NOTN- Juneau Mayor Beth Weldon is travelling to Washington, D.C., this week to press federal officials and Alaska’s congressional delegation for funding and coordination on the city’s long-term solution to recurring flood risk from Suicide Basin, even as the capital city grapples with ongoing winter weather.
“Hopefully we get more money, and we’ll work with some of the agencies to coordinate our enduring solution.” Weldon Said, “So first we’ll talk to our delegation, Representative Begich, Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski.”
Weldon said she plans to meet with Alaska’s Delegation to seek immediate geotechnical funding through congressional spending, while also pursuing longer-term financial support through federal agencies, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“We’re actually going to talk to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, and that’s the Civil Works branch, just to make sure that the Secretary and the Army Corps of Engineers are aligned with our project, and we are also talking with the Forest Service and the Office of Budget Management to make sure our path forward is aligned.” Said Weldon.
City leaders and project partners have unanimously selected the Lake Tap option as Juneau’s enduring solution to flooding concerns, Weldon said. The approach was chosen because it is the fastest to implement, the least environmentally disruptive and the most cost effective among the alternatives considered.
“It’s cheapest, as in under a billion dollars, not by much, but all the rest of them were way over a billion dollars.” Said Weldon, referring to other options considered, like an enclosed dike, “And now, even though it’s snowing like crazy, we have to look at our flood, our next big event, which is flooding.”
Snow reports yesterday, photo courtesy of the National Weather Service Juneau
NOTN- City and Borough of Juneau facilities and offices will be closed today as hazardous road and weather conditions persist following about 6-7 inches of additional snowfall in some areas of Juneau yesterday, with exceptions for Downtown Juneau, West Juneau and South Douglas, who, according to reports saw 11-12 inches, 9.5 inches, and 9 inches of snowfall respectively.
Juneau School District schools will also be closed and the UAS campus will be operating remotely.
City officials urged residents to stay off the roads for their own safety and to allow snow removal crews to continue their work as efficiently as possible. While facilities are closed to the public, CBJ staff will continue providing services remotely where feasible.
The closure affects all Juneau Public Libraries and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, as well as all Parks and Recreation facilities.
Capital Transit will continue operating on winter routes. Riders are encouraged to check service updates at juneaucapitaltransit.org.
City officials said they are assessing the roofs of city-owned facilities and will continue monitoring storm and road conditions, sharing updates as they become available.
Kim Kovol has accepted a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced last week. Her last day working for the state was on Friday, and Tracy Dompeling, the department’s deputy commissioner, assumed the role of acting commissioner, the statement said.
The department’s primary divisions are the Division of Juvenile Justice, the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, the Alaska Pioneer Homes and the Office of Children’s Services.
Kovol was the first commissioner of the Department of Family and Community Services, which was created in 2022. Up to then, its functions were part of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Through an executive order, Dunleavy split that department into two: the Department of Health and the Department of Family and Community Services.
In his statement, Dunleavy said Kovol was a “strong and dedicated leader” for the redesigned department. “As the first Commissioner of DFCS, she built a foundation focused on service, accountability, and support for Alaska’s most vulnerable populations. I thank her for her service and wish her every success in this next role,” he said.
Kovol said she was honored to have served in that role. “I am incredibly grateful to the staff, partners, and communities who have supported our work. Together, we have made meaningful progress for Alaska families, youth, and elders, and I will always be proud of what we have accomplished,” she said in the statement.
Kim Kovol, the first commissioner of the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services. The department was created in 2022 when the Department of Health and Social Services was divided into two entities: the Department of Health and the Department of Family and Community Services. Kovol’s last day working for the state was Jan. 2. She has taken a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services. (Photo provided by the Alaska Department of Family and Community Services)
Kovol is the second Alaska department head to leave state service to join the Trump administration. Almost a year ago, Emma Pokon left her position as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation to become the Pacific Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Dunleavy in May chose Randy Bates to be the department’s new commissioner. Bates was formerly director of DEC’s Division of Water.
With Kovol’s departure, there are now five state departments with leaders who currently lack legislative approval.
