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GALLERY: Harley Davidson of Cincinnati’s adult Easter Egg Hunt, April 20

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Envision Credit Union emphasizes commitment to community with development of local foundations

The Focus Foundation and Rose City Foundation will further support communities in which they were founded

“At Envision, the communities we serve matter and our credit union is proud to support local initiatives through each of these foundations,” said Darryl Worrell, President and CEO of Envision Credit Union. “The continued dedication reinforces our belief that we all benefit from strong communities.”

While supporting education is an area of significant importance to Envision, the Focus Foundation and Rose City Foundation allows the credit union to indirectly support initiatives within or outside of the educational realm. Focus Foundation board members are actively searching for local initiatives to support. Community members are encouraged to visit the Foundation’s website for more information and to submit a sponsorship request today.

For more information about Envision Credit Union’s community involvement and Foundations, please visit www.EnvisionCU.com/Foundations.

About Envision Credit Union

Founded in 1954 by Leon County educators, Envision Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial institution focused on providing personalized products and services of exceptional value to members at the lowest possible cost. Today, Envision serves more than 54,000 members across nineteen counties in Florida and Georgia. With over $561 million in current assets, it maintains a strong focus on giving back to education based initiatives and upholding the credit union philosophy of people helping people.

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Campus Notes: Florida State University hosting “FSU Day at the Capitol” on Tuesday; reception Monday night

FSU Day at the Capitol planned for Tuesday, April 9, 2019. (Photo: Democrat file)

FSU Day at the Capitol planned for Tuesday; SGA reception Monday

Florida State University will celebrate its academic and athletic success during FSU Day at the Capitol.

The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday.

It will showcase several of the university’s colleges and academic departments, which will have displays and information tables set up on the first three floors of the Capitol.

An outdoor pep rally will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the plaza between the old and new Capitol buildings.

The pep rally will feature remarks by President John Thrasher, recognition of FSU alumni serving in the Legislature, recognition of FSU’s national champion softball and soccer teams and performances by the FSU cheerleaders, members of the Flying High Circus and a pep band from the College of Music.

Thrasher and the FSU Student Government Association will co-host a reception, “Seminole Evening,” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday on the 22nd floor of the Capitol where members of the FSU SGA will recognize FSU legislators.

All events are free and open to the public. Fans are encouraged to wear garnet and gold apparel during the festivities.

Florida A&M University College of Law appoints Dean’s Council

Florida A&M University (College of Law has formed a Dean’s Advisory Council with key community partners, business leaders and legal practitioners.

The goals of the newly established Dean’s Advisory Council include serving as ambassadors for the FAMU College of Law, advancing the mission of the law school in the legal, business and broader communities; serving in an advisory capacity to the administration and faculty in the evaluation of the College of Law and its educational programs; and supporting the college’s efforts to attract and retain a diverse and high quality student body.

Dean’s Advisory Council Chair is John Crossman.

Council members are:

Honorable Faye Allen, County Judge, Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida

John Crossman, Dean’s Advisory Council Chair, CEO, Crossman & Company

John F. Davis, Executive Vice President, Orlando Regional Chamber

Honorable Jerry L. Demings, Mayor, Orange County

Ava Doppelt, Shareholder, Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, + Gilcrest, P.A.

Honorable Buddy Dyer, Mayor, City of Orlando

Lindsay Greene, Partner, De Beaubien, Simmons, Knight, Mantzaris & Neal

Donald R. Henderson, Shareholder, Mateer Harbert Attorneys At Law

Honorable Arthenia Joyner, former member of the Florida Senate and FAMU College of Law Alumna

Noni Holmes-Kidd, General Counsel, Parkway Property investments, LLC

William L. “Bud” Kirk, Jr., Partner, Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell

Honorable Leticia Marques, Circuit Court Judge, Ninth Judicial District

Christopher Monts, Founding Partner, Monts Law P.L. and FAMU College of Law Alumnus

LeRoy Pernell, Interim Dean and Professor of Law, FAMU College of Law

Christina Redman, National Vice President of Partner Relations, Feeding Children Everywhere

Gary Salzman, Shareholder, Garganese, Weiss, D’Agresta & Salzman, P.A.

Honorable Emerson Thompson, Dean’s Advisory Council Vice Chair; Senior Judge, Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida

Roberta Walton, Self Help Center Manager, Orange County Clerk of Courts and FAMU College of Law Alumna

Jéan Wilson, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, P.A.

