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Tallahassee Hopes to Restore 90% of Power By Monday

October 12th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The state capital was spared the brunt of hurricane Michael, but storm tropical force winds still managed to knock out 97% of the cities power grid.
The city is starting to make progress day on two of recovery
Hurricane Michael took out power for more than 100,000 residents in the state’s capital city.
George Coaker was getting ready to set up a generator, Friday morning for some temporary relief.
“All we can do is be thankful for what we have you know? Power outages is the least of our worries,” said Coaker. “So many people lost their homes and some people lost their lives.”
At the start of the day, power had been restored to 28,000 residents.
Large restoration efforts narrowed traffic down to a single lane on some major streets like Thomasville Road, but the inconveniences didn’t seem to bother residents Terry and Katia Coonan.
“It’s nothing compared to what other people experienced and so we are not complaining here. Just cleaning the yard,” said Katia.
“Yeah we’re counting our blessings,” said Terry.
Police say powerless traffic lights caused some accidents.
A number of roads including this usually busy secondary artery were still blocked off.
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum spent much of the day surveying damaged areas.
“To just sort of check out various neighborhoods, to try to ensure that we’re not missing anybody,” said Gillum.
He says the goal is to have all streets open by the end of the day.
The city has an equally ambitious goal for restoring power, hoping to restore 90% by the end of the weekend.
“We’re moving pretty, in my opinion, pretty rapidly to get people back together,” said Gillum.
Gillum says a large amount of outside help is helping with the restoration process.
The number of crews available immediately following Michael, were equal to the height of the restoration following Hermine in 2016, which knocked out power for a week or more in some parts of the city.
The city is encouraging residents to come out, restock supplies and join in community events over the weekend.

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Greensboro: Hit Hard By Michael and Interstate Closures

October 11th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The small town of Greensboro, Florida was hit hard by hurricane Michael.
The storm spawned at least two tornadoes, damaging multiple homes.
Trees smashed through the roofs was a sight many residents of Greensboro Florida awoke to, Thursday morning after Hurricane Michael tore through the town.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said resident Torri McClellan.
She says she left her home just minutes before an enormous tree fell, completely destroying a large portion of her house.
“Things that I’ve worked hard for are in this home… my memories,” said McClellan.
At least one person was killed when a tree crashed on their home near the town.
Throughout Gadsden county there are three other confirmed fatalities, but the details of those deaths haven’t been released.
“That’s what’s most important right now, is looking at the blessings,” said McClellan. “It could have been worse. I could have still been in the house when the tree fell.”
Just a few miles down the road from the town of Greensboro, both entrances to I-10, east and westbound were closed off for most of the day.
Kyle Ewers with Wack’em & Stackem’ Tree Services was stuck at the interchange for the entire day.
“Very very tired. Running out of fuel,” said Ewers.
He says his company came down from South Carolina to work with FEMA and help with recovery, but the road closure has blocked their way to the hardest hit areas.
“In order for them to get on we have to push the way,” said Ewers.
And he doesn’t know where he’s going to end up or when.
“We can’t even do our job yet because they haven’t instructed us of where everybody is being stationed at,” said Ewers.
Emergency vehicles and national guard troops were allowed to continue west, but a mile long line of semis and evacuees trying to return home will be stuck until the road is safe to travel.
For the latest travel information use the FL511 app.

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Coastal Homes in Wakulla County Ravaged by Storm Surge

October 11th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
The damage across north Florida is still being assessed.
Storm surge, not wind, caused most damage to the east of where Michael made landfall.
Storm surge estimated at 11 feet by residents who rode Michael out, demolished everything in its path along Ochlocknee Bay south of Tallahassee.
The county hasn’t seen water like this since Dennis in 2005.
“It usually is about 700 houses that are affected that we had that time,” said Brad Harvey, the Wakulla County Property Appraiser. “We’re seeing a lot more along the coast here of that and we’re seeing more damage inland.
83% of the county was without power at midday Thursday.
Residents who didn’t lose everything were busy cleaning up.
“we’ll take everything out, dry it out, and put down non porous flooring this time,” said resident Dr. Frank Walker, who’s home flooded.
We found one resident, Ray Batey helping his neighbor clean up mounds of seaweed marking the High water at his house.
He too rode out the storm.
“It was kinda terrifying. I’ve never been through one before,” said Beaty. “But it was calling for a two and then they said a three. After they said four, it was too late for us to go.”
Back in the state Capitol, Governor Rick Scott was urging residents to go online for recovery information: FL Sert, or FlGov Scott on Twitter, but he acknowledged many couldn’t.
You know, we’ve been working to get the power back on,” said Scott. “We’ve been talking to the telecom providers to get back up,. We’re going to do it as quickly as we can.”
The Governor also urged patience during the recovery.
At least four people died in Gasden County, where at least two tornadoes touched down.
A fifth death is unconfirmed.

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Shelters Open in Capital as Hurricane Micheal Inches Closer

October 9th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
President Donald Trump has officially signed a pre-landfall emergency declaration.
It will allow for the Federal Government to quickly provide aid and resources to 35 Florida counties under a state of emergency as Hurricane Michael barrels towards the Florida Panhandle.
Panhandle residents began seeking shelter mid-day Tuesday, in the State’s Capital city.
At Lawton Chiles High School, one of 6 shelters opening in the county, some storm refugees began arriving before doors officially opened.
“Considering that they were opening today I figured I’d better get in while the getting is good,” said Tallahassee resident William Holman.
Some residents are wresting with whether or not to leave their homes.
“Soon as some of the tropical storm winds hit, that’s enough for some people. They just look outside and say I’m ready to go. Some will wait until the winds get stronger, as in they can trees waving, kind of bending like they shouldn’t be,” said Chiles High Principle, Joe Burgess.
The shelter is the only one that is pet friendly.
The governor put a high emphasis on the potential for storm surge, urging residence in coastal areas and flood zones to evacuate.
“Every family must be prepared now. Remember, we can rebuild your house, but we cannot rebuild your life. Take this seriously and keep your family safe,” said Governor Scott.
Traffic headed eastbound on I-10 was busy, but flowing as evacuees from the western part of the panhandle, like Panama City resident Chris Shelton heeded the Governor’s warning.
“Take the important stuff with you and get out. If the Governor is saying that it’s time to go, it’s time to go,” said Shelton.
In the face of disaster, Shelton say’s he’ll be spending the hurricane at Disney World.
“You know, give you a lemon, make lemonade,” said Shelton.
Officials are urging residents to seek shelter sooner, rather than later.
President Donald Trump has officially signed a pre-landfall emergency declaration.
It will allow for the Federal Government to quickly provide aid and resources to affected counties.

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Governor Tours the Panhandle, Preparing for Michael

October 9th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
The first impacts from Hurricane Michael are just hours away, and Governor Rick Scott was traveling the state Tuesday, warning of the storms dangers.
By one o’clock, Scott had visited three emergency operations centers.
His message was one of pending danger and preparedness.
“Hurricane Michael is a massive storm that could being total devastation to parts of our state,” said Scott.
As Scott spoke at the state EOC, dozens of state and private sector employees worked feverishly to plan for the Michael’s arrival.
“There will be more that needs to get done today than could possibly be done,” said said EOC Director, Wes Maul.
2,000 national guardsmen have been called up, and the highway patrol sent 300 troopers to help in the panhandle.
“If the storm hits in Panama City, the Tampa area would still see life threatening storm surge. You can not hide from storm surge,” said Scott.
Except for emergency services, most state and local offices closed.
Tuesday was supposed to be the last day to register to vote, but some counties closed early, and would be voters in those counties can go back the first day that office is open to register for the November election.
The Capital is expecting massive utility outages because of its tree cover.
Under New protocol since Hermine in 2016, the city has mutual aid agreements with all of the investor owned utility’s.
Crews from as far away as Tampa Electric were on their way.
“Any day of the week you got ninety lineman who supply our system. You’re talking now six times that number,” said Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.
Both Scott, who is running for the US Senate, and Gillum, who is the Democratic nominee for Governor have suspended their campaigns for now.
Both the US Senate and Gubernatorial races are close, and in a tight election, both Scott’s and Gillum’s performances could be the deciding factor in November.