In addition to Bates, Dunleavy has named commissioner-designees for the Department of Law and the Department of Natural Resources. Dunleavy in August named Stephen Cox, a former U.S. attorney in Texas, as Alaska’s attorney general, replacing Treg Taylor, a Republican who is running for governor.
Dunleavy also named John Crowther, a DNR veteran, as his choice to be permanent commissioner. Crowther became acting commissioner after John Boyle resigned from the position in October.
Bates, Cox and Crowther are subject to legislative confirmation after lawmakers convene later this month for their 2026 session.
The state Department of Revenue is currently being led by an acting commissioner, Janelle Earls, who assumed the job in August after Adam Crum left the commissioner post. Crum is another Republican candidate for governor.
Dunleavy has not yet named his choices for the commissioner posts at the Department of Revenue or the Department of Family and Community Services, said Jeff Turner, the governor’s spokesperson. Earls and Dompeling are currently acting commissioners and it is not clear whether the governor will name commissioner-designees for those positions, he said.
Dunleavy is in the last year of his second term. He is term limited and may not run for reelection.
“Music has always been a huge influence on me,” celebrated filmmaker John Singleton told record producer Arthur Baker at the International Music Summit in 2016. “I put certain music cues in the scripts… I have an idea of exactly what I want.” When Singleton passed away, on April 28, 2019, at the age of 51, he left us with a body of work that married storytelling with music, usually set in gritty urban landscapes.
Singleton grew up in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles before graduating from USC School Of Cinematic Arts in 1990. The 22-year-old Singleton wasted no time in launching his career, quickly selling a semi-autobiographical script with the caveat that he would also have to direct it. The result was Boyz N The Hood, a coming-of-age story about a group of friends attempting to navigate the harsh realities of life in the ghetto.
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Named after Compton native and NWAmember Eazy-E’s debut single, Singleton gave the song’s lyricist, Ice Cube, a supporting role in the film, as the character Dough Boy. The gangsta persona Cube had cultivated through song became fully realized on the big screen, and music was integral to capturing the mood. As in Jaws, when someone is about to get eaten by the shark, the audience hears John Williams’ fear-inducing cue, in Boyz N The Hood, “Before someone’s gonna get shot, you hear the bumping 808 bass from a car,” explained Singleton.
When Boyz n The Hood was released in 1991 to great acclaim, not only did it make Singleton the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, but its accompanying soundtrack helped bring the filmmaker’s tale of the black experience to life.
“How To Survive In South Central” captures Ice Cube in his prime, though it wasn’t initially included on any of his own releases. Cube’s female protégé Yo-Yo comes correct with “Mama Don’t Take No Mess,” while fellow West Coast gangsta rappers Compton’s Most Wanted and Kam also contribute tracks.
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“Whenever I’m trying to do something that is endemic of a certain environment, I have to use that music from that environment,” Singleton revealed, with regard to the Boyz N The Hood soundtrack’s heavy reliance on LA-based hip-hop. However, a handful of East Coasters thrown into the mix. New Yorkers Main Source’s “Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball” uses America’s pastime as a metaphor for police brutality to great effect. The soundtrack version is a remix of the original, which had appeared on their groundbreaking debut album, Breaking Atoms. Perhaps the most historically significant track on the soundtrack, however, is “Too Young” by Hi-Five, featuring a teenaged MC named Prodigy, who would soon make a name for himself as one half of the Queensbridge duo Mobb Deep.
Poetic Justice
John Singleton followed his cinematic debut with Poetic Justice in 1993, which, like Boyz N The Hood, sees renowned musicians cast in key roles. This time Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur star as an unlikely couple who fall in love over the course of a road trip after finding commonalities in their painful family situations. The Poetic Justice soundtrack is an intermingling of hip-hop (Mista Grimm, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Naughty By Nature, Dogg Pound, Nice & Smooth) and R&B (TLC, Babyface, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Terri & Monica, Cultural Revolution, Stevie Wonder and the first-ever appearance of Usher – then going by Usher Raymond), with Pac contributing “Definition of A Thug N__ga.”
