Tag Archives: Florida

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Time is running out for Florida to opt into a new federal program that would provide $248 million to help feed 2 million children next summer who might otherwise go hungry. But it isn’t likely to happen as the state agency best equipped to run the program said it wouldn’t be pursuing the funding for it. …

Florida Politics reports: Disney is suing its own government for records in the latest escalation in the long legal fight between The Walt Disney Company and Florida Republicans. Disney accused the state-controlled Disney board of taking months to respond to public records requests and self-selecting which records the board does release. Disney filed the lawsuit Friday, the last working day …

Florida Politics reports: Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson isn’t letting big government get in the way of jolly St. Nick. Simpson approved an emergency order waiving any and all state regulations through Dec. 25 that could delay Santa as he travels across the states delivering toys to children. The order states that the Free State of Florida, “hereby known as the …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge hearing a challenge to a transgender health care ban for minors and restrictions for adults noted Thursday that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly spread false information about doctors mutilating children’s genitals even though there’s been no such documented cases. The law was sold as defending children from mutilation when it is actually …

The Washington Post reports: Never Back Down, the embattled super PAC supporting Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, has canceled all of its planned television advertising in Iowa and New Hampshire just weeks before voting begins in the first nominating states. In a statement, Scott Wagner, the super PAC’s chairman, characterized the decision as part of a shift that would allow …

Florida Politics reports: Two Republican lawmakers from Miami-Dade County want to give Florida voters a chance to ban red light cameras across the state for good. Miami Sen. Ileana Garcia and Sweetwater Rep. David Borrero filed related resolutions (SJR 1042, HJ 805) proposing a constitutional amendment prohibiting any “traffic infraction detectors” from recording motorists who fail to stop at stop …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A total of 673 books, from classics to best-sellers, have been removed from Orange County classrooms this year for fear they violate new state rules that ban making “sexual conduct” available to public school students. The list also includes popular novels by Stephen King, Sue Monk Kidd and Jodi Picoult, classics like “A Tree Grows in …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: A select group of volunteers expected to help Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis intercept migrants at sea gathered at a Panhandle combat training facility this fall for lessons on how to use rifles and pistols, treat “massive hemorrhages” and practice “aerial gunnery.” A $1.2 million purchase order signed in August makes clear the DeSantis administration felt it …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to advance the hypothetical of an attack from the Bahamas by way of illustrating support for Israel’s ongoing operations against Hamas. “Down in Florida, if we were getting rockets fired from the Bahamas to, like, Fort Lauderdale, we would level, we would never ever accept that. I mean, it would be flattened. The …

“Every Republican President in recent times, including Trump, has accepted this idea that agencies like the DOJ and FBI are ‘independent agencies,’ you can’t mess with them, you can’t do anything. “Well, excuse me, that means they’re not accountable to anybody. Every source of power needs to be accountable to somebody that’s elected by you. And if they’re not accountable …

Miami’s PBS affiliate reports: Groups behind the push to put abortion rights on the Florida ballot next year have reached a major milestone: They believe they have collected all the signatures needed to put it to a vote. The petition aims to place a state constitutional amendment to protect the right to an abortion on the 2024 ballot. It would …

NBC News reports: A Florida man has pleaded guilty in connection with threatening to kill a Supreme Court justice. The guilty plea from 43-year-old Neal Brij Sidhwaney of Fernandina Beach stemmed from a call he made to a Supreme Court justice in July, the Justice Department said in a news release Monday. Prosecutors said that Sidhwaney identified himself by name …

Politico reports: A watchdog group that has already filed several complaints against Gov. Ron DeSantis is now alleging that the Florida Republican and a super PAC aiding his presidential bid violated federal campaign finance laws. DeSantis’ reliance on Never Back Down, which was set up with an infusion of more than $80 million transferred from a committee that once was …

From the Justice Department: A Florida woman has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges related to her conduct during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Her actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the 2020 presidential election. Barbara …

Florida Politics reports: City hall flagpoles around Florida could lose some color if a bill by Rep. David Borrero passes in the upcoming Session. Borrero, a Sweetwater Republican, refiled a proposal (HB 901) that would prohibit local governments and agencies from flying the LGBTQ pride flag or any other banner representing a social or political position. “The government agency must …

“He called that rally knowing that that was going to be in D.C. where things could get potentially out of hand, and he’s now saying he would do clemency for the nonviolent. But he could have done that when he was president. He could have taken responsibility. “He could have said that — not the violent people, obviously that’s a …

USA Today reports: As the Sarasota County School Board convened for the final time this year on Tuesday, Bridget Ziegler entered the board chambers facing a rift largely driven by agenda item No. 1: a colleague’s resolution calling for her resignation. Zander Moricz, who was the class president at Pine View School in Osprey and now attends Harvard, said Bridget …

USA Today reports: The Florida GOP on Sunday began the process of removing Chair Christian Ziegler amid sexual assault allegations, with the party’s executive board voting during an emergency meeting to censure the chair, strip his authority and reduce his salary to $1. The 40-member board also voted to hold a meeting next month to consider the committee’s findings and …

Politico reports: Jeff Roe, a top strategist for the main super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, announced his resignation from the group late Saturday — the latest in a string of departures from the organization. The pro-DeSantis group, Never Back Down, has been enveloped in turmoil in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, it fired three of its top officials, …

Fox News reports: A former Florida Republican state representative who shot to national prominence after sponsoring a parental rights bill Democrats referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill spoke to Fox News Digital in his first major interview since being sentenced to prison for wire fraud. Joe Harding, who served as a Florida state representative until stepping down last …