FAMU Alumnus Receives USAID Award

FAMU Alumna Jodi-Kaye Wade was awarded a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Award for negotiating an agreement to unlock private capital for the renewable energy and energy efficient sectors in Nigeria.

Her work will improve access to financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as improve and diversify energy access, particularly within the renewable energy sector.

Jodi-Kaye is a 2012 graduate of FAMU’s School of Business and Industry. She currently works as a Private Enterprise Officer in Nigeria.

Tallahassee Community College hosts Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Tallahassee Community College Council on Undergraduate Research had its inaugural Symposium of Undergraduate Research on April 3.

Students showcased their research topics through various platforms including papers and oral presentations, performances, laboratory experiments, visual arts, jewelry, film presentations and posters.

Winners were named in eight categories including a tie for “Best in Show” at the awards ceremony that evening. Each winner received a $100, certificate and medal.

Best in Performing Arts: Autumn Maxwell

Best Three Minute Video: William Gilmore

Best Paper: Esmeralda Lucio

Best in Show: (tie) Shelvin Pilot and Yasuko Miyamoto

Best Poster in Education: Danielle Brown

Best Poster in STEM: Nicolas Timmons

Best Poster in Humanities: Brenna Smith

Best Poster in Social Sciences: Alesha Benjamin

Tallahassee Community College’s All-Florida Academic team honored

Tallahassee Community College recognizes eight students as the 2019 All-Florida Academic Team. Students were selected based on academic achievement, leadership on campus and service to the community.

The Florida College System and the Florida region of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the international honor society of two-year college held the awards ceremony for students on April 4 in Kissimmee.

The honorees are Lindsey Bassford, M. Dylan Ceballos, Alida Desic, Hunter Kilbourn, Alexis Martin, Imani Oteghile, Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Ruriani.

TCC holds event for students interested in TCC to FSU arrangement

Tallahassee Community College is hosting TCC2FSU Day from 1 to 3 p.m. on Friday, April 12.

Prospective students and their families can register to visit.

Participants will learn about the TCC to Florida State University program, meet with TCC and FSU representatives, tour the college’s campus and explore academic and extracurricular offerings, in addition to meeting with off-campus housing options.

April 12 is also the weekend for the “Word of South Literature and Music Festival.”

Interested students will get to experience activities held around the Tallahassee community. Hundreds of people from across Florida have already registered to participate in the TCC2FSU Day.

There will also be $2,000 worth of scholarship giveaways during TCC2FSU Day.

For more information or to register, visit www.tcc.fl.edu/tcc2fsu.

Hiring fair is planned for Tallahassee Community College campus

Tallahassee Community College is holding a hiring fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 in the Student Union Ballroom at the main campus.

Students and members of the community can meet employers who are ready to hire for jobs and internships.

More than 30 employers will be present including Bass Pro Shops, Baymont Inn & Suites, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Tallahassee Police Department and Inspired Technologies.

Business casual dress is required.

Annual Juried TCC Art Students’ Exhibit

Tallahassee Community College will host an opening reception for The College’s Annual Juried Student Art Exhibit on Thursday, from 4:30 – 8 p.m. at the TCC Fine Art Gallery.

The showcase presents outstanding examples of works created by TCC students throughout the 2018-19 school year and selected by instructors of all studio art courses.

There will be an awards presentation recognizing students for their works at 6 p.m.

The reception and the gallery are free and open to the public.

The exhibit runs from April 11 through April 25.

The gallery is open weekdays from 12:30-4:30 p.m. excluding holidays.

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Preserve Sadowski Fund for building affordable housing | Opinion

The statewide Sadowski Fund, which is supposed to be steered toward affordable housing, has been raided for years by Florida lawmakers. But this year Habitat for Humanity and other housing advocates are optimistic lawmakers will preserve it. (File photo)

Our Broward representatives in Tallahassee are united in their resolve to preserve Florida’s affordable housing trust fund, the Sadowski Fund, which has been raided by lawmakers since 2002 for other purposes.

We are thankful for their leadership and are cautiously optimistic that raiding of the fund stops now. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Senate have held that Sadowski Funds be preserved for affordable housing in their budget recommendations. May they prevail.

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The Sadwoski Fund accomplishes a number of things. It provides dollars for home repair so that low-income residents whose homes have been affected by Florida’s heat, wind and heavy rain can remain in their homes safely. Our aging and special needs populations can get help with retrofitting.

And, homeownership programs like Habitat for Humanity’s can secure down payment assistance for families whose earnings fall just short of what is needed for a zero-interest mortgage with monthly mortgage payments kept to 30 percent of income.

