On Sept. 16, 2018, Ethan Slater braced himself for the final performance of “SpongeBob SquarePants.” The Nickelodeon musical had been open on Broadway for nine months, and it received generally positive reviews and 12 Tony Award nominations. But the Palace Theatre was closing for multiyear renovations, forcing the undersea spectacle to shutter as well.

That last audience was filled with devout fans, some who had seen the show dozens of times. Families had flown in from out of town, millennials came dressed in cartoon costumes. And before anything had really begun, they were all on their feet and cheering loudly at the entry of foley artist Mike Dobson, who performed hundreds of sound effects that animated the actors onstage.

Backstage, Slater — who portrays the porous, persistently optimistic sponge — was moved to tears.

“Even though he wasn’t visible on the Broadway stage, the foley was such a quintessential part of the show,” he recalled of Dobson, who was in the orchestra pit. “It was this perfect moment when I realized that even though we were closing, our audience had understood what we were doing. It ended up being like that for the whole show, full of these beautiful little realizations that this was the last time we were gonna perform this.”

Click Here: Cardiff Blues Store

Or so he thought. Last month, the cast and creative team reunited for “The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage!” which will simulcast at 7 p.m. Saturday across Nickelodeon, TeenNick and Nicktoons. The airing is part of the yearlong celebration of the 20th anniversary of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” created by the late Stephen Hillenburg.

“This is something that deserves a wider audience, so we absolutely wanted to film it in whatever way we could,” said Rob Bagshaw, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president of unscripted and live events. “‘SpongeBob’ has always been at the forefront of many of our tentpole characters, and the fact that it’s an existing title made it obvious for our first project. We love the results, and we’d like to do more.”

Like the many entries into the “live musical event” space — whether airing on network television or broadcast to movie theaters through National Theatre Live — the upcoming “SpongeBob Musical” aims to make theater accessible to a new audience.

“Even though our show always had affordable options when it was on Broadway, if you live in Kansas, a $35 ticket to the show also comes with a round-trip plane ticket,” Slater said. “As a young person who didn’t grow up in New York, this would’ve meant a lot to me. I hope this will inspire a new generation of theatergoers, who aren’t close to Broadway, to check out regional productions or tours.”

Nickelodeon’s presentation less resembles the offerings from NBC, Fox and ABC than those from PBS, Netflix and BroadwayHD. “The SpongeBob Musical” will be captured and edited for an airing rather than broadcast live. Most of these pretaped titles do not air — or, sometimes, are not even announced — until after the original stage show has closed, possibly as a cautionary move to not cannibalize ticket sales.

Recently, that unofficial rule was broken when Netflix announced that Mike Birbiglia’s one-man Broadway show “The New One” would premiere on the streaming platform in a month’s time. Netflix made the announcement just before the tour began its month-long stop at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. CTG producing director Douglas C. Baker didn’t think the Netflix news negatively affected ticket sales.

“If anything, it raised the profile of the production and brought us the attention of a lot of people who wouldn’t have otherwise known about us,” he said in a statement. “We are working in a crowded entertainment market, so any opportunity to introduce new audiences to the theater is priceless. Hopefully we hooked them on the live theater experience and will be seeing them back at Center Theatre Group for future productions.”

But if TV audiences nationwide can watch “The SpongeBob Musical” from the comfort of home and through a service for which they already have paid, will they buy tickets to the touring version of the Broadway show, now on the road and coming to the Dolby Theatre in L.A. in the spring?

Pantages’ general manager, Jeff Loeb, whose company is bringing “SpongeBob” to the Dolby, is throwing his full support behind the airing.

“We have seen our fans enthusiastically engage on social media whenever a musical is aired on television, and for fans of musical theater, seeing the show once and only once is never enough,” he said in a statement. “Being able to see a live capture performance on television or in a movie theater gives fans additional opportunities to enjoy the art form they love. It is also a great way for patrons who may not have been able to travel to Broadway to see the show prior to seeing it locally at the Dolby Theatre. Live broadcasts are a win-win for everyone.”

Bagshaw said that Nickelodeon supports both endeavors equally and that the airing might encourage viewers to buy tickets to the “SpongeBob” tour. Tina Landau — who directed the show on Broadway, on tour and on-screen with seasoned awards show helmer Glenn Weiss — is OK with the concurrency, as long as the show is being seen in some way.

“For me, this show was, and continues to be, a vessel of joy and hope and optimism,” Landau said. “It has been nothing but a gift that we all want to give and share with audiences, and however we do that works for me.”

What “The SpongeBob Musical” does have going for it over network television’s other live musical events is the luxury of time. This is the taping of a production that was created over a decade, and it features most of the entire original cast, who spent years developing their characters and played them for Broadway audiences eight times a week for nine months. They bring the brand’s beloved cartoon characters to life without wearing the theme-park bodysuits.

Slater, who perfected his personification of SpongeBob over six years, spends the entire show dressed in a gingham yellow shirt, skinny red tie and brown plaid pants. He evokes SpongeBob through a high-pitched, nasal voice and a zippy head-to-toe physicality. He even added some new bits for the taping — an extra backflip here, a riskier trick fall there.

“Ethan had some incredible moves and facial expressions that we really took advantage of with a close-up, to accentuate moments and really bring it home on TV,” said Weiss, who directed the telecast. “It’s like the cartoon, which you’re not watching from a faraway seat. It always zooms in on his eyes, so we wanted to do that too.”

During the two-day shoot at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in England, Weiss and Landau worked together to capture as many design elements as possible: the intricate ensemble formations in “(Just a) Simple Sponge.” The apocalyptic lighting design in “No Control.” The invaluable work of foley artist Dobson, now primely positioned in a visible corner of David Zinn’s vibrant, Tony-winning scenic design.

To make the show work for a television schedule, Landau and book writer Kyle Jarrow had to identify spots for commercial breaks and trim the script by about 15 minutes. The latter was a tougher task, because every song is composed by a different songwriter — among them David Bowie, Sara Bareilles, John Legend, Yolanda Adams, and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.

“I always felt like the Broadway version was too long, but I didn’t know how to get those minutes before we opened,” Landau said. “I was so happy with how we ended up doing it because rather than cutting any whole songs, we did small nips and tucks and somehow got it down for the time. Coming back to this with a little distance, it was like, ‘We don’t need that favorite joke of mine.’”

