Carrie’s tweets carry some clout
Carrie Underwood has found her voice on Twitter.
The country music star and former “American Idol” champion admitted 3½ years ago she was afraid to join Twitter, but since deciding to take the leap in 2011 she’s embraced the social media tool in ways that go beyond fan engagement. Recently she used Twitter to oppose the “Ag Gag” bill in Tennessee, reaching out directly to Gov. Bill Haslam with a boldly worded message saying if he signed it “he needs to expect me at his front door.”
It was the first time she’s taken a political stand so publicly, and it seemed to have an impact. Haslam contacted Underwood to discuss the issue and went on to veto the bill that opponents claimed would have stopped investigation into animal abuse on farms.
Underwood also recently declared “Hug a soldier day,” and puts her support behind movements like the “End It” anti-slavery campaign and animals rights. She has 2 million followers.
Elmo puppeteer suits tossed
Three lawsuits brought by men who said former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them when they were underage were tossed out by a judge who said in a decision published Monday that the men waited too long to sue.
U. S. Dist. Judge John G. Koeltl said the claims must be barred because they came more than six years after each man reasonably should have realized that the physical and emotional injuries they’re suing over were caused by alleged encounters with Clash. The judge also noted that each man had been over the age of 18 for more than three years before they filed their lawsuits.
Clash was the man behind Elmo, the popular furry red monster, for 28 years.
One other lawsuit is pending in Pennsylvania.
Clash resigned f rom “Sesame Street” i n November after college student Cecil Singleton accused Clash of having sex with him when he was 15.
Ford, Egan win literary medals
Richard Ford and Timothy Egan are this year’s winners of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, presented by the American Library Association for the best works of fiction and nonfiction.
Ford, a native of Jackson, Miss., was cited for the novel “Canada,” narrated by the teen son of bank robbers. Egan won for “Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher,” a bio of photographer Edward Curtis.