Monthly Archives: September 2022

Pierre Highlights Proliferation Of Guns In The Caribbean At UNGA – St. Lucia Times Online News

Posted: September 27, 2022 at 7:52 am

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Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre called attention to the proliferation of firearms in Saint Lucia and the rest of the Caribbean during an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Mr. President, while Saint Lucia and the rest of the Caribbean are not manufacturers of conventional weapons, our countries have been plagued by a proliferation of illegal small arms and light weapons, the Saint Lucia Prime Minister noted.

And Pierre explained that it has resulted in a surge in criminal activity and gun violence.

He told his audience that Saint Lucia has always advocated the international frameworks strongly.

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In this regard, Pierre mentioned the United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects (UN-POA) and the Arms Trade Treaty.

He described them as two examples of multilateral instruments aimed at mobilising international cooperation to curb the illicit trade in conventional arms and ammunition.

Saint Lucia calls on the major manufacturers, exporters and importers of conventional weapons in our hemisphere to live up to their commitments, under these instruments, Pierre, responsible for National Security, said.

He urged them to lend the necessary expertise and technical assistance and cooperate in good faith to stem the tide of unregulated conventional arms and ammunition.

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Pierre Highlights Proliferation Of Guns In The Caribbean At UNGA - St. Lucia Times Online News

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Tropical Storm Ian forms in the Caribbean – WFTV Orlando

Posted: at 7:52 am

ORLANDO, Fla. Tropical Depression 9 formed Friday morning and could impact Florida by next week. Read live updates below:

TropIcal Storm Ian has officially formed.

The 11 p.m. updated forecast track hasnt changed much since 5 p.m., and its too soon to know location of impacts, Channel 9 meteorologist George Waldenberger said.

READ: Timeline for Tropical Depression 9: Heres what to expect

The forecast cone indicates the potential of a major hurricane nearing the Florida Peninsula, or just west, by Tuesday night or Wednesday.

Waldenberger advises residents to go over their hurricane plan this weekend.

See our in-depth coverage in the video below:

IN-DEPTH: Tropical Storm Ian forms Tropical Storm Ian forms

Tropical Depression Nine is still churning across the Caribbean but is expected to become a tropical storm soon, and then a hurricane by the weekend.

The 5 p.m. track shifted slightly west with new model data.

Read: Timeline for Tropical Depression 9: Heres what to expect

Expect the potential for tropical storm/hurricane impacts in Central Florida on Wednesday.

The threat of flooding, rain and strong winds will all depend on storms track, which is still very uncertain at this time.

Read: Hurricane supply checklist: What should you include in your kit?

Tropical Storm Hermine formed far west of Africas coastline. Active systems include Hurricane Fiona, tropical storms Gaston and Hermine, Tropical Depression Nine and a disorganized low.

Stream Tom Terry live on Channel 9 Eyewitness News.

Tropical Storm Hermine just formed in the eastern Atlantic, so the Caribbean system will instead likely get the name Ian.

Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order on Friday declaring a State of Emergency for 24 counties in the potential path of Tropical Depression 9.

DeSantis also requested a federal pre-landfall Emergency Declaration in anticipation of impacts from the storm. His office said that declaration will make resources and support available as well as free up funding sources for emergency protective measures. Under the emergency order, members of the Florida National Guard will be activated and on standby awaiting orders.

The state of emergency applies to: Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and St. Lucie.

Channel 9 meteorologist Rusty McCranie said there is still a lot of variability in where the tropical depression will head. You can see the latest models in his tweet below.

Tropical Depression 9: 2 p.m. Friday update

Tropical Depression 9 is forecast to continue to strengthen as it moves across the Caribbean over the weekend with a turn towards South Florida early next week.

The National Hurricane Center said this is forecast to become a major Category 3 hurricane around southwest Florida on Wednesday morning.

The latest computer models on the track of Tropical Depression 9 shows it clustered over western Cuba and then heading toward southwest Florida.

11 a.m. Tuesday update Tropical Depression 9 (WFTV)

Remember, these are models, and the track can and will change, meteorologist Rusty McCranie said.

Residents should start their initial preparation Friday and refresh their hurricane supply kits.

By Saturday, we should know if there will be impacts to Florida. If that is the case, more hurricane preparation will be needed.

Sunday is when we will know exactly what kind of impacts we will see.

Watch live updates on Channel 9 Eyewitness News at Noon.

Download the WFTV news and weather apps here for regular updates.

TD9 is currently in the central Caribbean moving west-northwest at 13 mph.

Video: Tropical Depression 9 forms in Caribbean, could impact Florida Tropical Depression 9 formed Friday morning and could impact Florida by next week. (James Tutten, WFTV.com/WFTV)

The tropical disturbance is forecast to develop into a hurricane by this weekend.

Read: Eye on the Tropics: Peak of hurricane season update and safety tips

The storm could be near western Cuba by early next week.

The forecast models for TD9 currently have the system moving toward the west coast of Florida or South Florida.

Florida residents are encouraged to have their hurricane plans in place, but full-throttle preparations are not needed at this point.

The path of tropical systems can be unpredictable over time, so there is still a chance that Central Florida will not see a direct impact from TD9.

Channel 9 meteorologists will continue to monitor TD9 and will provide updates on Eyewitness News.

Watch: Hurricane Fiona to bring rough surf, strong rip currents to Volusia County beaches

Follow our Severe Weather team on Twitter for live updates:

Visit our hurricane section: EYE ON THE TROPICS

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

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Tropical Storm Ian forms in the Caribbean - WFTV Orlando

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Ferocious Fiona leaves behind trail of destruction from Caribbean to Canadian Maritimes – Fox Weather

Posted: at 7:52 am

Fiona transitioned into a post-tropical cyclone Friday evening as it slammed into the Canadian Maritimes with hurricane-force winds, torrential rainfall and significant storm surge.

Fiona transitioned into a powerful post-tropical cyclone Friday evening as it slammed into the Canadian Maritimes with hurricane-force winds and a pressure that the Canadian Hurricane Centre said was lowest of any landfalling system in the country's history.

Thousands of miles of coastline from New Brunswick to Newfoundland were under tropical cyclones alerts as winds gusted to over 100 mph and an unofficial pressure was reported of 931.6 millibars.

The winds damaged trees and powerlines and sent a tremendous storm surge into the Canadian Maritimes which damaged boats and flooded homes.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV

The former hurricane was the strongest land falling storm on record in eastern Canada knocking down trees, damaging homes and leaving thousands without power.

Fiona's trek of terror lasted for more than 10 days from near the Caribbean islands, where the cyclone first became a tropical depression, to the waters of the North Atlantic where the system became a powerful post-tropical cyclone.

During its journey Fiona was the strongest cyclone of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season and at one point was a Category 4 with sustained winds around 130 mph.

Its destructive winds and torrential rainfall were blamed for causing the deaths of at least a dozen people and plunged the entire island of Puerto Rico into darkness.

Despite the large storm system moving over cold water, the cyclone was able to take advantage of the clash of air masses and produce destruction similar to hurricanes.

Wind gusts were reported higher than 100 mph which led to widespread damage from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.

Fiona made landfall Saturday in eastern Canada

So far, the country has not reported deaths associated with the storm, but damage assessments of Saturday were in their early stages.

"Fiona is the most significant rain and wind event Nova Scotia has seen in close to 20 years. Thousands of people are on the ground working hard to assess damage and restore power, but they need some help," John Lohr, minister responsible for the Emergency Management Office, said in a statement. "Through past experiences with storms like Dorian, we know the military makes a real difference in how quickly we can get trees cut and removed, debris cleared and power restored."

At the height of the storm, more than 500,000 people were reported to be without power in Canada's eastern provinces.

The region is no stranger to hurricanes or their remnants.

Since 1951, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said the country has seen around two-dozen hurricanes or post-tropical cyclones that have made landfall along its Atlantic coast.

The names of recent tropical cyclones to impact the expansive coastline include Larry in 2021 and both Teddy and Isaias in 2020.

Hurricane Juan of 2003 is considered to be the most destructive in recent history. The Category 2 hurricane made landfall with winds of around 100 mph on Sept. 29.

HURRICANE FIONA'S PATH TO CANADA IS NOT COUNTRY'S FIRST HURRICANE IMPACT

Hurricane Fiona's closest approach to Bermuda was over 100 miles away, but that did not prevent the entire British territory from seeing significant impacts from the major storm.

FOX Weather's Robert Ray experienced the worst of what the storm brought to the island.

Wind gusts to 93 mph caused the majority of the island to temporarily lose power.

The island was spared from the core of the storm with many weather stations reporting sustained winds below the threshold of a Category 1 hurricane.

DRONE VIDEO SHOWS 50-FOOT WAVES AND DESTRUCTIVE WINDS IN THE HEART OF HURRICANE FIONA

Even though Fiona stayed several hundreds miles off the U.S. East Coast, indirect effects in the form of high seas and rough surf impacted beaches from Florida through Maine,

The rough seas caused life-threatening rip currents along beaches, and lifeguards cautioned less-skilled swimmers to stay out of the waters.

The increased surf was enough to send overwash onto North Carolina Highway 12, the main thoroughfare that links the mainland to the Outer Banks.

NCDOT reports overwash just north of Hatteras Village and on the north side of Ocracoke.

(NCDOT)

The North Carolina Department of Transportation said they reinforced dunes before the arrival of the storm's waves to minimize travel interruptions.

Despite a wide area impacted by rough seas and rip currents, there were no reported deaths along the East Coast.

WATER FROM HURRICANES, TROPICAL STORMS KILLS MORE IN U.S. THAN WIND

Fiona made two landfalls as a Category 1 hurricane, the first one Sunday afternoon along the extreme southwestern coast of Puerto Rico and the second one early Monday morning in the eastern Dominican Republic.

In Puerto Rico, the city of Ponce clocked a 103-mph wind gust, while in the Dominican Republic, a gust of 98 mph was recorded in Samana at El Catey International Airport. The high winds plunged all of Puerto Rico into a blackout on Sunday as catastrophic flooding unfolded across the U.S. territory.

DEATH TOLL RISES TO AT LEAST 8 AFTER POWERFUL HURRICANE FIONA LASHES CARIBBEAN

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden declared Puerto Rico a major disaster area to help with recovery efforts.

Hurricane Fiona made its first landfall in southwestern Puerto Rico on Sunday, Sept. 18, followed by a second landfall in the eastern Dominican Republic on Monday, Sept. 19.

(FOX Weather)

FEROCIOUS HURRICANE FIONA BATTERS TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WITH STRONG WINDS, TORRENTIAL RAIN

Hurricane Fiona battered the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday as high winds and heavy rain spread across the islands after the hurricane had already turned deadly in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

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Ferocious Fiona leaves behind trail of destruction from Caribbean to Canadian Maritimes - Fox Weather

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Caribbean Man Jailed For Killing Woman He Thought infected Him With HIV – Caribbean and Latin America Daily News – News Americas

Posted: at 7:52 am

By NAN Staff Writer

NEWS AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Sept. 26, 2022: A Caribbean man will spend the next 17 years of his life in jail after he was found guilty today of murdering a woman he wrongly thought had infected him with the HIV virus.

A High Court judge in St. Vincent and the Grenadines sentenced Desron Roberts, 26, to 17 years, five months and 11 days in prison. His sentencing came after Roberts pleaded not guilty to the charge in June, that in October 2018, he murdered Rhodesia Rochelle Bailey.

The court heard that Roberts, who was then 22, had a sexual relationship with Bailey, 30, whose house he frequented. On July 16, 2018, Bailey told Roberts that she was HIV positive and two days later, he went to see a doctor, who advised him to take a post-exposure treatment for HIV and to get tested.

Roberts began the course of medication, but did not adhere to the prescription fully as he felt that some of the side effects of the medication were too harsh. He had bouts of depression and contemplated suicide but was afraid to speak to anyone about his problem for fear of the reaction that he would face.

Nonetheless, he continued the sexual relationship with Bailey and in October 2018, decided that he would kill her, wrongly thinking that she had infected him with HIV. On October 25, 2018, he took a knife with him to Baileys house. As she was lying wearing only her underwear, Roberts told her that he had come to kill her.

Bailey told Roberts that she was not afraid to die, and he put the knife down and began to strangle her. Bailey attempted to reach for the knife but was unsuccessful and Robert continued to try to strangle her.

