Monthly Archives: June 2020

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Years of dialogue about police and criminal justice reforms in Minneapolis had improved the relationship between the African American community and law enforcement, activists say before the police killing this week of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck for several minutes as he pleaded for air.

Floyd's death and footage of his neck pinned under the officer's knee have unleashed protests and violent clashes with law enforcement exposing simmering frustration and the fact that theres much work still ahead, several advocates and leaders told The Associated Press.

Progress and change can ebb and flow, said Jeremiah Ellison, who won a City Council seat after participating in past protests against police killings of African Americans in Minnesota.

The four nights of unrest this week including the torching of a police station that officers abandoned proved to me that weve regressed to the point of 2015, Ellison said, referring to the year that also saw protests after the death of Jamar Clark, a black man killed by police.

Minneapolis a city of nearly 430,000 that is 60% white, 19% black and 9% Hispanic has a long history of economic and educational disparities that have marginalized black residents for decades, despite its reputation for progressive values. It is one of the most segregated cities in the country for its size, and schools suffer from stubborn achievement gaps.

The city appointed its first black chief of police nearly three years ago, after slow progress toward making the department more inclusive. Earlier this year, a statewide task force made up of activists, people representing victims of police brutality, and law enforcement leaders released recommendations for policing reforms.

That task force was formed in the wake of several high-profile fatal shootings of black men by police in the Minneapolis area. Those included Clark, who was killed during a struggle with two white Minneapolis officers, and Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by a Hispanic suburban police officer during a traffic stop in 2016.

While Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights lawyer and former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, acknowledges that progress, she said that many old habits are still entrenched.

The system itself has not changed," Armstrong said. "The culture within the Minneapolis Police Department has not changed.

The citys police department of more than 800 officers is still predominantly white, she said. The department did not respond to a request for up-to-date figures, but the Star Tribune reported in 2014 that the force, including cadets in field training, was 78.9% white, 9.2% black, 5.2% Asian, 4.1% Hispanic and 2.5% American Indian.

Some leaders, including former Mayor R.T. Rybak and state Sen. Jeff Hayden, have blamed the city's police union in recent days for fostering a culture that protects brutal officers and resists efforts at reform. The union's president, Lt. Bob Kroll, did not return a call seeking comment.

The eruption of anger in Minneapolis reflects frustration over these realities, despite some progress, said Teqen Za-Aida, a longtime activist in the city.

But the images themselves also demanded a public response, he said, though he pushed for protests to happen online given the risks of gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

We saw his eyes ... we saw a lynching. George Floyd is Emmett Till, 2020, he said, referring to the black 14-year-old who was abducted, beaten and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, a lynching that helped spur the civil rights movement.

Bystander video and photos of the arrest show Floyd on the ground with his neck under Officer Derek Chauvin's knee, while Chauvin ignores his pleas for help. Two other officers appear to help hold him down, and a fourth attempts to keep space around the scene.

My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts ... I cant breathe, Floyd says in the video before eventually becoming motionless.

Police initially said they arrested Floyd because he matched the description of a man suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store and that he resisted arrest. Police were trying to put Floyd in a squad car when he stiffened up and fell to the ground, saying he was claustrophobic, according to the criminal complaint detailing charges against Chauvin.

In addition to igniting the turmoil in Minneapolis, Floyds death has garnered national attention, and it drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner, a black man who died in 2014 in New York after he was placed in a chokehold by police and also said he could not breathe.

The delay in Chauvin's arrest may have also helped to drive the protests, which turned markedly more violent than those that followed the deaths of either Clark or Castile. Authorities arrested Chauvin and charged him Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His attorney had no comment when reached by the AP. The other three officers involved have not been charged, but the investigation is continuing. All four were fired Tuesday shortly after the video began circulating.

Some activists and community leaders said they expected the protests to continue to push for the arrests of and charges for the three other officers.

Floyds death just touched people in a way that they didnt expect, said Armstrong.

We must get to the underlying solutions or we will be right back here in a fairly short time, said Keith Ellison, the state's first African American attorney general, whose son is the Minneapolis city councilman. Weve got to literally shift policing.

Ramsey County Undersheriff Bill Finney, who in 1992 became the first African American police chief in Minnesota when he was appointed to the job in neighboring St. Paul, said even when the relationship between police and the black community improves, all sides must guard against complacency.

You have to constantly make deposits into the community bank of goodwill, Finney said. You want to get to a place where the community stops considering you as the police and starts seeing you as their police.

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Activists say there was progress on Minneapolis police reform, before Floyd death - KIMT 3

Open House: Is it the right time to start flights?

Airlines should take strict precautions

Civil Aviation in India has been one of the worst-hit business sectors in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. With gradual easing of lockdown restrictions, the Centre's decision about partial and conditional resumption of domestic flights despite surging cases of infection is right. This well-conceived step will help in economic rebound, rescue the cash-strapped and debt-ridden airlines from further crisis a la Jet or Kingfisher, and facilitate the return of thousands of desperate people stranded away from their homes and workplaces in various states across the country. But the new move proved a damp squib on the opening day, with chaos and confusion prevailing at the airports and the cancellation of several flights, which left hundreds of people disappointed, courtesy state governments' differing institutional/home quarantine protocols for all domestic flyers, official apathy and an incredible flip-flop on the management of operational issues. Scared of viral transmission, a majority of people are reluctant to go to crowded airports. Though the Aviation Ministry has prescribed price bands for fares, air travel will resume in a slow, careful and tightly phased manner. The airlines should take strict precautionary measures to make the environment safe and comfortable for passengers. In the current scenario, government financial support and consumers' confidence are essential to sustaining commercial viability of the aviation industry.

DS Kang

An Ill-timed and unwarranted move

The move of starting the Jaipur-Adampur-Delhi flight is ill-timed and thus unwarranted. While the state is struggling to cope with Covid-19 pandemic, it will add unnecessarily burden on already overstressed administrative machinery of all stakeholders. In case of emergencies, special flights can be arranged to facilitate movements from one point to the other with strict compliance of social distancing norms and lockdown discipline. The flights can be resumed once the spread of pandemic starts receding and average position stabilises across interconnected states of destinations. After all, air connectivity in normal circumstances is a positive sign of economic prosperity.

Jagdish Chander

the decision will prove to be failure

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has been robust in announcing the start of domestic flights in India, keeping in mind the restrictions and relaxations of Lockdown 4.0. In India, the corona cases have increased, enumerating 83,004 on May 27, 2020. One reason for this is minimal regulations to check on the influx of migrant workers through Shramik Special trains. The government has taken a nominal step for the regulation of corona spread in the form of Aarogya Setu App, to monitor and screen positive cases in vicinity. However, blatant violations of the procedure and narrow escapes were witnessed. Freshly released guidelines for domestic flyers (asymptomatic passengers) will be allowed to go with advice to self-monitor health for 14 days. On developing symptoms, they should inform the District Surveillance Officer (DSO) or the state/national call centre on 1075. Those on business trips and a negative report shall be quarantined for seven days. However, this is completely voluntary and does not carry any serious repercussions. The Delhi-Adampur flight scheduled on May 24, 2020, saw failure for turn-up of six passengers. Hence, starting flights between Jaipur-Adampur-Delhi, will prove to be unsuccessful.

