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The independent voice for West Orange County news

Commentary

BOOK BANS

Book banning isn’t "liberty”

After the Orlando Sentinel’s splashy Sunday spread on Moms For Liberty, SPEAKUp’s co-founder had to speak out against censorship.

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COMMEMORATIONS

November Pogroms

Why we have to mark painful anniversaries like the Ocoee Massacre and Kristallnacht. Yes, every year.

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MASK MANDATE

Let's see OCPS Superintendent Barbara Jenkins's mask "requirement" as an opportunity

It opens the door to blowing off all kinds of things we should do.

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CULTURE WARS

Gov. DeSantis wins the battle to ban critical race theory, but loses the war on history

The governor believes that teaching history as anything other than the “universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence” will cause students to hate and destroy our country. That’s the same reasoning slavers used to forbid teaching enslaved people to read and write out of fear of rebellion.

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HARASSMENT

What I learned at bystander intervention training

Everyone wants to believe they’d rise to the occasion and do something if they saw someone being attacked. That’s the fantasy of being the hero and saving the day. But how do you help without getting pulverized in the process? That’s what I joined 2,500 other would-be interventionists to find out.

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COVID-19

Yes, I got my 15-year-old the Pfizer shot

Vaccines are the golden ticket out of this pandemic. But for this to work, we all need to get on board.

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CULTURE WARS

Orlando Sentinel guest columnist misses Disney’s rape-y, racist imagery

A Christian conservative Republican gripes that Disney World's changes to make its parks more inclusive capitulates to "woke" politics that won't "offend certain people." Like that's a bad thing?

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MATERNAL MORTALITY

Black moms' lives matter

Systemic racism is literally killing expectant Black moms and their babies, and some other things I learned during Black Maternal Health Week.

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GOVERNMENT

Let's separate religion from our government rituals

Our opinion writer argues that citizens are best served when civic ceremonies are devoid of religious trappings.

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GOVERNMENT

It’s time Winter Garden made city commission meeting recordings readily accessible

I asked Winter Garden Mayor John Rees a question he didn't like at a city commission meeting. You wouldn't know it from the meeting minutes — but you can catch it on the audio.

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