ColumnistGeorge Washington addresses Florida regarding July 4, 2020Stephanie Hayes | America's first president offers the Sunshine State wisdom during these hard times.Floridian sirs,I write to provide encouragement. To quote T. Paine, these are the times that try men’s souls. Yet it is an honor to address this state, which was not one of the 13 original colonies but rather a place my advisers traveled to drink ale in the mangroves when they told their wives they were in France. I also authorized several invasions of Florida. Memories are fond, but I would like to know more about your home...…ColumnistGeorge Washington addresses Florida regarding July 4, 2020Stephanie Hayes | America's first president offers the Sunshine State wisdom during these hard times.Floridian sirs,I write to provide encouragement. To quote T. Paine, these are the times that try men’s souls. Yet it is an honor to address this state, which was not one of the 13 original colonies but rather a place my advisers traveled to drink ale in the mangroves when they told their wives they were in France. I also authorized several invasions of Florida. Memories are fond, but I would like to know more about your home...WW…

ColumnistTeachers don’t have a choice in this mess. Let’s act like they matter.Stephanie Hayes | The classroom is a calling, and it's tougher than anyone knows.Each year, there is the “Great American Teach-In.” Perhaps you are familiar with this event. People from various careers come to classrooms to talk about their jobs. It is always perilous to follow, like, a helicopter pilot with drug-sniffing dogs when your best trick is, “Here is a cool reporter’s notebook and a fun-size Hershey’s.”In any event, speaking to students for even an hour feels like being beaten with a lacrosse stick....…ColumnistTeachers don’t have a choice in this mess. Let’s act like they matter.Stephanie Hayes | The classroom is a calling, and it's tougher than anyone knows.Each year, there is the “Great American Teach-In.” Perhaps you are familiar with this event. People from various careers come to classrooms to talk about their jobs. It is always perilous to follow, like, a helicopter pilot with drug-sniffing dogs when your best trick is, “Here is a cool reporter’s notebook and a fun-size Hershey’s.”In any event, speaking to students for even an hour feels like being beaten with a lacrosse stick....WW…

ColumnistChasing moments of beauty in the time of coronavirusThe joy can be so sharp and quick that it hurts.We heard the sound above the din of cartoons.Was that… it couldn’t be. I moved a curtain to the side. Indeed, a real ice cream truck was heading down our street on a Friday afternoon. Not the kind of hip city truck that goes to food truck rallies. The kind of beat-up white truck with strawberry shortcake bars papering the side, all corn syrup and sticky summer memories.“Should we chase it?” my stepdaughter asked.Nah. Mostly, we were overrun with sweets. We had just stressed-baked an...…ColumnistChasing moments of beauty in the time of coronavirusThe joy can be so sharp and quick that it hurts.We heard the sound above the din of cartoons.Was that… it couldn’t be. I moved a curtain to the side. Indeed, a real ice cream truck was heading down our street on a Friday afternoon. Not the kind of hip city truck that goes to food truck rallies. The kind of beat-up white truck with strawberry shortcake bars papering the side, all corn syrup and sticky summer memories.“Should we chase it?” my stepdaughter asked.Nah. Mostly, we were overrun with sweets. We had just stressed-baked an...WW…

ColumnistOnce and for all, where is the manatee emoji?A moose and a goose will become new emoji, but Florida’s friends have been overlooked too long.New emoji are on the way. I know, you’re relieved. You’ve been bathing in an acid rain of primary ads in which all candidates continue to focus on a former silk tie manufacturer whose home has been raided by the FBI. Perhaps you’ve been screaming, “A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES” like an irritated, dying Mercutio. You thought, “You know what I could use to cleanse my palate? A maracas emoji.”Well, celebrate we will. The includes a moose and a...…ColumnistOnce and for all, where is the manatee emoji?A moose and a goose will become new emoji, but Florida’s friends have been overlooked too long.New emoji are on the way. I know, you’re relieved. You’ve been bathing in an acid rain of primary ads in which all candidates continue to focus on a former silk tie manufacturer whose home has been raided by the FBI. Perhaps you’ve been screaming, “A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES” like an irritated, dying Mercutio. You thought, “You know what I could use to cleanse my palate? A maracas emoji.”Well, celebrate we will. The includes a moose and a...WW…