This can mean the difference between being able to purchase a forever home or being forced to move one’s family year after year, in a nomadic hunt for affordable rent — with no hope of escape.

The Sadowski Fund also provides funds to rehabilitate and build apartments for vulnerable populations. When the state directs our fair share of affordable housing dollars to Broward, it will supercharge our economy.

If Broward receives the full funding of $22 million in 2019-2020, (up from about $2 million when raids took place) we can expect an economic impact of $300 million, with 996 homes built or preserved and more than 2,100 jobs created, according to Rep. Chip LaMarca’s State & Local Housing Trust Fund Local Impact Report.

At Habitat Broward, we serve households in dire need of affordable housing after having lived in crowded and unsafe conditions while serving as our bank tellers, pre-school teachers and grocery clerks. Homeownership represents stability, a place for their family to grow and an investment they can pass on to their children. Plus, it is proven to boost education, health and safety outcomes.

Looking ahead, land is also a critical part of the solution. We urge our cities and the county to set aside more land for affordable housing and green space. In the midst of our luxury-housing building boom, let us remember that many thousands of residents still struggle to keep a roof overhead. They, too, deserve a decent place to live.

A huge thumbs up to our Broward delegation, our governor, Congress and local municipal and county leaders, who have the power to make it happen.

Nancy Robin, CEO & Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Broward.

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Prized dog found after missing for days at world’s busiest airport

Gale, a prize-winning purebred American Staffordshire Terrier vanished Saturday at Atlanta’s airport, but was found late Tuesday — after days of searching — next to a runway.

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Florida clemency board may free ‘White Boy Rick’ early

In a Sept. 4, 2015 file photo, Richard Wershe sits in a courtroom at Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit. (David Coates / AP)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Clemency Board are considering early prison release for a man known as "White Boy Rick," once one of the FBI’s youngest informants and the subject of a recent Hollywood movie.

The board on Wednesday heard the case of Richard Wershe Jr., 49, who’s imprisoned in Florida for his role in a large interstate car theft ring operated while he was already in prison. At age 14, Wershe was an FBI informant in Detroit who helped convict a major cocaine trafficking ring but eventually got caught selling drugs himself.

His story was the basis of the 2018 film "White Boy Rick" starred Matthew McConaughey, with Richie Merritt in the title role.

At the hearing, two retired FBI agents told the board Wershe deserves early release because of all he did for the government, including assistance on several public corruption cases while behind bars. His current release date is Oct. 26, 2020, from the Putnam Correctional Institution in Florida.

The board did not immediately issue a decision, although its staff recommended early release.

"I believe a great injustice to Richard Wershe has been done by the government," said ex-agent Herman Groman, who said Wershe infiltrated a violent Detroit drug gang and helped prosecutors convict 20 people in the 1980s. "He has never been recognized because of this."

Added former agent Gregg Schwartz: "He has never lied to me about anything. I fully recommend for clemency. He’s contributed greatly to law enforcement."

DeSantis, a Republican chairing his first clemency hearing since taking office, appeared to express skepticism. The governor noted that Wershe got involved in a car theft ring involving some 150 stolen vehicles while behind bars serving his drug sentence.

"He had been helping you guys and then turned around and engaged in additional criminal conduct," DeSantis said.

"You need to look at the totality of everything he has done over 32 years," Schwartz replied.

Attorney General Ashley Moody, a former judge and prosecutor, told the agents it "speaks volumes" that they showed up for Wershe but did not indicate if she supports early prison release.

DeSantis told reporters before the board meeting that he has an open mind on all clemency cases.

"You know, I want there to be a rough equality of justice here. Not all cases are exactly the same," the governor said. "I do believe in redemption and that does play a role."

In Detroit, Wershe became a youthful FBI informant after agents began investigating his father for illegally selling guns. After infiltrating the drug gang and assisting in numerous convictions, Wershe was arrested with a large amount of drugs himself and eventually was sentenced to life in prison in Michigan.

He was released on parole in 2017 and then moved to the Florida prison to serve his five-year racketeering sentence in the car theft ring.

Attorney Jeff Kottkamp, a former Florida lieutenant governor who represents Wershe, said he’s optimistic that Wershe will win his release.

"I think it’s fair to say Mr. Wershe has paid his debt to society and then some," Kottkamp said. "I believe if given a second chance, Mr. Wershe will be a model citizen."

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Taggart has his Seminoles back on the practice field for Spring

TALLAHASSEE, FL (WJHG/WECP) Can you believe it? It’s time to talk some college football here in early March!

