Local

Jim RosicaJune 3, 2016

State Sen. Jeff Brandes has given $200,000 toward his own re-election, May fundraising reports show. His latest numbers, posted Friday, also show Brandes pulled in another $32,000 in contributions for the month. That brings the St. Petersburg Republican’s total raised to nearly $480,000 for this year’s election. He has cash-on-hand of more than $310,000. As of Friday, he […]

Ryan RayJune 3, 2016

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U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham is reaching across the aisle in an effort to bring the F-35 fighter jet to Florida. The freshman Democrat from Tallahassee co-wrote letters with U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen addressed to top Air Force brass asking them to consider expanding USAF’s presence across Florida. “We must ensure that the Jacksonville [Air National Guard] base […]

Bill RuftyJune 3, 2016

Republican incumbents Congressman Dennis Ross, State Sen. Kelli Stargel, and state Rep. Colleen Burton, all from Lakeland, will participate in a voter canvass by the Republican Party of Florida. Republican canvassers will meet Saturday, June 11, 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. beginning in Room 104 of the Ordway Building at Florida Southern College, 111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive, Lakeland. In […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2016

Global Ministries Foundation, owner of two challenged HUD properties in Jacksonville that have been the focus of federal attention in recent months, faces “welfare fraud” charges in Indianapolis. The Indy Channel reports that “Global Ministries Foundation is being asked to repay $618,962 in housing benefits for the past year over allegations they failed to provide […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2016

The first TV ad of the race to replace Ander Crenshaw in Florida’s 4th Congressional District is out; it’s called “Rawhide,” and it’s from Hans Tanzler. As the title suggests, it has a cowboy movie feel. It leads off with a Reward poster, with a rustic voiceover spotlighting “some bad guys in Washington,” including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. […]

Peter SchorschJune 3, 2016

Madeira Beach residents will soon be facing another storm, and not your garden-variety hurricane. This particular nasty storm comes from Madeira Beach United, the ad-hoc neighborhood group opposing the Madeira Beach Town Center and Holiday Isles projects, the mixed-use development projects proposed for the dilapidated and underdeveloped patches of land at the city’s entrance. After several dubious […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2016

Motions were filed Thursday in the 14-count federal trial of state Rep. Reggie Fullwood to prohibit prosecutors from contending the Jacksonville Democrat defrauded the state Division of Elections in his 10 wire fraud counts. Fullwood requested and received a bill of particulars from the feds, who maintained Fullwood defrauded campaign contributors and the Division of Elections. Fullwood contends that asserting […]

Scott PowersJune 3, 2016

Democratic congressional candidate Dr. Dena Grayson is opening the public phase of her run in Florida’s 9th Congressional District at a time when her professional expertise may be characterized as a unique, critical national asset. She’s also entering the limelight for the Aug. 30 Democratic primary, with perhaps the race’s biggest endorser at her side. The most important […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2016

One of the more compellingly titled emails from Jacksonville government servers recently: a missive from pastor R.L. Gundy to the mayor and the city council entitled “Citizen Review Board, Independent Investigations, Death Penalty and Referendum.” Gundy, a politically active Baptist preacher, is known for his blistering fusillades against politicians like State Attorney Angela Corey. He also has been […]

A.G. GancarskiJune 3, 2016

On Thursday, the Florida Times-Union reported on a setback for a family business of Jacksonville City Councilwoman Katrina Brown. Councilwoman Brown’s CoWealth LLC was found to be in default for $590,000 in loans and grants, related to Jerome Brown BBQ Sauce, a barbecue sauce manufacturing company that hasn’t ramped up as quickly as was intended when Brown’s family […]

Local
Image via AP.

Jeff Brandes seeds state Senate re-election campaign with $200K of his own money

Gwen Graham fighting with GOP colleagues to bring F-35 fighter jet to Florida

Lakeland Republican incumbents to voter canvass June 11

Report: Global Ministries Foundation charged with ‘welfare fraud’ in Indianapolis

Hans Tanzler makes first TV ad buy in CD 4 race

Five lies in the latest Madeira Beach United mailer

Reggie Fullwood: I didn’t defraud state Division of Elections

Democrat Dena Grayson enters public phase of her CD 9 race as Zika threat looms

Jax pastor R.L. Gundy: No justice, no pension tax

A brief interview with Jax Councilwoman Katrina Brown