Florida State News

How Lionel Messi’s global tour with Inter Miami became a PR nightmare

Mon, 05 Feb 2024 09:01:51 +0000

The next stop is Tokyo's National Stadium on Wednesday against Vissel Kobe

‘An experience we’ll never get again:’ Whales spotted swimming in South Florida waters

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 23:48:44 +0000

The marine mammals were spotted in 40 feet of water near Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort.

Filth, rats and fear of reprisals: Life inside Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 20:04:40 +0000

The former socialite was found guilty of recruiting and trafficking underage girls for disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2021 and later sentenced to 20 years. As Maxwell prepares an appeal against her conviction, Andy Gregory reports on her life inside prison

Government watchdogs warn Florida legislation would have chilling effect in ethics cases

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 22:31:12 +0000

“We would be sitting on our hands,” said Jose Arrojo, the executive director of the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.

Police records reveal former FL GOP chairman accused of rape kept list of other women

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 14:11:46 +0000

New documents released by Sarasota police reveal the woman who accused former Florida Republican party chairman Christian Ziegler of rape told police he had been sexually battering her for years and never felt like she could say no to him, according to the records.

The 22-page document also included new details that the former Florida GOP heavy weight kept a list containing the names of several other women on his phone, including his accuser- titled THE LIST with a subheading labeled a graphic expletive.

The once rising star of Floridas republican party, along with his wife, a founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty who pushes traditional values as a sitting Sarasota school board member, have been embroiled in a head-turning, headline-making sex scandal ever since the accusers original allegation exposed the couples non-traditional personal lives.

During the investigation into claims Christian sexually assaulted the woman at her home in October, Christians wife, Bridget, revealed to police she and her husband had a threesome with the woman about a year earlier. Christian told police it was twice.

While police dropped the rape case pointing to video Christian took of the encounter suggesting it was consensual, these latest records also show the Zieglers discussed the womans personal issues with Christian describing her to his wife in a 2021 text as an alcoholic, nice person with some issues.

Bridget responded, I just dont want to feel like we ever take advantage of anyone (I know its always been consensual), but she seemsbroken.

Janae Thomas, a former prosecutor in Hillsborough County, explained how these details could still be relevant to other charges.

Sarasota police are recommending Christian be charged with video voyeurism for illegally taping the encounter.

It shows a pattern, it shows his history, it shows the motive, intent of how this has been progressing over the last few years, and the method in which he uses, Thomas said.

A method that, according to these records, also shows the couple had plans for more threesomes.

After the 2021 text from Bridget expressing concerns that they were taking advantage of the woman, Christian wrote how they needed to hunt for someone new.

The records also show after detectives interviewed Christian in November about the sexual assault allegations, his Google searches included:

How prearrest criminal investigations work Sexual battery settlement average Only Fans Sue for false allegations Subpoena Instagram Vanish

To date, no criminal charges have been filed against Christian Ziegler. Despite calls for Bridget Ziegler to step down from Sarasotas school board, so far, she hasnt.

Despite Florida's red flag law, gun-related deaths remain on the rise

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 14:10:20 +0000

In Focus: Red Flag Law Born Out of Tragedy What the Numbers Show About Florida's Red Flag Laws and Gun-Related Deaths Parkland Father Hails Red Flag Laws Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Voices Support for Red Flag Laws Do Red Flag Laws Reduce Gun-Related Deaths?

On a recent Thursday in Hillsborough County, Judge Denise Pomponio temporarily stripped gun privileges from more than a dozen people.

Among them, a husband and father who didnt show up to court but whose wife and son did and described the frightening moments before police arrived.

I turned around, and the gun was pointing straight at us, the wife told the court.

I saw him flip the safety off and aim it right at me. If my mom wasnt standing there, I think he would have shot me, the son explained.

There was the story of a thirty-year-old who called 911 upset police hadnt responded to his earlier call that his fianc stole his meds.

Ill tell you what, Ill grab the gun I got and go to the mall, he told a 911 operator.

Another was of a young woman whose boyfriend called law enforcement after she went to bed drunk and woke up making suicidal comments.

Im not going to do anything. I just think my medication is causing crazy mood swings, she told the cops at the time.

They are all among Floridas most recent red flag recipients.

Red Flag Law Born Out of Tragedy

The red flag law was passed in 2018 following the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The law was created to prevent future mass shootings and curb gun violence by letting police seek a court order barring someone from purchasing or possessing a gun for 12 months if a judge determines theyre a threat to themselves or others.

Since going into effect in the Sunshine State in March of 2018, Florida judges have granted more than 12,000 risk protection orders, or RPOs, according to Floridas Office of State Courts Administrator.

When asked if she thinks RPOS have saved lives, Judge Pomponio didnt hesitate.

Absolutely, she said. I mean, you got to try everything, she told investigative reporter Katie LaGrone recently after she sat in on a number of RPO hearings.

What the Numbers Show About Florida's Red Flag Law and Gun-Related Deaths

In Hillsborough County, state records show between 2018, when the law took effect, and March 2022, judges granted nearly 1,000 risk protection orders.

But between 2018 and 2022, gun-related murders increased in the county from 52 in 2018 to 83 in 2022, representing nearly a 60% increase, according to firearm death data maintained by Floridas Department of Health. During the same time, firearm suicide deaths went up only slightly, according to the states data.

Its a similar trend for gun-related deaths statewide.

An RPO injunction is a piece of paper. People need to remember that. Yes, we're glad they do it. But we always need to remember it's a piece of paper and people will find a way to do what they want to do, Judge Pomponio said.

Advocates who pushed for Floridas red flag law tout it as a major success.

"It's One of the Best Things We Did"

Tony Montalto lost his daughter, Gina, in the Parkland school shooting. He's been a huge advocate of Florida's red flag laws.

Its the proactive nature of this that we've seen that has been so effective, he told LaGrone recently. Its one of the best things we did, he said.

But even in the most proactive red flag counties, weve discovered theres little to no evidence that proves Floridas red flag law has done much to curb gun-related deaths.

"I'm Not Going to Apologize for Keeping People Safe"

To date, Polk County, a rural, conservative county about 45 miles west of Tampa, has issued over 2,300 risk protection orders, more than any other county in Florida.

The local sheriffs office, led by long-time sheriff and Second Amendment supporter Grady Judd, files the lions share.

Im not going to apologize for keeping people safe or stopping people from killing themselves, Sheriff Judd said.

The rate of gun-related suicides in Polk County dropped slightly between 2018 and 2022. The rate of gun-related murders shot up by more than 50%, from 2.8 to 4.3, state records show.

Its not a well-refined tool, but it's a tool, said attorney David Carmichael.

He represents local police departments in Polk County that file risk protection orders. An initial skeptic of red flag laws, he now believes, despite what the numbers show, RPOs are making his community safer.

In this circuit, we haven't had a mass shooting since we've implemented this, he said.

On the day we saw him in court, Carmichael was seeking an RPO against a 20-year-old who lives with depression and recently told his mom he wanted to buy a gun. The Judge granted the order. Most of the time, they do.

Do Red Flag Laws Help Reduce Gun-Related Deaths?

Dr. Shannon Frattaroli is a professor studying red flag laws at Johns Hopkins Universitys Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Frattaroli said its too soon to determine if red flag laws prevent gun-related deaths, but early studies show for every 10-20 risk protection orders granted, approximately one death by suicide was averted.

Those are pretty strong numbers. We've seen those consistently in two states now. So, early but promising, Frattaroli said.

Plane crashed into Florida mobile home park, several people killed

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:42:36 +0000

Several people were killed Thursday night when a small airplane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater.

I can confirm that we have several fatalities both from the aircraft and within the mobile home, Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said.

Friday morning, the FAA said it's preliminary report shows the pilot and two people on the ground were killed.

Chief Ehlers says the plane crashed into the Bayside Waters Mobile Home Park at about 7:15 p.m. He said the plane crashed into one home and three others also caught fire.

Chief Ehlers said the plane, a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza V35, crashed into the park after the pilot reported an engine failure. He said much of the damage was in the Pagoda Drive area in the park.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating.

Florida bills could streamline agriculture workforce housing

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 21:51:39 +0000

We all love fresh local crops, but with over 300 commodities produced in Florida, there is not enough domestic labor to harvest them. That's where H-2A temporary agricultural workers come into play, but one of the requirements to use the workforce is access to housing.

There are currently two bills working their way through Tallahassee to help streamline the process for AG landowners to build and install safe housing for their workforce.

