SPACE RACE 2.0

Asteroid dust collected by Japan probe arrives on Earth

In a streak of light across the night sky, samples collected from a distant asteroid arrived on Earth on Sunday after being dropped off by Japanese space probe Hayabusa-2.

© Morgan Sette A capsule carrying asteroid samples that was dropped off by the Hayabusa-2 probe created a shooting star-like fireball as it entered Earth's 

atmosphere

© Janis LATVELS 

After dropping off the asteroid samples Japan's Hayabusa-2 space probe starts a new mission

Scientists hope the precious samples, which are expected to amount to no more than 0.1 grams of material, could help shed light on the origin of life and the formation of the universe

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© Handout A JAXA artist's rendering of the separation of the capsule (centre L) carrying the asteroid sample from the space probe Hayabusa-2

The capsule carrying samples entered the atmosphere just before 2:30 am Japan time (1730 GMT Saturday), creating a shooting-star-like fireball as it entered Earth's atmosphere.


"Six years and it has finally come back to Earth," an official narrating a live broadcast of the arrival said, as images showed officials from Japan's space agency JAXA cheering and pumping their fists in excitement.


The capsule separated from Hayabusa-2 on Saturday, when the refrigerator-sized space probe that launched into space in 2014 was 220,000 kilometres (137,000 miles) away from Earth.

It landed in the southern Australian desert, where it will be recovered from an area spanning some 100 square kilometres, with search crews guided by beacons emitted as the capsule descended.

Scientists at the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Woomera Range Complex in South Australia closely monitored the capsule's descent.

Samples in the capsule were collected from the asteroid Ryugu, some 300 million kilometres from Earth during two crucial phases of Hayabusa-2's mission last year.

The probe collected both surface dust and pristine material from below the surface that was stirred up by firing an "impactor" into the asteroid.

© Yutaka IIJIMA Officials from Japan's space agency JAXA celebrate after asteroid samples were dropped off on Earth by the Hayabusa-2 space probe

The material collected from the asteroid is believed to be unchanged since the time the universe was formed.

Larger celestial bodies like Earth went through radical changes including heating and solidifying, changing the composition of the materials on their surface and below 

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© Morgan Sette Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials and reporters tour the roof of the Royal Australian Air Force's Woomera Range Complex in South Australia ahead of capsule's arrival

But "when it comes to smaller planets or smaller asteroids, these substances were not melted, and therefore it is believed that substances from 4.6 billion years ago are still there," Hayabusa-2 mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa told reporters before the capsule arrived

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© Morgan Sette Scientists at the Royal Australian Air Force's Woomera Range Complex closely monitored the capsule's descent

- Samples with organic material? -

Scientists are especially keen to discover whether the samples contain organic matter, which could have helped seed life on Earth.

"We still don't know the origin of life on Earth and through this Hayabusa-2 mission, if we are able to study and understand these organic materials from Ryugu, it could be that these organic materials were the source of life on Earth," Yoshikawa said.

Once the samples are recovered, they will be processed in Australia and then flown back to Japan.

Half the material will be shared between JAXA, US space agency NASA and other international organisations, and the rest kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology

© David Lory Videographic presentation of the Hayabusa-2 mission

- More tasks for Hayabusa-2 -

The work isn't over for Hayabusa-2, which was launched in December 2014.

The probe will now begin an extended mission targeting two new asteroids.

Hayabusa-2 will complete a series of orbits around the sun for around six years before approaching the first of its target asteroids -- named 2001 CC21 -- in July 2026.

The probe won't get that close, but scientists hope it will be able to photograph it and that the fly-by will help develop knowledge about how to protect Earth against asteroid impact.

Videographic presentation of the Hayabusa-2 mission

Hayabusa-2 will then head towards its main target, 1998 KY26, a ball-shaped asteroid with a diameter of just 30 metres. When the probe arrives at the asteroid in July 2031, it will be approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth.

It will observe and photograph the asteroid, no easy task given that it is spinning rapidly, rotating on its axis about every 10 minutes.

But Hayabusa-2 is unlikely to land and collect samples, as it probably won't have enough fuel to return them to Earth.

kh-sah/ch/acb

Japan capsule with asteroid samples retrieved in Australia


TOKYO — Japan’s space agency said its helicopter search team has retrieved a capsule, which is carrying asteroid samples that could explain the origin of life, that landed on a remote area in southern Australia as planned Sunday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

“The capsule collection work at the landing site was completed . . .," the space agency said in a tweet about four hours after the capsule landed. ”We practiced a lot for today ... it ended safe."

Hayabusa2 had successfully released the small capsule on Saturday and sent it toward Earth to deliver samples from a distant asteroid that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on our planet, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

Early Sunday the capsule briefly turned into a fireball as it reentered the atmosphere 120 kilometres (75 miles) above Earth. At about 10 kilometres (6 miles) above ground, a parachute was opened to slow its fall and beacon signals were transmitted to indicate its location.

“It was great ... It was a beautiful fireball, and I was so impressed," said JAXA's Hayabusa2 project manager Yuichi Tsuda as he celebrated the successful capsule return and safe landing from a command centre in Sagamihara, near Tokyo. “I've waited for this day for six years."

Beacon signals were detected, suggesting the parachute successfully opened and the capsule landed safely in a remote, sparsely populated area of Woomera, Australia, said JAXA official Akitaka Kishi.

About two hours after the capsule's reentry, JAXA said its helicopter search team found the capsule in the planned landing area. The retrieval of the pan-shaped capsule, about 40 centimetres (15 inches) in diameter, was completed about two hours later.

The fireball could be seen even from the International Space Station. A Japanese astronaut, Soichi Noguchi, who is now on a six-month mission there, tweeted: “Just spotted #hayabusa2 from #ISS! Unfortunately not bright enough for handheld camera, but enjoyed watching capsule!”

Hayabusa2 left the asteroid Ryugu, about 300 million kilometres (180 million miles) away, a year ago. After it released the capsule, it moved away from Earth to capture images of the capsule descending toward the planet as it set off on a new expedition to another distant asteroid.

The capsule descended from 220,000 kilometres (136,700 miles) away in space after it was separated from Hayabusa2 in a challenging operation that required precision control.

