One more. This Saturday, May 6, a mass shooting in Allen, Texas, claimed the lives of innocent people.
It was Saturday afternoon when a gunman opened fire at Allen Premium Outlets, a shopping center on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. Eight people were killed and seven more were injured by bullets fired by 33-year-old Mauricio Garcia.
According to local officials, the man was interacting with neo-Nazi and white supremacist content online.
The horrific act occurred around 3:30 p.m., when the outdoor mall was packed with people. Videos circulating on social media show people running in the opposite direction of the shooter and seeking shelter.
Others ran through the parking lot, not sure what was happening.
Garcia, the perpetrator, died at the scene after being fatally shot by a police officer who was on an unrelated duty at the mall, who upon hearing gunshots ran in the direction they were coming from and killed the attacker.
The Allen Police Department said in a statement that they, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety are conducting a joint investigation and providing ongoing security at the mall.
In this regard, he said that the agencies are working to provide citizens who have personal belongings and vehicles in the area of the shopping center with a safe and fast plan to recover their belongings.
According to Allen, Texas, Police Chief Brian E. Harvey, the perpetrator acted alone, and the act is not yet classified as an act of domestic terrorism.
In this regard, President Joseph Biden and his wife regretted and condemned the events.
"Eight Americans, including children, were killed yesterday in Allen, Texas, the latest act of gun violence to devastate our nation. Jill and I are praying for their families and those critically injured. We are grateful to the first responders who acted quickly and bravely," the president tweeted.
He also said that the attacker had tactical equipment and was armed with an AR-15 rifle.
"Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar. We need more action, faster to save lives," he wrote.
“Once again, Congress must send me a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Enact universal background checks. Require secure storage. End immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe,” Biden stressed.
At the time, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, reproached the little effort of Congress for gun control on his Twitter account.
“Is this freedom?? To get shot in a mall? Shot in a school? Shot in a church? Shot in a movie theater? We have become a nation that focuses more on the right to kill than the right to live. This is not what the American people want. Do your damn job, Congress.”
For its part, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on its Twitter account that the Allen City Police has confirmed that ‒so far‒ there are no Mexican victims among the deceased or among the wounded, and deeply regretted the tragic shooting.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
The space dedicated to collaborative creation in technology, art and crafts, Makerspace celebrates its first anniversary in the Redwood City Public Library.
The Makerspace opened in early March 2022, following years of effort by the Redwood City Library Foundation, and is open seven days a week.
According to its website, “The Library’s Makerspace is designed to provide community members with equitable access to technology and other tools that may not be readily accessible or affordable to individuals.”
This collaborative space allows people and groups of all ages to come together to create, experiment and learn about technology, computers, art, science, electronics and sewing.
What's in the Makerspace
In terms of technology, the Makerspace has 3D printers, digital modeling and design software, and the opportunity to learn about robotics and electronics.
For those interested in sewing, the collaborative space has sewing and embroidery machines, as well as tools for creating all kinds of crafts.
To collaborate, the Makerspace offers whiteboards, screen monitors, space for video conferencing and audio recording, and reconfigurable tables and seating.
While the space offers all these benefits, there are still improvements that can be made.
For Gene Suarez, senior library assistant at the Redwood City Public Library, one of the tools that could help is more podcast-friendly microphones and a wider variety of editing software, since they currently use free software like Audacity.
And it is that in this collaborative space different activities are offered such as sewing classes, The portal to creativity —where some classes are taught in Spanish—, classes for learning English, workshops, coding clubs and even activities related to STEAM areas —Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics—.
In this regard, Suárez pointed out that the photography classes are given in Spanish and have had a good reception from the public; as well as the coding club and the special robotics club for children and adolescents from 3 to 18 years old. However, adults also tend to attend these activities.
"Whatever they are doing, they are doing a good job," Suárez acknowledged of the classes and activities taught in Spanish, such as photography classes.
Those interested can access the Makerspace at the Redwood City Public Library located at 1044 Middlefield Rd in Redwood City.
Over the past year, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most important topics of conversation across all media, and there is a chance that it could be the future of humanity.
AI has proven to be a useful tool for education, journalism, science and art, however Lina Khan, president of the Federal Trade Commission The FTC recently noted that while AI can bring about great innovations, it can also “turbocharge fraud and automate discrimination.”
Artificial Intelligence offers users the possibility of finishing work faster, complementing tasks, creating pieces of art, writing texts, perfecting and facilitating different activities of daily life and even having a conversation, however this has generated discussions about the advantages and disadvantages that this has for humanity.
Hector Palacios, scientific researcher at ServiceNow Research, he explained at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services in which experts met to discuss the phenomenon that has caused AI, that Artificial Intelligence is "a computer program" which uses another type of language that comes from mathematics.
"We have texts that look like they were written by humans, but they are not," Palacios said.
And today there are programs like ChatGPT, which is a chat system developed by the company Open AI –which is dedicated to Artificial Intelligence research– that is based on the GPT-4 AI language model and that automatically generates responses in a chatbot.
Despite all the benefits that Artificial Intelligence offers, Palacios pointed out that there are risks such as misinformation, manipulation and even polarization due to the generation of content with these tools.
"We have to think about the dangers and the opportunities it offers," he said.
Sean McGregor, PhD in machine learning, founder of Responsible AI Collaborative, chief technical advisor for IBM Watson AI XPRIZE and creator of the AI incident database, noted that there are racial biases in Artificial Intelligence that have caused conflicts for some communities.
McGregor showed a video in which Joy Boulamwini shows through poetry how AI does not recognize the gender of people from communities of color.
“Let’s say the data itself is perfectly unbiased, it does and can produce a good performing system. The question remains as to how the camera is adjusted. As for contrast, is it going to be brighter or darker, which changes the performance of the system for people with different skin tone which is completely outside the scope of what the data is expressing?” he questioned.
McGregor also noted that these types of problems stem from those who have the power to make the decisions that lead to racial biases in AI.
Artificial Intelligence in science fiction
For some time now, many science fiction writers have included Artificial Intelligence in their stories and have managed to fascinate the world with films such as Her, Terminator, Blade Runner or 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Chris Dede, a researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and associate director of research at the National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education, said that artificial intelligence has been a part of science fiction for decades, and that in addition to causing fascination, it has also managed to cause fear in some.
“When I was a graduate student, I saw the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, where AI goes crazy and starts killing astronauts. But the other theme in science fiction is AI as a companion, a complementary relationship between human and AI. We see, for example, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, where we have Picard, the wise human captain of a starship, and then we have Data, who looks like a person, but is actually an AI-based android,” he said.
Finally, Dede pointed out that “AI is like a mirror that we put on the internet and it reflects what it sees of us –human beings– and society.”
According to the Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center According to the University of California's TERC, during the last five months of 2022, Lake Tahoe was the clearest since the 1980s, thanks in large part to a resurgence of the lake's native zooplankton.
Researchers at the center emphasized that the process is still in its early stages and they expect the improvement in clarity to continue in 2023.
Image: University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC).
The main factors affecting lake clarity are the concentration of particles in a specific size range, such as silt and clay, and tiny phytoplankton or algae. Cyclotella phytoplankton, a single-celled algae, is found in this size range and has affected clarity in most years.
Image: University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC).
Zooplankton are small, microscopic animals. Some zooplankton, particularly Daphnia and Bosmina, are specialized to consume particles in this critical size range.
“Daphnia and bosmina largely disappeared from the lake after they were wiped out following the introduction of Mysis shrimp in the 1960s,” said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. “In late 2021, the Mysis population unexpectedly plummeted, and it took 12 months for Daphnia and Bosmina to build up their numbers and begin their natural cleanup.”
Other factors are known to influence changes in clarity from year to year. These include the magnitude of runoff, warming of the lake surface and the depth at which the lake was mixed in the previous winter. The report examined all of these factors and concluded that only the change in the zooplankton community could explain the magnitude of this year's change.
Water clarity is measured as the depth at which a 10-inch white disk, called a Secchi disk, remains visible when submerged in water.
In 2022, Lake Tahoe's average annual clarity was 71.7 feet compared to 61 feet in 2021. The key finding for 2022 was the large improvement in lake clarity from August to December, when the average Secchi depth was 80.6 feet. This coincided with the highest numbers of the zooplankton Daphnia and Bosmina.
The states of California and Nevada, which share a border on Lake Tahoe, are actively working to restore the lake's clarity to its historic 97.4 feet.
