Richard Fay "Buck” Rambo, patriarch of the Southern gospel music family The Rambos, died Feb. 21 in Palmetto, Florida, surrounded by his wife and family members. He was 84.

With a career that spanned 60 years, Rambo played a significant role in Christian music. He was one of the first board members of the Gospel Music Association and a founding father of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In the early 1960s, he was also a member of the board for the National Quartet Convention.

Thomas Nelson has launched a new "Jesus Calling" podcast, which is now available to download for free on iTunes, Stitcher and other podcasting platforms. The podcast features stories from readers of the Jesus Calling devotional and illustrates how spending time with the devotional has made a difference in their lives.

The first episode in the series features Dr. Cindy Ryan, associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Grapevine, Texas. The episode focuses on the collective impact that has been made by sharing Jesus Calling within the church's community of more than 2,800 members.

Francesca Battistelli has taken home her very first GRAMMY Award for the song “Holy Spirit” in the Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song category. The hit song is from the 2014 album If We’re Honest, which has garnered three total GRAMMY nominations.

Battistelli, who is anticipating the birth of her third child, was unable to attend the 58th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which were held Monday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. 

Integrity Music's The City Harmonic (TCH) recently garnered its third consecutive JUNO Awards nomination, receiving a nod for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year for WE ARE. The other artists nominated in the Christian/Gospel Album of the Year category are: Amanda Cook for Brave New World; Dan Bremnes for Where The Light Is; Matt Maher for Saints & Sinners; and Tim Neufeld for TREES-Chapter 2.

The City Harmonic's nomination follows a previous JUNO nod for the band's Heart album and a JUNO win for I Have a Dream (It Feels Like Home), and comes just as The City Harmonic releases to Christian radio its new single, "Let There Be Light," from the nominated album. Released last fall, WE ARE features modern hymns and worship anthems of longing, hope and celebration related to the theme of Christian unity.

Planning for the future is top of mind for Americans this year, with more consumers than ever putting their tax refunds into savings. According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual Tax Returns Survey conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, 49.2 percent of those expecting a refund plan to save the money rather than spend it right away, the highest percentage in the survey’s history. Nearly two-thirds (65.5 percent) of those surveyed expect a refund. 

“Consumers are building their spending power and boosting their confidence as they set aside their checks from Uncle Sam,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Americans this year see refund season as a time to improve their financial health by using their refunds to get ahead on savings goals and plan for bigger purchases in the future. Money saved is money waiting to be spent.”

Ingram Content Group has announced the addition of Donald Roseman as vice president of retail, a newly created position at the company.

Roseman will focus on Ingram’s overall retail business, including national accounts, clubs, field sales, consumer direct fulfillment and Ingram International.

CLC USA announces the addition to its organization of Multi-Language Media (MLM) in mid-2016. MLM, which specializes in providing Bibles and evangelistic materials in more than 80 languages to bookstores and consumers across the United States, will relocate from Ephrata, Pennsylvania, to CLC headquarters in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. 

Building on current efforts, CLC expects to offer an e-commerce website, an 800 number for retailers and an expanded selection of products in more languages.