Matt Joyner, the vice president and CEO of Citrus Mutual, says the current process in based on the local and county regulations. This legislation is said to make it a uniform process. Joyner adds without these workers, we would not be able to bring many of Florida's commodities to market.

Farmers advise heavily for domestic labor, but unfortunately those advertisements go unanswered, said Joyner. There is just not the workforce here in the state of Florida to provide for those jobs. And thats a good thing, because that means that we have other opportunities within the economy in Florida that keeps our unemployment low, but we do have to fill these jobs as well.

Joyer says there is hope that a form of these bills will move forward and will be signed by Governor DeSantis this legislative session.

As for our current citrus crops, Joyer says after several very tough years, this years crop is looking very promising.

Bill aims to end Florida’s ‘free kill’ law, but would add caps to how much victims could get

Tue, 23 Jan 2024 17:06:13 +0000

For the first time on Monday, Florida Senators debated a bill that could end what critics and impacted family members have long dubbed Floridas free kill law.

SB 248 aims to lift limitations that, for the past 33 years, have prevented some adult children or parents from suing a doctor or hospital if their unmarried parent or adult child dies over medical mistakes or negligence.

But it comes with what many families call a devastating and costly catch.

On Friday, Senator Clay Yarborough, who first introduced the bill, filed an amendment to end the law but add in caps, which means anyone who files a medical negligent claim against a Florida doctor would be limited to $500,000 per claimant and $750,000 if the case is against a nonpractitioner such as a hospital or medical office.

Yarborough called it a compromise that would help families seek justice but not at the expense of scaring away doctors from rising medical malpractice claims and costs, which was the law's original intent more than three decades ago.

Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone analyzed the law and found the states wrongful death law has not resulted in lower malpractice claims or costs. There is also little evidence medical malpractice claims and costs have scared doctors away from Florida, which lawmakers have used as a reason to keep the law in place.

On Monday, Yarborough introduced his bill in the Senate Committee on Judiciary, which he chairs, and started by acknowledging that the longstanding state law is a clear injustice.

His bill prompted dozens of reactions, both for and against. Senator Lauren Book of Miami filed an amendment to Yarboroughs amendment calling to strike the caps.

Im not sure trading one injustice for another is the right way to go, Book said.

Book has introduced bills to repeal the law in the past, but those bills were never heard.

Her amendment was quickly shot down.

Other insiders called Yarboroughs amended bill a fair compromise, citing, without evidence, how caps help bring balance to medical malpractice claims.

Tampa-based attorney Andy Bolin represents the medical industry and spoke on behalf of the Florida Justice Reform, a lobbying group that supports tort reform.

If were to expand claimants, then there must be a counterbalance, he said.

Cindy Jenkins, whose 25-year-old daughter Taylor was unmarried and had no children when she died in a hospital after Jenkins said she had a brain bleed that went untreated for hours after she was rear-ended at a traffic light, believes cap would just be another slap in the face since attorneys are unlikely to take a case that would yield such a low payout.

For some reason, the goal of our legislators and the lobbyists who protect the hospitals, doctors, and insurance companies is they don't want us to have justice administered fairly and impartially, she said.

You cannot imagine the pain we suffer every day, said Belynda Warren, who lost her mother to medical negligence.

One couple brought their 13-month-old daughter to the podium to show lawmakers how the baby, who was born with two healthy hands, is now slowly losing all her fingers on one hand because her circulation was cut off while she was under medical care for an unrelated issue.

Advocates who oppose caps cited two medical negligent cases that involved caps and were deemed unconstitutional by Floridas Supreme Court. Yarborough said his amended bill calls for a different setup and felt confident it would clear any court battle.

Despite strong opposition from families, lawmakers voted to move Yarboroughs bill forward but not without acknowledging more changes may still be needed given what and whos at stake.

We need to find a balance with this. I believe there is an openness to all sides, and I am open to ideas, Yarborough said.

This is just the first hurdle. Two other bills on the topic have also been introduced in the House and Senate, but so far, they have not been scheduled for a hearing.

Florida's State Board of Education passes rule to 'permanently prohibit' DEI at public colleges

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 23:13:34 +0000

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Florida's State Board of Education announced Wednesday they have implemented "strict regulations" to limit the use of public funds for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, activities and policies at the 28 state college campuses.

The board said the rule prohibits Florida College System institutions from using state or federal funds to administer programs that "categorize individuals based on race or sex for the purpose of differential or preferential treatment."

In addition to the passage of the new rule, the State Board of Education said they also replaced the course "Principles of Sociology" with a course in American History.

"The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation's past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course," the FDOE said in a statement.

Targeting DEI has been a key talking point of Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state's education department during his second term in office.

Wednesday's announcement by state education officials comes after DeSantis signed a bill into law last year that eliminated state or federal spending on DEI programs at publicly-funded colleges in Florida.

The governor also asked Florida's public colleges and universities in 2023 to report how much money they are spending on DEI. He later said they self-reported at least $34 million.

"Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies," Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said Wednesday. "These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers' money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society."

Meanwhile, Black leaders have pushed back on the initiatives to limit DEI at state colleges, saying DeSantis is playing politics in his pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination.

Some students have expressed worries that campuses across the state won't be as welcoming to minorities in light of the changes.

The nonprofit Equality Florida released the following statement regarding passage of the new rule:

There's no surprise today that the State Board of Education, a board that has been a rubber stamp for Governor Ron DeSantis's agenda of censorship and surveillance, moved forward with another sweepingly broad rule that abolishes diversity and inclusion programs in the Florida College System. The Board's rules go well beyond whats required by Governor DeSantis's already extreme SB 266, handcuffing state colleges from using any state-funded resources on diversity programs that help recruit talented faculty, support students with unique needs, and help Florida's colleges compete for national research and funding. This is a brazenly political attack on Florida's colleges, and all minorities in Florida, and is one more way state agencies have been weaponized to support Governor DeSantis's failing political ambitions. Shame on the State Board of Education for passing rules that weaken and threaten Florida's colleges in service to one more manufactured culture war."

Article by: Scott Sutton

New state data reveals slight dip in Fla. teachers leaving, but reasons why vary

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:37:05 +0000

New data released by Floridas Department of Education shows last year, the number of teachers who left the classroom was slightly down from record high resignations the year prior.

While that is some good news, Florida investigative reporter Katie LaGrone found there are still serious concerns about what's really driving teachers out.

I can't say that salary wasn't a considerable factor for a lot of my friends and myself who were looking elsewhere, said Megan Young, who just left her job as a high school English teacher in St. Augustine.

Young took the unusual step of calling it quits in the middle of a school year.

I was mentoring teachers in my profession who were making the same amount of money as me, and I had 14 years experience and a master's degree, Young told LaGrone recently.

Colleen Petersen's emotions are still high after 32 years of teaching in St. Lucie County ended when politics ultimately pushed her away this past summer.

When I got that email saying you have to pack up your library and you couldn't put it out for the beginning of the school year until it was approved. I was like, 'No Im done.' So now my books are all sitting in a warehouse in Port St. Lucie not being used by kids, she said as she grew emotional.

Shawna Berger in Hillsborough County said there was a little bit of everything that finally forced the high school English teacher out.

Especially in Florida and around the time of the pandemic, there was a lot of political contention surrounding public education whether we, as teachers wanted to be involved in it or not," Berger said.

She continued, "Then the teaching salaries not matching the rising cost of living in Florida. All of these factors just contributed to me thinking, Id like to see what else is out there for me."

As Florida continues struggling to recruit new teachers, Young, Petersen and Berger are among the thousands of existing teachers still making the decision to leave the profession.

State data we recently obtained through a public record request to Floridas Department of Education (FLDOE) showed last year, just over 18,000 publicly employed teachers, or just under 10% of the states total, left their jobs in the classroom.

The latest numbers represented less than a half a percent decrease from a year earlier when pandemic stresses and politically motivated policies were widely blamed for a record-breaking teacher exodus in the state totaling more than 19,000 teacher separations.

The data showed at the local level, districts around the state also experienced a slight drop in teachers leaving but not enough to make much of a dent in easing those vacancy rates which remain a huge problem in Florida and could get worse.

The FLDOE now projects teacher vacancies could surpass 10,000 during the 2024/2025 school year, according to recent documents that will be presented to the Board of Education this week.

Its still a really large number, said Andrew Spar, head of Floridas largest teachers union, when asked about the number of teachers leaving and the slight drop year over year.

