Indeed, these days it seems hard to stay calm and focused. 2020 seems to develop into what the Queen of England would call an annus horribilis (i.e. a horrible year). Not even considering political sensitivities, I guess we all agree that we are not happy about a devastating pandemic and its immediate consequences. And we are not happy about the violence that seems to have been unleashed in the aftermath of the murder of a defenseless black man by persons who are supposed to be on the right side of the law, some police. Contemplating all these things can make one depressive and aggravated and hopeless.

It is hard to find a topic these days that doesnt make one look mindless if it doesnt touch on whats going on out there. And on the other hand, we all crave something that takes our minds off the constantly appearing, increasingly worse news. A friend of mine said just the other day that she envies the astronauts who were able to leave the planet with the latest manned rocket launch. I guess that helped me. For my first thought was No.

If I switch off the news and contemplate my immediate existence do I really find everything so devastating? Am I not surrounded by caring, mindful people? Shouldnt I count my blessings and go from there?

Resilience is something you can learn. I actually took a week-long class about it a few years ago. It showed me how to focus on the good stuff that happens in my life. It makes me analyze why something makes me happy and whether I can make this happiness last or even repeat itself. It makes me reconsider the state of something that seems to be bad maybe there is something I can learn from it. Maybe, though I dont like it, it is still of some value.

Think of dandelions. Nobody likes them in a garden bed or in a tidy lawn. But in a colorful meadow oh yes! And they feed pollinators, which in turn secures our food that relies on pollination. And dont we somehow admire those little guys that make it through cracks in the asphalt and defy all plans to make our world gray and concrete?

Shelter-in-place might be going on a while yet where I live. It might return if there is another wave of the pandemic. I have never published as much in so little time as this year. Im blessed with my best buddy as my husband and with friends who are of the same mindset: that we need to keep each other and others safe. Im becoming more resourceful in everyday challenges.

The riots out there and hopefully, by the time you get to read this, they are under control and/or over make me contemplate the value of a human life. Each one is unique in its best sense. In our little street, my husband and I are the only white persons. We neighbors look out for each other. We share food with each other. Do I ever consider what color they are? They are friends! They are warm-hearted human beings with the same worries I have. Maybe, because of their ethnicity sometimes worse.

Indeed, in dire times we learn who our friends are. We learn to count our blessings. And in a way we all still hope even if we feel hopeless at the moment. As we cant turn back the clock and undo all that went wrong, we already look into the future and talk about when its over. When there will be vaccinations available. When we can do what we love to do unimpeded again. When

My biggest hope is that mindfulness will prevail. That the people who societys prejudices keep in a corner of discrimination will finally get justice, not just through law but through consideration. It takes all kinds of people to make a world. It would be a very uniform world if everybody were the same. A smile that reaches ones eyes is visible even above a mask. I find myself smiling at strangers in public places way more often these days. Come to think of it, a smiling mouth is curved like a rainbow. And rainbows are a sign of hope.

Related

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Across the Fence: Finding the Good Stuff - The Suburban Times

Q: Dear Ask Us god,

Why?

A: This brief question was accompanied, thankfully, by a photo of a statue of a Native American behind a fence topped with barbed wire at the North Mankato Public Works Center.

The question is a couple of weeks old, and before Ask Us god, um, Ask Us Guy could get around to calling North Mankato officials, it came up at Mondays City Council meeting.

Its been suggested that the Native American chief statue currently positioned behind a fence is insensitive and perhaps maybe should be placed in a more appropriate setting, North Mankato resident Barb Church told the council during the public comment portion of the meeting. When the gates locked, it looks like were fencing in the Native chief.

City Administrator John Harrenstein provided a brief response and Mayor Mark Dehen a longer one.

Harrenstein said the statue is only behind the fence until it can be cleaned and placed in a city park.

I reject any perception or comment that where its placed is a place of dishonor, Harrenstein said. Its actually preparing it to be restored and moved on, and well be doing it as quickly as we can.

The mayor provided some additional background information about why the statue is in the lot along Webster Avenue.

We have been gifted the statue of Sitting Bull that was made by Tom Miller a number of years ago, Dehen said. It used to reside on the corner of Sherman and Belgrade, and the property owner donated that to the city. ... We intend to clean him up and make him a bright and beautiful statue again the way he was when he was crafted.

Dehen said plans are in place to meet with Miller, a longtime local sculptor, citizens and members of the Native American community for advice on a proper location to honor Sitting Bull and the history we have with North Mankato and the Native community.

Sitting Bull doesnt have a direct connection to the Mankato area. He would have been roughly 30 years old and living with his Lakota people in the Dakota Territory when the Dakota War of 1862 erupted in southern Minnesota, ending with the execution of 38 Dakota warriors across the Minnesota River from where North Mankato would later be founded.

But the Dakota War prompted the U.S. Army to retaliate against even bands that hadnt been involved, including Sitting Bulls Hunkpapa Lakota people. Over time Sitting Bull became a key leader in the resistance against the Army, against white settlement and against the arrival of railroads, according to online histories.

