Why are flags at half-staff today? How long will they be lowered? What to know
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered that U.S. and Ohio flags on all public buildings and grounds throughout Hamilton County will be flown at half-staff to honor the life and service of Hamilton County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Henderson.
Henderson, a special deputy who retired in December after working 33 years with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, was working a traffic detail on May 2 during a commencement ceremony at the University of Cincinnati when he was fatally struck and killed. The father of an 18-year-old shot and killed by a Cincinnati police officer investigating a report of a stolen vehicle has been charged in the crash that killed Henderson.
According to a press release from the governor's office, on Monday, May 5, DeWine ordered that U.S. and Ohio flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds throughout Hamilton County, the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center, and the Rhodes State Office Tower. Flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on the day of Henderson's funeral on Friday, May 9.
All other public buildings and grounds throughout the state may fly flags at half-staff at their discretion during this time.
Flags will remain at half-staff in Hamilton County until sunset on the day of Henderson's funeral on Friday, May 9.
Flags are flown at half-mast on ships and at naval stations. On shore, flags are flown at half-staff, meaning the flagpole is attached to a building or stuck in the ground.
The American flag flies at half-staff when the country or a state is in mourning, according to USA.gov.
Flags can be ordered to fly at half-staff by the president, a state governor or the mayor of the District of Columbia. In most cases, flying the flag at half-staff marks a significant death, such as one of a government official or military member, a national tragedy or a national day of remembrance, such as Memorial Day or Patriots' Day, which occurs annually Sept. 11 in memory of the victims who died in the 2001 attacks.
Henderson retired in December after working 33 years with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, according to a Facebook post on Dec. 20. He worked as a bomb technician and was a member of the dive team that performed water rescues and searches. After retirement, he continued to serve as a special deputy.
He still worked traffic details like the one outside a May 2 commencement ceremony at the University of Cincinnati, where he was fatally struck and killed.
Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey described him as a 'tremendous person.' The sheriff also said that Henderson's badge number, #129, will be retired.
Public visitation: Friday, May 9, 9 to 11 a.m. at Cintas Center, 1624 Musketeer Drive.
Public service: Friday, May 9, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Cintas Center, 1624 Musketeer Drive.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why are flags at half-staff in Cincinnati? What to know
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
40 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
New crime novels feature a locked-room mystery, a Scarborough stabbing and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist
It's a weird time in American politics, which means it's a perfect time for Florida novelist Carl Hiaasen to plumb the satirical depths of corruption and malfeasance in his home state. His last novel, 2020's 'Squeeze Me,' suffered from a subplot that attempted to satirize the once-and-current occupant of the White House, a Falstaffian spray-tanned figure so outrageous as to be almost impervious to satire. For 'Fever Beach,' Hiaasen wisely steers clear of POTUS and his inept administration, preferring instead to focus on wanton corruption at a lower level. 'Fever Beach,' by Carl Hiaasen, Alfred A. Knopf, $34.99. The new novel begins with a meet-cute on an airplane between Twilly Spree and Viva Morales. Twilly is a stock Hiaasen character: an independently wealthy Florida do-gooder who spends his time making life miserable for folks who litter, antagonize the local wildlife or otherwise cause environmental or social havoc. Viva's job is administering the foundation of a couple of rich right-wing octogenarians whose fundraising operates as a money-laundering front to finance the campaign of far-right (and profoundly stupid) congressman Clure Boyette, in hot water with his obstreperous father over a scandal involving an underage prostitute named Galaxy. Add in Viva's landlord — a Jan. 6 insurrectionist named Dale Figgo who heads the Strokers for Freedom (a white nationalist militia whose name is a rebuke to the Proud Boys' insistence on refraining from masturbation) — and his cohort, the violent and reckless Jonas Onus, and you have all the ingredients for a classic Hiaasen caper. Twenty years ago, German-born author Leonie Swann debuted one of the most delightful detective teams in genre history: a flock of sheep on the trail of the person responsible for killing their shepherd with a spade through the chest. After a two-decade absence, Miss Maple, Othello, Mopple the Whale, and the other woolly sleuths are back on the case, this time on behalf of their new herder, Rebecca, the daughter of the early book's victim. 