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The controversial idea of allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry on college campuses is back before state lawmakers tomorrow morning. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the number of people getting concealed carry permits has been growing by about 20 thousand a month.

There are now more than 1 and a half million Floridians with concealed carry permits says Aaron Keller of the FL. Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“We had a high water mark in 2012, where almost two hundred thousand applications were submitted to the department. This past year, that number was closer to 130,00, so it really does fluctuate, but, we are seeing increased demand, continuing to see a lot of demand.”

The state is also six months into allowing tax collectors to process concealed carry applications. The move doubled the number of places to submit  applications.

At this Tallahassee gun range, owner J.D. Johnson says every seat in every class offered is full.

“It’s very steady and constant.We’re running at full capacity and probably if we offered more classes, we could probably fill more classes. We just don’t have the time to do it” says Johnson.

Q:”So why do you think people want that training?”

“I think they want the training to feel safer in their daily lives. I mean, we have a lot of people that see the news, that hear of all the bad things going on in the world and I think they are looking for some understanding and feel the need to protect themselves.”

And in August, Florida processed more background checks for guns than in any August in more than a decade. Marion Hammer from the NRA says people want to protect themselves.

“And I would expect to see a corresponding bump in applications for concealed weapons license following a record month of gun sales.”

Instructors here say having a concealed weapons carry permit is more than just knowing what to do with a gun. It’s a life style change.

And trainers say part of the life style change is knowing when to walk away.

When military recruiters were attacked this summer, Florida moved active military and veterans to the top of the line of concealed carry permit applications, cutting what could be a three month process to just days. Lawmakers will be asked to ratify the move tomorrow morning.

Avocados. Mangos and papayas are at risk of infestation from an oriental fruit fly found in Miami Dade County in South Florida. 108 infestations have been found, so the the state has declared an agricultural emergency in the area. Department of Agriculture spokesperson Jennifer Meale says the hope is to keep the pest from getting out of Miami Dade and into the citrus belt of Florida.

“Commissioner Putnam and his team, along with the USDA, have instituted a quarantine area around the core finds of these oriental fruit flies\ in order to prevent the spread of this agricultural pest. If this pest spreads, it could devastate Florida’s 1234 billion dollar agriculture industry” says Meale.

Q: “So, it could affect citrus in Central Florida as well.”

“Yes, this oriental fruit fly feeds on more than 430 commodities including citrus and oranges” she responded.

So far, the infestation is not expected to affect prices because the affected fruit is being treated before ship[ping.

Florida’s legislature hopes to avoid another lawsuit before it starts. As Matt Galka tells us, environmental money is the cause of the latest courtroom drama.

The Florida legislature wants to stop a land and water lawsuit before it hast the chance to make a splash.  Five environmental groups sued the state in June after a battle over Amendment 1 funding.

David Guest is managing attorney at Earth Justice – one of the groups in the lawsuit. He says voters supported the amendment because they wanted environmental protections, but the legislature is ignoring that with the way they allocated money.

“What this case is about is fulfilling the wishes of three quarters of Florida voters,” he said.

Legislative attorneys say that the courts can’t tell lawmakers how to spend public money. They filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last week. The Senate President’s office referred us to the motion made by attorney’s. House Speaker Steve Crisafulli responded in a statement saying:

“The House filed a motion to dismiss because we faithfully implemented Article X, Section 28 of the Florida Constitution.”

Guest doesn’t agree.

“The constitution says how that money is supposed to be spent. The legislature does not have the power to say the constitution doesn’t apply to them,” he said.

He says the ultimate decision will most likely come from a higher level.

“This case is going to the State Supreme Court without a doubt,” said Guest.

Guest says the lawsuit is meant to clarify exactly what the legislature can fund with the money.  They had around $700 million dollars to spend this year, with a majority going towards agency operations and not land buying.

70 percent of voters approved amendment 1 last fall.

More than a dozen families who have had a child go missing took part in the 17th annual Florida Missing Childrens’s Day today in the State Capitol. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the day of remembrance took place as the state Department of Law Enforcement struggles to keep up with a shrinking staff and increasing workload.

One by one, family members placed a yellow rose next to the picture of their missing loved one.

The Governor called their pain unfathomable.

“The evil of these heartless crimes is too much to comprehend. You just can’t imagine anybody doing this” said Rick Scott, looking directly at the famalies in the front row.

During a moment of silence…A tracking bloodhound chimed in. Two dogs were honored for their efforts in returning children home.

