The 'Man in Black' heads to Washington: Arkansas' Johnny Cash statue is on its way to the US Capitol

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A statue depicting Johnny Cash departed Arkansas for Washington on Thursday, as state officials gave the bronze figure a send-off toward its new home at the U.S. Capitol.

A small crowd that included members of Cash's family gathered outside Arkansas' Capitol to watch as the statue — safely enclosed in a wooden crate in the back of a tractor trailer — began its journey. The eight- foot-tall statue is scheduled to be unveiled at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 24.

“Today is the day we're going to send Johnny to D.C.,” Shane Broadway, chairman of the Arkansas National Statuary Hall Steering Committee, said.

The Cash statue is the second new one Arkansas has sent to replace two existing ones representing the state at the U.S. Capitol. Another statue depicting civil rights leader Daisy Bates was unveiled at the Capitol earlier this year. Bates mentored the nine Black children who desegregated Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

The two statues replace ones from Arkansas that had been at the Capitol for more than 100 years. The Legislature in 2019 voted to replace the two statues, which depicted little-known figures from the 18th and 19th centuries with Bates and Cash.

Cash was born in Kingsland, a tiny town about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Little Rock. He died in 2003 at age 71. His achievements include 90 million records sold worldwide spanning country, rock, blues, folk and gospel. He was among the few artists inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

“I think a trip to DC, it is worth you going just to see these two monuments,” Secretary of State John Thurston said.

The Cash statue depicts the singer with a guitar slung across his back and a Bible in his hand. Little Rock sculptor Kevin Kresse, who was selected to create the statue, has sculpted other musical figures from Arkansas such as Al Green, Glen Campbell and Levon Helm.

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the singer's last name, Kresse said he was looking forward to the moment once the statue is installed and unveiled to the public.

“The pressure inside my bottle has reduced and when he's inside the Capitol safely put together then I can fully take a deep breath,” Kresse told reporters.

A model of the statue of Johnny Cash that will be installed in the U.S. Capitol sits in Kevin Kresse's studio in Little Rock, Ark., on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

A crate holding a statue of Johnny Cash, destined for the U.S. Capitol, sits in the back of a tractor trailer parked outside the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Artist Kevin Kresse, who sculpted a statue of Johnny Cash destined for the U.S. Capitol, speaks in front of a tractor trailer parked outside the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

A crowd gathers to watch a tractor trailer holding a statue of Johnny Cash, depart from the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

Artist Kevin Kresse, who sculpted a statue of Johnny Cash destined for the U.S. Capitol, laughs with Shimpfort Hardney, who will be driving the sculpture to Washington, outside the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo)

BEIJING (AP) — The strongest typhoon to hit Shanghai since at least 1949 made landfall early Monday with powerful winds and heavy rains after more than 400,000 people were evacuated.

Flights, ferries and train services were suspended in the megacity and in neighboring provinces, disrupting travel during China’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival. Shanghai’s airports canceled hundreds of flights starting Sunday and through Monday, while in Hangzhou, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) southwest of Shanghai, authorities were also planning to cancel more than 180 flights.

More than 60,000 emergency responders and firefighters were at hand to lend aid in Shanghai, according to state media. More than 414,000 people had been evacuated by Monday.

Bebinca made landfall around 7:30 a.m. in the sprawling Pudong business district with maximum winds of 151 kph (94 mph) near its center. Authorities expected the typhoon would also affect the nearby provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui.

Shanghai, which has 25 million people, is rarely hit by strong typhoons, which usually make landfall further south in China.

Typhoon Yagi hit China’s southern Hainan island earlier this month and has caused devastation in Southeast Asia. In Myanmar, Yagi caused at least 74 deaths with dozens missing. Four deaths were reported in Hainan, at least 10 have died in Thailand and 20 in the Philippines.

Vietnam has reported more than 230 people killed in the typhoon and subsequent flooding and landslides, with dozens more still missing.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a ferry terminal is closed as they brace for impact from Typhoon Bebinca, in Xiangshan County, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Jiang Han/Xinhua via AP)

Typhoon hits Shanghai with 94-mph winds after 400,000 people were evacuated

Typhoon hits Shanghai with 94-mph winds after 400,000 people were evacuated

A view of pink cloudy skyline is seen in Shanghai, China, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Chinatopix Via AP)