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Forbes
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Lawrence Welk Show' Turns 70: A Bubbly TV Flashback
Unspecified: Lawrence Welk appearing on 'The Lawrence Welk Show'. (Photo by Disney General ... More Entertainment Content via Getty Images) 'Wunnerful, wunnerful!.' 'Ah one, and ah two'…let's get started on this TV flashback. Naturally, this tribute is about the legendary Lawrence Welk, the "Champagne Music" maestro, known for his family-friendly show and his signature "A one, and ah two" introduction to musical numbers. Beyond long-running The Lawrence Welk Show, which debuted on ABC on this day in 1955, Welk was a bandleader, an accordion player, and a shrewd businessman synonymous with squeaky-clean (and older-skewing) entertainment. Lawrence Welk (1903-1992), US musician and band leader, smiling while posing with an accordian, ... More circa 1955. (Photo by) Let's go back to July 2, 1955 for the premiere of The Lawrence Welk Show. I Love Lucy finished the season as the top-rated television series in primetime (with a staggering average 49.3 household rating, according to Nielsen). The Jackie Gleason Show at No. 2 led the then overpopulated category of variety. And classic crime drama Dragnet ranked third overall. William Frawley, Vivian Vance, Lucille Ball, and Desi Arnaz out golfing in the television series 'I ... More Love Lucy', 1951. (Photo) UNITED STATES - MAY 15: May 15, 1955, California, Los Angeles, The Jackie Gleason Show, Jackie ... More Gleason and Art Carney(L-R: Art Carney, Jackie Gleason). (Photo by Michael) CIRCA 1955: Star of the TV series "Dragnet" Jack Webb performs in a scene in circa 1955. (Photo by ... More Michael) At a time when the summer was a breeding ground for leftover programming, ABC aggressively brought Lawrence Welk into primetime. Initially billed as the Dodge Dancing Party in 1955 and 1956, The Lawrence Welk Show became a staple for ABC for 16 years, particularly as a Saturday night option. The variety series featured the band, singers, and dancers, all showcasing a range of musical styles from big band to polka. Many episodes included a theme, like songs of the 40s or music from famous groups, with the cast performing related numbers. Segments highlighted individual performers. And then there was the Lennon sisters, who were dubbed "America's Sweethearts of Song." They were…all together now…"Wunnerful, wunnerful!" Unspecified - 1962: (L-R) The Lennon Sisters performing on 'The Lawrence Welk Show'. (Photo by ... More Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) While still a popular option on ABC, The Lawrence Welk Show was a victim of the 'rural purge' in primetime in 1971, which resulted in the demise of series like The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Hee Haw and Welk's variety series in favor of more modern type storytelling a la The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Norman Lear's All in the Family. Group puiblicity portrait of the cast of the CBS situation comedy 'Mary Tyler Moore' shows (left to ... More right) Gavin McLeod, as Murray Slaughter, Mary Tyler Moore, as Mary Richards, Ed Asner, as Lou Grant, and Ted Knight (1923 - 1986), as Ted Baxter, California, 1971. (Photo by CBS) UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of All In The Family Photo by MichaelLife After Cancellation In response to the show's demise, Welk started his own production company and continued producing it for first-run syndication. Fun factoid: The success of Lawrence Welk and Hee Haw in syndication, and the network decisions that led to their premature cancellations, were the inspiration for a novelty song called 'The Lawrence Welk-Hee Haw Counter-Revolution Polka.' After 11 additional seasons (and 30 seasons in total), Lawrence Welk retired and production of the weekly television program ended in 1982. With bubbles floating around accompanied by a sound effect of a bottle of champagne opening at the beginning of most episodes, The Lawrence Show was not the 'coolest' or 'trendiest' television series. But its wholesome, family-friendly entertainment left an indelible impact. And today we remember this 'wunnerful, wunnerful' variety series. Lawrence Welk surrounded by female cast members on 'The Lawrence Welk Show'. (Photo by Disney ... More General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Time Magazine
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time Magazine
Trump Wants Rare Earths. But Challenging China's Dominance Will Take More Than Tariffs
When, in December 1953, Dragnet became the first American television show to broadcast in color, few fans knew they had a dusty nook on the California-Nevada border to thank for bringing it to polychromatic life. But every early cathode-ray tube color television owed its screen's red hue to europium, a rare earth element excavated and processed exclusively at the Mountain Pass Mine in San Bernardino County. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Mountain Pass produced practically all known quantities of europium, as well as over 90% across the spectrum of rare earth minerals worldwide. Back then, of course, uses were limited: apart from europium adding vibrancy to L.A. cop procedurals, cerium was used as a glass polishing agent, while lanthanum was—and still is—crucial for oil cracking, or turning crude into gasoline and other lighter fuels. Today, however, the picture is very different. Rare earth materials are vital for myriad industries, from advanced weaponry to wind turbines and robotics. But far from the U.S. having a monopoly on production, now some 96% of rare earth minerals are sourced from China, propelling these arcane materials into center stage in the escalating trade war between the world's top two economies. In response to President Donald Trump imposing tariffs of 145% on Chinese goods, as well as curbing the sale of strategic U.S. technology including semiconductor chips, China hit back by restricting the export of rare earth elements. Auto manufacturers across the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Germany and India have warned the shortages may force factories to halt production. The spat prompted Trump to hit out at China for reneging on a nascent trade deal between the superpowers. Then, last week, Trump revealed a 'framework' struck in London that supposedly will ease U.S. access to China's rare earth minerals and magnets in exchange for setting tariffs on Chinese exports at 55% and a relaxing of curbs on Chinese students' access to U.S. colleges. 'Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China,' Trump posted on Truth Social. But reports from Washington suggest that the deal will expire in just six months, and with U.S.-China relations continuing to spiral, how America and its allies can break itself free of its Chinese rare earth dependency is a geopolitical priority. While it's a question with sweeping economic ramifications, it's also one with no easy answer. 'Everybody wants to just snap their fingers and start producing heavy rare earth elements,' says Mark Smith, CEO of rare earths firm NioCorp, who has worked in the industry for almost four decades. 'But it's a very long, hard process. And the longer we wait, the further China gets ahead.' China has bet on rare earths for a long time. Back in 1992, reformist leader Deng Xiaoping declared: 'The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths.' China accompanied this strategic focus with billions of dollars of investment in mines and processing facilities to monopolize the market. Just like countless strategic industries, China wielded huge state subsidies, and little concern for environmental or safety standards, to produce rare earths at a fraction of the cost of Western competitors. As a result, in 1998, Mountain Pass' separation plant ceased producing refined rare earth compounds. Four years later, a toxic waste spill led the mine to close altogether, and intense Chinese competition impelled the decision not to reopen. At the same time, uses of rare earths were just ramping up. Today, yttrium is used in lighting and flat screens; ytterbium in cancer treatments and earthquake monitoring; erbium in lasers and fiberoptic cables. But particularly important are permanent rare earth magnets, which account for a quarter of total rare earths consumption and are a vital component in actuators, or devices that turn a control signal into mechanical motion. These could be robot arms on assembly lines, the fins of a ballistic missile or stealth bomber, or any of the multiple motors of an electric vehicle. But it's not just EVs that rely on actuators and, by extension, permanent rare earth magnets. Conventional internal combustion engine vehicles are also heavily reliant on these materials. That is how, in 2010, China managed to bring Japan's auto industry to the brink of collapse by halting exports of rare earth materials amid a territorial spat in the East China Sea. In the following year, prices of rare earths soared by 10 times and the incident served as a wake-up call that was only partly heeded. Japan invested in alternative sources, particularly in Australia, though remains heavily dependent on Chinese supplies. That September, the U.S. House passed the Rare Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act to subsidize the revival of the American rare earths industry, including reopening Mountain Pass, which resumed production in 2012 only to fall into bankruptcy three years later. Today, under the new ownership of MP Materials, it remains the only functioning American rare earth mine. Crucially, however, not all rare earths are created equal. What are termed rare earths are in fact a 'basket' of 17 elements with overlapping but ultimately unique properties. Regarding permanent rare earth magnets for actuators, the most common element is neodymium, which can be sourced from Mountain Pass. The problem is that for actuators to work at high temperatures—like those found under a car's hood—the neodymium needs to be mixed with either dysprosium or terbium, distinct rare earth minerals which are not significantly present in the Mountain Pass ore body. In fact, China controls practically 100% of global supply of dysprosium and terbium and added both to export controls on April 4. Tellingly, Beijing didn't bother restricting sales of neodymium, cognizant of alternative sources—and the fact they are largely useless without their heat-resistant siblings. So where can American firms source dysprosium and terbium—and fast? At the Lynas rare earth mine in Mount Weld, Western Australia, yellow diggers scoop the tawny earth and dump it into soot-stained trucks. Following on-site concentration, the semi-refined ore is then taken on a four-hour drive to processing facilities in nearby Kalgoorlie, or loaded on ships to Malaysia, where in the seaside town of Kuantan Lynas operates the world's largest rare earth processing plant. Crucially, in May the Kuantan plant produced its first batch of dysprosium and is expecting its first terbium this month. 