Pahul Sond

Move doesnt augur well for people

The Covid-19 induced lockdown and thereafter, the clamping down of the curfew in the state of Punjab and all over India sent shock waves all around. No one can deny the fact that almost every sector has suffered a heavy loss. The civil aviation sector, too, got a deadly blow. It does not mean the current regime at dispensation is entitled to take a hasty decision to resume flights at the state level and at the national level. The financial loss of any kind can be made up with the passage of time. But once the precious lives of worthy aviation personnel and passengers are lost, the loss may turn out to be irreparable. So, the move of our worthy law makers and deemed rulers does not augur down well with its own people. Observing and analysing the spike in the range and domain of Covid-19 cases in the aftermath of lifting of certain restrictions, I can firmly say that the resumption of the Jaipur-Adampur-Delhi flight services may prove to be Achilles heel for all of us. Undoubtedly, specific precautions and strict norms are being followed by the staff and the passengers. Even then, the threat looms large over our heads. In this scenario, how can the government justify its decision to give a green signal to air services? A single symptomatic case is enough to spoil the concerted efforts of hard working and dedicated corona warriors. Moreover, contrary to the official announcement, the 90-seater SpiceJet received only six passengers on the day of resumption of the state aviation services. The government should wait for some more days before taking any concrete decision. It is the moral duty of the citizens also to back the elected representatives to the hilt for their own welfare and for safeguarding their fellows. Let us all unite and take a vow to work in a coordinated manner to bring our country back on the track of progress and prosperity.

Simranjeet Singh Saini

Airlines must observe strict protocols

Punjab has done a commendable job to contain the virus. Now, resuming air travel is a good move by the state government. The Centre has already issued guidelines for domestic travel, advising passengers to download Aarogya Setu app on their mobile devices and is asking states to ensure thermal screening at the departure point of airports. The air passengers should always wear a face mask while travelling because it is vital. Besides, maintaining social distancing and minimum touch must be followed. Vulnerable persons such as the elderly, pregnant ladies and passengers with ailments are advised to avoid air travel. Airlines must observe strict protocol because any spike in infections may jeopardise future operations.

Saahil Hans

Resuming air travelis welcome

Resuming air travel is welcome. The airlines authority must consider the importance of maintaining social distancing. If the airlines could survive without any show for 60 days, they can very well manage with 33 per cent less capacity. With middle seats being occupied, physical contact is certain. Airlines must be stringent regarding the screening of passengers. Infrared thermometers should greet domestic passengers arriving at the airport.

Shailja Thakur

Govts plan sure to fall flat on its face

My jaw dropped when I read the plan of the government which is sure to fall flat. The timing for such an announcement couldn't be more inappropriate. Right now, with curfew relaxation and the opening of the markets, I for one feel quite uncomfortable stepping out of the house unless it's an absolute must. Though we have to learn to overcome this fear by following precautions, we cannot be certain if each and everyone is toeing the safety norms. Life is not going to be the same for a few more months. Hence, the very idea of starting a flight to these destinations when people are scared to travel locally would be a complete disaster. The government can concentrate on poor migrants, people who are without a livelihood, probably starving silently; however, their focus seems to be to generate more moolah even if it comes at the cost of getting infected by coronavirus. Herd immunity will need time to build up. It would be wiser if they wait till conditions are absolutely normal and one can travel without fear.

Dr Manveen Mann

Heavens wont fall if flights arent resumed

PM Modi has the habit of making sudden impulsive decisions without consulting experts or other political parties about the same. Demonetisation, GST, nationwide lockdown and curfew are examples of such thoughtless decisions causing much inconvenience and misery to people, traders and industry and now, this sudden decision of starting domestic flights from a particular date without consulting the CMs of the states. So, different states are asking for different dates and keeping passengers in quarantine for different days. Though aviation and other sectors are suffering losses because of the lockdown, heavens would not fall if it is delayed by a few more days and consensus will have been reached and confusion avoided. Even public is in a fix and dilemma over the exact timings and schedule of different flights.

Dr JS Wadhwa

QUESTION

The MHA has announced the opening of shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and places of worship in Lockdown 5.0. Do you think it is wise to open these places of high footfall at a time when Covid positive cases are on the rise?

Suggestions in not more than200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.comby Thursday (June 4).

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Resumption of flights may undo progress made - The Tribune India

Ask the choreographer Mark Morris how hes doing these days, and youre liable to get a stream-of-consciousness cri de coeur laced with expletives about the state of the world and ending with a laconic Im fine. His dancers have scattered, his dance center in Brooklyn is closed, theres little or no earned revenue coming in, and his company and school have had to furlough more than half of their office staff.

Believe me, we are staring at the abyss at the Mark Morris Dance Group, like everyone else, he said in a recent phone interview from his home in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. But, as he points out, he cant complain too much: He is healthy, cooking and puttering around his apartment, and making work.

