2014 – Eight days after graduating from high school, black teenager Michael Brown is shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking protests and outcry nationwide.

August 9th

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I missed Friday’s Pandemic Photo O’ as I fell asleep on the couch. And tonight I need to keep this brief b/c I have to get up for earlier for mass as I’m working tomorrow at noon.

I can keep this simple as there’s a related pair of photos which are getting a ton of attention this week. You’ve likely this one (the 2nd one):

Or perhaps this one (which was the first photo that made the news:)

To summarize the context – the governor of Georgia has not mandated masks in the state. As a result, public schools in Georgia cannot mandate masks for their students.

On the first day of school a concerned student took the photo immediately above as she was concerned not only by the relative lack of masks, but a hallway crowded with students (who are surely moving slowly by each other)

Initially the girl was suspended for five days for posting the photo on Twitter. After the national outcry against the school and her punishment, she was unsuspended and allowed back to her school.

In this article, the superintendent of the district in which the school is located was quoted:

But he [Superintendent Otott] acknowledged, “There is no question that the photo does not look good.”

Masks are not required at the school, Mr. Otott said, though the administration strongly encourages them for students and staff members.

“Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them,” he wrote, adding that more than 2,000 students attend the high school.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/us/north-paulding-high-school-coronavirus-georgia.html

REALLY? It’s this type of attitude which is going to make opening face to face school this fall challenging and potentially deadly if/when students, teachers and/or other adults in the school buildings get COVID-19.

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As schools are getting ready to open, we’re in the home stretch of Marble League 2020.

Here’s where things stand going into the 12th out of 16 events:

And now, the scintillating Relay Run: