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The county governments surrounding the state capital and Orlando, Leon and Orange Counties, are now both requiring every employee to show proof of being vaccinated.

Employees have until October 1st to prove they’ve had a shot or face termination.

In his memo to employees, Leon County Administrator Vince Long said his message is very simple and very serious: Unvaccinated employees pose a significant risk to spread the virus.

“I have to insure that we have a ready work force to respond to the needs of this community. Especially related to the COVID-19 variant as well a lot of other things like hurricane season,” said Long.

Long estimates that just half of the county’s 1,000 employees have had a shot.

“That number is just not acceptable, frankly,” said Long.

A May 28th memo from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gives employer mandates a green light.

There are just two exceptions to the vaccine requirement: Medical or religious.

Employees who have had COVID are not exempt from proving that they are vaccinated.

At the County public works site, we found mixed reaction.

“I have no problem because I’m vaccinated,” said Leon County employee Stevie Smith.

We asked how he felt about working alongside others who are not vaccinated.

“That’s their choice,” said Smith.

But the mandate leaves some in tough a tough spot.

One worker who remained unnamed told us he was not vaccinated.

We asked if the new mandate would drive him to quit.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said.

At the Capitol Thursday, Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried once again called on the Governor make daily data available, but has not considered her own vaccine mandate.

“We have not gotten there yet. We are thinking again, of creativity,” said Fried.

If cases continue to spike, it’s likely more governments and private businesses to enact a vaccine mandate.

We reached out to the Governor’s Office.

Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told us in a statement, “Governor DeSantis stands for individuals’ rights to medical privacy and opposes discrimination in all its forms. The provision that county employees who decline to show proof of vaccination will be fired is coercive and appears discriminatory on its face.”

She added the office’s legal team is looking at the policy.

A new report by Environment Florida’s Research and Policy Center examined efforts to undermine solar power advances in six states and at the federal level.

The report analyzed how investor owned utilities have spent millions to slow the growth of solar energy here in the sunshine state.

Google’s Project Sunroof estimates 92 percent of Florida homes are capable of using solar power.

“We have the third largest potential for rooftop solar in the country,” said Ryann Lynn with Environment Florida.

But as of 2019 only 60,000 homes and businesses, just over half a percent of the state’s electricity customers, had installed rooftop solar.

“The overall policy framework is not conducive to rooftop solar growth,” said Lynn.

The new report blames the influence of investor owned utilities for the slow growth of solar in the state.

In the 2014 and 2016 election cycles alone investor owned utilities funneled over $43 million to political candidates, parties and committees.

“These companies also paid for an army of lobbyists between 2014 and 2017. Between 90 and 100 lobbyists were employed annually, which is more than one for every two state legislators,” said Lynn.

The report advocates for policies that would allow non-utility solar producers, like a local business, to sell the energy they make to their neighbors.

It also recommends mandating utilities generate a portion of their energy using clean sources.

“It’s our voice that’s gonna overpower the lobbying efforts of these big companies. It’s gonna take all of us getting coordinated and unifying on our message to get more solar power in,” said Clifford Mitchem with Crew Solar.

Florida currently ranks 26th in the nations for rooftop solar generation.

As of 2019 solar accounted for just three percent of the total electricity generated in the state.

The solar community has had some successes over the years, defeating the 2016 “Consumers for Smart Solar” constitutional amendment and an attempt by utility companies last year to rollback net metering, which allows solar producers to get paid for the energy they produce.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner and Gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Fried held a news conference for the second day in a row, hoping to push the Governor to again publish daily infection counts.

The state stopped daily COVID reporting in June.

Fried noted there were 16,038 new infections on Wednesday, the highest since January.

Fried called the numbers proof of the need for the state to do more.

“If the Governor’s office has this information, fantastic. Put it on to the reporting sites.This is a simple… We were doing up until two months ago and the only reason I can fathom why we’re not doing that is because they don’t want to recognize our current trajectory, our spikes in the way the numbers are going,” said Fried.

Fried indicated Thursday she will hold daily briefings on numbers until the Governor takes action.

Florida Realtors are backing a plan to change the constitution to guarantee more money goes into affordable housing in Florida.

They’re starting out with a $13 million war chest.

Every mortgage transaction, deed, stock transfer or written obligation to pay money is subject to a documentary tax in Florida.

The tax is 70 cents on every $100.

As of May, the state had collected a whopping $1.2 billion for the fiscal year.

By law, a fourth of it has been going into an affordable housing trust fund.

