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If you are a military veteran dreaming of being buried at Arlington Nation Cemetery, expect delays getting to your final resting place.

The family of one Tallahassee woman has been waiting twice as long as the cemetery web site suggests.

Retired Air Force Colonel Pete Ballas was buried at Arlington Nation Cemetery after his 2012 death.

His wife, Sandy passed last February.

Now a year later, her cremains have just been scheduled for an April 15th burial beside her husband.

“It’s very unnerving,” said Funeral Director Susie Mozolic.

But it wasn’t until this week the family and funeral home were notified of the date.

“I think it is disrespectful, because again, we’re putting that family on hold when they are trying to complete a chapter,” said Mozolic.

Arlington acknowledges that the burial of cremains are not as high a priority as a casket remains.

The families’ son told us he’s not as troubled with the delay but with the lack of communication from the cemetery.

It has been virtually non-existent.

“But, I just think not being assigned to a scheduler for almost a year is just too much,” said Mozolic.

A 2019 Inspectors General report said families can expect a wait six to 49 weeks.

This one will be 60 weeks and the waits are only expected to get longer as more and more baby boomers die.

Arlington is expected to change the standards for burial there later this year, which means regional national cemeteries scattered across the country will have to handle the overload and perhaps dash some dreams.

One in three girls falls victim to sexual abuse before turning 18.

The same is true for one in five boys.

Due to a patchwork of laws around sexual battery in Florida it can be difficult hold perpetrators accountable.

Florida’s statute of limitations for sexual battery on a minor vary based on the victim and perpetrators’ age.

Often times, victims are too late to come forward to press charges.

But legislation named ‘Donna’s Law’ moving through the Legislature would create consistency by removing the statute of limitations for sexual battery on anyone under the age of 18.

Victims like Kim Jaime who said she had been sexually abused by her father when she was a child, shared their stories at the bill’s final committee hearing in the House.

“I missed statute of limitations in the State of Florida by six months,” said Jaime.

And speaking publicly for the first time was Donna Hedrick, the woman who inspired the legislation.

Hedrick said she was raped by a chorus teacher at 15 year’s old.

She suffered in silence for 40 years.

“Only at night would I lay awake, unable to fall asleep so many times. When I did sleep I had terrible dreams about what happened,” said Hedrick.

Donna finally came forward after meeting other victims of her rapist.

“And we were finally able, face to face, to have him admit his actions to us,” said Hedrick.

But the statute of limitations had run out for all of them.

Supporters note Donna’s Law still requires there to be enough evidence to commence an investigation and it leaves the constitutional rights of the accused in tact.

It would also only apply to future cases.

Donna still won’t be able to seek justice, but she said the bill isn’t for her.

“There are many Donna’s out there who deserve their day in court,” said Hedrick.

Donna’s Law is ready for the House floor, but its future is uncertain.

It hasn’t moved in the Senate since clearing its first committee in October.

Florida law already requires parents to be notified at least 48 hours before a minor has an abortion, but parents may soon have to consent in writing if a bill passed by the Florida Senate Thursday becomes law.

Under Senate bill 404, physicians must have written, notarized authorization from a parent or guardian to perform an abortion on someone under 18.

“I did not want to tell my mother that I was pregnant,” said sponsor Senator Kelli Stargel.

Sponsor Kelli Stargel voiced cracked when she recounted talking with her mother as a pregnant 17 year old as the bill was debated on the Senate floor.

“But I am so glad I did,” said Stargel.

Former high school principle Senator Bill Montford said he’s seen the fear in a pregnant teens eyes more than once.

“There are just some parents who simply cannot or will not make good decisions for their own children,” said Montford.

But Republicans countered that parental permission is required for some of the simplest things.
“We said it’s in the best interests of children not to get a tattoo on your own,” said Senator Aaron Bean.

The bill passed 23-17, strictly down party lines.

St. Petersburg Senator Darrel Rousson said he voted no because he didn’t want to see a teen forced to carry an unwanted child.

“If I’m going to commit error, I want to commit error on the side of a woman being able to choose whether she carries to full term,” said Rouson.

The legislation does allow pregnant teens who can’t talk to their parents to seek approval for an abortion from a judge.

