Memorial service held for Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone
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A memorial service was held near Atlanta for Grammy-nominated R&B singer Angie Stone. The 63-year-old artist was killed in a car crash south of Montgomery, Alabama, on March 1.
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USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Bryan Cranston champions Ford's new philanthropy push at revived Detroit landmark
It's midmorning June 17 and actor Bryan Cranston is in a private room deep inside Michigan Central Station seated in an overstuffed lounge chair. He leans back, smiling and welcoming the respite from the grueling 82-degree heat he'd just endured for more than an hour outside, speaking in front of hundreds of Ford Motor Co. employees, dealers and some media. Cranston, 69, isn't complaining. Heck, he isn't even sweating. The Oscar-nominated star volunteered to be in Detroit to emcee the event to kick off Ford's new philanthropy program: Ford Building Together. The program aims to better unite Ford's nationwide dealership network and employees so that they can provide more efficient relief during disasters. Ford is partnering with four charities in the new program. 'I'm here to build that community, that's what it's all about," Cranston told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, of why he supports Ford's philanthropy work. "I'm tired of the vitriol and the rancor and the finger-pointing. We're better than that. We have a variety of different opinions on religion and politics and life. But let's find the commonality. This is one of those events that finds that commonality. This is a celebration of the American spirit.' The American spirit is fitting for Ford as the company touts itself as the most American of all the automakers, often citing the statistic that 80% of the vehicles it sells in the United States, it also assembles here. That is a timely message amid President Donald Trump's trade war, which seeks to encourage more U.S.-based manufacturing. A quiet philanthropist Cranston is most famous for playing the dad in the early 2000s sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle" and more recently as playing Walter White, a chemistry teacher turned drug dealer, in the hit 2008-13 drama "Breaking Bad." In 2016, he was nominated for Best Actor for the movie "Trumbo." Despite his movie star credentials, Cranston is a dedicated philanthropist, though he said this is the first time he has talked so openly about it. "I've been involved in philanthropy for quite a while. My wife and I have a fund set up for a variety of charities," Cranston said. "It was Jane Kaczmarek, who played my wife in 'Malcom in the Middle,' who said, 'Paying back, donating time, energy and money to charities is reciprocal to our good fortune and it kind of comes with the territory.' " He has used social media to promote his involvement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children over the years. And, even with his business endeavors, Cranston makes an effort to give back. "I'm so blessed; I'm so lucky. Why not share it?" Cranston said. "I don't know how good I'd be as a mogul, wanting to make more and more. I want to make and share, make and share. That's what we discovered when Aaron Paul (costar in 'Breaking Bad') and I started our mezcal company Dos Hombres — we have to give back to the people of Mexico. It's the right thing to do." 'You want me to show up?' Cranston's ties to Ford started years ago. The relationship has taken him from rescue work with the automaker's philanthropy arm after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, to more recently his visit to Dearborn, Michigan Truck Plant to donning a hard hat to trapse through the very building he sat in on June 17: Michigan Central Station, well before it was renovated. Cranston's famous voice — a deep, gutteral baritone — won him a contract as the voice of Ford commercials starting in October 2018 with the launch of the "Built Ford Proud" campaign, according to Ad Age. He has also voiced Ford Philanthropy promotional videos. Before that, he said he has personally bought several F-150 crew cab pickups over the years, donating them to charities to use after hurricanes to rescue people in flooded areas. As for his personal car, Cranston has been driving an all-electric Mustang Mach-E for the past few years. So when Ford told him about this new philanthropy program that partners with the American Red Cross (Cranston said he donates blood regularly), Habitat for Humanity, Feeding America and Team Rubicon, he didn't hesitate to help. "Ford said, 'Do you wanna …?' I said, 'You want me to show up?' They said, 'Will you? Really?' I said, 'Yeah, yeah.' So here I am," Cranston said. Cranston's visits to Michigan To get to Detroit on June 17, Cranston took a day and a half off from the set of his latest project, a dark comedy movie being filmed in Champaign, Illinois, called "Chili Finger." It also stars Judy Greer, Sean Astin and John Goodman. The timing is interesting, too. Cranston said it was nearly four years ago to the date when he entered "this building wearing a hard hat and a vest, stepping over puddles and fallen cables and graffiti and broken marble … it was a mess." That was in 2021 or so and Cranston said he'd come to Michigan to do research for the 2022 movie "Jerry and Marge Go Large" costarring Annette Bening based on the true story of Jerry and Marge Selbee, of Evart, Michigan, who figured out how to win the lottery. Cranston took a detour from his research to come to Detroit during that visit where he met up with friends. While in the city, he took a tour of Dearborn Truck Plant to see the F-150 pickup being made and then he made his way to Michigan Central Station. "I came here to see what Ford was doing to this and why," Cranston said. "I thought, 'Oh my gosh this is a huge undertaking.' I knew it was Bill Ford's baby and people thought he was a little crazy to do this and look at it now. It's gorgeous.' Executive Chair Bill Ford was on FOX News Channel's "FOX & Friends" the morning of June 17 talking to co-host Steve Doocy about the long-standing desire to repair the train station. "It had become a mecca for drug dealers and everything else. I drove by it almost every day and often, what happened was, there were stories, national stories about the decay of Detroit ... and this was often the visual," Ford said of the train station. Ford spent close to $1 billion to renovate the old train depot, which now holds shops, offices and soon, a luxury hotel. Since it opened to the public in June 2024, Ford said it has had about 300,000 visitors. On June 2, NoMad Hotels, an upscale boutique brand affiliated with Hilton and featuring a bourgeois-bohemian flair, said it plans to open an approximately 180-room hotel on the top floors of Michigan Central Station in the first half of 2027. Cranston's take on Detroit sports Cranston glances around at the marble walls. The sunlight pierces through the skylights illuminating the once downtrodden train depot. He is aware the building reflects the Motor City, a place he calls a "great town" that he visits often. "I'm really, really happy to see it come back," Cranston said. "There were times when I was here, where it was almost like a ghost town and to see that urban renewal is really rewarding.' Cranston has a couple of hours before he has to catch a flight back to Champaign, Illinois, and return to his real job. He doesn't mind going back to work, saying he is grateful that he gets to do what he loves for a living and it has given him a platform to help others. There is one regret though, being a Tigers fan, Cranston wishes he could have caught a game while here. "But the last time I was here, it was about a year and a half ago, and I'm from Los Angeles originally so I'm a Rams fan," Cranston said. "We came to play the Lions and the Lions beat us. They played a better game and they won. They've got a great team and it was a lot of fun." Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
USA Today
06-06-2025
- USA Today
Uber is trying to help older Americans' transportation troubles. Will it work?
Uber is trying to help older Americans' transportation troubles. Will it work? Show Caption Hide Caption Bradley Cooper new documentary sheds light on caregiving crisis A new documentary, "Caregiving," executive produced by Oscar-nominated actor Bradley Cooper, will explore the hidden struggles of caregivers. unbranded - Entertainment Yvette Pegues, 38, lives in a wheelchair full time and travels often for work. Recently, on her way to a conference in Miami, she said she ordered a wheelchair-accessible ride and spent nearly $100 to go 12 miles. Pegues, a board member for disability advocacy group The Arc, said she's had plenty of unfortunate rideshare interactions. She's experienced canceled rides, rude drivers and high prices for extra assistance. 'The worst part, honestly, is once I've actually gotten an Uber ride, the driver doesn't always want to assist," she said. Even if she can "swing into the car" herself, she said, she still needs help from the driver to get her chair in the trunk or the back seat. More: The caregiving crisis is real. USA TODAY wants to hear from you about how to solve it. "I'm really, kind of, at their mercy," Pegues said. Drivers for UberWAV, who offer wheelchair-accessible rides, must complete a third party certification course on how to help riders enter and exit a vehicle, according to the company. Uber can deactivate the account of any driver who denies transportation to a rider because of their age or disability. And Uber has made strides in recent years to support riders in other ways, including the ability to report safety concerns in real-time and supporting domestic violence survivors during COVID-19. On June 4, Uber launched its latest accessibility feature, senior accounts, nationwide. These accounts are part of Uber's family profiles and offer older adults a more streamlined version of the app with larger text, fewer steps and easy-to-follow screens. Their loved ones can help them order a ride and get real-time updates during the senior's journey, too. But while the company's efforts to support diverse riders looks good on paper, experts in the aging and disability worlds aren't sure Uber has the capability to meet all riders where they are without help. Justin Boogaard, co-founder and CEO of GoGoGrandparent, a third-party platform that helps older adults access rideshare apps, food delivery other smartphone services, said it's great to see companies like Uber and Lyft investing in accessibility features for seniors and those with disabilities. But he said most of the clients his company works with need more assistance than what an app redesign can offer. When his clients schedule an Uber ride, Boogaard said, they have difficulty communicating with the driver, confirming their ride and connecting their payment plan − tasks that need an over-the-shoulder assist. And because these clients often don't have alternatives, a canceled ride is a big deal. 'With older adults, in particular, reliability is more important than anything else. It's more important than convenience,' Boogaard said. The worst thing that can happen, he said, is a driver shows up and refuses to help or drives off without even trying to help. That's where GoGoGrandparent comes in, by booking rides for older Americans and communicating the rider's needs to the driver. If the driver isn't comfortable helping with a wheelchair or other accommodations, Boogaard said, GoGoGrandparent can easily redirect the request to another driver who is willing to help. 'An older adult is happy to wait 15 minutes if the driver that shows up is going to load their walker for them," he said. Accessibility 'is about choice,' Uber rep says Older adults often face transportation barriers that can further exacerbate health issues and loneliness. An estimated 18.6 million Americans self-reported travel-limiting disabilities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics' 2022 National Household Travel Survey. Nearly 8 million of those respondents were 65 and older, and most of them reported health problems as the top reason for taking fewer trips. A 2019 study by University of Southern California, in which 150 patients 60 and older were given three months of free and unlimited Lyft rides, found 12% of the rides were used for medical appointments. Participants in the study also used Lyft to run errands, to make social visits and to get to fitness classes and other entertainment events. The study found 90% of participants reported an increase in quality of life. More: A woman's retirement crisis: Between caregiving and gender wage gap, can they catch up? Transportation is key to independence, and when older adults lose the ability to drive that's often the beginning of the end of their autonomy, said Seth Sternberg, CEO and co-founder of Honor, an in-home care provider. Uber's senior accounts are built for individuals living independently and who don't need as much assistance as those trying to access a wheelchair accessible vehicle, or those connected to a caregiver account. With senior accounts, older adults can save frequent destinations and loved ones can follow along in the app during rides to get real-time updates on each trip. Older adults who aren't part of a family profile can turn on "simple mode," found in the accessibility settings, to use the more streamlined version of the app. Uber's family profiles have accounts for teens and caregivers, too. Family organizers can invite their loved ones to join their account through the app. The company said it will gather feedback from the new senior accounts to inform ongoing work on how to improve user experience for older adults and those with disabilities. 'Senior accounts and Simple mode represent an important milestone in Uber's ongoing commitment to accessible transportation,' said Ashu Manohar, director of product management at Uber. 'These features reflect our dedication to designing technology that meets people where they are and supports mobility at every stage of life.' For some riders, Uber's accessibility features make a world of difference. Three times a week, Michael Cuvilje orders an Uber to his home in New York City to take his mother to her dialysis. His mother, 93-year-old Bettye Cuvilje, has dementia, kidney disease and heart failure. She lives with Cuvilje and his wife and sister. "I do own a vehicle, but I find it difficult to get her in and out because some days she's in, like, a lot of pain," he said. With Uber's wheelchair accessible vehicle feature, he said, "I can just roll her into the back of the vehicle, strap her in and it makes it much more convenient that way.' Wheelchair accessible vehicles are much easier to access in New York than in other areas of the country, Pegues said. Cuvilje always joins his mother for her Uber rides, since she needs assistance getting in and out of the vehicle and into her appointments. He hasn't used the family profile or senior account feature yet, but said he's interested, especially since his sister is 63 and also has difficulty getting around. He said he's in the process of getting her set up on the app. 