Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s armed forces had “unintentionally” struck a convoy from the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen in Gaza late Monday, killing seven aid workers.

“Unfortunately, in the last day there was a tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said Tuesday as he left a hospital in Jerusalem after a hernia operation. “It happens in war. We will investigate it right to the end. … We are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again.”

Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths while stopping short of accepting responsibility.

In response to the killings, World Central Kitchen suspended its operations delivering vital food aid in Gaza, where Israel’s offensive has pushed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the brink of starvation. Cyprus, which has played a key role in trying to establish a maritime corridor, said ships were returning with some 240 tons of undelivered aid.

The strike killed the six World Central Kitchen aid workers and their Palestinian driver, the group said Tuesday, hours after it brought a new shipload of food into northern Gaza, which has been isolated and pushed near famine by Israel’s offensive.

The IDF said it was doing “an in-depth investigation of the incident by the most senior ranks, in order to understand all the circumstances of the incident. The IDF makes great efforts to enable the safe passage of humanitarian aid, and works in full cooperation and coordination with the WCK organization in order to support their efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip.”

Graphic photographs showed the mangled, bloodied corpses of the aid workers, some still wearing World Central Kitchen t-shirts, with their passports, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.

A local resident told CBS News that the World Central Kitchen convoy was traveling from Deir al-Balah to Khan Younes at around midnight. The resident said they saw the rear vehicle in the convoy get hit first. The lead vehicle then stopped and went to the rear vehicle, where an injured passenger was pulled out. After that, the lead vehicle was hit, the witness said.

The food charity said early Tuesday that the seven killed included citizens of Australia, Poland and the United Kingdom, and that one was a U.S.-Canada dual citizen and one was Palestinian.

WCK, a nonprofit founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, has shipped more than 37 million meals to Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7, the group says.

“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement

In a lengthy social media post, Andrés said his organization had lost several “brothers and sisters in an IDF air strike in Gaza,” and called on the Israeli government to “stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”

“I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family,” Andrés wrote. “These are people … angels … I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless … they are not nameless.”

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement that he’s spoken with Andrés and “expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family. We also express sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need.”  

The WCK team “was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo,” the group said in a statement.

“Despite coordinating movements with the (Israeli army), the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse,” in central Gaza, the group said, adding that the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.

In the face of a growing humanitarian disaster in Gaza’s north, several countries worked to open a sea route, hoping it would enable more aid to enter the territory, where supplies have only trickled in through the land routes controlled by Israel. The United States and other countries have also airdropped aid, but humanitarian workers say such efforts are far from sufficient to meet mounting needs.

Israel has barred UNRWA, the main U.N. aid group in the region, from making deliveries to the north, and other aid groups say sending truck convoys north has been too dangerous because of the military’s failure to ensure safe passage.

Three aid ships from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus arrived earlier Monday carrying some 400 tons of food and supplies organized by World Central Kitchen and the United Arab Emirates following a pilot was run last month. The Israeli military was involved in coordinating both deliveries.

Cypriot Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis said Tuesday that around 100 tons of aid had been unloaded before the charity suspended operations, and that the remaining 240 tons of aid would be transported back to Cyprus.

The United States, which has provided key military and diplomatic support for Israel’s offensive, has touted the sea route as a new way to deliver desperately needed aid to northern Gaza, where the U.N. has said much of the population is on the brink of starvation, largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces. The U.S. plans to build its own floating dock for aid delivery, with construction expected to take several weeks.

Israel has barred UNRWA, the main U.N. agency in Gaza, from making deliveries to the north, and other aid groups say sending truck convoys north has been too dangerous because of the military’s failure to ensure safe passage.

The UNRWA said in its latest report that 173 of its colleagues have been killed in Gaza in the violence. The figure does not include workers for other aid organizations.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that Zomi Frankcom, 44, of Melbourne, was among those killed and said his government has requested an explanation from Israel.

“This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza. And this is just completely unacceptable,” Albanese told reporters.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said his country was working to verify reports of the deaths of U.K. nationals in the strike, which he said was “deeply distressing.”

“It is essential that humanitarian workers are protected and able to carry out their work,” he wrote on X, also calling for an investigation.

Poland’s Foreign Ministry posted “sincerest words of sympathy” to the family of a volunteer who had offered assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, without saying how he was killed. The Foreign Ministry said it is requesting an explanation from Israel.

The mayor of Przemysl, Wojciech Bakun, named the victim on Facebook as Damian Soból and said he was from the city in southeastern Poland.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on social media that, “We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that that killed [World Central Kitchen] aid workers in Gaza. Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened.”

WCK said the shipments bound for Gaza were loaded with rice, pasta, flour, legumes, canned vegetables and proteins, and contained enough food to prepare more than 1 million meals. Also on board were dates, which are traditionally eaten to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

The United Nations and partners have warned that famine could occur very soon in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza. CBS News previously reported that an estimated 1.7 million people in Gaza have been displaced in the territory, according to the U.N., with many having no access to food, water, medicine or appropriate shelter.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. Israel responded with an air, land and sea offensive that has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

—S. Dev, Brian Dakss and Camilla Schick contributed reporting.

Millions of people are under weather alerts as a dangerous storm system moves through parts of the Ohio Valley region and the Northeast, bringing heavy rain, threats of isolated tornadoes and snow.

A severe weather outbreak is possible for the Ohio Valley, middle Tennessee and the Southeast on Tuesday with multiple rounds of storms expected throughout the day and into the evening.

The Ohio Valley region is already being hammered by a storm. As many as 4 million people along the Ohio River were under tornado watches until noon ET. Some of these storms could have 90 mph straight-line winds.

A significant outbreak of severe storms stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast has put 54 million people at risk.

One weather-related injury was reported in Lexington, Kentucky, Mayor Linda Gorton said, without providing further details.

Dozens of calls have come in, with the Lexington Fire Department receiving 61 calls for emergency service, two calls for trees crashing into homes, and two structure fires caused by downed power lines, the mayor said in a statement Tuesday.

“Three injury collisions” were also reported as well as seven collisions that did not result in injuries.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency following the severe weather.

“We have reports of substantial damage to a number of structures — and thankfully, as of right now we are not aware of any fatalities,” Beshear said in a statement. “We need all Kentuckians to stay weather aware as we brace for more severe weather throughout the afternoon and evening.”

The National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center said in a post on X on Tuesday that late-season heavy snow and gusty winds across the Great Lakes and the Northeast through midweek are expected.

In Wisconsin, a winter storm warning has been issued beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to NBC affiliate WGBA of Green Bay.

Over the next 24 hours, people should expect a lot of wet, heavy snow; wind gusts up to 40 mph; and slippery roads, it reported. Snow will continue until Thursday across northeast Wisconsin as the storm passes through, making way for sunny weather Friday.

High winds and hail are a threat in central Indiana and Ohio. The weather service warned that the storms could also bring tornadoes in Indiana. NBC affiliate WCMH of Columbus, Ohio, said there is an isolated tornado threat for the region.

At least four tornadoes were reported Monday in Oklahoma and Missouri, and damage was reported Tuesday in Charleston, West Virginia, and Lexington and Nicholasville in Kentucky.

The city clerk for Barnsdall, Oklahoma, said several homes were damaged, but there have been no reports of fatalities. Due to the weather, public schools were closed Tuesday.

Schools were also closed in parts of Ohio.

Flooding is a major concern, with 41 million people from Indiana to New Jersey under flood watches.

As of Tuesday afternoon, flash flood warnings were in effect for Pittsburgh and other areas of western Pennsylvania, where 2 to 4 inches of rain has already fallen.

The highest flood threat Tuesday will be associated with the severe thunderstorms charging across portions of the Ohio Valley. Rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour could spark flash flooding.

Because of the heavy rain, the Weather Prediction Center issued a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the lower Great Lakes, the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, and the central Appalachians through Wednesday morning. The wet weather will likely create localized flash flooding, with urban areas, roads and small streams being the most vulnerable.

On Wednesday, the mid-Atlantic and Florida were under a severe weather risk. That expanded to include 22 million people from Florida to Maryland.

A secondary low-pressure system along the mid-Atlantic coast could bring heavy, wet snow and some sleet to the Northeast on Wednesday afternoon through Friday, the center said.

Upstate New York and northern New England should expect significant snow accumulations that could create hazardous travel because of low visibility and snow-covered roads.

The center also issued a slight risk of severe thunderstorms over the Florida Peninsula from Wednesday into Thursday morning. The storm is expected to bring frequent lightning, severe wind gusts, hail and possible tornadoes, it said.

The springtime storms follow a wet Monday where unconfirmed tornadoes, hail, strong gusts and heavy rain battered parts of the South.

Lee Siegfried, known as “Crazy Cabbie” to “The Howard Stern Show” fans, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 55. No cause of death has been revealed.

In a previous podcast appearance from 2021, Siegfried spoke about some health issues he suffered from and revealed that he was in a wheelchair and diagnosed with autoimmune disorders like Guillain-Barre syndrome and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.

Cane Peterson, a radio host and DJ, shared a tribute about Siegfried’s death on his Facebook account Sunday night.

“Sad update on this Easter Sunday,” Peterson wrote. “At 7:09 last night, Lee Siegfried…Crazy Cabbie, peacefully passed way with the love of his life Lexi by his side. He is no longer in pain, and he is now with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Nobody did radio better than Cabbie, and everyone that knew him, loved him. He had a razor sharp wit, an insatiable lust for life, and most importantly he had a heart of gold. We had our moments, but we were brothers who loved each other very much. Until next time, my friend.”

While Siegfried — who is originally from Minnesota — became known as a regular guest on “The Howard Stern Show,” he used to work as a DJ for 92.3 K-Rock in New York and several other places including two major stations in Twin Cities. His nickname of “Crazy Cabbie” comes from being frequently called “Cabbie” early on in his radio career when he was on “The Andy Savage Show,” which aired on Minneapolis’ 93.7 The Edge. When Howard Stern’s show came to town, Siegfried moved to the “KQRS Morning Show.”

As a regular guest on Stern’s show, Siegfried did everything from participating in boxing matches, taking on “Wack Pack” member Angry Black and former Stern Show member “Stuttering” John Melendez.

The news of Siegfried’s death comes less than a year after Al Rosenberg, an East Windsor resident who was a writer and performer on “The Howard Stern Show,” passed away at the age of 78. Stern’s longtime friend and stylist Ralph Cirella, who was from Jersey City, also passed away in December at the age of 58.

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Saleah Blancaflor may be reached at sblancaflor@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @saleyley and Instagram.

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Lee Siegfried, known to many as Crazy Cabbie from his days on Howard Stern’s syndicated radio show, has passed away at 55. His death was confirmed by fellow Minnesota native and air talent Cane Peterson, who shared the news on Facebook on March 31.

Siegfried, whose real name was Lee Anthony Mroszak, had been battling a rare nerve disorder since 2020, which posed a risk of paralysis.

He is best remembered for his time on New York’s 92.3 K-Rock (WXRK) and his appearances on The Howard Stern Show, Siegfried carved out a niche for himself in the radio industry with his unique Crazy Cabbie persona, initially developed during his tenure at two Minneapolis-based radio stations.

Siegfried briefly worked for Stern again at Sirius before being let go.

In his tribute, Cane Peterson said, “Nobody did radio better than Cabbie, and everyone who knew him, loved him. He had a razor-sharp wit, an insatiable lust for life, and most importantly, a heart of gold.”

CNN
 — 

About 1 in every 10 people in the US who uses Adderall or similar combination drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been affected by an ongoing shortage, a new analysis suggests.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced that Adderall was in shortage in mid-October 2022, and the share of people with ADHD who filled their prescriptions for Adderall and related medications plunged in the following months.

In an exclusive analysis for CNN, data from the health data platform Truveta shows that the prescription fill rate for amphetamine/dextroamphetamine medications fell from nearly 49% in October 2022 to a low of less than 41% in February 2023. Overall, the average monthly prescription fill rate was 11% lower in the first half of 2023 than it was in the first half of 2022, and it did not show steady signs of improvement through the end of 2023.

