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Cash is flowing into the 2022 race for Governor, with more than $5 million in raised in July alone.

Governor Ron DeSantis holds a more than 20-1 advantage in cash on hand, but it’s likely to be short lived.

The political committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis has been having a great year, raising just over $40 million since January. r

“Illegal immigration, on shutting down businesses, on masking. All of those issues have been things people have been fighting back against and he’s been the guy fighting it,” said DeSantis Campaign Advisor Nick Iarossi.

In July alone the committee took in just over $4.2 million.

Much of it from the sale of merchandise with the theme ‘Keep Florida Free’.

Nearly 14,000 of the 18,000 contributors last month gave less than 50 dollars.

Now a Democrat, former GOP Governor Charlie Crist raised $503,000 last month from 2,900 contributors.

He has $2. 2 million on hand in his two political accounts.

“Nobody thought that I was going to be able to win,” said Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried during a recent Democratic event.

And as Florida’s only elected statewide Democrat, Fried’s political committee has raised $1.4 million since the first of the year, and another $526,000 in the campaign account.

She trailed Crist in July fundraising, but has more on hand.

Democrats we spoke with told us the cash on hand now doesn’t matter.

What’s important, they say, whether they are competitive after their primary.

Fried has been critical of the Governor for raising money instead of spending every day in Flordia.

“He needs to be focusing on the people of our state and not traveling across the country,” said Fried Wednesday.

But beyond criticizing the Governor, Fried declined to discuss her fundraising.

“We are in the Capitol and I don’t want to talk campaign strategies and platforms. We can certainly do that offline,” said Fried.

And the fundraising is only going to get more intense.

The Governor’s goal is to raise $150 million.

Democrats are hoping for $100 million when all is said and done.

The Crist campaign declined to be interviewed for this story.

Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran said he’s opening an investigation into two Florida School Districts’ for their decision to require a doctor’s note to opt out of their mask mandates.

A third district, Broward, which took similar action Tuesday, is likely to face the same threat.

But still to be litigated is the question of whether the state’s opt-out mandate is legal in the first place.

“There is no room for error or leniency when it comes to ensuring compliance with policies that allow parents and guardians to make health and educational choices for their children,” wrote Corcoran in letters sent to the Alachua and Leon County Superintendents.

In the strongly worded letters, Corcoran threatened to recommend to the State Board of Education that the salaries of school board members and the superintendents in the two counties be withheld, if they don’t allow parents the final say on masking their children.

“A child’s life is worth more than their salaries and they’re going to put the life of that child first,” said Representative Robin Bartleman.

Bartleman joined with other state Democrats on a virtual press conference Tuesday, where they decried the Commissioner’s threats.

While data provided by the State Department of Health found similar case rates in schools with and without mask mandates last year, Rep. Fentrice Driskell argued the opt-out mandate ties the hands of districts and puts students at risk.

“What I would say to the superintendents and schools boards, is to stand strong. Stand firm. You know, you’re not alone,” said Driskell.

The school districts were given until 5 PM Wednesday to prove they are in compliance with the state’s opt out policy.

A lawsuit filed by parents from across the state challenging whether the state has the authority to dictate local school mask policy doesn’t get a hearing until Friday.

“The constitution is pretty clear in the regard. School boards that we elect to oversee local schools are best suited to make these policy decisions,” said Attorney Ron Meyer.

Meyer worked on the school reopening lawsuit brought by parents and the state teachers union last year.

While it was ultimately unsuccessful, Meyer said the final ruling in the case set some precedent that could chart a path forward for the new masking lawsuit.

“In that lawsuit, the First District Court of Appeal said that policy decision is to be made by local elected school boards. Not the Department of Education, not the State Board of Education and certainly not the Governor,” said Meyer.

Meyer added the mask lawsuit brought by parents may face a problem raised in the school reopening suit: The question of legal standing.

He said he believes the suit will have a better chance at succeeding if school districts join in.

