Big Machine RecordsWhen Rascal Flatts releases their new EP, How They Remember You, on July 31, fans can expect to hear a throwback sound.
Flatts members Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney say the band has “piecemealed” together the new project — compiled during quarantine as a way to satiate fan appetite for new music — using songs they’ve collected over the years.
“Some of them really do hearken back to kind of the good old days, if you will, of Rascal Flatts sound, and it’s just really well written songs,” Joe Don shares in an interview with the band’s record label, Big Machine Label Group, pointing to current single “How They Remember You” as a strong example of that sound.
Jay adds that the songs were left over from previous projects and were updated during quarantine, calling the process “very therapeutic.” The Flatts’ guitarist also notes that what makes their sound is lead singer Gary LeVox‘s distinct voice, especially when it pairs with Jay and Joe Don’s harmonies.
“There’s a unique buzz and a blend that happens when the three of us sing together that you can’t manufacture. It either happens organically and naturally or it doesn’t,” Jay remarks, adding, “We’ve just always been driven by message in the song and in the music.”
The EP comes three years after the band’s previous album, Back to Us. The trio announced in January that they’re retiring after 20 years together.
ABC/Image Group LAMaren Morris is in the process of writing new music.
In between balancing duties as a new mom to four-month-old son Hayes, the Grammy-winner tweetedrecently that she wrote a song for the first time in a while. Though she describes the tune as “sad AF,” she notes that she’s thrilled with the end result.
“I wrote my first song in forever today and it was sad AF. I’m so happy,” Maren says, accompanied by a crying face emoji.
In answer to a fan’s question, Maren also shares that Natalie Hemby and Daniel Tashian served as the song’s co-writers, the singer describing them as “2 people you can’t have a bad day with.”
Daniel is known for co-producing Kacey Musgraves’ Grammy-winning Golden Hour, while Natalie is Maren’s bandmate in The Highwomenand is one of the writers on Maren’s swanky “RSVP,” which is also the title of her 2021 tour.
Maren is still riding high on the success of her crossover hit “The Bones,” which has topped the Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs chart and marks her first entry on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart. It reached the top 15 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
Her most recent album, Girl, was named Album of the Year at the 2019 CMA Awards.
Myriam Borzee/iStockBy JON HAWORTH and EMILY SHAPIRO, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — The novel coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 649,000 people worldwide.
Over 16 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their nations’ outbreaks.
The United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 4.2 million diagnosed cases and at least 147,103 deaths.
Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates. 1:40 p.m.: Miami Beach mayor writes scathing letter to governor blasting state contact tracing program
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber on Monday wrote a scathing letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, blasting the state’s contact tracing program.
Gelber’s letter called the state’s contact tracing program in Miami-Dade County “unprepared to meet the challenges of this pandemic” and urged DeSantis “to take immediate action to expand its capacity and improve its competencies.”
Gelber said when Miami-Dade County reopened its economy in May, Florida’s “contact tracing program fully failed to cabin subsequent disease surges,” leading to “unconstrained growth of the virus,” according to the letter obtained by ABC News.
Florida is now the state with the second-highest number of cases. California has the highest and New York has the third highest.
“If we don’t have a capable and fully resourced program in place, I don’t see how we can even contemplate opening schools or other aspects of our economy. In fact, if we continue at this level of infection, I don’t know how we don’t return to sheltering in place,” Gelber wrote.
Gelber wrote, “I appreciate that this pandemic has revealed many of the fault-lines of how we are organized as a state and nation to address a contagion disaster. For instance, local mayors and commissions are being tasked with imposing the tough medicine needed to address this crisis (business closings, curfews, mask orders). Yet, ironically, the local municipalities or our County lack any health department as the County health officials actually only report to you and the State Surgeon General. Although the DOH staff in our County are diligent public servants, I am regularly advised by them that they can’t give me direct advice, or that they need to ‘check’ with someone in Tallahassee before answering a question.”
He added, “it is evident that they [DOH staff] are understandably wary of providing candid self-assessments of the shortcoming of their contact tracing efforts and staffing to local leaders to whom they don’t report.”
12:18 p.m.: Critical care chief at Baltimore hospital dies from COVID-19
Dr. Joseph Costa, the chief of critical care at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center, died from COVID-19 on Saturday, his family said, according to The Baltimore Sun.
“He dedicated his life and career to caring for the sickest patients,” Mercy Medical Center said in a statement. “And when the global pandemic came down upon us, Joe selflessly continued his work on the front lines — deeply committed to serving our patients and our City during this time of great need.”
Dr. Costa “was beloved by his patients and their family members — known for his warm and comforting bedside manner as well as his direct and informative communication style,” the statement added. “When he counseled our patients and families, he did so with great compassion and empathy. For all the nurses and staff who worked closely with Joe on the Intensive Care Unit, he was like an older brother that all admired and revered.”
11:45 a.m.: Gym owners charged for allegedly keeping business open despite court order
Two men who own a Bellmawr, New Jersey, gym were arrested Monday morning after allegedly keeping the gym open despite a judge issuing a contempt order against them on Friday, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
In between Friday and Monday, “a number of individuals” were seen using Atilis Gym, prosecutors said.
“Police said both owners refused to leave the gym when asked, leading to the charges,” prosecutors said.
The men were each charged with obstruction, violation of a disaster control act and fourth-degree contempt, prosecutors said. They were released early Monday.
11:10 a.m.: Florida’s daily cases below 9,000 for 1st time in at least 2 weeks
Hard-hit Florida reported 8,892 new coronavirus cases Monday morning — the first time its daily case count was below 9,000 in at least two weeks, according to data from the state’s Department of Health.
Throughout Florida, just 18.82% of ICU beds remained available Monday morning, according to the state’s Agency for Healthcare Administration.
Monroe County and Okeechobee County had no ICU beds available, the agency said.
ICU availability will fluctuate throughout the day as hospitals and medical centers provide updates.
10:20 a.m.: Cases have roughly doubled worldwide in last 6 weeks
Coronavirus cases have roughly doubled worldwide in the last six weeks, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday.
This is the sixth time a global health emergency has been declared and COVID-19 “is easily the most severe,” Tedros said.
In the countries following hand washing, social distancing and mask guidance, cases are going down, Tedros said. In the countries not following those rules, cases are rising, he said.
Tedros said Cambodia, New Zealand, Rwanda, Thailand and Vietnam prevented large-scale outbreaks, while Canada, China, Germany and South Korea brought large outbreaks under control.
9:37 a.m.: Miami Marlins’ opening game canceled due to COVID-19 breakout
The Miami Marlins’ season opener — set for Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles — has been canceled due to a COVID-19 breakout, ESPN reported.
At least 14 people, including players and coaches, have tested positive in recent days, sources told ESPN.
8:20 a.m.: No live family tributes on Sept. 11 anniversary
This year on Sept. 11, the ceremony marking the anniversary of the terror attacks will not include the annual in-person recitation of names by victims’ relatives.
The National September 11 Memorial and Museum informed the families in a letter that, because of the pandemic, the reading of names during the commemoration would be recorded.
Families are still welcome on the plaza in lower Manhattan for an event with social distancing and masks.
The ceremony will still mark six moments of silence for when the planes struck the World Trade Center, when the towers fell, when the Pentagon was attacked and when UA93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field.
3:51 a.m.: Italy cracks down on mask use
Several businesses in Naples have been fined €1,000 after they were deemed responsible “during a commercial transaction” for customers and clients who did not wear a mask in their establishment.
Besides fines, the government can also force businesses to close for a period between five to 30 days if they are found to be not in compliance. France will also introduce fines of €135 for people who do not wear a mask in public spaces indoors.
12:56 a.m.: NFL players who attend ‘high-risk’ events and contract coronavirus face team discipline, lack of pay
NFL players who contract the coronavirus through “high-risk” activity away from team facilities can face team discipline and might be at risk of not being paid, according to the league’s new protocol.
A memo sent by the NFLPA to agents this weekend, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, outlines several rules governing player contracts, opt-out provisions and the contractual consequences of a canceled season.
The memo says that the final language of Friday’s agreement between the league and the players will appear in a side letter that is still being negotiated and that the information distributed this weekend represents “a summary of major aspects of the COVID amendments.” The basics have been dealt with, and the final section of the memo is devoted to the fact that players will be held responsible for the way they circulate in public while the coronavirus remains present.
Players were told weeks ago on a conference call with NFLPA leadership that they could face discipline, including fines, for conduct detrimental to the team if they are found to have contracted COVID-19 through reckless activity away from the facility. This weekend’s memo reinforces that and says that such activity could allow a team to challenge the status of a COVID-19 diagnosis as a football injury.
If such a challenge were to succeed, presumably the team could place the player on the non-football injury list, a move that would allow the team the option of not paying him.
The memo also states: “Clubs/NFL can challenge designation as a football related injury if it can prove that the player contracted COVID-19 through engaging in high risk conduct below. (This issue remains open.)”
“Players are going to have to be careful outside the building,” Los Angeles Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth said last week on a conference call after disclosing that he and his entire family got the virus after one of them went to lunch with a friend. “All it takes is one exposure, and it can spread like wildfire.”
(HOT SPRINGS, Ark.) — An Arkansas city saw its coronavirus numbers spike nearly 200% last week as the state grapples with record-breaking infection rates amid shortening testing supplies, according to an internal Federal Emergency Management Agency memo.
Hot Springs, Arkansas — known for its famous spa resorts and natural thermal springs — saw a 198% increase in infections last week with 145 new cases being reported, the memo said.
Many of the new infections stemmed from a outbreak at the Ouachita River Unit prison where there are some 800 active cases among staff and inmates, the memo states.
The virus has taken a toll on the state’s health care system as well. Rapid test supplies are in short supply and are being rationed for use by state hospitals, the memo said.
Statewide, some 100 inmates have been sent to hospitals for treatment for the virus since the pandemic began. At least 23 inmates have died from the virus, including a Ouachita River Unit inmate who died over the weekend, bringing the state death toll to 401, according to state data.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has recommended Solomon Graves to become the state’s new department of corrections secretary as infection rates rise.
“Solomon is stepping up during a difficult time in Arkansas, but with 14 years of experience in adult corrections, he is well prepared for the task,” Hutchinson said in a statement Thursday. “In my time as governor, I have benefited from Solomon’s breadth of knowledge of the prison system and the wisdom of his counsel. He is a compassionate leader who will vigorously fulfill the state’s responsibility to assure public safety balanced with the need for rehabilitation and reentry support.”
As of Monday afternoon, there were at least 6,600 active COVID-19 cases within the state.
State health officials delivered the grave statistics amid ongoing debates over Hutchinson’s recent face masks mandate. The mandate states that “repeat violators” can face up to $500 in fines for violating the order, while first-time offenders will simply receive a warning. Several police and sheriff’s offices have refused to enforce the order.
“As we continue to see high numbers of COVID-19 cases throughout Arkansas, we need to remain vigilant about masks,” Hutchinson tweeted Saturday as maskless protesters gathered near the state capitol to denounce the mandate. “Wearing a mask protects your friends and neighbors and will help us ensure students can receive in-person instruction next month.”
Demonstrators continued to gather near the state capitol on Sunday, slamming the recent mandate as an infringement on their freedom and civil rights.
State representative Mary Bentley addressed the protesters directly on Sunday, encouraging them to come up with a solution.
“I’m really here just to encourage hope and to encourage people to not be frustrated,” she told protesters Sunday, according to ABC affiliate KATV. “I just want to encourage folks to pray pray for our country, pray for this to be over with, and just come together as Arkansas.”
“Look at what the governor has to face and not be too angry, he’s not our enemy. The enemy is this virus, so let’s attack the real enemy,” she added.
The Arkansas debate comes amid a growing divide among Americans who support mandates to wear face masks in public spaces and those who continue to ignore public health directives, citing civil liberty concerns.
Hutchinson continued to defend the mandate in a tweet on Monday, citing masks as the best way to “battle this invisible enemy.”
“The data continue to show that wearing a mask is effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Hutchinson tweeted. “Ensuring your mask covers your mouth and nose helps your neighbors and your community as we continue to battle this invisible enemy.”
ABC/Richard Cartwright(INDIANA) — Regis Philbin will reportedly be laid to rest at his alma mater, Notre Dame university, an institution he remained passionate about throughout his life.
University spokesman Dennis Brown told Indiana’s South Bend Tribune that Philbin, who died Friday at 89 of natural causes, will have a funeral service at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and be buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery on campus.
No date has yet been given for the event.
Philbin was an enthusiastic Notre Dame supporter in the years since he graduated back in 1953, returning for football games and chairing fundraisers and other events.
In 2001, the paper reports the former Live! With Regis and Kathy Lee host gave $2.75 million to the university to create the Philbin Studio Theatre, which is used by performing arts students.
Upon hearing news of Philbin’s death, University President Rev. John I Jenkins said in part, “Regis regaled millions on air through the years, oftentimes sharing a passionate love for his alma mater with viewers. He will be remembered at Notre Dame for his unfailing support for the University and its mission, including the Philbin Studio Theater…He likewise was generous with his time and talent in support of South Bend’s Center for the Homeless and other worthy causes.”
Big Machine RecordsWhen Rascal Flatts releases their new EP, How They Remember You, on July 31, fans can expect to hear a throwback sound. 
