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A coalition of groups including Planned Parenthood and Equality Florida delivered a letter to Governor Rick Scott today, asking the state to open a two way communication on Zika and birth control issues. Kimberly Diaz of Planned Parenthood says legislation signed into law and later declared unconstitutional would have taken away access to birth control for low income women.

“And it basically took away access to birth control which is a form of contraception that can prevent the ability of women to get pregnant if she did have Zika.”

The groups hope state health officials will include them in future discussions about prevention efforts, including any efforts to limit access to abortions.

This is Fire Prevention Week and people visiting the state capitol are being asked “when was the last time you used a fire extinguisher? The question was posed to reporter Mike Vasilinda, who like most of us, said quite awhile. He then got a demonstration for the office of the Fire Marshall’s Renee McCord.

“The acronym that we use is PASS, so its Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. You want to pull the pin, aim the nozzle, pull the handle and sweep, so when you sweep the fire you aim at the base of the fire” she explained.

Q:And the question was, when was the last time you used a fire extinguisher and most people answer answer like me…I don’t know.”

“Exactly, never. But you want to be prepared if you need one” she replied.

Sounds like good advice anytime of the year.

Floridians who didn’t register to vote…guess what? You have more time. As Matt Galka tells us, the deadline was extended in a short hearing Wednesday morning, and voters who end up registering can thank a hurricane for the extra time.

It took about 40 minutes for Floridians to get an extra six days to register to vote. U.S district Judge Mark Walker extended the deadline to October 18^th.

The Florida Democratic Party filed the lawsuit in the wake of Hurricane Matthew and the chaos it caused.

“When a storm hits with the severity of a Hurricane Matthew it’s incumbent upon the government to make it easier to vote, not harder, that’s what our country is all about is voting,” said Democratic Party attorney Kevin Hamilton.
Governor Rick Scott said he had no plans of having the deadline extended last week while Florida was in a state of emergency and some were ordered to evacuate.

“The registration, everyone has a lot of time to register, on top of that, we’ve got lots of opportunities to vote,” he said last week.

The judge ruled that the Governor wasn’t even allowed to extend the deadline if he wanted to because of state law.

Some of the groups involved in the lawsuit hope there can be a legislative fix to avoid this issue in the future.

“The reality of Florida is that there are going to be natural disasters, and Florida needs to have plans and policies in place that will account for this. I hope this is an opportunity for the legislature to revisit Florida’s election practices,” said Myrna Perez with the Brennan Center for Justice.

A spokeswoman for the governor’s office said they’d be having a conversation with members of the legislature about a possible fix.

Attorney’s for the state didn’t argue a defense during the hearing.

Republican infighting, sparked by nominee Donald Trump, may be at an all time high. As Matt Galka tells us, some members of the party are doing something they never thought they would – cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton.

Mac Stipanovich is a proud member of the Republican party. He was Governor Bob Martinez’s chief of staff, an adviser to Jeb Bush during his 1994 gubernatorial campaign, and an adviser to Secretary of State Katherine Harris during the infamous election recount in 2000.

He’s also going to vote for Hillary Clinton.

“If you told me that a year ago I would have laughed at you,” he said when we reached him by phone.

Stipanovich says the behavior of GOP nominee Donald Trump put him in this position. Stipanovich – an active twitter user – has frequently used a #NeverTrump hashtag.  He says he’s not surprised more members of the party are deserting Trump now.

“He’d make the country sick, and we’d never recover, or certainly not recover fully from it,” he said.

And with all the divisiveness in the party it could be bad news for some members down ticket.

Florida State Univeristy Political scientist Dr. Carol Weissert says she’s never seen infighting like this during a campaign.

“The House, the Democrats need to pick up 30 seats, but in the Senate that’s very close, they’d have to pick up four or five depending on if they win the White House, so Florida is very much in the mix here,” she said.

But it’s still too early to tell if deserting Trump or sticking with him will help or hurt members of the party in races aroudn the state and the country. Just like much of 2016 – the outcomes could be unpredictable.

Speaking of Twitter…earlier today Trump went on a tweet storm lambasting some members of the GOP including House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump called Republicans turning on him “disloyal.”

A recorded confession by the get away driver in the murder for hire of an FSU law professor appears to indicate the ex-wife was aware of the plan before it was carried out. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, proving that may come down to how much the latest person charged in the case cooperates.

