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Inflation causes changes in tax brackets, a bump in Social Security, and more of the week's top news

Oct 21, 2022
Oct 21, 2022 Updated Jan 24, 2023
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From news about the impending jump in Social Security payments, to multiple Trump headlines, here's the top stories from the past week.

IRS ups standard deductions, tax brackets due to inflation. Here's what to know.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taxpayers will get fatter standard deductions for 2023 and all seven federal income tax bracket levels will be revised upward as the government allows people to shield more of their money from taxation because of persistently high inflation.

For couples who file jointly for tax year 2023, the standard deduction increases to $27,700 up $1,800 from tax year 2022, the IRS announced. Single taxpayers and married people filing separately will see their the standard deduction rise to $13,850, up $900, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $20,800, up $1,400.

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Explainer: What to know about the Social Security increase

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?

The U.S. government is about to announce an increase to how much the more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries will get every month. Some estimates say the boost may be as big as 9%.

WHAT DO BENEFICIARIES HAVE TO DO TO GET IT?

Nothing.

WILL THIS BE THE BIGGEST INCREASE EVER?

No, but it's likely the heftiest in 40 years, which is longer than the vast majority of Social Security beneficiaries have been getting payments. In 1981, the increase was 11.2%.

WHEN WILL THE BIGGER PAYMENTS BEGIN?

January. They're also permanent, and they compound. That means the following year's percentage increase, whatever it ends up being, will be on top of the new, larger payment beneficiaries get after this most recent raise.

HOW BIG WAS THIS PAST YEAR'S INCREASE?

5.9%, which itself was the biggest in nearly four decades.

WHAT'S THE TYPICAL INCREASE?

Since 2000, it's averaged 2.3% as inflation remained remarkably tame through all kinds of economic swings. During some of the toughest years in that stretch, the bigger worry for the economy was actually that inflation was running too low.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the U.S. government has announced zero increases to Social Security benefits three times because inflation was so weak.

SO THE INCREASE IS TO MAKE UP FOR INFLATION?

That's the intent. As Americans have become painfully aware over the past year, each $1 doesn't go as far at the grocery store as it used to.

HAS SOCIAL SECURITY ALWAYS GIVEN SUCH INCREASES?

No. The first American to get a monthly retirement check from Social Security, Ida May Fuller from Ludlow, Vermont, got the same $22.54 monthly benefit for 10 years.

Automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments didn't begin for Social Security until 1975, after a law passed in 1972 requiring them.

HOW IS THE SIZE OF THE INCREASE SET?

It's tied to a measure of inflation called the CPI-W index, which tracks what kinds of prices are being paid by urban wage earners and clerical workers.

More specifically, the increase is based on how much the CPI-W increases from the summer of one year to the next.

IS THAT THE INFLATION MEASURE EVERYONE FOLLOWS?

No. People generally pay more attention to a much broader measure of inflation, the CPI-U index, which covers all urban consumers. That covers 93% of the total U.S. population.

The CPI-W, meanwhile, covers only about 29% of the U.S. population. It has been around longer than the CPI-U, which the government began compiling only after the legislation that required Social Security's annual increases be linked to inflation.

IS THAT WEIRD?

Yes, and some critics have argued for years that Social Security should change to a different measure, one that's pegged to older people in particular.

Another experimental index, called CPI-E, is supposed to offer a better reflection of how Americans aged 62 and above spend their money. It has historically shown higher rates of inflation for older Americans than the CPI-U or CPI-W, but it has not taken hold. Neither have other measures compiled by organizations outside the government that hope to show how inflation affects older Americans specifically.

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WHY NOT USE ONE OF THOSE OTHER INDEXES?

To calculate the CPI-E, the government pulls from the same survey data used to measure the broad CPI-U. But there are relatively few older households in that data set, meaning it may not be the most accurate.

All indexes give just a rough approximation of what inflation really is. But the more pressing challenge may be that if the government switched to a different index, one that showed higher inflation for older Americans, Social Security would have to pay out higher benefits.

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HOW IS THE SIZE SET FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS?

Through a complicated formula that takes into account several factors, including how much a worker made in their 35 highest-earning years. Generally, those who made more money and those who wait longer to start getting Social Security get larger benefits, up to a point.

This year, the maximum allowed benefit for someone who retired at full retirement age is $3,345 monthly.

WILL RICH PEOPLE GET THE SAME BOOST IN SOCIAL SECURITY?

Yes. Everyone gets the same percentage increase, whether they have millions of dollars in retirement savings or are just scraping by.

IF THE INCREASE IS BASED ON INFLATION IN URBAN AREAS, WILL PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS GET THE SAME BOOST?

Yes.

"The COLA doesn't take into account where you live or your actual spending patterns," said William Arnone, CEO of the National Academy of Social Insurance. "For some people, it's an overstatement of cost of living for, say, small towns in the Midwest versus urban areas like New York, D.C. or Chicago. With many older people choosing to live in suburban areas or rural areas, some will benefit more" than others from the same-sized increase.

IS THE INCREASE BAD NEWS FOR ANYONE?

It's great news for every beneficiary and for the businesses around them that could see more in sales.

But it also means the Social Security system is paying out more, which can add more strain on its trust fund.

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WILL THIS MAKE INFLATION WORSE?

It will put more cash in the hands of people who mostly really need it, and they're very likely to use it. That will feed more fuel into the economy, which could keep upward pressure on inflation.

Social Security's boost, though, will have a smaller impact on the economy than past stimulus packages provided by Washington, snarls in supply chains caused by worldwide shutdowns of businesses or other factors that economists say are behind the worst inflation in decades.

SO EVERYTHING'S GOING TERRIBLY?

The risk of a recession seems to grow by the day, but many economists expect inflation to come down as interest-rate hikes take effect and supply chains continue to improve.

Economists at Deutsche Bank, for example, expect inflation to ease from 8.2% this past August to 7.2% in the last three months of this year. In 2023, they see it dropping to 3.9% in the second half of the year.

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Robbie Coltrane, Hagrid in 'Harry Potter' films, dies at 72

Robbie Coltrane — British actor Robbie Coltrane arrives in Trafalgar Square in central London for the world premiere of "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the last film in the series, on July 7, 2011.
AP Photo/Joel Ryan

LONDON (AP) — Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane, who played a crime-solving psychologist on TV series "Cracker" and the half-giant Hagrid in the "Harry Potter" movies, has died. He was 72.

Coltrane's agent Belinda Wright said he died Friday at a hospital in Scotland. She did not give a cause.

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Photos: Notable Deaths in 2022

Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II — Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and a rock of stability across much of a turbulent century, died Sept. 8, 2022, after 70 years on the throne. She was 96. A link to the almost-vanished generation that fought World War II, she was the only monarch most Britons have ever known, and her name defines an age: the modern Elizabethan Era. The impact of her loss will be huge and unpredictable, both for the nation and for the monarchy, an institution she helped stabilize and modernize across decades of huge social change and family scandals.
AP file, 2022

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John — Olivia Newton-John, the Grammy-winning superstar who reigned on pop, country, adult contemporary and dance charts with such hits as “Physical” and “You’re the One That I Want” and won countless hearts as everyone’s favorite Sandy in the blockbuster film version of “Grease,” died Aug. 8, 2022. She was 73. From 1973-83, Newton-John was among the world’s most popular entertainers. She had 14 top 10 singles just in the U.S., won four Grammys, starred with John Travolta in “Grease” and with Gene Kelly in “Xanadu.” The fast-stepping Travolta-Newton-John duet, “You’re the One That I Want,” was one of the era’s biggest songs and has sold more than 15 million copies.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Bill Russell

Bill Russell — Bill Russell, the NBA great who anchored a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 championships in 13 years — the last two as the first Black head coach in any major U.S. sport — and marched for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr., died July 31, 2022. He was 88. A Hall of Famer, five-time Most Valuable Player and 12-time All-Star, Russell in 1980 was voted the greatest player in NBA history by basketball writers. He remains the sport’s most prolific winner and an archetype of selflessness who won with defense and rebounding while leaving the scoring to others.
AP file, 1966

Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier — Sidney Poitier, the groundbreaking actor and enduring inspiration who transformed how Black people were portrayed on screen and became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for best lead performance and the first to be a top box-office draw, died Jan. 6, 2022. He was 94. Poitier won the best actor Oscar in 1964 for “Lilies of the Field.”
AP file, 2008

Naomi Judd

Naomi Judd — Naomi Judd, whose family harmonies with daughter Wynonna turned them into the Grammy-winning country stars The Judds, died April 30, 2022 at age 76. The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. The red-headed duo combined the traditional Appalachian sounds of bluegrass with polished pop stylings, scoring hit after hit in the 1980s. Wynonna led the duo with her powerful vocals, while Naomi provided harmonies and stylish looks on stage.
AP file, 2012

James Caan

James Caan — James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as both the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song” and the casino boss in “Las Vegas,” died July 6, 2022. He was 82. After a break from acting in the 1980s, Caan returned to full-fledged stardom opposite Kathy Bates in “Misery” in 1990. He introduced himself to a new generation playing Walter, the workaholic, stone-faced father of Buddy’s Will Ferrell in “Elf.”
AP file, 2016

Bob Saget

Bob Saget — Bob Saget, the actor-comedian known for his role as beloved single dad Danny Tanner on the sitcom “Full House” and as the wisecracking host of “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” died Jan. 9, 2022. He was 65.
AP file, 2019

Anne Heche

Anne Heche — Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53. By the late 1990s Heche was one of the hottest actors in Hollywood, a constant on magazine covers and in big-budget films. In 1997 alone, she played opposite Johnny Depp as his wife in “Donnie Brasco” and Tommy Lee Jones in “Volcano” and was part of the ensemble cast in the original “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

2022: Meat Loaf

2022: Meat Loaf — One year ago: Meat Loaf, the rock superstar known for his “Bat Out of Hell” album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” died at age 74.
AP file, 1994

Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols — Nichelle Nichols, who broke barriers for Black women in Hollywood when she played communications officer Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek” television series, died July 30, 2022, at the age of 89. Her role in the 1966-69 series as Lt. Uhura earned Nichols a lifelong position of honor with the series’ rabid fans, known as Trekkers and Trekkies. It also earned her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.
AP file, 2017

Taylor Hawkins

Taylor Hawkins — Taylor Hawkins, for 25 years the drummer for Foo Fighters and best friend of frontman Dave Grohl, died during a South American tour with the rock band. He was 50. Hawkins was Alanis Morissette's touring drummer when he joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He played on the band's biggest albums including “One by One” and “In Your Honor,” and on hit singles like “Best of You.”
AP file, 2012

Bernard Shaw

Bernard Shaw — Bernard Shaw, CNN’s chief anchor for two decades and a pioneering Black broadcast journalist best remembered for calmly reporting the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991 as missiles flew around him in Baghdad, died Sept. 7, 2022. He was 82. Shaw was at CNN for 20 years and was known for remaining cool under pressure. That was a hallmark of his Baghdad coverage when the U.S. led its invasion of Iraq in 1991 to liberate Kuwait, with CNN airing stunning footage of airstrikes and anti-aircraft fire in the capital city.
AP file, 2001

Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright — Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state, has died of cancer. She was 84. President Bill Clinton chose Albright as America’s top diplomat in 1996, and she served in that capacity for the last four years of the Clinton administration. She had previously been Clinton's ambassador to the United Nations.
AP file, 2016

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev — Mikhail Gorbachev, who set out to revitalize the Soviet Union but ended up unleashing forces that led to the collapse of communism, the breakup of the state and the end of the Cold War, died Aug. 30, 2022. The last Soviet leader was 91. Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes. But they quickly overtook him and resulted in the collapse of the authoritarian Soviet state, the freeing of Eastern European nations from Russian domination and the end of decades of East-West nuclear confrontation.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Ivana Trump

Ivana Trump — Ivana Trump, a skier-turned-businesswoman who formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s as the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his oldest children, died July 14, 2022. She was 73.
AP file, 2007

Gilbert Gottfried

Gilbert Gottfried — Gilbert Gottfried, the actor and legendary standup comic known for his raw, scorched voice and crude jokes, died April 12, 2022, at age 67. Gottfried was a fiercely independent and intentionally bizarre comedian’s comedian, as likely to clear a room with anti-comedy as he was to kill with his jokes. Gottfried also did voice work for children’s television and movies, most famously playing the parrot Iago in Disney’s “Aladdin.”
AP file, 2012

Estelle Harris

Estelle Harris — Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza’s short-fused mother on “Seinfeld” and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, died April 2, 2022. She was 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation.
AP file, 2010

Liz Sheridan

Liz Sheridan — Liz Sheridan, a veteran stage and screen actress who played Jerry Seinfeld's mother, Helen, on "Seinfeld," died April April 15, 2022, at age 93. Though she had dozens of film credits, she was best known as Seinfeld's doting mother on his titular sitcom, which ran for nine seasons. She also appeared as the snoopy neighbor Mrs. Ochmonek on the alien-led sitcom "ALF."
Full story: Liz Sheridan, Jerry's mom on 'Seinfeld,' dies at 93
Castle Rock Entertainment/Everett Collections

Vin Scully

Vin Scully — Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, whose dulcet tones provided the soundtrack of summer while entertaining and informing Dodgers fans in Brooklyn and Los Angeles for 67 years, died Aug. 2, 2022. He was 94. As the longest tenured broadcaster with a single team in pro sports history, Scully saw it all and called it all. He began in the 1950s era of Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson, on to the 1960s with Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, into the 1970s with Steve Garvey and Don Sutton, and through the 1980s with Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela. In the 1990s, it was Mike Piazza and Hideo Nomo, followed by Kershaw, Manny Ramirez and Yasiel Puig in the 21st century.
AP file, 2002

Len Dawson

Len Dawson — Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, whose unmistakable swagger in helping the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title earned him the nickname “Lenny the Cool,” died Aug. 24, 2022. He was 87.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

David McCullough

David McCullough — David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose lovingly crafted narratives on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman made him among the most popular and influential historians of his time, died Aug. 7, 2022. He was 89.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Pat Carroll

Pat Carroll — Pat Carroll, a comedic television mainstay for decades, Emmy-winner for “Caesar’s Hour” and the voice Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” died July 30, 2022. She was 95. Carroll won an Emmy for her work on the sketch comedy series “Caesar’s Hour” in 1956, was a regular on “Make Room for Daddy” with Danny Thomas, a guest star on “The DuPont Show with June Allyson” and a variety show regular stopping by “The Danny Kaye Show,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Carol Burnett Show.” A new generation would come to know and love her voice thanks to Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” which came out in 1989.
AP file, 2008

Tony Dow

Tony Dow — Tony Dow, who as Wally Cleaver on the sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” helped create the popular and lasting image of the American teenager of the 1950s and 60s, died July 27, 2022. He was 77. Dow's Wally was an often annoyed but essentially loving big brother who was constantly bailing out the title character, Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, played by Jerry Mathers, on the show that was synonymous with the sometimes hokey, wholesome image of the 1950s American family.
AP file, 2012

Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe — Shinzo Abe, a divisive archconservative who was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and remained a powerful and influential politician after leaving office, has died after being shot during a campaign speech July 8, 2022. He was 67. Abe, a political blueblood, was perhaps the most polarizing, complex politician in recent Japanese history. At the same time, he revitalized Japan’s economy, led efforts for the nation to take a stronger role in Asia and served as a rare beacon of political stability before stepping down two years ago for health reasons.
AP file, 2014

Philip Baker Hall

Philip Baker Hall — Philip Baker Hall, the prolific character actor of film and theater who starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's first movies and who memorably hunted down a long-overdue library book in “Seinfeld,” died June 12, 2022. He was 90. In a career spanning half a century, Hall was a ubiquitous hangdog face whose doleful, weary appearance could shroud a booming intensity and humble sensitivity. His range was wide, but Hall, who had a natural gravitas, often played men in suits, trench coats and lab coats.
AP file, 2014

Ray Liotta

Ray Liotta — Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” died May 25, 2022. He was 67. Liotta’s first big film role was in Jonathan Demme’s “Something Wild” as Melanie Griffith’s character’s hotheaded ex-convict husband Ray. A few years later, he would get the memorable role of the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams.” His most iconic role, as real life mobster Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” came shortly after.
AP file, 2018

Paul Sorvino

Paul Sorvino — Paul Sorvino, an imposing actor who specialized in playing crooks and cops like Paulie Cicero in “Goodfellas” and the NYPD sergeant Phil Cerreta on “Law & Order,” died July 25, 2022. He was 83. In his over 50 years in the entertainment business, Sorvino was a mainstay in films and television, playing an Italian American communist in Warren Beatty’s “Reds,” Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s “Nixon” and mob boss Eddie Valentine in “The Rocketeer.”
AP file, 2018

Tony Sirico

Tony Sirico — Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos” and brought his tough-guy swagger to films including “Goodfellas,” died July 8, 2022. He was 79.
AP file, 2006

Fred Ward

Fred Ward — Fred Ward, a veteran actor who brought a gruff tenderness to tough-guy roles in such films as “The Right Stuff,” “The Player” and “Tremors,” died May 15, 2022. He was 79. A former boxer, lumberjack in Alaska and short-order cook who served in the U.S. Air Force, Ward was a San Diego native who was part Cherokee. One early big role was alongside Clint Eastwood in 1979’s “Escape From Alcatraz.”
AP file, 2011

Sonny Barger

Sonny Barger — Sonny Barger, the leather-clad fixture of 1960s counterculture and figurehead of the Hells Angels motorcycle club who was at the notorious Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway, died June 29, 2022. He was 83.
AP file, 1980

Howard Hesseman

Howard Hesseman — Howard Hesseman, best known as the hard-rocking disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati," died Jan. 28, 2022. In addition to earning two Emmy nominations for his role on "WKRP," Hesseman also appeared on "Head of the Class" and "One Day at a Time," along with guest appearances on "That 70's Show," among others. The Oregon native also hosted "Saturday Night Live" several times. — CNN
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, 1978

Larry Storch

Larry Storch — Larry Storch, the rubber-faced comic whose long career in theater, movies and television was capped by his “F Troop” role as zany Cpl. Agarn in the 1960s spoof of Western frontier TV shows, died July 8, 2022. Storch was 99.
AP file, 1966

Emilio Delgado

Emilio Delgado — Emilio Delgado, who spent more than 40 years entertaining generations of children playing the Fix-It Shop owner Luis on "Sesame Street," died March 10, 2022. He was 81. Delgado had cited the PBS show's importance as a cultural touchstone in the way people of color were depicted on TV. — CNN
Emilio Delgado, 'Sesame Street's' Luis for more than 40 years, dies at 81
©PBS/Courtesy Everett Collection

Louie Anderson

Louie Anderson — Louie Anderson, whose four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series “Baskets,” died Jan. 21, 2022. He was 68. In 2016, Anderson won a best supporting actor Emmy for his portrayal of Christine Baskets, mother to twins, in the FX series “Baskets.” He was a familiar face elsewhere on TV, including as host of a revival of the game show “Family Feud” from 1999 to 2002.
AP file, 2017

Orrin Hatch

Orrin Hatch — Orrin G. Hatch, the longest-serving Republican senator in history who was a fixture in Utah politics for more than four decades, died April 23, 2022, at age 88. A staunch conservative on most economic and social issues, he also teamed with Democrats several times during his long career on issues ranging from stem cell research to rights for people with disabilities to expanding children’s health insurance.
AP file

Bob Lanier

Bob Lanier — Bob Lanier, the left-handed big man who muscled up beside the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as one of the NBA’s top players of the 1970s, died May 10, 2022. He was 73. Lanier played 14 seasons with the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks and averaged 20.1 points and 10.1 rebounds for his career. He is third on the Pistons’ career list in both points and rebounds. Detroit drafted Lanier with the No. 1 overall pick in 1970 after he led St. Bonaventure to the Final Four.
AP file, 1977

Mickey Gilley

Mickey Gilley — Country star Mickey Gilley, whose namesake Texas honky-tonk inspired the 1980 film “Urban Cowboy” and a nationwide wave of Western-themed nightspots, died May 7, 2022. He was 86. Overall, Gilley had 39 Top 10 country hits and 17 No. 1 songs. He received six Academy of Country Music Awards, and also worked on occasion as an actor, with appearances on “Murder She Wrote,” “The Fall Guy,” “Fantasy Island” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
AP file, 1999

Ronnie Spector

Ronnie Spector — Ronnie Spector, the cat-eyed, bee-hived rock ‘n’ roll siren who sang such 1960s hits as “Be My Baby,” “Baby I Love You” and “Walking in the Rain” as the leader of the girl group The Ronettes, died Jan. 12, 2022. She was 78.
AP file, 2010

Bobby Rydell

Bobby Rydell — Bobby Rydell, a pompadoured heartthrob of early rock ‘n roll who was a star of radio, television and the movie musical “Bye Bye Birdie,” died April 5, 2022, at age 79. Between 1959 and 1964, Rydell had nearly three dozen Top 40 singles including “Wild One,” “Volare,” “Wildwood Days,” “The Cha-Cha-Cha” and “Forget Him." He had recurring roles on “The Red Skelton Show” and other television programs, and 1963's “Bye Bye Birdie” was rewritten to give Rydell a major part as the boyfriend of Ann-Margret.
AP file, 1962

William Hurt

William Hurt — William Hurt, whose laconic charisma and self-assured subtlety as an actor made him one of the 1980s foremost leading men in movies such as “Broadcast News," “Body Heat” and “The Big Chill,” died March 13, 2022. He was 71. In a long-running career, Hurt was four times nominated for an Academy Award, winning for 1985's “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” After his breakthrough in 1980’s Paddy Chayefsky-scripted “Altered States” as a psychopathologist studying schizophrenia and experimenting with sensory deprivation, Hurt quickly emerged as a mainstay of the '80s.
AP file, 1986

