Here are some Native American-related news stories that made headlines this week:

Treasury secretary addresses poor access to cash, credit in Indian Country

The U.S. Financial Literacy Commission met Thursday to discuss barriers to financial stability in Indian Country.

“One of those main barriers is financial literacy – the understanding of concepts like saving, investing and debt that leads to an overall sense of financial well-being,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Lynn Malerba, chief of the Mohegan Tribe, told the commission.  

She cited a lack of accessible banks. 

“Some banks are hesitant to both locate and lend on reservations due to a lack of knowledge in navigating sovereign immunity, tribal jurisdiction and the status of land held in trust,” she said. 

Malerba noted that Indian Country is growing, and so, too, is Native buying power. She called on the commission to help Native business owners and workers prosper.

Read more:

Indian boarding school in Oregon misused funds, including student monies  

A federal audit of finances at the Chemawa Indian Boarding School in Oregon shows that the school improperly used more than $590,000 in federal funds to purchase “inappropriate and potentially wasteful items.”  These include excavating equipment, a pole barn and a horse trailer.  

The Interior Department’s inspector general conducted an audit of the school’s accounting processes and the Bureau of Indian Education’s role in overseeing those finances.  

Bureau of Indian Affairs policy allows junior and senior high schools enrolling one hundred or more students to operate a school bank for so-called “student enterprise moneys,” which includes money raised by student clubs, donations and students’ own funds.

Federal law also allows those schools to lease land to businesses.

Auditors say Chemawa Indian Boarding School mismanaged all student enterprise funds, averaging $600,000 over a three-year period; improperly accounted for businesses leases; and “inappropriately managed” property.  

Furthermore, auditors say the Bureau of Indian Education did not live up to its supervisory responsibilities.

Read the report and auditors’ recommendations here:

Biggest lithium mine in North America gets green light to proceed

A federal appeals court this week ruled that the U.S. Interior Department did not break any environmental laws when it approved the construction of a lithium mine near Nevada’s border with Oregon.

This means that Lithium Nevada can continue the construction of the Thacker Pass Lithium mine. 

Environmental groups sued to block it, arguing that the mine would irreversibly harm the environment. Co-plaintiffs include a Nevada cattle rancher who owns land above and below the site, tribes of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, the Burns Paiute Tribe, and the Atsa Koodakuh wyh Nuwu (” People of the Red Mountain”), an organization of Paiute and Shoshone people from the Fort McDermitt and Duck Valley reservations.   

Lithium Nevada will initially mine more than 2,300 hectares (more than 5,000 acres), but environmental groups say that future mining could expand to 6,900 hectares (17,000 acres). 

Lithium is an essential component for building batteries for electric vehicles, which are vital to President Joe Biden’s “clean energy by 2050” agenda.

Read more:

Ute Tribe says public schools are not educating tribal children

The Ute Tribe of Northeastern Utah says the state school system has failed to educate Ute children effectively. An investigation by the Salt Lake Tribune backs the claim.

“In 2020, 58% of Ute seniors in Duchesne County School District graduated, for example — that’s lower than the percentage for students with disabilities,” the Tribune reported Monday.

Documentation shows the problems date back decades and are rooted in racism. A 1996 report noted that during the Great Depression of the 1930s, more than half of the region’s white people depended on emergency relief.

“Many [whites] blamed this on the fact that Indian land could not be taxed for the good of the county,” that report read.

In some cases, white schools turned Ute children away altogether.

Read more:
…

TAIPEI – Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai, a front-runner in the island’s planned January presidential elections, announced this week that he plans to make transit stops in the U.S. next month on his way to Paraguay, sparking swift protest from China. Beijing objects to any action that could raise Taiwan’s international profile and has pledged to keep the transit stops from happening.

Analysts say that while it is unlikely that China will succeed, the transit stopovers are likely to test already tense ties between Beijing and Washington.

“Beijing will try to link the stopover to the high-level engagement between Taiwan and the U.S. over the last year and they will look for opportunities to frame this as the U.S. being provocative,” Brian Hart, a fellow with the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA.

Details have yet to be released of where Lai might stop in August and what he might do in the U.S. Taiwan’s Presidential Office has said Lai will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Paraguay’s newly elected president, Santiago Pena, on Aug. 14.

Deep distrust

The planned stopovers are not a first for Lai, but this time he is traveling while he is the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate in the January vote. Beijing is highly skeptical of him because he is a member of the DPP and also because of his stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty. A former doctor turned politician, Lai has previously described himself as a “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker.”

Despite Beijing’s claim that the island is a part of its territory, both Lai and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen argue that the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, is already an independent state.

Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. Beijing took over its seat in 1971. Currently, only  13 countries, including Paraguay, have formal diplomatic relations with the island.

“Beijing distrusts Lai even more than they distrust Tsai Ing-wen,” said Bonnie Glaser, the managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. She said Beijing believes U.S. support may embolden current or future leaders in Taiwan to pursue independence.

Like many other countries, the United States does not have formal ties with Taiwan, but it is the island’s biggest international backer.

‘Priority’ to stop visit

Speaking at the Aspen Security Conference on Wednesday, Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the U.S., said it was Beijing’s priority to stop Lai from visiting the U.S. and emphasized that the provocative moves by “Taiwan separatists” should be contained.

In addition, China’s foreign ministry said that Beijing opposes any official interaction between Taiwan and the U.S. and that the Taiwan issue is the insurmountable red line that cannot be crossed in U.S.-China relations.

“The Chinese are very alarmed about what could happen and they are warning that their red lines should be taken seriously,” Glaser said.

Despite warnings from Beijing, Taipei, and Washington both emphasized that Lai’s transit stops in the U.S. are planned based on the principle of “comfort and safety” and that China should not use the stopover to “start a fight.”

During a press conference Wednesday, Sandra Oudkirk, the director of Washington’s de facto embassy in Taiwan, said transits by Taiwanese officials in the U.S. have happened many times before and are part of the routine.

In January of last year, Lai transited through the U.S. during a trip to Honduras. During those stopovers, he conducted online meetings with former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Tammy Duckworth, and met with members of the Taiwanese community. In April of this year, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen also made two stopovers in the U.S. as part of a trip to Central America.

Another military blockade drill?

China views Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory and has long voiced opposition to high-level interaction between officials from Taipei and those in other countries. That has not stopped a growing number of officials, legislators and leaders from visiting Taiwan, and officials from Taipei traveling to other countries.

In response, China has stepped up its military activities around the island. Over the past year, Beijing launched two multiday, blockade-style military exercises around Taiwan to protest high-profile meetings. One drill followed a meeting between President Tsai and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, when she visited Taiwan last August and another after she met with current U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California in April.

Glaser said that while Beijing’s response will likely be determined by the agenda during Lai’s stopovers in the U.S., the outside world should not rule out any possible scenarios.

“[Even though] I don’t think Lai will do any public events, if he did give a speech or said something that is viewed as provocative by the Chinese leadership, that would give them a reason to do something in the military realm,” she said.

Still, she said she thinks Beijing would have to be “very alarmed” by things that Lai did in order to execute a military response that matches what they did when Pelosi visited Taiwan.

Other analysts added that based on past experience, China has learned that high-profile demonstrations of displeasure toward the Taiwanese government through military maneuvers or military drills often backfire, especially during the island’s election season.

“Since this is a presidential campaign year, if Beijing follows this reasoning, they will likely resort to condemnation and perhaps some form of symbolic suspension of dialogue or economic sanctions on selected commodities,” Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist with the Australian National University’s Taiwan Studies Program, told VOA.

In his view, past experience may convince China that heightening military pressure on Taiwan will only backfire when Taiwanese voters are about cast their ballots to elect their next president.

Washington’s balancing act

Lai’s scheduled stopover in the U.S. comes at a tricky time for Washington. Over the past few weeks, it has tried to restart diplomatic engagement with China. Analysts think efforts to reduce tension between the world’s two largest economies may cause the U.S. to make its engagements with Taiwan less public in the coming months.

“Taiwan and the U.S. will maintain the same level of exchanges, but Washington’s public rhetoric about Taiwan may be milder,” said Charles Wu, a professor in international relations at National Chengchi University in Taiwan.

