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As Irma’s landfall becomes imminent, Mike Vasilinda tells us one of the most important things you can do is collect all your important papers and keep them safe and dry.

For most people, their home is their single biggest asset. This is what governor Rick Scott has been saying every day this week.

“Remember, we can rebuild your home, but we can not rebuild your life” say Scott.

After safety, the first thing homeowners evacuating, or staying can do, says insurance expert Fred Karlinski, is too keep important papers safe.

“Insurance papers. Life papers. Passports, marriage certificates, things like that” advises Karlinski.

Next on the list: Document the house. Inside and out.

“Insurance experts say the best thing you can do is document your belongings, then so something with the video. Don’t leave it on your phone.”

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis suggests emailing the photos or video to yourself.

“Put them in a virtual place. Who knows, you might lose your phone. The phone battery may be dead.  It may get water logged. who knows” says the CFO.

Michael Peltier with Citizens Insurance is advising customers not to sign a contract with anyone without first calling your agent or the company.

“The danger of signing something in haste is you don’t know what you are signing. You may be signing away your rights to handle your own claim, and we don’t think that’s a good idea” says the Citizen’s Spokesman.

CFO Patronis says two hundred thousand insurance adjusters are now on standby.

“They’ll create little villages, we’ll create one to go out there to help the outreach of connecting people together and filing the claims process to get them back to some normalcy” says Patronis.

In the end, everyones advice mirrors the Governor’s. Be safe first, worry about everything else later.

As hurricane Irma approaches more and more Floridians are taking to the interstate to seek refuge out of the storms path.

Exhausted travelers are running into another obstacle, finding hotels with openings.

This endless line of traffic headed west on I-10 is moving ten miles an hour or less, evacuees seeking safety out of the path of Hurricane Irma. Alexander Ortega traveled all night from Homestead.

“There’s going to be no electricity, so we have to take off because of the children, that’s the most important thing,” said Ortega.

But asylum seekers are finding hotels completely booked from Tallahassee as far west as Pensacola, into Alabama and beyond.

“I actually looked online at at least one hundred different places and they were all unavailable. Unavailable, unavailable, unavailable,” said Port St. Lucy evacuee Tabitha Dampier.
“It’s wiped out. All the hotels and motels. They’re all gone, and you see signs on the doors that they’re full,” said Bradenton evacuee Stuart Haw.

Darcy Bessette pulled off I-10 after a 12 hour trip from Bradenton.

“From Tallahassee to New Orleans, it’s booked up,” said Bessette.

With no rooms available, Alexander’s family is stuck setting up camp at this rest area while they search for shelter.

“So that’s why we stopped here, we don’t want to continue, we just- we just don’t know where to go. Whether it could go west, east, or straight up north, until we figure out where we’re going to book the hotel, then we’ll take off,” said Ortega.

Some evacuees say traffic has been so bad, drive times have nearly tripled.

Motorists told us of drive times as long as 12 hours from Orlando to Tallahassee and as long as 24 hours from Miami.

“Traffic was stop and go, stop and go. Bumper to bumper,” said Bessette.

Even those lucky enough to find openings in cities like Tallahassee aren’t completely off the hook, with Irma’s path changing, some may find they’ve evacuated directly into the storms path.

The state of Alabama has put out a list of hotel vacancies in the state to help evacuees. The list can be found at www.alabama.travel.

More than 25 hundred price gouging complaints have been filed with the state since yesterday morning (WED), and as Mike Vasilinda tells us. the phones continue to ring off the hook.

1100 price gouging complaints were filed online overnight thru Thursday morning. Water and gas prices remain at the top of the list. Hannah Cope says water was the most egregious complaint she received.

“Someone was charging over seventy dollars for a pack of water” she told us.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking one gas supplier, Chevron to task.