“We expect the impact of Daphnia and Bosmina to grow through 2023, and clarity may return to 1970s levels, despite the large runoff expected from this year’s record snowpack,” said TERC ship captain and Secchi disk observer Brant Allen.
"These events support the hypothesis we put forward several years ago that the food web is an important factor in controlling lake clarity," he added.
However, the assistance provided by Daphnia and Bosmina plankton may only be short-term, the centre said in a statement.
In turn, it is expected that mysis shrimp populations will recover as they consume Daphnia and Bosmina, so that clarity will return to what has been seen in the last 20 years.
Image: University of California, Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC).
“Future management actions should explicitly seek to incorporate ways to control the Mysis population,” said Geoffrey Schladow. “We have a short window of time to monitor the lake in the absence of Mysis and then track the impacts of its return on lake clarity.”
This would add to the strenuous efforts being made to keep fine particulate matter and nutrients out of Lake Tahoe. Management agencies in the watershed report that more than 500,000 pounds of fine sediment and other clarity-impairing pollutants are kept out of the lake each year through erosion control projects and road maintenance.
TERC scientists are currently monitoring zooplankton communities through donor funding. They are also working with local fishing guides to monitor changes in fish. Kokanee salmon, for example, are expected to be larger in 2023, as daphnia are their preferred food source.
The fifth month of the year has begun and we are getting closer to summer vacation. Various cities in the country celebrate and enjoy various events around May 5, an important date for the Mexican people, and one that has gained relevance in the American Union.
The Bay Area is no exception. The city of East Palo Alto is ready to celebrate this Sunday in style with its Cinco de Mayo Latin Festival.
While you prepare your best dance moves and tune your throat, here are the local news stories from April 29 to May 5 that you should know to stay up to date.
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A private security guard has been arrested after shooting and killing a 24-year-old woman outside a Walgreens on Market Street in San Francisco on Thursday night, April 25, local police said.
The suspect was identified as Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33, who worked as a private security guard. He was arrested and booked into the San Francisco County Jail on a charge of murder.
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Next May 13 will be the last day that the residents of Redwood City will be able to decide on the final design for the renovation of Hoover Park, a park whose some of its amenities date back to 1966, so this new image of one of the representative places of the city is essential.
Residents can review and choose between two conceptual designs through an online survey that provides details of each option. It should be noted that the survey is in English and Spanish.
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A woman died after being hit by a vehicle in a fatal collision in San Jose on Monday morning, May 1.
This accident marks San Jose's 13th traffic death and the 10th pedestrian death this year in the city.
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A motorcycle driver died after a fatal motorcycle crash in Redwood City collided with a Toyota sedan on US Highway 101 Saturday night, prompting northbound lane closures.
The crash occurred on northbound U.S. Highway 101 just south of State Highway 92 at about 11:59 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol spokesman Art Montiel.
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The Orion alternative school in Redwood City has a full agenda this May, which among other events has prepared an exhibition to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month - Asian American and Pacific Islanders - in which participating students can win gift cards.
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The Redwood City Police Department (RCPD) is searching for a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run in Redwood City on March 31 on Veterans Boulevard.
In response, authorities have called on residents to come clean about the incident that occurred in the 1100 block of Veteran's Boulevard, near the intersection with Walnut, at 9:23 p.m. on March 31.
RCPD has very limited information on the suspect. They said they only know the suspect vehicle is a late 1990s Toyota or Honda Sedan that is gold or white in color. There is no description of the driver.
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On Monday, it was announced that JPMorgan Chase Bank has acquired First Republic Bank from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), with the vast majority of its assets and assumed deposits and other liabilities.
As part of the purchase, JPMorgan Chase is assuming all deposits, insured and uninsured.
While San Francisco-based First Republic Bank was closed Monday by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, branches opened Monday, May 1, as usual, and customers continued to receive uninterrupted service, including digital and mobile banking capabilities. However, they now serve as just another JPMorgan Chase branch.
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Three East Bay men have been arrested in connection with robberies targeting AAPI — Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders — communities across the Bay Area, San Jose police said Monday.
The trio, suspected of a series of armed robberies between December and February, were identified as Joel Contreras Barrón, 26, of Antioch, Francisco Rincón, 28, of Richmond, and Juan Rodríguez Ramírez, 26, of Richmond.
