Wow, Morgan Evans — we see you! Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
Day: March 6, 2026
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
The head of the Alaska Division of Elections will not share legal advice that led to the state’s decision to send an extended voter list to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Director Carol Beecher told state senators Wednesday that she will not waive attorney-client privilege as state lawmakers examine last year’s decision to give the Trump administration a detailed list of Alaska voters.
Alaska is one of only two states — Texas is the other — to hand over the data since the administration asked all 50 states last year. Ten others have said they plan to comply, according to records kept by the Brennan Center, a critic of the administration’s request.
Alaska and Texas are also the only states to have signed a memorandum of understanding that would allow the Department of Justice to pick individual voters for eventual removal from state lists of eligible voters.
Neither elections officials nor the Alaska Department of Law have explained why the state voluntarily complied with the request and signed the memo, or how compliance fits within the Alaska Constitution’s right to privacy.
Last week, Idaho became the latest state to reject the Department of Justice’s request for voter information, joining dozens of others.
That state’s Secretary of State said in a letter to federal officials that filings in a lawsuit showed that the department had shared sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, with “unauthorized persons,” and as a result, he could not guarantee that Idahoans’ identities would be safe.
In a pair of legislative hearings this week, Alaska lawmakers were unable to learn why Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, Beecher, and the Alaska Department of Law reached a different conclusion.
Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, grilled Beecher during a Wednesday hearing, pressing her to release the legal advice she received before the Division of Elections turned over its voter list.
“This is an issue of grave concern for hundreds of thousands of Alaskans, and you have the ability to provide us with those documents. You have the ability to waive any potential privilege. Would you be willing to do that?” he asked.
“At this point, I am not willing to waive that privilege,” she said.
Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, asked Beecher whether the department made a mistake by sharing the voter data and signing the memo that would allow the federal government to single out individual Alaskans.
“I do not, at this juncture, believe that the division made a mistake in signing the MOU,” she said.
This week’s toughest questions came from Democratic lawmakers. Beecher and Dahlstrom are both Republicans, and Dahlstrom is also a candidate for governor in this fall’s elections.
Republican lawmakers were generally silent in this week’s hearings.
Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage and chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was “in an awkward position” and reached out to a variety of experts in an attempt to avoid bias in a hearing he held on Monday.
During that hearing, Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, said he sees the state’s compliance as something like following the speed limit.
“When the federal government makes a law, we’re expected to follow it … it’s the federal government’s job, through whomever, to ensure that law is followed, and from what I understand, the federal government was merely attempting to make sure that Alaska followed the National Voter Registration Act,” he said.
The information transmitted to the Department of Justice goes beyond the publicly available voter information purchasable from the Division of Elections for $20.
It contains personally identifying information, such as birthdates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
In a legal analysis performed last month, legislative attorneys called the DOJ’s request “unprecedented” and said the division’s handover would be legal only if the federal government requested the information “in compliance with federal law” and used “the information only for governmental purposes authorized under law.”
As of Wednesday, three separate federal judges — in Oregon, California and Michigan — have ruled that the federal government’s request is not in compliance with federal law.
Of the 48 states and the District of Columbia that have been asked for their voter lists, 29 and DC are fighting the federal government in court. The federal government has won none of those cases to date.
Legislative attorney Andrew Dunmire said he is also unaware of any federal law that allows the federal government to single out individual voters for removal from voter lists, as the MOU states.
On Wednesday, Beecher said the Department of Justice has not yet requested that any voters be removed from Alaska’s list. In addition, Dahlstrom said in December that the state would comply with the MOU only if the federal government’s actions are legal.
But with the Alaska Department of Law and the Division of Elections stonewalling legislators, it isn’t clear what the state considers a legal request.
In September, the Justice Department told Stateline that it is sharing the voter data with the Department of Homeland Security, and the Trump administration has previously said it intends to input the voter lists into a nationwide registry to look for noncitizens.
The DHS tool for that effort has repeatedly flagged citizens in error, ProPublica reported last month.
Speaking to legislators this week, former Alaska attorney general Bruce Botelho advised lawmakers to continue searching for the legal advice given to elections officials by the Alaska Department of Law.
He also suggested that legislators consider filing a lawsuit to have the agreement with the Department of Justice declared illegal.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
As you’ve almost certainly heard by now, Britney Spears was arrested on DUI charges this week.
Britney was only in police custody for a few hours, but it looks as though her legal troubles are just beginning.
According to a new report from TMZ, pills were found in Britney’s car when she was pulled over.
