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Senior Net - Computers
are everywhere nowadays – that’s why one statewide
organization was founded to give seniors the chance to keep
up! SeniorNet offers computer classes to those aged 50 and
over. New Florida visits
a beginning SeniorNet class
in North Miami Beach to see how learning computer skills can
change lives -- giving grandparents the chance to correspond
with family, providing them with the necessary job skills,
and relieving their loneliness while connecting them to an
online community of people.
Grandma Mayor
- Ocean Breeze Park is a tiny
little town made up of retirees, seaside trailers and a population
of less than 1,000. The median age is 70 and the main activity
is shuffleboard and bingo. Not a lot going on there … except
until recently when the mayor of this small hamlet became
a celebrity of sorts. In a community where everyone is old
enough for social security, it would only make sense Ocean
Breeze Park’s mayor be an elder….96 to be exact.
In fact Dorothy may be the nation’s oldest mayor. New
Florida follows this energetic leader as she goes
about her daily mayoral activities which include making the
rounds and visiting the citizens of this ocean side town.
Recycled Paint
- Each year, 500 low-income elderly
or disabled homeowners in Palm Beach County have their houses
painted for free, courtesy of the Solid Waste Authority.
What’s the connection between solid waste and home
makeovers? Well, like many Florida counties, Palm Beach County "recycles" its
unwanted paint. That means that the small quantities of paint
that are discarded at the county’s hazardous waste
facility are sent off to be remixed with new materials to
produce high-quality, long-lasting "recycled" latex
paint - more than 5,000 gallons each year.
Related links:
Contacts
for Household Hazardous Waste Collection
Lake Drawdowns
- Florida may be the #1 recreational
fishing destination in the United States, but man-made water
control methods & invasive weeds are slowly shrinking
the state’s lakes and threatening the survival of the
fish that spawn in them. In response, the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has begun cleaning
up - or "drawing down" - 31 lakes across the state,
including Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee. New
Florida visits the Lake Toho drawdown in progress,
meets the people who are most affected by it and finds out
why drawdowns may be the best tool to protect Florida’s
fisheries from the impact of rapid development.
White Springs
- As part of our ongoing "Along
the Road" series, New
Florida visits a quiet world, where the only sounds
you sometimes hear are the ripples of the Suwannee River
and the wind blowing through the Spanish moss on the giant
Live Oaks: White
Springs. Once a thriving tourist town due to its sulphur
springs, White Springs boasted 14 major hotels and 4 train
stops per day to accommodate visitors. Then in 1911 a fire
burned all the hotels to the ground in one night. We learn
what became of this beautiful town.
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