Author: Reporter

When the film “Jaws” hit theaters in the summer of 1975, it did more than break box office records. It broke the nerve of the American public. Viewers staggered out of cinemas, suddenly afraid to dip their toes in the ocean. Beach towns reported real drops in tourism. Parents kept children in the shallows, and even experienced swimmers second-guessed every shadow beneath the waves. With its ominous score and “shark-that-you-don’t-see” terror, “Jaws” tapped into a primal fear and changed how movies reached audiences. Its premiere unleashed the era of the summer blockbuster and rewrote Hollywood’s release calendar for decades...

Music streaming service Deezer said on June 20 that it will start flagging albums with AI-generated songs, part of its fight against streaming fraudsters. Deezer, based in Paris, is grappling with a surge in music on its platform created using artificial intelligence tools it says are being wielded to earn royalties fraudulently. The app will display an on-screen label warning about “AI-generated content” and notify listeners that some tracks on an album were created with song generators. Deezer is a small player in music streaming, which is dominated by Spotify, Amazon and Apple, but the company said AI-generated music...

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on June 19 for the rebuilding of one of the nation’s oldest Black churches, whose congregants first gathered outdoors in secret before constructing a wooden meetinghouse in Virginia. The First Baptist Church of Williamsburg officially established itself in 1776, although parishioners met before then in fields and under trees in defiance of laws that prevented African Americans from congregating. Free and enslaved members erected the original church house around 1805, laying the foundation with recycled bricks. Reconstructing the 16-foot by 32-foot building will help demonstrate that “Black history is American history,” First Baptist Pastor...

Summer will make a dramatic entrance in the U.S. with a heat dome that will bring stifling temperatures and uncomfortable humidity to millions. The heat will be particularly worrisome over the June 21 weekend across wide stretches of Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, where forecasters are warning of extreme temperature impacts. This will be the first stretch of true summertime weather for many from Midwest to the East Coast, said Tom Kines, a meteorologist at the private weather company AccuWeather. “A lot of those folks have been saying, where’s summer? Well, buckle up, because it’s coming,” said Kines. The...

Juneteenth celebrations have been scaled back this year due to funding shortfalls as companies and municipalities across the country reconsider their support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Canceled federal grants and businesses moving away from so-called brand activism have hit the bottom line of parades and other events heading into the June 19 federal holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. The shrinking financial support coincides with many companies severing ties with LGBTQ celebrations for Pride this year and Donald Trump’s efforts to squash DEI programs throughout the federal government. In Denver, for example,...