“Whether its a bad grade or broke a window with a baseball, you don’t want to talk to your parents, but its a conversation that has to be had,” said Stargel.

The House voted for the bill last year.

It’s expected to come back up in the next couple of weeks.

Similar legislation was declared unconstitutional 30 years ago, but appeals to a new conservative court after house passage are likely.

Florida voters won’t see recreational marijuana or an assault weapons ban on the ballot this year due to new restrictions on paid petition gatherers passed in 2019.

“It’s unfortunate that the Legislature wants to muzzle its fellow citizens,” said Gail Schwartz, Chair of Ban Assault Weapons NOW.

Citizen initiatives are once again the target of a bill moving through the Florida Legislature.

The legislation would make amending the constitution even harder by requiring campaigns pay the full cost of counting petitions, currently they pay 10 cents a petition.

It also dramatically raises the threshold to trigger a review by the State Supreme Court from 10 percent of the required 766,000 petitions to 50 percent.

Petitions will also expire faster.

Currently signatures are valid for two years from the date they were signed, but the legislation would mandate all signatures be rendered invalid on February 1st of every even numbered year.

The bill also will require the Attorney General to ask the State Supreme Court to determine whether proposed amendments violate the US Constitution.

Currently the court is only required to determine if the ballot language is misleading or contains more than one subject.

Bill sponsor Representative James Grant isn’t hiding his intent.

He believes it’s too easy to amend the state constitution.

“Our charter liberties should be protected in a constitution. It should be clear. It should be unambiguous. It should be difficult to amend,” said Grant speaking at the bill’s final House Committee stop.

During the hearing the bill faced almost unanimous opposition from a wide range of groups.

“These will strip away the constitution from the hands of the people and into the hands of millionaires, corporations and dark money,” said Ida Eskamani with the New Florida Majority.

“Elected officials should be protecting constitutional rights not restricting them,” said Kara Gross with the ACLU.

But it passed on a party line vote.

Grant said the bill isn’t retroactive, so signatures already gathered for the recreational marijuana and assault weapons ban initiatives would still be valid for the 2022 ballot.

“You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game, so those petitions that have been previously collected will be covered by the law at the time they were collected,” said Grant.

But those heavily involved in the citizen initiative process like Aliki Moncrief with the Florida Conservation Voters assert for future grassroots campaigns, the challenges the legislation will pose will be insurmountable.
“This bill really represents the final nail in the coffin for citizens’ initiatives when it comes to every day people, small organizations actually being able to have their voice heard,” said Moncrief.

The bill is ready for the House floor, but still has two more stops in the Senate.

Next Monday kicks of Florida Economic Development Week and a coalition of business groups touted some of the state’s successes and goals at the State Capitol Thursday morning.

Some of the highlights featured the high enrollment and success rates of the state’s college system and the business friendly tax climate in Florida.

Jamal Sowell, CEO of Enterprise Florida, put special emphasis on the QTI Tax Refund, which he said has helped create nearly 22,000 jobs since 2014.

“This tax refund program is focused on businesses in targeted industries such as aviation and aerospace, financial and professional services, defense and homeland security, information technology, life sciences and research and development,” said Sowell.

Speakers said the state is on track to reach its goal of growing the state’s economy from the 17th largest in the world to the 10th by 2030.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners are walking the halls of the Capitol, looking for sympathetic lawmakers.

Florida is in the minority when it comes to states allowing Nurse Practitioners to practice without a doctor’s supervision, but they are facing an uphill battle to win the authority from lawmakers.

Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners come to the Capitol by the hundreds each week.

Their goal is change the law that requires doctors to supervise them.

It’s expensive.

“Up to $50,000 a year,” said Naples ARNP Doreen Cassarino.

“That’s before they even open their doors,” added Davie ARNP Vicky Stonegale.

And nurse practitioners told us supervision doesn’t mean what you think it does.

“They don’t need to sign our charts, sign our orders. We practice, basically, independently,” said Fort Meyers ARNP Arlene Wright.

Doctors do sign off on what care the NP’s can provide.

Allowing the nurse practitioners, who have either a masters degree or a Ph.D to practice on their own is a top priority of the House Speaker.

“There is no data that in anyway supports that this is in any way dangerous and would not be effective,” said Oliva.

The legislation may or may not reduce the cost of medicine, but it will improve access.