That could be coming soon.

During Broward County School Board’s meeting Tuesday, the board indicated it did plan to pursue a legal challenge to the opt-out requirement.

Governor Ron DeSantis has been a champion of restarting cruises on one hand, and the main proponent of not allowing proof of vaccinations for cruises or anything else.

That’s left the cruise industry walking a a thin line.

The first cruise to set sail from Florida left June 26.

The CEO of Celebrity Cruises, Lisa Ludoff-Perlo, told the Economic Club of Florida that the Governor’s prohibition on vaccine passports was a tough hurdle to overcome.

“The state of Florida does not tell us we can’t ask. They can tell us we can’t require. So we are working within those constraints to insure that we live up to our commitment as a brand that we will sail at at least 95 percent vaccinated,” said Ludoff-Perlo.

But the unvaccinated face different protocols on board.

“And, so many are opting not to cruise because of those additional protocols,” said Ludoff-Perlo.

The CEO said surveys show public confidence about cruising has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Speaking virtually, Ludoff-Perlo told the audience that so far, COVID protocols have been working.

“And no one ever said there would not be a case on board. That’s unrealistic, and its not goign to happen and we are all watching what’s going on in Florida right now,” said Ludoff-Perlo.

And the CEO also said unvaccinated passengers pose their own problems.

“We do have ports of call that will not allow any unvaccinated guests into their ports,” said Ludoff-Perlo.

The question of whether private companies can require proof of vaccination is far from settled, and won’t likely be until the state takes the case to the US Supreme Court.

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against Florida’s ban on vaccine passports as it applies to Norwegian, ruling the cruise line can require vaccination proof as the case moves forward because it’s likely they’ll ultimately succeed.

Support for legendary FSU football coach Bobby Bowden continues to pour in a day after he died at 91 from pancreatic cancer.

Bowden’s career continues to be celebrated by a stream of fans paying their respects at the football field that carries is name.

Outside the athletic Center, there are flowers. Lots of them.

And notes expressing admiration.

”He was everyone’s coach,” said lifelong fan Edward Miranda.

Miranda was en route from Texas to Miami when he stopped to say a prayer.

“He was such a great public speaker. A great coach. A great personality. You know, there was nothing bad you could say about him,” said Miranda.

Bowden brought hope and fans to the FSU program when he arrived in 1976.

As the team started winning, local songwriters went to work.

Lyrics from Tallahassee artist Murray Goff read: “Tickets are hard to come by since the Seminoles are good. Just tell them Bobby sent you”.

University President John Thrasher said it was Bowden that helped build FSU into what it is today.

“Clearly, Coach Bowden really really was the gold standard, if you will, for putting Flordia State in a position to be recognized around the country,” said Thrasher.

Coach Bowden will lie in state in the rotunda of the State Capitol on Friday, an honor usually reserved for governors.

Jonathan Williams played at Ottawa University in Canada and was in town to pay respects.

“You know, we idolized him, so we always dreamt of coming here and being part of that FSU atmosphere,” said Williams.

The parade of admirers is likely to continue throughout the week.

“He meant so much to everybody,” said Tallahassee local Linda Edson.

On Saturday there will be a public funeral service at the civic center in the capital city, the same place where the coach presided over sold out booster luncheons.

Bowden will be laid to rest at a private ceremony in Alabama.

At least two lawsuits have been filed challenging the Governor’s executive order that requires districts to allow parents to opt out of school mask mandates.

At least one district is pushing ahead with a mask plan that requires a medical professional’s signature to opt-out.

The school district surrounding the State Capitol is pushing ahead with a mask mandate, and only allowing students to opt-out with a doctor’s note.

“Why would you not err on the side of caution? I know it may be a burden to some, but at the end of the day the goal is to keep our children out of the hospital,” said Superintendent of Leon County Schools Rocky Hanna.

The Governor’s Office tells us it believes the district’s policy conflicts with the Department of Health’s rule, which puts the question of masking in the hands of parents.

Districts that run afoul of the opt-out policy could lose funding.

The Governor’s Office indicated that would likely come in the form of cutting salaries of superintendents and school board members.

Also in the works, a lawsuit filed in state court alleging the Governor’s executive order violates the state constitution, which requires schools to be safe.

“Delta is ravaging kids. Kids are in the hospital. Kids are dying right now. And that’s contrary to you know, COVID Alpha,” said Charles Gallagher, an attorney representing the group of parents named in the suit.

It also claims the order violates school boards’ constitutional authority to operate and control schools in their district.

“People elect these school board members for a reason, because they are local, they are on the ground and they have acumen relative to their own schools and what’s going on there. And they’re being denied that. They’re denying those schools and school boards the right to govern themselves and have oversight over their own schools,” said Gallagher.

The lawsuit doesn’t get a hearing until Friday, which means the mask mandate ban will be in effect for at least the first week of school.

Whether it makes it to week two, is up to the judge.

A study cited by the CDC found Florida schools without mask mandates had case rates 42 percent higher than those without in the first semester of the 2020 school year.

The Governor’s Office however cites DOH data analyzing the entire school year, which found only about a five percent higher case rate at schools without mandates.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Gubernatorial hopeful-Nikki Fried held a virtual press conference Monday, with a 12-year-old Duval county student who wrote a letter to her schools district calling for a mask mandate.

Fried asked Hartley why she continues to wear a mask even after receiving the vaccine.

Lila Hartley said she’s concerned about her younger brother, who is too young to receive a vaccination.

“I choose to wear a mask because even though I’m vaccinated I can still get sick and everyone hates being sick. That is not a good feeling. Also my younger brother, I don’t want to get him sick if I get it because I wasn’t wearing a mask,” said Hartley.

Hartley’s letter was recently featured in a CNN story.

Currently her school district is allowing parents to opt out of its mandate, in accordance with new rules from the Department of Health.

Florida schools will have to provide parents the choice of opting-out of mask mandates and unmasked students who face harassment as a result of their choice will be eligible for private school scholarships under new rules adopted by the Department of Education and Health Friday.

“Districts want to protect staff, they want to protect students, but they also want to give parents their right to have some influence over their child’s decisions,” said Executive Director of the Florida School Boards Association Andrea Messina.

Districts are now having to figure out how to keep students safe within the new parameters.

“And I’ve heard some districts talk about perhaps setting up you know, one classroom with masks, one classroom without masks where parents could choose if they wanted their kids to be in that one or the other one,” said Messina.

The Governor has said there was little difference between schools with and without mask mandates, but at least one study we found challenges that claim.

This study of Florida schools cited by the CDC found schools without mask mandates had 42 percent more cases per 100,000 students.

“The preponderant literature clearly states masking is safe and saves lives,” said Former President of the American Academy of Pediatrics Florida Chapter Dr. Paul Robinson.

Robinson joined with other doctors amid prop-gravestones at the Governors mansion Friday to protest the new masking rules.

Robinson said he fears without universal masking, transmission rates will be even worse in schools this year, especially with the more transmissible Delta variant tearing through the state.

“There are children admitted to the hospital at much higher rates and we fear, I think I said I fear, there will be many more deaths as a result of the Delta variant,” said Dr. Robinson.

According to CDC stats 15 children under the age of 18 have died in Florida since the beginning of the pandemic.

That’s compared to 11 pediatric flu deaths and 59 pneumonia deaths during the same period.

If schools don’t comply with the new rules their funding could be put at risk.

At least one school district, Broward, has already discussed a possible lawsuit.

A group of parents filed suit against the Governor Friday morning challenging his executive order that prompted the emergency rules.

The Florida Broad of Education is likely to adopt its emergency rule on masking in schools tomorrow.