Katie Magbanua was nervous as a cat as she waited for the judge in her video first appearance.

“All rise” ordered the bailiff.

She is the mother of two children fathered by accused triggerman Sigfredo Garcia. The 32 year old was brought to Tallahassee Monday after being charged earlier this month the with murder of law professor Dan Markel.

“Your client will be held without bond” say Judge Lane Smith.

Magbanua was arrested when get away driver Luis rivera started talking.

“Katie is the one in the middle doing everything. Put it like that” rivera told investigators in the case.

Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman says Magbanua is the key to tying the law professor’s ex-wife’s family to the murder plot.

“If I was to be able to charge a member of the family as being implicated as part of the conspiracy, I would require a witness, possible such as Ms. Magbanua” said Cappleman after the hearing.

Luis rivera told investigators he learned early on the motive for the hit. “That lady wants her two kids back. She want’s full custody of the kids.”

As Rivera and alleged triggerman Garcia cruised this neighborhood the day before the murder, Rivera told investigators they saw Wendi Adelson, walking with her two kids.

“What is she doing up here? Rivera asked Garcia, who know who she was.

“She came to make sure everything is alright because he’s leaving out of town tomorrow” responded Garcia, according to the statement Rivera gave police.

We asked lead prosecutor Cappleman what she thought of the new twist.

“Do you believe this implicates her?”

“I think if it’s true, it implicates her, but I haven’t been able to confirm or deny that.”

And because of the taped confession, we now know the three co conspirators divided up a hundred thousand dollars the day after the murder.

Police have long suspected the law professors former brother-in-law and his parents in the conspiracy, but the addition of the ex-wife in the new testimony has comes as a surprise to many close to the case.

The fight over medical marijuana is turning into a slugfest with money pouring in and ads hitting the air. Matt Galka tries to get a handle on the reefer madness.

It’s down to a one month campaign for both sides of the medical marijuana fight in Florida.  The Vote no on 2 campaign questions if Amendment 2 – the constitutional amendment legalizing medical cannabis in the state – is really all about helping sick people.

“This is not what you think it is, contrary to the other side, this is nothing more than legalized marijuana,” said No on 2 spokeswoman Christina Johnson.

The ads suggest that passing amendment 2 would be harmful for kids and would be “sold next to schools,” although the likelihood of pot shop being zoned next to a school isn’t exactly…high.

“I think that what you’re going to find is that when this amendment passes and there’s locals that want to have access to medical marijuana they’ll sue to get that in their neighborhoods,” said Johnson.

And the group pushing medical marijuana is doing a little fact checking of their own.

“The fact is that 25 states plus DC have medical marijuana laws, they all regulate the sale of marijuana to children as Florida’s law would,” said Ben Pollara with United for Care.

Amendment 2 backers United for Care equate the attacks to the 1930’s anti-drug film Reefer Madness and they’re being blunt: the ads are propaganda.

“This is absolutely ‘Reefer Madness’ type propaganda, this is the type of discredited stuff, the crazy scare tactics the hardcore drug warriors have been pushing for years and years and years,” said Pollara.

The madness ends in just about a month. If 60 percent of the voters don’t vote yes, then medical marijuana goes up in smoke.

And the high stakes surrounding medical cannabis means big money for both sides – in the last week of September – supporters of the amendment banked $1 million dollars from a Washington, D.C. political action committee while Drug Free Florida received $500,000 from Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Could there be a repeat of the 2000 election when the vote here in Florida was too close to call for more than a month? As Mike Vasilinda tells us, some inside both political camps say the margin is going to be razor thin.

Trump tallahassee officer manager John Konkus is teaching Joan Rosenberg to make calls on a Trump owned auto dialing computer.

“Hit allow here” he says.

The office opened Saturday in the former headquarters of conservative congressional candidate Mary Thomas. Her campaign stressed family values, but she says she is not backing away from Trump after the release of an embarrassing tape.

“I don’t agree with the comments that were made, I can’t justify them, but Mr. Trump apologized for them” explained Thomas.

The campaign expects the race to be close.

“It’s a tie, and every call that we make out of this office and every door we knock out of this office could be the difference maker” Konkus told us.

A tie would mean a replay of the 2000 election that dragged on more than an month with the eyes of the entire world on Florida.

