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2 Die After Apparent Lightning Strike Near White House: Police – NBC4 Washington

2 Die After Apparent Lightning Strike Near White House: Police – NBC4 Washington

Two of the four people who were apparently struck by lightning Thursday near the White House have died, Washington DC police said.

The two victims killed were a couple from Wisconsin, police officials told News4.

Four people were left in critical condition after a flash of light and a boom sounded in Lafayette Park in Northwest DC as severe thunderstorms struck the region, fire officials said.

DC police are expected to release more information about the conditions of the two other victims later Friday morning, as well as the identities of the people killed.

Four people have life-threatening injuries after they were apparently struck by lightning near the White House in Washington, DC, Thursday evening, fire officials said.

US Secret Service and US Park Police officers rushed to help the two women and two men when they saw the lightning strike, DC Fire and EMS Public Information Officer Vito Maggiolo previously said.

The victims were at Lafayette Square across from the White House, and they were near the center statue of former President Andrew Jackson, as well as a tree, Maggiolo said.

Medics took the women and men to area hospitals. Maggiolo said he could not elaborate on their exact injuries.

“All we know for sure is that there was a lightning strike in their vicinity, in their immediate vicinity, and all four were injured,” Maggiolo said.

A total of 444 people died in lightning strikes between 2006 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lightning strike deaths are most likely in the summer, and most often happen to people who are participating in outside recreation or work.

“I was just in a state of shock,” witness David Root said. “I just couldn’t believe it. It was surreal. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.”

He described hearing “a horrific boom.”

He said he goes to Lafayette Square every evening with a group to show support for the people of Ukraine. When the rain started coming down, he took cover under a tree until he saw lightning strike across the park.

Without thinking, he sprang into action to save a man’s life.

“We saw several people beside a tree, and they weren’t moving, and so I ran over there to try to help,” Root said. “Several people ran over there, and I gave him chest compressions with another person. We alternated.”

“We stood there, and suddenly there was this horrible sound,” said witness Anna Mackiewicz, who is visiting from Poland. “We started to scream, and my husband said, ‘Just let’s run away.’ I saw in the corner of my eye. I saw, you know, the light.”

“I just hope and pray that these people survive,” Root said. “That’s the most important thought in my mind right now.”

Thunderstorms moved through DC and surrounding areas about 6:30 pm Severe weather drenched parts of the region after a sweltering day of temperatures in the mid-90s and heat indices over 100.

The National Weather Service says anyone should go inside if they hear thunder.

“Avoid open areas. Don’t be the tallest object in the area,” an NWS safety brochure says. “Stay away from isolated tall trees, towers or utility poles. Lightning tends to strike the taller objects in an area.”

Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story

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Technology

Square Enix reportedly worried that Tomb Raider and Deus Ex ‘cannibalised’ sales of its Japanese games

Best Tomb Raider games

Square Enix has reportedly revealed that its sale of studios Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal was driven by concerns their games would “cannibalise” sales of the rest of the company. Looking forward, it also looks like Square Enix may look to sell stakes in some of its studios to improve ‘capital efficiency’ all while resources shift from US and European studios to Japan.

As shared by MST Financial senior analyst David Gibson on Twitter (opens in new tab), Square Enix has delved further into the rationale of its decision to sell the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex studios during a recent conference call for investors. According to Gibson, the company felt that sales from the pair would “cannibalise” sales of the rest of the company and that selling them would allow Square Enix to improve “capital efficiency”.

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US

Jury in Alex Jones defamation case begins hearing testimony on punitive damages

Jury in Alex Jones defamation case begins hearing testimony on punitive damages

Aug 5 (Reuters) – Lawyers for parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting began presenting evidence on Alex Jones’s wealth as they seek punitive damages on top of $4.1 million awarded by a Texas jury for the US conspiracy theorist’s false claims that the massacre was a hoax.

Forensic economist Bernard Pettingill on Friday testified on behalf of the parents of slain 6-year-old Jesse Lewis, who say they suffered years of harassment after Jones spread falsehoods about the killing of 20 children and six staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012.

“He promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation but he made a lot of money and he monetized that,” Pettingill said, describing Jones as a “very successful man.”

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A 12-person jury on Thursday said Jones must pay the parents $4.1 million in compensatory damages for spreading conspiracy theories about the massacre. That verdict followed a two-week trial in Austin, Texas, where Jones’ radio show and webcast Infowars are based.

Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis testified that Jones’ followers harassed them for years in the false belief that the parents lied about their son’s death.

