Monthly Archives: June 2020

1. United States

A team of apple detectives has discovered 10 apple varieties thought to be extinct. North America once boasted 17,000 unique apple varieties, but only around 5,000 are confirmed to exist today. Of those, just 15 make up 90% ofU.S. apple production. Recent discoveries include the ancient Sary Sinap, which originated in Turkey, and the Streaked Pippin, which could date back to 1744 in New York.E.J. Brandt and David Benscoter are the fruit sleuths behind The Lost Apple Project, a nonprofit that searches abandoned farms and orchards in the Pacific Northwest for long-forgotten apple trees. They aim to rescue both the apples and the history of the pioneer families that brought the trees out West.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff/File

Apples cling to a tree at Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Rare varieties can be rescued via tree cuttings.

Their unusually high yield this fall nearly doubled the duos total to 23 rediscovered apple types. The United States is the second-largest apple producer in the world after China. More choices for consumers is important, say agriculturists, to give domestic apples a competitive edge against imported fruits and to encourage genetic diversity. (The Associated Press, Smithsonian Magazine)

Argentina has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. In the latest move to address its history of Nazi refuge and anti-Semitic violence, its foreign ministry announced on June 7 that it would use the universal definition to contribute to the fight of the Argentine Republic against anti-Semitism in all its forms. More than two dozen countries have adopted the IHRAs definition, and Argentinas foreign minister called on public and private institutions to do the same.Argentinas ambassador to Israel, Sergio Daniel Urribarri, who in 2011 became the first governor to require comprehensive Holocaust education for all schools in his province, said the new definition will also help to continue developing Holocaust remembrance as an official Argentine policy. (JNS, The Jerusalem Post)

More than 50 Irish companies are following through on a 2015 pledge to halve their carbon footprints. The group of companies, which includes Gas Networks Ireland, Sodexo, and Tesco, promised to reduce direct greenhouse gases by 2030. The average emissions intensity reduction among participants jumped from 36% to 41% last year, according to a new study. This year, the pledge expanded to include some indirect emission sources, such as water consumption and business travel.Ireland has a huge challenge ahead to transition to a low carbon economy but also embrace the opportunities a net-zero world will offer, said Toms Sercovich, chief executive of Business in the Community Ireland, one of the pledges coordinating partners. Our aim for the pledge is to provide leadership, set a collective ambition and drive practical action. (The Irish Times)

In Egypt, where summer temperatures can reach 120 degrees F, architects have figured out how to cool the interior of buildings without using traditional air conditioning. Firms such as ECOnsult are using local materials and innovative designs, including heat-reflecting roofs and insulating air layers, to bring comfort to businesses and government buildings across the country. Green buildings can also help reduce carbon emissions by lessening the need for electrical-power cooling. One worker in Egypts Western Desert said his teams upgraded ECOnsult buildings are cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter by 9 to 12 degrees. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

For the first time in a decade, Australias morepork owl population on Norfolk Island has grown, thanks to the survival of two fledglings. The recent discovery is a huge boost to one of the worlds rarest owls, with an estimated population of 45 to 50. Its not the first time the species has been close to extinction in the 1980s the population declined to a single female. Conservationists on the remote island brought in mates from a subspecies in New Zealand, creating a hybrid line of morepork owls.Recent efforts to save the owl include building nest boxes and reducing predators. However, the owls had not bred successfully since 2011. Park manager Melinda Wilson said that discovering the chicks was one of the most special moments of her career. (BBC)

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A spacecraft the size of a casserole dish has broken the record for smallest satellite to detect a planet outside the solar system, proving that modest machines can make meaningful contributions to astronomy. Asteria was part of NASAs CubeSat program, meant to test the capabilities of tiny satellites made from privately manufactured, interlocking parts.

Engineers prepare Asteria for launch in April 2017. The roughly 4-by-8-by-12-inch miniature space telescope was deployed from the International Space Station in November 2017.

