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On tonight’s program: Doctors say pediatric COVID-19 cases are rising and the new Delta variant is hitting kids harder; As lawsuits loom, Florida’s governor backs away – a little – from his original mask mandate ban. Although the parents still claim young, unvaccinated kids are in jeopardy; We get a late-breaking report on what happened when the parents’ objection to Governor DeSantis’s “No Mask Mandate” order went before a judge for the first time; You think it’s hard to attract employees to restaurants and retail shops nowadays? It seems Florida schools are having an even tougher time finding enough workers; And another water wars ruling disappoints Florida environmentalists.

Leon County has five constitutional officers as prescribed by Florida law: the sheriff, supervisor of elections, clerk of court, tax collector and property appraiser. Representatives from those last 3 offices will talk about their function and how they provide needed services to local government and residents, even during a pandemic. The guests are: Leon County Clerk of Court Gwen Marshall; Property Appraiser Akin Akinyemi; and Alethea Jackson, Chief of Tax Administration for the office of Leon County Tax Collector Doris Malloy.

The Holocaust Education Resource Council and Tallahassee Community College are joining forces for this year's Holocaust Education Week observance. The event, Nov. 8-12, will include speakers, performances and the annual Remembrance Dinner, with remarks from a Holocaust survivor. To provide a preview of the occasion are: Barbara Goldstein, executive director of the Holocaust Education Resource Council; Tallahassee Community College Vice President Heather Mitchell; and TCC History Professor Monte Finkelstein.

On tonight’s program: The culture clash involving parents and local school boards has now expanded into the national organization realm; A Texas-style anti-abortion bill is being teed up in the Florida Legislature. But there are differences, especially because of Governor DeSantis’s political aspirations; Police want lawmakers to make changes giving them more power to step in when someone talks on social media about plans to commit a crime; Florida lawmakers expect redistricting litigation to fly after they complete the state’s new election maps in the spring. Still, they insist they’re trying to keep everything fair; The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is asking Florida lawmakers for money to pay for things to help the state’s manatees. Part of that funding would go towards facilities that care for the injured creatures; And we get firsthand accounts of how the pandemic has strained all health care personnel. Including medical students.

On tonight’s program: Governor DeSantis calls a special session of the Florida Legislature to oppose government employee vaccine mandates from the feds; Several Florida school districts battle a state rule banning local student mask mandates; A Texas-style abortion bill looks unlikely to move forward in Florida; Florida’s jobless rate keeps inching downwards. That’s a really good thing, because it seems the state’s unemployment system is still fraught with problems; Florida’s retirement system has been long considered a model for the rest of the nation. We’ll hear from the man who helped make it so; And we'll hear from a Democratic strategist on how state Senator Annette Taddeo's recent candidacy for governor could help the party's chances for success heading into 2022...

On tonight’s program: Florida’s revenues have been going down. But Governor Ron DeSantis is proposing a state budget in which spending is going up; Debate roils at the Capitol over a bill that would up the penalties for demonstrators if their protest gets even a little bit out of hand; Some Florida lawmakers believe the state’s election laws could use some serious tweaking. Bills to accomplish that have been submitted by both sides of the aisle; Florida officials are trying to discourage “medical tourism;” out-of-state visitors coming just to get coronavirus vaccinations while vaccine supplies remain sparse; Florida lawmakers hope to create a task force to study how many lost African-American cemeteries the state may have; And the person considered the governor’s strong right arm is moving on, just weeks before the Legislative Session when he might be needed most.

Florida YouthShine (Striving High for Independence and Empowerment) is a youth-run organization with representation across the state. Membership is composed of teens and young adults between the ages of 13-24, who are either currently or formerly foster youths within the Florida child welfare system.

On tonight’s program: Medical marijuana is already legal in Florida. This week, state lawmakers filed bills that would further change the way the substance is handled; Florida’s Department of Children and Families continues to have its share of problems, especially when it comes to its foster care programs and employee turnover. We’ll talk with the Department’s secretary about those and other issues; When it comes to many people of color, it’s not just the sketchy availability of coronavirus vaccine that’s preventing immunization; Meanwhile, Florida’s black lawmakers are trying to bring coronavirus facts to the African-American community to quell concerns about COVID-19 vaccines; And Many Florida Republicans insist that Donald Trump is still president, but that posture may not be sustainable.

Like many American towns and cities, Apalachicola, Florida was originally laid out in a grid pattern with several town squares. To a large degree, that design has fallen prey to ravages of time. But now there's a community effort to bring back that concept. We speak with: Diane Brewer, pro bono project manager of Restore Apalachicola's Historic Squares; Camilo Romero, senior at FAMU/FSU College of Engineering and part of the project's design team; Marie Marshall, retired educator, former president of the Historic Apalachicola Foundation and wife of the late Willoughby Marshall who initially envisioned and advocated for the restoration of the squares; John Travis Marshall, associate professor of law at Georgia State University, expert on urban revitalization and son of Marie and Willoughby Marshall; and Robert Volpe, land use attorney and legal adviser to the Foundation.

What factors are really impacting the loss of Apalachicola's world-famous oysters? A new research project called the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative is out to get the answers and use those results to guide future policy regarding the bay's iconic seafood. To talk about it are: Georgia Ackerman, executive director Apalachicola Riverkeeper; Sandra Brooke, FSU Coastal and Marine Lab faculty member; Jim Estes, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission fisheries researcher; Anita Grove, Apalachicola City Commissioner; Shannon Hartsfield, 4th generation Franklin County seafood worker; and Ricky Jones, chair, Franklin County Commission.