JAXA officials said they hoped to conduct a preliminary safety inspection at an Australian lab and bring the capsule back to Japan early next week.

Dozens of JAXA staff have been working in Woomera to prepare for the sample return. They set up satellite dishes at several locations in the target area inside the Australian Air Force test field to receive the signals.

Australian National University space rock expert Trevor Ireland, who was in Woomera for the arrival of the capsule, said he expected the Ryugu samples to be similar to the meteorite that fell in Australia near Murchison in Victoria state more than 50 years ago.

“The Murchison meteorite opened a window on the origin of organics on Earth because these rocks were found to contain simple amino acids as well as abundant water,” Ireland said. “We will examine whether Ryugu is a potential source of organic matter and water on Earth when the solar system was forming, and whether these still remain intact on the asteroid.”

Scientists say they believe the samples, especially ones taken from under the asteroid’s surface, contain valuable data unaffected by space radiation and other environmental factors. They are particularly interested in analyzing organic materials in the samples.

JAXA hopes to find clues to how the materials are distributed in the solar system and are related to life on Earth. Yoshikawa, the mission manager, said 0.1 gram of the dust would be enough to carry out all planned researches.

For Hayabusa2, it’s not the end of the mission it started in 2014. It is now heading to a small asteroid called 1998KY26 on a journey slated to take 10 years one way, for possible research including finding ways to prevent meteorites from hitting Earth.

So far, its mission has been fully successful. It touched down twice on Ryugu despite the asteroid’s extremely rocky surface, and successfully collected data and samples during the 1 1/2 years it spent near Ryugu after arriving there in June 2018.

In its first touchdown in February 2019, it collected surface dust samples. In a more challenging mission in July that year, it collected underground samples from the asteroid for the first time in space history after landing in a crater that it created earlier by blasting the asteroid’s surface.

Asteroids, which orbit the sun but are much smaller than planets, are among the oldest objects in the solar system and therefore may help explain how Earth evolved.

Ryugu in Japanese means “Dragon Palace,” the name of a sea-bottom castle in a Japanese folk tale.

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Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press

COVID VACCINE ROLL OUT

WHO warns virus crisis not over as vaccine rollout starts


The World Health Organization warned that vaccines were no magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis, as Russia started vaccinating its high-risk workers Saturday and other countries geared up for similar programmes. 

© Ina FASSBENDER There may be lights, but at least in Switzerland there won't be much singing as Christmas caroling has been banned in the streets

The WHO warned about what it said was an erroneous belief that the Covid-19 crisis is over with jabs on the horizon, nearly a year after the start of the pandemic that has killed 1.5 million people worldwide

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© Loic VENANCE Coronavirus has made it more difficult for homeless shelters, with this one in the French city of Nantes using tents

"Vaccines do not equal zero Covid," said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, adding that not everyone will be able to receive it early next year.

"Vaccination will add a major, major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also cautioned against the "growing perception that the pandemic is over" with the virus still spreading fast, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and health care workers.

© Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV Russia's vaccination programme prioritises high-risk workers

Health officials in Moscow said they had opened 70 coronavirus vaccine centres in the Russian capital that would initially offer jabs for health, education and social workers.

© Nikolay KORZHOV Moscow begins Covid-19 vaccination for vulnerable workers

The WHO caution came as the United States clocked a record number of Covid-19 cases for a second day in a row Friday, with the country preparing for what US President-elect Joe Biden has called a "dark winter".

America's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended "universal face mask use" indoors and Biden said he would scale down his January inauguration ceremony to mitigate the virus risk.

It comes as countries prepare for the approval and rollout of several vaccines that have proven effective in trials.

- Massive logistical effort -

The WHO says 51 candidate vaccines are currently being tested on humans, with 13 reaching final-stage mass testing.

Britain on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve an inoculation, from a Pfizer-BioNTech, for general use, piling pressure on other countries to swiftly follow suit.

© Simon MALFATTO Spread of the coronavirus

The United States is expected to give a green light later this month.

VIDEO Moscow begins Covid-19 vaccination for vulnerable workers

Belgium, France and Spain have said jabs will begin in January for the most vulnerable.

With the imminent arrival of vaccines that need storage at ultra-low temperatures, US companies are preparing for a massive logistical effort to aid their distribution.

Firms specializing in insulating containers are on a war footing after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine needs to be stored at -94 degrees Fahrenheit (-70 Celsius).

Meat processing giant Smithfield said it was ready to put the cold rooms at its abattoirs at the disposal of vaccine rollout operations.

And US logistics giant UPS is producing 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of dry ice an hour in its depots and has developed portable freezers capable of storing the vaccines at temperatures down to -112 Fahrenheit.

- 'Follow the science' -

Standing in the way of success are growing signs of vaccine skepticism, with misinformation and mistrust coloring public acceptance of inoculation.

In Russia, Levada polling agency recently found that only 36 percent of respondents were prepared to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Several high-profile figures have pledged to receive the vaccine in public in an effort to build confidence, including Biden, Tedros and former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

The United States recorded 225,000 new infections on Friday -- the second daily record in a row for the world's worst-hit nation.

Biden said the surging number of cases meant he would scale back his inauguration ceremony set for January.

"We're going to follow the science and the recommendations of the experts," Biden told reporters.

- Christmas spike expected -

More than 65 million people have contracted Covid-19 globally with the death toll from the disease topping 1.5 million since it first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

British medical chiefs said the arrival of a vaccine should see deaths reduce "significantly" by early next year but warned social mixing over Christmas could cause another spike before then.

"By spring the effects of vaccination will begin to be felt in reducing Covid admissions, attendances and deaths significantly but there are many weeks before we get to that stage," they said.

Italy is seeing a dramatic resurgence of infections after it largely tamped down an earlier outbreak by enforcing a strict lockdown, while Latin America and the Caribbean region has seen an 18 percent spike in cases in a week.

Other countries are als0 unveiling holiday restrictions, with Switzerland banning Christmas caroling in the streets and Madrid cancelling most New Year events in the city centre.

