Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorJanuary 4, 2018

Florida is falling behind on criminal justice reform. While a majority of states – including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas – have adopted comprehensive criminal justice reforms over the last several years with bipartisan support, Florida has done little to evaluate its existing policies and create a more effective system. Other states are reducing […]

Scott PowersOctober 2, 2017

Ever since former Winter Park City Commissioner Karen Diebel married Texas’ U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions in 2012, questions swirled about whether Winter Park was unofficially gaining a member of Congress or losing a fixture in Central Florida politics, most recently with renewed questions about whether the congressman was living in Texas or Florida; but both […]

Scott PowersSeptember 14, 2017

Airbnb, the nation’s largest vacation rental home marketing business, said Thursday it has 230 host homes mostly in northern Florida offering free stays to Hurricane Irma evacuees and relief workers and now is activating its disaster relief program through more of Florida. Airbnb also is seeking new hosts in Central Florida, South Florida, North Florida, […]

Phil AmmannSeptember 11, 2017

Telecommunications giant AT&T is giving another $1.4 million in relief toward “sustained recovery” efforts in Florida, Texas and the Caribbean after a pair of devastating hurricanes. The additional money will include $1 million in matching donations to Team Rubicon — a veteran-led nonprofit disaster response group — as well as $150,000 to Telecoms Sans Frontieres, […]

Phil AmmannAugust 31, 2017

Florida volunteers have reached out to Texas in its time of need. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, including hundreds of volunteers from the Sunshine State, are continuing disaster response efforts in Texas, rescuing hundreds of people trapped by floodwater in the Houston area. What was formally Hurricane Harvey — now downgraded to a […]

Associated PressAugust 29, 2017

George W. Bush never recovered from his flyover of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Barack Obama got a bipartisan boost late in his re-election campaign for his handling of Superstorm Sandy. Now, President Donald Trump confronts the political risks and potential gains that come with leading the federal government’s response to a deadly and destructive natural disaster. […]

Associated PressApril 28, 2017

They are young and old: a high school student who can’t yet vote, a Vietnam vet who did so proudly. They hail from all corners of the United States and very different walks of life: a “downhome boy” from Kentucky, a third-generation Mexican-American from Texas, a stay-at-home mom in Pennsylvania, an Iranian immigrant in Los […]

Guest AuthorApril 18, 2017

Since 1970, the size of Florida’s prison population has grown by more than 1,000 percent, and its corrections system is now the third largest in the nation. Under the state’s rigid mandatory minimum laws, more people are being sent to prison for a longer amount of time, with an annual average cost of $20,553 per […]

Scott PowersMarch 23, 2017

In January, when she took office, new Denver District Attorney Beth McCann reaffirmed her campaign promise on an extraordinary policy: There would be no death penalty cases in her district under her watch. The reaction? Virtually nothing. No expressions of shock or outrage from other politicians, no calls for cases to be stripped from her, […]

Associated PressMarch 13, 2017

Men from three Florida counties shouldn’t donate sperm because of a small risk of spreading Zika, U.S. health officials said Monday. The guidance had previously applied to Miami-Dade County, the only place in Florida where there’s evidence mosquitoes spread the virus. But infections were reported in people in South Florida who couldn’t clearly be linked […]

Tag: Texas

Melba Pearson, Shalini Goel Agarwal: Keep Florida from falling further behind; adopt meaningful criminal justice reform

Long-distance romance: Karen and Pete Sessions calling Dallas, not Winter Park, home

Airbnb expands call for hosts to house evacuees, relief workers

AT&T pledges $1.4M in Hurricane Irma relief

Florida Wildlife officers save hundreds trapped by Harvey floods, rescue continues

Donald Trump’s turn to face tricky politics of natural disasters

Americans offer hope, prayer in assessing Donald Trump’s 100 days

Ewan Watt, Jordan Richardson: Lessons in lockup — what Florida can learn from Texas

If Aramis Ayala had been in Denver, people might have shrugged

CDC: Don’t donate sperm in 3 Florida counties due to Zika