Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Tom JacksonSeptember 7, 2016

As someone who lives near a thoroughfare in a constant state of construction, I sympathize with anyone who looks upon the approach of road expansion with dread. It’s noisy. It’s dirty. It’s inconvenient. It’s hard on tires and suspensions. It impedes traffic in ways that seem to outweigh any eventual benefit. And all but the […]

Tamara LushAugust 7, 2016

Thank goodness it’s the slow season in Florida. At least that’s what officials and representatives of the state’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry are thinking in the wake of the news that 16 people have been infected with Zika in a small, trendy neighborhood in Miami. The outbreak has sent another chill through the Sunshine State’s all-important […]

Associated PressJuly 20, 2016

The parents of a toddler killed by an alligator at Walt Disney World said Wednesday that they don’t plan to sue the Florida theme park resort over the death. Matt and Melissa Graves of Omaha, Nebraska, said in a statement that they want to focus on their family’s future health. A family spokeswoman, Sara Brady, […]

Associated PressJune 21, 2016

Emergency dispatchers received two 911 calls moments after an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy into Walt Disney World’s Seven Seas Lagoon. The first came from the “drop phone” at a nearby lifeguard stand, and no voice could be heard. The second, about four minutes long, was made by a woman who did not witness the […]

Associated PressJune 16, 2016

While his victims texted heartbreaking last words to loved ones from the blood-drenched bathrooms, Omar Mateen apparently went on Facebook to measure the shockwaves his attack on a gay nightclub was generating. He searched for the terms “Pulse Orlando” and “Shooting,” according to a letter released by a Senate committee. The letter detailing Mateen’s Facebook […]

Associated PressJune 16, 2016

A sheriff said charges are unlikely against a Nebraska couple after an alligator killed their 2-year-old son by snatching him out of shallow water at a Walt Disney World beach, but the entertainment giant is reviewing whether to add gator warning signs. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told The Associated Press after a news conference […]

Scott PowersJune 15, 2016

I’m not religious enough to cite scriptural references in normal circumstances, but we all know the story of Job, and how he endured one calamity after another while his so-called friends tried to convince him to disavow his faith — yet he never did. Welcome to Orlando, where the rhetorical question, “What else can happen?” […]

Scott PowersJune 1, 2016

All the bickering this spring about whether Orange County could cough up $1 million a year to get the NFL Pro Bowl may be long forgotten next winter if the game week goes as announced. The NFL made the official announcement Wednesday afternoon that Orlando will host the next three football All-Star Games at Camping […]

Scott PowersApril 15, 2016

Mayor Teresa Jacobs‘ rift with key leaders of Orange County’s tourism industry over the future of the county tourism tax is spilling into her biggest speech of the year, her upcoming State Of The County Address. Jacobs reportedly has stripped Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association Chairman Richard Maladecki of his master-of-ceremony role, even though the hotel […]

Scott PowersFebruary 19, 2016

Democratic congressional candidate Val Demings has gained the endorsements of the Service Trades Council group of unions representing Walt Disney World workers and specifically the United Food and Commercial Workers, her campaign announced Friday. Demings, a former Orlando police chief, is running in Orlando-based Congressional District 10, in a Democratic primary field that includes state […]

Tag: walt disney world
Debate party at Sports Grill Kendall. Image via AP.

Tom Jackson: TBX meets the Star Trek test

Florida officials go into damage-control mode over Zika

Parents won’t sue Disney over son’s death by gator

Witness calls 911 after boy dragged in alligator attack

Orlando gunman apparently searched Facebook during attack

Sheriff: Charges unlikely after 2-year-old killed by gator

The transformation of Orlando

NFL makes official announcement on Orlando Pro Bowl

Teresa Jacobs’ spat with tourism industry spilling into state of county speech planning

Food workers union, Disney union group endorse Val Demings in CD 10 race