Orlando

Scott PowersJune 19, 2017

Days after filing as a candidate, Democrat Nuren Haider said Monday evening she is pulling out of a run for the Florida House District 44 seat up for a special election this summer in Orange County. The qualifying deadline is Tuesday at noon, and Haider said Monday that she has decided to not qualify. She is vice […]

Scott PowersJune 19, 2017

Orlando businessman Bruno Portigliatti qualified for the ballot Monday for the upcoming special election in Florida’s House District 44, giving the Republicans four qualified candidates for the Aug. 15 primary. Portigliatti, of Orlando, is chief executive officer of Excellence Senior Living, a developer of luxury assisted living facilities for seniors, and executive vice president of Florida […]

Scott PowersJune 19, 2017

A Puerto Rican activist in Central Florida is calling on President Donald Trump to give as much attention to Puerto Rico as he is giving to Cuba. Peter Vivaldi, a Republican who has unsuccessfully run for Congress and the Florida Senate and who is a frequent organizer of bipartisan efforts in Central Florida to address […]

Scott PowersJune 16, 2017

Businessman and Kissimmee chamber of commerce executive John Newstreet has qualified by petition as a Republican candidate running in the special election to fill the Florida House District 44 opening for west Orange County. And in the same district, a second Democratic candidate now has filed, Nuren Durre Haider of Orlando, who is vice chair […]

Scott PowersJune 15, 2017

Seminole County Deputy Sheriff Chris Anderson has filed to run as a Republican in Florida House District 28, bringing an tough but achieving life story into a primary for the open seat serving northeast Seminole County. Anderson, 35, enters the race professing an unusual background for a house candidate in Seminole. As a child raised […]

Scott PowersJune 15, 2017

Orlando Democratic U.S. Rep. Val Demings has attached an amendment to a Homeland Security bill hoping for another route to get anti-terrorism money for Orlando and other cities left out of a federal grants program. On Wednesday Demings got the amendment into House Resolution 2825, the Department of Homeland Security Authorization Act of 2017, during a […]

Scott PowersJune 13, 2017

Congressional Democrats have formed a new national security task force within their caucus and picked Winter Park’s U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy to be one of the three chairs. The Democrats in Congress announced the task force Tuesday, intended to “advance smart, strategic, and strong national security policies focused on protecting the United States, the American […]

Scott PowersJune 13, 2017

Republican candidate John Newstreet‘s campaign is reporting that it has raised more than $30,000 in the first 11 days since he announced his run for the open seat in Florida House District 44. Newstreet is reporting a total of $30,576 through the end of May in a news release, though neither he nor the other […]

Scott PowersJune 12, 2017

Democratic U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Val Demings of Orlando and Stephanie Murphy of Winter Park intend to cosponsor a resolution in Congress Monday night and spend about an hour on the House of Representatives floor paying tribute to the 49 people murdered at Pulse last year. The trio attended the Pulse one-year memorial events in Orlando […]

Scott PowersJune 12, 2017

There are boxes atop tissues on every display case at the Pulse One Orlando Exhibit that opened Monday at the Orange County Regional History Center, and they are being used. From now through Saturday the center is displaying 200-300 items that were offered in the past year at various make-shift shrines throughout Orlando, items curated […]

Orlando
Alexandra Islas. Image via New College of Florida.

Democrat Nuren Haider withdrawing from HD 44 special election

Fourth Republican, Bruno Portigliatti, qualifies for HD 44 special election

Peter Vivaldi calls on Donald Trump to give Puerto Rico as much attention as Cuba

John Newstreet qualifies by petition, second Democrat enters HD 44 race

Republican Chris Anderson, deputy sheriff, Army veteran, enters HD 28 race

Val Demings tries new route to get anti-terrorism money for Orlando

Stephanie Murphy named as a chair of Dems’ national security group

John Newstreet raises $30,000 in early days of HD 44 special election race

Three Orlando members in Congress to tell Pulse victims’ stories, introduce resolution

History Center exhibit catches love, creativity, faith outpourings following Pulse