That last part making work has been a constant in his life. Mr. Morris, 63, usually spends most of his waking hours at his companys studios. He is compulsively prolific, so much so that in recent years in his spare time he has begun creating works that will premiere after hes dead and gone.

So now, faced with the impossibility of gathering his dancers to work, Mr. Morris, known for his insistence on live music and his down-to-earth aesthetic, has turned to the camera on his computer. For the past two months, he has experimented with making dances using Zoom and Final Cut Pro. Four of these short works will premiere on Dance On!, to be shown on the Mark Morris Dance Groups website on Thursday evening. (The program is free, but registration is required.) And while the dances are prerecorded, the repartee will be live.

I never had an interest in technology before, Mr. Morris said. Still, as his executive director Nancy Umanoff, who has known him for over 30 years, said in a phone call, he is a pragmatist. If the choice is nothing or Zoom, hell do the dance by Zoom.

He approaches the process more or less as he would any dance. The medium is different, but many of the same rules apply, he said. I want it to be engaging and satisfying structurally, and for the audience not to know what comes next.

In these works, which he refers to as video dances, not dances, he plays with the way the camera frames the performers, how their faces and bodies, or parts of their bodies, fit into the screen, what it feels like when they approach or recede from the camera. Detail is hard to read; big gestures pop.

Then there is the drama of entrances and exits. By taking just a single step to the side, or crouching, or jumping, a dancer can suddenly disappear. When you move offscreen, Mr. Morris said, you might as well not exist.

Part of the fun of Zoom, for Mr. Morris, has been the opportunity to see his dancers in their element. I get to see all my dancers apartments, which Ive never been to, he said. In rehearsals, he gives decorating and lighting tips. Im like, could you move that ugly lamp and that stuff over there?

When the companys headquarters shut down mid-March, Mr. Morris was working on a dance for this summers Tanglewood Music Festival, set to Ravels choreographic poem La Valse. Most of the steps for Lonely Waltz, as Mr. Morriss dance is called, had already been created in person, so the process became one of adapting the phrases to this new medium, with his dancers filming themselves in ones and twos.

In a recent rehearsal, the dancers executed sections from the dance in their apartments, with Mr. Morris watching and commenting. Lesley, that looks best when youre at mid-distance! he shouted out to Lesley Garrison, and she backed away from the camera. Or, Do le poisson, a fishlike move that traveled from the back of the room to the front. Or, What would it look like if you danced the whole thing while holding the phone in your hand?

Later the various options were sorted and edited in yet more Zoom sessions involving Mr. Morris, his rehearsal director, Sam Black, and his music director, Colin Fowler. Mr. Fowler, who taught himself the editing program Final Cut Pro after the lockdown began, has become the de facto editor. Mr. Morris has final say.

For Lonely Waltz, Mr. Fowler also plays the two-piano version of the Ravel piece. I recorded myself playing the first part, and then recorded the second part, while listening to the first. It took about six or seven tries to get it right. He accompanies all the dances, except Sunshine, which is set to Gene Autrys rendition of You Are My Sunshine.

The other three dances are more like little movies. In Sunshine, the dancers translate a rhythmic pattern to various settings: a lonely figure walking away from the camera along a train track, feet stomping and jumping out of the frame, the lower half of a body climbing up a fire escape.

Lonely Tango, which Mr. Morris describes as a danse noire (as in film noir), is like a faux Bergman movie set in times of Covid-19. A dancer peers sadly into a refrigerator, a shopping cart negotiates a tight corner at a supermarket, disembodied hands play cards, a man looks out a window. Cut to the same man, standing outside, looking in. The clips were filmed in color, and then converted into grainy black and white to look like an old movie.

The music is the Perpetual Tango from Erik Saties Sports et Divertissements, a suite of piano pieces to which Mr. Morris choreographed a dance last year for the Mostly Mozart Festival. As per Saties instructions, the simple tune can be played as many times as the pianist chooses. Here, the piece lasts seven minutes.