It spotted the raging hot super earth dubbed 55 Cancri e by catching dips in light as the planet passed by its host star. But this wasnt part of Asterias original mission. The pioneering CubeSat satellite completed its initial task to simply stay focused on an object for a long period of time in 2018, and continued gathering useful data for two years before ground crews lost contact with it. Asterias success is good news for the CubeSat initiative, which aims to provide low-cost technology options to researchers and students around the world. (Inverse, Popular Mechanics)

The rest is here:

Points of Progress: Argentina works to combat anti-Semitism, and more - The Christian Science Monitor

Submitted by theWhatcom County Health Department

Whatcom County is regularly evaluating how COVID-19 is being spread through our community and our progress in responding to it. Right now we are in Phase 2 of Washingtons Safe Start plan and are working hard to be able to move to Phase 3. The metrics we must meet to move to Phase 3 can be found on theSafe Start website, and include targets related to:

Information about our countys case numbers can be found on ourData Dashboard, and you can get info on key metrics can be found on the Washington StateCOVID-19 Risk Assessment Dashboard. Both of these dashboards are updated daily with the latest information.

In order to move to Phase 3, Whatcom County may have no more than 25 cases per 100,000 residents averaged over the last 14 days, That amounts to no more than four cases per day. Over the past several days, we have been exceeding that number.

A large number of our new cases are related to recent outbreaks connected to social gatherings and workplaces.

We are seeing an increase in confirmed cases in younger populations, likely due to social gatherings, and an increase in the rate of cases in northern Whatcom County. In April, 27% of confirmed cases were in residents under 30 years old. So far in the first 17 days of June, 74% of confirmed cases are in residents under 30 years old.

The graph above shows confirmed COVID-19 cases by school district for the month of May and thefirst 14 days of June.

Whatcom County may have no more than one active outbreak in order to move to Phase 3. We have seen a shift from outbreaks at long term care facilities, to more outbreaks connected to business andsocial settings. We are activelyresponding to each outbreak, and are seeing that in some cases, outbreaks related to social gatherings are leading to outbreaks in workplaces. Our case investigators and contact tracers are working to limit further spread of COVID-19 that may be related to these cases.

An outbreak is two or more cases of COVID-19 among individuals who were exposed to the virus from the same source, such as at a workplace. Additionally, one confirmed case in a long term care facility (nursing home or assisted living facility) is considered a COVID-19 outbreak. At this time, we dont share further details regarding outbreaks, because these events do not pose a greater public health risk to the community than other gatherings that may also be happening.

For a while, testing was a challenge in our county and everywhere due to a lack of testing kits. However, our community is now prepared with enough testing supplies, personal protective equipment (PPE), and lab capacity to test anyone who hassymptomsof COVID-19.

Our testing goals to move to Phase 3 include the average number of tests performed per day during the past week to be 50 times the number of cases. This means that no more than 2% of our tests should be positive, showing that we have enough testing capacity in our county. Right now according to the COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard, we have a positive test rate of 2.4% over the past week. In order to move to Phase 3, we must increase the number of negative tests that are performed. If you have any COVID-19 symptoms, please contact your healthcare provider to ask about getting tested.

Contact tracing is an important tool that helps us box in the virus. In order to move to Phase 3, we must contact 90% of individuals with newly confirmed cases within 24 hours of receiving lab reports. We must also contact 80% of close contacts of someone with a confirmed case after receiving lab reports.

Last week, our staff were able to follow up within 24 hours to 97% of new cases. However, we were only able to follow up within 48 hours to 48% of close contacts of people with a confirmed case. Over the past three weeks we have identified at least 200 contacts through case interviews that require follow-up.

A new Volunteer Coordinator has started, and their job includes training new case contact investigators. Over the past week, we have trained 4 new contact investigators that will begin their work today. We have 8 additional volunteers that have begun training and will begin case contact investigations over the next few days.

We need to ensure that our healthcare system is prepared to meet the current needs of people who have COVID-19, as well as future needs. Our goal to move to Phase 3 is to have fewer than 80% of licensed beds occupied by patients, and fewer than 10% of licensed beds occupied by suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. We are well under those numbers according to the COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard, indicating that we are prepared for this challenge.

While we are meeting some of our goals, we must reduce the number of confirmed cases and outbreaks we are seeing in our county. We must also increase our case investigation and contact tracing ability. We are working hard to get more case investigators trained so we can meet that target, but the rest is up to all of us. In order to decrease our case numbers, we all need to do our part, which includes:

We know its been a long haul and this is not how we imagined wed be spending our spring and summer, but if we can keep up all the good work weve been doing, well get to Phase 3 sooner, and be able to safely enjoy more activities with our families and friends.

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Whatcom County in Phase 2: Evaluating Our Progress - whatcomtalk.com

The Restore Illinois plan contains three criteria relating to the trend in hospitalizations, the surge capacity of hospitals, and the positivity rate of testing that must be met for a region of the State to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4. The plan also has an internal goal relating to contact tracing.

This article provides data as of June 19 showing how the Northeast Region is doing in terms of meeting the mandatory criteria, and it also provides data showing the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths. The earliest data any region can move to phase 4 is on June 26.

New COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Surge Capacity

While the Restore Illinois criteria focus on the number of hospitalizations, rather than new COVID-19 cases, the number of new cases is still important, because about 30% of the people who test positive for COVID-19 are hospitalized, said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, Director of Illinois Department of Public Health. In addition, people may be infectious even if they are not hospitalized.*

The data below show new COVID-19 cases in Evanston, Cook County, and Illinois, and the decline in hospitalizations in the Northeast Region.

New COVID-19 Cases

New cases and deaths of Evanstonians: There were 3 new confirmed COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents today, bringing the total to 766 cases. Of those, 33 are active.

Over the last seven days, the City reported an average of 2.0 new COVID-19 cases per day. For the seven days prior, there was an average of 3.3 new cases per day. The trend is shown in the above chart.

No Evanston resident has lost their life due to COVID-19 in the last four days. The total number of Evanstonians who have died due to the virus is 66.

As of June 11, 45 residents of long-term care facilities in Evanston died of COVID-19. Thus, more than two-thirds of the Evanstonians who have died due to COVID-19 were residents of long-term care facilities.

New Cases and deaths in Cook County and Illinois: There were 373 new cases of COVID-19 in Cook County in the last 24 hours, and 692 in the State. While State officials have been concerned about a potential surge of cases due to the mass protests and gatherings following the murder of George Floyd on May 25, a surge has not yet occurred.

Between June 15 and June 19, the average number of new COVID-19 cases per day in Cook County was 329, and in the State, it was 585. The trend is shown in the smaller chart above.

The number of deaths in Illinois due to COVID-19 increased by 44 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in Illinois to 6,580.

Hospital Admissions and Surge Capacity in the Northeast Region

Two metrics being used to determine if a region may move to Phase 4 are that there be no overall increase in hospital admissions for 28 days and that hospitals in the region have an unused bed capacity of at least 14%.

IDPH reports that in the last 28 days hospitalizations in the Northeast Region declined by 85%. IDPH does not report the number of hospitalizations in the Region, but there is a downward trend.

The Northeast Region has available 34% of its medical/surgical beds, 42% of its ICU beds, and 72% of its ventilators. This easily meets the minimum capacity of 14%.

On a Statewide basis, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 was 3,336 on May 29 (the date the State moved to Phase 3 of the Restore Illinois plan). As of midnight on June 18, the number had declined to 1,837. The second chart in the chart box shows the trend in hospitalizations since May 29.

Adequacy of Testing

Widespread testing is essential to controlling the spread of the COVID-9 virus and to open an economy safely.

Test-Positive Rate

One measure used by researchers to assess whether the amount of testing is adequate is to look at the percent of people who test positive on COVID-19 tests. The World Health Organization said on May 15 that the test-positive rate should be below 5% before opening an economy. A higher test-positive rate reflects that there is an inadequate amount of testing. **

In the Restore Illinois plan, one criterion to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4 is that a region have a test-positive rate below 20%. In determining whether this criterion is met, IDPH says it will use a seven-day rolling average.

IDPH reported that the test-positive rate for the Northeast Region as of June 19 was 5%, down 4 percentage points in the last 14 days.

The Northeast Region easily meets the criterion of the Restore Illinois Plan, it has met for the first time the rate recommended by WHO.

On a Statewide basis, the test positivity rate on June 18 was 2.5%. The average for the last five days was 2.4%.

The Number of Tests in Illinois

In a May 7 study, the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) estimated that Illinois needed to be administering 64,167 tests a day in order to safely open the economy. On the same day, Gov. Pritzker said, I think were going to need many more tests than that.***

While the State has almost quadrupled the number of tests it has been administering since the beginning of April, the average number of tests per day between June 14 and June 18 is 24,003 still far short of the target of 64,167 set by HGHI.

On June 19, there were 27,171 tests.

The IDPH recommends that those who have participated in a recent mass gathering, such as a march or rally, get tested 5 to 7 days after the event, or immediately if symptoms develop.

Contact Tracing

Widespread contact tracing is also essential to controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus and to open an economy safely.

In its criteria to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4, the Restore Illinois plan provides with respect to this criterion: Begin contact tracing and monitoring within 24 hours of diagnosis for more than 90% of cases in region.

While both Gov. Pritzker and Dr. Ezike say that contact tracing is essential to open an economy safely, it appears that the regions will not be required to meet this criterion to move from Phase 3 to Phase 4. Dr. Ezike said it is an internal goal.

IDPH is not monitoring this criterion for any region.

On a Statewide basis, Gov. Pritzker said on May 29 that contact tracing is only being done on about 30% of the known cases, far short of the 90% goal. IDPH has not provided more recent data.

Cook County recently received about $41 million in grant funding from IDPH to rapidly scale-up its COVID-19 contact tracing program in suburban Cook County over the next three to six months.

Where to Get Covid-19 Tests

The City of Evanstons Health and Human Services Department is partnering with AMITA Health St. Francis Hospital to offer two COVID-19 health screening and testing events to Evanston residents who may not otherwise have access to testing or online virtual health visits.

Community testing will be offered at the James Park Field House parking lot, located on Mulford Street west of Dodge Avenue and the Levy Senior Center, on the following days while supplies last:

Testing will be offered in a drive-through format; however, walk-ins will also be accepted.Testing is free, and no appointment is needed to participate. A doctor will be on site to answer questions, and Spanish-speaking team members will be available to assist, as needed.

Participants in need will be provided with a face covering upon arrival, and should maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from non-family members at the event.

Test results are expected to be available within four days of testing. AMITA Health St. Francis Hospital will follow up with all who are tested to provide results, whether positive or negative, and additional education and instructions, as needed.

In addition to these community testing events, residents can access free testing at Statecommunity-based testing sites. Testing may also be provided through a resident's primary healthcare provider.

For more information about COVID-19, please visitcityofevanston.org/covid19or call/text 847-448-4311. For convenience, residents may simply dial 311 in Evanston.

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Footnotes

* IDPH reports only the number of COVID-19 cases which have been confirmed through a test. The number does not include people who are infected, but who have not been tested, which may include people who are asymptomatic or who have minor symptoms.

On May 21, the Imperial College, London, published Report 23: State-level tracking of COVID-19 in the United States on May 21, 2020. One part of the study estimates the number of infectious individuals in every state in the U.S., including Illinois, as of May 17, which includes people who have not been tested for COVID-19 and who may be asymptomatic. As of May 17, the report estimates that there were 176,000 infectious individuals in Illinois, with a potential range of a low of 54,000 to a high of 395,000.

The report says, Despite new infections being in a steep decline in the United States, the number of people still infectious, and therefore able to sustain onward transmission, can still be large. This discrepancy underscores the importance of testing and case based isolation as a means to control transmission.

Link: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-05-21-COVID19-Report-23.pdf

** On May 26, Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center said on its website that the World Health Organization (WHO) advised governments [on May 15] that before reopening,rates of positivity in testing (i.e., out of all tests conducted, how many came back positive for COVID-19) should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days.

Johns Hopkins explains, The rate of positivity is an important indicator, because it can provide insights into whether a community is conducting enough testing to find cases. If a communitys positivity is high, it suggests that that community may largely be testing the sickest patients and possibly missing milder or asymptomatic cases. A lower positivity may indicate that a community is including in its testing patients with milder or no symptoms. Link: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/testing-positivity

***Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, the Faculty Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI), and two colleagues conclude in a May 7 report, HGHI and NPR publish new state testing targets that, on a nationwide basis, 900,000 tests for COVID-19 are needed each day to open the economy. They also provide estimates of the tests each state should be ready to provide by May 15. For Illinois, they say that 64,167 tests a day are needed. Link to HGHIs report: https://globalepidemics.org/2020/05/07/hghi-projected-tests-needed-may15/

