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‘Summer Breeze’ singer Dash Crofts dead at 87
Darrell “Dash” Crofts, the soft-rock musician whose breezy harmonies helped define 1970s-era radio, has died. He was 87.
Crofts died Wednesday of heart failure at a hospital in Austin, his daughter, Lua Crofts Faragher, confirmed, noting he had battled heart issues for years and had been hospitalized for about a month.
Best known for co-creating the popular hit “Summer Breeze,” Crofts rose to fame alongside childhood friend Jim Seals.
The two Texans built a distinctive sound that fused folk, pop, country and jazz — earning them a place among the era’s defining acts, alongside America, Bread and the Carpenters.
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The beloved singer-songwriter left behind a catalog of hits that turned laid-back melodies into chart-topping staples for Seals & Crofts.
Their run of success included Top 10 hits like “Diamond Girl” and “Get Closer,” as well as fan favorites such as “Hummingbird” and “We May Never Pass This Way (Again).”
Though often grouped into the “easy listening” category, Seals & Crofts’ work was deeply shaped by their devotion to the Baháʼí Faith, which emphasized unity and spiritual awareness — and frequently found its way into both their lyrics and live performances.
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“It became a driving force in their careers and the way they lived their lives,” Faragher said.
Crofts himself acknowledged that evolution in his songwriting.
“You start out writing songs like ‘the leaves are green and the sky is blue and I love you and you love me’ — very simple lyrics — but you grow into a much, much broader awareness of life, of love, and of unity,” Crofts told Stereo Review in 1971. “It’s really great to be able to say something real in your music.”
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In 1974, in the wake of Roe v. Wade, they released “Unborn Child,” a track that drew protests and radio bans over its anti-abortion message.
“I think we got more good results out of it than bad,” Crofts later told the St. Petersburg Press, “because a lot of people called us and said, ‘We’re naming our children after you, because you helped us decide to save their lives with that song.’ That was very fulfilling to us.”
Crofts’ musical journey began in Cisco, Texas, where he was born in 1938 and quickly developed a talent for multiple instruments. His partnership with Seals started in their teenage years and carried them through early gigs, a stint with The Champs and eventually to Los Angeles, where they refined the mellow sound that would become their signature.
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Their breakthrough came in 1972 with “Summer Breeze,” a song whose sun-soaked chorus became shorthand for a more relaxed sound after the ’60s.
“That was the beginning of bigger concerts, bigger crowds, and we kept getting hits in the Top 40,” Crofts told the podcast “Inside MusiCast” in 2021. “That cemented us in the music business.”
By the early 1980s, the duo split, though they reunited periodically.
Crofts later released solo work, and the duo’s music was revived in recent years by family members performing under a new iteration of the group. Seals died in 2022.
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For those closest to him, Crofts’ legacy goes beyond the charts.
“There’s not a time that we performed that we didn’t have hundreds of people coming up and expressing their love and often saying the music changed their life,” Faragher said.
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“There were so many people who loved them,” she added. “They were a constant service to mankind.”
She said that her father’s death, a few years after that of Seals, marked the end of an era.
“That’s what makes it so painful — that it’s the end. But the music will always, always live on.”
Crofts is survived by his second wife, Louise Crofts; his children, Lua, Faizi and Amelia; and eight grandchildren, Faragher said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mamdani endorses planned NYC ‘No Kings’ rally, derides ICE as ‘rogue agency’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished, blasting the federal agency as “rogue” and “reckless” as questions mount over the city’s handling of illegal immigration following the fatal subway killing of an elderly veteran.
During a news conference announcing new street safety efforts, the mayor said he has spoken to President Donald Trump about immigration enforcement operations in the city, claiming ICE a “rogue agency.”
“We’re making clear that no one is above the law in this city, that everyone has to follow the rule of law,” Mamdani said. “I have made clear to the president, both in our private conversations and our public conversations, about the fact that I believe that ICE is a rogue agency.”
Mamdani added that he believes ICE is “reckless” and “delivers nothing toward the furthering of the cause of public safety.”
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“I’ve also been public about my belief that ICE is an entity that should be abolished, and that is critically important in our city, where we’ve seen too many New Yorkers living in fear of even going to what would otherwise be routine immigration check ins,” he said. “… What we’ve had in the interim is a federal entity that has been operating with a level of impunity, and that has to come to an end.”
The mayor went on to support protests against the Trump administration, endorsing the “No Kings NYC” protest planned for Saturday in Manhattan.
“I think that rallies are an incredibly effective way for New Yorkers to both organize together and make it clear what their vision is for the city, for the state, for this country,” Mamdani said. “I think that what we’ve seen is that there’s an attempt to make many in our city feel as if they are alone, when they believe that ICE has no place in our city, when they believe that every single New Yorker who lives in this city belongs in this city, and should be made to feel as if such.
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“What these rallies are — are also an opportunity to realize that you are not in the minority when you have those beliefs. You are, in fact, one of a growing coalition of people who want to see a shred of decency, dignity and humanity come back to our city and our country’s politics.”
Reporters did not question Mamdani about the recent murder of 83-year-old Air Force veteran Richard Williams, who died after he was allegedly shoved onto New York City subway tracks by an illegal immigrant from Honduras. Mamdani has yet to publicly comment on the killing.