Rather than reducing interaction with Taiwan, Wu said he thinks the U.S. will likely put “guardrails around interaction” to make sure it doesn’t affect progress made in restoring dialogue with China.  
…

Sea lions and dolphins are being sickened by toxic algae off the coast of California, where hundreds of animals have washed ashore. Mike O’Sullivan visited the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, California, where workers are rescuing and treating the ailing animals.
…

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Kingston Peel, 11, and his 9-year-old brother, Wynn, got woken up early Friday at their home in the Bahamas. Their mother had a surprise for them.

In only a few hours, they’d fly to South Florida to see superstar Lionel Messi make his Major League Soccer debut with Inter Miami.

“We’re here to see Messi,” Kingston and Wynn said in unison. They arrived at DRV PNK Stadium hours before Inter Miami’s match against Mexican club Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.

And Friday night, Messi gave an unforgettable thrill to fans young and old who witnessed his first game, converting a free kick from about 25 yards in the 94th minute to give his new team a 2-1 victory.

Troves of fans, some from as far away as Ecuador and Messi’s native Argentina, bounced around the outskirts of the stadium ahead of Messi’s debut. Some, like Kingston and Wynn, wore black-and-pink Inter Miami jerseys with Messi’s No. 10 on the back. Others wore the 36-year-old’s Argentina jersey. Dozens stood in line for team gear. Even more waited to have their Messi flags and jerseys captured in a photo booth.

Kim Kardashian arrived at the stadium about an hour before the start of the match, with one of her children wearing Messi’s Inter Miami jersey. Serena Williams and LeBron James were there, too, and James greeted Messi before the game.

“It’s insane,” said season ticket holder Christian Zinn, who lives in nearby Parkland and attended the match with his son, Oliver. “We normally come a half hour before the game, and it’s like this. Not two hours before the game. We knew it was going to be crazy.”

Messi and fellow newcomer Sergio Busquets checked into the game in the 54th minute, with phones out all around the stadium to capture the moment. Inter Miami led 1-0 at the time, but Cruz Azul tied it shortly after he checked in, setting up the incredible finish.

After months of speculation, Messi signed a 2 1/2-year contract with the team this past weekend. Tens of thousand of people showed up to see the team introduce Messi Sunday night. Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said online video of the event was viewed 3.5 billion times.

“That’s a gift that Leo has given the sport,” Beckham said. “He’s at the stage of his career where he’s done everything that any soccer player can do in a sport. He’s one of the greatest players if not the greatest player to ever play that game.”

Beckham, an English great who also came to MLS in 2007 after a long career in Europe, said Messi’s move has “raised the bar” for soccer in the United States.

“When I went on the journey in 2007, and when I started my Miami journey 10 years ago, my vision was exactly what we saw the moment that Leo announced,” Beckham said. “That’s what I wanted to see for the sport.”

Miami native Carlos Fierro, who said he’s been a Messi fan his whole life, said Messi’s arrival had a similar impact to James’ signing with the Miami Heat in 2010.

“It’s going to be very different because Messi’s that type of player. He’s going to bring the party,” Fierro said. “We saw it in the presentation how loud it got. I’m expecting everything to be loud and fun. Just typical Miami style.”
…

It has never been easy for the United States to secure the return of citizens from North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated nations.  

The task may be even harder in the case of Private Travis King, with communication between the countries now almost nonexistent, diplomats and negotiators say.  

King, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier serving in South Korea, sprinted into North Korea on Tuesday while on a civilian tour of the Demilitarized Zone on the border between the two Koreas.  

Washington is fully mobilized in trying to contact Pyongyang about him, U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Thursday, but North Korea had yet to respond.  

Since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in 2021, the limited contacts between Washington and Pyongyang have all but ceased as the Trump administration’s efforts to negotiate over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program fizzled and North Korea sealed its borders in response to COVID-19.  

It’s a different situation than those that most earlier negotiators faced.  

“The North Koreans have shown no interest in dialog with us at this point,” said Thomas Hubbard, a retired U.S. ambassador who traveled to Pyongyang in 1994 to bring back Bobby Hall, the last serving member of the U.S. military held in North Korea. 

At that time, U.S. officials had just concluded an initial nuclear agreement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il. 

“We were in a very different time,” Hubbard said. “The North Koreans saw they had some stake in the relationship with the United States.” 

Limited options 

U.S. negotiators have few ways of reaching the North Koreans. The countries have no diplomatic relations, and Sweden, which officially represents U.S. interests in Pyongyang, pulled out its diplomats in August 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

U.S. officials said the United States had attempted to reach North Korea about King through the United Nations Command hotline and other channels, including the U.N. in New York, where North Korea has a representative.  

The best approach for now, said experts, may be a low-key public stance.

“About 90% of [the outcome] will be determined based on how we react right now,” said Mickey Bergman, executive director of the Richardson Center, set up by Bill Richardson, a former diplomat who has previously negotiated with North Korea for the release of detainees.  

North Korea would likely interrogate King at length, then have an option of deporting him or charging him, Bergman said, adding that the U.S. should avoid “pounding our chest” and instead calmly communicate that Washington respects Pyongyang’s right to detain and question a soldier who entered its territory.  

Jenny Town, of Washington’s 38 North think tank, said the case was complicated by not knowing King’s intentions and whether he actually wanted to return. King had been detained in South Korea for more than a month for assault and was to fly back to the U.S. to face military discipline. 

Cases of U.S. soldiers going to North Korea are extremely rare. In 1965, Charles Robert Jenkins, a 25-year-old U.S. Army sergeant, walked across the DMZ and spent four decades in North Korea, where he taught English and also portrayed a U.S. spy in a propaganda film.  

‘He’s now their pawn’ 

A former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea said King may be used as a propaganda tool, but it was not clear how long North Korea would want to exploit his presence. 

“Holding an American soldier is probably a not very cost-effective headache for the North in the long run,” said Tae Yong-ho, now a member of South Korea’s parliament. 

A cautionary case of North Korean detention is that of Otto Warmbier, a college student detained on a tour in 2015 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan. 

Warmbier was eventually returned to the United States in a coma in 2017 and died days later. 

Otto’s father, Fred, feels empathy for King and his family. 

“This is about a young man – we don’t know his mental condition,” he told Reuters in an interview. “He’s now their pawn. If it was any other country in the world, there would be communication now.” 

When asked about King, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said the Biden administration had repeatedly tried to reestablish dialog with Pyongyang since taking office, offering new nuclear talks without preconditions.  

“We sent that message several times,” Blinken told the Aspen Security Forum. “Here’s the response we got: one missile launch after another,” referring to repeated North Korean missile tests.
…

President Joe Biden elevated CIA Director William Burns to his Cabinet on Friday, a symbolic move that underscores the intelligence chief’s influence and his work in U.S. support for Ukraine. 

In a statement, Biden said Burns had “harnessed intelligence to give our country a critical strategic advantage” and credited his “clear, straightforward analysis that prioritizes the safety and security of the American people.” 

Burns has been a central figure in the Biden administration, particularly in the White House strategy to declassify intelligence findings that Russia was intending to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, Burns was sent to Moscow months before the war to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin of Washington’s analysis. 

In the nearly 18 months since Putin invaded, the U.S. has provided intelligence support to Ukraine along with weapons and ammunition. Burns has gone to Kyiv repeatedly to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He was also sent in November 2022 to warn Russia not to use nuclear weapons in the conflict. 

Burns is known to meet with Biden regularly and often briefs him directly on Ukraine and other world issues. As a Cabinet member, he will serve alongside Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, whose office sets direction for the CIA and other members of the U.S. intelligence community. 

“The president’s announcement today recognizes the essential contributions to national security the Central Intelligence Agency makes every day, and reflects his confidence in our work,” Burns said in a statement. “I am honored to serve in this role, representing the tremendous work of our intelligence officers.” 

Not all administrations have had top intelligence officials in their Cabinets. Former President Donald Trump included his directors of national intelligence and CIA directors. 
…

In the words of Vietnam’s coach, facing the U.S. national team in the Women’s World Cup is a daunting quest, something “like a mountain,” said Mai Duc Chung.

Vietnam makes its World Cup debut Saturday against the United States, the heavy favorites to win the tournament for an unprecedented third time. The Americans enter Saturday’s game in Auckland at Eden Park with the same confidence it carried through its last two World Cup-winning runs.

“The U.S. is a very, very strong team. It is like a mountain. But it doesn’t mean that we will give up,” said Mai.

But few believe Vietnam has a chance. The national team is very similar to Thailand, which the Americans thumped 13-0 in the opener at the World Cup four years ago in France. The United States went on to beat the Netherlands 2-0 for its second consecutive World Cup and fourth overall, the most of any nation.

