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Oklahoma Tornado Kills 37, Death Toll Likely to Rise
At least 37 people, including seven children at an elementary school, were killed Monday by a massive, tornado in an area just outside Oklahoma City.

The tornado was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metro area.
Videos showed a massive funnel cloud stretching from the sky to the ground, kicking up dangerous debris. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise.
Emergency personnel were scouring the school's rubble Monday evening, reports indicate. Footage also showed a number of other leveled buildings.
The casualties may be even worse than are being confirmed at this time:
- Twelve adults and eight children are being treated at the Oklahoma University Medical Center and The Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City.
- The Norman Regional Hospital and the Healthplex in Norman, Ok., are treating an unspecified number of people for "trauma, lacerations and broken bones."
- Thirteen patients have been moved from Moore Hospital to other hospitals, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management officials said.
Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., said the tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. and traveled for 20 miles.
It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said, striking the town of Newcastle and traveling 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.
Pirtle said preliminary data suggested that it was a Category 4 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0-5.
Television on Monday showed destruction spread over a vast area of the region, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed.
Residents, some partly clothed and apparently caught by surprise, were shown picking through rubble, while several large structures were on fire.
Cars were upended, flipped and stacked on top of each other.
The deadly storm system continued to churn through the region on Monday afternoon, and forecasters warned that new tornadoes could still form.
An earlier storm system also spawned several strong tornadoes across Oklahoma on Sunday. Several deaths were reported then as well.
Russell Schneider, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center, said the area's tornado risk is still high.
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Oklahoma Tornado Kills 37, Death Toll Likely to Rise
Published On 21 May 2013At least 37 people, including seven children at an elementary school, were killed Monday by a massive, tornado in an area just outside Oklahoma City.

The tornado was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metro area.
Videos showed a massive funnel cloud stretching from the sky to the ground, kicking up dangerous debris. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise.
Emergency personnel were scouring the school's rubble Monday evening, reports indicate. Footage also showed a number of other leveled buildings.
The casualties may be even worse than are being confirmed at this time:
- Twelve adults and eight children are being treated at the Oklahoma University Medical Center and The Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City.
- The Norman Regional Hospital and the Healthplex in Norman, Ok., are treating an unspecified number of people for "trauma, lacerations and broken bones."
- Thirteen patients have been moved from Moore Hospital to other hospitals, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management officials said.
Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., said the tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. and traveled for 20 miles.
It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said, striking the town of Newcastle and traveling 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.
Pirtle said preliminary data suggested that it was a Category 4 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0-5.
Television on Monday showed destruction spread over a vast area of the region, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed.
Residents, some partly clothed and apparently caught by surprise, were shown picking through rubble, while several large structures were on fire.
Cars were upended, flipped and stacked on top of each other.
The deadly storm system continued to churn through the region on Monday afternoon, and forecasters warned that new tornadoes could still form.
An earlier storm system also spawned several strong tornadoes across Oklahoma on Sunday. Several deaths were reported then as well.
Russell Schneider, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center, said the area's tornado risk is still high.
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Hollywood’s Disabled Actors Protest NBC’s ‘Ironside’ Casting – When Is It Their Turn?
When the '60s procedural "Ironside" is revived on NBC this fall, the setting will move from San Francisco to New York and the lead character will be African-American. But one thing hasn't changed: The actor playing Ironside can still walk from his wheelchair when the director yells cut.
The colorblind casting is ironic to some disabled actors -- who say having a walking actor play a paraplegic is as offensive as blackface.
"This would be like being in the '50s and having a white guy do blackface, at this point," said "Sons of Anarchy" star Kurt Yaeger (left), an actor and pro BMX rider who lost his left leg after a motorcycle accident. "You need to start having disabled people playing disabled characters. Period."
NBC declined to comment to TheWrap on the "Ironside" casting, and on whether any disabled actors auditioned for the role, which went to Blair Underwood. But five disabled actors who spoke to TheWrap said film and television should at least give them a chance to play characters whose struggles they truly understand.
See photos: 20 Physically Disabled Characters Played by Able-Bodied Actors
Their point comes ahead of a 2013-14 television season in which NBC is putting three disabled characters front and center. "The Family Guide" features sighted actor J.K. Simmons as a blind lawyer, and "The Michael J. Fox Show" addresses the actor's real battle with Parkinson's, a disease of the nervous system that causes tremors and limits motor control.
All are part of a trend toward greater visibility for characters with disabilities. They include the paraplegic chorus geek played by Kevin McHale on Fox's "Glee"; Terry O'Quinn's John Locke on ABC's "Lost," and a man with paralyzing muscular dystrophy played by D.J. Qualls on FX's "Legit." All the actors are able bodied.
See videos: NBC Previews of 'Ironside,' 'Dracula,' 'Michael J. Fox Show'
They follow the path of Daniel Day-Lewis, who won his first Oscar for playing a quadriplegic man with cerebral palsy in 1990's "My Left Foot," and Raymond Burr, who played the original "Ironside."
Besides Michael J. Fox, some of the only people detailing their own physical struggles onscreen are the women in Sundance's docuseries "Push Girls," which returns for its second season June 2.
Auti Angel (right), a paralyzed actress and muscian on the show, wonders why shows don't want the perspective of an actor who is disabled -- or as she prefers, "differently abled."
"What are they afraid of?" she asked. "There are so many extremely talented individuals who are performing artists with a different ability."
Angel's fellow "Push Girls" star, Angela Rockwood (below, left), says she doesn't object to "Ironside" because the drama, like her show, challenges perceptions of how those in wheelchairs should look and act. All of the "Push Girls" are young, glammed-up, and athletic.
The five actors who spoke with TheWrap said they all believe the best actor should win a role -- as long as disabled actors are given an opportunity to compete. And they said there are circumstances in which it makes sense to use an actor who can walk.
Larry Sapp, a paralyzed independent filmmaker who is campaigning against the "Ironside" reboot with the Facebook page "Don't Shoot Ironside," said he believes O'Quinn's casting on "Lost" was a case where it was reasonable to use an actor who can walk.
"That is legitimate," he said. "You had to get an able-bodied actor to play that role because 90 percent of his role was walking around on that island."
But Robert Romani, an actor born with spina bifida who has appeared as a featured background player in shows including "Castle," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and NBC's "Law & Order: SVU," said almost no role needs to be off-limits.
"Any director worth his salt can use a stand in," Romani (right) said.
Networks often say they need to cast big names. But there lies a Catch-22: There won't be any disabled stars until disabled actors are given prominent roles.
Sapp cited a report that claimed NBC's pickup of "Ironside" was contigent on Underwood playing the lead. While members of Hollywood's tight-knit disabled community interviewed by TheWrap could rattle off names of disabled ctors they felt were capable of taking on the role, none could say if any -- like Mitch Longley ("Las Vegas"), Robert David Hall ("CSI") and Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell ("Brothers") -- had been asked to audition.
Tobias Forrest, an actor and rock singer who became a paraplegic after a diving accident at the Grand Canyon 15 years ago, commends "Glee" for giving him a shot at McHale's role. He was called back several times to read for it.
"Ultimately, my gripe is I need to be able to get into the room, at least," Forrest (left) said. "And if it's something that close to my life, then the opportunity to go into the room to win them over is really what we're looking for."
Yaeger said disabled characters should get to play disabled characters -- and not just disabled characters.
"I want disabled characters being played by disabled people, but i also want characters that were written as able-body to be played by disabled actors," Yaeger added.
Also read: It Took a 'Blind' Director to Look Past Casting Me ... an Amputee
Ray Bradford, SAG-AFTRA's former national director for policy and diversity advocacy, and independent feature film casting director Pam Dixon agreed it's much more difficult for disabled performers to find success in Hollywood, but wouldn't blame it on discrimination. Instead, they both emphasized the word "exclusion."
"Every group over the decades has come from a place of exclusion to, little by little, inclusion," Bradford said. "When it comes to performers with disabilities, there has been progress, but there's still a long way to go."
Dixon, who was once the senior vice president of casting at ABC, says part of the problem is that there aren't many places where casting directors and producers can find disabled talent. The Los Angeles' Media Access Office -- a once-rich resource for talent -- has closed and many disabled actors aren't represented by agents or managers.
See photos: The New Shows of 2013-2014 TV Season
Dixon hopes to launch a possible solution this summer in the form of ActorsAccess.com -- a database of all disabled actors, which will work in conjunction with industry-leading casting tool Breakdown Services. And it's "inclusive," meaning able-bodied actors can register for the service, too.