Moscow opens dozens of coronavirus vaccination centres

MOSCOW — The city of Moscow opening 70 vaccination facilities where thousands of doctors, teachers and others in high-risk groups had signed up to receive COVID-19 vaccines starting Saturday, a precursor to a sweeping Russia-wide immunization effort.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The centres in the capital started giving shots to willing recipients three days after President Vladimir Putin ordered the launch of a “large-scale” COVID-19 immunization campaign even though a Russian-designed vaccine has yet to complete the advanced studies needed to ensure its effectiveness and safety in line with established scientific protocols.

The Russian leader said Wednesday that more than 2 million doses of Sputnik V will be available in the next few days, allowing authorities to offer jabs to medical workers and teachers across the country starting late next week.

Moscow, which currently accounts for about a quarter of the country's new daily infections, moved ahead of the curve with the opening of the vaccination facilities on Saturday. Doctors, teachers and municipal workers were invited to book a time to receive a shot. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that about 5,000 signed up in a few hours after the system began operating on Friday.

“Of course I had doubts, especially given that all the clinical trials haven’t ended," said Tatyana Kirsanova, who received the vaccine Saturday at a Moscow clinic. "But I decided to go ahead and protect myself with all possible options.”

Russia boasted that Sputnik V was the world’s “first registered COVID-19 vaccine” after the government gave it regulatory approval in early August. The move drew criticism from international experts, who pointed out that the vaccine had only been tested on several dozen people at the time.

Putin has shrugged off doubts about it, saying in August that one of his daughters was among the early vaccine recipients.

Sputnik V has been offered to medical workers and teachers for several months even though the vaccine was still in the middle of advanced trials. Several top Russian officials said they had gotten the required two jabs, and the Russian military this week began vaccinating the crews of navy ships scheduled to depart on a mission.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Wednesday that more than 100,000 people in Russia have received the shots.

Russia is offering the vaccine for free to people aged 18 to 60 who don’t suffer from chronic illnesses and aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding.

The two-shot Sputnik V was developed by the Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute. An advanced study among 40,000 volunteers was announced two weeks after the vaccine received government approval and that is still ongoing.

Kirill Dmitriyev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled Sputnik V’s development, said last month that more than 1 billion doses of the vaccine were expected to be produced outside of Russia next year.

Last month, developers of the vaccine said interim analysis of trial data showed it was 91.4% effective. The conclusion was based on 39 infections among 18,794 study participants that received both doses of either the vaccine or a placebo, which is a much lower number of infections than Western drugmakers have looked at when assessing the effectiveness of their vaccines. Two other Russia-designed vaccines are also undergoing tests.

On Wednesday, Britain became the first country in the West to authorize the use of a vaccine against the coronavirus developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.

Russia has been swept with a resurgence of the outbreak this fall, with numbers of new infections exceeding the levels recorded early in the pandemic, but the authorities so far have refrained from a tight lockdown imposed in the spring.

On Saturday, Russia reported a new record high of daily infections at 28,782, including 7,993 in Moscow. The government task force has recorded a total of 42,684 virus-related deaths since the start of the outbreak.

Russia’s total of over 2.4 million confirmed cases is currently the fourth-largest caseload in the world behind the United States, India and Brazil.

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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak 

and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

Vladimir Isachenkov, The Associated Press

THIRD WORLD USA 

First shipments of Covid-19 vaccine will fall short

State health departments and governors' offices across the country are finally being told by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Operation Warp Speed how many doses of the coronavirus vaccine they will initially be receiving once the vaccine is authorized, and it's not enough.

© Pfizer Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, MI.

With the Pfizer vaccine emergency use authorization expected later this month, and perhaps also for the Moderna vaccine, states are learning there's not enough for them to fully vaccinate those designated as their first and top priority.

Earlier this week, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that the very first batch of Americans to get vaccinated should be frontline health care workers and residents of long term care facilities such as nursing homes. Together, they add up to about 24 million people.

Federal officials estimate about 40 million vaccines will be available by the end of the month if both Moderna and Pfizer get US Food and Drug Administration authorization -- only enough to vaccinate 20 million people, because two doses are needed for each person.

But even that number will fall short. Pfizer is only expected to have 6.4 million doses of vaccine ready by mid-December.

A CNN analysis of 27 states' vaccine data showed that none were getting enough vaccine in the first shipment to vaccinate all their first priority group, including health care workers and long-term care residents. CNN was able to confirm the expected size of the first shipment of vaccine for at least 45 states, and the number of people prioritized in a least 27 states.

Now states must decide how they will ration the vaccine among their top priority groups and how the small first installment affects the timetable of when groups down the line can be vaccinated. Some states are already being forced to triage -- choosing which health care workers are a higher priority than others.

California must vaccinate 2.4 million healthcare workers first and Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this week that the state is only receiving 327,000 doses of the vaccine from Pfizer to start with.

Since that covers just a fraction of the healthcare workers needed to get vaccinated, Newsom said Thursday the state would be trimming its list of top priority group of healthcare workers even further to decide who gets vaccinated first.

"It's one thing when you hear the national news about, well, we broadly all agree that our healthcare workers and skilled nursing residential care and assisted living facilities should be prioritized, but that is millions and millions of people. When you only have a few hundred thousand doses of vaccines -- doses, you need two doses -- you can cut that in half in terms of the total number of people that actually will be fully vaccinated. We have to look at some prioritization of those doses, and we've done just that," Newsom said Thursday.

The Covid-19 vaccine in California will now go first to acute care facilities, nursing homes, dialysis centers and first responders before going to groups like home healthcare workers.

Alabama is receiving far less of the Pfizer vaccine than they were first promised from the initial shipment. Instead of their first shipment being 112,000 doses from Pfizer, the state will receive 40,950 doses, according to Alabama Department of Public Health Officer Karen Landers. The state has designated 300,000 health care workers and 22,000 residents of long-term care facilities as among the highest priority group to be vaccinated.

"The Alabama Department of Public Health will follow its Phase 1a allocation of Covid-19 vaccine and, as necessary, ask providers to sub-categorize persons within Phase 1a based upon supply," Landers told CNN. "For example, healthcare personnel who work in emergency rooms, Covid-19 units, have underlying health problems, or other factors, may receive the initial vaccines."

Montana is only receiving around 9,750 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the first shipment when it has more than 40,000 healthcare workers to vaccinate before moving on to the rest of the state's population.