With 20 years of brand recognition on its side, “The SpongeBob Musical” sets the sincere simplicities of the series to song. SpongeBob belts out about his dream to manage the Krusty Krab; its greedy owner, Mr. Krabs (Brian Ray Norris), wails of his love of money. The pessimism of Squidward (Gavin Lee) manifests in a spectacular tap-dance number that uses his numerous tentacles and comes complete with a clarinet solo. And starfish Patrick (Danny Skinner) wonders, with all his might, what words rhyme with “rock.”

Instead of being based on any particular episode, “The SpongeBob Musical” features an original story line: A fatal volcano eruption is on the horizon, invoking sheer pandemonium among the residents of Bikini Bottom. Science-minded squirrel Sandy (Christina Sajous) calls it a symptom of “tidal warming.” She’s scapegoated as an outsider and told to go back where she came from. A dictator-like mayor eggs it all on.

The musical has become all too prescient, noted Landau.

“From the beginning, the story was always about the end of the world and how approaching danger can turn a society or a community in on itself,” she said. “That just became more a mirror of what seems to be happening in the world, as time went on. It was interesting how increasingly political and timely it became without our ever working towards that as a goal.”

According to Slater, its applicability is what makes it so fit for a television broadcast. “Unfortunately, the themes of xenophobia and climate disaster are always relevant,” he said. “But there’s a broader consciousness and a larger discussion about these things now, so it’s a great time for it to be on TV and reach a wider audience.”

Veteran TV producer and director Ken Ehrlich began his career with the Grammy Awards telecast in 1980, and in four decades presiding over the broadcast has become perhaps best known for mashup live performances featuring musicians from often wildly disparate genres and generations. Think Elton John and Eminem in 2001, classical pianist Lang Lang with heavy metal group Metallica in 2014 or Paul McCartney, Kanye West and Rihanna in 2015.

The 62nd Grammy Awards on Jan. 26 will be his final night at the helm, after which Ben Winston, executive producer of “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” will take over.

“I don’t know what my legacy is going to be with this show,” Ehrlich said. “I don’t know if next year I’ll be forgotten. I don’t care. These have been 40 of the most amazing years of my life.”

We invited Ehrlich, 76, to share in his own words the watershed moments from his long tenure of bringing the awards show to viewers around the world.

MOST NERVE-RACKING
Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Boyz II Men and Keith Urban, “Let’s Stay Together” (2009)
“This was the day Chris Brown and Rihanna bailed on the show during dress rehearsal. First we heard that he wasn’t coming and had no clue what happened. I said to myself, ‘I’ll just let the show breathe a little more, make up three minutes here or there; I’ll be OK.’ Then 15 minutes later, I got a call that she wasn’t coming. Someone finally came in and said they were out last night, somebody hit somebody, they’re not going to be here today. Now I’ve got nine, 9½ minutes to fill.

“I was sitting next to [Timberlake’s manager] Johnny Wright. I said, ‘What am I going to do?’ He said, ‘I think there’s something we can do with Justin.’ We walked back to Justin’s dressing room and told him we had a problem. Justin, with more presence of mind than I had at that moment, said, ‘Let’s look at who else is on the show’ and zeroed in on Al Green’s name. He said, ‘I just did “Let’s Stay Together” with him in Memphis — why don’t we see if he’ll do that with me?’ We also had Boyz II Men on the show, and I thought we could use them. We walked past Keith Urban in the hallway and asked him, ‘Would you put a solo in “Let’s Stay Together”?’ He said ‘You must be [messing] with me.’ We wound up with a great number with Al and Justin, plus Boyz II Men and Keith Urban in the bargain.”

MOST TALKED-ABOUT
Aretha Franklin singing “Nessun Dorma,” subbing for ailing tenor Luciano Pavarotti (1998)
“It was 8:10, so we’d already been on the air for 10 minutes, and Ron [Basile, one of the show’s producers] came to me with a little note that said, ‘Mr. Pavarotti wants you to call him. He’s at home in his apartment.’ I called and he said, ‘Mr. Ehrlich, I am sick, I cannot sing tonight, I will come sing next year.’ After I said, ‘I hope you feel better,’ I thought, ‘What am I gonna do? There’s a 35- to 40-piece orchestra and 30 singers ready to play “Nessun Dorma.” ’

“Then I remembered Aretha had sung it at the MusiCares dinner two nights before for him. She was going to be on the show to do a number related to the ‘Blues Brothers 2000′ movie. I ran upstairs to her dressing room [at Radio City Music Hall] and I took [producer-engineer] Phil Ramone with me. He had basically done MusiCares that year. We walked in, she was sitting there eating chicken, and I just laid it out to her: ‘How would you like to sing “Nessun Dorma” in front of the world?’ She looked at me like, ‘I’ll do it,’ but then said, ‘I need to rehearse it.’ One of us had a cassette of the afternoon rehearsal — that was in the days of boom boxes. We played it for her, and she said, ‘This is three keys higher than I sing it.’ Well, there was no way we could get it transposed for the orchestra and the singers in an hour. So she said, ‘I can do it.’ I walked her down and stood offstage with her. It was the first time she’d seen the setup with the orchestra and singers. She took my hand and squeezed it and said, ‘This is going to be fun.’ Neither of us ever forgot it. After that, she put it into her concerts, and it became one of her signature pieces.”

Click Here: Cheap Chiefs Rugby Jersey 2019

MOST CHAOTIC
The show after Whitney Houston died (2012)
“We heard about it around 3 p.m. on Saturday, the day before the show. Todd [Smith, a.k.a. LL Cool J, the show’s host that year] was there with us. I wasn’t thinking in terms of his monologue at that moment. I was thinking we needed to do something, onstage, and I knew the answer was to get Jennifer Hudson to do one verse and one chorus of ‘I Will Always Love You,’ with the barest accompaniment. We brought her in and cleared the house, just her and [house band member] Greg Phillinganes on piano. She couldn’t get through it in the morning when she came in, but she got it on the show. Then it was all about Todd. He said, ‘We need to start the show off with a prayer. David [Wild, the show’s scriptwriter] and I looked at each other. But we are not the spiritual beings that Todd is. He came in the next morning with this prayer, we rehearsed it, put it on, and it was the most appropriate thing in the world.”

MOST UNDERAPPRECIATED
B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keith Urban and John Mayer salute to Bo Diddley (2009)
“Bo Diddley was shredding before it was called shredding. This segment was sandwiched in between a couple of other things that had more ‘Pow!,’ but this was about musicality. If you can find it on YouTube, you can see the way it was shot: We spent [camera] time looking at the guys who weren’t playing to appreciate the guy who was playing. It’s as much about humility and generosity as anything else.”

