Associated Press, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Associated PressAugust 26, 2017

As negotiations start this month over wage increases at Walt Disney World, rebellion is brewing in one of the six unions that advocate for the resort’s 70,000 workers. Many of the performers who entertain guests as Mickey Mouse, the Seven Dwarves and other costumed characters are Teamsters, and some are fed up with how their […]

Associated PressAugust 26, 2017

An audit found that Florida’s housing agency spent more than $100,000 of federal grant money meant for struggling homeowners on bonuses and perks for its employees. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program noted the spending in a report released Friday. The report says the Florida Housing […]

Associated PressAugust 25, 2017

The Reflections treatment center looked like just the place for Michelle Holley’s youngest daughter to kick heroin. Instead, as with dozens of other addiction treatment centers in Florida, the owner was more interested in defrauding insurance companies by keeping his patients hooked, her family says. “It looked fine. They were saying all the right things […]

Associated PressAugust 24, 2017

Florida has put a man to death with an anesthetic never used before in a U.S. lethal injection, carrying out its first execution in more than 18 months on an inmate convicted of two racially motivated murders. Authorities say 53-year-old Mark Asay, the first white man executed in Florida for killing a black man, was […]

Associated PressAugust 24, 2017

Florida’s tourism marketing agency paid nearly $441,000 in employee bonuses this summer despite months of scrutiny from legislators over spending. A VISIT FLORIDA spokesman said the use of bonuses was approved in May 2016. Stephen Lawson added that VISIT FLORIDA wouldn’t use employee bonuses in the future. VISIT FLORIDA paid the bonuses in July to […]

Associated PressAugust 23, 2017

For the first time in state history, Florida is expecting to execute a white man Thursday for killing a black person — and it plans to do so with the help of a drug that has never been used before in any U.S. execution. Barring a stay, Mark Asay, 53, is scheduled to die by […]

Associated PressAugust 22, 2017

Workers in a Florida city have started taking down a memorial to Confederate soldiers at a city-owned cemetery. The Palm Beach Post reports that a crane arrived at Woodlawn Cemetery on Tuesday to remove the 10-foot-tall marble monument. West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio announced the removal a day earlier, saying the city had asked the […]

Associated PressAugust 22, 2017

Donald Trump was just a few weeks into his candidacy in 2015 when he came to Phoenix for a speech that ended up being a bigger moment in his campaign than most people realized at the time. Trump savaged his critics and the media, vowed to fine Mexico $100,000 for each immigrant entering the country […]

Associated PressAugust 21, 2017

A federal judge in Florida ruled a trial couldn’t be postponed just because one of the key witnesses – a federal agent – had travel plans to see the solar eclipse. In a droll, three-page ruling issued Friday, Judge Steven Merryday denied the motion filed by an assistant U.S. attorney.

Associated PressAugust 21, 2017

Two paint companies volunteered their services for free to paint over the exterior of a Florida home belonging to an African-American family after it was vandalized with a spray-painted racist slur. The Citrus County Chronicle reports that workers from two local radio stations also came to the home of Dayna and James White to help remove the […]

Associated Press

Union in strife as Disney and Teamsters prepare for talks

Feds: Florida housing agency misspent grant money

South Florida drug rehabs focus on relapse, money, not sobriety

Florida executes convicted killer using new drug

Despite scrutiny Florida’s tourism agency paid out bonuses

For the first time in Florida, a white person is set to be executed for killing a black person.

West Palm Beach removes Confederate monument

Donald Trump returns to Arizona – and a chaotic political landscape

Judge denies witness in Florida case chance to view eclipse

Paint companies, radio employees paint over racist slur