The data also revealed, In broad terms, why teachers leave. According to the state, the number one driving force last year was personal reasons. Number two was retirement, and number three was described as reasons not known.

I would bet that for many of those, it's because of financial reasons, its because they can't do their jobs anymore, and it's because of the increased stress and anxiety that teachers are feeling in the classroom right now, said Spar.

High school English teacher Phillip Belastro, whos still teaching in St. Petersburg, doesnt disagree with Spars thoughts.

There's just a lot of a lot of state meddling in local affairs, he said. Why wouldn't you just go where they're going to pay you more and your money is going to go further?

Which is why, Belcastro said, this year will likely be his last year teaching in Florida, and he predicts hes far from being alone.

Why would you subject yourself to the pay, to the overreach and to the working off the clock? Its pretty wild so I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet, he said.

Bridget Ziegler shows no signs she’s planning to step down from school board amid sex scandal

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:56:18 +0000

Bridget Ziegler isnt going anywhereat least, thats the message she appears to want the public to know.

On Tuesday, the embattled conservative school board member caught in a three-way sex scandal with her husband and another woman still didnt budge as her future on Sarasotas school board, once again, became the focus of public comment, criticism and ridicule.

Your involvement is a distraction, said one citizen.

Our meetings have become a circus, said another.

Bridget, an original Moms for Liberty founder whose political platform has focused on eliminating LGBTQ+ rhetoric in public schools while advocating for traditional Christian family values, has faced a mountain of scrutiny over her apparent hypocrisy after rape allegations lodged against her husband exposed the couples untraditional personal lives.

Court records show Bridget admitted to police that she and her husband Christian, former chair of Floridas Republican Party, had a consensual three-way sexual encounter with a woman now accusing him of rape during a separate, more recent planned hook-up that Bridget backed out of. (Christian Ziegler denies the allegation, claiming the encounter was consensual).

Tuesday night, Bridget remained, for the most part, stone-faced, tearing up only briefly amid nearly three hours of public comment where few showed their support while the majority said it was time for her to go.

Frankly, it doesnt seem fair to you guys, Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone said to Board Chairwoman Karen Rose about Bridget's ongoing presence on the board, which, for the past two board meetings, has inspired about three hours of public comment before board members could begin discussing official district business.

I dont control what happens at this point, what a board member's decision is or what our governors decisions are. I dont control that," Rose said.

Last month, Rose led efforts to pass a resolution seeking Bridget's resignation, but the resignation lacks teeth and was passed as a symbolic gesture. The only person who can remove Bridget is the governor, who has been a political ally, endorsing her for the school board seat.

Governor DeSantis also appointed Bridget to serve on the board of his controversial Disney Reedy Creek District.

But citizens who came out Tuesday night are determined their voices will control what happens next for Bridget, whose ongoing presence, they believe, will continue to only be a distraction.

We wont stop until youre gone, multiple members of the public said.

Bridget didnt offer any comment to the public and quickly left the meeting, refusing to answer any questions from the media.

Meantime, her husband Christian, who was recently forced out of his job with the GOP, has denied the allegations, calling his sexual encounter with the accuser consensual.

Sports betting in Florida may hinge on decision from state supreme court

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 23:16:35 +0000

The future of sports betting in the Sunshine State could hinge on a decision by its highest court.

Justices at the Florida Supreme Court are now mulling whether or not to weigh in on a legal challenge alleging the bets are an illegal expansion of gaming under the state constitution.

During the holiday break on Tuesday of last week, West Flagler Associates which represents racing and track betting companies made a final plea for the high court to take up the case.

The group wants justices to strike down the practice, considering it a violation of Amendment 3 in the state Constitution a 2018 provision that empowers voters to decide whether more gaming is needed in Florida.

Attorneys wrote that justices should step in to "vindicate the People's exclusive right to control the expansion of casino gambling in Florida."

Online sports betting was approved in the 2021 Seminole Gaming Compact. It continues to have the backing of the Legislature, the governor and the tribe. The compact's key provision required sports betting servers be on Seminole land though critics have maintained that was just a ploy to circumvent the law.

A protracted legal battle on the federal level has raged ever since. It temporarily shelved sports betting until favorable rulings late last year restarted the program, for now at least.

"Yeah, the Seminole Tribe had the legal right to, you know, relaunch their online sportsbook," Daniel Wallach, an attorney at Wallach Legal, said, "but that doesn't necessarily mean the cases are over."

Wallach is a sports betting attorney in Florida who also teaches at the University of Miami School of Law as an adjunct professor. He said it's unclear what will happen next.

While the federal court battle continues and could drag on for months even reaching the U.S. Supreme Court Wallach believed the state court would want to act faster. He estimated that could happen within the first quarter of the year. Justices could either take up the issue as requested, send it to a lower court, do nothing or set oral arguments to hear everyone out.

Wallach was betting justices will want to take a look.

"This goes to the, you know, the people's right of initiative the constitutional power of the electorate to set gambling policy," Wallach said. "And if that's usurped or frustrated, I think that's an issue that demands the attention of the Florida Supreme Court in the first instance."

Time will tell whether the justices agree. They could decide at any time. Rulings usually come on Thursdays, but with the holidays, court officials have said not to expect regular opinions until at least next week.

In the meantime, it's game on for those wanting to wager.

Florida lawmakers trying to make road safer with expanded “move over" law

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 22:53:57 +0000

When you pull over to the side of the road, you want to feel safe. If you have to stop on the shoulder of a highway it can be pretty nerve-wracking when people dont move a lane over. A new law going into effect at the start of the new year aims to change that.

"When you see police on the side of the road, people stopped, they don't move over," said Cape Coral driver Jameson Connors.

Others, like Kara Ohlsen, pointed out a lack of awareness.

There are a lot of people that don't even know that you're supposed to move over when there's an emergency in general ambulance, firetruck, police car with their lights on," she explained.

David Keith, also from Cape Coral, shared his frightening experience.

I was trying to change a flat tire and didnt have enough room in the emergency lane," Keith said. "People seemed to slow down a little bit, but some people just dont care and will come by doing 90 miles per hour without a second thought.

Florida currently requires drivers to safely move over a lane if there are stopped law enforcement or emergency vehicles with displayed warning lights.

Cape Coral Police Officer Mercedes Phillips shed light on the change Florida lawmakers are putting into effect.

But now, they realized it needed to be expanded to people who, you know, could just be changing a tire on the side of the road," Phillips said.

Phillips said starting January 1 drivers will have to move over for any vehicle stopped with their warning lights on, an emergency flare or signage displayed or anytime there is a vehicle stopped with people visibly present.

If its not possible to change lanes, drivers must reduce their speed by 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.

Enforcement of the law will involve police giving tickets to drivers who dont move over."

FSU Board of Trustees votes unanimously to sue ACC

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 22:36:21 +0000

The Florida State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday morning to file a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). This is the second time FSUs athletic department has been involved in legal action in 10 days.

In this latest round, FSU wants out of the ACC and doesn't want to pay the $572 million penalty to leave. The lawsuit says the ACC breached its contract with the university by not making enough money on media rights. It also says the conference violated Florida's antitrust laws.

"We have exhausted all possible remedies within the conference, and we must do what's best for Florida State not only in the short term, but in the long term," said Board Chair Peter Collins, FSU Board of Trustees.

Collins went on to say that this is not about what happened with the College Football Playoff.

FSU was left out of the top four, even though it had an undefeated season. This is the first time a Power 5 conference champion without a loss has not had a chance to play for the national title. Collins says this lawsuit has been in the works for more than a year because of concerns about the ACC leadership and its future.

Following the FSU decision, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips released a statement saying:

"Florida State's decision to file action against the Conference is in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the other members of the Conference."

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is also looking into the snub by the College Football Playoff. She sent a subpoena on December 12 as part of an antitrust investigation by the state into why the team was left out. In a recent budget budget proposal, Governor Ron Desantis wants to set aside million of dollars for any litigation expenses.

"We don't expect to change the outcome, but folks want answers, and they want to ensure the purity of process," Moody said.

If FSU leaves the ACC, the next question is what conference will it move to? Athletic director Michael Alford told The Athletic in November that not joining a conference and going independent was not a true option.

Border crisis deniers are 'not in touch with reality,' Florida sheriff says

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 21:59:02 +0000

Its been a little over a year since a statewide grand jury began investigating the impacts of illegal immigration in Florida.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was one of the first law enforcement officers who provided testimony to the statewide panel. He recently sat down with us to discuss the rare ongoing probe.

