Campaign financing

Florida voters may soon be able to decide whether to stop public financing for campaigns for statewide offices. WMNF’s Chris Young reports that a ballot question that passed in the Senate yesterday could hurt candidates that need the funding.

New College PR

A longtime political ally of the governor and New College’s president, Richard Corcoran, has been hired by New College. The college has been paying TMF Communications $15,000 a month since July. The Tallahassee-based company is run by Taryn Fenske, a former spokesperson for DeSantis and an affiliated super PAC campaign.

NOAA grant

A new $250,000 grant from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration will be used to empower small businesses dedicated to combating climate change. WMNF’s Kerilyn Kwiatkowski reports, that Congressmember Kathy Castor says this funding will help the Tampa Bay area.

Transgender Floridians and Allies rally

100 transgender and non-binary Floridians protested at the state capitol yesterday alongside several Democratic lawmakers. The protest comes due to what protesters called a multi-year attack on the existence of transgender people. This protest comes after a new law is set to be heard by the House today. This law would require the biological sex of any person be on displayed on their driver’s license.

Juvenile justice detention center sergeant arrested

A sergeant at a juvenile justice detention center has been arrested for soliciting sex from a teenage inmate. Numerous inappropriate letters, written by Sergeant Katelyn Gomez, were found in the 16-year-old inmate’s bed. The letters described the ongoing relationship she was having with the victim while he was incarcerated at the Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

DeSantis travel records

Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey has recused herself without explanation from a high-profile lawsuit involving Governor DeSantis and his travel records. The recusal from the case comes just seven months after she began presiding over the case. Judge Angela Dempsey was scheduled to hold a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the Washington Post the same day she requested to leave the previously mentioned case.

Information from Florida Public Media, News Service of Florida, and Associated Press was used in this report.

The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNF

The Scoop producer Spenser Tesch

WMNF anchors Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane

WMNF News Director Seán Kinane

WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Seán Kinane, Colleen Cole, Kerilyn Kwiatkowski, Jimmy Rosilio

Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.

Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF