Community Violence Intervention Initiative Expansion
Orlando is expanding its Community Violence Intervention Initiative because of its early success. Since it launched in November 2022, the city has tracked a reduction in shootings and in firearm deaths. The Community Violence Intervention Initiative is a partnership with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, and Raysean Brown is the program strategy manager. He helps with training and overseeing the street outreach team called Neighborhood Change Associates. Brown talks about how he works in communities to reduce shootings among CVI participants.
Mangrove Preservation
Mangroves are protected by law in this state to save what’s left of these coastal habitats of Central and South Florida. You may notice the tangled roots of the tropical plants that grow along the shoreline that provide natural protection to marine life and defend against coastal erosion. Jim Durocher with Friends of the Thousand Islands Sanctuary is working with environmental groups in our Coastal communities to celebrate the importance of mangrove forests at an event on Saturday.
Scalia/Ginsburg Celebrates Opera, Jurisprudence
Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsberg couldn’t have been farther away from each other on the ideological spectrum. But despite their ideological differences, they found a bond that lasted until Scalia’s passing in 2016. They both shared an obsessive love of opera. It was this bond that inspired composer Derrick Wang to create Scalia/Ginsberg, a one-act opera that captures both the political chasm and the shared appreciation of art that defined their relationship. Opera del Sol of Central Florida is presenting Scalia/Ginsburg at the Alexis and Jim Pugh Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center this weekend. Engage speaks with Jacquelyn Pileckas, who portrays Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Theresa Smith-Levin, the founder and executive director of Opera Del Sol and Philip King, the music director for Scalia/Ginsburg.
Daytona Beach Opened The Door to Baseball Desegregation
On March 17th 1946, baseball legend and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson played his first game with the Montreal Royals, the top farm team for the then-Brooklyn Dodgers. That spring training game played in Daytona Beach broke the color line. Retired Daytona State College history professor Len Lempel talks about that historic game during segregation.