Tag Archives: Florida

The Orlando Sentinel reports: The owner of a waterfront restaurant and tiki bar in Cape Canaveral says that since God told him not to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he will not require it for any of his employees despite a federal mandate. “I believe God told me not to take this vaccine,” Joe Penovich wrote in a letter to employees …

Politico reports: Florida Republicans this spring insisted a contentious new election law curtailing access to ballot boxes was needed to prevent electoral fraud. It was not, they said, an attempt to gain a partisan advantage. But a raft of internal emails and text messages obtained by POLITICO show the law was drafted with the help of the Republican Party of …

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports: A troubling series of videos posted to social media this week appears to show a group of students hurling hate speech at other students at a St. Johns County high school. Students can be heard using homophobic slurs in the videos, which have been edited by News4Jax to shield the identities of students. Parents told …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political committee is almost $50 million ahead of his major Democratic rivals, and August only brought more big checks from around the country. While DeSantis is doing extremely well with small donations of $25 or less, taking in almost 13,000 such individual contributions, some of his biggest donors are from out of state, …

Forbes reports: On Tuesday, a Florida county Republican committee that had opposed measures to prevent Covid-19 informed the Federal Election Commission that the group may not be able to submit a filing because its bookkeeper died from the virus. “For several years we have been submitting the reports electronically, and for over a year we have done this with software …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday denied hearing a false comment that the COVID-19 vaccine changes human RNA, even though he was standing next to the person when he made it. “Honestly, I don’t even remember him saying that, so it’s not anything I’ve said,” DeSantis said in response to a reporter’s question about why he didn’t …

The Washington Post reports: Only a few weeks after President Biden and Vice President Harris were sworn into office, Niviane Petit Phelps recorded a video of herself. “Kamala Harris, you are going to die,” Phelps said into the camera, according to an affidavit. “Your days are numbered already.” Phelps said someone had paid her $53,000 to kill Harris, adding: “I’m …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida will fine local governments $5,000 for each employee who is required to be vaccinated, threatening some cities and counties with millions of dollars in penalties for adopting strict vaccine “mandates.” In Gainesville, more than 200 employees, including police and firefighters, have sued the city. Some of those employees said Monday …

Fort Myers’ CBS News affiliate reports: The two teens accused of plotting a school shooting in Lee County appeared in front of a judge Sunday morning after they were taken into custody on Saturday. Connor Pruett, 13, and Phillip Byrd, 14, will be held for 21 days in secure juvenile detention. Witnesses were questioned and a map of the school …

Florida Politics reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis vows action on the state level to oppose recent COVID-19 vaccine mandates from President Joe Biden. Saying Biden was “acting outside of the Constitution,” DeSantis on Friday vowed he was “going to have the Legislature involved as well” to “fight back and offer protections.” DeSantis, speaking at a 9/11 observance event, framed his resistance …

ABC News reports: Two Florida middle schoolers with an apparent interest in the Columbine High School massacre were allegedly plotting to carry out a school shooting of their own until a teacher was tipped off about a possible concealed weapon, authorities said. The teacher at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres, near Fort Myers, alerted school administrators and a …

The Miami Herald reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis and his administration won approval on Friday to put a hold on a Leon County judge’s ruling that said the state could not enforce a ban on strict mask mandates in schools. The 1st District Court of Appeal agreed to a state request to reinstate a stay on Judge John Cooper’s ruling amid …

Florida Politics reports: Florida Democrats are piling on Gov. Ron DeSantis with demands he reverse his “appalling” decision not to reenlist the state in a pandemic-era program to bring federal food aid to 2.1 million children from low-income homes. Through his inaction, they said, DeSantis is blocking Florida’s neediest families from getting about $820 million in child food aid, which …

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: A Florida judge has blocked enforcement of Florida Gov. DeSantis’ controversial “anti-riot bill,” calling it unconstitutionally vague and potentially “a trap for the innocent.” A federal lawsuit challenging the controversial law signed by Gov. DeSantis was filed back in May, a month after he signed HB1 into law. The lawsuit, filed by multiple civil rights …

Reuters reports: A man and two women were arrested and charged with stealing the identities of seven victims of the Surfside condominium collapse near Miami Beach this summer and attempting to obtain credit cards in their names, a Florida prosecutor said on Wednesday. Betsy Alejandra Cacho-Medina, 30, Kimberly Michelle Johnson, 34, and Rodney Choute, 38, face multiple counts of identity …

Click Orlando reports: A judge on Wednesday again ruled against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mask policy for students, setting aside a stay to his initial ruling and allowing school districts to enact mask mandates as the case moves forward on appeal. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper ruled last month that DeSantis did not have the authority to stop …

Newsweek reports: Florida governor Ron DeSantis has dismissed speculation of a presidential run, although a recent poll has shown that in any case, he would be comfortably beaten in a hypothetical face-off with President Joe Biden in 2024. During a press conference to promote the opening of a monoclonal antibody treatment center in St Cloud, Osceola County, DeSantis tried to …

From the Broward County Sheriff’s Office: A Chicago woman was arrested after making a false bomb threat at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL). According to Broward Sheriff’s Office Threat Management Unit detectives at around 8:45 p.m., Monday, Sept. 6, BSO deputies responded to a bomb threat in Terminal 3 at FLL located at 200 Terminal Drive in Fort Lauderdale. On …

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports: Volusia County Councilman Fred Lowry is hospitalized with COVID-19, County Chair Jeff Brower announced Tuesday. “He is in the hospital wrestling with COVID-19. It’s been about three weeks now,” Brower said as Tuesday’s council meeting kicked off with Lowry’s chair empty for the second week. He attracted controversy this summer for promoting conspiracy theories, including …

The Palm Beach Post reports: For those wanting to know how many people are dying every day in their own communities – good luck. The state of Florida won’t say. Nor will most local public health officials. At least one county acknowledged it doesn’t know. Federal websites show either incomplete or inconsistent data for Florida’s counties. We know that Florida …