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National Guard helicopter pilots rescued campers trapped on all sides by deadly fires

California National Guard crew were sleeping cozily in their beds when they got the call. Dozens of campers were stranded by the Mammoth Lake Reservoir, northeast of Fresno, trapped on all sides by the fast-moving Creek Fire. All exit routes were blocked in the blaze. Firefighters had no way in to get them out.

According to ABC News, the National Guard took two helicopters, a CH-47 and a UH-60 Black Hawk, through the thick smoke and fire to rescue the men, women, and children who had found themselves encircled by fire in the middle of the night. When the helicopters arrived, they found the campers gathered on a dock just 50 feet from the encroaching blaze.

“There are a couple pictures out there and—not bravado—but it was five times worse than any of those pictures,” CW5 Kipp Goding, who piloted the Black Hawk, told ABC. “Every piece of vegetation, as far as you can see around that lake, was on fire.”


Knowing they were running out of time, they packed as many people as they could onto the helicopters—women and children first—in the first of several trips to retrieve more than 200 campers. Crew members were told they could bow out at any time if they felt it was too dangerous. Though some got nauseous from the smoke, they kept going.

“This was an entire crew, and an entire team decision, to keep on going,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Joseph Rosamond, the pilot of the Chinook, told ABC.

“The conditions were pretty extreme,” said Rosamond. “There were points along the route where … we were just about ready to say that’s enough.”

Goding, the Blackhawk pilot who had 25 years experience as an Army helicopter pilot, including combat missions in the Middle East, told ABC that it was the No.1 or No. 2 most dangerous mission he’d ever flown.

After the overnight rescue at Mammoth Reservoir Saturday night, the continued helicopter missions as conditions permitted to get other people trapped by the Creek Fire out of harm’s way. According to CBS Sacramento, the National Guard ultimately flew 373 people and 16 dogs to safety.

We need this kind of story right now. From southern California to northern Washington, the West Coast is experiencing a catastrophic fire season with no end yet in sight. People in Oregon are sharing surreal photos of apocalyptic red skies midday, a small town in eastern Washington saw 80% of its buildings and homes burn to the ground in a matter of hours, and Californians are battling both record-breaking heat and record-breaking fire loss, with 2 million acres already torched. Even people not directly impacted by fire are impacted by smoke and hazardous air quality.

Here’s to the heroes risking their own lives to save others as 2020 continues to bring unprecedented disaster to our doorstep. If we have to deal with natural disasters on top of a freaking plague on top of economic hardship on top of missing hugging our friends, these inspiring examples of humanity and heroism help keep our spirits up.

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Denver is sending mental health experts instead of cops in response to nonviolent calls

Last Friday, a police officer in Salt Lake City, Utah shot a 13-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder who was suffering from a mental health crisis. According to a GoFundMe page, the boy was left with serious injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines, and bladder.

The boy’s mother, Golda Barton, requested a crisis intervention team to transport her son to a hospital for treatment and believes the police reaction was excessive.

“He’s a small child. Why don’t you just tackle him?” Barton said according to NPR. “You are big police officers with massive amounts of resources. Come on, give me a break.”

This story out of Salt Lake City is another in a long list of incidents over the past few months that have inspired Americans to rethink the role that armed police officers have in society.


via GoFundMe

A recent program out of Denver, Colorado has found that having unarmed mental health professionals respond to matters that don’t threaten public safety can be even more effective than armed officers.

On June 1, Denver’s new Support Team Assistance Response (STAR) program hit the streets. The STAR program builds off of Denver’s co-responder program that paired mental health professionals with armed police officers starting back in 2016.

Since its launch, it has responded to more than 350 911 calls often connected to unmet mental or physical needs.

These teams, made up of mental health professionals and paramedics, are better equipped to handle Denver’s most vulnerable populations and they also allow police to respond to violent situations.

The team has responded to unhoused people in distress, people having suicidal ideation, indecent exposure calls, trespassers, and people simply acting strangely.

via Caring for Denver Foundation / Twitter

STAR teams aren’t pressured to respond to more pressing, violent calls so they take a more personal approach to helping people. The team has been able to work on some calls for up to two hours.