So, could this street once again be filled with satellite trucks sixteen years later? Some insiders believe the election could be that close.”

Democrats have filed suit to extend the Tuesday voter registration deadline. Steve Schale predicted two weeks ago the race was headed for a tie. Now, the former Obama Florida director is backing away from that prediction…slightly.

“This thing is definitely moving in Clinton’s direction” says Schale.

Q”So, two weeks ago you said it could be a repeat of 2000. You don’t think that anymore?” We asked.

A:”I still think Florida will be close.”

Mail ballots were a key on the 2000 outcome, and Democrats have also filed suit, seeking a cure to signature problems with mail in ballots.

Florida Democrats filed a law suit in Federal Court late Sunday,a sling the court to extend the registration deadline because of problems created with Hurricane Matthew. A hearing in the case could be held Tuesday.

Safety remains the chief concern for people during Hurricane Matthew, but as Matt Galka tells us, the storm has some political fallout – particularly when it comes  to voter registration.

Safety – and probably not  voting – was the top priority for millions of Floridians feeling the effects of Hurricane Matthew.  But even with the disruption the Governor said Thursday he had no plans to extend the Tuesday voter registration deadline.

“The registration, everyone has a lot of time to register, on top of that, we’ve got lots of opportunities to vote,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

He doubled down on that Friday.

“I’m focused on a storm, I’m focused on making people, we don’t lose a life, we’re in the middle of a storm,” he said.

The issue could ultimately be settled in court, with the Clinton campaign pushing for an extension. Damien Filer with Progress Florida wonders if the Governor’s position as chair of Donald Trump’s Super PAC influenced his decision.

“If you look at the last election, it was actually decided by fewer people then registered in the last eight days that registered at the deadline,” said Filer.

Political Strategist Kevin Cate says the campaign should refocus their efforts.

“In Pinellas county there is a shortage of early voting sites in key locations, and it’s probably a better use of time trying to expand those early voting locations than the registration,” said Cate.

Florida Democrats have out registered Republicans by nearly 8 to 1 in the state so far.

Earlier today (Friday) Florida Democrats including Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Senator Bill Nelson signed a letter thanking Governor Scott for his handling of the storm…but requested him to extend the voter registration deadline.

Today is the fifth day in a row the state emergency operations center has been working around the clock preparing for and now recovering from hurricane Matthew. As Mike Vasilinda tells us the people on duty there know peoples lives depend on what they do.

“The storm is still on top of us” was the message for those arriving at a shift change at the state’s emergency operations center Friday morning.

For the last five days, the states EOC has been working around the clock preparing for Matthew’s arrival.

”A request for shelter assistance” is just one of dozens of conversations we overheard.

When a tree blocks a road, a bridge gets wiped out, or someone is stranded during a hurricane, the call comes here, likely to Sam Brackett. He is the funnel for incoming requests during a disaster.

“We’ll assign it  to a branch. Once we do that, they’ll task it to the specific ESF’s to follow up on.”

There are nearly two dozen ESF’s …or Emergency Support Functions A call for a rescue would be funneled to George Cooper in ESF 4.

”Busy Day for you?” we asked.

A:”Yes sir.”

The beverage of choice here? Coffee. Coffee, and more coffee.

Virtually everyone here is working long days. We asked Richard Butgereit just how long.

Div. Emergency management

”12 hour shifts?”

:”Yes..we been working at least 12 hour shifts.”

That goes for Governor Rick Scott too. He was here at 6 AM Friday, moving from ESF to ESF to assess specific damage caused by Matthew.

“I made the following request to the Federal Government. Food. Water. tarps. generators. water pumps. Search and rescue teams” Scott told reporters at a nine am briefing that started at least fifteen minutes late.

When we asked about the people working in the room behind the glassed in conference room, Scott was more focused on the danger still at hand.

“Everybody’s showing up to to their job. Now, we’re not through this at all, there’s no victory lap here.”

Which means the center will be staffed all night Friday, through the weekend, and beyond.

Governor Rick Scott was already touring  damage in Brevard County this afternoon while the storm was still hitting Jacksonville.

Hurricane Matthew has forced hundreds of thousands of Floridians to abandon their homes and seek safety, and as Matt Galka tells us, many are headed to Florida’s capital city.