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Baby Boy
Tupac was also set to star in Singleton’s next coming-of-age hood film, Baby Boy, before his murder in 1996. The role of Jody, a 20-year-old who lives with his mother and small child in South Central LA, then went to R&B singer Tyrese Gibson. Released in 2001, Baby Boy saw the intermingling of hip-hop and R&B within many of the tracks themselves. Snoop Dogg (who plays ex-con Rodney) pairs up with Tyrese and Mr. Tan for “Just A Baby Boy.” Singer Raphael Saadiq and Houston rapper Devin The Dude collaborate on a track, as do D’Angelo and Marlon C. And who can forget the slow jam opus “Straight F__kin” by The Transitions, featuring Charles “Gator” Moore?
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Four Brothers
When it came to creating a soundtrack for 2005’s Four Brothers, starring Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin (aka André 3000 of OutKast), and Garrett Hedlund as adopted siblings in Detroit on a mission to avenge their mother’s death, the studio wanted Singleton to make it hip-hop. He refused, insisting that it needed to reflect the kind of music their mother would have listened to – late 60s and early 70s soul meets R&B and Motown.
Four Brothers holds true to the director’s vision, and includes classic Motown tracks by Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Four Tops, The Temptations, The Undisputed Truth, and The Miracles. “Knucklehead” by Grover Washington, Jr, while not originally a Motown release, fits the mood. “This is the music that got us through hard times,” John Singleton said of this specific era of R&B, speaking from the personal experience of growing up in the 70s.
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Straight to the “scource”
For his films, Singleton often employed what he coined “scource music,” a combination of source music and the score. Source music refers to what the audience can visibly see a character listening to in a given scene that then transitions into the background score of that scene. Singleton would also play the music on set in order to capture the correct emotion from the actors.
The director firmly believed that black representation in film was often corrupted by studio execs from outside the community meddling with art. This made music a generally truer form of expression than cinema. “In terms of African-American aesthetic, the purest images we have is only through music,” said Singleton. “If music is used very well through film, it lifts and adds a whole other emotion.”
You may not have heard of Doris Troy, but it’s likely you’ve heard her voice. Born in the Bronx, New York, on January 6, 1937, Doris Elaine Higginsen changed her name to Doris Troy after she was “discovered” working at Harlem’s famous Apollo Theatre by James Brown.
This led to her singing backing vocals for many artists, including Cissy Houston and Dionne Warwick. She got an opportunity to record for Atlantic Records in 1963, and her single, “Just One Look” made No.10 on the Billboard Hot 100; several singles followed that all stalled just outside the 100. “Just One Look” was covered in early 1964 by the Hollies and made No.2 on the UK singles chart. One of her follow-up records for Atlantic, “Whatcha Gonna Do About It,” made No.37 in the UK.
Further records in the 1960s all failed to sell in any decent numbers, and it led to Doris moving to London in the spring of 1969. One of her earliest gigs in the UK was arranging and singing on the gospel-tinged chorus of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” Around the same time, Madeline Bell asked Doris to help with the vocals on Billy Preston’s Apple album, That’s The Way God Planned It. Also on the album was Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Keith Richards, and George Harrison. This led to Doris signing to Apple and recording a solo album that George Harrison co-produced at Trident and Olympic studios in London.
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Work began at George’s home in high summer 1969 with help from Billy Preston, before Doris and George went into the studio proper, probably in late September. Over the next few months, there were sessions in which numerous musicians participated, including Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton, Delaney and Bonnie, Leon Russell, Klaus Voormann, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, and Rita Coolidge. It all reflected George’s involvement with other musicians and his solo album, All Things Must Pass.
Harrison co-wrote four of the songs on Doris Troy, arranged the traditional, “Jacob’s Ladder” with Troy, while other tracks included a cover of The Beatles’ “Get Back” that did not appear on the original album, but was the b-side of “Jacob’s Ladder,” along with songs by Stills (a Buffalo Springfield cover), Joe South, Jackie Lomax (another Apple artist) and some Doris Troy compositions and co-writes. When the album was reissued, Troy said, “Doing that album was a reminder that ‘soul’ didn’t have a color.”
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When the album came out in September 1970, at the same time as Bill Preston’s album, it largely sank without trace. Allen Klein ran Apple at the time, and his ability for marketing records was not his strongest suit.
