The United States officially left the World Health Organization (WHO) after decades of membership, a move that experts say will have lasting impacts on both U.S. and global public health systems (TIME). The U.S. was one of the first countries to join the WHO in 1948 and has been its largest funder, contributing both assessed […]

An hours-long outage is preventing Microsoft's enterprise customers from accessing their inboxes, files, and video meetings.

New research looks at how leading AI models hold up doing actual white-collar work tasks, drawn from consulting, investment banking, and law. Most models failed.

Bradlee Dean reminds listeners about America’s forefathers, and exhortation to follow in their footsteps.

A well-deserved honor. Recently, Eric Church was honored by the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police (NCACP) for his ongoing commitment to his home state and his personal ties to law enforcement. Their 2026 NCACP Conference & Ceremony took place last week in Cherokee, North Carolina, which concluded with a banquet with entertainment from North Carolina’s own, Mr. Church. In addition to performing, North Carolina governor Josh Stein presented Eric with the flag of North Carolina alongside the NCACP, recognizing not only his personal ties to law enforcement, but his philanthropic contributions to the state, notably his incredible relief efforts following Hurricane Helene through the Chief Cares fund. What he’s done for the local community cannot be understated, and you can read more about it here. Eric’s maternal grandfather, Rusty, was the chief of police in the small town of Granite Falls in western North Carolina where Eric grew up, and his nickname “Chief” is a sort of borrowed family hand-me-down from Rusty. When Eric first started playing in little bars and clubs, the lighting was so strong that his eyes would get really dry and his contacts would fall out on stage. He’d be up there playing blind, essentially, which eventually prompted him to keep sunglasses on and wear the hat to keep the sweat off his face. If nothing else, it made him look like a police chief himself. When he started playing bigger crowds, he tried to get away from wearing the hat and glasses on stage. But fans kept showing up to shows wearing the same exact thing, and he felt it had naturally just become a part of his brand, or really, his “show time uniform”, as he put it. His band got a kick out of it, and they’d always call him “Chief” as a joke about his look before he went on stage: “The band starting joking with me, when I put the hat and sunglasses on, they go ‘Alright, its Chief time, Chief’s here.’ Well, Chief became my nickname on the road, really as a joke…I laughed about it…but what they didn’t know, the really cool part of the story, my grandpa was the chief of police in Granite Falls, North Carolina. Everybody called him ‘Chief’. Everybody. My dad called him chief as his son-in-law, so it was just very neat to me, that across generations, it became my nickname naturally and nobody knew about it being my grandpa’s nickname, nobody.” How cool is that? I have to imagine it meant a lot for him to be part of this event, and Governor Stein called it a “pleasure” to present Eric with the flag of North Carolina alongside the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, noting how proud his grandfather would be of everything he’s done for NC: “It was a pleasure to present Eric Church with the flag of North Carolina alongside the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police. Eric’s grandfather served as the Chief of Police of Granite Falls, and I know he’d be proud that Eric is continuing to give back to their community. Eric, we are grateful North Carolina keeps calling you home.” It’s very much deserved, and it’s great to see him getting recognition for all of the hard work he’s put in for his fellow North Carolinians, something he no doubt learned, and saw in -action, from his grandpa Rusty. You can see some of the photos here: View this post on Instagram Eric also treated everyone to a performance of “Carolina,” which you can watch here: View this post on Instagram Eric is also slated to give the keynote address at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s spring commencement in May. Until then, he will continue his trek on his 2026 Free the Machine tour, which continues tonight in Washington, D.C. You can view the full list of dates below. 