MOST MIND-BOGGINGLY COMPLICATED
Opening number (2005)
“We opened the show with five Grammy performers stationed all over Staples Center: Gwen Stefani and Eve, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Los Lonely Boys. I’ve always loved the finale scene from the movie ‘Fame,’ where all the different departments come together and perform ‘I Sing the Body Electric.’ And I had always tried to find a way to steal it for the show. The closest I came was that year. We had done three acts, and even four acts in the same number, but this one had the most people coming on- and offstage. Rehearsing it was almost impossible — it was like herding cats: This one’s here, that one’s there. But it was fun to do.”

WILDEST SURPRISE
Adele “Fastlove” restart during George Michael salute (2017)
“Adele restarting her George Michael tribute because she was out of key — I sure didn’t expect her to stop and call out, ‘Hey, Ken, I’m sorry, I need to start this over.’ Obviously, she didn’t hit the key at the beginning. I think it was because she didn’t get the bell note. It’s a number she starts a cappella. So she stopped, God bless her. She had a choice — she could have gone on and gotten creamed by people who knew. But she stopped and said, ‘Let me start over.’ She loved George Michael. That’s the reason I got her to do it.”

MOST FUBAR
Sly Stone tribute with Joss Stone, John Legend, Van Hunt, Maroon 5, Ciara, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (2006)
“I got hosed by Sly’s manager. It wasn’t obvious in the beginning, but it became clear that he hadn’t told me that Sly didn’t really want to do this. He was a mess. He rode his motorcycle to Staples. He still had his motorcycle suit on when he performed — he got off the bike, came onstage, did the number, then got back on the motorcycle and left.”

MOST MEANINGFUL
“Same Love” with Macklemore and Lewis, Queen Latifah, Madonna and Trombone Shorty (2014)
“We had 28 couples of all sexual preferences who got married onstage. I had heard from my gay daughter that couples were getting engaged at Macklemore shows, so I will always be grateful to her for telling me about that. The number was wonderful —and it made a difference in the culture. It made a bold statement.”

SERIES

The Flash Iris and Cisco (Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes) try to help Barry (Grant Gustin) take control of himself before he’s lost forever in this new episode of the superhero TV series. 8 p.m. The CW

The Resident A former patient files a malpractice lawsuit against Conrad (Matt Czuchry), which puts Bell (Bruce Greenwood) in hot water with his bosses. Also the doctors team up on a risky surgery for Devon’s (Manish Dayal) VIP patient who has a life-threatening brain condition. Shaunette Renée Wilson also stars with guest star Erinn Westbrook. 8 p.m. Fox

The Voice In the new results show, seven artists will be safe and the bottom three will compete to determine which one will be eliminated. 9 p.m. NBC

Empire Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) raises concerns over changes to the “Empire” movie script Lucious (Terrence Howard) made. Trai Byers and Taraji P. Henson also star in this new episode of the music industry drama. 9 p.m. Fox

Fixer to Fabulous Dave and Jenny Marrs are hired by a couple with a baby on the way, who need an overhaul of their woefully outdated 1970s-era home in this new episode of the home design series. 9 p.m. HGTV

Making It The makers transform a blank wall into an artistic home installation then add curb appeal to an ordinary mailbox in this new episode. 10 p.m. NBC

Running Wild With Bear Grylls Armie Hammer scuba dives with Grylls in search of a sea cave used by smugglers. 10 p.m. National Geographic

SPECIALS

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas Boris Karloff narrates this classic animated tale about the lonely and heartless title character who decides to dress up as Santa and steal the Christmas decorations, gifts and feast from the people of Whoville. 8 p.m. NBC

Brad Paisley Thinks He’s Special In this new performance special, the country singer welcomes Kelsea Ballerini, Hootie & the Blowfish, Jonas Brothers, Tim McGraw, Darius Rucker and Carrie Underwood. 8 p.m. ABC

How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming Characters from the blockbuster animated movie trilogy reunite for this new half-hour holiday special, which opens 10 years after the end of “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.” The voice cast includes Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. 8:30 p.m. NBC

CMA Country Christmas Country music star Trisha Yearwood hosts this new edition of the annual holiday special. Among the artists scheduled to perform are Yearwood, Kristin Chenoweth, For King & Country, Chris Janson, Tori Kelly, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Runaway June, CeCe Winans, Brett Young and Chris Young. 9 p.m. ABC

Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On The two-part documentary profile of the country music superstar concludes. 9 p.m. A&E

24/7: Kelly Slater This one-hour 2019 documentary takes a look inside the life of the 11-time world champion surfer as he prepares to compete in the Billabong Pipe Masters in Oahu, Hawaii. Liev Schreiber narrates. 9 p.m. HBO

TALK SHOWS

CBS This Morning Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan; author Michael Lewis. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS

Today Rachel Brosnahan; Tony Shalhoub. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC

KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA

Good Morning America Author Kellyann Petrucci; Felicity Jones; Tomi Adeyemi. (N) 7 a.m. KABC

Good Day L.A. Jay Baruchel (“The Moodys”). Sleep tips: Dr. Raj (“The Doctors”). Elizabeth Wagmeister (“Behind the Headlines”). (N) 7 a.m. KTTV

Live With Kelly and Ryan Laura Linney; Aaron Taylor-Johnson. (N) 9 a.m. KABC

The View Ronan Farrow; Dennis Quaid. (N) 10 a.m. KABC

Rachael Ray Julie Andrews. (N) 10 a.m. KTTV

The Wendy Williams Show (N) 11 a.m. KTTV

The Talk Brad Paisley; Brigitte Nielsen co-hosts. (N) 1 p.m. KCBS

Tamron Hall Candace Cameron-Bure. (N) 1 p.m. KABC, 1:07 a.m. KABC

The Dr. Oz Show A woman is stalked for years; an update on a celebrity stalker; what to do if one is being stalked. (N) 1 p.m. KTTV

The Kelly Clarkson Show Tom Hanks; Matthew Rhys; Susan Kelechi Watson; Marielle Heller. (N) 2 p.m. KNBC

Dr. Phil A couple claims that the husband’s ex has been harassing them. (N) 3 p.m. KCBS

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Jimmy Kimmel; Jennifer Beals; Kacey Musgraves performs. (N) 3 p.m. KNBC

The Real Yandy Smith-Harris (“Love & Hip Hop: New York”); Fantasia (“Sketchbook”). (N) 3 p.m. KTTV

