Thinking about voting by mail? The deadline to request a ballot is 5pm 10/31/18, yes Halloween. SCARY. There are links to the local Supervisor of Elections’ offices at the bottom of this post. Does it matter if an amendment even passes? (more on that later) Amendments need 60% or more voter approval to pass. Overseas ballots started… Read more »
From the beaches to the springs to the pristine underground aquifer to the Everglades and the rivers— Florida’s waters are like nowhere else on earth. Two of Florida’s most knowledgeable people about the state of our water join us in a moment to talk about Florida’s water resources. And later—Florida’s economy has mostly recovered from… Read more »
Florida Gov. Scott confronted by protesters at campaign stop Florida Gov. Rick Scott was confronted by dozens of protesters during a southwest Florida campaign stop. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that protesters upset with the state’s ongoing red tide outbreak jammed the sidewalk outside a restaurant that Scott visited. The newspaper reports that Scott was forced to… Read more »
Maybe a ripple more than a wave. 3,558,241 people voted in Florida’s primary on Tuesday, August 28. That is 27.43% of the 13,013,657 registered voters in the state. This does not include all of the provisional ballots. That is a higher turnout than the last three midterm primaries, when Floridians elect their governor [2014: 18%,… Read more »
Early voting numbers rival those of a presidential election year, and has far surpassed typical midterm primary voting. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Nearly 2 million people have already cast ballots in Florida’s primary election, surpassing totals from previous years. The Florida Division of Elections website reports nearly 1.86 million people voted so far. That includes… Read more »
Nearly 800,000 people have already used early voting in the Florida Primary. Eighteen counties started early voting Monday, but the remaining counties in the state will begin early voting in the next three days. Florida’s primary is Aug. 28. Hillsborough County voting started on Monday. Early voting starts in Pinellas on Saturday, August 18. The Florida… Read more »
Florida springs and aquifer at risk warns top environmentalist This year the environment is emerging as a top issue in both the primary and the general election. The Democrats have been debating who is closer to Big Sugar and a mall to be built by a Graham family company near the Everglades. Candidates are attacking… Read more »
Radioactivity 6 14 18 Thursday When it comes to public schools in Florida—where does the real power lie? Our guest today says the real power is not at the local level—but it’s in Tallahassee. Why does Tallahassee have so much power and not local school boards, or parents or teachers or students? We’ll talk with… Read more »
On Friday a judge ruled that Florida’s ban on smokable medical marijuana is unconstitutional; but the state is appealing the ruling. During a conference with reporters Tuesday, attorney John Morgan said he hopes Governor Rick Scott will stop putting politics over people and end the appeal. Morgan says the constitutional amendment he spearheaded included a… Read more »
Term-limited Florida Governor Rick Scott has appointed some of his staff members to other government jobs as he prepares to leave the office early next year; the Times/Herald reported that some Scott staffers ended up at the Florida Department of Revenue in jobs they may not have been qualified for. Now, a Democrat running for… Read more »
The State of Florida is suing opioid manufacturers and distributors for what Attorney General Pam Bondi says could end up being billions of dollars. Bondi made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at an addiction recovery center in Tampa. She says she’s suing for damage over the opioid epidemic like other states, but she wishes she could… Read more »
A progressive group in the Tampa Bay area has made its first endorsement in the Democratic primary for Florida governor; Indivisible Action Tampa Bay members voted to endorse Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. WMNF News interviewed the group’s founder, Christine Hanna. “We really were looking at the candidates’ alignment with our progressive values and the alignment… Read more »
A few years ago the state Legislature made county tax collector offices perform some motor vehicle and driver license services. But that means the local offices are losing millions because the fees they charge don’t cover the expense. Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden wants that fixed. “The problem is the fact that the state… Read more »
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. ACORN was once the largest political movement of low and moderate income people in the US- but it was destroyed by an attack- from conservative media. We’ll look at the history of ACORN this morning and hear from its founder Wade Rathke who will be in St…. Read more »
Students from Tampa Bay and across the country streamed out of their schools Friday in the latest round of gun-safety activism following the February shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland. At a West Tampa town hall meeting about gun safety Thursday night, Plant High School students expressed frustration to a Hillsborough School… Read more »
Fighting to lead their party in November and reversing two decades of Republican rule in Tallahassee, the four Democratic candidates for governor in Florida spoke in Tampa on Saturday night in front of several hundred members of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party. Philip Levine, Gwen Graham, Andrew Gillum and Chis King all gave their relatively… Read more »
By Tom Urban, WLRN The Florida Constitution Revision Commission has placed eight proposed constitutional amendments on the November 6th general election ballot. They will join five others placed on the ballot by the Legislature or citizens’ initiatives. Most of the CRC’s final proposals had several ideas grouped together into single amendments. One such plan would ban… Read more »
UPDATE, Friday 6 April 2018: Governor Rick Scott has vetoed this bill. In the veto statement, Scott said “I’m not convinced that this legislation will not muddle Florida’s protection of our aquifers.” A Florida bill recently passed by the state legislature would allow more treated sewage to be pumped into the aquifer; it’s a bill that… Read more »
Speaking at the Kimmins Contracting Corporation in Ybor City on Friday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam pumped up the Trump tax reform plan, and boasted that Florida is a low-tax state. The Putnam campaign had touted to reporters that the candidate would be making a “tax-related announcement”, but there was nothing new in his championing of… Read more »
There’s a new law in Florida that goes into effect in July that may put more of a burden on local governments to defend public access to sections of beaches that are technically private property; but some experts say the law deals with such a complex issue that some media outlets aren’t reporting it correctly…. Read more »
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