Investigators say the men are linked to 13 robberies, five grand thefts and countless vehicle thefts in the region.
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City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz announced Wednesday the selection of Kristina A. Bell as the new Redwood City Police Chief, who will begin her new role on June 5.
Since 2020, Bell has served as Chief of Police Services for the City of San Carlos and as Captain of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.
Bell has also held various positions within corrections, operations and support services within the County Sheriff's Office, rising through the ranks from Correctional Officer to Sheriff's Captain.
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The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, along with San Mateo County and the police departments of South San Francisco, San Bruno, Daly City, Colma, and Citizens for San Mateo County Gun Buyback, will be holding an anonymous gun buyback event this coming Saturday, May 6.
The event will be held in the parking lot of the North County Courthouse, located at 1050 Mission Road in South San Francisco, on Saturday, May 6, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
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San Mateo police have arrested a man suspected of a shooting at a bar in the city in which one of the bullets grazed the leg of a male victim.
So, during the early morning hours of May 3, SMPD arrested Perez-Pinzon without incident near his residence in Redwood City, then booked him into the San Mateo County Jail for assault with a firearm, negligent discharge of a firearm, criminal threats, exhibition of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a parolee, and carrying a loaded firearm.
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At least 50 koi fish have been stolen from the Friendship Garden pond in San Jose, the city's parks, recreation and community services department said Wednesday, asking for help in determining where they are.
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The San Mateo County Executive's Office has launched a call for applications to find its next youth cultural ambassadors, and applicants have until the end of this May to apply.
To become a Cultural Ambassador, interested artists must be between the ages of 15-19, have a major in one or more artistic disciplines—e.g., literary, visual arts, theater, music, digital, etc.—, have experience in community events and projects or outreach, be able to serve as a Youth Cultural Ambassador for one year beginning in July 2023, and be a resident of San Mateo County.
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Everything is ready for this coming Sunday, May 7, to be held the Cinco de Mayo 2023 Latino Festival organized by the East Palo Alto Latino Committee, which will pay tribute to Mexican culture and commemorate the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican army won over the troops of the Second French Empire.
Children, adults and seniors will be able to enjoy the free event that will take place at Bell Street Park, located on the corner of Bell Street and University Ave. in East Palo Alto.
The event will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a parade at the entrance of the elementary school located at the intersection of Clarke and Donohoe streets. Afterwards, attendees will be able to enjoy various events from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., including Mariachi, cultural presentations, folkloric dances, food, information and history, raffles, and lots of music, all in a family-friendly, alcohol- and tobacco-free environment.
Nearly 90 percent of brain growth occurs before children start kindergarten. That's why experts say high-quality care is so vital for young children. It's also why the current child care crisis is so troubling and why the administration is calling for a new policy. Biden is once again trying to tackle the problem on a national scale.
The childcare sector has certainly long been marked by a brutal economic tug-of-war.
Most families cannot afford the high cost of care, while many child care workers cannot survive on their wages. Note that child care for an infant in Alameda County costs around $20,000 a year in 2021, for example.
Now consider that the average child care worker makes about $13 an hour. Raising awareness of this situation is the goal of events like the upcoming Day Without Child Care, when many providers across the country will shut down and speak out about the issues.
“Child care is a textbook example of a broken market,” as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen put it. “The free market works well in many different sectors, but child care is not one of them. It doesn’t work for caregivers. It doesn’t work for parents. It doesn’t work for children. And because it doesn’t work for them, it doesn’t work for the country.”
The pandemic has deepened the preexisting child care crisis, shuttering nearly 16,000 child care centers and raising operating costs for those that remain in business. Inflation also means everything from masks to snacks costs more than before, experts say, while many workers have fled to higher-paying jobs at Starbucks and Target, putting even more strain on the system.
Amid the current crisis, the Biden administration initially proposed an ambitious plan for federally subsidized child care that was shot down in Congress. It is now pushing several smaller solutions, including requiring semiconductor manufacturers that are lining up to receive nearly $40 billion in new federal subsidies under CHIPS and the Science Act to provide child care for their workers.
