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The systematic failure that led to 17 deaths in the Parkland shooting was used as a case study for Florida sheriffs Wednesday.

The Pinellas County Sheriff who headed the task force studying the massacre said unless major changes are made, another tragedy of the same caliber is guaranteed.

The presentation began by breaking down years of missed red flags concerning the accused Parkland shooter Nicholas Cruz.

It finished with a minute by minute breakdown of the shooting itself.

Chair of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission Sheriff Bob Gualtiari recounted how quickly people were shot.

“Thirty-four, in three minutes and fifty-one seconds. The first notice to anybody, the first code red, wasn’t called until three minutes and forty-five seconds because nosy knew what to do or how to do it,” said Gualtiari.

From SRO Scot Peterson failing to enter Building 12, law enforcement waiting minutes to gear up, to a breakdown of communication between multiple agencies, Gualtiari said schools can’t count on law enforcement alone to protect them.

The MSD Commission made the recommendation to expand the Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program to school teachers.

Gualtiari said he stands by that decision.

“Who stops these things most often? It’s school personal. Why? Because they’re there,” said Gualtiari.

During the presentation news broke that two law enforcement officers caught on video delaying entry to MSD High School by taking time to put on their bulletproof vests were fired from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Gualtiari applauded the Broward County Sheriff for holding the officers accountable.

Many other law enforcement agencies have also heeded lessons learned from Parkland.

“We know now that even if you’re alone, you’ve got to go in and encounter a shooter at any time,” said Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young.

Gualtiari said changes in the law made since the 2018 shooting should help prevent or respond to future events, but he expressed frustration with the slow pace at which some districts have implemented the new policies.

“They need to make the school safe and they need to follow best practices and follow the law,” said Gualtiari. “Why do we have to push them? Why do we have to have sanction authority? We shouldn’t have to do that. They need to get right on it.”

Gualtiari said those unwilling to change can expect to see the same results.

Update. The Federal tax credit for solar is reduced at the end of 2019, but does not go away completely for homeowners until the end of 2021.

• 2020: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 26 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2021: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 22 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2022 onwards: Owners of new commercial solar energy systems can deduct 10 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes. There is no federal credit for residential solar energy systems.

Florida’s utilities reported a record number of new solar and other renewable hook-ups in 2018.

The reason is a combination of concerns over climate, lower cost panels, and a tax rebate.

Ivan Baggett, an electrical engineer, has had a dream since he was young.

“When I was a kid I was reading science magazines. They had articles that say someday your house may be powered by the sun, and I thought that is so cool. I’m gonna do that one day,” said Baggett.

The dream first came true in 2007.

He added more solar last year, and so did a record setting 37,862 other Floridians.

Baggett added panels to charge his two electric cars.

He posted his near zero electric bill on Facebook.

“I do it to help save the planet we’re on. I do it to save money, and I do it because I had a dream doing it when I was a kid,” said Baggett.

Baggett has calculated that he’ll get his money back on his solar addition in about six years, while the panels will keep generating for several decades.

Solar contractor Al Simpler calls the record setting 57 percent increase in renewable hookups over the year ‘about time’.

“We have a long way to go in Florida. We’re kinda behind a lot of states. So to see that kind of jump in Flordia, the Sunshine State, is very encouraging. That just means more people are educated,” said Simpler.

There is also a growing number of customers for solar battery storage systems not captured in the numbers submitted by Flordia utilities.

A 30 percent federal tax credit has helped fuel the growth.

The tax credit is reduced at the end of 2019.

• 2020: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 26 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2021: Owners of new residential and commercial solar can deduct 22 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes.
• 2022 onwards: Owners of new commercial solar energy systems can deduct 10 percent of the cost of the system from their taxes. There is no federal credit for residential solar energy systems.

Solar won’t work if there is too much shade or your roof doesn’t have a south or southeast slope, but there are other options, such as community solar generation and purchasing dedicated solar energy from public utilities.

A poll for Rebuild 850, the area code partially demolished by Hurricane Michael found that 50 percent of those surveyed would do nothing to help still struggling residents, while 75 percent said they would not consider monetary donations.

