Auto workers’ tenuous return a ray of hope in jobs crisis

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FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Jeep vehicles are parked outside the Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit. Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.

Until now, it was mostly hair salons, restaurants, tattoo parlors and other small businesses reopening in some parts of the country. The auto industry is among the first major sectors of the economy to restart its engine.

About 133,000 U.S. workers — just over half of the industry’s workforce before the pandemic — are expected to pour back into auto plants that will open in the coming week, according to estimates by The Associated Press. In addition, parts-making companies began cranking this week to get components flowing, adding thousands more workers.

Looming in the background is an economy decimated by the pandemic. Nearly 3 million laid-off U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, raising the total seeking aid in the past two months to about 36 million. Although some states have begun to let selected businesses reopen, workers are still reporting difficulty getting unemployment benefits. Freelance, gig and self-employed workers are struggling.


Mary Lisa Poole works on the assembly line at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

In this May 10, 2011 photo an autoworker assembles a transmission at the General Motors Transmission Plant in Toledo, Ohio. Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a comeback: Tens of thousands of auto workers are returning to factories that have been shuttered since mid-March due to fears of spreading the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Rick Osentoski)

Even the auto sector won’t see a full return to normal yet, and if people don’t start buying vehicles again, workers could be sent home. Yet automakers say there’s enough pent-up demand, especially for pickup trucks, to get factories humming again.

That could help states slow the drain on their unemployment benefit funds. In Michigan, where over one-third of the labor force sought benefits, the fund fell from $4.6 billion before the pandemic to $4.1 billion on April 30, said Jeff Donofrio, director of the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Some returning auto employees could work part-time and get still some unemployment benefits, but federal programs could cover part of their payments, he said.


Ford Motor Co., assemblyman Malcolm Brumwell puts together a ventilator that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

At Ford, where about 47,000 U.S. factory workers will return by next week, there’s optimism that consumer demand will accompany them. Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said the company has seen sales start to recover.

Ford is predicting stronger sales in the future in Europe, China and the U.S. based on data collected from new models equipped with internet modems that show the number of times an engine is turned on and off. The company found a correlation between the number of trips people take and auto sales, with trips increasing as restrictions eased.

“We started to see in early April a change where people started to take more trips,” Farley said Thursday. “The (sales) decline stopped and our retail sales improved a lot.”

Auto sales in China, where the virus peaked before the U.S., could be a harbinger of things to come. China sales fell just 2.6% in April from a year earlier, compared with a 48% free-fall in March. Production at many plants is nearly back to normal after being shut down in January and February. Volkswagen, Honda, Mercedes and Ford reported no virus cases among employees since reopening. Fiat Chrysler had two, but said the workers never entered factories.


Signage at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020, in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Things are worse in Europe, where sales plummeted 55% in March and some factories are running at only 40% of capacity. The pandemic has affected over 1.1 million European auto industry workers, almost half the sector’s manufacturing jobs. Most are getting paid through government support. A survey of auto parts suppliers shows that a third of executives believe it will take at least two years for the industry to recover.

U.S. sales fell 46% in April compared with a year ago, but analysts are forecasting a smaller decline of 30% in May. Sales have been juiced by incentives, with offers of 0% financing for seven years. Government statistics show auto production dropped over 70% in April.

Ford Motor Co., team leader, Stephon Robinson who oversees workers on the subassembly line of ventilator production at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Beginning Monday, will phase back into producing automotive components. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Ford Motor Co., line workers put together ventilators that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)



Pickup trucks are giving automakers the most hope, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president at LMC Automotive, a consulting firm. From January through April, total auto sales were down 21%, but pickups were only off 4%, he said.

Yet Schuster says automakers could be a little too optimistic. “Those consumers who are still unemployed are not likely to be making auto purchases,” he said.

Some U.S. automakers, like General Motors, are restarting slowly, only bringing back workers on one shift in factories, some of which ran around the clock before the pandemic. Others, like Subaru in Indiana, have a full complement of employees.

Although companies are taking precautions, one big virus outbreak at an auto plant could send the industry back into hibernation. And the industry could face parts supply interruptions from Mexico, where the government wants to reopen factories despite rising virus cases.

Automakers in the U.S. are requiring employees to fill out questionnaires daily to see if they have symptoms, taking temperatures with no-touch thermometers before workers enter buildings, and requiring gloves, masks and face shields. They’ve also tried to keep at least six feet between workers, staggered time between shifts so workers don’t interact, and put up plexiglas barriers when possible.

All the steps were tested on U.S. workers who volunteered to make protective gear and breathing machines while they were laid off. Automakers say they know of no virus cases among workers in the effort.

But Phil Cuthbertson a worker at GM’s transmission plant in Toledo, Ohio, who will return Monday, said he has mixed feelings.

“I just don’t want the whole thing to be pushed on us to go back if it’s not safe,” he said.