Sponsors have said Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners will go a long way in helping patients in rural counties get care without having to travel to larger cities.

There is no Senate companion.

“When I was running my husband’s medical practice, we had two nurse practitioners as part of our practice,” said Senator Gayle Harrell.

Harrell is the chair of the Senate Health Policy Committee.

“But their education is not the same as that of a physician,” said Harrell.

But the CEO of the ARNP’s national office David Hebert said the Senator is wrong.

“They do the same things a primary care physician can do. They diagnose, they treat and they prescribe in all 50 states,” said Hebert.

And because of such strong feelings on both sides, the legislation will likely to go down to the wire and be part of any end of session horse trading.

For Miami-Dade Days at the State Capitol visitors took part in a decades old tasty tradition.

A massive 2,000-serving paella dish cooked by Bijan’s Catering in Miami was hauled into the capitol court yard and free portions were served up by lawmakers.

The dish was made of 1,540 pounds of chicken and 450 pounds of lobster.

The paella also had a combined total of 2,230 pounds of fish, crab, shrimp, scallops and mussels.

The Florida Senate has delayed a vote on a bill that would require minors get parental consent before having an abortion.

The bill has drawn sharp opposition.

Hundreds came to the Capitol Tuesday to protest.

Some held signs reading, ‘Senator Kelli Stargel Shame on You!’

But for Senator Stargel, the bill sponsor, the issue is personal.

“As a girl who had an unplanned pregnancy as a teenager, you always think that you know what your parents are going to say about the whole subject,” said Stargel.

Stargel said that wasn’t the case when she spoke with her mother.

“My mom said you know what, this is going to ruin your life. You need to have an abortion. I thought that through, I talked to the father of our baby, other people and through that conversation came to the conclusion that, that’s not what I wanted,” said Stargel.

Stargel’s daughter is now 35, and her parents are still together.

Stargel said the conversations with her family are to thank.

“It worked out better for the entire family unit. That’s what’s missing I think in this conversation so frequently today and that’s what I hope this bill will help to bring together is that conversation,” said Stargel.

While Senator Stargel’s parents helped her decide what to do, protesters said her bill ignores others who don’t come from functional families.

“The majority of young people who do not tell their parents about a decision to have an abortion, research has shown that they do not tell them because they fear abuse neglect or abandonment,” said Lauren Brenzel with the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates.

The bill does include an option for children who can’t speak with their parents to petition a court to bypass the parental consent requirement.

The legislation is now expected to be debated and voted on in the full Senate Thursday.

A proposed assault weapons ban was the subject of tough questions Tuesday from justices on the Florida Supreme Court.

The proposed ban on assault weapons had enough signatures to get a Supreme Court review of its language, even though they didn’t make the 2020 ballot.

Sponsors were peppered with questions.

Justices wanted to know if voters would really understand the full impact of the amendment from the summary on the ballot.

“It seems to me that the chief purpose of this amendment is to eliminate long guns over the next generation in the state of Florida,” said Justice Ricky Poston.

Gun rights groups called the amendment’s definition of an assault weapon misleading.

“This definition is ambiguous and does not make it clear to voters the full scope of firearms that would be banned under this amendment,” said Amber Nunnally with National Shooting Sports.

Afterwards, amendment author Jon Mills voiced optimism and concern.

“The 2022 ballot is a go, so there the court is always an education,” said Mills.=

Founder Gail Schwartz, whose nephew Alex Schachter was killed in the Parkland massacre, said win or lose in the court, the effort isn’t going away.

“Our amendment will save lives. Our amendment will help prevent the next Parkland and Pulse. Our amendment will help end the epidemic of mass shootings,” said Schwartz.

Sponsors spent all of 2019 gathering signatures and still fell over 600,000 short, raising questions of whether they will make the 2022 ballot.

Sponsors blame lawmakers, who enacted new regulations on how petition gathers are paid last year.

Ban Assault Weapons Now has collected just over 147,000 signatures.

766,000 are needed to get on the ballot, and the number could increase based on turnout in 2020.

Sexual abuse survivors will walk alongside lawmakers and elected officials over the next 42 hours to raise awareness of the 42 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse living in the U.S.

The annual walk in the Capitol is put on by Lauren’s Kids.

