Scott: What is up? It is Monday, March 9th. I am Scott Evans and Channel One News
starts right now.
Demetrius is here with us now to help us kick off today's show and with a look back, 50
years into the past.
Demetrius: It was the subject of an Oscar nominated film Scott. And over the weekend,
President Obama made his way down to Selma, Alabama where crowds gathered to
mark a major turning point of the civil rights movement.
Walking hand in hand, the country's first black president, along with an estimated
40,000 other people marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge this weekend. The
same bridge that 50 years ago, marked a dark day in American history.
Pres. Obama: We honor those who walked so we could run!
Demetrius: Even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination, AfricanAmericans and others faced discrimination and even violence when trying to register to
vote in the South.
So Martin Luther King and other activists began organizing marches in Selma, Alabama
to bring awareness to the voting rights issue.
On March 7, 1965, hundreds of protesters planned to march from Selma to
Montgomery, more than 50 miles. But as they began crossing the Edmund Pettus
Bridge, police officers surrounded the protesters, throwing tear gas and beating them
with clubs.
It became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Lynda Lowery was 14 years old at the time.
Lowery: He hit me two times that I could remember. I received seven stitches over my
right eye and 28 stitches in the back of my head.
Demetrius: The images of that day shocked the country, including a 24- year-old college
student in New York named Steve Somerstein.
Steve: I thought, was this happening here in America?
Demetrius: “Bloody Sunday” became a turning point in the fight for civil rights,
motivating some to join the cause, like Somerstein. He joined the protesters two weeks
later as they tried again to complete their march. But this time, the National Guard was
sent to protect them.
After five days and 50 miles, Lynda Lowery made it to the state Capitol with a message
1|Page
for the governor watching a few floors up.
Lowery: I’m here Governor Wallace. I’m here. See me. See me.
Demetrius: A few months later, the Voting Rights Act was passed, and it is considered
one of the most important laws in the civil rights movement
Pres. Obama: We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to
endure billy clubs and the chastening rod, tear gas and the trampling hoof; men and
women, who despite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their
North Star and keep marching towards justice.
Demetrius: Out in New York, those who couldn't make it to Selma this weekend
marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to show support. Brooklyn borough president, Eric
Edams, lead that march.
He says the fight that took place in Selma 50 years ago has now evolved to fights for
equality in things like housing, education and marriage.
Eric Adams: All Americans should find their Pettus Bridge and march over it and find the
life that they want in America, the right to pursue happiness and freedom.
Demetrius: And now, Congress is sending President Obama a bill that would award the
Congressional Gold Medal to those who participated in the historic Selma marches 50
years ago.
Scott: Well, that is pretty cool. Thanks Demetrius. Ok coming up, we turn to another
group fighting for equality all around the world.
Demetrius: Women?
Scott: Women.
Ok, now let's see what else is making headlines, and the latest jobs report is out now.
And it is pretty good news with signs of an economy that’s heating up.
Employers added 295, 000 jobs in February. And the unemployment rate fell two-tenths
of a percent to 5.5 percent across the nation. And that’s the lowest unemployment rate
in six and a half years.
Many had feared that the ice, snow and freezing weather could put a freeze on hiring.
But in fact, the opposite happened. Industries across the board were up and hiring
including food, retail and construction. Thirty-two thousand jobs made available last
month were in retail.
2|Page
But the new hires are not always permanent positions. One estimate puts three million
Americans holding temporary jobs.
And in an era where GPS technology can track your every move, many are still puzzled
as to how a commercial airline jet seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth.
And still, one year later, nothing, not even a trace has been found.
Not a shred of evidence found from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. No debris, no life
jackets, no seat cushions, no trace of 239 people on board.
The plane was last tracked flying over the southern Indian Ocean on March 8th, 2014,
according to satellite data. Then it disappeared.
The search immediately began and was conducted over 1.8 million square miles of the
southern Indian Ocean, scanning for anything belonging to Flight 370, with a focus on
over 23,000 square miles of the world's deepest oceans, trying to locate one of the
black boxes.
But a new report found that the battery on one of the data recorders expired more than
a year before the plane went missing and was never replaced, hampering the search.
Malaysian officials declared the missing plane an accident, and say they are still
committed to search for the plane.
And last up, celebrations were held all over the world over the weekend to mark
International Women's Day.
Demonstrators around the globe participated in events that celebrate the successes of
women and push for more opportunities
Over in the country of Morocco, thousands took to the streets and were pushing for an
end to violence against women. And in the Central African Republic, women marched to
ask for peace in their war torn country.
Rallies in the country of Chile were heated. Women were calling for fair and equal
treatment.
This year’s theme was "Make it Happen." And it is estimated that thousands participated
in more than 50 countries.
That's it for headlines. But coming up, Keith Kocinski takes us along on his ice-breaking
mission.
The days are numbered for Old Man Winter. But as Keith Kocinski shows us, the frozen
ice cold grip still has a hold on parts of the Northeast, pitting man against the elements.
3|Page
Keith: When you are out on the Hudson River during the middle of winter, it can almost
feel like a different world.
I feel like we’re in the frozen tundra of Siberia or Antarctica.
But this is New York. And for the 17 member crew of the Coast's Guard Sturgeon Bay, it
is all in a day's work. That work comes with a host of challenges.
Ken Sauerbrunn: Passing so close to other vessels, we could be 10 feet away, 15 feet
away making full power. And that's extremely dangerous.
Keith: This team is on a mission to keep the waterways of the Hudson River open
during some of the most brutally cold days of the winter.
Sauerbrunn: It’s the worst winter that I've seen. It’s the busiest winter that the Coast
Guard has had to deal with since 2004. We’ve seen the most amount of ice coverage,
both in the Hudson and throughout the northeastern United States.
Keith: It is called operation RENEW, reliable energy for Northeast winters. The Coast
Guard is responsible for freeing stranded vessels and clearing 250 foot wide channels
of ice along a120 mile stretch of the Hudson River, from New York City all the way up to
Albany.
Sauerbrunn: Seventy-five percent of the nation’s home heating oil is consumed by the
northeastern United States. And 90 percent of that heating oil travels by barge on the
Hudson River. So, the Hudson River plays a vital role for the delivery of home heating
oil throughout the Northeast.
Keith: The radar and satellite technology they use is state of the art. They also have an
eye in the sky from these retired Air Force pilots.
Back on the water, the crew take those reports from the air to create a game plan for
the day. There's no doubt breaking ice will be in the plans. The ship is specially
designed to ride up on the ice and then the weight of the ship breaks through.
The Sturgeon Bay breaks through miles upon miles of ice each day here on the Hudson
River, making it easier for barges to pass through. But it doesn't make it easier for
everyone. Cutting through the ice actually makes more work for these guys the next
day.
Sauerbrunn: As a general rule of thumb, the more ice you break the more ice you make.
So if you can think about it, if you have a one inch sheet of ice and you break it and it
freezes on top of each other, now it's two inches.
Keith: Nineteen-year-old Justin Lopez is a fireman on board the Sturgeon bay. Coming
from California, this is a new experience.
4|Page
What's the toughest part of being out here?
Lopez: Just being away from home I guess. It's different being so young and not being
around family. But out here specifically, it's probably the weather.
Keith: And you never know what you will see on the ice.
Sauerbrunn: We do whatever we can to help whoever we can, whether it be vessels,
people or even animals sometimes.
Keith: Keith Kocinski, Channel One News.
Scott: To check out some other cool jobs, head to Channelone.com. And if you have an
idea for a cool job you want, simply fill out the form on our website, and you could be
featured on a brand new original web series, where we let you try out your dream job for
a day, just by filling out the form on Channelone.com.
Alright guys, we are out of time, and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
5|Page