Judd, a popular Florida sheriff known for his blunt quips and no-nonsense approach to crime and criminals, is a staunch conservative in a rural and predominately Republican county.

Judds county is also where the grand jury is based and has spent the last year hearing testimony from law enforcement and insiders about the role human smugglers and the drug cartel play in illegal immigration in the state, along with federal loopholes and the impacts on migrant children sent here without a parent.

Judd, who supports Governor Ron DeSantis controversial immigration reform policies, was among the first people interviewed as part of the states investigation.

I can't talk about my grand jury testimony at all because it's still confidential, he told us recently. But I can tell you, as a sheriff, the problems that Im seeing day to day, week to week, year in and year out. And the people who don't believe we have a border crisis are just not in touch with reality, he said.

To date, the states grand jury has issued five reports offering wide-ranging recommendations to curb illegal immigration into the state - from taxing migrants who send money back home to creating new mandates limiting help for migrant children who arrive here without a parent or guardian.

The grand jury, which estimates there are now nearly one million people living in Florida illegally, has also recommended holding employers who hire undocumented workers more accountable and criminalizing people who help transport or house them.

When asked how he would enforce some of those recommendations without targeting immigrants, Judd responded, I would never target someone who is not violating the law. The way you would come across somebody would be if a violation were occurring and you're chasing a criminal, and someone's hiding the criminal, he said. But let's make it abundantly clear, we're not the immigration police, Judd said before reiterating that immigrants who follow the law are not on my radar screen.

But John Barry, an immigration attorney with the Orlando Center for Justice, fears Florida has already forced many hard-working migrants to leave.

There's a great deal of fear, and there's a great deal of uncertainty, he said. The state grand jury, coupled with new state laws cracking down on illegal immigration in the state and Governor Ron DeSantis infamous migrant flights, are all state-funded actions, Barry believes, that have less to do with effective policy and more about cementing political ambitions.

It is not designed or tailored to address unlawful immigration. It doesn't care about that, he said about the grand jury. It is only trying to score political points to satisfy the presidential ambitions of the Governor, he said.

When asked if the DeSantis administrations actions give the impression Florida is targeting all immigrants in the state, Judd replied, If you illegally enter a country, any country, you're going to be subject to the laws and the rules and the regulations that occur. If you don't want to worry about that, then don't go into the country illegally, Sheriff Judd said.

The grand jury has been extended to April 2024. While the panel has made several recommendations, those recommendations still must be presented to and approved by the legislature before they become active.

What's next for Sarasota School Board with Bridget Ziegler not resigning

Wed, 13 Dec 2023 20:34:51 +0000

Despite her fellow school board members voting in favor of her resignation and more than three hours of public comment, most of them pushing for her to go, parental rights advocate Bridget Ziegler doesnt appear to be giving up her seat on Sarasota Countys school board anytime soon.

Sarasota school board votes to seek resignation from Bridget Ziegler amid ongoing sex scandal

What does it say about Mrs. Ziegler if she doesn't resign Reporter Katie LaGrone asked board member Tom Edwards one day after the vote.

If you go back onto her social media after the Vermillion vote went down, she said and I quote, 'I will not back down to the woke mob,' Edwards said, referring to a proposal introduced by Ziegler earlier this year that would have hired Vermillion Education, a Hillsdale College-associated consultant to review policies and curriculum for the district. [The board voted against hiring Vermillion).

Edwards, whos openly gay and the sole Democrat on the board, has been a leading critic of Zieglers who has pushed anti-LGBTQ and politically driven Christian policies in the district.

The pain she felt last night is the pain that she inflicted on LGBTQ plus students, trans students, and black students with her rule policies that were conjured up in Tallahassee, Edwards said.

Ziegler, an original Moms for Liberty co-founder whos credited for helping to craft what critics call Floridas Dont Say Gay bill, is currently at the center of a highly publicized sex scandal.

Her husband, Christian Ziegler, is head of Floridas Republican party and was recently accused of rape by a woman Bridget admitted she and her husband had a consensual three-way sexual encounter with.

During Tuesday nights meeting, Ziegler listened to the criticism and some support but, ultimately, seemed unfazed. At one point she sought clarification over a resignation vote that doesnt actually do anything.

This does not have any teeth, correct? Ziegler asked the boards attorney.

Edwards believes moving forward with Ziegler still on the board will be tough.

Every word that comes out of her mouth will be questioned: is it hypocrisy, is a truth, or is it political? She cannot function as a school board school board member, he said.

Ziegler has not responded to our requests for comment, nor has she said if she will resign or not. Governor Ron DeSantis has asked her husband to resign. So far, he hasnt, but this Sunday, the GOP Party of Florida will hold a special meeting to determine his fate.

While the Governor has the power to remove Bridget Ziegler from office, Governor DeSantis has not said if he thinks she should resign from the board. The Governor endorsed Bridget Ziegler during the most recent school board election last year.

Pressure increases for Bridget Ziegler to resign from school board amid scandal

Tue, 12 Dec 2023 19:37:20 +0000

The attention surrounding the personal sex life of Sarasota County school board member Bridget Ziegler is now the basis of mounting pressure for her to quit her public life with the board.

I am not concerned with the salacious details of the Zieglers sexcapades, said Tom Edwards, one of two Sarasota County School board members calling for Ziegler to step down from the role with the board.

My focus as an elected official overseeing student outcomes and academic achievement is to remove the distraction as quickly as possible and get back to the business at hand, he said.

The calls for Zieglers resignation followed the release of Sarasota court records that reveal Ziegler engaged in a consensual three-way sexual encounter with her husband, Christian, and another woman just over a year ago.

That woman is now accusing Zieglers husband, Christian, of rape. Christian Ziegler is head of Floridas Republican party. Despite calls for his own resignation, including calls from the Governor, Christian Ziegler has not resigned from his position with the GOP.

Meantime, his wifes future with the school board appears to also be on shaky ground.

Bridget Ziegler was first appointed to Sarasotas school board in 2014 by then-Governor Rick Scott. Shes been re-elected twice, campaigning on protecting parental rights and conservative values, including keeping critical race theory out of the classroom and sex education focused on biology, not pleasure, according to her campaign website.

Ziegler, who was a co-founder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, is also credited for helping to lay the groundwork for what critics would later dub Floridas Dont Say Gay law.

We don't take issue with her choice to engage in the sexual activities that she's engaged in. That's her personal choice. The problem is the hypocrisy, the blatant hypocrisy to call out others and talk about morality and family values while engaging in the activities that she's engaged in, said Lisa Schurr, head of the Sarasota chapter for Support our Schools, a liberal advocacy group.

But the latest calls for Zieglers resignation from the school board arent coming from just the left.

Sarasota County school board chair, Karen Rose, a conservative ally, sent us the following statement

Our community has been rocked by the disturbing revelations surrounding my fellow school board member, Bridget Ziegler, and the criminal allegations against her husband, Christian Ziegler. For the good of our students, teachers, staff, and community, I will be calling on Mrs. Ziegler to step down from her position on the school board. Given the intense media scrutiny locally and nationally, her continued presence on the board would cause irreparably harmful distractions to our critical mission.

On Tuesday, the school will vote on a resolution to formally ask Ziegler to resign from her position. As of Monday afternoon, Ziegler has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

No formal charges have been filed against Christian Ziegler.

Questions surround newly opened "freedom-clinic" in Venice

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 15:55:46 +0000

In the quiet beachside city of Venice on Floridas west coast, a new freedom-based healthcare clinic is already making waves.

I don't understand why people are so judgmental towards us, said clinic co-owner Tanya Parus.

At the office, medical freedom is not just words on mobile billboard parked outside, its a guiding principle inside explained Parus, who opened the We the People Health and Wellness Center back in September.

When Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone asked what medical freedom means, Parus responded, The freedom to make your own healthcare decisions without being pushed or forced to do anything that you don't want to do.

Parus, a mom of two and former EMT, said she was inspired to open the primary care clinic after what she witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People were not going to see their doctor because they were scared, she said. They didn't want to get vaccinated and felt pressured to do things that they didn't want to do.

Parus, local chapter president of the conservative group Moms for America, is also part of a right-wing movement in Sarasota County that took off during the pandemic amid lockdowns and mask mandates. At one point, she helped hundreds of parents get signed waivers exempting their kids from having to wear masks to school.