Unsatisfied with his attempts to end Baileys life that way, Robert took up the knife and began to stab Bailey, who held on to him begging for her life. Roberts stabbed her multiple times before releasing her. Bailey ran from the house but collapsed nearby.

Robert went to his home and a passing villager found Baileys body early the following morning. A postmortem found that she died of multiple stab wounds.

Following his arrest, Roberts confessed to murdering Bailey and took them to the house.

In sentencing Roberts, Justice Cottle said there was a significant degree of premeditation involved in the killing, noting that Roberts took the knife with him to the scene and told the victim that he had come to kill her.

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Caribbean Man Jailed For Killing Woman He Thought infected Him With HIV - Caribbean and Latin America Daily News - News Americas

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Exclusive: Pirates Of The Caribbean Series In The Works For Disney+ – Giant Freakin Robot

Posted: at 7:52 am

By Nathan Kamal| Published 5 days ago

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is being revived as an animated series on Disney+. According to our trusted and proven sources, a Pirates of the Caribbean cartoon series is currently in development, which could potentially make it the first new entry in the franchise since 2017s Dead Men Tell No Tales. The future of the popular Walt Disney series has been up in the air for quite some time, so this seems promising for a new start for one of the biggest film franchises of all time.

It also makes a lot of sense that the Walt Disney Company would be looking to turn Pirates of the Caribbean into an animated series on their proprietary streaming platform, for a number of reasons. For one, various branches of the mega-company have been increasingly leaning on Disney+ for their new content over much riskier (and more expensive) feature film releases, so Pirates of the Caribbean going that direction fits in with the overall strategy. For another, going the animated route could potentially allow Disney to avoid the huge, heavily eyeliner-d elephant in the room: Johnny Depp.

While the Pirates of the Caribbean was initially presented as a vehicle for Orlando Bloom (then white-hot from the success of the contemporaneous Lord of the Rings franchise) and Keira Knightley (who was breaking out after the surprise hit Bend It Like Beckham), it became quickly apparent that Johnny Depps Captain Jack Sparrow was the star of the series. Over the course of the next four sequels, Johnny Depp would become the deadlocked, drunken face of the series, which would inadvertently paint both the franchise and Depp himself into a corner. Once it became clear that Captain Jack Sparrow was the center of Pirates of the Caribbean, it became increasingly difficult to imagine the series without Depp.

However, Johnny Depps plummeting public image in the 2010s and his ongoing, widely publicized, highly contentious legal battle with his estranged former spouse Amber Heard made him a risky proposition for the famously risk-averse, family-friendly Disney. Combined with Johnny Depps comments that he would never work for Disney again, the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean has seemed to bounce from word of Margot Robbie starring in a spin-off or Dwayne Johnson being courted for a leading role. In contrasted, a Disney+ animated series would be an easy, relatively safe way for Disney to test the waters for the Pirates of the Caribean, so to speak.

An animated Pirates of the Caribbean series could allow Disney to recast Captain Jack Sparrow without necessarily drawing the fan anger, much in the same way that Marvels What If? series cast Mick Wingert to voice Tony Stark rather than the presumably much more expensive Robert Downey Jr. An animated series could also potentially act as a ramp-up to a new feature film or a reboot by introducing characters or explaining what happened to old ones without the enormous cost of a theatrical release. As with both Star Wars and the MCU, it is clear that Disney+ is the way of the future.

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Exclusive: Pirates Of The Caribbean Series In The Works For Disney+ - Giant Freakin Robot

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The NSA is Here to Help | Decipher – Duo Security

Posted: at 7:51 am

PHOENIXThe National Security Agency does not spend much time showing its work publicly. Indeed, the agencys work depends on most people not knowing whats going on inside Fort Meade. But recently, NSA has stepped up its efforts to work with cybersecurity analysts and researchers in the private sector, hoping to gain insights from outside practitioners while also lending context to the discoveries and research private companies produce.

