This week, as millions of Florida students prepare for another academic year, we honored the school resource officers who protect them with a Thin Line Tribute. Our Thin Line Tribute initiative recognizes the daily, often thankless efforts, of Florida’s front-line law enforcement officers—and you don’t get more front line than serving in a school!
During the tribute, at a high school in Volusia County, we also announced that the school district will be joining our Hallway Heroes program. We created Hallway Heroes last year to encourage students to build bonds of trust with school resource officers—so they are more comfortable reporting suspicious or dangerous activity in schools.
Through this unique program, attention-grabbing, age-appropriate posters are strategically placed in school hallways instructing students on how to engage with school resource officers. For older students, these displays include our statewide anonymous crime-reporting tipline, **TIPS. Continue reading
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(NewsUSA) – Children can begin learning and participating in household duties as young as two. While handling the tasks yourself may be easier and less time-consuming, involving your children in the home can bring a sense of joy and togetherness, helping them gain confidence, a sense of accountability, and a deeper connection to their family members.
If you’re thinking, “But where do I start?” the key is in the approach and consistency. You must be as committed to your child’s role as they are. Here are a few tips to help create helpers in the home.
Keep it age appropriate. As a good rule of thumb, your child should be assigned one role or responsibility for each year of age. If they’re three years old, give them three tasks. Make sure the tasks fit their developmental level. If you make them too difficult, they could get frustrated along the way.
It’s all about learning and growth. If you keep this top of mind, you’re bound to be successful. Take the time to explain and demonstrate each task, then do the task with the child the first few times. After that, let them try it on their own. It won’t be perfect, but each attempt is a step towards independence. Set expectations with your child and be clear in your ask. Take each task one at a time to avoid overwhelming your child. Continue reading
(NewsUSA) – The viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu continuously change or “mutate” to escape our natural immune responses and the protection provided by vaccines. As a result, for both flu and COVID-19, vaccination is not a “one and done” proposition.
Fortunately, as these viruses change, flu and COVID-19 vaccines are updated to protect the public against the variants that are currently circulating. Experts at Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity, and Progress (CVEEP)—a coalition dedicated to educating the public about vaccines and promoting equity and access—emphasize that the best way to reduce the risk of severe illness from both flu and COVID-19 is to stay up to date with recommended vaccinations.
Some viruses, such as those that cause measles and polio, change infrequently. This means that the vaccines for these viruses can provide immunity that is longer-lasting. By contrast, frequent changes in the viruses that cause COVID-19 and flu mean the protection provided by these vaccines will wane as new variants emerge. Continue reading
By Dr. David Sugerman
(NAPSI)—As a parent, I know that preparing for international travel with kids is more than just packing a suitcase. Whether we are visiting relatives we haven’t seen for a long time or helping our children see the world, we all can agree that protecting our family’s health is the top priority. As a doctor, I know that beyond sorting out missing socks and packing suitcases, there is another important step to prepare for international travel: measles vaccination. Your whole family needs to be protected by measles vaccination, including babies as young as six months old.
While the risk for measles in the U.S. remains thankfully low due to high rates of immunization, measles can occur anywhere in the world, and you can be exposed during international travel. Every year, U.S. residents who are unvaccinated get measles while traveling internationally and get sick after they come home, often spreading it to others. Measles is more than just a little rash; it’s a serious disease that can cause severe complications, especially in young children. Measles is also highly contagious. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby can become infected if they are not vaccinated. Continue reading
(NAPSI)—If you’re like most homeowners, there’s probably a laundry list of major upgrades you’d like to make to improve the efficiency, performance, and functionality of your house. However, high upfront costs and project complexity can keep you from taking action, especially when projects involve expensive but essential systems, such as heating and cooling, water heater, and home envelope. Now, though, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (2022), there are numerous financial incentives that can significantly reduce the cost of these upgrades, making them more affordable and accessible, even for low- and middle-income households.
To help Americans take advantage of these financial opportunities and make these projects easier, ENERGY STAR recently launched a home improvement savings web tool. This handy online tool is a one-stop shop that lets you enter your ZIP code and find information on incentives available to you. Currently, it features generous tax credits and utility rebates that can help you substantially lower costs on qualifying products. Over time, it will include additional information on state energy efficiency rebates for low- and moderate-income households as they come online. Find the tool at: energystar.gov/homesavings. Continue reading
By TomL
Trump got shot, a fire Fighter was killed shielding his family, two other shot and nobody knows who was supposed to guarding the President elect. There are many unanswered questions and I’m sure they will come out.
It has been a busy week. The republican Convention started shortly after the attempt on Trumps Life. When the shots rang out I was watching it live. I knew it was gun fire. Trump grab his ear and went down to avoid getting hit again. Some thought he was hit in the head. A few minutes before people were yelling there is a man on the roof with a gun. 150 yards from the stage. No one stopped him! The same man was spotted earlier and listed as a suspicious person. No one stopped him! He was seen earlier that day with a range finder. That is use to get the exact footage to the target to put the cross hairs on target within inches. No one stopped him! This shooter’s parents called the police and listed their son as missing and they said he had a gun. No one stopped him. He walked in the crowd for some time. People reported him as a suspicious person. No one stopped him! I have been hearing rumors that security was told to stand down. I have trouble believing that.
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One of the things I took away from Trump and Vance was they were going to lower taxes and replace it with the FairTax and import tax on products coming into our country. Especially automobiles. Shut down the mandate on Electric cars. The Electric cars are very bad for the environment as a junk car the battery’s are lethal when getting into the ground water. Drill baby drill which will fire up the auto industry right away, they are dying. Start building all of our own parts for everything on an auto. We need to build our own up to date oil refinery’s. There are some many things to do the first week Trump will have delegate jobs to do and then hold them accountable. Continue reading
The current federal income tax system is clearly broken – unfair, overly complex and almost impossible to completely understand. There is however a reasonable and nonpartisan alternative that is both fair, efficient and easy to understand and that is the FAIRtax (HR 25).
The FAIRtax is a national sales tax that treats every person equally and allows American businesses to thrive while generating the same tax revenue as the four-million-word-plus tax code we now live under. The FAIRtax is NOT an add-on but a REPLACEMENT of the current income tax.
Under the FAIRtax, for the first time in recent history, American workers will bring home what they earn with the elimination of federal withholding from their paychecks giving them an instant raise in take-home. Social Security and Medicare benefits will not change. In fact, the FAIRtax actually puts these programs on a more solid foundation. Instead of being funded by worker’s wages, which is a relatively small pool, they will be funded by taxes on overall consumption by all residents. Continue reading
In 2015 the CEP commissioned an economic impact study of what it means, dollars and cents-wise, to be the Horse Capital. The data was both surprising and impactful. Equine contributes $2.6 billion annually to the local economy. That reflects not only the direct spin of the horse farms, shows, and support industries but also the thousands of tourists and guests who visit our community whether for a horse show, thoroughbred auction, or just to view the beautiful farms.
This past year, our friends at the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association updated that study and what an update! Today, the equine industry provides a $4.3 billion annual impact. Just as in 2015, the industry contributes approximately 1/5 of the area economy. As Ocala has grown, so has the industry. Perhaps one of the biggest new contributors to this impact is the growth in tourism especially in light of the opening and continual development of the World Equestrian Center.
Farmland Preservation
The CEP is and will continue to be a strong promoter of our Farmland Preservation Area (FPA). Our partners at Horse Farms Forever take the lead in ensuring we can remain the Horse Capital of the World® for generations to come. Maintaining the nearly 200,000-acre FPA is important to us all. Continue reading
