Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Florence SnyderNovember 17, 2016

Cellphones are here to stay, and so, it seems, are the staggeringly stupid things we do with them. Facebook fiascos are infinite in variety now that people of limited impulse control have a high-powered computer at their 24/7 command. It’s a problem for people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Not for the […]

Associated PressOctober 26, 2016

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Days after Hurricane Matthew sent floodwaters surging through historic St. Augustine, the county’s director of homeless services was panicked. County officials had ordered people to stay indoors because of evening pesticide spraying to control a post-hurricane mosquito scourge. Yet the town’s only homeless shelter was inundated with water. With the autumn air turning chilly, there […]

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 […]

Scott PowersOctober 8, 2016

On Florida’s northern Atlantic coast from New Smyrna Beach to the Georgia state line, residents may spend a second straight evening in the dark. Massive power outages are being reported as far west as Baker and Bradford counties, after Hurricane Matthew’s journey north up the seaboard Friday. 673,019, or 8 percent, of Florida electrical customers lack power. […]

Scott PowersOctober 7, 2016

Volusia County has gone almost entirely dark, and Flagler and Indian River counties are not far behind, because of Hurricane Matthew. The latest power outage reports provided by Gov. Rick Scott‘s office show 78 percent of power customers in Volusia were without electricity as of noon, while 69 percent of Flagler customers, 67 percent of Indian […]

A.G. GancarskiMay 26, 2016

After three months of a half-cent sales tax passed to ensure the ongoing quality of St. Johns County schools, the trend is clear. Revenue is surging, month over month, a trend apparently driven in large part by tourism. March saw $1,537,660 collected, money that will go to much-needed capital projects for schools in the fast-growing […]

A.G. GancarskiApril 29, 2016

Last November, St. Johns County voters approved via referendum a 1/2 cent discretionary sales surtax for capital needs of its school district, overcoming resistance to tax hikes from the deeply conservative Northeast Florida county. Now that the dust has settled, we reached out to Beth Sweeny, Governmental Relations Coordinator for the School District, to ascertain early effects […]

Jim RosicaApril 26, 2016

More than 5,000 acres in St. Johns County have been set aside for conservation. Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday approved spending nearly $6 million toward the wooded land. State officials want to add the tract to the St. Johns River Blueway Florida Forever project. The move is supported by conservationists. The North Florida Land Trust’s Jim […]

Associated PressMarch 16, 2016

A new report says St. Johns County near Jacksonville is the healthiest county in Florida, while Gadsden County in the Panhandle is ranked at the bottom. The report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin compares health differences among counties. The variables used for the rankings include access to […]

A.G. GancarskiDecember 29, 2015

Everyone wants good schools, but getting people (and politicians) to pay for them is a different matter. In St. Johns County, they may have found a way forward … despite the resistance of powerful politicians and “civic leaders” who stood in their way. In November, a referendum passed resoundingly in St. Johns County. It was […]

Tag: St. Johns County
This exhibit celebrates late-blooming artistry, proving it’s never too late for bold creativity.

In St. Johns County, an uphill fight to put the genie back in the bottle

Hurricane floods homeless housing in historic St. Augustine

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

As of 6 p.m, over 673,000 Floridians still have no power

Power outage in Volusia approaches 80%; 826,000 statewide and rising

St. Johns County school sales tax revenue nears $4M in first three months

St. Johns County school sales tax pays great dividends

Rick Scott and Cabinet OK land buy in St. Johns County

Report: St. Johns County is Florida’s healthiest county

St. Johns County school tax referendum: the most overlooked NE Florida story of the year?