Peter Schorsch
Sunburn – The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics.
By Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster, Mitch Perry, Ryan Ray and Jim Rosica.
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY-FLORIDA IS KEEPING SCORE
Two months after the 2016 legislative session came to an end, the statewide organization is ready to tell Floridians how their legislators fared this past session. AFP-FL is scheduled to release its annual Economic Freedom Scorecard later this morning.
Chris Hudson, the state director for AFP-FL, said the annual report is meant to help taxpayers “clearly identify which members … are focused on voting and sponsoring legislation that will actually improve the quality of life and long-term prosperity for all Floridians.”
“A big part of our mission is to help Florida taxpayers hold their elected officials accountable,” said Hudson.
How do they do that? This year, AFP-FL recorded more than 4,300 individual votes on 59 legislative proposals. AFP-FL awards a point for each vote cast in support of a “pro-economic freedom issue,” like eliminating the manufacturing business tax or expanding school choice, or against an “anti-economic freedom issue,” like a resolution to ban fracking in Florida.
Lawmakers also get points for prime sponsorships of an AFP-FL priority bill. A point is deducted if a lawmaker sponsors bills that AFP-FL opposes. Of the 59 issues included in the scorecard, 24 were never brought to a vote.
The 2016 scorecard also includes a few new features, including a historical reference on how lawmakers scored on issues every year since 2013. It also includes comments from AFP-FL staff and volunteers about why they got involved.
So, how did lawmakers fare? Thirty-six lawmakers earned an A-plus for their work during the 2016 legislative session; while 22 lawmakers got an F.
Want to how each lawmaker scored? AFP-FL will unveil the 2016 Economic Freedom Scorecard at 9:30 a.m.
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CARA JENNINGS SAYS STARBUCKS CLASH WITH RICK SCOTT HELPED FOSTER DEBATE via John Kennedy of the Palm Beach Post – In a piece written for the Huffington Post … Jennings doesn’t back down from her decision to confront Scott, who had just signed into law a controversial abortion clinics bill whose impact is already being felt. Jennings said her exchange has helped start a “conversation, perhaps more importantly, a debate,” about a wide range of issues affecting Florida. She also has a recommendation for Californians, if they should run into the governor on his corporate recruiting trip there this week. Scott sees an opening there because the state recently agreed to boost the minimum wage.
INSURER THAT DONATED TO SCOTT WANTS UP TO 25% RATE HIKE IN S FLORIDA via Charles Elmore of the Palm Beach Post – A four-year-old company that contributed to Scott’s committee and became one of the state’s five biggest property insurers wants to raise rates in Palm Beach County, and much of South Florida, up to 25 percent. Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Co. has never had a hair ruffled from a Florida hurricane. Yet the company, whose growth has come mostly from taking customers of state-run insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp., seeks a 14.9 percent average increase statewide. Heritage officials have joined an industry chorus expressing concern about rising costs for non-storm claims such as plumbing leaks. Company officials said they did not want to talk about records … that show the company’s reported claim losses through 2015 have been falling, not rising, as a share of premiums. “There is simply no justifiable basis for the rate increases except for increasing profits for this new and untested insurance company,” said Nicole Vinson, a Tampa lawyer who represents insurance customers and heads a group called Policyholders of Florida.
AGENCY DEFENDS CLOSING TRANSITION CENTER BECAUSE BROWARD SHERIFF’S WON’T TRANSPORT OFFENDERS via Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald – The Florida Department of Corrections … is directing blame at the Broward County Sheriff for contributing to the crisis … based on a January letter in which the Broward County sheriff declared that beginning Feb. 1 it would “no longer absorb” the cost of transporting former inmates — more than 500 a year — who were violating their probation from the FDC’s Lauderdale Lakes (facility) to jail. Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones responded, saying that was a violation of state law and “contrary to public safety and your statutory duty. ” When Broward didn’t change course, FDC started looking around for a new location to handle more than 5,600 offenders on probation in the county. FDC now says it found its solution in Pompano Beach — in the state building that now houses 172 inmates at the successful Bridges of America transition program.
JUDGE SETS HEARING ON MASSIVE MEDICAID SETTLEMENT via Jim Ash of WFSU – A Miami federal judge agreed to schedule a June 28 hearing to formally bless a settlement in a massive class-action lawsuit over children’s Medicaid services in Florida. Pediatricians are optimistic the state will live up to the agreement to increase medical and dental services to some two million Florida children, says their attorney, Carl Goldfarb. “Like any settlement, it’s a compromise. Both sides gave certain things up. But we think it’s in the best interest of the children of the state and we think it will improve their access to care.” Doctors and dentists sued more than a decade ago, alleging that Medicaid reimbursements were so low in Florida that more than 500,000 children on Medicaid were not getting preventative care. The settlement calls for some pediatricians to get significantly higher payments.
HAPPENING TODAY: The James Madison Institute and the Hispanic CREO host “Increasing Economic Mobility Through Educational Choice,” a panel on educational choice featuring Hialeah Republican Rep. Manny Diaz, Julio Fuentes, T. Willard Fair, Urban League of Greater Miami, Ambassador Chuck Cobb and others. Event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Intercontinental Hotel, 100 Chopin Plaza, in Miami.
WHAT STEPHANIE SMITH IS READING — UBER TOUTS SUPPORT OF CITY MAYORS IN FINAL LOBBYING PUSH FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY BILL via Doug Hanks of the Miami Herald – Uber is sending a letter signed by 14 city officials, including the mayors of Miami Beach, Doral and Coral Gables, urging county commissioners to vote yes on a pro-Uber bill … “As elected leaders from cities across Miami-Dade, we believe that ridesharing services like Uber are a win-win for our community. Ridesharing expands access to safe, reliable rides and better connects individuals to the public transit system; provides a valuable transportation option to tourists from around the country and world who have come to expect it; and creates economic opportunity for thousands of our residents,” read the start of the letter sent to county commissioners. The letter included the names of some high-profile municipal officials, including Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner and Doral Mayor Luigi Boria. Notably absent: Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert, who has already offered an on-camera endorsement of Uber in a television spot the company is airing in support.
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HILLARY CLINTON TOPS DONALD TRUMP IN NEW FLORIDA POLL via Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster of Florida Politics – A new survey by business group Associated Industries of Florida found that Clinton would defeat Trump in Florida, 49 percent to 36 percent. The former Secretary of State leads … in almost every demographic, including Hispanics (+43) and voters in the critical I-4 corridor (+19). The only demographic where Trump leads Clinton is among whites (+8). While Clinton might be the preferable candidate, she isn’t well liked. The survey found 52 percent of Floridians said they had an unfavorable opinion of her. Forty-six percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion, while 3 percent said they were unsure. Clinton was upside-down in several major demographics, including Hispanics (-2), non-major party voters (-8) and millennials (-31). And yet, her unfavorables are nothing compared to those of Trump. The survey found 62 percent of Floridians had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 33 percent had a favorable view … 4 percent of respondents said they were unsure. The survey found 87 percent of Hispanics, who will make up about 14 percent of the general electorate, have an unfavorable opinion of Trump. He’s also underwater among females (-32) and non-major party voters (-34). AIF also looked at how Ted Cruz would fare in Florida. The survey found 58 percent of Floridians said they had an unfavorable view of the Texas Republican; while 28 percent said they had a favorable view.
DAVID JOLLY: ‘I TRULY DON’T KNOW’ IF I’D VOTE FOR TRUMP IN NOVEMBER via Steven Lemongello of the Orlando Sentinel – “I’m going to tell you something you rarely hear in elected official say: I don’t know,” Jolly told AM970 The Answer … “I truly don’t know … If you’re asking me in April my position on Donald Trump in November, I don’t know what Donald Trump‘s going to be standing for in November … So I’m certainly not going to take a position five or six months out. You know when Donald Trump made his call to ban all Muslims, I went to the House floor and called on him to drop out of the race.” While Jolly said he had “strong reservations about some of Donald Trump’s solutions for some of the security issues we face as a country. … I will tell you I also have strong disagreements with Secretary Clinton over her view of foreign policy.”