'Big Bad Wool,' by Leonie Swann, Soho Crime, $38.95. Rebecca, her intrusive Mum, and the sheep are overwintering in the lee of a French chateau where there are rumours of a marauding Garou — a werewolf — that is responsible for mutilating deer in the nearby woods. Among other strange occurrences, Rebecca's red clothing is found torn to pieces and some sheep go missing — and soon enough there's a dead human for the flock, in the uncomfortable company of a group of local goats, to deal with. 'Big Bad Wool' is a charming romp, whose pleasure comes largely from the ironic distance between the sheep's understanding of the world and that of the people who surround them. ('The humans in the stories did plenty of ridiculous things. Spring cleaning, revenge and diets.') Their enthusiasm and excitement results in prose that is a bit too reliant on exclamation points, and some of the more heavy-handed puns (like the sheep's insistence on 'woolpower') seem forced, but this is nevertheless a fun variation on the traditional country cosy. Romance novelist Uzma Jalaluddin takes a turn into mystery with this new book about amateur sleuth Kausar Khan. A widow in her late 50s, Kausar returns to Toronto from North Bay to help her daughter, Sana, who has been accused of stabbing her landlord to death in her Scarborough mall boutique. The police — including Sana's old flame, Ilyas — are convinced Sana is the prime suspect, but Kausar is determined to prove her daughter innocent. 'Detective Aunty,' by Uzma Jalaluddin, HarperCollins, $25.99. Her investigation involves a couple of competing developers, both of whom want to purchase the land on which the mall stands, along with members of the dead man's family and fellow shopkeepers. On the domestic front, Kausar finds herself concerned with Sana's deteriorating marriage to her husband, Hamza, and her teenage granddaughter's sullenness and mysterious nighttime disappearances. Jalaluddin does a good job integrating the various elements of her plot, and the familial relationships are nicely calibrated. The momentum is impeded, however, by a preponderance of clichés ('Playing devil's advocate, Kausar asked …'; 'Kausar's blood ran cold') and a tendency to hold the reader's hand by defining every easily Googleable Urdu word or greeting too programmatically. More attention to the writing on the line level would have helped move this one along. Yukito Ayatsuji's clever postmodern locked-room mystery was first published in Japanese in 2009; it appears for the first time in English translation, which is good news for genre fans. 'The Labyrinth House Murders,' by Yukito Ayatsuji, Pushkin Vertigo, $24.95. Ayatsuji's narrative is framed by Shimada, a mystery aficionado, who is presented with a novelization about murders that took place at the home of famed mystery writer Miyagaki Yotaro, found dead by his own hand soon after the manuscript opens. Miyagaki has left a bizarre challenge for the writers gathered at his Byzantine Labyrinth House: each must write a story featuring a murder, and the victim must be the writer him- or herself. The winning author, as adjudicated by a group of critics also convened at Labyrinth House, will inherit Miyagaki's sizable fortune. As the writers compete for the reward, bodies start falling in real life and Ayatsuji has a grand time playing metafictional games with his readers, challenging them to figure out who the culprit is in the context of a story that owes more than a small debt to Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None.' But Ayatsuji does Christie one better; it is only once the afterword, which closes the framed narrative, has unfolded that the reader fully understands how cleverly the author has conceived his multi-layered fictional trap.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Yemen's Al Qaeda branch leader threatens Trump, Musk, and others