"You have to win on your talent, but if you don't have the opportunity, you can't do it," Dixon told TheWrap.
Hollywood's disabled actors also realize that a good portion of their opportunities depend on writers. And since writers write what they know, the first step is helping them get to know more about people with disabilities.
"The second step is to allow us to come in," Rockwood said. "And if we're not good enough, then by all means, go out and hire an able-bodied actor to play the role."
Ric Robertson Taking Paid Summer Hiatus From Movie Academy In Financial Crunch
called a “sabbatical” from June through August. I have learned this is an unusual paid leave even though the Academy is complaining about a financial crunch. Normally, its staff are restricted to 30 days of unpaid leave (and then only with approval). “He has worked here for 31 years. Doesn’t he deserve it?” an insider told me. “He didn’t tell us what he’ll do. Maybe work on his golf game.” Robertson’s upcoming sabbatical has prompted AMPAS staff to wonder whether he will be pushed out and/or look for another job. In April 2011, he was passed over for Bruce Davis’ executive directorship and now reports to AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson, who was brought in over him. Insiders tell me that Robertson was primarily responsible for this year’s online voting debacle, which Hudson dumped in his lap when the Academy finally decided to implement Oscar balloting electronically — something Robertson and Davis resisted for prior years. (Grumbles one insider: “Dawn gives him anything messy that she doesn’t want to deal with or anything that means a lot of real work or anything that has a potential for failure, like the electronic voting.”)
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Oklahoma Tornado Kills 37, Death Toll Likely to Rise
At least 37 people, including seven children at an elementary school, were killed Monday by a massive, tornado in an area just outside Oklahoma City.

The tornado was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point as it moved through Moore, in the southern part of the Oklahoma City metro area.
Videos showed a massive funnel cloud stretching from the sky to the ground, kicking up dangerous debris. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise.
Emergency personnel were scouring the school's rubble Monday evening, reports indicate. Footage also showed a number of other leveled buildings.
The casualties may be even worse than are being confirmed at this time:
- Twelve adults and eight children are being treated at the Oklahoma University Medical Center and The Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City.
- The Norman Regional Hospital and the Healthplex in Norman, Ok., are treating an unspecified number of people for "trauma, lacerations and broken bones."
- Thirteen patients have been moved from Moore Hospital to other hospitals, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management officials said.
Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., said the tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. and traveled for 20 miles.
It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said, striking the town of Newcastle and traveling 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.
Pirtle said preliminary data suggested that it was a Category 4 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0-5.
Television on Monday showed destruction spread over a vast area of the region, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed.
Residents, some partly clothed and apparently caught by surprise, were shown picking through rubble, while several large structures were on fire.
Cars were upended, flipped and stacked on top of each other.
The deadly storm system continued to churn through the region on Monday afternoon, and forecasters warned that new tornadoes could still form.
An earlier storm system also spawned several strong tornadoes across Oklahoma on Sunday. Several deaths were reported then as well.
Russell Schneider, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center, said the area's tornado risk is still high.
Google Checkout Nixed In Favor of Google Wallet
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DreamWorks’ ‘The Fifth Estate’ Release Date Shifts Month; ‘Delivery Man’ Postponed
earlier than its initial November 15th date. And Delivery Man has moved to November 22, 2013 from its initial date of October 4th. With the shift, The Fifth Estate avoids Paramount’s The Wolf Of Wall Street, Fox’s thriller The Counselor and Universal’s comedy/drama The Best Man Holiday and faces Sony/Columbia’s drama Captain Phillips, Fox’s horror pic Haunts and Film District’s thriller Old Boy. Delivery Man now goes up against Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Paramount’s Nebraska.
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Kelly Rowland & Paulina Rubio Confirmed As New ‘X Factor’ Judges
Fox has officially announced that Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio will join Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato as judges on the third season of The X Factor. “It’s taken more than a decade, but I’m delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!),” Cowell said. “Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry, and together with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different.” Rowland served as a judge on the eighth season of the U.K. version of X Factor.
Fox’s ‘X Factor’ Confirms New Judges Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio
Meet Cowell's Belles.
It's girl power on the third season of Fox's "The X Factor" as Simon Cowell finds himself as the lone male judge.
