Conexion Miami / Florida not teacher friendly

Florida ranks near the bottom when it comes to opportunities for teachers, according to a new study conducted by WalletHub. It was the “eighth worst state for teachers” on the list that ranked the 50 states and Washington, D.C. It ranked the states based on a number of factors, including starting teacher salaries, 10-year change in teacher salaries, per-pupil spending, average class sizes, safe school measures and teacher unemployment.

Gay friendly

LGBT-rights group SAVE has announced its fall endorsements for the November 2014 general election. Among the endorsed candidates (all Democrats) are Charlie Crist for Florida governor, George Sheldon for attorney general and Joe Garcia for U.S. Congress. 

African studies at FIU

African & African Diaspora Studies Program’s Distinguished Africana Scholars Lecture hosts the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, the Hon. Kenny Anthony. This year’s theme, which addresses CARICOM’S recent political stance on slave trade reparations, will be “Reparations and 21st Century Development: The Silence Is Broken and We Speak to the World.” The 16th Annual Eric E. Williams Memorial Lecture at Florida International University (11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, Florida) will take place at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on Friday, October 17, at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Info for Election Day

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. The ACLU of Florida has put together information to help you prepare to make your voice heard in this year’s important election. Find out more about how to exercise your right to vote by (click here) checking out the ACLU of Florida’s “Let Me Vote” materials. They’ve put together all sorts of important information, including: How to check your voter registration status; how to register to vote; when you can vote early (which may be different from county to county!); how to order and distribute “Let Me Vote” voter empowerment cards.

Every vote does count

There are many who still feel their vote does not count. We’d like to convince you differently. Consider this simple fact (especially if you’d like to see a change of governor in Florida): Rick Scott won a very close election in 2010 and we broke it down by precinct: Eight more people voting against him per Florida precinct and we would have seen a different outcome in 2010…

Sorry, but you can’t vote

An estimated 5.85 million Americans will be unable to exercise their voting rights due to a current or previous felony conviction. Of the total disenfranchised population, 2.6 million have completed their sentences, yet are disenfranchised in the 12 states with the most restrictive policies. Disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact communities of color, leaving one in every 13 black adults voiceless in the electoral process. The state with the highest rate of disenfranchised? It’s Florida who changed its laws for the better under Gov. Charlie Crist only to see it reversed by Rick Scott.

Will Jeb run?

Former President George W. Bush speaking about his brother on Fox News: “I think he wants to be president,” adding, “I think [Jeb would] be a great president. He understands what it’s like to be president.” Jeb Bush has cited his family as a major factor in whether he will seek the Republican nomination and said he plans to make a decision next year.

Hillary

Hillary Rodham Clinton was in Miami last week. She was here to speak to a national convention of female real estate professionals. Later she visited Books and Books where she promoted her book “Hard Choices.” Along the way she helped Charlie Crist raise money for his gubernatorial campaign. CNN reported the event raised $1 million for the Crist campaign.

Money for agriculture

There’s extra $$ for Florida in the 2014 Farm Bill, the primary agricultural and food policy tool of the federal government, passed every 5 years by Congress. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in Miami last week, said Florida will receive a total of $4.5 million for 34 projects ranging from reducing salmonella risk in tomatoes to improving the profitability of Florida’s blueberry industry.

New parasailing law

A new Florida law went into effect this week. Known as the White-Miskell Act, it requires commercial parasailing operators to log weather conditions before embarking; it forbids operations during severe weather conditions and requires operators to be licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard. It also limits operations near airports. The names were chosen because Kathleen Miskell, a 28-year-old Connecticut woman, died in 2012 after she fell from a harness while parasailing over the ocean off Pompano Beach, and Amber May White, a 15-year-old Belleview girl, died in 2007 after a line snapped on a parasail, resulting in her hitting the roof of a hotel.

No pot stores in Naples

Naples is renowned for its ultra conservative streak. So it’s no surprise that preparing for the possibility that the medical marijuana Amendment 2 may pass in Florida, its city council voted last week to ban medical marijuana establishments citywide. Councilman Sam Saad said he wanted to ensure Naples has restrictive language in place on Nov. 5, a day after the statewide vote on Amendment 2.

Dealing with climate change

“What’s going on … here is really a model for what we need to see going on around the country,” John Holdren, the White House’s chief scientist, told an audience of about 650 at the Sixth Annual Southeast Florida Climate Leadership Summit at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The summit, which brings together South Florida’s four counties, serves as an annual wrap-up and rallying cry for addressing threats from climate change.