Sitting Bull is best known as the spiritual leader of the Lakota and Cheyenne people when they won a legendary military victory over Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in eastern Montana in 1876. He remained defiant even in the face of an onslaught of troops that followed Custers disastrous defeat at Little Bighorn, eventually leading his band across the border into Canada in 1877.

By 1881, with bison nearly extinct and struggling to keep his people fed, he returned to Fort Buford in Montana to surrender, saying, I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle, according to the website of the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center in Chamberlain, South Dakota.

He died at the Standing Rock reservation in 1890 and his remains were later reburied in Mobridge, South Dakota, to be nearer his birthplace.

Miller, who sculpted the Winter Warrior statue outside of the Blue Earth County Library, did not have a commission for his earlier work of Sitting Bull. He told The Free Press in 2007 that hed been working on and off on the statue for about 17 years. He later sold it to Jon Pluto, who lived at 615 Belgrade Ave. It was Pluto who recently donated the statue to the city.

Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, P.O Box 3287, Mankato, MN 56002. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.

We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story.

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Ask Us: The reason Sitting Bull is behind that fence in N. Mankato - Mankato Free Press

Inky, a cybersecurity company developing products designed to protect against phishing, today announced it raised $20 million. The startup says it will use the infusion to accelerate enterprise adoption, global expansion, and R&D. In conjunction with this, Inky intends to expand its geographic footprint across Europe, Asia, and Latin America through a strategic buildout of its channel and partner programs.

Malware is a significant threat to organizations, with the cost of an attack averaging around $2.4 million, and two-thirds of all malware infections beginning with an email attachment. Phishing emails are the primary delivery mechanism for it. Over 30% of phishing emails are opened by their recipient, and 12% of users either click on a malicious link or open a malicious attachment within the email, potentially infecting their computer and the network with malware.

Inkys Phish Fence platform, which runs on a cloud installation and works with G Suite, Office 365, and Exchange, ostensibly shields against this through a combination of AI and million of lines of code. It comprehends emails and searches for signs of fraud, leveraging computer vision and machine learning to detect imposters from pixels. Using over two dozen image and text classifier models, Phish Fence isolates text, type, character, and image anomalies (including in domain names and text-only designs without real logo images), placing banners directly in emails to offer guidance and providing visibility and threat tracking via a backend dashboard.

Phish Fences brand forgery detection technology spots logos within emails and determines those emails origin points. Broadly speaking, with natural language processing, the platform develops social profiles and graphs that identify suspicious behavior and identities. It also analyzes email header information to create a model of common contents (like wire or invoice payment requests and password-related emails) against which it compares future emails to suss out domain spoofing, and it uses signature types like DKIM, DMARC, SPF, and Sender ID to verify that emails actually originate at the alleged senders domain.

When Phish Fence sees an email from a sender that doesnt match a known profile, it sends an impersonation warning, which customers like Kaizen Approach, Directed, Catholic Charities, Collibra, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra can report from any platform, including from the web, a phone, or email clients. Beyond the messaging vector, Phish Fence can detect zero-day phishing attacks in Microsoft Office macros, which malicious actors sometimes use to install malware on machines. And its able to spot embedding links to harmful websites within documents as well as PDFs carrying destructive payloads and code containing scripts.

Inky, which was founded by Dave Baggett the cofounder of airfare search company ITA Software, which Google acquired in 2011 for $730 million and whose technology now powers Google Flights is well-capitalized with this latest raise, a series B. Led by Insight Partners, it brings the College Park, Maryland-based companys total raised to over $31.8 million.

The global anti-counterfeit technologies market is anticipated to be worth $104 billion by the end of 2024, and Inky is far from the only startup gunning for a slice of it. One rival is Spain-based Red Points, which raised $38 million in April to further develop its tools to fight counterfeiting and piracy. Another is 3PM Marketplace Solutions, a Chicago-based company thats worked with clients like HBO to spot counterfeit products. Theres also RedMarlin, which raised $10 million to fight counterfeiting with its AI-powered platform.

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Inky raises $20 million to prevent phishing attacks with AI fence - VentureBeat

WARSAW The owners of a dilapidated palace in Poland have put up a security fence to deter treasure hunters after their property was named as the secret location of 28 tons of Nazi gold, buried there in the dying days of the Second World War.

Located in Roztoka, a town in south-west Poland, the palace once lay in Germany before the end of the war changed the international borders.

The claims of hidden gold were made in a diary written some 75 years ago by an SS officer. Writing under the pseudonym Michaelis, the officer detailed 11 locations where gold and artifacts owned by the Nazis were buried as Soviet forces swept in from the east.

The palace, once the home of the Hochberg family, was selected as the location for the gold, which had apparently come from banks in Breslau, now the Polish city of Wroclaw.

The manuscript covers the last months of the war and the efforts made by the SS to hide treasure, bank deposits and valuables from advancing Soviet forces, said Roman Furmaniak, from Silesian Bridge, a foundation based in the south-west town of Opole and the owners of the diary.

Im not saying it [the gold] is definitely there, but according to the information it was buried there.

To make sure it was well hidden and protected from any fighting, the gold was apparently hidden at the bottom of a well. The well was then blown up and its entrance levelled to conceal it. Just how the foundation came into possession of the diary, which had remained secret for decades, has added a twist of mystery to the story.

The diary was handed over by a Christian lodge in the town of Quedlinburg. Composed of the descendants of former SS officers and German aristocrats, the lodge gave the diary to Silesian Bridge as an act of atonement for crimes committed by the Germans.

The owners of the palace, a couple from the northern city of Szczecin, have issued a statement on Facebook, in which they pledged to co-operate with state authorities.

Read the original here:
Polish couple erects fence after 75-year-old diary lists their property as location of Nazi gold - National Post

The death of the artist Christo in his New York City loft last Sunday was a personal loss for many of us who are old enough to remember the magic of his Running Fence.

Christo and his wife and partner in art, Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009, are lauded by the worlds art community as innovators of a new style of environmental art and praised by critics like the New Yorkers Calvin Tomkins for their bold ventures that were grandiose, ephemeral and absurdly beautiful.

Tomkins description certainly fits the project that brought them to us in the mid-1970s, promising to hang a 24-mile curtain that would follow the curves and dips of the western Sonoma and Marin ranch landscape to skinny-dip into the Pacific Ocean.

And that is what they did. And we all watched and wondered through some 20 months of meetings, permit applications, denials, appeals and bureaucratic gymnastics never seen in these parts before.

There are many versions of the Running Fence story. Every one of the thousands who saw it has a story. Some can be found, digitized, in special collections of the Schulz Library at Sonoma State. Heres one, written at the 10th anniversary of the event.

----

ON SEPT. 7, 1976, the Running Fence unfurled across 1,000 yards of rocky shoreline and disappeared into the Pacific Ocean, a shining white ribbon of light reflecting the rays of the sun. It was also an illegal act.

It had begun its journey on a hill above the freeway in Cotati and headed west, changing color with the sunsets, rippling with the winds, placing exclamation points for emphasis on the golden hills of western Sonoma and Marin counties.

The 20 months preceding had been a local reporters dream come true. The Christo story was ideal no blood spilling, no lives ruined, just good clean governmental acrimony.

The 60s liberals, who were supposed to be the intellectual leaders and understand all that conceptual stuff, lined up vehemently against Christos project while the conservative West County ranchers joined with New York gallery owners, museum curators and art professors in support.

-----

OH, THE WONDER of it all, wrote The Press Democrats Petaluma reporter Bob Wells in January of 74 when Christo and Jeanne-Claude called a press conference at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds to announce the plans.

Then, for a year we familiarized ourselves with this man Christo, who had wrapped a beach in Australia with synthetic fiber and hung an orange curtain across Rifle Gap in Colorado.

Its just an art project, he deprecatingly told a Petaluma meeting of ranchers whose land would be crossed by Running Fence. But they didnt believe that, even then. And Dr. Peter Selz, an art professor at UC Berkeley, didnt either. He called it the greatest aesthetic engineering experience since the Great Wall of China.

The economics of the project, Christo told us, were irrelevant to the art but the legal and political machinations that lay ahead (even he could not have known how many there would be) were part of the art process, he said.

In January of 1975, Running Fence got its first public hearing before the Marin County Planning Commission and lost. The commissioners voted 3-3 to disallow a permit for the 4 miles of Marin County the Fence would traverse. The tie vote constituted a denial. The circus had begun.

Excerpt from:
LeBaron: Christo's death revives memories of the 'Running Fence' and the obstacles to build it - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Driver killed in overnight crash in Upstate after car hits trees, fence, deputies say

Crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Friday

Updated: 8:14 AM EDT Jun 5, 2020

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IN JUST A FEW MINUTES. RENEE: FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND ACTIVISTS SAY NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND UP IN GEORGE FLOYDS MEMORY AND DEMAND CHANGE. RENEE: TOMORROW, THERES ANOTHER MEMORIAL IN RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA, WHERE FLOYD WAS BORN. THE FIRST MEMORIAL WAS IN MINNEAPOLIS YESTERDAY. THERE WAS SILENCE FOR EIGHT MINUTES AND 46 SECONDS, THE TIME AN OFFICER HAD HIS KNEE ON FLOYDS NECK. NEXT WEEK, THERE WILL BE A FUNERAL MONDAY AND TUESDAY IN HOUSTON, FLOYDS HOMETOWN. AMANDA: NEW THIS MORNING, AND UPLIFTING MOMENT OF UNITY DURING A PROTEST IN NEBRASKA. RENEE: POLICE JOINED PROTESTERS IN MUSIC. AMANDA: WE HAVE SEEN MOMENTS LIKE THIS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. OFFICERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS JOINED TOGETHER TO DO THE CUPID SHUFFLE AT A MEMORIAL FOR GEORGE FLOYD IN LINCOLN. RENEE: BREAKING NEWS THIS MORNING, U.S. OFFICIALS HAVE CONFIRMED MORE THAN 1000 COVID 19 DEATHS IN THE LAST DAY. AMANDA: THAT BRINGS THE TOTAL TO MORE THAN 108,000. 485,000 PEOPLE HAVE RECOVERED. WORLDWIDE, THERE ARE MORE THAN 6.6 MILLION CASES. RENEE: IN ROSSEN REPORTS, WE HAVE PART TWO OF OUR SUMMER SURVIVAL GUIDE. AMANDA: WITH THE COUNTRY REOPENING THIS SUMMER JEFF , ROSSEN IS LOOKING AT WHICH SUMMER ACTIVITIES PEOPLE CAN DO SAFELY, AND WHICH ONES ARE JUST TOO RISKY. JEFF: HI, THE WEATHER IS GETTING NICE AND YOURE GETTING OUT WHICH IS GREAT. YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE AND BE PRACTICAL. I GET IT. SO, WERE HERE TO HELP. WE ARE RANKING THE RISKS OF FIVE POPULAR SUMMER ACTIVITIES RIGHT NOW. ITS THE ROSSEN REPORTS SUMMER SURVIVAL GUIDE. THIS WEEK WORKING WITH MEDICAL , EXPERTS, WE RANKED THE RISK OF GOING TO THE BEACH, LOW RISK. A PUBLIC POOL, MEDIUM RISK BECAUSE OF ALL THE COMMON SURFACES AND TOYS. BACKYARD BBQ? MEDIUM RISK. THE GET TOGETHER IS FINE. JUST KEEP DISTANCE AND DONT SHARE UTENSILS. GOING OUT TO EAT? MEDIUM RISK IF YOU SIT INSIDE THE RESTAURANT. SITTING OUTSIDE? LOW RISK. HOW ABOUT USING A PUBLIC RESTROOM? MEDIUM RISK. THE BIGGEST HAZARD? THOSE HAND DRYERS BLOWING THE VIRUS EVERYWHERE. AND GOING ON VACATION WITH ANOTHER FAMILY? LOW RISK. ASSUMING EVERYONE HAS BEEN STAYING SAFE AND ISNT IN A HIGH RISK CATEGORY. NOW LETS RANK THE NEXT FIVE SUMMER ACTIVITIES. WHAT ABOUT PLAYING OUTDOOR SPORTS WITH PEOPLE WHO ARENT IN YOUR FAMILY? BASKETBALL FOR EXAMPLE. YOURE UP IN EACH OTHERS FACE, SWEATING AND YOURE TOUCHING THE SAME BALL. WHAT ABOUT BASEBALL? SAME TYPE OF THING, RIGHT? THEYRE THROWING THE BALL AT YOU. YOURE ALL TOUCHING THIS. AND BY THE WAY, ITS THE SAME THING FOR TENNIS, RIGHT? YOU ARE ALL PLAYING WITH THE SAME TENNIS BALLS. YOURE ALL TOUCHING IT. WHATS THE RISK? >> OUTDOOR SPORTS, THIS IS GENERALLY LOW-RISK. LETS TAKE TENNIS AND BASEBALL. THE BALLS ARE MOVING AT RAPID SPEEDS. BOTH PEOPLE MAY BE TOUCHING THE BALLS BUT THEYRE GENERALLY HAVING MINIMAL CONTACT SO ITS NOT AN ISSUE. NOW LETS TALK ABOUT BASKETBALL. THATS MEDIUM RISK. FIRST OF ALL THE PLAYERS ARE IN , EACH OTHERS FACES, BREATHING RAPIDLY, THEYRE SWEATING AND THAT COULD INCREASE VIRAL TRANSMISSION. JEFF: SO MANY OF YOU ASKING ABOUT AIR TRAVEL TOO. FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE PLANE ITSELF. OPERATING AT LOWER CAPACITY BUT STILL POSSIBLE TO SIT RIGHT NEXT TO SOMEONE. >> AIR TRAVEL, WERE TALKING HIGH RISK HERE. THIS IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RISK POINTS WHERE YOU COULD TRACK THE -- COULD CONTRACT THE VIRUS. THIS IS BECAUSE PEOPLE FROM MANY DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS AND MANY COUNTRIES, WITH MANY TOUCH SURFACES ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR TALKING AND JUST BREATHING FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME IN THE SAME COMPARTMENT. I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RISK AREAS EVEN IF PEOPLE ARE WEARING MASKS. >> WHEN YOU LAND, YOU NEED A RENTAL CAR RIGHT? , THE QUESTION IS, ARE THERE CORONAVIRUS DROPLETS IN HERE FROM THE LAST CUSTOMER? THE RENTAL CAR AGENCIES SAY THEYVE BEEN DISINFECTING THE CARS BETWEEN EACH CUSTOMER BUT IN HERE, YOU HAVE NO WAY TO GUARANTEE THAT. I MEAN YOU CANT TELL BY LOOKING , AT THE STEERING WHEEL, THE ARMREST WHAT BACTERIA IS ON HERE. SO THE QUESTION IS, WHATS THE RISK IN A RENTAL CAR? >> RENTAL CAR? NOW THIS CASE IS RELATIVELY LOW RISK. ASSUMING THE CAR COMPANY HAS WIPED DOWN THE CAR THOROUGHLY, I THINK IAN THIS POINT YOURE OK BUT YOU MAY WANT TO DO AN ADDITIONAL WIPE DOWN. JEFF: AND WHAT ABOUT STAYING IN A HOTEL ROOM? WE ALREADY KNOW FROM ALL THE STORIES IVE DONE ON GERMS THAT THE LIGHT SWITCHES, THE REMOTES, THE BED SPREADS, THE PILLOW CASES CAN BE FULL OF GERMS AND BACTERIA. THE HOTELS SAY THEYRE DOING DEEPER CLEANINGS NOW BETWEEN STAYS, BUT WHATS REALLY THE RISK? >> STAYING IN A HOTEL THATS LOW , RISK. BUT THATS ONCE YOU GET INTO YOUR ROOM. REMEMBER TO WIPE DOWN SURFACES THERE BUT WHEN YOU VENTURE OUT , INTO THE REST OF THE HOTEL, THATS WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. LOBBY, AND DEFINITELY STAY OUT OF THE GYM, THATS HIGH RISK. JEFF: AND OF COURSE YOU CANT , FORGET ABOUT HAIRCUTS. THE STYLIST AND THE CLIENT WEARING A MASK BUT THEYRE IN CLOSE QUARTERS. SO HOW SAFE IS IT TO VISIT YOUR SALON OR BARBERSHOP? >> GETTING A HAIRCUT, THIS IS HIGH RISK. THE MAIN ISSUE IS THE PROLONGED CONTACT BETWEEN YOURSELF AND THE STYLIST. THE RISK ALSO IS THE STYLIST BEING INFECTED BUT THEYRE ASYMPTOMATIC AND BEING ABLE TO SPREAD THE VIRUS TO YOU. THIS HAPPENS EVEN IF BOTH OF YOU ARE WEARING A MASK. JEFF: IF YOU MISSED ANY OF THAT, WE HAVE A FULL BREAKDOWN ON OUR WEBSITE RIGHT NOW ROSSENREPORTS.COM. , YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS, KEEP THEM SAFE TOO. BACK TO YOU. RENEE: THE TD SATURDAY MARKET -- THE TD SATURDAY MARKET RETURNS SATURDAY AND IT WILL LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT. IT WILL LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT WHEN VENDORS ARE THERE. BOOTHS WILL BE SPACED OUT AND AT HALF CAPACITY. CRAFTS WILL BE SOLD ONLINE INSTEAD OF IN PERSON, AND SHOPPERS ARE ASKED STAY SIX FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AND CONSIDER WEARING A FACE MASK. IN OUR WYFF 4 GOOD SERIES, WERE SHARING ALL KINDS OF WAYS OUR COMMUNITY IS COMING TOGETHER AT THIS TIME. AMANDA: UPSTATE SERVICE INDUSTRY UNITED HAS BEEN HELPING RESTAURANTS SHUT DOWN DURING THE PANDEMIC. NOW THEYRE SUPPORTING THE LOCAL BLACK COMMUNITY. THEYRE ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO VISIT BLACK-OWNED RESTAURA

Driver killed in overnight crash in Upstate after car hits trees, fence, deputies say

Crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Friday

Updated: 8:14 AM EDT Jun 5, 2020

A driver was killed in an early morning crash after being thrown from the vehicle, deputies said.Rickey Smith, 38, of Williamston, was driving south on Midway Road near Beaverdam Road around 1:30 a.m. Friday. The car lost control, hit some trees and went through a fence, deputies said.So far, there is no information on what caused Smith to lose control. Overnight news: 16-year-old girl dies after early morning drive-by shooting in Anderson, coroner saysPedestrian dies after late night hit-and-run in Greenwood County, coroner saysDriver dies after two-car crash in Spartanburg County, troopers say

A driver was killed in an early morning crash after being thrown from the vehicle, deputies said.

Rickey Smith, 38, of Williamston, was driving south on Midway Road near Beaverdam Road around 1:30 a.m. Friday. The car lost control, hit some trees and went through a fence, deputies said.

So far, there is no information on what caused Smith to lose control.

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Driver killed in overnight crash in Upstate after car hits trees, fence, deputies say - WYFF4 Greenville

TOP OF THE HOUR:

George Floyd to be buried Tuesday in Houston.

Protesters heartened by swift reform, but vow broader change.

Protesters in Portland walk onto Interstate, leading to temporary shutdown.

Violence gives way to street fair vibe outside White House.

___

HOUSTON The black man whose death has inspired a worldwide reckoning over racial injustice will be buried Tuesday in Houston, carried home in a horse-drawn carriage.

George Floyd, who was 46 when he was killed, will be laid to rest next to his mother. On May 25, as a white Minneapolis officer pressed a knee on Floyds neck for several minutes, the dying man cried out for his mother.

His funeral will be private. A public memorial service was held Monday in Houston, where he grew up. Some 6,000 people attended.

Under a blazing Texas sun, mourners wearing T-shirts with Floyds picture or the words I Cant Breathe one of the other things he cried out repeatedly while pinned down by the police officer waited for hours to pay their respects. Floyds body, dressed in a brown suit, lay in an open gold-colored casket.

Shorty after the memorial ended, Floyds casket was placed in a hearse and escorted by police back to a funeral home.

___

ATLANTA In the two weeks since George Floyd was killed, police departments have banned chokeholds, Confederate monuments have fallen and officers have been arrested and charged amid large global protests against violence by police and racism.

The moves are far short of the overhaul of police, prosecutors offices, courts and other institutions that protesters seek. But some advocates and demonstrators say they are encouraged by the swiftness of the response to Floyds death incremental as it may be.

___

PORTLAND, Ore. Protesters walked onto Interstate 84 on Monday evening in Portlands Lloyd District, which led to officials temporarily shutting it down in that area, news footage showed.

Earlier, protesters cheered when a speaker at the demonstration talked about the police chiefs resignation.

Are we done yet? he asked the crowd. No, the crowd shouted back.

Another crowd near the downtown jail after 9 p.m. was urged by police not to shake and climb a fence erected to keep protesters away.

We are not here to police a fence, Portland police said on Twitter. We are here to protect the people who work in the Justice Center and the adults in custody who are living there.

On the ground, police were staying farther away from the fence than they had during other nights. The crowd had grown to hundreds by around 9:40 p.m., The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

___

WASHINGTON That massive fence erected around Lafayette Park has become a do-it-yourself gallery of protest art. Messages, posters and portraits, ranging from loving to enraged, almost blot out the view of the White House across the way.

One block away at the corner of 16th and I streets a constant flash point for most of last week the calliope version of La Cucaracha rang out from an ice cream truck parked just outside the police roadblock. In front of St. Johns Episcopal Church, it was so tranquil Monday afternoon you could hear the birds chirping while a white visitor paid for a $20 Black Lives Matter T-shirt with Venmo.

As the nations capital emerges from a violent and chaotic 10-day stretch of protests and street battles, a different mood is taking hold. The anger has given way to something closer to a street fair as community leaders, members of Congress and the D.C. government have rallied to the protesters cause.

___

CHARLOTTE, N.C. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer who has met with and walked with demonstrators a number of times was involved in a scuffle Monday afternoon with protesters a day after hed had another tense interaction.

Video shows CMPD Captain Brad Koch surrounded by chanting protesters Monday in front of the local government center before a white male protester approaches and shoves him. After being pushed, Koch took the man to the ground as more protesters were seen piling on. He was the only officer in the immediate vicinity.

No injuries were reported but in a tweet, CMPD said Koch was assaulted in broad daylight and is asking for the publics help to identify those involved.

Koch has repeatedly walked with protesters through the city. He was pictured kneeling alongside them last week. The police department said in a tweet that he has walked more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) with protesters in recent days.

But his interactions havent been well-received by all protesters. Some say he isnt welcome to march with them.

___

The lead attorney for George Floyds family said the grieving relatives met with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for an hour Monday in Houston.

Ben Crump said Bidens compassion meant the world to this grieving family, and he described the visit as an example of what will begin to heal America as citizens around the country demand changes to police practices after Floyds death.

Listening to one another is what will begin to heal America, Crump said. Thats just what Vice President Biden did with the family of George Floyd for more than an hour. He listened, he heard their pain and shared in their woe.

Biden traveled to Houston for the visit ahead of Floyds funeral. Biden has called for substantial changes to police practices in the U.S., but he opposes some activists call to defund police and shift that taxpayers spending to other services.

Biden wants to expand spending on social services such as education and mental health care that can support police efforts, but also spend more on training existing police officers.

Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed, died after a white officer pressed his knee into Floyds neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The officer has since been fired, arrested and charged with second-degree murder, among other charges.

___

WASHINGTON The National Park Service is calling a newly erected fence in front of a White House protest area temporary.

Park Service spokeswoman Katie Liming said Monday that her agency and the Secret Service expect to reopen part of Lafayette Park in front of the White House on Wednesday.

Liming says some areas of the park will remain closed to allow workers to deal with damage and address safety hazards. Liming gave no details and no time for when the rest of the square would reopen.

Lafayette Park in front of the White House is one of the countrys most prominent sites for political protests and other free-speech events.

Its been closed off since early last week, when law officers used chemical agents and other force to drive out protesters in the nationwide rallies against police brutality.

Authorities left a newly erected high black fence blocking the square, even though recent protests have been overwhelmingly calm.

Liming says the Washington Ellipse, Sherman Park and some other landmark areas also will reopen Wednesday.

___

GENEVA The American Civil Liberties Union says relatives of George Floyd and three other black people who were killed by police have joined some 600 rights groups to demand the top U.N. human rights body urgently convene a special session to look into a rise of police violence and repression of protests in the United States.