People swarmed the Busy Bee gas station and rest stop off of Interstate 10 about an hour east of Tallahassee.

Susan Remal and her family were heading west from Flagler County. They’ve been living there for 14 years, but just relocated closer to the beach.

“We just bought this house off the intracoastal, and this is the first storm that this house is going to see because it’s a new house, so we just said ‘let’s go,'” she said.

And some people aren’t evacuating, but they are taking precautions. They’re filling up gas tanks and buying generators.

We ran into Roger Plouffe who was heading back to his family in Yulee, Florida in Nassau County where there were mandatory evacuations.

“I was in South Florida for Andrew when I was a kid, and went through that, and this aint that,” he said.

If evacuees got to Tallahassee without a reservation, they may have been out of luck.

“We’ve been full now for this weekend for quite some time now, since Wednesday mid-day. We’re doing our best to direct people to other hotels,” said Four Points Sheraton GM Bo Schmitz.

County officials said there are no more hotel rooms in Leon and neighboring counties. If someone still needs accommodations, their best bet is to keep heading west.

Visit Florida dedicated a portion of their website to evacuees looking for available hotel rooms across the state, the list and booking information is available at www.visitflorida.com.

The Governor started his day at the state’s Emergency Operations Center as Florida braced for Hurricane Matthew. Our Matt Galka was there.

Florida officials are stressing that Hurricane Matthew is not a storm to ignore.

“This storm has already claimed people’s lives, and it will do the same in Florida if people don’t take it seriously,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida).

Gov. Scott already declared an emergency in every county in the state ahead of a potential devastating impact and made sure to let people know that it was never too early to evacuate.

And after not seeing any hurricanes during his entire first term in office, Florida’s Governor will be seeing his second one in the past month.

Hurricane Hermine rolled through Tallahassee at the beginning of September – causing extensive damage and knocking out power to thousands. We asked the Governor if he learned anything from that experience that could be applied to Hurricane Matthew.

“Don’t’ just rely on the co-ops for the co-ops, the municipals for the municipals, and the big four for the big four utilities. I want them all to work together because we need power back quickly,” he said.

Dr. Lorilee Medders is an insurance expert from Florida State’s Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center.  She says there are plenty of people who might not know what to do if they have property damage

“People who have documentation ready, they have their policy ready, they have information that has their property’s inventory, they can get a quicker on the ground response, an actual payment of claims,” she said.

The storm has the potential to force a dip into the state’s catastrophe fund to help stabilize the insurance market. The good news – a lack of hurricanes has left the fund in good shape.

The Governor has suspended tolls for all roads that are in mandatory evacuation areas around the state.

Because Florida is under a State of Emergency, it is illegal for businesses to raise prices and over charge for goods that are needed as a direct result of this emergency. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, many businesses haven’t gotten the message.

Food, water, ice,, gas, lumber and even hotel rooms and rental cars are covered by the state law that prohibits price gouging. Rhoda Poore asked one caller: “Do you know what they normally sell it there for sir?”

But many businesses haven’t gotten the message. Hot line operator Jack Hagadorn could barely take time to talk, “Non stop. Yes sir, they are continuing coming in as fast as we can answer.”

The calls are coming so fast, 20 people can’t keep up with the volume.

Q:”That was a gas complaint from Jacksonville? we asked,

“Yes sir”.

Operator Guy Thompson says the worst case was a gas station. “Most recently we had gas had gone up a dollar a gallon.”

The calls are coming from across the state said Chris Provenzano. We asked about his most recent complaint.

“The folks were charging ten dollars for a twelve pack of water.”

“Q:seems high?”

Well. we’re going to have investigators go out and take a look at it.”

The Attorney General’s spokesman, Whitney ray, says every complaint is being investigated.

“Any business that intentionally inflates the prices because a hurricane is coming, they saw a lot of need. So those are the things we’l be working out right now and probably in the days and weeks following the storm” says Ray.

Investigators will first try to get a merchant to return prices to normal., says Ray, but If that fails, big fines could be on the horizon.

“Penalties can be a thousand dollars per violation, up to twenty-five thousand dollars within a twenty-four hour period.”

The most complaints today are gas, water and ice, followed closely by hotel rooms and rental cars.”

And while those are the hot items now, The law literally covers anything people need in an emergency right down to the tarp to cover a hole in your roof.