The Doctors Vaping; breathalyzer to count carbs; backseat driving; baby gut health and probiotics; doing chores. 3 p.m. KCOP

Amanpour and Company (N) 11 p.m. KCET; 1 a.m. KLCS

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (N) 11 p.m. Comedy Central

Conan Jay Baruchel; Garrett Millerick. (N) 11 p.m. TBS

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon A science demonstration from Kevin Delaney; Felicity Jones; author Tomi Adeyemi; Burna Boy. (N) 11:34 p.m. KNBC

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Steve Carell; Toby Keith performs. 11:35 p.m. KCBS

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Henry Cavill; chef Chris Shepherd; Beck performs. (N) 11:35 p.m. KABC

The Late Late Show With James Corden 12:37 a.m. KCBS

Late Night With Seth Meyers 12:37 a.m. KNBC

Nightline (N) 12:37 a.m. KABC

A Little Late With Lilly Singh 1:38 a.m. KNBC

SPORTS

College Basketball St. Peter’s visits St. John’s, 3:30 p.m. FS1; Iowa visits Syracuse, 4 p.m. ESPN2; Michigan visits Louisville, 4:30 p.m. ESPN; Oral Roberts visits Creighton, 5:30 p.m. FS1; Florida State visits Indiana, 6 p.m. ESPN2; Illinois State visits TCU, 6 p.m. FS Prime; Duke visits Michigan State, 6:30 p.m. ESPN

NBA Basketball The Dallas Mavericks visit the New Orleans Pelicans, 4:30 p.m. TNT; the Lakers visit the Denver Nuggets, 6 p.m. SportsNet; the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Clippers, 7 p.m. TNT

NHL Hockey The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Nashville Predators, 5 p.m. NBCSP

For more sports on TV, see the Sports section.

Click Here: Cheap Chiefs Rugby Jersey 2019

The two “Frozen” movies have 17 songs between them, but none solely spotlights the two sisters, singing together. For that, fans will need to see the national tour of the “Frozen” musical, which kicks off Friday at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles with a new, moving duet performed by Anna and Elsa.

“Since 2011, all of the creators of ‘Frozen’ have been wanting to write a proper duet for the sisters, but for various story-development-under-a-tight-deadline reasons, we never found the right one,” co-composer Kristen Anderson-Lopez said by email. “So when Tom Schumacher, our Broadway producer, mentioned he was longing for one more moment to have our lead actresses sing together in the stage production, we were ready with this idea we had been brewing.”

Anderson-Lopez’s co-composer, husband Robert Lopez, said they “had been itching to write the sisters a song like this. It was like a spare firework, and all we had to do was light it. We had fun building this song to an operatic frenzy.”

The new number — first announced in a tweet by Anderson-Lopez — replaces the show’s second-act reprise of “For the First Time in Forever,” a song from the 2013 movie that, in under three minutes, attempts to cover quite a bit of ground. Upon arriving at Elsa’s remote hideaway, Anna melodically informs her sister that their kingdom has frozen over, and she has arrived to help fix that. But Elsa wails that she doesn’t know how to undo what she’s done; all she knows is that when she’s by herself, she doesn’t harm others.

That reprise has the two leads technically partaking in the same track, but at this point in the story, they’re disconnected from each other and focused on the snow. They’re singing at each other rather than with each other. There’s a word for it: cold.

The new song forgoes functional information for an emotional depth previously left unexplored. Titled “I Can’t Lose You,” the moving duet manages to reveal each sister’s intense and prolonged yearning to be with the other, while illustrating how complicated friendships between adults — tender from bruises and broken hearts — can be.

“I Can’t Lose You” takes place just after Anna (played by Caroline Innerbichler) has learned of the family secret: Elsa’s powers nearly killed Anna as a child, which is why they’ve been separated ever since. It’s a rare scene in which these two lead characters are the only ones onstage, and after all these years apart, they finally get to explain themselves.

“The last time they were probably alone together was 10 years ago, and when their parents were still alive, so the stakes are very high,” noted Caroline Bowman, who plays Elsa. Under the direction of Michael Grandage, “we worked and worked on that dialogue to make sure we really earned the new song after it.” (Anna now informs Elsa that Arendelle is trapped in an eternal winter in efficient post-duet dialogue.)

Once Bowman’s Elsa sings a few lines from Demi Lovato’s version of “Let It Go,” Innerbichler’s Anna chimes in with the first verse of the new song. She loves that they’re talking again, and that Elsa seems so peaceful upon letting go. She’s so sorry for any resentment she’s held over the years, and she asks Elsa to lean on her and share her burden — an attempt to be supportive in only the way she knows how. “I can’t lose you, not again, I can’t lose you like then,” Anna sings in the chorus. “If you could see yourself the way I do, then you’d see why I can’t lose you.”

It’s not so simple for Elsa, however. She’s happy they’ve finally reunited, but she’s terrified of all the damage her powers might cause — to others, yes, but most specifically to Anna. Though she can’t really verbalize what it is she needs to heal, she decides it’s best to contain her self-destructive behavior so she doesn’t further hurt the person she cares for most. “I can’t lose you, not again, I can’t lose you like then,” Elsa sings in her chorus. “You don’t know the things I can do, keep your distance ‘cause I can’t lose you.”

Poignantly, the siblings then face each other and harmonize over the last chorus — Bowman with her powerhouse belt and Innerbichler with her bright and pure tone. They’re singing the same heartfelt lyrics — including the knockout closing line, “If you loved yourself the way I do, then you’d see why I can’t lose you” — but the shared sentiment leads them to different conclusions about how best to help the other.

Both actresses said “I Can’t Lose You” brings out something new in their characters. “Even though we’re really disagreeing, Anna is just like, thank God we’re at least talking,” said Innerbichler. “There’s always been a door between them for years, and a pain and lack of clarity, so having that moment to look [Elsa] in the eyes and tell her how much she means to her is really special.”

Bowman said the song “gives Elsa a moment of redemption. Everyone loves Elsa, but she does spend a lot of time in fear and hiding from everyone, and this is her moment for the audience to see her sacrificing for her sister, even though I want this relationship more than anything in the world.”

The sisters’ dissonance in the song is a pattern the songwriters noticed as they finished up the “Frozen” sequel.

“Because of their childhood trauma, both have an intense fear of losing the other,” said Anderson-Lopez. “In Elsa, it always manifests in pushing her sister away; for Anna, it always manifests in holding on too tight. I’ve definitely felt both emotions myself. … I just poured both of those well-meaning but mistaken ways I’ve tried to love someone into the song.”