We had over 3000 people in line. It was insane, she recalled about the anti-mask event.

Today, some of the same doctors and nurses who signed those mask exemption forms work at her clinic, and she said many of the families they helped are among their estimated 400 patients.

Patient motivated or politically driven?

Throughout the clinic, images of the American flag hang alongside pictures depicting freedom, liberty, and the constitution that inspired its name. In the clinics main hallway, a banner replicating the Constitution highlights the name of the clinic.

Theres no political motivation, Parus insists about the banner. This is not political, okay. To us, this means freedom, she said.

Its a crusade, she knows, draws public criticism and, she admits, distrust in mainstream media.

During our recent visit, a photographer suddenly started filming us and wouldnt stop even after one of the doctors asked everyone to stop rolling.

Clinics touts ivermectin & hydroxychloroquine but says not to all vaccines.

At a time when freedom has become a popular catchphrase for conservative politics in Florida, Parus believes her clinic offers patients an alternative to government-controlled healthcare and what she calls government overreach.

The clinic doesnt accept insurance. Instead, patients pay a monthly subscription rate that ranges from $50 for kids to $165 for adults over 65.

Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, malaria drugs touted by the right but not approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19, are welcomed and prescribed at the clinic, while medically proven vaccinations of any kind arent even an option.

So, no flu shots, asked Investigative Reporter LaGrone?

No, ma'am, said Parus.

What about child vaccines, asked LaGrone.

We don't do any vaccines, explained Parus who said patients are given informed consent about the clinics policies and practices. [Parus also said they will refer patients to the local health department for vaccines if the patient asks.]

Were being silenced and threatened, said a clinic doctor who was terminated over controversial views.

I spent my entire career as a promoter of traditional childhood vaccines, said Dr. Renata Moon, the clinics pediatrician. Moons controversial views on the COVID-19 vaccine left her questioned, investigated, and even discredited by a previous employer.

We're being silenced and threatened, she told us.

Before working at the clinic, Moon was a licensed doctor in Washington State and a professor at Washington State University.

But after publicly questioning the COVID vaccine during a roundtable in DC last year that was hosted by COVID-19 critic U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, Washington State University didnt renew her contract. In a letter from the colleges interim dean, Moon was called out for contributing to the possible spread of misinformation.

Today, Moon remains under investigation by the Washington Medical Commission.

I would say the world changed. I don't think I changed, she said about her views which are now critical of all vaccines.

Another clinic doctor has a problem past.

These drug companies, they don't create cures. They create customers, said Dr. Michelle Scott, who treats adults at the clinic. Scott said she was recruited after getting fired from an urgent care center for refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic.

I was ready to leave anyways. I didnt like the job, she said about her termination.

Scott is a proud anti-vaxxer whose personal website is riddled with government criticism and unproven or unapproved treatments for COVID-19.

Patient perspective: Im not saying that all doctors are bad.

Patients we spoke with buy into the clinics more natural approach, less government approach.

I wont ever take a vaccine again, said the clinics oldest patient, Richard, who is 86 years old. You cant tell me God wants me to change what he created."

Im not saying that all the doctors out there are bad, but I think the insurance companies greatly influence what they have to do, said Steve Martin Smith, who joined the clinic with his wife after not going to a doctor for 20 years.

Is the clinic doing anything wrong?

But Dr. Steven Rosenberg, a Florida dermatologist who leads a state panel that determines if a doctor should be disciplined, has concerns.

When asked if the clinic is doing anything wrong, Rosenberg responded, I guess it depends on how you define wrong, he said. By law, what they're doing is legal. Whether it is consistent with the standard of care is another question.

There's always somebody who's going to try to take advantage of those individuals who may not be sophisticated enough to really appreciate what is the appropriate treatments, Rosenberg added.

You believe that this is a group that's taking advantage of people as opposed to offering them something different, asked reporter LaGrone.

Well, they found a little niche for themselves of people who believe in this, and they're taking advantage financially, said Rosenberg.

When asked what Parus would tell people who see her and her clinic as a group of conservative political activists offering quackery to patients, Parus responded, I don't know about quackery. Just because you have a difference of opinion doesn't mean that you're not right in your own way. We have our own thing. Come take a visit, take a tour."

Florida has yet to release results from its new teen health survey

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 15:19:07 +0000

What happened to Floridas newly created teen health survey? Thats a question weve been asking for months.

This summer, Floridas Department of Education (FDOE) was scheduled to release results from its new voluntary teen survey after it was distributed to students earlier this year.

But those results never came.

Four months later, stillnothing.

Why are the results of this newly created Florida survey so important, Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone recently asked Dr. Lawrence Friedman with the University of Miami Health System. To see exactly what our Florida youth are experiencing."

Dr. Friedman specializes in adolescent medicine. For years, he relied on the CDCs voluntary youth risk behavior survey to spot trends, compare Florida teen behavior to youth across the country, and determine how to treat young patients at a higher risk of engaging in risky behavior.

But last year, Florida announced it would no longer participate in the federal study known as the Youth Risk Behavior Study or YRBS. At the time, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz called the federal study inflammatory and sexualized.

The YRBS is a voluntary questionnaire that has long been used by states to measure potentially dangerous behavior among teens in the U.S. Questions focus on a range of topics, from drug use and sexual behavior to violence, exercise, and nutrition.

After rejecting the federal study, Diaz announced Florida would create its own youth survey.

This summer, we obtained a copy through a public records request. We found Floridas teen survey focused more on the states new resiliency standards than risky teen behavior like sex, drugs, and violence.

I have been wanting to see the results of this survey and what we can glean from it because I was concerned, explained Caitlyn Clibbon, Director of Community and Healthcare Services for Disability Rights Florida.

Clibbon was a member of the states workgroup that helped create the states new survey. In previous interviews, she told us how she raised several concerns about the new survey and how it focused too much on resiliency and character traits rather than actual teen behavior.

Despite her concerns, the state which contracted with the University of South Florida to create the survey, moved forward. This spring, the survey was distributed to select high schools. Its unclear which high schools received the voluntary survey since the FDOE refused to release that information to us, citing the information was exempt from public disclosure due to trade secrets.

To date, Clibbon hasnt heard a thing about how students responded to the survey.

It's radio silence. Maybe the results on the resiliency standards are not as desirable as they (FDOE) would have liked, she theorized when asked if there would be any reason the state would want to delay publishing the results.

A spokesperson from FDOE sent us an email back in September stating they were working with the University of South Florida to compile and review survey results.

Despite multiple requests, they havent responded to us since.

Without results, youth advocates in Florida are left to wonder what Floridas new teen survey shows about teen behavior and resiliency and why the state has yet to make it all public.

I would love to be proved wrong and see that this is a great survey, providing very good information. But right now, it's providing us no information, said Clibbon.

Impact Check: How effective is Florida’s revenge porn law?

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 20:25:36 +0000

Yes, Im a victim of revenge porn

Madison Conradis wants you to know what shes been through.

Yes, I'm a victim of revenge porn but I hate that term, she told us recently. You hear revenge porn, and you automatically think disgruntled ex-boyfriend. That's not always the case. That wasn't the case with me, she said.

Instead, it was a casual friend from college who she never had an intimate relationship with but left her personally exposed and publicly humiliated.

I found out by waking up one morning to just floods of messages. Hey, just so you know, there's photos of you everywhere, she recalled.

For Madison, the images stemmed from a professional photo shoot she was a part of in 2011 for a modeling portfolio.

Sexy, she described, but not pornographic. Then the photographers account got hacked and several of Madisons images got stolen.

By 2015, photos Madison never intended for the public to see were being posted and shared online hundreds, even thousands of times, she explained.

They would send photos to my boss, my parents, my friends, my sister. Literally, anyone you could think of just try to harass you and make your life miserable.

The law

Florida, like most states in the U.S., has made revenge porn a crime.

Known formally as sexual cyber harassment, the Florida law was passed in 2015 and makes it illegal to electronically distribute sexually explicit images of a person without his or her consent.

Last year, after Florida Senator Lauren Book became a victim herself, the legislature unanimously voted to strengthen Floridas law by doubling fines and adding penalties for stealing or manipulating images.

But across the state, weve discovered, Floridas revenge porn law rarely results in criminal prosecutions.

Few cases end up in Florida courts

Using state court data, we obtained through a public information request; the data shows since 2017 less than 800 people have been criminally charged with violating Floridas sexual cyberharassment law in Florida.

