Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
The Republican National Convention is a month away, and Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams doesn’t see how Jacksonville can safely host the GOP nominating event.
“With less than 40 days until the expected Republican National Convention is slated to arrive in Jacksonville, I am compelled to express my significant concerns with the viability of this event. At this point, we are simply past the point of no return to execute the event with safety and security that is our obligation,” Williams said Monday.
To date, public concerns about the RNC have centered on venues, mask requirements or hotel capacity. Williams’ worries are different.
He’s unsure if law enforcement will have the resources, funding or crew to pull it off, and there aren’t yet any deals in place for security to be supplemented as is needed.
“But there’s a lot of things that need to happen: an event schedule nailed down, and being able to sign contracts and spend money so that we can prepare for this event. And none of that has happened yet,” he said. “So here we are inside of 40 days, and I haven’t really pulled the trigger on anything RNC-related when it comes to finances or contracts and so, you know, only related to security, mind you, nothing, nothing related to any of this.”
Williams, a Republican, said he’s made his concerns known to Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry. Despite his overt pessimism, the Sheriff stopped short of claiming a safe and secure RNC 2020 would be impossible.
“At virtually 75 days it was an incredible lift, and everything would have to be perfect. And needless to say, it has not,” Williams said. “So, you know with that, we can’t pull it off in any kind of current configuration. But again, it’s not my job to plan the RNC. It’s my job to be able to provide security for it, but I can’t do it right now in this time frame with this current configuration of the event.”
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 355,899 FL residents (+10,287 since Sunday)
— 4,495 Non-FL residents (+60 since Sunday)
Origin:
— 3,155 Travel related
— 92,410 Contact with a confirmed case
— 3,100 Both
— 257,234 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 21,263 in FL
Deaths:
— 5,183 in FL
Unemployment numbers
As of Sunday:
Total claims: 3,181,064
— Confirmed unique claims: 2,977,778
— Claim verification queue: 269,755
— Claims processed: 2,708,023
— Claims paid: 1,753,439 (+25,601 since Thursday)
Total paid out: $10.89 billion (+$400 million since Thursday)
Evening Reads
“UK coronavirus vaccine prompts immune response in early test” via Maria Cheng of the Associated Press
“10,347 new COVID-19 cases in Florida on Monday” via Staff of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“Ron DeSantis raises concerns about impossible COVID-19 positives” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“’If it’s here, it’s here’: America’s retirees confront the virus in Florida” via Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura of The New York Times
“South Florida spikes to second-highest daily positivity rate since COVID-19 resurgence began in June” via Ryan Nicol of Florida Politics
“How long does COVID-19 immunity last?” via Derek Thompson of The Atlantic
“GOP coronavirus bill likely to include payroll tax cut and tie school money to reopening plans” via Erica Werner, Jeff Stein, Robert Costa and Seung Min Kim of The Washington Post
“State economist: Predicted drop in Florida tourism is ‘mind-boggling’” via Gina Jordan of USF
“COVID rewrites the Disney playbook” via Erich Schwartzel and Joe Flint of The Wall Street Journal
“Miami’s oldest comic-book store was on the verge of closing due to COVID. Enter Batman.” via Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald
“Florida Democrats: Joe Biden is repeating the mistakes of 2016” via Gary Fineout of POLITICO
“Big polling leads tend to erode. Is Joe Biden’s edge different?” via Nate Cohn of The New York Times
“George W. Bush v. Al Gore and 36 days of sheer chaos in 2000: Could it happen again in swing-state Florida in 2020?” via Lucy Morgan of Florida Phoenix
“Andrew Gillum opens up about rehab and therapy” via Matthew Choi of POLITICO
“‘We can’t pull it off’: Florida sheriff says he can’t muster security for GOP convention” via Marc Caputo of POLITICO
“USF launches a new research project: explore systemic racism” via Divya Kumar of the Tampa Bay Times
“‘Move over Joe Exotic’: Matt Gaetz shares trailer for HBO doc shoving aside ‘Tiger King’” via Morgan Hines of USA Today
Quote of the Day
“Well, first of all, I didn’t give any executive order, that was the Department of Education. They have a board; they do different things. My view is, is we’ve got to work together. I want to work with all the school districts.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, distancing himself from the emergency order to reopen schools next month.
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