Happy Election Day! Polls are open from now until 7:30pm. If you're out voting today, what are you seeing at your polling place? If you're working a polling site, how's turnout looking where you are?

Recently, the Orange County Health Department launched plans for the Family Success Alliance, modeled after the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone. 

With its inception as the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in 1970, the Harlem Children’s Zone aims to disrupt generational poverty with a holistic, long-term approach providing education and support from early childhood through college, supportive services to families to prevent homelessness, and health services including obesity prevention.  Serving over 13,000 children and 13,000 adults in 97 blocks of Central Harlem, the engaged children (70% in the served blocks) have a 92% college acceptance rate, 100% of pre-K participants are assessed as school ready, and the 800 local employees fuel economic growth.  The Harlem Children’s Zone also serves as the Model for President Obama’s Promise Neighborhood Initiative that has awarded 58 grants to communities across the country to implement similar programs. 

In case you haven't heard, this year's general election ballot includes a referendum on a constitutional amendment allowing defendants charged with all but the most serious felonies to waive their right to a jury trial, and have a judge decide whether they are guilty or innocent instead. Forty-nine other states and the federal government allow criminal defendants to opt for bench trials.

Since coverage of the amendment has been fairly low-key, here are two views on whether to vote for or against amednment to help you decide.

The Independent Weekly supports the proposed amendment: