ReportWire

Tag: Political Connections Full Episode CTV

  • Florida gov candidates spar; Ingoglia takes on St. Pete

    Rep. Byron Donalds and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner spar on X over school choice legislation, and Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia asserts that St. Pete over spent $49 million over six years.


    Florida Republican governor candidates spar over school choice legislation

    When it comes to school choice, Florida law provides universal choice education scholarships to cover almost $9,000 in private school vouchers. The legislation that created the voucher program became a flash point today in the governor’s race.

    It started with a social media post by Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.

    He was in Tallahassee where he used to serve as a lawmaker and took credit for passing school choice bills. But one of Donalds’ opponents in the Republican primary for governor, former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner, took issue with that.

    “Hey everybody. I’m actually back in Tallahassee and in my time at the state House.” Donalds said Wednesday on X. “We were arguing for universal choice and we got that passed during my time in the Florida House. It’s National School Choice Week, and we want to make sure that everybody understands that our number one mission is to make sure that every child, regardless of zip code, is getting the best education possible. So it’s actually kind of ironic that I’m back here in Tallahassee, kind of where it all began to a degree, where we argued for school choice here. Delivered universal school choice here. We want to see that same thing happen for every child in America. God bless you guys. Take it easy.”

    “Byron, you know that’s a lie. Let’s have an honest campaign with voters. So I wake up this morning to see Congressman Donalds on video, literally claiming that he was here in the Florida House when we passed Universal School Choice,” Renner said on X. “Byron, you know that’s a lie because I passed universal school choice in 2023. You were nowhere near Tallahassee. You passed the Hope scholarship HB one, which was political theater and barely moved the needle. That was not universal school choice. And you know it. I know you have a thin, thin record both in the House and in Congress, but do me a favor and don’t run on mine. Let’s have an honest campaign with voters. Let’s tell them about my experience and yours, my record and yours, and let them make a decision. Honestly.”

    Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia asserts that St. Pete government overspent $49 million over 6 years

    Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia held a press conference in St. Pete today, saying that the city has overtaxed and overspent more than $49 million over a 6-year period.

    Ingoglia said he reached that number by looking at the base budget plus inflation plus population, and says what should be an “acceptable budget growth.”

    He says the city has only added just over 11,500 to the population, and says that the budget for the city grew by $133 million.

    However, he did not get into specifics of exactly what the city overspent on.

    “This is the number that when we took their old budget, adjusted for inflation and population and compared it to what it actually was, that you are being overtaxed in our estimation $49 million dollars that’s a lot money for a relatively small budget,” Ingoglia said.

    The CFO said that his office has been auditing cities across the state and reports that it has found more than a billion dollars in overspending and overtaxing.

    St. Pete Mayor Kenneth T. Welch responded to the allegations in a statement.

    “Today, Florida’s CFO asserted statements about the City of St. Petersburg’s budget and said that any response or rebuttal from local government would just be a ‘spin.’ He made it clear that any clarification or correction would be local governments ‘justifying excessive and wasteful spending.’ We just received the report and while we work to verify his statements, the City of St. Petersburg remains transparent throughout our budget process. As we do every year, all year round, we encourage residents with questions about the City’s budget to review the documents posted on our website at www.stpete.org/budget,” Welch said.

    Saundra Weathers, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • DeSantis gives final address; Lawmakers get to work

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave his final State of the State address, and state lawmakers got to work advancing a bill that will streamline development approvals. 


    Speaking to the Florida Legislature for his last State of the State Address, Gov. Ron DeSantis took the podium to tout his accomplishments and declare that he has fulfilled the promises for action he made when he was elected.

    “Seven years ago, I stood on the steps of the old Capitol building to articulate a new vision, launch a bold agenda and make a promise to produce big results,” he said. “Today, I stand here in this chamber to report that together, we have made good on that agenda.” 

    DeSantis pointed to the state’s fiscal progress during his time as governor, saying that when he took office, Florida had a “weak rainy day fund” and “modest budget reserves.” Since then, he said the state’s rainy day fund has more than tripled, while budget reserves have doubled.

    “Results are what matter the most,” he said. “And we, more than any other state, have delivered those big results.”

    DeSantis said his administration retired almost half of the taxpayer-supported debt held by the state, which saved more than $1 billion in principal and interest costs.

    “We’ve proven that fiscal responsibility and limited government work,” he said.

    DeSantis pointed to the state’s economy, which he said has accounted for almost 14% “of all new jobs produced throughout America” since 2020.

    And he said that people from around the country are flocking to the state because Florida is friendly to taxpayers.

    “We do not, and will never, have an income tax in the Sunshine State,” he said. 

    “I don’t think there’s any question that, working together, we have made the state of Florida the most taxpayer-friendly state government of all 50 states,” he added.

    In education, DeSantis announced that Florida’s graduation rate for the 2024-25 school year was 92.2%, which is the highest in the state’s history.

    He pointed to Florida’s ability to attract quality teachers because it has the highest average minimum salary in the Southeast region, and has put a total of $6 billion toward efforts to better compensate teachers since he was elected.

    DeSantis touted the state’s Hope Florida program, which is led by his wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, saying it has caused significant improvements for residents in the state.

    “By leaning into our faith community, we have seen a historic 47% reduction in the number of children entering our child welfare system, and seen more than 33,000 Floridians reduce their reliance on public assistance,” DeSantis said.

    He said those improvements resulted in a $130 million savings for Florida’s budget.

    Lawmakers advance a bill to adjust how developments are approved

    With just one day left before the start of the legislative session in Tallahassee, Florida lawmakers are gearing up to tackle various issues that have been garnering a lot of attention in past months.

    Proposed elimination of property taxes and congressional redistricting are expected to take center stage, all while Gov. Ron DeSantis gears up for his final year in office. 

    DeSantis has already laid out some of his biggest priorities.

    Top of the list is the conversation surrounding the elimination of non-school property taxes, which includes four proposals that would either cut them out entirely or phase them out over 10 years.

    Another proposal would eliminate non-school property taxes exclusively for homeowners 65 and older.

    The proposals include a police mandate that would require local governments to leave law enforcement budgets untouched.

    But many lawmakers from both parties have voiced concern about this idea, since it could significantly change how local governments fund essential services like police, fire and schools, especially in rural areas.

    Property taxes are the primary source of revenue for local governments.

    The Florida Policy Institute estimates $43 billion would be needed to maintain current services if the House proposals are enacted.

    When it comes to introducing big pieces of legislation like this during his final session, University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett said he looks at it through a policy and political lens.

    In the case of eliminating property taxes, Jewett said it’s a policy issue, especially as it relates to taxing and spending, which could have major impacts for local governments. 

    But he said it is also a political issue. 

    “It’s pretty clear that (DeSantis) still has political aspirations and political ambitions,” Jewett said. “This is his last year as governor. He’s term limited out — he’s a lame duck. But he wants to go out with some big political and policy victories. And so, if he can be considered the architect of the first state to totally eliminate property taxes for primary homeowners, that would be something that he could brag about.”

    By the same token, Jewett said this also applies to mid-decade redistricting, which he believes is being used as a tactic to maintain a strong Republican presence in Congress.

    As the midterm elections inch closer, DeSantis has called a special session in April to address congressional redistricting to potentially redraw the state’s congressional districts.

    This comes months after President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw their maps to expand GOP majority in Congress.

    “The Florida Constitution says that when the legislature draws district lines, that they can’t do so with the intent of helping or hurting a political party,” Jewett said. “And so, all the legislative leaders and the governor are sort of winding themselves in circles coming up with all these reasons why they want they want to do mid-decade redistricting.”

    But before he can move forward with this, DeSantis needs the approval from both the Florida House and Senate.

     

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • Noem reacts to ICE shooting, Republicans break from Trump

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that immigration enforcement surge will continue in Minneapolis, and five Republican senators vote to limit war powers for President Donald Trump. 


    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem doubled down on her assertion that the woman shot and killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis Wednesday was a domestic terrorist. She insisted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer had followed standard operating procedure and acted in self-defense when he fired at least two shots into a vehicle driven by protestor Renee Nicole Macklin Good.

    “This is an experienced officer who followed his training, and we will continue to let the investigation unfold,” Noem said at a news conference in New York City, where she announced the arrest of 54 undocumented immigrants loosely affiliated with the Dominican American Trinitarios gang.

    Videos of Macklin Good’s shooting show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The Honda Pilot begins to pull forward, and a different ICE officer standing in front of it pulls his weapon and immediately fires shots at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

    It is not clear from the videos if the vehicle makes contact with the officer, and there is no indication of whether the woman had interactions with ICE agents earlier. After the shooting, the SUV speeds into two cars parked on a curb before crashing to a stop.

    As dozens of protesters gathered early Thursday outside of a federal building on the edge of Minneapolis that is serving as a major base for the immigration crackdown, Noem pledged to continue an immigration enforcement surge that began earlier in the week with 2,000 federal agents she said were intended to carry out the “largest immigration operation ever.”

    “I’m not opposed to sending more to keep people safe,” she said.

    She encouraged elected officials in Minneapolis and other cities “to talk about partnership and start working with ICE and start working with CBP as we bring criminals to justice,” to avoid future deadly incidents between protesters and immigration enforcement.

    The Homeland Security secretary also defended the U.S. Attorney’s Office for barring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from investigating and denying it access to case materials, evidence and interviews, saying the state’s investigative agency had no jurisdiction.

    She said the Minnesota agency should instead be “investigating all of these people that are harassing and inciting violence on law enforcement officers right now.”

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed backed, insisting on Thursday that the state be part of the investigation.

    “No function of government operates with impunity. When someone’s in a position of authority and they commit any act that impacts our people, there has to be another place to turn to get justice,” he said during a news conference.

    The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday that would limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela, sounding a note of disapproval for his expanding ambitions in the Western Hemisphere.

    Democrats and five Republicans voted to advance the war powers resolution on a 52-47 vote and ensure a vote next week on final passage. It has virtually no chance of becoming law because Trump would have to sign it if it were to pass the Republican-controlled House. Still, it was a significant gesture that showed unease among some Republicans after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid over the weekend.

    Trump’s administration is now seeking to control Venezuela’s oil resources and its government, but the war powers resolution would require congressional approval for any further attacks on the South American country.

    “To me, this is all about going forward,” said Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, one of the five Republican votes. “If the president should determine, ‘You know what? I need to put troops on the ground of Venezuela.’ I think that would require Congress to weigh in.”

    The other Republicans who backed the resolution were Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Todd Young of Indiana.

    Trump reacted to their votes by saying on social media that they “should never be elected to office again” and that the vote “greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security.”

    Democrats had failed to pass several such resolutions in the months that Trump escalated his campaign against Venezuela. But lawmakers argued that now that Trump has captured Maduro and set his sights to other conquests such as Greenland, the vote presents Congress with an opportunity.

    “This wasn’t just a procedural vote. It’s a clear rejection of the idea that one person can unilaterally send American sons and daughters into harm’s way without Congress, without debate,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York.


    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • ICE involved in clash in Minnesota; DeSantis special session

    An officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement fatally shoots a motorist, leading to strong statements from state and federal leaders, and Gov. Ron DeSantis officially calls for a special session to tackle redistricting in the state. 


    An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown on a major American city — a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defense but that the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary.

    The woman was shot in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020. Her killing quickly drew a crowd of angry protesters.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during a visit to Texas, described the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”

    But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey blasted that characterization as “garbage” and criticized the federal deployment of more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the immigration crackdown.

    “What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said, calling on the immigration agents to leave. “They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets, and in this case, quite literally killing people.”

    “They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video myself, I wanna tell everybody directly, that is bullshit,” the mayor said.

    Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him.

    It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop. Witnesses screamed obscenities, expressing shock at what they’d seen.

    The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major cities under the Trump administration. The death of the Minneapolis woman, whose name wasn’t immediately released, was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns.

    The Twin Cities have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, which is at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. During her Texas visit, Noem confirmed that DHS had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the area and said they had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters but, unlike federal officials, gave no indication that the 37-year-old driver was trying to harm anyone. He said she had been shot in the head.

    “This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. … At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off,” the chief said. “At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced during a press conference Wednesday that he is calling for a special legislative session to tackle redistricting. 

    “Today, I announced that I will be convening a Special Session of the Legislature focused on redistricting to ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state. Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” DeSantis posted on X and Facebook. 

    The governor said that the planned special session would begin after the regular legislative session. That would, in DeSantis’ opinion, free up lawmakers to “focus on the pressing issues facing Floridians.” 

    The Florida Legislature took its first official step in early December toward potentially redrawing the state’s congressional districts as lawmakers convened a new House committee tasked with exploring possible changes.

    At least six other states are redrawing maps, or at least attempting to, ahead of this year’s midterm election. Florida’s redistricting process is somewhat unique, however, because of its 2010 “Fair Districts” constitutional amendment, which prohibits maps drawn to favor political parties or incumbents.

    “Florida voters approved the Fair District Amendments in 2010 because we wanted to rid our system of this type of partisan gerrymandering and rigging for political gain,” said Genesis Robinson of the voting rights group Equal Ground.

    Over the summer, President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw their congressional maps to expand the GOP majority in Congress, alleging Democratic leaders in other states have gerrymandered maps of their own. DeSantis reaffirmed his administration’s intent to follow along, noting the state will likely pursue changes if and when the U.S. Supreme Court rethinks federal redistricting rules.

    “We’re going to do it,” DeSantis said. “And part of it is we’re going to be forced to do it, I think, because the Supreme Court’s VRA decision is going to impact the current map. So just no matter what else happens, that is going to have to be addressed.”

    The governor’s plan, though, will require House and Senate cooperation.

    “Three people have to turn the keys at the same time in order to get new maps,” said Jonathan Webber of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “And right now, it does not seem like all three people are aligned. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s a bad thing. But overall, it’s a bad thing for the people of Florida that there is not clear leadership from their leaders.”

    Thus far, the Senate has taken no action on the issue. In a memo, Senate President Ben Albritton said work on redistricting may launch in the new year.

    “The Governor has expressed a desire to address this issue next spring,” Albritton said in a statement. “As such, there is no ongoing work regarding potential mid-decade redistricting taking place in the Senate at this time.”


    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • Trump speaks to Republicans; DeSantis voices support for bill

    President Donald Trump speaks to Republican lawmakers about the upcoming elections, and Gov. Ron DeSantis throws his support behind a push to ban congressional stock trading. 


    President Donald Trump traveled the less than two miles from the White House to the newly re-branded Trump-Kennedy Center Tuesday to address House Republicans, days into the start of an election year that will see the party aim to keep its currently ultra-thin majority in the lower chamber this November.

    In a wide-ranging speech over nearly 90 minutes, the president touted what he views as some of his biggest wins in office as he approaches the one-year mark of his second term back in the White House. He touched on his far-reaching tariff agenda, his crime and immigration crackdowns in American cities and his fresh capture of the deposed Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro – although he offered limited new details on his plans ahead for the Latin American country as questions loom about his pledge for the U.S. to “run” it in the interim. 

    With months to go until voters across the country fill out ballots once again, Trump commended House Republicans for what they accomplished with a small margin in the lower chamber last year.

    “This was not a big majority, but it’s a unified majority, and it’s people that know what it takes to make America great again,” he declared. 

    And he stressed the importance of the GOP keeping control of the House in the midterms, warning members that Democrats would try to impeach him if they take the majority. 

    “They’ll find a reason to impeach me,” Trump said. “I’ll get impeached.”

    Trump was previously impeached twice but acquitted in both cases. 

    November’s contest will mark the first of nationwide election since Trump returned to office in January with his Republican party in control of both chambers of Congress. Trump will be looking to avoid the fate often afforded to presidents in the first midterm election since their inauguration — voters offering support to the opposite party. The 2018 midterm election during Trump’s first term in office, which has become known as the “blue wave,” is one of the most notable examples. 

    The president also used his remarks Tuesday to urge Republican lawmakers to mandate a national voter ID law. States currently have different rules around identification required to vote.

    In the opening of his remarks, Trump mourned the death of California Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa announced just before his speech and mentioned Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Baird, who the president said Tuesday is recovering from a car crash. 

    DeSantis shows support for bill aimed at banning congressional trading

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he stopped trading stocks when he was in Congress. And he’s now backing a bill that would outlaw anyone in Congress from trading stocks while they are serving.

    It’s a bill that DeSantis says will hold people in Congress accountable and keep voters in the know.

    Rep. Anna Paulina Luna is pushing the bill to stop members of Congress from trading stocks, arguing that they are benefiting from insider information.

    Luna said that on average, Congress members who trade stocks are getting a 600% return.

    DeSantis backed her bill during a stop in Clearwater on Tuesday and said he wants Florida to require federal candidates in the state to also say on their candidate forms if they plan to trade stocks if they get elected.