A Ford employee, left, shows his COVID-19 daily survey pass and is given a face mask as he enters the Ford Rawsonville plant, Wednesday, May 13, 2020 in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. The plant was converted into a ventilator factory, as hospitals battling the coronavirus report shortages of the life-saving devices. The company has promised to deliver 50,000 by July 4. Ford and other automakers are preparing for the reopening of their plants next week. Factories must adopt measures to protect their workers, including daily entry screening and, once they are available, the use of no-touch thermometers. Those measures already are in effect at Rawsonville. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)






Cindy Estrada, United Auto Workers vice president for Fiat Chrysler, said she’s been impressed by the companies’ safety commitment. But she’s sure some workers, especially in the hard-hit Detroit area, will be fearful because family members or co-workers have had COVID-19. At least 25 UAW members employed by Detroit automakers have died from the virus, although no one is sure if they caught it at a factory.

The union will be watching in case workers get infected, though there’s no magic number for when it will try to close a factory, Estrada said.

“If something looks like it’s becoming a hot spot, then we need to act quickly and make adjustments,” she said. “No one wants to see that happen.”

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AP reporters Joe McDonald in Beijing, Carlo Piovano in London, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tenn.; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Mike Householder in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; and Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y.; contributed to this report.

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME

Truckers honk over shipping rates, not ‘in favor of’ Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the sound of truck horns just south of the White House is a “sign of love” for him from truckers. But the truckers are actually honking their opposition to low shipping rates.

“They’re protesting in favor of President Trump,” the president claimed in the Rose Garden on Friday during an announcement about vaccine development. The blaring of truck horns wafted across the Ellipse and into the sun-splashed garden during that event and a ceremony Trump held in the afternoon to recognize good deeds during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Those are truckers that are with us all the way,” he said at the earlier event.

But the drivers who have lined Constitution Avenue with their big rigs didn’t come to Washington for Trump. They’re in the nation’s capital to protest low shipping rates that they say could force many of them out of business.

An initial flurry of freight shipments stemming from the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. As a result, many truckers have found themselves without freight to haul or with offers to deliver goods at rates they say are unsustainable.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows visited the truckers on Thursday

Kroger offers Fred Meyer workers extra pay after outcry

Sherman Jenne, a cashier at the Fred Meyer grocery store in Burien, Wash., takes part in a protest outside the store against Fred Meyer's parent company Kroger, Friday, May 15, 2020, that was organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Kroger officials have said they are ending the additional $2 hourly "hero pay" bonus that had been paid to workers since late March during the coronavirus pandemic. The company said Friday it will now offer one-time bonus payments of $400 and $200 for full- and part-time employees to be paid in two installments. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Kroger, the parent company of grocer Fred Meyer, announced Friday that it will provide “thank you” payments to hourly employees after a union outcry over the company ending a $2 per hour pay bump it implemented in March amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union held rallies Friday at Fred Meyer stores seeking additional pay for workers while the pandemic continues, KREM-TV reported.

Kroger officials said Friday that bonus payments of $400 and $200 for full- and part-time employees will be paid in two installments in May and June.

Fred Meyer has locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.

Members and supporters of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union take part in a protest outside the Fred Meyer grocery store in Burien, Wash., against Fred Meyer's parent company Kroger, Friday, May 15, 2020. Kroger officials have said they are ending the additional $2 hourly "hero pay" bonus that had been paid to workers since late March during the coronavirus pandemic. The company said Friday it will now offer one-time bonus payments of $400 and $200 for full- and part-time employees to be paid in two installments. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

“Our associates have been instrumental in feeding America while also helping to flatten the curve during the initial phases of the pandemic,” Rodney McMullen, Kroger’s chairman and CEO, said in statement. “As the country moves toward reopening, we will continue to safeguard our associates’ health and well-being and recognize their work.”

Testing for the coronavirus is available for Fred Meyer employees based on their symptoms and medical need, said Fred Meyer spokesperson Jeffrey Temple. Workers who are most directly affected by the virus or experiencing related symptoms have been provided with emergency leave or paid time off, he said.

Fred Meyer has also added safety measures throughout the stores including plexiglass partitions on check-out stands and masks for employees.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

CHRISTIAN ATHEIST
Danish priest who proclaimed that there is no God has died.
May 11, 2020

FILE - In this file photo dated November 26, 2018, showing former priest Thorkild Grosboell, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The 72-year old Danish Lutheran minister Thorkild Grosboell has died Sunday May 11, 2020, and has been suffering from cancer, his daughter Mette Kathrine Grosboell told The Associated Press. Grosboell attracted international attention by proclaiming that there is no God or afterlife, but retracted the assertion after being suspended. (Linda Kastrup/Ritzau scanpix File via AP)


COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish Lutheran minister who attracted international attention by proclaiming that there is no God or afterlife, but retracted after being suspended, has died. He was 72.

The Rev. Thorkild Grosboell died Sunday and had been suffering from cancer, his daughter Mette Kathrine Grosboell told The Associated Press.

“He was a great man. He should be remembered for that,” she said Monday.

Grosboell was suspended by his bishop after a May 2003 newspaper interview about a book he had written on faith, in which he told the interviewer: “There is no heavenly God, there is no eternal life, there is no resurrection.”


Helsingoer bishop Lise-Lotte Rebel, whose diocese included Taarbaek, a small town north of Copenhagen where Grosboell was the pastor, handed his case to the government requesting that it take the necessary steps to dismiss him.

In Denmark, Lutheran ministers are employed by the state and only the government can fire them after a recommendation from their supervising bishop.

The pipe-smoking Grosboell, known for his provocative comments, eventually retracted his statement, apologized and his suspension was lifted.

Grosboell was later suspended once more, for ignoring church orders not to repeat the beliefs about which he had made the retraction, from the pulpit. The second time, Rebel said he had made “provocative remarks” and had spoken in “a strongly provocative, hurting, and confusing way.”

In 2005, he was finally allowed to return to his parish, and stayed there until he retired in 2008, the newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad said.

In December 2018, he called himself “a Christian atheist.”

More than 80% of Denmark’s population belongs to the State Evangelical Lutheran Church, though only about 5% attend church services regularly.

Survey: 

Oil, manufacturing had best luck with pandemic loans
By MIKE SCHNEIDER May 14, 2020

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In this Thursday, April 30, 2020, photo storage tanks at a refinery along the Houston Ship Channel are seen with downtown Houston in the background. Like in other cities, the coronavirus has shut down much of Houston's economic activity, slashing thousands of jobs, while at the same time, the price of oil plunged below zero recently as demand plummeted due to the worldwide lockdown to stop the spread of the virus. This one-two punch from COVID-19 and the collapse in oil prices will make it much harder for Houston to recover from a looming recession, according to economists. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Almost 75% of small businesses in a survey applied for help from a federal loan program designed to keep workers employed during the coronavirus pandemic, but only 38% of small businesses received any money, according to survey results the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.

Oil extraction and mining businesses had the best success in getting loans from the Paycheck Protection Program with more than half of businesses surveyed in that sector reporting getting some help, according to the Census Bureau’s Small Business Pulse Survey.


Just under half of small businesses in manufacturing and about 45% of small businesses in accommodations and food services reported receiving loans, the survey said.

Utilities fared the worst of all sectors with less than a quarter of small businesses in that sector getting loans, according to the survey.

The Paycheck Protection Program administered by the Small Business Administration has dispensed more than $530 billion in low-cost loans to millions of small businesses to cushion them from the sharp downturn induced by the coronavirus.

The Census Bureau survey showed that nearly two-thirds of small businesses in Arkansas, Maine and Oklahoma, had received loans, among the highest in the nation. Trailing the rest of the nation was California, where just over a fifth of small businesses received the emergency loans.

When asked about the disparities in an email, SBA press director Carol Wilkerson said the agency didn’t have a comment to provide.

The Census Bureau launched the Small Business Pulse Survey last month in order to capture the impact of the pandemic on small businesses in near real-time. The release on Thursday was the first of what will be weekly updates. The initial survey was sent to 100,915 small businesses, and 22,449 small businesses responded from April 26 to May 2.

The survey targeted nonfarm, single-location employer businesses with less than 500 employees and receipts of $1,000 or more.

Almost three-quarters of the small businesses surveyed said they had experienced a drop in revenue, and more than a quarter said they had decreased the size of their workforce. More than 11% of the small businesses reported missing a loan payment, but that rose to 30% for small businesses in accommodations and food services, according to the survey.

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Follow Mike Schneider at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Jewish rights group urges ban of pro-Nazi commemoration
May 14, 2020

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A leading Jewish human rights group has called on Bosnia’s authorities to ban a memorial Mass for Croatian pro-Nazis killed at the end of World War II.

The controversial gathering of Croatia’s far-right supporters has been held annually in the southern Austrian village of Bleiburg, but had to be moved to Sarajevo and the Croatian capital, Zagreb, for next Saturday because of travel restrictions and a ban on mass gatherings during the coronavirus crisis.

Honoring “the genocidal Ustasha state (NDH) is not only an insult to its victims and their families, but also to all those who opposed the crimes committed by the Ustasha,” the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement on Thursday, referring to the World War II Croatian puppet pro-Nazi regime.

Tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Gypsies and anti-fascist Croats perished in the Ustasha-run death camps during World War II and the Bleiburg massacre of pro-Nazis is seen by historians as revenge by the victorious communist partisan fighters immediately after the war ended.

For Croatian nationalists, the controversial annual event symbolizes their suffering under communism in the former Yugoslavia before they fought a war for independence in the 1990s. 

BULLSHIT....THEY WERE FUNDED AND ARMED IN THE 1990'S BY THEN ASCENDANT GERMANY WHICH HAD UNIFIED EAST AND WEST, ARMS SALES AND RIGHT WING EAST GERMAN FASCISTS (STALINISTS) LINKED UP WITH CROATIA TO FOMENT ANTI SERBIAN, ANTI UNITY RESISTANCE. WITH ARMED UPRISINGS GERMANY BECAME THE FIRST EU NATION TO RECOGNIZE CROATIA 

The central commemoration ceremony in Sarajevo is scheduled to be performed by Archbishop Vinko Puljic, the highest-ranking clergyman of the Catholic Church in Bosnia. A parallel event is to be held at a graveyard in the Croatian capital.

