https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/active-investigation-shuts-down-brandon-blvd-in-both-directions

No injuries reported after shooting

BRANDON, Fla. — A shooter was arrested Thursday after a firefight with Hillsborough County deputies.

Part of Brandon Blvd. was shut down in both directions for much of the afternoon while the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office worked their investigation. The shootings happened around the 1 p.m. hour Thursday.

The sheriff's office says deputies were called to the report of shots fired at the Wash Up-Brandon car wash off Brandon Blvd. Sheriff Chad Chronister said deputies arrived within moments, and upon arrival, the sheriff's office says deputies witnessed Daniel Lighty, 35, firing a weapon.

The sheriff's office says deputies were called to the report of shots fired at the Wash Up-Brandon car wash off Brandon Blvd. Sheriff Chad Chronister said deputies arrived within moments, and upon arrival, the sheriff's office says deputies witnessed Daniel Lighty, 35, firing a weapon.

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He was taken into custody after he ran out of bullets. This is Florida, after all...


The police took care not to escalate during the incident, which has been described as a mental health crisis.


I never see reports on DU of police doing their job well. It creates an artificial and often racist view of the police. We have over 330 million people in this country. Those rare incidents that make the cable news are not the norm. Most incidents are like this one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/08/us/schools-closed-fridays-remote-learning.html

DETROIT — Caitlin Reynolds, a single mother, was happy that her son, L.J., was finally settled into fourth grade after a rocky experience last year with remote learning.

Then, on Wednesday, Nov. 17, an announcement: Detroit public schools would close their classrooms every Friday in December. There would be virtual school only.

On Friday, a follow-up announcement: School was also canceled starting that Monday, for the entire week of Thanksgiving. This time, there would be no online option.

After a few months of relative calm, some public schools are going remote — or canceling classes entirely — for a day a week, or even for a couple of weeks, because of teacher burnout or staff shortages.

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This is a localized problem, but with the very low risk of kids in the classroom and the incredible disruption to working class parents Schools really need to rethink these policies.

Much like crime and inflation I really think democrats need to go on the offensive against school districts that are breaking the covenant of taking the kids on a regular schedule so parents (Often single mothers) can work,

This effects the most vulnerable in our society by far and I am afraid many are simply out of touch of the reality of the working class.

If we ignore the needs of the working class in America, we will lose them.

https://thetakeout.com/plant-based-meat-sales-are-starting-to-drop-1848131060

We’ve been keeping track of plant-based meat alternatives for a while now. This year, vegan chicken offerings have sprung up big time, and overall, the momentum has felt strong. But now, the Financial Times reports that sales of plant-based meat are starting to fall. This might come as a surprise given the wild amount of choices at grocery stores these days, but it turns out that variety might actually be part of the problem.

A data group called SPINS found that in the four weeks prior to October 3, sales of vegan meat substitutes dropped 1.8% as compared to 2020. There are several likely reasons for this (it’s been a complicated year, everyone). Not only have dining restrictions lifted in many areas, meaning a dip in grocery sales, but supply chain issues have also caused some store shelves to go empty for periods of time.

Maple Leaf Foods, a Canadian company that owns a plant-based protein brand called Green Leaf, along with Beyond Meat, logged weak sales over the past few weeks too. Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain told analysts earlier this month, “In the past six months, unexpectedly, there has been a rapid deceleration in the category growth rates of plant-based protein.”

Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown thinks the weak sales are due to people being uninterested in healthier options (which certainly seems possible), along with people making fewer trips to the grocery store overall. Innovation doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down in the market, however. Some companies are taking a foray into 3D-printed whole cuts of vegan meat, and vegan fish seems like it’s still coming up in the world, too.

Just got off the phone with my friend who was in tears. Her rent is going up another $200 a month. Her rent is low for the area (1600) and she lives in a rural area but rents are up almost 30% in our town this year and they are not slowing down.

She is a single mother of two including a special needs child, but she makes too much for any government support. She looked around for another place to rent, but thier prices were even higher. In many cases, there is simply no room at the inn.

We talk about inflation, but there are two types of inflation. Homeowners have seen capital gains in the tens of thousands while their mortgage stays unchanged. Renters pay twice the average homeowner per month and have seen nothing but misery. It is a real divide.

Our area has a moratorium on building new apartments while the county catches up with schools and roads. Also, environmental groups are banning them as well as people concerned with the disappearing open spaces. So new housing of that type is not in the cards anytime soon. Meanwhile, the already built ones simply increase in price.

For the renter the inflation rate is not 6% it is closer to 25%. We need to keep that in mind.