The centerpiece of that effort is the NSAs Cybersecurity Collaboration Center, a new group created about two years ago with the mission of building lasting, productive relationships with private sector partners that help defenders on both sides of the fence react more quickly and efficiently. The CCC is not meant to be another in the endless list of public-private partnerships or information-sharing silos that the federal government has created over the years. Instead, it is meant as a two-way street, with NSA giving as well as taking.

We only know one part of the picture. The intelligence community has to be in that conversation. We need to bring our data and understanding of whats happening to get ahead of it. Morgan Adamski, director of the CCC, saud during a keynote at the LabsCon conference here Thursday.

Operational collaboration is a conversation between us government defenders and you, sharing unique and timely info with context.

That last word is the real crux of the effort. NSA and its partners in the signals intelligence community collect massive amounts of information on a daily basis and have insights into networks and environments that private organizations dont. That gives the agency the ability to add context and color to discoveries that other organizations make, creating a more complete picture of a given threat or attackers activities. In the past, NSA and other government agencies typically have shared very limited information on attacks or vulnerabilities, and usually on a case by case basis. Adamski wants to change that.

We were only helping one company at a time. Ninety percent of the time, when we share technical indicators, people already know them. What we were missing is real time sharing with context and actionable unique information. The intelligence community had to come to the table, she said.

To underscore the spirit of cooperation and openness, the CCC itself is physically located outside the fence line on NSAs Maryland campus and Adamski said much of the work the group does with outside partners is done on an unclassified level. The goal is to build a level of trust with the private sector that has not always been there in the past.

We have to make sure we care about the same things. We need trust. If you dont trust me with your data, things can break down pretty quickly, she said.

Though the CCC is meant to share information with outside organizations and help defenders protect their networks, the NSA is benefitting, as well.

Were learning a ton back about things we didnt know. Were moving faster. Attribution is coming faster because everyone is feeding data into ont place and were building a more complete picture, Adamski said.

One recent example of that is the advisory that CISA published in April 2021 warning that state-sponsored attackers from China were targeting users of the Pulse Connect Secure VPN, including federal government employees. Adamski said NSA became aware of the attacks when a partner in the private sector alerted the agency, which then set off NSAs own investigation.

We saw significant targeting of VPN users after the shift to remote work. We were able to take the information from our partner and add context and color and put out the advisory, she said.

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Hollen, Raskin Join with NSA Bethesda Fire Fighters, IAFF Leaders to Highlight Progress on Efforts to Improve Base Conditions, Build New Facility |…

Posted: at 7:51 am

September 23, 2022

On Monday, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Jamie Raskin (both D-Md.) joined fire fighters working at Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSA Bethesda) the naval installation home to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center along with International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) General President Edward A. Kelly and National Capital Federal Fire Fighters President Scott Burkhardt Jr. to discuss progress in pushing the Navy to improve the living and working conditions for the fire fighters who serve the base and the surrounding community. The lawmakers and IAFF leadership toured the station and saw first-hand the subpar living conditions that persist within the existing fire station and living quarters including issues such as water leaks, mold, pest infestation, and a broken exhaust removal system, among others. Following their tour, the group reaffirmed their efforts to push the Navy forward and pointed to arecent confirmationfrom the Secretary of the Navy that preliminary planning for an entirely new16,000-square-foot fire stationhas been completed, at an estimated cost of $22.5 million. This progress follows the letter sent by the Senator and his colleaguespressing for an updateon the Navys efforts to address the unsafe conditions at the facility and is a crucial step in allowing future funding of the project.

Senator Van Hollen and IAFF leadership also highlighted theFire Station Construction Grants Act, legislation the Senator recently introduced to help build and upgrade fire stations in Maryland and across the country.

The deplorable conditions that persist at the NSA Bethesda firehouse not only endanger our fire fighters they also make it more difficult for them to protect the Walter Reed complex and the surrounding communities. But with the help of the fire fighters and IAFF, weve finally pushed the Navy leadership to commit to a plan to build a brand new fire station fit for the mission of this base that is at the vanguard of military medicine and serves our wounded warriors and thousands of veterans,said Senator Van Hollen.Ill keep working to push the Navy to provide the necessary funds to get this project off the ground, and I am committed to ensuring our fire fighters and first responders and have the tools they need to keep us all safe.

The firefighters at NSA Bethesda provide an essential public service to the naval base and surrounding community, yet their facilities remain in a state of unacceptable disrepair,said Rep. Raskin.These brave public servants regularly put their lives in danger to protect us. They should never feel unsafe in their home station. While I commend Secretary Del Toro for committing to build a new fire station, I urge the Navy to carry out swiftly the interim facility repairs required to keep our firefighters safe today.

Fire fighters are answering calls today from dilapidated fire stations across the United States. The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center provides world-class medical care to our brave military, yet its fire station is in shambles. Just this summer, a fire fighter there sustained a serious injury when he fell through the floor and required three months of rehabilitation.This injury was preventable; it should not have occurred,said Edward A. Kelly, president, International Association of Fire Fighters.The staff at Walter Reed has done everything it can with the resources it has to repair the current station. It is time for the Navy to prioritize the modernization and replacement of this house and others like it at bases around the nation.The IAFF is grateful to Representative Raskin and Senator Van Hollen for their steadfast dedication to fire fighters and their continued efforts to correct the decades of inaction that have left our nations fire stations in a failing state.

IAFF Federal Fire Fighters should not have to worry about falling through the floor of their bunk room. We worry about that when we're in burning buildings. We also shouldnt have to worry about waterlogged flooring or insect infestations where we live and work, but its a reality that our federal fire fighters face every day,said Scott Burkhardt Jr., president, National Capital Federal Fire Fighters.The leadership of NSA Bethesda, Walter Reed, and the Commander Navy Region have all express their support for us, but they have been hamstrung by cuts to their budgets and the meddling of their internal affairs. We as fire fighters arent asking for more than what the Navy Facilities Engineering Command have told us were supposed to be able to expect in our stations. Thats what were fighting for, and were glad Senator Van Hollen and Congressman Raskin have our backs."

Following theJune 28 lettersent to Navy leadership by Senator Van Hollen and his colleagues seeking an update on the status of the firehouse, U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Torotold the lawmakersthat the Navy has completed its preliminary plans for a new 16,000 square-foot fire facility and committed to working to budget funds for its construction. Secretary Del Toro also outlined how the Navy planned to fix many of the immediate safety issues in the existing fire station where fire fighters are still living and those plans include replacing damaged floors, installing new doors and frames, and making retrofits to prevent water leaks, among others. Additionally, the Secretary provided an update on the improvements made in two barracks for junior enlisted service members on NSA Bethesda, the conditions of which Senator Van Hollen and his colleagueshad also raised concerns aboutearlier this year. Secretary Del Toros letter to Senator Van Hollen and his colleagues can be viewedhere, and form outlining the plans for the new fire station can be viewedhere.

Senator Van Hollen has consistently championed issues important to fire fighters and first responders during his time in the Senate. Last year, as part of the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, he passed his Federal Firefighter Flexibility and Fairness Act into law. This legislation allows federal fire fighters to trade shifts across pay periods without it affecting their overtime. State and local fire fighters have been able to engage in trade time for many years, and this law extended that right to federal fire fighters. Additionally, last month, Senator Van Hollen introduced theFire Station Construction Grants Act, a bill that authorizes $1 billion in grants to be administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help modify, upgrade, and construct fire and EMS department facilities.

A member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Van Hollen works each year to secure federal funding for local fire departments and EMS agencies across Maryland to enhance their response capabilities and ability to protect the health and safety of the public and first-responders. So far this year, he has led his Congressional colleagues in announcing over $15.5 million for various agencies around the state.

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Pianist Paul Barnes and Native flutist Ron Warren to premiere piece Monday in Lincoln – Lincoln Journal Star

Posted: at 7:49 am

Pianist Paul Barnes and Native flutist Ron Warren discuss blended music that combines Indigenous musical ideas with western classical music during an interview on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Lincoln, Neb.

Paul Barnes met Ron Warren in, of all places, North Dakota, when the Native flutist was called in to join Barnes, the Lincoln pianist, for a performance of Piano Concerto No. 2, After Lewis and Clark."

The performance of the piece that acclaimed composer Philip Glass wrote for Barnes began a creative collaboration between the musicians that extends to Monday night, culminating in the world premiere of The Way of Mountains and Desert, a solo piano piece Warren wrote for Barnes that will be the centerpiece of a program celebrating Warrens music.

