Florida

Fidel Blindness Is Florida Blindness – And It's The Reason Biden Won't Pick Bass

By • 11 hours ago
Alex Brandon / AP

COMMENTARY

California Congresswoman Karen Bass offers a spot-on reason Americans should object to President Trump sending shadowy federal agents to break up racial justice protests.

Report Shows Pollution At Majority Of Florida's Beaches Puts Swimmers At Risk

By • Aug 3, 2020

Environment Florida Research and Policy Center compiled data from the state and found that last year, 187 of 261 beaches tested had enough pollution to put swimmers at risk of getting sick on at least one day during the year.

Local Health Care Professionals Call on Governor Ron DeSantis to Issue Statewide Mandate on Masks

By News Service Florida • Jul 27, 2020
Carl Juste / Miami Herald

Jackson Health Care System union officials and healthcare professionals will host a press conference today demanding that Governor Ron DeSantis issue a statewide mask mandate.  Doctors and nurses at Jackson Health Care are also launching a public awareness campaign to urge Miami-Dade residents and all Floridians to wear masks.

Florida's Top Regulator Looking At How To Open Bars Safely

By Associated Press • Jul 26, 2020

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s top business regulator said he planned to meet with bar owners to discuss how they can reopen their businesses again safely.

Halsey Beshears, secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said Saturday that he is planning to start setting up meetings with owners of bars and breweries across the state later this week to discuss how they can reopen without spreading the virus.

Will Florida's Investment In Electric Vehicles Pass By Poor, Minority Communities?

By Marlowe Starling - Fresh Take Florida • Jul 26, 2020

Florida is moving ahead with plans to dramatically expand its network of electric vehicle charging stations along major interstates and highways.

Pandemic Could Trim Florida's Population Growth

By • Jul 20, 2020
Florida Turnpike

TALLAHASSEE --- First came the damage to Florida’s tourism industry and all sorts of other businesses. And now, the state’s growth engine?

A panel of state economists last week released a report forecasting that Florida’s population growth will slow in the coming years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That doesn’t mean the U-Hauls will stop trucking down Interstate 75 and Interstate 95: Florida is still expected to see population increases over the next five years that will be like adding a city slightly larger than St. Petersburg each year.

Environmentalists Sue Gov. DeSantis Over Clean Waterways Act

By • Jul 20, 2020

Activists are suing Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing a measure into law that prevents local governments from protecting the environment.

Florida Sees Its 4th Day Running With More Than 100 COVID-19 Deaths

By • Jul 17, 2020

In Florida, hospitals are being stressed by the surge of coronavirus cases. Florida reported 11,466 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and 128 deaths of residents. It was the fourth day running the state saw more than 100 deaths.

The spike in cases is most acute in the Miami area. Miami-Dade County accounts for nearly a quarter of Florida's 327,241 cases.

On Friday, Miami-Dade County's daily "dashboard" report showed the number of patients admitted with COVID-19 at nearly 120% of intensive care unit capacity.

Political Paella: Why The 'Goyaffair' Could Really Hurt – Or Really Help – Trump

By • Jul 15, 2020

COMMENTARY

Paella just got political.

Thanks to remarks Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue made at the White House last week – “We’re all truly blessed…to have a leader like President Trump” – the rice, oil, saffron, chorizo and peas millions of Hispanics stir into dishes like paella and arroz con pollo are now the tasty targets of viral campaigns like #BoycottGoya and #Goyaway. And I’m not exaggerating when I suggest this food fight could be a factor in the November presidential race.

Expats Ask: Is Trump's Venezuela Campaign 'Under Control' Or Under Chaos?

By • Jul 13, 2020
Pedro Portal / Miami Herald

Last Friday President Trump flew in for a visit to Doral.

“I know it very well,” he said. “’Little Venezuela,’ we call it.”

Small Uruguay Is Big Proof That Committing To Public Health Can Contain COVID-19

By • Jul 6, 2020
Matilde Campodonico / AP

Uruguay has recorded the lowest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita in South America, if not the entire western hemisphere. The small but progressive country has done that despite sitting right next door to Brazil – which has the world’s second-highest number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities behind the U.S.

DeSantis Tells Younger Floridians: 'Think Of Those More Vulnerable' To COVID-19

By • Jun 28, 2020
WUSF

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking younger Floridians to act more responsibly to avoid COVID-19 infection and transmission — because they now represent the majority of the state’s new cases.

Former Florida Data Official Rebekah Jones on State Manipulating COVID-19 Data

By • Jun 25, 2020
Syracuse University

Florida’s COVID-19 cases continue to surge, making it one of the new hotspots in the country. In testimony to Congress this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said there’s been a disturbing surge in new COVID cases in Arizona, Texas and Florida.

South Florida remains the epicenter for the pandemic accounting for more than 50 percent of total cases statewide. '

Florida Gets 86,000 Jobless Claims, As Numbers Trend Down

By Jim Turner - News Service of Florida • Jun 18, 2020
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

TALLAHASSEE --- Economic reopening efforts across Florida were reflected Thursday in a report on initial unemployment claims, which fell last week below six figures for the first time since the coronavirus shuttered businesses in March.

Groups Ask Judge To Clear Way For Vote-By-Mail Fight

By • Jun 16, 2020
Al Diaz / Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE — Accusing Florida officials of ignoring “the harsh reality of the pandemic,” left-leaning groups are asking a federal judge to move forward with legal challenges to state vote-by-mail restrictions.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Laurel Lee late last month asked U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle to dismiss the challenges, arguing that they are based on “speculative fears” about what might occur later in the year.

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