A spokesman for the Human Rights Council in Geneva confirmed the council office received a letter on Monday from the groups outlining their call, as Black Lives Matter protests continue to gain traction well beyond the United States notably in Europe.

At least one-third of the councils 47 member states would have to back the call for a special session in order for one to be called.

The prospects of one being held swiftly remained uncertain. The council cut short its last session in March because of the coronavirus outbreak and has been grappling with ways to start it back up next Monday.

The efforts have been complicated because the government of Switzerland, which has seen the COVID-19 pandemic recede in recent weeks, is for now still restricting all public gatherings to no more than 300 people. Council sessions generally draw hundreds more than that.

The groups want an independent investigation into the recent killings of unarmed black people in the U.S. as well as one into violent law enforcement responses to protests. The call included relatives of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and Philando Castile.

The United States, like all U.N. member states, regularly has its human rights record examined by the council, a 47-member state body that is not part of the United Nations but is supported by it.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. Black Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives commandeered the podium for about 90 minutes at the start of voting session Monday, disrupting the days business in an effort to force action on police reform bills.

The dramatic takeover went on pause when the Republican House speaker said he would consider putting proposals up for votes and that he supports a special session to consider the legislation.

The protesters, including veteran black lawmakers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, hung a BLACK LIVES MATTER banner from the speakers dais and vowed they would not leave without movement on the stalled proposals.

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OLYMPIA, Wash. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said he was convening an advisory group of black leaders and law enforcement representatives to develop police reform proposals following days of huge protests in his state over the killing of George Floyd.

My hope is to collaborate with this group to write meaningful legislation in our state, the Democrat said.

He stated three areas of action: an independent investigative and prosecutorial process for allegations of officer-involved killings, which would involve the creation of a state investigative unit separate from any other law enforcement entity in the state; rethinking police use of force, including chokeholds; and creating a legally binding and enforceable obligation that officers report misconduct by fellow officers.

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NEW ORLEANS New Orleans mayor said the Superdome would glow crimson and gold the colors of George Floyds high school Monday night as a tribute to him and a call for racial equality.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Superdome administrators agreed to her lighting request which in turn was made at the request of Sylvester Turner, mayor of Houston, where Floyd grew up and where his funeral will be held Tuesday.

Floyd, who was black, choked out I cant breathe many times before he died May 25 after what prosecutors said was 8 minutes and 46 seconds with his throat pinned under a white police officers knee in Minneapolis.

Crimson and gold are the colors of Houstons Yates High School, where Floyd graduated.

As we continue to mourn the loss of George Floyd, along with others who have been the victim of violence by police officers, we will seek to remember him and honor his memory, Cantrell said.

Last week, we showed the world that we can march, protest and be heard, and do so peacefully and respectfully. We will continue to demand justice and ensure that our police officers remain a positive presence in our own community.

Earlier in the day, Police Chief Shaun Ferguson acknowledged that police fired rubber balls at protesters on a Mississippi River bridge last week and apologized for having said otherwise at a next-day news conference defending officers use of tear gas.

Other protests in New Orleans and around the state have been peaceful.

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LOS ANGELES Prosecutors say criminal charges will not be brought against thousands of Los Angeles protesters arrested for violating curfew and other police orders.

City Attorney Mike Feuer said Monday that his office will develop an alternative outside court without punishment for those cited for violating curfew or failing to obey orders to leave demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey said she wont file charges in protest misdemeanor cases from other parts of Los Angeles County.

The city had the largest number of the 10,000 protest arrests in the U.S. tracked by The Associated Press.

Police and sheriffs deputies arrested more than 3,000 people over days of mostly peaceful protests. The vast majority of citations were happened in Los Angeles for violating curfew or dispersal orders.

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HOUSTON Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has paid his respects with hundreds of people mourning the death of George Floyd at a church in Houston, where Floyd grew up.

The Republican governor looked at Floyds body in a gold-colored casket at The Fountain of Praise church Monday for about 15 seconds, then lowered his head with his hands folded for several seconds more.

Abbott told reporters outside the church that he will include Floyds family in discussions about police reform and any related legislation.

George Floyd is going to change the arc of the future of the United States. George Floyd has not died in vain. His life will be a living legacy about the way that America and Texas responds to this tragedy, Abbott said.

Abbott said he planned to meet privately with Floyds family and present them with a Texas flag that was flown over the state Capitol in Floyds honor. The governor wore a striped crimson and gold tie, which he said was in honor of Floyd as those are the colors of Floyds high school.

Floyd, who was black and handcuffed, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped responding. Floyds death has inspired international protests.

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The Latest: George Floyd to be buried Tuesday in Houston - KTTC

Banff National Park is trying a new strategy to keep bears off the highway.

The park recently installed five kilometres of electrified wire along fencing on the side of the TransCanada highway, east of the Banff townsite.

Dan Rafla, a human-wildlife coexistence specialist for the park, said every summer, parks staff will see black bears climb the fence to eat dandelions and berries on the other side.

