Although the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly report issued Friday, for those who lost their jobs permanently due to the coronavirus pandemic, searching for a new job represents a challenge.It was a larger decline than most analysts expected and down from 14.7 percent in April, but at 13.3 percent rate, unemployment is remains high and devastating for many families. Further, the May jobless rate remains on par with what the U.S. experienced during the Great Depression from 1929-33.However, the BLS noted in its report that “if the workers who were recorded as employed but absent from work due to ‘other reasons’ had been classified as unemployed on temporary layoff”, the overall unemployment rate would have been about 19.7 percent in April and 16.3 percent in May.Comparing the data for both months, however, the figures still show improvement in the job market.The U.S. Labor Department said Friday the economy regained 2.5 million jobs in May after losing more than 22 million jobs in March and April. The better-than-expected May report suggests thousands of U.S. businesses reopened and brought back workers more quickly than predicted. It could take months, however, before those who lost jobs in March and April return to the work force, prompting some economists to predict the jobless rate could remain in double-digits into next year.The June BLS report is due on July 2.
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A reenergized Tropical Storm Cristobal advanced toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on Saturday, spawning a tornado in Florida and bringing the heavy rains that already caused flooding and mudslides in Mexico and Central America. After weakening to a tropical depression while moving over land in Mexico’s Gulf coast, Cristobal headed back into the southern Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday and powered back up into a tropical storm. Forecasters said it would arrive on U.S. soil late Sunday but was not expected to grow into a hurricane.The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was expected to slowly strengthen until making landfall Sunday night along the U.S. Gulf Coast.But the storm already made its presence felt Saturday evening, spawning a tornado that touched down near downtown Orlando, the National Weather Service said. The twister just missed a group of protesters at Lake Eola at around 7:30 p.m. local time. There appeared to be no injuries, but tree limbs were knocked down, and there were reports of power outages.”Yes, it is related to the tropical storm that is well to our west,” said Scott Kelly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida. “But the tropical storm provided a lot of low-level shear and that has allowed for some tornadoes to form over Central Florida.”The threat for tornadoes would continue overnight, he said.Also, outer rain bands from the storm were moving across parts of the Gulf Coast on Saturday evening.Cristobal’s maximum sustained winds had strengthened to 85 kph by early Saturday and it was moving north at 19 kph. As of Saturday evening, the storm was centered about 340 kilometers south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.The Hurricane Center said the storm could cause heavy rains from East Texas to Florida this weekend and into early next week. A tropical storm watch was posted for the northern Gulf of Mexico coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Alabama-Florida border.In Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards has declared a state of emergency to prepare for the storm’s possible arrival.Rescuers are seen during the recovery of the bodies of seven victims of a landslide caused by heavy rains amid tropical storm Cristobal in Santo Tomas, El Salvador, on June 5, 2020.”Now is the time to make your plans, which should include the traditional emergency items along with masks and hand sanitizer as we continue to battle the coronavirus pandemic,” Edward said in a statement released Thursday.On Friday, he asked President Donald Trump to declare a pre-landfall emergency for the state due to the storm’s threat.”We are confident that there will be widespread, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding,” Edwards said in a letter to the White House. “I anticipate the need for emergency protective measures, evacuations, and sheltering for the high-risk areas. The length of possible inundation is unknown and will likely require post-flood activities.”Jefferson Parish, a suburb of New Orleans, called for voluntary evacuations Saturday of Jean Lafitte, Lower Lafitte, Crown Point and Barataria because of the threat of storm surge, high tides and heavy rain. Residents were urged to move vehicles, boats and campers to higher ground.”We want to make sure residents are safe as this storm approaches, so we are taking all the necessary precautions to be fully prepared,” Jean Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner Jr. told The Advocate.A similar order was issued Saturday for several Plaquemines Parish communities, including Happy Jack, Grand Bayou, Myrtle Grove, Lake Hertiage, Harlem and Monsecour. President Kirk Lepine said the order was issued as a precaution.”We need to ensure residents are protected as this storm draws near, so we are taking all the necessary precautions to be completely prepared,” he said.The hurricane center’s forecast path puts Alabama on Cristobal’s east side, far from where the center comes ashore. Still, the southwest part of the state is expected to get gusty winds, heavy rain, storm surge and possibly tornadoes as the storm moves closer to the coast.”Sunday will be very wet and windy as Cristobal passes west of the area, placing the central Gulf Coast on the ‘dirty’ eastern side of the storm,” the weather service said.Cristobal formed this week in the Bay of Campeche from the remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda, which had sprung up last weekend in the eastern Pacific and hit Central America. The two storms combined to soak the region with as much as 89 centimeters of rain in some areas over the past week. At least 30 deaths have been attributed to the two storms and the flooding and landslides they unleashed.In Bacalar, in the south of Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, 230 families were isolated by the rains and had to be airlifted out, David Leon, Mexico’s national civil defense coordinator, said Friday. Leon added there had been light damage in 75 municipalities in seven states. 
