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If you haven’t voted and you’re still undecided you may be thinking about casting  a third party ballot.  But as Matt Galka tells us, a third party vote worries candidates…and they’re trying to convince you otherwise.

Pro-Hillary Clinton mailers from the LCV Victory Fund not only bash Donald Trump…but third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein as well.

The mail pieces targeting millenials tell people not to vote for a candidate that has no chance to win.  They’re based on a worry that a vote for a third party candidate is a vote against Clinton.

And if you’re not satisfied with any of the names on the ballot and want to write someone in, there are six qualified candidates that will make your vote count.

“If you vote for Jeb Bush, or Bobby Bowden, I’m sorry the vote doesn’t count and it won’t be recorded, it is as if you didn’t vote in that race,” said Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho.

We reached out to all six of the qualified write-in candidates for Florida. Three got back to us.  Economist Laurence Kotlikoff wasn’t satisfied with the coverage of his campaign.

“I think I’m a serious candidate, I’m the only economist to ever run for president, and I think that alone should have attracted a lot of press but most of the press decided right from the get go that only someone from the parties was going to win,” he said.

Tony Valdivia who works finance in San Antonio, TX said he’s happy to be getting his message out.

“I think it starts with what I believe my mission is and that’s to improve the lives of those in my community and throughout the nation,” he said.

And journalist Zoltan Istvan – who’s also a transhumanist – meaning he’s focused on advancing humanity through science and technology – said he’d be ok with playing spoiler.

“I’m not that fond of either of the candidates, and if I end up spoiling it and some news coverage comes to the transhumanist movement, I’d call that a victory even if that makes me hated for the next 50 years,” said Istvan.

To be a write-in candidate in Florida you don’t need to pay a fee or collect any signatures, you just need to fill out paperwork.

 

A Florida Q&M University senior admissions officer is facing bribery charges tonight after allegedly seeking cash from the mothers of two applicants. Police say the two counts may only be the tip of the iceberg.

Leman J. Ulee is facing two counts of bribery and one count of official misconduct for altering a students record. Gretl Plessinger, spokesperson for the FL.  Dept of Law Enforcement complimented FAMU for coming forth quickly.

“What we found so sarin the investigation is there were a couple of either current students or former students  who paid additional money to Mr. Ulee, and Mr Ulee changed their academic record, which allowed them to gain admission into FAMU” says Plessinger.

Court documents show the 36,500 dollar a year senior admissions officer approached two mothers. Mother A paid the bribe and her child was admitted to FAMU. Mother B contacted the university which called the Dept of Law Enforcement. She was provided with marked money which Ulee allegedly accepted.

“We do believe there are additional victims.” says FDLE’s Plessinger. “Students and family members who don’t even realize they have been scammed, so we are asking them to call FDLE Tallahassee.”

The going price? Between three and five hundred dollars.”

FAMU’s online admission fee: 35 dollars.

Jacksonville second year student Johnathan Rodgers was surprised by the arrest.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“He was charging between three and five hundred dollars. You never paid anything like that?”

“No” Rodgers told us.

Ulee has been suspended from his duties since March. Other employees at the admissions office were not talking.

“Is this where Mr. Ulee worked?”

“Yes”

“Can you tell me about him?”

“No.”

Ulee is set to appear in court on November 21st.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact FDLE Tallahassee at 850-410-7501.

While many voters are still trying to make up their minds before election day next Tuesday, lawyers before the Florida Supreme Court were trying to help the court sort out the details of a proposed constitutional amendment to control gambling. Organizers have collected enough signatures to get a hearing on the question they want to ask voters in 2018. Most justices, including Barbara Pariente asked tough questions about the amendment’s attempt.

Sot: Barbara Pariente

Supreme Court Justice

“If somebody is against gambling, wouldn’t they want this amendment?”

“If they area against gambling, they would want this amendment” responded gaming expert Marc Dunbar, who opposes the amendment and told the court it was flawed.

Adam Schachter, the lawyer arguing for No Casino’s Inc. doesn’t agree.

“The issue before the court is not whether gambling is going to be undone. The issue is whether the voter s should have the right to authorize casino gambling. The impact of that on casino gambling in the future or existing gaming facilities is for another day” Schachter said after the hearing.

The ballot measure, if allowed on the ballot and approved, would end all gambling in Florida except for Tribal casino’s unless voters approved in a following referendum.

$22 million dollars wasn’t enough. So now some of the largest utility companies in the state have pumped another $3.5 million dollars into the Amendment 1 campaign.

Backers of the controversial amendment have pitched it as pro-solar and consumer friendly – claims environmentalists say are false. Aliki Moncrief with the Florida Conservation Voters says that the influx of money from the utility companies means they’re scared.

“They need this money to continue their misinformation campaign because they’re losing voters,” she said.

The proposal needs 60% of the vote to pass, which is why ads could be key in the final week. And recent polling indicates that support for the amendment might be coming down.

Former Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham pushed back on the claims during a conference call Tuesday.

“The installation of solar saves customers money because it avoids having to build additional generating capacity,” he said.

Consumers for Smart Solar – the group pushing the amendment – says it’s all about fairness and that’s why utilities are so involved.

“If you’re the utility companies, they’re the most heavily regulated industry in the state of Florida. Shouldn’t every other energy source also be regulated to protect consumers? We think so,” said Screven Watson, the group’s spokesman.

The cash flow and low polling came after audio leaked in October suggesting the amendment was posing as pro-solar, but is actually squashing pro-solar competition. Opponents of Amendment 1 are planning a statewide rally Thursday in cities from Miami up to Tallahassee.

Should a woman seeking an abortion have to wait 24 hours after having an ultrasound and discussion with her doctor before the procedure can be performed? The question is still up in the air as the Florida Supreme Court decides if the wait can be enforced while the law goes through the court system.

The 24 hour wait was passed and signed into law in 2015.

“77 yeas” chimed the House reading clerk when it passed.

The wait was in effect for two months before the State Supreme Court stepped in and stopped its  enforcement in April.

“Please be seated” said the court’s Marshall at the beginning of the oral argument.

Asst. Attorney General Denise Harley says the delay is reasonable, and the wait should be allowed while its constitutionality is challenged back in the original trial court.

“The waiting period is outcome neutral. The state is not trying to encourage or discourage abortions” Harley told justices.

But Julia Kaye of the ACLU says the wait has discouraged women.

“The 24 hours prevents some women from obtaining abortions, doubles the harassment that a woman faces upon entering the clinic” Kaye says.

28 other states have some sort of waiting period, but none of them has as strong a constitutional right of privacy as Florida.

Afterwards, the ACLU said the law had negative consequences for women during the two months it was in effect.

“Women missed work and wages they would otherwise not have to lose. Women experience sickness the could’ve been avoided” Kaye told reporters.

But anti abortion pastor Pam Olson says a woman’s decision isn’t final until it is.

“Lot’s of women go in to get a pregnancy test, and many get ushered right in to have an abortion. they don’t even have time to think about it” says Olsen.

If the court refuses to allow the waiting period to be enforced while it’s making its way through the lower courts, it is a clear signal it will be in trouble if and when an appeal comes back to the state Supreme Court.

A decade’s long dispute over who has the rights to the water that ends up in Apalachicola Florida is being heard by a special master for the US Supreme Court today. At stake, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, is the future of one of the most important estuaries in the state of Florida.

War wars have long been a topic for western movies

Nat sot of movie “riders of destiny”

“is that the old creek bed? asked John Wayne in Riders of Destiny, released in 1934. Yeah. When I first come here it was running water to every ranch in the valley, then it dried up” replied one of the B characters in the movie.

But the water war between Florida, Georgia, and Alabama is real. As Atlanta grows, it is demanding more and more water…which comes from here, Lake Lanier and the Buford Dam.

This is where the water leaves Georgia, heading for Florida.

And it is the fresh water that leaves here that eventually flows into Apalachicola Bay. The less fresh water, the more salt water predators invade and destroy once lush oyster beds. Shawn Hartsfield the President of the Apalachicola Seafood Workers Assn. says life on the coast is changing.

“You know, we’re not going to have the fishing industry we used to have” says Hartsfield.

Rick Scott asked the US Supreme Court to settle the battle for water three years ago.

“We’ve got to get the water flowing down the river an into the bay if we want to continue to have the lively hood we had” says the Governor.

Environmental attorney David Guest says saving the bay is critical.

“You’re pitting uncontrolled growth and uncontrolled agriculture against a delicate and irreplaceable ecosystem famous the world over.”

Georgia’s positions that it owns the water and gets first crack at using it, much like one of the characters in Riders of Destiny. “Boys turn off the water. Guard my dam and if anyone sets foot on my land, shoot.No one is shooting over water these days, but the US Supreme Court will eventually settle the question. Neither side is likely going to get all that it wants…which is all the water it can use.

The drop in oyster production has help drive up the retail price for oysters across Florida. The trial could takes weeks, then several months before a recommendation is made, and a year or more before the US Supreme Court hears the case.