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On the first day of the 2023 session, GOP lawmakers file a 6-week abortion ban in Florida
The GOP-controlled Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a 15-week abortion ban just last year. On Tuesday, lawmakers filed a bill to reduce the ban to six weeks, creating significant new abortion restrictions in the state. State Sen. Erin Grall, who has been at the forefront of abortion restrictions in Florida, filed the Senate […]
Three years of COVID-19 and it’s still here
It was three years ago this week, when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on a Sunday evening, March 1, 2020, that “two individuals” in Florida tested “presumptively positive” for a coronavirus called COVID-19. It would become a global pandemic, with millions of people becoming ill or dying. Many people have moved on from COVID, shedding masks […]
Nikki Fried is the new chair of the FL Democratic Party — and she faces a tough job
Former Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat who had hoped to become the first woman governor of Florida but didn’t win in the 2022 gubernatorial primary race, has been elected as the new chair of the Florida Democratic Party. Florida Democrats on Saturday posted a celebratory tweet: “The Florida Democratic Party congratulates @NikkiFried on being […]
Parkland tragedy: ‘The 5th anniversary of one of Florida’s darkest days’
Tuesday, Feb. 14, will mark the 5th anniversary of the mass shootings at Broward County’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 students and staff were killed in 2018 by a teen with an AR-15-style rifle. Gov. Ron DeSantis has directed the following related to “Marjory Stoneman Douglas Remembrance Day”: “In memory of […]
Former Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran to be interim president of New College of Florida
Richard Corcoran, a former House Speaker and Florida Education Commissioner and a current Board of Governors member of the state university system, is expected to be the interim president at the public New College of Florida in Sarasota. The news came in a series of tweets and clips from Florida-based newspapers on Tuesday afternoon and […]
Lawsuit expected against Gov. DeSantis on the rejection of AP African American studies pilot
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump — who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others — plans to announce a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over the rejection of an Advanced Placement African American studies pilot course that has led to an outpouring of criticism from Black Democratic lawmakers, activists […]
VP Harris in Tallahassee: ‘Can we truly be free if a woman cannot make decisions about her life?’
In a direct challenge to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to his back yard Sunday to announce that President Joe Biden was ordering his administration to protect access to abortion-inducing medications. During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee marking what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Harris […]
Prior to VP Harris’ remarks in Tallahassee Sunday, Biden provides a statement on abortion rights
Sunday, on what was going to be the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on Jan. 22, 1973, President Joe Biden provided a statement from the White House: “Today, instead of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, we are acknowledging that last year, the Supreme Court took […]
Vice President Kamala Harris expects to be in GOP DeSantis territory on Sunday in Tallahassee
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver remarks Sunday in Florida’s state capital of Tallahassee, ahead of what would have been the 50th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which granted access to abortion care. The high court overturned Roe v. Wade on June, 24, 2022, led by […]
FL’s Byron Donalds votes for Kevin McCarthy for U.S. House Speaker after all
During a continued drama over who will be the next U.S. House Speaker in Congress, Florida’s Byron Donalds had catapulted to national prominence this week, as a nominee for the Speaker’s job. Several lawmakers, including himself, voted for Donalds over several days. But by Friday afternoon, Donalds decided to vote for embattled GOP leader Kevin […]
Jan. 6 attack: 3 FL extremist groups formed an alliance ‘to work together to shut this sh** down’
The final report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is 845 pages long — similar to more than two or three books outlining the terror of historic events. The excerpts related to Florida are often chilling. The publication released last week showed the force of extremist […]
Ag Commissioner Fried asks U.S. Department of Justice to monitor FL’s ‘broken’ prison system
In a Twitter post and a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried asked the Department of Justice “to monitor our broken system and hold our governor to account.” The concerns came at a time when the Florida Phoenix was writing a lengthy story about prison conditions at Lowell […]