For years now, politicians, property insurers and other Floridians had openly expressed their relief that the state hadn't been hit by a hurricane in roughly a decade.
No one's relieved anymore.
About a month after Hurricane Hermine cut through the Panhandle and wiped out power for tens of thousands of residents, Hurricane Matthew skimmed along the eastern side of the state, with the potential to cause damage from South Florida to Jacksonville. And some projections show that the storm could pull off a rare "loop," turning back to hit the state again --- as a far weaker tropical depression --- after brushing against the Carolinas.
Even if the first stages of Matthew seemed to be less than its worst-case scenario, state officials were still cautious on Friday morning.
"It could be the worst part of this is still to come," Gov. Rick Scott said.
The ten-year break Florida had from its most persistent type of natural disaster was officially over.
HURRICANES, POLITICAL AND OTHERWISE
Scott spent most of the week tending to the storm and making sure Floridians were paying attention to evacuations and other warnings. A Cabinet meeting was canceled --- as were a slew of political events scheduled across the nation's largest swing state in a presidential election year.
"If you're watching and in an evacuation area, get out. Don't take a chance," Scott said Thursday in one of several appearances at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. "Time is running out. This is clearly going to have a direct hit or run right along our coast, and we're going to have hurricane-force winds."
The governor generally got good marks for his performance as an executive in command during the storm. But Scott, who heads up a super PAC supporting GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, also managed to get caught in a political storm when he ruled out extending the state's voter-registration period to help those who fled the hurricane.
"Everybody has had a lot of time to register," Scott said Thursday.
The first request to give people more time to sign up to vote came from the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But the banner was soon taken up by others, mostly left-leaning groups that support Clinton and the Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation.
In a letter, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and the state's 10 Democratic U.S. House members wrote Scott to say that, given the storm, "it will be logistically challenging and likely impossible for many who would like to register to vote to be able to do so before the impending deadline on Oct. 11."
"It goes without saying that our democracy is stronger when more people vote," they continued. " ... As elected officials, we must do all that we can to keep our citizens safe as well as safeguard the freedom of every individual to elect their representatives, from the state House to the White House."
For his part, Scott seemed to be more concerned with the nation's current chief executive. As President Barack Obama issued an order to coordinate supplies and equipment for the state, and promised cooperation as the storm lashed the coastline, Scott said more was needed.
"For our local communities that need more resources we will continue to make more requests as needed," Scott said Friday morning.
BANKING ON HINKLE?
While much of the state was hunkering down for the hurricane, gaming regulators and the Seminole Tribe were in court in a case that could determine whether the tribe can continue to offer "banked" card games, such as blackjack, at most of its Florida casinos.
The case centers on the Seminoles' "exclusive" right to operate banked card games at five of the tribe's seven casinos, part of a broader, 20-year deal, called a compact, signed with the state in 2010. A five-year agreement regarding the cards expired last summer, but the Seminoles have continued to offer the games.
The tribe is accusing the state of failing to negotiate in "good faith" on a new agreement. Its case is centered on two types of games --- controversial "designated-player" card games and slot machines that simulate blackjack --- authorized by state gambling regulators at pari-mutuel facilities.
But the state wants a federal judge to order the Seminoles to stop operating the banked card games. It insists that the blackjack-like games at pari-mutuels are, in fact, slot machines, and that the designated-player games authorized by the state do not violate the compact, even if the manner in which they are being played at some cardrooms might.
By the end of the trial, it seemed like the judge was leaning towards the Seminoles.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle grilled Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, a private attorney representing the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
"The state has permitted banked card games to go on (at pari-mutuel facilities). … It's a stretch for you to convince me that the state did not permit that," Hinkle, who is expected to rule in the coming weeks, told Moe.
In 2014, the department's Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering adopted a rule governing how the designated-player games should be conducted. The designated-player rule appears to be an "end run around the prohibition" against banked card games, Hinkle said.
But Moe insisted that an executive-branch agency could not authorize something that is banned in state law.
"Is that rule valid or not?" Hinkle persisted.
"Absolutely," Moe responded.
Barry Richard, a lawyer who represents the Seminoles, appeared pleased with Hinkle's questions.
"Certainly, I was happy with where he is, and I think it was the right position. But I'll wait until he rules before I tell you how happy I am, ultimately," Richard told reporters.
CLINTON IN FRONT
Another week, another poll trying to divine which of the presidential candidates leads the way in Florida. This time, it was Quinnipiac University, saying Clinton had a five-point edge on Trump in both a head-to-head matchup and one including two third-party candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
The poll of 545 likely Florida voters, conducted from last Tuesday through Sunday, was taken entirely after the Sept. 26 debate between Clinton and Trump that was seen as a bad outing by Trump. The poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
By a margin of 56 percent to 21 percent, likely Florida voters said Clinton won the face-to-face showdown, the first of three debates scheduled to take place before the Nov. 8 election. The vast majority of Democrats --- 84 percent --- and 54 percent of independents told Quinnipiac that Clinton won the debate; among Republicans, Trump had a 42-27 edge.
Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said the Florida result was "good news for Secretary Clinton," though he pointed out that each of four states surveyed showed a tight race.
"Likely voters in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the four largest and most important swing states seem little closer to an Election Day decision," Brown added.
Brown also underscored the difference in Florida between Clinton's debate reviews and her edge in the presidential race.
"One thing is for sure: Many voters don't have to think a presidential candidate is a good debater to support their candidate in 2016," Brown said.
Florida was the friendliest of the four swing states for Clinton in the four-candidate race. Clinton led Trump, 45-41, in Pennsylvania, though her lead grew to 5 points in a head-to-head matchup. In North Carolina, she led Trump by three points. Trump had the support of 47 percent of those surveyed in Ohio compared to 42 percent for Clinton when all four candidates were included, though his edge narrowed to 3 points in a head-to-head race.
The Connecticut-based Quinnipiac frequently conducts polls in Florida and other swing states. Its new results in Florida are largely consistent with a Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll released Friday. That poll of 820 voters, also conducted after the debate, showed Clinton with the backing of 46 percent of likely voters and Trump with the support of 42 percent. Johnson had 7 percent and Stein was the choice of 1 percent of those surveyed.
The Mason-Dixon poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
The University of South Florida and The Nielsen Company, meanwhile, began releasing an issues-based poll that showed that the top issue for Floridians wasn't much of a surprise: It's the economy, stupid.
The top concern was once again the economy and jobs, with 24 percent of Floridians surveyed saying that was the most important issue facing the state. However, that's down significantly from four years ago --- the last presidential election year --- when 44 percent of those polled chose the economy.
"The notion that the economy has not fully recovered is evident with the economy/jobs cited as the most important issue facing Florida and the lack of well-paying jobs as the greatest threat to the state's economy," said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at USF.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Floridians braced for Hurricane Matthew, which slammed up against the state, causing damage even without making landfall.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Unfortunately, this is going to kill people."--- Gov. Rick Scott, on Hurricane Matthew.
