Scott Rivkees announced he will leave his post as surgeon general and secretary of the Florida Department of Health next month. But the move comes amid a surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Combine that with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ antagonism to federal health authorities and mask mandates, and it might make it difficult to find a replacement.
Backgrounders
The Supreme Court Ended the Eviction Ban. Now What? 4 Questions Answered.
The Supreme Court on Aug. 26, 2021, ended the Biden administration’s ban on evictions, putting millions at risk of losing their homes. Legal scholar Katy Ramsey Mason explains what the ruling means, who will be affected and what happens next.
Judge Rules DeSantis Had No Authority to Ban School Mask Mandates or Punish School Boards That Adopt Masking
Judge John Cooper of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court of Florida ruled today that Gov. Ron DeSantis had no legal authority under the recently-enacted Parental Bill of Rights to prohibit local school boards from adopting mask mandates that did not include opt-out provisions. The judge found DeSantis’s order “capricious” and not based in evidence, but rather based on an incomplete reading of the Bill of Rights.
ISIS-K, the Taliban’s Rival Group Behind the Kabul Airport Attack
ISIS-K sees the Afghan Taliban as its strategic rivals. It brands the Afghan Taliban as “filthy nationalists” with ambitions only to form a government confined to the boundaries of Afghanistan. This contradicts the Islamic State movement’s goal of establishing a global caliphate.
Clues to Misinformation Behind Public’s and Right-Wing Media’s Misuses of Vaccine Database
Unverified reports of vaccine side effects in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, aren’t the smoking guns portrayed by right-wing media outlets, but they can offer insight into vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
Florida House Rep. Sabatini Threatens Flagler School Board of Legal Action in Letter Laced in Fabrications Over Covid Rules
Florida House Rep. Anthony Sabatini wrote a letter to Flagler Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt and the school board today falsely claiming Indian Trails Middle School students are “being deprived of their right to a public school education,” and building on fabrications about the illegal quarantining of a child at Indian Trails Middle School that began pinballing around local social media pages last week.
Behind the Feds’ Tesla Investigation, and the Future of Self-Driving Cars
The probe covers 765,000 Tesla cars – that’s virtually every car the company has made in the last seven years. The investigation will put pressure on Tesla to reevaluate the technologies the company uses in Autopilot and could influence the future of driver-assistance systems and autonomous vehicles.
An FPC Student’s Perspective: Time to Rethink Inequitable and Irrational Dress Code in Flagler Schools
The district’s dress code is irrational, outdated, unfair and sexist. It limits individual expression, and it’s an utter waste of time, argues Jack Petocz, a junior at Flagler Palm Coast High School who calls on the school board to listen to students’ concerns and revise the code.
Ashura Explained: the Shiite Muslim Holiday that Inspires Millions
Ashura is marked by Shiite Muslims around the world. The modern-day impact of the Islamic pilgrimage has changed over the centuries. What was once a commemoration of martyrdom today inspires much more, including social justice work around the globe.
School or ‘Russian Roulette’? Amid Delta Variant and Lax Mask Rules, Some Parents See No Difference
Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “universal indoor masking” in schools regardless of vaccination status, schools across the country are not embracing mask requirements, including for students under 12 who aren’t yet eligible for protective vaccines.