Travelling WITH PETS: NO-DEAL BREXIT WOULD MAKE IT FAR HARDER

LONDON (AP) — All across Europe, families and couples on vacation are seamlessly crossing borders with their beloved dog, cat or even ferret, thanks to the European Union Pet Passport scheme. Now, as a no-deal Brexit looms as a possibility for Britain, free pet travel is under threat.

If the U.K. leaves the European Union on Oct. 31 without a divorce deal — which is increasingly likely under new Prime Minister Boris Johnson — that could result in Britain being chucked out of the pet passport program. That would hit pet owners on both sides of the English Channel.

Some 250,000 British cats and dogs are taken to the EU on holiday by their owners every year. In 2017, the British government issued over 90,000 pet passports to veterinary practices in the U.K.

ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT GETTING THERAPY DOGS

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Therapy dogs will soon be available to soothe nervous passengers at Orlando International Airport.

Airport officials say the Alliance of Therapy Dogs will help select 10 dogs and handlers to be part of a pilot program. The Orlando Sentinel reports more details about the MCO Paw Pilots program are expected on Friday.

Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport have similar programs in place.

The alliance reports that there were about 58 airports across the globe using therapy dogs in 2018.

COLLEGE BOARD REPLACING SAT 'ADVERSITY SCORE'

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The College Board is replacing the so-called adversity score associated with the SAT with a tool that will no longer reduce an applicant's background to a single number.

Chief Executive David Coleman says that idea was a mistake.

Coleman tells The Associated Press that students also will have access to their information under changes to the pilot Environmental Context Dashboard being announced Tuesday.

Renamed "Landscape," the revised tool no longer produces a single number to measure obstacles posed by a student's neighbourhood or high school. Instead, it will show several data points, including the urban or rural location of a school, advanced course offerings and neighbourhood crime rate.

It doesn't change the SAT score itself.

The College Board says the idea is to make it easier for college admissions officers to spot students who have excelled within their surroundings.

WOMAN WHO SUED FOR FRONT-YARD VEGGIE GARDENS DIES IN FLORIDA

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (AP) — Hermine Ricketts, whose lengthy legal battle led to passage of a new bill that allows Floridians to grow vegetables in their front yards, has died. She was 63.

The Institute for Justice confirmed Ricketts died Saturday after a long illness. The organization represented Ricketts during her six-year court battle over her garden. The new law took effect July 1.

In 2013, the Miami Shores Village Council amended its zoning codes to prohibit residents from having front-yard vegetable gardens.

They told Ricketts she must uproot all of her previously planted vegetables, or face a $50 daily fine. An appeals court backed the village before the Florida Legislature stepped in to legalize the gardens.

Ricketts is survived by her husband, Tom Carroll. They lived in their Miami Shores home for 26 years.

REPORT: $100 FEE KEEPING MANY OF NYC OFF TENNIS COURTS

NEW YORK (AP) — Tennis, everyone?

The New York City Parks Department has worked in recent years to make the sport widely accessible by building public tennis courts across the city. But The Wall Street Journal reports that the $100 cost of a permit may be a bar to entry for many.

Permits are needed to use an outdoor public court from April through November. They cost $100 a year for adults 18 to 61.

The Journal reports that tennis permit holders disproportionately live in wealthy, largely white Manhattan neighbourhoods. The fee was lowered from $200 om 2016, but some residents of low-income areas say more people would play if the cost were lowered again to $50.

The Parks Department says the fees allow the department to govern court use and manage demand.

PROGRAM THAT COLLECTS DERELICT FISHING GEAR MARKS 10 YEARS

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishing and environmental officials are celebrating 10 years of a program that has removed 4 million pounds of derelict fishing gear from waters off the U.S. coast.

A conservation partnership has placed bins in 55 coastal communities under the "Fishing For Energy" program. Under the program, derelict and retired gear placed in those bins is either recycled or turned into energy by Schnitzer Steel, Covanta and other recycling and waste-to-energy facilities.

Officials on Tuesday celebrated the milestone at the Portland Fish Exchange in Maine and gave a demonstration on how lost or discarded fishing gear can be recycled.

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation CEO Jeff Trandahl says it's important to remove lost traps and fishing gear because they often continue to catch fish.

COUNCILMEMBER PUSHES TO DISARM LOCAL POLICE

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A city councillor in Burlington, Vermont, says the city should consider disarming its police force.

WCAX-TV reports that Perri Freeman says she's researching law enforcement expectations and training. She says smaller countries similar in size to Vermont, like the U.K., Ireland and Iceland, function with unarmed police forces.

Burlington Police Officers Association President, Daniel Gilligan, says disarming officers is unrealistic. He says those countries have more restrictive gun laws, while the U.S. is "an armed nation."

Burlington Deputy Police Chief Jon Murad says the U.S. has a high rate of violent crime and that disarming law enforcement would put officers and civilians at risk.

Freeman says preventing violence and finding its root causes should be the focus.

She says she hopes to bring the conversation to the policing practices committee.

News from © The Associated Press, 2019