'This is an exciting achievement for Lynas and for manufacturers keen to secure a resilient supply of separated rare earths products,' Amanda Lacaze, CEO and managing director of Lynas Rare Earths, tells TIME. 'We have stated our intention to meet the needs of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base on a priority basis.' It's a great start, but given the insatiable global appetite for rare earths, many more sources will ultimately be needed. And other options are years from fruition. It was with great fanfare that Trump signed a deal with Ukraine in March that ostensibly handed half the war-torn nation's future oil, gas, and mineral wealth—including rare earths—to the U.S. The only problem is that Ukraine may have abundant reserves of lithium and titanium, but it doesn't actually have rare earths in any sizable deposits worthy of exploitation. What about Greenland? Trump has repeatedly touted buying or even invading the semi-autonomous Danish province, citing its mineral wealth. In March, Vice President J.D. Vance led a U.S. delegation including National Security Adviser Michael Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright to Greenland. But while Greenland does boast 18% of the world's total rare earth reserves, accessing them is extremely problematic, owing to freezing temperatures and a thick layer of silica. Chinese, American, and European prospectors have spent decades trying to figure out how to extract these resources without any success. Today, Greenland has no functioning rare earth mines. Other options are more feasible. Brazil has the world's third largest reserves of rare earths and is aggressively exploring this space, while Saudi Arabia also boasts significant deposits and signed a cooperation agreement with the U.S. on critical minerals during Trump's visit in May. MP Materials and Saudi Arabia's national mining company, Maaden, also signed a MoU to collaborate on establishing a rare earth supply chain in the Gulf state. Meanwhile, Japan's state-owned energy firm JOGMEC and gas firm Iwatani have unveiled plans to invest up to $120 million in a French rare earths refining project. And with Africa boasting four of the top 10 nations for rare earth exploration last year—namely South Africa, Namibia, Uganda, and Malawi—the continent stands to play a huge role in future supply chains. But there are also options closer to home. Other than Mountain Pass, Lynas has secured $258 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to build a heavy rare earth refinement facility in Seadrift, Texas. 'The U.S. facility has been designed with the capability to process feedstock from other sources as and when they become available and are qualified,' says Lacaze. Meanwhile, NioCorp has the permits to build a rare earth processing facility at its Elk Creek Mine in Nebraska and is currently waiting on a $780 million financing agreement with the U.S. Export–Import Bank for the $1.2 billion project, which will take around three years to get online. Smith, the NioCorp CEO, says he is currently 2.5 steps through a four-step approval process, which if greenlighted will provide up to 1,500 jobs during construction followed by a 450-strong full-time crew. Although Smith predicts Elk Creek could service all Department of Defense dysprosium and terbium needs, he's under no illusions about the scale of the challenge. 'One thing absolutely for sure is that NioCorp, by itself, is not the whole answer to the problem,' he says. 'So we're rooting for anybody to be an additional part of the solution. We need to put all the parts together to really be formidable against China.' Unfortunately, simply seeding projects in friendly countries doesn't solve the problem. For one, China controls the separation and refining equipment market and placed export controls on those technologies in December 2023. Today, the rare earth refining industry is scrambling to reverse engineer Chinese technologies or innovate entirely new ones. There is also the matter of expertise. Refining rare earths is 'a whole new art unto itself,' says Smith. Heavy rare earth elements are extremely close to each other in terms of their atomic weights, making the process to separate each from the other at sufficient purity levels for commercial or military applications extremely taxing. 'There's chemical engineering involved, there's physics, there's kinetics,' says Smith. 'It takes a whole bunch of knowhow, practice, and art to get heavy rare earths into their final purified oxide form. As well as a big investment.' The cash injections needed keep on growing. Lynas's Texas project, for one, is currently stalled as the firm seeks more government funding on top of the nine figures already pledged. 