2021 Guidelines for Operation and Usage of County Kitchens in the State of Florida

Many county Extension office buildings have small kitchens or areas for food preparation to accommodate employees, group educational events, and other mission-related activities. In recent years, many people have become interested in developing small food businesses. Using county kitchens to make food products for sale may seem very attractive. However, because of different local, state, and federal regulation requirements, there may be some confusion and unresolved conflicts among different parties as to the legalities and practicalities involved. The objective of this document is to provide guidelines and advice for Florida Extension personnel to use when determining the appropriate usage for their kitchen facilities, based on a situation in one Florida county. The document will cover utilization, roles and responsibilities, and potential liability issues relevant to the use of county kitchens, providing some potential solutions to conflicts for all parties.

An Update of the Mosquito Records of Florida Counties, USA

ABSTRACT In the last 2 decades, many new Florida county mosquito records have been discovered. The intent of this report is to establish unpublished county records to update the known distribution of mosquito species in Florida. We report 92 new county records from 5 major sources collected during 1989–2019.

Improving law enforcement’s response to non-fatal strangulation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a coordinated effort to improve the law enforcement response to non-fatal strangulation in the context of domestic violence. Design/methodology/approach The authors compare law enforcement identification and documentation of strangulation in domestic violence cases before and after the implementation of a strangulation-specific training program in one Central Florida County. Findings The results indicate preliminary support for the effectiveness of training law enforcement, suggesting that the response to strangulation can be improved with comprehensive law enforcement training. Practical implications An improved response by law enforcement may have the potential to increase offender accountability of non-fatal strangulation – a potentially deadly assault. Originality/value The study is the first to evaluate strangulation-specific training efforts of law enforcement. Results point to opportunities that can be taken to improve law enforcement’s response to non-fatal strangulation in domestic violence.

Trump Territory

This chapter assesses changes in presidential election returns at the Florida county level between 2012 and 2016. Florida has been a perennial swing state since 1992, and it was once again a toss-up in 2016 when Republican Donald Trump narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. We show that, with respect to density, Democratic presidential nominees fare much better in Florida’s most urban counties whereas Republican candidates are much stronger in the greater number of counties with less metropolitan population.

Deaths of Despair in Florida: Assessing the Role of Social Determinants of Health

Deaths of despair (DOD) is a new term appearing in public health literature to describe deaths attributable to suicide, liver disease, and drug overdose. In Florida, suicide and liver disease are the 8th and 10th leading causes of death, respectively. Additional mortality data show that the rate of drug overdose deaths in Florida is 12.5% higher than the suicide death rate. Some have hypothesized that economic social determinants of health (SDH) may be responsible for the recent increase in DOD. The current study, using secondary data, sought to identify what county-level SDH were significantly associated with county-level DOD. Using backward regression methodology, the results of the analysis indicate that 44% of the variance in county-level DOD is significantly associated with six county-level SDH: (a) Recent Medical Checkup, (b) Income, (c) Education Level, (d) Age, (e) Mental Health Professionals, and (f) the Income × Age interaction term. Higher than average income, age, and mental health professionals in a Florida county was associated with significantly higher rates of DOD. Higher than average levels of education and recent checkups in a Florida county were associated with a significant decrease in DOD. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.

Factors that Influence County Government Expenditures and Revenues: A Study of Florida County Governments

Following the political market framework, this panel analysis examines the effects of democratic institutions on government size in Florida’s 67 counties from 1998 to 2007. Regarding group demand, the study suggests that unemployment rate reduces county government expenditures and revenues. Regarding elites’ preferences, Democratic elites’ preferences reduce expenditures and revenues. With regard to mass support, citizen income has a positive influence on expenditures and revenues. On the other hand, Democratic ideology reduces both expenditures and revenues. Finally, we found that county government structure influences expenditures and revenues significantly, but home rule does not.