As of now, it appears the plan is to allow public school students to access private school scholarships if their district mandates face masks and their parents object.

Private and even public charter schools like this one are able to set their own masking policies regardless of what a local school board does.

The Department of Education is expected to adopt a rule Friday allowing for public schools students to obtain private school scholarships, if their public school requires masks.

“Our students and our teachers were in face shields last year,” said Co-Founder of Tallahassee Classical School Jana Sayler.

At Tallahassee Classical School regular cleaning and air filtration will be present this year, but masks will be optional.

“We want to be sure to give parents the option and we want to err on the side of liberty and free will,” said Sayler.

Dr. Alan Chen, a pediatrician radiologist and board member at the school came to the same conclusion as the Governor on the effectiveness of masks in schools.

“There’s been no difference between schools with mask mandates and no mask mandates,” said Dr. Chen.

The expected Department of Education rule appears to fall short of outright banning face mask mandates in schools, but the Department of Health is also expected to announce an emergency rule on mask mandates.

The Florida School Boards Association told us indications are the Department of Health will likely require any school mask mandate to include an option for parents to opt out.

The Governor’s possible 2022 Agriculture Commissioner opponent Nikki Fried continued to call for local control Thursday.

“Every community is different and the local communities and school boards should have the power to make the right decisions for their own communities,” said Fried.

The Governor’s Office has indicated rules from both the Department of Health and Education will be finalized by weeks end, ahead of the first day of school for many districts in the state.

With at least three schools districts in the state already having adopted some form of school mask mandate, Republican State Representative Anthony Sabatini has started a petition for a Special Session, to block school mandates through legislative action.

Nearly 14,000 evection notices were filed with Florida courts between May and July.

A new 60-day moratorium, which took effect earlier this week, is likely to be challenged in court.

Legal Services of North Florida has already seen as many eviction cases so far this year as it saw all of last year.

But Legal Services attorney Patrick Jennings told us if you get an eviction notice, the first thing to do is call a lawyer.

“Many times there are legal defenses, or the landlord has not pursued this properly, and it can at least be delayed,” said Jennings.

A new CDC eviction moratorium issued this week only offers protection if you live in a county with high or substantial virus transmission.

All of Florida is covered for now, but that could change quickly.

“It might provide some protection, immediately, that was not available just last week,” said Jennings.

The State has nearly $800 million in rental assistance money available, but much of it has not yet been distributed.

“We’ve gotten a confirmation letter from the organization, the rental assistance organization, have been able to show that to the landlord and they’ve been willing to hold things off for a little while,” said Jennings.

Legal challenges to the new moratorium, which runs till early October, are expected.

And the Florida Apartment Association said the new moratorium doesn’t address the underlying issue of tenants not being able to pay rent.

“We really feel that the important thing to do here is insure the quick delivery of those rental assistance funds,” said Amanda White with the Association.

And the bottom line is that if someone can avoid eviction because of the moratorium, they are still on the hook for everything they owe.

In a statement, DCF, which administers renter relief, told us OUR Florida has paid out $25.7 million to 5,942 households.

The agency says a two-party application process is causing delays because the landlord must verify the information provided by the tenant.

Faced with falling poll numbers, rising COVID cases and attacks from potential 2022 challengers, Governor Ron DeSantis held a virtual roundtable with hospital leaders across the state Wednesday.

The consensus is the current surge will be short, is more contagious, but less dangerous, and that new treatments are working.

Hospital CEO’s from Tampa Orlando, Miami and North Broward all told the Governor the current surge is largely due to the unvaccinated.

“You know, 95 percent of our current patients here are unvaccinated,” said Shane Strum, CEO of North Broward Health.

And they all said they are managing the surging cases and expect a plateau soon based on what happened in the United Kingdom.

“This peak went up very rapid and then fell very quickly. So, we’re hoping that same thing occurs here,” said David Strong CEO Orlando Health.