And two young girls, one from Manatee county, the other from near Jacksonville were honored for thwarting their abductors.

Meelena is just sevenand from Clay County. She was grabbed by her hiar on her way home from school.

Q:”You got away!”

“I convinced him.”

Q”How scared were you?”

“I was pretty scared. I cried once or twice.”

The family of Trenton Duckett, missing since 2006 said this year was especially hard for them. Joshua Duckett is Trenton’s father.

“Not having the answers, not getting any kind of closure, you know, you got boocoo’s of emotions going through you. It helps to be around the other families” says Duckett.

Recent budget cuts have put a squeeze on the Department of Law Enforcement. It says it needs tens of millions of dollars to do the job it is supposed to do.

The Governor says he will listen to the needs of his FDLE Commissioner.

“and we’ll be working with him to make sure they have the resources they need” Scott told reporters afterward.

Detectives, a bus driver, a Jacksonville Attorney, an alert citizen, and two fifth graders were also honored during the remembrance.

The Department of Law Enforcement is losing crime lab analysts to local governments because the state pay is so low. FDLE is asking for enough to provide pay raises of ten thousand dollars to the law workers and to hire as many as 30 new technicians.

A teacher bonus program set up by the state has teachers scrambling for their SAT and ACT scores. As Matt Galka tells us, for those who never took those tests, Saturday is their last chance.

At Solution Skills Educational Services, they’re all about test preparation. The SAT and ACT tutoring center usually deals with high school kids. But this year in Florida, teachers across the state may have needed some test prep.  The Best and Brightest Scholarship set up by the legislature looked to reward Florida teachers with a bonus up to $10,000, but only if you had top SAT or ACT scores.

The tricky part for teachers is that they have to dig up those SAT and ACT scores from years ago, and in other cases some educators never took the test at all.

“There are some teachers who say it’s an insult, that what they do in the classroom now and how they help students achieve ought to be the reason they’re getting a pay raise,” said Mark Pudlow with the Florida Education Association.

The teacher’s union has been trying to help educators who may need to take the test.

“There’s some people who asked about that, but there’s a real small window of opportunity on that. All the paperwork and the documentation has to be into the DOE by October 1st,” said Pudlow.

September 12^th is the only date available for the ACT before the deadline. The SAT’s first available date: October 3^rd…two days after scores need to be submitted for the bonus.

Randy Vickers with Solution Skills says taking the high pressure tests can be difficult for anyone regardless of age.

“People often hate tests, so that’s why they come to a company like us to calm their nerves, but also to refresh the material they’re afraid they’re not going to remember,” he said.

Teacher’s scores need to be above the 80^th percentile of all test takers when the exam was taken in order to qualify for the extra money.

Some veteran teachers went to community college after High School and weren’t required to take the standardized tests. Scores need to be submitted by October 1^st to individual school districts.

Florida’s Governor is hunting again for more jobs. Matt Galka tells us about the next state he’s looking to poach from.

Kentucky, you’re on Governor Rick Scott’s list. He’s traveling to the Blue Grass state to try and lure businesses to Florida. A new ad from Enterprise Florida is already replacing My Old Kentucky Home on radios across the state.

“Are Frankfurt’s pro-union and big government policies hurting your business? Good news is on the way. Florida Governor Rick Scott is coming to Kentucky to share Florida’s success story,” a voice says during part of the ad.

Scott has already been on poaching missions to Democrat led states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and California this year.

“Kentucky’s a good opportunity for us, it’s a state where you don’t have a choice on whether you belong to a union or not. Income tax is way higher, personal income tax is higher. It’s just not a good place to do business so I think there’s a lot of opportunity there,” he said.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear disagrees.  In a statement, he said Scott’s trip would be unsuccessful and a waste of time.

Florida’s Rick Scott already has ties to the bluegrass state. He moved his hospital chain away from there 20 years ago.

The Governor will head to Louisville in two weeks. He says Florida’s job growth is proof that the business trips work.

There’s no love lost between traditional cab companies and newer ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft. As Matt Galka tells us, taxicab groups are suing the state to try and stop the tech company’s expansion.

A turf war between traditional taxis and transportation network companies in Florida has been taken to the courtroom.

Two taxi companies sued Florida’s Department of Agriculture Tuesday.  They want ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to be regulated the same as their fare meters are.  Attorney Ryan Andrews says the tech companies GPS isn’t certified.

“At the end of the day there’s no real way the state can let its consumers know that A. we’ve tested the technology and the time that it measures and the distance that it measures is accurate and trustworthy,” said Andrews.