ColumnistFamous movie scenes, now starring VaccineStephanie Hayes | Pop culture can help with complicated topics. Here are some casting adjustments.Did you see footage of that 90-year-old woman in England getting the country’s first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine? She rode down the halls of the hospital, flanked by clapping staff! She was wearing a holiday sweater! What could be more dramatic?Well, so much more. There’s a lot to figure out all over the world as we experience . That includes these vaccines — distribution, timing, explaining it to the wary and more. Please direct your questions to...…ColumnistFamous movie scenes, now starring VaccineStephanie Hayes | Pop culture can help with complicated topics. Here are some casting adjustments.Did you see footage of that 90-year-old woman in England getting the country’s first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine? She rode down the halls of the hospital, flanked by clapping staff! She was wearing a holiday sweater! What could be more dramatic?Well, so much more. There’s a lot to figure out all over the world as we experience . That includes these vaccines — distribution, timing, explaining it to the wary and more. Please direct your questions to...WW…

ColumnistWe can’t unsee what we’ve becomeStephanie Hayes | How will we be remembered? That’s hard to say.Sometime last year, I made a dermatologist appointment. Sometime last week, I realized that appointment was on Election Day. Perfect. A relaxing thing to do the morning of the most stressful day of the year is to be prodded under fluorescent lights. Maybe it was a tortured metaphor about self-appraisal.It turns out, Nov. 3 was the kind of day that makes you exhilarated to live in Florida. Sunny, breezy, 70, the sliver of season between sweat and sweet. That appointment extracted me from...…ColumnistWe can’t unsee what we’ve becomeStephanie Hayes | How will we be remembered? That’s hard to say.Sometime last year, I made a dermatologist appointment. Sometime last week, I realized that appointment was on Election Day. Perfect. A relaxing thing to do the morning of the most stressful day of the year is to be prodded under fluorescent lights. Maybe it was a tortured metaphor about self-appraisal.It turns out, Nov. 3 was the kind of day that makes you exhilarated to live in Florida. Sunny, breezy, 70, the sliver of season between sweat and sweet. That appointment extracted me from...WW…

Columnist10 Florida shorebirds that don’t care about the electionStephanie Hayes | Feast on their images as they live in ignorant bliss!Look around! Drink in the miraculous spoils of nature and think, “Wow, jealous.” Let’s check in with Florida’s majestic shorebirds, who do not have to participate in our rapidly deteriorating civil discourse.This blue heron hanging out in Clearwater has no idea a fly landed on Mike Pence’s hair, nor who Mike Pence is. This bird only knows that flies are tasty morsels and will gladly have another.Amazing! This eagle chillin' in Oldsmar is blissfully unaware...…Columnist10 Florida shorebirds that don’t care about the electionStephanie Hayes | Feast on their images as they live in ignorant bliss!Look around! Drink in the miraculous spoils of nature and think, “Wow, jealous.” Let’s check in with Florida’s majestic shorebirds, who do not have to participate in our rapidly deteriorating civil discourse.This blue heron hanging out in Clearwater has no idea a fly landed on Mike Pence’s hair, nor who Mike Pence is. This bird only knows that flies are tasty morsels and will gladly have another.Amazing! This eagle chillin' in Oldsmar is blissfully unaware...WW…

ColumnistLet’s rally around this lil’ storm model on the rightStephanie Hayes | She can do it! Come on!Look, we are a divided nation. But we have to unite on certain things. Currently, it is that black strand of spaghetti on the far right of the storm model above.Florida is in the dreaded CONE OF UNCERTAINTY for Tropical Depression 13, expected to , according to the National Hurricane Center. School is starting Monday, there’s a pandemic, everything is bad, et cetera. Do I have to say it? We do not need this.It’s too early to know what’s going to happen, and no one should panic. Instead,...…ColumnistLet’s rally around this lil’ storm model on the rightStephanie Hayes | She can do it! Come on!Look, we are a divided nation. But we have to unite on certain things. Currently, it is that black strand of spaghetti on the far right of the storm model above.Florida is in the dreaded CONE OF UNCERTAINTY for Tropical Depression 13, expected to , according to the National Hurricane Center. School is starting Monday, there’s a pandemic, everything is bad, et cetera. Do I have to say it? We do not need this.It’s too early to know what’s going to happen, and no one should panic. Instead,...WW…