First Responder Harassment Bill Awaiting Signature
A bill is awaiting Governor Ron DeSantis’s signature that would make itillegal for onlookers to harass first responders while they are performing their duties. The law would create a 25-foot buffer around responders and allow for the arrest of anyone determined to be harassing a worker, after a verbal warning. Penalties could include fines up to $500 and two months in jail. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joins Engage to share why he supports the bill. We also spoke with voices concerned with the latitude this law could afford law enforcement officers in the field. Policy Strategist at the ACLU of Florida, Abdelilah Skhir, joins Engage to explain why this bill is worrying to him.
Hurricane Relief Transcends Language
Florida’s Hispanic community created the Alianza Center with residents of Puerto Rico who fled the island after it was devastated by Hurricanes Maria and Irma in 2017. Since then, the organization has grown to serve and empower thousands of members in Central Florida. Ahead of this year’s Atlantic Hurricane season, the Center hosted the first meeting of the Alianza Resilience Hub Network which is described as a collaboration of 50 partners united in building resiliency in Latino, Black, and disadvantage communities across the I-4 corridor. Father Jose Rodriguez, Deputy Director of the Alianza Center in Orlando, joins Engage to talk about preparing for this season.
Delta IV Heavy's Final Mission
This afternoon, United Launch Alliance sent up a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the last time. It will join other retired vehicles including the Atlas and Redstone rockets that ferried the Mercury astronauts in the early days of the space race, the Saturn rockets that took the first men to the moon and the space shuttles that defined space travel for three decades. Brendan Byrne is Central Florida Public Media’s Assistant News Director and host of the show and podcast Are We There Yet? He joins Engage to explain the significance of the final countdown for ULA’s Delta IV Heavy.
UCF's Veterans Legacy Program
More than 3,500 Young men from Florida who answered their nation’s call to serve in World War II never returned. Many are memorialized by the VA's National Cemetery Administration. Those buried at St. Augustine National Cemetery are referred to as “Florida’s Lost Boys.” The Veterans Legacy Program at UCF is a partnership with the National Cemetery Administration to preserve the legacies of the Lost Boys. K-12 teachers from throughout the state are working with students to research and write biographies about Florida’s fallen soldiers, and the program will present theatrical monologues of these semi-fictional biographies tomorrow evening at the DeVoss Family Room at the Dr. Phillips Center. UCF Associate Professor of History Amelia Lyons and MFA student Madeline Lane join Engage to discuss the program and tomorrow’s presentation.
