and Oreo crumbs. “Haven’t nailed it YET…but I see the positives in this picture.”
Plowing ahead with her Chopped-like critique, Bell relayed, “They were definitely trying to get different colored foods in thier [sic] meal, and obviously wanted to make s’mores.”
The mom of two quickly amended, “They are not allowed to touch the stove so at least they are following one rule!”
While she could have left her announcement there, Bell had one final revelation to bestow upon her 14.5 million followers. “Also the blue plate is a DOG BOWL LID,” She deadpanned. “My kids are philistines.”
Unfortunately for the 40-year-old actress, her dreams of watching her children put together a healthy meal anytime soon were dashed by comedian Chelsea Handler, who explained why she shouldn’t exactly hold her breath.
“I just learned how to make my own breakfast a year ago,” the Chelsea Lately admitted.
Meanwhile, some of Bell’s other followers were pretty impressed by Lincoln and Delta’s official foray into meal prep as one fan praised, “Um, Oreo s’mores? What your children are is genius.”
Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesBy KARMA ALLEN and TONY MORRISON, ABC News
(CINCINNATI) — LGBTQ advocates are pressuring broadcast executives to sever ties with veteran Cincinnati Reds play-by-play man Thom Brennaman amid growing outrage over his use of an anti-gay slur caught on a hot mic.
Brennaman, who also announces NFL games for Fox, shocked many during Wednesday night’s Reds-Royals game when he referred to a city or place as “the f– capital of the world.”
Brennaman apologized on air, stopping midway through his statement to return to play-by-play action to call a home run. He finished his apology, then handed over his microphone.
“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” Brennaman said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart I’m so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith.”
Brennaman, who’s worked as a national broadcaster for the MLB on Fox for nearly two decades, acknowledged that his career might be in jeopardy in light of the remark. He apologized directly to his employers.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again. I don’t know if it’s going to be for the Reds. I don’t know if it’s going to be for my bosses at Fox,” he said. “I will apologize for the people who sign my paycheck, for the Reds, for Fox Sports Ohio, for the people I work with, for anybody that I’ve offended here tonight.”
Social media erupted after the remark with many calling his apology flat and insincere. Reds pitcher Amir Garrett tweeted his own apology to fans, especially those who identify as LGBTQ.
“To the LGBTQ community just know i am with you, and whoever is against you, is against me,” he tweeted. “I’m sorry for what was said.”
The Reds blasted Brennaman’s actions as “horrific” and suspended him indefinitely, effective immediately.
“We share our sincerest apologies to the LGBTQ+ community in Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across this country, and beyond,” the team’s statement said.
Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, called the incident “unfortunate” in an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America on Thursday.
“This unfortunate incident is just a reflection of the bias that we still have in our communities and we have to root it out,” David said. “Although he made an apology, I think we need to really think about how this is how he felt so comfortable in the first place.”
GLAAD issued a similar rebuke.
“It’s troubling how casually and recklessly Brennaman used the slur — while wearing a microphone, during a live broadcast — like he didn’t know or care how hurtful it was to say it,” the organization said in a statement.
The LGBTQ media advocacy organization said Brennaman “whiffed with his ‘I’m sorry if I offended’ apology,” a move it said highlights the broadcaster’s “bigoted beliefs.”
“It’s a weak way of not owning up to your mistakes and bigoted beliefs. LGBTQ people, who are among Reds fans and Royals fans, deserve far better,” GLAAD said.
The organization, which dubs itself as “the voice for acceptance,” said it reached out to Major League Baseball, the Reds and Fox Sports to demand accountability for “this unacceptable and thoughtless behavior.”
Major League Baseball officials called the incident “disheartening” in a statement, and Fox Sports said later on Thursday it wouldn’t have Brennaman call NFL games this fall.
Billy Bean, a vice president and special assistant to the commissioner, issued a statement on behalf of MLB. Bean was among the first MLB players to come out as gay, giving an interview on the subject in 1999, four years after he retired.
“The Reds’ immediate response and statement are a powerful example of MLB’s zero-tolerance policy for harassment, discrimination, or bias toward the LGBTQ+ community or any person at any time,” Bean said in a statement Thursday. “There is no doubt where MLB stands in regard to respect and acceptance for our players, coaches, employees, fans, and our television viewers. Our unified belief in education and workplace protection has helped change the landscape for all of professional sports. Last night is a difficult reminder that there is still much work to do.”