“We’ve received multiple complaints about Chevron, especially in south Florida. Some of the prices were seven dollars, some were six. Whether they were charging that, I don’t know. Chevron, if you weren’t, reach out and tell me, because I need to know that because you will not be taking advantage of our citizens” says Bondi.

The Attorney General hopes that by singling out one supplier, everyone else will pay attention and keep their prices low.

There are 50 call center employees at the State Capitol. Calls Thursday were averaging a hundred an hour. Call Center Specialist Jack Hagadorn says the calls were non stop.

“we’re here today till eleven, and it’s not slowing down” says the Call Center Specialist.

Operators are working as many as 15 hours a day, but they’re less grumpy than the people on the other end of the phone. Martin Green was happy to be helping.

“Yeah, they feel like they’re being taken advantage of at at time they are most vulnerable. Right now, the whole state is” Green told us.

The Attorney General says those preying on the public are simply stealing with possible life threatening consequences.

“You’re supposed to be helping you fellow human being at a time of crisis, not hurting them.  And I’m going to do everything in my power to destroy them if they are hurting our citizens” says the Attorney General.

we asked: “And what do you find more effective, the fine or the bully pulpit”.

“Both” she responded.

Companies found to have violated the law face fines of up to twenty five thousand dollars a day.

You can file a price gouging report online at myfloridalegal.com, ,or you can call 1-866-9-No-Scam.

Price Gouging Package Script: 

Schools in at least 20 counties across the state have announced cancelations for Hurricane Irma.

The Florida School Boards Association says school district response plans have improved since previous storms, which means students should be able to return to school shortly after the storm.

 

 

In 2004 Hurricane Charlie destroyed 6 of Charlotte County’s 17 public schools, leaving students out of the classroom for 2 weeks.

Former Charlotte County School Board Chairperson Andrea Messina is now the Executive Director of the School Boards Association.

She dealt with the devastation firsthand.

 

“Kind of doing a lot of it on the cuff, on the fly, but we certainly had programs in place. We just never expected that level of devastation because it was fully one third of our school stock and that’s a big hit,” said Messina.

Messina says after the storm getting students back in the classroom was essential to rebuilding.

 

“The parents who were so focused on rebuilding their homes and rebuilding their businesses had an opportunity to focus on that instead of worrying about their student,” said Messina.

Students from the destroyed schools had to be sent to neighboring schools.

It came with  multiple challenges such as scheduling double sessions, reworking school transportation routes.

Eventually temporary schools were constructed.

Now, Messina says districts are much better prepared to assist affected schools compared to 2004.

 

“They have these sort of assistance trees built out now so that everybody knows who’s helping this district, who’s helping this district [and] who’s helping this district,” said Messina.

School years didn’t have to be extended as a result of Charlie, thanks to a waiver from the Governor and Hurricane days built into schedules.

The School Boards Association says in order for Irma to cause an extension to the school year, students would have to be out of the classroom for at least a month.

Despite disruptions caused by Hurricane Charlie, teacher pay remained consistent.

Traffic in North Florida is picking up as tourists head home early and Floridians decide not to go through another storm. Gas, even in north Florida is in short supply.

This gas station was a beehive of activity early Wednesday.

We found motorist Ted Mack filling up. “I’ve got three quarters of a tank. Just topping it off” he told us.

Long lines are common at most stations in the state Capitol as residents prepare for the worst.

Banker Bill Moore drove from station to station until he found one without a long line.

“Everybody I drive by, there is a huge line out there. thirty minute wait” say Moore.

On interstate Ten, traffic was heavier than usual. We met tourists cutting their vacations short.

“We are leaving early because of it” says Helen Armstrong.

And we met long time residents on their way to what they hope will be safer ground.

DeuWayne Wibben retired to Clerawater from Wisconsin.

“We’re from Clearwater, Florida headed to Huntsville, Alabama.”

“And why?”

“To avoid the storm.”

“Getting out while the getting’s good?”

“Exactly” Wibble told us.

Hoping to beat the traffic, Jill and Doug Berlet left Naples at 4am. They’re heading for Montogomery Alabama.

“Why Montogomery? Got friends there?”

“No, no, actually all the hotels on the 75 corridor all the way to Atlanta, booked solid. Booked solid. Every one of them” said doug.

“And when we watched the Weather Channel, it kept trying to hook right, so we figured, we’ll hook left” says Jill.

And the one thing just about every motorist had in common? They worry about the gas supply. Or as one motorist put it, A half a tank is the new empty.

And Sharon, who didn’t want her last name on TV, was behind the wheel of this motor home.

“I was on Sanibel when Charlie came. I learn easy. I don’t learn hard.”

And the traffic and gas supply are only expected to get worse if more evacuations are ordered.

The State’s price gouging hot line is receiving a steady steam of complaints about higher prices on gas, water, and the supplies.

 

FSU students are protesting a statue of the Universities slave owning founder.

The protest comes as  University President John Thrasher is ordering a review of the University’s statues.

 

 

Across from the Westcott Fountain, tucked away beneath a tree, sits a statue of Francis Epps.

The statue was intended to commemorate the contribution Epps made as the Mayor of Tallahassee and land donor for what would eventually become FSU’s campus.

Despite the historical ties, a group of students say the statue of the known slave owner and aide to the Confederacy has no place on their campus

A handful of Students rallied at the Integration Statue at the center of campus in protest.

 

“It’s pretty obvious to everyone now that this is wrong and we hope that through our actions we can also help bring more people on to our side,” said student protestor Cea Moline.

To quell the conflict, FSU President John Thrasher will be appointing a panel of students, faculty, staff and alumni to review the university’s statues, name recognitions and markers.

Florida State University says the process of selecting the panel has already begun. The University says an announcement will be made when the names are finalized.

Last Fall, a campus wide vote to remove the statue was held.

Turnout was low, but nearly three fourths of those who cast ballots said the statue should stay.

 

“I definitely get them and I understand it, but we have to as a democracy respect the rule of the majority and if we actually voted for it then it should stay,” said FSU student Julian Cordova.

FSU says the panel won’t have the authority to decide whether a name is changed or a statue removed, but the group’s collective opinion will be taken into consideration when making those decisions.

In addition to the statue of Francis Eppes, the building for the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, The Eppes Professorship Program and The Jefferson-Eppes trophy all carry his namesake.

As Irma approaches, Governor Rick Scott has requested and received a pre-landfall emergency declaration from President Trump.

Scientists believe such declarations will be more common in the future.

If Irma makes landfall in florida it will be the first time two category four, or greater, hurricanes directly hit US soil in one season.

Experts say a changing climate is to blame.

If trends continue these powerful storms will become more and more common.

James Elsner, chair of the Department of Geography at Florida State says warming oceans have created a fertile environment for hurricanes to grow into category five behemoths like Irma.

 

“They’ve hit our coast in the past before climate change, but in the future it’s more likely for them to be stronger, especially the strongest ones,” said Elsner.

Damage to Florida’s highly developed coastal regions could be astronomical, totaling billions of dollars.

High-rises in cities like Tampa and Miami will be subject to winds of even higher speeds than felt on ground level.

 

“Even if the eye doesn’t hit the coastline, it’s still a mighty big storm and those winds will cause a lot of harm,” said Mark Bourassa, Professor of Meteorology at FSU.

 

Officials are urging Floridians all over the state to prepare for the worst, as the path of the storm is still unclear.

 

“Taking steps to protect the windows the doors and especially the garage door are going to pay big dividends after,” said Leslie Chapman-Henderson, President of the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes.

Governor Scott has already activated 100 national guard members to help with with Hurricane Irma preparedness.

By Friday that number will grow to 7,000.

Florida has 17 billion dollars in the State Catastrophe Fund to help cover initial hurricane losses, but given the damage Harvey caused in Texas, the money could quickly dissipate, especially in multi storm events.

