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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.

Florida ranks 43rd in the nation for access to mental health care. It also spends nearly $2.2 million a day to house an estimated 35,000 inmates who suffer from mental health issues.

Nearly 2.8 million Floridians struggle with mental health problems.

61% receive no treatment.

In any given year, more than 130,000 will be arrested and booked into Florida jails.

“We are in this world,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

Addressing the growing intersection of mental health and corrections was the top of a roundtable discussion led by Attorney General Ashley Moody and judges from Miami-Dade and Sarasota Friday.

The two counties have seen major reductions in recidivism and homelessness with their innovative mental health programs.

Since implementing their mental health programs, Sarasota saw a 50 percent reduction in homelessness.

In Miami-Dade, 11th Circuit Judge Steve Leifman saw the homeless population drop from 8,000 to only 1,000.

“Treatment works and we really have two choices in this state. We can continue to release people from the criminal justice system without treatment or we can release them with treatment,” said Leifman.

Less than half of Florida’s 67 counties have mental health courts.

Currently there are only 27 in the state.

Mental health courts can help divert those suffering towards treatment, instead of prison.

“Recovery rates for people with mental illnesses are actually much better than for people with heart disease and diabetes,” said Leifman.

Moody said another key issue is deciding when to bring someone into the criminal justice system in the first place.

“Are those that are urinating in public, do those need to be arrested… or is it better to get them stabilized within the community,” said Moody.

The ideas discussed in the meeting will not only help other judges implement their own mental health programs, but also help lawmakers craft policy to improve mental health care and funding in the state.

Home fireworks displays around the holidays are common in Florida, but still illegal.

Fireworks are openly sold in the state using a loophole that allows their sale for agricultural purposes, but bills filed in both the House and Senate for the upcoming 2020 legislative session could fully legalize fireworks on three major holidays.

In Florida the only legal way to perform big fireworks displays, like the ones put on by Craig Dennis with Ashley Pyrotechnics, is with ATF clearance.

“We get lots of requests from the public for fireworks,” said Dennis.

But Dennis declines those offers.

“We don’t play this game of having people sign a form that says they’re going to use fireworks for agricultural purposes,” said Dennis.

However, some retailers do, selling fireworks to Floridians using the legal loophole.

But new legislation would make fireworks 100% legal on Memorial Day, Independence Day and New Year’s Eve.

The idea has some in the fire safety field like former Director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office Buddy Dewar concerned.

“The fire service community are concerned about the safety of the public,” said Dewar.

Last year there were an estimated 9,100 fireworks injuries across the US.

To fire safety advocates, more fireworks means more accidents.

“Kids with missing hands and fingers, facial injuries, burns,” said Dewar.

In the rare case the current law is enforced, a person could face a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for home fireworks displays.

A glance at the night sky on the holidays however, makes it clear the existing penalties do little to deter many Floridians.

“I hear that all the time that we’re going to fill the trauma centers up if we legalize this,” said Dennis. “Well folks, those fireworks are being sold under the counter already in this state using this charade of an agricultural exemption.”

Companies like Dennis’, that try not to bend the current rules, believe the holiday exemption would simply put them on a level playing field with those currently exploiting the agricultural exemption.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office says it’s currently reviewing the legislation, but specified its top priority remains fire safety.

The state’s chief economists are required by law to determine how much state and local governments as well as private businesses would gain or lose from a proposed assault weapons ban.

How big or little the impact it may have seems to have come down to a single word.

The AR-15 is what comes to mind when an assault weapons ban is discussed, but gun dealer Alex Folmar believes the proposed constitutional ban working to get on the 2020 ballot would go much farther.

“This proposed legislation would include most of the guns you see up on the wall up-here,” said Folmar. “Anything that is semiautomatic and accepts a magazine or has a tube feed capacity.”

The amendment does not ban high capacity pistols.

However, some shot guns, while designed to hold five rounds, can cary many more by extending their tube feeder.

That would make them banned under the proposal.

Because the ban is so encompassing, state economists charged with putting a dollar figure on the ban, said it all comes down to the amendment’s use of the word capable at a meeting Thursday.

“That hinges on what sales you are prohibiting, what sales will no longer be allowed in Florida,” said Amy Baker with the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

Supporters of the ban from Moms Demand Action sat on one side of the room.

Opponents like NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer on the other.

“If you professions can’t agree on what capable means in this context, how on earth do you expect average citizens to understand it,” Hammer asked the panel of economists.

Only one proponent of the amendment, retired Dr. Tom Enoch, spoke briefly.

“We can regulate guns for hunting but we can’t regulate guns for saving people’s lives? That’s all I have to say,” said Enoch.

Economists expect to put a dollar figure on the ban right after labor day.

Then it will be up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide if the amendment misleads voters.