Florida Is Blocking Money From 2 School Districts Over Mask Mandates, Defying A Judge - NPR

Enlarge this image

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the opening of a monoclonal antibody site Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, in Pembroke Pines, Fla. DeSantis has sought to block schools from requiring masks for students. Marta Lavandier/AP

Marta Lavandier/AP

Despite a judge's ruling on Friday declaring that the Florida governor's ban on mask mandates in schools is unconstitutional, the State Board of Education has forged ahead with its threat to withhold school board members salaries in districts that require the face coverings in classrooms.

Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that school board members in Alachua and Broward counties will not be getting paychecks from the department of education this month, saying their mandatory face mask policies violate parental rights. The board will hold onto the funds until each school board complies with Gov. Ron DeSantis' now overturned executive order.

"We're going to fight to protect parent's rights to make health care decisions for their children," Corcoran said in a statement on Monday. "They know what is best for their children."

"What's unacceptable is the politicians who have raised their right hands and pledged, under oath, to uphold the Constitution but are not doing so. Simply said, elected officials cannot pick and choose what laws they want to follow," Corcoran stated.

It's unclear if others counties will be penalized

Local reports indicate that several other school districts have implemented mask mandates, including Orange, Duval, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Palm Beach, Indian River and Leon Counties. It is unclear whether school board members in those counties will also have their pay withheld.

The bitter fight is playing out as a rash of COVID-19 infections sweeps across Florida, including among children who are not eligible for vaccination. On Monday, officials reported 18,608 new cases.

DeSantis's opposition stems from the lack of parental control. He argues that under existing Florida law, parents must be free to opt-out of student mask requirements. However, the rules in place in Alachua and Broward counties only allow for a medical exemption from a doctor.

DeSantis, who barred the mask mandates on July 30, warned that "there will be consequences" for districts that defied the ban.

A judge said DeSantis' order lacked authority

But on Friday, following a four-day trial, Judge John Cooper ruled in favor of parents who sued, arguing DeSantis overstepped his authority in forbidding the face covering requirement and said it cannot be enforced. He noted that face mask mandates that follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are "reasonable and consistent with the best scientific and medical opinion in this country."

Cooper also added that DeSantis' order "is without legal authority."

DeSantis is appealing the decision and on Monday called Cooper's ruling "obviously problematic."

The move could potentially garner federal attention

The decision to withhold funding from Alachua and Broward could open the state up to further legal troubles.

On Monday, the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights announced it had launched an investigation into five states "exploring whether statewide prohibitions on universal indoor masking discriminate against students with disabilities."

At the time, the OCR said it had refrained from opening investigations in Florida, Texas, Arkansas or Arizona "because those states' bans on universal indoor masking are not currently being enforced as a result of court orders or other state actions."

However, officials said they would continue to monitor those states and take action "if state leaders prevent local schools or districts from implementing universal indoor masking or if the current court decisions were to be reversed."

It is unclear if Florida's decision not to pay school board members will trigger an investigation. The Education Department did not immediately return NPR's requests for comment.

Adblock test (Why?)

Florida Is Blocking Money From 2 School Districts Over Mask Mandates, Defying A Judge - NPR
Read More

Iceland's Soccer Federation Board Resigns In Uproar Over Sexual Assault Allegations - NPR

Enlarge this image

Iceland's soccer federation is in turmoil, after a scandal over sexual assault allegations against players prompted a mass resignation. Here, the country's flag is seen in the stands during an international match. TF-Images/Getty Images

TF-Images/Getty Images

The entire board of Iceland's soccer federation has abruptly resigned after being accused of mishandling allegations of sexual assault committed by players on the national team — and of covering up at least one alleged incident. The board also issued an apology to the victims, saying it believes them and promising to do better.

He said — and then she said.

The mass resignation at the Football Association of Iceland — widely known by the acronym KSI — comes days after its now-former chairman, Gudni Bergsson, said on Thursday that KSI's leaders had not received any reports of sexual assaults.

One day after that interview on national television, Thorhildur Gyda Arnarsdottir spoke out on the same network to say Bergsson's denial was false, saying that both he and the federation were well informed about an incident she reported four years ago.