“In all the months since, it seems like most of Florida has forgotten about Northwest Florida,” said Ron Sachs, the coordinator for Rebuild 850. “We see a huge disconnect among Floridians the further they are from the Panhandle; the less they know about how bad Hurricane Michael was and how great the need still remains.”

Michael was the second most powerful storm to hit the US mainland and many residents are still living in tents, struggling with mental health issues and lack work as a result of the storm.

Florida leaders need to be thinking more long term when it comes to hurricanes.

That’s the message from former FEMA Director Craig Fugate.

The emergency management guru laid out recommendations for how the State Legislature could help mitigate the costs of future storms.

For Florida alone, damage from Hurricane Irma has cost the Federal Government more than $8 billion in disaster relief.

While speaking to the Economic Club of Florida Tuesday, Fugate said part of the reason costs of storms have been on the rise is because local governments are shying away from insurance and instead are relying more on Federal aid to cover costs of rebuilding.

“I like to refer to this as ‘Disaster Socialism’,” said Fugate. “What would Florida look like today if you didn’t have a Federal Government bailouts? Would we have made the same decisions and built the same way?”

He also criticized a 2017 decision to rollback building code reviews in the state.

Previously the state would adopt all new standards every three years.

Now it can pick and choose which updates to adopt.

“It won’t affect us this year or next year, but how many years before we start seeing the code get eroded,” said Fugate.

Fugate said one way to lower costs is to discourage further development in at-risk areas like flood zones and coast lines by no longer subsidizing flood insurance for new construction.

“Theoretically, if you’re building it new, and you’re building it to code, it should be more insurable, not something that the taxpayers should have to underwrite,” said Fugate.

One month into hurricane season the state hasn’t seen a single named storm, but Fugate said it doesn’t matter.

Hurricane Andrew, one of the costliest storms to ever hit the state, was the first named storm of the 1991 season.

It didn’t came ashore until late August.

“The most active part of hurricane season starts when we start playing college football,” said Fugate.

Kickoff is less than two month away.

Fugate said all Floridians should review their insurance policies in preparation for hurricane season to understand where they might lack coverage.

He also recommended all Floridians acquire flood insurance, even if they don’t live in a designated flood zone.

Governor Ron DeSantis said in an exclusive one-on-one interview that he has the best job in the world and feels like he is in a place where he can get things done.

It has been just under six months since DeSantis became the Governor.

During his inauguration, he promised to be an energetic executive and he has delivered, crisscrossing the state almost daily.

DeSantis said so far, he’d take being Governor over being back in Congress.

“Oh, I mean it’s about a hundred times better. In Congress, you are one of 435,” said DeSantis.

And why wouldn’t he?

He controls millions of dollars and appoints who he wants to shape state policy in his own image.
“You know, as Governor you have the ability to put things on the agenda and get things done,” said DeSantis.

Polling by Quinnipiac University shows Florida voters approve of the job he is doing by a 55 to 22 margin.

Among the GOP, it is a whopping 83 percent.

“I think people see that if you are doing things that have kinda have the people’s interests at heart and you’re making good decisions and they appreciate that,” said DeSantis.

The Governor makes just over $130,000, but while in Congress he made $174,000.

Unlike our previous governor, Ron DeSantis is not a rich man.

His net worth was reported at just over $310,000 in July of 2018.

He’s taking a $43,000 pay cut, but he said that has not been a problem.

“You get a house. It’s less about that than about the ability to do more, I think,” said DeSantis. “You can really accomplish a lot more as Governor than you can as just one member, particularly a junior member.”

With the house comes a security detail and the intangible.

The Governor gets to come home at night and spend it with his two kids.

DeSantis appears to be living up to the old adage that if you’ve got a job you really love, it’s not really work.

It will now be easier for police to pursue and bring to justice illegal street racers in the state.

A bill signed Tuesday by Governor Ron DeSantis removes a requirement that police personally witness street racing to make an arrest.

Now, video evidence and witness statements will be sufficient for police to charge those who engage in street racing.

House sponsor Representative Scott Plakon told us in May the change will make the roads safer.

“There are stories around the state, people have been killed, innocent bystanders,” said Plakon. “A lady in Tampa, with a baby in a stroller, being killed by an idiot that thought this would be fun. This gives law enforcement more tools in their toolbox to address this problem.”

