ubon-zoo

[ubon-zoo]

Slay, David Napoleon

Slay David Napoleon Slay, 72 of Marianna, FL died Monday, April 8, 2019 at Southeast Healthcare in Dothan, AL. Mr. David was born in Washington County, FL on December 9,1946 to the late Houston Slay and Mrs. Elvie Cutchins Slay. He spent most of his life in Jackson County and was the Owner and Operator of Town & Country Feed, Seed, & Fertilizer for 30 years. He was of the Baptist faith and enjoyed spending his free time fishing and woodworking. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Williams Slay of Marianna; two sons, Greg Slay, and his wife, K.C., of Tallahassee and Chris Slay also of Tallahassee; three brothers, Buddy Slay and his wife, Mary, of Lake City; Richard Slay and his wife, Tammy, of Bonifay, Roger Slay and wife, Brenda, of Bonifay; two sisters, Suzanne Scott of Chipley, Nancy Dunn and husband, Max of Bonifay; one special brother in law, Buddy Williams and wife, Kay of Marianna; two special sister in laws, Nellie Forehand and Carol Jackson both of Graceville and two grandchildren, Alex Slay and Zachary Slay both of Tallahassee, several nieces and nephews. Funeral Services will be 2 p.m., Friday, April 12, 2019 at James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel with Reverend Ronnie Wright officiating. Entombment will follow in Pinecrest Memorial Gardens with James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel directing. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, April 11, 2019 at James & Sikes Funeral Home Maddox Chapel in Marianna. Expressions of Sympathy may be made online at www.jamesandsikesfuneralhomes.com

Source Article

The post Slay, David Napoleon appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/slay-david-napoleon/

[ubon-zoo]

Students travel to Tallahassee with a message — don’t arm our teachers

Students gather at the Florida Capitol on Wednesday to protest bills that would allow teachers to be armed in their classrooms. (Skyler Swisher / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Students arrived by the busload to the Florida Capitol Wednesday to urge lawmakers to vote down a proposal that would allow teachers to carry guns on campus.

About 200 students lined the pathway into the House chamber and held the photos of people lost to gun violence.

Robert Schentrup, 19, displayed a picture of his sister, Carmen, who was one of the 17 people killed last year in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. She was one week away from her 17th birthday.

He said he thought about whether a teacher with a gun could have saved his sister’s life, but he concluded the unintended consequences outweigh the benefits.

“I had some teachers who had short tempers with students,” said Schentrup, a student at the University of Central Florida. “I worry about firearms escalating situations, especially in inner-city communities.”

Armed teachers could cause confusion for police officers responding to a mass shooting, and more guns in schools could increase rather than decrease the chances of violence, Schentrup said.

Meanwhile in South Florida, students walked out of Stoneman Douglas Wednesday morning to call for more mental health services in schools. Two student survivors of the Feb. 14, 2018, school shooting killed themselves in a one-week span last month.

The bill to allow the arming of teachers was scheduled to be debated Wednesday afternoon in the Florida House, but it was postponed. The measure would allow teachers to voluntarily carry guns if they complete training and local school boards agree.

The demonstrations played no role in the decision to delay debate on the bill, said Fred Piccolo, a spokesman for House Speaker Jose Oliva.

“The presence of the students unequivocally I can say had nothing to do with the postponement,” he said.

A disagreement between the House and the Senate on how to align the policy with the budget was the reason, Piccolo said. The speaker is confident those issues will be resolved, he said.

Organizers said students traveled to Tallahassee from Orlando, Gainesville and Tampa.

House Democrats filed numerous amendments seeking to remove teachers from the list of school employees who could be armed.

State Rep. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, said lawmakers should be discussing banning assault weapons — not putting guns into the hands of teachers.

“I hope the bill gets temporarily delayed for the next 30 days until the end of session,” he said. “It’s bad policy, and it shouldn’t happen.”

Opponents to the legislation have created a website and launched ads criticizing the proposal. At a rally outside the Capitol, students chanted, “We’ll be back.”

Supporters, though, say allowing teachers to carry guns would make schools safer when most mass shootings are over in a matter of minutes.

The Parkland shooter spent fewer than four minutes gunning down students and staff.

“They were just sitting ducks — with no chance,” state Sen. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, said in a hearing last week.

The proposal would expand the state’s Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program created in the wake of the Parkland shooting.

Named for an assistant football coach killed in the massacre, the program allows non-instructional employees to carry guns if they undergo training and pass a psychological evaluation.

Last year, state lawmakers opted not to include most classroom teachers on the list of school employees authorized to carry weapons.

The state commission investigating the Parkland shooting recommended in December expanding the program to include teachers.

School boards would decide whether to participate in the guardian program. School systems also have the option of stationing a law enforcement officer at each school, a costlier option.

Twenty-five districts participate in the guardian program, including Broward County.

Educators would need to pass a psychological evaluation and complete at least 144 hours of firearms training to carry a gun on campus.

Molly Lavoie, 18, a student at Osceola County School for the Arts, held a sign that read, “mental health over guns.” Another student carried a sign that read, “If giving more people guns made us safer, America would be the safest country on Earth.”

“I don’t want to worry about one of my teachers having a gun,” Lavoie said. “It’s very scary that could be a reality for me.”

sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher

Source Article

The post Students travel to Tallahassee with a message — don’t arm our teachers appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/students-travel-to-tallahassee-with-a-message-dont-arm-our-teachers/

[ubon-zoo]

At last, Tallahassee is talking about sea-level rise | Editorial

To call attention to sea-level rise, Florida Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez is wearing rain boots that feature the phrase "#ActOnClimateFL." His bill just passed its first Senate committee, which is good news for a Capitol that has so far turned a blind eye. (Courtesy photo)

Every journey of a thousand miles, the adage goes, begins with a single step. Last week, a state Senate committee took a small step toward protecting our region against the devastation that can be foreseen as the sea keeps rising.

Voting 5-0, Republicans and Democrats on the Environment and Natural Resources Committee together passed Senate Bill 78, which would require that state-funded infrastructure projects near the coast be preceded by a sea-level impact studies.

No compatible source was found for this media.

Coming the same week that thousands of young people across the state, nation and globe skipped school to demand action to combat the projected changes in climate that threaten their generation’s future, the unanimous vote by the panel in Tallahassee was a breakthrough.

After years of turning a blind eye to the growing prospect of devastating losses, the Legislature is beginning to concede to reality: Sea level rise is happening; it will worsen; and Florida must adjust.

SB 78 addresses one obvious adjustment: From now on, whenever we construct public buildings, roads or bridges, we should be factoring in the structures’ ability to withstand the heavier flooding that we know to expect. Doing this will help keep repair, replacement and insurance costs to a minimum. And by setting statewide standards for making structures resilient, we’ll give the insurance industry and Wall Street more confidence that coastal buildings are worth investing in over 20 or 30 years.

The bill is sponsored by state Sen. José Javier Rodríguez, a Democrat from a king tide-prone section of Miami, who thinks this issue is so urgent that every day during session he wears black rain boots with white letters reading: #ActOnClimate.

“Passing bills like this sends an economic signal at an important time,” Rodriquez said after the bill crossed its first hurdle, “and I’m confident that our Legislature is ready to lead.”

Rodriguez said he is gaining support from reluctant Republican lawmakers by emphasizing climate change as an economic issue. Before last week’s vote, builders, architects and local governments joined environmental groups in praising the measure.

In an interview, Rodriguez said the debate on climate change has significantly shifted among his Senate colleagues. They’re no longer arguing about the science. “We’re now talking about how much of a priority are we going to make it,” he said.

“My message is, we are in urgent times — and that, when you plan, you save money in the long term and the short term,” he added.

This is change for the better — the sort of change we have been advocating in our collaborative series The Invading Sea in conjunction with the Palm Beach Post, Miami Herald and WLRN.

Rodriguez has high hopes the bill will do well in the Senate. But even if it hits rougher waters in the more conservative House of Representatives, this movement is an important sign that state government is rousing itself from its years of denial on climate issues under the Rick Scott administration.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who calls himself an environmentalist in the Theodore Roosevelt mold, has named a Department of Environmental Protection secretary, Noah Valenstein, who is respected by environmental groups. Without fanfare, he formed an Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection within the DEP to “help prepare Florida’s coastal communities and habitats for impacts from sea level rise.” He also created the DEP position of chief science officer to prioritize “scientific data, research, monitoring and analysis needs to ensure alignment with current and emerging environmental concerns most pressing to Floridians.”

Next, should come proper funding in the state budget.

Local governments have needed this kind of support. The four counties from Jupiter to Key West have been doing trailblazing work for 10 years on resiliency issues as the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.

And just last month in Palm Beach County, 10 south-county communities and the county government — under the name Palm Beach County Coastal Resilience Partnership — began meeting to craft a cohesive strategy for climate-change adaptation.

They were no doubt sobered — if not staggered — by the news from Delray Beach, which learned from a consultant that alleviating present and future flooding in some 14 neighborhoods will require raising roads and seawalls and improving pipes to the tune of $378 million.

Such enormous projects can’t be shouldered by the towns alone. “We can’t keep leaving this to localities, with no leadership from the state,” Rodriguez said. ‘“That’s not what we ought to be doing.”

“The Invading Sea” is a collaboration of the editorial boards of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, with reporting and community engagement assistance from WLRN Public Media. For more information, visit InvadingSea.com

Source Article

The post At last, Tallahassee is talking about sea-level rise | Editorial appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/at-last-tallahassee-is-talking-about-sea-level-rise-editorial/

[ubon-zoo]

Pasco Commission Heads To Tallahassee To Request State Funding

The Pasco County Commission is hoping to get state funds to expand the Port Richey shrimp docks. (Catches Waterfront Grille)

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — Designing an overpass for Starkey Trail users, creating landscaped gateways at the Pasco County boundaries and designing an underpass at U.S. 19 and the Cotee River are just a few of the items that Pasco County commissioners will discuss with legislators during their annual trip to Tallahassee this week.

Pasco County Commissioners will travel to Tallahassee for Pasco County Legislative Day on Wednesday, March 13 to advocate for Pasco’s 2019 State Legislative Agenda Priorities.

Each year, during the height of the Legislative Session, commissioners and county staff head to Tallahassee to discuss funding for Pasco County projects and update state officials on issues impacting the county.

Pasco County’s wish list this year includes 11 projects with an estimated cost of $89.5 million.

The project with the largest price tag widening the final segment of State Road 52 to four lanes at an estimated cost of $73.9 million. Design for the widening from U.S. 41 to Bellamy Brothers Boulevard has been completed and right of way has been partially funded. Still needed is $9.7 million for the remainder of the right of way acquisition and $64.2 million for construction.

With a price tag of $4 million each, the county also needs funding to build a State Road 54 overpass for the Starkey Trail and U.S. 19 overpass for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Starkey Trail crossing is intended to provide a safe way for trail pedestrians and bicyclists to cross the busy six-lane SR 54. The Starkey Trail is part of the statewide Coast to Coast trail network. The last unfinished segment known as the Starkey Gap is now under construction and is expected to be completed this summer.

The U.S. 19 overpass at Marine Parkway is intended to reduce pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities along the busy 10-lane U..S. 19. It will tie into the Marine Parkway trail now in place on the east side of the Highway and will become a gateway into the city of New Port Richey.

Also on the wish list:

* Gateways Beautification Plan – The county is seeking $3.4 million to design plans for landscape beautification and monument signage at key gateways into Pasco County including the north and south county borders on U.S. 19 (Gulf Coast Highway), and at secondary gateways from U.S. 19 to major road intersections, including State Road 54, Moog Road, Little Road, Embassy Boulevard, Aripeka Road and Hudson Avenue.

It also includes gateways to Land O’ Lakes Boulevard, State Road 52 and U.S. 301 that will incorporate traffic-calming measures, landscaping, monuments, lighting and place-making projects.

* Millers Bayou Working Waterfront Enhancements – Another $3 million is being requested to design plans for an underpass at U.S. 19 and the Pithlachascotee River and to replace shrimp docks in Port Richey at Millers Bayou. The shrimp docks serve the commercial shrimping industry in Pasco County but docking space is limited right now. The county hopes to expand the docks.

* Land O’ Lakes Redevelopment Plan – The county also hopes to secure $1.5 million in funding for the Land O’ Lakes Boulevard corridor so the road better serves through traffic as well as businesses along the corridor.

* Additionally, the county is seeking $700,000 to transform two county-owned buildings into a homeless services center and temporary family housing for the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County Inc.

One building will be used to provide temporary residential family housing (Including an on-site management office). The second building will be used as a housing services center and will provide office space for the staff and homeless care partners. The total project is estimated at $1.5 million. The county commission has already committed $680,000 in federal grant funds and the United Way of Pasco County will kick in $100,000 for the project.

To see the full Pasco Board of County Commissioners’ 2019 State Legislative Priorities Agenda, click here.

The 2019 Legislative Session began March 5 and runs through May 3.

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Source Article

The post Pasco Commission Heads To Tallahassee To Request State Funding appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/pasco-commission-heads-to-tallahassee-to-request-state-funding/

[ubon-zoo]

The ‘state of the state’ is often overstated | Steve Bousquet

The governor’s annual State of the State address to the Legislature is never as big a deal as it’s made out to be, though this year might be a bit different. That’s because Gov. Ron DeSantis is off to a fast start. (Wilfredo Lee / AP)

TALLAHASSEE — It’s just a speech. A lot of yapping — something that’s already in plentiful supply in Tallahassee.

The governor’s annual State of the State address to the Legislature is never as big a deal as it’s made out to be, though this year might be a bit different.

That’s because Gov. Ron DeSantis is off to a fast start — a blur in a blue suit, seemingly with a “major announcement” every hour or so.

There’s still an element of mystery surrounding this new Republican governor who surfaced as an unlikeable Trump guy, won by an eyelash and has been refreshingly hard to pigeonhole on several issues.

After two months in office, he’s still a blank canvas.

So much that when his own chief of staff, Shane Strum, a former Broward health care executive, spoke recently to a group of business insiders from the Florida Chamber of Commerce, he said their first question was, “Can you tell us a little bit more about the governor, the governor’s team, and what they look like?”

DeSantis’ first State of the State, scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, is a chance for him to re-introduce himself to a rapt statewide TV audience (okay, okay, the Florida Channel).

The Florida Constitution requires the governor to address the Legislature once a year “concerning the condition of the state … and recommend measures in the public interest.”

Year after year, governors exaggerate how wonderful things are in Florida, while they minimize festering problems or ignore them altogether, like the decades-long neglect of public schools, mediocre teacher salaries and chronic deficiencies in child welfare and the prison system.

This is the time for DeSantis to DeLiver more DeTails.

