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It is illegal for businesses to significantly raise the price of essential commodities like gas and water as a hurricane approaches the state.

Yet it happens dozens if not hundreds of times during each storm.

The Attorney General is touting a new way for people to report and hold bad actors accountable.

As threat of a storm like Dorian increases, so too does the threat of price gouging.

Attorney General Ashley Moody is urging consumers to report complaints to her office.
“If they give us this information we can be proactive in making sure that people can have access to these commodities because we’ll stop the price gouging as it’s taking place,” said Moody.

Moody activated the state’s price gouging hotline Wednesday.

Even with the storm days away from making landfall, calls have steadily trickled in, with consumers reporting illegal price hikes on water, gas and plywood.

“You can sense people’s stress level because you know they’re trying to get things, trying to get everything collected, trying to get prepared for the storm and they go to buy necessary items and they see that they’ve increased double, triple in price,” said Crystal Fukushima, an employee in the price gouging receiving center.

Before now people generally called the state’s price gouging hotline to report companies, but the Attorney General has launched a new app that allows people to report detailed information and even photos of price gouging.

“All of this stuff immediately gets forwarded to our office,” said Moody. “It allows us to have more success on the back end when we’re trying to pursue these individuals.”

And employees we spoke with said so far they’ve been receiving more complaints through the app than phone calls.

It’s an early sign the new tool is making an impact.

The number for the price gouging hotline is 866-966-7226.

You can also download the Florida No Scam App for free on the both the Apple and Android app stores.

A proposed constitutional amendment aimed at opening up the utility market in Florida got its day before the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday morning.

Utility companies came out in force, asking the Supreme Court to block the amendment from the ballot.

The State Supreme Court weighed whether voters would understand what they are being asked to vote for in 2020.

After the hearing, one of the first out the door was FPL President Eric Silagy, a show of how important killing the amendment is to Florida’s major utility companies.

“Everybody is showing up here. It shows the stakes,” said Alex Patton, Chairman of Citizens for Energy Choice, the group pushing the amendment.

Dubbed the Energy Choice Amendment by supporters, it would prohibit Florida’s investor owned utilities from power generation and storage, essentially limiting them to building and maintaining the poles and wires.

Private companies would take their place.

“It would allow consumers to choose. It would really have an effect on breaking up monopolies, which currently are anti-consumer, they’re anti-competitive and they’re a corrupting force on today’s politics,” said Patton.

Amendment supporters said more competition will save the average family $300 a year with total savings hitting as high as $7 billion across the state.

If the amendment ultimately passes, the Florida Legislature would be directed to implement laws promoting competition in the energy market place and expressly prohibiting energy monopolies.

The laws would have to be in effect by June 1st 2025.

“This is quite simply and experiment that Florida cannot afford to chance,” said Brewster Bevis with the Associated Industries of Florida.

Utility companies argue the amendment doesn’t inform voters they’d loose their current providers as an option.

They also said it doesn’t guarantee residents will be able to sell electricity they produce as the ballot language claims.

“This language is as clear as mud,” said Bevis.

Amendment sponsors dismiss those concerns.

“What they are providing is a very misleading argument that is clear as mud,” said Patton.

If the Supreme Court doesn’t strike down the amendment, it will likely make it to the 2020 ballot.

Sponsors said they’re on track to reach the required 766,000 signature by the end of the year.

Families of the Parkland school shooting victims are fighting for compensation from the Broward County School Board.

At issue is whether or not each pull of the gunman’s trigger counted as a separate incident, or if the entire shooting was a single incident.

Under state law, a government entity like the school board can only be held liable for $300,000 for a single incident.

“A week later a copy cat shooter could have come into the school had it been open and done the same thing and the school board would be saying, ‘same incidence or occurrence, it was just our negligent security’. That cannot be the rule,” said Stephen Rosenthal who is representing the families involved in the case.

“This is an issue of one occurrence, one incident,” said Eugene Pettis, the attorney representing the Broward School Board. “We don’t have the situation where it’s days or weeks later. This all happened in a matter of a few minutes.”

If the Supreme Court sides with the school board, families would have to get approval from the Legislature for any compensation above the $300,000 cap.

Dorian officially became a hurricane this afternoon and is now expected to be a major storm before making landfall.

The State’s Emergency Operations Center has a skeleton staff on duty monitoring Dorian, but before the weekend, the room will be filled with hundreds making preparations.

