Latest news with #Illinois-born
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
nuEra Cannabis and Balanced Veterans Network Team Up for Memorial Day Fundraiser
Supporting Veterans' Mental Health Through Cannabis Advocacy CHICAGO, May 30, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- nuEra Cannabis is proud to announce its continued partnership with the Balanced Veterans Network (BVN) for a Memorial Day weekend fundraiser aimed at supporting veterans' mental health and wellness through cannabis advocacy. Friday, May 23rd \, nuEra donated 5% of all sales from its house brands — including nuEra, Midweek Friday, and Interstate 420 — to BVN. This initiative underscores nuEra's commitment to giving back to those who have served. In addition to the fundraiser, nuEra hosted in-store events at select locations to engage with the community and raise awareness about veterans' issues. These events will feature educational sessions, product promotions, and opportunities for customers to learn more about BVN's nuEra CannabisnuEra Cannabis is an Illinois-born, family-owned and operated Cannabis retailer and wholesaler. As one of the original medical licensees in the state, we have played a significant role in shaping the cannabis industry from its inception. Today, we stand proudly as one of the largest independent, vertically integrated operators in Illinois. The name nuEra highlights the fact that legalization in Illinois didn't just change the laws on the books – it unleashed a whole new era of cannabis: an era in which cannabis is safer, higher quality and available in a greater variety than ever before. For further information, please visit About Balanced Veterans Network (BVN)Balanced Veterans Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a safe space for veterans to connect, heal, and grow. BVN provides education, advocacy, and support for alternative therapies, including cannabis, to combat issues such as PTSD, addiction, and suicide among veterans. Learn more at Stay connected with nuEra on social media:Twitter: @nuEraCannabisFacebook: @ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: CONTACT: For Further Information or Media Inquiries, Contact: Jonah Rapino Director of Marketing nuEra Cannabis media@ in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Leo's Upcoming Inauguration Mass: Everything to Know
Pope Leo XIV has taken the reins as leader of the Catholic Church, starting his first day as Pontiff with a mass at the Sistine Chapel, during which he called his election both a cross and a blessing. 'You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel,' Leo said, addressing the College of Cardinals. Although the Pope—formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost—has presided over his first service for the cardinals, the formal papal inauguration Mass is still more than a week away. There is no rule dictating how much time should pass between the conclusion of a conclave and the papal inauguration Mass, though this year's service will occur after a longer period of time than the last. When Pope Francis was elected as Pope on March 13, 2013, he was inaugurated just six days later. The election of the Illinois-born Pope Leo, 69, who holds dual citizenship from the U.S. and Peru, where he spent decades working as a missionary, has been greeted with excitement among the 1.4 billion Catholics living across the globe. The first American Pope also served as the head of the church's Dicastery for Bishops, and previously talked about his desire to look at the "challenges" facing the Catholic Church in the United States. Here's what we know so far about Pope Leo's inauguration Mass. The inauguration Mass is due to take place on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter's Square. Ahead of the inauguration, Leo has a busy schedule as he familiarizes himself with the papal responsibilities. He's due to have meetings with cardinals, the press, and hold prayer sessions. Global leaders will gather on May 18 for the papal inauguration Mass, which marks the official start of the Pope's term. Pope Francis' 2013 inauguration featured guests such as former U.S. President Joe Biden—the second Catholic President to serve in the United States, after John F. Kennedy—and Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez. The long service typically begins with a visit to St. Peter's tomb inside the Basilica. Deacons gather two objects: a fisherman's ring and the pallium, an ecclesiastical vestment worn by the Pope. During Pope Francis' inauguration, he gathered with nine other Catholic Church leaders at the Basilica to pray. A procession shortly followed into St. Peter's Square, during which the chant 'Laudes Regiae'—also known as "Christus vincit," the Latin phrase for'Christ is King/Christ conquers'—was recited. After performing his own version of this procession, the Pope will likely be presented with the pallium and the ring as a symbol of his taking of the papacy. The papal inauguration Mass then begins. While there is no strict time limit, Francis' inauguration Mass lasted for around two hours. Contact us at letters@
Time Magazine
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
What We Know So Far About Pope Leo's Upcoming Inauguration Mass
Pope Leo XIV has taken the reins as leader of the Catholic Church, starting his first day as Pontiff with a mass at the Sistine Chapel, during which he called his election both a cross and a blessing. 'You have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission, and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a church, as a community, as friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel,' Leo said, addressing the College of Cardinals. Although the Pope—formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost—has presided over his first service for the cardinals, the formal papal inauguration Mass is still more than a week away. There is no rule dictating how much time should pass between the conclusion of a conclave and the papal inauguration Mass, though this year's service will occur after a longer period of time than the last. When Pope Francis was elected as Pope on March 13, 2013, he was inaugurated just six days later. The election of the Illinois-born Pope Leo, 69, who holds dual citizenship from the U.S. and Peru, where he spent decades working as a missionary, has been greeted with excitement among the 1.4 billion Catholics living across the globe. The first American Pope also served as the head of the church's Dicastery for Bishops, and previously talked about his desire to look at the "challenges" facing the Catholic Church in the United States. Here's what we know so far about Pope Leo's inauguration Mass. When is the inauguration Mass? The inauguration Mass is due to take place on Sunday, May 18, at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter's Square. Ahead of the inauguration, Leo has a busy schedule as he familiarizes himself with the papal responsibilities. He's due to have meetings with cardinals, the press, and hold prayer sessions. What happens during the inauguration Mass? Global leaders will gather on May 18 for the papal inauguration Mass, which marks the official start of the Pope's term. Pope Francis' 2013 inauguration featured guests such as former U.S. President Joe Biden —the second Catholic President to serve in the United States, after John F. Kennedy—and Argentina's former President Cristina Fernandez. The long service typically begins with a visit to St. Peter's tomb inside the Basilica. Deacons gather two objects: a fisherman's ring and the pallium, an ecclesiastical vestment worn by the Pope. During Pope Francis' inauguration, he gathered with nine other Catholic Church leaders at the Basilica to pray. A procession shortly followed into St. Peter's Square, during which the chant 'Laudes Regiae'—also known as "Christus vincit," the Latin phrase for'Christ is King/Christ conquers'—was recited. After performing his own version of this procession, the Pope will likely be presented with the pallium and the ring as a symbol of his taking of the papacy. The papal inauguration Mass then begins. While there is no strict time limit, Francis' inauguration Mass lasted for around two hours.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Singer K.Flay says her cochlear implant 'feels like someone drilled a hole in my head' amid sudden sensorineural hearing loss: 'Bionic Flay is here'
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact a qualified medical professional before engaging in any physical activity, or making any changes to your diet, medication or lifestyle. is getting candid about her experience undergoing surgery to get a cochlear implant. The 39-year-old singer recently took to social media to share she had the procedure last week, detailing how she felt "pretty sick" post-surgery but is now recovering well. The Illinois-born artist, who has collaborated with artists like Canadian band Arkells and electronic duo Louis The Child, explained she had vertigo and was throwing up after the surgery. She also felt loud tinnitus — a ringing or similar noise in the ear — oddly similar to what she first experienced after losing hearing in her right ear in 2022. "I'm healing up nicely and doing better today. Still feels like someone drilled a hole in my head and installed something in my skull," she shared in an Instagram post alongside a photo of herself lying in bed with gauze wrapped around her head as she held two peace signs up with her hands. She added the cochlear implant will be activated in a few weeks and that she'll share another update then. "I haven't cried yet but I might cry then. Just wanna say a huge thank you to everyone for their support and encouragement as I've navigated losing my hearing and taking this big step," the "High Enough" artist added. "Every single show on tour, the gifts and cards, all your messages, they have truly given me so much hope and strength. ... Bionic flay is here." View this post on Instagram A post shared by (@kflay) The singer, whose real name is Kristine Meredith Flaherty, first opened up about losing her hearing in October 2022. She shared in a video back then she had woken up "completely deaf in my right ear" and experienced symptoms like vertigo, adding it felt scary and left her worried. After seeing specialists and getting various types of treatment, she said it looked like she wasn't going to regain hearing and that she had "single-sided deafness" in that ear. Since then, she's been sharing her journey with the sudden deafness and how she's been coping with the changes to her health. Last August, she shared she has constant tinnitus, explaining it's a "relentless noise, like the rush of raging water mixed with a static interference" that gets worse in loud spaces. "I feel very lonely in those moments, like I'm trapped in a room I know I can't leave. I often want to cry," she wrote in a post that month. She previously noted on "The Allison Hagendorf Show" she saw numerous specialists in California and was diagnosed with sudden sensorineural hearing loss. "It felt insane. The experience of losing my hearing has been the strangest and arguably most interesting experience of my life — it has been totally bizarre." View this post on Instagram A post shared by (@kflay) A cochlear implant is an electronic device that helps people with severe hearing loss who can't benefit from regular hearing aids. It has two parts: An implant placed in the inner ear during surgery and a sound processor worn behind the ear to pick up and filter sounds to turn into digital information. While traditional hearing aids make sounds louder like turning up the volume on a TV, a cochlear implant sends electronic signals to the hearing nerve. While hearing aids can help people with various types and levels of hearing loss, a cochlear implant can benefit people with severe conditions. Last year, The Bachelor contestant Daisy Kent opened up about having a cochlear implant to help with her Ménière's disease. Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is an unexplained and rapid loss of hearing that typically only affects one ear and develops within a few days. According to research published in a January 2025 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), it's defined "as hearing loss of 30 or more decibels across 3 contiguous audiometric frequencies within 72 hours." Hearing loss typically has a specific trauma and occurs over time in most cases. But if there's no object causing blockage leading to hearing loss, this is known as SSNHL, according to HearCANADA. On top of suddenly not being able to hear (typically in one ear), other SSNHL symptoms may include tinnitus, dizziness, a feeling of fullness in the affected ear and a sudden popping sound before your hearing decreases. It's also common for SSNHL to impact a person's mental health and overall quality of life. With SSNHL, the cause is unexplained. In some cases, it may be as simple as a build-up of earwax, which can be treated by a medical professional. In other cases, sudden hearing loss may be attributed to: Inner ear disorders, like Ménière's disease Ototoxic drug usage Autoimmune diseases Head trauma Vascular disorders Tumour on the auditory nerve According to the CMAJ, smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes and hypertension are some of the risk factors for SSNHL. Ninety per cent of cases have an unknown cause. There are around 30 cases of SSNHL per 100,000 people, according to the CMAJ. It mostly affects people within the 40- to 60-year age range. Research published in a March 2017 issue of the CMAJ indicated SSNHL impacts men and women equally. If you experience symptoms of SSNHL, it's important to visit a health-care professional as soon as possible to increase the chances of recovering your hearing. According to ENT Health, around half of patients with SSNHL will recover at least some hearing without treatment, However, people who have mild to moderate to severe hearing loss are considered in the "steroid-effective zone," ENT Health noted. That means they have a 75 to 80 per cent chance of recovery with steroid therapy. On the other hand, people with profound hearing loss — which is a complete loss of hearing accompanied with vertigo — and people over age 65 typically have a much lower chance of recovering their hearing.
Telegraph
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘Rock 'n' roll music does not belong to white men'
'I wish I had been there, in the late 1930s, when Sister Rosetta Tharpe first plugged her guitar into her little transistor amp,' says Beverley Knight. 'That's when this young black woman – with her beautiful little dimples – created the sound we've come to associate with all those white, male rock gods. She originated the guitar solo. She was playing with feedback and distortion, she was... the godmother of rock 'n' roll.' Today, it's only a kettle that Knight, the 1990s singer-turned-musical-theatre-star, is plugging in, during a break in rehearsals for the UK premiere of Marie and Rosetta, a musical bio-play by the Illinois-born George Brant, in which Knight plays Tharpe. But, briskly dropping teabags into our mugs, she comes to a righteous boil over the lack of recognition granted Tharpe these days. 'All those early, male rock 'n' roll artists were cool enough to give her credit,' she says. 'Elvis was obsessed with Rosetta. Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, all spoke about being inspired by her. Chuck Berry said his entire career was a tribute to her. Keith Richards knew she was one of the architects of the genre.' She shakes her head and tuts. 'But as the decades rolled on, that sound – along with its power stance – became the preserve of white dudes. To this day, overwhelmingly, the guitar is the preserve of men, and an extension of the phallus.' But Knight doesn't just blame the white rock dudes for Tharpe's erasure from musical history. She takes equal aim at the black Pentecostal Church in which Tharpe and, decades and miles apart, Knight herself were raised: the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). Why? 'Because the Church gatekeeps reputations and legacies,' says Knight. 'Although Tharpe began and ended her musical career as part of her worship, she made a few sexy, secular records in the middle and [the Church] believed she should only have used her gifts to praise 'the gloreeey o' God',' she growls out the phrase in jowl-wobbling mockery of a macho American preacher's voice, then rolls her eyes. 'So friggin' stupid of them!' Steam blown off, Knight settles down onto the sofa beside me and slips into the pedagogical storytelling mode that will be familiar to listeners of her long-running BBC Radio 2 show, Beverley's Gospel Nights. She reminds me that Tharpe was born in 1915 in the little town of Cotton Plant, Arkansas. Her parents were both singers, but after her birth, her father, Willis Atkins, 'ran out on them and went on to have about 17 more children'. Tharpe was raised entirely by her mother, Katie Bell Nubin, a singer and mandolin-playing deaconess missionary and women's speaker for COGIC, who encouraged little Rosetta to sing and play guitar. She quickly displayed such virtuosity that she was performing in public by the age of six. 'Her mum was smart enough to see she had a prodigy – or a 'miracle' – on her hands,' says Knight. She could also see that the girl 'had too much swing in her hips' for a small town in 1920s America, 'so she took her Mozartesque child to Chicago'. There, in 1934, Rosetta married Thomas Thorpe, a COGIC preacher, only to leave him four years later (though keeping a version of his surname for her professional pseudonym) and move to New York with her mother to record gospel songs for Decca. Early singles such as Rock Me and That's All were instant hits and led to her playing at Harlem's Cotton Club alongside secular blues and jazz artists such as Cab Calloway – but they outraged the conservative COGIC community. While she started out giving a lively new rhythm to spiritual songs, she was soon rocking out with more risqué material. Most scandalous was I Want a Tall Skinny Papa (1939), on which she sang of needing a man who had 'to do what he's told / And bring sweet mama that gold / Satisfy my soul / He's gotta be tall.' That may sound pretty tame by modern standards, but I've just watched Knight rehearsing a scene in which her Tharpe chuckles over all the men who hid that vinyl in the sleeves of holier records. Brant's play – first performed off-Broadway in 2016 – is set in the 1940s, as Tharpe is trying to find her way back into the COGIC's good books. She's beginning rehearsals for a tour with her young protégée, Marie Knight (played in the UK production by the Zimbabwean-British Ntombizodwa Ndlovu in her London stage debut), who initially appears meeker and straighter-laced than her mentor, but turns out to be a secret fan of Tharpe's wilder side. 'I'm fairly sure Rosetta and Marie had a sexual relationship,' says Knight. 'She didn't come out as queer because of the Church. But I've been reading Gayle F Wald's brilliant biography of her [2007's Shout, Sister, Shout!] and apparently there were a lot of people who saw them together, claimed to have caught them 'in flagrante'. So... yeah. It was the same with a lot of those pioneering blues women making it in a man's world, women like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. They may have married men, but they were queer women living their own lives and refusing to stay in their lanes.' Although Knight is straight (and has been happily married to James O'Keefe, a former lighting technician, since 2012), she relates to Tharpe's struggle to live on her own terms. Born in Wolverhampton in 1973, Knight was raised by Jamaican-born parents in the strict Pentescostal Church, where her mother, Deloris (who had come to England to train as a nurse), often led the congregation, and her father was known to the local community as 'the singing builder'. Little Beverley was 'singing my heart out in the pulpit from the age of four' and still credits the Church with 'teaching me to sing with everything I am, because that kind of ecstatic worship requires you to praise the Lord with everything you are… or it does until you hit puberty as a girl. At which point it wants to shut some parts of you away and lock them up.' Knight – who has a degree in theology – credits both her parents' tolerance and 'the invention of the Walkman' for her teenage embrace of secular music. She says her family, 'all still massively into their church', gradually 'accepted that I had my own point of view and that I was the kind of kid who would really argue it. They had also seen the darker side of what keeping a kid in a religious straitjacket could do: the rebellion, fear, estrangement. They had seen it with friends and with family.' Meantime, Beverley 'was listening to Prince on my Walkman and they didn't have a clue! You could write any label you wanted on those old cassettes, couldn't you?' As an adolescent, Knight was inspired by the way Prince's music transcended the genres traditionally prescribed to black people. 'He was exploratory, on an adventure with Lovesexy and Sign o' the Times. My mum and dad hated the posters I had up in my room. But he was teaching me to think outside of the box and I will always be grateful to him for that.' Knight got her first record deal in 1994, making three critically-acclaimed albums and scoring hits with Shoulda Woulda Coulda (2002) and Come as You Are (2004), but, despite comparisons to Whitney Houston, never achieved superstardom, partially because of her insistence on performing on her own terms. As a self-defined 'square peg in a round hole', she refused to adopt the sexualised image of a pop star, but neither would she toe the gospel line. Having only drunk alcohol once (accidentally) in her life and abstaining from drugs, she was never a party girl and of little interest to the tabloids. Some heavyweight musical insiders always championed her, though. Gary Barlow and Jools Holland are long-term fans and, after she left her record label in 2007, her childhood hero Prince stepped in to invite her on tour with him. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rose Theatre (@rosetheatrekingston) Did her parents see her music as ungodly? 'Yes, ultimately,' she winces. 'Because it's not explicitly Christian music. But I think they now understand that I'm not peddling things that are harmful. They know what I'm doing is not to the detriment of society. I've not 'backslidden'!' Knight's pyrotechnic vocals have been exploding from West End stages since she took the lead in The Bodyguard musical (based on the 1992 Whitney Houston film) in 2013. She's since starred in Cats, Sister Act, The Drifters Girl and, in 2023, Sylvia, a musical about the suffragette movement for which she won an Olivier award. Today, she tells me it's more important than ever to see 'black women, people of all types' on our stages as President Trump pushes on with his 'horrendous' reversal of diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the US. 'We are in the 21st century and a lot of progress is being rolled back,' she says as she carries our mugs to the sink and begins washing up. 'It is terrifying that they are defunding libraries and museums. They are trying to erase history and that is so scary.' For example, she says, the US government is 'trying to pretend that Medgar Evers did not serve in the military'. (Last month, a section dedicated to 'Notable African American Graves', featuring Evers, the civil-rights activist, among others, was removed from the Arlington National Cemetery website.) She's cross again now. 'Those people would also like to erase the maverick story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe from our history. But many of us are pushing back.' She points out that Amazon is developing Rosetta, a film in which the pop star Lizzo will play Tharpe. 'We have to keep the truth alive and rockin',' she says. 'And we have to be fearless about that.' Marie and Rosetta is at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames ( from Fri-May 24, then touring to Wolverhampton and Chichester
