LOOKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK

Andy Mitchell, CEO, Fairwinds Group. It’s great to see so many restaurants finally opening up again as life begins anew. So much negative focus by many has been on the service level as these businesses get back to normal. Think of it like a golf pro who has a scratch handicap and hasn’t picked up a club in two months. To think he will shoot par just isn’t realistic. It takes practice and hard work to get your game back. So keep that in mind as you visit your local restaurants. Support them, encourage them and thank them for coming back at 50% of capacity. You play a very big role in their survival. Your patience and understanding means more to them than you know.

Frank Ortis, mayor, Pembroke Pines. Space history was postponed and then rescheduled but I wonder how many people realized how truly important the launch of SpaceX’s first NASA collaboration really is to our country and our future? It’s understandable that as we continue to deal with a serious pandemic our focus tends to stay there, however, this space exploration reset is the beginning of a new era of corporatedriven space missions. Sending two NASA astronauts aboard a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station, which has never been done before, is a 2020 “first” that I’m glad about.

Larry Rein, CEO and President, ChildNet. This week’s unimaginably tragic death of a severely autistic 9-year-old Miami-Dade County boy shocks us all. It also reminds us how essential it is that we recognize that when serving a child with a significant challenge or disability the entire family requires our full attention and support. Be it developmental disabilities, delinquency, behavioral health or child abuse it is never merely about treating a child with a problem. Rather, to truly be effective, we must listen closely to and work with families. During the current crisis, as families struggle to meet their most basic needs, this is truer than ever.

Kathleen Cannon, president, United Way of Broward County. Why not wear a mask when you are around people? It is the new form of being polite. We can’t shake hands right now, so let’s squint our eyes with a smile behind our masks. I am personally excited for sports to start, for in-person meetings, for church to start for my parents, physically walking into the front doors of our local businesses and, yes, even shopping (and I don’t even like shopping). So wear a mask until we all know we won’t inadvertently pass the virus to our most vulnerable residents.

Lauren Book, member, Florida Senate. This last week we witnessed a horrific video of a sick woman attempting to kill her child by drowning him in an area pond. There are times when showing hard-towatch videos serves a public purpose or watching them can help us understand our world – for better or worse. But in this instance, the public is not served except to satisfy morbid curiosity or generate clicks for a news outlet. This severely disabled child deserves our respect and deserves privacy in his final days. Shame on those news outlets that profiteered off this child’s misery and shame on those who repeatedly watched.

Anthony Abbate, associate provost, Florida Atlantic University, Broward. While many are distracted by the pandemic, the federal government has aggressively forged ahead with rolling back regulations on air and water pollution and fuel efficiency, in addition to expanding oil drilling. While attending meetings may be problematic with social distancing, there is a way to submit public comments about proposed regulations across agencies at a new beta site designed to improve public participation at beta.regulations.gov.

Ghenete “G” Wright Muir, attorney, LGBTQ advocate. Dancehall icons Beenie Man and Bounty Killer lit up social media with the first dancehall battle on Verzuz TV. Their rivalry in the 1990s led to a flood of hits that they performed live from Jamaica to over 400,000 excited Instagram viewers. Social media was plastered with posts praising the performance during and after the battle — which was by far the best that has taken place on Verzuz TV. Of course it was! The “battle” concept that Verzuz TV is using was pioneered in Jamaica as a “clash” between sound systems or performers and is an integral part of dancehall culture.

Clarence McKee, president, McKee Communications. Former Vice President Joe Biden showed how he takes blacks for granted. He told a black radio host that, if blacks had a problem supporting him or Trump, “you ain’t black.” He is considering several black women for his running mate. It’s not going to happen! He knows he has black voters in his hip pocket. Why should he name a black woman when he can count on Obama and most of the national black political leadership? If he wants to play the race/gender card, he would show more political logic by selecting a Hispanic female.