Thats about 8 people per month statewide, with some of the states most populous counties logging some the fewest cases.

In Hillsborough County, about 80 cases involving Floridas revenge porn law have been filed. In Palm Beach, just 31. And Broward, just nine cases have been filed since the law took effect 8 years ago.

Understanding why revenge porn cases dont show up in court

Sadly, in a lot of these cases, people don't know that there's even a law in place to protect them, explained Stephanie Myron, a West Palm Beach attorney who specializes in cyber sexual harassment and stalking.

Revenge porn, she explained, is prevalent.

I get calls almost daily from all over the state and all over the country, she said.

But Myron is not surprised the number of criminal cases citing the law is low.

Most of her clients just want the images taken down, something a civil injunction can accomplish without the costly, time-consuming and often emotionally draining criminal pursuit.

They don't want to have to testify again, they don't want to have to drag this out. They don't want to have to be deposed or talk about this or face it, she said.

Jurisdictional challenges also stall criminal cases says attorney and victim advocate Elisa DAmico. DAmico helped get Floridas law passed and currently sits on the advisory board for the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative.

The group offers free legal services to victims of revenge porn.

Many times, Ive had someone come and say I talked to this law enforcement department, but I live here, and they said I have to go where that the perpetrator lives. Then I went there, and they said, but you don't live here. So, it's like pinball and the victim is the pinball, DAmico explained.

While efforts to create a uniform federal law are in the works, Myron and DAmico believe educating local law enforcement about the states existing law is still needed.

Building the case herself

For Madison Conradis, it took several visits to her local police just to get a report filed.

I think that a lot of the people that work in law enforcement don't necessarily know all the laws, she said when asked about the challenges she faced.

Madison ended up building the case herself. With help from her twin sister whos a Florida attorney, the sisters managed to unmask Madisons online stalker and discovered he had done the same thing to five other victims, including a then 14-year-old girl.

I think we both knew that we could make a change, she said.

Madisons case eventually got the attention of the FBI.

Victory after being victimized

In 2021, six years after Madisons pictures first surfaced online without her knowledge or consent, Christopher Buonocore, an acquaintance from college, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for cyberstalking and sextortion. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-15-years-federal-prison-cyberstalking-and-sextortion

It doesn't seem real sometimes, Madison explained. But it feels good to be where we're at now. Were on the side of healing. We've put the person in jail, and we're advocating now, she said.

Starting with educating victims and police about a law thats been on the books in Florida for years but is rarely showing up in court.

In response to our findings, Florida Senator Lauren Books office sent us the following statement:

<i>Unfortunately, I understand firsthand the harm that comes from the rise in digital crimes, harassment, and trafficking of images. This kind of crime can ruin lives; once stolen and unconsented materials are posted online, they never really go away leading to an endless, vicious cycle of predation and re-victimization. With young people living their lives more and more through digital devices, I fear we are only going to see an uptick in this criminal digital predation. While weve made great strides in Florida, more must be done on the federal level to provide legal recourse for platforms that host these trafficked images. Unfortunately, the law has not caught up with the realities of our digital world.</i> Watch more of our Impact Checks

'It begs us to do better': FHP's fight against fatality crashes

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 01:44:23 +0000

Every car in the Florida Highway Patrol evidence parking lot has a story. The story starts with a driver behind a wheel.

The ending could be the loss of life, a person was seriously injured or a driver is now behind bars.

Florida Highway Patrol works day in and day out trying to prevent crashes so you do not get a knock at your door.

"Your loved one was involved in a motor vehicle crash," said Lt. Greg Bueno with FHP, who has had to tell that phrase to families for the past 28 years.

Between the six southwest Florida counties, law enforcement has had to break that news nearly 400 times in the past two years.

Bueno says he has been to thousands of crashes, and would hate to even put a number on it.

He has seen the worst of the worst, and what's left over of those crashes go in the evidence impound lot Fox 4 got special access to.

At one time, they can have up to 180 vehicles in it, but they're more than just that.

"You can just automatically tell theres just no way conceivable that someone could survive this crash," Bueno said about a mangled truck. "This is someones son, someones daughter, mother, father, child, grandparent."

The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles crash data dashboard tracks every crash in the state.

As of November 18, 196 people have died in a crash in southwest Florida. Keep in mind, the year isn't over.

In 2022, 265 people died. Bueno says there are many factors involved.

"We have more people now," he said. "Its more congested."

With tourists coming in, they're on high alert.

"Were certainly getting bigger and naturally, every year were concerned because naturally we get an influx of population, during the season time especially," Bueno explained.

Drivers are not just sharing the road with other cars. You have bicyclists and people walking.

"If a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, or a vulnerable user in excess of 30 mph, there is a 50:50 chance that person is going to lose their life," Bueno said.

He says when it comes to crashes, there's no common denominator.

"Certainly speeding, following too close and distractions," he said. "Then you couple in your impaired drivers, your sleepy drivers, your red light runners."

While not every crash is the same, there is a common theme.

"They are preventable by being responsible, being cautious, abiding by all Florida traffic laws," Bueno said. "Your actions matter every single time you get behind the wheel."

Actions you can take to protect yourself, others and families so no one gets a knock at their door with a heart wrenching message from law enforcement.

"If this is not a solemn reminder to all of us to do better put our phones down, abide by the speed limit, drive sober, well-rested," he said. "...do all those necessary things to prevent tragedies like this."

THE SHOW MUST GO ON: Supreme Court blocks new Florida drag show law...for now

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 22:00:25 +0000

The Supreme Court said Thursday it will not allow Florida to enforce its new law targeting drag shows, while a court case proceeds.

The justices refused to narrow a lower-court order that has prohibited the law from being enforced statewide.

Florida had asked the court to allow its anti-drag show law to be enforced everywhere except at the Hamburger Marys restaurant in Orlando, which challenged the laws constitutionality.

Three justices, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, said they would have granted the states request.

Last month, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower courts order stopping the law from being enforced. The district court found that the law likely restricted free speech and couldnt be enforced anywhere in the state.

Hamburger Marys regularly hosts drag shows, including family-friendly performances on Sundays that children are invited to attend. The restaurants owner said the law was overly broad, was written vaguely and violated First Amendment rights by chilling speech.

The new law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, punished venues for allowing children into what it called adult live performances. Though it did not mention drag shows specifically, the sponsor of the legislation said it was aimed at those performances.

Venues that violated the law faced fines and the possibility that their liquor licenses to be suspended or revoked. Individuals could be charged with a misdemeanor crime.

Pink set to give away 2,000 banned books at South Florida concerts

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 16:32:05 +0000

Pop singer Pink says she will give away 2,000 banned books at her two shows in South Florida this week.

The singer is teaming up with literacy and free speech group PEN America and Florida bookseller Books & Books for the giveaway.

The singer took to her Instagram to express her love and passion for books and explained why she is doing this.

"Books have held a special joy for me from the time I was a child, and that's why I am unwilling to stand by and watch while books are banned by schools," Pink said in a statement.

Pink has concert stops at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday and Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Wednesday.

As part of her "Trustfall Tour," the singer will give away four books that have appeared in PEN America's Index of Banned Books: "The Family Book," by Todd Parr, "The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman, "Beloved," by Toni Morrison, and a book from "Girls Who Code," founded by Reshma Saujani.

The singer first made the announcement Sunday during an Instagram live with PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel and Gorman.

Representatives with PEN American said more than 40% of all book bans in the U.S. occurred in Florida school districts.

The group said 33 school districts in Florida have accounted for 1,406 book ban cases.

Mobile sports betting goes live again in Florida

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 17:05:20 +0000

Mobile sports betting is, once again, live in the Sunshine State.

On Tuesday, the Seminole Tribe of Florida relaunched its Hard Rock Bet mobile sports book, nearly two years after it was shut down following a federal court case.

The release of the app comes just days after the tribe announced several new retail sports books would be opening starting next month in the state.

However, not everyone will be able to bet.

In a statement to Fox 4, a spokesman for the tribe said the Seminole Tribe is offering limited access to existing Florida customers to test its Hard Rock Bet platform.

The Tribe originally launched the sports betting app in late 2021, however it was later pulled when a federal judge put the states new gaming compact on hold.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later sided with the Seminoles.

While there is still an active case in the state Supreme Court, the app is now available for some betters.

