Brevard firefighters push county on pay issues.
Brevard County firefighters showed up in force at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. They are continuing to press for competitive wages, while county commissioners hope to not to have to raise taxes in order to keep more firefighters from leaving. Negotiations between the Brevard County Professional Firefighters union and the county have made some progress, with the county scheduling a public workshop for Jan. 30 to arrive at a solution on pay.
Brevard is named as one of the Purple Star School Districts.
The State of Florida is recognizing five K-12 school districts that go above and beyond for military kids and families. They are called Purple Star school districts. Danielle Prier tells us, Brevard County is among them.
These schools offer a transition program to assist military students coming into the school and training for staff to identify and respond to needs specific to those families. They also provide opportunities like service projects that connect the school with the military community. Governor Ron DeSantis said these supports are crucial for the success of military kids, who change schools more frequently than their peers.
“But it's not easy when you have kids in school, and kids have to switch schools, so we wanted to make sure that these transitions were positive. The experience was positive for our military families.”
DeSantis said 176 schools have earned a Purple Star School Distinction. Florida is home to 1.4 million veterans and their families.
Starliner astronauts’ return delayed again.
The two astronauts who flew Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the space station have had their return to earth delayed again. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams got another month tacked onto their time in space. NASA on Tuesday announced the delay of the launch of the next SpaceX spacecraft, which in turn means Wilmore and Williams will have to wait until at least March to fly home. They arrived at the ISS last June for a 10-day stay. The delay gives NASA and SpaceX time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission.
In other space news, astronaut Nick Hague ran the Space Force ten-miler last weekend. But he’s not sure his time will count. He ran the race on a treadmill while aboard the International Space Station.
Florida approves rules for veteran dental care.
Just 15% of veterans are eligible for dental services through the VA, but 41% of veterans described their oral health as “fair” or “poor.” That’s the reason the Florida Legislature created the Veterans Dental Care Grant Program. $1 million will be used to establish a network of clinics to provide treatment to disadvantaged vets. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet on Tuesday gave the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs approval to publish a proposed rule that will set guidelines for the new Veterans Dental Care Grant Program. To qualify for the program, veterans must live in Florida, earn $45,000 or less annually, and have their military discharge papers.