TODD WILCOX BLASTS JOLLY ON CALLING FOR LOBBYING BAN — EVEN THOUGH HE SAID IT NEARLY A YEAR AGO via Mitch Perry of Florida Politics – Since declaring his candidacy for his first run for Congress … Jolly had to hear from his critics that he’s a creature of the Washington Establishment. Now he’s running as a Washington reformer in a bid for the GOP nomination for Senate in Florida, and says he believes that members of Congress should not be allowed to go back into the lobbying world after their time in Congress is over … a position that mirrors one of his GOP Senate opponents, defense contractor Wilcox, who laid out as part of his plan to end “career politicians” earlier this year. Wilcox has hammered Jolly for his lobbying past. “Welcome aboard, Congressman!” Wilcox emailed … “I hope this means he’ll consider supporting the rest of my Plan to End Career Politicians as well. I won’t hold my breath, though, seeing as how Congressman Jolly has been on both sides of the coin when it comes to cleaning up Washington — he wants everyone to stop fundraising, yet he attended a fundraiser Friday. Today he wants everyone to stop lobbying, yet his staff tried to erase his time as a lobbyist from his Wikipedia page … I’ve got whiplash just trying to keep up with this guy’s hypocrisy.”
ALAN GRAYSON, BASHING ‘BIG OIL,’ PROFITS FROM INDUSTRY INVESTMENTS via Marc Caputo of POLITICO Florida – While Grayson has bashed the influence of “big oil” and touted his support for clean-energy initiatives, the Orlando-area congressman has also personally profited from investments in the oil and pipeline industry. Between 2008 and 2014, Grayson invested in at least 17 separate oil and carbon-energy companies and reported profits ranging between $1.8 million and $11.6 million, according to his congressional financial disclosures. Grayson’s investments included firms that have done business with the conservative Koch Brothers and TransCanada, the company behind the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, which Grayson has frequently opposed as a congressman. While the oil investments represent a fraction of the overall holdings of Grayson — a prolific trader who until recently ran an offshore hedge fund that has led the Office of Congressional Ethics to call for an investigation — they have complicated his pitch to environmentalists. “It’s not enough to talk the talk. You have to walk the walk,” said climate change activist Caroline Lewis, founder of the South Florida-based CLEO Institute. “And making money off the oil industry is not walking the walk.”
CARLOS BERUFF WANTS TO VISIT EVERY FLORIDA COUNTY BY END OF MAY via Michael Auslen of the Miami Herald – He’s on his way — with 39 counties done, according to a tracker on his website called “Road to 67,” and just less than a month to hit the remaining 28. He’s already hit up the state’s major population centers, leaving mostly smaller counties still to go, including Hernando and Monroe. The largest county he hasn’t visited is Brevard. Beruff is hardly the only candidate making stops across the state. All five Republican contenders have been showing up at Republican clubs and other events around the state.
READ THE LAST THREE PARAGRAPHS OF THIS INTERVIEW OF GREG EVERS here.
U.S. SENATE TRACKER: Beruff will be in Miami. Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera will be in Doral. Wilcox will be in Orlando.
TWEET, TWEET: @GoMeteoric (Brian Hughes): Conservatives of NE FL unlikely to embrace his vote w/Obama & illegals
REDISTRICTING PLAINTIFFS SEEK SANCTIONS AGAINST CORRINE BROWN via Jim Rosica of Florida Politics – The League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause and others last week filed a motion for sanctions against the north Florida congresswoman … Brown said her new district violates federal voting laws by cutting down the influence of minority voters and discriminates against them. A panel of federal judges said Brown had “not proven (her) case.” The redistricting plaintiffs now want Brown to pay their legal fees to fight the case in federal court, their motion said. She has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. “A long history of prior litigation and utter lack of essential proof leave no room to make those claims,” they said. Brown and others who challenged the decision “have no reasonable chance of success and their claims are frivolous … It is only fair that Congresswoman Brown and (her) counsel pay the cost incurred to bring their baseless, opportunistic misadventure to an end.”
ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT FOR SUSANNAH RANDOLPH FOR CD 09 – UFCW represents 1.3 million grocery store, retail, food and drugstore employees nationwide. “From leading the fight to defeat wage theft, to standing up for fair pay and bargaining rights, Susannah has been a consistent advocate for America’s working families,” said local UFCW President Ed Chambers. “We look forward to continuing that work with Susannah once she is elected to help hard-working families achieve a better life.” UFCW members are nationally recognized for leading efforts to raise the minimum wage, implement paid sick and family leave, rebuild the middle-class and combat voter suppression.
ANNETTE TADDEO SAYS SHE’LL ESTABLISH ‘RESIDENCE’ IN FLORIDA KEYS via Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald – Taddeo … might move to the Keys or have a second home there, as part of her campaign for the 26th Congressional District. “I do plan on setting up residence in the district, and having a residence in the Keys,” she told Morning Magazine host Bill Becker. “Honestly, I don’t just want to show up and fly over [the Keys] and spend a day. I want to see people at the grocery story. I want to be a part of the community.” She said she would not let Republican incumbent Rep. Carlos Curbelo attack her over her current residence, in Pinecrest. “That’s silly,” she said.
MUST-READ — WEALTHY LIBERAL DONORS IN FLORIDA BYPASS PARTY, FUEL COVERT MACHINE via Matt Dixon of POLITICO Florida – In South Florida, Terranova Corp. is best known as a commercial real estate company with a flashy $1 billion portfolio full of retail and office buildings that dot the region, but the firm’s six-story building on Miami Beach also has a political nickname bestowed upon it by a core group of Democratic consultants: “The Fortress of Democracy” … been home to offices for Obama for America, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Hillary Clinton’s South Florida campaign office … it is also the informal headquarters of the Florida Alliance, a secretive Democratic group comprised of big-money individual donors and labor unions who grew weary of the Florida Democratic Party … Alliance donors want to focus their efforts on helping elect candidates focused on causes championed by progressives, including climate change, voting rights and immigration reform. Terranova Corp. is the commercial real estate giant founded by Stephen Bittel, a bundler who is himself a big name in Democratic circles. The company’s office has hosted meetings of the Florida Alliance, whose donors have largely broken away from the Florida Democratic Party to fund their own political operation, which at various times entails polling, get-out-the-vote efforts, opposition research, voter registration drives, building voter databases and fueling sharp-elbowed attacks against Republicans, most prominently Gov. Rick Scott. The Alliance is officially registered as an unincorporated nonprofit association. It means the group is not tax-exempt, but does not need to disclose donors.
POLITICAL OPERATIVES FIND DEMAND FOR THEIR SKILLS IN BUSINESS WORLD via Patrick O’Connor of the Wall Street Journal – American business is borrowing more and more of the bare-knuckle tactics that are a hallmark of American politics. In a sign of how that shift has created new opportunities for political professionals, America Rising, the unofficial research arm of the Republican Party, has launched a for-profit venture aimed at helping companies, trade associations and wealthy individuals push back against detractors and navigate public-policy fights.
ADAM PUTNAM TO DECIDE WHETHER TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR AFTER NOVEMBER ELECTIONS via Jessica Bakeman of POLITICO Florida – “I love being commissioner of agriculture, and I’m enjoying every moment of that,” Putnam [said] … “I’ve always said, let’s take this one election at a time. We’ve got an enormous election this year with tremendous consequences for our nation, and I think that we need to get through that first.” When asked whether Marco Rubio’s recent announcement that he won’t run for governor in 2018 would affect his decision, Putnam said he doesn’t think the former presidential candidate’s political career is over. “Sen. Rubio is a great man, and he’s been an extraordinary public servant, and his public service is not done,” Putnam said. “I think everyone is taking things one election at a time.” Putnam has never shut down his political machine. Florida Grown, a Putnam-run political committee, has consistently posted six-figure monthly fundraising hauls, and has more than $3.5 million in the bank. He has used that money to spend on things like campaign consulting, direct mail and fundraising.
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PENSACOLA ATTORNEY DOUG BATES CONSIDERING SD 2 RUN – Word is that Bates is seriously eying the Senate seat being vacated by Greg Evers. A rising star in Pensacola, the 38-year-old is a partner at the Clark Partington law firm. Bates is an active member of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, serving on the Section’s Executive Council, as well as several substantive committees. He is also a member of the Florida Bar Standing Committee on Student Education and Bar Admissions, as well as numerous other local, statewide, and national organizations. His network gives Bates the ability to raise funds around the state, not limited to just the district and Tallahassee, as are others in the race. Bates, who is married with four children, is also close friends with HD 1 incumbent Clay Ingram, as well as HD 2 candidate Frank White and HD 3 candidate Jayer Williamson. In the year of the outsider, Bates could be formidable.