“It’s the future of law enforcement, taking a public health view on public safety,” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen told The Denver Post. “We want to meet people where they are and address those needs and address those needs outside of the criminal justice system.”

Having the STAR and co-responder teams gives dispatchers a better chance to solve problems by giving them a the opportunity to match situations with those best trained to handle them.

“We’re really trying to create true alternatives to us using police and jails,” said Vinnie Cervantes with Denver Alliance for Street Health Response, one of the organizations that helped start the program.

The STAR program is currently only working in the central downtown area of the city, but community groups hope it will expand citywide. Organizers are also working to help other municipalities, such as nearby Aurora, to adopt similar programs.

“It really kind of proves that we’ve been working for the right thing, and that these ideas are getting the recognition they should,” Cervantes said.

It’s impossible to know whether a program like STAR would have prevented a 13-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder from being shot in Salt Lake City. But there’s no doubt that armed police officers shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all solution to keep our cities and their residents safe.

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What’s On Tonight: Get ‘Woke’ With Lamorne Morris, And Mull Over ‘The Social Dilemma’

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Woke (Hulu series) — This show is the comedy series that Lamorne Morris (and the rest of us) deserves with a little bit of everything. It’s surreal, it’s funny, it’s serious, it’s got talking toast and trashcans, and it’s in good hands with director Maurice “Mo” Marable. The quest to “keep it light” never felt so real as Keef (based upon the life and work of artist Keith Knight) experiences a rude awakening and transformation to follow.

The Social Dilemma (Netflix film) — The sprawling consequences of social-media dependence come to a head in this documentary that examines what we tweet, like, and share. Are social media platforms a lifeline or a way to reprogram civilization? That’s one of the many questions confronted by director Jeff Orlowski.

So Much Love to Give Film (Netflix film) — The best of both soap-opera worlds doesn’t turn out so hot for a prestigious physician who’s living a double life with two wives. Monday-Thursday with one, and Friday-Sunday with the other? I’m not sure which one of these ladies has the better deal, honestly. Free weekends away from one’s (obnoxious) spouse might actually be a relationship goal.

Get Organized with The Home Edit (Netflix series) — Move over Marie Kondo, you’ve got company. Master organizers Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin take on closets of their celebrity clients, including Reese Witherspoon, Rachel Zoe, Khloe Kardashian, Eva Longoria, Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka, and Jordana Brewster. I would be willing to bet that Neil’s got the coolest closet.

The 100: (CW, 8:00pm) — Back from hiatus, the sci-fi series picks up with Clarke’s plans derailed by the red sun.

Coroner: (CW, 9:00pm) — Detective McAvoy faces off with the brotherhood of blue while Jenny’s digging into an officer-involved shooting.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Kevin Hart, Josh Charles, Chika

Late Show With Stephen Colbert: Chris Christie, Gregory Porter

Late Night With Seth Meyers John Cleese, Glenn Howerton

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P.J. Tucker On All-Defense Snub: Fine As Long As The Rockets Value Me

P.J. Tucker, one of the most hard-working and versatile defenders in the NBA, added to his career-long streak of having never appeared on a league All-Defense team when he finished fifth among forwards in voting this year.

Finishing in front of Tucker in voting among forwards were Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo and Kawhi Leonard, all of whom were excellent in their own rights on that end. The Houston Rockets’ big man was asked about being “snubbed” again and showed that he’s trying to make peace with what the media believes about his place in the hierarchy of NBA defenders versus how the Rockets feel about his value.

His body of work, he said, speaks for itself, and as long as those that make roster decisions and sign his paychecks know how good he is on that end, that’s what matters.

Houston is, of course, the team that outbid Toronto and other suitors for Tucker in free agency three years ago and rebuilt their team this trade deadline around his ability to hold up as a small-ball center. They maximized his talents as a spot-up corner three-point shooter, rebounder, and all-around defender en route to three straight seasons of contention in the Western Conference.

There’s no need for Tucker to see his value through the lens of this one award, but it would probably feel pretty good to be recognized.

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Porter Robinson Is An Animated Forest Guide In His Glitchy ‘Mirror’ Video

It’s been six years since Porter Robinson released his album Worlds and fans are anxiously-awaiting his upcoming record Nurture. Robinson ushered in a new, wistful era with his singles “Get Your Wish” and “Something Comforting” earlier this year. The musician dropped his third single, “Mirror,” in late August and now, Robinson returns with a glitchy video alongside the airy single.

