The Florida Roundup - The politics of language, new limits on 'forever chemicals' and final Delta IV launch

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with a UF doctoral student who studied the use of authoritarian language in the 2020 presidential campaign (02:11) and then explored the power of language with two Florida poets (13:01). Later we heard from the Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Water about new limits for PFAS chemicals (23:49) and then spoke with Central Florida Public Media’s Brendan Byrne about the end of an era for space exploration (32:54). Plus, we looked into Sarasota County’s truancy court (37:21). And finally, we shared solar eclipse stories (43:31) and found out why fuzzy caterpillars are becoming a nuisance for some (46:55).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us this week. What do you want to hear from your presidential candidate? And are you hearing it? Voters are hearing plenty of insults, threats, and menacing warnings from each other and the candidates. What a group of idiots we have. This country is this country has never seen anything like what's happening to it now. Now imagine the nightmare if Donald Trump's reelected. No, no, no, no, no. Well, thank you very much. And you see the spirit from the hostages and that's what they are as hostages.

They've been treated terribly. The insurrectionists were not patriots. They've come to stop the peaceful transfer of power, to overturn the will of the people. It's a border bloodbath, and it's destroying our country. It's a very bad thing happening. It's gonna end on the day that I take office, which will be January 20th. It'll end.

My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about January 6th. I will not do that. This is the moment to speak the truth and to bury the lies. Here's the simple truth. You can't love your country only when you win. Are your values reflected in how the person you plan on voting for for president is speaking? How does your candidate's language further divide us? We're going to pull back a little bit from the daily headlines this week to talk about the power of language during this presidential election year.

Now later on, we'll hear from some poets about the power of words and decisions we make about how we and others wield that power. So what do you hear when you listen to your presidential candidate? Republicans and Democrats, we want to hear from you. What do you hear from the other candidate? And importantly, how are you talking about the election and issues? 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. You can also email us your thoughts, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. Brittany Shaughnessy studied the language Presidents Biden and Trump used four years ago.

She's a doctoral student at the University of Florida. Brittany, thanks for joining us on the program. So how do candidates use language, use words to really set the issue agenda that the candidates want voters to pay attention to? First, they like to target the media because a lot of communication research since the 70s has showed us that the media are really what set the public agenda. And in the modern era, a lot of candidates are using social media. We saw Donald Trump in the lead up to the 2016 election and of course, in the lead up to the 2020 election, use social media to really guide the conversation here. So the difference there, right, is traditional media like public radio act as gatekeepers to some degree versus social media. It's coming directly from the candidate

or the campaign to the general public. Exactly. So the media are often called the watchdogs for the public, the gatekeepers to really help make it manageable for the public to consume. really help make it manageable for the public to consume. And social media breaks that barrier. We saw that Donald Trump was really able to dominate the issue agenda in 2016 and 2020 with social media. Your study looked at specific types of items. COVID was still a big issue in 2020. The economy, always an issue in every presidential campaign. And particularly for the Trump campaign and President Trump, crime was an issue that he spoke pretty consistently about. Those were common, really, for both Presidents Biden and Trump. How are they connecting those issues, though, to voter values? So I think that that's a tricky question. And I think that this study particularly, we showed that it's largely contextual, that the 2020 election was in the midst of a pandemic that we hadn't seen in 100 years and on the heels of a summer with a lot of civil unrest. And both

candidates felt the need to acknowledge that because it was what was on Americans minds. When it comes to values, I think a lot of candidates today get a lot more input from citizens than they might have in the past because of social media. And so what kind of language were the candidates using to connect those issues to voter values to try to, I suppose, convince voters to support them, but also motivate them to get to the polls and vote? We broke down several moral values that the candidates were using in 2020. And what we found is that the second most common moral value that the candidates used to get voters to the polls was authoritarianism. And while that may sound scary at first, thinking about it in the context of the 2020 election, you had a lot of different things going on.

Because Trump was the incumbent, you had both candidates saying that the public should follow COVID protocols and public safety. should follow COVID protocols and public safety. And you also had both parties acknowledging the civil unrest and kind of following the rule of law and stuff. And then you also had the mail-in votes that were going to be much different in 2020 than they were in the past and that they may well be in the future. You had both candidates kind of trying to set the tone of like rules to follow and stuff like that.

