A voting advocacy group is pushing back against Florida lawmakers who planning a bill that would limit mail-in voting and consequently make it more difficult for many to vote.
Voters are able to mail by ballot with a request that is active for four years. The SB 90 bill would not only require citizens to reapply yearly and have their vote be valid for only one term, it also would invalidate all current mail ballot requests.
“These populations of folks who aren’t on smartphones all day, who don’t have, you know, laptops and computers at home and saying, Oh yeah. And by the way, who also are more likely to hold jobs that are less likely to give them plenty of time to go vote at a polling place,” said Kat Calvin, founder of Spread The Vote.
In 2020, nearly 5 million Floridians voted by mail. If the SB 90 bill is approved, millions will potentially be disenfranchised and deprived of the same liberties their fellow voters have.
Calvin urges citizens to “call your state legislators, call your Senator and tell them we don’t want you to pass SB 90.” State legislators can be found at the Florida Senate website.
Pandemic causing wedding industry to lose billions
The wedding industry is estimated to lose over $47 billion in sales over the next two years due to complications involving the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many couples across the country have been debating whether to put their wedding on hold or rearrange plans to ensure a safe and healthy guest experience. With Florida being the third largest host of weddings in the United States, 2020 wedding reports have affirmed that the state saw a 26% decrease in the total number of weddings and a 22% decrease in average wedding costs.
Different approaches are being taken by couples, including purchasing less expensive cakes, dresses, venues and entertainment. Companies are even adapting to the new wave of wedding planning by creating means of virtualization, resulting in more convenient and cost-friendly decisions for the spouses.
East Tampa church offers free tutoring to middle, high school students
A Tampa church has decided to open up free tutoring to all kids grades six to twelve after recognizing the toll virtual learning has taken on them.
Pastor Alec Hall of St. Matthews Missionary Baptist Church started a virtual program designed to give pupils an extra push in a multitude of subjects and help boost their grades and understanding. He calls it “Bring Your Backpack for Better Grades,” or “BYB4G.” The program is open every day, and students are allowed to attend two sessions per week.
“I grew up in a Riverview Terrace housing projects here in Tampa. I was raised by my grandmother. So long story short, education has a high premium,” said Hall.
The church pays qualified tutors to help out students, with absolutely no cost requested from them.
“We’re not paying them $5 and $10, we believe in quality of the program. And that’s what we’re offering currently,” Hall said. “And the cost is free 99. So it’s no charge. We want the kids to come. We want them to better themselves, and we want to assist in that effort in any kind of way that we can.”
The church hopes to expand the program in the future, and are even working on installing a computer lab to better assist the students. To sign children up for tutoring, parents can email tutoring@nsmmbc.org.
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Anchor: Hannah Halili
Reporters: Deana Lampasona
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