After weeks of speeches and raucous protests, numerous votes in legislative committees and a full vote in the state House, Florida is at the endpoint for a decision on a 15-week abortion ban that doesn’t include rape, incest and human trafficking.
Health & Society
Take the Survey to Identify Needs of Older Adults and Caregivers in the Area
ElderSource, the Area Agency on Aging & Aging and Disability Resource Center for Northeast Florida is seeking input from the community to better understand the needs of older adults, persons with disabilities and their caregivers.
Signal Shift: Flagler Health Department Ends Covid Testing As Cases Fade; Deaths Increase by 15 in 2 Weeks
The end of operations at the airport–or at the department itself–signal the Health Department’s shift back to what it is calling “normal,” pre-pandemic operations, exactly two years after mobilizing for the first covid surge.
Anti-‘Woke’ and ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bills Clear Florida House Following Emotional, Futile Debates
Yet two hotly-debated bills — HB 7, limiting conversations about racism and sexism in schools and at work, and HB 1557, restricting classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity — were both passed by the House on near-party lines Thursday.
Senate Confirms Vaccine-Snubbing Ladapo as Surgeon General in Partisan Divide
A 24-15 party-line vote displayed the fissure between the parties on DeSantis’ approach to the pandemic, which in the past year has mostly concentrated on treating people who have tested positive for Covid-19 rather than boosting vaccinations. Ladapo has often echoed DeSantis’ positions since the September appointment.
Full Federal Appeals Court Re-Hears St. Johns Schools Transgender Bathroom Case
In a case with local and national implications, a previous, three-judge panel of the court had ruled in favor of the student who was denied use of the boys’ bathroom. The St. Johns school district appealed to the full court.
Florida House Set to Take Up Bills Silencing Discussions of Race and Gender Identity
The Florida House, dominated by Republicans, is poised this coming week to pass two fiercely debated bills that would place restrictions on how issues about race, gender identity and sexual orientation are taught in public schools.
Women’s Freedom and Autonomy? Not in Florida.
These magnanimous Republicans will allow women and girls to have control over their own bodies until the fetus inside them gets to be about the size of an apple. After that, ladies, you’re nothing but a “host body,” as former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva famously said.
Florida House Passes Bill That Would Require Initiatives to Improve Fathers’ Parental Skills
The bill would require that grants be geared toward helping fathers in “finding employment, managing child support obligations, transitioning from a period of incarceration, accessing health care, understanding child development and enhancing parenting skills.”
33-Year-Old Father Faces Felony Child Abuse Charge for Throwing and Bruising Boy, 9
A week after a 33-year-old Palm Coast parent was arrested on a felony charge of abusing his high school son over the boy’s sexual orientation, another 33-year-old Palm Coast father with a history of violence was arrested on a similar charge after allegedly attacking his 9-year-old son over a purchase he made on an iPad.