All the dances on the program are short, from two to seven minutes long. (Anger Dance, with music that Mr. Morris used before, in a 1998 muppet dance for Sesame Street, is the shortest.) Attention spans are shorter with video, Mr. Morris said. I know I dont want to watch a screen for a long time.

Apart from Lonely Waltz, the dances were composed through a series of what might be described as virtual homework assignments. Mark would give the dancers a few instructions, a few things he wanted to see in each video, and then I would email a few more details to guide people in the right direction, said Mr. Black, the companys rehearsal director. Then the dancers were left to their own devices, filming themselves at home or outdoors.

Some aspects of the process resemble what happens in the studio. This is a part of what I normally do, Mr. Morris said. I describe things, I suggest things. I tell the dancers what I might be interested in seeing. And then people do stuff and either it works or it doesnt.

Whats different here is the solitude of the process. In the studio, the dancers feed off one another. Theres this group creativity that happens, Ms. Garrison said in a phone call. Mark will say, I like the way so-and-so does it, and then we all try to do it that way. Were constantly influencing each other. And yet, it has been a time of exploration and creativity. Its a chance for us to connect with our own personal and creative voice, she said.

Making the dance videos is also a way for Mr. Morris to stay in touch with his dancers, and they with him. Its evident, watching a Zoom rehearsal, just how much he relishes this creative time, no matter how remote and disembodied. Nothing can replace the real pleasure of being together in a rehearsal studio, on tour, on the stage. But in the meantime, he said, they might as well make something good.

Im interested in solving problems, he said. But it has to be interesting to look at, frankly, like all dances do. Im in the entertainment business.

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The Pragmatists Progress: Mark Morris Adapts to Creating Online - The New York Times

Thirteen winners worldwide recognized for their excellence in design, user experience and innovation

BEDFORD, Mass., May 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS), the leading provider of application development and digital experience technologies, today announced winners of its annual Progress Sitefinity Website of the Year Awards. Since 2011, the awards recognize websites powered by Progress Sitefinity for their excellence in user experience and their innovation in applying Sitefinity features and capabilities to address business challenges. Winners were selected based on the highest number of votes received during the public voting period.

This year, dozens of websites developed using the Progress Sitefinity platform were nominated across 13 categories: Associations & Non-Profit, Consumer Goods & Services, Ecommerce, Education, Financial Services, Graphic Design, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Multisite, Public Sector, Technology, Transportation & Logistics, Travel & Tourism.

The 2020 Website of the Year Awards winners were selected in two phases. First, a Progress judging panel shortlisted the three best websites per category. After narrowing the field, voting was opened to the community. Finalists with the highest number of votes were appointed the category winners.

With more than 11,000 votes cast, the results are as follows:

Congratulations to the winners of this years Website of the Year awards for their incredible achievements, said John Ainsworth, Senior Vice President, Core Products, Progress. While more than 10,000 web properties worldwide leverage the Sitefinity platform to deliver engaging digital experiences, these awards honor the most creative and innovative organizations that set the bar in their respective industries.

Progress Sitefinity is a cloud-enabled digital experience platform that empowers developers and marketers to leverage content management and data-driven insights to deliver, optimize and scale personalized omnichannel user experiences. With Sitefinity, organizations can build and manageinnovative, engaging customerexperiences with capabilities that streamlinemarketing and development tasks,simplifycommon technical challengesand enhance the customer journey.

To explore the contest winners and Progress partners that built many of the winning websites, visit the Website of the Year Awards page.

Additional Resources

About ProgressProgress (NASDAQ: PRGS) offers the leading platform for developing and deploying strategic business applications. We enable customers and partners to deliver modern, high-impact digital experiences with a fraction of the effort, time and cost.Progress offers powerful tools for easily building adaptive user experiences across any type of device or touchpoint, the flexibility of a cloud-native app dev platform to deliver modern apps, leading data connectivity technology, web content management, business rules, secure file transfer, network monitoring, plus award-winning machine learning that enables cognitive capabilities to be a part of any application. Over 1,700 independent software vendors, 100,000 enterprise customers, and two million developers rely onProgressto power their applications. Learn aboutProgressatwww.progress.comor +1-800-477-6473.

