The Labor Day parade may be canceled again this year amid rising coronavirus cases. But that’s not stopping people from enjoying other activities around the city like the Soul Food Fest here at Market Square.
Labor Day often marks the time to change home decor from summer to fall. Shoppers will find a large array of seasonal and holiday decorating items this weekend at the 28th annual Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Labor Day Festival at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds. About 200 vendors will fill five buildings
Shoppers will find a large array of seasonal and holiday decorating items this weekend at the 28th annual Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Labor Day Festival at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.
About 200 vendors will fill five buildings and line walkways during the four-day event. Hours will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and Monday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
“This is a nice opportunity to get out and do some shopping,” said Trisha Cusick, assistant to promoter Dave Stoner, owner of Family Festivals Association Inc. “You can go online and get anything from all over the world delivered to you in 48 hours, but here you can pick something up and turn it around and see what it really looks like.
The Dyersburg Police Department stated that three officers were conducting a traffic stop when they heard gunshots coming from a nearby area, prompting them to investigate immediately.
“The gunfire was close with officers hearing tree limbs breaking from the rounds being fired in the wooded lot between the officers and Ewell Street,” the department said in a statement.
The officers spoke with witnesses who also heard the shots, with the investigation leading them to the home of 25-year-old Jeffrey Atwell.
Atwell told police the gunshots were actually fireworks. But during the questioning, the officers were able to identify 24-year-old convicted felon Marcus Akins in the home, who is wanted by police for failing to appear in court. They then located an AK-47.
Americans made up for missed July Fourth celebrations in 2020 by going all out this year – and the holiday weekend also saw a spike in shootings and assaults across the country over last year.
Major cities were already braced for gun violence as shootings had been on the rise over the past few weeks, but nearly 100 people were shot across the country during the holiday weekend.
New York City alone saw 26 people shot from Friday through Sunday, with two of them resulting in deaths.
Five people were shot in the Bronx Saturday at around 9 p.m., and 10 more people were shot Sunday, the New York Daily News reported.
A large brawl between as many as 50 adolescents in Atlanta resulted at least one death. Police sought footage of the fight to find leads on the cause of the fight and the death. A 14-year-old boy died, and police arrested a 17-year-old in possession of two guns, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
A shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, left eight people wounded shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday when someone fired multiple shots near a car wash, with some of the victims returning fire. Police said that the victims were taken to hospitals and are in stable condition. No suspects are in custody.
Two people died and three others were wounded in a shooting in downtown Cincinnati when a suspect opened fire during a fireworks display. The identities of the victims was not made public, and police released no information about the suspect.
Police were not exempt from the violence, either: Two Chicago officers were shot and wounded around 1:45 a.m. Monday. One officer was struck in the foot while the other was struck in the thigh. The officers went to hospital as a precaution, as their injuries were not life-threatening.
Two Chicago police officers were shot and wounded early Monday while trying to break up a crowd following Fourth of July gatherings, authorities said.
The shooting about 1:45 a.m. on the city’s West Side happened less than an hour after a drive-by shooting in Washington Park on the city’s South Side left two people dead and four others wounded.
With full-blown Fourth of July celebrations back for this year’s holiday weekend, Pittsburgh Public Safety officials are stepping up security for events Downtown and in Point State Park.
After the pandemic canceled celebrations in the city last year, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said as many as 200,000 people are expected to crowd into Downtown and Point State Park for fireworks and other activities on Saturday and Sunday.
“We expect this to be one of the busiest nights of the year with people eager to gather together after a challenging time,” Hissrich said. “But Public Safety’s primary focus will always be to protect residents and visitors so they can safely enjoy Independence Day with their families and friends.”
Hissrich said there will be more than a dozen mobile light towers at key locations to increase visibility Downtown. Also, Pittsburgh police, state police and Allegheny County Mounted Units will be activated to keep crowds moving and allow first responders to reach people in the event of an emergency.
As part of the effort to head off rowdiness, Point State Park Rangers will help Pittsburgh Police with bag screenings at the Park’s entrances.
The fireworks are scheduled to end at 10 p.m. on Sunday. Hissrich said police will be working with Port Authority personnel to move people out of the Downtown core as quickly as possible to reduce problems related to overcrowding in some areas at the end of the evening.
“Dean Martin is so important to Steubenville,” said JoJo Dialbert, owner of The Spot Bar. “We all know he was nationally known as a singer and entertainer. And numerous times, he mentioned Steubenville. And everybody knows that’s where he’s from.”
The celebration was an opportunity to learn more about Martin, but it also brought vendors of jewelry. food trucks and live music to downtown.
In addition. the cruise-in Saturday afternoon saw vintage cars gather so their drivers could see each other after a long year.”
This is one big family, these car people,” Kathy Waszkiewicz said. “We don’t get to see them often enough. It’s just nice to come out and support Steubenville and see our friends and have a good time with everybody.”
And the people living in Steubenville, as well as the people who come to visit, are the focus of the event’s organizers.”
