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The committee created to oversee the creation of two memorials for the Dozier School of Boys, a reform school with a hundred year history of reported child abuse, met Tuesday to begin selecting artists.

55 remains were found at the Dozier School for Boys in an excavation in 2013.

40 are former students that many survivors suspect died from abuse.

Committee members suggested any memorial should educate the public about the history of the school.

“Eduction to remind people that school existed for 111 years,” said Dozier survivor and Dozier Memorial and Monument Review Committee member Capt. Bryant Middleton.

The group narrowed down a list of 67 candidates to fewer than five.

One memorial will be built on the grounds of the State Capitol.

The other is to be constructed on the Dozier campus in Mariana.

The total cost of the project is expected to be around half a million dollars according to officials with the Department of Management Services.

But as the new monuments are considered a living piece of Dozier history known as the White House, where beatings at the school were alleged to have taken place, is falling into ruin.

“It is a memorial for a lot of us boys that was taken there and beat,” said Dozier survivor Charlie Fudge.

Photos taken of the White House on Monday show that the grass is overgrown and apparent structural damage to the roof.

“The doors, you can’t lock them,” said Dozier survivor James ‘Harley’ DeNyke.

In 2018 the 1,400 acre school property was handed over to Jackson County at no charge, but on the condition that the county would maintain and memorialize the White House and a grave site known as Boot Hill.

“All they have to do is take care of a little building and a little cemetery and that’s not too much to ask,” said Dozier survivor Roy Conerly.

Dozier survivors tell us the county and the state are feuding over who should foot the bill for the repairs.

“Who’s got jurisdiction? Who’s going to own up,” said NeNyke.

The final picks for the memorials are expected to be made in December, but it may take another legislative session to hammer out the details of the White House repairs.

VisitFlorida, the state’s public private tourism marketing arm, is about to be at the center of one of the biggest fights in the 2020 legislative session.

Lawmakers have had the agency in their sights for at least three years after some questionable spending, but there’s a new wrinkle this year.

VisitFlordia spent millions spent on a cooking show and a fishing show.

Then another million on a ‘Sexy Beaches’ video featuring hip hop star Pitbull.

The agency originally angered lawmakers by refusing to tell them how much they spent on those promotions.

A showdown between the House and Senate this past spring threatened to close the agency forever.

Then the Governor personally asked for a one year reprieve.

The House Speaker gave in.

“So that he would have the opportunity to make an assessment of his own of how unnecessary it is,” said House Speaker Jose Oliva in April.

Now looking forward to the 2020 session, the Governor will be asking to keep the agency alive.

“It’s interesting, and the Speaker and I are very philosophically aligned and I mean, I was not necessarily sold on it coming in, but as they rate these things, that’s one of the few economic development things that gets rated as being positive,” said DeSantis.

State Senator Tom Lee believes the Senate will continue to fight for the tourism promoting agency.

“I think it’s pretty important to the Senate,” said LEe.

As a compromise to keep Visit Florida alive for one more year, lawmakers agreed to kill the agency June 13th.

This week, two bills were filed to extend Visit Florida’s life until October 2028.

“But I suspect that’s all gonna get caught up in the horse trading that takes place late in the session,” said Lee.

But that means the House has to actually pass something it only grudgingly agreed to in the 2019 session.

In budget hearings last week, state lawmakers were asked to set aside $50 million for VisitFlorida.

It’s the same amount the agency got this year, but the Governor told us Monday that the number was still in flux.

A controversial memo prepared by political operatives for Governor Ron DeSantis appeared to suggest a pay-to-play scheme, in which the Governor would spend time with big time donors.

On Monday, the Governor said he never saw the memo, which suggested that for a mere $25,000 you could be one of a foursome with the Governor on the golf course.

“So I had never seen those memos before. That was the first time I’d seen them. So they had no affect on me or anything that I’ve done. And at the end of the day my job is to pursue the state’s best interest. If people want to support that, great, but at the end of the day that’s the calculation that I make,” said DeSantis.

Political operative Susie Wiles, who helped both DeSantis and the President win Florida is reportedly the author of the memo.

She has since been relieved of her duties in both the Trump and DeSantis camps.

The Florida Online Voter Registration System is back online after it was temporarily disabled for maintenance Sunday.

Democrats believe it was strategic move to disable the site just two days before National Voter Registration Day.

Floridians trying to register to vote online Sunday were met with a message stating that the system was temporarily down for maintenance and apologizing for any inconvenience.

But Juan Peñalosa Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party was suspicious.

“The fact that the site went down just as we were ramping up our efforts for National Voter Registration Day,” said Peñalosa.

Democrats issued a statement accusing the Governor of intentionally timing the shutdown to stop people from registering.

“We know that the site goes down conspicuously at times when community organizations like the Florida Democratic Party are beginning to ramp up efforts to register,” said Peñalosa.