To learn more about how to properly prepare your home for the storm go to FLASH.org.

Two loggerhead turtles are being released back into the waters of the Florida Panhandle Friday night.

They were nursed back to heath after at least one of them ate man made debris, and it’s a lesson for all of us on what not to do this weekend.

Joker and Amazon, the two loggerhead sea turtles are get a scrub down so they can look their best for their big return into the Gulf.

The female turtles have just  finished a five month rehabilitation.

Both were suffering from intestinal blockages, one of which was caused by human trash, along with other illnesses.

 

“They were so far down they were going to die. These turtles were definitely, I would predict that if we didn’t do what we were going to do those would be dead turtles,” said Jack Rudloe with the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab.

With Labor Day weekend upon us, the weekend will be the last hurrah for many Floridans and tourists to flock to the beaches.

That means they’ll be entering the nesting grounds for these sea turtles, as well as for a number of other coastal species.

 

“If you happen to see that on the beach leave the turtles alone. Don’t interfere with them don’t pick them up. Let them get down to the water, take their chances in the world,” said Rudloe.

Sea turtle nests in Florida are usually well-marked, but other nests could be harder to spot.

 

“The birds are often very well camouflaged with the beach so you can look into a posted area and say oh it’s empty there’s nothing there, but really those chicks are there and they’re vulnerable,” said Julie Wraithmell with Audubon Florida.

Another rule of thumb is to make sure you pick up any trash you may create while enjoying your day at the beach.

Plastic litter easily makes its way back into the ocean and can harm sea turtles and other ocean life.

 

“Pick up your trash and also don’t feed the wildlife,” said Wraithmell.

Despite temptations to interact with wildlife at the beach, animal conservationists say it’s important to enjoy the animals from a distance.

If you follow these rules, sea turtles like Joker and Amazon will have the best opportunity to thrive in Florida’s waters.

Amazon and Joker successfully made it back to the Gulf of Mexico around 5 pm Friday evening.

The Division of Emergency Management has fired two people after they failed to meet a deadline to submit 26 Federal appeals sought by Florida counties and cities.

The mistake could cost local governments in Florida millions.

 

 

Two employees of the State Division of Emergency Management are without a job after failing to submit appeals requested by a 18 Florida cities or counties.

The appeals total more than $4.5 million.

The money would reimburse local governments for hurricane costs.

US Senator Bill Nelson says the firing of the employees isn’t enough.

 

“That still doesn’t help all of the counties and the cities that are in the hole for in this case millions of dollars,” said Nelson.

Emergency Managers refused to be interviewed for this story, but in a statement, said staff changes and procedural improvements have been implemented along with the firings.

The Division says it is conducting an audit of itself to figure out what exactly went wrong and what needs to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In the mean time, the affected local governments will have to cross their fingers the money will be forthcoming.

Nelson personally requested FEMA to extend the deadline, saying local governments shouldn’t have to pay for the state’s mistake.

 

“I met with 25 local government city and county managers and I’m telling you they’re desperate. They’ve got a big hole in their budget because FEMA is not reimbursing them the cost that they front loaded to clean up after Hurricane Mathew,” said Nelson.

The Division insists this incident wont interrupt the hundred of appeals it has already submitted to FEMA.

In a statement, the DEM says, “While these appeals have all been denied at least once by FEMA, we are fully committed to working with local, county, state and Federal governments to ensure these appeals are considered.”

The millionaire founder of a South Florida polo club is challenging his DUI manslaughter conviction, arguing before the state’s highest court that rules governing DUI blood tests are incomplete. And As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the ruling has the potential of affecting hundreds if not thousands of other cases.

Millionaire John Goodman is serving 16 years in state prison for killing a 23 year old after running up a large bar tab in 2010.  A blood test following the accident shows Goodman registering two and a half times the legal limit.

