Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on final mission
The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off on its last mission Monday morning. Mark Kelly commands the shuttle's 16-day mission to the International Space Station. His wife, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, watched as Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center Monday. "The presence of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at the launch inspired us all, just as America's space program has done for the past 50 years," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. The items the shuttle is delivering to the station include spare parts, a high-pressure gas tank and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, which NASA describes as a "state-of-the-art particle physics detector." The detector is part of an experiment designed to reveal the structure of the universe. Below, video of the liftoff:
[Source: CNN]
» Related: Squid pro quo: UF sends squid aboard Endeavour
A University of Florida experiment is sending baby squid into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. The experiment will test the effects of microgravity on bacteria in the squid, said Jamie Foster, a UF assistant professor of microbiology and cell science behind the research.
Previous experiments have found that disease-causing bacteria such as salmonella become more virulent in space. Foster said her experiment is the first to look at beneficial bacteria and might provide insight into the health of humans, whose immune systems appear to be weakened by space travel. [Source: Gainesville Sun]
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Years of cuts bring Florida schools to breaking point
Lawmakers slashed education spending by nearly 8 percent for the coming school year, the deepest in decades. Per-student funding will drop $542 while the state's contribution to schools will be the smallest since 2003. Those cuts are just the latest since the 2007-08 school year — cuts that already have forced administrators to eliminate classes, do away with social workers, teachers and aides, push up thermostats and cancel field trips.
As a result, school districts are calculating how to avoid major harm to their schools. Broward County schools may lay off teachers. Seminole is closing an elementary school and say more could follow. Duval County may reduce art, music and physical education offerings. And Lake County is considering a four-day week.
The "grim reality," says Seminole Superintendent Bill Vogel, is that things will be worse a year from now when the last of the federal subsidies, which have been shoring up Florida school budgets since 2009, run out.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
DCF uses Twitter to help find adoptive parents for foster children
Since mid-April, Florida's Department of Children and Families and Gov. Rick Scott's office have been Tweeting tidbits about training sessions and support tools for future adoptive parents to followers of @ExploreAdoption, the Twitter name for the state's adoption program. Last week, the first tweet featuring a state foster child waiting to be adopted was sent to the more than 70 users following the feeds, including Gov. Rick Scott.
"We want to use every means possible to reach out to people and let them know about children who need and deserve permanent homes and families," said Joe Follick, DCF communications director
[Source: Palm Beach Post]
Jerry Osteryoung's small biz advice
Fair Labor Standards Act will impact your business
I am by no means an advocate for more government regulation, but when in place, we all must follow the law. The Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division administer the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and because there is no minimum number of employees for enforcement, it applies to almost every business whose sales are in excess of $500,000. Whether or not the FLSA is reasonable can be argued, but the fact is, it is the law and it is being enforced. Last year, the Department of Labor hired 250 additional investigators just to look into whether firms are adhering to this law, and the number of court cases involving FLSA violations is increasing by more than 70 percent each year.
» Continue reading Jerry Osteryoung's Small Biz Advice from Business Florida.
Jeb Bush's education reform ideas draw national attention
Jeb Bush left the governor's office in 2007, but his influence still holds sway in Tallahassee, and now in state capitols from New Jersey to Oregon, where lawmakers are eager to adopt his education reform efforts. Since leaving Tallahassee, the popular former Florida governor has developed a national reputation as an education reform powerhouse and champion of vouchers and charter schools.With the help of Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education, governors and lawmakers in at least 17 states have explored legislation based on the "Florida model." That includes grading schools on an A-to-F scale based on standardized test scores, making reading a requirement of advancing to the fourth grade and giving parents and students private-school vouchers and online courses.
"We've really moved the needle in Florida and that's been recognized," Bush said in an interview with the Miami Herald.
[Source: St.. Petersburg Times]
Bull shark season Here's some advice for how to swim safe:
Full story from the St. Petersburg Times. |
