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Jessica Bryce
Orlando WeeklyRecent Stories from Jessica Bryce
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly: Idea of oil drilling in U.S. coastal waters continues
In recent weeks, President Trump has again floated the idea of drilling in U.S. coastal waters in search of oil. It’s come up before. This oil lobbyists’ dream scheme was kicked around in 2017, but former Gov. Rick Scott assured us Florida’s coastline was safe, saying then-interior secretary Ryan Zinke had assured him that we would not be included in White House drilling plans. However, that assurance was never made official. Now we have a new governor, and a new interior secretary, and they’re singing the same old song. Just last week, the oil lobby sharks began circling again. But Gov. Ron DeSantis downplayed concerns Monday, saying interior Sec. David Bernhardt promised him Florida was off the hook. There’s an …
From the pages of Orlando Weekly: Orlando eco-activist Rob Greenfield grows and forages his food for one year
Rob Greenfield is extremely committed to his principles. The Orlando eco-activist made a vow in 2018 to live for a year only on what he can grow or forage. That means produce and herbs from gardens he himself has planted; and fruit, vegetables, mushrooms and fish he finds or catches on public land. He’s even boiling down salt from seawater. He’s a third of the way into his experiment, and he’s hungry a lot of the time. But he’s trying to make a point. Greenfield says, “When you look at global norms, my life isn’t extreme at all. The mainstream American lifestyle is what’s extreme.” In 2012, America’s largest factory farms produced 13 times more waste than does the entire …
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly: Florida Lawmakers attempt to stifle Amendment 4 and voting rights
Once again, Florida lawmakers have heard the voice of the people, and offered us legislation that all but ignores it.
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly: Open Government advocates celebrate FOIA heroes during Sunshine Week
Every day, journalists and researchers rely on the United States Freedom of Information Act to examine and report on the inner workings of our democracy. And every March, open government advocates celebrate these FOIA heroes during Sunshine Week.
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly: UCF still faces ongoing investigations connected to the misuse of operating funds.
The University of Central Florida thought state lawmakers would be satisfied with the ritual sacrifice of President Dale Whittaker. They were wrong.
From the pages of Orlando Weekly: The source of rising nutrient levels and algae growth in Lake Adair
Some College Park residents find themselves in a crappy situation, literally. Those living around Lake Adair share space with a roosting community of cormorants, who eat fish out of the lake and then, well, what goes in comes back out. Orlando city officials say the birds are to blame for the lake’s rising nutrient levels and algae growth, and for 20 years they’ve been trying to drive the birds away. When the birds are in the trees, city workers visit Lake Adair twice a day – once mid-morning and again in the evening – with spotlights, air horns, pyrotechnics, pressurized water, flare guns and whistler bombs; one resident described the neighborhood as “sounding like a war zone.” In 1997, an …
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly: Academy Awards absence of nominations for films directed by women
This year’s Academy Awards broadcast has been plagued with setbacks. First, the on-again, off-again hosting debacle with Kevin Hart — there’s still no host announced for this Sunday night’s event. Last week we learned that the custom of having the previous year’s acting award-winners present trophies to the new winners would not be observed this year. Then it was announced that four major categories — editing, cinematography, live action short, and makeup and hairstyling — would be announced off-air, which threw the industry into a furor. But perhaps the worst Oscar fail this year is the absence of nominations for films directed by women, despite an upwelling of popular and critically acclaimed films including Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really …
From The Pages of Orlando Weekly: Florida will bear the brunt of climate change
The five warmest years in recorded history have been the last five. Climate change is increasingly looking irreversible. Not a day has gone by since its unveiling without news mentions of the Green New Deal. Unfortunately, President Trump, Republicans and even centrist Democrats are dismissing it as a pipe dream. It’s ironic that Republicans – both lawmakers and voters – have their heads in the sand on global warming, because the states that will be hurt worst are voting for people who are opposed to climate policy. A newly released Brookings Institution study used economic modeling to estimate climate-related losses (in dollars and deaths) state by state from 2080 to 2099. Then it compared voting records by state and found …
New Studies show increased public concern about climate change
After yet another record-breaking season of hurricanes, flooding and fire, never have more Americans felt concern about climate change. A study by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that Americans who believe that global warming is happening outnumber those who don’t by more than 5 to 1. Sixty-two percent of the public now understands that global warming is caused mostly by humans, while a record low 23 percent think it is due mostly to natural environmental changes. Separate research by the University of Chicago found a similar level of acceptance that climate change is real, but also exposed a political divide: 86 percent of Democrats polled say climate change is underway, versus 52 percent of Republicans. In Florida, …
Orlando is the first city in Florida with a fleet of “dockless” rental bikes
In October, city officials passed a new ordinance that allowed the electric bike rental company Lime to operate downtown. This one-year pilot program makes Orlando the first city in Florida with a fleet of “dockless” rental bikes. With dockless bikes, convenience is the point. Download the app, locate a GPS-chipped bike on the map, and you’re off. When you get where you’re going, leave the bike wherever you like, so long as it’s not obstructing vehicle or pedestrian traffic – there’s no need to return it to a docking station. Lime charges $1 to unlock the bike and 15 cents per minute to ride, with no membership fee. Also convenient is the lithium-battery power assist, which helps the less athletic …
