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11 years after the suing the state over low payments for treating children, A leading pediatrician was asked to start paying some of the states overhead at a children’s clinic. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the request came just days after the pediatricians won their lawsuit.

Dr. Louis St. Petrey was the lead doctor who sued the state over low pay for kids services. It argued Doctors treating adults for the same issues were getting twice as much.

“Children don’t have access because physicians and dentists don’t get paid enough for them to be willing to see the children” said the pediatric cardiologist.

After a decade of litigation and negotiation, the suit has settled.

“Nothing’s different today that it was yesterday as far as access for kids. But, number one, we;re to be meeting with them. That’;s a big change. that’s wonderful” says St. Petery

But that’s where the story turns ugly.

A week ago St. Petery got an email from a top official at the Department of Health. It asked him to start paying 14 hundred dollars a year  toward overhead at a state clinic where he treats kids.

So we asked:”I just want to be clear: you are performing services for the state, at a reduce rate, in their facility, and they wanted to charge you?”

His answer:”Yes sir, that’s exactly right.” “Wow?”  Yeah, I thought maybe it was an April Fools joke.”

St. Petery did not use the word “retaliation’” But after reporters started asking, the state backed down, ,saying the idea came from consultants doing a legislatively mandated review. It concluded. At this point, the Department will wait until the review is final to take any further action.

Dr. St. Petery founded this clinic back in the 1970’s. He still spends three or four half days a week here.

The official who sent the email has since left the Department. but the episode is proof positive that it’s always difficult to fight big government.

St. Petrey has been critical of the state before over treatment for kids, He also publicly opposed the confirmation of Surgeon general John Armstrong, who was not confirmed by the state Senate and had to resign.

In-home elevators will now have new safety requirements thanks to a bill signed by the Governor Friday.

The Max Grablin Act is named for a 12 year old Bradenton boy killed in an in home elevator.  The bill signed by the Governor Friday requires the in home transporters to have sensors that would stop the elevators if an obstruction was detected in the elevator shaft.

The bill goes into effect July 1^st.

Rule changes for foster homes that work with the state have members of the lesbian, gay and transgender community crying foul. Matt Galka explains.

Advocates of the Lesbian, Gay, and Transgender community made their presence known at a rule making meeting for the state’s Department of Children and Families.

LGBTQ advocates who showed up were angry with DCF for a proposed rule change for foster homes throughout the state.

“LGBTQ youth have unique needs that they’re a vulnerable population, that the DCF has a responsibility as an agency to basically make sure that the providers that are taking care of LGBTQ youth are given the right guidance,” said Carlos Smith with Equality Florida

DCF included specific protections for LGBTQ foster children in a draft rule – including one that specifically banned controversial conversion therapy – but the latest draft took those protections out.

DCF says even though the proposed protections are scratched out, they won’t tolerate discrimination, but advocates say the answer isn’t good enough.

“We don’t need to segment a particular population of kids within the rule, but we need to make sure the rule has protections to cover all children that we’re serving,” said Tory Wilson with DCF.

Rachel Greene works with Capital City Youth Services – a crisis center for endangered children.  She says the protections are needed to make sure one of the most at-risk foster kid populations isn’t ignored.

“We have youth who run away from our program because of fear of going into a program that’s not affirming,” she said.

Dozens of other advocates chimed in on the phone.  No one at the public meeting spoke in favor of having the protections removed.

Statement from DCF Secretary Mike Carroll:

The business of child welfare should not be politicized. We share a sacred mission to serve Florida’s most vulnerable children. We must work collaboratively with a wide coalition of partners and keep the children at the center of our mission.

The health, safety, and permanency of all children in the child welfare system is our top priority. DCF absolutely does not and will not tolerate any discrimination against any vulnerable child for any reason. DCF absolutely does not and will not tolerate any bullying of any vulnerable child for any reason.

Every vulnerable child is entitled to our protection. The modified language in the rule, which was publically developed and scrutinized, expands protections to encompass every child we serve regardless of inherent traits, personal characteristics, or past experiences. And the rulemaking process is a time to receive input from any interested parties before a final rule is published.

18 state democrats are being hailed as “Middle Class Champions”

Liberal group Progress Florida named 14 House Democrats and four Senate democrats as their “middle class champions” for the 2016 legislative session.  The 18 dems were celebrated for their stances on gun control, fracking, and women’s reproductive health.

“Among the leadership of the legislature there is a lot of being beholden to special interests and campaign contributers and things like that, that’s what makes these folks so special, they are seemingly impervious to this kind of pressure,” said Damien Filer with Progress Florida.

Three members on the list have been named every year since 2011.

A 2006 double murder in Altamonte Springs could soon go back to trial, with the convicted killer going free. As Matt Galka tells us, the man’s attorney’s are asking the Florida Supreme Court for a new trial, and new death penalty rules could be a factor, as well.

Clemente Aguirre-Jarquin was sentenced to death in 2006 for the double murder of his neighbors Sheryl Williams and her mother Carol Bareis in Seminole county.