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GOP Hits Gillum Over Hurricane Response As Michael Gains Strength

October 8th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Gillum cancelled his campaign events in South Florida, Monday and is back home preparing for Hurricane Michael.
He has been criticized by the GOP for not getting power on quickly enough after Hurricane Hermine, so now Gillum has the chance to prove the criticism wrong or right.
Democratic Nominee Andrew was highly visible, checking in at the local Emergency Operations Center and touring a new electrical substation being fired up for the first time.  t
“And should there be any disruption in the system, it will be in place to activate immediately so that we don’t have disruption, particularly amongst our highest critical need area, the hospital,” said Gillum.
Following Hermine In 2016, Gillum sparred with Govenor Rick Scott  as power restoration lagged
“So, whatever we’re doing, we’ve got to do something different,” said the Governor in 2016.
“We’ll cooperate in am manner in which we are respectful to the roles each of us has to play,” said Gillum Monday.
The Republican Party of Florida has been running two spots critical of how Gillum handed that power outage.
The timing of the two ads couldn’t be better.
Now Andrew Gillum has the chance to prove them wrong or right.
And the Mayor is asking for help more more publicly than he did two years ago.
We’ve requested some 600 assets. That is a tripling of the assets we had available in the aftermath of Hermine,” said Gillum.
This time around, Gillum says he and Governor Scott have talked about the city’s needs more than once.
The Mayor is telling people dependent on electricity to consider riding out the storm somewhere else.

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Tallahassee Prepares for Hurricane Michael

October 8th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
The number of counties under a state of emergency has grown to 35.
Emergency preparations are underway across the Florida Panhandle as now hurricane Michael barrels towards North Florida.
Less than 24 hours after Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in 26 Florida counties, residents of the state’s capital were already filling sand bags.
“In July when I was out of state my garage flooded for the first time, the house is 26 years old,” said Tallahassee resident Gwen Spivey.
Mayor Andrew Gillum urged residents to flee if they’re not prepared to deal with expected power outages.
In 201 Hurricane Hermine, a category one storm knocked out power for a week or more in the city.
“If you are electricity dependent, we would encourage you to make some decisions around, where you want to ride out this storm,” said Gillum.
Lines at gas stations remained long throughout the day as many residents seemed to agree that getting out of town might be the best move.
“Probably the safest place for me is Jacksonville. Not Mobile because it might even go that way,” said Tallahassee resident Searcey Bush.
Schools are closed through at least Thursday.
FSU and FAMU announced they will be canceling classes for the rest of the week, meaning many students will likely be taking to the roads to escape the storms path.
“I think all of my friends are either trying to go home or go north,” said FSU student Mackenzie Brennan.
“I’m thinking about either going to Atlanta or Jacksonville. I’m not sure which one yet,” said another student, Justin Lindholm.
For residents in nursing homes, the Florida Healthcare Association says the tragic deaths following Irma won’t be repeated.
“Every single nursing home in the state of Florida has a plan in place,” said FHA Executive Director, J. Emmett Reed.
Reed says nursing home residents or families of residents can keep updated on storm plans by going to their facility’s website.
Michael would be the third storm to hit the Capital in three years… following a 30 year hurricane free run.

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Victims Coming Forward in Florida’s Catholic Church Investigation

October 5th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Victims are already coming forward just 24 hours after Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the state’s investigation into sexual abuse of children by the catholic church.
A Pennsylvania grand jury report released in August identified 301 Catholic priests, including at least 14 with ties to Florida, who sexually abused what is believed to be more than 1,000 children spanning decades.
“I couldn’t sleep that night,” said Bondi in a press conference, Thursday.
Now, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says the state is investigating Florida’s seven diocese.
“We have reason to believe there are similar stories in Florida,” said Bondi.
More than 15 victims had come forward before the investigation was announced.
The state says more have come forward since, but aren’t releasing specific numbers.
“We cannot comment on the specifics of our ongoing criminal investigation, but I am pleased with the response from the public so far, and the growing number of reports from victims,” Bondi said in a statement. “Based on these confidential reports, I believe the tip site is providing us the information we need to conduct a successful investigation and protect children.”
“I’m not surprised,” said Jennifer Dritt, Executive Director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. “There are a lot of people who have had to be quiet for a really long time or who’ve told people and have been dismissed. So I wouldn’t be surprised is they’re flooded with reports.”
Michael Sheedy with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops says all seven diocese in the state are cooperating with the investigation.
He also noted that the church had adopted policies and procedures to deal with reported sexual abuse back in 2002.
“It includes background screenings for all clergy, all employees and all volunteers,” said Sheedy.
In August, one priest who used to serve at Blessed Sacrament Parish which is just over a mile from the state capitol, was removed after allegations of inappropriate contact with an underage girl dating back to 2004.
The Attorney General’s current investigation isn’t limited to just the Catholic Church.
Any victims of past child abuse are encouraged to come forward.
To report a tip go to MyFloridaLegal.com.
The Attorney General says the current investigation is limited to past cases of abuse.
Any recent or ongoing abuse should be reported to the police and the Department of Children and Families.