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RAEFORD, N.C. – Hundreds of mourners lined up Saturday to pay respects to George Floyd in his North Carolina hometown, and the nation’s capital prepared for what was expected to be the city’s largest demonstration yet against police brutality.Military vehicles and officers in fatigues closed off much of downtown Washington to traffic ahead of the planned march, which was expected to attract up to 200,000 people outraged by Floyd’s death 12 days ago at the hands of police in Minneapolis.Large protests also took place across the U.S. and in major cities overseas, including London, Paris, Berlin and Sydney, Australia.In Raeford, the small town near Fayetteville where Floyd was born 46 years ago, a long line of people formed outside a church, waiting to enter in small groups for a chance to look at his coffin. A private service was scheduled for later in the day.The line of people waiting to view the coffin included families with young children and teenagers. One young woman wore a green and gold graduation cap and gown as she walked beside her parents. Most people wore surgical masks or cloth face coverings.When a hearse bearing Floyd’s coffin arrived, chants of “Black Power,” “George Floyd” and “No justice, no peace,” echoed from beneath the covered entrance.”It could have been me. It could have been my brother, my father, any of my friends who are black,” said a man in the crowd, Erik Carlos of Fayetteville. “It was a heavy hit, especially knowing that George Floyd was born near my hometown. It made me feel very vulnerable at first.”Washington has seen daily protests for the past week — largely peaceful, with people marching back and forth from the White House to the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said local officials expected 100,000 to 200,000 protesters for Saturday’s event. The White House has been fortified with new fencing and extra security precautions.In general, demonstrations in the U.S. have shifted to a calmer tenor in recent days after frequent episodes of violence in the early stages. Protesters and their supporters in public office say they are determined to turn the extraordinary outpouring of anger and grief into change, notably in regard to policing policies.In Minneapolis, city officials have agreed to ban chokeholds and neck restraints by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they see using improper force. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s police training program to stop teaching officers how to use a neck hold that blocks the flow of blood to the brain.Democrats in Congress are preparing a sweeping package of police reforms, which are expected to included changes to police-accountability laws, such as revising immunity provisions and creating a database of police use-of-force incidents. Revamped training requirements are planned, too, among them a ban on chokeholds.The House is expected to vote by month’s end. With Democrats in the majority, the bills will almost certainly pass the House. The outcome in the Senate is less certain. Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the chamber would look at the issues, but he has not endorsed any particular legislation.Meanwhile in New York, two Buffalo police officers were charged with assault Saturday after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old protester, who fell backwards onto the pavement and was hospitalized. Both pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and were released without bail. The two were suspended without pay Friday after a TV crew captured the confrontation.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 15 MB720p | 33 MB1080p | 61 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioIn London, thousands of demonstrators endured cold rain to gather in Parliament Square, a traditional venue for protests. They knelt in silence and chanted Floyd’s name before applauding his memory.Thousands of mostly young people, many dressed in black and wearing face masks, joined a Black Lives Matter protest in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. Some held up placards with slogans such as “I can’t breathe” and “Germany is not innocent.”In Paris, hundreds of people gathered at the Place de la Concorde in defiance of a police ban on large protests. Members of the multiracial crowd chanted the name of Adama Traore, a black man whose death while in police custody a few years ago has been likened by critics of French police to Floyd’s death in Minnesota.Jessica Corandi, a subway driver, said she cried when she saw the video of Floyd’s death, which came after a white officer pressed his knee onto Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.Corandi said her three young girls have started to notice people looking at them strangely on the streets of Paris, which she believes is because they are black.”It’s sad to say to our kids that we have to fight just to exist,” said Corandi, 37, who attended the protest near the U.S. Embassy.Chris Trabot, who works for Paris City Hall and is black, said Floyd’s death triggered his decision to demonstrate for the first time in his life.Talbot said: “The violence happens every day. The moment has come to say stop.”
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As protesters demand justice for George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, many Native Americans in Montana are showing solidarity for black Americans.Floyd, 46, died after pleading for his life as a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck. The incident sparked outrage, and protesters flooded cities worldwide, including Great Falls, Helena, Bozeman, Missoula and Billings, calling for justice and an end to systemic racism.Resulting anger and frustration are compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, which illuminates inequity, as it disproportionately ravages minority communities.  More Demonstrations Anticipated Across the United States for Police ReformsMinneapolis bans police from using chokeholds after the death of an African American manA May report from the APM Research Lab found that the COVID-19 mortality rate for black Americans is 2.4 times higher than for white Americans. While the report acknowledged “limited and uneven data” regarding Indigenous populations, it stated that in New Mexico, which contains portions of the Navajo Nation, the Indigenous mortality rate is eight times as high as the white mortality rate.Rep. Barbara Bessette (D-Great Falls), a Chippewa Cree tribal member, said, like coronavirus, she views systemic racism as a public health crisis.”Minority communities have high health disparities, economic injustice and inadequate housing. This isn’t about just one incident but a myriad of things. What’s happening now is symptomatic of a much deeper ‘disease,'” she told the Great Falls Tribune.As Floyd’s death sparks an anti-racism movement, some Native Americans wonder if they will be included in conversations of injustice and change.Indian Education for All Instructional Coach Jordann Lankford said that while the growing movement provides an opportunity to discuss inequity, she is disappointed that other minorities have been excluded from the dialogue.”I fear people in Montana will see these things and see the riots and think, ‘Well, that really doesn’t affect Montana because we don’t have a big black population here.’ But it’s not just a black and white issue — racial inequity affects all minority groups, and it needs to be an open dialogue, including everyone,” she said.Craig Falcon, a Blackfeet tribal member who is running for council in Seville District No. 7, said that when it comes to conversations about racism, American Indians are often treated “like the forgotten stepchild of the family that no one likes.”  “The African American population often gets the spotlight on racism, but our struggle is very similar,” Falcon said. “We also deal with racism on a daily basis, so this touches home for us, too. Native Americans are often dehumanized and portrayed as savages. It seems like we get forgotten because America is ashamed, or embarrassed about its treatment of us.”But, Ben Pease, an artist who, through his work, challenges cultural appropriation and confronts Indigenous stereotypes, said including Native voices in anti-racist movements “happens at a different trajectory and velocity.””This country is quite literally founded on stolen lands and the conquering of many peoples, thousands of tribes. But we have a small population; we don’t have a large representation in media. As individuals and culturally, we are not as vocal. We haven’t had a Dr. (Martin Luther) King or a Dr. Cornel West. We’ve had other scholars, activists and educators, but our voice is much smaller,” he said.  Lance Morris, 62, a member of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes and local activist, said unrest is a familiar story in America.He remembers the ransacking of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building, the burning of a courthouse in South Dakota and protests at Wounded Knee in the 1970s. He also attended Stewart Indian School, which, along with other boarding schools in the country, punished students for embracing their cultural identity.  It’s hard for Morris to reconcile new anti-racist movements with past injustices. He often wonders where the protesters were when he was fighting for equality.  “We’ve had the Indian Removal Act, Trail of Tears, ethnic cleansing and genocide. This man didn’t deserve to die, and it’s very tragic, but where were these people when we needed them to stand?” he said. “Indigenous women, men and children go missing and are murdered every day … where’s the outrage for them? Where’s the outrage for the generational trauma that people are still dealing with on reservations? We’re still being forgotten.”Lankford works with Indigenous youth and often talks with them about how to effectively incite change.She said she encourages students to confront, rather than confirm, stereotypes and worries that when people see riots and the destruction of property, it will be harder to have conversations about race.  “Absolutely, people should stand for what they believe in. We have the right to protest, but we have a moral responsibility to uphold, and there’s a line between protesting and anarchy,” she said. “I don’t want to teach children that this is how you get your way. I’m trying to teach kids how to rationally look at situations and make room for dialogue. Reacting violently is not going to allow people to listen to you.”Artist Ben Pease disagrees.  “Personally, I think, how loud do you have to be to be heard? How many times do you have to die? How many African Americans have to die at the hands of the police for there to be systemic change? Rioting does work. Looting does work. Protesting does work,” he said. “People are speaking up, and if no one is listening, it takes yelling.”While feelings of anger, frustration and exhaustion reverberate nationwide, many see the growing movement as a sign of hope.  Lankford likened the new movement to the #MeToo movement, which supports survivors of sexual violence.  “With the #MeToo movement, we saw a trickle-down effect that made a lot of room for conversation about missing and murdered Indigenous women. Even though the issue has been around for more than 500 years, that movement allowed Indigenous voices to be heard. It’s unfortunate that it takes a catastrophe for us to have an opening to talk about these things, but I hope the dialogue will stay open,” she said.  Falcon said he is proud of Montanans for speaking up.”We don’t want these atrocities to happen to any person of any color, and it seems that people are finally fed up with racism,” he said.  Pease wrestles with his emotions on the topic but ultimately takes solace in local activism.  “This country was built to say that yes, white people are more valuable,” he said. “So, how am I supposed to feel? I’m angry, disappointed, scared and unsure of the future for myself, my children and their children. But there is hope. I am seeing a lot of beautiful things in our state of Montana, and I’m seeing people protest peacefully and race boundaries begin to dissolve.”  Rep. Bessette offered advice for Montanans who want to support the movement:”Speak up if you see injustices, be a known ally for those who are disproportionately represented in these situations and, no matter what, vote.” 
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Newspaper comic strips have always operated in a parallel universe, seldom reflecting the problems of the real world.No matter what the reader is going through, Dagwood has never had to apply for unemployment benefits; there’s no global warming in Mark Trail’s forest; and people get old but don’t die in Gasoline Alley.But this Sunday, sharp-eyed readers will find tributes and thank-you’s to front-line workers who have spent the last five months fighting the coronavirus and making sure vital services don’t stop.The artists of more than 70 strips will hide six items associated with the COVID-19 battle lines within the pictures – a medical mask, a steering wheel for those who drive delivery trucks, a supermarket shopping cart, apples for teachers, a fork to thank food service workers and a microscope to salute medical researchers.The idea was the brainchild of Rick Kirkman, who is one of the creators of the comic strip “Baby Blues.”“Every time somebody finds or discovers one of those little symbols in the artwork, to me, I hope that evokes a little bit of gratitude that goes out into the universe,” he said.Kirkman threw out the idea to other cartoonists, and the results can be seen Sunday.“You can hide these things and just be really devious about it,” he said. “You can leave them in the open. You can use them as props. You can even build your gag around them. I don’t care as long as they’re in there.”But working an apple into a cartoon to thank schoolteachers is not as simple as it may sound.Sunday comic strips are drawn and submitted to their syndicates sometimes as much as three months in advance.Bruce Simon is a Berkeley, California-based cartoonist and comics historian.“The coordination problems are horrific with all these people having different deadlines and the syndicates need to work so far ahead,” Simon said.“Wiley Miller who does ‘Non-Sequitur’ actually pulled his scheduled strip and did a new one because he works so far ahead. But he wanted to be a part of it so he did a special one for Sunday and the one he had scheduled will show up some other time,” Simon added.And while it’s easy to camouflage a truck steering wheel into a 21st century-era cartoon, what about a long-running saga of the fifth century?“Prince Valiant. Now, how ‘Prince Valiant’ is going to incorporate a grocery cart or microscope into his historic strip is going to be something interesting,” Simon said.Because no newspaper carries every comic strip, all the strips with a thank-you to front-line workers can be seen after Sunday on the ComicsKingdom.com and GoComics.com websites.    
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