    “There’s been a lot of things that have led to this, but I think ultimately you know you do have an institution that just doesn’t do what the founding fathers envisioned,” he said. “It’s really distorted government, particularly on the spending side, particularly with having a big administrative state.”

    Luna said it is a bill that has been needed for a long time, and she believes those in office recognize what shift it will have in decision making.

    She is trying to make sure this gets a vote in Congress and has gotten support from members on both sides of the aisle.

    During Tuesday’s event, the governor also spoke about the importance of term limits for members of Congress.


    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • James Fishback talks run for governor; Florida can kick kids off social media

    Investor James Fishback sits down with Spectrum News to discuss his run for governor, and a federal appeals court allows Florida to enforce its social media law.


    James Fishback has been a vocal advocate for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and an opponent to Rep. Byron Donalds, who is also running for the governor’s seat.

    He wants to eliminate property taxes, stop foreign investment companies from buying up property in Florida, and stop American companies from hiring foreign employees through the H-1B visa program.

    Now, he sits down with Spectrum News’ Holly Gregory to talk about his campaign plan and his governing goals. Watch the interview above ⬆️

    Florida will start enforcing its social media law

    Children under 14 years old will be blocked from creating accounts on some social media platforms in Florida.

    Fourteen- and 15-year-olds will need parental consent to create those accounts.

    That’s the result of a federal appeals court ruling. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit put on hold a lower court’s injunction, which would have prevented the enforcement of HB-3.

    “Rather than blocking children from accessing social media altogether, HB-3 simply prevents them from creating accounts on platforms that employ addictive features,” Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote in her decision.

    The ruling allows the state to enforce the law, for now, while further legal proceedings play out.

    Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier responded to the ruling.

    “HB-3 is now the law of the state and will be enforced. We’re putting all big tech companies on notice: endanger our kids, and find out what happens!” he wrote.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • James Fishback runs for governor, and Florida bear advocates take FWC to court

    A vocal advocate for Gov. Ron DeSantis announces his campaign to replace him, and Florida’s upcoming bear hunt survives a legal challenge.

    Previous Episodes:

     

     

     

    An investor who founded the firm Azoria announced Monday he will run for governor as a Republican in the 2026 election.

    James Fishback has been a vocal advocate for Gov. Ron DeSantis and an opponent to Rep. Byron Donalds, who is also running for the governor’s seat.

    Fishback, 30, said he is running to defend DeSantis’ legacy and create a more affordable Florida.

    He wants to eliminate property taxes, stop foreign investment companies from buying up property in our state, and stop American companies from hiring foreign employees through the H-1B visa program.

    Fishback has made it clear he is going to attack his fellow Republican, Donalds, the Florida congressman who got an early endorsement from President Trump.

    “Byron Donalds is a slave. I’m sorry, he’s a slave,” he said of Donalds. “He is a slave to his donors, he is a slave to his corporate interest, to the tech bros that want to turn our state into, in his own words, a financial capital.”

    The campaign for Donalds sent out this statement before noon Monday: “Byron Donalds will be Florida’s next governor because he is the proven conservative fighter endorsed by President Trump. Anyone running against him is an anti-Trump RINO and will get crushed in the Republican primary.”

    RINO stands for Republican In Name Only.

    Fishback is facing a lawsuit from his former employer, Greenlight Captial. He is accused of inflating his resume with them after leaving the company.

    He joins a list of people running for governor that also includes Florida House speaker Paul Renner, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and former Republican congressman David Jolly.

    The primary for the governor’s race is next August.

    Florida bear advocates take FWC to court

    As the state’s first bear hunt in 10 years approaches, a conservation group’s lawsuit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission went before a judge.

    Bear Warriors United asked on Monday for an injuction to stop the hunt before it starts. 

    The judge sided with the state, so the hunt will go on as scheduled on Dec. 6.

    FWC in August approved a proposal to allow 187 bears to be removed from the state in four designated “bear harvest zones.”

    A total of 172 permits statewide were made available through a random lottery system, and the recipients of those permits had to pay $100 for them.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff

    Source link

  • Florida offshore drilling reactions; Scott healthcare plan

    A U.S. representative from South Florida has been indicted on charges related to the alleged misuse of disaster funds, and Florida lawmakers remember former Vice President Dick Cheney.


    The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.

    The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.

    Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change to pursue what the Republican calls U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Trump, who recently called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” created a National Energy Dominance Council and directed it to move quickly to drive up already record-high U.S. energy production, particularly fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.

    Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has blocked renewable energy sources such as offshore wind and canceled billions of dollars in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects across the country.

    The offshore drilling proposal drew bipartisan pushback from lawmakers in Florida, where Republican Sen. Rick Scott said the state’s coasts “must remain off the table for oil drilling.” In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic, called the administration’s plan “idiotic.”

    Tourism and access to clean beaches are key parts of the economy in both states.

    Sen. Scott, a Trump ally, helped persuade officials in Trump’s first term to drop a similar offshore plan in 2018 when Scott was governor. Scott and Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody introduced legislation this month to maintain the drilling moratorium from Trump’s first term.

    Newsom, who often touts the state’s status as a global climate leader, said in response to Thursday’s announcement that California would “use every tool at our disposal to protect our coastline.”

    California has been a leader in restricting offshore drilling since an infamous 1969 Santa Barbara spill helped spark the modern environmental movement. While no new federal leases have been offered since the mid-1980s, drilling from existing platforms continues.

    Newsom expressed support for greater offshore controls after a 2021 spill off Huntington Beach and has backed a congressional effort to ban new offshore drilling on the West Coast.

    A Texas-based company, with support from the Trump administration, is seeking to restart production in waters off Santa Barbara damaged by a 2015 oil spill. The administration has hailed the plan by Houston-based Sable Offshore Corp. as the kind of project Trump wants to increase U.S. energy production.

    Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to reverse Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. A federal court later struck down Biden’s order to withdraw 625 million acres of federal waters from oil development.

    Scott announces alternative health care plan

    Sen. Rick Scott introduced a proposal to address rising health care costs as subsidies affiliated with the Affordable Care Act are set to end at the end of the year.

    The plan would use HSA-style “Trump Health Freedom Accounts” that families could use to help pay for healthcare. The funds sent to these accounts can be applied to premiums for health insurance as long as they don’t fund abortions.

    “Obamacare has failed to deliver on its promises: families didn’t get to keep their insurance plans, couldn’t keep their doctors, and didn’t save money – and neither did the federal government. Instead, Obamacare created a system that left American families with fewer choices, higher costs, and health care that doesn’t meet their needs. That’s obvious, and it’s why President Trump and the American people are demanding solutions to fix this broken system,” Scott said.

    “My new bill makes simple fixes to Obamacare that will make a world of difference to American families by making Americans the consumer, not the government, while giving them options and transparency,” he said.

    The deal to reopen the government signed by the president last week did not include a key demand from Democrats — an extension of Affordable Care Act enhanced subsidies.

    Democrats like Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, have warned that without that extension, many families will face skyrocketing health insurance premiums in 2026.

    Some Kentuckians, said McGarvey, are already dropping their health insurance because it’s too expensive.

    “I had business owners just this week tell me that they’re watching their premiums for the two of them go from $625 per month to $2,501 per month,” McGarvey said Friday. “That’s a $2,000 increase. Nobody can afford that. We have to do something about this.”

    This year alone, more than 125,000 Kentuckians have received coverage through kynect Qualified Health Plans, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

    Kynect is the state-based marketplace for the Affordable Care Act.

    From Nov. 1, when the open enrollment period began, to Nov. 7, about 1,500 Kentuckians had changed those plans, about 1,200 canceled their 2026 coverage, and there were an estimated 800 new enrollees—a number that lags behind the pace of previous years, according to the cabinet.

    It’s not clear from the data exactly why Kentuckians changed or canceled plans.

    On Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told CNN that House Democrats have introduced legislation to extend the ACA tax credits for three years.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addressed the possibility of a vote on the credits.

    “Am I gonna guarantee a vote on ACA unreformed COVID-era subsidies that is just a boondoggle to insurance companies and robs the taxpayer? We got a lot of work to do on that. The Republicans would demand a lot of reforms before anything like that was ever possible.”

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Phillip Stucky, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Florida Rep. indicted; lawmakers remember Cheney

    A U.S. representative from South Florida has been indicted on charges related to the alleged misuse of disaster funds, and Florida lawmakers remember former Vice President Dick Cheney.


