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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 8 november 2021

Navy launches ship named for gay rights leader Harvey Milk

Milk was one of the first able discharge. He was forced
openly gay candidates elect- to resign because he was gay,”
ed to public office. He was Stuart Milk said, adding that
serving on the San Francisco “we have to teach our history
Board of Supervisors in 1978 to prevent ourselves from go-
when a former political col- ing backwards and repeating
league, Dan White, assassi- it.”
nated him and Mayor George
Moscone at City Hall. Although there is a process
for reversing such discharges,
In 2016, then-Navy Secre- he said it was important to
tary Ray Mabus decided that not do that for his late uncle
six new oilers scheduled to be in order “to keep the memory
built would be named after of how we did not honor ev-
civil and human rights lead- eryone in this very honorable
ers. In addition to Milk, they service.”
include Sojourner Truth,
Chief Justice Earl Warren, The naval tradition of hav-
Robert F. Kennedy, suffrag- ing ship “sponsors” went to
ist Lucy Stone and Rep. John Neira and U.S. Sen. Dianne
Lewis of Georgia. Feinstein, D-Calif., who was
unable to attend.
Del Toro told Mabus, who
attended the christening, that Feinstein was in San Fran-
(AP) — A Navy ship Health. Del Toro said. it was a courageous decision. cisco City Hall when Milk
named for slain gay rights and Moscone were shot and
leader Harvey Milk, who Milk’s nephew, Stuart Milk, Del Toro said that, like many “Ship names are important then made the stunning an-
served four years in the and Navy Secretary Carlos others, Milk had to “mask because they express what we nouncement of their deaths.
Navy before being forced Del Toro watched the tradi- that very important part of value as a Navy and as a na- The ship “will carry a rich
out, was christened and tional ceremony. his life” while he served in tion and communicate those legacy of civic leadership,”
launched in San Diego the Navy. values around the globe in Feinstein said in a letter read
Bay on Saturday. “The secretary of the Navy every port of call,” Del Toro at the ceremony.
needed to be here today, not “For far too long, sailors like said.
The replenishment oiler just to amend the wrongs of Lt. Milk were forced into the “When the Harvey Milk sails,
USNS Harvey Milk slid the past, but to give inspira- shadows or, worse yet, forced Stuart Milk, co-founder and she will send a very strong
down the shipyard ways af- tion to all of our LGBTQ out of our beloved Navy,” president of the Harvey Milk message both domestically
ter a bottle of champagne community leaders who Del Toro said. “That injustice Foundation, thanked Mabus and around the globe to ev-
was smashed on the bow by served in the Navy, in uni- is part of our Navy history, for providing the family de- erybody that believes in free-
former Navy officer Paula form today and in the civilian but so is the perseverance of tails of his uncle’s discharge dom and justice and liberty,
M. Neira, clinical program workforce as well too, and to all who continue to serve in from the Navy. that there is a place for you in
director for the John Hop- tell them that we’re commit- the face of injustice.” this family,” said co-sponsor
kins Center for Transgender ted to them in the future,” “He has a less-than-honor- Neira.

After drinking water crisis, Newark is winning war on lead

(AP) — On a recent sun-drenched morning, cet water no more because of this.” much faster than other cities have even tried to do.”
the staccato rhythms of a jackhammer rico-
cheted off buildings as a work crew dug into The pipe replacement project has been a vindi- The NRDC estimated recently that there are as
a Newark street to remove an aging pipe that cation of sorts for Mayor Ras Baraka, who faced many as 12 million lead service lines in the U.S.
carried water — and potentially a poison — to mounting public pressure in 2018 after the Na- Nearly half of all states don’t even track the num-
a small apartment building. tional Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit en- ber of lead lines within their borders, they found.
vironmental advocacy group, sued, claiming New
The new pipe is copper. The old one was lined Jersey’s largest city had failed to adequately moni- Lead in drinking water has been linked to devel-
with lead, which can be harmful to human health tor lead levels and had downplayed the problem to opmental delays in children and can damage the
even at minute levels. residents. brain, red blood cells and kidneys.

The water service line was one of more than 20,000 Deteriorating lead-lined pipes, some a century old, The challenge of removing lead from drinking wa-
made with the toxic metal the city began replac- are a problem in many older U.S. cities, a recent ter in the U.S. came into sharp focus after the Flint,
ing in 2019 amid public outrage over revelations example being Benton Harbor, Michigan. But Michigan, scandal in which city leaders switched
about high lead levels in the tap water in schools Newark’s replacement project proceeded faster water sources in 2014 to save money. That led to
and homes across the city. than expected, thanks to an infusion of state and lo- criminal charges, though many later were dropped,
cal funds and an amendment to state law to protect and a $641 million settlement for the residents of
Less than three years after the work began, the re- homeowners from having to bear the cost. the poor, majority Black city.
placement project, initially projected to take up to
10 years, is nearly complete. “I’ll feel better when we’re completely finished, but The $1 trillion infrastructure plan passed by the
I’m excited that we’re at the end of this thing. It’ll House on Friday night and now awaiting Presi-
City residents who switched to bottled water dur- be a huge milestone for us,” Baraka said last week. dent Joe Biden’s signature includes $15 billion to
ing the crisis are breathing — and drinking — easi- replace lead pipes.
er. Newark, once castigated and sued over its slug- Newark’s efforts led to the lawsuit being settled
gish response to the problem, is being held up as a last January, and drew praise from the National The process can take up to five hours, though many
potential national model. Resources Defense Council. replacements take less time because they involve
smaller pipes that can be pulled out and replaced
“I’m just happy that it’s happening and that it’s fi- “It’s a pretty significant turnaround from the early by making a smaller cut in the curbside, said Mark
nally getting taken care of so we finally get to drink days when the city was denying they had a lead Wleklik, foreperson for Underground Utilities, a
tap water again,” Newark resident Cesar Velarde problem,” Erik Olson, NRDC senior strategic di- company that has done thousands of pipe replace-
said as he watched the crew work. “I have three rector for health, said. “We are pointing to it as a ments in Newark.
cases of bottled water right now. I don’t drink fau- model for other cities to follow. They’re doing it