That’s because the Florida State Seminoles are among the teams already back at it in terms of spring workouts.

Monday FSU Head Coach Willie Taggart putting his guys through the first of what will be 15 sessions in the next few weeks, culminating with a spring game at Doak the first weekend in April.

Simply put there is much on the plate for Taggart this spring. Chief among all that, working to rebuild the offense around the new starting quarterback James Blackman. Blackman is, aside from Western Michigan transfer Wyatt Rector, who is awaiting a waiver to be eligible to play, the only scholarship qb. currently on the FSU roster.

"James just being James, he’s always enthusiastic." coach Taggart said after Monday’s practice "He loves his teammates. And he always has a positive attitude on things. I think when you are that way then you can achieve a lot of things that you want. And I think those things are starting to come his way. And that’s a big part of being successful too. Sometimes you can be impatient, and to act patient is the hardest thing to do."

Getting Blackman comfy again as the starter not the only priority this spring, the coach says.

"I mentioned before we have to create competitive depth. When we get out of here, we’ve got to have depth at every football position on our field. And then just continue to get better at every position that we were bad at last year. And you do that one day at a time. And making sure that we have the right people in the right places so that we can execute like we need to."

FSU will practice again Wednesday, with 13 workouts after that, including the spring game set for Saturday, April 6th at Doak.

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615 St Augustine St

Walk to FSU 1Bd/1Ba – Skyview Apartments located at 615 W St Augustine Street, Tallahassee, FL 32304 is a small 3-story apartment complex walking distance to FSU Campus, Collegetown, restaurants, shopping & entertainment, Doak Campbell Football & Howser Baseball Stadiums.

RENT AMOUNT IS FOR 1 OCCUPANT ONLY.

All apartments are 1 bedroom and 1 bath, flooring, cabinets and finishes may differ per unit. Flooring options for the living area are wood-look tile, ceramic tile or carpet. All units have carpet in the bedroom, ceramic tile flooring in the kitchen and bath. The kitchen is equipped with a refrigerator, range and microwave. This property has an on-site pay per load laundry facility.

APPLICATION SCREENING REQUIREMENTS: your Rental Application will be evaluated based on rental history, credit history, criminal history and income verification. A SEPARATE Rental Application must be submitted for each person over the age of 18 that would be occupying the property, as well as for Guarantor’s if needed.

PETS: we can allow CATS ONLY in a few select units (carpeted flooring) with fees and restrictions.

Photos disclaimer: photos may be from another unit. Floor plans, flooring and finishes are comparable, however, not exact.

Cats allowed in some units

No Dogs Allowed

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Court Asked To Reconsider Ruling On Exploratory Oil Drilling In The Everglades

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) — Broward County and the city of Miramar have asked the 1st District Court of Appeal to reconsider a ruling that would require the state to issue a permit for exploratory oil drilling in the Everglades.

The local governments, which had intervened in the case, filed a motion late Wednesday, a little more than two weeks after a three-judge panel of the court ruled in favor of Broward County landowner Kanter Real Estate, LLC.

The motion seeks a rehearing by the panel, a rehearing by the full appeals court or what is known as “certification” of the case to the Florida Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel on Feb. 5 ruled that the state Department of Environmental Protection improperly rejected a recommended order by an administrative law judge, who said in 2017 that a permit should be approved for Kanter to drill an exploratory well.

Kanter, which owns about 20,000 acres in Broward County, applied in 2015 to drill an exploratory oil well on about five acres of its land in the Everglades.

The department denied a permit, leading Kanter to take the case to an administrative law judge. In the motion filed Wednesday, Broward County and Miramar argued, in part, that the appeals court did not allow the parties to address the impact of a ballot measure, known as Amendment 6, that passed in November.

The constitutional amendment did away with a requirement that obligated courts to defer to agency interpretations of laws and rules. Attorneys for Broward County and Miramar contend that an unresolved issue is whether the ballot measure should apply retroactively to older cases, such as the drilling dispute.

“The legal issue of whether Amendment 6 is retroactive is of paramount concern and one that the parties should have had an opportunity to be heard on,” the motion said. “Due process requires that parties on appeal have a full and fair opportunity to brief the issues upon which the court is to base its decision.”

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Editorial: Floridians’ unseen struggle

Even in a good economy, nearly half of Florida households scrape just to cover the basics.

Jayci Peters, left, with Feeding Tampa Bay assists a TSA employee with a box of food and personal hygiene products at a food bank set up at Tampa International Airport in January. The United Way says some 47 percent of Floridians don’t have money set aside to cover expenses for three months in case of an emergency, a number that was highlighted during the recent federal government shutdown. [OCTAVIO JONES | Times]

For millions of Floridians, times are good. The unemployment rate is low and the housing market is strong, two indicators that were headed in the wrong directions just a few years ago. But the state’s economic recovery has not been a boon for everyone, and a new United Way report puts the reality into sobering terms for many Florida families.

The United Way refers to them as ALICE: asset-limited, income-constrained, employed. You might think of them as the working poor. Either way, they comprise nearly half of Florida households. So while prosperity may be spreading, hardship is everywhere — something policy makers and elected leaders from Washington to Tallahassee should not forget.

46 percent

Portion of households in Florida that struggle to cover basic needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation and health care.

14 percent

Portion of families living below the federal poverty level, which in 2016 was $22,300 for a family of four.

67 percent

Portion of the state’s jobs that pay less than $20 an hour. A $20 an hour income is equivalent to about $42,000 a year.

$55,164

Minimum annual income needed for a family of four to afford the basics, up 20 percent since 2016.

Source: United Way

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A salue to Troy Caine in pictures

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For Bill Simmons’s The Ringer, Podcasting Is the Main Event

“If somebody didn’t succeed, I don’t think that says anything about the business,” Mr. Simmons said in an interview late last year. “You could look at basketball and say, ’Oh, the [Atlanta] Hawks stink…what’s going on with basketball?’ Nobody would ever do that.”

Mr. Simmons, who launched the company three years ago after a 14-year run as one of ESPN’s most provocative commentators, has bet big on digital audio at The Ringer, with a network of 28 podcasts that garner about 35 million downloads a month.

He is embracing his role as a contrarian in the media industry, where ad-supported business models are out of favor and podcasting is viewed as a low priority at the biggest players—a side hustle, not a core business.

The Big Leagues The Ringer, which was founded in 2016, trails larger and more established sports-media sites like Bleacher Report in web traffic. It is betting big on the relatively small but fast-growing podcast business.

Sources: Comscore (visitors); the company (podcast downloads)

The Ringer’s podcast offerings include “Binge Mode,” a serialized breakdown of cultural touchstones like Harry Potter and “Game of Thrones”; dedicated shows for professional football and basketball; and the culinary-focused “House of Carbs.” Mr. Simmons has his own show that features star athletes, celebrities and his longtime friends.

The Ringer’s website, which features a mix of in-depth reporting and quick-hit analysis, covers a similar menu of topics. The company also puts on live events and has a growing video production operation, Ringer Films, with ambitions of producing and selling sports and entertainment documentaries.

The Los Angeles-based company, whose head count will reach 100 this year, doesn’t disclose detailed financials, like most startups. Its podcast ad sales exceeded $15 million in 2018, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Simmons says the company is profitable.

The Ringer hasn’t raised money from venture-capital investors and says little about its ownership structure. HBO, now a unit of AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia, acquired a 10% stake in the company as part of an overall deal with Mr. Simmons announced in 2015, according to people familiar with the matter.

While The Ringer’s web audience is growing, it is much smaller than those of sports-media competitors like Bleacher Report and SB Nation. Mr. Simmons notes that sites like Turner-owned Bleacher Report have been around for more than a decade. “We’re in year three. I’m happy to be compared to all of those sites, but we’ve barely just started,” he said.

Mr. Simmons’s early career included gigs at Boston newspapers and a blogging slot at AOL Digital Cities. The Brookline, Mass., native with a master’s degree in print journalism doesn’t hide his love for Boston sports teams (which irritates his detractors and endears him to fellow New Englanders). He became a sports-media celebrity during his ESPN stint, founding the Grantland website and cocreating the “30-for-30” documentary series, before an acrimonious exit in 2015.

HBO and Mr. Simmons initially signed a three-year deal worth $7 million annually, people familiar with the matter said. It included a provision for a weekly talk show, “Any Given Wednesday,” which never gained serious traction. HBO canceled Mr. Simmons’s show after four months in response to disappointing ratings, but signed him to another multiyear deal.

The new deal could exceed $2 million annually and gives HBO first-look rights to content from Mr. Simmons, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Media Shift Marketers are beginning to spend more of their ad budgets on podcasts, but that amount is still relatively small when compared to money spent on other forms of advertising.

