TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK

Lori Berman, member, Florida Senate. Another college shooting turned fatal this week when a seemingly aggrieved student shot and killed three standout University of Virginia football players. Motives remain unclear, but what we do know is devastating: Three young men’s lives were taken way too soon. Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry all had promising futures. Two other students were injured. Perry was a star player in Miami before moving on to his college career. Let us remember these students and their grieving families during this unimaginable loss.

Bernie Fernandez Jr., M.D., CEO, Baptist Health Medical Group. Research from 2021 shows that almost 12% of American adults said they had no close friends, compared with 3% in 1990, indicating loneliness. But the pandemic is not to blame, as the U.S. surgeon general warned that an “epidemic of loneliness” had resulted from the displacement of meaningful relationships by the accelerated pace of life. Loneliness fuels depression, substance abuse and suicide. It also increases the risk for heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, dementia and premature death. To curb this unhealthy trend, invest time to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Relieving loneliness optimizes our health.

Lamar Fisher, vice mayor, Broward County. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, Thanksgiving dinner will cost

20% more than it did last year. With these price increases, many families may have a hard time celebrating Thanksgiving this year. I always encourage those more fortunate to do a little extra food shopping to help those in our community that may need assistance. There are many ways to help. The United Way of Broward County is holding its 2022 Operation Turkey Dinner, and there are two ways to contribute. For more information, please visit UnitedWayBroward.

org/OperationTurkeyDinner22.

Beam Furr, member, Broward County Commission. Broward County Schools released a memo stating that 11 books challenged by parents have been banned from school libraries. This method of challenging books is now allowed under state law. This decision should send a shiver down the spines of any person who believes students benefit from free expression and a well-rounded catalog. These challenges are going to continue. The good news is that Broward County Libraries still have all these books in stock, and we have ordered more copies to meet demand. Broward County Libraries are committed to making sure our students maintain access to banned books.

Christine Hunschofsky, member, Florida House of Representatives. Congratulations to everyone who was successful in their election and re-election bids and thank you to everyone who stepped up to run for office. Now that elections are over, it is time for all elected officials to reset from campaigning and do the work of governing. To honor the trust that the voters placed in us, we must address the issues that directly impact our constituents’ lives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to address homeowner’s insurance, affordable housing and many other issues that matter to our constituents.

Sarah Leonardi, member, Broward County School Board. In the dark of night on Monday, five unelected Broward School Board members fired the superintendent of the sixth largest school district in the country. They did not publicly advertise the vote — as is customary — and took this extreme action just one day before they would lose their seats to democratically elected board members. The next day, the same unelected board members voted to hand over nearly $10 million in taxpayer dollars to charter schools. Our school district has faced years of turmoil. If the goal of these unelected appointees was to plunge the district into further chaos, mission accomplished.

Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson, president and CEO, Community Foundation of Broward. One of the true victories of the recent election was voters choosing more women than ever to lead their states. As a result of Election Day, we will soon have more women serving as governors than at any time in our nation’s history. Twelve women are now either currently serving or will be inaugurated as governors (the previous record was nine). That’s still way too few women in the top jobs, but it’s a sign of long-overdue progress. Let’s hope that in the years ahead, women winning the biggest elections becomes so common that we stop keeping track.

Larry Rein, CEO and President, ChildNet. Regrettably, responses to the pandemic were too often driven by emotion and politics rather than data and science. However, sound evidence may be emerging that can inform future responses to similar crises. A study by Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that wearing masks substantially reduced infection rates in Massachusetts schools that continued to require them following termination of a statewide mask mandate. The difference was statistically significant and occurred despite the fact the schools with the lower infection rates were older urban schools with less modern ventilation systems.