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The woman charged in the murder for hire of an FSU law professor made her first court appearance today after being indicted on first degree murder charges last week. The court set a February 27th trial date for Katie MagBanua (Mag-Bon-A-Wah). She is accused of setting up the hit and being the go between the father of her children, who is accused of pulling the trigger, and the family of the professors ex wife. She has plead not guilty and the family has denied any involvement.

An election recount, in Florida, again?! As Matt Galka tells us, not likely, but some are pushing for it.

Donald Trump won Florida by more than 100 thousand votes.  The results were certified. Still, not everyone’s happy.

Three voters filed a lawsuit challenging the results in the Leon County courthouse this week.  They want a recount due to what they claim were irregularities in this year’s election.

But the idea isn’t gaining much steam around Tallahassee.

“Our elections already been certified, Donald Trump is going to be our next president,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

Even Democrats aren’t exactly thrilled. Strategist Steve Schale says energy could be better spent elsewhere.

“This is a waste of money chasing a tinfoil conspiracy and that money would be better spent organizing voters, registering voters, doing research and getting ready for 2018,” said Schale.

The court has ten days to respond to the filing.

Barry Richard knows a thing or two about recounts.  He represented former President George W. Bush during the 2000 recount.

“In 2000 it all came down to one state, and that was the first time since 1876 that we had an election that was that close, in this case Clinton would have to get the election overturned in multiple states, and in each one of those states the difference is substantially larger than it was Florida in 2000,” he said.

In short.

“It’s not gonna happen,” said Richard.

The clock is also ticking – the electoral college meets December 19^th. The lawsuit calls for a hand recount of every paper ballot in Florida.

A Florida environmental fight that has been going on since President Richard Nixon was in office got new life Monday.  As Matt Galka tells us, a Florida dam is the target of environmentalists who are hoping legal action settles the dispute.

Environmentalists are hoping legal action settles a decades long fight over the Rodman Dam.  The northeast Florida dam has since been named the Kilpatrick Dam, and was originally supposed to be part of a canal connecting the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean – but the canal was stopped by President Richard Nixon in 1971 – and the battle has been on ever since to get the dam destroyed.

And former Governor Buddy MacKay is joining the fray, he’s been calling for the removal of the dam since he was a congressman in the ‘80’s.

“I think when you look at it, it’s an absolute outrage with everything that’s been done and we still have this dam. There’s no reason whatsoever to do this. In fact, it’s a bizarre situation,” said the former Governor Buddy MacKay.

Environmentalists say the dam is hurting the flow of the Ocklawaha River and St. Johns as well as damaging surrounding springs and forests.  But supporters say that removing the dam would damage the bass fishing economy created around it.

“Fundamentally the science that they are espousing is simply not backed up,” said attorney Jane West.

Going the legal route comes after decades of political frustration.

“We’ve been sissies. we really haven’t gone after them they way we should. we tried to take,what people thought were reasonable approaches,” said attorney Bruce Kaster.

The dam costs around $1 million dollars a year to maintain.

Nuisance bears can be a scary sight, and as Matt Galka tells us, state officials want to make sure you’re prepared.

Let’s say you find yourself face to face with a Florida Black Bear – would you know what to do?

David Telesco with the state’s Fish and Wildlife Bear Management program wants to help.

“All of our state agencies want people to know how to exist with bears, what to avoid, how to avoid conflicts, and so we’re all getting behind this idea of Bear Wise,” he said.

Ramping up education efforts and getting people “bear wise” is a priority for FWC.  They’ve taken 4,630 bear related calls just this year.

“It means that I know who to call, and I know when there’s an issue, I know how to interact with a bear. I know that we can scare them away and we should keep our trash and other things secure,” he said.

Earlier this year FWC cancelled the second year of a planned bear hunt.

The hunt – designed to manage bear population – was scrapped after controversy surrounded the 2015 hunt.

A bear season will be considered again next year. But in the meantime, people need to know how to handle a potential bear-human conflict.

“So we know it’s intensifying, and we have to get that word out that you can coexist with bears, as long as you know what to do,” said Telesco.

FWC is in the process of doling out more than $800,000 of grant money to cities and counties for bear conflict solution programs.

Immigration was a hot topic during the presidential election, and could be a hot topic here in the Florida state legislature. As Matt Galka tells us, there could be a fight brewing over how much undocumented students pay for college.

Undocumented students from across the state took to the capitol in 2014.

Week after week they rallied in support of a bill that granted in-state tuition to some undocumented children looking to go to college.

The historic bill was signed by the Governor after it was passed with bipartisan support.

“We have the funding now to be able to pay for education,” said Governor Rick Scott in June of 2014.

Daniela Donoso was a student at Florida State when the bill was being debated and supported its passage.  She came to Florida from Ecuador when she was six months old.

“We have students at Florida State that benefit for this out of state tuition waiver,” she said. Donoso now works with the school’s Human Rights Center

Now a repeal bill of that law has been filed putting the in-state tuition benefits in jeopardy for some undocumented students.

“Why “punish” those students who have done everything right, have gone through education, have applied and have been admitted to a university to further their education?” said Donoso.

Both the new House Speaker and new Senate President voted against the 2014 bill.

Senator Greg Steube, who proposed the repeal because he says it’s an important issue to his constituents, also voted against the original 2014 bill when he was a member of the Florida House.

Whistleblowers who tried to expose a cover up in the states department of corrections and claimed to be retaliated against will be getting a hearty pay day. As Matt Galka tells us, the price tag is on the backs of Florida taxpayers….and could have been *a lot* cheaper.

In 2010 – Franklin Correctional Institution inmate Randall Jordan-Aparo died in his cell.  The Department of Corrections said it was natural causes – but internal investigators alleged there was a potential cover up and that Jordan-Aparo was gassed to death.  The investigators then claim they were retaliated against.

“It’s been three years of hell for my clients,” said attorney Ryan Andrews.

Andrews handled the investigator’s whistleblower claim. The department settled for $800,000 dollars.

The settlement comes as the department is trying to fill critical staffing needs at prison’s around the state. The average correctional officer makes around $30,000 grand, and with more than $320,000 of tax payer money being used on the settlement, that could have filled 10 positions for one year.

The remaining part of the settlement will be handled by insurance.  But here’s the rub for taxpayers – Andrews says the lawsuit could have been settled for around $25,000 last year.

“Eventually they said look, just transfer us to another agency and let’s see, we’ll be happy to do that, keep our same rate of pay – no harm no foul. DOC was hoisted on their own petard, they were trying to to transfer people who they tarnished with bogus internal affairs investigations, and nobody wanted them,” said Andrews.

Franklin Correctional had a prison riot that forced a lockdown at the prison on the same day the settlement was filed.

We reached out to the Department of Corrections and asked about the settlement and if it could have been settled for less last year – we are awaiting their response.

Enterprise Florida is the state’s economic development arm. It is holding more than 150 million dollars in cash to pay out if companies meet employment goals after relocating here, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, legislative leaders are balking at putting any more state cash into what they are calling corporate welfare.

Governor Rick Scott says the state’s job growth is a direct result of enterprise Florida closing deals to bring companies here, But Scott urged its high profile board members to strong arm lawmakers if they want to keep jobs growing.

“If we are not politically active with the legislature about the importance of job creation for every family, it won’t continue”  Scott told EFI board members meeting in Sandestin today.

The public-private agency is sitting on more than 150 million in state cash. Most of it is earmarked for companies who live up to job creating commitments.

But that pile of cash was a big reason lawmakers said no to another 250 million for the agency this spring.

“It provides no allocations” said Rep. Jim Boyd when explaining the bill.

Scott will scale back his request for 2017. But, House Speaker Richard Corcoran calls the payouts:

“A horrible, horrible use of taxpayer dollars.”

If he gets has his way, there will be nothing for EFI.

“People in this case, one percent of the world’s wealth get this money, and that is nothing less than defects socialism, and we don’t believe in socialism” says the House Speaker

In 2015, Florida put on a full court press to try and lure General Electric’s Headquarters here. Instead it chose high tax, high amenity Boston.

“The way you make your state attractive  to people is you have the number one education system, you have the best infrastructure” says Corcoran.

But Scott says no cash for a second year would be a disaster,

“Those deals are not going to happen. They are not going to happen in this state” lamented the Governor.

The clash could derail next years legislate session before it ever begins.

Lawmakers say spending money that would have gone to corporate incentives on schools and roads is a better way to attract high paying jobs.

Florida’s crime rate looks like it will decrease year over year again, but as Matt Galka tells us, violent crimes are on the rise.

When you hear the numbers, things sound good.

“The crime rate is lower by just over 3 percent,” said Gretl Plessinger with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

FDLE released a mid-year report showing that the first six months of 2016 were safer than last year.

“It’s really driven down by crimes like aggravated assault, larceny, and burglary,” said Plessinger

But it’s not all good news. Murder is up more than 15 percent and rape increased by 2 percent.

The 561 murders accounted for in the report included the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting.

“That could factor into the increased murder rate,” said Plessinger.

New Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil – who formerly served as Florida’s Department of Corrections Secretary – says the numbers are concerning.

“Very much so, very much so. And that’s something that we’ve all got to work on. We’ve got to sit down in each community across the state of Florida. We’ve got to look at the demographics and people being released back into our communities, often times those circumstances fuel crimes in our communities as well. Those persons don’t have opportunities,” he said.