So in a way, authoritarianism, yes, it gets a bad rap because it's a bad word. And in America, we don't really like authoritarian politics. But in 2020, the context was a bit different. text was a bit different. And how was it different from each campaign, each candidate, and how they were using authoritarian language? And what was the language they were using that was authoritarian? So by and large, they were using the same moral authoritarian language, and that it was consistent among both of them. Obviously, we know in 2020, Biden won the election and Biden was more successful at influencing the media agenda in his use of moral language and authoritarianism and the harm care authoritarianism language than the Trump campaign was.

And the kinds of words that you keyed in on, regardless of the candidate saying them, obey, should, those types of really clear declarative directions, right? Yeah. So let me bring us to this election cycle, four years later, immigration, inflation, abortion, three big issues for Florida voters. But I want to ask particularly about democracy, because both candidates have spoken about democracy in this campaign, but in very different ways. President Trump continues repeating or referring to the lie that the 2020 election was fraudulent. It was not. And President Biden has talked about what he thinks a second Trump administration would be. He's called it a, quote, nightmare. What should voters listen for in the language around democracy and voting in this election cycle?

listen for in the language around democracy and voting in this election cycle? So I think we're in a really rare circumstance where we have the same exact candidates than we had in 2020 that we have in 2024. And I think for voters, it's really important to listen for the use of moral language and the use of language, particularly by both candidate saying that if their opponent wins, democracy is at stake. And they frame it in different ways. The Republican Party frames it a lot differently than the Democratic Party does. But at the end of the day, both parties are really relying on language that your morals are at stake and that as a country, our way of living and our way of governing is at stake. And I think it's important for voters to key in that it is simply an electoral strategy. It is not necessarily going to happen.

It is not a prediction. It is simply a way that they have found got voters to the polls in 2020 and they're hoping gets voters to the polls in 2020, and they're hoping gets voters to the polls in 2024. So how do you think voters are influenced by this appeal to morals or what I'll call voter values? I think this election will show that they're heavily influenced by it. I think the 2022 midterms were a preview of this,

in that we had some conservative states have abortion on the ballot. Florida, particularly this year, is going to have abortion on the ballot. Another state leaning more and more red these days, Arizona, might have abortion on the ballot. And I think that the morals are really guiding some Americans on how they are heading to the polls and if they are heading to the polls. And how do you think, given your look at the 2020 election cycle and the candidate words, language and appeals that they made, how voters are influenced to what values they should consider? In other words, is it immigration? Is it abortion? Is it democracy? Those motivating

values that the candidates are going to try to appeal to, to get that one or 2% that could be the difference in the national election. I think a lot of it harkens back to the media and what the media chooses to cover as watchdogs and as this institution that could really influence public opinion and stuff. And I think that the candidates are really mindful of that and they try to appeal to the media maybe before they appeal to the voters. So how could the media, including social media, I appreciate the credit you're giving media by legacy media, I'll call it legacy media, including public radio, but how

could media, including social media, influence the language used by the candidates in their campaigns as they make those value appeals? So that's a question for the social media companies. And I think that in 2020... And the users, right? Exactly. And how they engage with that content, but also being mindful that they can't engage with content that they don't see. I think we're at the infancy stage

of learning just how the social media platforms have a role in what the public are seeing. You write in your study, the quality of democratic discourse and debate has frayed alongside continuing polarization of U.S. politics. That has been a generation or generations long fraying. But how are values and language driving political issues in this cycle compared to just four years ago. In your experiences, you just anecdotally are experiencing it as a Floridian, as a voter. I think morals are just, morals have been used for a very long time in electoral politics. And I think that today you see it get amplified because people and politicians are using particular buzzwords that they know get their voters to the forefront, we've had the word woke be at the forefront. And those words have become moral flags in the sand for the Republican Party. And we see the Democratic Party using that, especially in 2022, surrounding the abortion issue

and both parties using moral language around immigration. And I think that we're going to see that continue in 2024 than we saw in 2020. Brittany Shaughnessy is a doctoral student at the University of Florida, joining us from our partner station WUFT in Gainesville. Brittany, thanks so much. Thank you. Have a good day. How are you talking about the election? What kinds of

words are you choosing to use and how do they reflect your values that you will vote on? 305-995-1800. 305-995-1800. You can also write out those words in an email, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. William in Palm Harbor sent us this note writing, Donald Trump's bombastic rhetoric is not only below the dignity of a presidential candidate and former president, it's also below the standards of a public figure. Trump's followers seem to think this type of language is essential to making America great again. I disagree, writes William in Palm Harbor. Radio at the Florida Roundup dot org. We asked a couple of poets about the power of our words during this political season.

Gloria Munoz is the St. Petersburg Poet Laureate. Poets are like, you know, we're called the unacknowledged legislators of the world for a reason. We observe, we watch, we listen, and we write with the purpose of making people think and consider and question and feel ultimately. April is National Poetry Month, so it's as good a reason as any to think about and talk about the

words that we hear and the words that we use, especially when talking about politics. It's something we don't think about, right? Language is like our air, and yet we can't be flippant about it. Just like we don't want to be breathing carbon monoxide or something like in our air. We want to consider what we're what we're saying. Poetry is political. Poetry is social. It's meant to inform in question. It's meant to sometimes be contrary. Sean, welcome is now with us. Poet laureate for the city of Orlando. He is with us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media, formerly WMFE in Orlando. Sean, welcome to the program. Thank you, Tom. Thanks for having me. When is poetry political and perhaps when is it not political? I think it

always has the potential to be political. I mean, you know, in terms of the public discourse, You know in terms of the public discourse Everything that we think about I think can be framed in a political context so when it comes to poetry, you know Poetry by and large is an expression of the human experience right which can't be necessarily absent from Political context, so I don't know if it's never not political yeah at times because people have their own perceptions you know of you know how they're receiving those words and those images have you found that your own word choice has evolved over the last several years as some terms have been more politicized than others?

Yes, I think so. I mean, I think for me, you know, when I'm writing, I'm conscious of the way words tend to change meaning over the course of time and become, you know, selective of that, you know, in the interest of connecting with the audiences that are listening to the poetry that I speak. And me being a performance poet as well, that's extremely important because we consider things like tone and volume and pauses in addition to those words and the way they mean in the present day context. So yeah, I would say so.

I would say so. Yeah, sometimes it's the space between the words that are the loudest, right? Absolutely. Yeah. Sean Welcome is with us. He is our guest, the poet laureate from the city of Orlando,

talking about word choice, language, how we're talking about politics to each other, either in real life or even on social media, and also what we're hearing from the candidates. Gina has been listening to our conversation, Sean, island gina you're on the radio go ahead hello hi gina you're on the radio go ahead hello gina we will come back to you in a moment by uh poetry sean is often very personal and introspective. Politics has been very loud and public, certainly. How does our audience influence the words that we use when communicating?

Well, I think, you know, paying attention to what words mean, and I wish I had an example off the top of my head that I can throw out there but you know let me see I think let's you know for example the words of black versus african-american right there those that's kind of change over time from the 70s and kind of what they meant to you know black communities and different perspectives on that so in writing poetry you might want use one term or another based on who you're trying to you know communicate with. Yeah it's just I think the public and the way they understand words does inform what we write and how we communicate even if you sort of juxtapose poetry from the early 1900s to

a lot of the spoken word poetry you might hear today, you'll see a big difference. And that's based on how the communities that you're speaking to are interpreting those words. Yeah. Gina can hear us now, I think, in Merritt Island. Gina, thanks for your patience with us. You're on the radio now. Yes. Yes, thank you. Can you hear me now? Yes, loud and clear. ahead gina the the first rule of of speaking to one another is we need to hear each other right so we we solved that gina

go ahead thank you um well i just wanted to remind um all voters about the site vote 411 which is a non-partisan uh resource for voters It's an online site called Vote411, and it provides questions posed to both in the presidential election. It also actually is provided by the League of Women Voters. And Vote411 is a nonpartisan resource and actually has all contested races in each voter's area. So it's really handy and very informative. Great. Gina, I appreciate the heads up there from Merritt Island and your patience with us. We're going to continue to talk about language and words. Sean Welcome is

our guest, the poet laureate for the city of Orlando. Sean, I'm going to ask you in a bit about your poem, Reasons Why. You pose a great question about when we say or you see my city beautiful, have you ever asked why? We'll talk about that. And also, we want to hear from you. What kind of language are you using, particularly on social media, when you're talking about politics? 305-995-1800, our phone number here on the Florida Roundup, 305-995-1800. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. We're talking about the power of words,

especially when we're talking about politics. 305-995-1800. Sean Walcombe is still with us, the poet laureate for the city of Orlando. He is with us from our partner station, Central Florida Public Media. Sean, what do you think about the impact that social media and anonymous online comments has had about our word choices, particularly when we're talking in real life with folks that may not share the same worldview. Yeah, I think social media allows people to have a greater sense of autonomy in terms of what they choose to say. They feel empowered just because of the easy access and ability to have sort of their own

audience. And so, yeah, I think that just the empowering nature of social media informs maybe some stronger language, language that evokes all of the emotional buttons yeah and I think it feeds the the person you know kind of putting whatever content they want out there and it's kind of like you know you get that immediate hit of dopamine you know the response that you want to and so so, you know, a lot of folks are just addicted to that, honestly. Yeah, yeah. And with very little accountability sometimes online.

