Lakeland has become the second local government in Tampa Bay to let its mask mandate expire.
City commissioners said Monday they see no point in continuing to require masks when the governor’s order prevents them from enforcing it.
The news came on the same day the Centers for Disease Control announced that standing six feet away from people isn’t enough to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Experts are upset that the CDC waited so long to update this important information.
“There are several well-documented examples in which SARS-CoV-2 appears to have been transmitted over long distances or times,” the CDC’s new guidance released Monday says. “These transmission events appear uncommon and have typically involved the presence of an infectious person producing respiratory droplets for an extended time (>30 minutes to multiple hours) in an enclosed space.”
Instances include people singing, exercising and shouting or inadequate ventilation.
The CDC guidance and its new evidence on aerosols comes months after experts called on the World Health Organization to warn people that the virus can be easily transmitted in the air.
The new guidelines clash with the governor’s decision to lift nearly every restriction that was in place to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Hundreds of Tampa Bay ex-felons now able to vote next month
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has raised over $25 million to pay the legal fines of ex-felons. On Monday, they presented checks to clerks of the court throughout Florida to pay more fines.
Amendment Four, a bill aimed to restore voting rights to ex-felons, was approved by more than two-thirds of Florida voters in 2018. However, Republican lawmakers prevented ex-felons from voting until they paid their fines and fees.
The coalition has been hard at work on its #FreeTheVote tour, raising money throughout multiple Florida counties. Recently the organization cut checks to cover the costs that prevent the ex-felons from voting, giving $1.5 million to the Hillsborough clerk of the circuit court, $550 thousand to Brevard county and $7 million to Miami-Dade county, to name a few.
One recipient, Salisia Pascoe, expressed gratitude for the fund.
“It means so much, especially at a time like this in such a major election,” said Pascoe. “I am just so grateful that I can now be a part and make my vote count.”
More Floridians registered to vote than ever
More than 14 million people are registered to vote in Florida, as of August 31, over a million more than the last presidential election.
The gap between the two major parties has tightened since 2016. Florida’s Democratic part now has about 180 thousand more registered voters than the republican party. That is a difference of about four percent.
National plus-size appreciation day celebrated by Tampa store
Tampa Bay plus-size clothing store Curv Exchange is working to change perceptions to body positivity.
“Yes I am curvy, but that doesn’t mean anything, I am just curvy,” said Angela Parkhurst, St. Petersburg Curv Exchange regional manager. “I am celebrating my body. I am celebrating who I am, and that I am happy in my skin and that I don’t need to change who I am to be happy.”
As one of the very few stores that offer up to size 6X, the award-winning plus-size resale store advocates for self love and representation for curvy women.
CREDITS
Anchors: Nicholas Cousineau, Diana Halum
Reporters: Zachary Brown, Bryony Deighton
Producer: Brad Haft
Writers: Gabriel Castro, Carla Ibanez
Graphics editors: Dylan Zuccarello
Associate Producer: Payton Kirol, Caylee Cottrell
Video Editors: Ta’Bria Snowden, Gabriel Castro
Show Editors: David Jones,Ta’Bria Snowden, Bryony Deighton
Web Editor/Social Media Producer: Jack Albury
Graduate Assistant: Emmanuel Maduneme
Faculty Adviser: Jeanette Abrahamsen, Wayne Garcia
