Scott PowersJanuary 23, 2019
9min279
The Supreme Court may have created a whole new election scenario in Orange County.
Tag: Orange CountyPaula Stark is hosting Buenaventura Lakes' 'first-ever' event to honor veterans.
Scott PowersJanuary 23, 2019
Janelle Irwin TaylorJanuary 5, 2019
4min511
Removing party affiliation from several Hillsborough County elected positions might still be in play after a Florida Supreme Court decision upends what was once thought to be a done deal. Late in June, Hillsborough County Commissioners voted 5-2 to hold a referendum asking voters whether candidates for constitutional offices like Sheriff and Property appraiser should […]
Scott PowersJanuary 4, 2019
11min518
On Friday, Florida’s Supreme Court upheld an Orange County charter amendment to make the county’s constitutional officers nonpartisan, a decision that could open partisan and nonpartisan debates in other counties. By a 4-3 vote, the court quashed a lower-court ruling that had kept Orange County’s elections partisan for the constitutional offices of sheriff, tax collector, […]
Scott PowersDecember 10, 2018
3min469
Juvenile arrests fell sharply in Florida for the second consecutive fiscal year, led by counties such as Orange, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough that are aggressively pushing civil citations, diversion programs, and other initiatives to deal with juvenile crime other than arrests. Overall, Florida saw an 8 percent drop in juvenile arrests, and a 10 percent drop […]
Scott PowersDecember 7, 2018
2min274
A challenge of Orange County’s Republican leadership fell flat Thursday night returning Chair Charles Hart and his team for new terms, this time full terms backed by strong showings in elections. Hart fended off a challenge from insurgent Randy Ross in a vote of 81 to 23 Thursday night, and the party’s designated slate of […]
Scott PowersDecember 3, 2018
10min421
Orange County Mayor-elect and still-Sheriff Jerry Demings has made no announcements yet on any of the imminent changes the county’s government will undergo on matters ranging from his chief of staff to departmental reorganizations when he is sworn into office Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean he’s not looking ahead. He says he is looking far […]
Scott PowersNovember 27, 2018
9min748
Characterizing Virgin Trains USA’s agreement offering safety upgrades while ending some longtime opposition as a good first step, more is needed, state Sen. Debbie Mayfield said Tuesday. Mayfield intends to keep the pressure on the private railroad company seeking to extend passenger train service. Over the weekend, Virgin Trains USA, formerly known as Brightline (and All Aboard […]
Scott PowersNovember 26, 2018
13min346
Orange County Democrats flipped three seats in the Florida House and, as state Reps. Geraldine Thompson, Anna Eskamani and Joy Goff-Marcil make their debuts, they’re looking for practical starts. On Nov. 6, the three Democrats flipped the partisan strength of Orange County’s delegation from five Republicans and four Democrats, to seven Democrats and two Republicans. Thompson has been […]
Scott PowersNovember 20, 2018
7min1030
HomeAway, the vacation rental-home marketing company, is moving forward with efforts to collect taxes from its home-sharing clients for Florida and several major counties. The company, with its affiliated companies and brands including VRBO and VacationRentals.com, is doing so with new deals cut individually with Orange, Pinellas and Lee counties to collect and remit local […]
Scott PowersNovember 15, 2018
5min277
Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Osceola counties’ anticipated hand recount of ballots for the Florida gubernatorial and Agriculture Commissioner races would only involve a few thousand ballots out of the nearly 1 million cast in those Central Florida counties. There were 478,122 ballots cast and machine recounted in Orange County for the Nov. 8 election but […]