The site was back up and running within a few hours.

Democrats were quick to take credit.

“The fact that the site was online so quickly after we pointed it out is a win for us,” said Peñalosa.

But Sarah Revell with the Department of State said in a statement, “The maintenance windows are scheduled for 48 hours but they typically are completed in less time. Yesterday’s maintenance window was expected to be completed by 2 p.m. so the site coming back online had nothing to do with the Florida Democratic Party.”

Revell also said the maintenance was intended to make sure the site is ready for National Voter Registration Day Tuesday.

“The routine maintenance helps increase security for the site and will also help to ensure the site is able to handle the anticipated increase in traffic on National Voter Registration Day,” said Revell.

But Democrats don’t buy the state’s story.

“To bring the site down for maintenance could have happened last week. It could have happened two weeks before,” said Peñalosa. “We have publicized this day and this lead up for voter registration for over a month now.”

Florida Democrats say they’ve committed more than $3 million to its voter registration efforts.

They hope to register more than 200,000 before the 2020 General Election.

Democrats are calling on the Governor and Secretary of State to commit to only four hours of downtime for the voter registration site a year.

You can register online by visiting RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov.

Five years after an FSU Law Professor was murdered in his garage in what police believe was a murder for hire, jury selection for two defendants began Monday.

Prosecutors said a custody battle was at the center of the murder.

In July 2014, FSU Law Professor Dan Markel pulled into his garage.

He was shot twice at point blank range.

The case went cold, until police identified the getaway car from surveillance video.

Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera were charged with the murder for hire.

Rivera, already in prison, cut a deal implicating the mother of Garcia’s children.

Police believe Katie Magbanua arranged the hit.

She once worked for and dated Markel’s ex-wive’s brother Charlie.

In a dramatic sting operation video an undercover police officer is seen handing a note to Charlie’s mother, Donna Adelson.

The note has a phone number, Rivera’s picture and the number five thousand.

What followed was a series of conversations that prosecutors believe traces the conspiracy from Markel’s former mother-in-law to the hitman.

“When information about the death of Dan Markel is handed to one co-conspirator, it travels down the line in a certain fashion,” said prosecutor Georgia Cappleman.

750 people have been summoned for jury duty.

They were brought in, in groups of 50.

In the first batch called, three out of four said a four week trial would be a hardship.

“It’s okay if a juror has heard of the case as long as they have not formed a definite opinion about the guilt of the defendant,” said Cappleman.

No members of the Adelson Family have been charged.

Markel’s ex-wife Wendy is expected to testify.

She took the fifth amendment several times during a deposition.

The state is seeking the death penalty against the alleged hit man but not the woman who is accused of arranging the hit.

There’s new energy around an effort to raise the age to purchase nicotine products like cigarettes and vapes to 21 in the state of Florida.

The final details haven’t been worked out, but the issue has the ear of the Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor.

During the 2019 session, the Tobacco 21 Act, which would raise the age to purchase nicotine products from 18 to 21 passed the Senate and two House committees.

Statistics show one out of five teens vape and at least eight deaths are believed to be linked to vaping related illnesses.

“So there is momentum especially now the headlines are showing that it’s killing our youth as well,” said Representative Jackie Toledo.

Toledo, the House Sponsor of the Tobacco 21 Act, now has the ear of the state’s attorney General Ashley Moody and Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez.

She’s hoping to get them on board with Tobacco 21.

“We’re all on the same page that something needs to happen. What that solution ultimately is, is what we’re all discussing,” said Toledo.

Health advocates with the American Cancer Society tell us they’re also planning to meet with Nunez and Moody.

They’re also working on hammering out the details of the Tobacco 21 Act with sponsors.

Moody and Nunez have both been attending meetings on the teen vaping crisis.

When we spoke with Nunez Tuesday, she hadn’t committed to the idea of raising the age.

“But again, the process is just beginning. It will work its way through,” said Nunez.

Moody told us her main concern is with flavored vape products.

“As a mother of a nine year old you can imagine that grape, bubble gum would be attractive to kids,” said Moody.

The Tobacco 21 Act ran into several issues during the 2019 session, with the Tobacco and Vaping industries working to water down the legislation.

This year’s bill doesn’t include many issues that were responsible for tanking the 2019 effort such as exemptions for cigars and military personnel.

The 2019 version also would have preempted local governments from regulating tobacco advertising.

But the industry is sure to fight hard in 2020 as well.

A man and woman charged in the murder for hire of an FSU professor appeared in a Tallahassee court Friday for the last time in jail blues.

On Monday, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia face jurors in their street clothes.

The state is seeking the Death Penalty against the alleged triggerman Garcia.

Professor Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson divorced a year before the murder.

Prosecutors consider her family un-indicted co-conspirators and believe they paid Garcia through Magbanua for the hit.

On Friday, lawyers squared off over whether pages of divorce filings could he admitted.

Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman calling them 500 pages of “bad blood”.

“He said there may be some limited exceptions to that if they make a more specific objection, but in general they can come in. Not for particular truth of each pleading, but in general to prove the motive for the crime,” said Cappleman.

The trial, which begins Monday, could last as long as three weeks.

It is a case that is being covered by several major news magazines including 20/20 and Dateline NBC.

About 250 protesters, many of them students, rallied at the State Capitol Friday morning as part of the Global Climate Strike.

The movement, primarily youth driven, spurred protests all across the world demanding action to address climate change.

14-year-old Charlotte Stewart-Tilley is the organizer of the rally at the Capitol.

She said climate change is a matter of life and death for the youth.

“It’s our future and I feel like other adults kind of have the privilege of not caring. They don’t have to care because it’s not going to be their future they’re worrying about, but it’s ours and we’re seeing that adults aren’t making any change,” said Stewart-Tilley.

Charlotte told us protesters want the US to recommit to the Paris Climate Accords and pass the Green New Deal.

She also says they want the State of Florida to committee to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035.

In less than two weeks, the second part of the state’s new texting and driving law will kick in, making school zones a hands free area.

Similar to the initial texting ban there will be a buffer period as police issue warnings, not tickets, to offenders.

Since Florida’s new texting while driving law allowing officers to pull distracted drivers over for texting took effect on July 1st, only 542 tickets have been written.

But the sponsor of the legislation Representative Jackie Toledo told us the slow rollout was by design.

“We did give them discretion to either ticket or not ticket and educate and warn,” said Toledo.

Lieutenant Derrick Rahming with the Florida Highway Patrol said the agency’s intent is to give drivers warnings until the start of the new year.

“To educate the person, not just to give them a fine or anything like that, but they want to make sure that they’re educated and they understand what the law actually is,” said Rahming.

Now, starting on October 1st, a second portion of the law kicks in.

It makes all school and active construction zones completely handsfree.

Penalties for the hands free portion of the law begin on January 1st.

Offenders can face a $60 fine and three points added to their license.

It’s a harsher penalty than the $30 dollars for texting while driving.

“Because there are children around in those areas. There are active workers and construction workers. So really the areas that are most vulnerable,” said Toledo.

Some like Demetrius Branca, who’s son was killed by a distracted driver, believe the new law is only a first step towards a completely hands free law.

“Making the school zones hands free is a great step. Making the work zones hands free is a great step, but we all deserve hands free,” said Branca.

Lawmakers don’t expect fully handsfree legislation to get serious consideration until 2021.

Toledo said it will give them time to examine how effective the current law is at curbing auto accidents.

In addition to the 542 texting tickets, FHP has issued 438 warnings.

The agency expects the number of tickets to increase significantly when full enforcement takes effect January 1st.

The Florida Department of Education is asking lawmakers to increase funding for mental health services, bringing the total up to $100 million in the coming year, but even with the $25 million increase, the state will still staff counselors below the nationally recommended average.

Jacob Oliva is the K-12 Chancellor.

“We’re close to between one to four hundred to five hundred. Which is a decrease over the last couple of years. We’ve added almost five to six hundred school counselors statewide,” said Oliva.

The recommendation is winning rave reviews from lawmakers.

“I think that’s a key, number one, to keeping our kids out of trouble. But number two, trying to determine those problems before they occur,” said Rep. Ralph Massullo.

House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Chris Latvala of Clearwater called the increase a big step forward.

“And when you are a school psychologist and you have two or three schools that you cover, it’s hard to find those kids that have the severe issues,” said Latvala.

The PTA is also on board with more counselors, but they would like to see is the ratio of counselors to students listed on schools’ report cards for parents.

“I don’t know that parents realize the disparity,” said Angie Gallo with the Florida PTA.

DOE is also asking for $200,000 to cover increased liability insurance costs as a result of having armed teachers in some counties.

“And hopefully, they’ll never need it,” said Latvala.

The ask comes as a former guardian, a non teacher in Pinellas County, was charged with pawning his gun and bullet proof vest multiple times for gas money.

He was charged with five counts of False Verification of Ownership.

DOE is also asking for $8 million to provide instant communication with police and other first responders for schools statewide.

The last firefighter found alive in the ruins of the twin towers has embarked on a global journey that led him to Florida’s State Capitol Thursday morning.

Retired New York Fire Department Lieutenant Joe Torrillo founded The Star Spangled Banner Project.

He takes a 50 lb American flag dubbed ‘the Patriot Flag’ to historic US monuments, State Capitols and American battle fields domestic and abroad in honor of 9/11 victims, first responders and American veterans.

He said the project is all about unity.

“Because the life that we enjoy came at a huge expense by so many Americans before us. So Mitch and I want to make our country the re-united states of America. Bring people together, resurrect patriotism and put new glory into old glory and that’s really what it’s about,” said Torrillo.

The Florida State Capitol is 38th state Capitol the Patriot Flag has visited.

The flag’s next stop is Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Florida Democrats are demanding Attorney General Ashley Moody drop her fight against the proposed constitutional amendment to ban assault weapons.

She believes it misleads voters.

“The way that they have phrased this language, it would ban virtually every firearm,” said Moody at a press conference in August.

The amendment would ban any weapon with the capability of carrying more than ten rounds with the exception of hand guns.

“Guns like the gun my grandfather gave my father and his brother when they were nine and ten 60 years ago,” said Moody.

Now Democrats and gun advocates are firing back.

They argue the amendment doesn’t go as far as Moody claims.

“This isn’t an attempt to raid people of their second amendment [rights],” said Rep. Cindy Polo. “This is an attempt to save lives and to take some sort of action, because it seems that we don’t even take one step forward.”

The decision to block the amendment or allow it to go before voters will ultimately be made by the state Supreme Court.

Its only role is to decide if the amendment is misleading or contains multiple subjects.

Moody said policy aside, it’s her constitutional duty to fight the amendment.

“To tell you whether or not we believe it meets that statutory definition of clarity and if it’s going to mislead the voters we have to communicate that to the court,” said Moody.

But Democrats assert the ballot language speaks for itself.

“There’s very specific language on this and I think Attorney General Moody is attempting to be misleading when she talks about that the language is misleading, because it is not,” said Terrie Rizzo, Chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

With or without Supreme Court approval, the ballot initiative still has more than 600,000 additional signatures it needs to gather before it would be eligible for the 2020 ballot.
The constitutional amendment would also require anyone currently in possession of a banned fire arm to register the gun with the state.

There’s disagreement over whether the guns could be passed down after the original owner passes away.

Environmentalists in the state Capitol are heralding a new day when it comes to discussing a changing climate.

The environmental community sees the election of new leaders as a giant step forward for the states environmental future.

On the day he took office, Governor Ron DeSantis made it clear he would start cleaning up the state’s waters.

“It doesn’t just drive tourism. It affects property values. It anchors many local economies,” said DeSantis in January.

On Tuesday, Rep. Chris Sprowls, the man designated to lead the Florida House after 2020 made it clear the environment was a top priority.

“We’ve need to stop being afraid of using words like climate change and sea level rise,” said Sprowls.

Environmentalists argue the state was set back a decade when Governor Rick Scott who would respond, ‘I’m not a scientist,’ when asked about climate change.

Now a band of Democrats want the state to set the goal of Florida using one hundred percent renewable energy before 2050.

They believe they are going to get a hearing.

“And now is the time for bold action, and part of that action has to be setting goals,” said Rep. Ben Diamond.

Even the sponsors agree that getting the state to be 100 percent carbon neutral in just over 30 years is very ambitious but the Florida Conservation voters said it is the goal that matters.

“We need ambitious legislation right now because we are so far behind and this crisis is so dire,” said Jonathan Webber with FCV. “You can set any marker you want. We just need progress. I think a hundred percent by 2050 is a reasonable thing to do. If we can people on the moon in ten years we can get to renewable energy by 2050.”

Since taking office, the Governor has created two new posts, Chief Science Officer and Chief Resiliency Officer.

As another sign of the change, the Governor spent a half a day when he was in Israel earlier this year meeting with water quality experts.

Before each legislative session, the Florida Chamber and others decry the state of the legal system in Florida, prodding lawmakers to fix it.

Wednesday, they pointed to an unscientific survey of 1,300 corporate lawyers who rank Florida the fifth worse legal system in the country.

Fl Chamber Mark Wilson said Floridians pay higher costs for things such as toothpaste and insurance because of lawsuits.

“Here’s what matters. There are 21.6 million people in Florida right now who are paying a $4,442 lawsuit tax at the family level because we’re artificially making it more expensive to live here,” said Wilson.

We reached out to the Florida Justice Association for a reaction.

We have not heard back.

One of the bills with the most co-sponsors didn’t even get a hearing during the 2019 session, but a bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes 2020 will be their year.

The Florida Competitive Workforce Act would expand housing and employment protections to LGBT individuals in Florida.

Supporters like Senator Sponsor Darryl Rouson said the idea has support from nearly seven out of ten Floridians and is backed by 11 Fortune 500 companies in the state.

“As lawmakers of Florida we owe it to all Floridians to send a message of inclusion and fairness and it’s about equity. It’s about respect. It’s about dignity for the human being. Today Florida is one of 30 states without an anti-discrimination law that would protect the LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations,” said Rouson.

Currently only about 60 percent of the state’s 21 million residents live in areas that have passed local equal employment ordinances that cover LGBT individuals.