Tag Archives: Ron DeSantis

Tampa’s CBS affiliate reports: Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state of emergency on Monday for most of Florida’s 67 counties ahead of potential impacts from what’s forecasted to become Hurricane Helene. Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties are all listed under the governor’s state of emergency. The National Hurricane Center is currently monitoring Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Florida has told school districts around the state that they may not teach teenagers about contraception, show them pictures depicting human reproductive anatomy or discuss topics such as sexual consent and domestic violence, according to district officials and an advocate for comprehensive sexual health education. As a result, Orange County Public Schools plans to scrap its …

CBS News reports: In what has become a pattern of spreading vaccine misinformation, the Florida health department is telling older Floridians and others at highest risk from COVID-19 to avoid most booster shots, saying they are potentially dangerous. A prominent Florida doctor expressed dismay that medical leaders in the state, leery of angering Gov. Ron DeSantis, have been slow to …

Florida Politics reports: The feds aren’t working with Florida investigators. That’s the claim Ron DeSantis is making as frustration builds from the Governor over Joe Biden’s Secret Service not facilitating the state investigation of the latest attempt on Donald Trump’s life. “They’re not being cooperative,” the Governor said on Thursday’s “Ingraham Angle.” DeSantis said he was “concerned,” as state “investigators …

The New York Times reports: Usually, after a deadly emergency or an event that could have become one, the governor of the state where it happened somberly pledges to support the agency investigating it however he or she can. This is not quite what happened in Florida after the apparent attempted assassination of Donald Trump on one of his golf …

Axios reports: Florida will be “conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination” of former President Trump at the Republican presidential nominee’s golf club in West Palm Beach, state Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday. The FBI is investigating what it says “appears to be an attempted assassination” of Trump after his campaign said gunshots were fired in his vicinity on …

The Associated Press reports: A school district in northeast Florida must put back in libraries three dozen books as part of a settlement reached Thursday with students and parents who sued over what they said was an unlawful decision to limit access to dozens of titles containing LGBTQ+ content. Under the agreement the School Board of Nassau County must restore …

Axios reports: Fraudulent petition signatures cited by the DeSantis administration as justification for its probe of Florida’s abortion rights referendum had already been rejected, according to a local elections supervisor. That means those signatures never counted toward the total required to put the measure before voters, Palm Beach County supervisor of elections Wendy Link, a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee, tells …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the use of his election police to question people who signed petitions for an amendment that would overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban, saying it’s part of an investigation that has already uncovered fraud. “They’re doing what they’re supposed to do,” DeSantis said when asked during a news conference in Miami …

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis is demanding that elected Florida Republicans join him in opposition to the proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution. And he wants some of their campaign money to help fund the effort to defeat Amendment 4. DeSantis laid down the political law for Republicans on Saturday night in …

The New Republic reports: Florida is reportedly sending police officers to the homes of people who signed a petition supporting an abortion rights ballot initiative. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration has begun investigating thousands of verified signatures that helped to put a state constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion on the ballot in November. The amendment would overturn Florida’s …

Florida Politics reports: Jimmy Buffett’s lyrics and themes are literally being taught and analyzed in the classroom in a University of Florida (UF) course that began Aug. 30, nearly one year to the day Buffett passed away on Sept. 1, 2023. “Uncommon Arts: Son of a Sailor” is the title of the academic course, which counts for one credit hour …

Reuters reports: A retired teacher was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for threatening in obscenity-filled voicemails to harm a federal judge in Florida who had rejected a challenge to the state’s so-called “don’t say gay” law restricting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity. U.S. District Judge William Jung in Tampa sentenced Stephen Thorn, 66, to …

Via press release from Penguin Random House: Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks have filed a lawsuit against Florida public officials, challenging sweeping book removal provisions of HB 1069, an education law that restricts books in school libraries. The additional plaintiffs joining the publishers are the Authors Guild, bestselling authors Julia …

Florida Politics reports: Some leading members of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) are talking about updating the party’s bylaws so that if the Governor removes a criminally charged member from public office, that member can’t then run for a party leadership post. Three Republicans facing indictments won seats last week on the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee. Two of them, …

The Associated Press reports: Facing widespread opposition across the political spectrum, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to develop state parks with business ventures — such as golf courses, pickleball courts and large hotels — has hit a snag after a key supporter pulled the plug. The Department of Environmental Protection confirmed in an email that one group is no longer pursuing …

The Florida Phoenix reports: A Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed member of the Broward County School Board who was rejected this week for election to the board will become a member of the Florida Board of Education instead. The governor’s press office announced the new appointment of Daniel Foganholi, director of legislative affairs for New Generations Children’s Ministry, on Friday. His campaign …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: Incumbent school board members in one of Florida’s largest swing counties appear to have held off a challenge from candidates backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to preliminary results. Activists had hoped that three challengers endorsed by the local chapter of Moms for Liberty would win a conservative majority in Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg …

NBC News reports: Florida’s official tourism website quietly removed a landing page for the state’s LGBTQ-friendly travel destinations sometime in the past four months. The website for the state’s tourism marketing corporation, VisitFlorida.com, had an “LGBTQ Travel” section that no longer exists, according to archived versions of the site viewable on the Internet Archive. The landing page previously featured blog …

The Miami Herald reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis and top Florida Republicans are putting pressure on the state university system’s Board of Governors to look further into the spending habits of former University of Florida President Ben Sasse after a student-run newspaper reported that he’d spent millions in university funds on secretive consulting contracts and jobs for GOP allies. On Friday, …