Identifying Local Opportunities

1. "Kissimmee's police chief driving change - After 3 officers' arrests, new policies set for accountability" 
• infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/16645B92927A2DC8?p=WORLDNEWS
• Summary: The article was about the new policy and training that they Chef of Kissimmee Police has recently been working on for the safety of the community as well as the officers. These policies are in place in the hopes of having better trained officers and to give the community a sense of relief, which they currently lack because to the recent shootings of unarms black men. The trainings include videos of multiple situations and use it as a learning tool to teach the officers how to properly respond. 
• Problem: The problem is that when mishandled situations occurs, it usually occurs with other officers around. Officers that are watching the situation go down are not speaking up against the officer that is crossing the line. The chef wants to make sure that other officers speak up and not be afraid to say one something isn't right. 
• Who has the problem: I would say the officers do because they should be speaking up when they see inappropriate mishandling of situations. The community has the problem as well because when situations occur such as the ones recently occurring, it causes people to not trust the police.
  
  
2. "Low food costs keep diners home - Fewer people eating out as menu prices rise" 
• infoweb.newsbank.com.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/resources/doc/nb/news/1667A9E98763FBA8?p=WORLDNEWS 
• Summary: In this article they explore the changes in the restaurant industries as fewer people are now eating out. They go on to further investigate why these changes are occurring. They find that people are eating out less because the price of food is decreasing while the cost of eating out increase. The wholesale prices of food are what is causing the grocery prices to decline. Wholesale prices are lower because the cost of transportation has declined and the weather has been on the farmer's favor, which all has been a cost reduction to the farmers. If the farmers don’t have to pay as much then they can sell the food to grocery stores for less. Restaurants are charging more because the increase of rent and the cost of labor. So really when you pay for food only a mere fraction of it actually pays for the food; the rest goes to cover all other cost of running the business. 
• Problem (1): Restaurants are losing revenue because less people are going out to eat. This has led to an overall closure of about 186 restaurants. 
• Who has the problem (1): The restaurant owners have the problem because less revenue means less money overall for them. The families of the restaurant owners because if the owner of the restaurant is bringing in less money then, they may be affected with financial hardship. I would also say that the employees in the restaurant industry also have the problem because if the restaurant is making less money then, hours may be cut which leads to less money and if a restaurant where to close then they would be out of a job as well.  
• Problem (2): Consumers are being over charged for food at restaurants and spending more money than they have to on a meal. 
• Who has the problem (2): Consumers do because now they have to pay more for the same food they were eating before at a lesser price. This causes them to have to spend more time in preparing food in order to save money. Those who may not have much time to prepare food during the week are then having to find the time to do so.
  
  
3. "After officers are slain, tweets are not enough"
• infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1667A9EA91539F88?p=WORLDNEWS 
• Summary: So, the first part of the article, the author discussed how politicians as so quick to jump on Twitter and send out a message to the world about how they do not "tolerate violence". The author further explains that they in fact do tolerate the violence because they do nothing to help prevent it. He mentions people with mental health issues normally fall through the cracks because here in Florida we tend to follow the lead of other states by cutting finding to metal health and leaving thousands of people without the help they need. The recent shooting of the two Kissimmee officers was committed by someone who not too long ago was brought in by the Baker Act in order to get help for his known metal problems. The author states that had he gotten the help there might be a chance that the tragic incident would have been avoided all together, but then again nothing could have changed, however we don’t know because nothing is done. He also blames the fact that here in Florida we refuse to have a law that makes it harder for unstable people to get guns. The second part of the article talks briefly about the airboat companies in Orange county. The author explains how there is a local company calling for the county to require permits for other airboat company and limiting the amount of airboat companies per county ramp to just one. The author agrees that all companies should be required to get a permit but states that he doesn’t believe in the suggested limit. He believes that would create a monopoly if one company is in control and not allowing for others to fairly compete. The third part of the article discusses a new public televised program that will be showing across America about veterans and the Vietnam War. The final story just talks about the building that is for sale in downtown Orlando that was once the hub of a famous major Ponzi scheme ran by Lou Pearlman. 
• Problem (1): The problem is that the mentally ill are not getting the help they deserve. It isn't until tragedy strikes that people jump up and denounce the violence that they commit. The problem with that is that denouncing violence doesn’t really do anything. Also, the mentally ill and criminals are able to easily get their hands-on weapons which they end up using for terrible acts. 
• Who has the problem (1): The mentally ill have the problem and the people who are affected by the senseless acts of violence have the problem. 
• Problem (2): Is the company that is calling for the limiting of the number of airboat companies per county ramp. This is a problem because this would allow the creation of a monopoly. 
• Who has the problem (2): The other companies who won't have a chance to do business with the county ramps should there be a limit places.
  
  
4. "Bicycling fatalities rise in U.S.; Florida strains to improve safety"
• infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/1667A9EA5B745DB8?p=WORLDNEWS 
• Summary: The article talks about the increase in bicyclist fatalities even though there is an ever-growing effort to prevent it from occurring. He mentions that Florida is considered the deadliest state. In most recent years there has been 818 death that are related to bicyclist. And although Florida is the leader in bicyclist death they say that they are also the leaders of safety initiatives. They say that Florida probably has more bicyclist and pedestrians because of the sunny weather that they experience. They say that the increase in cars on the road is what might cause the added risk that bicyclist face. The article also states that California is not as on top of safety initiatives than Florida but still seems to have fewer fatalities which is unknown why. They do say that is might have something to do with the fact that in the west coast they tend to be “a little bit nicer” because they stop for bicyclist in comparison to the East coast which they find more aggressive. The article ends by basically saying that change won’t happen overnight, it is a process. 
• Problem: The problem is that there is an increase in bicyclist fatalities in the United States, specifically, in Florida. There is an increase in motor vehicles out on the road making it more dangerous for the bicyclist. 
• Who has the problem: The bicyclist are the ones with the problem because they are less visible and so are more in danger of getting harmed. The officers I would say also have the problem because they are having to enforce more laws in order to protect the bicyclist. Florida state has the problem because although we are doing all we can to prevent such accidents, the number just keeps growing.
  
  
5. "Brevard dad mourns loss of daughter killed in Va"
• infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/16645B93594D8DE8?p=WORLDNEWS 
• Summary: This story was about a gentleman in Brevard County that happen to be the father of the young girl that was killed during the protest in Charlottesville, VA. She was killed when a car plowed its way through a crowd of people who were counter protesting. The man was later identified and charged with second degree murder among other charges. The father believes that his daughter died “standing up for what she believed in” which is something she has always done. He tells her story in the hopes that people will come together and forget about all the anger and just love and forgive one another. 
• Problem: The problem is all the hateful violence that leads to the senseless death of innocent people. The problem is that no one agrees with one another and instead of just agreeing to disagree they do things to anger the other side. The problem is that there is no love or peace. 
• Who has the problem: Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, cousin, friends, and etc. all have the problem. Anyone of us in this country has the problem because any one of us has the potential of being in harm's way for defending what we believe in.