"We'll likely be receiving several thousand subsequent doses in the coming weeks" Gov. Steve Bullock said in a news conference earlier this week.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state will receive 170,000 doses of Pfizer's vaccine on December 15th. The state's highest priority groups include 85,000 nursing-home residents and 130,000 nursing home facility workers.

For some states, the difference between the amount of vaccine they expect to receive and the number of people labeled as the state's highest priority are not as far off.

In Texas, the state expects 224,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine the week of December 14, but will end up with 1.4 million doses when combining shipments from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of December. The state estimated it needs to vaccinate 1.6 million health care workers to complete its first phase of the process.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice gave more detail in his Friday announcement of what the state will be receiving by sharing not only the initial shipment, but the ordering cap for each week. Justice said that West Virginia is expected to receive 60,000 doses of the vaccine from Pfizer on December 15 and 26,000 from Moderna the week after. The state can order up to 16,000 new doses from Pfizer a week and up to approximately 5,000 from Moderna each week.

The state has said its first priority group is approximately 100,000 healthcare workers, long-term care facility staff and residents, individuals critical to community infrastructure and emergency response, public health officials, and first responders.

TRUMP decision to withdraw troops dismays Somalis

ONLY 700 US SPECIAL FORCES ASSIGNED INSOMALIA

By Katharine Houreld

© Reuters/Feisal Omar FILE PHOTO: 

Somali police officers tow their car from the scene of a roadside explosion in Hodan district of Mogadishu

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Somalia in the waning days of his presidency triggered dismay on Saturday from some Somalis, who appealed to the incoming U.S. president to reverse the decision.

"The U.S. decision to pull troops out of Somalia at this critical stage in the successful fight against al-Shabaab and their global terrorist network is extremely regrettable," Senator Ayub Ismail Yusuf told Reuters in a statement, referring to the al Qaida-linked al Shabaab insurgency.

"U.S. troops have made a huge contribution and had great impact on the training and operational effectiveness of Somali soldiers," said Yusuf, a member of Somalia's Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

He tagged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden in a tweet criticising the decision.

The Somali government could not immediately be reached for comment early on Saturday to Friday's decision to withdraw almost all the roughly 700 U.S. troops by Jan. 15.

Somalia's fragile internationally backed government is due to hold parliamentary elections this month and national elections in early February, a precursor to the planned drawdown of the 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force.

U.S. troops have been in Somalia, mostly supporting Somali special forces known as Danab in operations against al Shabaab, whose attacks in nations like Kenya and Uganda have killed hundreds of civilians, including Americans.

SUPPORTING SOMALI FORCES

Danab punches above its weight because regular forces are often poorly trained and equipped, frequently desert their posts or become enmeshed in power struggles between the national and regional governments.

If the withdrawal is permanent, "it will have a huge toll on counterterrorism efforts," said Colonel Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, who served for three years until 2019 as the Danab commander.

He fought alongside U.S. forces, he said, and during his command two Americans and more than a hundred of his own men had died. Both U.S. and Somali forces opposed the withdrawal, he said.

The U.S. program to expand Danab to 3,000 men was supposed to continue until 2027, Sheikh said, but its future is unclear.

Airstrikes will likely continue from bases in Kenya and Djibouti, which could also provide a launchpad for cross-border operations. Rights group Amnesty International says the airstrikes have killed at least 16 civilians in the past three years.

The U.S. withdrawal comes at a turbulent time in the region. Ethiopia, which is a major troop contributor to the peacekeeping forces and has thousands more troops in Somalia bilaterally, is distracted by an internal conflict that broke out last month. It has disarmed hundreds of its peacekeepers already.

Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, but the entry of the peacekeeping force in 2008 helped incubate fledgling government structures that allowed for gradual reforms of the military, such as a biometric system to pay soldiers and the formation of Danab.

But many problems with the Somali military remain, including corruption and political interference. Perhaps a withdrawal will force Somalia to confront them, said Sheikh. Or perhaps it will make them worse.

(Reporting by Katharine Houreld in Addis Ababa; Editing by William Mallard)

UCP RENT A MOB TURNS ON KENNEY
Despite warning from Kenney and stiff fines, anti-maskers vow larger protests on weekend

Bill Kaufmann POSTMEDIA 

© Provided by Calgary Herald 

Hundreds of people protest mandatory masks at Calgary city hall on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020.

Despite the threat of fines and an appeal from Premier Jason Kenney that they halt their large gatherings, opponents of COVID-19 restrictions are vowing province-wide protests this weekend.

One organizer said the movement has gained momentum and he expects a larger turnout than previous events that have drawn fines.

In a virtual town hall Thursday evening, Kenney condemned narratives that paint the COVID-19 crisis as fake. And, he implored activists opposed to restrictions imposed by his government to abandon large gatherings in favour of other protest forms.

“Go ahead, call me a dictator but send me emails; organize online petitions or a safe protest that’s socially distanced,” said Kenney.

“You don’t have the luxury of increasing the chances of transmission … . If you think this is a hoax, talk to my friend who spent nearly two months in ICU fighting for his life or speak to those who have lost loved ones.”

Kenney said while government measures such as limiting outdoor gatherings to 10 people and banning private indoor gatherings violate constitutional rights, the restrictions are legally and morally defensible.

“I do believe in order to avoid the catastrophic situation from the pandemic, certain abridgements of those rights and freedoms can be reasonably justified in a free and democratic society,” said Kenney.

He and physicians have warned repeatedly that sharply rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations threaten to overwhelm the province’s health care system.

Nonetheless, some of the premier’s critics contend he’s refused to impose a province-wide mandatory mask edict out of fear of a backlash and that has fuelled the resistance to health orders.

In a statement sent by an organizer of the Walk for Freedom, its writer said there would be protests in several Alberta cities this weekend, including at Calgary’s city hall and at the legislature building in Edmonton.

The statement said the movement is growing and sets an example for the rest of the country.

“Alberta is rapidly becoming a beacon of freedom in Canada, with rallies happening across the province every week now,” it stated. “It’s time for Alberta to show the world that we are the creators of our own destiny.”

The statement said that although city police have issued six tickets to protest organizers, which it called “unconstitutional,” the group sympathizes with officers in “a tough position.”

