F1 star Hamilton raises right fist in fight against racism

By JEROME PUGMIRE

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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates on the podium after winning the Styrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, Sunday, July 12, 2020. (Joe Klamar/Pool via AP)


SPIELBERG, Austria (AP) — Standing on the podium to celebrate his latest win, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton raised a clenched right fist and then delivered a message to his fellow drivers not to slow down in the fight against racism.

It’s 52 years since American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos introduced that powerfully defiant gesture to a worldwide TV audience when standing on the podium during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

On Sunday Hamilton and the other 19 F1 drivers wore black T-shirts with “End Racism” on them, as they had done at last weekend’s season-opening Austrian GP.



Most again took the knee on the grid before Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.

Others still did not and even questioned in the pre-race drivers’ briefing whether it should still be done.


“Some people were asking ‘How long do we have to continue to do this?’ Some felt like one was enough last week, and I just had to (tell) them that racism is going to be here for probably longer than our time here,” Hamilton said after winning his 85th F1 race. “People of color who are subject to racism don’t have time to (just) ‘take a moment’ to protest and that be it. We’ve got to continue to push for equality and raise awareness for it.”

Smith and Carlos were representing a country being torn apart, after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy made ’68 one of the most turbulent years in American history. Wearing black gloves, the sprinters raised their fists in solidarity while the Star-Spangled Banner played.

When Serena Williams won her seventh Wimbledon title in 2016, she proudly raised her fist in a Black Power salute at the All-England Club in 2016. That same year, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick started taking a knee to raise awareness for black athlete activism. Williams and Hamilton have both referenced the Black Lives Matter movement, which Hamilton wore on the front of his T-shirt on Sunday.

Hamilton has spoken out against racism since the death in May of George Floyd — a handcuffed and unarmed Black man — after a police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes in May. Hamilton attended a Black Lives Matter march in London and is setting up a commission to increase diversity in motorsport.



His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas kneeled after winning last Sunday’s Austrian GP and the team has thrown its support behind Hamilton by racing in all-black cars for this season.

“As a team we’re keeping the black all year long, so we’re going to be fighting and pushing for it all year,” the 35-year-old Hamilton said. “Personally it’s going to be a lifelong thing for me.”

Hamilton called out teams last week for not doing enough to combat racism.

Although he also praised F1 chairman Chase Carey and governing body FIA for donating money to help promote more equality and diversity in F1, Hamilton clearly feels there is still a long way to go.

“Of course there are signs but action is needed. It’s great to see Chase being so kind as to donate a million dollars and the FIA to step up and also give a million dollars,” Hamilton said. “But if you don’t know the problem then you can’t fix it, and a million dollars doesn’t really go that far. A lot of work needs to go on with Formula One. The FIA really do need to be a part of it, and I think the drivers need to be a part of it also as we have a great voice and great platforms.”

Nearly 600,000 vote in Hong Kong pro-democracy primaries

By ZEN SOO yesterday

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People queue up to vote in Hong Kong, Sunday, July 12, 2020, in an unofficial primary for pro-democracy candidates ahead of legislative elections in September. Over 200,000 Hong Kongers voted in an unofficial Hong Kong primary that will help the pro-democracy camp decide which candidates to field in legislative elections in September. The turnout exceeded organizers' estimates that some 170,000 people would turn up to vote over the weekend. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

HONG KONG (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents turned up over the weekend to vote in an unofficial primary election held by the city’s pro-democracy camp as it gears up to field candidates for an upcoming legislative poll.

The primaries were held two weeks after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous territory in a move widely seen as chipping away at the “one country, two systems” framework under which Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997. It was passed in response to last year’s massive protests calling for greater democracy and more police accountability.

Throngs of people lined up at polling booths in the summer heat to vote despite a warning last week by Hong Kong’s constitutional affairs minister, Eric Tsang, that the primaries could be in breach of the new national security law because it outlaws interference and disruption of duties by the local government.

Organizers dismissed the comments, saying they just want to hold the government accountable by gaining a majority in the legislature.

The new law prohibits what Beijing views as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or as foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs. Under the law, police now have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.

On Friday, police raided the office of the Public Opinion Research Institute, a co-organizer of the primaries. The computer system was suspected of being hacked, causing a data leak, police said in a statement, and an investigation is ongoing.

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp, which includes multiple parties, is attempting to join forces and use the primaries as a guide to field the best candidates in the official legislative election in September. Its goal is to win a majority in the legislature, which is typically skewed toward the pro-Beijing camp.

To hold the primaries, pro-democracy activists had raised money via crowd funding. They pledged to veto the government’s budget if they clinch a majority in the legislature. Under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, the city’s leader must resign if an important bill such as the budget is vetoed twice.

Organizers said Sunday that nearly 600,000 people voted at polling booths set up across the city, exceeding organizers’ estimates of a turnout of 170,000.

“Despite the threat of the national security law, there are still nearly 600,000 people coming out to vote, “ said Au Nok-hin, one of the organizers of the primaries. ”We can see Hong Kongers are really brave.”

French Games maker Ubisoft shakes up staff amid misconduct probe


This Nov.3 2017 file photo shows visitors playing Assassin's Creed video game at the Ubisoft stand at the Paris Games Week in Paris. French gaming giant Ubisoft is parting ways with its creative director and two other executives following an internal investigation of misconduct and media reports of sexual harassment. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, File)

PARIS (AP) — French gaming giant Ubisoft is parting ways with its creative director and two other executives and promising zero tolerance for “toxic” staff behavior following an internal investigation of misconduct and media reports of sexual harassment and other workplace abuse.

In a statement Sunday, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the developer of “Assassin’s Creed” and other games “has fallen short in its obligation to guarantee a safe and inclusive workplace environment for its employees.”

“This is unacceptable, as toxic behaviors are in direct contrast to values on which I have never compromised — and never will,” Guillemot said.

Ubisoft announced the immediate resignation of Serge Hascoet as the firm’s powerful chief creative officer.

Hascoet joined Ubisoft in 1987, the year after Guillemot founded the company with his four brothers. Ubisoft had previously described Hascoet as its “creative leader” whose “unique vision has infused every game released by the company.”

The director of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios, Yannis Mallat, is also leaving immediately, because “recent allegations that have come to light in Canada against multiple employees make it impossible for him to continue in this position,” the company said.

Cecile Cornet is being replaced as Ubisoft’s global head of human resources.

Guillemot also promised further “profound changes across the company to improve and strengthen our workplace culture.”

Investigations by French daily Liberation and other media reports have pointed to alleged sexual harassment targeting women employees, and other workplace misconduct, and a growing willingness by some in the industry to speak up against abuses in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

The management shake-up at Ubisoft follows its announcement in June of an internal investigation and an apology “to everyone affected by this.”

“We must do better,” it said then.

LDS Church asks Utah Mormons to wear face coverings in public

July 11, 2020

FILE - In this April 18, 2019, file photo, the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City is viewed. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked all its members in Utah to wear face coverings when in public, a request that comes as confirmed coronavirus infections in the state increase. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked all its members in Utah to wear face coverings when in public, a request that comes as confirmed infections in the state increase.

The Deseret News reports that the Utah Area Presidency sent out the request in an email on Friday evening. The area presidency operates under the authority of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“Now we ask all Latter-day Saints in the Utah Area to be good citizens by wearing face coverings when in public,” the email said. “Doing so will help promote the health and general welfare of all.”

About 62% of Utah’s 3.1 million residents are members of the church.