His attorneys told the Florida Supreme Court Thursday Agiurre-Jarquin is an innocent man and deserves a new trial.  They say new evidence shows Williams daughter, Samantha, killed her own mother and grandmother. Tests found her DNA at the scene, but the tests weren’t done until after the conviction.

“The reality is that with the new DNA evidence, the confessions, with the new forensic evidence, all of that evidence demands Mr. Aguirre be given a new trial,” said Aguirre-Jarquin’s attorney Lindsey Boney.

But Assistant Attorney General Jim Riecks says there’s holes in the argument.

“It is important to know that Samantha was never violent towards anyone individually, she only hurt herself,” he said.

Riecks told the court Aguirre-Jarquin had his neighbors blood on his clothes following the murders.

There’s still a chance that Florida’s new death penalty sentencing laws come into play. A 9-3 and 7-5 jury recommended death for Aguirre – Jarquin for the two murders, but the U.S. supreme court ruled the old system unconstitutional.

“If the Supreme Court releases their opinion and denies the appeal, he could get relief through Hearst if it’s retroactive, which it should be,” said Boney.

Florida’s new law requires at least 10 jurors in agreement.

Samantha Williams was reported to have admitted to killing her family in a police report in 2010. She has a history of mental illness.

Standing water from tornadoes and excessive rain across the state has the potential for breeding swarms of mosquitos. Four Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, Lee, Hillsborough and Santa Rosa remain under a state of emergency for the Zika Virus. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, THE CEO of a British Company is in the State Capitol talking with officials and business leaders about a potential high tech solution.

British researchers say they have a high tech solution to stop the Zika virus and they want to try it in Florida. Oxitec is a spin off company from Oxford University. It began genetically modifying mosquitos in 2002. CEO hadyn Parry says it’s plan has gotten a thumbs up from the World Health Organization.

“Male mosquitos can not transmit the disease, so we release these males and they been genetically engineered, so when they actually mate with a wild female, all of the off spring are going to die” says Parry.

The Food and drug administration must sign off on the plan. On Thursday it gave Floridians until the middle of May to comment.

The Department of Healths daily Zika update lists 82 cases in 15 Florida counties. It does not list the home counties of 5 pregnant women.

So far all of the active cases in Florida are the result of someone traveling from another country, not from being bitten here.

But that could change if one of those infected is bitten by the mosquito that carries Zika. Oxitec has successfully used the modified mosquitos to reduce dengue fever in at least three counties.

“In all our trials in different countries, we’ve reduced the population of mosquitos by up to 90 percent, by over ninety percent, actually in every single case” says the Oxitac CEO Parry.

The First test site in Florida would be in the Florida Keys. If successful, a second round of FDA approval would be needed to expand to other ares of the state..

The Florida Department of Health declined to comment about the project since it has yet to be approved. Today’s Zika update shows no new cases since yesterday. Approval of the plan could still take months if not more than a year. if at all.

Unmarried couples need not live in fear that they’ll be busted for cohabitation. Matt Galka tells us about the 148 year old repeal the Governor signed Wednesday.

Tallahassee bartender Lee Matthews has lived with members of the opposite sex in the past

“I’ve had female roommates,” he said.

And now he lives with his girlfriend. Under an old Florida law, all of that was illegal.

“My mother and her mother might have other opinions on that but no, it’s easy, it makes sense, I think for a lot of people it’s a decision in a relationship that financially makes sense or for the relationship it makes sense,” he said.

Florida’s Governor took the 1868 law off the books Wednesday – signing a repeal of the statute that hasn’t been enforced in decades.

Florida was just one of three states with a cohabitation ban still in effect. Relationship therapist Randy Vickers says times have changed for a lot of couples.

“They have much more immediate issues that they’re coming in for for therapy and help,” he said.

Breaking the old law came with a possible 60 days in jail and 500 dollar fine.  House Sponsor Richard Stark says even though it wasn’t being enforced…doesn’t mean it couldn’t be enforced.

“People who are of medicare age, if they want to live together, they don’t get married, they don’t want to give up their social security, they have to think about things like this. It should be decriminalized, it should be repealed off the books,” Stark said last month.

Cohabitation was viewed as lewd lascivious behavior when the law was written…and didn’t apply to same-sex couples.

The future of a tax on your cell phones, satellite and cable tv services is in question tonight. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the case pits satellite providers against cable companies. At stake is billions in state tax revenue.

Direct TV and other satellite subscribers pay the state about 11 and a half percent each month in what is know as the communications services tax. Cable pays less. 40 percent less But Cable also pays local governments a fee to run their wires along and under the street.

In a case that has made it to the State Supreme Court, the Department of Revenue acknowledged the higher satellite tax was an attempt to tax both satellite and cable at the same rate.

“And in every year examined in this case, satellite providers  enjoyed a tax advantage over their pay TV competitor, cable” DOR Attorney Jonathan Williams told the Justices.

But Direct TV’s attorney, Eric Shumsky, said the company doesn’t need the poles and wires and the city or state right away to deliver its product, making the higher satellite fee unconstitutional.

“If the legislature said we’re gonna tax bread at five percent if you bake the bread in the state, and we’re gonna tax at ten percent if it was baked outside the state, that would violate the dormant commerce clause” says Shumsky.

Justice Barbara Pariente worried outloud about the impact on consumers.

“Like I said, in the end we’re really talking about customers. They’re the ones who are gonna get screwed or helped depending on what goes on here” said Parente.

Afterwards, none of the lawyers would talk to us. It’s a sure sign there’s a lot of money at stake.

And attorneys on both sides looked equally worried about the outcome. They may have to wait months for the court to decide.

The tax brings in just over two billion dollars a year for the state. No court in any other state has found the tax unfair or unconstitutional.

After a more than two year delay, medical marijuana is now being grown by three of the six authorized growers. It will soon be on the market, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, growers hope their locations remain well kept secrets.

Quincy Florida, population about 7 thousand,  is the home to one of three up and running,  legal,  medical marijuana grow houses in the Sunshine State.. Where the marijuana is being grown, at least for now, is one of the best kept secrets in this small town.

“Do you know where it’s at? Where the grower is?”

“No” says Joseph Walker.

Betty Sittig was more philosophical:  Would you be surprised to know they are growing legal marijuana here in Quincy?”

“There iS? Really! Maybe I’d better move here.”

James Blackman was equally surprised. “One of the first legal ones? Had no idea about it.

Even the owner of this beauty salon, which is a hotbed of gossip, said she knew nothing about the legal marijuana growing here.

Growers hope to keep it that way. The building is unmarked except for this security notice.

Jason Pernell is the Chief Operating Officer for

Hackney Nursery COO

Q:”You would prefer that no one knew where you were?

A:”Correct. Yes.  It’s better to have it that way, yes”

Q: Do you think you’ll be able to maintain that secrecy?”

A:” Ah,  No, but we’re going to keep it as long as possible” says Pernell.

The grower declined to show us the inside of their facility. It and the state are both nervous about the start up operations.

But surprisingly, local law enforcement is not. Major James Wood of the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office say nursery owners have been very open and cooperative.

“You know, times change. Laws change. And as public servants, whether we like, dislike whatever the law is, our job is to enforce the law. And that’s what we’re gonna do.”

State law originally authorized five grow locations. Two of the original five have yet to receive the go ahead to begin growing pot.

State regulators approved a sixth grower on Monday. July first is the target date for the first legal sales of low THC oils and capsules. So far a total of 126 doctors have completed the eight hour course required to receive authority to prescribe the THC products.

Florida continues to make its claim as the most veteran friendly state in the country. As Matt Galka tells us, a bill signed by the Governor aims to help expand college opportunities for military men and women in the state.

It started at sea. Veteran Adam Cerullo found his love for helping others while working as a physical therapy assistant while in the Navy.

“Unfortunately a lot of the programs that the military has for training do not role into the civilian sector equally as far as licensures,” said Cerullo.

So the 45 year old Cerullo is back in school at Tallahassee Community College in hopes of starting a new career. It’s not as tough as the military.

“I know how to prepare, I know what I need to do, I know what I need to do to get that good grade,” he said.

Now lawmakers want to make it easier for veterans to earn college credit. Lawmakers passed and the Governor signed a bill that would give credit for more exams military men and women take while in uniform.

. Col. Mike Prednergast/Department of Veterans Affairs

“There’s no boundary when you put on the uniform in the United States of America, you’re an American soldier, sailor, marine, airmen, or coast guardsman. You serve the nation, and that benefit that you earn should be something that goes from one state to the other,” said Retired Colonel Mike Prednergast, the outgoing secretary of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

The bill also expands the in state tuition waiver to more veterans.  Cerullo hopes it’ll create more opportunities for those who served.

“I’m just so glad that Florida is able to help recognize a lot more of the training that the veterans have already gone through,” he said.

The law goes into effect July 1^st.

You may remember the active hurricane seasons from a decade ago, and a special assessment Florida homeowners were hit with to pay for the damage. As Matt Galka tells us, if a major storm hits soon…Florida’s got the money to pay.

It’s two months before hurricane season officially begins – but at the Capital Area Red Cross – the season doesn’t matter.

“What we do on a year round basis is recruit volunteers and train those volunteers so that they’re ready,” said CEO Sharon Tyler.

Florida’s been blessed with a decade long hurricane drought.  But Sharon Tyler says that can be a blessing and a curse for residents.

“It’s really important to stay prepared, we have a tendency to stay complacent since we haven’t had a storm in a long time, and we don’t stay on our toes and have everything the way it needs to be,” she said.

That drought has brought some good news for the state though. Florida’s Catastrophe Fund – used to reimburse insurance companies after catastrophic event– is the strongest its ever been

State officials say if Hurricane Andrew were to hit again tomorrow, we can cover it.

“We’ve been fortunate, the wind has not blown and we haven’t had a major land falling storm in a decade,” said state Board of Administration Executive Director Ash Williams.

With nearly 17 billion dollars on hand – state officials are confident they can handle a big one.

“We’re good, for one event, yes, if you had multiple hurricanes Andrew, you would be less good,” said Williams.

Florida homeowners had to pay special assessments to help pay for the 2004 and 2005 storm seasons when the state was peppered with 8 hurricanes.