Those are words that come to mind when one speaks with Michelle Parelleo, a New Jersey mom-turned-special needs advocate, who sprang into action earlier this year when COVID-19 shuttered schools across the country, forcing her to home school her 12-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy.
Parelleo is one of the many parents across the country forced to fill the gaps in learning as many schools around the country gear up to go virtual for at least another semester.
Wearing all of those hats is difficult for even the most capable parent, but the situation in the state and elsewhere, is now being complicated by considerable uncertainty surrounding the upcoming school year.
New Jersey, like other states, recently announced a plan that lets school districts decide for themselves how they want to conduct the school year — allowing in-person learning, fully remote learning or a blend of the two.
The plan, announced last week by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, also puts the onus on districts to come up with plans to bring students and staff back to schools safely.
In the wake of the announcement, many school districts that had initially called for students and teachers to return to physical classrooms have been holding emergency meetings to approve revised plans, according to local news outlet NJ.com. At least 139 school districts had inquired with the Department of Education about making the switch as of Tuesday, the outlet reported, citing officials.
And some districts — including densely populated public school districts in New Brunswick and Camden — have opted to stay remote until early 2021.
The move has set up a showdown with educators, thousands of whom are now demanding that classes be virtual for the rest of the year due to safety concerns.
And critics say the plan, while allowing for flexibility, could exacerbate disparities between the haves and have nots and make the situation tougher for those with special needs, who rely on in-person services in many cases.
“A lot of the issues that have happened within virtual learning since the shutdown is a lot of the children are not receiving all the services that they’re entitled to, and the things that are outlined in their individual education plans,” Parelleo, whose children attend school virtually in Union, County, New Jersey, told ABC News. “So if you have a child, like my child who requires physical and occupational therapy, those are done remotely.”
Not a one-size-fits-all plan
Murphy defended his plan in an op-ed earlier this week amid the ongoing backlash, which provides the option to reopen schools but maintains closure of gyms and indoor dining. Schools must meet safety requirements, including having social distancing measures in place in classrooms and solving any issues with ventilation systems, according to the governor’s plan.
“We have worked alongside our districts to ensure they have the flexibility to meet their unique needs. There is no one-size-fits-all plan for this very difficult situation,” Murphy wrote. “The simple fact that New Jersey is home to nearly 600 public school districts — more districts than we have municipalities — plus charter and Renaissance schools, non-public and parochial schools, and other specialized places of learning proves this point.”
He said the Department of Education had put forward “strong guidelines” to allow the option for in-person instruction, but he noted that for some districts, “there are legitimate and documentable reasons why some of these core health and safety standards cannot be met on Day One.”
Schools are also required to accommodate any parent who opts to keep their children home, according to the plan.
“New Jersey’s education system has long been rooted in local control and decision-making, based on local input. I would not ask the students and parents in one community to decide what’s best for the schools next door — or vice versa,” he said. “And so for the past six weeks, we have relied upon the work of local educational communities to determine the best way for their schools to reopen.”
Concerns about structural inequalities
Many educators acknowledged the state’s plan as a good-faith effort to give individual districts the flexibility to do what is best for their communities, but some say it could create grave inequalities that could force some kids to be left behind.
For example, some child safety advocates have complained about the lack of a statewide plan to mandate equal levels of personal protection equipment across all districts. Schools can implement some requirements, including one that mandates 6 feet of distance, in various ways depending on their resource levels.
“You can meet the 6 feet guidance in a lot of different ways. You can either have the 6 feet of distance say on a school bus, or if you couldn’t have the 6 feet you would put plexiglass barriers, but if you couldn’t put the plexiglass barriers, then you would have everybody wear masks on the bus. And that just is different degrees of health safety,” Patricia Wright, of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, said. “So we were looking for more specific guidelines where we can be sure that we’re not creating an inequity in health safety for students across the state.”
“We also felt that there was also a need to ensure that schools had the funding for staffing, proper facilities and personnel protection equipment needed to adhere to these guidelines safely,” she added.
The New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, which has nearly 7,000 members, composed of principals, supervisors, directors and other school district leaders, penned an open letter along with the New Jersey Association of School Administrators and the New Jersey Education Association last week, urging Murphy to go virtual.
“We’re very concerned about just being able to fulfill the obligations of in-person learning,” Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, told ABC News. “Number one, we have so many staff at all levels indicating that they will not be returning to school [because] they or their family members might be compromised or they’re having childcare issues because of the pandemic.”
