LOOKING AHEAD THIS WEEK
REMEMBERING PITTSBURGH James Coffin,
At an event titled “Stop the Hate: Remembering the Victims in Pittsburgh,” hundreds of those in attendance pledged to support and become involved in the creation of an area-wide initiative calling for an end to the venom that characterizes too much of our public discourse, and urging instead that basic civility and respect for human dignity be recognized as an essential undergirding principle in all human interaction. Interested in helping to formulate this initiative? Send an email to jim@interfaithfl.org and you will be sent the details about a number of upcoming regional forums that will consider how we can most effectively move forward as a community.
NEW AREA CODE
Earl Crittenden Jr.,
Remember the days when the area code in someone's phone number revealed nearly as much about that person as their hairdo? The simple days of when the coveted 305 covered Miami and Orlando are obviously long gone as Central Florida readies to implement another set of predicate digits: 689. The newbie is slated for addition this June, just as available 407 numbers will run out. The new, seemingly random numbers in the end, though, tell a definite story. The Orlando area's population is almost 1 million greater since 321 was added in 1999. And we are only getting bigger…
INDEPENDENCE DAYS
Tom Dyer,
With midterms on the horizon, dramatic trends in voter registration are fascinating to behold. Florida has 13.3 million voters. Almost 5 million are Democrats, with Republicans numbering just a couple hundred thousand less. But there are also a whopping 3.5 million pivotal independents. As a percentage, that number has doubled in just 20 years. In Orange County, the percentage of independent voters has quintupled and now exceeds Republicans. With all those independents, presumably somewhere in the middle, what explains the intense and binary nature of current politics? Gerrymandering and media echo chambers, for sure. But independents, you give me hope.
SEMINOLE COUNTY BACKBONE Jane Healy, former
It's good to see Seminole County responding so forcefully to a federal lawsuit from the rejected River Cross development. Seminole shows the absurdity of the lawsuit, filed by lobbyist Chris Dorworth, who has spearheaded plopping the mega-development in the sensitive rural area. It's hard to imagine the court will say that the county couldn't reject this boondoggle, which would be in an area that even voters said they want to remain rural. The commission was only following its own growth plan. It's equally absurd that Dorworth is arguing that the rural area discriminates against minorities because there are fewer there than countywide. But there's no evidence that River Cross would change that.
PEACE IN THE VALLEY
María T. Padilla,
Looking forward to the close of the elections season, especially the incessant TV ads with preposterous and even scary claims. Time to shut it down. It's enough to make one long for a 60-day election cycle, as some countries have. At least voter participation appears to be up, a good thing. Can't wait to read who showed up to vote and who didn't. Voting early mutes the elections chatter as candidates take voters off their mailing and robocall lists. That's why I do early voting: the sooner to have peace in the valley. ICYMI – Sunday is the last day of early voting.
TESLA LAWSUIT
Larry Pino, filing this past week of a lawsuit against Tesla holding its autonomous driving system responsible for a driver crashing into a disabled Ford Fiesta stalled on the turnpike is a sign of the times as transportation begins dealing with these new technologies. While numerous tests have demonstrated that driverless vehicles have a safety record far better than their human counterparts, Tesla's optional autopilot is not yet designed to replace the driver as the directly responsible agent. That time will come soon enough, but it's not here yet; and until it does come, the inevitable question is who bears accountability when, despite ample warnings not to, drivers nonetheless rely on a technology that is extremely good, though not perfect.
ORLANDO HEALTH; 100 YEARS
David Strong,
On Monday, Orlando Health celebrates a century of caring for Central Florida. Since its founding at the height of the Spanish flu pandemic, Orlando Health has taken its responsibility to the community to heart. That commitment has led us to some dramatic milestones – Central Florida's first blood bank, first successful openheart surgery, first children's hospital, first women's hospital, first proton therapy, and the region's only Level One Trauma Center. None of those advances would be possible without the physicians, team members, board members and volunteers who have done such exceptional work. I am thankful for the remarkable heritage we've been left and excited about the legacy our team will create in the next century.