Nearly 900 new cases were reported in the state on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Overall, Utah had 28,223 confirmed cases and 207 deaths due to the virus as of Saturday. The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

Even during pandemic beekeeping remains an essential service

By ANDREW HARNIK July 11, 2020

1 of 27 https://apnews.com/5032d89c3b32345da4409ddf701a80cc

A bee rests on a yellow sign that reads "Bees on Board" on beekeeper Sean Kennedy's truck as he helps capture a swarm of honey bees and relocate them to a bee hive, Friday, May 1, 2020, in Washington. The District of Columbia has declared beekeepers as essential workers during the coronavirus outbreak. If the swarm isn’t collected by a beekeeper, the new hive can come to settle in residential backyards, attics, crawlspaces, or other potentially ruinous areas, creating a stinging, scary nuisance. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)


WASHINGTON (AP) — “Excuse me, can I ask what you’re doing here?” a resident in a southeast Washington neighborhood asks as Sean Kennedy and Erin Gleeson get out of their truck and scour the streets.

The sign on their back windshield, “Bees Onboard,” gives them away.

Kennedy, 58, and Gleeson, 36, are beekeepers. They and their colleagues have been deemed essential workers by the District of Columbia government in the middle of a pandemic.

On this day April, the pair is responding to a phone call about a swarm of honeybees. At first glance it appears as if it might be a bad tip. Kennedy looks down a fence line while Gleeson walks across the street and past a few houses.

“Let’s check the alley,” Kennedy says, and quickly they’re back in their truck. The truck moves slowly as they scan fences, trees, and rooflines — all places where bee swarms might stop.

As they reach the end of the alley, they find what they were looking for: a dark mass about 2 feet long that most casual observers would walk by without noticing. Upon closer inspection, this brown mass moves with quiet activity, thousands of bees huddling with no nest to protect them.

Within two hours, this cluster of bees will be collected, driven across town and given a new home on some of the most desirable real estate in the city.



If a hive is thriving and becomes too large for its own space, the queen will take half the hive and set off to find a new location to start a new hive. If this swarm isn’t collected up by a beekeeper, the new hive can settle into backyards, attics, crawlspaces, office buildings, or high traffic public spaces, creating a nuisance that can alarm some people.

“Bees are not aggressive unless you invade their home or step on them,” Kennedy says. “But they do put people off. Some people are just innately afraid of things that sting and maybe that’s primal and necessary, but if you have them in your office building or you have them in your tourist spots, they become a problem. So, it’s good to catch them in that middle step when we can just put them somewhere where they are welcome.”

For the past five years, the D.C. Beekeepers Alliance has responded to calls from residents about bee swarms. These beekeepers call themselves the “Swarm Squad” and will come to all areas of the region to take away unwanted bees and give them a home, with the added benefit of collecting honey.

Last year the group responded to just 12 calls; this year has been especially busy.

“We had on the first swarm call day of this year, as many calls as we had in all of last year,” says Toni Burnham, the group’s president, who estimates receiving calls so far about 60 to 75 swarms.

The coronavirus outbreak coincided with the start of warmer weather, when bees naturally begin separating from their hives. When district officials began looking at the possibility of shutting down the city due to the outbreak, Burnham reached out to her contact at the D.C. Department of Energy & Environment.

“When I saw the lockdown happening and really scary quarantining things, I called up our regulators and said essentially, ‘If we’re going to catch swarms we need to not be arrested.’ They took care of it, she said.

“Beekeepers needed to be essential because often the hives that they keep are not on their property,” says Tommy Wells, the department’s director and a former member of the City Council. “So, they need to be able to travel and get to their bee colonies.”

Wells and his team at the agency also are looking at the broader picture and whether there are enough bee colonies in the region. He said if there are colony collapses elsewhere, D.C. bees can be moved where necessary.

Over the past year, beekeepers in the U.S. lost 43.7% of their honeybee colonies, according to the Bee Informed Partnership.

Back out on the street, Kennedy and Gleeson collected their swarm in a specially designed white cardboard box. The box hums and vibrates as they load it into the back of their truck next to their bee suits and tools. They make their way across town though light traffic in record time.

Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S., opens the gate to the embassy grounds. They exchange pleasantries as Kennedy and Gleeson don their bee suits.

Pitteloud, wearing a gray sweatshirt with “Washington, D.C” in big block letters across the front, says he was working with the Audubon Society of America to turn parts of the property into a biodiversity reserve when he was approached about beekeeping. “I said, ‘Of course.’”