When broken down by age, the data shows that adults were consistently more likely to fill their Adderall prescriptions than children, but adults saw more substantial decreases in fill rates after the shortage was announced. For children, fill rates started to increase in the second half of 2023 – a consistent pattern around the time to return to school – but did not rebound to levels seen in early 2022.

Truveta’s database of electronic health records includes more than 100 million patients across all 50 states. This analysis focused on a set of more than 336,000 people who had an ADHD diagnosis and who had filled a prescription for amphetamine/dextroamphetamine between January 2016 and December 2023. Patients were considered eligible for a monthly prescription fill if they had filled one within the previous two years.

Although Truveta’s database includes records for nearly a third of the US population and covers nearly a fifth of daily clinical care across the country, the findings from this analysis may not be fully representative of nationwide trends.

Prescriptions for medications used to treat ADHD surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially among young adults and women, one study found.

This increase in demand, coupled with the residual effects of manufacturing delays that one key drugmaker experienced last fall, are among the “many factors” contributing to the shortage, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf and Drug Enforcement Administration leader Anne Milgram wrote in a joint letter last summer.

Federal agencies have been interested in understanding why prescription rates have increased recently, along with the methods for diagnosing ADHD, particularly related to misuse and diversion of medications like Adderall, said Dr. David Goodman, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who is also on the executive board of the American Professional Society for ADHD and Related Disorders.

“The question is, ‘What is now perpetuating the shortage?’ And that’s not a question that’s been adequately answered,” he said.

Mary Beth King, who works as Truveta’s social media director but was not involved in the new analysis and spoke to CNN about her personal experience, was diagnosed with ADHD about a decade ago, when she was in her late 20s. After a few months of trial and error with her doctor, she landed on a treatment plan with an Adderall prescription that best helped her manage her symptoms – primarily the inability to focus and severe anxiety that can look and feel like depression.

But it’s been about a year and a half since she’s been able to fill her Adderall prescription in a “totally uneventful” way, she said. From October 2022 to October 2023, she recalls being able to fill her monthly prescription less than half of the time.

“It’s troubling to be on this medication that helps regulate so much in my life and then suddenly not have access to it,” King said. “It is a roller coaster. It’s one more piece of anxiety that a person who’s already very prone to anxiety doesn’t need.”

For her and many others with ADHD, Adderall is much more than a recreational drug or a study aid that helps a college kid pull an all-nighter, as some stereotypes may suggest. It can have “concrete negative impacts” on life, King says, affecting work, relationships, personal safety and more.

“I can drink a bunch of coffee, and there’s certain things that I can try to do to help some of the side effects,” she said. “But there’s no coffee for depression. You really need medication for stuff like that.”

Treating ADHD with Adderall can help reduce impulsivity, improve attention and focus, and manage feelings of anxiety. Inconsistent access to treatment can be very disruptive – and dangerous – for people with ADHD, experts say.

“It would be like ordering glasses and not being able to get them for months. I mean, how are you going to function in the world without your glasses?” Goodman said.

People with ADHD are at increased risk of premature death and other adverse health outcomes, but a recent study out of Sweden found that treating the disorder with medication can help reduce the overall mortality risk.

“Undertreating ADHD is not without consequences,” experts from the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center wrote in an editorial published in the medical journal JAMA last month.

The Adderall shortage can have a compounding effect on people who are also trying to manage their ADHD in ways that complement the medication, said Dr. John Mitchell, an associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. As a clinician, he performs ADHD assessments and works with patients through cognitive behavioral therapy and other non-medication treatments.

Strategies that help people with ADHD establish routines are a common target in therapy, especially around daily medications, he said. But that’s becoming more challenging to address as patients decide skip or ration doses because of the shortage.

“Breaking a routine because the medication isn’t available is going to put a lot more a lot more demand on [patients] to regulate their behavior,” Mitchell said.

People with ADHD can often struggle with regulating emotions, and struggling to access medication can create an immediate stress response.

