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Gov. DeSantis signs death warrant for 1980s Tampa killer
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed his first death warrant, for Robert Joseph Long, a confessed serial killer from the Tampa area who has been on Death Row since 1989. Prison officials set the execution for May 23 at 6 p.m., although the warrant authorizes them to put Long to death any time that week. The […]
FL Supreme Court upholds Gov. DeSantis decision to fire Broward sheriff
The Florida Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel for alleged incompetence following mass shootings at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The ruling came Tuesday, a week to the day after the justices approved DeSantis’ removal of another local official – Okaloosa County School […]
Gov. DeSantis: “Do you think I’m just going to, like, bring in a lot of drugs from Pakistan and off the street?”
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday mocked the pharmaceutical industry’s advertising campaign against his plan to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, and took a swipe at Asia. “Do you think I’m just going to, like, bring in a lot of drugs from Pakistan and off the street?” he said. “C’mon. We’re talking about, there’s a […]
Vaping bill, other legislation now on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk
Legislation is now on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk that would enact a constitutional amendment banning vaping in workplaces, create a public-records exemption for home addresses for civilian police employees, and boost penalties for harming police animals, The items are among 10 bills sent over Monday by the Legislature and now awaiting the governor’s signature or […]
Gov. Ron DeSantis reaching into Trump World to staff his administration
Ron DeSantis won Florida’s governorship by cleaving to President Trump. He’s maintained those ties by attending Trump events, frequently conferring with the White House, and by bringing former Trump insiders to Tallahassee to help staff his administration. To keep us all up to date, here’s a rundown, so far, of Trump administration people who are […]
Florida to FBI: If you think our elections system was hacked, tell us what you know
Florida’s election overseers insisted Thursday that the state’s 2016 elections process had not been hacked by the Russians, notwithstanding a suggestion by special counsel Robert Mueller that Russian security agents (the GRU) cracked at least one county’s system. The Florida county is not identified in the Mueller report. “We understand the FBI believes that this […]
Gov. DeSantis links today’s Venezuela political situation to Cuba Bay of Pigs invasion
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday linked efforts to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. “They were fighting the good fight – against tyranny, against communism, against oppression,” he said during a luncheon in Miami commemorating the 58th anniversary of the disastrous CIA-backed incursion by 1,000 […]
Gov. DeSantis meeting with Trump official, billionaire, and lunching at the Coral Gables Biltmore
Gov. Ron DeSantis is meeting today – for the second time in two weeks – with National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has been counseling the governor about the situation in Venezuela. The meeting is at the swank Biltmore Hotel Miami in Coral Gables, according to the governor’s schedule. The governor and first lady will […]
Gov. DeSantis and the Cabinet are going to Jerusalem next month on taxpayers’ dime, but no details forthcoming
In about five weeks, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the three members of the Florida Cabinet will fly to Israel to promote Florida as a business destination. While there, they’ll hold their regular monthly meeting. How will they get there? Where will they stay? Who’ll be included among the legislators and business people tagging along? What […]
DeSantis presses campuses to underscore free speech rights
Florida doesn’t suffer greatly from free-speech drama at its colleges and universities, as even Gov. Ron DeSantis concedes. Nevertheless, the governor is encouraging the higher education system to adopt a version of the Chicago Statement on free speech to enshrine the right to speak and think freely on campus. “I’m happy to say that I […]
DeSantis agrees to make Spanish-language ballots available statewide
Gov. Ron DeSantis is signaling the state’s surrender in a 2018 lawsuit filed by a Puerto Rican voter and several Latino groups to expand voter access to Spanish-language ballots in Florida elections. The DeSantis administration is asking a federal judge to hold the case in abeyance while the state writes new regulations requiring such ballots […]