Amy's been listening in to our conversation, Sean, from Boca Raton. Amy, we've got a few seconds. We wanted to hear from you, though. Go ahead. Hi. I appreciate the current speaker. Thank you, the poet. But I do have a comment about the current speaker. Thank you, the poet. But I do have a comment about the previous speaker.

She mentioned that I think it's important with language. She mentioned that the use of authoritarian with both candidates calling each other an authoritarian or warning about authoritarian taking hold. She said that it was simply a like a something they were using to for the um for the election but it's actually that's the kind of i'm concerned about the both sides of them of that it's actually one candidate we've these are actually candidates we've seen before, and one clearly engaged in actual authoritarian-leaning policies, the largest one being trying to overturn a free and fair election. An insurrection is a sign of authoritarianism. So I don't think that these are the same, everybody just using that language to try to get elected.

There's somebody who really, there's some clear documentation. Yeah, Amy, I appreciate that distinction between authoritarian words and authoritarian actions. An important distinction there, Amy. Sean, you wrote a poem called Reasons Why, and you ask a rhetorical question. You say, when we say or see my city beautiful, have you ever asked why? Your poem is directed at the city of Orlando, But how do you answer that question for Florida? That's a great question. I think taking time to reflect and pause about your own values, why you enjoy living in the area that you live, your personal values, your family values, even on behalf of your government.

I think if we're tying the contents of the poem and relating it more statewide, I think it's just a reminder to ask those deep questions because that's what's going to inform how you move, you know, in the voting booth or, you know, just out and about with your community members. So, I mean, the poem was more specific to Orlando residents, as you had mentioned. But I think for all of us, it's really important to stop, time out to stop reflect and pause and identify you know what's important to you great advice Sean I appreciate you sharing some time with us today thanks so much my pleasure Sean welcome is the

poet laureate for the city of Orlando PFAS chemicals are in the drinking water of millions of Floridians PFAS is shorthand for a group of compounds nicknamed forever chemicalss because they stick around for a long time. This week, for the first time, the federal government has set limits on how much of the stuff will be allowed in the water we drink. Here's Jessica Mazaros from our partner station WUSF in Tampa. The large group of man-made chemicals called PFAS have been used for 80 years in numerous household products. Long-term exposure to certain types have been used for 80 years in numerous household products. Long-term exposure to certain types have been linked to cancer, liver damage, and even high cholesterol.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released maximum levels for six of these chemicals in drinking water. This means utilities must test for them and filter them out if they exceed limits. I think we have the people, the process, and the technology in place to address this issue. Brandon Moore is with Tampa Bay Water, which supplies Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties. The utility has voluntarily tested for PFAS since the summer. So far, it found only one chemical that slightly exceeded the federal limit at the Lithia Water Treatment Plant. Once Tampa Bay Water finishes its year-long testing this summer, it will calculate the annual average of chemicals in

the water and decide if filtration upgrades are needed. Federal grants within the bipartisan infrastructure law could help pay for those changes. We'd have to see if we qualify, but with any project that we do, whether it's water quality projects or infrastructure projects, do, whether it's water quality projects or infrastructure projects. We always pursue state and federal funding and grants to try to reduce the impact on the ratepayers of the Tampa Bay region. Tampa Bay Water is also part of a lawsuit against manufacturers, sellers, and distributors of PFAS. I'm Jessica Mazaros in Tampa. We spoke with May Wu. She's the Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Water. She joined us from Washington. May, thank you for your time and for joining us. Previous limit was set at 70 parts per trillion back in 2016. The new limit will be four parts per trillion. That strikes me as a substantial decline.