Arnarsdottir told national broadcaster RUV that she and another woman were sexually assaulted in a club in Reykjavík by a well-known player from the Icelandic national team in September of 2017. Both women were left injured and filed police complaints the next day, she said. Arnarsdottir's family also informed the soccer federation and her parents spoke to Bergsson directly, she added.

Arnarsdottir also said the player in question acknowledged his actions and paid compensation, after she refused the federation's offer of a confidentiality agreement. When she recently heard the KSI leader's denial, she added, she felt both surprised and disrespected.

A wholesale change in leadership

The allegations threw Bergsson and the soccer federation into a crisis and put new attention on similar accusations against current and former players on Iceland's national team. Those accounts include allegations that some players perpetrated a gang rape roughly 10 years ago.

Arnarsdottir called for the federation's entire leadership to resign, saying they failed in their duties by repeatedly naming players to the national team despite credible allegations against them.

"This board is incompetent on this. So in order to make this happen, it would be best to get a new board as a whole," she said, according to the Reykjavík Grapevine.

Responding to the mass resignation, Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said, "It is of course very sad to see that it has really taken all this to kick this series of events into motion. At the same time, I also express my great admiration for the victims who have stepped forth and told their stories."

Repercussions touch elite levels of Icelandic soccer

While the players tied to the allegations haven't been officially identified, Icelandic media have named several high-profile players who are believed to be involved.

As for KSI's leadership, Bergsson was the first to resign, on Sunday; the entire board followed suit late Monday.

"The football movement is part of the community and we as a community all need to do better to support victims and fight sexual violence," KSI said, according to a translation by Iceland Review.

Icelandic soccer has been under new scrutiny

KSI was put on the defensive about its attitude toward women earlier this month, when Icelandic columnist Hanna Björg Vilhjálmsdóttir wrote a scathing summary of the federation's recent history, from players allegedly joking about a gang rape to leaders' reported use of an official credit card at a strip club.

The Icelandic soccer federation, which says it's part of the country's largest volunteer movement, issued a statement Sunday asking more victims to come forward with their stories, pledging to repair its own culture and improve the way it handles accusations.

The wholesale resignation includes deputies and regional representatives. It does not include KSI executive director Klara Bjartmarz, who said on Monday that she sees no reason to resign, despite mounting public pressure for her to step down.

Adblock test (Why?)

Iceland's Soccer Federation Board Resigns In Uproar Over Sexual Assault Allegations - NPR
Read More

To Save Lake Tahoe, They Spared No Expense. The Fire Came Over the Ridge Anyway. - The New York Times

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — They sent thousands of firefighters, 25 helicopters and an arsenal of more than 400 fire engines and 70 water trucks. Yet the fire still advanced.

They dropped retardant chemicals through an ash-filled sky and bulldozed trees and brush to slow the march of the flames through the steep and rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada. Yet the fire still advanced.

Bursting across a granite ridge into the Lake Tahoe basin, the Caldor fire now threatens tens of thousands of homes and hotels that ring the lake.

On Tuesday, the smoke-choked streets of South Lake Tahoe, the most populous city on the lake, were deserted, save for police patrol cars and an occasional convoy of fire vehicles. Thousands of residents and tourists had been evacuated the day before.

• Fires
• Burning
• Burned

Caldor

Updated

 

 

 

© Mapbox © OpenStreetMap

Track all the major fires here ›

The lake, renowned for its bright blue hues and the evergreen forests that surround it, was smothered in a slate of sickly orange-gray haze. On the Nevada side of the border, which has not yet been evacuated, one industry was still limping along: A trickle of gamblers sat at slot machines to the whooshing sound of large air purifiers that attempted to keep out the pungent smoke. The air quality index was nearing 500, a level considered hazardous.

Battling the Caldor fire has been humbling and harrowing for California firefighters. Experts believe the challenge is a cautionary tale for future megafires in the West and lays bare a certain futility in trying to fully control the most aggressive wildfires.

“No matter how many people you have out on these fires, it’s not a large enough work force to put the fire out,” said Malcolm North, a fire expert with the U.S. Forest Service and a professor at the University of California, Davis.

“You can save particular areas or particular homes,” Professor North said. “But the fire is pretty much going to do what it’s going to do until the weather shifts.”

San Marcos firefighters at a burning cabin in Strawberry, Calif.