“The pandemic … made even clearer how difficult it is for millions of working and middle-class families to care for their families,” Biden said last month. “It’s not just how important the care economy is to the entire economy, but when people have to leave the workforce or can’t enter it because of caregiving responsibilities, they can’t fully participate in the economy, and that drags down productivity and growth for the entire nation overall.”
Many praise this strategy for creating more affordable child care options by attracting corporations to provide coverage to their employees.
“Innovative ideas like the CHIPS Act are what we need to begin to address the child care crisis that has been generations in the making,” said Gina Fromer, president and CEO of Children's Council of San Francisco.
«Semiconductor industry groups and even top CEOs are supporting the program’s effort to link workforce development to child care, citing the need to re-engage the 2 million women who left the workforce during the pandemic to care for family members.»
Others, however, warn that tying child care to employment rather than treating it as a public good, like K-12 education, risks leaving millions of struggling families out of the loop. Think about health care. When you lose your job, you lose your coverage, too — and so do your children. These people say it should be the government’s role to oversee vital social infrastructure.
“Kudos for a creative idea, but isn’t the child care system complicated enough without now adding a health care-style system on top of that?” said Scott Moore, director of Kidango, a nonprofit that runs many Bay Area child care centers. “Another downside is shifting responsibility from government to businesses.”
Biden also recently issued an executive order directing federal agencies to find ways to make child care more affordable and accessible. White House officials have described it as the most sweeping effort of any president to streamline child care delivery.
However, some suggest that the strategy of privatizing some of the high costs of child care may prove to be a more practical step.
“Biden’s pressure on chipmakers to expand their own child care centers as they recruit new workers may prove more important,” said Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at UC Berkeley. “The president could double down and push for similar provisions within the $1.2 trillion in infrastructure projects, which benefit a range of energy, bridge-building and construction companies — all of which employ parents with young children.”
While many child care advocates believe universal early education should be the gold standard, some suggest that economic and political complications may make it difficult to achieve that goal.
“Early education advocates must continue to push our local, state, and national leaders toward the ultimate goal of universal child care for all. That should be our ultimate goal, period,” Fromer said. “But, as with any large-scale socioeconomic change, it has been and will continue to be a long, hard battle to achieve. In the meantime, what may seem like short-term incremental steps have proven to be real solutions.”
Another key issue is how to lift child care workers out of poverty while also making care more accessible. The child care industry, a workforce with a significant number of women of color, has long suffered from poverty wages.
“Early childhood teachers work with children during their most formative years of development and growth,” Moore noted, “yet they are the lowest paid in a low-wage profession.”
Others caution that the bottom line is maintaining high quality of care. Simply expanding access to child care or lowering its costs is not enough to give children the head start they need in early childhood.
“One concern: We don’t want to expand the number of new child care spaces with static funding,” Fuller said. “This would erode teacher quality and increase class sizes in pre-K programs. The long-term benefits of child care only materialize with high-quality programs.”
Everything is ready for the Cinco de Mayo 2023 Latin Festival organized by the East Palo Alto Latino Committee, which will pay tribute to Mexican culture and commemorate the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexican army won over the troops of the Second French Empire.
Music, food, folklore, and cultural performances will not be long in coming at an event that is made for everyone.
Children, adults and seniors will be able to enjoy the free event that will take place at Bell Street Park, located on the corner of Bell Street and University Ave. in East Palo Alto.
The event will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a parade at the entrance of the primary school located at the intersection of Clarke and Donohoe Streets.
After that, attendees could enjoy from 12:00 to 18:00 various events that include Mariachi, cultural presentations, folkloric dances, food, information and history, raffles, lots of music, all in a family atmosphere, free of alcohol and tobacco.
The CEO of the World Health Organization ‒WHO‒, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, announced this Friday, May 5, 2023, the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, after the Emergency Committee met for the fifteenth time on Thursday and recommended declaring the end of the public health emergency of international interest.
“It is therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” Dr Tedros said at a briefing this morning.
However, he clarified that the end of the pandemic does not mean that COVID-19 has ended as a threat to global health.
“Last week, COVID-19 claimed one life every three minutes, and those are just the deaths we know about,” he said. “As we speak, thousands of people around the world are fighting for their lives in intensive care units. And millions more continue to live with the debilitating effects of post-COVID-19 conditions.”