Those pills are now being tested by police in order to determine their chemical composition.
Now, if no illicit substances are found, then Brit probably won’t wind up serving any jail time.
After all, this is her first DUI offense, and while she’s had previous brushes with the law, she’s never been convicted of any crimes.
Typically, first offenders are not forced to serve time. But if Britney was in possession of controlled substances at the time of her arrest, that’s a different story.
Britney recently took a trip to Mexico, and insiders tell TMZ that she obtained Adderall while she was there.
If the pills are found to contain pure Adderall, then Ms. Spears is in the clear.
But if the pills are adulterated in any way — a common practice in Mexican pharmacies — then Brit might be in trouble.
Whatever the case, she’s due back in court in May, at which time, she’ll enter her plea for the DUI charge — and any additional charges that she might be facing.
As TMZ points out, Brit has been to rehab before, and this incident might be enough to inspire her to check back in.
Her blood test showed a BAC of .06, which is below the legal limit of .08.
But police say Britney was driving erratically, and the pills might be taken as evidence that she had other substances in her body in addition to the alcohol.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable. Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life,” Britney’s manager, Cade Hudson, tells TMZ.
“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.”
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
Pills Found In Britney Spears’ Car Could Lead to Jail Time: Report was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Gordon Ramsay has many, many restaurants, and several have at least one Michelin star. However, only one of his restaurants is the best reviewed on TripAdvisor.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
Categories
Raise my taxes and close my school
Downtown Palmer, with a map that identifies visitor desitnations, is seen on May 6, 2022. Palmer is one of the main communities in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Friends, from my view, it doesn’t look so good in the Valley these days…
Property tax assessment notices are up everywhere in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, even for swampy lots that have not increased in real value, while the school district considers school closures in the face of a $23 million deficit.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District is proposing to close three local neighborhood schools to save $4.5 million next year.
What’s another solution? Cut administrative positions. A typical administrator makes well over $100,000 and with benefits the cost is between $150,000 – $200,000 for each position. When I was School Board President, albeit a while ago, I saw these numbers myself because I requested that I sign all administrative contracts over $100,000 — there were a lot! Cutting administrative positions, mostly by not filling positions, will make a huge difference.
The main problem with school budgets is that they are prepared by the administration… and we all know administrators, directors and assistant superintendents won’t cut their own positions. They cut teachers.
School Boards don’t generally change the budget that much. A lot is contingent on the amount of borough and state school funding needed to save the schools, so on we go with the status quo.
Self-Inflicted
In the Valley, we appear to be drifting without a plan. Last year the school district and the borough got voter approval for $94.4 million of new school bonds with high interest rates. This year brings the possibility of closed schools, bigger class sizes, new bond debt payments and higher property taxes.
Taking on more debt to build new schools while closing traditional schools is an incredibly poor utilization of resources. Apparently, no one ran the numbers of future operating costs for our schools or thought about multiple-use of school buildings. No policy. No direction. It’s not rocket science. Elected officials should step up and think outside the box.
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CHICAGO — From former presidents to an NBA Hall of Famer to prominent church pastors, stories of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s influence on politics, corporate boardrooms and picket lines loomed large Friday at a celebration honoring the late civil rights leader.
Thousands of people gathered at a church on Chicago’s South Side to pay a final public tribute to Jackson.
Barack Obama said Jackson’s presidential runs in the 1980s set the stage for other Black leaders, including his own successful 2009 presidency and re-election.
“The message he sent to a 22-year-old child of a single mother with a funny name, an outsider, was that maybe there wasn’t any place or any room where we didn’t belong,” Obama said. “He paved the road for so many others to follow.”
Obama, joined by two other former Democratic presidents, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton, at a celebration of life for Jackson, received the loudest round of applause as the three entered the chamber.
“We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope,” Obama said. “Each day we wake up to some new assault to our democratic institutions. Another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn’t think were possible.”
“Each day we are told by folks in high office to fear each other,” said Obama, referring to the current Republican leadership in Washington.
Clinton said Jackson made him a better president. “He knew change came from the inside out,” Clinton said.
Former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke Friday.
President Donald Trump, who praised Jackson on social media after he died and also shared photos of the two of them together, was not attending the service, according to his public schedule issued by the White House.
Thousands attend Jackson memorial service
The event honors the protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate and follows memorial services that drew large crowds in Chicago and South Carolina, where Jackson was born. Friday’s celebration — at an influential Black church with a 10,000-seat arena — is expected to be the largest.
