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Florida Firefighters who lost their lives last year were honored at the state Capitol this morning as part of an annual state ceremony.some of those deaths were attributed to COVID. As Jake Stofan tells us, legislation filed at the state Capitol would make it easier for first responders to receive workers comp for COVID infections acquired on the job.

Among the 18 firefighters honored in this year’s ceremony, we’re told three died from COVID infections, acquired in the line of duty.

“This marks their final call” said Florida Chief Financial Officer & State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis. 

Top Florida fire officials tell us the bar to qualify as a line of duty COVID death is high.

“It’s a tough process and it’s heartbreaking. It’s truly heartbreaking” says Rick Butcher, Chairman, Florida Joint Council of Fire & Emergency Services

Representative Elizabeth Fetterhoff has seen first hand in her community how high the bar truly is.

And unfortunately, families of first responders who have died from COVID are facing obstacles collecting the benefits they believe they’re owed.

“We’ve actually had two officers that have passed away from COVID-19 recently, one leaving behind a wife and four kids and they’re being denied his death benefits” says Representative Fetterhoff.

It’s why she’s sponsoring legislation that would ensure first responders who acquire COVID in the field will qualify for compensation.

“COVID is a direct – something that they’re dealing with directly, and they need to be taken care of” she continues.

Under the Governor’s previous emergency order first responders had these protections, but they lapsed when the order expired.

Fetterhoff’s bill has already garnered the support of Florida’s Fire Marshal.

“Wouldn’t be even opposed if they wanted to make it retroactive to January one 2020” Patronis told us. 

Fetterhoff had this message for any group thinking of standing in the way of her legislation.

“Anybody that puts themselves out there as being against this, you know, they’re in the line of fire then.”

It’s unclear exactly how many first responders have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic in Florida, but scattered reports suggest the number is likely in the hundreds.

Under the legislation first responders would still have to show some evidence that they acquired COVID during their time on the job.

Florida has a new Surgeon General. Governor Ron DeSantis today named Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD to be the states top health officer. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the new Surgeon General is calling vaccines just one tool to fight the virus.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo is a physician and health policy researcher at UCLA. His MD and Phd are both from Harvard.

“Joe has had a remarkable academic and medical career. He was also a great athlete in college” says the Governor as a way of introduction.

The doctor says he rejects fear over positive approaches to fighting diseases. He acknowledges some do fear Covid vaccines, and calls them one tool to fight a virus.

“Vaccination is not the only way, so we support measures for good health. That’s vaccination, losing weight. It’s exercising more” responded Ladapo, when asked by a repoter.

It is also clear he won’t be recommending any lockdowns to the Governor.

“After local downs, overall mortality increased. Lockdowns are bad. Lots of reasons why, that’s just one really good one.”

The Governor continues to attack the Biden Administration over its limiting of antibody shipments to the state of Florida. He says there is no shortage, so there should be no change in supply.

The Governor was quick to point out that hospitalizations are falling quickly.

“The census was down eight percent today, on a Tuesday, which is usually an increase because of the way they do discharges” says DeSantis.

And he reiterated his vow to fight to get the antibody treatments that Florida needs.

“To be so obsessed to kneecap Florida any way you can that you would take away life saving treatments” decried the Governor.

The Governor and Surgeon General today described schools imposing mask mandates as rogues. He also said sending healthy kids home because they might have been exposed in school deprives them of valuable learning time.

Dr. Ladapo will be under contract with the University of Florida. The contract is limited to two years. 

The son of a preacher and school teacher, State Representative Paul Renner of Palm Coast was today officially named Speaker Designate of the Florida House. He is an attorney and retired from US Navy after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Renner is guided by faith and believes god exerts his will in many ways. 

“I realized as a child there is no real freedom in a society that suppresses dissenting views. I ran for office like you in a deep belief that our county and its founding principles have provided more freedom, and more opportunity to more people than any other governing philosophy in history” Renner told colleagues after accepting the nomination.

Renner will take the helm of the House following the 2022 elections, providing Republicans remain in control. His term as Speaker runs through the 2024 election.

A hundred abortion rights activists joined Democratic lawmakers to rally at the State Capitol against the possibility the Florida Legislature will be considering a Texas-style abortion ban.

