Melissa Ross, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Melissa RossOctober 15, 2015

The natural gas pushback has begun. Hot on the heels of news that another public access compressed natural gas station has opened in North Florida, a new analysis is out suggesting that Florida is one of several states “relying too much on natural gas” rather than turning to renewable energy sources like wind or solar […]

Melissa RossOctober 14, 2015

It’s a shocking portrait of the man who formed the modern-day CIA. In “The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, The C.I.A. and the Rise of America’s Secret Government,” author David Talbot, the founder of Salon.com and author of the New York Times bestseller “Brothers,” makes perhaps the most compelling case yet that Allen Dulles was linked to JFK’s assassination Nov. […]

Melissa RossOctober 13, 2015

New data released by the USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey shows that most Floridians still feel stressed about their personal finances, see government waste and efficiency as a threat to the economy, and are concerned about job loss and undocumented workers. “People don’t feel like their tax dollars are being spent efficiently,” USF professor Susan McManus […]

Melissa RossOctober 12, 2015

The social justice group Dream Defenders sent an email to stakeholders and media outlets explaining that the organization’s current social media blackout is “being intentional about our next steps.” According to Rachel Gilmer, new chief of strategy for the organization, the group will soon launch the FREE Campaign, “a membership-driven effort that begins with a statewide […]

Melissa RossOctober 8, 2015

As happens every October, the U.S. Supreme Court has begun a new term, with a Florida death penalty case one of the major cases it’s weighing. At least six capital-punishment cases are on the high court’s docket, after a recent flurry of executions across the country have led to dramatic, last-minute appeals. On Tuesday, the […]

Melissa RossOctober 7, 2015

Home furnishing giant IKEA has set hearts aflutter in Jacksonville, announcing it plans to start construction next summer and open a new location in Duval County in the fall of 2017. The proposed store will be 294,000 square feet, sited at the intersection of Gate Parkway and I-295 near the St. Johns Town Center. IKEA, […]

Melissa RossOctober 6, 2015

One month, one city, two panels looking at the future of energy, with two very different tones. This October, Jacksonville will host the Florida Energy Summit. The event, sponsored by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the JAX Chamber, is billed as “convening energy leaders from across the state and around the nation to share ideas on […]

Melissa RossOctober 5, 2015

It’s presented as the next program in the OneJax Institute’s “Civil Discourse” series. But an upcoming forum on the UNF campus called Gun Control: A Loaded Topic, could get a bit heated. The free event, moderated by UNF president and former Jacksonville mayor John Delaney, will feature both supporters and opponents of the so-called “campus carry” […]

Melissa RossOctober 2, 2015

In an email to supporters, Film Florida president Michelle Hillery is blasting the state’s lack of film production incentives, that she argues led a feature film production to choose Brunswick, Georgia to recreate Ybor City for the upcoming feature film Live By Night. “The producers of the film spent months working with the Tampa-Hillsborough Film […]

Melissa RossOctober 2, 2015

It’s billed as the first book that examines the Tea Party’s successful “primary” campaign against what the movement has dubbed Republicans in Name Only (RINOs). (Another, less flattering nickname is cuckservative, but that’s a story for another day.) UNF political science professor Ron Libby argues that 2016 is the year the Tea Party has moved […]

Melissa Ross

Email insights: Florida relies too much on natural gas, says Union of Concerned Scientists

“The Devil’s Chessboard” draws CIA connection to JFK assassination

USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey finds Floridians stressed about jobs, economy

Email insights: Dream Defenders tease launch of “FREE Campaign”

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Florida death penalty case

IKEA announces plans to open a store in Jacksonville

Jax climate and energy panels: a tale of two conferences

OneJax/UNF forum on gun control timely, tense

Email insights: Film Florida blasts Ybor City scene recreation in Georgia

Caustic brew: Tea Party “purging” GOP establishment in 2016, says Jax author