Latest news with #HEAT
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rita Ora flaunts her figure in tiny bralette and hotpants as she poses for sultry behind-the-scenes snaps in the SHOWER after taking to the stage as supporting act on Kylie Minogue's tour
Rita Ora set pulses racing on Monday evening as she posed up a storm in her skimpy performance outfit, after taking to stage in Vancouver as Kylie Minogue 's supporting act. The singer, 34, slipped into a tiny cream bralette, displaying her toned midriff and a hint of cleavage, for an impromptu photoshoot in a shower room. She added a pair of coordinating lace-up shorts, leaving her long legs exposed, and thick black belt adorned with metal chains, for an edgy touch. Rita completed the show-stopping ensemble with white heeled boots and a silver choker, as she turned to pose from all angles to showcase her tiny waist and enviable assets. The Poison hitmaker wore her long hair in loose waves and sported a full face of glamorous makeup, complete with performance-ready sparkly eyeshadow. She included a string of pictures of her rocking the outfit on stage and belting out her hits to the excited crowd at the Pacific Coliseum. Demonstrating her showmanship, she strutted around the stage and performed choreography alongside several female backing dancers. Captioning her post, Rita gushed over the attendees to the show and voiced her excitement for her next show in Los Angeles. She penned: 'Vancouver you were unreal! Can't believe there's only one show to go, see you on Friday, LA! It's gonna be a party'. It comes as the latest glimpse at the behind-the-scenes of Kylie's tour from Rita, after treating fans to a look at her shows in Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin, Miami, Orlando and Atlanta. The former Masked Singer judge has joined Kylie for the majority of the US leg of her Tension Tour as a special guest. Her show in Miami was extra special for fans, as she surprised the crowd with a performance of her unreleased new single HEAT. Delivering a stunning performance, the high energy set also included some of her biggest hits such as Your Song. Teasing the new single on stage Rita said: 'I'm just gonna play you my new single because its called Heat and it just makes sense being here in Miami. It's coming out pretty soon.' The former Masked Singer judge has joined Kylie for the majority of the US leg of her Tension Tour as a special guest Rita's team-up with Kylie comes after she previously revealed that the Spinning Around star's 2023 mega-hit, Padam Padam, was nearly given to her. The synth-pop banger - penned by Norwegian singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen and producer Lostboy - was a viral hit for Kylie. But several artists were asked if they wanted to record it, including the Anywhere singer, because they didn't feel it was a Kylie song. Lostboy told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: 'We wrote Padam in February 2022 and there were maybe four or five months of us sitting on it, then I sent it to their label, and someone suggested to me, "Kylie would kill this".' He added: 'They were unsure and there was a moment when Rita was going to cut it and it was worming around a few artists on that label. 'They were trying to make it work but they didn't think it was for Kylie.' Kylie's Tension Tour will conclude on August 26. She will then head to New York for two shows at Madison Square Garden before stopping for one show at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rita Ora shows off bold new look as she shares snaps of her downtime while supporting Kylie Minogue on the US leg of her tour
She often changes up her look. But Rita Ora debuted one of her boldest yet as she shared new snaps to her Instagram on Monday. The singer, 34, had on a dark wig with a fringe as she posed up a storm on one of her 'off days' from supporting Kylie Minogue on the US leg of her world tour. The star - who usually sports curly, honey tresses - showed off her figure in the snaps as she wore skimpy green neon shorts and a white T-shirt. Presumably taken in her hotel room in Arizona, she snapped a series of mirror selfies and uploaded them. Rita completed her look with black leather ballet pumps and fixed the camera with a sultry stare. Her post comes after she shared behind the scenes snaps on Instagram last Wednesday while supporting Kylie tour in Miami. She flaunted her incredible figure in the daring skintight lace and satin costume which she paired with towering knee high white boots. Rita left her long blonde tresses loose and draped a coordinated crocheted veil over her head as she crouched down backstage while posing for photos. The Poison songstress later pulled on a red Miami Heat basketball shirt ahead of taking to the stage in the East coast. The former Masked Singer judge performed a number of her hits at the Kaseya Center as she joined Kylie on her Tension Tour. Rita will be joining The Loco-Motion hitmaker for the majority of the US leg of her tour as a special guest. Rita was joined on stage by her dancers and in a fitting surprise for the crowd she performed her unreleased new single HEAT. Delivering a stunning performance, the high energy set also included some of her biggest hits such as Your Song. Presumably taken in her hotel room in Arizona, she snapped a series of mirror selfies and uploaded them.= The synth-pop banger - penned by Norwegian singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen and producer Lostboy - was a viral hit for Kylie Teasing the new single on stage Rita said: 'I'm just gonna play you my new single because its called Heat and it just makes sense being here in Miami. It's coming out pretty soon.' Rita is supporting Kylie for the first leg of her tour after she previously revealed that Kylie's 2023 mega-hit from Tension, Padam Padam, was nearly given to her. The synth-pop banger - penned by Norwegian singer-songwriter Ina Wroldsen and producer Lostboy - was a viral hit for Kylie. But several artists were asked if they wanted to record it, including the Anywhere singer, because they didn't feel it was a Kylie song.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Standoff on FOIA reform and House transparency efforts continue as the sun sets on Sunshine Week
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall at a press conference on Jan. 23, 2025. | Kyle Davidson For reporters and good government advocates, the push for greater transparency in Michigan has been constant and often disappointing, as efforts to reform the state's Freedom of Information Act have repeatedly died on the vine over the last decade. As civic organizations across the nation amplify calls for transparency and open government in celebration of Sunshine Week, which lasts from March 16 through March 22, Democratic leadership in the Michigan Senate and Republican leadership in the Michigan House have deadlocked on two different proposals intended to hold elected officials accountable. After the Senate's Jan. 29 vote to advance the bipartisan effort — symbolically introduced as Senate Bills 1 and 2, making it the Senate's first legislative priority for the session — Sens. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) have found themselves in a similar situation to when their effort first cleared the Republican-led Michigan House almost a decade ago as they await action on the legislation in the state House. Moss was hopeful they would be able to replicate the same success they saw in 2015 and pass their plan to extend FOIA to the governor's office and the Legislature through the Republican-led House. However, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall quickly thwarted those plans, declaring the bills dead at a Jan. 30 press conference, telling reporters the bills would be referred to the House Government Operations Committee, which acts as a functional graveyard for legislation. 'People tell me that [the Senate] passed a bill, a watered-down FOIA bill. And you know, we're not going to pass that,' said Hall, who previously raised concerns about the state of Michigan's Freedom of Information Act in a March 2024 letter to then House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit). While some Senate Republicans criticized the plan for a variety of exemptions, including constituent communications and records 'created, prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained' by the governor, lieutenant governor and their offices for less than 30 days, the bills ultimately received broad bipartisan support, passing the chamber with a vote of 33-2. Hall has instead focused on his own ethics, accountability and transparency plan — dubbing it the HEAT plan — which includes new rules for legislative spending initiative requests and legislation barring state lawmakers and their staff from entering into nondisclosure agreements alongside an expansion of the House oversight committee, which now holds subpoena power. While five of the plan's six components have passed through the Michigan House, some with bipartisan support, their fate in the Democratic-led Michigan Senate is yet to be determined. Though Democrats have sought to tie-bar some pieces of the plan to FOIA reform, their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. 'We all see HEAT is a much more significant transparency, ethics and accountability plan,' Hall said at a Feb. 20 press conference, criticizing the Senate's FOIA plan for not applying retroactively, with the bills taking effect on Jan. 1, 2027 if passed before the final six months of 2026. McBroom previously told the Michigan Advance that he and Moss would have no problem doing something more immediate, noting the decision to structure the bills this way was due to the amount of time needed to implement the bills and the lack of consistency of records that are currently retained by policymakers without FOIA requirements in place. While Hall has touted the HEAT plan as the 'most transformative' transparency and ethics package passed through the Legislature in many years, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said the package is picking at the edges when it comes to transparency and building trust with constituents. 'They're a useful distraction from the main transparency tool that we have. Nearly every other state in the nation has transparency and subjects the Legislature to the Freedom of Information Act. We've seen this with Trump. We're seeing it with Speaker Hall. You know, when they don't want to do something, they just distract and try to get folks focused on other less important or different things,' Brinks said. Michigan is one of two states where the governor and the Legislature are exempt from FOIA, Massachusetts being the other. The state is also consistently ranked at the bottom for transparency and public accountability measures, with a 2015 report from the Center for Public Integrity ranking Michigan dead last. Another report from the Coalition for Integrity ranked Michigan 48th compared to the other 50 states and Washington, D.C. Though she has had conversations on multiple policies with Hall, Brinks said she would characterize them as unproductive. While Brinks is absolutely willing to move 'good legislation' they'll need willing partners in order to have a conversation about transparency and ethics, and she said that's not something they have at the moment. 'There's no question that FOIA stands on its own, and it is the gold standard in terms of government transparency in the United States, and it's shameful that Michigan is nearly dead last every time there's an evaluation of our ethics standards in our state,' Brinks said. Hall could not be reached for an interview due to scheduling conflicts. A spokesperson for Hall did not respond to a request for comment as of the time of publication. Lisa McGraw, the public affairs manager for the Michigan Press Association said that comparing FOIA to Hall's transparency efforts was like comparing apples to oranges. 'They're all the same in that they hold folks accountable,' McGraw said, noting that they support the House's transparency efforts, 'but you know, first and foremost, I think they need to hold themselves accountable as far as allowing the public to see what they're doing.' House Democrats have also reintroduced several bills aimed at improving political accountability by allowing the Secretary of State to take legal action to stop alleged campaign finance violations and limit the influence of lobbying and financial interests on lawmakers. While the Michigan Press Association supported the bills when they were introduced in 2024, and is completely in support of more openness and transparency, the disclosure of campaign finance records and legislative records are needed to show the complete picture, McGraw said. 'For now, I'd be happy to have Michigan not be in the basement of ethics and transparency in the country,' she said. While the Senate's FOIA bills are a great start, McGraw said she'd like to see less of an overall exemption on constituent communications, raising additional concerns on exempting the governor from FOIA on decisions to grant or deny a reprieve, pardon or commutation. 'I think that could end up being quite problematic, really, if something were to go wrong with someone who was released and, you know, we didn't know why,' McGraw said. While she can appreciate the ideas behind the House's other transparency efforts, the fundamentals need to be in place first, McGraw said. 'And to me, the fundamental is subject yourself to FOIA,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Miami Herald
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
South Florida HEAT's first trip to girls' soccer state semifinals ends with lopsided loss
After years of success, only to be turned away many times in the regional finals, the South Florida HEAT girls soccer team finally made it to the state final four. But their first state 'experience' turned out to be a quick one. The HEAT, (which stands for Home Education Athletic Teams) a collection of home-schooled students who have no school or home field, were faced with the gigantic task of taking on Orange Park St. Johns Country Day - a 14-time state champion. The result was predictable. Country Day, which won 11 straight state titles from 2012-22, scored just 47 seconds into the game and never slowed down, mowing down the HEAT 6-0 in a Class 1A state semifinal on Wednesday night at Spec Martin Stadium. The Spartans, 19-3-1, advance to Saturday's 1A championship game where they will take on Hobe Sound Pine School at 1 p.m. and look to tie St. Thomas Aquinas for the most titles in the state with 15. They were tied for second last week when Plantation American Heritage won No. 14. 'We hung in there for a little while but I guess eventually the dam broke,' HEAT coach Bob Bemis said. 'But the girls never gave up, even right to the very end and I can't be more proud of them for that. All heart. What will they remember from tonight? They'll remember the experience, they'll remember the loss, but they'll also know that they left everything out here. The victory is in the effort and that's what they'll take from tonight.' Bemis could only watch helplessly as his outgunned players did everything they could to hang in there in the first half. Even after Calli Berang popped that early first minute goal in off a perfectly placed free kick from 20 yards out on the left side, HEAT players didn't flinch. The game was still a one goal game at the first half water break but then Country Day struck quickly. First came a foul by HEAT player Hannah Brankamp in the penalty box giving Cece Nowicki a penalty kick which she converted and just 60 seconds later, Reygan Ropero scored off an assist from Madisyn Bowman to make it 3-0 at the half. The Spartans then came out in the second half and slam dunked things away by scoring three goals in a five-minute span to make it 6-0 with 28 minutes left and that was that. 'We obviously knew what we had in front of us going into tonight,' said HEAT senior captain Eden Greenfield, who led her team this season with 52 goals. 'I'll admit we were pretty nervous because we had heard so much about them and everything they had accomplished. Honestly, for what our expectations were, I actually think we played better than we thought we would. Even if the score was 6-0, I'm proud of my team and really glad that we got up here and got to play here. It's always been a dream for me to play at state and that was realized tonight.' The game also marked the end of a two-decade career for Bemis as the head coach and athletic director of the program as he announced that he was stepping down. He and his wife Gina started the ministry in 2004 and built it to the point where they once had a total of 11 athletic teams going at one time including football. 'A great run here but time to make room for some younger blood,' quipped Bemis with a wink. 'Someone a little younger, a little more into social media because athletics and athletes are changing in general. We're proud of what we built here and want to keep the success going.'
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ahead of Whitmer's State of the State, Michigan's GOP leaders tout priorities, air frustrations
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) met with reporters after session on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 to outline his hope for the 2025 State of the State Address. | Kyle Davidson With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer preparing to give her seventh State of the State Address on Wednesday night, Republican leadership in Michigan's House and Senate met with reporters to share the policies they hoped to see the Democrat tackle in her speech. Michigan Speaker of the House Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said that since the Legislature struck a deal to preserve the state's tipped minimum wage rate and trimming back changes to the state's earned sick time requirements, road funding is the next major issue to tackle. 'We were able to come together in a bipartisan way and solve a very complex problem that was so important to our business community and to our workers,' Hall said Tuesday. 'I think we have some momentum, and my hope is that we can build on that momentum, and we can really solve this roads problem by focusing on local roads and showing how we can fix the roads without raising taxes.' But Hall also said he hopes Whitmer takes note that his chamber has forged ahead on several transparency policies. The Hall Ethics, Accountability and Transparency – or HEAT – plan includes new rules for legislative spending initiative requests and legislation barring state lawmakers and their staff from entering into nondisclosure agreements. The plan also includes Hall's expansion of the House Oversight Committee, which now holds subpoena power. The final piece of the plan, and the only effort that has yet to receive the House's approval, is a proposed constitutional amendment, which would require a two-thirds vote to pass legislation during the lame duck period which follows the November election in even numbered years. It's known as a lame duck period because a lawmaker has either won reelection, or an opponent or successor has been elected. Alongside support for the HEAT plan, Hall said he would like to see additional details on the governor's road funding plan, unveiled on Feb. 10. Road funding has been a top priority for the state's Republican leaders and the governor, although they've had political disagreements over how to get it done. Hall and his caucus refused to show up for work during lame duck in December unless Democrats took action on road funding, as well as efforts to curtail changes to the state's minimum wage laws that were set to take effect on Feb. 21. Since she launched her 2018 campaign for governor, Whitmer has pledged to 'fix the damn roads' in the state. However, her 2019 plan to boost road funding by increasing the gas tax fell flat with the GOP-controlled Legislature and was never enacted. Her proposal allocates $3 billion to road repairs by ensuring gas tax revenue goes toward fixing the roads, cutting costs within the state budget, closing a tax loophole for marijuana and asking big tech corporations to pay their share in taxes for doing business in the state. House Republicans released their updated road funding plan on Jan. 16, providing $3.145 billion in funding 'without raising taxes.' Of the more than $3.1 billion in Hall's proposal, $2.2 billion of that funding would stem from dedicated corporate income tax funding, freeing up funding from older tax breaks, preventing spending on legislative special projects and economic development funding, and reallocating money from expiring corporate placemaking and community development funds. It also incorporates $600 million in ongoing general funds from higher than expected tax returns projected by the state's legislative fiscal agencies and the budget office. Similar to Whitmer's proposal, Hall's plan would also allocate all taxes paid at the pump to road funding. Nesbitt calls for special election and policies to support Michigan families While Hall honed in on more specific proposals, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) aired broader grievances with the governor's leadership. 'What I'm hoping for is a real agenda on lowering the cost of living, fixing our roads, improving education – something that actually is a pragmatic way of solving the most pressing problems in the state,' Nesbitt said. 'Unfortunately, from the social media governor we'll probably be seeing a bit more fluff and public relations and poll-tested messaging than solving some of those issues,' Nesbitt said. Nesbitt called attention to the open seat in Michigan's 35th Senate district, left vacant when U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) resigned in December to serve in Congress, demanding Whitmer call a special election to fill the vacant Senate seat. 'There's 270,000 constituents in mid-Michigan that are not represented right now in the State Senate,' Nesbitt said. McDonald Rivet was elected to the State Senate in 2022, receiving 53.38% of the vote against former State Rep. Annette Glen (R-Midland), who received 46.62% of the vote. Given that Whitmer called for a special election two weeks in safe blue districts after two-members of the formerly Democratic-led House won elections to serve as mayor in their hometown, Nesbitt accused her of holding off on calling a special election for political reasons. Democrats currently hold a slim 19-18 majority in the Senate, with a special election opening the chamber up to a 19-19 split, leaving Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist as the tie breaking vote within the chamber. 'We got elected to solve problems, to solve issues going into this new term, and I think the voters in November spoke pretty loudly that they wanted to see a rebalancing of power instead of this far-left socialist agenda that the Democrats had been ramming through over the last two years,' Nesbitt said. While Nesbitt criticized the Whitmer administration's approach to economic development, he praised House Republicans' road-funding plan. 'It's a serious plan, one that actually shows that we can get there if we don't fund corporate welfare,' Nesbitt said in reference to the proposal's plan to divert and prevent economic development spending to pay for road repairs. He also raised concerns about education, noting that only three-fourths of fourth graders and eighth graders in Michigan could read at grade level. He blamed the state's COVID-19 lockdowns and Democratic policies including repealing the state's third grade reading law. Nesbitt boiled down all the issues to dueling questions. 'Do we continue to keep the status quo that we've seen under Gov. Whitmer? Or do we shake things up here in Lansing? And we work to grow the number of jobs, the prosperity, grow the number of people here in the state and actually get serious with education.'