TAMPA LAWYER BOB BUESING FILES FOR SD 19 via Michael Auslen of the Tampa Bay Times — … he’ll be running against Dana Young, the Republican leader of the Florida House, who announced a Senate bid after lawmakers re-drew the district lines, creating that seat. Buesing, 62, who sits on the boards of child advocacy groups like Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County and the YMCA, has never before run for public office. But, he said, from experience lobbying for those groups in Tallahassee, he believes state lawmakers are focusing on the wrong things. “I’ve reached the conclusion that we have the wrong people in the seats,” Buesing said. “They are in sort of an alternative reality that’s not the reality of most of the people in Hillsborough County.” Specifically, he said the state should emphasize early childhood education and health care as a way to keep prison populations and Medicaid payments low in future decades. “We’re doing it the expensive way,” he said. “We’re allowing these problems to fester and grow and down the road we’ve got an expensive mess on our hands.” The district Buesing and Young are running in — District 18 — is nearly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. It could be among the most expensive in the state this election cycle.
DON’T BE SURPRISED TO SEE MUD FLY IN RACE TO REPLACE DEBBIE MAYFIELD via Laurence Reisman of TC Palm – Here we go again. That’s all I could think of when I heard Lange Sykes criticize trial lawyers at a recent forum featuring candidates seeking the Florida House District 54 seat held by term-limited Rep. Mayfield … I hadn’t thought much of tort or medical malpractice reform in about six years, the last time Erin Grall, a trial lawyer, ran for a state House office. It seems all’s been quiet on the legal reform front since 2014, when Scott pronounced victory in his 2010 “Let’s get to work” campaign to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. At the end of 2015, that number hovered around 1 million. But candidate Sykes brought up tort reform several times recently at the Republican Club of Indian River County. To me, Sykes, 30, a first-time candidate, was picking on Grall, the front-runner among his three opponents in the race … Sykes told me the other day he won’t stoop to mudslinging. The good news — if Sykes allows his supporters to attack Grall — is that negative mailers and TV and radio spots traditionally have not worked in Indian River County. May that be a lesson to local candidates and faceless, out-of-county committees.
SHOCKER: FLORIDA CHAMBER ENDORSES 11 HOUSE CANDIDATES – ALL REPUBLICANS via the Tampa Bay Times – Qualifying doesn’t end until June 24, but the Florida Chamber of Commerce has already made up its mind, at least in 11 Central Florida races for the Florida House. And guess what? The pro-business-at-all-costs group heavily favors Republican candidates. How heavily? Try each and every one of the 11 candidates. Ben Albritton, who is running against Democrat David Charles Poulin. Jim Boyd, who is unopposed. Colleen Burton, who is running against Democrat Terrell Shandale. Neil Combee, who is running against Democrat Victor Sims. Julio Gonzalez, who is running against Democrat Manuel Gerald Lopez, Jr. Mike La Rosa, who is running against Democrat Bienvenido John Valentin Jr. Chris Latvala, who is running against Democrat David Saul Vogel. Kathleen Peters, who is running against Democrat Jennifer Webb. Jake Raburn, who is unopposed. Dan Raulerson, who is running against Democrat Jose N. Vazquez Figueroa. Chris Sprowls, who is unopposed.