'Following design changes to accommodate local permitting, additional CAPEX will be required, and Lynas is in discussion with the U.S. government with respect to this funding,' says Lacaze. But even if all these new rare earth projects are realized across the globe, challenging Chinese dominance must still overcome its toughest obstacle: price. China has spent decades building out massive capacity for rare earth minerals, so all other competitors operate at a huge disadvantage. 'The inside China price is used by outside China customers as a benchmark,' says Lacaze. 'We have not observed any intent from the majority of non-Chinese consumers to pay a significant premium to the inside China price.' Moreover, China's massive processing capacity means it just opens the spigot whenever a potential competitor emerges to price them out of the market. The Chinese state has no problem eating any short-term losses to maintain key strategic levers over the global economy. It's a similar dynamic for many different minerals, including cobalt, nickel, and titanium. Today, neodymium oxide costs less than $60 per kilogram—around half its 2023 cost—and is forecast to get even cheaper. 'One of the biggest challenges we face is that rare earth prices are very low,' says Gracelin Baskaran, director of the Critical Minerals Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'And a lot of that has been achieved through market manipulation by China increasing and increasing production.' The cost issue looks frankly impossible to solve. Other than technical challenges, refining rare earth minerals uses a huge amount of water. Back when China was first ramping up its rare earth industry, wastewater was just discharged into the nearest river, although environmental standards have tightened considerably in recent years. In the U.S. or other developed economies, wastewater must be evaporated in huge kilns to isolate and dispose of pollutants—though this is a very energy intensive and thus costly process. 'And it's not something that China has to do,' shrugs Smith. So, the big question is how American—or Saudi or African—rare earths can survive in such a cost-competitive marketplace. Various mechanisms have been considered: One is a Contract for Difference model, which is common in agriculture and says that if prices fall below a certain point the government will pay the difference. Another option is having the government serve as an Offtaker of Last Resort, agreeing to buy minerals at a certain price if nobody wants them on the open market. However, 'in the U.S., at least in an era of DOGE, putting in an indefinite OPEX subsidy is quite politically unpalatable,' says Baskaran. 'But it is what China will do, so how do we compete against a country that's willing to inject fiscal support at any part of the supply chain to retain their dominance?' Another potential solution is one very close to Trump's heart: tariffs. By hiking levies on Chinese rare earths, the U.S. could strongarm firms to source from preferred friendly nations. But this essentially shifts the cost burden from government to businesses, undermining their global competitiveness with unknown ramifications down the line. For Smith, tariffs are merely a stop-gap solution. 'The answer cannot be for President Trump to issue a tariff,' he says. 'We need to be competitive with or without tariffs by increasing our technology, improving our processes, using more robotics. But we must have a legitimate business at the end of the day.'
Boston Globe
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Arthur Hamilton, who wrote the enduring ‘Cry Me a River,' dies at 98
It was one of the three songs he wrote for the 1955 film 'Pete Kelly's Blues,' which starred Jack Webb as a jazz musician fighting mobsters in Prohibition-era Kansas City, Missouri. At the time, Webb was also playing his most famous role, Sergeant Joe Friday, on the television series 'Dragnet' (1951-59). Advertisement Peggy Lee, who played an alcoholic performer in the film, sang Mr. Hamilton's 'Sing a Rainbow' and 'He Needs Me.' Ella Fitzgerald, who was also in the film, sang 'Cry Me a River,' but her rendition was cut by Webb, who was also the director and producer. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'Arthur said to me that the irony was that when Ella recorded it' -- years later, for her 1961 album 'Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!' -- 'he thought she made one of the greatest recordings of it ever,' Michael Feinstein, the singer and pianist, said in an interview. 'But Jack felt she didn't have the emotional bandwidth to do it justice.' Mr. Hamilton quickly made the song available to London, a friend from high school who was also Webb's ex-wife. It became a hit, rising to No. 9 on the Billboard singles chart in 1955. Advertisement The song is a bitter rebuke from a jilted lover: Now you say you're sorry For being so untrue Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river I cried a river over you. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2010, Mr. Hamilton explained why he used the phrase 'cry me a river.' 'Instead of 'eat your heart out,' or 'I'll get even with you,' it sounded like a good, smart retort to somebody who had hurt your feelings or broken your heart,' he said. The song has been covered by Barbra Streisand, Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, Aerosmith and, in 2009, the crooner Michael Bublé, who sang it before Queen Elizabeth II. Bublé told The Wall Street Journal in 2010 that the song stood out for its lack of sentimentality. 