To file a price gouging complaint, the number to call is 1-866-9-NoScam. you can also file a complaint online at myfloridalegal.com.  The Attorney General’s web site says the best advice to avoid being over charged is to stock up before the storm is barreling down on the state.

Reputable charities and others will be asking for donations in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Charities are regulated by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which is advising people to check out their gift giving web site before handing over money to someone with whom you are not familiar. Aaron Keller says its time for givers to beware.

“We encourage them to research the charitable organizations prior to giving. Often, unfortunately, in the wake of disasters such as this, fraudulent  charities will pop up and take advantage of good hearted Floridians. So we are encouraging everyone to go to fresh from Florida dot com to research charities. You can look at whether they are properly registered, whether they have complaints on file, and you can actually look a their financial information as well” says Keller, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The web site lists how much a charity spends on it’s mission, and it’s operations,a nd fund raising costs.

October is disability employment month, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Florida State University began this semester with new facility and a new program designed to raise awareness year round and into the future.

J.R. Hardings new office in the FSU College of Business is dotted with action pictures of the quadriplegic former football player on roller coasters and water skis.

“And only 30 percent of Floridians with disabilities are working at all” says Harding.

JR became a quadriplegic after a high school fight. As an under grad he was the only wheelchair bound student at the University of Western Kentucky. He’s been fighting for inclusion ever since.”

“and I was one of three at West Florida getting my masters” he told us.

Florida State already bills itself as the most veteran friendly school in the country. J.R.’s job is to make it the most disability friendly as well.

“It’s a natural extension. Veterans have amputees and other kinds of visible and invisible disabilities” says Harding.

The program is really more about students who don’t have disabilities, but who graduate from here and go on to be future business leaders in Florida.

“How do we teach a future entrepreneur , a future business owner, a future land owner how to make their property good for all citizens” he asks.

He’s  has been a frequent guest lecturer. Fabric Jean-Louis says his presentation to a real estate class two years ago was eye opening.

“I thought it was something that we needed. I think he should be speaking to every class, not just the business classes” says Jean-Louis.

So JR and now FSU believe that by reaching future business leaders, the future won’t be such a struggle when students of different abilities enter the work force.”

Harding reports directly to FSU Provost Sally McRorie. She declined an an on camera interview but responded with a statement which says in part “Dr. Harding brings a wealth of knowledge, advocacy and experience, which will help FSU become a more inclusive community for students, faculty and staff with disabilities. He also will help our entire student body understand how disabilities will impact their future careers and communities.

The investigation into the murder of an FSU law professor took a dramatic turn today. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, one of two defendants originally charged in the case has agreed to testify for the state.

Luis Rivera, one of three people accused of murdering FSU law professor Dan Markel has reached a plea deal. He will testify against alleged triggerman Sigfredo Garcia and the alleged go between girl friend Katherine Magbanua. Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman  described Rivera’s involvement for the court.

“He was the driver. He assisted in providing the firearm, the transportation” said Cappleman

Circuit Judge James Hankinson asked Rivera a series of questions under oath, including: “In this you agree that you are going to cooperate and testify truthfully. Do you Understand that?” “Yes Sir” responded Rivera.

Under the deal, Rivera will finish his federal prison sentence. That’s twelve years, then he will come into state prison for another seven.

State Attorney Willie Meggs says he had to make a deal with the devil to move the case forward.

“We knew we needed to give up something, and we did” says Meggs.

Rivera can put Magbanua as the conduit  between the hit man and the family of the law professors ex-wife.

There is also new video of an under cover officer, approaching Adelson family matriarch Donna Adelson, claiming to be Rivera’s brother, handing her a sheet of paper, and asking for money to keep quite about the murder.

“She has the paper” police are heard saying on the video.

No money was ever paid, but the confrontation led to a recorded meeting in which Donna’s son Charlie tells Magbanua that she should find someone to kill the agent or he would find someone to do it.

We asked Meggs about the ex wife’s involvement.

“We’re not sure where it will lead us, but we are on the trail” says the veteran prosecutor.

Wendi Adelson told police she was driving through her ex husbands neighborhood shortly after the murder, saying she stopped at a nearby liquor store to prepare for a party later that night.

Anchor Tag: Police have not yet located the gun used in the killing. Garcia, the accused triggerman is due in court for a previously scheduled hearing on Friday.