Progress, Sitefinity, OpenEdge, and Kendo UI are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

ProgressKim Baker1 888-365-2779pr@progress.com

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Progress Announces Winners of the 2020 Sitefinity Website of the Year Awards - GlobeNewswire

The old Talking Stick Resort Arena is no more. Long live. A much more modern building is going up inside the same walls, the product of extensive renovations that may as well be called reconstruction, if not for the fact that the real estate in the heart of downtown Phoenix is too good to move off of. The Suns home is going to look mighty nice starting next season.

In a tour for local media this week, Suns general manager James Jones and President/CEO Jason Rowley walked us through the progress being made. The construction crew, Okland, is on schedule to be finished with the initial portion of the project by the scheduled start date for the 2020-21 season, though that is obviously up in the air now. Because Arizona deemed construction an essential business during Gov. Doug Duceys stay-at-home order, the Suns did not have to pause the build.

The new arena trades stuffiness for open-air experiences, starting with the bar that will greet fans upon entry and guide them into the lower bowl of the arena, at a standing-room outlook near the visitors bench.

This week, the team removed the final seat in the building, and is slowly replacing them with cushioned seats not unlike those that were already in the lower-level, center-court area.

Rowley is hopeful the team can host fans in the fall, but if the season is pushed back and cannot immediately welcome fans for the 2020-21 NBA season, that could allow the team to get closer to the finish line this year. Originally, the plan was to finish 60 percent of the work this summer, then complete the project in the summer of 2021. They could have the chance to finish it out sooner if things break that way.

The organization is also optimistic about the on-schedule completion of its new practice facility on 44th street and Camelback in Phoenix, which should open by late July. Jones said that will give his players an experience that is unrivaled in the league.

It was a bit of a surreal scene, not only to be back at the arena after these months, but to see it torn to shreds. The Suns are optimistic, though, and seemed to be genuinely excited about seeing their plans come to fruition.

Look at the smiles! (in what used to be the entryway to the Casino Arizona pavilion)

Its hard to say when anyone outside the players and team staff might get to enjoy the arena again, but this is the kind of project you pull off for the future, not the immediate present. Whenever were welcomed back to a Suns home game, its going to be a lot more comfortable, modern, and sleek.

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Phoenix Suns making progress on Talking Stick Resort Arena renovations - Bright Side of the Sun

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Vanderbilt making progress on short term coronavirus treatment - WSMV Nashville

State figures show number of coronavirus cases in county up 2% Wednesday

By Caitlynn Peetz

| Published: 2020-05-27 10:25

Montgomery County saw slight improvements on Tuesday in five of seven benchmarks it is using to measure when it can begin reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The three-day averages for the numbers of new confirmed cases, deaths, overall hospitalizations, emergency room visits and intensive care hospitalizations were all down slightly compared to Monday.

When Gov. Larry Hogan this month announced that the state was ready to begin its first phase of reopening, local officials said Montgomery County was not ready. They established benchmarks the county needs to reach before loosening restrictions.

The data track three-day averages to determine trends because of some outliers in the data. The metrics also measure the number of days out of the last 14 that had improvement. The criteria must at least show substantial progress to move forward with reopening, according to the countys dashboard.

The county reports having met two of the seven benchmarks: COVID-19 related hospitalizations and percentage of ventilators in use.

County officials also are watching for 14 straight days with less than 70% of the acute care beds and ventilators in use, two benchmarks that showed no change from Monday to Tuesday. The data is updated at about noon each day.

The data posted Tuesday afternoon were: Number of new confirmed positive cases each day: 197 (three-day average); nine declining days out of the last 14 Number of COVID-19 new deaths each day: six (three-day average); eight declining days COVID-19 related hospitalizations: 337 (three-day average); 11 declining days Number of COVID-19 related emergency room patients: 16 (three-day average); six declining days COVID-19 related intensive-care unit hospitalizations: 118 (three-day average); eight declining days Acute care bed utilization rate: 71% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met for 1 of the last 14 days Percentage of ventilators in use: 52% (three-day average); the county benchmark of 70% or less has been met for 14 straight days.