2026 Free the Machine Tour Dates: Jan. 22 || Washington, D.C. || The Anthem || Caylee Hammack Jan. 23 || Washington, D.C. || The Anthem || Caylee Hammack Feb. 5 || Omaha, Neb. || CHI Health Center || Ella Langley Feb. 6 || Sioux Falls, S.D. || Denny Sanford PREMIER Center || Ella Langley Feb. 7 || St. Paul, Minn. || Grand Casino Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 12 || Toronto, Ont. || Scotiabank Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 13 || Buffalo, N.Y. || KeyBank Center || Ella Langley Feb. 14 || Albany, N.Y. || MVP Arena || Ella Langley Feb. 19 || North Little Rock, Ark. || Simmons Bank Arena || 49 Winchester Feb. 20 || Kansas City, Mo. || T-Mobile Center || 49 Winchester Feb. 21 || St. Louis, Mo. || Enterprise Center || 49 Winchester Feb. 26 || Tulsa, Okla. || BOK Center || Stephen Wilson Jr. Feb. 27 || Fort Worth, Texas || Dickies Arena || Stephen Wilson Jr. Feb. 28 || Austin, Texas || Moody Center || Stephen Wilson Jr. Mar. 5 || Knoxville, Tenn. || Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center || 49 Winchester Mar. 6 || Greensboro, N.C. || First Horizon Coliseum || 49 Winchester Mar. 7 || North Charleston, S.C. || North Charleston Coliseum || 49 Winchester Mar. 19 || Birmingham, Ala. || Legacy Arena at the BJCC || 49 Winchester Mar. 20 || Atlanta, Ga. || State Farm Arena || 49 Winchester Mar. 27 || Hollywood, Fla. || Hard Rock Live || Kashus Culpepper Apr. 3 || Greenville, S.C. || Bon Secours Wellness Arena || Ashley McBryde Apr. 4 || Charlotte, N.C. || Spectrum Center || Ashley McBryde Apr. 10 || Jacksonville, Fla. || VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena || Ashley McBryde Apr. 11 || Tampa, Fla. || Benchmark International Arena || Ashley McBrydeThe post Eric Church Honored By The North Carolina Association Of Chiefs Of Police For His Personal Ties To Law Enforcement & Philanthropic Efforts For Home State first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Sounds like Koe Wetzel is ready to drop some new music. Over the last several months, he’s been teasing songs, and he has already confirmed that he’s recorded two records over the past year… so there’s a lot of stuff that’s just waiting to be released, and I’m sure fans will be happy to hear that. During a recent interview with Country Countdown USA, Koe describes it as “piles and piles” of music, which will all be dropping 2026, though of course he’s given no indication in terms of a timeline or any solid release dates. Still, if he’s planning on putting out that much music in a year, surely he’s got to starting releasing at least some of it soon, especially considering how long it’s been since he put out his most recent studio album, which was 2024’s 9 Lives: “Yeah, we’re coming, man. We got piles and piles of new music stored away. All dropping in 2026. I’m going back to write here, once the holidays are through we’re going to start on some more new music. So, 2025 for us was just kind of a rebuild year. You know, we toured with Hardy, and it was just kind of a we got in the studio and cut as much music as possible in 2025, and we did that. We got one hell of a record, you know, I think. In my opinion, every artist is going to say that their newest record is the best one that they’ve ever done. But for me, this batch of songs and this sound that we’ve kind of come together with, it’s awesome. This whole new sound to me has continued, and it’s… I don’t know, we’re really excited about it.” Koe shared a taste of the new music he’s been working on with fans in a video with several snippets from songs that are seemingly going to be on the first album coming out this year, and over on Instagram, he shared a longer one of a song called “Time Goes On,” along with the caption: “Bout that time…” This one finds him reminiscing on how fast time goes even when the days feel long, and I imagine it will be out in the next several weeks or so, so stay tuned… View this post on Instagram Just a couple of weeks ago, he shared another teaser video on Instagram, where you can hear him talking about the aforementioned song “Time Goes On”: “That’s a good one. That might be one of my favorites off the record, man. That’s insane; that’s good.”  He once again hinted in the caption there that it is set to be released soon, saying: “Ready for this new chapter to start” When you’re a fan of any particular artist, the ongoing teasing of music like this can feel like a special form of torture, but I really don’t think you’ll have to wait much longer at all to at least hear this one: View this post on Instagram But he’s The post “Bout That Time”: Koe Wetzel Previews Next Chapter With New Single Teaser, “Time Goes On” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

There's a reason your kitchen cabinets are raised off the floor. Click to read the full fact. The post WTF Fun Fact 12434 – The Kitchen Toe Kick appeared first on WTF Fun Facts.