Jones sought to distance himself from the conspiracy theories during his testimony, apologizing to the parents and acknowledging that Sandy Hook was “100% real.”

Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems LLC, declared bankruptcy last week. Jones said during a Monday broadcast that the filing will help the company stay on the air while it appeals.

The bankruptcy declaration paused a similar defamation suit by Sandy Hook parents in Connecticut where, as in Texas, he has already been found liable.

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Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Howard Goller and Mark Porter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Technology

Famitsu Sales: 7/25/22 – 7/31/22 [Update]

Famitsu Sales: 7/25/22 - 7/31/22 [Update]

Famitsu has published its estimated physical game software and hardware sales data for Japan for the week of July 25, 2022 to July 31, 2022.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for Switch was the top selling new release of the week, opening at 112,728 retail copies sold. Digimon Survive followed at 28,536 units sold on Switch. The PlayStation 4 version did not chart in the top 10.

On the hardware side, the Switch family sold 73,238 units, the PlayStation 5 family sold 39,336 units, the Xbox Series family sold 8,988 units, and the PlayStation 4 family sold 14 units. Next-generation consoles continue to face stock issues.

Get the full sales charts below.

Software Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

  1. [NSW] Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Nintendo, 07/29/22) – 112,728 (New)
  2. [NSW] Digimon Survive (Bandai Namco, 07/28/22) – 28,536 (New)
  3. [NSW] Nintendo Switch Sports (Nintendo, 04/29/22) – 24,966 (623,493)
  4. [NSW] monster hunter rise + sun break Set (Capcom, 06/30/22) – 17,209 (217,472)
  5. [NSW] LIVE TO LIVE (Square Enix, 07/22/22) – 14,098 (85,235)
  6. [PS5] Grand Touring 7 (SIE, 04/03/22) – 12,453 (139,888)
  7. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04/28/17) – 11,542 (4,745,609)
  8. [NSW] Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Nintendo, 03/25/22) – 11,201 (823,909)
  9. [NSW] Tengoku Struggle: Strayside (Idea Factory, 07/28/22) – 10,912 (New)
  10. [NSW] Minecraft (Microsoft, 06/21/18) – 9,873 (2,727,866)
  11. [NSW] Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 (Inti Creates, 07/28/22) – 9,493 (New)
  12. [PS4] Digimon Survive (Bandai Namco, 07/28/22) – 7,757 (New)
  13. [NSW] Koumajou Remilia: Scarlet Symphony (CFK, 07/28/22) – 7,604 (New)
  14. [NSW] Ring Fit Adventure (Nintendo, 10/18/19) – 6,687 (3,228,007)
  15. [NSW] Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rebirth (Koei Tecmo, 07/21/22) – 6,607 (28,360)
  16. [NSW] Anonymous;Code (MAGES., 07/28/22) – 6,450 (New)
  17. [NSW] Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Nintendo, 03/20/20) – 5,871 (7,297,474)
  18. [NSW] Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Nintendo, 07/12/18) – 5,714 (4,936,314)
  19. [PS4] Nobunaga’s Ambition: Rebirth (Koei Tecmo, 07/21/22) – 4,975 (28,400)
  20. [NSW] Mario Party Superstars (Nintendo, 10/29/21) – 4,647 (1,004,727)
  21. [NSW] Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban! (Konami, 11/19/20) – 4,055 (2,685,422)
  22. [PS4] Anonymous;Code (MAGES., 07/28/22) – 3,696 (New)
  23. [NSW] eBASEBALL Powerful Pro Baseball 2022 (Konami, 04/21/22) – 3,599 (208,134)
  24. [NSW] GrimGrimoire OnceMore (Nippon Ichi Software, 07/28/22) – 3,524 (New)
  25. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 3,007 (2,058,313)
  26. [PS4] Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo (City Connect, 07/28/22) – 2,970 (New)
  27. [NSW] Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles (Aniplex, 09/06/22) – 2,805 (147,034)
  28. [NSW] Pokemon Legends: Arceus (The Pokemon Company, 01/28/22) – 2,657 (2,276,532)
  29. [NSW] Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (Nintendo, 05/06/20) – 2,640 (1,001,223)
  30. [PS5] The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki (Falcom, 07/28/22) – 2,407 (New)

Hardware Sales (followed by lifetime sales)

  1. Switch OLED Model – 42,355 (2,097,719)
  2. PlayStation 5 – 36,237 (1,548,670)
  3. Switch – 20,489 (18,547,427)
  4. Switch Lite – 10,394 (4,827,025)
  5. Xbox Series X – 7,093 (134,893)
  6. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 3,099 (255,311)
  7. Xbox Series S – 1,895 (148,132)
  8. New 2DS LL (including 2DS) – 87 (1,187,961)
  9. PlayStation 4–14 (7,819,783)

Update 10:08 pm: Famitsu has published the top 11 to 30 game software sales, which have been added to the post.