An Uber passenger also joined the lawsuit.  Andrews says he’s been wary about fares he’s been charged.

“Uber goes unchecked. So he doesn’t have that same confidence he has in Uber as he would if he rode with a taxicab,” said Andrews.

The Department of Agriculture declined an interview on the lawsuit.

Uber drivers don’t seem concerned, and say all parties should be embracing competition.

“We’re not here to take jobs away, as a matter of fact Uber is responsible for employing many people here in Tallahassee and throughout the world, so, I welcome everyone, we all want to make money together,” said driver Tom Villaverde.

The state has until the end of the month to respond to the lawsuit.

The attorney for the cab companies says they will seek an injunction against the transportation network companies next week.

It’s been just over 9 months since a Plant High School Cheerleader was struck by a hit and run driver as she visited her brother at Florida State University. 18 year old Jackie Faircloth is still in rehab, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Tallahassee traffic planners are taking steps to make the roadway where she was hit safer.

The 20 year old driver accused of hitting Jackie Faircloth and leaving is set to be in court October 6th. Prosecutors have been monitoring Jackie’s progress before proceeding in the case.

18 Year old Jackie Faircloth was struck by a hit and run driver last November 29th. She was crossing this road a block from the FSU Campus. She remains in an Atlanta rehab hospital. A recent Facebook post by her mom says she is getting better.

At the intersection where she was hurt, which is a gateway to the FSU campus, new, Pedestrian activated warning lights were installed, just in time for the new school year. There was no shortage of students using the lights or crosswalk. It was here we met Emily Wilbanks, an FSU Sophomore from Tampa.

“I wanted to ask you if those lights make you feel safer?”

“yeah, they do. I’m really glad those lights are there because cars actually stop” says Emily.

Kennedy Granger, an FSU Sophomore from Jacksonville was living across from the accident when it happened.  “We were living here when the accident happened. It’s very tragic.”

“Do you think the lights make is safer?”

“I believe so. I believe it was a really good call for them to put them in” sa

We reached out to the Faircloth Family. Father John told us he had to speak to his lawyer before talking substance with us.

The city’s Public Works Director, Gabe Menendez, says the bright flashing lights have been proven to work.

“They have shown that this does raise the awareness of drivers, especially the drivers to the presence of pedestrians in the area” says Menendez.

In the short time we’ve been here, we’ve seen most cars slow down, but not all.

The intersection is in the middle of a long sloping. block. The City says it is considering speed bumps here as well…but must first change it’s policy on the class of roadway where speed bumps are allowed.

The process of getting a drivers license in the state could be slowing down, but as Matt Galka tells us, tax collectors want state officials to pump the breaks on the idea.

Getting a new drivers license or renewing an old one isn’t too complicated in Florida. A trip to the Tax Collector’s office requires some paper work, a picture, and a few minutes later you have your ID.

But a new proposal could stretch the process out from a day of transaction into a two week waiting period.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is mulling over the idea of “central issuance.” Floridians would get their licenses by mail, which could take two weeks.

The driver’s license proposal is in it’s early stages, but not every tax collector is sold.

Leon County Tax Collector Doris Maloy said one of her locations tried central issuance seven years ago.  She says there were plenty of headaches.

“How do we give the best service to our customers who need something right away? So, if it’s all centralized, you take that element away, so that’s a problem, that’s a concern,” she said.

Former State Representative and current Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano has already sent a letter to the Department trying to stop the program before it starts.

“What they’re wanting to do is go back in time. It’s costly,” he said.

The new system is touted as a more secure way to get licenses, but the Department says they will need a consensus from tax collectors first.

About a quarter of the state’s driver’s license renewals are done through the mail. The proposal for the new system would also allow someone to expedite the process if they’re willing to pay extra.

Florida utilities boast of being solar friendly, but Florida lags behind most states, including New Jersey, when it comes to the number of solar facilities. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the major electric utilities are saying one thing and doing another.

Florida Power and Light boasts of the states largest solar array.

“Using free fuel from the sun, it can provide power for up to eleven thousand homes” says the announcer.

Tampa Electric has partnered with Tampa International on a smaller scale.

”Tampa Electric believes in the promise of renewable energy, like solar” said the company’s President at a news conference annoucning the venture with TIA>

But when a constitutional amendment allowing more people to sell solar went before the Florida Supreme Court,

Tallahassee lawyer Barry richard, who represented George Bush in the disputed 2000 election, appeared at the argument and told the justices “And I am representing Flordia Power and Light, Duke Energy, Gulf Power, and Tampa Electric.”