Native flutistRon Warren (left) and University of Nebraska-Lincoln pianist Paul Barnes share a laugh as they rehearse at Westbrook Music Building on Friday.

R. Carlos Nakai played the Native flute when the concerto, commissioned for the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, premiered at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in 2004. But Nakai wasnt available when Barnes was to perform the concerto with the Minot Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and suggested Warren as his replacement.

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It went so well, I swore that every subsequent performance that I had of the Glass work and weve played it in California and, of course, we played it twice here I always wanted to have Ron flown in from wherever he was, Barnes said.

Later, Barnes learned that Warren was a composer following a Jacksonville, Florida, concert that Warren drove from his Orlando-area home to attend.

I went up to hear Paul and it was his Greek Orthodox chant-based concert, Warren said. I was so taken with his singing and with Orthodox chant that I became really intrigued. So I had a flute phrase that kind of grew into a small piano piece that I sent off to Paul, just to thank him for that show. He played it for about a season.

That 2018 piece, Distances Between, will open Mondays concert and, appropriately, Barnes, Warren and Omaha Symphony bassist Danielle Meier will perform an arrangement of Sacagawea, the second movement of the Glass concerto that features the Native flute.

The second half of Mondays program will open with the new piece that Barnes commissioned from Warren.

Because I just love the way that Ron wrote for the piano, I wanted to commission a larger scale work, a big 20- to 25-minute work that would be kind of the focal point of performances, he said. Thanks to the Hixson-Lied College (of Fine and Performing Arts) I got my grant, Ron got paid and wrote this incredible, incredible piece for me.

What:"The Way of Mountains and Desert," celebrating the music of Ron Warren

Where: Kimball Recital Hall, 11th and R streets

When: 7:30 p.m. Monday

Admission: Free

The Way of the Mountains and Desert was inspired by a Barnes trip to the American Southwest for an Orthodox retreat, as well as indigenous poetry and Warrens own experiences.

Those experiences included playing in a deep gorge in Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park where reflections from a stream danced on the rock walls, giving Warren the idea for the high register, jumping, tinkling To Water, the pieces opening movement.

A lot of my music is the music of place anyway, of really trying to connect the beauty of a place and listening for what wants to be shared from that place, Warren said. So through a combination of our conversations, some of my favorite indigenous poets and my own memories from being in those places, what were calling the 'love song for the earth' grew as a flute song initially. From that grew the piano piece.

In Barnes Westbrook Music Building studio Friday, Barnes and Warren demonstrated how the flute song translates to the piano. While Barnes couldnt replicate the flutters of the flute and the piano added a low range of sounds, the graceful, flowing flute passage Warren played was largely replicated.

'I've always loved the way that Ron has played the flute, but I'm a pianist, so I never get to experience that," Barnes said. When he wrote this piano version of the flute song, it just felt so fluid. And I felt like I was actually a flute player.

Native flutistRon Warren rehearses Friday at Westbrook Music Building in Lincoln.

The concert will conclude with Beads, a four-movement duet between piano and Native flute that includes a section in which Warren gets to channel his inner Ian Anderson, the flutist of Jethro Tull fame.

That, too, could be heard during Fridays rehearsal, which vividly demonstrated how Native flute could be inserted into Western classical music, which Warren said isnt all that novel.

There are numerous indigenous musicians who, he said, are involved in every kind of music you can think of from classical piano to experimental electronic musicians building their own instruments.

The Way of Mountains and Desert, which Warren and Barnes will perform again in New York in May and likely play at concerts around the country over the next year, is a perfect example of something vibrantly new.

Luke Bryan performs during his concert Thursday at the Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock.

Luke Bryan performs during his2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday at Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock.

Luke Bryan brought his annual Farm Tour to the Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock on Thursday.

Fans watch as Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

Fans raise their drinks into the air as Luke Bryan performs during his2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

Fans wave signs toward Luke Bryan as he performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

A young fan is lifted above the crowd for a better view as Luke Bryan perform during his2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

A drummer for Luke Bryan performs during the2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

Fans cheer as Luke Bryan performs during his2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.

Riley Green performs during Luke Bryan's2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.