Outside US, top scientists steer debate away from politics

By DEREK GATOPOULOS

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — President Donald Trump is never far from a public spat with his government’s top expert on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most recent flare-up occurring this week over the pace of reopening schools.

Among U.S. allies, however, many leaders are happy to step away from the spotlight to leverage experts’ ability to counter misleading information and appeal across political boundaries to gain public compliance for health restrictions.

“The particular features of a pandemic give new dimensions to questions of trust,” said Terry Flew, a professor of communication at Queensland University of Technology.

“Experts who understand the subject and politicians prepared to listen to them, become vitally important. In most countries, this is happening. Hopefully, it marks a return of confidence in experts.”

Here’s a look at some other scientists around the world leading national public safety efforts.

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GREECE: SOTIRIOS TSIODRAS

Sotirios Tsiodras, the chief Health Ministry virologist arrives for the daily brief about the new coronavirus in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Tsiodras has added tips on how to maintain a healthy diet, explanations of how some countries are better-positioned to carry out mass testing, and warnings on the dangers of domestic abuse when living in prolonged confinement. Some governments are using their top scientists with newfound celebrity to combat disinformation and build cross-party support for restrictive measures. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Announcing the news of a deadly disaster isn’t a job many public figures look forward to. Sotirios Tsiodras has done it on some 50 occasions, updating Greeks on the progression of the pandemic in live televised briefings.

A Harvard-trained scientist and father of seven, Tsiodras spends some Sunday mornings as a cantor in the Orthodox Church and is the soft-spoken chief Health Ministry virologist. Added to the daily death toll are tips on how to maintain a healthy diet, explanations of how some countries are better-positioned to carry out mass testing, and warnings on the dangers of domestic abuse when living in prolonged confinement.

It’s made Tsiodras Greece’s most popular person: One opinion poll gave a 94.5% approval rating to the 55-year-old professor of medicine and infectious diseases. His appeal is helping lockdown enforcement and keeping infection rates low.

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CANADA: THERESA TAM


FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, May 6, 2020, Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, speaks during a press conference on Parliament Hill during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, Canada. Tam, 55, is credited with helping maintain high compliance levels with stay-at-home orders. Some governments worldwide are using their top scientists with newfound celebrity to combat disinformation and build cross-party support for restrictive measures. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press FILE via AP)

The Hong Kong-born Chief Public Health Officer of Canada delivers straight-to-camera, no-nonsense advice in a series of government TV ads, as well as heading public briefings. She has been joined in the public health ad campaign by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and Hayley Wickenheiser, the ice hockey star who is in her final year of medical school.

Tam, 55, is credited with helping maintain high compliance levels with stay-at-home orders. National politicians rushed to her defense after criticism from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney of the speed of approval for testing methods.

Tam’s popularity recently inspired a limited-edition line of T-shirts that include a portrait of the scientist.

SHE IS THE ONLY WOMAN IN THIS GROUP
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SPAIN: FERNANDO SIMON

With its high death toll and fiercely politically charged environment, Spain has turned to veteran epidemiologist Fernando Simon to head the national response.

The 57-year-old quickly won praise for his easygoing style at daily news conferences, his preference for open-necked shirts, and sweaters over dark suits endearing him to many. Internet memes poke fun at his bushy eyebrows, and he is parodied on comedy shows. Spanish media report that he is stopped on the street for his autograph.

But that folksy approach has backfired among more conservative sections of society, some of whom view him as flippant and note statements he made in the early stages of the pandemic when he appeared to play down the risk to the public.

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GERMANY: LOTHAR WIELER


FILE - In this file photo dated Tuesday, May 5, 2020, the head of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention, Lothar Wieler, addresses a news conference on the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease in Berlin, Germany. 59-year-old career scientist Wieler has helped the public in Germany to participate in a data-sharing program that will help policymakers study the pandemic and target resources, despite their normal fierce protection of national civil liberties. Some governments worldwide are using their top scientists with newfound celebrity to combat disinformation and build cross-party support for restrictive measures. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, FILE)


The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s federal disease control agency, is a professor of microbiology and epidemiology and has led a campaign praised by European colleagues for rapid testing rollout and early introduction of restrictions.

The 59-year-old career scientist has also helped Germans take a partial break from their defense of fiercely protected civil liberties and participate in a data-sharing program that will help policymakers study the pandemic and target resources. The program was adapted to address concerns over centralized data storage 
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SWEDEN: ANDERS TEGNELL

FILE - In this file photo dated Thursday May 7, 2020, Sweden's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell of the Public Health Agency of Sweden during a news conference on the coronavirus Covid-19 situation, in Stockholm, Sweden. Tegnell has steered the Swedish public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has been markedly different to other European countries. Some governments worldwide are using their top scientists with newfound celebrity to combat disinformation and build cross-party support for restrictive measures.(Claudio Bresciani/TT FILE via AP)

The 64-year-old Tegnell worked with World Health Organization programs to fight outbreaks of Ebola and other diseases. Now, he is an outlier among his elite fellow virologists, having challenged the conventional view on how to contain the pandemic.

He has steered a Swedish public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has been markedly different to other European countries, relying primarily on voluntary social distancing instead of strict state-imposed lockdown measures.

Defenders of Tegnell argue that his approach has been misunderstood and it shares the social distancing goal of other countries but has been adapted to the local health care conditions and legal system.

Sweden’s alternative view has done little to dent Tegnell’s popularity: the bespectacled scientist has recently appeared as a tattoo design.

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IRELAND: TONY HOLOHAN
Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer for the past 12 years, Tony Holohan, is also seen as a calming presence. Holohan has appeared on popular late-night talk shows to explain the need for lockdown measures, favoring a cautious approach to easing tied to meeting virus-suppression milestones.

His down-to-earth style has made Holohan a popular figure in Ireland. Irish caricature artist Niall O’Loughlin, who gave the balding Holohan a superman appearance, says he been flooded by email requests for free prints. “I still find it utterly bizarre why so many people would want a picture of Tony Holohan on their wall,” O’Loughlin wrote on Twitter. “No offense Tony (-:”

Africa’s endangered wildlife at risk as tourism dries up

By JOE MWIHIA

In this photo taken Friday, May 1, 2020, a ranger observes the last remaining two northern white rhinos Fatu, left, and Najin, right, at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new alertness to anti-poaching patrols in Africa, and a new fear: With no tourist revenue coming in poachers might try to take advantage and protecting endangered wildlife has become that much more challenging. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)

NANYUKI, Kenya (AP) — The armed rangers set off at dusk in pursuit of poachers. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new alertness, and a new fear.

With tourists gone and their money, too, protecting endangered wildlife like black rhinos has become that much more challenging. And the poachers, like many desperate to make a living, might become more daring.

Rhinos have long been under threat from poachers who kill them for their horns to supply illegal trade fueled by the mistaken belief that the horns have medicinal value.

Now there are concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase such poaching, said John Tekeles, a patrol guide and head of the dog unit at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.


“We are more alert because maybe more poachers will use this time to come in to poach,” Tekeles said.

The number of black rhinos in Africa has been slowly increasing though the species remains “critically endangered,” according to a report in March by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN. It credits, in part, effective law enforcement.



Ol Pejeta is home to more than 130 black rhinos, the single largest population in East and Central Africa, said Richard Vigne, the conservancy’s managing director.

Protecting them is expensive. Ol Pejeta spends about $10,000 per year per rhino on that protection, Vigne said.

“In our case that comes to close to $2 million a year,” he said. “In the time of COVID, when tourism has completely stopped, where most of our revenue comes from tourism, the revenue we need to earn to protect the rhino comes from tourism, it’s a complete disaster.”

The conservancy expects to see $3 million to $4 million in lost revenue this year. Therefore, Vigne said, “our ability to look after the rhinos is compromised.”

Conservationists across Africa are now monitoring to see how poachers might try to take advantage, and whether more rare wildlife will be killed.

Africa’s various rhino species had been seeing a downward trend in poaching, according to the IUCN, with 892 poached in 2018, a drop from a peak of 1,349 in 2015.

And the population of black rhinos had been growing by an annual rate of 2.5% between 2012 and 2018 to more than 5,600.

That growth was projected to continue over the next five years, the IUCN has said.

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Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Turkey detains pro-Kurdish mayors, removes them from office

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities on Friday detained four more elected mayors from Turkey’s mainly Kurdish populated east and southeast regions, as the government pressed ahead with its crackdown on a pro-Kurdish party it accuses of links to Kurdish militants.

The mayors from the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, were detained at their homes, removed from office and replaced with government-appointed trustees, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. A fifth mayor was also fired, but hasn’t been detained.

The government accuses the party of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The HDP denies the accusation.


The HDP denounced the crackdown on the elected mayors as a government “coup.”

“This amounts to the rejection of democracy, this amounts to the non-recognition of the will of the people,” party co-chairman Mithat Sancar said.

The Kurdish people won’t yield to pressure and will fight for their democratic rights, Sancar said at a news conference.

The four mayors were elected to office in local elections last year in the cities of Igdir and Siirt as well as in Siirt’s districts of Baykan and Kurtalan and the district of Altinova in Mus province.

HDP says the government has appointed caretaker mayors to 45 out of a total of 65 municipalities that the party won in local elections in March 2019. At least 21 mayors have been imprisoned on terror-related charges.

Seven former HDP lawmakers, including former chairman Selahattin Demirtas, are also in prison.

Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, called on Ankara to stop removing the elected officials without court decisions.