The Governor was also told that many of the patients classified with COVID went to the hospital for other reasons, tested positive and are counted as virus infected patients when they see few symptoms.

“Obviously, vaccinated people have a lot less potential of getting hospitalized. That’s really important,” said CEO of Jackson Health System Carlos Migoya.

The hospital CEOs did acknowledge they are putting some elective procedures on hold, not because they are overwhelmed with COVID patients, but because they have a staffing shortage.

The hospitals also told the Governor that little known monoclonal antibody treatments are showing great promise, if patients seek treatment with the onset of symptoms.

“Almost 100 percent of our patients have told us that 24 to 48 hours later, they feel much better,” said Tampa General CEO John Couris.

The Governor wrapped up the virtual meeting by acknowledging those vaccinated may test positive, but that’s not cause for fear.

“It’s mostly mild cases,” said DeSantis.

The bottom line consensus of the hour long discussion is that the state needs to improve its messaging about the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies.

The hospitals said COVID patients make up anywhere from five to ten percent of their current patients.

Governor Ron DeSantis has threatened to withhold funding from school districts that implement mandatory mask mandates in the fall, which has drawn blowback from his potential 2022 Democratic opponents.

Gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist made it clear Wednesday the upcoming school year would look significantly different if he were in charge.

Former-Governor, now Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist held a virtual press conference with teachers, parents and a pediatrician, all who support mandatory masks in schools.

“The data is clear that we have to protect ourselves via face coverings, other mitigation strategies like hand washing and distancing, and most important vaccination,” said Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a Pediatrician at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Crist made it known if he were Governor he’d make mandatory masking in schools the policy statewide.

“I know the right thing to do is to have a mask requirement for our kids. Let’s put them first instead of any other political consideration,” said Crist.

Brevard County parent Jabari Hosey said he was considering sending his student to private a private school where masks are mandatory.

“But we would of course like them to attend our public school, which is here in our neighborhood,” said Hosey.

Pinellas County parent Stephanie Cox expressed fear for her 10-year-old son who has type one diabetes.

“I’m concerned. I know that he’s 10, he’s not able to be vaccinated yet,” said Cox.

Governor DeSantis has been criticized for his COVID roundtables being too one sided.

One thing DeSantis and Crist have in common on this issue, is they’re both excluding dissenting voices and they both claim to have science on their side.

“The science is clear on this issue that wearing masks makes you safer than not doing so,” said Crist.

In a statement, the Governor’s Press Secretary Christina Pushaw said “The CDC has not been able to produce any data to support mandating cloth face coverings from any randomized controlled trials.”

Pushaw added that last year, schools with and without mask mandates had similar cases numbers.

So far Broward County has not voted to remove its mask mandate for schools, and on the call a member of the Broward County School Board, which passed a masking mandate for the fall, said the board is considering legal action to fight the Governor’s mask mandate ban.

Alachua County is requiring face masks for the first two weeks and Duval is requiring parents to undergo and opt-out process if they don’t want their children masked.

Florida lawmakers this year revamped a 32-year-old program for people who suffer brain injuries at birth.

The plan know as the Neurological Injury Compensation Association, or NICA, takes care of brain injured children for life and was originally adopted to lower malpractice for doctors.

In 1988 hundreds of doctors marched on the State Capitol protesting skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates.

“And it has become a major health care threat,” said one doctor we spoke with at the time.

Born was the Neurological Injury Compensation Association.

Parents can’t sue but get care for life.

It is funded by an annual assessment on doctors.

The fund got lawmakers’ attention when it amassed more than a billion dollars in reserves.

“And they have apparently been not getting the support that they needed,” said State Representative Allison Tant.

The fund was accused of fighting parents over benefits.

“There is no cap on anything, so whatever the doctor says they need, based on that child’s condition, we pay for it,” said NICA Executive Director Kenney Shipley.

This year lawmakers ordered NICA to spend more money helping families.