Senator Lauren Book is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse herself.

One in three girls and one in five boys will be sexually abused before they’re 18, but Book said that doesn’t have to be the case.

“While the weight of this problem is staggering the solution is clear. We know that 95 percent of sexual abuse is preventable with education and awareness. And that survivors can become thrivers with guidance and support,” said Book.

Every 98 seconds someone in America falls victim to sexual violence.

Book said over the 42 hours of walking, more than 1,542 people will be victimized.

After the murder for hire of FSU law professor Dan Markel, widow Wendi Adelson changed the last name of the couple’s two sons from Markel to Adelson.

She prohibited the Markel family from visiting the boys, but now new legislation that cleared a Senate Committee Tuesday could open the door to visits from the grandparents.

It is crafted to apply to very specific situations when the surviving parent or caregiver is considered an un-indicted co-conspirator.

“Imagine your child was murdered, and his spouse was implicated in that murder and you as a grandparent have no rights to see the children of your murdered son or daughter, because the other parent, who is implicated in the murder, has changed their name, and will no longer allow you to see those grandkids,” said Senate Sponsor Jeff Brandes.

One man was convicted of Dan Markel’s murder last fall.

A retrial of the alleged codefendant between the Adelson family and the hitman is set to be retried in April.

Florida farm workers and labor unions were in the Capitol Tuesday advocating for heat protections for outside laborers.

The groups are backing legislation that would require employers provide drinking water, shade and annual training to employees and supervisors on heat related illness and prevention.

They note that just last week the Florida House unanimously approved similar protections for student athletes, yet their bill has not received a single hearing.

“Whereas occupational fatalities as a whole have declined about 22 percent relative to 1992 to 2000, heat related illnesses are up fully 35 percent across all industry sectors and they’re up 45 percent in the outdoor worker sector,” said FSU College of Human Sciences Professor Dr. Joe Grzywacz.

There are no specified penalties in the legislation for employers who don’t comply.

Instead, the bill directs state agencies to determine proper punishments.

Florida Dentists flooded the Capitol Tuesday.

They are looking for ways to have the state pay back student debts that can run as high as $300,000.

One way they suggest, is for lawmakers to fund a program allowing dentists to volunteer in in communities with little dental care.

Dr. Andrew Brown said a 2016 event in Jacksonville drew four times more patients than the volunteers could serve.

“We did an impact study in 2016 in Jacksonville. We went out of our way not to let the emergency departments and health centers know about it. The week of, we had two or three public service announcements, we saw 3,200 people in 24 hours and sent 9,000 home,” said Brown.

A similar event is scheduled in April this year.

Advances in DNA testing now make it possible to identify perpetrators that would have gone undetected a decade or two ago, but people convicted of a crime have been blocked from having crime scene DNA except in the most unusual circumstances.

However, new legislation could lead to more being exonerations and convictions.

Tommy Zeigler has been on death row sine 1976.

He was convicted of murdering his wife, her parents and a handyman on Christmas Eve 1975.

He has consistently said he was innocent.

“They say that is my blood where I stood over him and beat him, to death. No sir, that is not my blood,” said Zeigler in a 2000 interview.

But when it comes to modern testing of the DNA, Zeigler has been told no by both state and Federal Courts.

“You have to prove it would change the juries mind. I think that’s insane,” said House Criminal Justice Subcommittee chair James Grant.

Rep. Grant said the standard is almost impossible to meet.

He wants it changed.

“A guy like Tommy Zeigler, the DNA may or not prove his innocence, but it certainly helps prove his case one way or another. So what we’ve tried to do is set in place a pathway where we get to a more reliability of conviction,” said Grant.

This legislation, if enacted, will likely free some people who are innocent serving time in prison.

It’s also likely to solve some cold cases.

“Because there are probably going to be some people who are not real bright, they can lie to their lawyer and say lets go test it, and a match gets hit for a rape, a murder, or something else that has gone unsolved,” said Grant.

For Zeigler, the possibility of retesting the DNA from the crime scene could mean the difference between dying in prison or on the outside.
“And until it happens to you, you don’t think it can happen to you,” said Zeigler.

The staff analysis for the legislation says innocent 73 people have been released from Florida prisons after dna testing.

Only three people have been on death row longer than Zeigler.