“And that’s clearly going to create an unhealthy and unsafe situation if we cannot cover classes, even in a hybrid model,” he added.
‘Inappropriate’ to let superintendents make the call
Like many states, New Jersey’s policy essentially leaves it up to local communities to determine if they can safely reopen school buildings, but Bozza said it’s “absolutely inappropriate” to let superintendents make that call.
“I think it’s absolutely inappropriate to say to a school superintendent that you have to make a decision about health and safety on a medical matter when our training is in education,” Bozza said. “That’s why we were all asking for clearer guidance when it comes to deciding which schools should stay closed, which should open and should it change by community or region.”
“We’re fine in determining what to do in any situation with regard to education — whether it be remote, in-person or hybrid — but I think any health standard shouldn’t be community by community, they should be statewide,” he added.
Bozza said his organization, and many others, have requested the state develop some sort of standard for how schools should operate — one that could be applied to every school district in the state.
“Think about how hard it would if you’re running a high school that’s set to reopen its doors in less than a month,” he said. “First, you have to ask your parents what students are coming in, then you’d have to ask your staff who’s coming, and are your bus drivers, custodians, nurses, paraprofessionals and cafeteria workers going to be available. It’s an almost impossible task.”
(NEW YORK) — For the first time in its over 160-year history, New York City’s famous Central Park will have a statue commemorating real-life women.
A statue featuring women’s rights pioneers Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, all New Yorkers, will be unveiled on Aug. 26 in the same month that the United States celebrates the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote.
“The honor of being able to do this is profound,” said Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument sculptor Meredith Bregmann, who was picked for the project from a pool of nearly 100 entries. “It astonishes me and it fills me with pride.”
Bregmann, who lived most of her life in New York City and now lives in Connecticut, was commissioned for the project by Monumental Women, an all-volunteer nonprofit made up of women’s rights advocates, historians and community leaders.
The organization began its fight to “crack the bronze ceiling” in Central Park nearly seven years ago when leaders decided to change the fact that women were only represented through statues of fictional female characters like Alice in Wonderland, while real-life men are immortalized in nearly two dozen statues in the park.
“The sad thing is that so many people for so many years never even noticed that real women were missing in Central Park, and what does that say about the invisibility of women and the lack of recognition that women face in this country and this world for the hard work that they have done and will always do,” said Pam Elam, president of Monumental Women. “We said, ‘If the city is not going to do what it should in terms of representing all of the people in its public spaces, then our small, all-volunteer, nonprofit group will step up and do that.”
Monumental Women had to fight through paperwork, layers of bureaucracy and doubts that a statue representing real women was needed in the park, including comments like, “Are you sure you want a statue? How about a nice garden?,” according to Elam.
The group also had to raise more than $1 million in private funding to make the statue a reality.
They were helped in the effort by Girl Scout troops that donated more than $10,000 in cookie sales, and by New York Life, which donated a $500,000 challenge grant because of its connection to Susan B. Anthony. The women’s rights advocate used the cash value of her New York Life insurance policy in 1900 to guarantee admission for the first female students into the University of Rochester, according to New York Life.
Anthony, Truth and Stanton were chosen for the statue because they were “All women who dedicated their lives to fighting for equality and justice and they often shared the same stages and attended the same meetings, so it’s only fair that they share the same pedestal,” according to Elam.
Bergmann said she hopes the statue of the three women in conversation, which will sit in the Mall in Central Park, inspires people who see it to “lead larger and more valuable lives.”
“Although there are three figures, they’re not just in place, they’re interacting very closely,” she said. “They’re kind of caught in motion, in conversation, in debate, and it’s up to you to decide what they’re saying, what they just said, what they’re going to see.”
When the statue is unveiled on Aug. 26, Monumental Women plans to also unveil a challenge to cities and towns across the country to “reimagine their public spaces” and include tributes to women and people of color, according to Elam.
She hopes the work Monumental Women did to add a statue in Central Park can be a blueprint for groups in other cities and that the statue itself “energizes” people to “move history forward.”
“We want people to look at this beautiful work of art and feel both inspired and energized to carry on the fight of those women, the fight of all the women who came before us and achieve full equality for women in our lifetimes,” said Elam. “We want people to go away with a sense of urgency that we must have a responsibility to move history forward.”
ABC NewsBy MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News
