‘Bryan’s Book Corner’ Sees Kids Through the Last Chapter of the Pandemic

By Jessica Easthope

Let’s set the scene: seven-year-old Bryan Rumfelt is trapped inside by the coronavirus pandemic. Like other kids, he’s missing story time at school and not visiting his local library, so he came up with a way to fill that void.

It’s called “Bryan’s Book Corner,” a Facebook page where Bryan posts videos of himself reading books to kids.

“‘Bryan’s Book Corner'” is this thing I do,” he told Currents News. “I read books to kids because of the COVID-19, and because they don’t have story time, I’m reading them books online.”

The theme of “Bryan’s Book Corner” is simple: keep kids happy.

“Some people are sick and some people are at their houses and they’re pretty bored, and so I wanted to make them happy by doing ‘Bryan’s Book Corner,’” he explained.

In Bryan’s cast of characters is his mom, Jenn and his grandma, Donna — the person he credits with starting his online career.

“He said, ‘Oh put that on Facebook,’ not knowing that it was going to explode,” said Donna. “I just put ‘Bryan’s Book Corner’ and put a video up, and people just went crazy for it.”

It wasn’t long before the “Bryan’s Book Corner” page had close to 1,000 members. It doesn’t take reading glasses to see Bryan knows how to captivate an audience, especially with his many voices.

Though this chapter is slowly coming to an end, Bryan won’t be putting this story back on the shelf any time soon.

Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 6/17/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

Are you ready for phase two reopening? Governor Cuomo says it’s coming to New York City Monday, but some store owners are not happy.

Alarming new reports that COVID infections are breaking records in several U.S. states. And a resurgence in Beijing. They are shutting down schools again. What does that mean for America’s future?

Virus testing is coming to hard-hit communities in the Big Apple thanks to a group that’s been praised by the Pope.

A bishop and the author of a children’s book. Bishop Shelton Fabre wrote it to help kids cope with racism.

Don’t Say This When Talking to Your Child About Racism, According to a Priest

Currents News Staff

Many children have questions about the recent police involved shooting deaths of two black men, and the protests that followed.

But how do you explain what happened to your kids if you’re having a hard time processing it yourself? Can we honestly convey the brutality of racism in America to our children without depriving them of any sense of love and respect for their country?

Bishop Shelton Fabre of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana oversaw the production of a book on the topic, and joins Currents News with advice on how to talk to your kids about racism.

Amid NYC Reopening Confusion, Small Businesses Are Struggling to Survive

By Emily Drooby

The coronavirus has taken so much from HoM co-owner Salvatore Forte.

First, he had to temporarily close his Bay Ridge, Brooklyn business — a combination restaurant and retail store. In April, both his mother and father died from the virus.

“It broke me, it really broke me,” he told Currents News.

“I haven’t had a funeral for my parents, to this day,” he added. “I haven’t seen my family to this day. I don’t even know what my father is buried in.”

Being able to put his parents to rest is not his only concern: he’s also worried for the future of his business. Like many, he’s confused by the city’s reopening plan.

“We are doing what we are told, but we are getting mixed messages and it’s so uncertain that we just don’t know what to do and we don’t know where to go and we aren’t getting answers from anyone,” Salvatore said.

On June 17, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the city is on track to hit phase two on Monday, June 21. However, Mayor Bill de Blasio was vague. He called it a “day-to-day discussion.”

De Blasio acknowledged that while the numbers are good right now, they could see a spike over the weekend. He attributed that to both the racial justice protests and the roll out of the phase one reopenings.

Back in Bay Ridge, the unknown is leaving small business owners frustrated at a time when they’re already struggling to get by.

“It’s very stressful because we do have to pay our bills and it’s not easy, so we just want to progress and we just want to move on.” explained store owner Lisa DeLuca. “I just want to get to the next phase and then eventually get to the phase after it.”