substantial decline? Well, actually, this is the first limit, the first legally enforceable limit that we have in drinking water. What we had in the past was what we called health advisories. They were guidance numbers for folks, but we have been using the most recent best available science that we have to show us that these are the numbers that we can get down to to protect public health. So there's a significant spread between 70 parts per trillion, that previous health advisory, and now what the EPA has deemed as the enforceable limit of four parts per trillion. Why such an enormous spread between those two numbers? The way that we have to set our standards is based on figuring out the level, first the level at which there's no harm at all

to public health. So that's the goal that we want to reach. And then what the Safe Drinking Water Act tells us to do then is to set the enforceable level at the point that is as low as feasible. And so what we have found is it is feasible. We have the technologies today for water systems to get as low as this so that we can protect as many people as possible. Some monitoring data that was released by the Environmental Protection Agency in January found that between 17 and 28 percent of tests of drinking water around Florida came back with higher than recommended concentrations of these chemicals. So how would you characterize the kind of work that's necessary in Florida for the drinking water? So it's going to depend on the utility. It's going to,

you know, be very dependent on locality. The systems are going to have to do the testing, like you said, and some of them have already found it. They're going to have to inform their customers, and then they're going to have to figure out what is the best way for them to reduce the amount of PFAS in their water. It might be putting on these technologies. You know, you've heard about maybe granular activated carbon or reverse osmosis. Some of them, it might mean closing a contaminated well. For others, it might mean looking for a new source of water that isn't contaminated with PFAS. So there's flexibility there for systems to figure out what works best for them. So there's certainly health concerns and economic concerns in these new limitations. How much is it estimated to cost American water systems to treat PFAS to the levels

of the new limits? So nationwide, we are estimating between 6 to 10% of the 66,000 water systems that we have in the U.S. will find PFAS at levels where they'll have to treat it. So for the vast majority of systems, the obligations will be pretty minimal. They're going to have to do monitoring and things like that. So for those other systems where they do find PFAS, there will be a cost to putting on treatment or again, switching to new sources of water. But we do have also unprecedented levels of funding that we've gotten from the bipartisan infrastructure law that can help with the costs in $20 billion, which is more than we've ever gotten for water infrastructure, can help support systems that need to put on treatment.

Is all 20 designed to go toward PFAS treatment? All 20 billion? Well, the 20 billion dollars is for clean water, drinking water infrastructure, right? A lot of it will be going to PFAS. And we have also announced a 1 billion billion that's specifically for the small and disadvantaged communities, because we know that they are bearing a disproportionate burden. Oftentimes, this $1 billion can help them with costs for doing monitoring, for the treatment, and also private wells are eligible for this funding, which is pretty good news.

Lots of Floridians are on private wells. And Florida water systems range from those that are servicing more than 2 million households to some servicing just a handful of households and some servicing just one household with a private well. So how will these dollars be allocated to local water utilities or private well owners? So the money comes from EPA and then we are granting it to the states through a formula. So Florida will be running the program. Is the state required to take the money?

They're not required to take the money, but I mean, they will be granted an allocation of it. So hopefully they will, you know, take it to help their constituents and get access to cleaner water. May, you mentioned earlier some of the treatment technologies that exist today to help reduce or eliminate PFAS. Many of those technologies, my understanding is they concentrate the PFAS chemicals as opposed to break the chemical bonds that make up these chemicals. So by concentrating them and then kind of gathering them together, what happens with that wastewater that still retains the PFAS chemicals that have been kind of filtered out of the drinking supply?

Some of the ones that we are describing, like the granular activated carbon, it gets caught onto the surface of the substance itself. And actually our colleagues here at EPA also released some guidance on disposal and destruction of products like this. Florida has several military installations that have also been home to pretty high concentrations of PFAS chemicals. Tyndall Air Force Base in the Panhandle, Patrick Space Force Base in Brevard County, Naval Air Station Jacksonville have been called among the filthy 50 of some of the dirtiest or highest concentrations of these PFAS chemicals among military installations. How are they impacted by these new standards?

They will also have to treat their water if they find that they have high levels of PFAS in them. We want to make sure that the men and women who are helping defend our country also don't have to think about whether they can drink the water from the tap, that they are also protected here. There are three years for water utilities to monitor and measure PFAS, and then two additional years for those that have above the limitation concentrations to put into place some remediation technologies. What's the message for Floridians whose drinking water is above these new EPA limits? Our advice to folks is to reach out to your water system if you are concerned about levels. Find out what information they have and whether they're already taking steps because we do know that there are a lot of systems and whether they're already taking steps,

because we do know that there are a lot of systems out there who are already taking steps to address PFAS. There may be some people who feel like having treatment on their water now will be important. And so there are filters that are certified to remove PFAS that you can buy for your home. PFAS that you can buy for your home. How confident is the agency on these limitations withstanding any possible legal challenge? We're very confident. And for us, you know, the bottom line is that our mandate is to protect public health. And that is what these standards do. Mei Wu is an EPA Deputy Assistant Administrator. Mei, thanks for sharing your time with us today. May Weisbrot Thank you very much. Anthony Comegna It was the end of an era Tuesday on the Space Coast.