Troy went back to singing backing vocals and arranging, and her credits during the 1970s included Humble Pie, Nick Drake, Carly Simon, Dusty Springfield, and perhaps most famously, Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon.
In the 1980s, Doris co-wrote a musical, Mama, I Want To Sing, with her sister, and it ran in Harlem for 1500 performances and later in London. Doris Troy passed away in February 2004, aged 67.
Donald Trump waits in court during proceedings over a business records violation. He was convicted, but Trump and his supporters dismissed the case as a partisan attack.Mary Altaffer/AP
Donald Trump joked in 2016 that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose support. In 2024, after two impeachments and 34 felony convictions, he has more or less proved the point. He not only returned to the White House, he turned his mug shot into décor, hanging it outside the Oval Office like a trophy.
He’s not alone. Many politicians are ensnared in scandal, but they seldom pay the same kind of cost their forebears might have 20 or 30 years ago. My research, which draws on 50 years of verified political scandals at the state and national levels, national surveys and an expert poll, reaches a clear and somewhat unsettling conclusion.
In today’s polarized America, scandals hurt less, fade faster and rarely end political careers.
New York’s Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey’s Jim McGreevey both resigned as governors due to sex scandals, only to run again this year for mayoral posts. Both lost. Cuomo sought to replace New York Mayor Eric Adams, who never stepped down despite being indicted – with charges later dropped – in a corruption case that engulfed much of his administration.
The adulterous state attorney general from Texas, Ken Paxton, survived an impeachment vote in 2023 over bribery and abuse of office and is now running for the U.S. Senate. The list goes on – proof that scandal rarely ends a political career.
When scandals still mattered
For most of the previous half-century, scandals had real bite.
Watergate, which involved an administration spying on its political enemies, knocked out President Richard M. Nixon. The Keating Five banking scandal of the 1980s reshaped the Senate, damaging the careers of most of the prominent senators who intervened with regulators to help a campaign contributor later convicted of fraud.
Members of Congress referred to the House ethics committee were far less likely to keep their seats. Governors, speakers and cabinet officials ensnared in scandal routinely resigned. The nation understood scandal as a serious breach of public trust, not a potential fundraising opportunity.
But beginning in the late 1990s and accelerating throughout the Trump era, something changed.
According to my dataset of more than 800 scandals involving presidents, governors and members of Congress, politicians in recent decades have survived scandals for longer periods of time and ultimately faced fewer consequences.
Even at the presidential level – where personal legacy should, in theory, be most sensitive – scandals barely leave a dent. Trump and his supporters have worn his legal attacks as a badge of honor, taking them as proof that an insidious swamp has conspired against him.
This isn’t just a quirk of modern politics. As a political scientist, I believe it’s a threat to democratic accountability. Accountability holds politicians, and the political system, to legal, moral and ethical standards. Without these checks, the people lose their power.
To salvage the basic idea that wrongdoing still matters, the nation will need to figure out how to Make Scandals Great Again – not in the partisan sense but in the civic one.
As a start, both parties could commit to basic red lines – bribery, abuse of office, exploitation – where resignation is expected, not optional. This would send a signal to voters about when to take charges seriously. That matters because, while voters can forgive mistakes, they shouldn’t excuse corruption.
Andrew Cuomo, who resigned as New York governor amid scandal in 2021, fell short during his comeback bid for mayor this year. Heather Kalifa/AP
A tribal cue, not an ethical event
Why the new imperviousness?
Partisanship is the main culprit. Today’s voters don’t evaluate scandal as citizens; they evaluate it as fans. Democrats and Republicans seek to punish misdeeds by the other side but rationalize them for their own.
This selective morality is the engine of “affective polarization,” a political science term describing the intense dislike of the opposing party that now defines American politics. A scandal becomes less an ethical event than a tribal cue. If it hurts my enemy, I’m outraged. If it hurts my ally, it’s probably exaggerated, unfair or just fake.
The nation’s siloed and shrinking media environment accelerates this trend. News consumers drift toward outlets that favor their politics, giving them a partial view of possible wrongdoing. Local journalism, formerly the institution most responsible for uncovering wrongdoing, has been gutted. A typical House scandal once generated 70 or more stories in a district’s largest newspaper. Today, it averages around 23.
Evaluating surveys of presidency scholars, I found that economic growth, time in office, war leadership and perceived intellectual ability all meaningfully shape presidential greatness. Scandals, by comparison, barely move the needle.
Warren G. Harding still gets dinged for Teapot Dome, a major corruption scandal a century ago, and Nixon remains defined by Watergate. But for most modern presidents, scandal is just one more piece of noise in an already overwhelming media environment.
At the same time, partisan media ecosystems reinforce voters’ instincts. For many voters, negative coverage of a fellow partisan is not a warning sign. As with Trump, it can be a badge of honor, proof that the so-called establishment fears their champion.
The incentive structure flips. Instead of shrinking from scandal and behavior that could once have ended careers, politicians learn to exploit it. As Texas governor a decade ago, Rick Perry printed his felony mug shot on a T-shirt for supporters. Trump’s best fundraising days corresponded directly to his criminal court appearances.
Making scandals resonate
Even when the evidence is clear-cut, the public’s memory isn’t.
Voters forget scandals that should matter but vividly remember ones that fit their partisan worldview, sometimes even when memory contradicts fact. Years after Trump left office, more Republicans believed his false claims – about the 2020 election, cures for COVID-19 and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot – than during his presidency. The longer the scandal drags on, the foggier the details become, making it easier for partisans to reshape the narrative.
The problem isn’t that America has too many scandals. It’s that the consequences no longer match the misdeeds.
But the story isn’t hopeless. Scandals still matter under certain conditions – particularly when they involve clear abuses of power or financial corruption and, crucially, when voters actually learn credible details. And political scientists have long known that scandals can produce real benefit. They expose wrongdoing, prompt reforms, sharpen voter attention and remind citizens that institutions need scrutiny.
Ken Paxton has spent most of his years as Texas attorney general under indictment but survived an impeachment vote and is now running for the Senate. Eric Gay/AP
So, what would it take to Make Scandals Great Again, not as spectacle but as accountability?
One step would be to rebuild the watchdogs. Local journalism could use investment, including through nonprofit models and philanthropy.
Second, it’s important that ethics enforcement maintains independence from the political actors it polices. Letting lawmakers investigate themselves guarantees selective outrage. At the same time, however, political parties could play a role in restoring trust by calling out their own, increasing their own accountability by lamenting real offenses among their own members.
Political scandals will never disappear from American life. But for them to serve as silver linings – and, ultimately, to protect public trust – the conditions that give them meaning require restoration. That could foster a political culture where wrongdoing still carries a price and where truth can pierce through the noise long enough for the public to hear it.
Brandon Rottinghaus does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
We have tragic news to report from the world of social media today.
Yulia Burtseva — the beloved influencer who amassed a following of over 73,000 followers on Instagram — has passed away.
She was just 38 years old.
Influencer Yulia Burtseva has died at the age of 38. (YouTube)
A wildly popular figure in the world of parenting content creators, Burtseva documented her life with her husband Giuseppe and their young daughter.
Burtseva passed following cosmetic procedure, early reports indicate
According to a report from People magazine, Burtseva, a resident of Naples, Italy, traveled to Moscow to undergo an unspecified cosmetic procedure.
She died shortly thereafter, but it is not yet clear if her death was a result of anything that happened on the operating table.
Sources have confirmed that Yulia’s procedure took place at a private clinic, and she was rushed from there to a nearby hospital, where she died.
A Russian news report obtained by People indicates that the Moscow Investigative Committee, the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Moscow, has opened an investigation.
Influencer Yulia Burtseva has died at the age of 38. (YouTube)
“Investigators from the Moscow Investigative Committee are working at the scene,” reads a translated statement by the Moscow Investigative Committee.
“Necessary official and medical records will be seized shortly. A number of forensic examinations, including a medical one, are being ordered.”
Across social media today, fans are mourning Yulia while reminding one another of the risk involved in any medical procedure
“Tragic reminder that no procedure is ever truly routine,” wrote one X user.
“A reminder of the risks of cosmetic surgery — stay safe,” another added.
“She looked beautiful already. What an unnecessary death!” a third chimed in.
Our thoughts go out to Yulia’s loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
Ashley Tisdale is calling out a “toxic” mom group including the likes of Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor, and Mandy Moore.
People who were supposed to be her social circleinstead made her feel like a bullied high schooler at the age of 40.
But she cut ties with the not-so-supportive group, and soon learned that she’s not the only one who felt the cold shoulder of the “mean girls.”
Ashley Tisdale attends the world premiere of the new season of Disney’s “Phineas And Ferb” on May 31, 2025. (Photo Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
Sometimes, new moms want a social circle that understands exactly how they’re feeling
Tisdale, who rose to fame as a teenager and young adult as a Disney Channel star and a singer, first wrote about leaving her “mom group” on a more personal blog.
The process began, Tisdale shared, when she found what she believed was a group of like-minded moms in similar circumstances.
“I needed to talk to someone else who related towhat I was going through,” she explained.
“The mood swings, the late nights, saying good-bye to who I used to be,” Tisdale listed. “And getting to know my daughter and the new person I was becoming.”
“During the early days of the group, there was another mom who often wasn’t included,” Tisdale recalled in her essay.
She admitted: “I’d picked up on hints of a weird dynamic, but at the time, I didn’t dwell on it too much.”
Tisdale observed: “Now it seemed that this group had a pattern of leaving someone out. And that someone had become me.”
This, she wrote, led to eerily familiar self-doubts: “Here I was sitting alone one night after getting my daughter to bed, thinking, Maybe I’m not cool enough?”
Tisdale reflected: “All of a sudden, I was in high school again, feeling totally lost as to what I was doing ‘wrong’ to be left out.”
Ashley Tisdale speaks onstage on March 09, 2025. (Photo Credit: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Inc. at Inc. Founders House at SXSW)
Being a mom at 40 should never make you feel like a teenager
To be clear, Tisdale is a 40-year-old woman. Even if she were not very famous, this would be a strange way for her to feel.
“I texted to the group after being left out from yet another group hang,” she revealed, after listing numerous incidents of exclusion and seemingly accidental oversights.
“This is too high school for me,” she wrote to them. “And I don’t want to take part in it anymore.”
Unfortunately, Tisdale shared: “It didn’t exactly go over well.”
The efforts to apologize or win her over fell flat, she explained.
To Tisdale’s judgment, some of the moms seemed to feel bad about how she was feeling. But not enough to change things — and not enough to have missed her when the group met without her.
“To be clear, I have never considered the moms to be bad people,” Tisdale assured, before slyly adding: “(Maybe one.)”
She continued: “But I do think our group dynamic stopped being healthy and positive — for me, anyway.”
After she first began speaking on the topic, she shared, she has heard “feedback” from other moms.
Tisdale wrote: ‘I now know I’m far from the only mother who’s been brought to tears by members of a group that’s supposed to lift everyone up.”
She also admitted that some called her “brave,” which puzzled her. What, she wondered, does she have to fear?
Ashley Tisdale attends a Bush’s Baked Beans and Bluey combo event on May 14, 2025. (Photo Credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Bush’s Beans® )
‘It’s not the right group for you’
“You deserve to go through motherhood with people who actually, you know, like you,” Tisdale affirmed.
(Not to distract from the point, but this applies to most things — your friends, your partner, family gatherings, and more)
“And if you have to wonder if they do, here’s the hard-earned lesson I hope you’ll take to heart,” she expressed.
Tisdale wrote: “It’s not the right group for you. Even if it looks like they’re having the best time on Instagram.”
Ultimately, she did not choose to name-drop anyone. But while Tisdale follows Meghan Trainor, she is no longer following Hilary Duff or Mandy Moore on that platform.
Heather Thompson is dead alongside three members of her family.
All four died by violence in a very short span of time.
Authorities are investigating the deaths of Thompson, her two young sons, and her grandmother as a triple-murder suicide.
Investigators still consider this to be an open case — and are asking the public for information. The boys’ father is publicly sharing his grief.
As this news report details, the deaths of Heather Thompson and her family is under investigation as a triple murder-suicide. (Image Credit: WSMV 4 Nashville)
Tragedy in small town America
On Friday, January 2, the Humphreys County Sheriff’s conducted a welfare check in the small town of Waverly, Tennessee.
There, authorities made a grim discovery of four bodies.
Two were women. Two were young boys.
One of the women was Heather Thompson, a 32-year-old nurse. The other woman was her 88-year-old grandmother, Evelyn Johnson.
The boys were Thompson’s sons, 13-year-old Isiah Johnson and 4-year-old Arius Johnson.
All four had apparently died from gunshot wounds.
Authorities are investigating cause of death, which is sometimes not as simple as it appears.
However, from the initial investigation — that is, police investigating the scene — authorities believe that Heather Thompson was the shooter.
They believe that she shot her sons, her grandmother, and then herself. There is no indication of any suspected motive.
Both the Sheriff’s Office and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are treating this tragedy as an open investigation.
Authorities and local news alike are unable to explain the motive behind the deaths of a Waverly, Tennessee family. (Image Credit: WSMV 4 Nashville)
Authorities are still piecing together what may have happened
Family annihilators are a type of killer who, as it says in the name, eliminate their own family members.
The most stereotypical example if this is a man who either believes that he has failed his family or that his family is unworthy or holding him back, so he then kills his wife or girlfriend and their children.
Sometimes, it begins with a single incident — domestic violence that turns fatal, and then eliminating witnesses.
Other times, the family annihilator plans these murders in advance.
There are documented cases of these killings going back throughout recorded history, with some immortalized in legends or even religious narratives.
With so little information available, it is difficult to determine whether this horrific crime is the work of a family annihilator — or simply appears like one.
Authorities have noted that they have found no instances of domestic violence calls from the house.
(As countless survivors know, that does not mean that domestic violence never took place at the home)
Additionally, Biah Thompson, the reported father of the boys, resides in Arizona.
When the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Department wrote about the crime scene in a January 2 Facebook post, Thompson commented.
Under a Facebook post about the deaths of his family, Biah Thompson left a heartbroken comment. (Image Credit: Facebook)
Their loved ones are experiencing unimaginable grief
“I miss my sons already,” he wrote. “Daddy still loves you. Sorry I was at work.”
That is certainly heartbreaking.
Reportedly, Biah Thompson works at a Subway. It is unclear if these reports are up-to-date.
Investigators are still looking into this crime, and ask anyone with information relevant to these tragic deaths to come forward.
Our hearts go out to all of the family’s surviving loved ones. Perhaps authorities will be able to provide the answers that they need.
We have tragic news to report out of Hollywood today:
Jayne Trcka — the bodybuilder and actress best known for her work in the 2000 comedy Scary Movie — has passed away.
She was just 62 years old.
Jayne Trcka at the premiere of ‘Scary Movie’, 6/21/00 in New York City. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
Trcka died unexpectedly at home, insiders say
News of Trcka’s death comes courtesy of her son, who tells TMZ that his mother passed away at her home in San Diego on December 12.
A friend tells the outlet that she became concerned when she called Jayne several times and received no response.
The friend called 911 and requested a welfare check, and police discovered Jayne’s body.
Authorities report that Trcka’s cause of death is still unknown, pending the results of a medical examiner’s investigation.
Jayne Trcka at the premiere of ‘Scary Movie’, 6/21/00 in New York City. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
Though most famous for her role as the gym teacher Miss Mann in Scary Movie, Trcka also appeared in several other high-profile projects.
The popularity of Scary Movie — a cult classic that launched an entire franchise — led to Jayne making appearances in popular TV series The Drew Carey Show and Whose Line is it Anyway?
Jayne was also a bodybuilder who appeared in several fitness magazines, including Flex, MuscleMagInternational, and Women’s Physique World.
Across social media, fans are remembering Trcka for her comic timing, as well as for her abilities as an athlete.
“Remembering the strong Miss Mann, not just a role, but an inspiration in fitness and comedy,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“From Miss Mann to bodybuilding icon… her legacy lives on,” another added.
Our thoughts go out to Jayne Trcka’s loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
We will have further information on this developing story as new information becomes available.
