State attorney clears officers

Brendan O’Connor,

Orlando Police officers were cleared by Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala from the June 12, 2016, Pulse nightclub shooting. Over 180 shots were fired by law-enforcement officers after 2 a.m., but, according to Ayala, the officers were blameless in the deaths of the 49 civilians in the club. All officers who fired their weapons have been issued “clearance letters.”

Orlando’s climate future

Joanie Schirm,

Water, water everywhere, but if we don’t get our act together, not a drop to drink. According to a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences study by Professor Matt Fitzpatrick using 12 different variables for 540 U.S. and Canadian cities under two climate-change scenarios, the future for Orlando’s climate is shocking. Climate-wise, in 2080, on average the cities move 528 miles to the south if carbon emissions keep soaring. Orlando will feel like Ciudad Mante, Mexico: 8 degrees warmer and 76 percent drier than winter now in Orlando. It’s scary how much climate and ecosystems will change if we stay the current irresponsible, naïve course.

Summit on Religious Freedom

Kathy Schmitz,

A Christian and an atheist walk onto a stage … respectful and meaningful conversation ensues. This was the scene at the fourth annual Summit on Religious Freedom sponsored by the Central Florida Commission on Religious Freedom. David Williamson, Director of the CF FreeThought Community, and Pastor Danny de Armas of First Baptist found common ground in understanding religious belief, or non-belief, as a right of conscience, in which the government must not meddle. The evening, emceed by the Three Wise Guys and keynoted by Rabbi David Saperstein, highlighted possibilities beyond the divisions of modern civic discourse.

Health-care debate

John Thedford, entrepreneur, founder of SMART Financial: Health care for all? The debate over the Affordable Care Act and the proposal for universal health care rages on. U.S. providers charge some of the highest prices in the world for health services. Is it time we move to a government-run universal health-care system to not only provide health care for all, but to cap ever-increasing costs charged by doctors, hospitals and drug manufacturers? Are we willing to give up control over our medical choices in order to hold down costs more effectively? Perhaps we should begin with a health-care system where patients are billed for actual costs vs. playing the game of inflating the billable amount.