“Hear Ye, Hear Ye Hear ye.”

He has been convicted twice. Now Goodman is asking the Florida Supreme Court for a third trial. His lawyer, Jane Kreisler-Walsh is asking the blood evidence be thrown out.

“The FDLE’s blood collection and blood alcohol rules ar both inadequate and inconsistent with the core polices of the implied consent law” says Kreisler-Walsh.

His attorney argues small needles cause clotting. and without reporting the needle size, analysts don’t know to look for clots, which can skew results.

“May it please the court”.

The state was blunt. Goodman has been convicted in two trials. Asst. Atty General

Rachel Nordby says he doesn’t deserve a third.

“Goodman’s challenge seeks an over broad solution in search of a problem that does not exist” she told the court.

Afterwards, we asked his attorney whether the clots could change the result

Q:”Is it possible it could be off that much?”

“It’s possible it could be off that much, but more significantly that there are issues with this blood besides those that I argued here today.”

And if this court says needle size does matter, Hundreds if not thousands of cases could be impacted.

If the court were to rule with Goodman, he would get a third trial without the blood evidence. And anyone who has ever challenged a DUI conviction based on blood evidence could also ask to have their case reheard.

Goodman has been in prison since 2012. He is currently in a prison just 25 miles south of state’s highest court where the arguments were heard today.

Tampa cop killer Dante Morris, who killed two cops and three others over a 42 day period in 2010 is challenging one of his three death sentences. In the case before the Florida Supreme today, Morris’s was convicted of killing a man he believed was selling drugs on his turf. Morris’s attorney Steven Bolotin, a Polk County Public Defender, argued the case didn’t meet death and the only reason he got the ultimate sentence was because the police murders were tried first, making him a repeat offender, even though the police shootings happened last.

Q:He has three death sentences,  I’m wondering what’s the strategy here.?”

“Well, I mean, the strategy is if you can get rid of one death sentence, then you have a better chance of getting rid of the other two in post conviction” says Bolotin.

Because the murder in question today occurred in 2010 and the jury recommendation was 10-2, Morris is likely to get a new sentencing hearing on at least this case.

The rights of those accused of domestic violence were on trial at the Florida Supreme Court today. A Jacksonville man is seeking several thousand dollars in attorney’s fees from a California woman after her cyber stalking accusations that led to a temporary injunction against him were proven false. Sean Hall and Nicole Lopez knew each other. His attorney, earl Johnson Jr, says while the amount is small, what’s at stake is the right of the falsely accused to be made whole.

“In most instances, these injunctions against stalking and such are used as a shield. But in this case , it was used as a sword. we were able to prove that it was fabricated, fraud upon the court. Perjury upon the court.and we wanted sanctions as attorney fees pursuant to Florida law” says Johnson..

Michael Yokam, the attorney for the woman who sought the domestic violence injunction says a ruling forcing her to pay fees could impact women coming forward in the future.

“It could have a chilling effect. It could create a whole cottage industry of people who will hold themselves out as attorneys for the purpose of seeking attorney’s fees and seeking respondents in these kinds of case” says Yokam.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed legislation barring the recovery of attorneys fees in Domestic injunctions.  But since the law was not in effect when this case happened, the court could decide either way.

Two congressmen, Neil Dunn of Panama City, and Matt Gaetz of Ft. Walton Beach held a town hall meeting this afternoon at FSU to talk about the Chinese theft of corporate secrets, among them plans for an energy cell being developed by a now defunct Bing Energy, which had partnered with FSU. The two say the Chinese espionage is a problem being overlooked in the nations Capitol.

“Here in Tallahassee, we’re seeing circumstances where  ideas that students and researchers have actually developed here at FSU have been stolen and so we’re looking at ways that we can change the laws in Washington to better protect American ideas and American innovation” says Rep. Matt Gaetz.