Claes Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg — Pop artist Claes Oldenburg, who turned the mundane into the monumental through his outsized sculptures of a baseball bat, a clothespin and other objects, died July 18, 2022, at age 93.
AP file, 2011

Tony Siragusa

Tony Siragusa — Tony Siragusa, the charismatic defensive tackle who was part of one of the most celebrated defenses in NFL history with the Baltimore Ravens, died June 22, 2022. He was 55. Siragusa, known as “Goose,” played seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and five with the Ravens. Baltimore’s 2000 team won the Super Bowl behind a stout defense that included Siragusa, Ray Lewis and Sam Adams. Siragusa was popular with fans because of his fun-loving attitude, which also helped him transition quickly to broadcasting after his playing career.
AP file, 2009

Scott Hall

Scott Hall — Scott Hall, professional wrestling’s “Bad Guy” who revolutionized the industry as a founding member of the New World Order faction, died March 14, 2022. He was 63. Hall, who also wrestled for WWE as Razor Ramon, was a two-time inductee into the company’s Hall of Fame.
AP Images for WWE, File

Mike Bossy

Mike Bossy — Mike Bossy, one of hockey’s most prolific goal-scorers and a star for the New York Islanders during their 1980s Stanley Cup dynasty, died April 14, 2022, after a battle with lung cancer. He was 65. Bossy helped the Islanders win the Stanley Cup four straight years from 1980-83, earning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 1982. He scored the Cup-winning goal in 1982 and ’83.
AP file, 1982

Guy Lafleur

Guy Lafleur — Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur, who helped the Montreal Canadiens win five Stanley Cup titles in the 1970s, died at age 70. One of the greatest players of his generation, Lafleur, nicknamed "The Flower," registered 518 goals and 728 assists in 14 seasons with Montreal.
AP file, 1983

André Leon Talley

André Leon Talley — André Leon Talley, a towering figure who made fashion history as a rare Black editor in an overwhelmingly white industry, died Jan. 18, 2022. He was 73. Talley was the former creative director and editor at large of Vogue magazine. Often dressed in sweeping capes, he was a highly visible regular in the front row of fashion shows in New York and Europe for decades.
AP file, 2016

Peter Bogdanovich

Peter Bogdanovich — Peter Bogdanovich, the ascot-wearing cinephile and director of 1970s black-and-white classics like “The Last Picture Show” and “Paper Moon,” died Jan. 6, 2022. He was 82. Bogdanovich was heralded as an auteur from the start, with the chilling lone shooter film “Targets” and soon after “The Last Picture Show,” from 1971, his evocative portrait of a small, dying town that earned eight Oscar nominations and catapulted him to stardom.
AP file, 2005

Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman — Ivan Reitman, the influential filmmaker and producer behind many of the most beloved comedies of the late 20th century, from “Animal House” to “Ghostbusters,” died Feb. 12, 2022. He was 75. Known for bawdy comedies that caught the spirit of their time, Reitman’s big break came with the raucous, college fraternity sendup “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” which he produced. He directed Bill Murray in his first starring role in the summer camp flick “Meatballs," and then again in 1981's “Stripes,” but his most significant success came with 1984’s “Ghostbusters.”
AP file, 2009

Vangelis

Vangelis — Vangelis, the Greek electronic composer who wrote the unforgettable Academy Award-winning score for the film “Chariots of Fire” and music for dozens of other movies, documentaries and TV series, died May 17, 2022, at age 79.
AP file, 2001

John Clayton

John Clayton — Longtime NFL journalist John Clayton, nicknamed "The Professor," died March 25, 2022, following a short illness. He was 67. Clayton spent more than two decades covering the Pittsburgh Steelers for the The Pittsburgh Press and the Seattle Seahawks for The News Tribune in Tacoma. Clayton moved to ESPN in 1995, becoming one of the lead NFL writers for the company. Clayton appeared on TV and radio for ESPN and worked at the company for more than 20 years.
AP file, 2016

Bobbie Nelson

Bobbie Nelson — Bobbie Nelson, the older sister of country music legend Willie Nelson and longtime pianist in his band, died March 10, 2022. She was 91. An original member of the Willie Nelson and Family Band, Bobbie Nelson played piano for more than 50 years with her brother.
AP file, 2015

Sally Kellerman

Sally Kellerman — Sally Kellerman, the Oscar and Emmy nominated actor who played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in director Robert Altman's 1970 film “MASH," died Feb. 24, 2022, at age 84. Kellerman had a career of more than 60 years in film and television. She played a college professor who was returning student Rodney Dangerfield's love interest in the 1986 comedy “Back to School.” But she would always be best known for playing Major Houlihan, a straitlaced, by-the-book Army nurse who is tormented by rowdy doctors during the Korean War in the army comedy “MASH."
AP file, 2015

Marilyn Bergman

Marilyn Bergman — Marilyn Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist who teamed with husband Alan Bergman on “The Way We Were,” “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” and hundreds of other songs, died Jan. 8, 2022. She was 93.
AP file, 1980

Manfred Thierry Mugler

Manfred Thierry Mugler — French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, whose dramatic designs were worn by celebrities like Madonna, Lady Gaga and Cardi B, died Jan. 23, 2022. He was 73. Mugler, who launched his brand in 1973, became known for his architectural style, defined by broad shoulders and a tiny waist. The use of plastic-like futuristic fabric in his sculpted clothing became a trademark.
AP file, 2001

Gaspard Ulliel

Gaspard Ulliel — French actor Gaspard Ulliel, known for appearing in Chanel perfume ads as well as film and television roles, died Jan. 19, 2022, after a skiing accident in the Alps. He was 37. Ulliel portrayed the young Hannibal Lecter in 2007's “Hannibal Rising” and fashion mogul Yves Saint Laurent in the 2014 biopic “Saint Laurent.” He is also in the Marvel series “Moon Knight."
AP file, 2015

Dan Reeves

Dan Reeves — Dan Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career highlighted by four more appearances in the title game with the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons, all losses, died Jan. 1, 2022. He was 77.
AP file, 2014

Don Maynard

Don Maynard — Don Maynard, a Hall of Fame receiver who made his biggest impact catching passes from Joe Namath in the wide-open AFL, died Jan. 10, 2022. He was 86. When Maynard retired in 1973, he was pro football’s career receiving leader with 633 catches for 11,834 yards and 88 touchdowns. The Jets retired his No. 13 jersey.
AP file, 1968

Don Young

Don Young — Alaska Rep. Don Young, who was the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House, died March 25, 2033. He was 88. Young, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1973, was known for his brusque style. In his later years in office, his off-color comments and gaffes sometimes overshadowed his work.
AP file, 2019

Michael Lang

Michael Lang — Michael Lang, a co-creator and promoter of the 1969 Woodstock music festival that served as a touchstone for generations of music fans, died Jan. 8, 2022. He was 77.
AP file, 2009

Lawrence N. Brooks

Lawrence N. Brooks — Lawrence N. Brooks, the oldest World War II veteran in the U.S. — and believed to be the oldest man in the country — died Jan. 5, 2022, at the age of 112.
AP file, 2019

Charles McGee

Charles McGee — Charles McGee, a Tuskegee Airman who flew 409 fighter combat missions over three wars and later helped to bring attention to the Black pilots who had battled racism at home to fight for freedom abroad, died Jan. 16, 2022. He was 102.
AP file, 2019

Tom Parker

Tom Parker — Tom Parker, a member of British-Irish boy band The Wanted, died March 30, 2022, after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He was 33. Formed in 2009, The Wanted had a string of hit singles including U.K. No. 1s “All Time Low” and "Glad You Came.”
AP file, 2012

Shirley Spork

Shirley Spork — Shirley Spork, one of the 13 founders of the LPGA Tour who learned two weeks ago she would be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, died April 12, 2022. at age 94. While she never won on the LPGA Tour — her best finish was runner-up in the 1962 LPGA Championship at Stardust Country Club in Las Vegas — Spork's impact stretched across seven decades of starting the tour and teaching the game.
AP file, 1946

Rayfield Wright

Rayfield Wright — Rayfield Wright, the Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle nicknamed “Big Cat” who went to five Super Bowls in his 13 NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, died April 7, 2022. He was 76.
AP file, 1975

Charley Taylor

Charley Taylor — Charley Taylor, the Hall of Fame receiver who ended his 13-season career with Washington as the NFL's career receptions leader, died Feb. 19, 2022. He was 80. Taylor was the 1964 NFL rookie of the year and was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-1960s Team. The eight-time Pro Bowl selection was a first-team all-NFL pick in 1967.
AP file

Tommy Davis

Tommy Davis — Tommy Davis, a two-time National League batting champion who won three World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, died April 3, 2022. He was 83. Recruited to play for the Dodgers by Jackie Robinson, Davis batted .357 with 17 home runs, 104 RBI and 68 stolen bases in 127 games in that first season with the team. He won consecutive titles in 1962, when he hit .346 and led the NL in hits and RBI, and 1963, when he hit .326.
AP file, 1964

Bill Fitch

Bill Fitch — Bill Fitch, who guided the Boston Celtics to one of their championships during a Hall of Fame coaching career spanning three decades, died Feb. 2, 2022. He was 89. A two-time NBA coach of the year, Fitch coached for 25 seasons in the NBA, starting with the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970. He was Larry Bird's first pro coach with Boston in 1979, won a title with the Celtics in 1981 and spent time with Houston, New Jersey and the Los Angeles Clippers.
AP file, 1981

Robert Morse

Robert Morse — Robert Morse, who won a Tony Award as a hilariously brash corporate climber in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and a second one a generation later as the brilliant, troubled Truman Capote in “Tru,” died April 20, 2022. He was 90.
AP file, 2010

Dede Robertson

Dede Robertson — Dede Robertson, the wife of religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and a founding board member of the Christian Broadcasting Network, died April 19, 2022. She was 94.
AP file, 1988

Robert Krueger

Robert Krueger — Robert C. Krueger, who followed two U.S. House terms with a brief interim appointment to the Senate before launching a sometimes-hazardous diplomatic career, died April 30, 2022, at age 86.
AP file, 2004

Johnnie A. Jones Sr.

Johnnie A. Jones Sr. — Johnnie A. Jones Sr., a Louisiana civil rights attorney and World War II veteran who was wounded during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, died April 23, 2022. He was 102 years old.
AP file, 2019

Gary Brooker

Gary Brooker — Gary Brooker, the Procol Harum frontman who sang one of the 1960s' most enduring hits, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died Feb. 19, 2022. He was 76. Brooker was singer and keyboard player with the band, which had a huge hit with its first single, “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” With its Baroque-flavored organ solo and mysterious opening line - “We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels cross the floor" — the song became one of the signature tunes of the 1967 “Summer of Love.”
AP file, 2006

Brent Renaud

Brent Renaud — Brent Renaud, an acclaimed filmmaker who traveled to some of the darkest and most dangerous corners of the world for documentaries that transported audiences to little-known places of suffering, died March 13, 2022, after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle in Ukraine.
AP file, 2015

Ronnie Hawkins

Ronnie Hawkins — Ronnie Hawkins, a brash rockabilly star from Arkansas who became a patron of the Canadian music scene after moving north and recruiting a handful of local musicians later known as the Band, died May 29, 2022. He was 87.
AP file, 2019

Andy Fletcher

Andy Fletcher — Andy “Fletch” Fletcher, the unassuming, bespectacled, red-headed keyboardist who for more than 40 years added his synth sounds to Depeche Mode hits like “Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Personal Jesus,” died May 26, 2022, at age 60.
AP file, 2017

Ann Turner Cook

Ann Turner Cook — Ann Turner Cook, whose cherubic baby face was known the world over as the original Gerber baby, has died. She was 95. Cook was 5 months old when a neighbor, artist Dorothy Hope Smith, drew a charcoal sketch of her that was later submitted for a contest Gerber was holding for a national marketing campaign for baby food. The image was a hit, so much so that it became the company's trademark in 1931 and has been used in all packaging and advertising since.
AP file, 2004

Dwayne Hickman

Dwayne Hickman — Dwayne Hickman, the actor and network TV executive who despite numerous achievements throughout his life would always be remembered fondly by a generation of baby boomers for his role as Dobie Gillis, died Jan. 9, 2022. He was 87.
AP file

Mark Shields

Mark Shields — Political commentator and columnist Mark Shields, who shared his insight into American politics and wit on “PBS NewsHour” for decades, died June 18, 2022. He was 85.
AP file, 2006

James Rado

James Rado — James Rado, co-creator of the groundbreaking hippie musical “Hair,” which celebrated protest, pot and free love and paved the way for the sound of rock on Broadway, died June 21, 2022. He was 90. “Hair,” which has a story and lyrics by Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot, was the first rock musical on Broadway, the first Broadway show to feature full nudity and the first to feature a same-sex kiss.
AP file, 2009

Bruton Smith

Bruton Smith — O. Bruton Smith, who emerged from North Carolina farm country and parlayed his love of motorsports into a Hall of Fame career as one of the biggest track owners and most successful promoters in the history of auto racing, died June 22, 2022. He was 95.
AP file, 2009

Marlin Briscoe

Marlin Briscoe — Marlin Briscoe, who became the first Black starting quarterback in the American Football League more than 50 years ago, died June 27, 2022. He was 76.
AP file, 1975

Vernon Winfrey

Vernon Winfrey — Oprah Winfrey’s father, Vernon Winfrey, died July 8, 2022, at the age of 89. Vernon served as a member of Nashville's Metro City Council for 16 years and was a trustee for the Tennessee State University. Oprah spent her early childhood at her father's hometown of Kosciusko, Mississippi, and in Milwaukee with her mother, Vernita Lee, who died in 2018.
AP file, 1987

William “Poogie” Hart

William “Poogie” Hart — William “Poogie” Hart (center), a founder of the Grammy-winning trio the Delfonics who helped write and sang a soft lead tenor on such classic “Sound of Philadelphia” ballads as “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” died July 14, 2022, at age 77.
AP file, 2006

David Warner

David Warner — David Warner, a versatile British actor whose roles ranged from Shakespearean tragedies to sci-fi cult classics, died July 24, 2022. He was 80. Often cast as a villain, Warner had roles in the 1971 psychological thriller “Straw Dogs,” the 1976 horror classic “The Omen,” the 1979 time-travel adventure “Time After Time” — he was Jack the Ripper — and the 1997 blockbuster “Titanic,” where he played the malicious valet Spicer Lovejoy.
AP file, 1967

Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake — Issey Miyake, who built one of Japan’s biggest fashion brands and was known for his boldly sculpted pleated pieces as well as former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ black turtlenecks, died Aug. 5, 2022. He was 84.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Bert Fields

Bert Fields — Bert Fields, for decades the go-to lawyer for Hollywood A-listers including Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, George Lucas and the Beatles, and a character as colorful as many of his clients, died Aug. 7, 2022, at age 93.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Melissa Bank

Melissa Bank — Melissa Bank, whose 1999 bestseller “The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing" was a series of interconnected stories widely praised for its wit and precise language and embraced by young readers, died Aug. 2, 2022, at age 61.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Albert Woodfox

Albert Woodfox — Albert Woodfox, a former inmate who spent decades in isolation at a Louisiana prison and then became an advocate for prison reforms after he was released, died Aug. 4, 2022, of complications from COVID-19. He was 75.
Molly Hunter, The Franklin News-Post

Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich — Barbara Ehrenreich, the author, activist and self-described “myth buster” who in such notable works as “Nickel and Dimed” and “Bait and Switch" challenged conventional thinking about class, religion and the very idea of an American dream, died Sept. 1, 2022, at age 81.
AP file, 2005

Coolio

Coolio — Coolio, the rapper who was among hip-hop's biggest names of the 1990s with hits including “Gangsta's Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” died Sept. 28, 2022. Coolio won a Grammy for best solo rap performance for “Gangsta's Paradise,” the 1995 hit from the soundtrack of the Michelle Pfeiffer film “Dangerous Minds” that sampled Stevie Wonder's 1976 song “Pastime Paradise" and was played constantly on MTV.
AP file, 2019

Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn — Loretta Lynn, the Kentucky coal miner’s daughter whose frank songs about life and love as a woman in Appalachia pulled her out of poverty and made her a pillar of country music, died Oct. 4, 2022. She was 90. As a songwriter, Lynn crafted a persona of a defiantly tough woman. The Country Music Hall of Famer wrote fearlessly about sex and love, cheating husbands, divorce and birth control and sometimes got in trouble with radio programmers for material from which even rock performers once shied away.
AP file, 2014

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury — Angela Lansbury, the big-eyed, scene-stealing British actress who kicked up her heels in the Broadway musicals “Mame” and “Gypsy” and solved endless murders as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the long-running TV series “Murder, She Wrote,” died Oct. 11, 2022. She was 96. Lansbury won five Tony Awards for her Broadway performances and a lifetime achievement award. She earned Academy Award nominations as supporting actress for two of her first three films, “Gaslight” (1945) and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1946), and was nominated again in 1962 for “The Manchurian Candidate” and her deadly portrayal of a Communist agent and the title character’s mother.
AP file, 2014

Louise Fletcher

Louise Fletcher — Louise Fletcher, a late-blooming star whose riveting performance as the cruel and calculating Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award, died Sept. 23, 2022, at age 88.
AP file, 1976

Sacheen Littlefeather

Sacheen Littlefeather — Sacheen Littlefeather, the actor and activist who declined Marlon Brando’s 1973 Academy Award for “The Godfather” on his behalf in an indelible protest of Hollywood's portrayal of Native Americans, died Oct. 2, 2022. She was 75. Littlefeather’s appearance at the 1973 Oscars would become one of the award show's most famous moments. Clad in buckskin dress and moccasins, Littlefeather took the stage when presenter Roger Moore read Brando's name as the winner for best actor.
AP file, 2010

Eileen Ryan

Eileen Ryan — Eileen Ryan, an actor who appeared on TV, in films and on Broadway and the matriarch of the steeped-in-the-arts Penn family, died Oct. 9, 2022. She was 94. Her TV credits include appearances on “The Twilight Zone,” “Bonanza,” “The Detectives,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Little House on the Prairie,” “Arli$$,” “Ally McBeal,” “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” “CSI,” “Men of a Certain Age” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” Her film roles included “Parenthood,” “At Close Range” and “Benny & Joon.”
AP file, 2008

Ken Starr

Ken Starr — Ken Starr, a former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president’s impeachment and put Starr at the center of one of the country’s most polarizing debates of the 1990s, died Sept. 13, 2022, at age 76.
AP file, 1998

Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard — Jean-Luc Godard, the iconic “enfant terrible” of the French New Wave who revolutionized popular cinema in 1960 with his first feature, “Breathless,” and stood for years among the film world's most influential directors, died Sept. 13, 2022. He was 91. Over a long career that began in the 1950s as a film critic, Godard was perhaps the most boundary-breaking director among New Wave filmmakers who rewrote the rules for camera, sound and narrative — rebelling against an earlier tradition of more formulaic storytelling.
AP file, 1982

Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel — Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize-winning author who turned Tudor power politics into page-turning fiction in the acclaimed “Wolf Hall” trilogy of historical novels, died Sept. 22, 2022. She was 70. Mantel is credited with reenergizing historical fiction with “Wolf Hall” and two sequels about the 16th-century English powerbroker Thomas Cromwell, right-hand man to King Henry VIII — and in Mantel’s hands, the charismatic antihero of a bloody, high-stakes political drama.
AP file, 2009

Art Laboe

Art Laboe — Art Laboe, the pioneering radio DJ who read heartfelt song dedications to generations of loyal listeners and was credited with helping end segregation in Southern California during an eight-decade broadcast career, died Oct. 7, 2022. He was 97. Laboe is also credited with popularizing the phrase “oldies, but goodies.”
AP file, 2018

Judy Tenuta

Judy Tenuta — Judy Tenuta, a brash standup who cheekily styled herself as the “Love Goddess” and toured with George Carlin as she built her career in the 1980s golden age of comedy, died Oct. 6, 2022. She was 72.
AP file, 2009

Pharoah Sanders

Pharoah Sanders — Pharoah Sanders, the influential tenor saxophonist revered in the jazz world for the spirituality of his work, died Sept. 24, 2022. He was 81. Sanders launched his career playing alongside John Coltrane in the 1960s.
AP file, 2014

Leslie Jordan

Leslie Jordan — Leslie Jordan, the Emmy-winning actor whose wry Southern drawl and versatility made him a comedy and drama standout on TV series including “Will & Grace” and “American Horror Story,” has died. He was 67. The Tennessee native, who won an on outstanding guest actor Emmy in 2005 for “Will & Grace,” appeared recently on the Mayim Bialik comedy “Call me Kat” and co-starred on the sitcom “The Cool Kids.”
AP file, 2021

James A. McDivitt

James A. McDivitt — James A. McDivitt, who commanded the Apollo 9 mission testing the first complete set of equipment to go to the moon, died Oct. 13, 2022. He was 93. McDivitt was also the commander of 1965’s Gemini 4 mission, where his best friend and colleague Ed White made the first U.S. spacewalk. His photographs of White during the spacewalk became iconic images.
NASA photo

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane — Robbie Coltrane, the baby-faced comedian and character actor whose hundreds of roles included a crime-solving psychologist on the TV series “Cracker” and the gentle half-giant Hagrid in the “Harry Potter” movies, died Oct. 14, 2022. He was 72.
AP file, 2011

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis — Jerry Lee Lewis, the untamable rock ‘n’ roll pioneer whose outrageous talent, energy and ego collided on such definitive records as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and sustained a career otherwise upended by personal scandal, died Oct. 28, 2022, at age 87. Lewis was the last survivor of a generation of groundbreaking performers that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
AP file, 2006

Bear mauls 10-year-old in grandparents' Connecticut backyard, tries to drag him away

MORRIS, Conn. (AP) — A 250-pound black bear mauled a 10-year-old boy playing in his grandparents' backyard in Connecticut and tried to drag him away before the animal was fatally shot by police, authorities said.