The legislation increased the initial $100,000 payment to a quarter million and it applies retroactive to every family.

Dave and Ester Morgan’s daughter Melinda, was born in 1993.

“The doctors told us she probably had twenty four hours, and she’s twenty seven,” said Dave.

The Morgans initially wanted to sue.

“Knowing what we know now, I can’t tell you how thankful I am for NICA,” said Ester.

Still, the Florida Justice Association argued the changes don’t go far enough.

“The financial allowance for these families is still woefully inadequate,” said Association Treasurer Stephen Cain.

From now on, there will also be a parent and a physician on an expanded NICA board to advocate for children.

The Justice Association believes lawmakers aren’t done with NICA and expects benefit levels to be reexamined next year.

As of this morning, a record 11,515 Floridians are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 as the Delta variant continues to tear through the state.

Hospitals are reporting younger and healthier patients than in previous waves.

Florida COVID hospitalizations grew by more than 1,100 over night.

At Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in the state’s capital city, 66 of the 70 COVID patients are unvaccinated.

“We’re dealing with something that could have been prevented,” said Dr. Dean Watson with TMH.

And hospital officials said the demographics of the patients they’re seeing are quite different than they’d seen in past waves.

“It’s now attacking a younger population, individuals that are on the surface healthier,” said TMH Chief Clinical Officer Ryan Smith.

Mary Mayhew, President of the Florida Hospital Association told us the entire state is seeing a similar trend.

“It is absolutely attacking younger individuals more aggressively and putting them in the hospital than previous COVID,” said Mayhew.

According to the CDC 60 Floridians are dying a day from COVID.

While that’s about three times what we were experiencing at the start of July, it’s significantly lower then the almost 200 Floridians who were dying each day in last year’s summer and winter spikes.

“Hopefully we will not see the rate of deaths as we experienced in the previous surges,” said Mayhew.

As for how long this new wave will last, some medical professionals are looking to data coming out of the United Kingdom, which was hit by the Delta variant about a month before the US began seeing cases spike.

“You know they’re trending down now. We hope to see a trend down over the next four to five weeks,” said Dr. Watson.

And as cases and hospitalizations have increased the state has seen an uptick in Floridians getting vaccinated.

More than 330,000 got a shot last week.

Currently 61 percent of eligible Floridians have gotten at least one shot of the COVID vaccine.

Florida A&M University said goodbye to the class of 2020 this weekend, not only with their degrees in hand, but also with an additional parting gift.

The university surprised students during commencement ceremonies telling them their outstanding debts from the 2020-2021 school year had been wiped clean.

FAMU graduates had something to cheer about besides their new diplomas at the conclusion of their college careers.

University President Dr. Larry Robinson had this bit of good news to share.

“There was some money on the account a week ago and now it’s gone. That was not a mistake,” said Robinson.

Using $16 million in federal stimulus funds, FAMU erased the debt students racked up over this past school year.

“During COVID many students had financial difficulties as well as their families,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. William Hudson Jr.

Hudson said the gesture will help ease the financial burden on students at the Historically Back University, which serves a population disproportionately reliant on student loans .

“A very at risk population due to socioeconomic circumstances. So many of the HBCUs across the United States are doing similar things,” said Hudson. “And we’re happy to be a leader in that area with HBCUs. And as the number one public HBCU, we take that very seriously in helping our students across this nation graduate.”

Federal data shows Black students leave college owing an average of $52,726, almost $25,000 more than their white peers.

According to Dr. Hudson, 90 percent of FAMU students receive some form of financial aid.

“As a student who took out student loans, and currently still paying on those student loans, I understand the burden of debt. And so being able to decrease the debt of students once they graduate is something that’s very important to Florida A&M University,” said Hudson.

And looking ahead the university says it hopes to replicate this year’s debt forgiveness for future classes.

Especially as the coming year also appears challenging, with Florida’s COVID cases continuing to spike.