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Red Tide Threatens Apalachicola Bay Oyster Industry

October 4th, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
Red Tide has been moving east in the Florida Panhandle, It is now in Mexico Beach, just east of Panama City.
It is beginning to threaten the Gulf Coast oyster industry and fisheries.
At My Way Seafood in Panacea, the fish is always fresh, the selection large but now customers are asking if red tide is a problem.
“And as long as the fish are caught alive, they are not harmed. Shrimp and Crabs red tide does not bother,’ said Debbie Long with My Way Seafood.
Concern is about the heath of seafood is spreading, just as red tide is moving closer to what used to be the oyster capital of Florida, Apalachicola Bay.
Right now the wind is blowing east to west, and that’s what’s keeping the red tide out of this bay.
The few remaining oystermen here are limited to two bags a day.
That’s $120 before gas and supplies.
Red Tide is on their mind.
“Once red tide moves into our bay, they’ll shut our bay down for harvesting, but it won’t kill the oysters,” said Shannon Hartsfield with the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association. “But the oysters won’t be fit for consumers.”
There were just nine oyster boats on the water, down from more than 200 when this area produced 10% of the nations oysters.
Now Red tide threatens to take away what little livelihood these oystermen have left.
“Gonna be out of work, nothing to fall back on,” said Oysterman Steven Tucker.
Red tide isn’t new to the bay.
A dozen or so years ago, oystering was shut down for five months.
It’s never really recovered since.
In addition to facing a threat from Red Tide, the bay continues to see salinity levels rising as a result of low water flow from the north.
As the salt content rises, predators feed on the oyster beds, diminishing the harvest.

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Business Honored for Commitment to Hire Those With Disabilities

October 4th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
October is National Disability Employment Awareness month and Florida businesses that have shown strong commitments to hiring people with disabilities were honored Thursday morning in the state’s capital.
Florida’s economy is booming.
“Private sector businesses including many of those that are here today have created over 1.6 million new jobs,” said Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Cissy Proctor.
A stronger economy means more opportunities for all Floridians, including those with disabilities.
“I know it’s important for grownups to work and earn money. I am grateful to have this job,” said Connor Yeatts, who works at Cayer Behavioral Group, despite suffering from Williams Syndrome.
This year, 12 Florida businesses were awarded Exceptional Employer Awards by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Blind Services and Vocational Rehabilitation  for their outstanding efforts and commitment to providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
“Getting people employed and getting them self sufficient is one of the best things we can do,” said Barbara Palmer, Director of the Florida Agency for Persons With Disabilities.
A common theme shared among the award winners: Employers of those with special needs benefit just as much as the employees.
Award winner Kiersten Lee runs Paisley Cafe in Tallahassee.
She says after hiring Kevin Graham who has autism, it changed her life forever, inspiring her, with the help of Kevin, to create the Autism Cooks Foundation.
“It’s been amazing. It helps people to cook. It helps them to find jobs like me,” said Graham.
It’s an example of how creating an opportunity for one, can lead to many more.
“Kevin is able to be an example and a leader in the community for disabilities in the workplace,” said Lee.
Those honored at the ceremony say more than anything, they hope the example they set will inspire other businesses to hire persons with disabilities as well.
If you own a business and want to find out more about hiring people with disabilities click this link.

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A Deadly Mix of Amendments?

