ICYMI

School censorship is further enabled by the Legislature, Musk v. Moon, and other news you may have missed last week.

» A SpaceX rocket launched from Central Florida seven years ago is about to hit the moon

Elon Musk, the man who innovated cars so hard that they started regularly exploding, is poised to be the culprit behind the first-ever piece of space junk hitting the moon. An out-of-control SpaceX rocket is expected to collide with the moon in early March after seven years of erratic movement. Data analyst and near-Earth object tracker Bill Gray wrote that he believes the collision will occur on March 4 on the far side of the Moon. Just think: If we’d funded NASA properly, we’d never get the exciting chance to watch a rich Redditor fling multimillion-dollar rocks at the queen of tides.

» Florida Republicans push through proposal to allow public scrutiny of school books

Overriding objections from Democrats who warned of “the slippery slope of censorship,” Senate Republicans last week took a first step toward ramping up scrutiny of the way public-school library books and instructional materials are chosen. School boards would be required to publish on the website of each school the procedures for developing media-center collections, and elementary schools would be required to publish on their websites “in a searchable format” all books and materials that are kept in the schools’ media centers or that are part of class reading lists. The legislation aims to give the public increased input on how library and classroom books are chosen by spelling out that all instructional materials are subject to “public inspection” — including the right to copy or photograph materials.

» Orange County Public Schools will no longer excuse kids being kept home for fear of COVID-19

Orange County schools will no longer count “fear of catching COVID-19” as a valid excuse for absence. Superintendent Barbara Jenkins announced the change in a letter to parents, noting that the new rules would take effect Jan. 31. Jenkins cited the strain of teaching students who are in class and at-home simultaneously, as well as the declining numbers of COVID-19 cases in OCPS schools. She also noted that the state took away the ability to code an absence in their records this way. “We can longer provide excused absences for those voluntarily keeping their children at home due to the pandemic,” she wrote. Jenkins went on to suggest homeschooling for parents who are still concerned about the ongoing pandemic.

» Winter Park Police Chief resigns following arrest on domestic violence charges

Winter Park Police Chief Michael Deal resigned his position following an arrest on misdemeanor domestic violence charges last week. Deal sent his letter of resignation to Winter Park City Manager Randy Knight last week. In the letter, Deal praised his staff and said he was looking forward to “the next chapter.” He made no mention of the arrest. Knight said in a statement, “I want to thank Chief Deal for his service to the City of Winter Park. I wish him well in his future endeavors.” Division Chief Pam Marcum will serve as acting Police Chief until further notice.

» Cruise lines’ ability to check vaccination status might be overturned as appeal looms

A federal appeals court will hear arguments in May in a battle over whether Norwegian Cruise Lines can require passengers to show documentation that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration took the case to the Atlanta-based appeals court after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams last year sided with Norwegian and issued a preliminary injunction against a Florida law that sought to bar businesses from requiring “vaccine passports.” The ruling, which applied only to Norwegian, said the state law violates the First Amendment and the dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.