In this regard, Dr. Tedros pointed out that "this virus is here to stay" and continues to kill and mutate, so there is still a risk of new variants emerging that cause new increases in cases and deaths.
"The worst thing any country could do now is use this news as a reason to let down its guard, dismantle the systems it has built, or send the message to its people that COVID-19 is nothing to worry about," he stressed.
In this regard, he said that what this news means is that from now on countries can make the transition from emergency mode to managing COVID-19 along with other infectious diseases.
"I would like to stress that this is not a sudden decision. It is a decision that has been carefully considered for some time, planned and taken on the basis of careful analysis of the data," he said.
However, he said that, if necessary, he would not hesitate to convene another Emergency Committee if COVID-19 once again endangers the world.
"While this Emergency Committee will now cease its work, it has sent a clear message that countries should not cease theirs."
Dr Tedros explained that following the Committee's advice, he decided to use a provision of the International Health Regulations that has never been used before, to establish a Review Committee to develop long-term, standing recommendations for countries on how to manage COVID-19 on an ongoing basis.
In turn, he said that the WHO published this week the fourth edition of the Global Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response to COVID-19, which outlines critical actions for countries in five main areas: collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.
“For more than three years, the Emergency Committee’s experts have dedicated their time, experience and expertise not only to advise me on whether COVID-19 continues to represent a global health emergency, but also to advise on recommendations for countries,” she said. “In countries around the world, WHO has worked closely with governments to translate that guidance into policies and actions to save lives.”
“On one level, this is a moment of celebration,” Tedros said, noting that this moment has been reached thanks to the incredible skill and selfless dedication of health and care workers; the innovation of vaccine researchers and developers; the difficult decisions governments have had to make in the face of changing evidence; and the sacrifices we have all made as individuals, families and communities to keep ourselves and each other safe.
However, he said, “on another level, this is a moment of reflection,” as COVID-19 has left, and continues to leave, deep scars on the world. “Those scars should serve as a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge, with devastating consequences.”
"As a global community, the suffering we have endured, the painful lessons we have learned, the investments we have made and the capabilities we have developed must not be wasted," he stressed.
Tedros Adhanom said that “one of the greatest tragedies of COVID-19 is that it didn’t have to be this way,” but we now have the tools and technologies to better prepare for pandemics, to detect them earlier, to respond to them faster and to mitigate their impact.
“But globally, lack of coordination, lack of equity and lack of solidarity meant that those tools were not used as effectively as they could have been. Lives were lost that should not have been. We must promise ourselves and our children and grandchildren that we will never make those mistakes again,” he stressed.
In his account, Tedros recalled that 1,221 days ago today, WHO learned of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China, and on 30 January 2020, following the advice of an Emergency Committee convened under the International Health Regulations, declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the highest level of alarm under international law.
At the time, outside of China there were fewer than 100 reported cases and no reported deaths. “In the 3 years since then, COVID-19 has turned our world upside down.”
Nearly 7 million deaths have been reported to the WHO, “but we know the death toll is several times higher – at least 20 million.”
She stressed that during the pandemic, health systems have been severely affected, and millions of people have been left without essential health services, including life-saving childhood vaccines.
“But COVID-19 has been much more than a health crisis. It has caused severe economic upheaval, wiping trillions off GDP, disrupting travel and trade, closing businesses and plunging millions into poverty,” he said. “It has caused massive social upheaval, with borders closed, movement restricted, schools shut and millions of people experiencing loneliness, isolation, anxiety and depression.”
In this regard, he added that COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated political fault lines, within and between nations. It has eroded trust between people, governments and institutions, fueled by a torrent of misinformation and disinformation, as well as laying bare the world's searing inequalities, with the poorest and most vulnerable communities being the hardest hit and the last to receive access to vaccines and other tools.
Finally, for more than a year, the pandemic has been on a downward trend, with population immunity increasing from vaccination and infection, mortality declining and pressure on health systems easing. This trend has allowed most countries to return to life as we knew it before, he noted.
The University of California at Santa Cruz condemned the celebration of Adolf Hitler's birthday by students, during which they sang the "Happy Birthday" song and ate cakes with Nazi symbols.
This incident, said Dr. Akirah Bradley-Armstrong, vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Success at UC Santa Cruz in a letter to the student community, is part of two separate reports of anti-Semitism and hate on and near the Santa Cruz campus.
The first reported incident took place on campus last Thursday, April 20. A group of students reportedly gathered to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday. “They sang happy birthday and ate cakes decorated with hateful and horrible symbols.”
Meanwhile, the second reported incident took place in downtown Santa Cruz on Friday, April 28, when a student found an anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQIA+ flyer on the windshield of his car.
The leaflet included despicable and degrading statements about the Jewish community and LGBTQIA+ people, the statement said.
“We unequivocally condemn these, and all, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQIA+ actions. They are at odds with our Community Principles and as such will be addressed accordingly,” he said.
She added that the incident on campus has been referred to student conduct for follow-up and adjudication, while the university has reached out to Santa Cruz city officials to request their support and collaboration in addressing the concerning flyers reported at the school.
“These disturbing incidents follow a national trend of increasing anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence. Whatever the purpose and wherever they take place, we reject any and all acts of anti-Semitism. Members of our Jewish community and members of our LGBTQIA+ community are an integral part of our Banana Slug family, and we stand with them against all such acts of hate,” the vice-chancellor stressed.
In that sense, he ruled that "white supremacy has no place at UC Santa Cruz," as well as any other action intended to degrade, dehumanize or intimidate another based on identity.
“We will not tolerate such hostilities; nor will we endure the fear and terror it seeks to inspire. United by our shared sense of humanity, we must strive to be a welcoming place for all people. Together, we must continue to reject all expressions of hatred,” he added.
Finally, she recalled that incidents like this can be painful and cause greater worry, fear and anger.
“We encourage our community to seek support. In addition to the support services offered by our college staff and resource centers, Counseling and Psychological Services provide assistance to students. For employees, the Employee Assistance Program can provide counseling and support. All community members are encouraged to report incidents of hate or bias,” she said.
For his part, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, said through his Twitter account that acts like these have no place in the state.
"This is absolutely sick. This type of disgusting act has no place in California."
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
Capture of the video shared in Twitter by prosecutor Rob Bonta where they announce the seizure of 40 pounds of fentanyl and other drugs.
California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, along with Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, announced the seizure of 40 pounds of fentanyl and 104 pounds of methamphetamine, valued at $4.2 million, as well as the arrest of seven suspects, in two separate cases in Merced County.
“Across the country, we continue to address the impacts of the opioid crisis, and in recent years, we have seen a marked increase in fentanyl use and associated deaths,” Attorney General Bonta said.
The official added that this crisis is a multifaceted public health and safety issue, and addressing it requires a thoughtful and strategic approach.
“Whether it’s seizing illicit fentanyl through our ongoing enforcement efforts or bringing billions of dollars to California through our lawsuits and investigative efforts to hold the opioid industry accountable, the California Department of Justice is committed when it comes to protecting California families from the dangers of fentanyl,” he said.
Bonta said there is still much work to be done, but "we will not rest until we eliminate fentanyl from our streets and from California's communities."
The seizures in this case were the result of two separate CHP traffic stops that were turned over for further investigation to the Merced Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team (MAGNET), a task force led by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation.
On April 25, a CHP Central Division K-9 officer stopped a vehicle in Merced County. During the contact, a canine was deployed and gave a positive alert for the odor of narcotics, and approximately 104 pounds of methamphetamine and 25 pounds of fentanyl were located inside the vehicle.
Meanwhile, on April 27, 2023, a CHP Central Division K-9 officer stopped a vehicle in Merced County. A CHP officer conducted a consent search of the vehicle and 15 pounds of fentanyl was located on the rear passenger floorboard.
As MAGNET investigators headed to take over the lead of the investigation, the driver fled on foot into the hills, where he was subsequently arrested.
The driver and two passengers were arrested and booked into the Merced County Jail on charges of possession of fentanyl for sale and transportation of fentanyl through non-contiguous counties.
Bonta recalled the seizure of more than four million fentanyl pills and nearly 900 pounds of fentanyl powder, as well as more than 200 arrests through the work of the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation with allied task forces throughout California since April 2021.
Since April 2022, DOJ fentanyl seizures totaled 7,153,083 fentanyl pills seized, 1,094 pounds of fentanyl powder, and more than 200 arrests.
