Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 10-13-15 Edition

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Mayor Buckhorn To Present Awards At 27th Alliance Luncheon
Mayor Bob Buckhorn will present four awards during the 27th Mayor’s Alliance for Persons with Disabilities Awards Luncheon on Friday, October 16, 2015, to be held at the DoubleTree Hotel West- shore, 4500 W. Cypress Street, in Tampa.
The event begins at 10:45 a.m. with an art showcase and an array of exhibitors, and the awards luncheon will follow at noon.
For additional information or to reserve a table call Karen Sin- nreich at 307-5595, or online at https://www.tampagov.net/MAL.
Faith Leaders Contradict Claims Of Religious Discrimination
Last Wednesday, testimony before a legislative committee showed that a religious free- dom bill, H.B. 43, is not as in- nocent as its sponsors claim, according to the Equality Florida Institute, Incorporated.
Pastors and other ministers from across the state report- edly told members of the House Civil Justice Committee that the bill is not only unnec- essary – but also a divisive at- tack on LGBT families.
Instead, they allegedly called the so-called Pastor Pro- tection Act an ugly show of an- imosity toward same sex couples and their families – under the guise of claiming that churches are somehow under attack.
Rev. Harold E. Thomp- son of Miami Beach told legis- lators to look at the true intent of the bill and that it is not to protect pastors or the church;
NADINE SMITH
Equality Florida Executive Director
it is to protect an agenda.
“It is nothing more than a wolf in sheep’s clothing, in- tended to deceive, intended to
harm.
“We’ve already established
how frivolous the bill is. There- fore, I can only believe it serves to foster the myth that mem- bers of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender communities pose some sort of threat to peo- ple of strong religious faith.”
Pastor Paul Gibson of St. Petersburg said in his opin- ion, “the bill will create fear and confusion in the public and perpetuate the lie that religious freedom and basic human rights are in conflict with one another.”
Equality Florida’s Carlos Guillermo Smith said their major concern is that the bill is a Trojan horse that can be a ve- hicle that will bring even more anti-LGBT legislation to Florida.
Equality Florida Executive Director, Nadine Smith said, “Equality Florida is all about inclusion.
“It’s entirely appropriate that we reach out to Floridians whose first language is not English. The issues facing LGBT people – and their solu- tions – are the same in any lan- guage.”
Commissioner Sandy Murman Hosts County Job Fair Oct. 16
Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, in asso- ciation with CareerSource Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Community College, will host a County Job Fair from 8:30 a. m. to 12 p. m. on Friday, Oct. 16th, at the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry Campus, 4001 W. Tampa Bay Blvd., Tampa, FL 33614.
Nearly 50 employers and vendors are expected to participate, some who will interview potential employees on the spot, while oth- ers will provide online links to jobs. These employers have hundreds of positions available in both part time and full time work.
The 2015 County Job Fair is free and open to the public. For more information call David Robinson at CareerSource Tampa Bay at (813) 930-7868 or email Mr. Robinson at robinsond@ca- reersourcetampabay.com.
Senate Backs Bill To Revise Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences
TALLAHASSEE --- Legisla- tion that would return discre- tion to judges in certain drug sentencing cases won the backing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Mon- day.
Sponsored by Senator Arthenia Joyner (D- Tampa), SB 84 is intended to allow judges to depart from Florida’s controversial manda- tory minimum sentencing laws if the violation involves small quantities of illegal drugs in- tended only for personal use. Current law imposes a manda- tory minimum sentence of three-years for possession of as little as 28 grams of cocaine.
Other conditions would
SENATOR ARTHENIA JOYNER
also apply, such as no previous drug or sex crime convictions, and willingness to undergo substance abuse treatment.
“Many of Florida’s incar- cerated are there for low level crimes involving small quanti-
ties of illegal substances, the unfortunate casualties of our country’s drug wars.
“Our tax dollars would be better spent, and our results more impressive if we targeted the operators of illegal drug trafficking networks for prose- cution and imprisonment,” Senator Joyner said.
According to the Criminal Justice Impact Conference, Senator Joyner’s bill could save the state at least $30 mil- lion and result in about 450 fewer incarcerations over a five year period.
The legislation next heads to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice for a hearing.
Series 3 Of ‘Building A Better Business’ Planned
The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival’s “Building A Better Business” Series 3 has been planned for Saturday, October 31, 11:30 a. m.-2 p. m.
Series 3 will focus on “It’s All About Insurance.” Guest partici- pants will be Eric Brown of Brown’s Insurance Group (Affordable Healthcare Act), Rolanda S. McDuffie of Rolanda S. McDuffie, CPA (Workers Comp and Prof Liability) and Bill Trotman of TD Bank (Key Man Insurance).
The event will be held at the Children’s Board Entrepreneur Col- laborative Center, 2101 E. Palm Ave., Tampa 33605.
This is a free event, but pre-registration is recommended. The deadline to register is 1 p. m. on Friday, October 30, 2015. Reply to newsletter@tampablackheritage.org.
Tampa Bay Water Offers $20,000 In Mini-Grants
Tampa Bay Water announced today that it is once again offering $20,000 in mini-grants to fund events and projects sponsored by local community groups, non-profit groups, schools and universities that promote protection of our region’s drinking water sources. The agency is accepting applications until Nov. 20, 2015, at 5 p.m.
To qualify for a grant, applicants must provide an event or proj- ect plan related to source water protection in Tampa Bay Water’s service area that includes Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas coun- ties.
The mini-grants fund organizations $2,000 to $10,000 for com- munity-based activities such as river clean-ups, educational field trips and public outreach events.
To obtain additional information about the mini-grants contact Ms. Michelle Stom, Chief Communications Officer for Tampa Bay Water at (727) 796-2355 or (813) 996-7009; or obtain an ap- plication on line at tampabaywater.org/source-water-protection- mini-grant-funding.
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015