Ex-Activist's 680-Mile March To Stop Violence + Disney Masks Back

ACROSS AMERICA — Jedidiah Brown had found peace in Atlanta, some 680 miles away from his hometown of Chicago. The former Chicago activist told Patch columnist Mark Konkol last month he’s exploring a happier, and less-stressful, life away from his home city that is struggling through another summer of rampant gun violence.

In July alone, 569 people have been shot — 95 of them fatally — in Chicago.

Now, after hearing from a number of people back home, Brown tells Konkol he just can’t turn his back on the city. He has a plan to raise thousands of dollars to fight the gun violence and poverty issues that have plagued the city for years.

He’s walking home. Read the full story on Chicago Patch.

Masks Back On At Disney

Visitors to both the nation’s Disney theme parks — Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando — will have to mask up again. Regardless of vaccination status, the masks must be worn at the entrances and throughout any indoor space within the park, including on transport shuttles.

Read more via Orange County, California, Patch

More New Mask Mandates: As coronavirus cases climb nationally amid the spread of the highly contagious delta variant, mask mandates are going back into effect from coast to coast. Among them, in Atlanta, masks are now again required at public indoor spaces. In Baltimore County, Maryland, public schools will require masks for parents, students and visitors this fall.

Fun Reads

Bull Still On The Loose: It has been eight days since a bull, now named “Barney,” escaped from slaughter, via Shirley-Mastic, New York, Patch.

PETA Responds With A Billboard: “The bull is fighting hard to gain his freedom,” via Shirley-Mastic, New York, Patch.

Cops Rescue Pup: Police officers were able to use a catch pole to get a family’s puppy out of a storm sewer pipe, via Romeoville, Illinois, Patch.

Swordfish Weighing 301 Pounds Caught: The catch was big enough to set a new state record, via Bowie, Maryland, Patch.

Bucket List Pubs: From Irish and British pubs to local favorites, here’s a list of ones not to miss when visiting the capital city of Texas, via Austin, Texas, Patch.

More Reads

Bear Encounter Leads To Arrest: A woman has been charged federally after video shows someone authorities believe to be her approaching a grizzly bear and its cubs at Yellowstone National Park, via Wheaton, Illinois, Patch.

Porno Shoot Lawsuit: A settlement has been reached between a woman and the members of the adult film industry who rented out her cottage in 2015, via Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, Patch.

Feds Raid Pharma Company: Thursday’s raid came less than two months after two executives of the generic drug manufacturer KVK Tech were charged with conspiracy to defraud the FDA, via Newtown, Pennsylvania, Patch.

New Pot Shop Has An Odor: That’s what residents are saying, calling on their township to do something about it, via Morristown, New Jersey, Patch.

Quotable

"I got the Moderna shots in late March. And I was in the hospital for eight days with COVID this July. I almost died."

- Nancy Miller of Port Monmouth, New Jersey, adding that doctors told her it was the vaccine that saved her life, via Middleton, New Jersey, Patch

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