Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 1-7-22

A Year Of Transition
women's 200m final and won a bronze medal with a time of 21.87 seconds. She also won a silver medal in the women’s 4 x 100 relay.
The Sentinel also reported on the surge of COVID deaths that occurred in late summer of 2021.
September 2021: Sen- tinel readers reflected on where they were 20 years ago on the morning of September 11, 2001. The shocking events of that day are etched in Amer- ican history. More than 3,000 people lost their lives that day in a terrorist attack that changed many things in Amer- ica, like travel bans, strict Homeland Security and TSA regulations. Much like the Martin Luther King, Jr. as- sassination, most people re- member where they were and what they were feeling that day.
October 2021: Local non-profit, Children with a Vi- sion, created a special Hal- loween for children across the Tampa Bay area. Tonya Lewis, founder, has worked tirelessly for many, many years to help children and un- derserved communities. The non-profit hosted the 12th An- nual Fall Festival Walk Through and Trunk or Treat. The Sentinel reported on sev- eral events led by Ms. Lewis as she worked to bring chil- dren and adults happiness during the holidays.
November 2021: Redis- tricting became a focal point of local news. Every ten years, the U. S. government conducts a census. The objective is re- assessing the allocation of rep- resentatives to Congress and other elected offices based on population.
The census determines how millions of dollars in fed- eral funding, including grants and support to states, coun- ties, and communities, are dis- persed. State and local governments determine voter districts using the latest cen- sus data.
The Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) was required by law to redraw its districts. Several re- districting maps were submit- ted and a contentious fight for equity marked the vote by the BOCC. The process had to be completed by December 31,
2021. The redistricting af- fected approximately 900,000 registered voters across the four single member districts.
December 2021: Gun vi- olence prevention supporters concluded their months long effort to educate the commu- nity and get engagement from the community to continue to work together. In September of 2021, County Commis- sioner Gwen Myers hosted county commissioners, key law enforcement officials, city and state elected officials,
school board members and activists to a virtual retreat on Gun violence. There were sev- eral high-profile shootings in Tampa and Commissioner Myers, Public Defender Julianne Holt, and Freddy Barton of Safe and Sound Hillsborough County, culmi- nated their months long effort to establish guidelines and next steps to curb the violence. Commissioner Myers was able to get $200,000 in funds for Safe and Sound to continue to fight gun violence.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2022 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY PAGE 3-A