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US

MBTA to close newly opened Green Line extension for 4 weeks

MBTA to close newly opened Green Line extension for 4 weeks

The line of track that brought Green Line service into Somerville opened in late March, 32 years after the state promised to extend the service. Customers will have access to free shuttle buses during the closure. Service will resume on Sept. 19, the MBTA said.

The opening of the Medford branch of the Green Line extension has also been beset by repeated delays. It was slated to begin carrying passengers in December, then May, then this summer. Test trains began operating on the new branch on May 14, the MBTA has said. The MBTA didn’t specify the date in late November that it expects the service to be available.

The Medford branch includes five stations: College Avenue, Ball Square, Magoun Square, Gilman Square, and East Somerville.

Since a Green Line collision in July 2021, the T has experienced a litany of troubles: An escalator malfunctioned at Back Bay Station causing a bloody pileup and injuring nine people, a commuter rail train killed a woman in her car after a crossing signal in Wilmington malfunctioned, another two Green Line trains crashed and derailed injuring four people, and a man was dragged to his death by a Red Line train at Broadway Station after his arm got caught in a subway door.

The death brought intense scrutiny from federal transit safety regulators who began a nearly unprecedented inspection of the subway system in mid-April. The Federal Transit Administration is expected to release its final report about the T this month.

In June, the FTA said it found that the MBTA didn’t have enough dispatchers to safely operate its subway, so the agency cut service on the Orange, Blue, and Red lines by more than 20 percent. Federal inspectors also said the T needed to fix and upgrade large swaths of its subway tracks.

Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.

Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi. Taylor Dolven can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @taydolven.

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Technology

There Are 2 Google Meet Apps Now

There Are 2 Google Meet Apps Now

Google has started merging its Meet and Duo video-chat apps to create what the company calls a “single video communications service.”

Starting this week, Duo is getting an upgrade to include video calling and meeting capabilities. Once fully rolled out later this year, the app’s name and icon will also change to “Google Meet,” featuring a camera in Google’s familiar colors.

“We have been doing this carefully, first adding Google Meet features to the Duo app, and now rebranding Duo to Meet,” a company spokesperson tells PCMag. “And by the end of the year, [we’ll] have everything in one web and mobile experience under Google Meet.”

Confusingly, the existing Google Meet is sticking around for a bit—now with different-color logos to help differentiate the new “Google Meet” from “Google Meet (original),” the latter of which will one day be put out to pasture, (alongside Labs, Wave, Reader, and, soon, Hangouts).

help article that outlines the different color logos for meet and duo

Color schemes for Google Meet, Google Meet (original), and Google Duo

If you’re puzzled by the alterations (and, frankly, we all are a little), Google released a couple of help articles about changes to Duo and the impact this has on various app icons.

One-to-one video calling app Duo launched in August 2016 as a FaceTime alternative for iOS and Android mobile users. Based on your existing phone number, it taps into your contact list and automatically adjusts call quality to changing network conditions—switching between Wi-Fi and cellular data without dropping the conversation.

Google formally launched Meet, formerly known as Hangouts Meet, in March 2017, but the enterprise-friendly, video-conferencing service really picked up steam in April 2020, when the platform became free to everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the years, Google has bulked up the programs, introducing features like virtual effects, live captions, and noise cancellation. Now it’s combining all that (and more) into one app.

“Existing video calling features from Duo are here to stay, including the ability to make video calls to friends and family by phone number or email address, use fun filters and effects, send messages, and ask Google Assistant to call using existing devices,” according to a June blog announcement. “All conversation history, contacts, and messages will continue to be saved in the app and there will be no new app to download.”

Users can also expect enhanced functions like custom backgrounds, meeting scheduling, in-house chat, integration with other Google tools, and the ability to invite up to 100 participants.

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Entertainment

Elle Macpherson’s son Flynn is the spitting image of his billionaire financier father Arpad Busson

Elle Macpherson's son Flynn is the spitting image of his billionaire financier father Arpad Busson

Flynn Busson, the son of billionaire Arpad Busson and Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson, appears to be the spitting image of his father in new photos.

