WLRN News

The Keys get freshwater from the mainland — it's pumped in Florida City and sent down a pipeline all the way to Key West. In an emergency, they can make some freshwater. But the plant that does that is obsolete and in line for replacement.

Talking to children and teens about trauma varies by age level. There are still resources available for those in South Florida affected by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who may be having a hard time - especially around the holidays. Dr. Judith Aronson-Ramos is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician from Parkland, with an office in Coconut Creek. She has been involved with community health care issues since the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas through the education and resource group Professionals United For Parkland . She sits on the board. WLRN spoke with Dr. Aronson-Ramos about how to talk to different age-levels of children about difficult events, after middle school students were brought into a Nikolas Cruz hearing this week on a field trip in Fort Lauderdale. WLRN: What's the best age appropriate way to prepare a child for these potentially traumatic events? ARONSON-RAMOS: There's many people, regardless of age, for whom that setting could be upsetting

The U.N. says the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country is on pace to surpass even the Syrian refugee crisis. But a new study finds the Venezuelan crisis is receiving far less international aid.

“Hi, Poppa. I’m in trouble.” Ira Slakter says it really DID sound like his grandson on the other end of the phone line that day about six months ago. The caller wove an elaborate tale of how he got into a car accident, briefly left the scene, was hauled in front of a judge on a hit-and-run charge and was told by authorities he was on the hook for tow truck charges. And that he needed "five or six" hundred dollars. But Slakter wasn’t falling for it. “My grandson is in college and doesn’t have a car,” says Slakter. “So I said, ‘Whose car are you driving?’ " The caller hung up. The key, Slakter says, is to ask them a question they can’t answer. The “them,” in this case, being con artists working a swindle known as “The Grandparent Scam.” It’s one of many Slakter warns his fellow senior citizens about all the time. The 81-year-old retired advertising executive from Boynton Beach is a member of Seniors Versus Crime, a statewide program created by Florida’s Attorney General 30 years ago .

The confessed Parkland shooter was in a Broward County courtroom Tuesday for a hearing.