'We really believe that accessibility for users is about choice," said Briana Gilmore, Uber's head of public policy, accessibility, and underserved communities. Gilmore said she's excited to share the senior account feature with her mom, and wishes she'd had more options when she was a caregiver for her father. 'Many of us built this with our loved ones in mind that we've been caregivers for," Gilmore said. Transportation troubles are larger than rideshare It's a "big step in the right direction," Sternberg said. But when riders have more specialized needs, like help getting in and out of a wheelchair, "it's just a completely different product" than what traditional rideshare companies are made for. And since Uber contracts its drivers, Boogaard said, it's difficult to control how individual interactions play out. 'You kind of have to ask yourself, where does one service end a different service begin?" Sternberg said. The onus to transport older Americans and people with disabilities isn't totally on rideshare companies like Uber. Perhaps rideshare apps just aren't the best products for those users, Sternberg said, and companies that do specialize in care for individuals with disabilities should help solve the transportation barrier. In some cities, wheelchair accessible vehicles are limited or aren't available at all. Pegues said she's used medical transport services before, but that can cost hundreds of dollars. And people with disabilities aren't all old, she said. It's about time the country's transportation infrastructure and services caught up "so that we can become more independent." 'I think in order to solve that problem, that's where you really start needing the help − especially for older adults that are at the poverty line − you really start needing the help of insurance companies or government support to make those economics work," Boogaard said. It's also about individuals being kind, Sternberg said. And that helps everyone, not just older Americans or those with disabilities. In an ideal world, Sternberg said, 'I can actually trust this driver who is coming to pick me up to be courteous.' Madeline Mitchell's role covering women and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal Ventures and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input. Reach Madeline at memitchell@ and @maddiemitch_ on X.
USA Today
24-05-2025
- USA Today
What channel is the 2025 Indy 500 on? How to watch Sunday's race
What channel is the 2025 Indy 500 on? How to watch Sunday's race Show Caption Hide Caption Insider: Rookie wins pole, 2 Penske cars pulled from qualifying Motor sports insider Nathan Brown recaps a controversial day at the Indianapolis 500 pole day. The 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500, a race rich in history and tradition, has nearly arrived. A field of 33 drivers, each with their unique stories and ambitions, is striving for the prestigious Borg-Warner Trophy, adding another chapter to the race's legacy. This year's race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway promises to be thrilling, featuring a talented group of drivers. Among them is Robert Shwartzman, who has made history as the first rookie to claim the pole position during qualifying in more than 40 years. The lineup also includes Josef Newgarden, the 2024 Indy 500 winner, who has become the first driver since Helio Castroneves to win the race two years in a row. Now, the motorsport world is abuzz with anticipation as he aims for a historic three-peat, a feat not achieved in decades. A new aspect of this year's Indy 500 is the broadcast network. After a 16-year partnership with NBC, the race will be televised on Fox Sports. Mark your calendars and set your alarms to catch the 109th edition of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." More: Nine-time Grammy nominee Natalie Grant to sing national anthem at Indy 500 What time does the 2025 Indy 500 start? The 109th Indianapolis 500 takes place Sunday, May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The green flag is scheduled to wave at 12:45 p.m. ET. Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025 Sunday, May 25, 2025 TV time: 10 a.m. ET 10 a.m. ET Race time: 12:45 p.m. ET 12:45 p.m. ET TV channel: Fox Fox Live stream: Fubo (free trial to new subscribers) Fubo (free trial to new subscribers) Location: Indianapolis Motor Speedway What is the race-day schedule for the 2025 Indy 500? 9:00-9:20 a.m. ET: Cars to pit lane Cars to pit lane 10:30 a.m. ET: Cars to grid on frontstretch Cars to grid on frontstretch 11:47 a.m. ET: Driver introductions Driver introductions 12:20 p.m. ET: National anthem National anthem 12:38 p.m. ET: Command to start engines Command to start engines 12:45 p.m. ET: Green flag waves What time does the TV broadcast begin for the 2025 Indy 500? Fox is televising the Indianapolis 500 for the first time and will start its broadcast at 10 a.m. ET. More: Watch the Indy 500 with Fubo