“Fear? We Believe,” said captain Nuynh Nhu. “We’ve already prepared. Nothing to fear, nothing to be afraid of.”

The Americans wouldn’t dare discount an opponent, particularly after the criticism it took for running up the score against Thailand four years ago in France. They are taking Vietnam in the opening game quite seriously.

“We want to show our respect by giving our best game, and we know that they’ll do the same for us,” captain Lindsey Horan said Friday, the eve of the match. “I think everyone always gives us their best game.”

The United States has a new cast of players at this World Cup, including 14 who are making their first appearance in soccer’s biggest tournament. Among them is 18-year-old phenom Alyssa Thompson and up-and-comer Trinity Rodman, the 20-year-old daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman.

Another quickly rising star is Sophia Smith. Just 22, she was named National Women’s Soccer League’s Most Valuable Player and U.S. Soccer’s Player of the Year last year.

Coach Vlatko Andonovski infused the United States with young talent after the team finished with a disappointing bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I think that we have a very good mix of young, energetic, enthusiastic players, and experienced players that have been through tough games, that have been in big tournaments and know how to win big games,” Andonovski said.

Megan Rapinoe is among the veterans on the squad and should make her 200th appearance for the national team if she plays against Vietnam. Rapinoe, 38, announced before the team left for New Zealand that this would be her last World Cup and she would retire from her professional team at the end of the season.

Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle were both limited by injuries in the run-up to the tournament, but Andonovski said both are available to play.

There were still several other players that weren’t available for the U.S. roster. Mallory Swanson, the team’s top scorer this year, injured her patella tendon in her left knee during an exhibition match against Ireland in early April.

Catarina Macario tore an ACL last year while playing for the French club Lyon and was unable to recover in time. But the biggest blow was the loss of captain Becky Sauerbrunn, who announced that a right foot injury suffered in April would keep her out of the World Cup.

Also in Group E are the Netherlands and Portugal, which meet Sunday in Dunedin. Portugal is also making its first World Cup appearance.

The teams play all of their matches in New Zealand, which is co-hosting the tournament with Australia. Should the United States top the group, the team will head to Sydney for the round of 16.

Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between the United States and Vietnam. The Vietnamese lost two exhibition matches ahead of the tournament and fell 9-0 to Spain in a closed-door tune-up match in Auckland last Friday.

Andonovski was asked what would happen if the United States lost to Vietnam, similar to how Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. Argentina recovered to win the World Cup.

“Then we’ll have to win the next two games and move forward,” the coach said, “and hopefully end up like Argentina.”
…

Tony Bennett, the eminent and timeless stylist whose devotion to classic American songs and knack for creating new standards such as “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” graced a decadeslong career that brought him admirers from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga, died Friday. He was 96, just two weeks short of his birthday.

Publicist Sylvia Weiner confirmed Bennett’s death to The Associated Press, saying he died in his hometown of New York. There was no specific cause, but Bennett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

The last of the great saloon singers of the mid-20th century, Bennett often said his lifelong ambition was to create “a hit catalog rather than hit records.” He released more than 70 albums, bringing him 19 competitive Grammys — all but two after he reached his 60s — and enjoyed deep and lasting affection from fans and fellow artists.

Bennett didn’t tell his own story when performing; he let the music speak instead — the Gershwins and Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. Unlike his friend and mentor Sinatra, he would interpret a song rather than embody it. If his singing and public life lacked the high drama of Sinatra’s, Bennett appealed with an easy, courtly manner and an uncommonly rich and durable voice — “A tenor who sings like a baritone,” he called himself — that made him a master of caressing a ballad or brightening an up-tempo number.

“I enjoy entertaining the audience, making them forget their problems,” he told The Associated Press in 2006. “I think people … are touched if they hear something that’s sincere and honest and maybe has a little sense of humor. … I just like to make people feel good when I perform.”

Bennett was praised often by his peers, but never more meaningfully than by what Sinatra said in a 1965 Life magazine interview: “For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business. He excites me when I watch him. He moves me. He’s the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more.”