*Estimate †Includes podcasting ‡Excludes digital

Sources: eMarketer (digitial, TV, print and radio); Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers (podcast)

“Andre the Giant,” a biopic of the professional wrestler produced by Mr. Simmons, aired on HBO and drew 7.3 million viewers across the company’s various platforms. The Ringer recently announced plans to partner with HBO to make “Showbiz Kids,” a documentary on children in the entertainment business.

“There’s a real hunger for content right now,” Mr. Simmons said. “The scale of the company that we’re building is bigger than what we thought it was three or four years ago.”

Mr. Simmons says that his stint at ESPN showed him that the podcasting business had untapped potential. At ESPN, Mr. Simmons said, podcasts were a “nonpriority,” in part because the company is “in the business of selling giant bulk things” and podcasts are a “boutique” business.

“A lot has changed since Bill left. We have a thriving podcast business which has been built over many years,” an ESPN spokesperson said.

He set out to make podcasts a focus of The Ringer. Podcast advertising has grown quickly—it increased 86% from 2016 to 2017—but it still represents less than 1% of the overall U.S. digital ad market. Still, some companies have retrenched. BuzzFeed declined to comment on its podcasting cuts.

“We believe in the podcast medium more than ever,” said Jason Cox, chief operating officer of Panoply Media. “We saw a bigger opportunity, and one that we were better prepared to succeed at, in the technology space.”

The Ringer’s podcasts, like most, feature a lot of direct-response ads, those that call the user to take an action like punching in a discount code on a website. ZipRecruiter, an online job search firm, and underwear retailer MeUndies are among the sponsors of Mr. Simmons’ podcast. The company also has drawn brand advertisers, including Callaway and Captain Morgan.

Advertisers pay between $25 to $50 for every 1,000 people who hear each ad on The Ringer’s podcasts, according to people familiar with the matter. The Ringer keeps at least two-thirds of the money, with the rest going to Midroll, the audio-advertising vendor that sells much of The Ringer’s ad space, the people said.

Mr. Simmons has avoided serialized true-crime shows, in part because advertisers are wary of that terrain.

“The subjects are dicey,” he said. “It’s like, ’this girl vanished from her farm. What happened?’ Presented by Sprite!”

As for his past dust-ups with ESPN, Mr. Simmons said he’s “pro-ESPN right now,” in part because he’s bullish on the company’s entry into direct-to-consumer streaming with its ESPN+ subscription service. “At least they’re starting to think about what’s next. And I think that [streaming] app is going to be their whole business in like seven years,” he said.

The Ringer will depend on revenue growth to finance its own expansion: Mr. Simmons doesn’t intend to raise outside capital.

“If you raise money, you have all these people in your life that you have to deal with that have certain expectations, that might not have the same vision you have,” Mr. Simmons said.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at [email protected] and Joe Flint at [email protected]

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Iowa’s Prince Hydraulics plant closing, moving work to Nebraska, South Dakota facilities

SIOUX CITY, Ia. — A Sioux City manufacturing plant is closing and roughly forty jobs will be eliminated.

The Sioux City Journal reports that Prince Hydraulics employees were told Friday that the Sioux City plant would close and the work will move to other locations.

Shannon Stucker with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the union was surprised by the news. Most workers at the plant were represented by the union.

Prince Manufacturing has other facilities in Hartington, Nebraska, Brookings, South Dakota, and Yankton, South Dakota.

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Florida will draw 2020 Democratic hopefuls in 2019

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Candidates are likely to spend significant time in the state. Roughly two dozen Democrats have shown some level of interest in running.

Florida Democratic voters — and especially the party’s donor base — can expect to see a horde of potential presidential candidates in the Sunshine State in the year ahead.

Roughly two dozen Democrats have shown some level of interest in running for president in 2020, a teeming mass of ambition that Orlando trial lawyer and Democratic fundraiser John Morgan compared to shoppers lined up for Black Friday sales.

“It’s like Walmart right before they open the door for the Christmas discounts. You know that scene? That’s what it looks like to me,” said Morgan, who has hosted fundraisers for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the past. Morgan hasn’t committed to a 2020 candidate, but he said “a lot of them have reached out.”

Florida’s Republican and Democratic presidential primaries are scheduled for March 17, 2020. That’s several weeks after the traditional early nominating contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada and two weeks after a round of Super Tuesday contests that will include the massive delegate troves of California and Texas.

It’s not clear whether President Donald Trump will face any serious challenge for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, it’s too early to tell whether Florida’s place on the calendar will make it a crucial test, an afterthought or something in between in the Democratic nominating process.