October 3rd, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
Florida voters are faced with choices to give themselves bigger property tax breaks while at the same time making it harder for the state to raise taxes, but the League of Women Voters and others say the combination could be deadly for the state’s finances.
Amendment 5 would require a 2/3 vote from future state lawmakers to raise any tax or fee.
Governor Rick Scott, who counts 80+ tax cuts under his tenure, asked for the tax limitation during his last State of the State address.
“It will force leaders to contemplate living within their means, rather than taking the easy way out and just sticking it to the public,” said Scott.
The League of Women Voters argues that there is no reason to tie the hands of future leaders.
“Today, Flordia spends less than 48 other states on our educational system. This would just make that worse,” said Teri Cleeland with the League.
Supporting the amendment, the Florida Chamber says cutting taxes has created jobs.
“And, it’s had great outcomes, right? We’ve had a state that’s created one point five million private sector jobs because we’ve produced one of the best tax climates in the country,” said David Hart with the Chamber of Commerce.
While Amendment 5 makes it harder to raise taxes in the future, Amendment 1 gives homeowners a bigger tax break.
Karen Woodall with the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy says passing both would be a ‘double whammy’.
“You restrict local governments from their ability to fund  things that are libraries, parks, local issues, and then you are going to make it harder to get the legislature to fill in those gaps,” said Woodall.
Florida’s constitution already prohibits a state income tax, and raising the Corporate Income Tax requires a 3/5 vote, so tax limitations aren’t new to the Constitution.
Governor Rick Scott says his tax cuts amount to more than $7.5 billion.
Advocates say most of those cuts went to the wealthy, not everyday Floridians.

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Democrats Requesting More Mail-In-Ballots than Republicans

October 3rd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
For the first time since Florida became a two party state, more Democrats than Republicans are asking to cast their ballot through the postal service.
The general election is officially underway, with 2.5 million mail-in-ballots shipping out to voters through the state.
“It’s a very long ballot. We don’t want to see lines like have been seen in the past,” said Leon County Elections Supervisor Mark Earley. “So that’s why we’re encouraging people to vote ahead of time.”
Historically, Republicans have requested more mail in ballots than Democrats, outnumbering them by 128,000 in 2014 and 60,000 in 2016, but this year there’s been a shift.
“My party has done a pretty good job of telling folks it’s safe to vote. People have gotten comfortable with the idea,” said Democratic strategist, Steve Schale.
24,000 more Democrats have asked for a vote by mail ballot than Republicans.
“It’s great to see my party with a lead in the absentee requests, but it doesn’t really mean much unless people return their ballots,” said Schale.
The increase could be an indication of a high Democratic voter turnout in November, but Republicans say it may just be a voter shift.
“It’s an exchange of when they vote. They’re voting early and when you talk about vote by mail requests, you’re not also talking about turnout either,” said Evan Power, Assistant Treasurer for the Republican Party of Florida.
While Democrats may have requested more ballots, Republicans are traditionally  better at casting and returning them.
“So in 2014 and in 2016, Democrats left 70,000 more ballots on their kitchen table than Republicans,” said Schale. “That in a race like this could be the margin of winning or losing.”
Republicans say their vote-by-Mail numbers haven’t been growing as much as Democrat’s in recent years, simply because many of their voters prefer to show up at polls on Election Day.
Military and overseas ballots went out ten days ago.
As of 10 Am Wednesday morning, the Secretary of State reported 2,030 ballots had been cast by Republicans and only 1,324 for Democrats.

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Judicial Resignations Scrutinized