Flynn, 24, shared pictures on Instagram of himself the same speedboat that his financial father drove him around in as a toddler.

“22 years apart… 2022, 2012, 2000,” he posted alongside three photos of himself aboard the boat.

The first two images show Flynn driving the boat as an adult, the third from 2000, is a throwback to him as a child, sitting on his fathers lap at sea.

Elle and dated Arpad from 1996 until they spilled in 2005. But they remained friends and appeared together when Flynn graduated after studying finance and real estate at Boston University last year, with his mother sharing family photos to Instagram.

“Where did the time go? You boys are a credit to your selves, and your dad and I are so in awe of the men you have become,” she wrote at the time.

Flynn, who is also a licensed pilot, is the former couple’s oldest son. They also share another son, Cy, 19

According to both Elle and Flynn, the mother and son share a close relationship. In recent years, they’ve appeared at various events together, including the Christian Dior Haute Couture 2022/2023 fashion show in Paris, France.

The 58-year-old and her son wore complimentary Dior designs. Busson’s girlfriend Anna de Ferran was also in attendance.

The star, who is famously known as “The Body,” posted several snapshots of the outing on her Instagram account, Fox News reported.

“My favorite date,” she boasted in one post.

“Loved sharing these special moments with my sons,” she wrote in another, noting that her other son Aurelius Cy Andrea Busson, 19, was greatly missed.

Despite living in the public eye, the model previously revealed she has been determined to give her children a more low-key life. It was not until 2019 that Macpherson appeared alongside her sons de ella on the cover of Vogue Australia.

“We kept the children out of the public eye,” she explained to the outlet at the time. “It was a decision that their dad and I made. We didn’t think it was necessary for them to be recognized in public. Of course, you can’t stop paparazzi.”

Macpherson told the outlet that “for years” many asked her to model with her sons. But up until then, she had always said no.

“We had one experience where a family shot was used on the cover of a magazine without our permission, and at the time it was terrible, but actually I am strangely grateful now because it’s so beautiful,” she said.

“Now, with Instagram, the boys are public, and they make their own choices,” she continued. “[And] they are amazing company. Who wouldn’t love taking them places?”

In an interview with Vogue Australia in 2019, Flynn – who reportedly divides his time between London, New York and Miami – spoke glowingly of his mother: “I know everyone says that about their mum, but it really is true. My mother has always been so incredibly devoted to me and my brother.”

“I always knew we were her number-one priority.

“It has shone through everything from the way she chooses her jobs to the way she cooks dinner.”

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US

Nebraska State Patrol says arrest made in relation to 4 homicides in Laurel

Nebraska State Patrol says arrest made in relation to 4 homicides in Laurel

A 42-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the four homicides early Thursday morning in Laurel, Nebraska, according to the state patrol. Crime scene investigators found evidence that linked Jason Jones, a Laurel resident, to the homicides. After attempts for Jones to exit the home voluntarily, the Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team entered the home and found Jones with severe burn injuries, according to law enforcement. NSP said he was airlifted to a Lincoln hospital and is in serious condition as of Friday morning. The Nebraska State Patrol also believes gunfire played a role in the deaths at two separate homes in the northeast Nebraska town. Around 3 am, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an explosion at a residence in Laurel and fire teams found a person dead inside the home, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. The victim at the first residence was identified as 53- year-old Michele Ebeling, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. As investigators arrived at the scene, a second fire was reported a few blocks away, authorities said. Three people were found dead in the second residence and fire crews worked to preserve evidence while putting out the fire, the state patrol said. The three victims at the second residence were identified as 86-year-old Gene Twiford, 85-year-old Janet Twiford and 55-year-old Dana Twiford. Fire investigators believe that accelerants may have been used in each of the fires, according to authorities. Officials are waiting on autopsies for the cause of death. The Nebraska State Patrol said there is no danger to the Laurel community as a result of the arrest.

LAUREL, Neb. —

A 42-year-old man was arrested Friday in connection with the four homicides early Thursday morning in Laurel, Nebraska, according to the state patrol.

Crime scene investigators found evidence that linked Jason Jones, a Laurel resident, to the homicides.

After attempts for Jones to exit the home voluntarily, the Nebraska State Patrol SWAT Team entered the home and found Jones with severe burn injuries, according to law enforcement. NSP said he was airlifted to a Lincoln hospital and is in serious condition as of Friday morning.

The Nebraska State Patrol also believes gunfire played a role in the deaths at two separate homes in the northeast Nebraska town.