He not only survived the rise of rock music but endured so long and so well that he gained new fans and collaborators, some young enough to be his grandchildren. In 2014, at age 88, Bennett broke his own record as the oldest living performer with a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart for “Cheek to Cheek,” his duets project with Lady Gaga. Three years earlier, he topped the charts with “Duets II,” featuring such contemporary stars as Gaga, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, in her last studio recording. His rapport with Winehouse was captured in the Oscar-nominated documentary “Amy,” which showed Bennett patiently encouraging the insecure young singer through a performance of “Body and Soul.”

His final album, the 2021 release “Love for Sale,” featured duets with Lady Gaga on the title track, “Night and Day” and other Porter songs.

For Bennett, one of the few performers to move easily between pop and jazz, such collaborations were part of his crusade to expose new audiences to what he called the Great American Songbook.

“No country has given the world such great music,” Bennett said in a 2015 interview with Downbeat Magazine. “Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern. Those songs will never die.”

Ironically, his most famous contribution came through two unknowns, George Cory and Douglass Cross, who in the early ’60s provided Bennett with his signature song at a time his career was in a lull. They gave Bennett’s musical director, pianist Ralph Sharon, some sheet music that he stuck in a dresser drawer and forgot about until he was packing for a tour that included a stop in San Francisco.

“Ralph saw some sheet music in his shirt drawer … and on top of the pile was a song called ‘I Left My Heart In San Francisco.’ Ralph thought it would be good material for San Francisco,” Bennett said. “We were rehearsing and the bartender in the club in Little Rock, Arkansas, said, ‘If you record that song, I’m going to be the first to buy it.'”

Released in 1962 as the B-side of the single “Once Upon a Time,” the reflective ballad became a grassroots phenomenon staying on the charts for more than two years and earning Bennett his first two Grammys, including record of the year.

By his early 40s, he was seemingly out of fashion. But after turning 60, an age when even the most popular artists often settle for just pleasing their older fans, Bennett and his son and manager, Danny, found creative ways to market the singer to the MTV Generation. He made guest appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman” and became a celebrity guest artist on “The Simpsons.” He wore a black T-shirt and sunglasses as a presenter with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the 1993 MTV Music Video Awards, and his own video of “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” from his Grammy-winning Fred Astaire tribute album ended up on MTV’s hip “Buzz Bin.”

That led to an offer in 1994 to do an episode of “MTV Unplugged” with special guests Elvis Costello and k.d. lang. The evening’s performance resulted in the album, “Tony Bennett: MTV Unplugged,” which won two Grammys, including album of the year.

Bennett would win Grammys for his tributes to female vocalists (“Here’s to the Ladies”), Billie Holiday (“Tony Bennett on Holiday”), and Duke Ellington (“Bennett Sings Ellington — Hot & Cool”). He also won Grammys for his collaborations with other singers: “Playin’ With My Friends — Bennett Sings the Blues,” and his Louis Armstrong tribute, “A Wonderful World” with lang, the first full album he had ever recorded with another singer. He celebrated his 80th birthday with “Duets: An American Classic,” featuring Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder among others.

“They’re all giants in the industry, and all of a sudden they’re saying to me ‘You’re the master,'” Bennett told the AP in 2006.

Long associated with San Francisco, Bennett would note that his true home was Astoria, the working-class community in the New York City borough of Queens, where he grew up during the Great Depression. The singer chose his old neighborhood as the site for the “Fame”-style public high school, the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, that he and his third wife, Susan Crow Benedetto, a former teacher, helped found in 2001.

The school is not far from the birthplace of the man who was once Anthony Dominick Benedetto. His father was an Italian immigrant who inspired his love of singing, but he died when Anthony was 10. Bennett credited his mother, Anna, with teaching him a valuable lesson as he watched her working at home, supporting her three children as a seamstress doing piecework after his father died.

“We were very impoverished,” Bennett said in a 2016 AP interview. “I saw her working and every once in a while she’d take a dress and throw it over her shoulder and she’d say, ‘Don’t have me work on a bad dress. I’ll only work on good dresses.'”

He studied commercial art in high school, but had to drop out to help support his family. The teenager got a job as a copy boy for the AP, performed as a singing waiter and competed in amateur shows. A combat infantryman during World War II, he served as a librarian for the Armed Forces Network after the war and sang with an army big band in occupied Germany. His earliest recording is a 1946 air check from Armed Forces Radio of the blues “St. James Infirmary.”
…