The visual opens in a dark and lush forest. An animated drawing of Robinson appears on the screen, guiding the viewer into the woods. The scenes are cut with animated flowers and 3D-rendered trees, bringing a new dimension to the surreal visual.

In a statement shared alongside the single’s release, Porter said the track is about being his own worst critic:

“‘Mirror’ is a song about the costs of being hard on yourself. We all have these avatars that we give to our critical inner voices – we might imagine a scornful parent telling us we’ll fail, or a critic telling us our work comes up short, or a society telling us that we aren’t good enough – it’s about recognizing that most of this criticism is self-inflicted. For years, I was imagining the worst thing a critic might say about my music and looking at my own work as negatively as possible as a way to protect myself from criticism, but it never once served me. My hope is that other people can overcome this same kind of shame – it can be really liberating to recognize that most of the time, we’re only letting our own thoughts get in the way, and we can do something about it.”

Watch Robinson’s “Mirror” video above.

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Report: The NBA Draft Could Be Moved To November 18 Amid CBA Negotiations

These NBA playoffs are far from over, but because of the months-long hiatus during the middle of this year, the league is already making arrangements for how to pull off the draft, free agency, and ultimately the 2020-21 season successfully.

The first domino has reportedly fallen in what will be a long series of adjustments between the NBA and the players’ association, as the draft is likely to be moved back from the initial date of October 16 (mere days after the end of the Finals) to November 18, according to a new report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The league and players union must finalize adjustments to the CBA given the financial ramifications of the pandemic and the revenue impact of playing in the Bubble without fans. The two sides have to figure out how to proceed and what the salary cap will look like next season (and years to come), factoring in the losses of this season, and potentially the next. According to Wojnarowski, the league is likely to move back the draft a month to give itself time to negotiate the cap and give teams more time to potentially evaluate players in-person.

The reason to move back the draft is because NBA teams need to have a full understanding of what the salary cap will look like for next year in order to be able to make draft night trades. Giving a month cushion for continued CBA renegotiations would hopefully allow a clear picture to be in place by draft night, allowing for the usual array of deals and movement up and down the board.

Being able to focus on real games has been nice, but the financial realities are coming into focus once again for the NBA. Don’t be surprised if we see players putting more money into escrow heading into next season so that the league has excess cash in the event of further financial losses in the coming months. Many, such as former Grizzlies executive and current NBA insider at The Athletic John Hollinger, expect some sort of smoothing on the cap as well, artificially keeping it at or above this year’s level in order to not punish teams who expected it to continue to rise, and spreading the impact of a revenue dip over a stretch of years to avoid a huge drop and later another spike.

In addition, the expectation is that the league will put together some sort of small in-person draft combine that would allow for official measurements, physical tests and potentially drills and interviews as well. While star prospects have shied away from the combine in recent years, it is still valuable for teams to get accurate health records and measurements. Bumping the draft back allows for teams to feel less rushed and more confident in making moves, which is important for both teams and fans who love to see a flurry of activity on draft night.

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M.I.A. Drops The Hard-Hitting ‘Ctrl’ And Calls For Julian Assange’s Freedom

M.I.A. has popped up here and there since her 2016 album AIM, but she hasn’t been a frequent purveyor of new music. She’s been more active on that front this year, though. She dropped a new track in March and she’s back with another one today, “Ctrl.” The track, which can only be heard on M.I.A.’s OHMNI website, has a hard-hitting instrumental and addresses free speech, with lyrics like, “Hands up! / Hand down! / Wake Up! / Snap Out! / We gon’ stand up / When they try to / Control / Control / Control / Control / Control / Control.”

M.I.A. shared a statement about the song, in which she advocates for the freedom of Julian Assange:

“Ctrl! A song for 2020… this is not a song from M.I.A.’s upcoming highly anticipated IIIIIIth LP. It was made for the here and now, today.

OHMNI.com. A space to transcend. An intrusion to the illusion.

‘You know you are lead by tyrands when telling the truth is a crime.’

