In a “huge and hard fought victory” that writer and activist Shaun King called “one of the most important of our lifetime,” Florida on Tuesday overwhelming approved Amendment 4, which restores voting rights for 1.4 million state residents with past felony convictions who were barred from participating in elections even after completing their sentences.
On November 19, the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District board voted to approve a trial of genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes designed to fight the Zika virus in the Keys.
Key West Source: Tampa Bay Times
The district has been working with British biotech company Oxitec for the last 5 years to get federal approval for a trial release of the genetically engineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes into the wild. When they mate with female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, their offspring die.
Residents of the Florida Keys are at odds over whether a trial of GMO mosquitoes should move forward in the area. [1]
The proposed trial would take place in Key Haven, where the people of that community voted against the mosquitoes’ release on November 8. Sixty-five percent of voters shot down the ballot measure. However, 58% of voters in Monroe County favored the test. The final decision will go to the Florida Keys Mosquito Control Board. [2]
Voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District in Maine; Healdsburg, California (Sonoma County); and Greenville, Texas went to the polls on November 8 to voice their views on whether to ban fluoride in their drinking water.