The new law will officially go into effect July 1st.

A group calling itself Sensible Florida, has been gathering petitions to force a vote on legalizing recreational marijuana in Florida.

So far the group has collected less than 10 percent of the petitions it needs to make the ballot, but a recent poll may reinvigorate the groups efforts.

Sensible Flordia has submitted almost 63,000 signed, verified petition forms to the state.

The group is still shy nearly 14,000 petitions to trigger a review by the State Supreme Court.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows 65% of Floridians support recreational marijuana.

That could breathe new life into the amendment.

“Stakeholders are very interested in exploring what they call adult use or recreational marijuana in Florida,” said Jeff Sharkey with the Medical Marijuana Business Association. “I think they are looking very seriously. As early as four months ago, it was polling in the low 50’s.”

While the poll may aid the petition drive, it’s facing a Governor who is adamantly opposed to legalization.

We posed the question during an exclusive one on one with governor Ron DeSantis.

“Not while I’m Governor,” said DeSantis. “I mean look, when that is introduced with teenagers and young people I think it has a really detrimental effect to their wellbeing and their maturity.”

“Other states have looked at this obviously and teen use has kind of gone down in some instances, Colorado for example,” said Sharkey.

What is clear is that his opposition could make big dollar donors think twice about bank rolling a legalization effort.

Eleven states have legalized recreational marijuana for adults.

It completely against the law in 12 other states.

The remaining 27 have either medical marijuana or have decriminalized its use.

Hemp advocates at the third and final rule making workshop in the states capital city are hoping to see the Governor sign the bill legalizing the plants cultivation and sale before the end of the week.

In an exclusive interview Governor Ron DeSantis told us he intends to approve the hemp bill.

“It can be valuable for agriculture so the Legislature obviously felt it was worth a shot so I’m going to sign it,” said DeSantis.

Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried has already had her agency draft rules for how the new industry will be regulated.

The 23 page draft document covers areas like importation, licensing and testing.

“If there are safe products out there we want those promoted and ones that are not tested, not labeled correctly those are going to come off the shelves,” said Fried.

The Department of Agriculture just wrapped up a statewide workshop tour, were it took input from those eyeing the industry.

While the Department hopes hemp will be a viable crop for small farmers up to large cooperations, some farmers expressed concerns the proposed regulations may be overburdensome.

David Avent is a 6th generation Florida farmer hit hard by Hurricane Michael.

“I’m looking for something to make some money to send my children to Maclay School and I can’t do it growing pine trees at the moment,” said Avent. “The least amount of regulations and rules would be much appreciated on the farmers who are suffering greatly under this time.”

He’s worried a proposed requirement that hemp exceeding the 0.3% THC threshold must be destroyed could make the crop a risky option.

“You may lose your money doing everything right,” said Avent.

Fried said special consideration for panhandle farmers, and other concerns raised in the workshops will be addressed as the rules are finalized.

“We’re going through the hypotheticals now. You know, what if this happens or what is the problem here and that we’re able to address those,” said Fried.

The Commissioner said the goal is to finalize the rules sometime in the Fall of 2019.

Once the Department submits its plan to the Federal Government, the USDA will have 60 days to either approve or deny the state’s application.

The hope is to have the first crop in the ground in early 2020.

Governor Ron DeSantis has approved the largest budget in state history.

Most of the major spending for the environment and education made it in the final product, but not everything made the cut.

DeSantis called a late press conference to announce he’d put pen to paper on the state budget Friday afternoon.

“I think it’s a fiscally responsible budget. I think we put taxpayers first, but on the key issues that Floridians care about are things like environment, things like education, things like transportation we were there to really make a difference,” said DeSantis.

The final budget came in at $90.9 billion, just meeting his promise to keep the spending plan under $91 billion.

A total of $131 million was vetoed, but the Governor said it was nothing personal.

“I think we worked well together, so there wasn’t a need for me to exact any type of retribution because the Legislature didn’t work for me,” said DeSantis.

College campus construction projects was one main area where the Governor made cuts.

“We’re building a lot of buildings and that’s okay, but I think that what’s really gonna take us to the next level is spending some of that money on more faculty, increasing salaries for people you’re trying to recruit,” said DeSantis.