“Every single year, a portion of the housing trust funds are swept to the state’s general revenues,” said Christina Pappas with the Florida Realtors Association.

But this year, state lawmakers cut the funding for affordable housing in half, directing the money to sea level rise and septic to sewer projects.

The cut, or shift, has prompted Florida realtors to put $13 million behind a constitutional amendment.

The initiative seeks to restore affordable housing’s share of the tax back to 25 percent.

“If you are a school teacher, a firefighter, a nurse, you typically can’t afford to have the downpayment that you need,” said Pappas.

But the effort has angered incoming Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.

“I said to them, I’ll be honest with you, you declared war on the Florida Legislature,” said Passidomo.

The realtors amendment requires two thirds of the money go to the purchase of housing, raising questions if realtors are trying to guarantee themselves a pay check.

Realtors need just shy of 223,000 signatures for the Supreme Court to review it.

“We must challenge it,” said Passidomo.

If they get them, Passidomo said lawmakers will ask the court to throw it off the ballot.

“One, because I believe it’s misleading. And number two. It would impact our constitutional duty to pass a balanced budget,” said Passidomo.

But if the realtors make it to the 2022 ballot, they expect smooth sailing because affordable housing is a problem statewide.

Some Senators also see the amendment as self serving, arguing most of the amendment’s money would go do down payment assistance, which amounts to commission for realtors.

Commissioner of Agriculture and gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Fried is taking on the Governor again , holding her first COVID-19 press conference following the recent spike in cases.

The commissioner said she’s stepping up because the Governor won’t.

In the cabinet room Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis held a private roundtable casting doubt on the effectiveness of masks in school.

“Our confidence in some of the pediatric leadership and some of the medical leadership has been shattered by how these people have reacted to this pandemic,” said DeSantis.

In the same room two days later, his possible 2022 opponent had a different message.

“We are very much still in the middle of a major public health crisis in this state,” said Fried.

The Democratic Ag Commissioner encouraged Floridians to mask up, vaccinated or not, in accordance with new CDC guidance.

“These are things that we already know. We’ve been living with this for almost a year and a half,” said Fried.

She also advised parents to heed the universal masking recommendation from the CDC when sending their kids back to school.

“Buy different types of masks, whether it is with dinosaurs or their favorite cartoons. You know this is maybe an inconvenience to them, but I’d rather it be a small inconvenience that you can make fun, than at the risk of getting our children sick,” said Fried

Fried pointed out that all she and local governments can do is encourage masking and vaccination.

The Florida Legislature took mandates and fines off the table this past legislative session.

And Fried acknowledged the uphill battle officials face convincing the 40 percent of eligible Floridians who so far have said no to the shot.

“95 percent of the people that are dying and in the hospitals are people that have been unvaccinated, and so eventually these individuals are gonna know family members and friends who are in the hospitals and it may take that to be a wake up call to so many people. I’m hoping that we can prevent that,” said Fried.

Fried also called on the Governor to restart daily COVID data reporting.

In an emailed statement DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told us, “The COVID data that Nikki Fried discussed today is reported to the CDC every day by the Florida Department of Health. Therefore, the state is in fact providing that data – where else would she have gotten it? It is not “hidden” or obfuscated in any way, and it’s regrettable that a Florida elected official would imply that DOH is doing anything improper in terms of COVID reporting. The data is publicly available, though it’s not clear why Fried is presenting it with her own commentary, because she isn’t a doctor, epidemiologist, or public health specialist.”

And the Commissioner said Wednesday’s briefing will be the first of many, but declined to give specifics on how many or how often.

Floridians will have the opportunity to stock up on school supplies and save some money with the kick off of the 10-day back to school sales tax holiday starting this Saturday.

The Florida Retail Federation said forecasted spending is up this year, with the average family expected to spend up to $900 on school supplies.

Throughout the 10-day holiday it’s estimated Floridians will save $69.4 million in taxes on clothing, footwear and backpacks costing up to $60 and computers less than a $1,000.

Also on most school supplies costing $15 or less.

“So we’re definitely seeing more people that are going to be shopping online and we understand that. And we encourage that if you do shop online, shop with a retailer that invests in your community. We use the term ‘find it in Florida’. There’s a lot of retailers large and small that invest in Florida, hire Floridians and pay taxes in Florida. So if you do shop online, try and shop with one of them and support your local community,” said Federation President Scott Shaley.

Between the back to school, hurricane and freedom week holidays Floridians are expected to avoid a grand total of $168 million in sales tax this year.