“Obviously, we don’t want to pull triggers too late. So we don’t want to do things too early, like evacuate or over evacuate and put people on the road. So these are things the Governor and I were discussing,” said EOC Director Jared Moskowitz.

Complicating the planning are disagreeing models that leave a lot of the state open to landfall.

“People turn on the news and nobody knows where the storm is going, right? They see what’s going on and they factor i, well, where is it going. Is is going to Jacksonville. Is it going to Dade County. But as far as us, we have to plan for all contingencies,” said Moskowitz.

A planned Saturday night FSU football season opener in Jacksonville is also in jeopardy.

Radio talk show host Bobby Mac is one of thousands planning to make the trip, but the storm has him concerned.

“Yeah. Definitely. It’s real close to when kickoff is supposed to be,” said Mac.

FSU said it is monitoring the storm and that, “The safety of the student-athletes and the fans attending the game will, as always, be the top priority.”

The EOC Director said the game is also large on the Governor’s radar.

This is the new administration’s first storm and one of the first things they have done is preposition more supplies in different parts of the state for faster response.

“Think generators. Think pumps. Things of those nature,” said Moskowitz. “So those are things we are seeking to acquire and preposition.”

The state only recently hired a new logistics coordinator, a position that had gone unfilled since the previous administration.

More than anything, the state is urging citizens to stock up, be prepared and most of all pay attention.

Legal marijuana advocate John Morgan, who lead the drive for medical marijuana says he is encouraged by new polling showing 67% of likely voters would vote for full legalization in 2020.

Morgan likens the shift in public attitudes to an avalanche.

“What’s happened with marijuana is like this. It’s like Gay marriage. Once upon a time gay marriage was no, no, no, no. then one day gay marriage is okay,” said Morgan. “I say this when an avalanche happens, it not just happens. A snowflake hits. It build and builds and and as snowflake his the snow. And then theres an avalanche. That’s what’s happening with all things marijuana in America.”

As for funding the drive, Morgan said he’s keeping his checkbook closed, choosing instead to bankroll a $15 minimum wage amendment.

The Florida Legislature will not be returning to the Capitol for a special session on guns.

Florida Democrats had hoped to call the Legislature back to talk background checks and red flag laws.

“We would like to strengthen those laws and allow families to also petition the courts in addition to law enforcement,” said Kate Kyle with Moms Demand Action.

The effort failed to win the support of three-fifths of the members.

At close of business Monday, 19 of 40 senators and 62 of 120 house members had said no to a special session on guns.

The failure came as no surprise to NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer.

“They simply wanted to create an opportunity for political grandstanding,” said Hammer.

But now gun control advocates are shifting their attention to Washington.

Ads set to appear in Fort Meyers and Miami, target US Senator Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, urging them to support tougher background checks and red flag laws.

They’re part of a $350,000 national television campaign backed by the group Everytown for Gun Safety.

However Congressman of Florida’s 2nd District, Neal Dunn is skeptical Washington is in a position to act on gun legislation.

Dunn said he believes its not the laws that are broken, but enforcement.

“We already have laws that say this guy shouldn’t own guns, this guy needs to be baker acted, and it isn’t even being done,” said Dunn. “So we don’t have a measurable place to start with the laws that we actually have on the books.”

While gun control advocates hope to change the minds of Florida’s US lawmakers, state Democrats still plan to file gun control legislation for the regular session in January.

The Senate President has promised a thorough discussion.

Lawmakers technically have until 5 PM Tuesday to respond to the special session poll being conducted by the Secretary of State.

With the outcome clear many will likely choose not to respond, as has been seen in past attempts.

A final vote tally will be released some time Tuesday evening.

Governor Ron DeSantis ordered a security audit of all 67 counties back in May.

The audit is complete, but once a report is published it’s not going to advertise what problems were found.

The former president of the Florida State Association of Election Supervisors Paul Lux said the security audit of all 67 counties has been completed.

“The Secretary basically reported to us they had visited all 67 counties already,” said Lux. “And They are in the process of producing a remediation report, and we’ll go from there.”

Lux added he was not aware of how much remediation has been ordered.

Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the security audit in May after Special Counsel Robert Muller’s report said Russians successfully hacked two Florida Counties in 2016.

“There was no manipulation, It didn’t have any effect,” said DeSantis in May.

But he said the FBI would not let him name the counties, partly because the FBI said it would help the hackers learn how they were detected.

Supervisors Paul Lux and Mark Early were in the Capitol for a rule making workshop on machine security Tuesday.

“I think we are more ready than a lot of states,” said Lux.

One of the biggest challenges supervisors said they’re facing a year ahead of the 2020 election, is hiring people to process petitions, thanks to a new law.

Since July, petition gatherers have been required to register with the state and turn petitions into supervisors within 30 days.

It has required dozens of new hires.

“The law currently says we must be paid for those petitions, either ten cents per petition or the actual cost, which ever is less. So guess which one is less,” said Lux.

Elections supervisors are also sharing a $5 million grant to increase security.

They plan to ask for more when lawmakers meet in January.

The Florida Supreme Court was told the so-called Craig’s List Killer, David Kelsey Sparre, who killed a 21-year-old woman he met on the popular website for sex, was represented by incompetent attorneys during his original trial.

His new counsel, Stacy Biggart, argued even though Sparre had at least five lawyers, he got quantity, not quality.

“Mr. Sparre had one death qualified lawyer who can not take Capital cases anymore. He had for other additional lawyers. Who all jumped on his case so they could get death qualified,” said Biggart. “There was confusion at the evidentiary hearing over who was actually lead, who was fourth chair, who was third chair. This was not a well oiled machine. Five lawyers, yes, that was not quality representation. “

Lawyers missed deadlines.

The state calls those missed deadline ‘harmless error’.

The state is asking for the death sentence to be upheld.

Lawyers for death row inmate Raymond Bright are asking for a new sentencing hearing.

He’s already had two.

They said their client deserves another chance at life because the trial court discounted arguments that Bright suffered from PTSD resulting from childhood abuse.

Justices seemed skeptical.

The state argued the crimes were so horrific, a death sentence was appropriate.

“On February 13th, 2008, the defendant took a hammer and bludgeoned both Derrick King and Randall Brown to death,” said Assistant Attorney General Lisa Hopkins. “Dr. Rav, the medical examiner, testified that Derrick King suffered more than 38 injuries to his head and 20 to his extremities. He had injuries consistent with defensive wounds and also testified that Mr. Brown had over 20 injuries to his head and also his extremities.”

The court took the case under advisement.

Rulings can take a month to six months or more for a decision.

US Congressman Neal Dunn, who represents a large portion of the Florida panhandle, is optimistic about Hurricane Michael recovery.

Dunn said Tuesday that Congress still needs to pass a standard disaster tax relief package to help impacted communities.

And while nearly $7 billion in outstanding insurance claims are still outstanding in the panhandle, Dunn said money has begun to flow.

More than $1 billion in insurance checks were cut for hurricane victims last week alone.

“We’re not finished, but the money has begun to come out. And it’s slow, let’s face it. It’s much slower than we thought it should have been, but finally the money is flowing and I can tell you that on the ground, back in the west end of the district, the morale is picking up,” said Dunn.

Dunn also highlighted legislation he is sponsoring that would offer tax credits for home buyers and businesses that move into disaster recovery areas.

The state is preparing for the second phase of an investigation into the infamous reform school in the Florida panhandle.

The emotional wounds the Dozier School for Boys left on the men who were sent there throughout its century-long existence are still painfully raw.

“I have a hard time with it. So does a lot of other people,” said Roy Conerly who attended Dozier in 1961 and 1962.

The remains of 40 boys who are suspected to have died from physical abuse were uncovered in 2013.

Earlier this year, an additional 27 possible burial sites were investigated, but no remains were found.

The excavation that turned up the remains of the 40 boys behind me took almost half a year to complete.

The most recent dig was completed in only a few weeks.

Not even Dozier survivors were allowed access to the dig, leaving them with unanswered questions.

“The amount of anomalies that were actually dug up,” said Charlie Fudge who attended the school from 1960 through 1961.

“I’d like to have some answers on why it went so fast,” said James ‘Harley’ DeNyke, who was at Dozier from 1964 through 1966.

In a meeting Monday afternoon, lead researcher Dr. Erin Kimmerle, a USF forensic anthropologist, said the investigation was thorough.
“We ultimately excavated a very significant portion of this site, beyond just where the flags were,” said Kimmerle.

Now Kimmerle’s team will map the campus with LIDAR, a 3D imaging technology, to rule out other potential burials.