As of now, Disney Theatrical Productions has no plans to record the new song. And though there’s no official word on whether the Broadway version will adopt the addition, it’s possible. Disney has made occasional edits to its stage productions, like adding a song to “Beauty and the Beast” in 1998 and slightly trimming “The Lion King” in 2010.

For those touring audiences who will hear “I Can’t Lose You,” Innerbichler considered it a reminder of what the “Frozen” franchise is all about. “This is more than just a fairy tale story with magical powers; this is about real human beings and the difficulties and joys of loving another person,” she says. “It’s complicated and it’s bittersweet, but the motivation is all love.”

Click:微信信息查询

Get your hands on swank little travel journals with an attitude, a bodyguard for collared shirts in transit, a clamp-on device that lets your tablet or laptop monitor hold papers at eye level and, finally, an Ethernet adapter with a Lightning connector.

Write on

Fringe Studio makes classy-looking faux-leather travel journals — gilt-edged pages, posh cover linings, ribbon bookmark — with an attitude. Embossed in gold lettering on the cover of each 192-page journal is a title, such as “I came, I saw, I made it awkward,” “Hold on. Let me overthink this” and “People. Am I right?”

The 6½-by-4½-by-¾-inch journals have an internal expandable paper pocket on the back cover and a built-in loop with a sleek metallic-tone pen.

Cost, info: Travel journals cost $20 from the maker, but are available for less at many online retailers.

Neat shirt

No matter how carefully you fold your crisply ironed collared shirt in luggage or hang it in a suit bag, creases and wrinkles are inevitable — unless that shirt is safely ensconced in the PackTidy Shirt & Tie Commuter Travel Organizer.

The lightweight hard-shell zippered case is molded to hold and protect a single shirt and necktie from being crushed in transit. The 14-by-11-by-3-inch deep case comes with a folding board with printed illustrations for correct shirt folding.

Cost, info: PackTidy Shirt & Tie Commuter Travel Organizer costs about $25 at various retailers, including Amazon.

Laptop gallery

Your tablet or laptop can display more than what’s on its screen. Clip on a NoteTower Monitor Mount, and the sides and/or top of the monitor can hold documents in view as you work with them. The 9-inch-tall lightweight plastic mount clamps to the monitor edge using a padded spring clip.

Slide paper items into one or more of the eight flexible clips cut into the front of the mount, and you have a kind of vertical desktop. Slim top and bottom arm levers on the rear of the tower extend to provide steadying support for documents, photos and memos. With mounts (sold separately) on each side and/or the top of the monitor, you have a spacious mobile gallery you can stash intact in your computer bag.

Cost, info: NoteTower Monitor Mount costs about $20

Click Here: United Kingdom Rugby Jerseys

Lightning strikes Ethernet

You asked and we found. This is a high-quality Ethernet adapter with a Lightning connector, so your iPhone or Lightning-port-equipped iPad does not have to rely on shaky or nonexistent Wi-Fi. Enter Belkin’s Ethernet + Power Adapter with Lightning Connector. If you have access to Ethernet, just connect your Ethernet cable (not included) to the adapter and connect the adapter’s built-in Lightning cable to your device’s Lightning port.

The adapter has an extra built-in Lightning port that also lets you plug in and charge your device. You’ll need to download the Belkin|Connect app from the Apple App Store to get firmware updates for the Belkin Ethernet + Power Adapter. I found the connection works best if you power off your device before plugging in the Belkin adapter, then power back on. You’re welcome.

Cost, info: Belkin Ethernet + Power Adapter with Lightning Connector costs about $100

Technology companies led a broad slide for stocks on Wall Street Monday, handing the market a downbeat start to the month after notching strong gains in November.

Industrial, communication services and financial stocks also accounted for a big share of the sell-off. Energy stocks notched the biggest gain, aided by a 1.4% increase in the price of U.S. crude oil. Bond yields rose.

Trade tensions flared with China’s diplomatic retaliation for U.S. support of protesters in Hong Kong, putting investors in a selling mood. The selling accelerated after the U.S. government issued weak manufacturing and construction spending reports.

Wall Street has been hoping that the world’s two biggest economies can make progress toward at least stalling new tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15 on $160 billion worth of Chinese products, including smartphones and laptops. The latest friction between Washington and Beijing could hamper that progress.

The S&P 500 index fell 27.11 points, or 0.9%, to 3,113.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 268.37 points, or 1%, to 27,783.04.

The Nasdaq lost 97.48 points, or 1.1%, to 8,567.99. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gave up 16.92 points, or 1%, to 1,607.58.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.82% from 1.77% late Friday.

The stumbling start to December is a departure from the market’s strong performance last month. The S&P 500 closed out November with its best monthly gain since June. Last week also marked the benchmark index’s seventh weekly gain in eight weeks. In that time span, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq each set multiple record closing highs.

Investor optimism that the U.S. and China were nearing a trade deal helped spur the market’s milestone-setting run this fall, lifting it from a summer slide brought on by recession fears and uncertainty over trade.

The negotiations to end the longstanding trade war could face a tougher path this month after a flareup over Hong Kong, however.

China said Monday it will suspend U.S. military ship and aircraft visits to the semi-autonomous territory and sanction several American pro-democracy groups in retaliation against Washington for enacting into law legislation supporting anti-government protests.

The law, signed last Wednesday by President Trump, mandates sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials who carry out human rights abuses and requires an annual review of the favorable trade status that Washington grants Hong Kong.

In other trade developments, Trump on Monday accused Argentina and Brazil of hurting American farmers through currency manipulation and said he’ll slap tariffs on their steel and aluminum imports to retaliate.

Both South American nations were among a group of U.S. allies that Trump had exempted from steel and aluminum tariffs in March 2018. United States Steel climbed 4.2% and AK Steel rose 4.7% after Trump’s remarks.

New data on manufacturing and construction spending also helped drag stock indexes lower Monday.

U.S. manufacturing shrank more than expected in November, according to figures released by the Institute for Supply Management.

Solid job growth, along with consumer spending, have been among the key factors pushing economic growth. But manufacturing has been a weak spot in the broader economy.

Home builders fell broadly after the government report showing that spending on construction projects declined unexpectedly in October. Hovnanian Enterprises slumped 6.9%.