Democratic Party rules require primaries and caucuses to award delegates proportionally, making it difficult to amass an early majority in a crowded field. The Republican Party allows states with contests after mid-March to hold winner-take-all contests. Florida’s GOP primary has traditionally been winner-take-all.

“With proportional allocation, nobody’s going to have a majority of delegates by the time we get to Florida,” said longtime Tallahassee-based Democratic consultant Steve Schale, who is expected to help former Vice President Joe Biden if Biden runs. Biden’s youngest brother, Palm Beach County resident Frank Biden, recently told The Palm Beach Post he thinks Joe Biden will run.

Regardless of how the delegate math plays out, Schale and others say candidates are likely to spend significant time in Florida because of the state’s history as a fundraising source and the importance of its 29 electoral votes in the general election.

“I don’t think it really matters where Florida is in terms of timing. Florida is always going to be crucially important for whoever wants to be president,” says Palm Beach Gardens attorney Fred Cunningham, another go-to money source for Democratic candidates.

University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato predicted that better-financed Democratic candidates will begin building organizations in Florida this year to get a head start not only on the primary but the general election.

“You look at the electoral map, and it’s very clear that Florida could decide the election again. Neither party can take it for granted. Some Democrats are saying they have to start organizing way before the general — well, duh,” Sabato said. “If you’re one of the front-runners and you’ve got the ability to do it, you’ve got to do it. Because Florida could decide the race.”

Democratic activist Pam Keith agrees. Keith, who lost a 2018 primary for a Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional seat, is part of a national effort to draft former Texas U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke to run for president.

“Not only is Florida really, really big and it’s a tough nut to crack, but the Democrats have demonstrated that there’s a great deal of work to do to develop the infrastructure we need. So there’s no time to waste,” said Keith.

Florida supporters of O’Rourke are planning an Internet-linked launch of their efforts on Jan. 26, Keith said.

Supporters of Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders were planning a series of meet-ups in Florida and nationally this weekend, according to Tom Conboy of West Palm Beach, who was active in efforts to encourage Sanders to run in 2016.

Sanders is one of at least 10 senators — more than one-fifth of the Senate Democratic caucus — who have shown some interest in pursuing the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Others, alphabetically, include Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Other Democrats eyeing the race include former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Govs. Steve Bullock of Montana and Jay Inslee of Washington, former Govs. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Tim Ryan of Ohio.

Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who generated some national progressive excitement while narrowly losing the 2018 Florida governor’s race to Republican Ron DeSantis, has not ruled out running.

Many of the potential 2020 Democratic candidates visited Florida in 2018 to campaign for Gillum or former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and introduce themselves to Sunshine State voters in the process.

Morgan said any Democrat thinking about running needs to start paying attention to Florida.

“The showing here is so important for the general election. You’ve got to treat it almost like a pre-general to get ready for that,” Morgan said. While unsure who he will end up supporting, Morgan said the large number of potential Democratic candidates is a good sign for the party.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Morgan said. “And it just shows you how vulnerable they believe Donald Trump is.”

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Florida Realtors® Announces New General Counsel

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Juana Watkins, J.D., will serve Florida Realtors® as its new general counsel and vice president of law and policy.

Florida Realtors logo (PRNewsFoto/Florida Realtors)

For the past several months, Watkins, 45, served the state association as its associate general counsel. She brings more than 16 years of leadership experience in legal, real estate and regulatory fields to the job, and is looking forward to her new role.

"A year ago, I could not have imagined that I’d be here," Watkins says. "I like to meet new challenges, and the role of Florida Realtors general counsel offers something new and exciting every single day. For example, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) – that scope – is very new to me. I know that I’ll continue to learn and grow professionally, which is important to me."

She built a career at the Division of Real Estate in the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), first as a senior attorney and then as the division’s chief attorney. From 2008-2011, Watkins was deputy director for DBPR’s Division of Real Estate; from 2011-2017, she headed the division as its director. In that capacity, she directed all regulatory operations for more than 370,000 real estate and appraiser licensees in the state, including education, licensing, investigation and prosecution. She managed an operating budget of $5 million and led a team of more than 70 staff members located at the Orlando headquarters and across nine regional offices throughout Florida.

Watkins earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Florida State University College of Law in Tallahassee, Fla., and her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. She first joined Florida Realtors in 2005, serving as a senior counsel and advising Realtor members on legal issues from 2005-2008.

What challenges may lie ahead for Watkins in the next year? First, she knows: "I have some really big shoes to fill – (Florida Realtors’ former general counsel, Margy Grant, is the new CEO) – and then there is the ever-changing real estate industry, of course," she says.

