It would be easy to survey the end of 2021 and see another year in wreckage. There’s the pandemic that won’t end. Rising inflation. Climate disasters. A democracy that looks creakier by the day. But there’s unusual comfort out there.
Health & Society
10 Florida Political and Entertainment Figures Who Died in 2021
From political and legal trailblazers to longtime education and corrections leaders, here are 10 people who died in 2021 after leaving marks on Florida politics, government, the courts–and entertainment.
As Omicron Infection Rate Spikes to Delta Levels, Local Health Officials Plead for Precautions, With Nuance
Omicron is here, if not yet in full force, and is up to five times as infectious as the delta variant of Covid-19. But if delta was a hurricane, omicron is shaping up as more of a tropical storm. And the more protected your house is–the more you’ve developed immunity through vaccines, boosters, prior infections–the less likely you are to get sick, let alone get gravely ill or die.
Florida Department of Education Removes LGBTQ Resources. Nikki Fried Provides Her Own Instead.
Advocates complain that removing resources for LGBTQ students is the latest attack on LGBTQ Floridians by the DeSantis administration. Earlier this month, the department scrubbed dozens of informational links from its webpage on “Bullying Prevention.”
Sheriff Among Responders to a Repeat-Overdose Victim, Who Joins ‘Leave at Home Narcan Program’
Authorities have often spoken of treating addicts at scenes, at times the same addict in the same 24-hour period, only to hear them say that as long as they have access to Narcan, they feel secure. Authorities in this case referred to the “Leave at home Narcan program.”
Teaching to Transgress: bell hooks Will Endure
As a leading Black intellectual, hooks pushed the feminist movement beyond the preserve of the white and middle-class, encouraging Black and working class perspectives on gender inequality. She taught us about white supremacist capitalist patriarchal values – giving both the words to define it and the methods to dismantle it.
Flagler Health+ Completes 70-Acre Buy at Palm Coast Parkway for Eventual Hospital, Challenging AdventHealth
The purchase was not unexpected. It has had the acreage under contract since August. The purchase is part of its ongoing efforts to challenge AdventHealth’s supremacy in Flagler, a supremacy AdventHealth is defending just as aggressively: the hospital system is building its second hospital in Palm Coast, a 100-bed facility, almost within sight of the Flagler Health + acreage.
Coffee, Good to the Last Drop? Don’t Be So Sure.
You’ve probably heard it before: drinking coffee is good for your health. Studies have shown that drinking a moderate amount of coffee is associated with many health benefits, including a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But while these associations have been demonstrated many times, they don’t actually prove that coffee reduces disease risk. In fact, proving that coffee is good for your health is complicated.
Federal Officials Drop Feud Over School Masking as Districts End Defiance and State Returns Money Owed
In early November, citing steep drops in local coronavirus cases, the last of the eight districts came into compliance with the health department’s rule aimed at preventing mask requirements. The state education department on Nov. 29, returned nearly $878,000 to districts.
Judge Orders Walgreens to Turn Over Company Data on Opioid Profits in Florida
Pasco County Circuit Judge Kimberly Sharpe Byrd on Friday gave Walgreens until Dec. 31 to start turning over “financial information sufficient to show all rebates, discounts, chargebacks, coupon reimbursements and any other money back it received on opioids” it purchased or sold in Florida since 1996.