“Local councils should have at least the possibility to appoint an interim mayor among its elected members!” he tweeted. “Credibility on fundamentals of democracy is at stake.”

The New York-based Human Rights Watch has criticized Turkey’s crackdown against the mayors, saying it amounts to a violation of voters’ rights.

The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

Meanwhile, authorities detained 38 people for questioning over an attack Thursday that killed two workers who were distributing aid to people in a district in eastern Turkey. The district has been placed under quarantine because of the new coronavirus outbreak.

Turkish officials have blamed the attack on the PKK.

Magnitude-6.5 earthquake is largest in Nevada in past 66 years

An earthquake with a revised magnitude of 6.5 hit a remote area of Nevada on Friday morning, about 225 miles northwest of Las Vegas and near the California border, the US Geological Survey says.

© Nye County Sheriff's Office A still image from a video by the Nye County Sheriff's office of road damage on US Route 95 in Esmeralda County after a 6.5 earthquake that rattled the area in Nevada, on Friday, May 15.

The quake, which was 4.7 miles deep, occurred at 4:03 a.m. local time, the USGS says.

The revised ranking makes the quake the first large one since 1954, said Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory.

"As the third most seismic state in the nation, we kind of had a streak of not having big earthquakes for 66 years," Kent said.

"This was a magnitude 6.5, and it was certainly felt in the Reno-Tahoe area, and also throughout the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys in California," Kent said.

The earthquake was "widely felt," USGS spokesman Paul Laustsen told CNN.

"There have been almost 8,000 'Did you feel it' reports, with people logging into USGS to report it," Laustsen said.

The Nye County Sheriff's office took video of the damage to US 95 in Esmeralda County.

© Nye County Sheriff's Office A still image from a video by the Nye County Sheriff's office of road damage in Nevada

"As you can see, the highway has shifted at mile marker Esmeralda 89," Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly says in the video. "A Nye County patrol is on the way to Gabbs to meet with the townspeople, assess damage, and assist them."

Wehrly also said that they have discovered some broken windows in Tonopah.

Esmeralda County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Stritenberger felt the main earthquake and it was the biggest one he's ever experienced, he said.

Deputies are checking out reported damage on US 95.

"North- and southbound is undriveable around mile marker 89," Stritenberger said. "According to people who called it in, it's buckled really bad."

The epicenter was about 35 miles west of the town of Tonopah, east of the Sierra Nevada range, according to the USGS. The USGS gave an initial report of a 6.4 magnitude.

The USGS said in its aftershock forecast that there will be between 63 and 260 aftershocks with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater over the next seven days. There is a 4% chance of one with a magnitude of 6.5 or more.

Nevada highway damaged by largest area quake in 65 years



This photo provided by the Nevada Highway Patrol shows earthquake damage that has U.S. Highway 95 closed for repairs after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck early Friday, May 15, 2020 in a remote area west of Tonopah. Trooper Hannah DeGoey and local sheriff's offices reported no injuries following the 4 a.m. temblor. DeGoey said crews were working to reopen the main highway between Las Vegas and Reno. (Nevada Highway Patrol via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The cracked main highway between Las Vegas and Reno reopened Friday, 10 hours after a predawn magnitude 6.5 earthquake that a researcher called the largest to strike the remote area of western Nevada in 65 years.

No injuries were reported, but officials said goods tumbled from market shelves, sidewalks heaved and storefront windows cracked shortly after 4 a.m. People from Salt Lake City to California’s Central Valley tweeted that they felt shaking.

Lights swayed at the governor’s mansion in Carson City, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak told reporters. “It woke me up, so it definitely had an impact,” he said.

Nevada Highway Patrol photos showed cracks on U.S. 95 before crews repaired them about 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of Tonopah. A detour to State Route 360 had added more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) to motorists’ trips.

The vast open range east of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada is seismically active, said Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno. He ranked Friday’s event with twin December 1954 earthquakes at Fairview Peak and Dixie Valley. Kent said those temblors were magnitudes 7.1 and 6.8, respectively.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported Friday’s temblor struck just east of the Sierra Nevada. It was initially reported at 6.4-magnitude.

It was centered about 4.7 miles (7.6 kilometers) deep, the agency said, and dozens of aftershocks were recorded. Kent said a 5.1 magnitude aftershock struck about 30 minutes after the initial quake.

State troopers and sheriff’s patrols from Esmeralda and surrounding Mineral and Nye counties checked highways for possible damage. A sheriff’s dispatcher in the historic mining boom town of Goldfield said the 112-year-old Esmeralda County Courthouse escaped damage.

Nye County sheriff’s Capt. David Boruchowitz reported no damage at the Mizpah Hotel and Clown Motel, two landmark businesses in Tonopah, a mining hub about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno.

Keith Hasty, a Tonopah gas station employee, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that groceries were shaken off shelves and that residents said their televisions shook.

Nye County spokesman Arnold Knightly reported broken storefront glass, stress cracks on asphalt streets, loose hanging signs, items knocked off shelves and minor lifting of sidewalks.