But Watkins has learned that challenges offer new opportunities, she says, something her children show her every day. As the proud mother of a 16-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, she says her kids inspire her and humble her – and always remind her to be in the moment to just enjoy life’s journey.

Favorite sports or team: I love football. My team is the Seattle Seahawks; they’re just a feel-good team. And I root for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

Favorite place to vacation: Pensacola Beach, all day, every day!

Favorite food: Seafood – any kind of seafood, especially fried

Favorite movie: The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Favorite cartoon character: Mulan

What kind of music do you listen to? I love Tamela Mann, Jill Scott and Beyoncé – I guess those are my top three.

Hobbies: I love to cook. I’m a Southern girl and everything is fried, but it’s so good. I enjoy going to the movies whenever I can. And I love to fish – my daddy always loves to fish, and he taught me to go fish out on the pier and offshore, wading out ’til about waist-deep. it’s something that I love to do with my kids, too. There’s something so peaceful and appealing about fishing.

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The Notre Dame leprechaun took a spill on the Winter Classic ice

Before the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks faced off in the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium, the university’s famous leprechaun mascot made an appearance on the ice — and proceeded to lose an edge.

NBC replayed the spill during the broadcast, with analyst Pierre McGuire commenting that the leprechaun “went down like a power window.”

McGuire was quick to note that the mascot got right up and continued skating with a big smile on his face.

The luck of the Irish proved to be with the Bruins at the traditional New Year’s Day outdoor matchup as Boston defeated the Blackhawks, 4-2.

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Florida’s minimum wage is going up, but we’re still below average

Earlier this year, Walt Disney World workers agreed to a plan that would gradually increase their hourly wage to $15 by 2021. Other major corporations, such as Amazon, have followed suit. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP, File)

Well, it’s official. We are a below-average state.

That’s not me being snarky or facetious, by the way. When it comes to paying minimum wage workers, it’s about to become a statistical reality.

Florida will soon slip below the U.S. median in terms of its minimum wage pay scale. Missouri is about to pass us. Delaware already did. Ohio and Montana are staying one coin ahead.

And that’s despite an ultra-generous 21-cent increase that’s due to kick in for Florida workers next week. Again, not being facetious. That 21-cent boost to reach $8.46 an hour is larger than the past three years combined in Florida. It’s our biggest raise in seven years.

So what does it all mean?

Basically, it suggests you don’t want to get caught on the wrong side of our state border without a college degree. Preferably, a master’s.

While states large and small are making progress toward a livable minimum wage, Florida is sticking with its Southern neighbors in the dodgy section of the United States.

Now you might argue that, geographically, it’s a sound strategy. If the Southern United States has a lower cost of living than the Northeast or the far West, then Florida is wisely keeping pace.

Except while Florida’s wages are below average, our housing costs have leapfrogged neighboring states. And that suggests your $8.46 does not go as far.

Or here’s another way of looking at it:

From 2000-09, Florida’s minimum wage increased 41 percent. That’s a relatively modest 4.1 percent increase annually. But from 2010-19, the increase will only be 17 percent. And that means a low-wage earner in Florida is half as likely to be keeping up with the rising cost of daily life as a decade ago.

Naturally, Tallahassee’s response has been less than inspiring. Democrats make a grand show every year of proposing legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15, even though it has no prayer of happening. This allows Republicans to ignore the issue completely.

And so the responsibility has fallen to the private sector and local governments. St. Petersburg, for instance, raised its minimum wage for city workers to $12.50 several years ago. Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano recently announced his office would go to $15 on Jan. 10.

Facing pressure in the face of enormous profits, Amazon agreed to raise its minimum wage to $15 this year. Target and Disney World also plan to be at $15 by 2021.

Just to clarify, I have not been an advocate for a $15 minimum wage mandate in Florida. At least not too soon. Raising the minimum wage too quickly could end up having an adverse effect on the people it’s supposed to be helping by causing rising prices and unemployment.

But the point legislators in Tallahassee seem to be missing is there is a lot of distance between $8.46 and $15, and the state’s current cost-of-living accelerator is sadly inadequate.

In recent years, lawmakers have dawdled on issues such as medical marijuana and voting rights and have seen voters going over their heads by passing constitutional amendments.

A constitutional amendment on a $15 minimum wage is in the works for 2020.

Tallahassee, consider yourself warned.

Contact John Romano at [email protected]. Follow @romano_tbtimes.

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