An identical bill to the one in Texas has already been filed and both the House Speaker and Senate President have indicated they’d be interested in considering some form of abortion legislation this year.

Representative Angie Nixon joined other speakers condemning the proposal and vowing to fight back.

“Safe, legal abortion is a right and it should be a decision kept between us and our doctors, not Republicans. Bringing this type of legislation to Florida is not about upholding the value of human life. It’s about devaluing the lives of individuals that rely on abortion as an essential medical service” says Nixon.

The Texas legislation allows private citizens to sue abortion doctors in civil court along with anyone else who helps facilitate an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. If successful, they could be awarded $10,000.

By a two to one margin in 1998, Florida voters chose to make School Board elections nonpartisan, but two GOP lawmakers want to go back to school board candidates declaring their party affiliation.

When voters approved the switch to nonpartisan school board races in 1998, Democrats held a registration advantage of over 400,000 voters.

At the time, the change was seen as a way for the GOP to make inroads and develop a bench.

Today Democrats’ registration advantage is just over 23,000.

“It will bring transparency to the system,” said State Senator Joe Gruters, who is sponsoring the legislation seeking to return to partisan school board races.

Gruters argued mask mandates have already polarized voters.

“You’ll understand that if there is a Democrat or a Republican running for school board, they are likely to support issues that party generally agrees with,” said Gruters.

In a statement, the Florida School Boards Association told us: “…Education should be one issue where people all across the political spectrum could come together”.

With registrations now almost even, Democrats call this a horrible idea.

“It gives more of that rallying cry, I f you will, to their base. Rather than focusing on what is the best method to make sure our public schools are fully funded,” said State Representative Fentrice Driskell.

But Sponsor Gruters counters that local parties already make party affiliation an issue.

“You’re basically living under a rock if you think these races are nonpartisan. If you look at the parties in almost every single area, they will help identify, to their voters, which candidate represents their interests,” said Gruters.

If lawmakers are able to pass the change, six out of every ten voters next year would still have to approve, a tough hill to climb in a divided state.

Voters approved the non partisan races in 1998 with over 64 percent of the vote, but Gruters said the times were far less partisan.

For the second year in a row, COVID policy will be front and center in the State Capitol.

Bills are already rolling in ahead of the 2022 session and some are more controversial than others.

Of the COVID bills already filed, two are likely to garner bipartisan support.

The first would make it easier for first responders to receive workers comp if they get COVID on the job.

While it was filed by a Republican, Democratic Representative Fentrice Driskell supports the idea.

“These are folks who didn’t have the luxury of working from home,” said Driskell.

Representative Ardian Zika also filed a bill that would require insurers to cover the full price of at-home COVID tests.

“I think this is a first step in the right direction,” said Zika.

But Representative Anthony Sabatini’s legislation banning government mask mandates and prohibiting all employers, private and public, from imposing vaccine mandates is likely to draw sharp opposition.

“Allow all people to make their own mask and vaccine decisions. I think that’s just common sense,” said Sabatini.

While the Governor has expressed support for banning vaccine mandates for public sector employees, he hasn’t been as vocal about banning mandates for the private sector.

We reached out to the Governor’s Office and asked whether he would support baring private sector employers from mandating vaccinations for their employees, but did not hear back in time for this story.

Democratic Representative Evan Jenne argued local governments should make the public health decisions in their communities.

“There are certain instances where there needs to be state preemption. When it comes to keeping their communities safe, that’s just not one,” said Jenne.

House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Chair Daniel Perez told us it’s too early to predict how far lawmakers will go on vaccine mandate prohibitions.

“Making sure each individual has an opportunity to make their own decision is something that we will continue to do,” said Perez.

Another bill likely to divide lawmakers would limit when government can order religious institutions to close in a lockdown.

Since it doesn’t ban church closures outright, it may face some opposition from both parties.

Tax watch dogs are sounding the alarm about a provision in President Joe Biden’s proposed tax plan that they’re calling a ‘hurricane tax’.

They warn without changes, property insurance rates could increase by more than a billion dollars statewide.

A new report suggests the average Florida family could see property insurance costs increase by as much as $319 a year under President Biden’s recently announced tax plan.

“Everyone’s going to pay this,” said Dr. Lars Powell, Director of the Alabama Center for Insurance Information and Research at the University of Alabama.

Dr. Powell authored the report.

He said the 15 to 28 percent minimum global tax rate proposed in Biden’s plan could drive up costs for insurance companies, which would then be passed along to consumers.

“These things don’t happen in a vacuum. You can’t just say, well we’re going to increase your costs by 10-12 percent, but we don’t want you to increase your prices,” said Powell.

They’re calling it the ‘hurricane tax’ because the impact would be felt most heavily in disaster-prone states like Florida.

“The President wanted to keep it, tax no one above $400,000,” said Florida TaxWatch President Dominic Calabro.

Calabro argued the cost would be felt by every Floridan, no matter their income level.

“This would severely impact people with incomes substantially below 400,000 and be very much against the very foundation that President Biden said he wanted to enact,” said Calabro.

It’s projected the hurricane tax would drive up annual property insurance costs by $10 billion nationwide and as much as $1.6 billion in Florida alone.

“Everybody’s prices go up when insurance premiums go up because everybody’s got to buy insurance for something,” said Powell.

Fiscal watch dogs argued by either eliminating the global minimum tax rate altogether, or by creating an exemption for insurers, the increased costs could be avoided.

The tax plan is still in its early stages, and the groups we spoke with told us they’re hopeful changes can still be made prior to a final tax package being approved by Congress.

A Florida Department of Health rule that took effect Thursday imposes $5,000 fines on businesses, governments and educational institutions that require proof of a vaccine to enter their premises.

There is also concern about a looming federal rule that could do just the opposite.

Any business or government in Florida that requires proof of a vaccination to enter now faces a a $5,000 fine for each person they ask.

Florida restaurants told us that’s the last thing they want to do.

“Asking a hostess at the hostess desk to start asking the customer when they are coming in to have dinner to see their private medical information, and that’s where we don’t feel its appropriate,” said Carol Dover, President of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Representative Anna Eskamani was one of 36 no votes in the House.

She worries tourism won’t fully rebound unless people fee safe.

“Having vaccine requirements around some of these more luxury experiences, if you will, will help insure the events actually happen,” said Eskamani.

As written, the legislation allows a fine of up to $5,000, but in its new rule, the Department of Health rule sets it at the maximum.

Restaurants are also concerned by a coming federal rule requiring employers of 100 or more to require vaccines or negative tests.

The problem for restaurants is they are already short staffed.

“Members of ours are really panicking over this because they might have a 110 employees, but they have more than ten employees telling them if you do that, we’re not coming to work,” said Dover.

The legislation also prohibits a vaccine from being required to enter a public building.

Leon County and several local governments are requiring their employees to be vaccinated by October first, and the Governor is threatening fines.

Any business that is fined will have the right to an administrative appeal.

So far unclear, is whether the Department of Health will set up a tip line for complaints.

A request for information went unanswered.

Florida said goodbye to the 46th Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday.

Stephen Grimes was appointed to the high court in 1987 and served as Chief Justice between 1994 and 1996.

Stephen Grimes died at the age of 93.

He was known for being a straight shooter.

“We remember and honor the model of public service that he exemplified through his habits of true humility, steady leadership, and quite dedication,” said Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady.

On his first day on the job, when the new Justice parked in the lot behind the court, his unfamiliar car was towed.

“The humility came in Justice Grimes reaction. He made no fuss. He waited patiently. He did not display anger,” said Canady.

In 1994, information officer Craig Waters went to the then-Chief Justice, educating him on the internet and what it could do.

“What we told him the internet was a who new medium, just like television and radio are media. And he accepted that, which was a unusual at the time,” said Waters.

“And that’s how the Florida Supreme Court became one of the first courts in the world to have a presence on the internet,” said Canady.

Fast forward six years and the court was the epicenter of the disputed 2000 election.

“We had reporters standing in line for two hours or more, trying to get paper copies, when their home offices had already gotten the pdf’s and already reported them,” said Waters.

After leaving the court, Grimes resumed his high profile legal career.

He retired five years ago at the age of 88.

Asked how he liked retirement, he reportedly responded that he loved the practice of law.

Those who knew Justice Grimes told us they never never knew his political leaning.

It was something as a judge he never talked about.

This week, county-level COVID deaths stats have been made available for the first time since Florida shutdown its daily COVID dashboard in June.

A state lawmaker suing the state for access to more data believes his lawsuit may have something to do with it, but data scientists aren’t so quick to call foul play.

The new White House COVID-19 Community Profile Report includes a break down of deaths in Florida by County.

It’s the first time the detailed information has been included for roughly three months.

“It is not a coincidence,” said Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith.

Representative Smith, who is suing the state for access to more detailed COVID data, said the timing of the release is suspect.

“They have a history of only sharing information and public records after they’ve been sued,” said Smith.

The Governor’s Office responded accusing the Representative of politicizing COVID data.

“It is disappointing that anyone – including activist groups and lawmakers – would question the integrity of Florida’s public health professionals by inappropriately politicizing their important work,” said DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw.

The Department of Health also pushed back, blaming the lack of Florida data appearing in the White House reports on the CDC.

“The Department continues to provide, and has provided, CDC county COVID-19 data since March 2020.We do not have control over the display of these data by CDC,” said DOH Communications Director Weesam Khoury in an emailed statement.

USF Epidemiologist Dr. Jason Salemi said he finds the department’s defense credible.

“Undoubtedly the Department of Health has been reporting this information,” said Dr. Salemi. “My suspicion is, maybe the Department of Health didn’t even know it wasn’t being updated until they were finally informed.”

Representative Smith told us even with the county by county death data now available, his lawsuit will still go forward.

That’s because he’s seeking detailed demographic breakdowns on the county level for hospitalizations, cases and deaths.

“Some of these specific breakdowns, particularly by age, are very important as our kids are returning to school,” said Smith.

Salemi and Smith both agree, more data is never a bad thing.

“There’s always going to be somebody who wants more and more data, and I’m one of those people,” said Salemi.

Smith’s lawsuit is scheduled for a hearing Monday afternoon.

The Department of Health had no comment regarding the case.

Daily COVID cases and hospitalization numbers have steadily dropped over the past three weeks in Florida, but infections disease experts say the reprieve could very well be short lived.

Daily case averages are at their lowest point since late July and hospitalizations are lower than they’ve been since early August.

That comes as great news to Governor Ron DeSantis.

“The fortunate news is we’re seeing the declines all across the state,” said Governor Ron DeSantis at a Tuesday press conference.

The Delta wave brought the highest daily case numbers and hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.

Infectious disease experts we spoke with told us while they knew Delta would be bad, they didn’t predict it would be as devastating as it has proven to be.

“Three out of our ten deaths that have been recorded in Florida have been since Delta,” said Dr. Christopher Uejio, a public health expert at Florida State University.

And while recent numbers may be painting an optimistic picture, UF epidemiologist Dr. Cindy Prins pointed to last year’s winter spike as reason Floridians shouldn’t let their guard down.

“I think we’re still going to see another peak associated with that Thanksgiving and also winter holiday travel. So it’s a worry. We’re much closer to that than we were last year and we may not get a really good break from this,” said Dr. Prins.

Last year’s winter spike was worse than that seen over the summer.

Experts we spoke with said individual decisions will determine whether this year follows the same path.

“If everyone is trying to see their family members in the state over the holiday break, we should expect another increase again,” said Dr. Uejio.

CDC models project Florida’s current Delta wave will bottom out in October, roughly the same time period the state began experiencing its winter wave last year.

Both scientists we spoke with agreed COVID isn’t likely going away any time soon.

They said ultimately vaccinations and natural immunity will hopefully reduce case loads and improve health outcomes to a tolerable level.

Vaccine mandates remain in place for employees of Leon, Florida’s Capital County, following the Governor’s threat of a $5,000 fine per-employee.

County administrators are not backing down.

Leon County Administrator Vince Long said the county is sticking with a requirement that all employees be vaccinated or face being fired on October first.

“We have a responsibility to ensure a ready work force in Leon County to ensure that our work force is ready and prepared to respond to the needs of our community,” said Long.

But the Governor continues to see the mandate differently.

“We shouldn’t deprive someone of their livelihoods and their jobs based on this issue,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Language in an emergency management bill this year appears to allow the governor to invalidate city and county measures.

Long said federal decisions are on the county’s side.

“Well, the courts have held that vaccinations do not infringe on peoples rights or liberties. So, that’s what we hang our hat on,” said Long.

So far there have been 36 exemptions granted to employees, mostly for medical reasons.