“If the medication is having its therapeutic effects, patients are able to adopt a lot of strategies more efficiently than when they’re not treated with medication or undertreated with medication,” Mitchell said. The shortage “really increases the stress that these patients are carrying, and being in a state of distress is going to make it more difficult to learn the strategies and to implement them in a consistent way.”

Before the shortage, King would proactively refill her prescription as soon as she was able, so she would never run out. But over the past year and a half, she said, she has taken very conscious steps to try to stretch her medication supply and plan her life around the effects.

“Workwise, if I knew that I had a day where I had a bunch of meetings and also a bunch to get done, I would take my full dose. But then I would recognize that, ‘OK, tomorrow I might not be as productive. I may only get the bare minimum done,’ ” she said. At home, during hours or days that she needed to rest, she and her husband would coordinate care for their toddler.

Internal turmoil could sometimes lead to feelings of inadequacy, she said, but a strong support system – including an understanding manager and a supportive husband – helped. However, the uncertainty of the broader shortage has brought its own set of negative feelings.

“I’ve done a lot of therapy, so I feel like I’m much better now than I was before at recognizing when I need help, when I need to raise my hand, when mentally I’m not doing well,” she said. “That definitely helps. On the other side, no, I don’t feel like I have any control.”

A few months into the shortage, King also explored different medications and doses so that she would get whatever she could find in stock. At one point, she said, a pharmacy rejected her from filling any prescriptions because she had too many on file. But testing various treatment options was far from ideal, too.

“You don’t want to be on one of these medications if it’s not going to be really effective for you. It’s not something that you want to play around with,” King said.

King says she has seen some hopeful signs in recent months that the shortage may be easing.

“I previously had been checking my pharmacy app every day to see if I could add it to my cart and get it scheduled for delivery,” she said. Recently, “it hasn’t been nearly as challenging.”

But the stress remains.

“I have, I don’t know, two weeks worth of my last prescription in my pill bottle,” she said last week. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, am I gonna be able to get in to see my doctor in time to get this refilled? And if I can, will I even get it?’ ”

Roughly 2.6% (139.8 million) of adults worldwide some form of ADHD.  With the Adderall shortage, what are the options?

In October 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration announced a shortage of Adderall.  The issue has has not be resolved and now, it seems, it is starting to have a larger effect on patients. South America (11.8%) has highest rate and Japan and Finland the lowest. American  about average (7%).  The average monthly prescription fill rate was 11% lower in the first half of 2023 than it was in the first half of 2022, and it did not show steady signs of improvement through the end of 2023.

More research needs to be done, but can medical marijuana help during the Adderall Shortage – or in general?  While scientists are still research cannabis and ADHD, there is some early data suggesting cannabis may be a helpful therapy.

RELATED: Science Says Medical Marijuana Improves Quality Of Life

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological condition which makes it difficult to focus and can lead to impulsivity and hyperactivity. ADHD is the official medical diagnosis, whereas Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a now-outdated term that describes people with primarily inattentive symptoms.

While those diagnosed with ADHD may encounter trouble in school or work, most have gone on to lead successful lives. While there is no cure for ADHD, there are treatments that can help manage symptoms. Common treatments include medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes.

However, some people do not respond well to medication or cannot tolerate the side effects. As a result, many people turn to natural treatments like cannabis and CBD to treat their ADHD symptoms.  Any medical marijuana given to someone under 21 should be discussed with a health care professional as the research is still out and the brain is still developing.

It is worth noting there is some inconclusive evidence suggesting CBD might be used as an adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia, and a few isolated studies show CBD’s efficacy in social anxiety.

Two ways data based ways medical marijuana can help with symptoms of ADHD are sleep issues and reducing anxiety.  One of the most common reasons Americans use medical cannabis is to help with insomnia. Most people know what it is like trying to fall asleep when your mind is full of thoughts or concerns. Certain types of cannabis may help turn your busy brain into a blank board, allowing a solid night of sleep.

Another common medical reason is to manage anxiety and stress.  But certain strains of cannabis produce the same anxiety symptoms, so you have to be careful about the type of medical cannabis you choose. Stimulating cannabis strains can have a calming effect on people with ADHD symptoms. When consumed responsibly, Sativa cannabis may help calm social anxiety while allowing you to remain focused, alert, and conversational.