Around 3 am, the Cedar County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an explosion at a residence in Laurel and fire teams found a person dead inside the home, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

The victim at the first residence was identified as 53-year-old Michele Ebeling, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.

As investigators arrived at the scene, a second fire was reported a few blocks away, authorities said.

Three people were found dead in the second residence and fire crews worked to preserve evidence while putting out the fire, the state patrol said.

The three victims at the second residence were identified as 86-year-old Gene Twiford, 85-year-old Janet Twiford and 55-year-old Dana Twiford.

Fire investigators believe that accelerants may have been used in each of the fires, according to authorities.

Officials are waiting on autopsies for the cause of death.

The Nebraska State Patrol said there is no danger to the Laurel community as a result of the arrest.

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Technology

New Stanford animation simulator focuses on finding interesting outcomes

New Stanford animation simulator focuses on finding interesting outcomes

Simulators can jumpstart the work of animation, but often return an overwhelming array of options for the animator to sort through. A new browser refines those options to a more manageable number.

View video here.

By Andrew Myers

Computer-based animators who are tasked with bringing to life imaginary worlds and characters are aided by simulators that can model the many possible ways an object or fluid might move through a physical space. Known as “solvers,” these simulators provide a significant head start on the work of animation. But there’s a catch. As computers have gotten faster, these solvers often create too many options for the animator to effectively sort through looking for just the right one.

“A simulator can return thousands of options. It’s so time consuming to sort through them that these helpful solvers can’t be used to their full potential,” said Purvi Goel, a doctoral candidate in computer science at Stanford, who with her mentor, professor Doug James, has created a new approach to refine the search and narrow results to the most promising options.

They call it “Unified Many-Worlds Browsing,” and they will debut their approach at the upcoming SIGGRAPH 2022 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, the premier annual gathering for computer graphics and interactive techniques. The approach could both speed the search process for animators and, by limiting the options the simulators must cycle through, reduce compute time and expense. Ultimately, the researchers hope, it will allow artists and scientists to interface with solvers with unparalleled ease and efficiency.

“We’ve got this interesting conflict in the field that every year computers get faster, more parallel, and they can do more, but it’s the humans who are getting maxed out,” said James, who is a professor of computer science.

parameters and time

Solvers are controlled by input parameters – the physical dimensions of the object in the animation. In one example, the researchers used Unified Many-Worlds Browsing to animate an imaginary bowling alley. The parameters include the starting velocity and position of the ball.

A solver simply steps through the parameters incrementally, one by one, and simulates the many potential outcomes over the course of time. The key point is that there can be many input parameters, and the longer and more complex an animation is, the more parameters and compute time are needed to create simulations, and the more options are generated.

“If you are an animator and you have some idea in mind, you have to tune those parameters manually, then sort through all the outcomes one by one,” Goel explained.

Unified Many-Worlds Browsing allows animators to create “queries” to narrow down the options to make the process of identifying very specific outcome options easier. Queries can, for instance, confine outcomes to only those the animator is most interested in – including those that are either “in” a desired range of possibilities or, conversely, excluding those that are “not in” that range. Sample animations are available to view on the researchers’ website.

Asked to animate a stuffed armadillo falling down a spiral staircase, for instance, the animator might create a query in the Unified Browser that says, “Show me only options where the armadillo falls all the way to and comes to rest on the lowest stair. ” Charged with animating cubes of Jell-O bounding into a bowl, the animator could limit options only to those where all the cubes stay in the bowl, or perhaps where one, but only one, falls out. A small blue ball launched at an imaginary sandcastle might specify “give me samples where the front-left turret is smashed” or “the top turret only.”

If the queries are well defined, Unified Many-Worlds Browsing could potentially reduce thousands of possible options to a handful that are interesting to the user, Goel says. Plus, the fact that this browsing framework can work with everything from fluids to smoke to fracturing solids – why it’s described as “unified” – sets it apart from previous options, which were limited in scope to a single physics-based phenomenon.

Finding the needle

James says Unified Many-Worlds Browsing can pay surprising dividends in creativity. The browser, he says, can increase the likelihood of finding that “needle in the haystack” option that the animator might never have found with the solver alone.

“We found it can help find unlikely outcomes that will surprise – or even delight – viewers by their novelty,” said James. “’Oh wow, the ball went right between those two turrets and hit this other one just perfectly.’”

The browser has clear implications in the fictional animation space, the researchers say, but could also be adopted to benefit engineers, physicists, biologists, and other scientists who increasingly rely on simulations in their work.

“Unified Many-Worlds Browsing certainly makes the animator’s work faster and easier,” said Goel, “but we think it makes it more fun, too.”

James is also a member of Stanford Bio-X, the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, and the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME). This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.

/PublicRelease. This material from the originating organization/author(s) may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s).

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US

US library defunded after refusing to censor LGBTQ authors: ‘We will not ban the books’ | libraries

A small-town library is at risk of shutting down after residents of Jamestown, Michigan, voted to defund it rather than tolerate certain LGBTQ+-themed books.

Residents voted on Tuesday to block a renewal of funds tied to property taxes, Bridge Michigan reported.

The vote leaves the library with funds through the first quarter of next year. Once a reserve fund is used up, it would be forced to close, Larry Walton, the library board’s president, told Bridge Michigan – harming not just readers but the community at large. Beyond books, residents visit the library for its wifi, he said, and it houses the very room where the vote took place.

“Our libraries are places to read, places to gather, places to socialize, places to study, places to learn. I mean, they’re the heart of every community,” Deborah Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association, told the Guardian. “So how can you lose that?”

“We are champions of access,” she added, including materials that might appeal to some in the community and not others. “We want to make sure that libraries protect the right to read.”

The controversy in Jamestown began with a complaint about a memoir by a nonbinary writer, but it soon spiraled into a campaign against Patmos Library itself. After a parent complained about Gender Queer: a Memoir, by Maia Kobabe, a graphic novel about the author’s experience coming out as nonbinary, dozens showed up at library board meetings, demanding the institution drop the book. (The book, which includes depictions of sex, was in the adult section of the library.) Complaints began to target other books with LGBTQ+ themes.

One library director resigned, telling Bridge she had been harassed and accused of indoctrinating kids; her successor of her also left the job. Though the library put Kobabe’s book behind the counter rather than on the shelves, the volumes remained available.

“We, the board, will not ban the books,” Walton told the Associated Press on Thursday.

The library’s refusal to submit to the demands led to a campaign urging residents to vote against renewed funding for the library. A group calling itself the Jamestown Conservatives handed out flyers condemning a library director who “promoted the LGBTQ ideology” and called for making the library “a safe and neutral place for our children.” On Facebook, the group says it exists to “keep our children safe, and protect their purity, as well as to keep the nuclear family intact as God designed”.

Residents ultimately voted 62% to 37% against a measure that would have raised property taxes for roughly $24 in order to fund the library, even as they approved similar measures to fund the fire department and road work. The library was one of just a few in the state to suffer such a loss, Mikula said: “Most passed with flying colors, sometimes up to 80%.”

The vote comes as libraries across the US face a surge in demands to ban books. The American Library Association identified 729 challenges to “library, school and university materials and services” last year, which led to about 1,600 challenges or removals of individual books. That was up from 273 books the year before and represents “the highest number of attempted book bans since we began compiling these lists 20 years ago”, the ALA president, Patricia Wong, said in a press release.

“We’re seeing what appears to be a campaign to remove books, particularly books dealing with LGBTQIA themes and books dealing with racism,” Deborah Caldwell-Stone, head of the ALA’s office for intellectual freedom, told the Guardian last year. Celebrated books by Toni Morrison, Alison Bechdel and Ibram X Kendi are among those facing bans.

“I’m not quite sure what instigated the culture wars that we’re seeing, but libraries are certainly at the front end,” Mikula said. Indeed, as states across the US move to deny LGBTQ+ rights, the ALA’s No 1 “most challenged” book last year was Gender Queer.

“When you remove those books from the shelf or you challenge them publicly in a community, what you’re saying to any young person who identified with that narrative is, ‘We don’t want your story here,’” Kobabe told the New York Times in May.

Each library chooses its own collection, Mikula noted, an intensive process that involves staying abreast of what’s new, listening to what’s being requested, and “weeding out” selections that are rarely on loan.

“Our librarians are qualified. They have advanced degrees,” she said. “We want to make sure that the people who have been hired to do this work are trusted and credible, and that they’re making sure that the full community is represented within their library. And that means having LGBTQ books.”

If community members oppose the inclusion of certain books, there are formal means of requesting their removal, involving a review committee and ascertainment that the person making the appeal has actually read the book in question. But recently, she said, people have been “going to board meetings, whether it’s a library board meeting or a school board meeting and saying, ‘Here’s a list of 300 books. We want them all to be removed from your library.’ And that’s not the proper channel, but they’re loud and their voices carry.”