Forty years ago on July 27, 1981, six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a shopping mall.

His severed head was found two weeks later.

The case forever changed the way parents guarded their children and how Florida and the nation look for those who go missing.

Adam Walsh was left playing video games unattended in a department store in the summer of 1981.

He was never seen again.

Following the murder, John and Reve Walsh began a crusade for kids.

“Someday no one will have to face the anguish they have undergone,” said then-Governor Bob Graham in 1983.

That same year Graham signed the first legislation in the country creating a missing children’s clearing house.

“It’s a, very rewarding seeing your accomplishments finally come to lite, but it will never erase the that we’ve experienced,” said Mrs. Walsh after the bill signing ceremony.

Serial Killer Otis Toole confessed twice but was never tried for the murder.

At the time, the Walsh’s told us Toole wasn’t important, saving kids was.

“We haven’t really concerned ourselves with vengeance. I think that is something that eats you up,” said Mr. Walsh.

The first clearing house was housed just blocks from the State Capitol.

In 1984, it became the temporary home of the national clearing house for missing kids.

Since then, the staff has grown from four to 17.

They work 24/7.

“And ultimately, that led to what we have today, where we receive these notifications on our phones and we receive more information through street signs and the lottery,” said FDLE Special Agent in Charge Chad Brown.

Since 2003 Amber Alerts have recovered 227 of 244 children.

Brown told us it’s a stat the state can be proud of.

“Oh, it feels fantastic,” said Brown.

While the clearing house has moved on to modern quarters, the Walsh’s work continues to pay dividends to this day.

The Walsh’s went on to have three more children.

FDLE is encouraging people not to mute Amber Alerts on your phone because they save lives.

The CDC announced Tuesday it is now recommending universal masking in schools when students return in the fall.

Governor Ron DeSantis pushed back against the idea in an unnoticed roundtable held Monday with medical experts opposed to masking children.

The doctors blamed masking children for higher rates of mental illness and cast doubt on their efficacy.

The Governor’s office didn’t provide notice of the roundtable until six hours after it had ended.

A recording shows the discussion focused on the same topic that resulted in another roundtable being removed from YouTube in April: Masking children.

“This should absolutely not be imposed. It should not be mandated,” said DeSantis.

Participating doctors cast doubts on the effectiveness of masking in schools.

“The correlational evidence I think is mixed and there’s literally no randomized evidence whatsoever for these masks in schools,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.

Los Angeles child psychologist Dr. Mark McDonald blamed masks in part for a 300 and 400 percent increase in depression and anxiety in children.

“Mental illness is a catastrophe in this country, primarily due to lock downs in children, but the masks is not helping. The masks are nothing more than a symbol of fear and anxiety,” said Dr. McDonald.

Chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the Tufts University School of Medicine Dr. H. Cody Meissner also called the American Academy of Pediatrics’ universal masking recommendation ‘virtue signaling’.

“People like to say they’re basing their decisions on science, but they’re not. They’re basing their recommendations on emotion,” said Der. Meissner.

Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture and Gubernatorial hopeful Nikki Fried called the roundtable ‘one sided’.

“And look, if he’s not going to come in and he’s not going to have a mask mandate for our state, at least give people the tools to make proper decisions,” said Fried.

Fried also criticized the lack of transparency around the discussion and called on the Governor to return to daily reporting of COVID data.

We asked the Governor’s Office why the event was closed to the public and the media.

DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told us, “We recorded the entire roundtable discussion to post on Rumble so it’s accessible to media and the general public. We generally use Rumble for public videos these days, after experiencing censorship from YouTube several months ago.”

The full video of the roundtable can be found here.

Florida is one of nine states that ended additional $300 unemployment payments more than two months early on June 26th because thousands of jobs were going unfilled, but a lawsuit filed late Sunday seeks to restore the weekly stipend.

An estimated 150,000 Floridians lost $300 a week in additional federal unemployment payments at the end of June.

Now a new law suit filed on behalf of ten unemployed Floridians seeks to force the state to make the payments.

Gia Cuccero is one of the plaintiffs.

“There’s restaurant help and bartenders. I’ve never done anything like that in my life. I’m 52 years old and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Cuccero.

The American Cares Act funding runs through September 6th, but in May the Governor said it was keeping people from looking for work.

“We’ve got almost half a million job opening in the state of Florida,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

“And what he did was throw out the baby with the bath water,” said Attorney Marie Mattox, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case.