“Overall, everything appears to be sound at this point,” Knightly said. “”However, we have learned that other than obvious earthquake damage some damage is discovered later.”

Last July, a 56-year-old backyard mechanic was found dead in Pahrump four days after strong quakes struck near Ridgecrest, California, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) away. Investigators said it appeared a Jeep he was repairing wobbled off its support jacks.

State seismic network manager Ken Smith noted that Friday’s earthquake happened a few miles east of the site of a magnitude 6.2 temblor in July 1986 in California’s Chalfant Valley.

Buckled pavement closed U.S. Highway 95 for repairs after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake near Tonopah, Nev., Friday. (Nevada Department of Transportation via AP)

Larger earthquakes in the region in the last century included a 6.5-magnitude temblor in 1934 and a magnitude 6.8 quake in 1932, the state seismology lab said.

A 6-magnitude earthquake in February 2008 damaged hundreds of structures in the northeast Nevada town of Wells, including its historic El Rancho Hotel and Casino. Officials recently announced plans to restore the hotel.

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This story has been corrected to reference U.S. Geological Survey, not Service.

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Associated Press writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.

1. Magnitude-6.5 quake hits Nevada desert, felt in California and Utah

The quake's epicenter was located in in Tonopah, Nev., and was felt as far away as Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Image courtesy U.S. Geological Survey

May 15 (UPI) -- A strong magnitude-6.5 earthquake hit west-central Nevada early Friday and was felt as far away as Northern California and Utah, the Nevada Seismological Lab said.

The agency said the quake's epicenter was recorded near Tonopah, Nev., which is about 150 miles southeast of Reno and 190 miles northwest of Las Vegas, just after 4 a.m. It was followed by at least six sizable aftershocks, including one with a magnitude of 5.1 about 20 minutes after the main quake.

The earthquake was measured at a depth 4.7 miles, the lab said, and initially registered a magnitude of 6.4.

The U.S. Geological Survey received reports of the quake being felt as far west as California's Central Valley, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, and as far east as Salt Lake City -- which was shaken by a strong magnitude-5.7 earthquake and several aftershocks in March.

In Sacramento, the shaking was strong enough to make the lights sway at the studio of KXTV-TV.

There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.

Earthquake near Tonopah upgraded to 6.5; Esmeralda County says several portions of US 95 damaged

Sam Gross, Reno Gazette Journal
10 hrs ago

This is a developing story and will be updated.

© Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office A photo uploaded to the Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office Facebook page shows a large fracture in US 95 caused bya. 6.5 magnitude earthquake.
U.S. 95 to remain closed until 5 p.m.

Update, 9:31 a.m.

U.S. 95 in Esmeralda County is expected to remain closed until 5 p.m. while it's repaired and inspected after it was damaged by a 6magnitude 6.5 earthquake early Friday morning.

Traffic is being diverted around the closure on Highway 360 to Route 6.

U.S. Highway 95 between the U.S. Route 6 junction and U.S. Highway 360, will remain closed until 5 pm today for earthquake related inspections and repairs. https://t.co/AQdAa4GkP9 @EsmeraldaCounty @TonopahNevada @pvtimes @ClarkCountyNV @NHPSouthernComm @NevadaDPS @goldfieldnevada pic.twitter.com/8dH7HYq0Ie— Nevada DOT (@nevadadot) May 15, 2020


In Tonopah, 6.5 quake sent chandeliers swinging

Update, 9:06 a.m.

Lorina Dellinger knew exactly what was happening when she woke up to her house shaking early Friday morning.

As her home swayed back and forth, sending ceiling fans and chandeliers swinging, she ran downstairs to check on her kids.

The ground rapidly lurched for what felt like five minutes, she said. But in reality, Dellinger thinks the shaking lasted a total of 15 seconds.

What she was feeling was Nevada's largest earthquake in 66 years; a magnitude 6.5 temblor epicentered along US Route 95 about 36 miles from Tonopah. It struck at roughly 4:03 a.m.

Her kids were fine, she told the Reno Gazette Journal Monday morning, just a little shaken up. For the next hour or so, her family rode out a series of strong aftershocks — the largest of which measured a magnitude 5.1.

Once the ground began to settle, Dellinger, who's the Nye County Assistant Manager, began thinking about the rest of Tonopah faired through the shaking.

Reports began filing in.

The historic Mizpah and Belvada hotels made it through the shaking fine, and the town's building and grounds crew has been dispatched to check other buildings for damage.

In neighboring Esmeralda County, the quake fractured US 95 in several places so badly the highway had to be closed.

So far, everything in Tonopah appears OK and no injuries have been reported, Dellinger said.

But the crew is still doing checks, and Dellinger has not yet received word on the building she's most concerned about — Tonopah's old courthouse, which is slated for refurbishment but has deteriorated over the years.

Buildings like it — constructed of unreinforced masonry long before modern seismic code — are notoriously unstable when the ground begins to move.