The child was attacked about 11 a.m. Sunday in the town of Morris, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening.

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12 tips for preventing a trail attack

1. Avoid hiking alone

1. Avoid hiking alone — Hiking with a buddy is an easy way to deter would-be assailants. Remember — strength in numbers.

2. Hike during busier times

While hiking on a crowded trail can be a drag, having more people around could limit the risk of an attack. Avoiding early morning and late day hikes can help you avoid hiking in an isolated situation.

3. Avoid using headphones

3. Avoid using headphones — Blasting music or a podcast through your headphones can limit your awareness of what’s going on around you. Keep your ears open to send a signal to a would-be attacker that you’re able to fully hear them coming.
Dreamstime

4. Carry an emergency signaling device

Consider carrying a GPS device that lets you report an emergency situation. Reporting a dangerous situation quickly and accurately is important for search and rescue crews that may be needed.

5. Bring a hiking whistle

By carrying a loud whistle, you’re able to quickly and efficiently alert those in the area to a dangerous situation that’s unfolding. Many hikers prefer to keep their whistle around their neck for easy access.

6. Learn self-defense

6. Learn self-defense — Take a few self-defense classes at a local martial arts studio to learn a few basic techniques. These skills can be crucial to stopping an attack and escaping the situation safely.

7. Know the trail

7. Know the trail — Research a trail beforehand and consult others that have been along the route. This will often tip you off to general sketchiness or other hazards that may be present.

8. Consider bringing pepper spray

Not only can pepper spray be used to prevent an animal attack, it can also be used to ward off dangerous humans. Obviously, pepper spray should only be used in the direst of situations when using it is legal. It’s also a smart idea to practice using the pepper spray on a mock target prior to carrying it so that one knows how to use it and what the experience of using it is like.

9. Wear proper gear

9. Wear proper gear — Proper gear will allow you to keep moving regardless of inclement weather that rolls through. Don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by wearing shoes that are hard to walk or run in if things get muddy.

10. Tell a friend where you’re headed

Whether you’re hiking alone or with someone else, a trusted individual who’s not there should know where you’re headed and when you’re expecting to be back. This will allow them to alert authorities in a timely manner if you don’t return.

11. Pay attention to your surroundings

11. Pay attention to your surroundings — It can be easy to get lost in the moment of enjoying a natural scene, but remember to stay alert and aware of your surroundings. Take note of people that might be following you and other occurrences that just seem a bit off.

12. Put that canine to use

12. Put that canine to use — If you’ve got a dog, bring it on the hike as a safety measure when you can. Dogs are often a deterrence for crime when they’re large enough to protect their handlers if need be.

What happened to #MeToo? 5 years on, women take stock of the movement

Once again, disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein sits in a courtroom, on trial in Los Angeles while the reckoning the accusations against him launched marks a significant milestone this month: It's been five years since a brief hashtag — #MeToo — galvanized a broad social movement.

The Associated Press went back to Louisette Geiss and Andrea Constand, accusers in two of the #MeToo era's most momentous cases — Weinstein, already convicted in a New York case, and Bill Cosby, once convicted and now free — to learn how their lives have changed, whether they have any regrets, and how hopeful they feel after a decidedly mixed bag of legal results.

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Parkland school shooter to get life sentence for killing 17

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury spared Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty Thursday for killing 17 people at a Parkland high school in 2018, sending him to prison for the remainder of his life in a decision that left many families of the victims angered, baffled and in tears.

The jury's recommendation came after seven hours of deliberations over two days, ending a three-month trial that included graphic videos, photos and testimony from the massacre and its aftermath, heart-wrenching testimony from victims' family members and a tour of the still blood-spattered building.

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Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | Omny Studio

A look at some of America's deadliest school shootings

Intro

Until the massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School in 1999, the number of dead in U.S. school shootings tended to be in the single digits. Since then, the number of shootings that included schools and killed 10 or more people has mounted. The most recent two were both in Texas. In May 2022, an 18-year-old attacker killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In May 2018, a 17-year-old killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School near Houston. Most of the victims were students.

Columbine High School, April 1999

Columbine High School, April 1999 — COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999: Two students killed 12 of their peers and one teacher at the school in Littleton, Colorado, and injured many others before killing themselves.
AP file

Red Lake High School, March 2005

Red Lake High School, March 2005 — RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005: A 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the man's companion at their Minnesota home, then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students, a teacher and a security guard before shooting himself.
AP file

Virginia Tech, April 2007

Virginia Tech, April 2007 — VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007: A 23-year-old student killed 32 people on the campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007; more than two dozen others were wounded. The gunman then killed himself.
The News & Advance, Chet White, file

Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012

Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 2012 — SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012: A 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home in Newtown, Connecticut, then went to the nearby Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 20 first graders and six educators. He took his own life.
AP file

Umpqua Community College, October 2015

Umpqua Community College, October 2015 — UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015: A man killed nine people at the school in Roseburg, Oregon, and wounded nine others, then killed himself.
AP file

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, February 2018

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, February 2018 — MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018: An attack left 14 students and three staff members dead at the school in Parkland, Florida, and injured many others. The 20-year-old suspect was charged with murder.
AP file

Santa Fe High School, May 2018

Santa Fe High School, May 2018 — SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018: A 17-year-old opened fire at a Houston-area high school, killing 10 people, most of them students, authorities said. The suspect has been charged with murder.
AP file

Robb Elementary School, May 2022

Robb Elementary School, May 2022 — ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022: An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults, officials said. The 18-year-old attacker was killed by law enforcement.
AP file

Trump deposed in defamation suit filed by rape accuser E. Jean Carroll

Donald Trump has insisted a woman who is suing him for defamation after he denied her claims he raped her in the 1990s was "not [his] type".

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump answered questions under oath Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, a magazine columnist who says the Republican raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room.

The deposition gave Carroll's lawyers a chance to interrogate Trump about the assault allegations as well as statements he made in 2019 when she told her story publicly for the first time.

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'Active shooting' wounds multiple people in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Multiple people were wounded Thursday in what authorities described as an “active shooting” in a neighborhood in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“State and local officers are on the ground and working to stop the shooter and keep people safe,” Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted.

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Here's how you can apply for student loan forgiveness

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday officially kicked off the application process for his student debt cancellation program, opening the door for millions of Americans to apply for up to $20,000 in forgiveness. The Biden administration touts it as a simple, straightforward application that should only take about five minutes. Here's how to apply.

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Justice Dept. seeks end to arbiter's review of Trump docs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday to overturn a judge's appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.

The appeal is the latest salvo in weeks of litigation over the scope of duties of the arbiter, also known as a special master. He was assigned last month by a judge to inspect the thousands of records taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and weed out from the investigation any that may be protected by claims of legal privilege.

