PAUL WILLIAMS

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s ruling conservative coalition has six weeks to make up ground on the opposition Labor Party, which leads in the polls.

A clutch of live performances by Tony- and Grammy Award-nominated artists — including Micky Dolenz, Paul Williams, Michael Cerveris and LaChanze — have been collected into a benefit album for arts education.

It's a long way from New Orleans (or even Mobile) but colorful beads, masks and feathers will be hard to miss at 8th annual Mardi...

Analysis shows 4 in 5 at-risk renters living in coronavirus hot spots, sparking fears of more sickness and death if an eviction wave materializes.

Analysis shows 4 in 5 at-risk renters living in coronavirus hot spots, sparking fears of more sickness and death if an eviction wave materializes.

Virus Outbreak Britain Park Run People take part in the Park Run at Bushy Park in London, Saturday July 24, 2021, one of many runs taking place across the country for the first time since March 2020 when the event was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP) (Victoria Jones)LONDON — (AP) — After 16 months of solo jogging, Saturday's return of the weekly 5-kilometer mass runs in England's parks was met with widespread jubilation. Days after all remaining lockdown restrictions were lifted in England, the organized 5K runs were allowed to resume for the first time since the pandemic struck in March 2020. The runs have also showcased a solidarity within a society that has fissured on many other levels. Williams, who has learning disabilities and a bad leg, has been a familiar face at the weekly event since 2015.

After 16 months of solo jogging, the return of the weekly 5-kilometer mass park runs across England was met with widespread jubilation.

A ban on foreclosures is ending at the same time as that on evictions, but the White House rolled out new refinancing measures and other initiatives.

$1K concert tickets A Florida promoter is charging $999.99 a ticket for fans who cannot show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination. If you cannot show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination, that is how much you will be charged for a ticket to the June 26 punk-rock event at a Florida venue. “We’re just trying to do a show safely,” Williams told WFTS. 'No-vax tax' increases concert ticket prices fifty-fold for unvaccinatedhttps://t.co/pR5xUxGKIr pic.twitter.com/O6FUgXgM0X — ABC Action News (@abcactionnews) May 26, 2021“I saw the announcement for the concert. “I compare it to what we see right now with Dunkin Donuts giving you a free doughnut when you show your vaccine card,” Williams told the television station.

The Conservatives are heading for victory in Thursday's by-election in Hartlepool, the leader of the council believes, as Boris Johnson warned that the party faced a fight. During a visit to a seafront fish and chip restaurant in the north-eastern constituency, the Prime Minister said: "I have always believed that it was going to be a tough fight, and I still believe that is the case." Mr Johnson said he hoped voters would focus on the "massive opportunities" the Tories had brought by delivering on Brexit. Hartlepool residents backed leaving the European Union by 70 percent in 2016. He said: "Here in Hartlepool, for instance, you've got a fantastic community that voted for change in 2016 and we're delivering that change and I hope that they will come forward and vote for change again." Read more: Will more bricks fall from the 'Red Wall'? Despite Mr Johnson's warning of a "tough" ride at the polls, Shane Moore, the independent leader of Hartlepool Council, told The Telegraph the feeling on the ground is that the Tories will win. He said: "It's theirs to lose. "Hartlepool over the years was Labour through and through. People said 'I voted Labour because my dad voted Labour', but it's been broken and it's difficult to get those votes back. Almost perversely, Boris Johnson has, bizarrely, managed to speak more to the working class and Hartlepudlian."

"This by-election hasn’t got anything to do with the red brick or the red line or whatever you call it," sighs Mike Tilling, the headmaster of the Hartlepool’s High Tunstall College of Science. "Outside journalists come to do political stories here and they head straight for the dole centre and the Wetherspoons." As we walk through his comprehensive school’s sparkly new building, he tuts that not one candidate has visited the school, even though it’s just had a multi-million pound refurbishment. Instead, Chancellor Rishi Sunak opted for a visit to the town’s snazzy new film studio development at the town’s Northern School of Art, dubbed the ‘Pinewood of the North’. "Hartlepool’s problem is all the buzz about development is unfocused. The town lacks a single anchor - like the Nissan plant in nearby Sunderland. If a big employer moved in, the local school curriculums could be organised around specific technical skills," says Mr Tilling. "None of those standing seem to quite get it." By-elections are notorious for exposing the gulf between Westminster and local world-views. Career politicians are parachuted into a place they have never visited. The London commentariat descend in their droves, determined to insert the day’s exotic location into some wider Westminster psychodrama.

FILE - Johnny Mandel appears at the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Awards Ceremony and Concert in New York on Jan. 11, 2011. Mandel, the Oscar- and Grammy- winning composer, arranger and musician, died Monday, June 29, 2020, of a cardiac ailment at his home in Ojai, Calif. There are many ways to describe the legendary composer Johnny Mandel. I just work with whats there and try to do the best with whats there.As an arranger, Mandel worked with some of the greatest singers of his time. Why didnt you write the lyrics to The Shadow of Your Smile? Mandel told the NEA.