When asked if Honduran national Bairon Posada-Hernandez, 34, would be turned over to ICE, the mayor’s office referred Fox News to the Department of Corrections (DOC).
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A DOC spokesperson said the agency processes ICE detainers “consistent with local law,” which limits cooperation.
Under city law, ICE is only notified if there is a detainer backed by a judicial warrant (I-200 or I-205), and the person has a qualifying recent conviction for a violent or serious crime.
It is unclear if ICE will be notified or take custody of Posada-Hernandez, who has been deported from the U.S. four times, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS officials have asked New York City to cooperate, saying, “Posada-Hernandez is a serial criminal and four-time deported illegal alien who NEVER should have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans. He is now facing murder charges. We are calling on New York sanctuary politicians to not release this murderer. Please join us in praying for Mr. Williams’ family, friends, and loved ones.”
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Johnson accuses Democrats of taking government hostage over ‘crazy’ immigration agenda
House Speaker Mike Johnson chastised congressional Democrats Friday, saying Republicans will not be part of any effort to reopen America’s borders and stop the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants.
Johnson held a two-hour conference call with House Republicans Friday, saying they were all “united” in the party’s position to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end the partial government shutdown that has injected chaos into air travel.
“They have taken hostage the funding processes of government so that they can impose their radical agenda on the American people,” Johnson told reporters of Senate Democrats.
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“The Senate Democrats have foisted upon this appropriations process their radical, crazy agenda,” he added. “We call it crazy because that’s what it is. They want to reopen the borders, and they want to stop the deportation of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. We have to do these basic functions of government.”
On Friday, the Senate advanced a bill to fund much of DHS, except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Border Patrol.
“The only thing standing between ending this chaos or not are House Republicans,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “There’s a bipartisan bill that emerged from the Senate with uniform support, and it should be brought to the floor immediately so we can pay TSA agents, so we can end the chaos at airports across the country and stop inconveniencing millions of Americans.”
Democrats have refused to fully fund DHS unless Republicans agree to new restrictions on federal immigration authorities.
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“This gambit that was done last night is a joke,” Johnson said of the bill. “It is unconscionable to me that the Democrats would force some sort of negotiation at three o’clock in the morning and try to hoist this upon the American people and then get on their jets and go home for their holiday and pretend and think that we’re going to go along with that.”
Lawmakers have come under increased pressure to strike a deal to pay Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents after many have resigned and lines at airports across the country have swelled daily because of staffing issues.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to pay TSA agents despite Congress having not appropriated the funds for it.
Johnson said Republicans will put forward a continuing resolution for all agencies under DHS to keep operating at their current funding levels.
“The reason that we can’t accept this ridiculousness is because we’re not going to risk not funding the agencies that keep the American people safe,” he said.
The shutdown began in February, weeks after federal agents shot and killed two people in separate incidents during immigration raids in Minnesota. Democrats have demanded changes to ICE and DHS and have refused to fund the agencies.
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‘Dukes of Hazzard’ star John Schneider says Democrats secretly rely on Trump policies they publicly attack
“Dukes of Hazzard” star John Schneider took aim at Democrats, accusing them of rejecting President Donald Trump’s ideas even as they benefit from them.
Schneider slammed Democrats as “nothing but an embarrassment” during Thursday’s episode of his podcast, “Drinks with Dee Dee and John.”
Schneider and his wife, Dee Dee Sorvino, spoke at length about the ongoing war in Iran and touched on the State of the Union address.
“As my grandmother would say, ‘They continue to throw the baby out with the bathwater,’” he said. “They refuse to even consider that President Trump might have a good idea, that he might have just done something noble. He might have just done something that is for the good of everybody.
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“And here’s the ‘flaw in the slaw,’ as old Roscoe would say. All of these amazing things that President Trump and his Cabinet are doing to keep the world safe, to keep America great, to do all that. The Democrats are also benefiting from that.”
He criticized those who decline to help but still reap the benefits, saying, “That’s not how I was raised.”
Schneider also compared the effect of Trump’s policies to neighbors building a fence, arguing cooperation ultimately helps everyone.
“If you’ve got a property line between you and your neighbor and you wanna put up a fence, then what you do is you go over to your neighbor. You say, ‘Hey Charlie, I’m thinking about putting up a fence. Do you wanna split it with me? Or do you want to look at the back of the fence? What do you wanna do here?'”
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Schneider said the better choice would be to work together.
“Let’s split it. Let’s make a really nice fence,” he said, adding that refusing to share the effort “is not being neighborly.
“You’re supposed to help one another.”
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Schneider has been outspoken about his political beliefs after Trump took office. The actor suspected he was being blacklisted by Hollywood after being open about voting for Trump in the 2016 election.
“People talk about Hollywood as if it has autonomy,” he previously told Fox News Digital. “Hollywood is a line item on a billionaire globalist spreadsheet, really. So, Hollywood has to basically do what they’re told.
“I know a lot of people in Hollywood, and I don’t really believe that they are naïve enough to believe a lot of the things that they put forth as truth,” he added. “But, as a very old song used to say, ‘They owe their soul to the company store.’”
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