That’s what we try to do with these festivals,” Barilla said. “Whether it’s the Fort Festival, the summer concert series, the Dean Martin Festival, the Nutcracker Festival, people coming together, families coming together, saying hello to one another, hugging one another, it’s a warm feeling. And it’s a rewarding feeling.””
You know it’s a lot of work and a lot of headaches, but when you look outside and see hundreds, sometimes a thousand, that are enjoying themselves, enjoying Dean Martin’s music, it makes you feel good,” Dialbert added. “You feel satisfied that you were able to pull it off and make a lot of people happy.”
The festival wrapped up Saturday night at The Spot Bar with a tribute to Dean Martin put on by Tom Stevens.
FLINT, MI — A 19-year-old woman shot by police Saturday during a Juneteenth celebration parade in Flint has died of her injuries, according to the Michigan State Police.
The woman, from Flint, was shot by a Flint police officer after she allegedly drove up to the officer and fired at him at about 2:14 p.m., police say.
The officer, who was not injured, then shot the suspect. The incident took place on Saginaw Street near Leith Street.
The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment, where she died of her injuries, police said.
No bystanders were injured during the incident. It took place during the city’s Champions Parade, which honors the city’s athletic greats and community leaders. June 19 also marks Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
The Champions Parade began at noon in front of Flint City Hall and was to proceed north on Saginaw Street to Berston Field House, the historic hub for the city’s African American community.
The Flint police officer who shot the woman was working a “traffic point” at the time to the incident, according to police.MSP is investigating the shooting at the request of the Flint Police Department.
More than 460 companies are observing Juneteenth at this point, with many offering a paid day off or holiday pay. Here are some companies continuing PTO this year.
Amid the wave of discussions about racial injustice that began to gain momentum last summer, companies such as Allstate, Google and Nike have announced over the past year that they will recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for their employees.
The day celebrates the delayed news that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing “all persons held as slaves” in the United States. However, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865 – referred to more informally as Juneteenth – that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom when Union soldiers arrived.
Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law Thursday, officially making June 19 a federal holiday and giving national recognition to a day commemorating emancipation.
“Juneteenth marks both a long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and the promise of a brighter morning to come,” Biden said during a signing ceremony at the White House. “This is a day, in my view, of profound weight and profound power. A day in which we remember the moral stain, terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman and Black vice president, said that designating a federal holiday “makes an important statement.”
“These are days when we as a nation have decided to stop and take stock. And often to acknowledge our history,” Harris said, urging people to be clear-eyed about the realities of slavery and the long fight for freedom.
President Joe Biden hands a pen to Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., after signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021.Evan Vucci / AP
Since June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, most federal employees will observe the holiday on Friday, June 18, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management tweeted.
The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday, 415-14, to make Juneteenth a national federal holiday, a day after the Senate cleared the bill without debate. The only votes against the bill came from Republicans.
Juneteenth — also known as Emancipation Day, Black Independence Day and Jubilee Day — is the 11th federal holiday and the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery and commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Granger’s message came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The legislation has gained momentum since the massive Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year and the Democrats’ takeover of the White House and Congress.
But Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson blocked the bill in 2020, saying that the day off for federal employees would cost US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Johnson dropped his objection this week despite his concerns, paving the way for the bill’s passage in the Senate.
“Although I strongly support celebrating Emancipation, I objected to the cost and lack of debate,” said Johnson in a statement. “While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress to further discuss the matter.”
The measure needs to pass the House and be signed by President Joe Biden to become law.
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas, the end of slavery in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
In 1980, Juneteenth became a Texas state holiday. In the decades since, every state but South Dakota came to officially commemorate Juneteenth, but only a handful of states observe it as a paid holiday.
Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee are among the members of Congress who led the effort to to make Juneteenth the 12th federal holiday.
Today, June 14, is Flag Day, a time set aside to honor the Stars and Stripes and the role the flag has played in American history.
The date of the commemoration is significant. June 14 is observed as Flag Day each year because, on June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes for the flag of the U.S. The first national observance of the day took place on June 14, 1877, 100 years after the original resolution.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation for the national observance of Flag Day on the 14th of June. President Harry Truman made the holiday permanent in 1949.Flag history
The Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia adopted a resolution on June 14, 1777, declaring:“
Resolved, that the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation.”
The most well-known flag maker in Colonial America was Betsy Ross, though the federal history of the banner cites that it was made by others as well.
The American flag changed to add more stars as more states joined the union. The final stars added were the 49th with Alaska in 1959 and Hawaii as the 50th star in 1960. Ultimately, however, it was decided to leave 13 stripes to represent the 13 original colonies.
Labor Day often marks the time to change home decor from summer to fall. Shoppers will find a large array of seasonal and holiday decorating items this weekend at the 28th annual Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Labor Day Festival at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds. About 200 vendors will fill five buildings
“Dean Martin is so important to Steubenville,” said JoJo Dialbert, owner of The Spot Bar. “We all know he was nationally known as a singer and entertainer. And numerous times, he mentioned Steubenville. And everybody knows that’s where he’s from.”