The organizer also said protesters would seek to social distance but added “there is a lack of feasibility … considering the expected turnout.”

Kenney’s suggestion that protesters rely on online or written tactics were rejected as being less effective than more visible demonstrations.

The group’s statement also said a speaker at the Calgary rally would be the head of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF), John Carpay, whose group says it’s launching a constitutional challenge against Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions.

       CARPAY IS A RIGHT WING PRO EMPLOYER UCP        SUPPORTER 

The JCCF and protesters contend the restrictions — that also include strict limits on attendance at funerals, wedding and places of worship, while mandating mask-wearing in public spaces in Edmonton and Calgary — unnecessarily infringe on civil liberties.

APPEALING TO THE BASE OF UCP THE EVANGELICAL RIGHT WING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA  

With 590 COVID-19 deaths now reported in Alberta and a test positivity rate having passed a “grim milestone” of 10 per cent, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw implored residents to stay home or to maintain social distance this weekend.

“By bend the curve and not the rules, you are sparing someone from watching a loved one battle COVID-19,” she said Friday.

Those representing Alberta’s registered nurses delivered a similar message, saying over-stretched health care workers are fearful of what lies ahead as infections mount.

“Please don’t go out this weekend. Think of yourself, your family and neighbours, and the ability of your health care workers to care for Albertans who are already sick with COVID-19 as staffing shortages grow more severe.” said United Nurses of Alberta President Heather Smith Friday.

On Thursday, the heads of the city’s bylaw and police departments said issuing tickets would continue if those protests resumed.

“There’s a segment of the population that doesn’t care to follow the rules, so we’ve got to get serious,” said Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld.

He also said he’s confident crowd concerns sparked by fights and lack of social distancing at Chinook Centre mall a week ago won’t occur again.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

on Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn

Interest-free loans to help cover rent payments are being offered to more B.C. residents

© Submitted by Luz Lopez Dee 

Langley resident Luz Lopez Dee was nearly evicted by her landlord for failure to pay her monthly rent, but thanks to a short-term loan from a local rent bank, she was able to pay the rent of $1,300.

Luz Lopez Dee has rarely missed paying her rent, but sometimes mishaps happen.

Years ago, the 76-year-old Langley resident forgot to reply to a Service Canada letter which created a delay in her pension cheques and meant she didn't have enough money to cover the monthly rent on her apartment. That almost led to her becoming homeless.

"My [housing] manager said, 'If you aren't going to pay me this week or if you aren't going to pay rent, I will evict you," she said. "That was scary."

Instead, Lopez Dee secured an interest-free loan through a rent bank designed to help people with lower incomes maintain housing.

"My goodness, it was really a big help," she said.

Rent banks have long been established in B.C., but work is now underway to expand them throughout the province.

Last June, the B.C. Rent Bank was established with funding from the B.C. government. So far, it has provided money to charities in the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Prince George to sustain their existing rent bank programs or open new ones. 

The program will expand to the Central Okanagan and Nanaimo in January.

Through the initiative, people in crisis will be offered loans of up to $2,000 to help cover housing costs. They repay the loan, interest-free, over the course of six to 24 months.

Crises are unexpected events that can come in many forms, says B.C. Rent Bank project lead Melissa Giles.

"A lot of these examples are things like a single parent … [who doesn't] have benefits at their workplace. They have to miss a few days of work because their child is sick and now their rent payment is at risk," Giles told Chris Walker, host of CBC's Daybreak South.

"Other examples would be people who have an expense related to their cars. They've had an accident or they've had a repair that has cost them money," she said.

The non-profit Canadian Mental Health Association will operate rent bank programs for residents of Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland, where housing affordability is increasingly an issue.

"It's not the answer to our affordable housing issue," Giles said. "But it will be a support for people … [in] these times where they just can't make that month's rent."

Giles says, on average, 65 to 70 per cent of loans are repaid to rent banks every year. Rent bank case managers tailor repayment plans to their clients and allow them to make partial payments or defer payments should another personal crisis come up.

The Aboriginal Business and Community Development Centre in Prince George — which has run a rent bank program since 2002 — says it tries to make clients' lives as easy as possible.

"We do not chase our clients, but we do offer financial literacy courses and we do remind them of their payments," Catherine Anderson, the centre's financial literacy coordinator, told Sarah Penton, host of CBC's Radio West.

"I'm all for creating a sustainable future for everyone," Anderson said.

'Wage theft': Employees are working long hours at home — but some employers feel they don't need to pay them more

Howard Levitt

© Provided by Financial Post Employees are working longer hours than those in the office

There was a spirited, indeed clamorous, uproar in response to my columns discussing employees who are ostensibly ‘working’ from home but not doing very much work at all. My point was that remote working could be a vehicle for abuse and some will take advantage to the extent that they could not at the office surrounded by their co-workers and managers. Why complain of such ‘time theft’, my inbox reverberated, while ignoring ‘wage theft’?


Not wishing to be inequitable, here goes.

Just as some employees will take advantage of their employers, some employers are equally unscrupulous. The productivity of Canadians working remotely, on an hourly basis, is 21 per cent less than employees working from the office, according to Aternity’s Global Remote Work Productivity Tracker. While their productivity is decreasing the longer remote work continues, at-home employees are spending 10 per cent more time working than those in the office.

Are they entitled to more money as a result of working these additional hours even if their overall productivity has declined? And is not paying for that extra time ‘wage theft’ in the same way that pursuing personal endeavours while on the clock is ‘time theft’?

Howard Levitt: Here's why the work-from-home arrangement isn't working for many companies — and their staff

Howard Levitt: Some employers are manipulating terminated employees with lowball settlement offers. Here's how to fight back

Howard Levitt: Working from home giving rise to insidious trend — time theft by employees

Employees paid hourly are entitled to be paid for all hours worked, however inefficiently deployed. Salaried workers will generally not receive overtime pay, unless their agreement with their employer requires overtime for hours in excess of their scheduled working day.

If salaried employees’ work hours increase dramatically over a prolonged period, they have three options. They could potentially claim constructive dismissal, refuse to routinely work the increased hours, or sue for the additional hours based on it being a breach of their written or implied employment agreement.