Technology stocks were the biggest drag on the market Monday. Many of the companies in that sector rely on China for sales, and supply chains and can become very volatile with new developments in trade negotiations. Adobe fell 2.2% and Microsoft slid 1.2%.

Industrial and communication services companies also moved lower. Honeywell shed 2.4% and Netflix dropped 1.5%.

Energy stocks held up the best as oil prices rose. Halliburton gained 1.4%.

Companies that make or sell consumer goods such as cigarettes, food and beverages also eked out a gain. Hormel Foods added 2% and Campbell Soup rose $1.2%.

Benchmark crude oil rose 79 cents to settle at $55.96 a barrel. Brent crude oil, the international standard, gained 43 cents to close at $60.92 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to $1.57 per gallon.

Gold fell $3.30 to $1,462.30 per ounce, silver fell 13 cents to $16.84 per ounce and copper fell 1 cent to $2.63 per pound.

The dollar fell to 108.98 Japanese yen from 109.48 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1078 from $1.1017.

European markets closed broadly lower Monday.

Click Here: IQOS White

T-Mobile US Inc. has jumped to an early lead in the race to offer 5G service nationwide, a step toward showing it can be a serious competitor to larger rivals if it gains approval for its $26.5 billion takeover of Sprint Corp.

Starting Friday, when T-Mobile stores begin offering their first two 5G phones, the service will be available across the country. But it won’t be the much-vaunted 5G experience that wireless carriers have been promising: The service is on a low-band 600-megahertz signal, which provides broad coverage but not blazing speeds.

The offering is a precursor to a more robust network that the company says will be made possible with the combination of Sprint’s massive airwave holdings.

“This is the foundational layer of our 5G service,” said Karri Kuoppamaki, vice president of network technology development and strategy. The 600-megahertz band covers large territories and travels through walls and deep into buildings. “You won’t have to go to a specific street corner to get a signal that works,” he said.

U.S. carriers are vying to become leaders in 5G, hoping to capture early adopters and the first wave of new revenue. But the arrival of full-fledged 5G service — with as much as 100 times faster speeds and nearly zero lag time — is still a few years away.

The initial 5G service with low-band spectrum can deliver performance that’s comparable to the current T-Mobile network. But like all the other wireless operators, T-Mobile will follow up in the coming months and years with higher-frequency signals to move data faster and provide greater network capacity.

Verizon Communications Inc. has started a high-band 5G service in small parts of 15 cities, with expansion to 30 markets expected by year-end. Verizon initially charged an extra $10 a month for the service but has since waived the fee.

Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey

AT&T Inc. plans to have its own low-band 5G in parts of 12 cities in the coming weeks, available only to its high-tier customers, and has vowed to extend the service nationwide by the middle of next year.

Expanded 5G service is a crucial promise T-Mobile has made to secure approval for the Sprint takeover. The deal has won approval from the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission, but it faces a lawsuit from several state attorneys general. The case is scheduled for trial Dec. 9.

T-Mobile is promoting the 5G launch with special prices on two new phones: the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren, made by Oppo Co., a Chinese manufacturer, and the Samsung Galaxy Note10+ 5G. T-Mobile’s 5G service will be available to regular monthly subscribers and pay-as-you-go customers at no extra cost.

Just as they did with previous generations of wireless technology, the carriers are providing coverage maps so consumers can compare service. T-Mobile will have a website to explore where its 5G service is available. Verizon has city maps that show where it has its high-band “ultra” 5G service. And AT&T has its own city maps.

Some of China’s wealthiest tycoons steered billions of dollars into electric-car companies in order to fuel the country’s dreams of becoming a leader in the field. Now a reckoning may be looming as car sales slow and the government reduces subsidies for the nascent industry.

That leaves the flagship companies of Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Hui Ka Yan and Robin Li facing an increasingly steep path to profitability on their bets that electric vehicles can be smartphones-on-wheels connecting passengers to other businesses. Their capital, along with dozens of startups raising $18 billion, helped inflate an electric bubble that now looks to be in danger of popping.

China’s car market is experiencing a prolonged sales slump, prompting EV makers to slash earnings outlooks. With China considering further cuts to the subsidies for consumer purchases in order to force automakers to compete on their own, a shakeout is looming that not even the tycoons’ support may be able to prevent, said Rachel Miu, an analyst with DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong. “For the new kids on the block in the EV space, it’s a steep uphill climb,” she said.

Here’s what China’s richest people have to show for their companies’ EV investments:

Alibaba: Xpeng Coupe, Accusations

Jack Ma stepped down as chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in September after amassing a fortune of more than $40 billion, but China’s richest man retains his board seat — and influence — at the e-commerce emporium he created.

Alibaba has participated in several funding rounds for Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology Co., or Xpeng Motors, including one in 2018 that raised 2.2 billion yuan [about $313 million] for the carmaker co-founded by former Alibaba executive He Xiaopeng.

Xpeng launched its first vehicle, the five-seat G3 SUV, last year and has sold 11,940 vehicles so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company, founded in 2014, also is teaming up with more-established automakers. A factory built with Haima Automobile Co. can produce 150,000 EVs annually. Another should soon begin assembling the P7 coupe, scheduled to begin deliveries next year.

The journey hasn’t been without controversy, as some engineers bound for Xpeng stand accused of stealing from their ex-employers in the U.S. In March, Tesla sued a former engineer, alleging he uploaded files, directories and copies of source code to his personal cloud storage account before resigning. Also, a former Apple Inc. engineer was indicted last year on charges of pilfering self-driving car secrets on his way to an Xpeng job. His trial is upcoming.

Click Here: Italy Football Shop

Xpeng wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.

“We are very adamant that we pursue our own R&D,” President Brian Gu said. “Copyright is very important to us.”

Hangzhou-based Alibaba, the second-largest shareholder in Xpeng, didn’t answer specific questions about the automaker.

Xiaomi Corp., the consumer-electronics company, participated in another $400 million fundraising round, the automaker said Nov. 13.

Tencent: NIO Lists, Then Cuts

Pony Ma’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., whose WeChat messaging app helped make him China’s second-richest person, led a $1-billion investment round in NIO Inc. in 2017. With more than 26,000 vehicles sold, NIO’s one of the few Chinese start-ups making multiple models, and it beat rivals with an initial public offering in New York last year.