Crowds of attendees waited in long lines outside the church on the city’s South Side as television screens played excerpts of some of Jackson’s most famous speeches. Inside, vendors sold pins with his 1984 presidential slogan and hoodies with his “I Am Somebody” mantra.
Along with a slew of Illinois elected leaders, notable attendees included actor and producer Tyler Perry, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and political activist and theologian Cornel West. NBA Hall of Famer and Chicago native Isiah Thomas was one of the speakers.
Marketing professional Chelsia Bryan said Friday that she decided to attend the memorial service because it was “a chance to be part of something historic.”
“As a Black woman, knowing that someone pretty much gave their life, dedicated their life to make sure I can do the things that I can do now, he’s worth honoring,” Bryan said.
Jackson Jr.: Everyone welcome
Jesse Jackson Jr. said all were welcome to celebrate his father’s life.
“Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, right wing, left wing because his life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be an American,” Jackson Jr. said last month. “Dad would have wanted us to have a great meeting to discuss our differences, to find ways of moving forward and moving together.”
The elder Jackson died last month at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak. Family members say he continued coming into the office until last year and communicated through hand signals. His final public appearances included the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Sitting in the crowd was 90-year-old Mary Lovett. She said Jackson’s advocacy inspired her many times, from when she moved from Mississippi to Chicago in the 1960s, taught elementary school and became a mom. She twice voted for Jackson during both of his presidential runs and appreciated how he always spoke up for underrepresented people. “He’s gone, but I hope his legacy lives,” she said. “I hope we can remember what he tried to teach us.”
Jackson’s service was to the poor, underrepresented
Jackson’s pursuits were countless, taking him to all corners of the globe: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, health care, job opportunities and education. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.
His son, Yusef Jackson, who runs the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, recalled how his father carried a well-worn Bible but also showed his faith by showing up to picket lines.
“He lived a revolutionary Christian faith rooted in justice, nonviolence and the moral righteousness,” Yusef Jackson said Friday. “He was deeply involved in the political struggles of his time, but his gift was that he could rise above them. It’s not about the left wing or the right wing. It takes two wings to fly. For him, the goal was always the moral center.”
Jackson’s services in Chicago and South Carolina drew civic leaders, school groups and everyday people who said they were touched by Jackson’s work, from scholarship programs to advocating for inmates. Several states flew flags at half-staff in his honor.
Services in Washington, D.C., were tabled after a request to allow Jackson to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda was denied by House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said the space is typically reserved for select officials, including former presidents. Details on a future event have not been made public.
Politics
Sure, you’ve seen your fair share of sandwiches, but people in the early 20th century were masters of frugality, including using popcorn in novel ways.
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
This June, Ashley McBryde will celebrate four years of sobriety, a milestone that didn’t come easily. Amid her rising career, she found herself in a downward spiral that few people, not even her parents knew about, leading her to make a change that would impact her life forever.
McBryde appears on a new episode of on Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast, where she opens up about her sobriety journey and the emotional and physical turmoil that she was facing behind the scenes while still maintaining a successful music career.
“When it went off the rails, it went off the rails in a big way. And as I’ve had to say over the last three years, I’m a drunk. And if you find yourself wanting to be like, ‘No, you’re not.’ That’s how good I am at it. I’ve had people say, ‘I never really saw you as much of a drinker.’ And so now I can say, ‘if you were around me prior to three years, nine months, six weeks, and however many days ago, I was drunk. Sorry. I am sorry,” she told the show’s host, Bobby Bones.
The Arkansas native explains that she did not embarrass herself, her team or the country music genre in the midst of her battle with addiction, however it became more and more evident that her struggles were getting worse. McBryde tried to get a handle on it by not drinking before shows, but she found herself turning to the bottle to calm her anxiety before meet and greets and then letting loose after shows.
“For some reason, my brain was like, ‘You didn’t drink till after a show and now you have to drink as much as humanly possible.’ And so everybody that I work with, everybody I was close with, not even my parents knew the extent of it,” she revealed.
McBryde says she felt angry over the fact that the substance had taken control of her life, and she knew staying in treatment was the only way to reclaim it. “I was going to die,” she admitted.
“I kept being like, “I can’t do this. I don’t know where I am. I can’t … Oh my God, I have to do this. I mean, I’m going to do it. They got me here. I’m going to do it. ” But I just kept being like, “There’s no way I’m doing this for 30 days. That’s insane. I don’t live under a bridge. I didn’t hurt anybody.” And now I can hear my other self going, “Oh kid, sit down and shut up and put your seatbelt on.”
