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WFIT's local news update January 28, 2025 AM

Brevard engineer promotes STEM to marginalized kids

Engineers from around Brevard volunteer with South Brevard NAACP ACT-SO STEM classes to teach local kids about engineering.

45 students from elementary through high school attend Saturday classes at Florida Tech, learning drone aviation, robotics, snap circuitry and Python coding. The program was begun by Bernard Bryan, education chair of South Brevard NAACP, with the goal of Introducing science, technology, engineering and math to kids who might not otherwise have a chance to learn about these topics.

Bryan has been involved in the school system for several years, mentoring kids. Something he noticed was a lack of Black students in STEM programs.

"You don't see these kids — you don't see the marginalized kids having this opportunity," Bryan said. "That's why we do this."

At a Feb. 9 afternoon showcase, at Stone Magnet Middle School, the students’ projects will be graded by local engineers.

 
Fluoride debate moves to Cocoa and Titusville.

 Adding fluoride to drinking water as a way to prevent cavities has sparked opposition from some since it was first started in the 1950s. With Melbourne and Palm Bay recently deciding to stop adding fluoride to drinking water, Rick Glasby reports the county's two remaining large utilities — Cocoa and Titusville — could be next.

 Cocoa, which supplies drinking water to some 300,000 people in Brevard County, adds fluoride to its water. But some want it out. So Cocoa could be next to stop adding the mineral to its drinking water. Titusville Mayor Andrew Connors says he would like to see the fluoridation issue be the focus of special City Council meeting — including the potential to stop adding fluoride to the city's water supply.

 
GOP-led Legislature refuses DeSantis bid to hinder citizen-led ballot measures

Florida Legislature’s Republican leaders who defied Gov. Ron DeSantis in this week’s special session, shelved DeSantis’s plan to outlaw third-party signature-gathering for ballot initiatives.

House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, told House members that it was important to proceed cautiously with revamping a system that gives voters a voice.

Perez acknowledged that the “process has been infected by big money and special interests.”

He added, “I believe ballot issues need reform. But I do not believe that we as elected officials should slip into a special session and try to ram through changes that affect the rights of the very voters who sent us here to Tallahassee.”

Republican leaders in the Legislature have long characterized most ballot proposals as an end-run around their authority. And even with this week’s pause, some supporters said that changes may be coming.

Until now, DeSantis had enjoyed the compliance of the state’s Republican majority on his policies. This is a sign that may be cracking.

 A Florida bill would mandate that 'edible vaccines' carry proper food labeling

A Florida bill has been filed would require foods genetic engineered to contain vaccines “or vaccine material” to be labeled as such.

The measure would revise the definition of “drug” to include such edible vaccines. It would deem a drug misbranded “if it is a food containing a vaccine or vaccine material, but its label does not include specified information.”

The bill would seem a premptive strike at a growing industry. No edible vaccines are approved for use in the U.S.,

According to scientists, plant-based edible vaccines could overcome the constraints of tradition vaccines. They would not require refrigeration, and the manufacturing cost would be low, allowing it be more available globally to rural communities or developing countries.

 More:wwwfloridatoday.com

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