If you have been diagnosed with ADHD, have an open, fact based discussion with your health care profession about blending medical marijuana into your treatment.

Joe Flaherty, the two-time Emmy-winning writer and Second City alumnus who sparkled as Guy Caballero, Count Floyd, Big Jim McBob and Sammy Maudlin as an original castmember on the landmark Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV, has died. He was 82.

His daughter, Gudrun Flaherty, told the Canadian Press he died Monday after a brief illness.

“Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s,” she said in a statement. “His insights into the golden age of cinema didn’t just shape his professional life; they were also a source of endless fascination for me. In these last few months, as he faced his health challenges, we had the precious opportunity to watch many of those classic movies together — moments I will forever hold dear.”

A native of Pittsburgh, Flaherty also was known for his stint as A-1 Sporting Goods owner Harold Weir (the father of Linda Cardellini and John Francis Daley’s characters) on the 1999-2000 NBC series Freaks and Geeks and for his turn as a Western Union man in Back to the Future Part II (1989).

And on the 1990-93 Canadian-American sitcom Maniac Mansion, created by SCTV teammate Eugene Levy, he played the scientist dad Fred Edison while writing and directing for the show as well.

A master of sketch and improv comedy, Flaherty got his start with the Second City comedy troupe at its Chicago flagship before moving to Toronto in 1973 to help open a new outpost in Canada.

From there, he segued to SCTV, which debuted on the Global network in Canada in 1976 and featured other original players Levy, Catherine O’Hara, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas and Harold Ramis.

Flaherty thrived on all six seasons of the show through 1984, playing such characters as Caballero, the shady, shameless owner of the fictional SCTV station; Floyd Robertson, the serious anchor of the Melonville Nightly News, and Count Floyd, the vampiric host of Monster Chiller Horror Theatre; the flashy talk-show host Maudlin; and McBob, the Farm Report host and movie reviewer who, with Candy’s Billy Sol Hurok, made celebrities “blow up real good.”

Meanwhile, Flaherty shared nine Emmy nominations for outstanding writing in a variety or music program on SCTV, winning in 1982 and ’83.

“We didn’t have a producer, nobody told us what to write, who to appeal to, we just wrote for ourselves,” he said in a 1999 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We were the inmates running the asylum. We created our own little world and it paid off. … I wish we could do it again.”

The son of a production clerk at Westinghouse Electric, Flaherty was born on June 21, 1941, and raised in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh. As a teenager, he studied acting at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.

“I definitely think of myself as more of an actor than a comic — my training was in drama, I only fell into comedy accidentally,” he told the Globe and Mail in 2002. “And I think people are surprised when they meet me, because they expect me to be entertaining and funny, like a stand-up. I’m just not that way.”

Flaherty left Westinghouse High School to spend four years in the U.S. Air Force, attended Point Park College for a year and worked as a draftsman before moving to Chicago to take a job as a stage manager for Second City in 1969.

In the wings, “I watched it and just loved it,” he told Jen Candy (John Candy’s daughter) on a 2020 installment of her Couch Candy show. “Little sketches, funny bits, satiric bits, and then afterward they would improvise. I thought, ‘Wow, this is great. I’ve got to be a part of this.’ “

Flaherty was promoted to writer and performer and worked alongside the likes of Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and John Belushi. Four years later, he, Doyle-Murray and others headed to Toronto to set up shop there, and he had a hand in hiring Candy, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd and others.

Flaherty also did the National Lampoon Radio Hour in 1973-74 with Belushi, Radner, Bill Murray and Chevy Chase and spent a year in Los Angeles helping to open a Second City in Pasadena before returning to Toronto.

The success of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, which had bowed in October 1975, made satire a hot commodity and helped SCTV get a green light.

“Politically, it was charged. Saturday Night Live just took off. It helped us. The producers at Second City decided to start up a TV show. They wanted to keep the actors happy and give us a chance to do more,” Flaherty said in 2004.