“And on a larger scale, we’re being cheated as a nation. As an economy, and our security is actually undermined. it’s a major question, and as one of the panelist said, He thinks it ought to be in the top three or at least the top five areas of concern for the government” added Neil Dunn, who represents Panama City and Tallahassee.

Both promised to push for more exposure of the hacking.

28 cents of every dollar spent on the Florida Lottery goes to education.

More than $1 billion dollars each year.

Veterans groups are now looking to tap into the fund by creating a specific lottery game that will share its proceeds with veterans organizations.

 

 

The Florida Lottery has contributed more than $32 billion to the state’s education system since its inception in 1988.

The state Constitution puts the proceeds in the State Education enhancement Trust Fund, but there is a push to open some of the money up to veterans groups.

 

“With everyone returning from the global war on terror, 1.7 million veterans in the state of Florida and Federal funding is sometimes lagging behind the need,” said VFW & American Legion Lobbyist, William Helmich.

At least four states share lottery proceeds with veterans organizations, but to make it happen in Florida, there would have to be a change to the state’s constitution or the Legislature would brave the wrath of educators to send the money elsewhere.

The idea right now is to copy states like Illinois and Texas which have designated games for veterans.

If a constitutional amendment were passed the legislature would still have the final say in how the idea would work in Florida.

 

“It can be a scratch off, it can be a separate pool, it’s however the lottery wants to do it and then the money as the language is written would be up to the Legislature on how to disperse it,” said Helmich.

Veterans activist do have one request, that the money go to congressionally chartered veterans services like the VFW and the American Legion.

The move comes as Florida lawmakers are proposing expanding Bright Futures Scholarships, which are funded by the lottery.

Frank Mirabella helped push the original constitutional amendment establishing the Florida Lottery in 1986.

He says the lottery should keep its intended purpose.

 

“There’s lots of kids that can’t go to college. If they took those funds away from education, many more kid would not go to college,” said Mirabella.

Veterans activists say they don’t believe Education would lose out.

Instead, they believe the new game would only result in more overall lottery tickets being sold.

So far there is no official proposals for the Constitutional Revision Commission to review or bills filed for the lottery change.

Historically, Governor Rick Scott has touted Florida as the most veteran friendly state in the country.

Governor Rick Scott has quietly extended his Executive order declaring an opioid crisis.

Scott extended the order for 60 days Monday after Gubernatorial candidate and State Senator Jack Latvala called for the extension.

It’s still unclear if the Governor will use the extension to tap into state emergency funds.

Florida received $27 million from the federal Government to fight the opioid crisis this year.

Mental health services lost $20 million.

The Federal funds can go towards counseling or other wrap around services for those addicted to opioids, but important services like central receiving facilities came up short.

Many had to lay off employees and reduce their capacity.

“The central receiving systems are integral to the local communities. They help to serve to the no wrong door approaches that anyone who is in crisis or who needs mental healthcare or substance use services can approach that facility., said Melanie Brown-Woofter with the Florida Council for Community Mental Health.

Governor Scott renewed his executive order declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Monday.

The order came after State Senator Jack Latvala asked for the extension.

Latvala also asked the Governor for 20 million in state emergency funds to for detox, residential treatment, and outpatient care.

 

“The $20 million certainly could take some of the stress off as people try locally to put together and implement their plans for addressing the crisis in their respective communities,” said Mark Fontaine with the Florida Behavioral Health Association.

When asked whether Governor Scott was considering accessing state emergency funds his press team instead told us the Governor plans include additional funds for the crisis in his 2018 Legislative package.

Latvala predicts 2,700 Floridians will die from opioids by the time a new budget passes in March.

Although mental health advocates commend the Governor for his continued support to fighting the battle, they say there’s no doubt the emergency funds would help reduce deaths between now and the end of session.

The Governor will be releasing his Legislative proposal in the coming weeks. His Office says the increases to funds for battling the opioid epidemic will be significant.