© 2024 WFIT
Public Radio for the Space Coast
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WFIT Local News Update October 7, 2024 AM

FDEM director Guthrie: 'Evacuate'

 Florida Department of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie, spoke Sunday during a briefing on Tropical Storm Milton

We are working around the clock to get our preparations in place, and I need all of you to now do the same. I urge Floridians to finalize your storm preparations. Now enact your plan. I highly encourage you to evacuate.

Guthrie says the State Emergency Response Team is preparing for the largest evacuation likely since 2017's hurricane Irma.

Evacuate if you're an evacuation zone. If you're not an evacuation zone, and your house was built in conjunction with the Florida Building Code // you may be better just to stay in place. If you're dependent on power, you will need to evacuate. If you're dependent on a special set of circumstances, you'll need to evacuate. But if you're not one of those individuals, and you're inland, not in evacuation zone, it may be better for you to just stay in place.

Gutherie and DeSantis said having a plan in place is important as is knowing your evacuation zone since the exact path of Milton – which could develop into a hurricane late Sunday – is not yet known.

Sandbags

Beginning today from 8 am to 6 pm sandbags will be available at;

Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville, Mitch Ellington Park on Merritt Island, Wickham Park, and Eastern Florida State College-Palm Bay Campus,

Bags will be provided and filled by on-site personnel. There is a limit of 10 sandbags per vehicle.

As a reminder, sandbags can be purchased at home improvement stores and filled with dirt from your property. It is illegal to fill sandbags with sand from the beach.

Voter registration deadline is Today.

 
Today is the deadline for Brevard residents to register to vote in the upcoming election. To register to vote or update voter registration records, visit VoteBrevard.gov.

 
Help train teachers, fix a teacher shortage says U.S. Education Secretary in Kissimmee

 
The U.S. Department of Education is bolstering efforts in Central Florida to make teacher education more affordable and accessible to everyone.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says providing current teachers with free master’s degrees in special education, doesn’t just help with retention. Still, it can alleviate a state and nationwide teacher shortage.

The department awarded the University of Central Florida 1.2 million dollars to train an additional 40 special ed teachers in the next five years.

“We have to do better to support our educators. Lift them up. I call it the ABCs of teaching. Provide agency, better working conditions, and competitive salary, and we're committed to doing our part at the federal level.”

Last school year, the Florida Department of Education ranked special education as the state's most critical teaching shortage area.

Polaris Dawn Mission

 
Last month, the Polaris Dawn completed a 5-day mission that set some milestones. The Polaris Dawn mission, like Inspiration4, raised funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

One historic achievement was orbiting six times above the Earth at 870 miles (1,400 km), smashing the record of the 1966 Gemini 11 mission in 1966.

40 science and research experiments were conducted on the four crewmembers, including a look at how blood flow is affected by microgravity.

Because Jared Isaacman funded the mission, researchers were able to send experiments on the Polaris Dawn at no charge.

It was also the first time the interior of a Dragon capsule was exposed to the vacuum of space. Additionally, it was the first test of SpaceX’s new spacesuit.

 More: www.wfit.org

Terri Wright held the position of General Manager at WFIT from 1998-2023.