BRICKBATS & BOUQUETS

BRICKBATS TO CHARLIE VAN ZANT JR. On May 16, Van Zant, Clay County School District Superintendent, proclaimed that the school system would not comply with the president’s directive requiring transgender students to be allowed to use the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. Instead, trans students in Clay will be required to use bathrooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates. Seems he believes the “traditional family values” of his community require trans kids to be put at risk of humiliation, bullying or worse in the bathroom.

BOUQUETS TO DAVID BALDWIN As WJCT reported, during Douglas Anderson School of the Arts’ weekly free period, “Power Hour,” Baldwin, along with about a half-dozen fellow students, brainstorms ways to improve the planet. Their recent mission: getting Styrofoam out of the school lunchroom. So far, they’ve collected more than 200 signatures. Baldwin, a sophomore, recently spoke on the issue before the School Board, exhibiting poise and vision far beyond his years.

BRICKBATS TO GLOBAL MINISTRIES FOUNDATION The beleaguered nonprofit that owns Eureka Garden Apartments has launched a defensive, accusing Senator Marco Rubio of having ulterior, self-serving motives in asking for a criminal investigation into the organization. Newsflash, GMF: You deserve to get called out for the hundreds of housing code violations the residents of Eureka Garden have suffered under your ownership. No matter who does it or why.