As TheWrap previously reported, Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio will join returning judges Demi Lovato and Cowell.
"It's taken more than a decade but I'm delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!)," Cowell said in a statement.
"Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and together with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different."
Also read: Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio Near 'X Factor' Judging Deals
A source close to negotiations told TheWrap that Rowland's deal closed earlier on Monday. Paulina's legal team flew to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon and just finalized the deal within the last hour.
"I am very excited to be reuniting with Simon Cowell and 'The X Factor' family," said Rowland. "It feels great to be able to take this journey here at home in the states!"
Added Rubio: "I love 'The X Factor'! I can't wait to find the next big music star here in America," added Rubio. "I'm so thrilled to be part of the show as a judge. Simon, be careful what you wish for, let's see if you are ready to handle me, empieza la fiesta, amigo!"
After original judge L.A. Reid and Season 2's Britney Spears left the series last season, the show has changed its strategy, a person with knowledge of the production's plans told TheWrap. Instead of casting judges on merely name alone, it also looked at chemistry with returning judges Lovato and Cowell.
Also read: 'X Factor' Brings Back Host Mario Lopez, Dropping Khloe Kardashian
Additionally, Mario Lopez will return to host the show. It's unclear whether the production is considering a replacement for booted Season 2 co-host, Khloe Kardashian.
Shooting begins on Tuesday with the first day of auditions in Charleston, S.C. Season 3 premieres this fall.
Aside from her tenure as part of hit girl group, Destiny's Child, Rowland, 32, has sold more than 24 million albums worldwide as a solo artist. She has also been featured on top hits with rapper Nelly and DJ David Guetta. Her new solo album, "Talk a Good Game," releases on June 18.
Rubio has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. The 41-year-old brings with her the experience of coaching "The Voice Mexico" and Telemundo's upcoming Spanish-language "The Voice Kids."
Talent shows have been seeing a decline in viewership in the last several years. "The X Factor" famously undershot Cowell's desire for 20 million viewers for Season 1, averaging about 11 million viewers per episode. Its second season finale attracted about 9.7 million viewers.
Fox’s ‘X Factor’ Confirms New Judges Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio
Meet Cowell's Belles.
It's girl power on the third season of Fox's "The X Factor" as Simon Cowell finds himself as the lone male judge.
As TheWrap previously reported, Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio will join returning judges Demi Lovato and Cowell.
"It's taken more than a decade but I'm delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!)," Cowell said in a statement.
"Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and together with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different."
Also read: Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio Near 'X Factor' Judging Deals
A source close to negotiations told TheWrap that Rowland's deal closed earlier on Monday. Paulina's legal team flew to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon and just finalized the deal within the last hour.
"I am very excited to be reuniting with Simon Cowell and 'The X Factor' family," said Rowland. "It feels great to be able to take this journey here at home in the states!"
Added Rubio: "I love 'The X Factor'! I can't wait to find the next big music star here in America," added Rubio. "I'm so thrilled to be part of the show as a judge. Simon, be careful what you wish for, let's see if you are ready to handle me, empieza la fiesta, amigo!"
After original judge L.A. Reid and Season 2's Britney Spears left the series last season, the show has changed its strategy, a person with knowledge of the production's plans told TheWrap. Instead of casting judges on merely name alone, it also looked at chemistry with returning judges Lovato and Cowell.
Also read: 'X Factor' Brings Back Host Mario Lopez, Dropping Khloe Kardashian
Additionally, Mario Lopez will return to host the show. It's unclear whether the production is considering a replacement for booted Season 2 co-host, Khloe Kardashian.
Shooting begins on Tuesday with the first day of auditions in Charleston, S.C. Season 3 premieres this fall.
Aside from her tenure as part of hit girl group, Destiny's Child, Rowland, 32, has sold more than 24 million albums worldwide as a solo artist. She has also been featured on top hits with rapper Nelly and DJ David Guetta. Her new solo album, "Talk a Good Game," releases on June 18.
Rubio has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. The 41-year-old brings with her the experience of coaching "The Voice Mexico" and Telemundo's upcoming Spanish-language "The Voice Kids."
Talent shows have been seeing a decline in viewership in the last several years. "The X Factor" famously undershot Cowell's desire for 20 million viewers for Season 1, averaging about 11 million viewers per episode. Its second season finale attracted about 9.7 million viewers.