While the budget included just $121 million in tax cuts, the Governor upped number to $400 million, by including the reduction in local school taxes to offset rising property values.

“It’s just like if I make more money next year I’ll pay more under the same rates and so I feel that we acted to reduce the taxes that would’ve otherwise been due under the law,” said DeSantis.

As part of the new budget the state will also have $5.4 billion in reserves.

The money will be a safety net incase any storms hit the state this hurricane season.

The Governor now plans to travel the state to tout some of the highlights of the 2019-2020 budget.

The spending plan officially goes into effect on July 1st, the start of the fiscal year.

Florida is doing virtually nothing to encourage cleaning up leaking septic tanks, which contribute to the states water woes.

10 years ago lawmakers required inspections, but then got cold feet.

There are over 2.8 million septic tanks in Florida and The Department Of Health said 10 percent, or at least 280,000, are leaking.

In 2018, fewer than 20,000 were repaired.

“It’s antique technology that needs to go,” said Leon Soil and Water Conservation Commissioner Bill Howell.

Howell said new technology now on the market for about $2,000 could turn septic tanks into mini-wastewater treatment plants.

“And it’s got bacteria in it and you pump air into it and the bacteria actually eats what’s in the septic tank. Digests it completely,” said Howell.

The impact of doing nothing can be seen in Wakulla County at its first class spring.
This boat used to do 30 or 40 weeks of tours a year.

The last time they had a glass bottom tour was two years ago.

In 2010, lawmakers passed a springs protection bill that required septic tanks be inspected every five years.

A year later, after thousands of complaints about the cost of the inspections, lawmakers killed the plan.

Former State Senator Lee Constantine was the bill’s sponsor

“We would have been five years, minimum, closer to a solution, and by 2020 we would have inspected every single tank in the state of Florida,” said Constantine.

Septic tanks are the second biggest polluter of our water, behind agriculture.

The state’s Chief Science Officer has said that some septic tanks would need to be modernized to become complete mini-wastewater treatment systems.

After the discovery of 27 possible new graves at the former Dozier School for Boys in Mariana, state and local leaders have agreed on a plan to excavate the grounds.

Members of the group “The White House Boys,” who formerly attended the school, said they hope the new investigation brings the 100 plus year saga of Dozier to a close.

Early Thursday morning, three members of the White House Boys tended to the graves of 40 young boys found at the Dozier School for Boys in 2013.

They did so with the knowledge more bodies may still be on the school grounds just an hour away from the Tallahassee cemetery where those already discovered are now buried.

“I don’t believe they found them all yet, and nobody else does,” said Roy Conerly, who attended Dozier from 1961-1962. “We’ve already found more than they said were there, there’s no records, they don’t even know who’s who.”

The White House Boys, now in their 60’s and 70’s, said more than 100 boys still have not been accounted for at the school, which is infamous for reports of physical and sexual abuse

“One of these boys here was about six years old and the only thing that boy had amongst the remains was a marble,” said James ‘Harley’ DeNyke, who attended Dozier 1964-1966. “And all of us White House Boys, we carry a marble signifying that boy’s possession.”

27 anomalies, believed to be graves, were identified at the school in April during a routine environmental clean up.

The state announced Thursday afternoon that it had given the green light to start excavating the sites as early as mid-July.

From start to finish, the excavation and reinterment of first 40 boys found at Dozier took about seven years.

The White House Boys hope this time things move faster, and so far, indications are good.

“Maybe this will be a beginning to an end for all of us boys that have lived with this for our whole lives practically,” said Charles Fudge, who attended Dozier 1960-1961. “When they take an abused 12 year old, you don’t forget it. I’ll be 72 this year and I’ll live with that every day.”

A timely conclusion isn’t guaranteed though.

Once the initial dig is completed, there will also be LIDAR scans of the school grounds, the results of which could lead to a full excavation of the school grounds.

Then there’s the question of relocating any remains that may be found.

A debate is raging between state economists over how much money Florida schools might lose if the lottery is required to put warning labels on their products and advertisements.

In an unprecedented move, the state’s Revenue Estimating Impact Conference was unable to agree on a number.

