News
Florida man catches tuna as big as a bear
An angler reeled in a bluefin tuna as heavy as a Grizzly bear in May 2017 off Florida’s Panhandle coast from a boat called “You Never Know.” The giant tuna weighed 826-pounds, 8-ounces. Fisherman Rick Whitley caught the fish off Destin, setting a Florida saltwater fishing record, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced […]
Gwen Graham scrutinized over family’s partnership in developing America’s biggest mall near Everglades
Democratic governor’s candidate Gwen Graham was on the hot seat on CBS Miami when questioned about her family’s involvement in developing what is touted to be the largest mall in America – with a planned indoor ski slope and submarine lake – on the edge of the Everglades Graham continued to repeat a canned response […]
To parents: Is your child’s “A” school really excellent? And why are D and F schools so rare?
When the Florida Department of Education last month released A through F grades for public schools, 93 percent got As, Bs and Cs, with about a third of schools posting coveted A grades in 2017-18. Adding in the very few Ds and Fs, Florida’s picture of school performance appears lopsided — not like what parents […]
Panhandle county tells private beach grumps – pick up your own trash, we’re not doing it anymore
Commissioners in Walton County – which is in the middle of a high-profile fight over the public’s right to walk on the beach – is telling waterfront homeowners and condominium complexes that county workers will no longer collect the trash from their beach side bins, the Northwest Daily News reports. The county doesn’t want to […]
Southern Poverty Law Center sues ICE & Customs and Border Protection for withholding documents in Florida immigration cases
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed lawsuits against two federal government agencies on Wednesday, saying that the government is withholding public information about Florida’s undocumented immigrants. The social justice group, which is based in Alabama but has been working in Florida in recent years, sued the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for failing to […]
Conservative student group that hosted AG Jeff Sessions, chanting ‘Lock her up,’ has 23 Florida chapters
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed a crowd at a high school leadership summit Tuesday morning in Washington, D.C., when the audience began chanting the phrase “lock her up.” Sessions laughed and joined in once. He was there to speak to Turning Point USA, a national student-centric conservative group that’s growing in Florida. The group […]
Advocacy group challenges Florida’s “fake” concern over women’s health
Pro-choice advocates will be in Tallahassee next week to petition Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Department of Health to demand more accountability for how a state-funded network of women’s clinics spends taxpayers’ money – and whether clinic workers peddle religious views. The network of not-for-profit women’s clinics – known as the Florida Pregnancy Care […]
Federal court overturns Florida prohibition of early voting locations on college campuses
College campuses can be used for early voting sites in this year’s elections, a federal judge ruled today Judge Mark Walker granted a preliminary injunction against Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner’s interpretation of the state’s early voting law, which he claimed prohibited public college and university campuses from hosting early voting sites The League […]
LGBTQ community rocked by series of Florida murders
In the past five months, four transgender women of color and an African-American gay man – possibly tied to the same drag show touring circuit – have been murdered in Florida. The murders are spreading fear through the LGBTQ community, with activists banding together to demand more action from state leaders and from law enforcement. […]
Targeting younger voters: New political ad buy to reach a half-million under age 40
Progressive political action committee NextGen America is poised to release its first wave of online ads promoting gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Gillum. The ads will target half a million Floridians under the age of 40 and will appear all over Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the next two weeks. Two-thirds of the targeted audience are African […]
Traffic gridlock: Critics say pricey, exclusive toll lanes (“Lexus Lanes”) hurt the poor. Will it change with a new governor?
Vexing traffic congestion seems to be an issue in all of Florida’s major urban regions, yet it has not received much attention from the seven major candidates for governor this campaign season. Plenty of people have criticism for Gov. Rick Scott’s approach, which saw the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) over the past eight years […]
Activists call for Tampa Bay prosecutor to file charges in shocking ‘Stand Your Ground’ shooting case
In the wake of the shooting death of Markeis McGlockton last week in Pinellas County, a coalition of activist groups are calling on Pinellas/Pasco County State Attorney Bernie McCabe to file charges against the shooter, 47-year-old Michael Drejka. Drejka, who is white, shot and killed McGlockton, a 28-year-old African American man, outside a convenience store […]