And link to accompanying article: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/05/07/851610771/u-s-coronavirus-testing-still-falls-short-hows-your-state-doing

A report, Roadmap to Pandemic Resilience, published by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, concludes that on a nationwide basis the nation needs to be doing 5 million tests per day by early June to deliver a safe social reopening. Link: https://ethics.harvard.edu/files/center-for-ethics/files/roadmaptopandemicresilience_updated_4.20.20_0.pdf

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Progress as of June 19 in Meeting the Criteria to Move to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan - Evanston RoundTable

Failure of Resolution 2020-034 resulted in some scratching of heads as some spectators wondered if the state comptroller will have a problem come time to audit the current fiscal year budget.The Claiborne Commission voted 18 to 3 against transferring $9,162.80 from the fund balance to a line item described in the resolution as County Buildings Consultants. The resolution was tabled last month and brought back for vote after review by the Budget and Finance Committee meetings in May.If adopted, the resolution would have corrected a portion of the county budget by showing payment of three invoices from the architectural firm BarberMcMurry. The firm was hired by county mayor Joe Brooks to do a preliminary renovation plan of the third floor of the Claiborne County Courthouse,During the May meeting, a handful of commissioners voiced concerns about the way in which the three invoices were paid. They agreed that the particular line item specified in Resolution 034 could not be found in the county budget.Mayor Brooks said he had mistakenly put down the wrong line item, meaning to use the one that paid for renovations done last fall at the Claiborne Health Department.Brooks was referring to Resolution 2019-083 granting $200,000 in state-aid funds to be used solely for renovations at the health department. Using this line-item could have caused additional problems under audit scrutiny.Brooks said he hired BarberMcMurry as an alternative to the roughly $1 million it would take to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The county has looked into the costs of renovating all its buildings to become ADA compliant.Claiborne finance officer Angelia Tucker offered clarification in a statement provided to the Claiborne Progress. Tucker was asked to explain how the failure of the resolution might affect the comptroller findings and if there is an alternate way in which to reconcile the budget.Per state statute the legal level of control is the major category and as such this expenditure, approved by the BGP (Buildings, Grounds & Personnel) committee but never previously brought before the full commission, should not result in an adverse finding as that category will have excess funds left over at year end, Tucker stated in her reply.She was also asked if there would be a redrafted version of the failed resolution.No further resolutions will be presented as this fiscal year is concluded, she responded in her statement.The Budget Committee met in regular session the evening following the May meeting of the Claiborne Commission. Looking at the currently unofficial Budget Committee minutes, it looks as though the committee members took a short amount of time to address the issue.In one section, the minutes state that Tucker clarified concerns voiced by some of the members.David Mundy asked Angelia Tucker if she could explain the resolution that had been presented the previous evening at the monthly county commission meeting. Each month the finance director looks at the expense lines to see how much has been spent and what is remaining in each line item. Some of the items that were on the resolution could have been changed in a Finance Committee meeting (expenses that were salaries or related to salaries). However, so that the entire commission could see how the money was being moved, the entire line item amounts were put in the resolution and brought to county court, reads that portion of the minutes.A short section, having to do with line item 51800 County Buildings, refers to the failed resolution 034.There was another question asked concerning the resolution from the previous nights meeting concerning the architects fee. This was placed in line item 51800-308 (Consultants). The money for this was resolute from fund balance (39000), reads paragraph 2 of this section of the minutes.According to the minutes, a motion was made to approve the County Buildings line item. Commissioners Anthony Rowe and Charlton Vass made and seconded the motion, respectively. The motion passed unanimously.The failed resolution had but three supporters during the full Claiborne Commission meeting. Commissioners Whitt Shuford, Charlton Vass and Nathan Epperson voted in favor of adopting Resolution 034.

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Tabled resolution fails, will it affect budget audit? - Claiborne Progress - Claiborne Progress

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 23: Renee Montgomery and Nafessa Williams attend "Black and Blue" ... [+] Atlanta special screening after party at Sweet Auburn BBQ on October 23, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Screen Gems)

No, Renee Montgomery wont be there when the WNBA begins its 2020 season, scheduled to take place at IMG Academy in late July.

