Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

A.G. GancarskiOctober 17, 2016

In St. Augustine Monday for an event promoting tourism in America’s oldest city, Gov. Rick Scott reiterated his call for the federal government to approve Florida’s entire request for a “major disaster declaration.” The federal government has not approved funding, asserts the governor’s office, “for individual assistance or for permanent work to roads, parks, and government buildings […]

Associated PressOctober 10, 2016

Maureen Miller was among the 2 million people ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the Southeast ahead of Hurricane Matthew. Her family and their dog spent two nights in a hotel and struggled through police roadblocks to return. When they finally got back, their Brunswick, Georgia-area home was unscathed. Now they wish they had never […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 9, 2016

Sure, lots of people in St. Augustine are picking up branches and leaves after Hurricane Matthew blew through town. But only a few are doing it surrounded by alligators. That’s what Jim Darlington and Amie Mercado were doing on Sunday, raking up debris in an alligator pit with the enormous reptiles just a couple of […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 9, 2016

Marina owner Joe Taylor has a different take on whether Florida dodged a bullet during Hurricane Matthew. “We stood still. It dodged us. But we’re grateful,” the 81-year-old Taylor said. Taylor and his wife were in their second home in Portland, Oregon, last Wednesday when forecasts of widespread devastation sent him rushing to Florida to […]

Brendan FarringtonOctober 7, 2016

As millions of people were being warned to evacuate, two 18-year-old storm chasers packed food and snacks and drove nearly 1,000 miles from New Jersey to Florida just to watch Hurricane Matthew roll past the nation’s oldest city of St. Augustine. “I have an obsession with severe weather, snowstorms, hurricanes tornadoes, anything crazy that most […]

A.G. GancarskiSeptember 13, 2016

Olympian Michelle Kwan is regarded by many as the greatest figure skater in U.S. history. In the 2016 campaign, she isn’t trying to win medals or accolades for herself; rather, her goal is to help Hillary Clinton win the White House. And to that end, Kwan serves as a surrogate outreach coordinator for the Clinton campaign […]

Associated PressMay 9, 2016

The city of St. Augustine and state environmental officials are finalizing a consent agreement that will aim to minimize sewer spills. The St. Augustine Record reported Sunday that St. Augustine has had 18 sanitary sewer overflows and spills in the past several months when eight to 10 spills is typical in a year. The consent […]

Melissa RossMay 3, 2016

It might be a bit of a stretch to call St. Augustine the Berkeley of Northeast Florida. But increasingly, the Nation’s Oldest City has become a hub for progressive activists in the region. In that tradition, the city’s Environmental Youth Council is organizing a march billed as part of a two-week global action to “keep coal, […]

Melissa RossApril 11, 2016

A St. Johns County official says that controversial billboard in St. Augustine Beach denouncing Islam will stay, because it’s protected under the First Amendment. An online petition demanding the removal of the billboard in St. Augustine Beach is gaining signatures worldwide. In fact, of the 24,000 plus signatures, only a few thousand are from here […]

Diane RobertsMarch 7, 2016

OCCUPIED TALLAHASSEE — Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith is getting evicted from Statuary Hall. The Sons of Confederate Veterans are not happy. Sen. Don Gaetz, a native of that little-known Old South state of North Dakota, is not happy: “There is nothing in the bill analysis, nothing in the testimony, that tells us any reason why […]

Tag: St. Augustine

Rick Scott wants feds to declare ‘major disaster’ in Florida after Matthew

After Matthew, some second-guess decision to evacuate

Surrounded by alligators, Matthew cleanup goes on in Florida

Marina owner post-Matthew: Dodged a bullet? No, it dodged us

Wet and wild: New Jersey teens drive 1,000 miles for Matthew

Michelle Kwan to stump for Hillary Clinton in NE Florida Wednesday, Thursday

St. Augustine, state officials try to plug sewer spills

St. Augustine activists to take part in global action event against fossil fuels

“Islam Bloody Islam” billboard in St. Augustine stays, protected by First Amendment

Diane Roberts: Let’s replace Confederate general with a statue of the “Florida Man”