The power companies hired one of the states best known lawyers to try and kill it.

“This does not tell voters that it is stripping the entire state government of a power it has always had” says Richard.

That power has been used to keep anyone but utilities from selling electricity. The amendment would let businesses install solar and then sell what they don’t use to their neighbors. Debbie Dooley, representing Conservatives for Energy Freedom calls it the conservative approach.

“True conservatives champion free market choice. They don’t champion government crated monopolies” said Dooley after the arguments.

What the court must decides is if the amendment contains just one single subject, or if it misleads voters.

And before the court has even ruled, a new web ad released Thursday seeks to cause doubts about the amendment.

“It would let these people, build those things, without this stuff” chimes the announcer while showing some definitions from the actual amendment form.

The early attacks are unusual, but so the size of the profits the utilities stand to lose.

The group that sponsored that last web ad in Mike’s story has also launched their own constitutional amendment, which would “guarantee” electric users certain rights.

An amendment legalizing medical marijuana in Florida fell just short in 2014 and is making a push for 2016, but as Matt Galka tells us, a new group is pushing a recreational marijuana amendment.

The future of marijuana in Florida is shaping up to be a burning question in 2016.  A medical marijuana initiative barely failed just last year, and now a new group is pushing a ballot amendment that would further expand access.

Shannon Stallings is the legal adviser for pro-pot group Floridians for Freedom.  They plan to start circulating petitions for an amendment that would legalize marijuana for recreational use for those 21 and older. She says a recreational amendment could help more people than a narrowly written medical marijuana amendment.

The group says they’d like to see the drug regulated just like alcohol.

“Minors would not be able to have access to it, but adults would be able to use it as they please in their own home, to grow it as they want it or as they need it,” said Stallings

The group says they’re encouraged by the business success of marijuana in Colorado and Washington – where the drug was legalized.

“We’re turning what was just a black market hobby for most people who did it, into a legitimate industry for a legitimate business. We’ve created more than 27 jobs,” said Jill Lane, a grower for Sky High Gardens in Seattle, WA.

Stallings says Colorado and Washington are good examples of thriving economies.

“That’s the thing, I mean always about cannibus there’s been a fear mongering, saying if we let responsible individuals to have this plant, the sky is going to fall. And that has just not proven to be the case,” she said.

Floridians for Freedom is hopeful that a presidential election year could tip the scales in their favor.  If they’re able to get their amendment on the ballot, a big turnout could give them a good shot at passage.

Floridians for Florida needs 67,000 signatures in order for the Supreme Court to review the proposed ballot language. They’d then need more than 600,000 more signatures to get it on 2016’s ballot.

Florida doesn’t have any scheduled executions on the books and is in the midst of it’s longest stretch without one since the Governor’s first year in office. As Matt Galka tells us, inmates on death row continue to appeal, with another death penalty debate brewing.

This 2008 video from a St. Petersburg convenience store captured the murders of two people at the hands of Khadafy Mullens.  A judge sentenced Mullens to death for the crimes in 2013.  His lawyer made his appeal to Florida’s Supreme Court Thursday.

Mullens is one of 395 inmates on Florida’s death row, second only to California. Charles Grover Brant is another.  He admitted to killing his neighbor in Hillsborough County and was sentenced to death in 2007. His appeals attorney argued his previous counsel failed him.

“He was born with a bad brain because of lack of pre-natal care, and his lawyers failed to investigate his case,” said attorney Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer.

The state hasn’t carried out an execution since January. They were temporarily on hold while a decision was made on the legality of lethal injection drugs.  The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the drugs use in June, and a circuit judge in Florida did the same earlier this week. Brant’s lawyer still says the death penalty in the state needs a review.

“We have a huge death row population, it’s a tremendous burden on the tax dollars, it doesn’t deter crime, and I think it’s something that we really should take a look at,” she said.

Florida’s current Governor is tied with Jeb Bush for most executions under a Governor’s watch since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

The United States Supreme Court will consider a case in its next term on whether or not juries need to be unanimous when recommending a death sentence. Currently, a unanimous decision is not required.

One of three state troopers reviewed under a special overtime program to deter speeders has been found to claim overtime for hours spent at home or eating, But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, some of those being disciplined say they were following an unwritten rule that’s been in place for decades.

