Florida Phoenix News

28/07/2024

“We’re all trying to get to the same conclusion, and that’s justice for the descendants.”

The medals awarded to soldiers who participated in the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre will be subjected to a review, the U.S. Department of Defense has announced. The department said the review’s purpose is “to ensure no awardees were recognized for conduct inconsistent with the nation’s highest m...

27/07/2024

In Florida, coal is no longer a major factor in electricity generation. As 0f 2022, and coal-fired power plants supplied about 6% of the energy supply, down from 36% in 2001.

Attorneys general in 25 states, including Florida’s Ashley Moody, have sent an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court asking it to immediately halt a Biden administration rule that they say threatens to shutter the country’s remaining fleet of coal-fired power plants. The emergency ...

26/07/2024

Some of those students came back to the districts, but the number is not expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels in the next 10 years, according to the forecast.

A state forecast indicates Florida schools will experience declining enrollment in five of the next six years, with the one positive year representing less than a 0.1% increase. The student enrollment forecast from the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research predicts that 12,379 fewer stud...

26/07/2024

The trial in the class action filed by Medicaid patients who say the state illegally kicked them off from the health care program meant for low-income people is set to resume in Jacksonville on Monday. Florida’s handling of the Medicaid eligibility review process that happened after the end of the...

26/07/2024

“We’ve made major progress getting this through committee. It’s going to take continued effort to try to advance this to passage on the floor, and I’ll explore every option and opportunity to do so."

A bipartisan proposal that would ban elected members of Congress and the executive branch from trading stocks while in office advanced out of a U.S. Senate committee this week but faces concerns from some GOP senators over its reach. The bill passed out of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security a...

26/07/2024

“I don’t think it’s a lack of support for President Biden necessarily; I think that we know that he’s a great president. It’s just that we wanted to see what the president ended up doing, which is passing the torch of leadership to the younger generation.”

It’s been less than a week since Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, and a Florida Democratic party activist representing young voters says the change at the head of the ticket has absolutely energized that part of the base. “It’s a completely different ...

26/07/2024

The Trump campaign filed a similar complaint to the FEC on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — A conservative group and a group of Republican state parties Thursday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of improperly assuming control of Biden campaign funds after he withdrew from the race. The complaint asks the FEC’s six...

26/07/2024

“I’ve said it many times, but it bears repeating: Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters."

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday afternoon, a day after he vowed to Congress that he wants “total victory” in the deadly Gaza war. Harris said she and Netanyahu had a “construct...

25/07/2024

“Today the Senate tells these parents: ‘We hear you; we’re taking action.’”

This story mentions su***de. If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis or thoughts of su***de, please dial 988 or chat with a live counselor at 988lifeline.org. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate advanced online safety legislation Thursday aimed at protecting children from targeted a...

25/07/2024

"This assassination attempt is a matter of significant public interest, and the public’s business ought to be public.”

Editor’s note: This story links to video containing images that may be upsetting to some viewers. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley released additional videos and documents Thursday related to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. Grassley said in a news release that the bodycam vid...

25/07/2024

“On its face, the revised Statement violates both the order and precedent of this Court. For example, the revised Statement is devoted in large measure not to the required probable fiscal impact, but to speculative prognostication on the impact of potential future litigation on reproductive care, in what is a rather obvious attempt to put a thumb on the scale in precisely the way the court’s precedent forecloses."

The sponsor of the proposed abortion-rights amendment to the Florida Constitution asked the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday to toss out a state panel’s financial analysis of the measure. Floridians Protecting Freedom took its complaint to Florida’s highest court after a lower state appeal cou...

25/07/2024

"Why is Harris silent? Because she has to appeal to the Hamas caucus in her own party to be able to win an election, or at least she thinks that that's the case."

Gov. Ron DeSantis bashed Vice President Kamala Harris for missing Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday, saying she has to “appeal to the Hamas caucus” in her presidential campaign. Harris didn’t preside over the joint address, as is tradition for the of...

25/07/2024

“There are some who will try to say that Florida is not in play but let me quell those rumors or suppositions now. Florida absolutely is in play for it."

Florida is not one of the states Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has highlighted as focus areas, but Democratic leaders in the Florida Legislature insist that the campaign’s efforts combined with enthusiasm from voters could put the Sunshine State is in play. Harris has raised $100 millio...

25/07/2024

"[T]he articulation of the focus on women or diversity is inconsistent with the general thrust of where the state is going."

During the first meeting in Florida Atlantic University’s second attempt to find a president, a lawyer and former New College of Florida trustee told the firm handling the search that posting the job on publications focused on women or diversity would be inconsistent with state policy. The public ...

25/07/2024

“The National Weather Service’s core function is to save lives and property through issuing weather watches, alerts, and warnings. I don’t understand why you’d propose to get rid of that.”

The other day I was watching a campaign rally by the one reeeeally ooooold presidential candidate, and he was warning everyone about Project 2025. “Some on the right, the severe right, came up with this Project 25,” he said, mangling the name a bit, perhaps because he’s showing signs of mental...

25/07/2024

“America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.”

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden explained his decision not to seek reelection during a prime-time address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, saying now is the time to turn over power to the next generation. “I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point — one of those ...

24/07/2024

“I actually hopped in because no one else did,” Dimmock told the Phoenix in a phone interview conducted earlier this week.

Aaron Dimmock, the underdog Republican challenging Matt Gaetz in Florida’s First Congressional District GOP primary in the Panhandle next month, is running what can only be described as an unusual race. Dimmock is a retired Navy officer who heads the Missouri Leadership Academy in St. Louis, some ...

24/07/2024

“I also think it’s possible that you know, if Harris falls on her face over the next few weeks, I think it’s absolutely possible that they go a different direction at the convention."

Ron DeSantis says there’s no doubt Republicans would have preferred to have faced Joe Biden this November in the presidential election, but he believes Kamala Harris is the best Democratic candidate from a GOP perspective to run against Donald Trump, saying that her “tenure as vice president has...

24/07/2024

“It’s no different than a kid working at Publix or their local Chick-Fil-A, having the job, performing a service or a task, and getting compensated for that."

Florida student athletes can now profit from their names, images, and likenesses — NIL for short — under a policy the Board of Education unanimously approved on Wednesday. The measure had been passed by the Florida High School Athletic Association in early June. Craig Damon, executive director o...

24/07/2024

“We want somebody that’s going to lead. We want to be very clear that we’re dedicated to the pursuit of truth in higher education."

Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference Wednesday morning that he won’t get involved with the University of Florida’s quest for a new president, but he said he wants the next leader to continue on a ‘strong path.’ The university is in search of a new president following the announce...

24/07/2024

“The folks in charge in Tallahassee have made it increasingly difficult for Floridians to make their voices heard."

A group of state House Democrats held the first of three scheduled “field hearings” on Monday night in Tampa to give constituents a chance to explain what they’d like to see when the Legislature reconvenes following the November elections. In a pointed rebuke to the Republicans who run the Leg...

24/07/2024

Last year, Miami-Dade was a hotbed for dengue, with 156 out of the 176 Florida cases taking place in the county, according to the last arbovirus report of 2023.

As dengue cases skyrocket in the country, the Florida Department of Health has reported that two people contracted the mosquito-borne illness last week in Miami-Dade County, bringing the total number of cases detected this year to 16. Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties are under a mosquit...

24/07/2024

23/07/2024

Lawmakers were aghast to learn that state police relayed information to the U.S. Secret Service of a suspicious man with a range finder roughly 20 to 25 minutes prior to the July 13 shooting.

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania’s top police officer faced questions Tuesday from lawmakers who wanted details about how the U.S. Secret Service and state and local law enforcement communicated when a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump, killed one rallygoer, and injured two ...

23/07/2024

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a Tuesday call with reporters committed to a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic presidential candidate. “I would be willing to do more than one debate,” Trump said. Harris, who says she is the presu...

23/07/2024

Ron DeSantis says he’s concerned the United States could be hit with a terrorist attack similar in proportion to what took place in Israel last fall, and that Washington is no longer as focused on counterterrorism efforts, meaning that state and local agencies in Florida will need to pick up the s...

23/07/2024

University of Florida and Florida A&M University announced candidates Tuesday to tap as interim presidents following resignations by both institutions’ leaders, while Florida Atlantic University will kick off its second presidential search since its most recent president left in 2022. UF President...

23/07/2024

Requiring the director of the Secret Service to be confirmed by the Senate will “ensure the same level of oversight as other federal law enforcement agencies and support our hardworking agents in doing the best job they can.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday, following widespread outrage that her agency failed to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump during a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Cheatle’s resignation follows an inte...

23/07/2024

“Now more than ever, requiring employers to offer basic protections, like shade and water breaks, is critical.”

More than 5.7 million Floridians are vulnerable to extreme heat, according to a report from the Florida Policy Institute, which called upon state lawmakers to repeal a new law that prohibits local governments from enacting heat protections for outdoor workers. Over the past four years, Florida has a...

23/07/2024

If the delegates who have endorsed her follow through, Harris will officially become the nominee when the vote occurs next month.

Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough endorsements from Democratic delegates to make her the party’s presidential nominee, according to unofficial delegate trackers. A delegate tracker from The Associated Press counted 2,887 delegates who had said by Tuesday that they would vote for Harris o...