In opposition to the ongoing extradition of journalist Julian Assange. The significance of this moment and this case is like nothing we have seen in modern jurisdiction.

This is not a left thing, it’s not a right wing, it’s not about a Black thing vs. white thing, it’s about the right thing!

‘The first amendment guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids congress from both promoting one religion over others and also restricting individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.’

Ctrl is available to stream exclusively on OHMNI.com. Now — free Julian Assange!”

Listen to a snippet “Ctrl” above and check out the whole song here.

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‘Stranger Things’ Star Joe Keery Shares The Groovy Track ‘Keep Your Head Up’ Under The Moniker Djo

Step aside Finn Wolfhard, there’s a new Stranger Things rockstar. Joe Keery, the actor who portrayed Steve Harrington on the hit Netflix show, has pivoted back toward his musical career. Under his musical moniker Djo, Keery debuted the shimmering single “Keep Your Head Up.”

The lively single boasts crunchy synths and Keery’s feel-good lyrical delivery. “Got to love yourself, go ahead touch yourself / Just like time alone your heart belongs to someone else,” Keery sings over disco-inspired instrumentals. Describing the cheerful tune, Keery said it’s “a much-needed bolt of positivity in an otherwise dark time.”

While “Keep Your Head Up” marks the beginning of a new era for Djo, it’s not the first song Keery has released under the moniker. Last year, Keery quietly released Djo’s debut album Twenty Twenty, which became a sleeper hit with fans of his laid-back sound. Djo is Keery’s solo project but he got his musical start in 2014. Attending Chicago’s DePaul University, Keery joined a few friends to form the indie psych rock outfit Post Animal. The band swiftly signed to Polyvinyl Records and has been releasing music ever since, even though Keery briefly dropped out of the project to begin his acting career with Stranger Things.

Listen to “Keep Your Head Up” above.

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A Public Apology To Playoff Rondo

After Game 1 of the Rockets-Lakers series I wrote about three adjustments the Lakers should make going forward to take control of the series. I was very wrong about two of those — although I will at least credit myself for noting that it was more important to take Eric Gordon out of rhythm than Russell Westbrook.

I felt the Lakers were not going to have a lot of success trying to out-small ball the Rockets, which has clearly not been the case over the last two games. Namely because of my other point, which was they needed to limit the minutes in which Rajon Rondo and LeBron James shared the floor because of the spacing nightmare it would create and that he was best used as the primary ball-handler for the non-LeBron minutes given their lack of other facilitators.

This could not have been more incorrect thus far.

Through two games since writing that, Rajon Rondo has been the third best player for the Lakers, playing critical minutes both with and without James on the floor in helping L.A. take a 2-1 series lead. In Game 3, he was nothing short of sensational, scoring 21 points and handing out nine assists in 30 minutes of play off of the bench, and, maybe most shockingly, was his efficiency shooting the ball as he was 8-of-11 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

Beyond questions about Rondo’s viability given his play during the regular season, my main concern was him trying to work his way back into rhythm in the midst of this very competitive series, and the possibility that losing Rondo minutes because of rust could cost them games. Coming off of an injury and a six-month layoff from real basketball, he’s not only found a rhythm, but is playing with more assertiveness and a better pace than he did at any point this season.

Playoff Rondo has been a thing for awhile now, but we hadn’t seen that guy in action in some time and there was a genuine concern as to whether he still had that level of play in him. It’s clear now that he does and that he still is capable of stepping up and being more decisive and aggressive with the ball in his hands. Rondo’s vision and passing was the expected positive he could bring to a Lakers team in dire need of someone else other than LeBron James who can survey the floor, pick out the right pass, and make it on time and on target. The question was whether he could do the other things to avoid being a net negative, like provide quality defense and not ruin their spacing on offense.

In recent years, the perception of Rondo’s defensive impact has surpassed what he’s actually provided on the floor, but Houston has actually offered a pretty good matchup for him. He’s still capable of being the on-ball pest that was his calling card for years in Boston, but it has to be in short bursts. The Lakers have utilized Rondo as a change of pace defender for James Harden, as they rotate who takes on the former MVP as the primary defender, picking him up 94-feet and just generally trying to make him work at all times to even get the basketball. Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Alex Caruso have all taken that assignment on in a rotation, as they try to keep fresh legs on Harden while throwing different looks at him.