Montgomery, the Atlanta Dream point guard, announced this week that she will opt out of the season. As part of the agreement reached between league and the WNBPA, players have until June 25 to make that decision, with Montgomery the first to declare.

Do not mistake her physical distance for a lack of solidarity with the WNBA players aiming to turn the 2020 season into a clarion call for racial justice.

To me, it doesnt matter who plays, who doesnt, Montgomery told media gathered on a conference call Thursday, saying that shed been in touch with a number of other WNBA players, like Lexie Brown of the Minnesota Lynx and Seimone Augustus of the Los Angeles Sparks. We dont have to be all together, in the bubble, to be united.

But for Montgomery, her advocacy work has mushroomed into something larger than an avocation, and she simply didnt think it would be possible to split her focus between basketball and the efforts to, among other things, make it easier to vote in Georgia.

Those long lines that infuriated so many? They led to Montgomerys change in summer professional plans. This wasnt even on her radar back in February, she said, a basketball lifer who has been on the court nonstop since she was ten years old. So George Floyds murder animated her, as it has so many around the world, behind changing the course of racial justice.

But Renee Montgomery has her eye on something that she views as elemental: making sure as many of her fellow Georgians as possible can vote.

Theres an obvious start point for me: in Atlanta, weve got voter suppression problems, Montgomery said. And weve got an election coming up in November. So for me, theres a timeline, theres a set date, theres a goal.

Montgomery wants to turn voting into what she described as the cool thing to do when Barack Obama ran in 2008 and 2012. But more than that, it is about checking into the systems that are, at best, functioning as unintentional barriers, but really, serving as planned roadblocks to allowing every Georgian the full right to vote.

Accordingly, the focus for Renee Montgomery, champion everywhere shes gone, is a different kind of title.

So look for Renee Montgomery at poll sites, where decisions are made about how many are opened, and questioning officials who make those calls and tilt the electoral landscape by doing so.

Montgomery is used to studying game film. Now? Shes visualizing large crowds of people moving swiftly, in and out, of voting precincts. She wants to set up voters this year, rather than find her teammates open on the wing.

Shes not retiring she made it clear this was about 2020. But that doesnt mean she cant celebrate a victory, and improving Georgias ability to vote is the contest shes engaged in now.

If that happens? Its like I won a championship, Montgomery said.

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WNBA News: Renee Montgomery Is Measuring Progress In November Terms - Forbes

Progress, a provider of application development and digital experience technologies, is releasing a set of new data connectors to improve the integration of analytics and reporting within the DevOps process.

Complementing an expansive collection of pre-built, high-performing, standards-based data connectors, Progress has introduced connectors for TeamCity, GitHub, Aha!, and Jira.

With these new connectors, users can gain a more unified view of the DevOps process, enabling new levels of efficiency and performance, leading to improvement across the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

The new DevOps connectors deliver on the performance, reliability and security standards the DataDirect portfolio is known for, including:

The number of applications being used across the DevOps process is going to continue to increase and our customers and partners rely on us to always deliver the tools and connectors needed for businesses to stay competitive, said John Ainsworth, SVP, core products, Progress. This is why we are the leader in data connectivity. We understand the impact that data, or a lack thereof, has on a businesss success and we enable our customers and partners to gain the insight they need to make informed decisions.

For more information about this release, visit http://www.progress.com.

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Progress Releases New Connectors for Integration within the DevOps Process - Database Trends and Applications

SOMERSET, NJ The Franklin Township Police Department held a Crossroads to Progress virtual townhall last night that brought together community, political and law enforcement leaders to talk about policing in the township with a special focus on the polices relations with Franklins African American community.

First Baptists Rev. DeForest Soaries moderated the discussion that covered topics like police accountability and transparency, the public holding police and elected officials accountable and the effects of implicit bias.

Franklins public safety director Quovella Spruill began with a quote from one of the countrys earliest Black abolitionists and social reformers, In the words of Fredrick Douglass, Where there is no struggle, there is no progress. She went on to say to those who have been protesting and speaking out will help police do their job better.

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A two-way relationship between communities and the police department was a common theme. Panelists urged residents to file complaints on officers who they believe behave inappropriately and vote to hold elected officials accountable.