All lottery tickets and advertisements in the state could come with one of two warning labels under a bill awaiting the Governor’s signature.

Either, “WARNING: LOTTERY GAMES MAY BE ADDICTIVE’ or ‘PLAY RESPONSIBLY’.

“Psychiatrists now actually do recognize gambling as an addiction,” said Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Florida State University Gregg Stanwood.

If signed, the Florida Lottery predicts it would lose a minimum of 2.5 percent of its customers.

“You’re stigmatizing them as someone who may have an addictive problem of gambling,” said Jake Felder, Director of Legislative Affairs at the Florida Lottery.

Any loss in revenue could impact education funding in the state.

Florida schools receive more than a billion dollars a year from lottery sales.

Between lost customers, fewer advertisements and the possibility of Muti-state games like Powerball and MegaMillions pulling out of the state, the lottery estimates warning labels would cost education funding between $79 and $232 million a year.

But Stanwood is skeptical warning labels would impact those already addicted.

“There’s loss of control, the person is engaging in doing this even though there’s negative consequences for themselves or for their families,” said Stanwood.

Economists representing the House, Senate and Office of Economic and Demographic Research felt the same.

EDR Coordinator Amy Baker countered the impact would be closer to $25 million,

“If you do have addictive behavior and you’re currently buying tickets, these messages are not going to defer, or change your behavior at all,” said Baker.

But the Governor’s Office sided with the lottery and refused to compromise.

The Governor has already expressed concerns with the bill.

His predecessor vetoed a similar bill in 2017.

The Revenue Estimating Impact Conference says it intends to revisit the lottery warning bill next week in hopes of reaching a compromise on the potential economic impact.

Florida prisons are in the middle of a multi-year staffing crisis.

Morale is low over forced overtime to cover shifts, but the Governor has signed a bill to allow 18-year-olds to become correctional officers.

Correctional officer vacancies run as high as 30 percent in some prisons.

There were 2,000 vacancies at the beginning of 2019.

New numbers provided Wednesday show there are now 2,380 vacant positions; a 19 percent increase in just six months.

The remaining 10,000 officers are being ordered to work 12 and 16 hour shifts six or seven days a week.

Correctional officers start at just over $33,000 a year and there hasn’t been a raise in two years.

To increase the applicant pool, Rep. Spencer Roach sponsored legislation to lower the minimum age to become a CO from 19 to 18.

“What we are seeing is that those folks who are 18-years-old, and may have an interest in working for the department, they don’t want to wait that extra year to start working, so they are going into the military, which they can do at 18,” said Roach.

20-year corrections veteran Tim Butler, fired in part for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing, called the lower age a recipe for disaster.

“18-years-old you haven’t had enough time to think,” said Butler. “You haven’t had enough time to find out what’s going on with these guys. These guys here manipulate them quick.”

The PBA, which represents corrections officers, reluctantly agreed to hiring 18-year-olds.

”I guess we are at the point where we have no other choice but to put them into the prison,” said Baiardi.

But even the union says it’s just a stop-gap measure.

“The problem is that the pay isn’t good and currently they are forcing correctional officers to work on their days off because they are so short,” said Baiardi.

Officers who refuse to work overtime face suspensions, making the staffing situation even harder on those who can’t afford to leave.

Lawmakers hope there will be less of a need for overtime, when the new law takes effect on July 1st.

After spending seven hours answering questions suspended Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel’s fate is now in the hands of a Special Master and the full Florida Senate.

Israel was asked about what went wrong at during the response to the Parkland shooting, training requirements, and how decisions at the Broward County Sheriffs office are made.

Afterwards, the former sheriff told reporters he is neither negligent or incompetent, which Governor Ron DeSantis called Israel in his suspension order.

“For a governor to be able to use words like negligence and incompetence and suspend an elected official, rather than allow that official to be removed by the voters in that specific county is very serious, to me its almost un-American,” said Israel. “It’s something you hear about happening in other countries, and I certainly will be working very hard to reclaim my job, and finish term, and I will be running for sheriff of Broward County again.”

The Governor’s office will submit its case for upholding the suspension on August 12th.

The Sherrif will respond a week later, on August 19th.

A report from the Special Master will go to the Senate President around Labor Day.