JuneteenthAfter becoming a federal holiday two years ago, Juneteenth will be observed on Monday, June 19, with many people having a day off work tomorrow, Friday June 16, which is 2023’s federally recognized date of observation.For millions of non-Black Americans, observance of this holiday may still be very new. Juneteenth is a celebration of June 19, 1865, the date that a Union Army general arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved African Americans that the Civil War had ended, President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and they were free.Though it has been celebrated across the country for more than 150 years, the bill designating the holiday wasn’t signed into law until 2021. President Joe Biden approved the legislation on the week of Juneteenth that year; with limited time between the signing of the bill and the actual holiday in 2021, 2022 was the first year that much of the country recognized Juneteenth, June 19, as a federal holiday.In Livingston, township offices will be closed tomorrow, Friday, June 16, in observation of Juneteenth. We at the Tribune will also close our offices in observance. Because it is a federal holiday, banks, post offices, the stock market, and several other businesses and services will also be closed to end the week. Not all states granted their employees days off. According to reports, fewer than half of states recognize Juneteenth as a paid day off for workers; we are proud that New Jersey is one of them.On Monday, June 19, Livingston’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion will hold a flag raising at Town Hall at 6 p.m. Speakers from the NAACP and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice are also expected to talk during the event. We hope many in the community choose to attend.Rough WeatherIt has been an interesting few weeks of weather, to put it mildly. To start the month, we had a multi-day heat wave, pushing temperatures into the 90s with a heat index pushing 100 degrees.Last week, the Tri-State area turned practically apocalyptic for a few days, as smoke from Canadian wildfires resulted in several days of unsafe air quality in the region; tiny pieces of soot from the smoke of the fires filled the skies. Outdoors, during daytime hours, the horizon looked nearly orange and the air smelled and tasted like a campfire.The elderly, young children, and those with lung issues were urged to stay ...