She co-owns the Bay Ridge retail store, Charmed by JLM. They’ve managed to stay afloat with online orders, but did take an extra financial hit when their store was robbed back in April.

For small business owners, the concern goes further than not having concrete dates for the re-openings. Many restaurants in the heart of Bay Ridge say they can’t survive on outdoor seating alone.

“What are you going to do if it rains, you can’t bring the people inside?” asked restaurant Anthony Marsillo.

He owns a beloved local restaurant, Gino’s. With the restrictions, he says the most he can fit outside is 10 tables. The restaurant normally seats 175.

“This is a tough time and a lot of small businesses aren’t going to make it through it,” he added. “They’re saying at least 85 percent of restaurants won’t make it.”

He and many of the local business owners are saying concessions from the government like tax breaks, limited in door seating and the start of phase three could make a huge difference.

New York State Assembly Member Nicole Malliotakis, has been speaking with business owners and advocating for them to Mayor de Blasio.

“We need to allow the businesses to just open and be responsible, and I think we can trust them to do that,” she said. “And I don’t know why the mayor is holding back so much, particularly when we are seeing such a double standard in this city.”

The double standard she’s referring to? Protests and recent crowds forming on NYC streets all while business owners continue to suffer.

Beijing Neighborhoods Under Lockdown Amid New Cluster of Coronavirus Cases

Currents News Staff

In Beijing, at least 29 neighborhoods are under lockdown after a new cluster of coronavirus cases emerged linked to a food market.

The latest cluster of COVID-19 infections has spread to nine of the city’s 16 districts, Chinese broadcaster CCTV reported.

All students from kindergarten to middle schools will have suspended classes, while final year students of junior and high schools will return to online courses.

This Is How the Coronavirus Pandemic Could Impact a Baby’s Development

By Jessica Easthope

Ten month old Emma Josephine just started crawling. She’s even mastered repeating sounds, and it’s something her mom Camille Sajecki is especially excited about.

“She’s talking and babbling more than ever, every day and it’s amazing to watch her grow and do different things every day,” Camille said.

Though Emma’s home comes complete with her favorite toys and the love of her parents, she hasn’t had as much stimulation as she would have before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“She was seeing family on a regular basis, her cousins every Friday, and now she’s seeing those people through a small screen on a phone,” said Camille, who started to worry about the effects on Emma’s development.

“If this wasn’t going on we’d do ‘Mommy and Me ‘classes, seeing other families who have small babies, but it’s difficult to do any of those things because we’re scared,“ Camille added.

Doctor Robert Tiballi, an infectious disease expert with the Catholic Medical Association, says Camille’s concerns are valid.

“Any delay they may have in their development in their psycho-motor, interactions or their physical abilities, they will be able to pick up on that later,” said Dr. Tiballi.

But it’s not physical development Dr. Tiballi is worried about. He says babies and children can pick up on the stress and fears of their parents.

“Children could be overwhelmed by anxiety and fear parents have, and they can take that on as an attribute of their personality,” said Dr. Tiballi.

Camille says Emma’s becoming more aware by the day, so at home she and her husband Sean keep it positive, no matter how stressed they might feel.

“We definitely try to keep things as positive as they were before this started, because we know that she feeds off us and she feels what we feel,” Camille said.

Dr. Tiballi says until things are back to normal, his advice for parents is to put themselves in the mindset of a baby like Emma just learning to crawl: be careful, but have no fear.

Catholic Teacher Explains Coronavirus to Kids With Book ‘This Is Not Forever’

By Emily Drooby

The Meehan family now wears masks as they play outside their Bay Ridge, Brooklyn home. It’s just one of many obvious effects of the pandemic. These are changes that can be confusing for children.

“It’s more different than the way it was a long time ago,” five-year-old Sofie Meehan told Currents News, talking about the world.

Sofie noticed a big change on her fifth birthday, when she has a car parade instead of a classic party.

To help children like Sofie understand what’s going on around them, her mom, Kristen, wrote a book explaining the pandemic.

“The kids had so many questions about what’s going on and why is this all happening, that I feel like a book was the perfect way to explain that,” Kristen explained.

She’s been tackling questions about the masks, closed schools and a whole lot more, and talking to kids about the pandemic has been a tough job for many parents.

To help make it more manageable, KidsHealth, a nonprofit health system with doctor reviewed tips, has some suggestions:

Find out what children already know, and work from there. Help them feel like they’re in control, like teaching them how to properly wash their hands. Make sure it’s an ongoing conversation, and offer comfort and honesty about the situation.

That’s what Kristen is trying to do with her 24-page book called “This is Not Forever,” a title that is meant to project hope.

The Catholic woman is using her background as a mom and a public school teacher to educate children and help parents.

“They really do understand a lot, but there’s a very delicate balance between giving them the information and not scaring them,” Kristen said. “I feel like this book was a good balance of that, to give a little bit of information, but also to give that comfort that things are going to be okay and this is not forever, and we will go to grandma’s house soon.”

Kristen wrote and illustrated the book in just three weeks. She has sold almost 500 copies. Until September she is donating the proceeds to the Robin Hood Foundation, which supports vulnerable New Yorkers.

What This Police Chaplain Says to Cops in the Age of ‘Black Lives Matter’

Currents News Staff

As America responds with the killings of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks by police, there’s unrest across the land.

Protesters are demanding racial justice and an end to police wrongdoing. Police, sworn to serve and protect, are feeling under fire.

Father Jayson Landeza is a chaplain to the Oakland, California police department and the pastor of a largely African American parish.

After George Floyd’s death, he said, “At this point, at this time, at this juncture, black lives matter,” and is sharing that message with the officers he ministers to.

Police on the street are sometimes faced with making split-second life-and-death decisions.

Many black people say they don’t trust the police.

Years ago, children often looked at police officers and saw heroes.

Fr. Landeza is speaking to the men and women in blue about rebuilding the relationship between themselves and civilians.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, a majority of the city council wants to “dismantle” the police department, and in New York, some politicians are calling for a big bite to be taken out of the NYPD’s budget.

The California priest shares how he counsels an officer who’s been involved in a shooting while on duty.

Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 6/16/20 (Catholic news)

Currents News reports secular and religious news from the Catholic perspective.

Some of the top stories on this newscast:

President Trump is overhauling police practices for cops around the country.

Team coverage on our kids and how they’re coping with the coronavirus pandemic.

A police chaplain is here to tell us what he’s telling the cops he serves.

President Trump Signs Executive Order to Reform Police Practices

Currents News Staff

After meeting with families whose loved ones were victims of police violence and racial profiling, President Trump signed an executive order to change some police practices, “to deliver a future of safety and security for Americans of every race, religion, color and creed.”

“All Americans mourn by your side,” he told the families. “Your loved ones will not have died in vain.”

Among the reforms, the order establishes a national database to track the excessive use of force by officers and any convictions or judgments against officers for improper use of force.

It also provides more funding to departments which have received or are seeking accreditation for training officers in use of force and de-escalation techniques and bans chokeholds, except in instances when an officer’s life is in danger and the use of deadly force is allowed by law.

The order encourages police departments to add social workers or mental health professionals to respond to calls related to mental health, including drug addiction and homelessness.

The president, who prides himself on promoting law and order, also strongly defended police.

“Americans know the truth,” he said. “Without police, there is chaos. Without law, there’s anarchy. And without safety, there is catastrophe”

But some say this action isn’t enough.

“It will not do anything to correct police brutality, which is the real issue,” said Joe Ested, a former Richmond, Virginia police officer.

President Trump is now punting to Congress to put more police reforms into law.

“Hopefully they’ll all get together, and they will come up with a solution that goes even beyond what we’re signing today, but this is a big, big step,” he said.