On Monday morning, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., one of the cochairmen of the Florida delegation, said he was sponsoring a proposal from U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., to “allow billions of dollars’ worth of assets seized from Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera to help secure the southern border.”
The 2019 Tampa mayoral campaign hasn’t brought out the best and the brightest, but it has cast a spotlight on the fractured culture and numerous special interest factions fighting for the heart, soul, and wallet of Florida’s fourth largest city.
The seven-candidate lineup resembles a parade of panderers. They have been appearing at forums ad nauseum hosted by more special interests than the grains of sand on Ben Davis Beach. All feel obligated to attend the succession of dog-and pony shows to avoid incurring the wrath of these pressure groups.
It got little attention on such a busy news day, but the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling last Wednesday for property rights.
The court unanimously ruled that the Eighth Amendment protection against excessive fines in cases of individuals charged or convicted of a crime applies not only to the federal government but also to the states’ seizure of property and other assets.
After a year plagued by problems such as red tide and algae blooms, water quality has become one of the highest-profile issues in Florida.
Gov. Ron DeSantis seized on the issue after getting sworn into office last month, releasing a wide-ranging water proposal and replacing members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board.
But a key player in the effort to clean up waterways and coastlines likely will be a holdover from former Gov. Rick Scott’s administration: Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein.
In September 2018, Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg predicted his influence was about to increase mightily.
"Forty days from now," he said, "we'll have a new Administration in Tallahassee, a new governing board at the Water Management District, new leadership at the Corps."
Hate crimes are real. Just ask state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith.
Chicago’s police chief is accusing “Empire” star Jussie Smollett of using the “advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career” by paying two men to stage an attack on him last month.
The allegations concerning Smollett, who is black and gay, sparked an international avalanche of commentary and ignited concerns that reports of the bogus attack could have a chilling effect on victims of hate-related violence.
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, in which PLF filed a friend-of-the-court brief.
This case is about whether the Clean Water Act regulates pollution that reaches surface water by means of groundwater. If it does, as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said, then every homeowner with a septic tank could be subject to harsh treatment from agency bureaucrats.
