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On Nov. 6, 2018, Florida Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, second from left, thanks supporters with his wife, Casey, left, Lt. Gov.-elect Jeanette Nunez, center; her husband, Adrian Nunez, second from right, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), after being declared the winner of the Florida gubernatorial race. | Phelan M. Ebenhack, File/AP Photo
How Matt Gaetz helped make Ron DeSantis
DeSantis needed a political Sherpa to help him navigate Florida’s often landmine-laden political landscape. He turned to Gaetz.
TALLAHASSEE Just weeks after he took office as governor, Ron DeSantis held a press conference with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that left Florida’s political class befuddled.
Yes, there really is more pollen, thanks to climate change
A new Maine study calls rising pollen levels a public health threat as respiratory problems worsen.
Steve Collins/Sun Journal
There is a growing public health threat in Maine from pollen exposure driven by the climate crisis, a new air quality report by the state Department of Environmental Protection warns.
“Pollen health threats are real and are increasing in response to warmer temperatures and higher carbon dioxide levels,” according to the May 19 assessment of Maine’s air monitoring network by the department’s Bureau of Air Quality.
“Climate change is lengthening the ‘pollen/mold season’ in Maine,” the report said, “resulting in increased exposure” and “more frequent allergic reaction episodes amongst those afflicted with respiratory disease.”
You can help analyze NJ coastal flooding (and maybe win a prize!)
New Jersey is the 10th state to launch its own offshoot of a national portal that allows people in coastal communities to upload photos of ocean, bay, and tidal river flooding, to help their government representatives make more informed decisions about mitigation strategies.
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And to promote the MyCoast tool, anyone who submits a picture in any one of those flooding categories by Saturday could eventually win some swag, including hats, mugs, and most appropriately, a flood emergency kit.
Vanessa Dornisch, coastal training program coordinator for the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, said there is another, separate photo classification: Places We Love.
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At the start When the rise of Ron DeSantis began, it was Matt Gaetz who was at his side helping all the way.
Part of the team POLITICO’s Matt Dixon chronicles how the Panhandle Republican who is now under investigation played a key role during DeSantis’ at-times bumpy campaign for governor as well as a top adviser once he was elected.
It is clear that the Regents are determined to exert their control over private schools for the first time
The first attempt by the New York state education department to extend its umbrella over private schools ended disastrously for it, with a record 140,000 comments flooding in, about 98 percent of them carrying the unambiguous message to stay out.
Now, a pandemic later, they are ready for the next round. Months of meetings with stakeholders has taught the Board of Regents, the independent body that oversees education in the state, a few lessons take parents’ priorities into account, consider a religious community’s beliefs, and be flexible. And above all, don’t make it “my way or the highway”; in other words, set a goal and allow schools to reach it using their own unique methods.