Free at last, free at last, in all honesty, this was bound to happen; I mean after all I’ve not had to wear a mask in stores in months so it only makes sense that Governor Polis would leave the mask mandates to the local leaders.

This decision has led to a few different opinions and after all where is the fun in not having a conversation. Two different points of view can be seen throughout Air Academy High School.

“I don’t love it but I understand the political nature of the decision,” senior Aiden Walker explained.

However, others had a different point of view.

“I think it’s a good decision, it’s not the governor’s place to tell what can and can’t be done on the local level, but overall I think it’s a good decision,” senior Joseph Bradford noted.

Personally, I think that this is a good thing, and a great sign for the direction of the mask mandates since now more and more states are beginning to end the statewide mask mandate. More states seem to be throwing off the mask mandates and leaving it to the people to decide if they want to wear a mask.

However, this leaves me with some further questions such as, when will the Biden Administration get rid of the mask mandate?

I’ve not seen any indication that the federal mask mandate will end, however, with more and more states taking back the statewide mandate, this has given me the idea that the country is trying to move away from the mask mandates.

“I think potentially if the numbers keep going down, and it seems like in Colorado they are, and it gives me the idea that he might,” English teacher, Joann Cassano, responded. 

However, others tend to contradict the thoughts of Cassano.

“I feel like they won’t cut it, I feel like the government is too afraid, and they need lower numbers before they cut it,” Bradford stated. 

But there’s no true way to know how the Biden administration wants to tackle this and since the white house has not made any statement yet, things are looking good, and hopefully, the federal mask mandate will be taken away in due time.

That leads me to my second question, will the Mayor of Colorado Springs John Suthers implement a mask mandate for the city of Colorado Springs? For the most part, people do not think that Mayor Suthers will, seeing that he has not put anything in place recently.

However, people contradicted his approach a bit differently.

“I feel like he’ll just repeat what the federal government says,” Bradford responded.

This is something I don’t agree with, partially because Mayor Suthers has been pretty quiet in general, but he’s also not the type of leader to want to put any mandates in place if not needed.

I am given hope that we’re moving away from mask mandates. I mean after all, how long has it been since people wore masks in stores and restaurants? Excluding staff and health care workers, it seems like Colorado Springs and the surrounding area have shed the mask mandate.