ON THIS WEEK’S EDITION OF THE ROTUNDA — From insinuating Jeb Bush is on suicide watch to calling President Obama the “N” word, comedian Larry Wilmore delivered a cringeworthy set of jokes at this year’s ‘Nerd Prom.’ Now critics are calling the act shameful and degrading. Did Wilmore go too far or was the audience just too sensitive to Wilmore’s warped sense of humor? Trimmel Gomes’ latest episode of The Rotunda includes analysis on the White House Correspondents Dinner as News Service of Florida reporter Jim Turner recaps Gov. Scott’s own cringeworthy standoff with Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater over the search for Florida’s new Insurance Commissioner. Plus, Justin Sayfie chats with Gomes about the hottest political races to watch in the Sunshine State. The Fort Lauderdale based lawyer-lobbyist who was also a former senior policy adviser to Gov. Bush reveals to Gomes how his friend, Jeb, is dealing with life after getting off the road to the White House.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS SHOW ‘FACING FLORIDA’ ENDS AFTER FIVE-YEAR RUN via Ryan Ray of Florida Politics — Host and producer Mike Vasilinda [said] that though he loved doing the show and felt it contributed to the political discourse around Tallahassee, the show was taking away too much from his other Capitol news and video production business. “Every business has limited resources. In our case, Facing Florida was taking away time, energy and resources from rate-paying clients, new and old, seeking high quality video production,” said Vasilinda, a longtime statehouse reporter and husband of Democratic Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda. “As the volume of high-end production work increased this spring, we were forced to make a choice between providing excellent service to our clients and providing timely, educational information about Florida government to our viewers,” said Vasilinda … despite reaching up to 100,000 viewers a week in seven media markets via nine different TV stations, the business end of his Capitol News Service was never able to find the right sales representative to allow the show to live up its full commercial potential.
THE MIGHT OF MICKEY: ORLANDO STILL TOP U.S. DESTINATION via The Associated Press – The number of visitors coming to Orlando last year jumped 5.5 percent to more than 66 million visitors. That figure sets a record for tourists in Orlando and helps Orlando hang on to its bragging rights as the top tourist destination in the United States for the second year in a row. International tourists represented about 10 percent of the visitors. The head of Orlando’s tourist marketing bureau says a combination of factors contributed to the increase. Those include momentum from new theme park rides at Disney World and Universal Orlando that opened the previous year, and a new marketing campaign aimed at pulling on tourists’ heartstrings. “What makes this destination unique is that when you come here, you get a personal, memorable experience that you don’t typically get from visiting other destinations,” [Visit Orlando CEO George] Aguel said. “People really make memories of a lifetime when they come here. It’s very emotional and we make an emotional connection and we sort of tapped into that.”
HOW ‘CAPT. AMERICA: CIVIL WAR’ REFLECTS AMERICA’S SOUL via Orlando Rising – Fans aren’t passionate simply because it’s a fad or a “youth” thing. It’s because these comics, and the movies they inspire, are a window into America’s soul, said University of Central Florida history professor Richard Crepeau. “These heroes are outside the constraints of social institutions and the rule of law, which is at the center of our social order,” Crepeau said. “In the real world, they might be seen as a threat to a democratic society, but in the world of fantasy they are seen as a means to swift and sure justice.” That’s the case in the latest movie, which will be released Friday … The Captain America movie begins with an Avengers (superhero group) operation that goes awry, causing civilian casualties. The botched mission leads to the United Nations passing the fictional Sokovia Accords, aiming to rein in superhero collateral damage by placing them under governmental supervision. UCF political science professor Aubrey Jewett said the movie explores questions that are at the root of American democracy. “One of the themes is security versus liberty, and finding the right balance between them. In Captain America: Civil War, the superheroes split up into two camps and fight over an issue that we have been trying to find the right compromise for since the founding of the country: Who watches the watchers? How can we make sure people in power are doing the right thing? If they do something wrong, how do we handle that?”
HULK HOGAN SUES GAWKER AGAIN, THIS TIME OVER LEAK OF RACIST REMARKS via The Associated Press — Hogan’s new lawsuit filed … comes on the heels of him winning $140 million verdict against Gawker after it posted a video of him having sex with his then-best friend’s wife. Gawker denies that it leaked the sealed transcript to the National Enquirer. The transcript shows Hogan making several racist statements about his daughter’s then-boyfriend. Once the Enquirer published the story, WWE severed its longtime ties with the famous wrestler. Hogan also filed suit against a talent agent, two disc jockeys, a radio company and a lawyer, saying they conspired to send media outlets the sex tape.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our friends Donovan Brown and Tom Scherberger, Bill Lewis and state Senator-to-be Ritch Workman.