Florida hosted the final liftoff of a Delta rocket after 64 years and four generations of Delta rocket technology. And liftoff of the final United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket. The first Delta rocket took flight when Dwight Eisenhower was president. In this nose cone is packed the 100 foot balloon of Echo One to be carried into orbit by a Thor-able Delta rocket. And like in 2024, that rocket back in 1960 was carrying a satellite. I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Brendan Byrne is with us now, Assistant News Director for Central Florida Public Media in Orlando and host of Are We There Yet?, a program that dives deep into space exploration.

Brendan, welcome back to The Roundup. Quite an end of an era there on the Space Coast. Put this in context. After more than 60 years, two generations of astronauts and space engineers have been dealing with the Delta family of rockets. and space engineers have been dealing with the Delta family of rockets. Yeah, that's right. As you mentioned at the top of this segment, the Delta name has gone back to the Cold War era intercontinental ballistic missile rocket. But the Deltas that we are kind of familiar with today go all the way back to 2002, the Delta IIs, the Delta IVs, the Delta IV Heavies. These were really workhorses for national security missions and even some science missions for NASA. So this is a very, very long line of rockets that is finally getting

its chance to retire. So what's replacing the Delta family of rockets then? Well, so the Delta IV Heavy is extremely expensive to launch. It's cost the U.S. government about $400 million, which kind of forced companies to kind of change this around. So now United Launch Alliance, which is the company that had the Delta rocket, they have the Vulcan rocket. It's far more efficient. It's far less expensive to send things into orbit. It actually had its first mission earlier this year that ULA called a success, and that will be the new rocket moving forward for United Launch Alliance. So as this is happening, Delta has a long history along the space coast here in Florida.

That first launch in 1960 was in Florida, the last launch in Florida. So how would you describe our state's place in the space race going forward as this generation of rockets gets retired? Oh, Tom, as we've talked before, it is just getting busier and busier here in Florida. We've got Vulcan is not the only rocket that is launching from Florida. We've got SpaceX's Falcon 9, which seems to launch pretty much every day at this point. You know, we are going to be launching astronauts to the moon from Kennedy Space Center in just about a year or two. And it's not just launches here. I mean, this state is really building up its infrastructure to support a bustling launch

industry, both launch hardware and the hardware that's being put up into space, the satellite manufacturing and preparation here in the state. So we are getting busier. And the doorstep to space is here in the state. So we are getting busier and, you know, the doorstep to space is here in Florida. And so back to this, the last Delta launch, any special, you know, celebration or acknowledgement of that on this week? Yeah. So United Launch Alliance, the CEO, Tori Bruno, recognized its long history and called back one of my favorite facts about the Delta IV. It's the most metal rocket there is.

And by metal, he means like a heavy metal band. Like, imagine you're at a Metallica concert. That's what seeing one of these things launch looks like, because there's this giant ball of fire that ignites at the base of the engines. And that's on purpose. That's all the hydrogen that's burning off that is accumulated outside the rocket. And so these three boosters launch. There's this big fireball and then this bright orange rocket heads towards the heavens. It's a very cool thing. So the launch itself spoke for itself. We're not moving to pop rockets

though, right? I mean, okay, fair enough. Brendan Byrne, the assistant news director for Central Florida Public Media, host of Are We There Yet? It dives deep into space exploration. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. Still more to come. Stick with us. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being with us this week. Public schools across the nation have been dealing with high rates of absenteeism ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in Florida, about a third of students were chronically absent, missing at least 10 percent of the last school year. Now, state law allows school districts to set up truancy courts within their county's judicial system. Several counties have already done so, including Palm Beach, Brevard, Orange, and

