New College students graduate
New College students celebrated their official commencement ceremony Friday night. It came one day after alternative graduation students held a protest against the conservative direction that Governor Ron DeSantis has taken the school over the last several months.
Women’s pro soccer coming to Tampa
Pro soccer executives and stakeholders joined Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to announce that women’s professional soccer is coming to the city next year. But the team doesn’t have a name or a field to play on yet.
NAACP issues travel advisory
Over the weekend, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for Florida. It joined two other civil rights groups in warning potential tourists that recent laws championed by Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are “openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals.” The NAACP has long been an advocate for Black Americans. It joins the League of United Latin American Citizens, a Latino civil rights organization, and Equality Florida, a gay rights advocacy group, in issuing travel advisories for the Sunshine State. Florida is the most popular state in the U.S. for tourists, and tourism is one of its biggest industries.
DeSantis challenges judge in Disney case
Ron DeSantis is asking that a federal judge be disqualified from the First Amendment lawsuit filed by Disney against the Florida governor and his appointees. The DeSantis motion filed Friday claims U.S. District Judge Mark Walker’s prior statements have raised questions about his impartiality on the state’s efforts to take over Disney World’s governing body. Disney’s lawsuit alleges the Republican governor and his appointees violated the company’s right to free speech, as well as the contracts clause, by taking over the special governing district that previously had been controlled by Disney supporters. Walker was nominated to the federal bench in 2012 by President Barack Obama.
Voting rights groups pressure DeSantis on election bill
Voting rights groups are urging DeSantis to veto a major elections bill that would place additional restrictions on voter registration groups. SB 7050 also would help clear the way for DeSantis to run for president in 2024. Among other things, the bill would require that voter registration groups provide receipts when they collect applications from people, shorten from 14 to 10 days the length of time groups have to turn applications into election supervisors, and impose a $50-per-day fine for each application that is turned in late. DeSantis is expected to announce his presidential run this week in Dunedin.
Tampa weather
Heavy rain and strong thunderstorms are possible in the Tampa Bay area today. Meteorologists say a stalled front will keep rounds of rain and storms in the forecast this week.
Today’s storm threat could actually come with the potential for damaging winds. He adds that the risk of severe storms will arrive during the afternoon and could linger into the early evening before storms taper off. Overnight lows will be in the low-70s.
Information from the Florida Public Radio network, News Service of Florida and Associated Press was used in this report.