“Because you know these beautiful gardens that embassies usually have are ecological deserts,” he says. “They are beautiful to look at, but they do not offer the kind of environment that’s conducive to wildlife.

Collecting swarms of bees is challenging at any time, even more so during a pandemic.

“Erin and I are both very careful in our day-to-day personal lives,” says Kennedy. “So when we work together we don’t worry about having masks on.”

He adds, “Being around a swarm of bees deters a crowd. You don’t want a lot of people gathering and it sort of creates a dynamic that encourages social distancing no matter what’s going on with pandemics in the world. So, it’s a perfect activity to encourage social distancing.”

Even with the virus, seeing someone out on the street in a bee suit can cause people to stop and look. “We do look pretty funny and we are doing some pretty strange things,” says Gleeson.

“Pre-corona, people would have hurried past,” she says. “And now they say, ‘Whoa, what are you doing, can I have a look?’ They stick their heads in the bee box and go, ‘Oh my God.’ It’s great to be able to show them, ’Hey here’s a queen or a drone or a worker.”

Kennedy says beekeeping has helped him combat boredom during the pandemic. “There were a lot of swarms this year and it gave life for the last few months some purpose,” he says.

He calls saving bees “a fairly noble endeavor” that people are enthused about. “It’s a way in difficult times to make a small difference. It’s probably, in the time of social distancing, the best way I could have spent the past few months.”

Florida team studies hydroponic hemp as toxic algae remedy

Researchers at South Florida State College study floating hemp plants for their ability to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from water. Photo courtesy of South Florida State College


ORLANDO, Fla., May 6 (UPI) -- Florida researchers have started to study how hemp plants could battle toxic algae blooms by cleaning polluted waterways.

If research results appear promising, they intend to grow large mats of hemp in key Florida waterways, potentially providing a source of industrial hemp fiber while also benefiting water quality.

"I'd like to see 10,000 acres of hemp mats growing in Lake Okeechobee to help restore the lake as the pristine bass fishery it once was," said Steven Edmonds, founder of Hemp4Water and a political science instructor at Valencia College in Orlando.

Edmonds teamed up with researchers at South Florida State College, near Tampa, on the project.

Edmonds has been an advocate for water quality and for cannabis legalization for years. He started Hemp4Water as a Facebook group in 2013 to encourage using hemp to improve water quality.

A severe bloom of red tide algae that year in southwest Florida killed more than 240 manatees, motivating Edmonds to seek a solution. Hemp is a non-intoxicating version of cannabis.

"I know that hemp growers spend a lot of money creating a water supply that's rich in nitrogen and phosphorus because cannabis needs that," Edmonds said. "It just makes sense to try this."

RELATED Products made from hemp-based plastics enter consumer market

So far, the project has not been funded, but help has come from staff members at South Florida State College. Martin Ecosystems, of Baton Rouge, La., donated growing containers and floating mats.

The college became involved when Kendall Carson, a program specialist in agriculture research there, overhead Edmonds talking about hemp's water cleansing abilities at a conference. She was seeking ideas for hemp research.

To conduct the research, staff members place hemp plants on the mats with some soil and clay. Roots are allowed to hang down into the water. The plants eventually suck up nitrogen and phosphorus, two nutrients that occur naturally.

RELATED Marijuana, hemp businesses bolster commercial real estate

After decades of farming, development and canal dredging, Lake Okeechobee and other Florida waters are overloaded with the nutrients.

Water from the lake travels to both Florida coasts through canals, or into the Everglades, carrying the nutrient pollution that feeds toxic blue-green algae and red tide algae.

Health problems associated with harmful algae cost the nation $22 million annually, according to a report from the University of Florida. Toxic algae, which usually float near shore or wash onto beaches and cause foul odors, kill fish and marine life.

A severe outbreak of red tide algae in southwest Florida in 2018 damaged the fishing and tourism industries. Blue-green algae in 2016 left harbors full of dead fish in the Indian River Lagoon along the Atlantic Coast.

The research will show how much nitrogen and phosphorus each plant removes from the water. Researchers then will calculate how much of the nutrients can be cleaned up by larger plantings.