Traffic from evacuations from South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on Monday.Josh Edelson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

On Monday, propelled by strong winds, the fire crested a granite ridge that officials had hoped would serve as a natural barrier. Embers leapfrogged past firefighting crews and descended toward the valley floor just miles from South Lake Tahoe. By early Tuesday, the fire had taken hold in the Tahoe basin. Stands of pine ignited by flying embers were fully engulfed in flames, casting a bright orange glow into the night sky.

It was only the second time, officials said, that a wildfire that began on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada crossed into the eastern side. The first was also this summer: the Dixie fire, the second largest in California history. No deaths have been reported in either fire.

The authorities say about 27,000 firefighters were battling blazes across the country, about 15,000 of them in California. All national forests in California will be closed by Tuesday night. Hundreds of soldiers and airmen and several military aircraft have been sent by the National Guard. But the resources are no match for the ferocious blazes, which continue to outpace firefighters and explode across the state.

The Caldor Fire has burned more than 190,000 acres and is only 16 percent contained.

Firefighters hiking between spot fires near Meyers, Calif.

The blazes in Sierra forests have exposed the domino effects of climate change on firefighting challenges: Frequent heat waves and overall higher temperatures have desiccated West Coast flora, making it more vulnerable to large fires. Droughts have weakened trees, encouraging insect infestations that have contributed to the deaths of close to 150 million trees. This creates more fuel for fires.

Scientists say there is also a correlation between global warming and the increased wind conditions that have fanned fierce wildfires across the state. And they point to a need for better forest management, thinning out some of the thickest woods.

What characterizes the megafires of recent years, experts said, is their tendency to launch embers far ahead of the main fire front — sometimes by miles — and for the embers to land on parched terrain that is instantly combustible. This can rapidly expand the perimeter of the fire, which hops over one of the main containment tools: the bulldozed areas, known as fire breaks, that create a line of containment.

The Tubbs fire in October 2017 jumped over what would normally be considered a formidable fire break — a six-lane freeway — and went on to incinerate 1,200 homes in the residential community of Coffey Park.

“These spot fires are causing a lot of havoc,” said Craig Clements, a professor of meteorology and the director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University, a group that is modeling the spread of the Caldor Fire.

“There’s just fire all around,” Prof. Clements added, “and that makes it very difficult to suppress.” As a measure of how combustible the landscape has become, other scientists have calculated that embers have a 90 percent chance of becoming spot fires once they land.

Kyle Hukkanen, a Cal Fire captain,  moving down a slope in pursuit of a spot fire near Meyers.

Smoke from the fire in Twin Bridges, Calif.

The chaotic way these megafires spread was on display in the hills above South Lake Tahoe on Monday. Kyle Hukkanen was leading a crew of 12 inmate firefighters armed with axes, shovels and chain saws. They bounded down a steep hillside of granite boulders and evergreen trees until they reached a spot where wisps of smoke were rising from the ground.

They dug and sprayed the smoldering fire with water before ascending back to their idling truck. “This is not good,” Mr. Hukkanen said as gusts of wind fed the spot fire on the hillsides. The radio crackled with reports of spotting farther down the mountain toward South Lake Tahoe, and Mr. Hukkanen and his crew disappeared down a smoke-shrouded road.

Fire specialists say some firefighting tools are appropriate on a smaller scale but outmatched by the huge fires of recent years.

In the hills and gullies where the Caldor fire has burned 190,000 acres over the past two weeks, helicopters dropped large buckets of water — thousands of gallons at a time — but they hardly seemed a match.

“That’s great for protecting a neighborhood, but when you think about the size of a 750,000-acre fire, that’s nothing,” Professor North, the U.S. Forest Service expert, said of dropping water or retardant in large swaths of forest.

He and others added that the Sisyphean task of fire containment pointed to a desperate need for better mitigation.

Firefighters hiking to protect a home in Meyers.

Crews moving along Highway 50 in the Tahoe Basin near Echo Summit, Calif.

Controlled burns that embrace Indigenous methods to use “good” fire to fight destructive megafires have become an increasingly accepted method in recent years, but experts say that the state has a lot of catching up to do.

Until then, attempts to suppress fire are inevitably required to save lives and property. In the past year, California spent more than $1 billion on emergency fire suppression efforts but slashed its prevention budget. This year’s budget includes more than $500 million for fire prevention, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in April.

Still, resources remain strained. The U.S. Forest Service has struggled to retain federal firefighters, who earn around half of their state counterparts’ pay at Cal Fire. When the Caldor Fire ballooned to 6,500 acres in mid-August, just 242 firefighters had been assigned to it. Eventually, hundreds more were redeployed from the Dixie Fire, which has so far razed more than 800,000 acres and was still less than half contained by Tuesday morning.

On the receiving end of the worsening fires are the residents who wonder where, if anywhere, will be safe from wildfire.

Among the evacuees from South Lake Tahoe on Monday were Darren Cobrae, a real estate investor, and his partner, Stephanie Cothern, who was driving the couple’s car toward the Nevada state line.

Inside were bags of clothing, two large parrots and three dogs, Banana, Freddy and Copper.

Mr. Cobrae said he moved to South Lake Tahoe from Southern California, where his home was nearly burned in a wildfire in 2007.

“I figured I would be safe in this city,” Mr. Cobrae said. “And now this,” he said, pointing to a sky thickening with smoke.

Track Wildfires in the West

Explore maps of wildfires, air quality and smoke forecasts in California, Oregon, Washington and surrounding states.

Adblock test (Why?)

To Save Lake Tahoe, They Spared No Expense. The Fire Came Over the Ridge Anyway. - The New York Times
Read More

South Korea passes bill limiting Apple and Google control over app store payments - CNBC

Visitors look at Apple Inc. iPhones and iPads on display at the SK Telecom Co. T Factory flagship store in Seoul, South Korea, June 11, 2021.

SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images

South Korea's parliament has approved a bill that will make it the first country to impose curbs on Google and Apple's payment policies that force developers to only use the tech giants' proprietary billing systems.

The legislation will become law once signed by President Moon Jae-in, whose party has been a vocal supporter of the bill.

Apple and Google's policies usually require developers to pay the tech giants a commission as high as 30% of every transaction.

The bill, approved Tuesday, means that developers will be able to avoid paying commission to major app store operators — like Google and Apple — by directing users to pay via alternate platforms.

An Apple spokesperson said the bill will "put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections, make it difficult to manage their purchases and features like 'Ask to Buy' and Parental Controls will become less effective."

They added that user trust in App Store purchases will likely decrease as a result of the legislation.

A Google spokesperson said its service fee "helps keep Android free, giving developers the tools and global platform to access billions of consumers around the world."

"We'll reflect on how to comply with this law while maintaining a model that supports a high-quality operating system and app store, and we will share more in the coming weeks," the Google spokesperson added.

The law, sometimes referred to as the Anti-Google Law, was submitted to parliament last August, according to Yonhap News.

It it designed to prevents app store operators with dominant positions from forcing payment systems on app developers and "inappropriately" delaying app reviews or blocks, according to Reuters.

The law also gives the South Korean government the power to mediate disputes regarding payment, cancellations and refunds in the app market, according to reports.

Some 180 of the attending lawmakers voted in favor of passing the amendment made to the Telecommunications Business Act, Reuters reported.

Media reports last week said the legislation and judiciary committee of the National Assembly approved revisions of a bill aimed at stopping app store operators from forcing developers to use specific payment systems.

Epic Games, the firm behind the popular Fortnite game, built its own in-game payment system last year as part of an effort to get around Apple and Google's current policies. Several other companies including Spotify and Tinder-owner Match have said in recent years that the tech giants should let them use their own payment systems.

"Today's historic action and bold leadership by South Korean lawmakers mark a monumental step in the fight for a fair app ecosystem," a Match spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We look forward to the bill being quickly signed into law and implore legislative bodies around the globe to take similar measures to protect their citizens and businesses from monopolistic gatekeepers that are restricting the internet," they added.

Regulatory scrutiny

Regulators worldwide are focusing more on the app stores and fees that Google and Apple are charging developers — and the ruling in South Korea will likely be the first step toward greater scrutiny, according to Daniel Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.

"It's a potential watershed moment," Ives said on CNBC' "Street Signs Asia" on Monday ahead of the decision in Seoul. "Not necessarily for what this means in itself, but for the ripple effect as it shows that they're not just words, but actually actions."

Ives added that while there might be monetization opportunity for others, such as telecommunication services providers, it ultimately depends on how consumers would respond.