October 2nd, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
Can circuit judges ensure that their successors are appointed instead of elected?
That’s was the question before the Florida Supreme Court Tuesday.
At least some members of the court aren’t happy over how some judges are gaming the system.
In May, Attorney David Trotti filed the paperwork and paid a $5,200 fee to run for what he thought was a vacant circuit judgeship in the Jacksonville area.
“Went, filed my paperwork. They accepted it. They Qualified me. Listed me as qualified candidate, then they removed me subsequently,” said Trotti.
Unknown to Trotti and the Secretary of State, who accepted the paperwork, the current judge, Robert Foster, had resigned, saying he would leave office three days early.
Now the Supreme Court must decide if the Governor or voters fill the vacancy.
“The trial judge says this was an artificial vacancy. I think that’s a good way to put it,” said Trotti’s attorney, Phil Padovano.
Previous rulings have held when a judgeship becomes vacant before the end of the term, the Governor appoints, but Justices recognized this case was different.
“My problem is with the charade that’s being played,” said Justice Fred Lewis. “He’s not really resigning. To me it’s an affront to the people of Florida.”
One option for the court is to decide a three-day resignation is playing politics, violating judicial ethics.
Afterward, Trotti’s lawyer called the judges actions a travesty.
“To have judges acting like little kings and queens, deciding how, you know, the successors are going to be picked. I don’t think that’s appropriate,” said Padovano.
If the court were to rule in David Trotti’s favor, voters still wouldn’t get a say.
Trotti was the only one Who qualified, making him the winner if there is an election.
The Lawyer for Governor Rick Scott urged the jurists to allow the Governor to make the appointment, arguing previous rulings from the court sided with the Governor.

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Women’s Advocates Ask Rubio to Vote Against Kavanaugh Confirmation

October 2nd, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Women’s advocacy groups were in the State’s Capitol Tuesday morning, asking Senator Marco Rubio to vote against Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The National Organization for Women and the Progressive Council of North Florida delivered a letter to Senator Marco Rubio’s office, urging the Senator to consider the findings of a pending FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations facing Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“We want Senator Rubio to open his mind… and to trust women,” said Barbara DeVane with the National Organization for Women.
“He [Rubio] says that without any corroborating evidence that it’s hard for the Senator to vote against him [Kavanaugh],” said Senator Rubio’s Capital Area Regional Director Lance Watson.
Rubio’s vote is important because Republicans outnumber Democrats 51 to 49 in the US senate.
“It’s time to put party affiliation aside and stand for the people of this country,” said Dot Inman-Johnson with the Progressive Leadership Council of North Florida.
The groups say Kavanaugh’s demeanor during the Senate hearings make him unfit for the Supreme Court.
“He is not temperamentally qualified,” said Johnson.
Whether the sexual assault claims brought by Kavanaugh’s accusers ultimately stop his confirmation, groups that help victims of sexual assault say the public discussion has given a voice to the voiceless.
Meg Baldwin is the Executive Director of the Refuge House.
She says the crisis center’s sexual assault hotline has received more calls this September than in previous years, a trend that’s been seen nationally as well.
“Although this can be a very painful moment for survivors, we know too that any time a survivor reaches out for help, that help can really change the course of the next years and decades of her life,” said Baldwin.
Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson says he’ll be voting against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
If you are a victim of sexual assault and are seeking help, you can call the Florida Council against Sexual Violence at 850-297-2000 to be connected with your local crisis center.

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Advertising Constitutional Amendments Cost Taxpayers $1 Million

October 1st, 2018 by Mike Vasilinda
As voters prepare to weigh in on a dozen constitutional amendments, taxpayers here in Florida spent $1 million advertising the ballot language.
The state had little choice in spending the money.
From one end of Florida to the other, virtually every newspaper of record got a piece of a $1 million ad buy from the state.
The ads detail all 12 constitutional amendments on the November ballot.
“Well there’s a real issue whether people have ever read those right,” said FSU Political Scientist, Dr. Carol Weissert.
The 12 amendments were so long that it took two pages to print everything in English, and another two full pages in Spanish.
“It made a lot more sense when news papers were read more frequently, but it makes sense these days to save that money and do something online to make it available,” said Weissert.
Newspapers nearly lost the legal ad business in 2011.
Lawmakers wanted it all on a government web site, but newspapers fought back.
“It’s the most central repository of information really that we have in a community. Having that third party make sure that the information is published correctly I think provides a level of assurance that the public finds important,” said Dean Ridings, President of the Florida Press Association.
Unlike regular legal ads for local governments, the constitution itself requires the amendment’s wording be printed in the papers.
Changing the printing requirement would require lawmakers to put an amendment on the ballot, but few lawmakers want to anger their hometown paper.
The million dollars spent by the state is small potatoes in an 89 billion dollar budget, but as lawmakers like to say, pretty soon it starts to add up to real money.
In 2012, lawmakers did require newspapers publishing legal notices to also post the notices on their website at no additional charge.

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