"In spring through June, we'll actually see a pulse of activity of bears crossing over the fence," he said.

"Then it might peter off into July as the snow melts off the landscape, grass grows elsewhere, and the animals follow that green wave up the mountains. Then we might see it again in August as buffalo berries come online in the valley bottom."

Staff havealreadyremoved berries and other food attractants from the highway side of the fence,and have replaced and upgraded fences to prevent animals burrowing underneath.

Now, the new wiring, installed far from any human trails a few weeks ago,will deliver strong but non-lethal zapsto encourage the bears to wander off in search ofa safer place to cross.

And Rafla said it's working so far.

"Unless something radically different has happened, that area where the hot wire [was installed] has been a traditional hotspot for bears climbing over for years and we haven't had one yet this year."

Rafla said they'll be assessing the wire's effectiveness over the course of the summer.

They have also introduced warning signs and highway speed reductions near those trouble spots to remind drivers to stay alert.

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New Banff fence will zap bears who try to climb it to eat roadside dandelions - CBC.ca

Gary Maynard Johnson, 66

July 10, 1953 April 22, 2020

Aurora, Colo.

Gary Maynard Johnson, 66, passed away on April 22, 2020, in Aurora, Colo. He was born on July 10, 1953, in Longmont, Colo., to L. Maynard and Norma Ruth (Sauter) Johnson. He grew up just outside of Erie, Colo., graduating from Erie High School in 1971. During his school years, Gary was very musical, playing the piano, trumpet and composing his own music. Beginning early in life, he always had to figure out how things, such as televisions and radios, worked by taking them apart and putting them back together again. This fascination continued throughout his life, as he was always doing some repair or upgrade to his computer. While he had plans to study engineering at CU Boulder after high school, a tragic motorcycle accident changed the path of his life forever. After a long and intense period of recovery, Gary resided for many years in the heart of Denver where he had access to public transportation, shopping and activities that allowed him to live independently. His unique sense of humor is a strong trait that will long be remembered by all who knew him.

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Preceding him in death were his parents, Maynard and Ruth. Gary is survived by two sisters, Donna Sauer (Jim) and Elaine Hepner (Fred); nieces, Anna Redmon (James), Sara Rector (Nathan); nephew, Scott Sauer (Danielle); and seven great-nieces and great-nephews.

A private graveside service will be held at Foothills Garden of Memory.

Readers like you make the Fence Posts work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

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The Fence Post obituary: Gary Maynard Johnson - Fence Post

BEDFORD, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SpotOn Virtual Fence the worlds first and only dog containment and tracking system was named the winner of a Gold Stevie Award in the New Product Consumer Electronics category in The 18th Annual American Business Awards.

SpotOn was honored because of its groundbreaking use of advanced technology for dogs. Unlike the traditional invisible fence and buried fence systems currently on the market, the SpotOn Virtual Fence lets dog owners set up a virtual containment area wherever they are. The system is also smart, offering satellite tracking in the event that the dog leaves the area as well as the ability to store fences at up to 10 locations. It is the first fence of its kind to incorporate such technology providing highly accurate positioning for containment and tracking purposes. The entire system is a collar and phone app, making it completely portable.

A virtual smart fence is a great idea and the features of the SpotOn Virtual Fence are a great advancement to what is available today, shared one judge. I have used some of the current products [and] technologies and it seems that this innovative offering has tackled the issues of what is available today.

More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this years Stevie Award winners.

"We are so honored to be named a Gold Stevie Award winner in the New Product category as its key validation of the exceptional technology weve developed for the pet wearable industry, said Ken Solinsky, founder of SpotOn Virtual Fence. The Stevies are known for honoring some of the greatest American businesses, and our team is incredibly proud to be recognized amongst such notable organizations.

The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.

Nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word meaning crowned, the awards will be virtually presented to winners during a live event on Wednesday, August 5. Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2020 Stevie winners are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About SpotOn Virtual Fence

SpotOn Virtual Fence gives dogs the freedom to be dogs and owners the peace of mind to let them. The only truly wireless containment solution, SpotOn replaces buried wires and base stations with GPS technologyeliminating the need for professional installation and maintenance. Simply use the collar to walk a perimeter anywhere, creating an instant containment area of unlimited shape and size. Completely connected, SpotOn offer escape notifications, status updates, and easy map management right on your smartphone.

SpotOn was created by a team with decades of experience developing high-quality electronic devices and a commitment to developing the best products for the pet industry. Recognized as a CES 2020 Innovation Award honoree, SXSW 2020 Innovation Award finalist and New Hampshire Tech Alliance 2019 Product of the Year, SpotOn has changed the lives of dogs and owners across North America. To learn more about the SpotOn technology and product, visit: http://www.spotonfence.com, our blog, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of The 2020 American Business Awards include John Hancock Financial Services, Melissa Sones Consulting and SoftPro.

Excerpt from:
SpotOn Virtual Fence Honored as Gold Stevie Award Winner In 2020 American Business Awards - Business Wire