Carson said students in biology, agriculture and environmental studies help to grow the plants and process data. A chemistry instructor plans to publish a paper on the results.

"You can grow the hemp and clean the water systems and harvest it and put it to good use," Carson said. "If every person with a lakefront home had a mat growing hemp, they could harvest it and clean up the water."

Plants have been many times used to clean polluted water and soil, said Paul Gray, a scientist with the non-profit Audubon Florida, which isn't involved in the project. He said the research could be valuable, but large-scale plantings would need a lot more study.

Gray pointed out that Lake Okeechobee has tremendous water volume even though it is very shallow. It is the 10th-largest lake in the United States at over 440,000 acres.

"Hydroponics for other plants have been used to clean up waterways, but trying to scale it up for Lake Okeechobee would be ambitious, and it would be hard to anchor it," Gray said.

"If you put 10,000 acres of hemp in the lake, that could cause other complications that would have to be studied, like blocked sunlight."

upi.com/7002562

UN study: Temperatures could rise faster than expected

People cool down in the fountains of Trocadero, across from the Eiffel Tower, during a heatwave in Paris June 25, 2019. A United Nations weather organization said temperatures could rise faster than expected over the next five years. Photo by Ian Langsdon/EPA-EFE

July 9 (UPI) -- Average global temperatures could rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in the next five years, presenting an "enormous challenge" to world leaders trying to meet Paris Climate Agreement goals, the World Meteorological Organization said Thursday.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said new studies should be a warning for global leaders about the planet that is warming faster than expected.

The Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update showed the yearly mean global temperature will likely rise to at least 1 degree Celsius above preindustrial levels (1850-1900) in each of the coming five years, 2020 to 2024.

The study, led by Britain's Met Office, said there is a 20 percent chance that it will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels in at least one year.

"This study shows -- with a high level of scientific skill -- the enormous challenge ahead in meeting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change target of keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius," Taalas said in a statement.

The WMO, which is part of the United Nations, said the predictions account for natural variations and human influences on climate to provide the best forecasts of temperature, rainfall, wind patterns and other variables for the coming five years.

"WMO has repeatedly stressed that the industrial and economic slowdown from COVID-19 is not a substitute for sustained and coordinated climate action," Taalas said. "Due to the very long lifetime of [carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere, the impact of the drop in emissions this year is not expected to lead to a reduction of CO2 atmospheric concentrations, which are driving global temperature increases."

Florida indoor farming firm turns pandemic disruption into opportunity


A large greenhouse operated by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Gotham Greens helped produce food as the coronavirus pandemic cut supply chains in March. Photo courtesy of Gotham Greens

ORLANDO, Fla., July 9 (UPI) -- A Florida company that grows lettuce in greenhouses turned a desperate situation during the coronavirus pandemic into new opportunities, thanks to a nationwide upswing in produce purchases from indoor farms.

Orlando, Fla.-based Kalera had to give away an entire harvest in March when the company's commercial customers closed amid stay-at-home orders. But, like some other greenhouse operations around the country, Kalera found other customers and avoided layoffs or going out of business.

Indoor farms like Kalera produce food close to their customers, in clean, hygienic facilities. The process also is called vertical farming because produce is grown on racks, using hydroponics -- raising crops with water and nutrients, but without soil.

Good hygiene and a local supply are more important than ever during supply chain disruptions and waves of panic buying during the pandemic, said Daniel Malechuk, Kalera's chief executive officer.

"It was literally the day of our first harvest at a new facility when the state announced stay-at-home orders and many of our food-service customers closed overnight," Malechuk said about what the company faced in March.

"My reaction at first was massive disappointment. That would be an understatement. But we rolled up our sleeves and were determined to make the best of it," he said.

Kalera has developed its farm technology over the past 10 years and had built a demonstration farm and production facility in Orlando. To the CEO's dismay, the crops in the new greenhouse became ready for harvest just as Gov. Ron Desantis ordered all restaurants closed to indoor dining.