While he was working on the first season of SCTV, he did double duty on another Canadian TV program, The David Steinberg Show.

On SCTV, Flaherty did impressions of Bing Crosby, Alan Alda, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Peter O’Toole and others. And when Count Floyd wasn’t teasing such Monster Chiller Horror Theatre flicks as Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House of Slave Chicks and Blood-Sucking Monkeys From West Mifflin Pennsylvania, he was being thanked on Alice Cooper’s Special Forces album and introducing Rush’s “The Weapon” on the Canadian band’s 1984 Grace Under Pressure tour.

Flaherty and other SCTV performers reunited in 2008 for the first time in 24 years at Second City Toronto for a charitable fund-raiser, then got together a decade later at the Elgin Theater for An Afternoon With SCTV, a live event hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

He famously heckled Adam Sandler‘s character in Happy Gilmore (1996), had recurring roles on Police Academy: The Series and The King of Queens and taught comedy writing at Humber College in Toronto.

He also appeared on the big screen in Tunnel Vision (1976), 1941 (1979), Used Cars (1980), Stripes (1981), Heavy Metal (1981), Going Berserk (1983), Follow That Bird (1985), One Crazy Summer (1986), Innerspace (1987), Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989), Stuart Saves His Family (1995), Detroit Rock City (1999) and Freddy Got Fingered (2001).

Survivors include his younger brother, Paul Flaherty, who wrote for SCTV and other shows like Muppets Tonight, and his children, Gabriel and Gudrun. He was married to Judith Flaherty for 20 years until their 1996 divorce.

Mike Barnes contributed to this report.

Joe Flaherty, the actor, writer and comedian known for his roles on the Canadian sketch comedy series “Second City Television” and “Freaks and Geeks,” died on Monday. He was 82.

Flaherty’s daughter, Gudrun, confirmed the news to Variety in a statement through the Comedic Artists Alliance, which had previously raised funds for Flaherty to obtain a 24-hour care provider.

“After a brief illness, he left us yesterday, and since then, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with this immense loss,” Flaherty said. “Dad was an extraordinary man, known for his boundless heart and an unwavering passion for movies from the ’40s and ’50s. His insights into the golden age of cinema didn’t just shape his professional life; they were also a source of endless fascination for me. In these last few months, as he faced his health challenges, we had the precious opportunity to watch many of those classic movies together — moments I will forever hold dear.”

Flaherty was a writer and performer on “SCTV,” in which he starred with John Candy, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Short. The Canadian show, airing between 1976 and 1984, featured various sketches that were presented as programming on the TV station/network of the fictional town of Melonville.

Flaherty was known for his celebrity impressions on “SCTV,” including Kirk Douglas, Richard Nixon, Art Garfunkel, Gregory Peck and Alan Alda. He also appeared on the show as a myriad of original characters, including SCTV president Guy Caballero, Big Jim McBob and Count Floyd. “SCTV” was nominated for nine Primetime Emmy Awards for outstanding writing in a variety or music program, and took home two.

Flaherty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1941. He started out performing at The Second City in Chicago, writing and acting in several Mainstage revues. He starred in “The Next Generation,” “Justice is Done or Oh, Cal Coolidge” and “Cooler Near the Lake” with Brian Doyle-Murray and Harold Ramis.

He also acted alongside John Belushi in “Cum Grano Salis,” “No, No, Wilmette” and “43rd Parallel or Mr. McCabre and Ms. Miller.” Flaherty subsequently appeared on “National Lampoon Radio Hour” with Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Doyle-Murray and Ramis. After spending seven years in Chicago, Flaherty relocated to Toronto, where he helped establish the Second City Toronto and worked on “SCTV.”

Flaherty appeared in several other television shows and films throughout his career, with some of these credits including “Back to the Future II,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Freaks and Geeks,” “One Crazy Summer,” “National Security,” “Detroit Rock City,” “Family Guy” and “The King of Queens.” He portrayed patriarch Harold Weir in “Freaks and Geeks,” a heckler named Donald in “Happy Gilmore” and the Western Union courier in “Back to the Future II.”