But losses piled up with the overall sales slump and as the company, which has been described as “China’s Tesla,” plowed money into marketing and real estate. It sponsored a Bruno Mars concert and opened luxury clubs for NIO owners that feature showrooms, coffee bars and performance spaces. By August the company had opened 19 NIO Houses over 22 months, and combined rental expenses were equivalent to 6.3% of revenue during the 12 months ended March, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

“NIO chooses the direct sales mode and pays great attention to user experience,” the company said. It doesn’t plan to close its existing clubs — or open new ones.

NIO lost $2.8 billion in the 12 months ended June on revenue of $1.2 billion, and its shares have plunged this year. The Shanghai-based company cut about 20% of its workforce through September, when Tencent injected another $100 million.

“Our sales have been under pressure since the subsidies went down,” NIO Chief Executive Officer William Li said. “It has come to a new era that one can only win customers with quality products and services.”

Shenzhen-based Tencent expressed support for EVs but didn’t answer specific questions about NIO.

Evergrande: High Hopes

One of the more startling entrants in the EV industry is property developer China Evergrande Group, which declared it wanted to be the world’s biggest manufacturer within three to five years. That means surpassing Tesla, which just opened a factory in Shanghai. Between September 2018 and June 2019, Evergrande invested more than $3.8 billion in EV-related companies, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, and will start producing its Hengchi brand next year.

Evergrande, which wants to open 10 production bases, plans to spend 45 billion yuan on new-energy vehicles between 2019 and 2021. On Nov. 10, a unit announced it would spend almost $3 billion to boost its stake in National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB to 82% from 68%.

Billionaire chairman and founder Hui Ka Yan, who’s diversifying into businesses such as soccer and healthcare, acknowledged there isn’t much overlap between Evergrande’s real-estate business and its EV ambitions.

“We don’t have any talent, technology, experience, or production base in manufacturing cars,” Hui said. “How can we compete with the century-old automakers in the world?”

His answer: By opening Evergrande’s wallet.

“Whatever core technology and company we can buy, we will buy,” he said.

Yet Hui’s whatever-it-takes strategy may take a toll on Evergrande because of the cash-burning nature of NEV investments. The company’s forecast of spending 45 billion yuan is probably an underestimate, and that may exacerbate its cash crunch, according to BI.

“This could crimp its home-sales margin given an urgency to sustain price cuts to boost cash collection from sales,” analyst Kristy Hung said in a Nov. 22 report.

Baidu: WM Factories, Lawsuit

Robin Li, the CEO of China’s dominant internet search-engine company, made WM Motor Technology Co. part of Baidu’s move into autonomous driving. Baidu led a fundraising round this year that generated 3 billion yuan for the Shanghai-based automaker. Baidu owns a 13% stake.

WM rolled out an electric SUV last year and has delivered more than 19,000 vehicles, Chief Strategy Officer Rupert Mitchell said. So far this year, WM sold 14,273 of its battery-powered SUVs, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts WM behind market leader BYD Co. — backed by Warren Buffett — and NIO, but ahead of Xpeng. WM launched a second SUV model on Nov. 22.

WM has an advantage over rivals started by employees from internet companies, Mitchell said. Founder Freeman Shen used to run Volvo Car Group in China.

“We are not moonlighters from the technology industry that are having a crack at mass-market automotive,” he said.

Volvo parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has sued WM, seeking compensation of 2.1 billion yuan for alleged copyright infringement, Chinese state media reported in September. WM has denied wrongdoing.

WM is producing vehicles at fully owned factories, which helps maintain quality control, Mitchell said. The company, which is opening a second factory next year that can make 150,000 vehicles annually, wants to raise another $1 billion, Mitchell said.

Baidu declined to comment.

There’s a powerful new player watching what you buy so it can tailor product offerings for you: the bank behind your credit or debit card.

For years, Google and Facebook have been showing ads based on your online behavior. Retailers including Amazon and Walgreens also regularly suction up your transaction history to steer future spending and hold your loyalty.

Now banks, too, want to turn data they already have on your spending habits into extra revenue by identifying likely customers for retailers.

Banks are increasingly aware that they could be sitting on a gold mine of information that can be used to predict — or sway — where you spend. Historically, such data have been used mostly for fraud protection.

Suppose you were to treat yourself to lunch while out holiday shopping. If you order ahead at Chipotle — paying, of course, with your credit card — you might soon find your bank dangling 10% off lunch at Little Caesars. The bank would earn fees from the pizza joint, both for showing the offer and processing the payment.

Wells Fargo began customizing retail offers for individual customers on Nov. 21, joining Chase, Bank of America, PNC, SunTrust and a slew of smaller banks.

Unlike Google or Facebook, which try to infer what you’re interested in buying based on your searches, web visits or likes, “banks have the secret weapon in that they actually know what we spend money on,” said Silvio Tavares of the trade group CardLinx Association, whose members help broker purchase-related offers. “It’s a better predictor of what we’re going to spend on.”

Although banks say they’re moving cautiously and being mindful of privacy concerns, it’s not clear that consumers are fully aware of what their banks are up to.

Banks know many of our deepest, darkest secrets — that series of bills paid at a cancer clinic, for instance, or that big strip-club tab that you thought stayed in Vegas. A bank might suspect someone’s adulterous affair long before the betrayed partner would.

“Ten years ago, your bank was like your psychiatrist or your minister — your bank kept secrets,” said Ed Mierzwinski, a consumer advocate at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Now, he says, “they think they are the same as a department store or an online merchant.”

The startup Cardlytics, one of the field’s pioneers, runs the offer programs for Wells Fargo, Chase and other banks. Though these partnerships, Cardlytics says it gets insights on about $2.8 trillion worth of annual consumer spending worldwide.

A Cardlytics rival named Augeo runs a similar program with other banks, which it declined to name. American Express has an in-house program for its cardholders. Visa targets offers on Uber’s app for credits toward rides and food delivery.

Even though banks only know where you’ve shopped — and not specifically what you bought — they’re often able to make educated guesses. After all, it’s not likely you’re at a liquor store for the potato chips.

The bank can then infer other things you may like. It would have a pretty good idea that you’re about to travel if you’ve charged a flight or hotel stays. HSBC is looking into using that data to set up automatic alerts, so that it wouldn’t decline your card use as fraudulent when you start charging for meals in Kathmandu or Karachi.

The next step is to make location-specific offers, perhaps for a car rental, as soon as you land. Marcos Meneguzzi, HSBC’s U.S. head of cards and unsecured lending, said cardholders will welcome such offers, at least when they’re relevant. But he warns that banks could easily overstep and lose their customers’ trust.

