Alabama courthouse removes Confederate statue
On Friday, the Madison County Courthouse in Huntsville, AL, removed a statue of a Confederate soldier. According to the Associated Press, the statue was placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1905 and acts as an unspecified cemetery. The state of Alabama set a fine in place in 2017 that was meant to keep statues and monuments to the Confederacy standing. As of Friday, it is not known if Madison County will be required to pay the $25,000 fine. JesHenry Malone, the Madison County Commissioner, requested the removal of the statue in 2017, but did not receive an answer and scheduled its removal in June of this year.
“Murder hornet” nest found in Washington state
The first wild nest of Asian giant hornets, also called “murder hornets,” were found in Washington state near the Canadian border on Friday. The nest is to be destroyed as a precaution against the hornets, which are killing the native honey bee population. Entomologists caught two hornets and placed trackers on them to locate their nest, but the Department of Agriculture is unaware of how these hornets got to North America. Currently, they have only been found in Washington state and British Columbia. Asian giant hornets pose more of a threat to the honey bee population than to humans, causing 62 human deaths on average per year. As of Friday, 20 hornets have been caught in Whatcom County.
Suicide rates fall after raising for a decade
The suicide rate in 2019 was lower than the year before, showing the first decline in suicide rates within the last decade. The decrease in the suicide rate was relatively small, but droped to a statistically significant 13.9% in the U.S. In addition, suicide rates were shown to have a steady increase since 2005, with 2018 having had the highest suicide rate since 1941 with 14.2 suicides for every 100,000 deaths. Also in 2019, heart disease and cancer related deaths decreased while drug overdoses increased. Firearm related deaths saw no change.
Charge changed against former officer involved in Floyd’s death
Last Thursday, Perter Cahill, a Hennepin County District Judge, released his ruling to dismiss the third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd. Cahill increased the charge to unintentional second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Cahill also moved forward with the aiding and abetting counts for the three others involved. Following this ruling, Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, called for the National Guard to expect protests.
