Florida’s nursing home industry is populated by hundreds of excellent centers staffed by thousands of dedicated, caring professionals. It’s unfortunate, but inevitable, that they will get painted with the same negative brush when one facility fails to meet the high standards we set for ourselves. It is grossly unfair, however, for that challenge to be exacerbated by misleading news reporting that inaccurately suggests the long term care profession actively blocked reforms that could have saved lives.

Labor Day a year ago, Hurricane Hermine ravaged Tallahassee as it swept through the Big Bend part of Florida.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have laid waste to large sections of two of our largest states. Our news is full of tragic stories, but also replete with heroic efforts by many, as well as an intense spirit of giving and caring. By nature, we are a good people and in our hearts we care about the welfare of our neighbors, even if as neighbors they live hundreds or thousands of miles away. 

On July 4, 2017, 15,000 immigrants were sworn in as new American citizens -- something each and every one of them worked hard to attain. On that day, they earned the most sought-after citizenship in the world and swore they would support and defend our Constitution. And on that day, along with their citizenship, they were granted the right and the responsibility to vote.

When I saw recent reports of the oil and natural gas industry’s impact on our state, my interest piqued. As the president and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I represent the needs of more than 80,000 minority-owned businesses in the Sunshine State, so I am especially attuned to anything that affects our state’s economy. We support the development of all types of energy, natural gas being one of them.

A petition drive has started to remove the Confederate Memorial in Pensacola’s Lee Square.  I will not take the time to detail the history of the memorial which was erected in 1891 with private dollars.  The reader should do that with a quick Internet search. That’s the problem with this insane drive to remove Confederate statues from across our nation – ignorance of history.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Rick Scott, and U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Fla., to meet with members of the Venezuelan exile community, local leaders, and elected officials about the continuing deterioration of democracy, the lack of respect for human rights, and unrest in Venezuela. After the listening session, Rubio delivered remarks at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Doral. His remarks are as follows:

One of the radical rewrites of the Martin County Comprehensive Growth Management Plan by the 2012 county commission, and engineered by Martin County’s “shadow government,” likely will be rolled back at Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting. Finally.

The Florida Democratic Party is faced with a huge dilemma. It hasn’t won the governor’s mansion in a generation and unless Democrats nominate the right person, they won’t have a chance at winning back the most coveted position in Florida government.

Enough already.

Moderate-Republican elected officials, calm down and take a lude.

Mainstream Media, you’ve run the storyline into the ground now for four days.