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The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is touting improved wait times for those seeking concealed cary permits, despite the pandemic and record applications.

Even with the additional challenges the department is processing applications faster than the previous administration.

Back in January of 2019, a person applying for a concealed carry permit could expect to wait as long as 88 days for their application to process.

“The wait times were inordinately long,” said Charlie Strickland, owner of Talon Tactical Outfitters near the state’s capital.

Strickland said things have improved since then.

“People obviously want them to go faster, but it’s faster than it was a few years ago,” said Strickland.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said applicants can now expect to wait between 42 and 43 days, depending on whether they have a criminal history.

“I made a promise to the citizens of this state that one, I’d come in and make sure that we were streamlining it and we were being efficient and on top of it that we are going to have background checks,” said Fried.

The lower wait times come despite the ongoing pandemic and a record 305,000 applications in 2020.

“In comparison to 2018 that is a 62 percent increase,” said Fried. “We’ve modernized the department, we’ve uploaded different forms right onto our website, we’ve modernized the website for the entirety of the department. And this was a huge part of making sure that we were doing this right, we’re making sure that we’re accountable to the citizens of our state and that we’re doing it efficiently.”

The state and country saw record gun sales amid the pandemic and presidential election.

Those in the gun business don’t expect sales to slow any time soon.

“I can’t predict what’s going to happen with the Biden administration, but any time they mention gun control the numbers are going to go through the roof,” said Strickland.

And while Strickland said gun sales are up significantly this year, he did highlight that more people have also been taking training courses to learn how to properly use firearms in line with state law.

Fried is optimistic the demand for concealed carry permits will return to pre-2020 levels in the near future.

“We are excited for 2021 to come and everybody to start calming down. So we do anticipate that those numbers will drop back down,” said Fried.

Wait times aren’t back to their pre-pandemic average of between one and 25 days, but the department is hopeful it can get back to a similar speed within three to six months.

As many as 10,000 Florida teachers and principles are believed to have passed their certification exams using materials the federal government alleges were stolen from the state.

The Ft. Myers couple behind the prep course that used the materials face lengthy prison terms.

Kathleen and Jeremy Jasper face 108 counts of wire fraud and three counts of stealing trade secrets, in this case, the contents of the teacher certification exam and the executive leadership exam.

As the couple entered the court, we asked if they believed they had committed a crime.

“We’re not going to talk to you,” said Jeremy Jasper.

Once inside the courthouse they surrendered their passports.

“The defendants in this case are accused of breaching the conditions of taking the test,” said Assistant US Attorney Justin keen.

Keen, the lead prosecutor in the case, said the couple would take the exams multiple times.

“And they are accused of harvesting the exam questions. Basically memorizing the test questions and then brain dumping them,” said Keen.

The couple then sold what they learned through their company, Nava ED.

As many as 10,000 certified teachers and principles may have taken the courses.

“It isn’t simply that trade secrets that were stolen, which is a crime, but it’s the secondary direct impact it has on potentially compromising the integrity of the process by which the state of Florida tests, evaluates and certifies its teachers and principles,” said Lawrence Keefe, US Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

After the Department of Education became suspicious, the couple was barred from taking the certification exam.

The indictment says an unspecified number of school districts, colleges and universities encouraged applicants to use NavaED.

Attorney Tom Finley who is representing the Jaspers, said the couple is innocent.

“A lot of those questions are already on the FDOE website, so how can they be trade secrets,” said Finley.

Combined, the coupe face centuries, not decades, in prison and millions in fines.

As the case moves forward, the couple is forbidden from using the materials in question, but may continue to operate their business to provide prep courses not related to teacher certification exams.

There is new video in the case of the former state COVID-19 data scientist.

This time from the State.

The Department of Law Enforcement is pushing back against claims that agents pointed their guns at children during the execution of a search warrant Monday morning.

In a video released late Monday by the former state Covid data scientist, Rebekah Jones, police can be seen pointing their guns up her stairwell after Jones told them her husband and children were upstairs.

“And pointing guns at my kids who were coming down the stairs,” said Jones.

Now the state is pushing back, releasing body cam footage from Tallahassee Police.

FDLE said it shows agents were more than patient, waiting 20 minutes for Jones to open the door.

A statement from FDLE Commissioner Rick Swerengen doesn’t deny guns were pointed at others but does say: “Agents afforded Ms. Jones ample time to come to the door and resolve this matter in a civil and professional manner. As this video will demonstrate, any risk or danger to Ms. Jones or her family was the result of her actions.”

In our Tuesday interview, we asked why it took her so long.

“They knocked on the door. They messaged my lawyer to say the police are here. And they told me to go downstairs, do what they said. I was in my nightgown, so I think I ended up putting on my husband’s sweat pants,” said Jones.

Since then, the case has taken a number of turns.

On Wednesday, prosecutors in Tallahassee withdrew a plea agreement Jones had negotiated in a 2019 stalking case.

She first used an expletive to describe why, then told us this.

“It’s just another hit to try and interrupt my life,” said Jones.

Florida Democrats also weighed in on the raid on her house.

“The raid prompted the resignation of a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission who sharply criticized the underlying warrant,” said State Senator Lori Berman.

Meanwhile, Jones’ legal defense GoFundMe account has topped $200,000.

When fired in May, Jones also created a GoFundMe account.

It totals more than a quarter million dollars, bringing the total she has raised to over a half million dollars.

Thursday was International Human Rights Day, commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations following World War II.

Part of the declaration is a commitment to address the issue of human trafficking and Florida is preparing do just that, ahead of hosting one of the largest magnets for human trafficking for the second year in a row.

Last year during Super Bowl LIV in Miami, 20 trafficking victims were rescued and 42 arrests of johns and accomplices were made.

Human Rights Attorney Mark Schlakman said there are a number of reasons why the event is often a magnet for traffickers.

“It’s a global event and it’s a high dollar event,” said Shlakman.

In less than 60 days Tampa will host Super Bowl LV.

The Statewide Council on Human Trafficking heard how the region is preparing in a virtual meeting Thursday.

“The goal of the campaign is to increase human trafficking awareness in Tampa Bay. Teaching and reminding communities and businesses how to recognize the indicators and report suspected activity,”said Hillsborough County Commissioner Kimberly Overman.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said 333 people have already reached out to identify suspected human trafficking instances and local law enforcement have made multiple arrests as part of a two day operation.

“We’ll continue to do this as the Super Bowl approaches, during the Super Bowl, but more importantly following the Super Bowl,” said Chief Deputy Donna Lusczynski with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Also on Thursday in the state’s capital, the Tallahassee Mayor pledged to leverage the 1948 UN Human Rights Declaration to help fight human trafficking at the local level.

Schlakman said the international commitment could be used as leverage to combat trafficking during the Super Bowl as well.

“Clearly it could provide additional perspective, resources, mechanisms, visibility,” said Schlakman.

$150,000 in human trafficking awareness campaigns are planned ahead of Super Bowl 55.

It’s estimated those campaigns will reach more than 62.5 million people.

During the Human Trafficking Council meeting, state lawmakers on the council teased multiple legislative initiatives likely to come up in the 2021 session, saying next year is expected to be a big policy year for human trafficking.

Hospitalizations are on the rise as daily COVID case numbers continue to trend upward in Florida, but the Florida Hospital Association claims the medical system is better prepared for a surge now compared to where it was in the summer.

FHA reports there are about 4,800 patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state.

It’s not nearly as many Florida saw during the summer surge, when over 10,000 were hospitalized.

“We’ve obviously learned a lot about the virus,” said FHA President and former Florida AHCA Secretary Mary Mayhew.

After speaking with hospital representatives across the state, Mayhew believes this time hospitals are better positioned to handle another surge.

“We’re not using ventilators as early on as we were back in March and April. So that has certainly helped to improve the treatment, the outcomes,” said Mayhew.

Part of the optimism is due to the promise of a vaccine, likely arriving within days.

“Incredibly important to have a strong workforce. Vaccinating that workforce will help to ensure we have capacity in the system to care for individuals,” said Mayhew.

Mayhew is also optimistic about new treatments for COVID-19, including monoclonal anti-bodies.

She predicts the combination of the treatment and vaccination of healthcare workers and vulnerable populations will keep hospitalizations at a manageable level.

Mayhew told us the biggest challenges facing hospitals now are the less visible effects of the pandemic.

Staffing fatigue is an ongoing issue.

There’s also the increase in mental health issues and substance abuse that often come in tandem.

“We can’t overstate the concern about the impact of the pandemic, the isolation that it has created and the loss of income, the impact that that’s having on families and individuals,” said Mayhew.

One silver lining Mayhew highlighted is the increase in Telehealth services, which has created greater and more timely access to healthcare, especially for those suffering from mental health crises.

Over the past week, Florida has added more than 65,000 new cases, averaging nearly 9,300 new COVID infections a day.

The new wave of infections is reigniting calls for a statewide mask mandate and the idea is now garnering bipartisan support.

Republican State Representative Mike Caruso has joined with Democrats who have been calling for a mandate since early on in the pandemic.

“The masks should have never been a political divider for our state and for our country,” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.

Fried, the top elected state Democrat, began pushing the Governor to issue a statewide mask mandate back in June.

“Leadership has got to start at the top. So hopefully Representative Caruso’s courage to come together and to really make this a nonpartisan issue is the first step to making those changes,” said Fried.

In recent days local governments have launched new efforts to encourage mask wearing.

Tampa’s ‘Choose Your Mask’ campaign is pushing a flier that implies the choice between a face mask or a ventilator.

But the local campaigns are only symbolic in nature.

The Governor’s latest pandemic executive order prohibits local governments from actually enforcing mask mandates.

Dr. Ron Saff, who serves on the board of the Florida Physicians for Social Responsibility, said any movement towards mask enforcement is a step in the right direction.

“And our political leaders in the House, in the Senate, they should have stepped up a long time ago to put the reigns on Governor DeSantis,” said Dr. Saff.

Representative Caruso has said he intends to push his fellow Republicans to enact a statewide mask mandate in the 2021 session, but a legislative mask mandate would have to survive the Governor’s veto pen.

The Governor’s Office told us it has so far not been contacted by Representative Caruso.

We reached out to Rep. Caruso for comment on this story, but did not hear back.

The home of a data scientist fired by the state for insubordination earlier this year was raided Monday by the Florida Department ofLaw Enforcement. 

Florida’s Democratic Party Chair is not running for re-election after a disastrous 2020 election. The state party lost seats in the legislature and congress. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us,  her re-election would have been problematic.

Democrats expected to go from seventeen to 19 seats in the state Senate Instead, they lost a coveted south Florida seat. Sen. Darryl Rouson is a Democrat from St. Petersburg and says 

“So it just means we have to work a little harder.”

It was worse in the House, where Democrats lost three incumbents and two targeted open seats. Orlando Democratic Representative Anna Eskamani says Dems need to change strategy.

“We’ll have to be more aggressive in committee, where we have more numbers. We’re going to have to ask tough questions” says Eskamani.

And then there were the two congressional seats in South Florida  that it lost.

Democrats have been calling for new leadership since the party took an 8 hundred thousand dollar Payroll Protection loan that became fodder for Republican commercials.

Now, party Chair Terri Rizzo, who has been in the job three years, sent this memo saying she would not seek re-election in January.

Eskamani knew the resignation was coming and adds “And I hope the executive director does the same.”

Eskamani was one of the first to speak out against the PPP loan and one of the first to call for new leadership.

“And this needs to set a new standard where we are going to focus on everyday people. The incoming leadership cannot be bought and sold by the consultant class” she says.

Former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz and national committee woman Nikki Barnes have declared they are running. But Eskamani says others may jump in. She has questions.

“What’s their organizing model? How do they interpret power?”

In the end, Eskamani says the party must change how it operates…from relying heavily on consultants to being silenced by taking corporate cash, Other wise, it will be more of the same with a different face.  

Democrats lost legislative seats despite more than 15 million last minute dollars in out of state money used to help democratic legislative candidates.

The Florida Chamber says it has been told by the State that unemployment taxes will go up next year by almost two hundred percent, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the state is so far mum on the increase.

On March first, Florida’s trust fund for paying unemployment claims sat at just over four billion. At the end of November, it was down more than 75 percent to just under a billion. 

To replenish the fund, Carolyn Johnson, the Director of Business, Economic Development & Innovation Policy at the Florida Chamber says the state has told it minimum rates will increase by almost 200 percent.

“This is coupled with businesses hurting due to the pandemic” says Johnson.

Employers with the best record will see the tax go from seven dollars an employee to twenty dollars and thirty cents.

Johnson also says “Every employer that’s not at the minimum or maximum will have a rate based based off the number of layoffs over the last three years”

The Chamber says it was given the new rates by the Department of Revenue, but the Department hasn’t officially released anything and did not respond to email and phone requests. 