    U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

    The Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors said. A portion of the money was then allegedly funneled to support her campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.

    “Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

    Cherfilus-McCormick released a statement, denying the allegations.

    “This is an unjust, baseless, sham indictment — and I am innocent,” she said in the statement. “The timing alone is curious and clearly meant to distract from far more pressing national issues. From day one, I have cooperated with every lawful request, and I will continue to do so until this matter is resolved.”

    Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 in the 20th District, representing parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, in a special election after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.

    In December 2024, a Florida state agency sued a company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family, saying it overcharged the state by nearly $5.8 million for work done during the pandemic and wouldn’t give the money back.

    The Florida Division of Emergency Management said it made a series of overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services after hiring it in 2021 to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations. The agency says it discovered the problem after a single $5 million overpayment drew attention.

    Cherfilus-McCormick was the CEO of Trinity at the time.

    The Office of Congressional Ethics said in a January report that Cherfilus-McCormick’s income in 2021 was more than $6 million higher than in 2020, driven by nearly $5.75 million in consulting and profit-sharing fees received from Trinity Healthcare Services.

    In July, the House Ethics Committee unanimously voted to reauthorize an investigative subcommittee to examine allegations involving Cherfilus-McCormick.

    Dignitaries and loved ones of former Vice President Dick Cheney assembled in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to pay tribute to the late conservative political leader at his funeral.

    Cheney — who served as vice president for both of former President George W. Bush’s terms, as chief of staff to the late President Gerald Ford and as secretary of defense for the late President George H.W. Bush –– died Nov. 3 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease. He was 84.

    “My dad’s devotion to America was deep and substantive,” Cheney’s daughter, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, said in her eulogy for her father Thursday. “He spent his life studying the history of our great republic. He knew you couldn’t truly appreciate what it means to live in freedom if you didn’t understand the sacrifices of the generations who came before.”

    George W. Bush also spoke about Dick Cheney, calling him “my vice president and my friend,” during the service at the Washington National Cathedral.

    The historic Episcopal church in Washington D.C. has hosted state funerals for five U.S. presidents, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.

    Orlando resident and former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez reflected on the life of Cheney, who officiated two swearing-in ceremonies for Martinez. The first was when Martinez was appointed HUD secretary under former President George W. Bush, and a few years later when he was elected as U.S. Senator for Florida.

    “He was there for me during two of the most important days in my life,” Martinez said.

    Martinez shared his perspective before getting on a plane to Washington to attend Cheney’s funeral.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Phillip Stucky, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Bear hunt protest, Florida ACA costs

    Bear Warriors United protests Florida’s upcoming bear hunt, and a new report outlines the impact of ending ACA subsidies for Florida residents.


    Local groups hold protest in Tallahassee against Florida’s upcoming bear hunt

    Activists held a large demonstration on Monday in Tallahassee to protest Florida’s upcoming bear hunt.

    They are urging state leaders to rethink the state’s upcoming bear hunt.

    The bear hunt will last for 23 days, starting on Dec. 6 and ending Dec. 28. It’s been more than a decade since the last statewide bear hunt.

    More than 100 people gathered outside the Florida Capitol to call the state’s upcoming hunt both unsound and unneeded.

    “The FWC was entrusted to protect wildlife, to protect it, for the people to manage it,” Bear Warriors United Attorney Raquel Levy said. “And it’s destroying the very thing it’s entrusted to protect.”

    Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission argue the hunt will help manage the bear population and salvage the habitat, too.

    “While we have enough suitable bear habitat to support our current bear population levels … we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future,” the agency said in a statement.

    Under the rules of the hunt, 172 bears are planned to be taken across 31 Florida counties. Bows, guns and traps have all been approved in the hunt.

    “Sierra Club isn’t against all hunting,” Sierra Club of Florida Senior Managing Organizer Cris Costello said. “We’re against hunting that isn’t part of a sane, science-based management policy.” 

    The last hunt lasted only two days and hunters killed roughly 295 black bears.

    Bear Warriors United has sued to stop the hunt, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for next week.

    New report outlines which Florida districts will be hardest hit after ACA subsidies end

    Some congressional districts in Florida will be among those hardest by the expiration of the enhanced federal subsides to pay for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

    Florida has the most Affordable Care Act enrollees in the country with an estimated 4.7 million enrollees.

    A non-partisan research group, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, recently released an analysis of how the end of enhanced subsides to pay for ACA coverage will affect residents of each congressional district in the state.

    Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Gainesville, and South Florida districts will be some of the hardest hit districts in the country. In the 3rd Congressional District, a 45-year-old making $32,000 per year would see a nearly $1,500 annual increase in premiums if the enhancements go away. One reason for the differences among congressional districts is that health care costs vary from community to community.

    “It’s more just local health care costs vary a lot, just in small areas, even from hospital to hospital,” CBPP Senior Fellow Gideon Lukens said. “And, so, different districts, you’ll have greater, smaller health care costs, and you also have, like, local markets where insurers and providers are negotiating different rates.” 

    The enhanced ACA tax credits will expire at the end of the year if Congress and the president do not extend them. Experts say their disappearance will likely make health insurance too expensive for some Americans.

    “There’s five districts where over 30% of the population is enrolled in marketplace coverage, and in every district in Florida, over 10% is enrolled,” Lukens said. “So this is like, you know, a lot of people around you have marketplace coverage and are going to be looking at these big increases if the extensions, the enhancements are expected.”

    According to Lukens, the higher premiums will hit small businesses and the self-employed especially hard.

    “I think they make up about a quarter every year of  marketplace coverage,” he said. “So it’s particularly important for those groups.”

    As part of the short-term government funding deal that passed last week, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to holding a vote next month on extending the subsidies, though it’s not clear if it has enough Republican support to pass. And in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson has not promised to take up the bill. 

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Phillip Stucky, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Florida adopts ‘Phoenix Declaration,’ Epstein’s powerful friends

    The Florida State Board of Education has unanimously adopted the Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix Declaration,” and newly released emails show that Jeffrey Epstein still had a complex network of wealthy and influential friends, even after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.


    Florida is now the first state in the nation to adopt the “Phoenix Declaration” — a set of education philosophies put forth by the Heritage Foundation, a high-profile conservative think tank.

    The State Board of Education approved the declaration unanimously, setting it up to be the driving force for how public schools will instruct students.

    “Every child should have access to a high-quality, content-rich education that fosters the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that they may achieve their full, God-given potential,” reads the declaration.

    The declaration emphasizes seven principles — parental choice and responsibility; transparency and accountability; truth and goodness; cultural transmission; character formation; academic excellence; and citizenship. 

    “I don’t know how anyone could disagree with parental choice and responsibility, curriculum transparency, academic excellence, and instruction on objective truth,” said Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. “These principles are principles that everyone across the board on both sides of the aisles can agree with.”

    The declaration says that students “should learn that there is objective truth and that it is knowable.”

    “Science courses must be grounded in reality, not ideological fads,” it continues. “Students should learn that good and evil exist, and that human beings have the capacity and duty to choose good.”

    The declaration goes on to decry “fads or experimental teaching methods” in favor of “core knowledge and tried-and-true pedagogy.”

    As for educational policies governing how students learn about the history of the United States, the declaration insists that schools should “foster a healthy sense of patriotism and cultivate gratitude for and attachment to our country and all who serve its central institutions.”

    “Students should develop a deep understanding of and respect for our nation’s founding documents and the ideas they contain about ordered liberty, justice, the rule of law, limited government, natural rights, and the equal dignity of all human beings,” the declaration says. “Students should learn the whole truth about America — its merits and failings — without obscuring that America is a great source of good in the world and that we have a tradition that is worth passing on.”

    Critics, including the Florida Education Association, rebuked the declaration as a politicized document authored by a conservative organization, which, among other things, championed the controversial Project 2025.

    “The Phoenix Declaration is the latest thinly veiled attempt by billionaire-backed special interests to dismantle and politicize Florida’s public education system,” the union said in a statement.

    Supporters, however, say they believe the declaration’s philosophies will help improve teaching, learning and civic outcomes in Florida’s public schools.

    “Many students are just being taught what to think,” said Orlando school board member Alicia Farrant. “And parents want their kids to learn how to think, how to think critically, and that gets us back to those foundations that made our nation great.”

    Other states are considering adoption of the Phoenix Declaration — state leaders in South Carolina and Oklahoma have endorsed it.

    By the time Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, he had established an enormous network of wealthy and influential friends. Emails made public this week show the crime did little to diminish the desire of that network to stay connected to the billionaire financier.

    Thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday offer a new glimpse into what Epstein’s relationships with business executives, reporters, academics and political players looked like over a decade.

    They start with messages he sent and received around the time he finished serving his Florida sentence in 2009 and continue until the months before his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.

    During that time, Epstein’s network was eclectic, spanning the globe and political affiliations: from the liberal academic Noam Chomsky to Steve Bannon, the longtime ally of President Donald Trump.

    Some reached out to support Epstein amid lawsuits and prosecutions, others sought introductions or advice on everything from dating to oil prices. One consulted him on how to respond to accusations of sexual harassment.

    Epstein was charged with sex trafficking in 2019, and killed himself in jail a month later. Epstein’s crimes, high-profile connections and jailhouse suicide have made the case a magnet for conspiracy theorists and online sleuths seeking proof of a cover-up.

    The emails do not implicate his contacts in those alleged crimes. They instead paint a picture of Epstein’s influence and connections over the years he was a registered sex offender.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Phillip Stucky, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Rep. Steube votes against shutdown deal; Bill bans hemp THC

    The spending bill that ended the government shutdown has new restrictions on THC products, and the lone Republican representative to oppose the spending bill discusses what led to his vote.


    Shutdown resolution has impacts for THC products

    The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is officially over. The House passed a funding plan Wednesday, which was then quickly signed by President Donald Trump.

    Furloughed federal employees returned to work and are eagerly awaiting back pay from the multiple paychecks they missed, though it’s currently unclear when the money might hit their accounts.

    The bill Trump signed to reopen the government also includes a provision that significantly impacts THC products.

    It criminalizes most THC-infused products on the market today. That includes hemp or synthetic products like Delta-8.

    Any product containing more than .4 milligrams of total THC will be illegal.

    Some local hemp shop owners say this could have a significant impact on their business. Proponents of the legislation say it will help keep kids safe.

    It’s not the end of the road, though. There is a one-year delay in implementing the provisions, which means Congress could debate this further and come up with new regulations.

    The Florida legislature passed a bill in 2024 that would have closed the farm bill loophole but ultimately Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the proposal.

    Lone GOP opponent to spending bill discusses his vote

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson says his chamber will vote next week to repeal a provision in the shutdown deal that allows senators to sue the Department of Justice if they seize or subpoena data without notifying them.

    The bill is a unique advantage for eight Republican senators whose phone records were collected as part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the January 6 attack.

    When asked about the provision, which was tucked into the bill to reopen the government, Johnson said he knew nothing about it.

    “I found out about it last night. I was surprised. I was shocked by it, and I was angry about it, to be honest,” Johnson said.

    The bill entitles senators to $500,000 for each violation of the provision, and it prevents the government from invoking immunity in response to any claims.

    South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters yesterday he plans to sue.

    All Florida Democrats voted against the continuing resolution, and Rep. Greg Stuebe was the only Republican to vote against the proposal. He said that he voted that way because he is opposed to the late addition allowing senators to sue.

    He shares his reasoning with Political Connections.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Phillip Stucky, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Florida immigration enforcement; SNAP benefits state funding

    Polk County deputies lead in immigration enforcement according to a new report, and Florida Democrats call on lawmakers to fund food banks amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.


    The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has reported more immigration-related encounters than any other local law enforcement agency in Florida. That’s according to the state board of immigration enforcement.

    The Polk County Sheriff’s office polices around 850,000 people, and its goal is to keep everyone safe.

    “We’re not out here going to job sites, going to businesses, going to agriculture fields. We’re just bumping into people as we do our normal daily business,” Sheriff Grady Judd said about the office’s immigration enforcement.

    Since August, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has had more than 400 immigration encounters, second in line after the Florida Highway Patrol. That’s according to the state board of immigration enforcement.

    The board was created in February by Gov. Ron DeSantis to help deport people without legal status. The board recently experienced a change in leadership.

    Larry Keefe is no longer the executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement. Keefe held this position since February of this year, and it is not clear where he will head next.

    “Larry has done a number of things in our administration over the years, and he has performed at a very high level with honor and integrity, and we really thank him for his service,” DeSantis sai during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting over the phone.

    DeSantis appointed Anthony Coker as the next executive director. He was the liaison to the state of Florida for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    Florida Democrats call on lawmakers to fund local food banks amid government shutdown

    Florida Democrats are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency amid the ongoing government shutdown.

    That’s because millions of Floridians may soon find themselves without federal food assistance — like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

    Some lawmakers are urging DeSantis to use emergency dollars to help resupply local food banks.

    “Florida has the fiscal strength to respond. What’s needed now is the moral will to act,” Florida Democrats wrote in an open letter.

    The request by all 43 Florida Democrats comes as federal funds for food stamps are set to expire November 1.

    After that, it’s estimated that nearly three million Floridians would lose access.

    “If feeding our neighbors doesn’t count as a state of emergency I don’t know what else would,” State House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said.

    SNAP provides food assistance to almost 42 million Americans. Among them are seniors, the unemployed, and people with disabilities.

    The office of the governor didn’t return a request for comment. 

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Democrats add to property tax proposals; Shutdown could last

    Florida Democrats release their own proposals for eliminating property taxes in the state, and a Florida Republican reports the federal government shutdown could last past Thanksgiving. 


    Florida Democrats join property tax elimination fight with new proposals

    The path to eliminating property is getting more complicated. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, especially the Florida House, seemingly on different pages.

    There’s one goal, and yet, there are more than a dozen ideas on how to get there.

    Senate Democrats have joined the discussion with proposals of their own. One proposal would call for a non-school property tax exemption for Floridians 65 and older. This proposal has a requirement that homeowners must have a household income of less than $350,000 a year. Under this proposal, homeowners will have needed to reside in the state for at least five years.

    “Although I’m a Democrat, what we’re going to do is work as a Senate body to provide relief for the residents,” State Sen. Bernard Mack said. “And working with the house and the governor’s office, at the end of the day, whatever your party is, it doesn’t matter. What we want is to provide relief to the residents of this great state.” 

    Senate Democrats are proposing other relief too — like a limit on assessments for small businesses.

    “What we want to do is provide relief for the small businesses in this whole conversation,” Mack said. “And so, well, what I don’t want to do is for us to provide relief, but then we shift the burden to a lot of our small businesses. So and that’s the reason why I put, put out that package.”

    The proposals come as Florida Republicans debate strategy.

    Currently, the Florida House wants to propose seven different ideas to voters. That’s a plan that DeSantis doesn’t support.

    “Placing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes. It’s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people,” he wrote on X last week.

    Meanwhile, leadership in the Florida House is expressing its frustrations with DeSantis.

    “The governor has not produced a plan on property taxes. Period,” Florida House Speaker Danny Perez said. “It’s unclear what he wants to do. I’ve personally reached out to share with him the house’s proposals, and he has, so far, not wanted to engage in a conversation.” 

    All this and more will need to resolve in the coming weeks to months. The 2026 legislative session kicks off in January.

    As unpaid federal workers line up at food banks and airports experience staffing shortages and flight delays, Republicans and Democrats remain at odds over how to resolve a federal funding showdown that has shuttered the government for 27 days.

    With hundreds of thousands of federal workers missing paychecks, and 40 million low-income Americans at risk of losing food benefits beginning this weekend unless the government reopens, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Monday that the stalemate is “a simple math problem. We need Democrats to help.”

    There is currently no sign that lawmakers on either side of the aisle are moving toward a compromise.

    Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna suggested the shutdown could continue for weeks in a Sunday interview with Fox News.

    “Look, behind the scenes, Maria, I’m hearing that we potentially might not be back until even around the Thanksgiving timeframe or after that,” she said. “And it’s really unfortunate, because as you know, the military’s going without paychecks potentially, we have the SNAP and EBT program that’s potentially, especially going into the holiday season, going to be on the chopping block here.”

    The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1 when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation that would fund it for the 2026 fiscal year. A stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21 has repeatedly failed in the Senate, as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year.

    On Monday, Democrats yielded no ground to Republican demands that five Democratic Senators join their ranks and vote for the bill.

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor: “Donald Trump says there’s no money to pay federal workers but he’s spending $40 billion to bail out Argentina, $300 million on his vanity ballroom, $172 million on two luxury jets for Kristi Noem (and) hundreds of millions for outfitting his foreign jet.”

    Calling President Donald Trump’s priorities “warped,” he said, “Here’s what the president needs to do. He should negotiate with Democrats.”