That meant Kalera -- and other farmers who faced similar closures around the nation -- had nowhere to sell their crops. Some growers buried their produce rather than shoulder the expense of harvesting crops without having buyers waiting.

Among the customers Kalera lost were Marriott Orlando World Center, the Orlando Magic basketball team and area theme parks, Malechuk said.

Kalera had built a large grow house on the grounds of the Marriott resort to supply fresh lettuce and micro-greens to the kitchens there. But the resort has been closed for months, and does not plan to reopen until Aug. 1.

Instead of destroying the food, Malechuk donated his crop directly to local residents and food banks. That's also when he reached out to Florida-based Publix, one of the nation's largest grocery chains with more than 1,200 stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

At first, Publix paid Kalera for some crops and donated the produce to food banks.

Worried about possibly laying off his workforce of about 100, Malechuk wrote a heartfelt email to a Publix executive with whom he previously corresponded. His subject line was "Humble Plea."

The email asked Publix to make Kalera a permanent supplier. It worked, and Kalera produce now is sold in hundreds of Publix stores.

"I knew Publix wasn't accepting new suppliers at that point, and I didn't think it would work," Malechuk said. "But I had to try, and I told Publix that."

Unexpectedly, Publix expedited its process for accepting new products because of Kalera's crisis, said Curt Epperson, the company's business development manager for produce and floral.

"We were not only able to help their business -- and all the people who depend on them -- but our customers and our community," Epperson said in an email to UPI.

Kalera was not alone in turning a dismal outlook to a brighter future. Other indoor farm companies overcame difficulties during the pandemic and saw new opportunities.

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Gotham Greens opened new greenhouses in several states as the pandemic spread around the world, CEO and co-founder Viraj Puri said.

His employees already had been wearing masks in growing areas before the pandemic struck. As coronavirus advanced, management added more levels of safety.

"We started detailed health screening calls, temperature checks, increased distancing. It was a hard time for everyone. We all knew people who tested positive, and we saw people lose their jobs," Puri said.

Gotham Greens soon saw increased demand from retail merchants for its greenhouse produce as other farmers around the country struggled to find labor for harvests and had difficulties shipping food across the country during the pandemic, the CEO said.

"The pandemic altered life around us, unfortunately, but it also showed that we can help ensure food security with indoor farming in controlled environments," Puri said. "These local supplies for growing produce are going to be important."

A number of other indoor farming operations found new customers -- and appreciation for their products -- during the pandemic, said Joel Cuello, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering at the University of Arizona and vice-chair of the Association for Vertical Farming, based in Munich, Germany.

"In the future, customers want to make sure they have reliable access to food nearby. Vertical farming can be hyper local, with a facility next to your restaurant or inside your grocery market if wanted," Cuello said.

As people value their health more during a global pandemic, nutrient-packed leafy greens are the most likely food that will be produced indoors, especially in remote areas with harsh environments, said Krishna Nemali, assistant professor of controlled environment agriculture at Purdue University in Indiana.

"In northern places, like Iceland or Alaska, or in desert regions, like the Middle East, they struggle to grow food outdoors, so they are turning more to hydroponics," Nemali said. "That's where we will see more demand."

Another vertical farm company, Indiana-based Green Sense Farms, also reported an increase in calls and inquiries to its sales staff from potential customers about its technology, said Robert Colangelo, a founder and CEO.

Colangelo's company provides contract research, design and construction of indoor, controlled-environment agriculture facilities. Green Sense charges a little under $1 million to provide a system that includes an automated germination room, grow room, equipment room and cooled packinghouse room.

"What we found is the COVID virus caused people to look at the length of their supply chains. Long complex supply chains can really be disrupted," Colangelo said.

He said he has spoken to officials in various cities who want to learn more about setting up vertical farms.

"If you have a food desert [an area with few grocery stores] or a school or hospital in a remote area, you could produce greens right on your property or right next door for that," he said.

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Trump admin proposes rule to refuse refugees based on COVID-19

A migrant makes a phone call at a shelter in Matamoros, Mexico, on January 25, 2019. Some at the shelter were living in the United States and deported after the Trump administration said it would begin sending asylum-seekers back to their native countries. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo

July 9 (UPI) -- The Trump administration is planning a new rule that cites danger from the coronavirus pandemic as justification for denying immigrants asylum in the United States.

The proposed rule from the Homeland Security and Justice departments was published in the Federal Register on Thursday and would allow the administration to block immigrants based on "potential international threat from the spread of the pandemic."

The threat determination would be made at what is typically the first interview in the application process, and not in immigration court.

"The proposed rule also would provide that this application of the statutory bars to eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal will be effectuated at the credible fear screening stage for aliens in expedited removal proceedings in order to streamline the protection review process and minimize the spread and possible introduction into the United States of communicable and widespread disease," the proposed rule states.

In the Federal Register, the public will be able to comment on the proposed rule for 30 days before it takes effect.

Jennifer Minear, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said in a statement the new rule is "entirely unnecessary" and "unjustified."

"The Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies already have the tools they need to keep our nation safe from anyone who might have a serious communicable disease, including stringent immigration screening procedures and laws that protect against public health risks," she said.

Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council, said the rule would continue to scapegoat immigrants.

"The proposal is simply a pretext to implement a drastic change to our immigration system that the administration has sought from day one -- the elimination of asylum in the United States," Werlin said. "How we treat vulnerable populations during the coronavirus pandemic will define our true character as a nation for years to come."

Migrants in Mexico: Journey to the U.S. border

Migrants ride an inflatable raft on the Suchiate River from Tecun Uman, Guatemala, while a smuggler waits for their arrival in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico on Thursday. Photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI | License Photo

Police interviews: Breonna Taylor's home was 'soft target'

An interview with one of the Louisville police officers involved in the killing of Breona Taylor found police were told she was likely alone in her apartment and that the suspect they were seeking was already located. 

Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI | License Photo

July 9 (UPI) -- A Louisville, Ky., police officer involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor said officers knew she was likely alone in her apartment and that the suspect they were searching for was already located, according to interviews released Thursday.

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, one of three officers present at the scene of Taylor's death on March 13, told investigators he and the other officers who carried out the no-knock warrant were told that there were minimal threats in her apartment.

"They said they did not believe she had children or animals, but they weren't sure," Mattingly said. "Said she should be there alone because they knew where the target was."

He added that surveillance conducted earlier in the night showed little activity in the apartment.

Mattingly said he did not recall the name of the target on the search warrant, but Jamarcus Glover, one of the main suspects in a narcotics investigation and Taylor's ex-boyfriend, was arrested after police searched his house at Elliot Avenue on a separate warrant.

In the interview, Mattingly also stated that police repeatedly knocked and announced their presence, giving sufficient time for a resident to answer the door, but said he was unsure why he was told to do so during a no-knock warrant.

"Our intent was to give her plenty of time to come to the door because they said she was probably there alone," he said.

Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend who was in the apartment with her at the time of her death, told investigators they didn't know it was police knocking at the door. Walker, a licensed firearm carrier, fired a "warning shot" that struck Mattingly in the leg after officers broke down the door of the residence and officers returned fire, striking Taylor five times.

"The only reason I even had the gun out [was] because we didn't know who it was," Walker said. "If we knew who it was, that would have never happened."

Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Taylor's family, said the interviews indicate a conspiracy to cover up Taylor's killing and called for all of the officers involved to be charged with murder.

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"They substantiate what we've maintained all along: that police did not announce themselves when they broke into the residence with a battering ram and relased a shower of ginfire into the apartment, killing Breona, that the warrant and its execution were based on erroneous information and that Lousiville police actively worked to cover up Breonna's brutal murder," Crump said.

Taylor's family on Thursday also amended their lawsuit against the three officers to state that the raid of her home was connected to a gentrification project, alleging police were used to target people and homes on Elliot Avenue so the street could be vacated for a real estate project.

"Breonna's home should never have had police there in the first place," the suit states. "Breonna's death was the culmination of radical political and police conduct."

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