Advertisement 'There are no red lines after what happened and is happening to our people in Gaza,' al-Awlaki said. 'Reciprocity is legitimate.' Though believed to be weakened in recent years due to infighting and suspected US drone strikes killing its leaders, the group known by the acronym AQAP had been considered the most dangerous branch of Al Qaeda still operating after the 2011 killing by US Navy SEALs of founder Osama bin Laden, who masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2022, a US drone strike in Afghanistan killed bin Laden's successor, Ayman al-Zawahri, who also helped plot 9/11. The Sept. 11 attacks then began decades of war by the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fomented the rise of the Islamic State group. Al-Awlaki already has a $6 million US bounty on his head, as Washington says al-Awlaki 'has publicly called for attacks against the United States and its allies.' He replaced AQAP leader Khalid al-Batarfi, whose death was announced by the group in 2024. Advertisement AQAP seizing on the Israel-Hamas war follows the efforts of Yemen's Houthi rebels to do the same. The Iranian-backed group has launched missile attacks on Israel and targeted commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea corridor, as well as American warships. The US Navy has described its campaign against the Houthis as the most intense combat it has faced since World War II. The Trump administration also launched its own intense campaign of strikes on the Houthis, which only ended before the president's recent trip to the Middle East. The Houthis' international profile rose as the group remains mired in Yemen's long-stalemated war. Al-Awlaki may be betting on the same for his group, which UN experts have estimated has between 3,000 and 4,000 active fighters and passive members. The group raises money by robbing banks and money exchange shops, as well as smuggling weapons, counterfeiting currencies, and ransom operations, according to the UN. The Shiite Zaydi Houthis have previously denied working with AQAP, a Sunni extremist group. However, AQAP targeting of the Houthis has dropped in recent years, while the militants keep attacking Saudi-led coalition forces who have battled the Houthis. 'As the Houthis gain popularity as leaders of the 'Arab and Muslim world's resistance' against Israel, al-Awlaki seeks to challenge their dominance by presenting himself as equally concerned about the situation in Gaza,' said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen specialist of the Basha Report risk advisory firm. 'For a national security and foreign policy community increasingly disengaged from Yemen, this video is a clear reminder: Yemen still matters.' Advertisement
The Hill
2 hours ago
- The Hill
Latinas for Trump co-founder blasts ‘inhumane' immigrant arrests
Florida state senator Ileana Garcia (R), co-founder of Latinas for Trump, issued a sharp rebuke of President Trump on Sunday as his administration seeks to ramp up deportations and other actions against undocumented immigrants. Garcia took particular issue with reported tactics in southern Florida, where immigration officials have allegedly been making arrests in immigration courts and taking other steps to target individuals otherwise in compliance with legal orders. 'This is not what we voted for,' Garcia wrote in a post on X. 'I have always supported Trump, @realDonaldTrump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.' 'I understand the importance of deporting criminal aliens, but what we are witnessing are arbitrary measures to hunt down people who are complying with their immigration hearings—in many cases, with credible fear of persecution claims—all driven by a Miller-like desire to satisfy a self-fabricated deportation goal,' she continued in her post, referring to White House homeland security adviser and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. 'This undermines the sense of fairness and justice that the American people value,' Garcia added. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment. Garcia's comments followed criticism from Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), who issued a statement saying she's 'fully aware' of and 'heartbroken… because of the recent immigration actions of the administration.' She said the administration's actions have 'left thousands exposed to deportation' and jeopardized 'our duty to due process that every democracy must guarantee.' Salazar said anyone with a pending asylum claim 'deserves to go through the legal process,' noting that, 'It is an indisputable fact' that most of these claims come from people who fled Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, which Salazar noted are 'the three most brutal regimes in our hemisphere and sworn enemies of the United States.' 'I wholeheartedly agree that the administration must kick out every criminal here illegally, just as President Trump promised. Many still remain, and we should keep our focus on them,' Salazar added, noting that she plans to meet with administration officials this coming week. Garcia issued her statement in response to Salazar's remarks, saying, 'I stand with Congresswoman Salazar.' 'As the state senator who represents her district and the daughter of Cuban refugees, who are now just as American, if not more so than Stephen Miller, I am deeply disappointed by these actions. And I will not stand down,' Garcia wrote.