If theres a problem we want you to make a report, we want you to file a complaint because we need to be paying attention to these interactions and if youre not doing that we dont know theres a problem, Councilwoman Crystal Pruitt said. Let us know what were doing right and what were doing wrong and continue to push us.

Township Prosecutor and Chairwoman of the Somerset Country Democratic Committee Black Caucus Tina Jalloh reminded those tuned in that even getting the right to vote was hard fought for African Americans and that right comes with tangible power.

Our ancestors have lost their lives fighting to vote, which includes economic freedom, political freedom, she said. We need to hold our elected official accountable, we have to vote.

Spruill said that even though residents may not see immediate results from reporting issues with officers admitting that sometimes it takes multiple complaints to prove wrongdoing without documentation of each incident, its harder to hold problem officers to account.

Under the new directors leadership, the police department implemented an early warning system to flag troubling behavior and address it before it becomes a problem. This goes beyond police-community interactions to include overall officer wellness and well-being.

That early warning system looks at how cops interact with the community, how many times the cops have specific types of incidents, she said. It starts here, we know between these four walls what our officers need.

But for Jasmine Bonner, Franklin resident and an organizer of a protest in the township earlier this month, police accountability needs to come with transparency.

Where is the accountability, where is the ownership for the things that are going on today? She said.

Later in the discussion, when asked what she would do if she led the police department, Bonner said, I would definitely work on the transparency of my position and the people that are under me by letting the community know that there are officers that have been put on suspension because of disciplinary problems, that there are officers that are impeccable officers and were going to honor them. That lets us know whats going on in our own precinct and it shows that youre willing to show the negative and the positive.

Bonner is leading a Juneteenth march this Saturday at Naaman Williams Park starting at noon.

Sgt. Sean Hebbon, a long-time township cop and fixture in the community, is spearheading the departments efforts to increase police-community interaction outside of the law enforcement context. He talked about initiatives like cadet training programs for township youth and adults to give an inside look at how cops operate, encouraging Franklin youth particularly Black youth to pursue law enforcement careers and having officers be more involved with the community.

A lot of people dont realize what a good opportunity being a police officer is, especially for young men of color. They dont realize the opportunities that are here in law enforcement and how you can get in young and build yourself in here. If youre not happy with police departments that youre seeing on TV, what better way to fix it than to be part of it and make the change from within, he said.

Hebbon also reflected on how being an African American police officer gives him a unique perspective, especially in light of the tension felt following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

I think African American law enforcement officers have, in this particular circumstance, almost an advantage because we live in both sides of this world, he said. I dont always have this uniform on. I understand some of the situations, some of the fears and some of the skepticism, some of the anger at law enforcement because Ive been in places, Ive had encounters on my way up to being the man I am today.

I see the issue and a lot of it is understanding and communication you have police officers that come in and work in a particular neighborhood that never grew up in a neighborhood like that, dont live in a neighborhood like that, never related to some of the people in the neighborhood, whether it be African American or any other ethnicity or religious base or anything. If you dont communicate you dont know when youre offending someone, you dont know when youre putting someone in a bad position or making them feel uncomfortable.

Randal Pinkett, CEO of consulting firm BCT Partners, referenced Martin Luther King Jr.s idea that increasing contact points among diverse groups will lead to better understanding and less racial bias. He said thats not happening enough now, with the United States being more segregated than it was in the 1970s.

Sadly many of us are not challenging ourselves and in the era of social media and social networking, we can create an entire world around us that only reinforces our own identity. And its only getting worse. I call it communities of the like-minded. So we have to break out of our communities of the like-minded so that we can have much better communities.

Among younger generations, Bonner said that there is a mix of discouragement and hope. Younger protesters are fighting the same fight their elders fought, but Bonner says there is a recognition that its not like it once was.

Our parents and grandparents and great grandparents have all dealt with a lot of the things were seeing right now so its a little discouraging that the fight is still on but I feel like were at a day and age as well that we know that its not as it was in the past, she said.

Soaries echoed her sentiment and told her when I was your age, there were people protesting for the right to eat at a lunch counter. Today if someone told you Im going down to protest for the right to eat at a lunch counter youd think they lost their minds. I look forward to the day when there are no more protests about police-community relations.

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