A year has passed since George Floyd’s murder, half of the adults in the United States have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, and a man lost in the wilderness has been found.
👋 Hey, hey, hey! It’s Laura. Happy Tuesday. I’ve got more news than you can shake a stick at.
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‘A year that’s ripped my heart out’
To millions around the world, the final minutes of Floyd’s life, captured on a shaky smartphone video one year ago Tuesday, reflected decades of police brutality against Black citizens and unleashed global protests calling for racial justice. But few will experience the bile and pain of May 25 as heavily as his family and friends.
- Memorials: Following several days of marches and rallies across the country marking the anniversary, the intersection of 38th and Chicago in front of Cup Foods in Minneapolis has been transformed into an outdoor festival for the “Rise and Remember George Floyd” celebration, including a candlelight vigil at 8 p.m. A celebration of life will be held by The George Floyd Memorial Foundation in downtown Minneapolis with activities for families, performances and guest speakers.
- Meeting the president: Members of Floyd’s family, including his 7-year-old daughter Gianna and her mother, Roxie Washington; Floyd’s sister, Bridgett; as well as Floyd’s three brothers and nephew will also meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
- Michelle Obama marked the day by honoring Floyd’s daughter and “all the young people out there who have seen so much, but refuse to give up hope.”
The police were called out to investigate a report that Floyd allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for cigarettes. But for those closest to Floyd, his death was a theft; the abrupt loss of a friend and confidant, of a fun-loving older cousin who swung you up toward the sky or sent Happy Birthday texts, of a lifelong friend who helped troubled youth give up their guns, of a brother who was always ready with a prayer and whose killing left a void stretching from Minneapolis to Houston’s Third Ward, where he grew up. “It’s been a year that’s ripped my heart out,” his sister, LaTonya Floyd, said.
Biden’s Putin in his time
Switzerland in June sounds nice. Biden will be meeting face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin there on June 16, a high-stakes summit that comes amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington, the White House announced on Tuesday. U.S.-Russia relations have been strained since Biden took office, as the White House confronted Moscow over its interference in the 2020 presidential election and its role in the massive SolarWinds cyberattack, among other aggressions. Biden is expected to discuss a range of topics, from arms control to American support for Ukraine’s sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression.
What everyone’s talking about
- It’s a jellyfish jamboree! Thousands of cannonball jellyfish pile up on the shores of Tybee Island, Georgia. You gotta see these things.
- That’s a lot of money: Viral ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ video sells as NFT for more than $760,000.
- Prison officers charged following Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide will avoid jail time in deal with federal prosecutors.
- She wanted to feed the monkeys. Could you blame her? Zoo pressing charges against woman who walked through moat and into spider monkeys’ exhibit.
- Deaths by suicide declined at the height of the pandemic. Researchers have some ideas why.
- Those infamous edited yearbook photos and society’s obsession with girls’ bodies: ‘You can’t win.’
Half of the country’s been vaccinated
Biden has set a goal of getting at least one shot into the arm of 70% of adults in the U.S. by July 4th. So how’s it going?
Half of the adults in the country will have rolled up their sleeves for a full round of COVID-19 vaccines by Tuesday, according to the White House. Vaccination rates still vary by state, however, with at least 25 states reporting half their adult residents have been fully vaccinated. Officials have stressed that the coronavirus will continue to spread in communities with lower levels of vaccinations. More than 60% of adults have now had at least one shot.
Also on Tuesday: Moderna announced that its vaccine was 93% effective against COVID-19 in children aged 12 to 17 after the first dose and 100% two weeks after the second dose, with no cases of COVID-19 reported among vaccinated participants. Moderna hopes to be able to amend the emergency use authorization from the FDA to allow children as young as 12 to receive it. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for use in adults and teens 16 and older in December; the allowed age was dropped to 12 in May.
- CDC investigating cases of heart inflammation in teens, young adults who got a two-shot COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s what we know.
- Parental consent needed to get COVID-19 shot? Here’s how some teens are approaching their anti-vaccine families.
Unruly passengers take to the skies
Enough is enough, says the flight attendants union. According to a letter sent to Southwest Airlines CEO, a flight attendant suffered facial injuries and lost two teeth after being assaulted by a passenger over the weekend. In an appeal for more safeguards as travel rebounds, the union wrote to the CEO, asking management to take measures for their protection — as well as for other passengers. The union said there were 477 passenger-misconduct incidents on Southwest between April 8 and May 15. The FAA has also taken notice of a spike in passengers behaving badly, noting that since Jan. 1, the agency had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including nearly 2,000 who refused to comply with the federal facemask mandate.
Real quick
Man missing in wilderness found alive
Next time I go camping, I’m asking Harry for some tips on survival. Fisherman Harry Burleigh, 69, was just found alive and well — more than 2 weeks after being reported missing in Oregon’s wilderness. He was reported missing on May 7 after failing to return home from a camping trip in the Toketee area of the Umpqua National Forest, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Rescue teams located his vehicle at a trail the next day but did not find him. A week later, officials came across a makeshift shelter and his tackle box. “They left him a note and lighter and told him to make a fire and they would be back in to get him tomorrow,” his wife, Stacy, wrote on Facebook. Another week passed with no sign of Burleigh, until Sunday, when rescuers found another makeshift shelter and called out to him. This time, he responded. After being located in stable condition, a helicopter transported Burleigh to a hospital for an evaluation, where he was reunited with his family.
A break from the news
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