    Last week, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill called the Shutdown Fairness Act that would have allowed pay for air traffic controllers, military troops and other essential federal workers the Office of Personnel Management has approved while the government is shut down. On the same day, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., objected to requests for unanimous consent to pass two Democratic bills that would have paid federal employees, including one to pay all the workers.

    On Monday, the American Federation of Government Employees union that represents 800,000 workers said in a statement: “Put every single federal worker back on the job with full back pay — today. … It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown that Americans dislike.”

    If the government remains closed, about 2 million active-duty U.S. troops and reserve military will miss full paychecks Friday. Johnson said Monday that the recent $130 million donation to the Trump administration to pay troops “is a small fraction of what’s needed.”

    He also said the 40 million Americans who rely on the Agriculture Department’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will not be helped by a contingency fund to cover their benefits because it would pull money away from congressionally appropriated funds for school meals and infant formula.

    Schumer said it is “bunk” that the Trump administration will not fund SNAP.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Government workers miss paycheck; U.S. carrier group sent to Latin America

    Hundreds of thousands of federal workers went unpaid Friday as the government shutdown enters its 24th day, and the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier strike group to Latin America. 


    As hundreds of thousands of federal workers went unpaid Friday during the 24th day of an agonizing government shutdown, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called on House Republicans to return to Washington to negotiate a bipartisan agreement.

    “We need Republican support for a bipartisan path forward in order to get out of this situation,” Jeffries said Friday during a news conference at the Capitol.

    “I said this directly to the president with (House Speaker Mike) Johnson and (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune right next to me,” Jeffries said, referencing a White House meeting in late September to avert the current shutdown. “This does not get resolved until you decide to give permission to Republicans on Capitol Hill to negotiate a bipartisan resolution.”

    House Republicans have been in recess since Sept. 19 after passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21. That bill has repeatedly failed in the Senate as Democrats demand an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that will otherwise expire at the end of the year.

    The federal government has been closed since Oct. 1, when Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to pass legislation that would fund it for the 2026 fiscal year. Hundreds of thousands of essential federal workers are now working without pay while others are furloughed.

    On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill called the “Shutdown Fairness Act” that would have allowed pay for air traffic controllers, military troops and other essential federal workers the Office of Personnel Management has approved while the government is shut down.

    “Deranged Democrats just blocked our bill to pay essential workers who keep Americans safe. Why? They believe that forcing Americans to work without pay gives them leverage,” Senate Republicans wrote on X after the failed vote.

    On Friday, Jeffries reiterated a point he has made multiple times since the shutdown began.

    “We’re prepared to support any bipartisan legislation that comes out of the Senate that is designed to decisively address the Republican health care crisis, reopen the government and enact a bipartisan spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people,” he said.

    Jeffries refuted the idea that Democrats bear responsibility for any lasting fallout from the shuttered government and pushed back on the Republican contention that their stalled funding bill continues spending levels approved during the Biden administration.

    He said the spending levels the Republicans would like to extend are based on the Republican stopgap funding bill Congress passed in March to keep the government running through the end of September. That bill cut $13 billion for domestic programs, including Medicaid.

    “We’ve made clear we will not support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people,” Jeffries said Friday. “We’ve been saying that for six weeks. We have not moved off our position.”

    Neither have Republicans, who insist the government must reopen before any negotiations can happen. 

    “It’s becoming clearer by the day that Democrats don’t want an outcome, they want a political issue,” Thune wrote on X on Friday. “They’ve refused to reopen the government — 12 times. They’ve refused my offer to discuss Obamacare’s failures. They’ve refused my offer to hold a vote on their own proposal to address a problem they created. They’ve refused to pay the troops and federal employees who are working without a paycheck. The only thing they’ve said yes to? The Schumer Shutdown and political ‘leverage.’”

    The U.S. military is sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the waters off South America, in the latest escalation and buildup of military forces in the region, the Pentagon announced Friday.

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to deploy to U.S. Southern Command to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post.

    The U.S. military has conducted its 10th strike on a suspected drug-running boat, Hegseth said earlier Friday, blaming the Tren de Aragua gang for operating the vessel and leaving six people dead in the Caribbean Sea.

    In a social media post, Hegseth said the strike occurred overnight, and it marks the second time the Trump administration has tied one of its operations to the gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison.

    The pace of the strikes has quickened in recent days from one every few weeks when they first began to three this week, killing a total of at least 43 people since September. Two of the most recent strikes were carried out in the eastern Pacific Ocean, expanding the area where the military has launched attacks and shifting to where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.

    In a 20-second black and white video of the strike posted to social media, a small boat can be seen apparently sitting motionless on the water when a long thin projectile descends, triggering an explosion. The video ends before the blast dies down enough for the remains of the boat to be seen again.

    Hegseth said the strike happened in international waters and boasted that it was the first one conducted at night.

    “If you are a narco-terrorist smuggling drugs in our hemisphere, we will treat you like we treat Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth said in the post. “Day or NIGHT, we will map your networks, track your people, hunt you down, and kill you.”

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Supreme Court redistricting case; Alligator Alcatraz lawsuit

    The United States Supreme Court considers a redistricting case in Louisiana, and Friends of the Everglades files another lawsuit in relation to “Alligator Alcatraz.”


    U.S. Supreme Court considers Louisiana redistricting case

    In one of the first major cases of this term to come before the U.S. Supreme Court, justices will hear arguments over Louisiana’s effort to draw new congressional maps in which the state is seeking to dismiss any consideration of race.

    The state will not defend its current map, which includes two districts represented by Black Democrats.

    That map was drawn two years ago, after the Supreme Court found Louisiana’s prior map likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

    But now, a group of white Louisiana voters claims that race was the driving factor in drawing this map, leading the case back to the high court.

    Justices first heard the case in March, and several conservative members suggested they could throw out the current map, and potentially make it harder to bring redistricting lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act.

    At the time, the justices ultimately ordered the re-argument of the case.

    In a brief filed with the court, the state of Louisiana says the Voting Rights Act’s rules regarding race-based maps are “unworkable and unconstitutional.”

    “No amount of surgery can eliminate the constitutional defects inherent in a system that, at the end of the day, requires states to sort their citizens by race,” the brief stated.

    “Make no mistake: Black Louisianians are entitled to the same fair and representative maps as voters anywhere in this country,” Louisiana Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Alanah Odoms said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to that pursuit — until equality is not just promised, but realized.”

    If the court overturns Louisiana’s maps, it could have implications in Florida.

    Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that a ruling declaring racial consideration in map drawing unconstitutional could require Florida to redraw its maps.

    The governor also defended the practice of making political considerations in drawing maps.

    “The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, which is why the court is likely to find racial gerrymandering to be unconstitutional,” DeSantis wrote on a post on X.

    The Constitution says nothing about political gerrymandering, which is why the court has found such claims to be non-justiciable.

    New lawsuit accuses state agency of illegally withholding public records concerning ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

    A new lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades against the Florida Department of Emergency Management is accusing the state agency of denying the existence of public records requested by the nonprofit, only to later admit they existed all along.

    Despite acknowledging their existence, FOTE attorneys say the state has still not produced the records.

    According to the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Circuit Court in Leon County, just five days after FDEM announced plans to open and operate the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention center in the Everglades on June 19, Friends of the Everglades, Inc., requested documents under Florida’s open records law concerning communication between the state and federal officials about the site.

    At the time, the lawsuit claims the state agency initially denied the existence of any communication records, before later making “an incomplete production.”

    On Sept. 11, the nonprofit’s attorneys sent a follow-up on its request, “to make clear that Plaintiff’s request specifically sought ‘[a]ll documents pertaining to or constituting any application for funds or grants to FEMA, DHS or other federal agency from FDEM or another state agency for financial assistance in connection with building any immigration detention center in Florida including without limitation to the (‘Alligator Alcatraz’) detention center.”

    The lawsuit does not accuse the state agency of denying the existence of the communication records following the Sept. 11 request, but rather, claims the Florida Department of Emergency Management simply did not respond to it at all.

    On Aug. 21, a federal judge ruled that the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site could not expand or take in additional detainees, and gave the state 60 days to begin removal of fencing, lighting fixtures  and “all generators, gas, sewage, and other waste and waste receptacles that were installed to support this project.”

    An appeals court later blocked the lower court’s order, noting several times in its ruling that the state had not applied for, or received federal funding for the project — which would have required the site to “comply with a host of regulatory prerequisites in support of that application” that would not otherwise be necessary.