Having had the virus won’t get an exemption.

We met Daniel at the county work facility, but he wouldn’t give us his last name.

”I’ve been vaccinated and I know a few that don’t and won’t, but not very many,” said Daniel.

We also talked to a man who asked to remain anonymous.

He is not a county employee, but faces a similar mandate.

“I think that’s one step away from telling somebody, hey, you’ve got to lose x or y number of pounds if you want to work at this establishment,” the man told us.

Like many of the COVID-era requirements, unless one side backs down, the only resolution here appears to be in the courts.

Leon County said the vaccination rate among its 750 employees has gone from 50 to 80 percent since the mandate was announced six weeks ago.

In addition to the county, several cities have also mandated a shot.

For the 23rd time, Florida commemorated Missing Children’s Day at the State Capitol Monday.

Florida is ahead of most other states in its efforts to recover children when they go missing.

It was a bittersweet day for the families that came.

It forces them to relive their tragedy, but also allows them to seek solace from the only other people who know what they truly have gone through.

“And we will never abandon the search for missing children,” said Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Rick Swearingen.

Florida had the first missing Children’s clearing house in the nation, and of the 25 search teams certified nationally, Florida is a leader.

“Florida is privileged to have seven of those, making our state a model,” said Swearingen.

The board behind the ceremony was created following the 1995 abduction, rape and murder of Jimmy Ryce.

Both of Jimmy’ parents have passed, but they always believed Jimmy would have been found if a bloodhound had been close by, and they made it their life’s work to make dogs available.

“We’ve given out over 700 dogs nationally, in fact we even have one in South Africa,” said Mark Young, Director of the Ryce Foundation.

While hurt and emotion were on display at the ceremony, it is the same families that come back year after year.

“It get’s his picture out there, it’s not an easy thing to do,” said Billie-Jo Jimenez, aunt of Zachary Bernhardt who disappeared in 2000.

Roy Brown has been placing a yellow rose next to his daughter Amanda’s picture for 20 years.

We asked what makes him keep coming back.

“For my daughter. You know, I am friends with all these families,” said Brown.

The hope here is that no new pictures will be added to the list of missing before next year’s remembrance.

FDLE’s Missing Children’s Clearing House sent out 19 Amber Alerts last year.

Those alerts were directly responsible for the recovery of seven endangered children.

The state’s school mask mandate ban is back in effect and it’s unlikely to change before the end of the school semester, but parents are pushing for a quick resolution in the courts and school districts requiring masks say they aren’t backing down.

With the original ruling blocking the mask mandate ban back on hold the Florida Department of Education is free to continue withholding school board salaries in districts bucking the state.

“Universally they were all very disappointed with the ruling,” said Charles Gallagher, an attorney representing parents who are suing the state.

But Gallagher said the parents haven’t given up hope.

They’ve requested the case be heard by the Florida Supreme Court.

“We’ll probably hear back I’m sure from that in a number of days,” said Gallagher.

The Governor’s Office however, remains confident the state will ultimately prevail in the courts.

“We remain confident that we are right on the law, and the Department of Education will continue to enforce against violations of the rule now that the injunction has been stayed by the appellate court,” said DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw in an emailed statement.

Even with the mandate ban back in place, school districts with mandates have said they’re not changing their policies.

“We’re going to continue to manage our school system the way we have since the beginning of the school year,” said Dr. Carlee Simon, Superintendent of Alachua County Schools.

Dr. Simon said thanks to a new grant from the federal government, districts will be able to supplement any funding withheld by the state.

“Those of us who have been penalized financially have a direct route to have that money replenished,” said Dr. Simon.

The state is fighting a multi-front battle between administrative challenges, multiple lawsuits and now a civil rights inquiry by the US Department of Education investigating whether the mandate ban violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This is probably a misuse of taxpayer funding to have this many battles going on, considering we have many people who are in support of the mask mandate.”

But the Governor’s Office told us it’s committed to continuing the fight.

“Governor DeSantis will continue to stand up for parents’ rights to make health and educational decisions for their own children, including the choice to wear a mask to school or not,” said Pushaw.

And while the school mask mandate debate continues to play out in the courts, COVID cases have steadily declined over the past three weeks.

Although positivity rates among Floridians between the ages of 12 and 19 remain the highest of any age group.