"(Earthquakes) are always a concern because we want to make sure our historic buildings are preserved, and when it's something out of your hands hopefully it's not devastating," Dellinger said.
Friday's earthquake is state's largest in 66 years

Update, 8:41 a.m.

Friday's magnitude 6.5 earthquake near Tonopah is the largest earthquake to hit Nevada since 1954, when a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the Fairview Peak area, Graham Kent, director of the Nevada Seismological Lab wrote in an update.

The quake effectively ends a 66-year streak in Nevada without earthquakes in the mid-magnitude 6 range, Kent added.
Seismologists: Aftershocks will likely continue

Update, 8:13 a.m.

Seismologists with the Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno says aftershocks could continue after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck central Nevada near Tonopah early Friday morning.

Roughly a dozen aftershocks were registered in the hour after the mainshock struck at about 4 a.m. this morning, with six of them registering above a 4.5.

The largest of those was a magnitude 5.1, which hit about 23 minutes after the mainshock, according to a release from the Nevada Seismological Lab.

There's about a 4 percent chance that in the next week an even larger earthquake could hit, the release said.

The quake was recorded about three miles below the surface in a remote area 36 miles west of Tonopah at about 4:03 a.m. and was reported felt as far away as central California and southern Utah.

Light to Moderate shaking was reported to the United States Geological Service in Reno, Las Vegas, Fresno and Sacramento.

Friday's magnitude 6.5 is the largest earthquake to have hit that area since 1934, when another magnitude 6.5 struck 24 miles to the northwest. Just before that in 1932, a magnitude 6.8 struck 30 miles to the north.

The last major earthquake the area experienced was a magnitude 5.1 in 2013.

About two dozen earthquakes in the magnitude 5 range have occurred within 65 miles of this area over the past 50 years, according to Nevada Seismological Lab release.

The quake occurred in the Walker Lane Seismic region, a 60-mile wide zone of active faults that straddles the Nevada-California border. That fault system stretches from the Mojave Desert in Southern California, through the Sierra Nevada, north through western Nevada and the Reno area and back into California.

Fueled by the same tectonic activity that powers the infamous San Andreas fault, the Walker Lane is responsible for the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake in Southern California and is also suspected of causing a recent magnitude 4.5 earthquake near Carson City.





No significant damage yet reported in Tonopah

Update, 7:40 a.m.

There's so far been no significant damage from the earthquake or its aftershocks in Tonopah, according to Nye County Public Information Officer Arnold Knightly.
Traffic being diverted off US 95 due to earthquake damage

Update, 7:30 a.m.

Traffic is currently being diverted off of US 95 onto NV 360 at Mina, near the reported epicenter of the quake, according to the Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office.

In nearby Hawthorne, no damage from the earthquake has been reported, according to the Mineral County Sheriff's Office.
Quake upgraded to 6.5, several sections of US 95 damaged

Update, 7:06 a.m.

Several sections of US 95 have been damaged by a sizable earthquake in central Nevada early this morning.

That quake, which has been upgraded to a magnitude 6.5 by the United States Geological Survey, struck along the highway between Tonopah and Hawthorne.

Photos of the damage posted to the Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office show a large fracture along at least two sections of the highway.

Another, looking down the road, appears to show where the road had shifted slightly sideways.

The sheriff's office said travelers on US 95 should use caution and expect delays.
Tonopah, NV earthquake aftershocks

Update, 4:40 a.m.

The Nevada Seismological Lab is reporting two more aftershocks near Tonopah both measuring magnitude 5.4.
Nevada earthquake strikes near Tonopah, felt in Reno

Original story

The Nevada Seismological lab at the University of Nevada, Reno is reporting that a magnitude 6.4 earthquake has struck near Tonopah.

The quake struck just after 4 a.m. and was reportedly felt as far away as Reno and Sacramento.





Does being woken up by your dog barking at a shaking closet door, thinking in your haze that it was the other dog scratching herself, then a ghost, then a burglar, before finally going “ahh, it’s an earthquake” count? https://t.co/EkqMp4F7Bs— Colton Lochhead (@ColtonLochhead) May 15, 2020







We felt that earthquake here at our Sacramento office. Anyone else feel it? #CAwx https://t.co/uDfIOXfg8P— NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) May 15, 2020



It's also been followed several sizable aftershocks, including at least three temblors that measured magnitude 4.0, 4.4 and then 4.9.

The magnitude 6.4 quake has been marked as "reviewed" by the Nevada Seismological Laboratory, meaning it's magnitude has been finalized by a seismologist.

The quakes, including the 6.4, are striking in the desert between Tonopah and Hawthorne, near U.S. 95, according the a Nevada Seismological lab map of the earthquakes.

If you felt the shaking, you can submit a "felt report" to the USGS here.
Click to expand



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Deadly and destructive: The science behind earthquakes and what makes them so dangerous



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Sam Gross is a breaking news reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal who covers wildfires, emergencies and more. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Earthquake near Tonopah upgraded to 6.5; Esmeralda County says several portions of US 95 damaged