He needs to seize the moment. He needs to give people a clear vision of what kind of place Florida should be, and what he plans to do about education, health care and the environment. Instead of sucking up to legislators, he should pointedly challenge them — to reform the system of sentencing and punishment, for starters.

DeSantis knows he’s still in his honeymoon, and it won’t last long (just ask former governors Rick Scott or Charlie Crist). Fights with fellow Republicans are just around the corner. His political stock will probably never be higher than it is now.

Past governors have used the State of the State to salute the courage of law enforcement officers or share small success stories as examples of the state’s great and unfulfilled potential.

That’s fine. But I want to hear DeSantis tell us he’s going to move quickly to restore felons’ voting rights under Amendment 4. Or how he plans to tackle the affordable housing crisis in Florida. Or how to help the millions of working families that are teetering on the edge of disaster, one bad break from financial ruin.

Or DeSantis can squander a golden opportunity and waste time telling lawmakers why they need to ban sanctuary cities, even though there are none in Florida — a phony Trumpian issue that’s red meat for the Republican base.

If DeSantis talks about immigration, then he should follow through on his campaign promise that the state pass an e-verify law requiring employers to check the legal status of their own workers. It’s a heavy lift, and an idea long resisted by lawmakers because of opposition in the business community.

Arguably the single best use of the State of the State platform in all my years here was by Gov. Lawton Chiles, who in his first year in 1991 held up a three-legged stool fashioned out of a log.

It was a great photo-op that made all the newspapers. But it also was the ol’ he-coon’s way of extending an olive branch to his partners in the House and Senate. The gesture was well-received, but before long those Democrats were at each others’ throats.

Then there was the time a few years ago when Scott wanted to rehearse his speech in the House chamber in private and his people threw a Tampa Bay Times reporter and photographer out of the workspace in the press gallery, even though they couldn’t hear Scott, who was not wearing a mike and was behind a glass partition.

Whatever Scott said in that 2014 speech was soon forgotten. So expectations for DeSantis on Tuesday won’t be very high.

Steve Bousquet is a columnist for the South Florida Sun Sentinel in Tallahassee. He can be reached at scbousquet@gmail.com or (850) 567-2240. Follow him on Twitter @stevebousquet.

Source Article

The post The ‘state of the state’ is often overstated | Steve Bousquet appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/the-state-of-the-state-is-often-overstated-steve-bousquet/

[ubon-zoo]

South Florida family wins court battle to drill for oil in Everglades

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. After nearly four years of legal battles, a Miami family that made its fortune in real estate will now be able to drill an exploratory oil well in the Everglades, just west of the Broward County suburbs.

A Tallahassee appeals court reversed a decision by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday, ultimately granting Kanter Real Estate the authority to drill.

No compatible source was found for this media.

The land Kanter Real Estate President John Kanter is interested in drilling is on a 20-mile-wide, 150-mile-long stretch of shale between Miami and Fort Myers dubbed the Sunniland Trend. The western part of that stretch has been tapped into by a Texas oil company, but the Kanter family argues that it has found the potential for oil on the eastern part.

The land sits in one of the South Florida Water Management District’s three conservation areas.

Miami-based Kanter Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The panel of judges decided that DEP couldn’t reject a 2017 order that the permit to drill should be approved.

"It was an abuse of discretion to reject, modify, or substitute the (administrative judge’s) factual findings," Chief Judge Brad Thomas wrote in the ruling.

Kanter applied for a permit to drill the exploratory oil well on 5 acres in the Everglades in 2015. DEP denied the application, doubting the likelihood that enough oil would be found to warrant a drilling operation. Kanter took the case to administrative court.

While the administrative court ruled in Kanter’s favor, DEP still had to issue the final order. It denied the permit saying, among other things, that the Everglades was considered "environmentally sensitive" land.

The judge made a decision on the basis that the Everglades site lies in an area that has existing road access isolated from both surface and groundwater, is "environmentally degraded" and is overrun with cattails.

In a 14-page ruling, the appeals court judges concluded that DEP Secretary Noah Valenstein "improperly recast factual findings to reach a desired outcome, contrary to law."

Thomas also referred to Kanter’s expert testimony, which said there is only a 23 percent chance of finding oil on the 20,000-acre site. If oil is discovered, the well could produce about 180,000 to 10 million barrels at about $50 per barrel.

The well will be the first of its kind east of 40 smaller drilling setups in the Big Cypress Preserve.

The last oil or gas permit DEP granted was 50 years ago.

Valenstein said the department’s history did not form the basis of DEP’s decision, but more so reflects that DEP has not changed its longstanding policy to deny oil and gas permits within lands subject to Everglades restoration.

DEP did not respond to a request for comment.

The Kanter family began acquiring 20,000 acres of marshland 50 years ago, the Miami Herald reported then. Joseph Kanter came from Alabama, becoming one of Miami’s top apartment builders. He told the Herald in 1983 that he bought the huge plot in hopes to build a new city in the Everglades.

While the permit has been approved, the family’s new foray into the Everglades can’t start quite yet.

The Broward County commissioners who have vocally opposed Kanter’s plans in the past will have to change the land use and award various permits for the well to operate.

The oil drilling is not the same as hydraulic fracking, of which Gov. Ron DeSantis is in staunch opposition.

Environmentalists like Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association, say they are disappointed with the decision.

Schwartz, who filed an amicus brief in the case, said DEP could have "put up a better fight." He also said the judge took all of the expert witness testimony at face value, especially when they argued the land was isolated and "environmentally degraded."

"A geologist from any place would say this is ludicrous," he said. "Limestone in South Florida is not going to isolate anything. It’s as porous as a sponge. DEP didn’t even contest the findings that the land was degraded."

He added that the 5-acre drilling area gets inundated during heavy rain periods. If this area gets inundated, there will be a washed-over oil pad and "everything that’s on it becomes part of the Everglades," he said.

Schwartz, who passed notes with DEP attorneys during both trials, said it’s unlikely the agency will take this case to the Supreme Court.

"It’s just very sad," he said. "Hopefully Broward County is going to prevail. It’s really a nightmare."

(Miami Herald staff writer Jenny Staletovich contributed to this report.)

(c)2019 Miami Herald

Visit Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Source Article

The post South Florida family wins court battle to drill for oil in Everglades appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/south-florida-family-wins-court-battle-to-drill-for-oil-in-everglades/

[ubon-zoo]

Women’s group takes Hurricane Michael recovery battle to Tallahassee

“We do indeed feel very forgotten today. We are in the midst of an extreme housing crisis all over the Panhandle,” Burg said during a House Appropriations Committee meeting Tuesday. “We have families out of their homes, myself included.”

TALLAHASSEE — Jennifer Burg went over her notes before her big speech at the Florida Capitol on Tuesday but ended up speaking from the heart when the time came.

“We do indeed feel very forgotten today. We are in the midst of an extreme housing crisis all over the Panhandle,” Burg said during a House Appropriations Committee meeting Tuesday. “We have families out of their homes, myself included.”

Burg and Mitzi Prater, members of Michael’s Angels — a newly formed women’s group advocating for affected communities — traveled to the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on Tuesday in a quest for funding, housing and solutions from the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office for a community that fears being overlooked.

“We lit a fire,” Burg said after the individual meetings. “I’m proud of what we accomplished.”

Michael’s Angels has taken off faster than members could have imagined, Burg said. The group is modeled after The Women of the Storm, a group that advocated for recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

“We mean business,” said Burg, whose Panama City home was damaged. “We came up with our mission statement on Sunday. Our mission statement is: ‘We are a group of warrior women determined to restore, rebuild and ensure the rebirth of our forgotten coast.’ ”

One thing they are seeking is for the federal government to take on a greater share of the costs of debris removal, looking for 150 days.

DeSantis recently announced there will be 100 percent federal reimbursement for storm debris removal for 45 days. Burg said Michael’s Angels is “beyond grateful” for the 45-day reimbursement since it is a “huge step in the right direction for our communities,” though the group is pushing for more.

Rep. Jay Trumbull of Panama City sat in on some of the meetings Michael’s Angels had with other legislators. Trumbull also discussed the recovery and needs of the area, including debris cleanup costs exceeding budgets for some small towns in Bay County.

Legislators that the group met with seemed receptive, Burg said.

“I’m seeing astronomical numbers. We don’t yet have our hands around everything in terms of how much it’s going to be, who’s paying for what, where the federal government is helping, what have we already done to this point,” Rep. Travis Cummings, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said during one of the meetings. “This is a multi-year deal. We’ve just got to be strategic and find out what to fund, how to fund it and where’s the most impact.”

The committee heard a presentation of DeSantis’ proposed 2019-20 budget, which includes $271 million for matching federal funds for federally declared disasters and $765 million to address housing and job training needs in recovery zones. Cummings said legislators haven’t made a policy decision and the budget didn’t have “a lot of specifics,” though he added the budget “clearly had a lot of relief dollars in there” and DeSantis has been attentive to the Panhandle.

DeSantis has made several visits to Bay County and other devastated communities since taking office, during which he met with local leaders to hear concerns about cleanup reimbursement, and said recovery from Hurricane Michael is a priority.

Burg also invited state representatives to visit Bay County to see the aftermath, which Rep. Kristin Jacobs and Rep. Kionne McGhee said they would do.

Prater and Burg also met with Sen. George Gainer of Panama City, who has been active in recovery efforts, to thank him and said they were willing to help him. Gainer said state and FEMA officials are attentive to the area’s needs and working in the recovery.

Michael’s Angels plans to hold group meetings. To get involved or for more information, visit the group’s Facebook page at facebook.com/Michaels-Angels-1926580620802811.

Source Article

The post Women’s group takes Hurricane Michael recovery battle to Tallahassee appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/womens-group-takes-hurricane-michael-recovery-battle-to-tallahassee/

[ubon-zoo]

Weather Service remembers the ice storm of Jan. 28-29, 2014 (PHOTOS)

List your event now for free! Hide caption

Monday, Jan. 28, 2019 is the fifth anniversary of the ice storm that paralyzed the South in 2014. The Mobile office of the National Weather Service, on its website, presented this anniversary summary of the ice storm that struck on Jan. 28-29. This is what they had to say:

—

Ice and Sleet Storm Shuts Down Cities Across the Deep South

January 28-29, 2014

The above graphic (posted on social media) was the forecast several days in advance of the January 28-29 Winter Weather Event. Leading up to this event, we were becoming increasingly worried about the potential for a significant freezing rain and sleet event. On January 26th, our forecasters issued a Winter Storm Watch in advance of the January 28-29th Winter Weather Event. The graphic below shows all the Warnings and Advisories issued across the entire Southeast on January 27th leading up to the January 28-29th Winter Weather Event (graphic created by the NWS Office in Tallahassee, FL). Keep in mind, it was 63°F at the NWS Office in West Mobile, AL during the afternoon of January 27th when we issued this Winter Storm Warning!

Conditions started going downhill early on January 28th. The first report of freezing rain and sleet came in between 630-7am in the Thomasville, AL area (Clarke County), which resulted in a light glaze of ice on vehicles. Freezing rain was observed in Choctaw and Clarke Counties in AL around 9am with ice accrual on bridges and overpasses. Light snow was also observed in Choctaw County, AL between 9 and 10am. Freezing rain began in Mobile, AL by approximately 9am with ice accumulation observed on vehicles by 930am. Freezing rain started falling in the Pensacola, FL area around 1130am.

By 1230pm, Choctaw General Hospital in Butler, AL (Choctaw County) reported light to moderate snow. By 1pm, heavy sleet was reported in Lucedale, MS by the electric company. Emergency managers and their staff were reporting ice accumulating on many roads and highways by 2pm. Civil Emergency Messages were issued for Butler, Crenshaw, Conecuh, Clarke, Washington, Choctaw, Monroe and Wilcox Counties in Alabama due to extremely hazardous road conditions. Heavy sleet was starting to accumulate at the NWS Office around this time. The Governor and Alabama EMA Director urged residents to get off the roads as quickly as possible in the afternoon.

By 3pm, Clark County Emergency Manager reported a transition to all snow in the communities of Tallahatta Springs and Coffeeville, AL. George County, MS Emergency Manager reported all bridges and overpasses in the county were iced over at this time. Snow was observed in Scatch Ankle, AL by 330pm.

Choctaw General Hospital in Butler, AL measured 3 inches of snow by 4pm. In Excel, AL (Monroe County), an observer reported a temperature of 25.7°F with sleet and heavy ice accumulation. Road conditions across Mobile and Baldwin Counties were rapidly deteriorating by 4pm, which was confirmed by NWS employees driving into work for shift change. Vehicles were sliding off the interstates and ice was rapidly accumulating on bridges and overpasses around this time. This was the view of sleet covering the I-10 Bayway over Mobile Bay via ALDOT cameras and Fox10 News (Lenise Ligon).

The emergency manager in Crenshaw County reported every bridge and road was iced over before 5pm. Ice accumulation was becoming a big issue on the roadways across the entire area around sunset on the 28th. By 540pm, forecasters noticed a brightbanding feature on radar from a line roughly drawn between Atmore, AL up to Evergreen, AL around the I-65 corridor resulting in a band of heavy sleet for this area.

At 6pm, the sleet was 0.8 inches deep at the NWS Office in West Mobile. We received reports of 1-1.5 inches of sleet in Leroy, AL and 1 inch of sleet in Saraland, AL at 6pm. By 630pm, the wind chill was a whopping 12°F with heavy sleet observed at the NWS Office.

Snow continued to be observed at 8pm in Excel, AL just south of US-84 in Monroe County with a temperature of 23.9°F. Ice laden tree limbs were beginning to fall across the roadways in Santa Rosa County, FL. Freezing rain finally changed over to sleet in the Pensacola area around 830pm. The heavy sleet quickly began to accumulate the Pensacola area. As of 840pm, 1 3/4 visibility and snow were observed in Evergreen, AL.

Around 930pm, forecasters observed bright banding on radar along a line roughly drawn from Orange Beach, AL to Crestview, FL. Bright banding on radar resulted in observations of heavy sleet and freezing rain for those communities. Shortly before 10pm, we received a report of 2-2.5 inches of sleet and snow accumulation in the West Bend community in Clarke County, AL.

More rounds of snow and sleet continued to push across the area through the overnight hours. As of 10pm, the current observation at NAS Pensacola was a balmy 26°F with freezing rain. Heavy sleet continued to fall and accumulate in the Orange Beach, AL area as of 1130pm.

Just up the street from our office, we received 2 observations from meteorology students at the University of South Alabama of 1.2 and 1.25 inches of sleet at different locations on campus.

Snow and sleet came to an end across the area from west to east through the overnight hours. Coastal locations continued to receive sleet and/or snow into the pre-dawn hours across the Florida panhandle. Sleet changed over to snow in the Pensacola area around 1am on the 29th.

Temperatures plummeted into the teens to low 20s across the region with gusty northerly winds, which resulted in wind chills in the single digits early on the 29th.

The cloud cover stuck around across the region on the 29th, so the daytime high temperature only reached 31°F at the NWS Office in West Mobile (at the Mobile Regional Airport). According to the records, there have only been 43 days since the late 1800s with a high temperature of 32°F or lower in the Mobile, AL area. There have only been 24 days since the late 1800s with a high temperature of 32°F or lower in the Pensacola, FL area.

Temperatures hovering near or below freezing throughout the day led to icy and slushy conditions across many local waterways, including Mobile Bay. Freezing spray was even observed on several vessels in the nearshore and offshore waters.

Temperatures plummeted into the teens overnight on January 29th and into the early morning hours of January 30th. By 10pm on the 29th, the temperature was already 21°F at the Mobile Regional Airport. By the morning of the 30th, the Mobile Regional Airport dipped down to 16°F, Brookley Field hit 18°F and the Pensacola International Airport hit 20°F.

Many airports, roads, interstates, tunnels, bridges, and overpasses across the area remained closed and impassable on the 29th due to the aforementioned below freezing temperatures.

Schools remained closed and many city/county government offices also remained closed on the 29th. According to the Mobile Police Department, they responded to almost 300 weather related calls during the event (through the evening of the 29th). Ice was at least one inch thick on bridges and overpasses in the Mobile metro area.

I-10 was shut down in both directions from the Alabama/Florida state line (mile 1) to mile 233 in Jefferson County, FL spanning 10 counties (Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Jackson, Gadsden, Leon and Jefferson Counties) for a total of 233 miles!

By the 30th, Mobile Regional Airport, Pensacola International Airport, and all other regional/local airports re-opened. The main roads began to slowly thaw out and the interstates re-opened as they were fully exposed to the sun. However, secondary and country roads (and parking lots) remained iced over for days after this event due to a dense tree canopy across the rural portion of our forecast area.

As if the snow and ice event was not rare enough, our forecast for the weekend had temperatures approaching 70°F!! Sunshine and climbing temperatures allowed ice to fall off roofs, tall buildings in downtown Mobile, powerlines, and off semi-trucks.

Source Article

The post Weather Service remembers the ice storm of Jan. 28-29, 2014 (PHOTOS) appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/weather-service-remembers-the-ice-storm-of-jan-28-29-2014-photos/

[ubon-zoo]

State College of Florida announces multimillion-dollar technology project

A Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation is coming to State College of Florida, in Bradenton, the result of a $3.6 million grant from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

SCF’s new center will include a coding academy, offering courses, certificate programs, seminars, social events and other gatherings to students and local entrepreneurs, according to the school’s announcement on Wednesday morning.

The center will also include a studio for video and audio production, along with a department for university partnerships, where students can take advantage of opportunities not offered at SCF.

A fourth element, the “SCF Technology Incubator and Accelator,” is the cornerstone that brings everything together at the Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation.

Latest news by email

The afternoon’s latest local news

Recaptcha requires verification.

protected by reCAPTCHA

Privacy – Terms

Privacy – Terms

SIGN UP

The incubator will take ideas, some of them formed in other areas of the center, and help bring them to life. Would-be entrepreneurs might need help in developing a business plan, a source of funding or a networking strategy.

SCF’s new center is planned for both students and the community at large, said Todd Fritch, the school’s executive vice president and provost. He spoke at a news conference on Wednesday.

“This follows our commitment to being the community’s college, and ensuring that we are good partners in everything that we do,” he said.

He was joined by Carol Probstfeld, the president of SCF. She said overwhelming assistance — letters of support and phone calls to Tallahassee — were the driving force behind SCF’s $3.6 million grant.

She also credits the partnerships formed with local employers, along with the economic development corporations in Bradenton and Sarasota.

“Our grant application grew stronger as each partner came on board,” she said.

While the timeline is still fluid, it’s clear that Building 8, the college’s former library, will house the new center. SCF hopes new money and ideas will bring life into the aging facility, while also promoting technology and growth in the area.

SCF deliberated for more than two years with faculty, staff and residents, brainstorming a future for the old library. Probstfeld said she heard a range of ideas, some more interesting than others.

“Everything from a fitness facility, to student housing, to a child care center and a petting zoo,” she jokingly said. “I would like to thank our collegiate school sixth graders for that last recommendation.”

Source Article

The post State College of Florida announces multimillion-dollar technology project appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/state-college-of-florida-announces-multimillion-dollar-technology-project/

[ubon-zoo]

Florida housing provides $5 million in disaster funding

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) – The Florida Housing Finance Corporation is providing $5 million worth of housing disaster funds for Floridians impacted by Hurricane Michael.

The money went to 10 locations, with Gadsden, Jackson, Wakulla, Franklin and Liberty counties receiving close to a $1 million combined.

The $5 million provided is 100 percent of the budget allocated for Florida Housing for disaster relief.

"It was the most significant disaster this year, and we aren’t really anticipating another hurricane till hurricane season which would be next fiscal year," said Trey Price, executive Director of Florida Housing.

Panama City received the most money getting more than $1.6 million to help rebuild the city.

Source Article

The post Florida housing provides $5 million in disaster funding appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/florida-housing-provides-5-million-in-disaster-funding/

[ubon-zoo]

Editorial: Florida Legislature sloughing responsibilities onto locals

Lawmakers should stop raiding trust funds and pushing costs for services onto local governments.

OCTAVIO JONES | Times Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court Pat Frank.

Floridians were bombarded before this year’s election with mailers and television ads portraying the Republican-led Legislature as a staunch advocate for schools, transportation and other essential public services. In reality, state lawmakers have been bleeding local governments for decades – sweeping dedicated funding away from state obligations and forcing local communities to tax themselves to plug the budgetary gap. It’s a fundamental cost shift that highlights the Legislature’s hypocrisy and the importance of demanding state lawmakers be more accountable when they meet next spring.

One reminder of this abdication of responsibility came this fall when Hillsborough County Clerk of Court Pat Frank filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging a double-whammy. She claims the Legislature placed an unconstitutional cap on the fees that local court clerks collect from their constituents, thereby creating an "arbitrary" funding base that bears no relation to the clerks’ actual costs. That prevents the counties from providing a level of service their residents need. Frank also accused the state of skimming money from 19 different fines and fees and diverting it to the state’s general fund rather than remitting it to the counties. Frank said her office has lost $10 million since 2009 as a result and stands to lose another $4 million this year. Tens of millions of dollars were also allegedly diverted in similar fashion from the rest of Florida’s 67 court clerks to pay for unrelated state expenses. Hillsborough has taken the lead on the lawsuit, and is being joined by Lee and Santa Rosa counties.

Frank’s lawsuit amounts to new lyrics on a familiar tune. For years, the Legislature has shirked its responsibilities to provide core services in Florida, sloughing off that obligation onto cities and counties even as lawmakers passed one bill after another to preempt local control. Since 2001, the Legislature has swept more than $2 billion in trust funds dedicated to affordable housing and redirected it instead to the general revenue budget, where it financed non-related spending or offset tax cuts. The net effect is that Florida’s housing crisis grew over time just as local communities had fewer resources to help working families cope with rapidly rising rents. Lawmakers did the same thing with Amendment 1 funds, redirecting tens of millions of dollars intended for land conservation to state salaries and overhead. The state’s greatest scam might have been in promising voters in 1986 that lottery money would enhance education. But it’s still a playbook Tallahassee follows to the present day.

Hillsborough voters face raised the county’s sales tax rate to the highest in Florida in part because the Legislature has not addressed the critical needs for schools and transportation in the growing urban counties. Certainly, some counties have not made the best of their tax dollars, but more and more are taxing themselves for core services – schools, transportation, health care, environmental protection – because the Legislature has refused to step up and set the right statewide priorities. Incumbent legislators had the gall to bury voters with misinformation in the campaign’s closing days about their own culpability in creating this services gap. When the Legislature opens its annual session next spring, voters should remind them to take their responsibilities seriously and force local governments to make up for their shortcomings.

Source Article

The post Editorial: Florida Legislature sloughing responsibilities onto locals appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/editorial-florida-legislature-sloughing-responsibilities-onto-locals/

[ubon-zoo]

Smith, Charles Philip

Today would have been Philip’s Birthday. Charles Philip Smith ended his life in July 2018. He was 34 years old. Philip was survived by his parents: Bob (now deceased) and Connie Smith of Marianna, FL; and his siblings Sarah Wood and Andrew Smith. He was born in Virginia, raised in Marianna, FL, and lived most of his adult life in Tallahassee, FL. He attended school in Marianna from kindergarten through graduation, and then went on to complete his AA degree at Chipola Junior College. Philip lived with debilitating pain and physical decline for 13 years due to an infection that caused joint damage throughout his body. He had multiple hip surgeries and a hip replacement. He had discs fused in his back, and he was in need of additional back surgeries. He was wheelchair bound twice for significant amounts of time. Philip took pain medication when he was hurting, but stopped taking it when it was not medically necessary. He was a pain patient, not an addict. In the end, Philip was overwhelmed by the difficulty of trying to navigate the government systems for the disabled, being shuffled between doctors, and specifically the enactment of new Florida laws that restricted his access to medically necessary painkillers. The War on Opioids is failing to accommodate patients that are in need of life-saving pain medications. Philip was a songwriter and enjoyed playing guitar. He was a talented painter. He loved tinkering with and repairing computers. He wrote a couple of unpublished books and kept many journals. He was an avid video gamer. His Memorial Service was held on July 22 at First Baptist Church of Marianna. He will be interred at Pinecrest Memorial Gardens in Marianna. Philip was special and we can’t believe he is no longer with us. We want to raise awareness of the mental and physical needs of disabled people, and the flawed legislation that limits their access to adequate care. Every life has value. Every person is more than their brokenness. The family has set up a memorial fund with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. https://afsp.donordrive.com/campaign/Philip-Smith-Memorial-Fund If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, please contact:

Source Article

The post Smith, Charles Philip appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/smith-charles-philip/

[ubon-zoo]

Hurricane Michael creates giant hole in Florida town

Hurricane Michael created a giant hole in a north Florida town that is threatening a nearby cemetery and public housing duplexes.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported Sunday that the October storm caused a crater along a street in Bristol that is about 45 miles west of Tallahassee.

A contractor told the newspaper that the hole was 40 to 50 feet deep and roughly 250 feet long. But heavy rain over the weekend was expected to make the crater grow larger. One of the housing duplexes near the hole has already been evacuated.

The newspaper said the crater is the result of major erosion and is not a sinkhole.

Hurricane Michael has caused at least $3.4 billion in insured losses in Florida

Source Article

The post Hurricane Michael creates giant hole in Florida town appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/hurricane-michael-creates-giant-hole-in-florida-town/

[ubon-zoo]

Where does Nikki Fried go from here?

A year ago, Nikki Fried was a lobbyist in Tallahassee with just three clients. Now, she’s the face of the Florida Democratic Party after becoming the only Democrat to win a statewide race in this year’s election.

It’s up to the new agriculture commissioner to not just transform her department, but also help Democrats find a way forward in uncharted waters.

Fried, 40, uses the phrase “deep dive” a lot in a conversation by Fort Lauderdale’s New River, sitting at the chessboard tables behind the New River Inn near her downtown home.

She’ll need to do a “deep dive” on the Department of Agriculture’s sometimes slipshod process to approve concealed-carry permits.

She’ll need to do a “deep dive” on how the department can play a more active role in Florida’s medical marijuana industry, when the Department of Health is currently the lead agency on most aspects of the law.

She’ll need to do a “deep dive” on her new agency — overseeing everything from agriculture to permitting concealed carry licenses to checking gas station pumps.

She’ll need to do a “deep dive” on just where the Florida Democratic Party goes from here.

“I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders,” she said. “Every decision that I make, every policy, I have got to make sure that I stay true to myself, I stay true to what I ran on, and that I will help to direct the party on what went wrong in this election cycle.”

A year ago, the Miami native was a lobbyist in Tallahassee with just three clients. Now, as the only Democrat elected statewide, Fried is the face of the Florida Democratic Party. She won when both an entrenched incumbent centrist and a fresh, progressive idealist — Bill Nelson and Andrew Gillum — both lost. Figuring out why that is and how her success might be replicated could point Democrats to a successful path going forward.

“She was very smart. The hardest thing when you run down ballot — agriculture commissioner, attorney general, chief financial officer — is that you’re lucky if people even know you’re on the ballot,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic political consultant who ran Barack Obama’s successful Florida campaign in 2008. “It’s important to have a nice, tight message of why you want to run.”

Fried ran on stricter access to guns, looser access to medical marijuana and cracking down on water pollution.

“The issues were nonpartisan. Seventy-two percent of us voted on medical marijuana; so it couldn’t be just Democrats, it had to be Republicans and independents. Talking about water quality, that doesn’t just affect Democrats, it affects the entire state,” she said. “Gun safety issues — that’s not partisan. I received a lot of support from independents and Republicans.”

There were other reasons besides the simple and bipartisan message, though.

“She didn’t let herself get vastly out-communicated. Money matters. You have to be able to talk to voters,” Schale said. “And the fact that she’s a woman made a difference. If you look around the country this year, there was one consistent thing for Democrats — women won.”

Fried will be the first female agriculture commissioner in Florida history. But in an election that saw a horde of female candidates, many running in response to President Donald Trump’s “Access Hollywood” misogyny and the #MeToo movement, Fried didn’t put gender at the forefront of the campaign.

Sixteen years ago, she became the first female student body president at the University of Florida in 20 years, with the message that it was time to let a woman take the reins. In her farewell speech, she asked the student body to not make it an issue in the future.

“That you have a good candidate who happens to be a woman, not a woman candidate,” she said Wednesday.

Fried spent eight years at the University of Florida, coming away with a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s in political campaigning and a law degree. She graduated in 2003 and went to work for the Holland and Knight law firm, then joined the public defender’s office in 2006 in Florida’s eighth judicial circuit, which covers Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties.

From 2009 to 2011, she worked in foreclosure defense as Florida’s real estate market picked itself back up from the Great Recession. And then, in 2011, she joined the Colodny Fass law firm, a powerhouse in the state capitol, and entered the Tallahassee lobbying corps.

In her first year, Fried had just one client — the Hillsborough Area Regional Transportation Authority — according to state lobbying records. By 2016, she had 24, though she was just one of many lobbyists working for some of the bigger names on her plate, including Walt Disney Co., Duke Energy and HCA Healthcare.

In 2016, she started her own lobbying firm and took her primary clients with her — the School Board of Broward County, the medical marijuana grower San Felasco Nurseries and Florida’s Children First, a Coral Springs-based social services nonprofit.

Fried said she decided to run for Agriculture Commissioner because, as a lobbyist for a medical marijuana grower, she saw first-hand how the medical marijuana amendment voters approved in 2016 was watered down by the Republican Florida Legislature with a raft of regulations that have resulted in multiple lawsuits on everything from a ban on smoking the substance to the tight restrictions on who can grow the plant.

As a lobbyist for the School Board of Broward County, she saw how the demands for an assault-weapons ban by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were ignored in the bill that the Legislature crafted in response to the mass shooting in Parkland.

She knows there’s a lot of work to be done in remaking the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to fit her vision, the vision shared by the razor-thin majority of voters who put her in office. The department has been helmed the past eight years by Adam Putnam, who declared himself a “proud NRA sellout” in his failed bid for the Republican nomination for governor this year.

Under his leadership, concealed-carry permits have soared. Money taken in from the permitting process has remained untouched in a trust fund, even as the Legislature has regularly swept other trust funds of hundreds of millions of dollars that was supposed to go to affordable housing. Keeping that money in place has been a battle regularly fought and won by the NRA’s lobbyist in Tallahassee, Marion Hammer.

Fried said that part of her deep dive into the practices of the Department of Agriculture would be to look at whether that money could be spent on other priorities in the department, such as addressing food deserts, typically urban areas in which fresh food can be hard to come by.

Fried said she has not yet had any discussions with Hammer.

Fried’ll also have to work closely with other members of the Florida Cabinet, all of whom will be Republicans — Attorney General Ashley Moody, Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Fried and Moody have known each other since law school. Fried even donated to Moody’s campaign before Democrat Sean Shaw entered the race. And as a lobbyist, Fried met Patronis during his time in the Florida House of Representatives. She said she met DeSantis for the first time Tuesday on the floor of the House.

“I really do think there’s going to be things we agree on, environmental aspects and water policy. He’s also talked a lot about Israel policies, things we can learn from the state of Israel on security issues,” she said. “On the other hand, I’d like to see what’s going to happen with clemency.”

The four statewide officers form the clemency board, which up until this election determined whether ex-felons could get their voting rights returned to them. But voters passed Amendment 4 this year, which will allow most ex-felons to get the right to vote back after serving their prison, parole and probation. Fried is concerned that the Florida Legislature will, as it did with medical marijuana, pass a restrictive implementing law.

But if Fried’s way forward is right, then Democrats have another winner in siding with the 65 percent of voters who passed Amendment 4.

Whether her way is the right way for Democrats is an open question — it’ll take a deep dive into the 2020 election to get some answers.

Source Article

The post Where does Nikki Fried go from here? appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/where-does-nikki-fried-go-from-here/

[ubon-zoo]

Recounts Ordered in FL Senate,Gov Races

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida secretary of state ordered recounts in the U.S. Senate and governor races on Saturday, an unprecedented review of two major contests in the state that took five weeks to decide the 2000 presidential election.

Secretary Ken Detzner issued the order after the unofficial results in both races fell within the margin that by law triggers a recount. His office was unaware of any other time either a race for governor or U.S. Senate in Florida required a recount, let alone both in the same election.

The recount sets up what could be several days of political tension in this deeply divided state. President Donald Trump tweeted without evidence that the elections were being stolen. Protesters gathered at an elections office in Broward County, which is quickly becoming a battleground in the recount. The protesters waved signs, used bullhorns and even harangued a food delivery person at one point, asking if there were ballots inside the food bags.

The unofficial results show that Republican former U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis led Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points in the election for governor.

In the Senate race, Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s lead over Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson is 0.14 percentage points.

Detzner ordered machine recounts in both races. Once completed, if the differences in the races are at 0.25 percentage points or below, a hand recount will be ordered, said Department of State spokeswoman Sarah Revell.

Following the announcement, Gillum withdrew his concession in the governor’s race.

"Let me say clearly, I am replacing my words of concession with an uncompromised and unapologetic call that we count every single vote," he said, adding that he would accept whatever outcome emerges.

In a video released Saturday afternoon, DeSantis thanked the state’s supervisors of elections, canvassing boards, and the staffs for "working hard to ensure that all lawful votes are counted. He said he is preparing to become the state’s next governor.

"It is important that everyone involved in the election process strictly adhere to the rule of law which is the foundation for our nation," he said, adding that the election results were "clear and unambiguous."

In a statement, Scott implored the state’s sheriffs to "watch for any violations and take appropriate action" during the recount.

Scott and his supporters, including Trump, have alleged that voter fraud is underway in Democratic-leaning Broward County, where the Republican lead has narrowed since Election Day. There’s no evidence of voter fraud and the state’s election division, which Scott runs, said Saturday that its observers in Broward had seen "no evidence of criminal activity."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Friday it has not launched any investigation into election fraud.

Florida’s 67 counties will decide when to begin their recounts, but they must be completed by Thursday. Revell said Saturday that recounts can’t begin until the county canvassing boards post a public meeting notice, hold that meeting and then do a public test of equipment.

Miami-Dade County elections officials disclosed they had begun a machine recount Saturday evening. The process involved loading paper ballots into scanning machines and could take days, considering there were some 800,000 ballots cast.

Elections officials in two large counties in the Tampa Bay area — Pinellas and Hillsborough — said they would begin recounts Sunday morning.

Machine recounts must be finished by 3 p.m. Thursday.

The Associated Press had called the governor’s race for DeSantis. Following the recount announcement, the AP retracted its call. It is AP policy not to call a race that is facing a recount. No new call will be made until the recount is complete and the results of the election are certified by Florida officials.

The scene was reminiscent of the 2000 presidential recount, when it took more than five weeks for Florida to declare George W. Bush the victor over Vice President Al Gore by 537 votes, and thus giving Bush the presidency.

Florida was mocked for the way it handled the infamous 2000 recount, especially since there was no uniform process then on how to proceed. That has changed, with the Legislature passing a clear procedure on how a recount should be conducted.

Florida is also conducting a recount in a third statewide race. Democrat Nikki Fried had a 0.07 percentage point lead lead over Republican state Rep. Matt Caldwell in the race for agriculture commissioner, one of Florida’s three Cabinet seats.

(KA)

Source Article

The post Recounts Ordered in FL Senate,Gov Races appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/recounts-ordered-in-fl-senategov-races/

[ubon-zoo]

RE donors emerge for Florida governor candidates as Election Day nears

Andrew Gillum and Ron DeSantis, Bruce Toll, Russell Galbut and Louis Wolfson

Crescent Heights developer Russell Galbut, Access Industries billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, Miami Worldcenter developer Art Falcone and Pinnacle Housing Group partners Louis Wolfson and Mitchell Friedman are among a growing list of real estate heavyweights giving to Florida gubernatorial candidates Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum.

The race, one of the most-watched across the country, comes to a head on Tuesday. Both candidates have outlined their plans for the environment, with both supporting restoration of the Everglades and proposing bans on fracking and offshore drilling. Affordable housing developers like Wolfson, Friedman and Randy Rieger have given to Gillum, a Democrat. DeSantis, a Republican, has scored donations from Toll Brothers co-founder Bruce Toll and Lennar division president Brock Nicholas.

The Real Deal dug into the federal and state campaign finance databases to learn who South Florida’s most prominent figures in real estate are supporting, considering only contributions of $1,000 or more as of mid-October from figures known in the local industry.

TRD’s list of donors and donations is not comprehensive and includes donations to political action committees and political party committees, which explains why some totals exceed the limits that individuals can contribute. Individuals are maxed out at $2,700 per election to a federal candidate or the candidate’s campaign committee. But they can also give up to $5,000 to a political action committee. In Florida, individuals are capped at $3,000 to a candidate for statewide office, according to the Division of Elections.

Governor

Andrew Gillum

Democrat

Running mate: Developer Chris King

Lives in: Tallahassee

Net worth: $334,000

Campaign war chest: $16.9 million

Biggest Real Estate Donors:

— Balough Family Partnership/Investments and Robert Balough, $9,000

— Randy Rieger, founder and chairman of Housing Trust Group, $3,000

— Francis Greenburger, chairman and CEO of Time Equities Inc., $3,000

— Rod Adkins, president of 3RAM Group, $3,000

— Ziyad ‘Zach’ Mneimneh, principal of Polaris Development, $3,000

— Louis Wolfson, partner at Pinnacle Housing Group, $3,000

— Mitchell Friedman, partner at Pinnacle Housing Group, $3,000

— Peter Leach, senior vice president at Southport Financial Services, $3,000

— Brianne Heffner, vice president of development at Southport Financial Services, $3,000

— JoAnn Tredennick, treasurer of Groundwork Jacksonville, $2,700

— Frank Biden, developer and brother of former Vice President Joe Biden, $2,500

— George Billingsley, partner at Billingsley Company, $1,000

— Charles Abele, chairman and CEO of Gold Coast Florida Regional Center, $1,000

— Dan Abrams, founder and president of Wynkoop Properties, $1,000

— Noel Khalil, co-founder and partner of Columbia Ventures, $1,000

Real Estate Issues on the Campaign Trail:

Gillum has spoken in favor of the state fully funding affordable housing, especially for seniors. Gillum’s running mate could make affordable housing a priority for the administration if elected, said Democrat Javier Fernandez, a state representative.

King, who ran in the primary against Gillum, Gwen Graham, Philip Levine and Jeff Greene, is CEO of Elevation Financial Group, a Winter Park-based company that builds affordable housing.

Gillum supports a “clean energy” plan for Florida. His campaign cites Tallahassee reducing its electricity footprint by 20 percent under his leadership. Gillum said he’s worked to create and improve programs like free residential and commercial energy audits and low-interest energy loans.

Achilles’ heel: An FBI investigation into possible corruption at Tallahassee City Hall could be problematic. The FBI has declined to comment on the probe, but Gillum insists he’s not a target of the investigation, which dates back to 2015. Gillum met with someone he thought was a developer from Atlanta, who was in fact an undercover FBI agent, according to news reports. The Community Redevelopment Agency later voted to expand a redevelopment district to include land that the so-called developer was looking to build on, which could be seen as unethical. Gillum, who’s on the CRA board along with city commissioners, wasn’t present for that vote.

Ron DeSantis

Republican

Running mate: State Rep. Jeanette Nunez

Lives in: Tampa

Net worth: $311,000

Campaign war chest: $14.6 million

Biggest Real Estate Donors:

— Leonard Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries, $3,000

— Art Falcone, chairman and CEO of Falcone Group, $3,000

— Lawrence Moens, owner of Lawrence A. Moens Associates, $3,000

— Bruce Toll, co-founder of Toll Brothers, $3,000

— Michael Schrimsher, general partner at Schrimsher Properties, $3,000

— MG3 Developer, $3,000

— John Rood, chairman of the Vestcor Companies, $3,000

— Jacksonville homebuilder Browdy & Browdy Inc., $3,000

— Howie Rich, Philadelphia-based real estate investor, $3,000

— Curtis Schade, partner at Ziff Properties, $3,000

— Oliver Grace Jr., president and CEO of Anderson Group, $3,000

— George Banks, co-founder and principal of Priderock Capital Partners, $3,000

— Larry A. Mizel, chairman and CEO of MDC Holdings, $3,000

— Ron Howse, president of Real Deal Development Group, $3,000

— Real Deal Development Group, $3,000 (no relation to TRD)

— Dave Bauer, president of Westmark Development, $3,000

— Brock Nicholas, Orlando division president of Lennar, $2,500

— Russell Galbut, managing principal of Crescent Heights, $1,000

— Robert Werra, general partner of Amrecorp Realty, $1,000

— Poul Hornsleth, president and principal broker of R.W. Caldwell, Inc., $1,000

— Bill Watson, founder and owner of Watson Realty, $1,000

Real estate issues:

DeSantis has pledged to keep taxes low in Florida and to protect and restore the Everglades and improve the coastline through beach restoration and flood mitigation.

The candidate told reporters in mid-September that he is “not a global warming person” and didn’t want to be associated with the label. Little is still known about the specifics of DeSantis’ platform with relation to housing and development.

Achilles’ Heel: DeSantis recently drew ire from his most important endorser — President Trump — for publicly distancing himself from Trump’s comments on the death toll from Hurricane Maria, according to a report from Politico.

Source Article

The post RE donors emerge for Florida governor candidates as Election Day nears appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/re-donors-emerge-for-florida-governor-candidates-as-election-day-nears/

[ubon-zoo]

Councilman Dennis Garrett critical of how taxpayer funds are being used to help developers

JACKSONVILLE, Fl — Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett Dennis was a big supporter of Mayor Lenny Curry, now he has become his nemesis.

A few months ago Dennis was in Tallahassee convincing state lawmakers to extend the 1/2 penny sales tax in Duval County to ease the pension burden, and it was successful.

But now the councilman said he is just being a watchdog of how tax dollars are being spent.

"I took on a fiduciary responsibility to look out for the taxpayer," he said.

Dennis is critical of two bills being supported by Mayor Curry. The proposed bills would help fund two downtown development projects.

"Any development is good," said Dennis, "but we need to make sure that we are going to get a good return on investment for $10 million that we are giving away."

He calls them a giveaway.

And on Monday Dennis took to his Twitter account to blast the city’s Downtown Investment Authority, now headed by the mayor’s Chief of Staff Brian Hughes, and its proposals to give $9.3 million to developers.

The money will be distributed in grants and a loan.

"One of the projects that we are considering is a $750,000 loan at 1.5% interest," said Dennis, "You can’t go to the bank and get that. Can anyone from Northwest Jacksonville get that?"

One project takes a defunct furniture store on Hogan Street and creates 28 apartments with retail space; the other project is a 185 unit apartment complex on the South Bank.

"It is just not right to give money away," he said, "corporate giveaways."

Dennis said there are other needs in the city that should be addressed first, like drainage and quality of life.

The two bills to approve spending the $9.3 million were approved by a city council committee and yes the same councilman now critical of them, voted for them. Why?

"I voted for it in committee," he said "We have full council next week. It is almost procedural so I am considering how I am going to vote when it comes to the full body."

On Your Side reached out to the mayor for comment with no success.

But his staffers are surprised by the councilman’s position. Garrett in the past he has shown support of the mayor’s efforts by voting for his budgets.

The bills in question will be voted on next Tuesday.

Source Article

The post Councilman Dennis Garrett critical of how taxpayer funds are being used to help developers appeared first on Where Can You Find Apartments In Tallahassee FL?.

Learn More: http://www.ubon-zoo.com/councilman-dennis-garrett-critical-of-how-taxpayer-funds-are-being-used-to-help-developers/