'There's almost a darkness that sort of distinguishes it from so many other songs,' he said. 'Even if you listen to Julie London's version, it's very dark.' London's 'Cry Me a River' was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2015. 'Delivered in a soft, breathy style, 'Cry' is basically a revenge anthem, but it nevertheless becomes a romantic come-hither,' Cary O'Dell wrote in an essay for the registry. Arthur Hamilton Stern was born on Oct. 22, 1926, in Seattle, and moved to Los Angeles with his parents when he was a baby. His father, Jack Stern, wrote songs for several films, including 'Folies Bergère de Paris' (1935), which starred Maurice Chevalier, and was also a publicist for Irving Berlin. His mother, Grace (Hamilton) Stern, was a singer who occasionally wrote lyrics for her husband's songs. Advertisement Mr. Hamilton learned to play on the pianos in his house and received a further education from watching performances by the cabaret pianist and singer Bobby Short in a club in Beverly Hills. 'I told people many times, 'I didn't go to college. I went to Bobby Short,'' he said in 2020 on 'The Paul Leslie Hour,' a podcast. Mr. Hamilton wrote the score for a stage musical, 'What a Day,' that was telecast live on the Los Angeles television station KTTV, in 1949; worked for a music publishing company; and signed a contract to write songs for Webb -- first for 'Dragnet,' where his tune 'Any Questions?' was sung in an episode by Peggy King, and then for 'Pete Kelly's Blues. Composing music for 'Pete Kelly's Blues' was a big break for Mr. Hamilton. 'Four years ago,' according to a 1955 article in The Oakland Tribune, 'he was delivering drugs for a chain of local pharmacies. He was a frustrated songwriter who spent his spare time scribbling lyrics on the backs of prescription blanks.' Lee's recording of 'He Needs Me' was included in the album 'Songs From 'Pete Kelly's Blues'' (1955), and the song was later covered by Cleo Laine, Nina Simone and others. Both Bobby Darin and Marvin Gaye recorded it as 'She Needs Me.' In 1970, Mr. Hamilton collaborated with Riz Ortolani on 'Till Love Touches Your Life' for the movie 'Madron,' a western filmed in Israel, which starred Richard Boone as a cowboy and Leslie Caron as a nun. It was nominated for an Oscar for best original song but lost to 'For All We Know,' from 'Lovers and Other Strangers.' Advertisement Mr. Hamilton and Pat Williams were nominated for Primetime Emmys for their songs for the TV movies 'Blind Spot' (1993) and 'The Corpse Had a Familiar Face' (1994). Mr. Hamilton's survivors include his wife, Joyce (Maurer) Hamilton, and a daughter, Claudia Hamilton. His marriage to Mildred Winter ended in divorce. Feinstein, an expert on the Great American Songbook who wrote songs with Hamilton about 15 years ago, said that 'Cry Me a River' resonates in part because its emotional intensity builds throughout. 'Songs that are simply not about the clichéd expressions of love,' he said, 'have the potential to endure longer than the garden variety love song, because they express something that is a catharsis for people.' This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
Mom turns in son accused in Peachtree City high school band instrument theft
The Brief A mother turned in her son for the theft of $36,000 in school band instruments. Police say she recognized his clothing in photos that police had posted online about the burglary at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City. Police were able to return all of the instruments to the students. PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - There are new developments in Peachtree City, where thousands of dollars in band instruments were stolen from a local high school. Police say the suspect's own mother turned him after recognizing her son on social media. SEE ALSO: Police searching for suspect in Peachtree City high school band instrument theft Social media post Local perspective It started as a tongue-in-cheek post on the Peachtree City Police Facebook page in the style of the old TV show Dragnet. It worked. It had people talking and commenting. Soon, a mother realized that police were posting an image of her son, whom she then confronted about the theft of thousands of dollars in school band instruments. Police say after he confessed to her, she took him to the police station to turn him in. "They wanted to make the wrong right and give them back to the victims," said Det. Michelle Taylor. The backstory Police say the surveillance video showed the 19-year-old roaming the halls of McIntosh High School after breaking in. They say he was heading to the band and orchestra rooms. Video outside shows him loading up the stolen instruments on a golf cart. Keep in mind this is Peachtree City. They would learn their suspect was a former student who graduated last year. Among the items taken was a teacher's personal violin. The total value of the instruments taken exceeded $36,000. What they're saying Police praised the courage it took the mother to turn in her son for the crime. What's next He's facing two counts of burglary as well as theft by taking. The Source FOX 5's Doug Evan spoke with the Peachtree City Police Department for this article.
Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Boston Globe
As second Karen Read trial begins, legal experts expect new approach from prosecutors
Advertisement Now, more than three years after O'Keefe's snow-covered body was found near the road outside a Canton home, As a second trial gets underway with jury selection on Tuesday, legal experts say they expect the prosecution will bring a tighter and more direct presentation of the evidence, cutting through twists and turns the case took the first time. 'Sometimes if cases go on and on, jurors lose track of what the most important issues are, and they might think there's reasonable doubt just because there was so much evidence introduced,' said Michael Cassidy, a Boston College law professor. 'The shorter and leaner the case can be is sometimes the more persuasive.' Related : Advertisement Special prosecutor Hank Brennan, 'Mr. Lally, in my opinion, is an old-style 'just the facts' prosecutor, a la the old 'Dragnet' police TV show,' said retired Superior Court judge Jack Lu. 'This is a style that is good because the prosecutor is a public official, unlike the defense lawyer. Mr. Brennan may take the battle to the defense more.' Brennan has filed a flurry of motions in recent months and sought communications Read had with one of her lawyers and A couple of new attorneys have also joined Read's defense team, including Victoria Brophey George, who Another new addition is Robert Alessi, a New York-based litigator who in pretrial hearings has delivered lengthy arguments vouching for or disputing the credentials of proposed expert witnesses. He also spoke for the defense team during a tense hearing in February when Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone listened during a pretrial hearing in the Karen Read case on Feb. 25 in Dedham. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger Last summer, after jurors said they were at an impasse after 30 hours of deliberations over whether Read was criminally responsible for O'Keefe's death, Cannone declared a mistrial. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey swiftly declared his office would retry Read. Advertisement Read, 45, a former financial analyst and professor from Mansfield, is accused of hitting O'Keefe with her car in January 2022 after a night of heavy drinking that led to an argument, and then leaving him in the cold to die. Her defense team has sought to show that O'Keefe was actually beaten and possibly attacked by a dog before being left to die by people at a party at the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer. Her lawyers allege she is being scapegoated in a massive law enforcement coverup. A protester's shadow was cast on a Karen Read banner during a rally where the groups Free Karen Read, Justice for Sandra Birchmore, and Justice for Juston Root protested together outside of the Norfolk district attorney's office in Canton on Nov. 13. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff In the days leading up to the second trial, attorneys for both sides have argued over whether a 'It will really depend on how she rules on' the third-party culprit defense, 'whether the prosecutor is able to eliminate some of the evidence that the defense wants to put on about relationships between people in that house and the victim,' Cassidy said. Read's attorneys have made multiple attempts to stop the second trial. They've argued that a Advertisement The defense's arguments to nix a second trial stemmed from revelations made by jurors last summer after the first trial ended, when Related : Read's attorneys argued that Cannone improperly declared a mistrial because jurors acquitted Read of the two counts. Thus, they said, she should not face a second trial on those charges. But in his order dismissing their claims, US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote that he saw 'no basis to conclude that the trial judge's decision to declare a mistrial was incorrect or improper.' Developments outside the courtroom have also continued to affect the case. Earlier this month, State Police fired Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator on Read's case. Proctor had been Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor faced a tough cross examination by defense attorney Alan Jackson during Karen Read's first trial on June 12. Greg Derr/Pool Cassidy said he expects prosecutors will try to avoid putting Proctor back on the stand or limit the scope of their questions. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors listed Proctor as a prospective witness. Advertisement 'I don't think there's any way to avoid the fact that Proctor's fingerprints were all over that case, and he was the lead agent, and he was fired,' he said. 'The question is how much the prosecutor relies on his testimony. If I were the prosecutor, I would try to prove the case without Proctor.' Jack Carney (right) of Canton, waved to honking drivers in Dedham on July 14. With their signs and flags, Karen Read supporters continued their dedication to her on a sidewalk along Providence Highway in Dedham after her mistrial. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Whether the second trial will draw the same public attention as the first remains to be seen, but Read's case continues to grab headlines daily both from local and national media outlets. The 'It may be that the public thirst for information on this case has kind of been satiated,' Cassidy said. 'They've seen it, they've done it, they've got the T-shirt. It might be that people don't stand outside the courtroom or stand in line to get in. ... It's possible, and there are so many things going on in our world right now that are commanding our attention.' A Karen Read supporter wore a T-shirt featuring Read and her attorneys Alan Jackson (left) and David Yannetti on June 28. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Nick Stoico can be reached at
