In Palm Beach County, the epicenter of the opioid crisis in Florida in recent years, opioid deaths decreased 41 percent from 2017 to 2018. That may be due in part to a task force created in 2016 called “Sober Homes Task Force.” The program seeks to combat fraudulent sober homes and treatment centers. The county has also filed lawsuits against Big Pharma and passed laws to limit the amount of opioids doctors can prescribe. State attorney for Palm Beach County Dave Aronberg joined Sundial to talk about the county's efforts.
Protestors took to the streets in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday as the head of the opposition party, Juan Guaidó, declared himself the interim President. The U.S., Canada, Brazil and other countries were quick to recognize Guaidó as the head of Venezuela, and called for the resignation of Nicolas Maduro. But on Thursday the Venezuelan military pledged allegiance to Maduro. WLRN Latin American correspondent Tim Padgett joined Sundial to talk about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.
A Martin Luther King Jr. Day protest took an ugly turn when 51-year old Mark Bartlett was captured on video using racist slurs and waving a gun at a group of black youth.The youth were part of a “Bikes Up Guns Down” event and were protesting the proposed demolition and redevelopment of an affordable housing project Liberty Square. Monique Hayes is a Miami attorney from Liberty City. She joined Sundial to talk about the right to protest and the bigger conversation around affordable housing.
Latinx is fairly new term that encompasses the whole Latin community and is gender inclusive. It was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2018. On Thursday and Friday, thePerez Art Museum and ArtCenter/South Florida will host a series of panels and studio tours that center around what it means to create as a LatinX artist.WLRN reporter Nadege Green spoke with the organizer of the event, Naiomy Guerrero, about using art to examine identity in the Latinx community.
READ MORE: Creating As A Latinx Artist: A Two Day Event On Identity, Erasure and Art