When it’s not Rondo’s time to guard Harden, he can either sink off of Russell Westbrook, daring him to shoot and simply trying to be in the way of a Russ drive, or get a welcome breather in the form of lurking around the perimeter on one of the various spot-up shooters the Rockets employ. Houston’s lack of player movement benefits Rondo in this case as he works his way back, and he’s still capable of those bursts of energy to make life miserable for a ball-handler.

On offense, the Lakers can’t rely on Rondo to hit 60 percent of his three-pointers going forward, but every made Rondo three is a little bit of found money — and if Houston is going to not even close out on him, treating him like Lu Dort, those are still decent shots. More important is what he’s done off of the dribble against the Houston defense. Rondo has long been frustrating in his occasional refusal to take layup attempts at the rim due to his instinct at all times to try and pass the ball. However, he’s been more assertive in creating his own shots the last two games, taking opportunities at the rim when they present themselves rather than circling under the basket and pulling the ball back out. That approach is so important for this Lakers offense because it is just a different dynamic.

They don’t have anyone else other than LeBron James who can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket from the perimeter. Anthony Davis needs someone to get him the ball in his spots to be at his best. Alex Caruso isn’t a super effective offensive player in general, and the fewer Dion Waiters minutes you need, the better. Everyone else is a spot-up shooter first, with Kyle Kuzma likewise being best when given the ball on the move, already cutting to the basket. Rondo isn’t as quick as he once was, but he’s broken down this Houston defense on a number of occasions and the Rockets are never going to really send help at a Rondo drive, knowing his greatest danger is as a facilitator. As such, him taking those looks at the rim is so important to his effectiveness, and thus far he’s been very good at that.

As for the passing, you can see it in the first play from the highlight package above. There’s not another player on the Lakers other than LeBron that is capable of seeing and making that lob pass to Anthony Davis — or the entry pass over the top to LeBron as he was being fronted. Getting some easy looks for Davis and James is the biggest value to having Rondo on the court. Those two often have to work really hard, particularly James, to create offense. Just having someone that can create for them and set them up for an easy basket here or there alleviates some pressure and makes life a bit easier. Rondo can still do that, and even if the shots aren’t falling, as long as he’s willing to make on time and on target passes, he can help this team.

I don’t expect Rondo to average 21 and 9 the rest of the way in this series, but I must offer my sincerest apologies to the legend of Playoff Rondo. The Lakers need him, and that may be an indictment of this roster’s construction, but for now he’s played spectacular basketball and looks like a different player than we’ve seen since he joined Los Angeles. Whether he can keep this level of play up as the postseason wears on, we’ll have to wait and see, but for now, it’s worth enjoying watching him turn back the clock a bit. As improbable as it would’ve seemed a week ago, he’s thoroughly outplayed Russell Westbrook in this series, and that’s something Houston simply has no chance to overcome if it continues.

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Freddie Gibbs And Benny The Butcher Kick Back On A Boat In The ‘Frank Lucas’ Video

Hopefully, no one forgot Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist’s joint album Alfredo from earlier this year, but just in case you did, they’re back to remind you to check it out (again) with the video for “Frank Lucas” featuring Griselda Records’ Benny The Butcher.

The video features a straightforward concept for the two throwback rappers, who hit the Miami Bay on a speedboat and pop champagne with a pair of pretty women while dishing out their excess-fueled bars. The trash talk covers the usuals — drugs, guns, money, women — as The Alchemist’s spare-sounding beat imitates a 1950s horror film with piano stings and eerie organ work. The song’s titular drug kingpin is referenced in the backdrop of Freddie’s performance scene with a mural of the rapper in the infamous mink coat that supposedly brought the real Frank Lucas to the attention of the authorities.

Freddie and The Alchemist previously released the video for “Scottie Beam” featuring Rick Ross from their joint project, so that leaves another eight tracks to go. The smart money is on “Babies & Fools” with Benny’s Griselda counterpart Conway The Machine. Time will tell.

Watch Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist’s “Frank Lucas” video with Griselda Records’ Benny The Butcher above.

Freddie Gibbs is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.