LOOKING AHEAD THIS WEEK
Chris Carmody,
There has been much discussion about Amazon retraining its staff to prepare for the coming robotic workforce. Well, the City of Groveland and Lake County are embracing that future now. On Wednesday, Kroger is breaking ground in Groveland on its online fulfillment center that will be a hybrid of robotic and human workforce. Groveland and Lake County came to the table with incentives to close the deal that will lead to Kroger and U.K.-based online grocer Ocado making an overall $125 million investment, creating more than 400 highpaying jobs at an average annual salary of $52,000. The future is Lake County.
David Kay,
The Lynx bus system is poised to get a financial boost in the 2019-20 Orange County budget, provided commissioners approve it. But that won’t mean more routes or more frequent service. As the Sentinel reported, the nearly $9 million increase is needed to “stabilize” Lynx. As Central Florida continues to struggle with how to have effective and efficient public transportation, the stakes keep growing as our community keeps growing. The proposed penny increase in Orange County sales tax could help with funding, but what’s urgently needed is a vision and a plan to put it into place.
Ricky Ly, Millennials seeking to “make a difference” through social causes and action have a new opportunity this month. Second Harvest Food Bank is establishing its inaugural Young Professionals group and is seeking candidates dedicated to making a difference through action, awareness and advocacy to support the mission of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Members can support the Food Bank by volunteering their time, talents and voice while growing as professionals and community leaders. For more information, visit feedhopenow.org/youngprofessionals
A.J. Marsden,
While the story of the now ex-principal of Spanish River Community High in Boca Raton has been covered heavily, I must weigh in after having just returned from an educator study seminar trip to Poland. The Holocaust happened — there is no denying it. There is physical evidence and eyewitness accounts of the atrocities that happened in Europe during World War II. There is much to learn from this history and to deny it is to deny part of humanity’s past that we must not repeat. Perspective-taking is important, but the facts never should be denied. Anna McPherson,
Halfway through July and it’s officially back-to-school season! As Orange County teachers prep to go back and ready the classrooms Aug. 5, many of our students can’t afford the needed supplies for a year of learning. Teachers often reach into their pockets to help purchase supplies needed for their classes. Consider helping out our children’s classrooms by sending some extra materials in with your kids’ school bag or making an easy online donation to A Gift For Teaching, a local nonprofit that allows teachers from needy schools to supply their classrooms for free. You can even send supplies directly via Amazon to A Gift For Teaching by visiting their website at www.agiftforteaching.org.
María T. Padilla, The diaspora in Orlando and other cities has taken up protest signs against Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, whose administration is sinking under alleged corruption and a texting scandal that flipped the bird on an island still limping from Hurricane María. The ties between here and there make it seem as if the fire is burning beneath your feet. But, of course, the diaspora already voted with its feet, resoundingly rejecting “the way things are” in Puerto Rico. The San Juan protests bear watching, for it’s increasingly clear Rosselló cannot remain in office. His resignation would be a historical first.
Larry Pino,
When Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled Florida’s $10 million investment in training highschool teachers to teach computer science a “big deal,” that could actually be characterized as an understatement. Fundamental skills in coding — with or without a college degree — are not only the key to personal prosperity with jobs starting at $65,000 per year, but also a pivotal linchpin for a state’s standard of living in today’s tech-centric economy. With the myriad of opensource software options available, a focused effort in integrating coding into high-school science and math curricula, coupled with expanded efforts on the part of UCF, Valencia and Seminole, would produce explosive leverage in our state’s workforce competencies.
Joanie Schirm,
After the Sentinel’s superb 50th anniversary Apollo 11 coverage, I started musing about the year 2069. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin will run daily flights to the moon’s Creative Village affordable-housing units. Jetson-like airborne transports will have prompted the destruction of Interstate 4. On that reclaimed space, Orlando will have met our share of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change earth goal to make room for 1 trillion more trees to curb global warming. The green economy that sprung to life in 2021 with equal pay for women will have transformed the workforce for laid-off coal miners, retail employees and others replaced by robots.