Biden chooses Ron Klain as chief of staff
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has chosen his longtime adviser Ron Klain to reprise his role as his chief of staff, installing an aide with decades of experience in the top role in his White House.
Klain will lead a White House likely to be consumed by the response to the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to spread unchecked across the nation, and he’ll face the challenge of working with a divided Congress that could include a Republican-led Senate. Klain served as the co-ordinator to the Ebola response during the 2014 outbreak.
In a statement Wednesday night, Biden suggested he chose Klain for the position because his longtime experience in Washington had prepared him for such challenges.
“His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again,” Biden said.
Klain served as chief of staff for Biden during Barack Obama’s first term, was chief of staff to Vice-President Al Gore in the mid-1990s and was a key adviser on the Biden campaign, guiding Biden’s debate preparations and coronavirus response. He’s known and worked with Biden since the Democrat’s 1987 presidential campaign.
The choice of Klain underscores the effort the incoming Biden administration will place on the coronavirus response from Day One. Klain has experience in public health as the Ebola response co-ordinator and played a central role in drafting and implementing the Obama administration’s economic recovery plan in 2009.
“I’m honoured by the President-elect’s confidence and will give my all to lead a talented and diverse team in a Biden-Harris WH,” Klain tweeted.
Choosing Klain is also likely to assuage some concerns among progressives who had been gearing up for a fight over one of the first and biggest staff picks Biden will make as he builds out his White House team. The chief of staff is typically a gatekeeper for the president, crafts political and legislative strategy and often serves as a liaison to Capitol Hill in legislative negotiations.
Progressives had expressed concerns that Biden would pick one of his other former chiefs of staff: Steve Richetti, who faces skepticism for his work as a lobbyist, or Bruce Reed, who is seen as too much of a moderate to embrace reforms pushed by the party’s base. But progressives see Klain as open to working with them on top priorities like climate change and health care.
Houston City Council Approves Relief Plan For Musicians and Music Venues
Houston’s many music venues and musicians may finally have some good news. Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston City Council voted to approve a three million dollar relief plan for those adversely affected by the closures due to COVID-19.
The Musicians and Music Venues Economic Relief Program is funded by the city’s CARES Act 2020 funds provided in the relief package by the federal government in March to help cities, their businesses and residents try to survive the economic hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than $2 trillion were provided to cities all over the United States with Houston receiving $405 million. Houston’s City Council last week a vote approved this plan as well as the allocation of an additional $5 million for Small Business Relief.
Musicians and music venues have until 5 p.m. on November 25 to apply online and all applicants must meet the requirements of being based within the city limits, provide evidence of decreased revenue due to COVID-19 restrictions and be in good standing with the city.
Musicians could be eligible for up to $5,000 in relief and music venues for up to $50,000 or $100,000 depending on their budget size. A weighted scoring matrix will be used to fairly determine the amount provided to approved applicants.
The City of Houston teamed up with the Mid-America Arts Alliance to oversee the program. M-AAA is a regional non profit serving to enrich lives through cultural experiences. M-AAA has already helped to distribute almost $600,000 of CARES Act funds in other cities.
M-AAA will be hosting online information classes to assist applicants with the application process. The session will be held on November 10 at 10 a.m. for music venues and at 3 p.m. for musicians. Applicants can also sign up for virtual office hours online. Virtual office hours will take place from November 16-20 from noon to 1 p.m.
Applicants will be notified of the status of their applications in the first week of December and funds they will be distributed the following week.
Houston musicians and music venues have struggled greatly during this pandemic and have seen few efforts to aid them during this time. The Houston Arts Alliance and Houston Music Foundation have been where local artists have received the most support during the pandemic with venues left to fend for themselves and make do with the PPP loans they were possibly granted as the pandemic began almost nine months ago.
Many local music venues have aligned themselves with the National Independent Music Venue Association in support of the Save Our Stages Act, an act that is one of the many issues congress will vote on when they return this week. In September, the city’s venues and bridges were lit red to join the national movement in support of independent music venues.
While no one knows what may happen in Congress and how they will vote for a national relief package, it is good news all around for our city’s music community and hopefully a sign of additional support to come on the national level.
Texas becomes the first US state with more than 1 million Covid-19 infections
Texas has surpassed 1 million Covid-19 infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University — becoming the first US state to record such a staggering number of cases.
That means about one-tenth of the country’s more than 10 million positive tests were reported in the Lone Star state.
for total cases, according to Johns Hopkins data.
India, Brazil, France, Russia, Spain, Argentina, the United Kingdom and Colombia have also all reported more than a million infections, Johns Hopkins data shows.
Texas also reported more than 10,000 new cases for a second day in a row Wednesday, topping the record set just a day before.
More mobile morgues on the way for one community
The state’s million-case milestone comes amid a brutal Covid-19 surge that’s ripping through American communities and has already devastated health care systems and overwhelmed hospital workers. Numbers nationwide are climbing faster than ever before, with infections topping 100,000 for at least eight straight days and hospitalizations reaching an all-time high. Covid-19 deaths have also began creeping up, with one Texas county making a chilling request this week.
Online Nutcracker Market opens for shoppers on Wednesday
HOUSTON — The shopping event that has become a holiday tradition for generations of Houstonians and others, will still go on this year.
The Houston Ballet’s Nutcracker Market will not be held in person when it opens Wednesday for its 40th season.
“To help ourselves stay alive financially, and to help our merchants as well, this was the best option that we could come up with,” Nutcracker Market CEO Patsy Chapman.
For obvious reasons, the event had to be moved from the exhibit halls to the internet this year.
The shopping will start at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning on nutcrackermarket.com.
“I think it’s going to be a huge success,” said longtime merchant Donna Slaven, who credits the growth of her business to the annual event. “It is what put The Round Top Collection on the map. The Nutcracker Market gave us an opportunity 29 years ago to show our product.”
Here’s How to Watch the 2020 CMA Awards Fiasco
The Country Music Association’s hopes for a “no-drama zone” at the 54th Annual CMA Awards (in the midst of a pandemic, at the end of a divisive election cycle) were quickly dashed as performers began testing positive for COVID-19 and rumors about the breakup of the duo Florida Georgia Line over political differences began to swirl. The show will go on in-person at Nashville’s Music City Center, featuring over 20 performing artists and ten presenters. The determination to bring the genre’s biggest stars together in one room could result in even more COVID-19 cases within the country-music community. But, hey! There’s no other way to possibly do it! While it may not be drama-free and COVID-free, it should at least be entertaining.
Reba McEntire and Darius Rucker will host tonight’s event, with performances by Chris Stapleton, Rascal Flatts, and (most recently announced) Kelsea Ballerini. Justin Bieber and Charlie Puth will also make appearances tonight, Puth performing “I Hope” with Gabby Barrett and Bieber performing “10,000 Hours” with Dan + Shay. Country-music titans such as Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, and Carrie Underwood are up for some of the top prizes, including Entertainer of the Year. They don’t have to compete with Garth Brooks this year, who removed himself following a tweet that called out his domination of the category (another bit of drama). Two awards were announced earlier today on Good Morning America, including Lambert’s Music Video of the Year win for “Bluebird” and Carly Pearce and Lee Brice’s Musical Event of the Year win for “I Hope You’re Happy Now.” Country’s pop queen Kacey Musgraves is up for Female Vocalist of the Year and Lady A competes for Vocal Group of the Year. The big question is: If Florida Georgia Line wins Vocal Duo of the Year tonight, will they cross state — and political lines — to celebrate?
Things will kick off this evening at 8 p.m. ET, airing live on ABC, and wrap up at 11 p.m. ET. The pre-show red carpet event starts at 7 p.m. ET, hosted by Lara Spencer of Good Morning America and featuring interviews with CMA Awards 2020 presenters and performers. For those sticking to streaming, Hulu Live and Youtube TV have got you covered.
City of Houston breaks ground on state of the art neighborhood center in Alief
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ERIKA ENDER LANZA SU NUEVO ÁLBUM MP3-45 ESTE VIERNES
ESTE VIERNES ERIKA ENDER LANZA
SU NUEVO ÁLBUM
MP3-45
SU NUEVO ÁLBUM
MP3-45
CELEBRARÁ EL LANZAMIENTO DEL ÁLBUM
CON DOS ESPECIALES ESTA SEMANA
MP3-45. . . BEHIND THE ALBUM – 12 DE NOV
ERIKA EN ÍNTIMO – 13 DE NOV
MP3-45
9 episodios (historias hechas canción)
3 idiomas (español, inglés y portugués)
2 épocas (la moderna y la clásica)
Una artista
MIAMI, Florida (9 de noviembre de 2020). La cantante y compositora, productora y filántropa Erika Ender, ganadora de múltiples premios, incluyendo varios Latin GRAMMY, lanza su esperado nuevo álbum MP3-45 bajo el sello BMG este viernes, 13 de noviembre.
Para celebrar el debut de la producción discográfica, Erika ofrecerá dos eventos especiales esta semana: MP3-45 Behind the Album este jueves, 12 de noviembre en su canal de YouTube, documental lanzado en vivo a las 7:00 PM hora de Miami con todos los detalles de la producción del álbum; y Erika En Íntimo, una presentación y conversación íntima de la artista, via Zoom, sobre las canciones que conforman el álbum, el 13 de noviembre, también a las 7pm de Miami. La información para poder ser parte de estos eventos especiales estará disponible en las redes sociales de la artista, @erikaender en todas las plataformas.
MP3-45 es un viaje en la evolución, a través del bagaje cultural y musical de Erika Ender que realza e ilumina cada lado de la cantautora. Suma la multiculturalidad de Erika, la música con la que creció y que la hizo la artista y compositora que es. Incluye tres covers que marcaron su vida y seis canciones inéditas que cuentan momentos importantes de su vida.
Erika grabó MP3-45 junto al productor ganador de premios GRAMMY y Latin GRAMMY, Moogie Canazio, en el 2019 y el 2020, en Río de Janeiro, Los Angeles y Miami. Juntos, transfirieron su esencia a la cinta.
“Este álbum es un reflejo de quién soy realmente”, dice Ender. “Soy una mujer moderna e independiente que piensa fuera de la caja pero mis valores internos son de la vieja escuela. Mi ética es muy clásica en términos de moral y siempre trato de imprimir un mensaje en mi música y letras. Nací y crecí en una familia multicultural y en MP3-45 no me estoy enfocando solo en un género o en un idioma; estoy mezclando todo lo que soy”.
Son nueve episodios convertidos en canción, representando dos épocas, que muestran sus raíces, orígenes y evolución en un concepto. . . 45 representa “la Erika clásica” (Lado B/Covers), que recopila tres regrabaciones de temas de vinilos, (45 rpm) favoritos de su infancia. Mientras que MP3 consta de seis temas inéditos (Lado A/Temas Originales).
De lo sinfónico a lo electrónico, pero con la misma esencia; MP3-45 es una propuesta atrevida y única, que mezcla distintos géneros y tres idiomas (inglés, español y portugués) para un mundo cada vez más globalizado, en el que la música es, por encima del género o lenguaje, el idioma más universal.
Listado de canciones de MP3-45 :
Lado A – MP3 (Canciones Inéditas)
1. Darnos Un Día
2. Cosas que echo de menos
3. Até logo
4. Si Te Quieres Quedar
5. In The Middle
6. Missing You Today
Side B – 45 (Covers)
1. Abrázame
2. Só Louco
3. When I Fall In Love
One Club. 11-17-20. Hold It Down 🤘
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT IN ONE WEEK!The Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash are excited for November 17th at 11am when we will have a big announcement to share with everyone. It’ll be hosted by Stu Holden, and we can’t wait to share the future of the club with you. Get ready, and as always, Hold It Down H-Town.
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