Florida law reads in part says the state must “secure…all advantages available under the provisions of federal law relating to reemployment assistance”

“No person is above the law and that certainly includes the Governor or a governmental bureaucrat in charge of DEO,” said Gautier Kitchen, another attorney working on the case.

Nine of the ten plaintiffs are women, in part because women have been hit harder by the loss of the extra cash.

“If you’d kept the benefits in place until September 6th, it gives the opportunity for some of these mothers taking care of their kids, to send their kids back to school full time,” said Attorney Scott Behren, also representing plaintiffs in the case.

For Cuccero, the future remains uncertain.

“If I get a job interview, I have to get to that interview. I don’t have money to get to that job interview,” said Cuccero.

By ending the payments early, the state is refusing an estimated $400 million that could have gone into the economy.

The plaintiffs want a judge to order the payments and make them retroactive.

Update: Here is a statement from the Governor and DEO:

The Department has received the lawsuit and will respond accordingly; however, the Department contests the alleged violation of law. Below is background information for you on this topic.

On May 12, 2021, the Department announced Florida’s ‘Return to Work’ initiative, which is focused on encouraging Floridians to return to the workforce, helping employers attract job seekers, and continuing to fuel the state’s economic growth. As part of Florida’s Return to Work initiative, the Department announced on May 24, 2021, the state’s withdrawal of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation and Mixed Earners Unemployment Compensation programs, which, in compliance with Department of Labor policies, went into effect on June 26, 2021.

The Department withdrew from these programs due to positive, record-breaking economic factors. For 11 consecutive months, Florida’s unemployment rate, currently at 5.0 percent, has remained below the national rate, which is currently at 5.9 percent. For 14 consecutive months, Florida has continuously gained jobs, with more than 907,900 jobs added since the height of the pandemic. Additionally, there are more than 520,000 job postings currently available across Florida.

Florida businesses and employers are hiring across the state and need unemployed Floridians to return to the workforce. The Department stands ready to assist Floridians in this process.

Florida reported more than 73,000 new COVID infections last week.

It’s the highest since January and that has some Floridians renewing calls for universal masking when students return to school in the fall.

The pressure is building on school districts, which are trying to balance safety and personal choice.

In the state’s capital county masks will be optional for students they return in the fall.

There and in districts across the state local officials are facing mounting pressure to make masks mandatory.

“There is no good reason to not have a mask mandate,” said Leon County English teacher and parent Sarah Marquez at a Monday rally in front of the Tallahassee City Hall.

At the rally in the shadow of the State Capitol teachers, community members and activists urged elected officials to follow the universal masking recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Putting a group of unvaccinated and unmasked people in a room is a potential super-spreader event,” said Leon County parent Isabel Ruano.

Leon Superintendent Rocky Hanna said his decision to make masks optional was based on local health data.

“Zero hospitalizations from that age range of five to eleven who are not eligible for vaccines. Zero hospitalizations and zero deaths between the ages of twelve and eighteen,” said Hanna.

But the Florida Education Association pointed out, school officials who may favor universal masking are faced with a Governor who has vowed to call a special session to revoke masking authority if districts impose mandates.

“He’s saying he doesn’t want the federal government telling Florida what to do, but he’s gone out and said no district may do that,” said FEA President Andrew Spar.

While no districts have announced universal mask mandates so far, that could change if the Delta variant continues to spread through the state.

The Florida School Boards Association favors local control over the issue, as does Hanna.

“Let communities decide what’s best for them, best for their community,” said Hanna.

And if the Legislature does return to strip districts of their authority to regulate masking in schools, Hanna vowed he’d lead the charge taking the issue to court.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, seven children in Florida have died of COVID.

More than 250,000 in that age range have been infected.

The fight to allow felons that are too poor to pay their court-ordered fines and fees continued in an Atlanta appellate court Thursday. A

The Southern Poverty Law Center is pushing a novel argument that the state’s financial requirements disproportionately impact women of color and therefore violates the 19th Amendment.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Florida’s requirement that felons must pay all fines, fees and restitution before being able to vote last September.

The court ruled the financial obligations were a punishment for a crime, not a tax.

“We brought additional claims that go beyond just their wealth,” said Nancy Abudu, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Abudu is representing Rosemary McCoy and Sheila Singleton.

According to court documents the Jacksonville women owe a combined total of more than $24,000 in fees and restitution.

“It’s unrealistic in our clients’ situation,” said Abudu.

Attorneys are now making the case because women, particularly women of color, are less likely to be able to afford to pay, the Florida law violates the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote..

“You have one fourth of Black women who are living below the poverty line. You have 43 percent of Black women who have a criminal conviction who are unemployed,” said Abudu.

The argument provides a rare opportunity for the courts to weigh in on the scope of the 19th Amendment, which has only been before the US Supreme Court on two previous occasions.

Earlier in the case though, a District Court Judge rejected the 19th amendment claims made by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In the opinion the judge argued the law has a greater impact on men, who are incarcerated at much higher rates.

But Abudu said that argument misses the point.

“He didn’t take into account the disproportionate number statistically of women who are in the criminal justice system and therefore face harder burdens,” said Abudu.

Plaintiffs hope the appellate court will strike down Florida’s law based on Thursday’s hearing or that it will at least send the case back to the district court to reconsider the 19th Amendment arguments.

SPLC attorneys pointed out the For the People Act, if passed by Congress, could moot the whole case because it would require felons’ voting rights be restored upon release from prison.

There are going to be more students coming to Florida State University for the first time than any time in history.

Add to that the feeling the pandemic could be over, which could be a recipe for disaster.

Florida State is expecting up to 7,000 new freshmen this fall and an additional 7,000 returning sophomores who weren’t on campus last year because of the pandemic.

“There adrenaline for everybody to get back together, and with that adrenaline, anything can happen,” said FSU Student Body President Nastassia Janvier.

At a forum graduate students, university and community leaders outlined what a full return to campus will be like.

“We are recommending masks if you are indoors,” said Executive Director of University Housing Shannon Staten.

All 6,700 dorm slots will be full.

Students must be cleared to move in, either by proving they have been vaccinated or by getting tested.

“Anyone who is positive for COVID has to isolate off campus,” said Staten.

Students are going to be encourage to social distance in the outdoors and have as much outdoor activity as possible.

Bar owners in nearby college town are predicting a big year.

“Could be one of our largest quarters, three and four, to date,” said Jason Burroughs, owner of Township Tallahassee.

Student Government is launching a program it is calling ‘Angel Drink’.

“For example, you would say starfruit, and you would order starfruit and this would specifically signal for the servers, I need help, I need assistance,” said Janvier.

Deputy Chief of FSU’s police department Major Justin Maloy said officers’ focus won’t be on underage drinking.

“We’re focused on the bigger picture of crime in our community,” said Maloy.

The big picture includes being aware in new surroundings, keeping heads out of phones while crossing the street and protecting personal property.

All skills many lost during the pandemic.

Tallahassee and surrounding Leon County rank sixth in the state in per-capita crime in crime figures for 2020.

First time arriving college students are often unsuspecting targets.

Florida and 13 states have reached agreements worth a combined $26 billion with four companies over damage inflicted by the opioid crisis.

The money flowing to Florida will be used to stem the recent spike in overdoses during the pandemic.

Florida will receive $1.6 billion over the next 17 and a half years.

Attorney General Ashley Moody says the settlement is a victory for the state at time when 21 Floridians are dying a day from opiate overdose.

“COVID-19 has exacerbated our overdose rate in Florida,” said Moody.

In 2020 Florida saw a 37 percent spike in fatal overdoses, with more than 7,500 losing their lives.

The litigation targeted three opioid distributors including AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson.

Also included is opioid manufacturer and marketer Johnson & Johnson.

“And today’s announcement shows that they are willing to be held accountable. They know they need to provide redress to the states that are suffering,” said Moody.

As part of the settlement the distributors will be subject to new overbite and accountability requirements.

Johnson & Johnson has also agreed to stop selling opioids for 10 years and is banned from lobbying activities related to the drugs.

But the opioid crisis has grown beyond pharmaceutical pain medicines.

In recent years blackmarket opioids like fentanyl have largely taken their place as the leading killers.

“We have to be just as purposeful, directed, focused on our border that is out of control with the fentanyl flooding in and making sure that we’re holding the traffickers accountable in our communities. And we will continue to do that. It’s a multi-front fight: courtrooms, the streets and our border,” said Moody.

Even with the settlement, the state will continue its battle against Perdue Pharmaceuticals.

It’s a battle which has been complicated by the company filing for bankruptcy.

This is the third major victory for Florida in the fight to make drug companies pay for their role in the opioid crisis.

Earlier this year Florida won a lawsuit against McKinsey & Company and in 2019 the state was part of a settlement against a British opioid manufacturer.

Combined all of the opioid settlements to date will bring $1.9 billion to the state.