Hillsborough. The Sarasota County School District recently started taking students and parents to truancy court. From our partner station, WUSF Public Media in Tampa, Nancy Guan takes us to one of those early hearings. On the sixth floor of the Sarasota County Judicial Center, the first day of truancy court is in session. Well, good afternoon. This is truancy court. This is the first time that we've conducted truancy court, I guess, in my tenure. Judge Andrea McHugh begins by telling parents and students that they're here to help. And the purpose of this court is a problem-solving court. students that they're here to help. And the purpose of this court is a problem-solving court. It is to solve that problem rather than to implement any punishment. It's the last stop before criminal prosecution, which can look like fines or jail time for the parent and for the student, juvenile

detention. I hope that in all of your cases we never get to that point. Only a few cases are on the docket. They're what the district considers the most dire. We were allowed to record the beginning of the session, but not the hearing itself. Stepping up to the podium is Sonia Ramos and her son, who's in eighth grade. We're keeping him anonymous at her request. He's missed about half of the school year so far. When Judge McHugh asks what's wrong, he shrugs and says he doesn't like going. Ramos

spoke after the hearing. I always wake up and tell him how he, you know, he's somebody, you know, some days are better than others, but you just got to keep going. She says her son struggles with his mental health and feeling welcome at school. Since the pandemic, it's become even harder to motivate him to go to class. Getting him to engage with therapy and other services hasn't been easy either, and the school social worker has made multiple trips to their home. It's a roller coaster ride. I'm hoping that he gets the help that he needs as far as the mental health is number one. During the hearing, Judge McHugh drafts a plan to get Ramos and her son connected to some of the youth services that are in the courtroom. Then the judge gently but firmly tells him that he's being ordered to go to school.

We can't teach our kids if they're not in school. Stephanie Vlahakis is the head of student services for Sarasota Schools. She says truancy court has helped them reach those kids who have, quote, fallen to the bottom of the stack. We just needed something more proactive prior to filing criminal charges or getting to the bottom of the stack. We just needed something more proactive prior to filing criminal charges or getting to the point where we're going to lose these kids. She says they've already seen more kids come back to school after just sending out truancy letters.

We've had a lot of success stories where children are starting to attend because they want to avoid truancy court. But some advocates say putting families on this path of court intervention can be harmful. Nina Solomon is with the group the Council of State Governments, which helps to improve outcomes for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Even if it's a problem-solving court, just that interaction with the court system

automatically increases the likelihood that that young person or family will get into contact with the court system again in the future. Solomon says the best option is to solve the issue outside of the court. Trying to get them access to services to really understand the root causes of why they're not attending school often leads to better outcomes than court involvement. But Vlahakis says that the district only sends out truancy letters after they've exhausted those other measures. Each school has a team that's dedicated to finding students who have missed too many days of school. We're making phone calls, we're sending letters. And they're doing

home visits, trying to connect students and parents to resources like transportation, health care, or mental health services. And trying to figure out what the barrier is. But there are still some who fall through the cracks. I truly think that just recovering from the pandemic has just been an obstacle for us to tackle. And that's where truancy court comes in, Vlahakis says, as a last resort. A month after the first hearing, Ramos and her son are back in court for their check-in. At the second hearing, I will evaluate everyone's compliance with the court order. Her son is coming in some days, school officials tell the judge, but he's often late. Ramos says they're still trying to get counseling services set up.

Judge McHugh says she recognizes their efforts. After some back and forth, the judge gives Ramos' son a sanction, a two-page essay on his future goals, and another check-in date for April. Exiting the courtroom, Ramos says she's nervous, but also hopeful. Hopefully something will get resolved by the time we come back next month. She actually wishes that truancy court had been an option before. I've been asking and I've been seeking for the last three school years for help. She actually wishes that truancy court had been an option before. Last year, she was charged with a misdemeanor because her son had missed almost the entire school year.

She had to pay nearly $400 in court fees and take a parenting class. And it's not even teaching the child anything. But she also wonders if this time will be any different. What will happen to her son if he doesn't comply, she asks. Will he be sent to the detention center? I wish we could all be on the same page, because that's what we're supposed to be, all on the same team, and engaging how we can help that child. A week after the second hearing, Ramos talks about waking her son up for school.

But this morning, it was a win. I'm Nancy Guan in Tampa. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio Station. Well, the sun kind of hit a little bit here in the Sunshine State this week, didn't it? Okay, okay, okay. Yes, it was a partial solar eclipse. We were not in the path of totality, but from our vantage point, some of the moon still slid between us and the sun. Alice Freiberger saw it all happen from the Florida Keys. It looks like a little mouse got it.