More than 900 troopers participate in the SOAR program…which is designed to pay 8 hours of overtime a week to crackdown on speeders or help stranded motorists. Internal investigators at the patrol choose the top three SOAR earners from each district. Of the 36 cases reviewed, three were fired, four retired, three were suspended, one was reprimanded and another is facing termination after claiming overtime for working from home or while eating. Capt. Nancy Rasmussen says discipline was based on the sererity of the infractions.

“Some were sitting at their houses longer and it was a continuos issue, then they were disciplined more than, you know, the ones that just went to the restaurants for a few minutes or whatever. So it was based on what their egregious activities were on the program” says the FHP Spokesperson.

Troopers were sited for turning off their automatic locating devices or failing to call in when they were taking dinner breaks.

The Police Benevolent Association says it won’t talk about the troopers in this report because it doesn’t talk about pending litigation.”

Attorney Sid Mathew represents two of the 12 being disciplined. He says both were following long standing unwritten rules and that no one was goofing off on the states dime.

“They paid overtime for 20 years for meal breaks, and now all of a sudden, they are changing their policies” says the labor attorney.

The FHP says the actions taken will not impact increased presence on the highways  this holiday weekend.

The FHP says there are no unwritten rules. But attorneys say if they are changing policies, Troopers must be told in advance.  In June, after some of the disciplinary actions had already been started, the FHP issued a memo saying no one was authorized to work from home.

Emails show the Governor’s office changed a press release involving investigations into Planned Parenthood, and as Matt Galka tells us, the healthcare group says the changes show the Governor was only trying to play political games.

Viral videos from another state sparked outrage over Planned Parenthood’s alleged fetal remains practices.  The videos caused Governor Rick Scott to call for an investigation into clinics in Florida.

The investigations found the 16 facilities didn’t participate in fetal remains deals.  An early August press release originally obtained by Politico Florida intended to make that clear.  The line “However, there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state,” appeared in the version the Agency for Healthcare Administration wrote.  But once it went through the Governor’s office, the line disappeared.

Planned Parenthood spokesman Damien Filer said this confirms what the healthcare provider has been saying all along.

“From the beginning, our take on this has been the motivations were political, because we couldn’t understand what else they would be,” he said.

When asked if his office was trying to make Planned Parenthood look bad, the Governor was non-committal.

“The agency, our state Agency for Healthcare Administration, they’re responsibility is to make sure everyone who does healthcare in our state does it right, so what I asked them to do is just go look at it, make sure Planned Parenthood and their facilities are compliant with the law, and that’s what they’re doing,” said Gov. Scott.

The investigation originally found three clinics to be performing abortions outside their licensed time frame to do so, a claim Planned Parenthood disputed. The violations were eventually dropped.

We reached out to the Governor’s communications team asking why exactly the line saying there was no evidence of fetal remains violations was taken out. Communications Director Jackie Schutz responded “our office often works with our agencies on materials,” and that the document was a working draft.

Wednesday is often called over the hump day, a chance to start celebrating the coming weekend. The drinking age in Florida is 21, but 18 year old’s are allowed in bars. It’s gotten three FSU football players in hot water, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, keeping underage people out of bars has always been a heavy lift for lawmakers.

Jameis Winston, Dalvin Cook, and D’Andre Johnson,  were all investigated after allegations from women in bars. All three players were 19 at the time.

Winston was accused of raping a co-ed. Cook and Johnson were accused of punching women. There is video of only one of the incidents…Johnson’s punch…but before the punch a band on his arm suggests he is old enough to drink. State Attorney Willie Meggs, who has been involved in all three cases, questions the wisdom of being underage in a bar.

“It makes absolutely no sense to me, so it would strike me they ought not be allowed in the place” says the retiring State Attorney.

Cook was acquitted by a jury and is back on the team. The police report shows a 19 year old witness was so intoxicated, police had trouble understanding her. In court, Cook’s accuser, Madison Geohegan, was asked about her friends drinking.

They didn’t ID us.”

Q:They didn’t ID?”

“No” she said under oath.

It’s been more than 25 years since lawmakers looked at trying to keep everyone under 21 out of a bar. Just about every proprietor in the state complained, and the idea died a very quick death.

Dave Ericks owns one of the state Capitol’s best known watering holes.  “And it’s part o the experience. You’re, lets say, dating a 21 year old, and you are 19 or 20 and you couldn’t go somewhere with them, it just wasn’t right” says Ericks.

And Ericks says there are heavy penalties for serving underage drinkers. Bars could lose their license.

In a statement today, the state says it has made more than 100,000 visits to places that sell alcohol, arresting 1843 people for selling to minors over the last three years.