    The lawsuit specifically points to a line in the appellate court’s ruling that said: “Without an application, there is simply nothing on which a decision can be made.”

    Unbeknownst to the court or the plaintiffs in the case, though, was the fact that Florida had in fact applied for a federal grant almost a month before the appeals court made its ruling. The Friends of the Everglades lawsuit cites a single-page email disclosed by FDEM on Oct. 10 that showed a FEMA grant application — titled “Fiscal Year 2025 Detention Support Grant Program” — had been filed by the state at 7:05 p.m. on Aug. 7.

    “More than a month later, FDEM has not corrected the Eleventh Circuit Court’s misimpressions,” the lawsuit filed Tuesday said. “What the federal District and Circuit Courts (and Plaintiff) were unaware of, because FDEM did not disclose the fact or produce the documents, is that FDEM had already applied for federal funding on August 7, 2025.”

    The Florida Department of Emergency Management’s release of the funding email comes a little more than a week after Florida announced that FEMA had awarded the state $608 million to cover costs associated with “Alligator Alcatraz.”

    The Friends of the Everglades lawsuit claims that the Florida Department of Emergency Management “has not asserted that any documents requested by Plaintiff are exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act.”

    The nonprofit’s lawsuit is asking the court to force the state to release all requested records within 48 hours, to find that the department violated the law by not releasing the requested documents, and award it attorney fees and any other appropriate relief.

    State officials did not immediately respond to the Friends of the Everglades court filing.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Israel/Gaza ceasefire reaction; Florida may end long gun law

    Florida lawmakers react to the ceasefire in Israel, and a bill being considered in Tallahassee could lower the age requirement to buy long guns.


    U.S. attorney general discusses political violence after event in Tampa

    Israelis on Monday celebrated the return of the last surviving hostages from Gaza — a defining exchange in the fragile ceasefire that has paused two years of war between Israel and Hamas.

    As Palestinians awaited prisoner releases, world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, were arriving in the Middle East to discuss postwar plans, while aid was expected to flow into famine-stricken Gaza.

    Members of the Florida congressional delegation are reacting to the release of Israeli hostages and the ceasefire in Gaza. Although Republicans and Democrats are united in applauding the developments, some Republicans are highlighting Trump’s role.

    “For the first time in over two years, Hamas holds NO living hostages,” Rep. John Rutherford said in a post on social media. “This is a major, historic win for the Trump administration, and is an accomplishment that no one else could have delivered. Promises made, promises kept.”

    Republican Rep. Mike Haridopolos also celebrated the president’s “leadership and relentless diplomacy.”

    “After two agonizing years, all of the living Israeli hostages have been BROUGHT HOME! Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and relentless diplomacy, families can finally welcome their loved ones home,” Haridopolos said in a social post.

    As part of the deal, Israel released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. But not all of the remains of the deceased hostages have been returned to Israel yet.

    In addition, Florida Democrats hope the current track for peace in the region will last.

    “A weight has been lifted off the world as the remaining hostages are released. Amazing day for the families, and for @POTUS and all the negotiators who made this day possible. Let’s honor their return by staying committed to lasting peace so another October 7 never happens again,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz posted.

    Rep. Darren Soto called for aid for Palestinians in need, as well as a “lasting peace” in the region.

    “Grateful that the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages are finally free. Today, their families will rejoice! We also remember those who died before this day by Hamas’ terrorist attack. We must ensure this ceasefire holds, that aid is surged to help Palestinians in need, and build upon it for lasting peace between Israel and Gaza,” Soto said in social media post.

    Some Florida Republicans also cheered on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida who traveled alongside Trump Monday and helped broker the deal.

    “Our community in South Florida is incredibly proud of the brilliant work coming from @SecRubio. World leaders recognize his leadership, and Secretary Rubio truly understands every corner of the world,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart said in a social post.

    Roughly 200 U.S. troops have been stationed in Israel to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire deal. 

    Florida lawmakers to take up proposal to lower the age to purchase long guns

    Firearms are shaping up to be a major issue in Florida’s upcoming legislative session.

    For the fourth straight year, lawmakers appear ready to revisit a proposal to lower the buying age for long guns from 21 to 18.

    A court ruling last month struck down the state’s open carry ban as unconstitutional, making the potential decision on gun policy both highly visible and potentially far-reaching.

    Florida Republicans say they’re determined to uphold the Second Amendment, especially as the state enters a new era for gun ownership.

    “We want to protect the Second Amendment at all costs,” State Rep. Sam Garrison said. “We will protect your right to bear arms. We also believe very strongly in public safety and keeping our schools in particular.” 

    That promise could include House Bill 133. If approved, the bill would lower the buying age to 18 for long guns like rifles, shotguns and more.

    Florida lawmakers raised the purchase age to 21 after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, something that was endorsed by then-Gov. Rick Scott.

    “I know that many wanted more gun control than what is included in this bill,” Scott said at the time. “And I know that many believe this bill has too much gun control. I respect the sincerity and validity of both those viewpoints.”

    Looking ahead, Democrats are warning about the implications of more long guns in public.

    “I think about parents playing with their kids at the park, and they’re worried someone might stroll up carrying an AR-15,” State Rep. Fentrice Driskell said. “These are politically sensitive and heated times, and it’d be better to cool the temperature down.”

    There have also been calls for Republicans to clarify the rules around open carry, saying the law lacks uniformity statewide.

    “I mean, it’s sad, but the issues tied to the Second Amendment have become so political and so polarizing that even small tweaks to current law may prove challenging,” State Rep. Anna Eskamani said.

    The House passed the measure to lower the purchase age for long guns last year, but the bill failed to advance in the Senate.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • Senate votes down funding bill; Palm Bay leaders seek councilman’s removal

    The U.S. Senate failed to pass a stopgap funding bill for the fourth time Friday, and the Palm Bay City Council has voted to ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to remove a councilman from the governing body.


    The Senate on Friday once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, making it likely that the shutdown now in its third day will stretch into a second week.

    Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats crossed party lines to join all but one Republican in backing the bill, which passed the GOP-House earlier this month and seeks to keep the government funded through mid-November. The same three also joined with the GOP in backing the bill two previous times. Two senators, one Democrat and one Republican, did not vote. Friday’s vote marked the Senate’s fourth attempt at ushering the funding measure through the upper chamber. 

    Republican leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota signaled earlier that he would save the next try for next week, telling reporters at a press conference “hopefully over the weekend they’ll have a chance to think about it,” referring to Democrats. After Friday’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declared that Tuesday of next week through the following Monday would be a district work period, meaning lawmakers in his chamber will not return to the Capitol. 

    Per Senate rules, Republicans need 60 votes for the bill to pass, meaning seven Democrats — or eight if Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky continues to vote no — need to support the measure. 

    Along with the GOP-supported, short-term funding patch, senators have also rejected a counter bill Democrats offered that would reopen the government and address their health care concerns. 

    The shutdown has the potential to impact the economy, with hundreds of thousands of workers expected to be furloughed. And President Donald Trump has marveled at the “unprecedented opportunity” he says Democrats in Congress handed him to enact potentially permanent layoff and cuts to “Democrat Agencies” during the shutdown. 

    The president said he was meeting with his Office of Management and Budget chief, Russ Vought, to discuss just that.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who referred to the potentially permanent layoffs as an “unfortunate consequence” of the shutdown at Friday’s press briefing, said earlier this week that the firings were “imminent” and could be in the thousands. 

    “Unfortunately, we’re having to do a massive review of the bureaucracy to be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar, and it’s the Democrats who have forced the White House and the president into this position to shut the government down,” Leavitt said Friday. 

    A major topic of discussion during Thursday’s Palm Bay City Council meeting was about one of their council members, Chandler Langevin, and whether he should keep his position after making multiple derogatory social media comments about people in the Indian and Indian American communities. 

    Hundreds of people showed up at the meeting to share their thoughts on the matter. Dozens also filled an overflow room and waited outside of the City Council chambers, listening to the meeting on speakers as they waited to get inside. 

    Seventy-six people signed up for public comment on the topic of Langevin, leading to several hours of discussion, with some feeling that the disdain is being pointed in the wrong direction.

    “Tonight shouldn’t be about the resignation of Councilman Langevin, it should be about the resignation of each and every one of you to who failed this community and ignoring multiple accusations of discrimination and done nothing,” Former Palm Bay Deputy Chief Lance Fisher. “Nothing to prevent tonight from happening.”

    Some of his comments on X, previously known as Twitter, include: “Deport every Indian immediately.” And “Indians are destroying the South.”

    The majority, however, pointed to this not being the first time that Langevin has spoken negatively about a racial group, and they questioned him about his comments. Earlier in the year, he made comments about Muslims and their faith, saying in one post, “Islam is neither peaceful nor strictly a religion.”

    “Do you want your legacy to be that of an elected official whose overheated words incited and justified violence against the harmless, the innocent and law-abiding citizens,” said former Brevard County Judge Alli Majeed.

    Several federal and state legislators have also weighed in and condemned Langevin’s comments.

    That mindset was felt by multiple speakers at the meeting as they asked for an apology and for the council to make sure that these types of actions never happen again.

    “So, please make sure that nothing like this ever happens,” Mike Shah said. “Nobody should make comments like this, not in Brevard County, not in the United States, and I would like to see apologies from the person who said that.”

    About an hour before the meeting, Langevin did post a statement on X, saying that he was willing to talk and work with the Indian community to solve issues at a local and national level.

    Just before 11 p.m., the Palm Bay City Council voted 4-1 to move forward with drafting a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking him to remove Langevin from his position on the council as they do not have the power to do it themselves.

    As part of that vote, the council moved to censure Langevin and remove him from his appointments and outside boards for the city of Palm Bay. They’re also planning to send an ethics violation letter to State Sen. Debbie Mayfield (R) so she can send it to the governor.

    After the vote, Langevin took to X again, posting, “For every lefty looney that came to yell at me tonight there are thousands of normal Americans that live in my city that don’t come to meetings because they know I will represent them.”

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • ‘Deportation Depot’ opens; Lindsey Langston vs Rep. Mills

    Florida’s second immigration detention facility called “Deportation Depot” opens, and Rep. Cory Mills faces off against Miss United States in court. 


    The Florida Division of Emergency Management confirmed Friday that the new immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” by Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially open and receiving detainees. 

    The governor announced the additional facility in August, saying the facility will have the capacity to hold more than 1,300 detainees, and would be set up with the same services as the “Alligator Alcatraz” facility. He announced at the time that the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson would be used to create the new detention center.

    “Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson will now serve as a ‘Deportation Depot’ to detain and process illegal immigrants for removal, building on the success the state has had with Alligator Alcatraz,” DeSantis said last week. “We’ll enforce the law, we’ll hold the line, and we will keep delivering results.” 

    DeSantis also said that state leaders are in talks with law enforcement in the Panhandle to open another facility.

    “We’re actually in the process of figuring out how we can set up a ‘Panhandle Pokey’, and we are going to have that in the Panhandle. So the mission continues,” DeSantis said.

    This would make the third detention center after the opening of the “Deportation Depot” near Jacksonville in Baker County.

    The governor also said he is confident that the federal government will reimburse the state to cover the millions of taxpayer dollars he spent to get “Alligator Alcatraz” up and running.

    “Everything we’re doing on this mission, everything we’re doing is reimbursable from FEMA,” DeSantis said.

    The state also has been cleared to continue to use “Alligator Alcatraz” to hold additional detainees after an appellate court blocked an injunction issued by a federal judge.

    The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday blocked a prior ruling by a federal judge to shut down operations at “Alligator Alcatraz.” 

    Florida Rep. Cory Mills spent Friday morning in court for a hearing to determine if a restraining order should be issued against him.

    Lindsey Langston, the reigning Miss United States, and Mills’ ex-girlfriend, filed for a restraining order against him, claiming he threatened to release personal nude photos and videos after their relationship ended.

    The Columbia County court heard both from Langston and Mills.

    Mills described the allegations as a mischaracterization, while Langston described Mills as a scorned lover.

    The pair dated for roughly three years until Langston said she discovered Mills was unfaithful in their relationship.

    What happened in the months that followed their breakup was at the heart of the hearing.

    Langston said that over the course of several months, she received threatening messages from Mills that implied violence and/or retribution against her and any other potential partners.

    Langston claimed that Mills also threatened to leak nude images and videos of her after she asked him to stop contacting her multiple times.

    “Internally I was reeling, I was so scared, I didn’t want to face any backlash for coming forward,” Langston said on the stand. “But I was scared, and I reached out to several people beforehand to make sure that what I was doing was just. Because I had begged him to leave me alone and he wouldn’t. So, I needed to go to law enforcement. Maybe if he wouldn’t listen to me, he would listen to them.” 

    Mills also took the stand and commented on his relationship with Langston.

    “This is a family I grew to love, and I still love. Her father became a close friend of mine,” he said. “When I was hearing things that could jeopardize her crown, or as you talk about with this morality clause, I wanted to let her know things were being murmured.”

    The judge did not issue a ruling on the restraining order during Friday’s hearing.

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link

  • ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ closing; Crosswalk ‘no defacing’ signs

    Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” begins to wind down operations, and Orlando authorities post signs warning chalk protesters to not “deface” roadways.


    Florida officials being to remove equipment from ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ after court order

    Immigration attorney Magdalena Cuprys has clients at Florida’s migrant detention facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz.” She said she hadn’t communicated with her clients since wind-down operations started.

    “They’re moving people like cattle, and they’re really not telling their representatives anything about where they’re moving them,” she said.

    We have continuing coverage tonight as the population at the detention facility is decreasing due to a court order.

    White House Border Czar Tom Homan says he disagrees with a federal judge’s recent ruling.

    “I disagree with the judge who made that decision. I went down there. I walked through the detention areas where these people sleep and live. I saw a clean facility, a well-maintained facility. I went to the medical center and talked to the nurses there on staff, looked at the medical facility. It was great,” he said.

    The Department of Homeland Security reported Friday it is complying with the judge’s order, moving detainees out of the Everglades facility.

    After the order, large trucks have been seen taking away large equipment.

    While the gates remain open for now at “Alligator Alcatraz,” the process of shutting things down is ramping up.

    Cuprys has two clients detained there. With a court order in place calling for everyone to be moved, she has been in the dark with no direct communication with her clients.

    “No one has notified us as their attorneys that they will be transferred where they will be transferred or when they will be transferred. And it’s very concerning because this is a trend,” she said.

    There were reports Thursday of riots and unrest inside the facility, something the state has since denied.

    “These reports are manufactured. There is no unrest happening at ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’ Detainees are given clean, safe living conditions, and guards are properly trained on all state and federal protocol,” the state said in a statement.

    Betty Osceola is an environmental activist and member of the Panther Clan of the Miccosukee tribe, and she lives near the detention center.

    “I was very optimistic but cautious at the same time, seeing all the traffic come with all the tents coming out, I think there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Osceola said.

    Still, state leaders are vowing to fight this order…the Department of Homeland Security said, “DHS is complying with this order and moving detainees to other facilities. We will continue to fight tooth-and-nail to remove the worst of the worst from American streets.”

    For the time being, Osceola says she is keeping a watchful eye over her native land…not celebrating this as a win until the operation is completely shutdown.

    “Until those FEMA trailers come out, I’m not going to do my happy dance yet,” she said.

    According to the judge’s ruling, the state has at least 60 days to formally shut down the facility.

    Traffic signs now warn people on the sidewalk next to the Pulse memorial crosswalk on Orange Avenue and Esther Street that defacing the roadway is prohibited.

    This comes after the Florida Department of Transportation has repeatedly painted over the crosswalk to its traditional black and white stripes since the controversy started on Aug. 20.

    Day after day, residents and advocates for the LGBTQ+ community have colored in the lines of the crosswalk with either chalk or paint, returning the surface to its former rainbow colors.

    It has been over a week since FDOT crews first repainted the rainbow-colored crosswalk without warning the city of Orlando.

    Later that week, the state agency sent a letter to city officials and other Florida municipalities, ordering the removal of at least 14 separate pavement markings that state officials say don’t comply with guidelines for the appearance of crosswalks, sidewalks and roadways.

    They gave the city until Sept. 4 to make the changes or face losing state funds.

    On Aug. 27, Orlando announced crews had started replacing previously state-approved crosswalks and intersection treatments with traditional pavement markings.

    “Per the orders from the state, these previously approved treatments must be replaced with traditional pavement markings. As a municipal government, the City of Orlando must comply with state and federal law, and we will begin this work at the locations listed below beginning Wednesday, August 27, 2025, and it is expected to continue for several days. Expect delays and minor detours from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.,” the city’s statement read.

    Signs posted near Pulse crosswalk in Orlando warn about defacing the roadway

    Ybeth Bruzual, Holly Gregory, Asher Wildman, Jason Delgado, Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

    Source link