McNeil’s new job means he inherits the county with highest crime rate in the state for two years running according to FDLE. It’s based on crimes reporter per 100,000 people.

If the dip in crime rate holds, it will be a 46 year low for the state.

Renowned FSU law professor Dan Markel was shot point blank in the head as his sat in his car in an upscale Tallassee neighborhood. The was two and a half years ago. In June, two men were charged with the crime.

One of them, Luis Rivera, cut a deal.

“In this you agree that you are going to cooperate and testify truthfully.  Do you understand that?’  asked Circuit Judge Jimmy Hankinson in October. “Yes sir” responded Rivera.

Rivera’s cooperation led to charges against Katie Magbanua. She’s the mother of alleged hit man Sigrid Garcia’s children and the former girlfriend of Charlie Adelson, the brother in law of the slain professor.

Prosecutors hope that indicting her on first degree murder charges will convince her to cooperate as well.

“That’s the only person we are asking them to consider today” prosecutor Georgia Cappleman told us.

Q:’ And she’s the key to further arrests in this case in your mind?”

“She could be” responded the prosecutor.

Rivera agreed to tell his story to grand jurors. In police video he testifies he, Garcia, and Magbanua split a hundred thousand dollars for the hit.

He is heard to say “That’s when he said we were coming to kill somebody.”

State Attorney Willie Meggs leaves office in January.
“I don’t know where it will go, but we will follow it where ever it goes” says Meggs.

Police say the motive for the hit was a bitter custody fight over the couples two children.

In addition to the admitted hit man, grand jurors heard from a police investigator and an FBI agent who conducted phone taps on katie Magbanua and accused hit man Sigfredo Garcia.

Remember Flipper? Or Miami Vice? Florida used to be the place to film…But now as Mike Vasilinda tells us, few movies are filmed here because the state doesn’t offer filmmakers any incentives.

The sign at the state line says Florida is “Open for Business”, but that’s not necessarily true when it comes to making movies.

“Steam it live or on demand” says a promotion for MacGyver, shot in Georgia.

Hundreds of Florida film professionals are leaving the sunshine state for  Georgia. That’s because Georgia offers filmmakers a 20% rebate of everything they spend.

The result: Suburban Atlanta now boasts one of the largest film complex in the country. Pinewood Atlantas has hired FSU Film School Dean Frank Patterson to be it’s President.

“The film industry has had a six billion dollar impact last year on the state of Georgia.  And it’s just fifteen minutes north of here, the film school, for my students to go to” says the FSU dean, who will remain on the film school faculty when he takes over Pinewood in January.

Florida used to play in film. 250 million was set aside in 2011, but it was quickly gobbled up.In one of the few studies of film credits in Florida, a University of West Florida economist found that for every dollar it put up, it got a dollar forty four back in tax revenue.

But Florida isn’t going to be funding film anytime soon. Newly elevated House Speaker Richard Corcoran is a vocal critic of corporate welfare, including film incentives.
“It is a horrible, horrible use of taxpayers dollars and there is no return on investment.  And as a person who is finally charged with protecting the taxpayers money, I’m not going to waste it by giving it to Hollywood producers. They can go elsewhere if they want to, but the reality is Florida is Florida” says Corcoran.

Case in point:; Moonlight, In theaters now. Shot in Miami, but its budget…just five million.

The New speaker says better schools and infrastructure will still attract quality companies and films. Florida is one of the few states not offering film incentives.

Black Friday isn’t just for deals on appliances and electronics. As Matt Galka tells us, guns are a hot seller and this year is no different.

Black Friday business at Folmar’s pawn was steady.

“We had a lot of people looking for what they were thinking about getting,” said owner Mark Folmar.

Folmar isn’t surprised that gun sales went up.

“A lot of people have money in their pockets, a good amount of people are employed,” he said.

The Florida department of law enforcement ran 10,122 background checks on the big shopping day. It’s almost two thousand more than last year’s 8,251.

And the state could be getting more gun friendly with a legislator gearing up to propose some controversial legislation.

New state senator and former house member Greg Stuebe plans on again proposing guns on campus legislation – it would allow concealed carry on college campuses. A key senator who’s blocked the bill in the past is no longer in the chamber.

“The Senator that held up the bill in committee is gone. A lot of House members who voted for it in the past are now in the Senate,” he said.

But not everyone’s on board.  New House Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith – who represents the area where the Pulse nightclub shooting happened – said the party will fight against some of the gun friendly proposals.

“We are going to have to play defense. We will have a lot of bills pushed by the gun lobby, the guns on campus legislation, these proposals move the state in the wrong direction,” he said.

FDLE has already run more than 95 thousand background checks this month – almost 15% more than November in 2015.

A bitter fight between public school teachers and school choice advocates got new life thanks to the Speaker of the Florida House. As Matt Galka tells us, the teacher’s union says their school choice lawsuit isn’t going away, they’re looking for an apology.

If there were any questions about how new House Speaker Richard Corcoran felt about a lawsuit against private school tax credit scholarships, he answered them.

“The teachers union is fixated on halting innovation and competition on education. It is downright evil,” Speaker Richard Corcoran said while addressing the legislature.

He furthered the point when he spoke with reporters.

“”On every possible metric, what they’re defining as fair, is not fair. That’s some subjective crazy-ass notion that they have that is completely false,” he said.

The scholarships help mostly low-income minority students go to private schools. But the state’s largest teachers union says the speaker owes them an apology.

Florida Education Association president Joanne McCall says the legislature approved program is unconstitutional.

“First and foremost he owes us an apology. And second of all if he’s going to be the leader of the house, he should be reaching out to people who can make a difference,” she said.

She even took to social media tweeting the speaker her number and inviting him to talk about what’s best for students in the state.

“I do not expect that phone call but I would hope he’d be big enough to do that but if we truly care about the kids in this state it’s incumbent upon him to pick up the phone and give me a call,” she said.

The lawsuit is now in the hands of Florida’s Supreme Court and both sides are waiting to see if they will hear or dismiss the case.

Hours after their election was made official, 160 members of the state legislature were sworn in today, and along with them, as Mike Vasilinda reports, were new leaders promising tough reforms.

It was a day of ceremony, not policy.

“Who broad strips and bright stars” sang the Boys Choir of Tallahassee.

Three of every ten members sworn in are new to the legislature.“so help me god.”

Newly elevated House Speaker Richard Corcoran of Pasco county is proposing a drain the swamp approach when it comes to lobbyists.

“We can make this a moment off greatness, and push back and tell the people of Florida  that we will fix their broken system” Corcoran told members.

On the other side of the legislature, Senate President. Joe Negron of Stuart is proposing less ideology and more spending for education, particularly colleges and universities.

“Every student should be able to attend the University to which he or she is admitted. that doesn’t mean you go for free” says the new Senate President.

There are 46 new members here in the House,. 18 across the hall int he Senate. that bumper crop makes the legislative leadership even more powerful.”

The two control the temperament of the legislature, especially in the heated finally days when budget negotiations put everyone on edge.  This year could be more problematic than many. That’s because new house rules pushed by Corcoran will forbid the House from taking up any spending added in the final hours of negotiation.

“Keep in mind here, we’re talking about projects. we’re talking about earmarks. We’re talking about pork belly fat. We’re not talking about stuff that makes the trains run on time” the new Speaker told reporters afterwards.

One safety valve in the heated process? Lawmakers can waive the strict rules with a 2/3rd vote.

Politics and money usually go hand-in-hand, and it’s no different in Florida’s legislature. As Matt Galka tells us, even though net worth has dropped slightly in Florida’s capitol, there’s still plenty of money flowing for the people elected to serve.

The total net worth of the Florida legislature took a small dip with a new class of lawmakers getting elected. But there are still 53 millionaires getting ready to write laws for people in all tax brackets.

Freshman Republican Senator George Gainer takes the top wealth spot – reporting $27.9 million dollars.

Gainer’s a successful businessman who owns car dealerships in the Florida panhandle and says he can still relate to the average Floridian.

“I was a county commissioner for 18 years and I guarantee that will teach you what the people are thinking and that will have you understand what the needs of the people are and what you can do over here and what you can’t. I intend to do everything I can and not worry about the rest of it,” he said.

The average state senator is worth $3.5 million. The average state house member, almost $1.5 million.

 Newly elected House Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith says there’s still a lot of work to be done in the Capitol to better represent the people of the state

“The reality is, legislators are paid $29,000 per year so the outcome is we have lawmakers who are peronsally wealthy, who are the only ones who can afford to take time out of the year to come up here and make laws, and as a result we aren’t passing good policy, he said.

And when it comes to which party is wealthier – Republicans in both chambers are banking more than the Democrats on average.

Eight Florida House members and two Senators are on the opposite ends of the financial spectrum with ten total lawmakers entering the chambers in debt.

The State Senate this afternoon dedicated it’s remodeled chamber. Gone are a 1970’a era of light wood, replaced by maghony emblazoned with the words in God We Trust. There’s a new 120 HD TV and a sophisticated new voting system. The cost, six million, but outgoing Senate President Andy Gardiner says the facelift was long overdue.

“After four decades of use with only minimal updates, out chamber was showing it’s age. The worn carpet had become a safety issue. we needed a new ac unit. We needed ti incorporate current building codes and we wanted to improve accessibility for those with unique abilities” said Gardiner as hundreds looked on.

Gardiner says the timelessness of the design, which incorporates some features of the 1948 chamber, which was demolished when the new Capitol was built in the 1970’s,will require few modifications in the future.