Florida’s school voucher money mess has some private schools worried they’ll be forced to shut down

Tue, 07 Nov 2023 15:18:53 +0000

Editors note:Following the broadcast of this story Friday night, Step Up for Students spokesperson, Scott Kent, provided an update on Millennium Academys state voucher funding. According to Kent, the school has been paid 89% of its voucher funding for Quarter 1, totaling $134,836.32. Kent also stated 22 students from the school have not received voucher funding yet because they were enrolled past the deadline for first quarter funding. In an email sent to Investigative Reporter Katie LaGrone on Saturday, Millennium Academys owner and principal, Lori Ekblad, stated she was in error when she told LaGrone they had received funding for just 10 of their students.

At Millennium Academy on Floridas west coast, students have found a haven, their parents say, public schools just couldnt provide.

My 6-year-old has autism, and this school has accepted him with open arms. They understand his tics and he just feels safe here, said Ashley Gregg who has two kids going to the school.

Both of mine have blossomed into something I knew they could be but they didnt know they could be, explained Jessica Williams.

But now the small private school, which families have affectionately dubbed the island of misfits, is sinking.

I don't have a backup plan. Ive drained my 401k, said owner Lori Ekblad, who fears the school may not survive the hiccups of the states new voucher system.

We've maxed all of our credit cards out and our savings account is gone, she said.

Ekblad said 99% of the schools 100 students depend on state voucher money to help cover tuition.

But three months into the new school year, Ekblad said just 10 of her students have received state money, which means the schools finances are underwater by at least $100,000.

We're getting desperate, she said.

Its a position impacting other small private schools and families in Florida as the states newly expanded school voucher system struggles to keep up with unprecedented demand. We first reported on the issues back in September.

Some 300,000 students are now enrolled in the program.

Amie Henry works for a small school for students with unique abilities in Lake City. She said, that despite providing all the necessary paperwork and information, they havent received a dime from the state since school started.

As a result, the two-year-old school is now facing closure.

Weve been in freak-out mode, Henry said. This is just an indictment on the organization of Step Up for not being able to give us funding in order to stay afloat. It's the students who ultimately suffer, she said.

Step Up for Students is the contractor hired by the state to manage and distribute the states voucher money.

According to a spokesperson from Step Up, just over 95% of school invoices from the first installment of money have been paid. The second installments just started.

But the spokesperson acknowledged some families and schools have had issues with payments, adding, We take these concerns very seriously and are working overtime to try and resolve every issue.

But for those still waiting, time is running out.

This week, Millennium Academy sent home a letter explaining to parents the dire financial situation the school was facing. The letter encouraged parents to contact their lawmakers for help.

What owner Lori Ekblad didnt expect, was the response she received from students.

I had one student that came in and brought me his savings and another student gave me $12 that they had earned doing something. I know, Im trying to hold the tears back, she said.

Ekblad, her staff, and parents are now working on the next steps to figure out how to keep their little island from going under while they wait for the state to deliver on the promises theyve made.

We're looking at trying to protest because these kids need this place. We're not going to go down without a fight, said parent Ashely Gregg.

During the special session in Tallahassee next week, lawmakers will be discussing the states school voucher program and how to expand the program to include more students with unique abilities.

'REPAIR Act’ would give Florida car owners, independent repair shops more rights

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 23:12:21 +0000

Lawmakers met in Washington, D.C. Thursday to talk about the REPAIR Act. The bill, introduced by Florida Representative Neal Dunn, could reshape the automotive repair industry by offering consumers and independent shops easier access to essential data about their cars.

Currently, car manufacturers limit access to this electronic data, making it available through expensive equipment that typically only dealerships have. The 'REPAIR Act' aims to change this, offering car owners and independent repair shops the right to access a vehicle's electronic information without relying on costly dealership services.

Jason LaBonte, an Operations Executive and Master Tech at Legendary Automotive and Truck Service, emphasizes the importance of the 'REPAIR Act.'

"If the Dealer Association makes it easier for us to obtain that information, it's essentially going to make it cost less for the consumer to have their vehicle repaired," he explained.

LaBonte believes that increased access to part-specific information will allow third-party companies to produce higher-quality aftermarket parts for repairing older vehicles, providing consumers with more cost-effective repair options.

A lot of people are trying to keep their vehicles on the road for longer than what the dealer wants you to keep them on the road for. So, we run into challenges with discontinued parts and aftermarket companies that arent able to recreate those parts, LaBonte said.

But, when it comes to security specific information, the National Automobile Dealers Association believes that the current limits are a good thing. They released a statement in June of this year that said the bill would create new privacy, vehicle security and safety risks.

LaBonte agreed that these are all valid concerns.

It doesnt necessarily mean that every consumer should have access to the security levels that we have as a repair facility," he said. "When were working on newer vehicles that have security gateway modules and were trying to program and learn keys - they really make the aftermarket automotive world jump through hoops.

With appropriate regulations around security-specific components, LaBonte believes the 'REPAIR Act' will ultimately benefit the market.

He believes individuals with business licenses and certifications for servicing and repairing vehicles should have easy access to the necessary data, allowing them to perform their jobs effectively and, in turn, provide valuable assistance to the public.

Researchers say we must find a solution to citrus diseases within the next five years

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 21:34:39 +0000

We know the Florida citrus industry has been hit hard in recent years by hurricanes, freeze events and inflation. Experts say the biggest hit is from citrus greening disease. The University of Florida is hoping to speed up solutions to diseases with a new crop transformation center.

"I am afraid in five years if we haven't solved this problem, there may be no industry left to save," said Dr. Scott Angle, Senior VP for Agriculture and Natural Resources at UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

According to the USDA, citrus greening disease was first detected in Florida in 2005. Since then, its decreased production by 75%, while production costs have doubled during the same time.

"We are at point where we may lose the industry unless we do something, said Dr. Angle. It's really taking all shots on goals right now."

While citrus growers are using new methods to fight greening, like microbial injections, Dr. Angle says these aren't long term solutions.

"Ultimately what we want is a tree that is resistant to the disease so that we don't have to use chemicals and other materials to protect the trees," said Dr. Angle.

The UF Crop Transformation Center will look to do that through different breeding methods.

We will use certainly traditional breeding, just like in any other crop in the history of agriculture, that we have developed these new crops with, said Dr. Angle. That is when you take two parents and cross them together. We use a relatively new technology called crisper technology. Thats where there is no new DNA that is inserted into the plant. So, it is not considered genetic engineering, genetic transformation. But we will also look at, this is almost an oxymoron, but tradition genetic engineering. Where we actually do add new genes.

But with time of the essence, Dr. Angle says the university is looking to find a solution quickly.

"We are taking down barriers everywhere we can, said Dr. Angle. We are telling everyone if we take more than 5 years to get this problem solved, then solutions don't matter at that point. It's more of a business proposition than an academic proposition."

UF is still in the early stages of this new initiative and is still in the process of bringing in experts from around the industry.

They're also investing $2 million in research and facilities for the next two years.

Dr. Angle adds that this is not the citrus transformation center, but the crop transformation center. He hopes that once a solution to citrus greening is found, they can find solutions to other crop diseases plaguing our farmers.

ARCADIA | Community member makes generous donation following Toys for Tots theft

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:10:15 +0000

Less than a week after thieves stole $2,500 worth of toys from the DeSoto County Toys for Tots, a community member made a generous donation to help make up for the stolen items.

It's not clear how much was donated, but the sheriff's office says it's going to make a big difference.

Holly Layport, Coordinator for DeSoto Toys for Tots, told Fox 4 she discovered the toys were missing Saturday when she was bringing in donations from over the weekend.

"Disbelief," said Layport. "Couldn't believe that somebody would actually do it.

Layport said the Toys for Tots distribution has been held out of the historic Brownville School for seven years now.

Layport said the thieves went in through the back door of the historic building. When she was going through inventory, she noticed they had taken eight bicycles and LEGO sets valued up to $150.

However, she said even with the $2,500 set back, she is confident that the community will step up.

The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office says they also have a marked car in front of the sheriff's office where they are now accepting unwrapped toys daily.

You can drop them off between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you want to donate after hours, please bring the toys to the drop-off box in the lobby.

Sheriff James F. Potter said to contact the local crime stoppers if anyone has tips or information about the theft.

DOJ: Florida trio murdered teen to stop her testimony in sex assault case

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 18:30:36 +0000

The Department of Justice said three men are facing multiple charges for allegedly carrying out a contract killing of a 17-year-old high school.

The Department of Justice said it was all an attempt to keep the student from testifying in a sexual assault case against one of the men.

According to the indictment, Lenard White, Sheldon Robinson, and Keshawn Woods face federal charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.

Investigators said on February 6, 2023, Isabella Angelina Scavelli and her mother went to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office to report that she had been sexually assaulted by White.

The Department Of Justice (DOJ) said White then contracted with Robinson and Woods to murder the teen for $10,000.

According to the DOJ, the next day, Robinson and Woods went to the home of the teen and knocked on the door. When the door was opened, Robinson and Woods allegedly fired a "barrage" of gunshots into the home.

The teen was hit by four bullets and died from her wounds.

Her mother was also shot but survived her injuries.

Federal investigators said White, Robinson, and Williams then attempted to hinder the investigation by disposing of evidence, tampering with witnesses, and more.

As the investigation progressed, Williams's mother, Janet Williams, was also arrested and charged with making false statements to federal agents.

If convicted on all counts, the trio charged with the murder would each face mandatory life sentences or the federal death penalty.

DESOTO COUNTY | $2,500 worth of Toys for Tots donations stolen over the weekend

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 03:08:05 +0000

As many begin preparing for the holiday season, the DeSoto Toys for Tots is trying to figure out how to replace $2,500 worth of stolen toys from over the weekend.

Holly Layport, Coordinator for DeSoto Toys for Tots, told Fox 4 she discovered the toys were missing Saturday when she was bringing in donations from over the weekend.

"Disbelief," said Layport. "Couldn't believe that somebody would actually do it.

Layport said the Toys for Tots distribution has been held out of the historic Brownville School for seven years now.

"It's overwhelming because you don't think that it's gonna happen because it hasn't happened," said Layport. "Now we're very vigilant.

Layport said the thieves went in through the back door of the historic building. When she was going through inventory, she noticed they had taken eight bicycles and LEGO sets valued up to $150.

However, she said even with the $2,500 set back, she is confident that the community will step up.

It hurts everybody. It does, it hurts Desoto County but it's not gonna stop any of us, said Layport.

The Brownville School is boarded up from every window to every door now and with newly installed cameras. Layport tells Fox 4 this is to ensure this does not happen again.

These are folks that are that are doing a good thing," said James F. Potter, DeSoto County Sheriff. "They're collecting toys for deserving kids. Why would somebody do that? It's just it's disappointing."

Shortly after the discovery, Layport says she contacted the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office and they have been on the case since Saturday. Sheriff Potter said the thieves could face multiple charges depending on what they find.

"I did a screening of the neighborhood, checking with other neighbors, and things like that," said Potter. "We're doing our due diligence."

Sheriff Potter said to contact the local crime stoppers if anyone has tips or information about this crime.

Florida State Troopers catch trio of criminals in high-speed car chase

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 18:40:06 +0000

Florida State Troopers caught a trio of criminals they suspect to be involved in a string of robberies and vehicle thefts throughout South Florida.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) received a call from the Collier Sheriffs Office (CCSO), in reference to a stolen Range Rover, traveling east on Alligator Alley.

The stolen Range Rover was eventually abandoned on I-75, near mile marker 30, in Broward County.

FHP says the occupants of the stolen Range Rover entered a Mercedes sedan, black in color, and fled east on I-75.

A short time later, Florida State Troopers said they observed the Mercedes traveling recklessly, at a high rate of speed (140 mph+).

The State Troopers then stopped the pursuit on I-595 and Flamingo Road.

FHP says State Troopers immediately arrested the Mercedes driver and two occupants for multiple felonies, including, reckless driving, fleeing, eluding grand theft auto, and possession of burglary tools etc.

The Mercedes occupants are suspected to have been involved in a string of robberies and vehicle thefts throughout Southwest Florida.

Suspect in early morning Ybor City shooting charged with second-degree murder

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 14:40:54 +0000

In a press conference Sunday afternoon, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said the suspect in a shooting in Ybor City early Sunday morning has been charged with second-degree murder.

22-year-old Tyrell Phillips is in custody after two people died, one was seriously injured, and 15 others were shot following a fight that ended with gunshots during Halloween festivities in Ybor City.

According to Bercaw officers responded to the shooting in Tampa just before 3 a.m. in the Ybor City area.

Police say the fight occurred in an area with several bars and clubs, and there were large numbers of late-night partiers in the area at the time, Bercaw said.

Police were not immediately sure if the people involved in the fight were inside any of the bars before the shooting.

A video posted online shows people in Halloween costumes drinking and talking on the street when shots ring out, creating a stampede.

Some people toppled over metal tables and took cover behind them.

Video from the aftermath showed police officers treating several people lying wounded on the ground.

A volley of about a dozen shots rang out followed a few seconds later by a volley of about eight shots.

It was a disturbance or a fight between two groups. And in this fight between two groups we had hundreds of innocent people involved that were in the way, Bercaw said.

He did not provide details of the injuries suffered by the victims taken to area hospitals.

One of the victims was identified by his father as 14-year-old Elijah Wilson.

His father, Emmitt Wilson recounted seeing his son's body on the ground.

"It's painful, man, to see your child laying there," Emmitt Wilson told ABC Action News. "And there's nothing I can do but stand behind the yellow tape and just watch them take his body away. I can't go see him. This is my last time seeing him. It's, it's hard."

Police said one suspect turned himself in, and investigators believe there were at least two shooters involved, Bercaw said.

Police are still investigating the reason for the fight between the two groups, he said.

Officers were at the scene at the time of the shooting but none were injured, Bercaw said.

Investigators asked anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to call Tampa PD at 813-231-6130 or contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).

New Senate bill to repeal FL’s ‘free kill’ law gets mixed reviews from families

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:28:09 +0000

After years of quietly crushing Florida families struck by tragedy, A 33-year-old state law that prevents some families from suing a doctor or a hospital responsible for the death of an unmarried adult loved one is getting new scrutiny this session by lawmakers.

Last month, we exposed why critics have long fought to end what they describe as Floridas free kill law. The law prohibits any family member from suing if an unmarried parent or adult child dies as a result of medical negligence in Florida.

Families say its time for Floridas free kill law to die; data shows they may be right

But a new bill filed in the Senate on Friday to end the law for some families, is not only the third bill filed on the topic this fall, but it could be the most significant.

Thats because HB 248 was filed by Republican Senator Clay Yarborough of Jacksonville. Yarborough also chairs the Judiciary Committee, a powerful position in the state legislature because, as chair, he can decide what bills are heard in his committee. Previous efforts to repeal this law have failed because the bill was never heard in the Senate.

Yarboroughs bill calls to lift current restrictions on some families to sue, but only if state governing boards have already found a doctor or hospital at fault in a medical negligence case.

This is just a start. This is just the beginning, said Sabrina Davis, whose 62-year-old father died three years ago in a Hillsborough County hospital after a doctor failed to diagnose and treat a blood clot in his leg.

If HB 248 is approved this session, the bill could open the door to her seeking justice over her fathers death.

While the states medical board found her fathers doctor at fault and even slapped him with a $7500 fine, because of the states law, Sabrina hasnt been allowed to take the case to court.

I have always said is a $7,500 fine was not enough for the doctor that did this to my father. With this bill, a $7,500 fine would not have been all he got, she said.

But other families impacted by the states so-called free kill law say this new bill does nothing but leave them shocked and angry.

The larger intent of this bill is to make sure that it looks like they're doing something to take action to help. But the larger intent is the same thing, to protect the medical and insurance industry, said. Cindy Jenkins.

Jenkins daughter, Taylor, was just 25 and engaged to be married when she died earlier this year at an Osceola County hospital after being rear-ended at a red light-

Doctors said Taylor died of a brain injury, but an independent autopsy found it was untreated internal bleeding that killed the young flight attendant.

The findings were enough to convince the countys medical examiner to change Taylors official cause of death on her death certificate, but to date, the states hospital association (AHCA) and Floridas Medical Board have yet to find probable cause of any wrongdoing over Taylors death.

State health department data shows probable cause is rarely found in complaints to the stat

According to annual reports from Floridas Medical Quality Assurance Division, over the last three fiscal years, probable cause against a Florida medical doctor was only found in just about a quarter of cases.

Passing legislation that does nothing other than protect the health insurance companies and in the rare instance that AHCA or the FL Department of Health makes a guilty ruling giving a family the capacity to file a complaint, this is a step in the wrong direction, Jenkins said.

Bill aims to kill portions of Floridas free kill law, but it doesnt help all families