Many of these efforts remain in their infancy, and it’s not yet clear how well they’ll catch on.

The Cardlytics programs, for instance, don’t push offers through notifications. You have to look for them in your banking app or website.

Abeer Bhatia, an executive with Chase’s credit-card business, said commissions barely cover operational costs. To Chase, the program is more important for incentivizing rewards-conscious consumers to use its cards. If a Chase card gets you an extra 10% at Rite Aid, why pull out your Citi card?

As far as these companies are concerned, Americans have repeatedly demonstrated that they value freebies and discounts more than intangible privacy concerns.

“Consumers understand the banks are giving them ways to save money based on how they shop,” said Scott Grimes, chief executive and co-founder of Cardlytics.

But banks often don’t explain clearly what they’re doing with your data, even though they sometimes share your transactions with outside data companies such as Cardlytics to process offers. And many banks don’t seek explicit consent, instead including these programs by reference in general agreements for the card or online banking.

“It’s totally long, and people don’t read that,” said Saisattha Noomnual, a graduate student in Chicago who gets targeted offers through her Chase and Bank of America cards.

Under federal law, banks merely have to let you withdraw from marketing, or opt out. That’s difficult to do if you’re not aware it’s happening.

Noomnual said she can only guess she gets more offers for Starbucks because she visits Starbucks a lot. She reasons that based on how well banks analyze her spending for fraud alerts. She said she doesn’t mind that, but she wishes banks were more forthcoming.

Bank of America declined to comment. Chase said it tries to keep disclosures simple and understandable without overwhelming consumers.

Banks insist they don’t share personal information with other companies because they replace names with anonymous ID numbers. Privacy researchers, however, have shown that such data can be “de-anonymized” under the right conditions.

Privacy advocates worry that past transactions could come back to haunt you. Frequent visits to fast-food joints might flag you as a health risk, which could be a problem if your health insurer could pay to learn about that. Auto insurers might grow wary of cardholders who run up large bar tabs.

And ultimately, these targeted offers could inadvertently encourage people to overspend or double down on unhealthy habits such as fast food.

“Consumers aren’t aware of the subtle nudges apps are giving them to buy, buy, buy,” Mierzwinski said. “They are basically digging deep into your psyche and figuring out how to manipulate you.”

Jesdanun writes for the Associated Press.

CHICAGO — 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot fired the city’s retiring police superintendent Monday, citing “ethical lapses” that included telling lies about a recent incident in which Supt. Eddie Johnson was found asleep at the wheel of his car after having drinks.

Former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, who had already been announced as the interim superintendent in Chicago, was to take over immediately, Lightfoot said. Johnson had been set to leave at the end of the year.

Named to the job after a police shooting that killed a black teenager, Johnson was dismissed after the mayor reviewed an inspector general’s report and video evidence related to the night in mid-October when officers discovered him unconscious in his SUV. He initially blamed failure to take his blood pressure medication and said he had a few drinks with dinner earlier in the evening.

The officers did not conduct any sobriety tests and let their boss drive home.

Johnson “engaged in a series of actions that are intolerable for any leader or position of trust, particularly the head of the Chicago Police Department,” the mayor said. Johnson’s conduct was “not only unbecoming but demonstrates a series of ethical lapses and flawed decision-making.”

Lightfoot said the police chief of the nation’s third-largest city repeatedly lied about the events that unfolded the night of Oct. 16 and morning of Oct. 17.

“What he portrayed to me, what he portrayed to the public was fundamentally different than what the facts show,” she said. The underlying conduct “warranted this significant and serious action of relieving him of his role.”

At a hastily called news conference, the mayor declined to offer details “out of deference” to Johnson’s wife and children and the ongoing investigation. The report may become public in the future, she said.

A Chicago police spokesman did not immediately return messages seeking comment from Johnson, who in more than 30 years with the department held almost every rank on the force. He declined to discuss his firing with a Sun-Times reporter who came to his South Side home.

In October, Johnson called for the department’s internal affairs division to investigate the incident, saying he wanted the public to be confident that both he and the officers acted properly. He said he had felt lightheaded while driving home, pulled over and fell asleep.

During his tenure, he was hospitalized for a blood clot and a kidney transplant.

Weeks after the incident, Johnson announced he would retire at the end of the year. He appeared with Lightfoot at an emotional news conference commemorating his long career, an appearance that Lightfoot said Monday she now regretted.

“This department has to be about creating a culture of integrity and accountability, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Lightfoot said.

Johnson, a native Chicagoan, was named superintendent in 2016 by then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who had fired Supt. Garry McCarthy after the release of the now-infamous video showing officer Jason Van Dyke shooting teenager Laquan McDonald. At the time, Emanuel was scrambling to restore public confidence.

Eschewing the recommendations of his police board, which conducted a national search, Emanuel settled on Johnson, the interim superintendent, who had not even applied for the job. An African American who spent his early childhood living in one of the city’s most notorious public housing projects, the soft-spoken Johnson was a popular choice with the rank-and-file, who felt they could trust him far more than McCarthy, a brash outsider who had spent most of his career in New York.

Johnson took over the department of roughly 13,500 officers as the city grappled with a spike in already high violent crime. By the end of the year, which saw thousands of shooting incidents, the number of dead totaled nearly 800 — 300 more than just the year before.

He presided over an effort to hire more officers that increased the size of the force by about 1,000. Under his leadership, police also expanded the use of technology, including installing more surveillance cameras and embarking on the largest rollout of police body cameras in the country.

As the McDonald case advanced through the courts, Johnson also looked for ways to restore public confidence that had been shattered by allegations that police had engaged in a cover-up. The McDonald video was withheld from the public for months.

Questions about Johnson’s willingness to cover for fellow officers arose after media reports that, as a deputy chief, he had agreed after watching the video that the shooting was justified.

In a blistering report, the Justice Department found a long history in the police force of racial bias and excessive force by officers. That led to wholesale changes in the way officers are investigated and last year the implementation of a federal consent decree that calls for more community policing, better officer training and requiring paperwork every time officers point a gun at someone, even if they don’t fire.

Johnson largely enjoyed support from the public and his department, partly because he was willing to show his human side. He became emotional when he faced reporters to talk about the shooting death of a longtime commander and close friend. He showed anger when he announced the arrest of actor Jussie Smollett, casting what he said was Smollett’s staged racist attack as an attack on Chicago itself. And the city rooted for him when he had a kidney transplant — a kidney he said was donated by his son.

Click Here: Cheap FIJI Rugby Jersey