But all employees, who are not exempt from the overtime provisions of their Employment Standards Act, have an entitlement to overtime pay of 1.5 times their hourly wage.

The hours differ in each province. For example, it’s more than 44 hours in a week in Ontario and 8 hours in a day for employees of federally regulated employers.

Those hours include breaks but not lunch periods. In most provinces, managers are exempt from the overtime pay and a common form of ‘wage theft’ is to not pay overtime to employees labelled ‘manager’, who are essentially lead hands performing largely the same functions as others. In other words, to be exempt from overtime, you have to spend your hours managing others or involved in executive functions. Routinely miscategorizing employees in that way is an invitation to a class-action lawsuit.

Why, some employers ask me, should I pay an employee more to be less productive, as the statistics show. That would mean that employers are paying more for less. As I say to them and to my callers on my Bell Media radio show, I don’t write the law, I just explain it. In other words, a valid point but entirely academic.

But here is the problem. Employees, particularly if they are working from home, have less evidence of the hours that they work. The fact that their computer is turned on for a certain period is not entirely determinative and often their activities are not tracked. Since they are working remotely, their start time and completion time also vary.

So the employers’ instinct, in many instances, is not to pay the overtime, although it’s technically owing. If employees sue to recover it, they have the burden of proof and an employment relationship rendered untenable. At the very least, they are unlikely to receive the next promotion. And although reprisal against an employee for making an overtime claim is itself a direct violation of the Employment Standards Act, the employee may not be up for yet another legal battle with an increasingly outraged employer.

In short, overtime, which would be paid as a matter of course at the office, will less likely be quickly paid to employees working remotely which is also seen a form of wage theft.

Another issue, overlooked by employers and employees, are the many conversations most employees have in a day “off the clock”, for example, in responding to a call or email after their regular hours. If they are for business purposes, that’s part of their work hours and legally must be treated as such, including as overtime.

Employees should best keep a record and inform their employer if they wish them to be accounted for, so lieu time or overtime pay can be agreed to. It’s fair to say that few employers are monitoring and paying for such calls as overtime pay even though they are required to. That failure will be keeping my firm’s class-action group busy, on behalf of employers and employees alike.

The reality is that many employees are working overtime for which they are not paid and that is exacerbated, just as is time theft, due to the absence or limits of time tracking. Although most employees are paid for their time, when an employer cannot personally vouchsafe for the employees’ additional hours, particularly if they see no increase, and possibly a decrease, in productivity, they are loathe to pay. Employees wishing to ensure payment for their time should keep track and send their employer their time sheet on a weekly basis.

Employers wishing to avoid a class-action lawsuit for overtime pay, particularly from their remote workers, should have written policies, signed off by employees, prohibiting overtime without a written sign-off by the management. Although that will not protect employers who are willfully blind to their employees’ increased hours, it is more difficult for an employee working remotely to argue that the employer was aware of all of the hours they were working.

Got a question about employment law during COVID-19? Write to me at levitt@levittllp.com.

Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP, employment and labour lawyers. He practises employment law in eight provinces. He is the author of six books including the Law of Dismissal in Canada.

More than a quarter of Yukon businesses laid off staff during

 COVID-19

© John Fulton/CBC Many Yukon businesses have scaled back operations during COVID-19 and have concerns about their ability to navigate the next few months without layoffs, closures or bankruptcy.

More than a quarter of Yukon businesses have laid off at least one employee during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In some cases, cuts have been deep.

A new survey reveals that among Yukon companies that reported layoffs, well over half (58.1 per cent) have reduced their workforce by at least 50 per cent.

Sectors hit the hardest include manufacturing, food service, arts, entertainment and retail.

The information comes from Statistics Canada's Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. A summary of Yukon's information was published this week by the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.

"It's a pretty good snapshot of the business community right now, it will be good for policy makers to identify which sectors are being hit," said Gary Brown, Chief Information Officer for the Yukon Bureau of Statistics. 

Yukon still faring better than national average

Across Canada, 37 per cent of businesses report having laid off at least one staff member due to COVID-19.

"We seem to be somewhat less affected overall but obviously some businesses are hammered hard here," Brown said.

In October, Yukon still had the lowest rate of unemployment in the country.

There are also some signs of a rebound effect, as about 40 per cent of businesses who had laid off staff have rehired at least one person.

Private sector employment accounts for the livelihood of more than 7,000 people in the territory.

The new survey does not look at government and NGOs.

It also does not give a total number for people laid off, but rather frames the question through percentages of businesses who have laid off workers.

© Wayne Vallevand/CBC 

'We seem to be somewhat less affected overall [than in the rest of Canada] but obviously some businesses are hammered hard here,

Revenues are down

When it comes to revenues, sales and transactions are down.

More than one quarter (27.4 per cent) of Yukon businesses reported that their revenues from August 2020 were down by at least a third compared to the year prior.

About one in six (15.9 per cent) businesses reported that their revenues were down by 50 per cent or more.
Changes since August

The survey is accurate to August but conditions in Yukon have changed since then.

Yukon entered Phase 3 of reopening on Aug. 2 and recently saw the BC, NWT and Nunavut travel bubbles close.

When asked to look ahead to September, October and November, many Yukon businesses expressed concerns.

One-third of Yukon businesses "did not know how long they could continue to operate at their current level of revenue" before considering further layoffs or even closure or bankruptcy, says the summary document from the Yukon Bureau of Statistics.

One in 12 businesses reported they could continue for "less than six months at current levels of revenue." 

More layoffs possible

The survey anticipates more layoffs ahead, though not for most businesses.

Brown said about 70 per cent of Yukon employers expected the number of employees to remain the same over the next three months.

About 13 per cent expected their number of employees to decrease during this time and about eight per cent expected to increase their workforce.

Tesla says Black people hold just 4% of its U.S. leadership roles

(Reuters) - Black employees make up just 4% of Tesla Inc's American leadership roles and 10% of its total workforce in the country, the electric carmaker has disclosed in its first U.S. diversity report.

© Reuters/ALY SONG FILE PHOTO: Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk speaks onstage during a delivery event for Tesla China-made Model 3 cars at its factory in Shanghai

Women comprise 17% of the company's U.S. leadership roles - directors and vice presidents - and 21% of the overall workforce, according to the report. The figures for Asian, Black and Hispanic people combined are 33% and 60%.

The carmaker noted, though, that leadership roles were a "very small cohort", or less than 0.4%, of its workforce.

Elon Musk's Tesla, whose meteoric rise has seen it become the most valuable auto company in the world and worth about $550 billion, acknowledged the lack of representation.

"We know that our numbers do not represent the deep talent pools of Black and African American talent that exist in the U.S at every level – from high-school graduates to professionals," it said in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Report https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/2020-DEI-impact-report.pdf 2020 published on Friday.

"While women are historically underrepresented in the tech and automotive industries, we recognize we have work to do in this area," it added.

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, said it planned to increase representation of all under-represented groups next year and would be recruiting at historically Black colleges and universities.

Nasdaq Inc filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday that, if approved, would require all Nasdaq-listed companies to adopt new rules related to board diversity.

The rules would require most of the companies to have, or publicly explain why they do not have, at least two diverse directors, including one who self-identifies as female and one who self-identifies as either an underrepresented minority or LGBTQ+.

(Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char)

Study finds Canada a "laggard" on homophobia in sports

TORONTO — Chris Voth's sexuality cost him a job with a professional volleyball team overseas four years ago.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Winnipeg native, who has never named the team nor country, was told outright that the club wasn't interested in having a gay player.

The 30-year-old came out publicly seven years ago because he hoped to be a role model for young LGBTQ athletes, and given the chance to go back and change that, he wouldn't.

But Voth was disheartened to learn that the majority of gay athletes still don't come out, and that homophobic language on the field or court remains rampant — and Canada is among the worst offenders.

"That was disappointing, because I always like to think that we're a bit more further ahead up north (compared to the U.S.)," said Voth, recently home from coaching in the Netherlands.

The former national team player was responding to two studies released Thursday by Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

The first study analyzed survey responses from 1,173 lesbian, gay and bisexual people aged 15 to 21 living in Canada, the U.S., Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

The study found that about 48 per cent of Canadian youth who come out to teammates reported being the target of homophobic behaviour, including bullying, assaults and slurs — and it was more prevalent among Canadian youth than Americans (45 per cent).

Among females, 44 per cent of Canadians who've come out to teammates reported being victimized — more than any other country surveyed by Monash's Behavioural Sciences Research Laboratory.

"It's easy for Canadians to dismiss the data and say, 'No, no, that's not in our country. We're inclusive and welcoming. And we're known around the world for being friendly and polite and nice,'" said lead author Erik Denison, who's Canadian.

"Canada has been a laggard globally, full stop. There's no other way to say that."

Young people who came out were significantly more likely (58 per cent versus 40 per cent) to report they’d been the target of homophobic behaviors in sport settings than those who didn't, the study found.

Every study over the past 15 years has shown that LGBTQ kids play sport at lower rates than straight kids, Denison said, and while there's a perception that the gap is more prevalent in boys than girls, that's not accurate.

"And seeing these big gaps in participation, I can only use the word alarming," said Denison. "We're really alarmed about both discrimination in sport, and the fact these kids are avoiding sport.

"Because the No. 1 thing we could be doing to reduce rates of suicide and self-harm is encouraging these kids to become active in safe and supportive environments."

Numerous studies have shown that suicide attempts and ideation about suicide are significantly higher in LGBTQ kids.

Voth's experiences as an out athlete varied wildly. The 30-year-old believes discrimination cost him spots on several pro clubs, contract negotiations inexplicably stalling with no explanation. On the other hand, when he signed with a pro team in Finland, he was "the first gay person that any of them had met. And only a month-and-a-half later, we were the first pro volleyball team to walk in a pride parade. So it can really go either way."

Voth said LGBTQ youth are doubly impacted, losing out on the mental health benefits that come from being part of a team.

The second Monash study investigated why some athletes use homophobic language.

Denison pointed out that while there are "homophobes, racists and sexist people everywhere," they tend to control their behaviour around others.

"The opposite is happening in sport. In sport, the culture is very supportive of homophobic language being used," he said. "Canadian sport has three official languages: French, English and homophobic language."

And while most people believe it's slurs aimed at opponents during games, their studies found that homophobic language is being used at practices, in the locker-room, and at social events, as jokes and banter.

"And we're not just talking about words like 'gay,' we asked about much more severe language,'" Denison said.

He is working with the University of British Columbia among other schools around the world on a program aimed to train team captains to be leaders on this issue, because coaches can't necessarily create change, it's more effective when it comes from an athlete's peers.

Denison said that Volleyball Canada is the only national sport organization in the country that has done work specifically targeting homophobia, and it occurred around the same time Voth came out publicly.

"I don't want to denigrate what the NHL (among other leagues) has done, but at the end of the day, the NHL is a professional sporting organization, they're ultimately a business," Denison said. "It's up to Hockey Canada, it's up to Soccer Canada, it's up to Rugby Canada, it's up to those bodies and provincial bodies as well to be driving change."

The Canadian Olympic Committee has done anti-homophobia social media campaigns, mall installations, and regularly marches in pride parades across the country.

Pro sports teams such as Toronto FC and the Toronto Raptors host annual pride games.

Denison said his research, however, has shown those initiatives do little to reduce homophobic behaviour and language among fans. He'd rather see pro teams work with teams and programs at the grassroots level to hold their own pride games, among other initiatives.

"What we've seen is that when amateur-level teams hold pride games, the players on those teams use half the homophobic language than those who don't hold these events," Denison said. "These events are really good at getting those conversations going around 'Hey, guys, what kind of language do we actually want on our team?' That's where we can change those norms and culture, we think quite effectively."

Denison pointed out that there are openly-LGBTQ people in entertainment, government, and major corporations, but by comparison, they largely remain invisible in sports, particularly on the men's side, and have since David Kopay came out in 1975 after he retired from the NFL. He's believed to be the first pro athlete to come out.

Michael Sam became the first publicly gay player to be drafted in the NFL. He signed with the Montreal Alouettes after being released by St. Louis, but abruptly left after playing one game.

Brooklyn Nets forward Jason Collins came out in 2013, and former Major League Soccer midfielder Collin Martin followed suit in 2018. Collins has retired, and Martin plays in the USL, and there have been no active gay players in any of the five major North American sports leagues since.

