School districts across California can stop requiring students and staff to wear masks in two weeks, since the state announced Monday it is dropping the mask mandate in schools after March 11.

The California Department of Public Health now only strongly recommends people wear masks in schools, given plunging caseloads and hospitalizations, and rising vaccination rates.

Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers, applauded the move but hopes local districts will keep equity in mind when deciding whether to drop the mandate.

“Our Black and brown communities have been higher hit with COVID rates, higher hit with deaths, and lower vaccination rates,” Freitas explained. “The school districts that are serving those communities need to keep that in mind when they are making that decision.”

San Francisco schools are keeping the mandate for now and the Los Angeles Unified School District may need to keep its mask rules in place through the end of the year in accordance with its labor agreement. More than 1,000 school districts in California now will be able to re-evaluate mask policies.

The change brings California in line with updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Freitas emphasized schools need to keep providing high-quality masks for teachers and students who wish to wear them.

“There are many people that have autoimmune situations or higher risk,” Freitas pointed out. “They need to continue to wear masks, and it needs to be OK. Schools need to create an environment where people don’t feel harassed if they continue to wear masks.”

Schools are advised to continue their push to get more students vaccinated and to offer free testing.

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Some national funding is headed toward Southwest Florida to help boost rural learning and workforce systems.

CivicLab, a national nonprofit promoting civic collaboration, announced today five rural partnerships will get to divvy up a $750,000 grant to help facilitate training, provide technical assistance and direct financial support to benefit low-income learners, including adults entering or reentering workforce training programs.

Tessa LeSage, director of the FutureMakers Coalition, which plans to use the grant funds to improve education outcomes in Hendry County.

“We’re very excited,” LeSage remarked. “We’re at the very beginning stages of this. Nothing like this has really been done in Hendry before, so we’re happy to have such amazing partners including Florida Gulf Coast University, The Joseph Project, the Hendry County EDC (Economic Development Council).”

LeSage’s coalition includes more than 300 different stakeholders, including people from the business and education community coming together to help solve the complete challenges in workforce and education in rural counties. Other states receiving grants include Texas, Indiana, New Mexico and California.

Dakota Pawlicki, director of Talent Hubs for CivicLab, said the application process for the grant was very competitive. However, they felt the FutureMakers Coalition demonstrated they had the relationships, capacity and capability to make real change.

“They have a great opportunity to work with their local school system,” Pawlicki explained. “Their superintendent is on board and there to make sure that people have the kind of education skills they need, particularly as new business start coming into southwest Florida.”

With funding support from Ascendium Education Group, partnerships will now work together to accomplish a system- and program-level plan to improve education and workforce outcomes for their residents, including helping with job placements, credential completion and social mobility. Each partnership will receive support during a two-year cycle of the initiative.

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Ohio’s heritage is on display as the Buckeye State marks 219 years since its founding.

On March 1, 1803, our first governor, Edward Tiffin, and the General Assembly met in Chillicothe to conduct state business for the first time. Zanesville also was home to the state’s capital before the establishment of Columbus in 1816.

More than a century later, thanks to the Wright Brothers, Ohio made its mark as the “Birthplace of Aviation.”

Todd Kleismit, director of government and community relations for the nonprofit Ohio History Connection, pointed out there is a lot more to the state’s rich and diverse past.

“A lot of people associate Ohio history with things like the eight different presidents; we have a lot of astronauts; and pretty amazing American Indian heritage here,” Kleismit outlined. “But we also have hundreds, perhaps thousands of smaller stories, some stories that aren’t as well-known.”

A statehouse event today will showcase the importance of Ohio history and preservation efforts. It starts at 10 a.m. and will be livestreamed at ohiochannel.org.

Kleismit noted Statehood Day is also a chance to promote investments in protecting Ohio history, such as the Historic Preservation Tax Credit in Senate Bill 225. They will highlight Ohio’s role in the upcoming U.S. Semiquincentennial.

“At the national level, there’s a commission that is encouraging a lot of history related activities leading up to the 250th birthday of the United States July 4, 2026,” Kleismit emphasized. “Ohio is just starting that process to form a commission.”

The Ohio History Connection manages more than 50 historic sites and museums. Kleismit added understanding your community’s past can be relevant to your life.

“Ultimately it comes down to personalizing the history,” Kleismit stated. “It’s probably something locally, it could be your own family genealogy, or it could be something that happened in your community at the local level.”

Chillicothe also will celebrate Statehood Day with an event Saturday.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

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It’s been two decades since Minnesota created a special account to fund aspects of outdoor recreation. Over time, some of the funding has gone elsewhere, prompting new legislation to restore subsidies.

Back in 2000, a law was adopted to set aside a portion of lottery-ticket sales to annual funding for things such as hunting and fishing resources, as well as parks and trails. But during lean budget years, some money was shifted to the general fund.

Former state Sen. Bob Lessard helped lead the effort for the original plan. Last week, he testified in support of a bill to restore original, higher levels.

“There should be no tinkering with the money,” said Lessard, “’cause once you start going down that path, I can tell you you’re opening Pandora’s box.”

The bill advanced and was sent to another Senate committee. There’s a companion bill in the House and both measures have bipartisan support.

But it remains unclear if the proposal will win final approval with other pressing matters before lawmakers.

Attorney Brian Rice – general counsel for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board – said as in 2000, Minnesota now has a sizable budget surplus. He argued this shouldn’t be viewed as funding new initiatives.

“When you have these dedicated funds it makes it so much easier to plan and to build out the programs,” said Rice. “And not just build them, but really to sustain them.”

The effort comes as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources gathers public input on how to bolster its overall budget amid downward trends in revenue from hunting and fishing license fees.

Agency leaders cite waning interest in these activities from younger generations.

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