Flaherty was ill prior to his death and chose to spend the remainder of his life at home instead of a care facility. His “SCTV” collaborators took to social media to help raise funds for Flaherty through the Comedic Artists Alliance.

Martin Short wrote of Flaherty at the time, “We are writing to our friends because we believe ‘SCTV’ meant something to you, and that would not be the case if it were not for Joe Flaherty. He was a mentor, a director, and an inspiring improvisor who gave us many of the tools we are still using in the careers he helped us kickstart. And he made us all laugh!”

Gudrun’s statement continued, “Cinema wasn’t merely a hobby for him; it profoundly influenced his career, particularly his unforgettable time with ‘SCTV.’ He cherished every moment spent on the show, so proud of its success and so proud to be part of an amazing cast. Recently, the ‘SCTV’ cast reminisced, saying, ‘All of us “SCTV” castmates owe him a huge debt of gratitude; he was the creative anchor that kept us honest and inspired.’ It’s a testament to his indelible mark on everyone he worked with.”

“Above all, he was a loving father. No matter the occasion, he was always there to offer a laugh or wisdom when I needed it most. His absence has left a void in my life that feels insurmountable at the moment. As I try to navigate through this grieving process, I take solace in the memories we shared and the incredible impact he had on those around him. His spirit, humor and love will be a part of me forever.”

NEW ORLEANS – Devin Booker scored 52 points, the fifth-highest scoring game of his career, to power the Phoenix Suns to a 124-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, bringing them within a game of the Pelicans for the No. 6 playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Rebounding from a 128-103 loss to Oklahoma City on Friday night, the Suns (44-31) inched closer to New Orleans (45-30). The teams play again in Phoenix on Sunday.

Booker became the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to score at least 50 points in three consecutive games against the same opponent.

In addition to his 52-point outburst in Phoenix’s 123-109 victory over New Orleans in the Smoothie King Center on Jan. 19, Booker scored 58 points against New Orleans in a 118-114 home win over the Pelicans on Dec. 12, 2022.

“It means a whole lot,” said Booker, a native of Moss Point, Mississippi, located 110 miles from New Orleans, who had 40 relatives and friends in the stands. “My family was in attendance for two of them. Any time you get named for something Wilt did – it’s happened very few times in my career – you know you did something special.”

Suns coach Frank Vogel said he was in awe watching Booker’s second 52-point game against the Pelicans this year.

“There’s something about playing in this building against this opponent,” Vogel said. “(He) just really has a comfort zone here. To go for 50 three straight times against a single opponent … just shows what kind of special player he is. Three times in a row is just incredible.”

Kevin Durant scored 20 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Suns, who led by as many as 25 points in the third quarter.

Durant said it was obvious Booker had it going in the first quarter, and the Suns made a concerted effort to get him the ball and screen harder to create more open space.

“It was like deja vu,” Durant said. “As it was happening, I couldn’t believe he was doing it again.”

Pelicans coach Willie Green said there was no excuse for allowing Booker to go off, especially since they knew his history of burying the Pels.

“He hit some shots that we gave him, and he also hit some tough shots,” Green said. “We have to do better. I mean, there’s no excuse to get 50, put on you twice (in a season). Quite frankly, we were soft guarding him. We just had a soft mentality when it came to being physical with him, and he’s a great player, and you can’t allow him to be comfortable.”

Booker’s first 24 points came on just nine shots from the field in the first quarter – he was 8-of-9 from behind the arc.

“He came out with a lot of pace and energy,” Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III said of Booker. “He hit some tough shots, but I think we contributed to it a little as well.”

In Phoenix’s 123-109 road victory over New Orleans on Jan. 19, Booker scored 25 points in the first quarter. His 24-point outburst in the first quarter Monday night gave him 76 points in his previous five quarters against the Pelicans.

The Suns built a wall around Zion Williamson on defense, and the Pelicans’ leading scorer didn’t take his first shot until late in the first quarter. Williamson finished with 30 points and five assists. Trey Murphy III added 21 points for New Orleans.

Booker has eight 50-plus scoring games in his career.

Up next

Suns: Host Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Pelicans: Host Orlando on Wednesday night.