WME Signs Actor Christopher Abbott

Christopher Abbott has signed with WME. Abbott made headlines recently with his decision to abruptly leave HBO‘s comedy series Girls, on which he played Allison Williams’ boyfriend Charlie for the first two seasons. Abbott, who continues to be repped by Parseghian Planco, co-stars in Burma, which debuted at this year’s SXSW where it received jury recognition for Best Ensemble. He will next be seen in Mona Fastvold’s The Sleepwalker.
BeatDeck’s Free Analytics Show Musicians Who Their Fans Are
Does my music do better on Facebook or Twitter? Where should my next tour be? Is my new song too repetitive? Musicians can get free answers to these questions and more from BeatDeck, a Y Combinator analytics company launching today. BeatDeck plans to license this data to labels and music stores to help them sign and recommend tomorrow's superstars. Yep, BeatDeck is an enterprise music startup.
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‘The Big C’ Finale Airs On Showtime Tonight
Showtime and the producers of The Big C end Cathy Jamison’s personal cancer saga in hospice care tonight with its fourth and Hereafter season finale. Executive producer and showrunner Jenny Bicks naturally declined to divulge whether Cathy (Laura Linney) dies tonight, though she and fellow exec producer Darlene Hunt co-wrote. The mini-series’ four last episodes span a year in the life of the lead character, each separated by roughly three months. The finale follows Angelina Jolie’s shocking May 14 announcement that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy, which spurred a slew of press calls to Showtime and the Big C team. Bicks, herself an early-stage breast cancer survivor, told Deadline. “It has really drawn attention to us in a way we couldn’t have anticipated,” she said. “I hope we’ve done something to help more people recognize that cancer isn’t any longer this thing you whisper about behind a closed door. And it isn’t necessarily a disease you necessarily have to die from.”The Big C started in 2010 as a half-hour Showtime dramedy starring Laura Linney as a woman with terminal melanoma. It evolved into this four-hour mini-series farewell as a means of wrapping up the storyline and giving more time to the creative team for each episode. Bicks explains: “We never really fit into a box. When you’re writing a half-hour, even for cable, you invariably need to rush certain elements. We had always ... Read More »
Guillermo del Toro’s FX Pilot ‘The Strain’ Casts ‘Breaking Dawn’ Actress Mia Maestro in Starring Role
Mia Maestro is moving on from the vampires of "Breaking Dawn" to sink her teeth into a new role with another bunch of suckers.
Maestro, who played Denali coven member Carmen Denali in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" films, has been cast as one of the female leads in "The Strain," Guillermo del Toro's pilot for FX.
Also read: FX Casts 'House of Cards' Star Corey Stoll in Guillermo Del Toro's 'The Strain'
The pilot, based on del Toro's trilogy of novels "The Strain," "The Fall" and "The Night Eternal," will find Maestro in familiar thematic territory. The novels follow the efforts of Centers for Disease Control employee Dr. Ephraim Goodweather to save New York City from a vampiric virus that's contaminating the city, after a Boeing 777 makes a mysterious arrival at JFK.
Maestro will play Dr. Nora Martinez, who works closely with Goodweather that they finish each other's sentences and engage in an affair. Martinez, a gifted biochemist, is compelled by circumstances to become a ruthless warrior.
See video: Guillermo Del Toro Talks 'The Strain'
"House of Cards" star Corey Stoll has been tapped to play Goodweather.
Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, who co-wrote the books with him, are co-writing the pilot script, and del Toro is attached to direct.
Carlton Cuse ("Lost," "Nash Bridges") is executive producing and overseeing the project with Toro.
With Site Ai, Automated Insights Provides A Cliffs Notes Version Of Your Web Analytics
Automated Insights, a startup that translates raw data into plain English, is launching a new product that could make analytics data a lot more accessible.
The new product, called Site Ai, pulls data from existing systems (it started with Google Analytics and Clicky, and the company is currently taking votes on which service to integrate next), then it summarizes that data in normal sentences. For example, it can create a daily or weekly report that will tell you how current traffic compares to past patterns, what referring sites are driving the most searches, what keywords are driving the most searches, and so on. (You can see a sample report near the end of this post.)
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