As of Wednesday morning, Montgomery County had 10,467 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montgomery County, an increase of about 2% from Tuesday, according to state data.

Data show 535 confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Montgomery County, up from 531 on Tuesday.

Another 37 patients had been ruled as probable COVID-19 deaths, meaning the virus is the suspected cause of death but it was not confirmed by a laboratory test.

There have been 48,423 confirmed coronavirus cases across the state as of Wednesday morning. There were 2,270 confirmed deaths and 122 probable deaths.

On Wednesday, there were 1,338 COVID-19 patients in the hospital in the state, which included 818 in acute care and 520 in intensive care.

The race and ethnicity breakdown for the number of cases is: African American (14,217 cases, 941 confirmed deaths) White (9,575 cases, 944 confirmed deaths) Hispanic (11,956 cases, 204 confirmed deaths) Asian (917 cases, 85 confirmed deaths) Other (2,341 cases, 27 confirmed deaths) Data not available (9,417 cases, 69 confirmed deaths)

***

For other Bethesda Beat coverage of the coronavirus, clickhere.

To see a timeline of major coronavirus developments in Maryland and Montgomery County, clickhere.

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Here's a look at the progress Montgomery County is making toward reopening - BethesdaMagazine.com

[Courtesy of Celltrion]

SEOUL --Celltrion, a bio firm involved in a project to develop the treatment of patients infected with a new coronavirus, claimed to have achieved progress in the initial animal testing of candidates for antibody treatment.

Celltrion has embarked on the verification of selected candidates for antibody treatment to see if they can neutralize the coronavirus. The company has conducted animal tests on ferrets.

Symptoms such as coughing have disappeared since the fifth day of drug administration, Celltrion said, adding the virus was reduced by up to 100 times when antibody treatments were administered at high concentrations and lung inflammation was greatly improved.

The company would conduct efficacy and toxicity tests on hamsters, mice and monkeys before starting clinical trials for humans in July. The Korea National Institute of Health, a state research body, has selected Celltrion as a cooperation partner to develop vaccines and medicine.

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Celltrion achieves initial progress in animal testing of candidates for antibody treatment. - Aju Business Daily

The disturbing footage of Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the throat of George Floyd and suffocating him to death has provoked painful reactions for millions of people across the nation.

But one of the most frustrating is that it's forced us to ask ourselves, "Why is this still happening?"

Author and civil rights activist James Baldwin addressed the glacial pace of American racial progress over 30 years ago in a clip that was aired in the 1989 PBS documentary James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket.

Sadly, his assessment of this country back in '80s would be shockingly similar if he were alive to see the events of today. Baldwin passed away in 1987.

James Baldwin: How Much Time Do You Want For Your "Progress?" http://www.youtube.com

"What is it that you wanted me to reconcile myself to? I was born here more than 60 years ago. I'm not going to live another 60 years," he said. "You always told me that it's going to take time."

"It's taken my father's time, my mother's time, my uncle's time, my brothers' and my sisters' time, my nieces and my nephew's time," he continued. "How much time do you want for your progress?"

The clip began circulating on Thursday after Quasim Rashid, a candidate for the House of Representatives, used it as a response to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he will not "rush to justice" on charges against Chauvin.

Badwin eloquently and passionately described the paranoia he feels living as a black man in America on a 1968 episode of the The Dick Cavett Show. He was on a panel with Yale Professor Paul Weiss who asked him, "So why must we always concentrate on color?"

Baldwin responded saying he left America for Paris in 1948 to escape its "particular social terror, which was not the paranoia of my own mind, but a real social danger visible in the face of every cop, every boss, everybody."

Sadly, Baldwin's words still ring true today.

Baldwin on Dick Cavett http://www.youtube.com

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Frustrated with America's 'progress' on race? James Baldwin described it perfectly over 30 years ago. - Upworthy

With the states medical marijuana programs growing number of patients now surpassing 77,000 coupled by the coronavirus outbreak, there has been a heightened demand for more dispensaries to open sooner than later. Patients who rushed out to stock up on medicine immediately after the state was shutdown found themselves in hours-long lines at several alternative treatment centers (or ATCs). The ATCs in operation quickly responded with state guidelines for curbside pickup, but as Assistant Health Commissioner Jeff Brown told NJ Cannabis Insider, more needs to be done." Brown, who was keynote speaker at Cannabis Insiders March conference, spared some time for us recently to discuss how the program he oversees is adapting to life under the coronavirus pandemic-driven rules, and whether wed see more ATCs opening up any time soon. This conversation, which first appeared in the May 7 edition of NJ Cannabis Insider, was slightly edited for clarity.

Q: The pandemic ushered in some new innovations for patients and dispensaries, including curbside pickup. How do you think these changes are being received by patients? Are they satisfied?

There was a period where we were seeing a lot of complaints from patients. They were centered around mostly one ATC that had instituted a system in which people showed up in the morning to get tickets and either had to wait in line in their cars or come back. Some were reporting four-hour wait times. We worked with them, they put a plan in place to get wait times down and they have done so successfully. When we saw those wait times decrease, we saw complaints really drop off a ledge.

Over the last month, actually, we are seeing ATCs are serving on average 50 more patients a day than they were a month ago, and wait times for ATCs showing up on the same day are averaging 30 minutes. Many are well below that. More patients are being served and wait times are less. We are still in the pandemic and there are issues there. We are making progress but we know more needs to be done.

Is home delivery still a viable idea on the table? What is happening behind the scenes and how is the DOH making this happen?

We are still working on it. We hope to have good news soon.

There was a spike in enrollment soon after the governor shutdown the state. Has that continued?

No, it has not. March ended with 4,800 new patients; April ended with 3,300 patients signed up, which is back to where we were at the end of the summer 2019. Its still a significant increase in patients.

People have been staying home since we saw the increase in March. Doctors offices seeing outpatients are largely closed or just doing telemedicine or focusing on their most at-risk patients.

What are the departments priorities for the medical marijuana program during this crisis? Are we on track toward opening up more dispensaries?

A: One of the things I have challenged the ATCs on is really upping the average patients served per ATC and basically getting it up to 350 patients a day. That would get us to ensure every patient who goes to the ATC once a month, we have capacity to see everybody. We also want to make sure there is the ability for new patients to get in quickly. Most ATCs are seeing new patients; there is one that is not open to new patients thats Breakwater but we are working with them to get that changed.

We looked at some of the busier ATCs and among that cohort, (350 patients) seemed to be a manageable number. Its a goal. With curbside pickup, some might not be able to get there. Some ATCs are doing more than that, some are doing less.

Related to the new dispensaries, they have seen some delays with construction. Even though ATC-related construction is essential, contractors dont always have that same view. There were some who had to replace the contractors they were working with. Municipal governments, like businesses, are faced with the same challenges, so getting things like certificates of occupancy has been slowed down a little bit. We are going to see the new round of dispensaries from 2018, since all the cultivations are now approved, we are going to see the new dispensaries opening up very soon.

How do you think the ATCs are performing overall since the outbreak? Are there supply issues?

They have done really well. Its been challenging for all involved. They had employees testing positive. In addition to that, they are dealing with the same workforce issues that everybody still trying to conduct business is dealing with. Schools are closed, parents need to be home to watch kids with daycares closed. With all that said, they have done a really good job managing those challenges and staying open and ensuring they are there for patients.

The thing that happens is some ATCs run out of particular strains. There are in-demand strains. They come to market and sell out. That was an issue prior to the pandemic and it will be an issue after the pandemic. Overall supply, though, is up. At the beginning of the public health emergency, we were up to 8,000 pounds weekly in the market, (across all ATCs). That dropped to 7,500 pounds a couple weeks ago, and now its back up to 8,300.

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

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N.J.'s chief of medical marijuana: We are making progress but we know more needs to be done. - NJ.com