However, the technology has a significant limitation.

It can only map open spaces.
“The challenge going forward with this property of course is that today much of it is wooded,” said Kimmerle. “And much more of it than what what was wooded well basically until the 1980’s.”

It’s not yet clear how much of the 1,400 acre campus will be scanned when phase two begins next month.

Kimmerle noted some portions of the school grounds have been mapped previously by state agencies conducting routine surveying.

She said the team is currently in the process of compiling all of that information.

The White House Boys, a group of Dozier Survivors, tell us Secretary of State Laurel Lee has indicated she hopes to allow them to be present during the LIDAR scans.

For the second time in two months, a new poll shows two thirds of likely-voters agree with legalizing marijuana in Florida.

The poll of 800 registered likely voters shows 67 percent supporting legal marijuana for adults.

Just 29 percent oppose.

A new petition effort was filed on Friday to bring the question to the 2020 ballot.

Florida Medical Marijuana Business Associations’s Jeff Sharkey cautioned that the campaign has yet to begin.

“It will be interesting to see where public safety, sheriffs, police really come out on this,” said Sharkey. “When that starts to happen and any other real opposition, you may see some softening in that 67 percent.”

The poll also tested three likely arguments against legalization.

All three increased the likelihood of a no vote.

One of them could be Cannabis Advocate Josephine Krehl.

“I don’t see a way for people to grow their own plants,” said Krehl.

The poll was backed by Med Men.

It holds a Florida grow license and operates in six other states.

On the campaign trail, and again since taking office, the Governor Ron DeSantis has openly opposed legal marijuana.

In Tampa Monday, the Governor said he would carry out the voters will, but still opposes the idea.

“You look at Colorado, it’s been a really mixed verdict with how its worked with workforce, and some of the youth there, so we’ll see what happens,” said DeSantis.

Jeff Sharkey says legalization would generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new tax revenue.

“You’re talking about a $6 billion market for sales,” said Sharkey.

The campaign has until February to gather about a million petitions.

It was 99 years ago Monday that women officially got the right to vote under the 19th amendment to the Constitution.

Marking the anniversary of Women’s Equality Day at the State Capitol and around the state, women called on the Governor and lawmakers to push for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the coming legislative session.

“Next year, we’ll be celebrating the one hundredth anniversary. Gave us the right to vote, but we want more. We want true equality guaranteed in the United States Constitution. So in the words of the Pointer Sisters, ‘the heat is on’. We only need one more state to ratify and we want if our state,” said Barbara DeVane with the Florida chapter of the National Organization for Women.

The amendment’s ratification deadline was originally set for 1979, then extended through 1982, but advocates believe a court battle could have the deadline thrown out.

They also believe that if one more state would vote for ratification, Congress would change the deadline.

Unwanted robocalls may soon meet their match.

Pushed by more than a dozen State Attorneys General, including Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, land line and cellphone providers are about to employ a new technology designed to thwart the calls.

Robocalls are annoying.

“I don’t pick up the phone for those,” said cellphone user Nicole Ballas.

Callers often spoof a local number.

“It’s pretty disruptive,” said FAMU student Ashley Guy. “I get them in the mornings when I’m trying to sleep.”

But the people behind the calls may soon face difficulties getting through to your phone.

In an agreement with Attorneys General from around the country, providers have decided to crack down on robo callers.

“Most specifically, they are going to use an advanced technology not only to stop them, but to make sure we can identify where these calls are coming from,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

Moody is touting the working arrangement in this social media video.

“Following these principles, voice service providers will help consumers block unwanted calls, label incoming calls as potential scams,” said Moody in the clip released Thursday.

There’s an old adage that says your strongest punch is the one you never have to throw.

That’s how the Attorney General describes the new move.

“We also have the ability to go after bad actors,” said Moody. “And so often times, we can come together and talk about what needs to be done. We can then as a group, sometimes that creates a little more interest.”

Those we talked to were hopeful.

“That sounds great,” said Guy.

But also skeptical.

“I think there’s a lot of different people who’ve tried a lot of different things, and they haven’t been very successful, apparently,” said Roger Casavant.

As part of the agreement, the dozen companies have to reach out to customers and tell them what’s available and when, so look for a notice from your provider in the months ahead.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says 18 companies were fined just over a million dollars this past year for violating the state’s do not call list.