Really? Like it took a bite out of it? Kind of funny. Oh yeah, Alice is five. And that's what it looked like, didn't it? Like a mouse took a bite out of the sun. Monday may have been her first eclipse. Same for Jenna Sharafuddin, who watched from Miami. Last solar eclipse, I did not see it because I wasn't born yet, but now it's my first time seeing a solar eclipse. It was an extra special eclipse for 11-year-old Amar Kwan in West Palm Beach. It's on my birthday and it's the first one that I'm going to be able to see. Michaela Rosenzweig is a bit of an eclipse veteran. She saw her first when she was in second grade. She's now a freshman at a high school specializing in

environmental research in Miami. Oh wow, it's right there. Kind of like a cookie if you ate a bite out of it. Honestly, I did not expect to see that. It looks very awesome. I'm Anita Lee in Miami. Her classmate, Audrey Vega, says their coursework challenged students to think about the eclipse's environmental effects. In this environmental class, we're going to be focusing on like the animals and the shadows, so stuff you don't really focus on when you're in second grade. So that's going to be fun, not only that it covers the sun, but what else it can do to our environment. Students gathered in the school's courtyard to catch a glimpse of the waning sun, chatting with their classmates, and belting out Pop's patron saint of solar phenomena.

Mark Wiscoff, though, was not thinking about early 1980s pop rock when it happened on Monday. He was more philosophical. It really humbles us as humans. It shows how insignificant we are in the scheme of things. Wiscoff is the senior technical advisor for the Marmot Observatory at the Cox Science Center in West Palm Beach. You know, we come together during disasters. Wonderful. You don't want to wait for a disaster. You want to wait for something amazing to happen.

I'm Joshua Ceballos in Miami. It was the last solar eclipse we'll get in much of the United States for another few decades. The Roger family was visiting from the United Kingdom and were lucky enough to catch the eclipse while they were in Miami. Natalia, their oldest daughter, had some mature reflections on her first eclipse. I'm just excited that it's a natural phenomenon that you don't really get to see very often. Young Gabriela Fernandez, meanwhile, was doing her best to capture the moment. I've been trying to take pictures of these solar eclipses, actually.

It's pretty nice, actually. I want to keep these just to look at the sun. Whenever the sun poked through the clouds enough for a glimpse, everyone was jumping at the chance to see it. Oh my God, it's happening! I want to live in Texas! You want to move to Texas? Well, sure. Parts of Texas saw the moon blot out the entire sun for a few minutes this time.

Much of Florida's panhandle and peninsula will get the total darkness around noon on August 12th, 2045. This will be the place to be. And finally on the roundup, there are a few rules that all Floridians know, right? If there's water, there's probably an alligator nearby. Call it a palmetto bug if you want. It's still a cockroach.

And don't touch the fuzzy caterpillars. Now I'm like scared to go outside. Long sleeves aren't even protecting me. Twice this year, a tussock moth caterpillar has fallen from the trees above Allison Hausch onto her arms. And they sting. No, it's not raining caterpillars. But these creatures native to Florida usually fall from oak trees after hatching. But don't let the fuzz fool you, these bugs can really sting. I'm Kayla Kissel in Tampa. Allison Hausch is a student at the University of South Florida. She says that on two separate occasions this year, she's had caterpillars fall on her arms and sting her.

The next day, it started to get like little red bumps. Luckily, that day I had an appointment with Student Health Services. They were like, we're diagnosing you with caterpillar dermatitis. This is the third case we've seen all day. Lal Bus is the manager for the Insect Identification Lab at the University of Florida. He says human skin reaction comes from making contact with the long hairs on the caterpillar's backs. They have special hairs or spines that have venom sacs attached to them with the purpose of self-defense and when these hairs or spines touch the skin they can inject venom

that can cause allergic reactions. Voss says that reactions vary from person to person but symptoms generally go away after one to two days. The caterpillars soon should be creating their cocoons, and by early May, they will take flight as moths. So not exactly snowbirds, but these caterpillars are native to Florida. And that'll do it for the Florida Roundup this week. It's produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and the program's Technical Director is Peter Merz. Engineering help each and every week from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Harp. Richard Ives answers our phones.

Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at AaronLeibos.com. If you missed any of today's program, you can download it, share it, listen to past programs, do it all at WLRN.org slash podcasts. Thanks for calling, listening, emailing, and supporting public media in your neighborhood. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.