Women's pro sport has been a different story. Sports power couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe are two of the numerous out athletes in the WNBA, NWSL, and other women's leagues.

For Denison, Canada's track record is particularly disheartening.

"It's quite embarrassing for me as a Canadian researcher who happens to be down in Australia now to see that Canada is a laggard. Because I'm a proud Canadian, and I think Canadians have a reputation for being friendly and inclusive.

"But it looks like either Canadians have been ignoring this issue, we're not aware of this issue, or worse, maybe there's some deliberate resistance to do anything about this problem."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.

Lori Ewing, The Canadian Press

How a police contact by middle school leads to different outcomes for Black, white youth

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Research News

 

For Black youth, an encounter with police by eighth grade predicts they will be arrested by young adulthood - but the same is not true for white youth, a new University of Washington study finds.

Black young adults are 11 times more likely to be arrested by age 20 if they had an initial encounter with law enforcement in their early teens than Black youth who don't have that first contact.

In contrast, white young adults with early police contact are not significantly more likely to be arrested later, compared with white peers without that history.

The study's authors found that Black youth are more likely than white youth to be treated as "usual suspects" after a first encounter with police, leading to subsequent arrests over time. Even as white young adults report engaging in significantly more illegal behavior, Black young adults face more criminal penalties, the study finds.

Researchers also said it's not just the number of stops, but what transpires during a police stop that sets the tone for future interactions with police.

"What we know about police contacts and youth generally is that Black youth are more likely to be stopped by police to begin with, and are more likely to have a negative experience when that happens," said first author Annie McGlynn-Wright, a postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University who led the study while pursuing her doctorate at the UW. "What we haven't known previously is the long-term effects of police contacts in terms of criminal justice outcomes."

McGlynn-Wright added that the study, published Oct. 31 in the journal Social Problems, shows these early contacts with police create a "system response" to Black youth not experienced by white youth.

Racial differences in who is stopped, why and for what penalty have been well documented, the researchers said. Also, police stops have been linked to individuals' later run-ins with law enforcement.

For this study, UW researchers wanted to examine the effects of the first stop on the lives of Black and white adolescents, and whether a stop in the early teen years is associated with "secondary sanctioning," or a "usual suspects" treatment by police that plays out over future stops and/or arrests. The study is among the first to explore the racial differences in police contact over time.

Using longitudinal data from more than 300 Seattle young adults, researchers found stark differences in the law enforcement trajectory of adolescents based on race, from the numbers of Black and white youth who encounter police by middle school, to the numbers arrested in high school and beyond.

It also comes during a period of significant reckoning over race and policing in the United States, after a series of law enforcement killings of Black people around the country. As communities grapple with how to address institutionalized racism, police procedures and accountability, many school districts, including Seattle, have ended their contracts with law enforcement agencies for school resource officers, the personnel who are assigned to specific school buildings. Research has shown that students of color are disproportionately subject to discipline and monitoring by school resource officers.

The UW study launched nearly 20 years ago, with students at 18 Seattle schools. Nearly half of the 331 students were Black. Researchers surveyed students and parents, then followed up with participants in 10th grade and at age 20 to learn more about behavior and consequences. Full data are available on 261 participants.

Differences were clear early on. While there were no differences in self-reported illegal behavior between Black and white youth at 8th grade, 37% of Black teens said they had had some sort of contact with police, compared to 22% of white eighth-graders.

Researchers examined two trends at age 20: whether study participants had been arrested in the past year and whether they had engaged in any illegal activity, from violent crime to drug use to other criminal behavior, such as drawing graffiti, stealing from a store or breaking into private property. The idea, researchers said, was to determine not only who was being arrested, but also who was not.

Significantly more white participants reported engaging in some level of criminal behavior: 53% of white young adults, compared to 32% of Black young adults. But at age 20, Black youth were more than twice as likely to be arrested as white youth (15% compared to 6%). When the eighth-grade police contact is taken into account, it shows that early police contact for Black youth was uniquely predictive of being arrested by age 20, but not for white youth.

Simply put, Black respondents experiencing police contact by eighth grade have an 11 times greater chance of reporting an arrest by age 20 than Black respondents who did not experience early police contact. This was not the case for white youth.

The study was unable to explore the reasons behind these differences, but researchers said the results are clear:

"White people are engaging in more illegal behavior, largely because of their greater drug use, and getting arrested less often at age 20 than Black people, who are committing fewer crimes and getting arrested more," said co-author Kevin Haggerty, a professor in the UW School of Social Work and director of the Social Development Research Group.

Of the 261 respondents surveyed as young adults, white respondents were more likely to report illegal behavior than Black respondents (53% and 32%, respectively), primarily because they were substantially more likely than Blacks to report illegal drug use (40% and 14%, respectively).

While the data was collected in Seattle, researchers say the patterns they found are likely occurring in cities around the country -- Seattle is "more like every other town" than some larger metro areas like Chicago and Philadelphia, where many criminal justice studies are located, noted co-author Robert Crutchfield, a professor emeritus of sociology at the UW.

The bulk of the UW research was conducted before the 2012 Seattle Police Department consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department, whereby the department was to address an excessive use of force, Crutchfield pointed out.

Still, the indisputable differences in the experiences of Black and white youth raise a number of policy and institutional issues. The authors note that it's not just the quantity but the quality of stops - what are often called "investigatory stops" of a young person that raise alarm.

"When police interact with communities, and young people in communities, they have to be especially mindful of the nature and substance of the encounters, and police really need training to avoid negative interactions," Crutchfield said. "What we found is that contact matters. In this study, we couldn't parse out the nature of the interactions, but I suspect most kids experienced the interaction in a negative way. The message is, cops need to do better to minimize unnecessary contacts, and when they do contact people, to treat them better."

The paper's findings also may support the choice by some school districts to end the practice of deploying police officers in schools, the authors said. Given the tendency for school resource officers to get involved in school discipline -- though their primary assignment is to enforce the law and keep buildings safe -- it presents another situation where Black students are often treated differently than white students.

###

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Martie Skinner, a research scientist at the UW Social Development Research Group, was a co-author.