The January hike is a far cry from the great recession when the lowest rate skyrocketed by more than a hundred dollars per employee.

But the chamber says it is still a big hit to businesses.

“If  you’re an employer with a hundred employees, you’re seeing a thirteen hundred dollar tax increase that you might not have expected coming January one” says Johnson. 

The Chamber says layoffs because of the pandemic will not count against an employers record because an executive order exempted them. The increase comes as businesses must also cope with a higher minimum wage starting September first next year.

Florida’s higher than usual unemployment is reaping one benefit for businesses. With fewer people working, and more working from home, workers compensation costs for businesses is going down. The state has approved a six point six percent decrease next year.  First. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis says it is one more reason Florida is a good place to operate a business.

“As we’ve seen with automobile insurance, fewer claims lead to the carriers rolling out discounts back to the policy holders so this is the same thing. I run risk management for the state and out risk management department has seen fewer workers comp claims because fewer people are working in their typical occupations and they are tele-working, so again, fewer hazards of the job” says Patronis.

The decrease applies to new and all policypolicies in effect on January first.

A hearing tonight by the Michigan Senate Oversight committee will hear testimony on election irregularities. Some GOP members still want legislatures in contested states to order their electors to vote for President Trump, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the same thing nearly happened here in Florida during the 2000 recount.

It was a rare sight 20 years ago. The State House introduced a resolution.

“A con concurrent resolution appointing electors for President and Vice President of the United States” read the title.

The Florida House was doing what governor Ron DeSantis has been urging other legislatures to do: ordering electors to vote for a specific candidate.”

Rep. Dudley Goodlet (R-Ft. Myers) was the rules chair and lead the charge.

“This power is conferred upon the legislatures of the states by the Constitution of the United States” Goodlet told colleagues on the House floor.

At the time, Democrats, including newly elected Dan Gelber of Miami, argued the effort was an attempt to steal the election.

“We will be disenfranchising every single voter” predicted gelber.

The House approved the resolution along party lines, 79 to 41.

But the Senate took a much more cautious approach, delaying a vote until it was absolutely necessary to preserve the state’s electoral vote. John McKay was the President at the time.

“I was very concerned Florida’s actions might be used in the future as justification to certify votes for one Presidential candidate or another” McKay told us by phone.

And what nearly happened here 20 years ago likely would have set a precedent for today’s legislatures in contested states.

Dan Gelber is now the Mayor of Miami Beach.

“Had the Senate acted, I think it would be something thats would not be just  bad precedent, but there would always be an urge, from one side or the other,  to impose its will over the will of the voters” says Gelber today.

And The window for any state legislatures to vote is narrowing. Electors meet December 14th in every Capitol across the Country. 

The Florida Senate never took a vote in 2000, but it would have if it was needed to make the states electors votes count.

It’s been more than seven years since Florida Universities raised tuition. And this year lawmakers face a pandemic induced 2 point 7 billion decline in revenue, which, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, has lawmakers putting tuition hikes back on the table.

At six thousand three hundred and seventy dollars a year, University tuition in Florida, before fees,  is the second in lowest in the nation. Only Wyoming charges less. 

“And so our product by any scale comparable is a fraction, in most cases, of other states, and its something we’ll have to look at” says newly sworn in Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Pasco County).

Flordia lawmakers face the toughest budget balancing act they’ve seen in a decade. Senate President Simpson is an advocate for foster kids, and says lawmakers will have to make difficult choices.

“When you start putting priorities together, I’m going to have a higher priority to make sure we’re taking care of those must vulnerable children, and and we haven’t raised tuition in ten years” says Simpson.

When he was governor, Rick Scott refused to reappoint university trustees who had voted for fee hikes. Now as US Senator, he’s weighing in again.

In a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation, Scott says he will soon file federal legislation penalizing states that hike tuition.

Under his proposal, Scott says “All federal funding will be cut off if tuition or fees are increased.”

At he other end of the legislature, House Speaker Chris Sprowls says not all degrees should cost the same.

“If they can get on line and engage in higher in higher education as a way to help them find a job, then lets make that as easy as possible for them” says Sprowls (R-Clearwater).

In the end, any tuition hike would have to get the okay from the governor, and Ron DeSantis has said in the past:

”I don’t want to tax anyone more.”

But that was before the pandemic.

So far, United Faculty of Florida, the union representing professors hasn’t taken a position on supporting a tuition hike.