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Timeline: Key dates in the investigation into Trump's Mar-a-Lago docs

Jan. 20, 2021

Jan. 20, 2021 — Then-President Donald Trump left the White House for Florida ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. According to the General Services Administration, members of Trump's transition team were responsible for packing items into boxes, putting boxes on pallets and shrink-wrapping those pallets so they could be transported.
Prior to shipping, GSA said it "required the outgoing transition team to certify in writing that the items being shipped were required to wind down the Office of the Former President and would be utilized as the Office transitioned to its new location in Florida."
GSA did not examine the contents of the boxes and "had no knowledge of the contents prior to shipping," according to an agency spokesperson. GSA was also not responsible for the former president's personal belongings, which were transported by a private moving company.
Under the Presidential Records Act, presidential records are considered federal property — not private — and are supposed to be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration. Multiple federal laws govern the handling of classified and sensitive government documents, including statutes that make it a crime to remove such material and retain it at an unauthorized location.
AP file

May 2021

May 2021 — After NARA realized that documents from Trump's presidency seemed to be missing from the material that it received as he left office, the agency requested the records from Trump on or about May 6, 2021, according to a heavily redacted affidavit made public Aug. 26, 2022.
AP file

December 2021

NARA "continued to make requests" for records it believed to be missing for several months, according to the affidavit. Around late December 2021, a Trump representative informed the agency that an additional 12 boxes of records that should have been turned over had been found at the former president's Mar-a-Lago club and residence and were ready to be retrieved.

Jan. 18, 2022

NARA received 15 boxes of presidential records that had been stored at Mar-a-Lago — 14 of which, it would later be revealed, contained classified documents. The documents were found mixed in with an assortment of other material, including newspapers, magazines, photos and personal correspondence.

In total, the boxes were found to contain 184 documents with classified markings, including 67 marked confidential, 92 secret and 25 top secret. Agents who inspected the boxes also found special markings suggesting they included information from highly sensitive human sources or the collection of electronic "signals" authorized by a court under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Feb. 9, 2022

Feb. 9, 2022 — The special agent in charge of NARA's Office of the Inspector General sent a referral to the Justice Department via email after a preliminary review of the boxes revealed numerous classified documents.
"Of most significant concern," they wrote, according to a heavily-redacted affidavit released last week, "was that highly classified records were unfoldered, intermixed with other records, and otherwise unproperly (sic) identified."
After an initial review of the NARA referral, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the matter.
AP file

Feb. 18, 2022

Feb. 18, 2022 — Trump's Save America PAC released a statement insisting the return of the documents had been as "routine" and "no big deal."
Trump insisted the "papers were given easily and without conflict and on a very friendly basis," and added, "It was a great honor to work with NARA to help formally preserve the Trump Legacy."
AP file

Feb. 19, 2022

NARA revealed in a letter to a congressional oversight committee that classified information was found in the 15 recovered boxes and confirmed the Justice Department referral.

Trump's Save America PAC released another statement insisting, "The National Archives did not 'find' anything," but "were given, upon request, Presidential Records in an ordinary and routine process to ensure the preservation of my legacy and in accordance with the Presidential Records Act."

April 12, 2022

NARA informed Trump of its intent to provide the documents to the FBI, at the request of the Justice Department. A Trump representative requested an extension until April 29.

April 29, 2022

April 29, 2022 — The Justice Department sent a letter to Trump's lawyers seeking immediate access to the material, citing "important national security interest."
"Access to the materials is not only necessary for purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the Executive Branch must also conduct an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take any necessary remedial steps," the department wrote.
Trump's lawyers requested an additional extension.
AP file

May 10, 2022

NARA informed Trump's lawyers that it would provide the FBI access to the records as soon as May 12.

May 11, 2022

The Justice Department issued a subpoena for additional records.

June 3, 2022

June 3, 2022 — Three FBI agents and a DOJ attorney went to Mar-a-Lago to collect additional material offered by a Trump attorney in response to the subpoena. They were given "a single Redweld envelope, double-wrapped in tape, containing the documents," according to an Aug. 30 filing.
That envelope, it was later found, contained 38 documents with classification markings, including five documents marked confidential, 16 marked secret and 17 marked top secret.
During the visit, the filing said, "Counsel for the former President offered no explanation as to why boxes of government records, including 38 documents with classification markings, remained at the Premises nearly five months after the production of the Fifteen Boxes and nearly one-and-a-half years after the end of the Administration."
Trump's lawyers also told investigators that all of the records that had come from the White House were stored in one location — a Mar-a-Lago storage room. Investigators were permitted to visit the room, but were "explicitly prohibited" from opening or looking inside any of the boxes, they reported, "giving no opportunity for the government to confirm that no documents with classification markings remained."
The Justice Department was also given a signed certification letter stating that a "diligent search" had been completed and that no documents remained.
AP file

June 8, 2022

The Justice Department sent a letter to Trump's lawyer requesting that the storage room be secured, and that "all of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago (along with any other items in that room) be preserved in that room in their current condition until farther notice."

Aug. 5, 2022

Aug. 5, 2022 — The Justice Department filed an application for a search and seizure warrant of Mar-a-Lago, citing "probable cause" that additional presidential records and records containing classified information remained in various parts of the club.
"There is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction" would be found, read the heavily-redacted copy of the affidavit laying out the FBI's rationale for the search.
The Justice Department also revealed in the Aug. 30 filing that it had found evidence "that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government's investigation."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in South Florida approved the application that same day.
AP file

Aug. 8, 2022

Aug. 8, 2022 — The FBI executed the search at Mar-a-Lago, seizing 36 items of evidence, including boxes and containers holding more than 100 classified records, an order pardoning Trump ally Roger Stone and information about the "President of France."
Agents found classified documents both in the storage room as well as in the former president's office — including three classified documents found not in boxes, but in office desks.
They included items so sensitive that, "In some instances, even the FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys conducting the review required additional clearances before they were permitted to review certain documents."
"That the FBI, in a matter of hours, recovered twice as many documents with classification markings as the 'diligent search' that the former President's counsel and other representatives had weeks to perform calls into serious question the representations made in the June 3 certification and casts doubt on the extent of cooperation in this matter," the Justice Department wrote.
Trump and his allies, meanwhile, cast the search as a weaponization of the criminal justice system aimed at damaging him politically as he prepares for another potential White House run.
AP file

Aug. 12, 2022

Aug. 12, 2022 — Judge Reinhart unsealed the warrant that authorized the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago, which details that federal agents were investigating potential violations of three federal laws, including the Espionage Act.
AP file

Aug. 30, 2022

Aug. 30, 2022 — The Justice Department responded to Trump's request for a special master in a filing that included new details about the investigation, including an assertion that classified documents were "likely concealed and removed" from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago as part of an effort to obstruct the probe.
It included a photograph of some the material found at the club, including cover pages of paperclip-bound documents — some marked as "TOP SECRET//SCI" with bright yellow borders and one marked as "SECRET//SCI" with a rust-colored border — splayed out on a carpet at Mar-a-Lago.
"Terrible the way the FBI, during the Raid of Mar-a-Lago, threw documents haphazardly all over the floor (perhaps pretending it was me that did it!), and then started taking pictures of them for the public to see," Trump responded. "Thought they wanted them kept Secret?"
Department of Justice via AP