This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHealth officials are imploring young people to wear masks and practice social distancing as coronavirus transmission among younger Americans continues to drive record outbreaks in several states.The pleas come as governors in Texas and Florida on bars and alcohol consumption to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, citing the skyrocketing number of young people who are contracting it. At the White House on Friday, Vice President Pence and other members of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, in its first...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareHealth officials are imploring young people to wear masks and practice social distancing as coronavirus transmission among younger Americans continues to drive record outbreaks in several states.The pleas come as governors in Texas and Florida on bars and alcohol consumption to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, citing the skyrocketing number of young people who are contracting it. At the White House on Friday, Vice President Pence and other members of the Trump administration’s coronavirus task force, in its first...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareJACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Max Parsell hasn't been wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic and doesn't intend to start. It's a matter of principle.“Making individual decisions is the American way,” Parsell, a 29-year-old lineman for a power company, said as he picked up his lunch at a barbecue joint at a rural crossroads south of Jacksonville. “I’ll social distance from you if you want, but I don’t want the government telling me I have to wear a mask.”Parsell need not worry: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has not made mandatory...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareJACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Max Parsell hasn't been wearing a mask during the coronavirus pandemic and doesn't intend to start. It's a matter of principle.“Making individual decisions is the American way,” Parsell, a 29-year-old lineman for a power company, said as he picked up his lunch at a barbecue joint at a rural crossroads south of Jacksonville. “I’ll social distance from you if you want, but I don’t want the government telling me I have to wear a mask.”Parsell need not worry: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has not made mandatory...WW…

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAllen Lehner was a Republican until Donald Trump became his party's nominee in 2016. The 74-year-old retiree says he could not bring himself to vote for someone who lied, belittled others, walked out on his bills and mistreated women - but he also could not bring himself to vote for Hillary Clinton. So he did not vote.Trump has done nothing since to entice Lehner back.Lehner, who now considers himself an independent, says he is frightened by the president's lack of leadership and maturity amid the nation's health and economic...…This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAllen Lehner was a Republican until Donald Trump became his party's nominee in 2016. The 74-year-old retiree says he could not bring himself to vote for someone who lied, belittled others, walked out on his bills and mistreated women - but he also could not bring himself to vote for Hillary Clinton. So he did not vote.Trump has done nothing since to entice Lehner back.Lehner, who now considers himself an independent, says he is frightened by the president's lack of leadership and maturity amid the nation's health and economic...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating."I never received information about what happened with my ideas or results," said Thomas Hladish, a...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating."I never received information about what happened with my ideas or results," said Thomas Hladish, a...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareKevin Krannawitter won’t wear a mask because he just doesn’t think it’s necessary, whatever the scientists say. Marilyn Singleton won’t wear one either — and she’s a physician — because she says it’s un-American for the government to force people to cover their faces. You won’t see Ricardo Thornton in a mask because it reminds him of a time when he wasn’t free to make his own decisions about his life.Even as governors, mayors andor require Americans to wear masks in stores, transit systems and other public spaces to...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareKevin Krannawitter won’t wear a mask because he just doesn’t think it’s necessary, whatever the scientists say. Marilyn Singleton won’t wear one either — and she’s a physician — because she says it’s un-American for the government to force people to cover their faces. You won’t see Ricardo Thornton in a mask because it reminds him of a time when he wasn’t free to make his own decisions about his life.Even as governors, mayors andor require Americans to wear masks in stores, transit systems and other public spaces to...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBarbara Shlevin has kept a running tally of calls she made in search of the coronavirus vaccine. By Wednesday, she had tried the health department and a hospital system in Broward County, Fla., 184 times.Only once did the 71-year-old retired librarian get through. She said she waited more than 10 minutes, and finally heard a voice on the other end of the line. Then, the call cut off. So, she started trying online.For days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that the potentially lifesaving vaccine would be...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBarbara Shlevin has kept a running tally of calls she made in search of the coronavirus vaccine. By Wednesday, she had tried the health department and a hospital system in Broward County, Fla., 184 times.Only once did the 71-year-old retired librarian get through. She said she waited more than 10 minutes, and finally heard a voice on the other end of the line. Then, the call cut off. So, she started trying online.For days after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that the potentially lifesaving vaccine would be...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareResistance to mask-wearing and other efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus has hardened in the final days before the presidential election, demonstrating how the pandemic has been politicized and posing a daunting challenge to the nation’s medical experts.The refusal to go along with expert health guidance has persisted even in parts of the country that are seeing soaring caseloads and hospitalizations. That was driven home this week when the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, Deborah Birx,...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareResistance to mask-wearing and other efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus has hardened in the final days before the presidential election, demonstrating how the pandemic has been politicized and posing a daunting challenge to the nation’s medical experts.The refusal to go along with expert health guidance has persisted even in parts of the country that are seeing soaring caseloads and hospitalizations. That was driven home this week when the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, Deborah Birx,...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump and his wife, Melania, had their absentee ballots delivered to Palm Beach election officials just in time to be counted in Florida’s primary election Tuesday, the second time this year he has voted by mail in the state.The couple designated someone to pick up their ballots from the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections’ office in West Palm Beach on Aug. 12. The ballots arrived back at the office on Monday, according to Ashley Houlihan, an attorney for the supervisor’s office.The deadline to request...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump and his wife, Melania, had their absentee ballots delivered to Palm Beach election officials just in time to be counted in Florida’s primary election Tuesday, the second time this year he has voted by mail in the state.The couple designated someone to pick up their ballots from the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections’ office in West Palm Beach on Aug. 12. The ballots arrived back at the office on Monday, according to Ashley Houlihan, an attorney for the supervisor’s office.The deadline to request...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to overturn a federal appeals court’s decision that blocked some Florida felons’ eligibility to participate in elections — a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state.The action lets stand a temporary halt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of a judge’s order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote.In early July, the Campaign Legal Center...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to overturn a federal appeals court’s decision that blocked some Florida felons’ eligibility to participate in elections — a major blow to efforts to restore voting rights to as many as 1.4 million people in the battleground state.The action lets stand a temporary halt by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit of a judge’s order that had cleared the way for hundreds of thousands of felons in the state to register to vote.In early July, the Campaign Legal Center...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBELLE GLADE, Fla. — On a bright and sunny winter day, Tammy Jackson-Moore is going door-to-door in this town, offering appointments to receive a coronavirus shot.In a state where getting a slot for the vaccine amounts to snagging a golden ticket, Jackson-Moore is offering that ticket to anybody she can find older than 65.The need is acute in Florida: The state has the greatest prevalence of a fast-spreading virus variant first identified in the United Kingdom. The emergence of variants globally has added to the urgency of...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareBELLE GLADE, Fla. — On a bright and sunny winter day, Tammy Jackson-Moore is going door-to-door in this town, offering appointments to receive a coronavirus shot.In a state where getting a slot for the vaccine amounts to snagging a golden ticket, Jackson-Moore is offering that ticket to anybody she can find older than 65.The need is acute in Florida: The state has the greatest prevalence of a fast-spreading virus variant first identified in the United Kingdom. The emergence of variants globally has added to the urgency of...WW…