5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

Opportunity 1: An effort to eliminate Red Tide

1. 17 Tons of Dead Fish Cleared from Beaches due to Red Tide

2. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/local/tons-dead-fish-cleared-from-beaches-due-red-tide/rzwDbdJ7Q3zeuMCsPmMbDM/

3. The article is discussing the major red tide bloom on the southwestern coast of Florida, and how it is killing millions and millions of fish. The counties have hired commercial boats to clean the dead fish, but are bringing in much more help because of the volume of dead fish. 

4. There are too many dead fish, and not enough people to clean them up. Also, there is the issue of Red Tide.

5. The state of Florida is facing the issue of red tide across the southwestern coast, and the individual counties are dealing with the issues of having too many dead fish and not enough people to clean them up, and the effects it is having on their tourism revenue/business.

Opportunity 2: Body Cam Videos increase Employment Demand

1. Surge in Police Body Cameras brings Need for more Employees

2. https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local/surge-police-body-cam-video-brings-need-for-more-employees/yROfbDWSGnCtZqN5I2G23M/

3. The article discusses how, with all police officers in Palm Beach Gardens wearing body cameras for protection, the police departments have run into an issue of needing more employees to look through footage. This has happened because more individuals request footage from police body cams as more cases and incidents come through. Police departments in south Florida hope to charge enough for the service that it covers costs. This video footage is popular with defense attorneys, and the article discusses the different ways in which each county attains this footage.

4. There is not enough working people to cover the amount of demand of work to be done.

5. The different police departments of south Florida counties

Opportunity 3: Reducing the Crowding of Palm Beach County Schools

1. Where the Crowds are: See which PBC Schools are Packed Beyond Limits, Which Sit Closer to Half Full

2. https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local-education/where-the-crowds-are-see-which-pbc-schools-are-packed-beyond-limits-which-sit-closer-half-full/8rqrGfsPQW3LLzdkuDyg6J/

3. This article discusses the uneven distribution of students across all Palm Beach County Schools, and about a proposal to solve this issue by building 3 new schools in the upcoming years. It covers that there is space for 22,000 more students across all schools in Palm Beach County, but there are some schools (those in lower-income or poorer neighborhoods) that are way too full. They show graphics of some schools that are too full, and some that need more students. Overall, this article discusses the pros and cons of if Palm Beach County were to add more schools to the system.

4. There is an uneven distribution of students across the Palm Beach County school district.

5. The Palm Beach County School district and the students in overcrowded schools.

Opportunity 4: Issues of Hurricane Florence

1. Delta caps Fares for Flights from cities in path of Hurricane Florence

2. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/national/delta-caps-fares-for-flights-from-cities-path-hurricane-florence/O8yHb2Ywxf3G8SvAdWiMKN/

3. This article is a brief update regarding the changes in price fares for the cities that will be affected by Hurricane Florence, and the different solutions that Delta has come up with to maintain customer service. They mention capping flights at around $299 to $599 in order for people to get out of the town if they have to, and are allowing people with pre-booked flights to change their routes free of charge. 

4. Hurricane Florence is negatively affecting the business of airlines like Delta, and they are trying to come up with solutions around it.

5. Airliners are facing this problem, and Delta is mentioned specifically in this article.

Opportunity 5: Increasing Spanish Ballots in Florida

1. Sample ballots in Spanish now required in 32 more Florida Counties

2. https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/09/07/sample-ballots-spanish-now-required-more-florida-counties/1224656002/

3. A judge instated a law in Florida that requires Counties to have a Spanish ballot, to cater to the large concentration of Spanish speakers in the Floridian community. This decision was made following a civil lawsuit filed by a Latino civil rights activist group. They said that it is unfair that Spanish speakers must vote off of an English ballot - considering it to be "ineffective". However, there are concerns that this may not be fully in place by the time election season is over. Many counties are included in this, one of them being Alachua county.

4. Having only English ballots inhibits a great amount of the Florida population from voting. After fixing this issue, they now have the issue of distributing Spanish ballots out before election season is over.

5. The United States District Court, Latino and Spanish speaking voters, and the Florida voting system.