Her wake-up call came after a night she barely remembers when she woke up in another artist’s home to find her team ready with an intervention, determined to get her the help she needed before it was too late.
“I woke up in a bed that’s not mine, in pajamas that aren’t mine, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that must have been a doozy. I’m thirsty. I don’t know where I am, and I don’t know where water is, so I’ll just go find water.’ And when I went to find water, I found a living room, and in that living room was my team, Dana and John Peets and my day to day. I looked at them and that artist was also on the couch. And I said, ‘Okay, I don’t know where my boots are, but I need my boots,’ she recalled with tears in her eyes. And they said, ‘We need you to stop.’ And I said, ‘I need me to stop too.’ And that was when I found out that she took me to her house that night after we’d been out to make sure I didn’t die, but I didn’t,” she said with tears filling her eyes.
Looking back now, the “Light On In The Kitchen” singer admits her mental health was quickly going to a dark place, to the point where she considered that it would be easier to end her life than to try and quit drinking.
“The more times I would allow myself to be that drunk, the scarier, the darker it got faster. And it wasn’t six drinks in then. It was three drinks in and pretty soon that becomes one and that’s a scary place to be. It’s a scary spot.”
She saw a chance to turn things around and become a better version of herself that would no longer hurt her or the people around her. So, she stayed in rehab.
“If this goes any farther, this is really, really ugly,” she thought to herself at the time. “This is like they’ll have to make a movie about it bad. So I just buckled down and decided, ‘Well, I’m here and technically I can leave, but we’re far enough out in the middle of nowhere that I wouldn’t know what direction to go.’”
Once she had finished her course of treatment and was released from the facility, Ashley McBryde then had another challenge to face: how to navigate a career that honors and celebrates drinking at every turn.
“When I left, I went to a couple of my practitioners and therapists and I said…’When I leave here, you need me to never, ever, ever encounter alcohol again. I will leave here at noon. I will be around alcohol by 10:00 PM. I will be in the bus. I’ve already fixed it at this time to where one of my buses, there is no alcohol, the other bus, you can have alcohol on it.’ And I said, ‘I’m not going to drink. I know that I won’t. And you don’t know me well enough to know that if I’ve made a decision, that’s it. I need you to give me the tools to be around it tomorrow.’”
Even more fears started to set in as she wondered if she would have the same kind of success sober as she did while drinking. McBryde also admits she was worried about how the world would respond to her sobriety, which is why she chose to wait at least several hundred days before sharing the news.
“I didn’t want to talk about it at all when I first quit drinking because I didn’t want it to look like it was performative, especially when nobody knew how bad it was. They’re like, ‘Oh, she must be suffering for ratings right now because she’s suddenly like, I’m going to be sober.’ And I thought, ‘If I screw it up, that’s the first thing we’re going to wait for is for me to screw it up if I talk about it.’”
That was over three years ago, and since then, McBryde has continued her career with authenticity, fully embracing her best self. Her music now reflects the raw emotions of this chapter and the daily fight she still faces. Sobriety has also led to other unexpected accomplishments as well, including the creation of her own non-alcoholic-forward bar, Redemption, located inside Eric Church’s Chief’s on Broadway.
“I’ve made the joke, I didn’t know not drinking came with a bar, but it’s wonderful. And it’s the only place on Broadway where you can order anything on the menu. It already comes without alcohol and you’re welcome to put alcohol in it if you’d like to. Our bartenders are happy to do that for you, but everything you order, Martini McBryde, there’s no alcohol in there,” she explained.
Nearly four years later, McBryde continues to embrace the life she fought so hard to reclaim. What once felt impossible, living and working in a world surrounded by alcohol, has now become proof of just how far she’s come.
Even more of this emotional and heartfelt conversation can be found in the full episode of Bobby Bones Presents: The BobbyCast, now streaming on Netflix.
The post Ashley McBryde Gets Emotional Opening Up About Her Journey To Sobriety: ‘I Was Going To Die’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
Gabby Barrett brings her latest breakup anthem, “The Easy Part,” to life in a brand new music video.
The Quentin Cook-directed clip opens with a couple arguing inside their home, capturing the intense moment when the man storms out and drives away as the woman watches from the front door. After he leaves, she returns inside and reflects on moments from their heated argument, as well as the happier memories they once shared together.
Performance clips of Barrett are woven throughout the video, and as the story reaches its emotional peak, a storm begins to roll in, with rain pouring down around Barrett and outside the woman’s window.
As time passes, the sun eventually rises on a new day. When the woman finally leaves the house where they once made so many memories, the former couple unexpectedly cross paths at a four-way stop. In a final twist, it’s revealed that the man has moved on, with a new woman now riding shotgun in his truck.
The storyline follows the story of the breakup song ashe she sings, “Go on and slam that front door/ Go on and tell me where I can go/ Put that pedal to the floorboard/ Leave me a mess in the middle of the road/ Go all Jack D crazy/ Tell yourself leavin’ me is so hard/ But I got news for you baby/ That’ll be the easy part.”
Penned by Barrett with Michael Hardy (HARDY), Zach Abend, and Jon Nite and produced by Zach Kale, Zach Abend, and Ross Copperman, “The Easy Part” has been steadily picking up steam since its release, with SiriusXM giving the track strong rotation across its country channels.
“’The Easy Part’ plays with the idea that sometimes the dramatic moment in a relationship feels like the hardest part, but often it’s what comes after that really stays with you,” shares Barrett. “The song reflects on those memories; the good and the complicated, and realizing what they meant over time. In the video, you see those moments play out as she looks back on the relationship and ultimately chooses peace and keeps moving forward.”
Gabby Barrett has also compared the song to her 8x Platinum smash “I Hope,” revealing, “In some ways, it feels like a distant cousin to ‘I Hope.’ It’s a different kind of heartbreak, one that settles in slow and quiet.”
Click above to watch the just-released clip.
The post Gabby Barrett Unveils Dramatic New Video For Breakup Track ‘The Easy Part’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
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As royalists suffer embarrassment with the long-overdue arrest of ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, perhaps this news will put an extra skip in their step.
Netflix’s partnership with Meghan Markle’s lifestyle brand is over.
Critics are taking this as a huge blow to the Duchess of Sussex — and to the brand itself.
Is As Ever on the verge of collapse?
‘It did not make sense to continue’
Page Six reports that Netflix has officially cut its partnership ties with As Ever, Meghan’s lifestyle brand.
“Her show did not go on so it did not make sense to continue the partnership,” an insider explained.
With Love, Meghan was the Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix series.
It lasted two seasons, receiving generally positive reviews in the US while getting raked over the coals in — where else — the UK.
As we reported in January, Netflix has canceled the series.
“Meghan’s passion for elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the creation of the As Ever brand,” Netflix gushed to Page Six.
“And,” the streaming platform’s spokesperson continued, “we are glad to have played a role in bringing that vision to life.”
Netflix added: “As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently.”
The very diplomatic statement concluded: “And we look forward to celebrating how she continues to bring joy to households around the world.”
But she’ll be doing it on her own — no longer in partnership with the streaming behemoth.
‘As Ever is now ready to stand on its own’
A spokesperson for As Ever, one of the Sussex pair’s remaining employees, also spoke about the change.
As Ever “is grateful for Netflix’s partnership through launch and our first year,” the spokesperson confirmed.
“We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As Ever is now ready to stand on its own,” the statement affirmed.
The spokesperson raved: “We have an exciting year ahead and can’t wait to share more.”
Is that just diplomatic, face-saving hype? Is As Ever on the verge of collapse after the end of this joint venture?
No, As Ever is not bordering upon dissolution without this Netflix partnership.
In fact, a technical glitch with As Ever’s inventory revealed that Meghan’s lifestyle brand has been monumentally successful.
The Duchess of Sussex raked in a estimated $27 million in sales of jam alone.
For a brand new company, that speaks to a powerful brand that sells a product that people want to buy.
Naturally, this success drew ire from the doesn’t-have-air-conditioning-but-refuses-to-install-window-screens crowd. (The British. We’re talking about the British.)
Is cancelation a surprise these days?
Meghan and Harry’s tell-all documentary, Harry & Meghan, was a huge hit for Netflix.
However, their Polo documentary and With Love, Meghan were not hits on the same scale.
The latter series, as we mentioned, received favorable reviews in the US but blistering condemnation from the UK.
However, positive critical reviews from Americans doesn’t always translate to Americans showing up to bring up those viewing numbers.
Besides, Netflix loves canceling things. It’s, like, their favorite thing to do. And they’re not alone — they’re just pioneers in the practice.
The streaming model is a sacrificial mound where the earth is watered with the blood of television shows.
Netflix Cuts Ties with Meghan Markle Lifestyle Brand: Is ‘As Ever’ Over? was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip