White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre delivers the latest news from the White House.
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Vice President Kamala Harris will host a cannabis policy discussion Friday featuring rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshar and individuals who received pardons for related offenses, Politico reported.
The discussion comes as the Biden administration pushes for marijuana reform. During his State of the Union speech last week, President Joe Biden said his cabinet will “review the federal classification of marijuana.”
The trial of Young Thug and his YSL co-defendants resumes for its 42nd day in Fulton County court after more than a week without testimony. The trial, now the longest in Georgia history, has recently centered around Adrian Bean, who is accused of driving a getaway car after a shooting allegedly involving the rapper in 2013. Bean is expected to be back on the stand when court resumes.
President Biden speaks to voters at a campaign event in Saginaw, Michigan.
Under Armour on Wednesday announced that Kevin Plank, founder of the company, would return as the chief executive officer.
Plank, 51, stepped down as Under Armour’s CEO in 2020 to become the company’s executive chairman and brand chief. Stephanie Linnartz, the current president and CEO will step down but remain an advisor to the company through April 30.
“On behalf of the full team, I want to thank Stephanie for her contributions to Under Armour. We deeply appreciate her hard work and dedication,” Plank said in a news release. “During her tenure, she strengthened the leadership team with executive hires in critical areas, including product, design, supply chain, consumer connectivity, and regional management. Her prior experience leading major brands was instrumental in focusing our consumer strategy, including the launch of the U.S. loyalty program, UA Rewards. Her efforts have helped set us on the right path, and we wish her success in her future endeavors.”
Plank started Under Armour in 1996 in his grandmother’s basement. It has since grown into a multibillion-dollar company.
In addition to Plank’s appointment, Mohamed A. El-Erian, an independent director since 2018 and lead director since 2020, will become the non-executive chair of the board.
The Baltimore Ravens are expected to release wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. before midnight on Wednesday. ESPN’s Dan Graziano explained why the Ravens will formally release Beckham with a post-June 1 designation after restructuring his contract in January: Beckham signed a one-year deal worth up to $18 million last offseason. He finished the 2023 campaign with 35 catches for 565 yards and three touchdowns. The Ravens have seen a host of departures from their 13-4 team, which earned the AFC’s No. 1 seed before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Players who have left via free agency or trade include running back Gus Edwards, right tackle Morgan Moses, guard John Simpson, safety Geno Stone and linebacker Patrick Queen.
Now it appears Beckham will head elsewhere after just one season in Baltimore. The Ravens have a bona fide No. 1 wideout already in Zay Flowers, and they have depth behind him in Rashod Bateman and the re-signed Nelson Agholor. But sans Beckham, they could still use more reinforcements at the position to help reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson. Baltimore has already done work on offense to do just that, notably signing ex-Tennessee Titans superstar running back Derrick Henry. But it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Ravens use an early draft pick on a receiver once again to bolster the offense.
The judge overseeing former President Trump’s Georgia election subversion case on Wednesday dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three against the former president. Judge Scott McAfee’s order said prosecutors could seek to refile the quashed charges. It comes ahead of a highly anticipated decision over whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case. It’s a win for the former president, who has not seen any of his charges across his four criminal cases dismissed.
Trump still faces more than half a dozen counts in the Georgia case. The former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee originally faced 13 counts related to his alleged efforts to subvert 2020 election results in Georgia. Driving the news: McAfee in his Wednesday filing wrote that the six counts he’s dismissing against Trump and some of his co-defendants “contain all the essential elements of the crimes” but “fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission.” “They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways.” The counts that McAfee tossed relate to allegations that Trump and some of the co-defendants solicited the violation of oath by a public officer.
Dollar Tree will close nearly 1,000 stores and swung to a surprise fourth quarter loss as the discount retailer took a related $1.07 billion goodwill impairment charge. Shares tumbled 15% before the opening bell Wednesday. Dollar Tree plans to close about 600 Family Dollar stores in the first half of this year and 370 Family Dollar and 30 Dollar Tree stores over the next several years. Dollar Tree acquired Family Dollar for more than $8 billion almost a decade ago after a bidding war with rival Dollar General, but it has had difficulty absorbing the chain.
Years of mismanagement and poor conditions in stores have hurt Family Dollar’s brand. Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Tree, was recently fined more than $40 million for a rat infestation at a warehouse that forced hundreds of stores to temporarily close. Decades-high inflation has hit shoppers hard, and a general consumer pullback has impacted Family Dollar customers and the chain’s profits, exacerbating its battle with discount competitors such as Dollar General, Walmart and others.
Associated Press
Beyoncé has revealed that her Act II album will be titled Cowboy Carter. The chart-topping vocalist revealed the country record’s name on Tuesday, posting an image of a tacked-up saddle with a ribbon boasting its moniker in bold text to her Instagram Story. The post included a link to the artist’s webstore, which is now stocked with CD boxsets featuring limited-edition cover photos of Bey’s face, as well as exclusive vinyls in colors including red, white, blue and black. Notably, the CD boxsets have a bonus track and T-shirts boasting the record’s name. Beyoncé first announced the album on Super Bowl Sunday, quenching fans’ thirst with two new singles: “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The singer has not revealed further information about the record’s tracklist; however, in a recent interview with Knox News, Dolly Parton did hint that Bey’s countrified body of work would include a rendition of “Jolene.”
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign officially released a video for “CARNIVAL,” the Vultures Volume 1 track featuring Rich The Kid and Playboi Carti.
Jon Rafman, who also contributed to Hypebeast Magazine Issue 32, helmed the visual while Dario Alva and Garrett McGale worked on the CGI. The video arrives as “CARNIVAL” moved up to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving West his fifth chart-topper, Ty’s second and Rich the Kid and Carti’s first. This also makes Ye the only rapper in history to have topped the Hot 100 chart in three different decades — the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
“CARNIVAL” earned 33.7 million streams, 3.9 million radio airplay impressions and sold 3,000 downloads in the week of March 1 to March 7. It retained its third week on top of the Streaming Songs chart and jumped to No. 13 on the Digital Song Sales chart.
Watch the video for “CARNIVAL” above.