"The question is what will consumers ultimately do? Because the path of least resistance is to go through Apple and go through Google – and that's what consumers have gotten used to," he said.

What happened?

Last year, Google said it was planning to enforce a policy requiring developers that distributed software on the Google Play Store — a digital service to download apps — to use its proprietary in-app payment system. That means other payment alternatives will not be allowed.

Google's billing system takes a 30% cut for most in-app purchases, similar to what Apple does on its App Store.

The move was criticized by developers and regulators scrutinized Google's and Apple's hold over the smartphone operating systems and the price they charge programmers who develop apps for those platforms. The majority of the world's smartphones either run on Google's Android operating system or on Apple's iOS platform.

Both companies have since said they would cut their commission rates for certain developers.

In Apple's case, the company said it will halve charges from 30% to 15% for software developers with less than $1 million in annual net sales on the App Store. Google said in March it would cut Google Play Store fees from 30% to 15% for the first million dollars a developer makes on the platform per year.

The iPhone maker last week also reversed course on another important App Store policy: It said developers on the App Store will be allowed to email users and encourage them to pay directly, instead of through Apple — a move that was previously prohibited.

However, if users continue to make payments through the App Store, developers will have to use Apple's billing system and pay a commission.

— CNBC's Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

Adblock test (Why?)

South Korea passes bill limiting Apple and Google control over app store payments - CNBC
Read More

Florida Withholds Money From Schools Over Mask Mandates - The New York Times

The Florida Department of Education has withheld funds from two school districts that made masks mandatory in classrooms this fall, state officials announced on Monday, making good on a threat that local school boards that required students to wear masks would be punished financially.

The announcement is the latest twist in a political fight over masking in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, issued a ban on masks in school in July, only to be swatted back by a judge last week.

Richard Corcoran, the state education commissioner, said in a statement that the department would fight to protect parents’ rights to make health care decisions for their children, adding: “They know what is best for their children.”

The penalty applies to two school districts — Alachua County and Broward County — that went ahead with mask mandates in defiance of the governor’s order.

The department had indicated that it would withhold a monthly amount equivalent to school board members’ salaries. In Alachua County, members make about $40,000 a year, and in Broward County about $46,000, according to the State Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

However, because the state does not pay the salaries of local officials, it cannot withhold the salaries directly. Mr. Corcoran had previously said that he might recommend withholding funds “in an amount equal to the salaries of the superintendent and all the members of the school board.”

On Monday, his department said that the counties had been instructed to cut school board compensation — and nothing else.

But the practical effect of that remains unclear. The Biden administration has advised that any school district that is stripped of state funding because of a backlash to pandemic precautions could use federal stimulus funds to make up the difference.

In a statement, Broward County Public Schools said it would continue to enforce its mask mandate for the time being.

Alachua County school officials expected the district would lose about $13,400 a month, the equivalent of the salaries of four school board members who voted for a mask mandate.

“I’m very troubled by the state’s action,” Carlee Simon, the superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, said in a statement. “Our school board members made a courageous decision to protect the health and lives of students, staff and the people of this community, and a court has already ruled they had the legal right to do so. They deserve praise, not penalties.”

The Florida Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Florida Covid-19 Hospitalizations

5,000

10,000

15,000 hospitalized

Mar. 2020

Apr.

May

Jun.

Jul.

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar. 2021

Apr.

May

Jun.

Jul.

Aug.

7–day average

16,364

About this data

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The seven-day average is the average of a day and the previous six days of data. Currently hospitalized is the most recent number of patients with Covid-19 reported by hospitals in the state for the four days prior. Dips and spikes could be due to inconsistent reporting by hospitals. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government.

Florida is experiencing the worst outbreak of the coronavirus in the nation. Over the last seven days, an average of more than 16,000 people have been hospitalized each day, more than during any other period in the pandemic.

Last week, a judge ruled against Governor DeSantis on the question of school mask mandates, ruling that Florida’s school districts may impose mandates on students to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The judge also issued an injunction blocking the state’s Department of Education from punishing local school boards.

The Department of Education planned to appeal, and on Monday announced that funding had been withheld.

The penalties would continue monthly until the school boards comply, the department said.

Adblock test (Why?)

Florida Withholds Money From Schools Over Mask Mandates - The New York Times
Read More