Peter Schorsch
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
A Tallahassee judge on Thursday set the first hearing in the lawsuit lodged by the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center against the state.
Circuit Judge Jim Shelfer scheduled the hearing for 9 a.m. on Oct. 27 in the Leon County Courthouse, court records show.
The nursing home sued the Agency for Health Care Administration last Tuesday after Gov. Rick Scott ordered the agency to cut off Medicaid payments and carry out a moratorium on patient admissions.
Eleven residents now are dead after Hurricane Irma knocked out the facility’s air conditioning.
Debate continues over whether the home’s administrators acted properly. The first eight residents died Sept. 13, three days after the climate control went down. Other residents were evacuated.
In the lawsuit, the home’s attorneys argue the facility followed emergency-preparedness plans in the way it handled the air conditioning outage.
Also, the lawsuit alleges that the Scott administration violated the facility’s due-process rights.
(Background from the News Service of Florida, reprinted with permission.)
Evening Reads
“September is the most energetic month for hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic” via Matthew Cappucci of Capital Weather Gang
“Trump waives Jones Act for Puerto Rico” via Axios
“Puerto Rico devastation could mean more Florida voters” via Marc Caputo of POLITICO Florida
“Nursing home search warrants look wide for answers in death of 11 people” via Elizabeth Koh of the Miami Herald
“Bells rang and classes changed, but little else was normal at this Keys school” via Alex Harris of the Miami Herald
“Tampa Electric agrees to generate enough solar power for 100,000 homes” via
“An ideal venue for Ron DeSantis to join governor’s race? Not so fast” via Steve Bousquet of the Tampa Bay Times
“Pro-Confederate group heats up HD 58 race” via Mitch Perry of Florida Politics
“Spectacle at City Hall: (Erwin) Jackson tosses cash to commissioners” via Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat
Quote of the Day
“There is a crisis in Puerto Rico where food, fuel, water and medicine is sitting at the docks and not getting out to the remote parts of the island. The situation calls for an immediate response by the U.S. military to provide security and distribution … As was said after Hurricane Andrew: ‘Where the hell is the cavalry?’ ” — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson on Thursday.
Bill Day’s Latest
Breakthrough Insights
Wake Up Early
The University of Florida Board of Trustees is scheduled to continue a two-day retreat in Miami-Dade County. That’s at 8 a.m., Hyatt Regency Coral Gables, 50 Alhambra Plaza, Coral Gables.
Former state Rep. Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty in April to a charge of failing to file a tax return in 2012. It’s set for 9 a.m., Wilkie D. Ferguson United States Courthouse, 400 North Miami Ave., Miami.
The Florida Board of Medicine is scheduled to hold a conference call at 10 a.m. The call-in number is (888) 670-3525 and the participant code is 125 528 7056.
House Republican Leader Ray Rodrigues of Estero is slated to speak about medical marijuana during a meeting of the Tiger Bay Club of Southwest Florida. It begins at noon, The Marina at Edison Ford, 2360 West First St., Fort Myers.
A “boots and jeans” fundraising reception for U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn of the 1st Congressional District is set for 6 p.m., at the WC Dover Farm, 534 Dover Road, Havana. To RSVP, email Ieva Smidt at [email protected].
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is scheduled to speak at an annual dinner of the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club. That’s at 6:30 p.m., Skopelo’s at New World, 600 S. Palafox St., Pensacola.
