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A Federal court in the state Capitol is considering what could be a landmark case when it comes to who represents you in local government. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the case boils down to whether it’s fair to count state prisoners when creating local districts.

Rural Jefferson County has a five county commission districts, each with 2900 residents. One of the districts includes this state prison.

There are about 1200 inmates here. They make up about 43 percent of the people who live in this county commission district. People In the other four districts say it isn’t fair.

Whether or not to count local prisoners is left up to the local governments. The US Supreme Court has said it’s okay to count prisoners as long as they don’t make up more than ten percent of the population.

Residents here, along with the ACLU and the FLorida Justice Institute  are suing to have the prisoners excluded. Randall Berg of the FL. Justice Institute says prisoners don’t vote and shouldn’t be counted for political purposes.

Q: “what happens when they are counted?”

A:”what happens is they dilute the voting impact of the people in the other four districts of Jefferson County.”

The judge repeatedly used the phrase Representational Nexus, wanting to know how local Goverment benefits the prisoners. Jerry Curington represents the Jefferson County School Board.

“Inmates deal with Correctional officers every day. Twenty-four seven. They can’t escape them, and it’s important to them that they have a good school system so these officers understand constitutional principles and the rights of prisoners.”

Seven of FLORIDA’S counties have chosen not to count prisoners. Most do. A decision is expected in February and if it goes against the county, dozens of other small counties could find themselves having to redraw their county commission and school board boundaries. ( prisoners in the state prison call Jefferson County home. the other nearly 1200 do not.

The County did tell the judge that if he rules against them, the small county may not be able to appeal the decision.

There appears to be turmoil at the Republican Party of Florida just ten months from the  November General election in which Florida is sure to be a Presidential battleground once again. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, despite a high staff turnover, the RPOF still has significant advantages.

The longtime CFO of The Republican Party of Florida has been let go as the staff is streamlined. It’s executive Director is leaving to manage a US Senate Campaign. The moves come as the party is reeling from internal dissension and lower fundraising.

The problems began a year ago when the party elected Blaise Ingoglia as it’s chairman over the Governor’s hand picked candidate. The move caused Rick Scott to stop raising money for the party. Since then Scott has put just under 4 million into his own account. He was asked about the split on Monday.

Q:”You’re the governor…first Republican Governor, maybe ever, who hasn’t been aggressively raising money for the party. Are you worried about the state of the party?Are you going to do anything to help them?”

A:”Well, as you know, I ran on a program to get our state back to work” Scott responded without actually answering the question.

Pushed for an answer, Scott would only say: “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure a Republican wins in Florida.”

The former chairwoman has also stopped raising money for the state party and Senate Republicans also pulled their cash from the party coffers.

The RPOF declined to be interviewed but offered this statement, attributed to it’s Chairman, which says in part:

“Our party continues to be debt free, hold a cash on hand advantage over the Florida Democrats while holding significant digital, data and field operational advantages as well.”

Indeed, the RPOF still has a five to one cash on hand advantage over Democrats, but it’s fundraising is down by a third from the same time four years ago.

Reports filed with the state show the state GOP has about 15 million in the bank while Florida Democrats have about three million.

The full statement from the RPOF is below: 

“Our focus is, and will remain, defeating Hillary Clinton in Florida, delivering this state to the Republican nominee, and getting Republicans elected up and down the ballot. We are making these needed adjustments now to ensure that we are in the best position possible to do just that. Our party continues to be debt free, hold a cash on hand advantage over the Florida Democrats while holding significant digital, data and field operational advantages as well.”  – RPOF Chair Blaise Ingoglia

For many same sex couples in Florida, roadblock after roadblock made being married seem like an impossibility up until last January.  Matt Galka talks to one of the men responsible for reversing the state’s same sex marriage ban one year after the landmark decision.

A little more than one year ago, there were feelings of frustration from Jim Brenner and his partner Charles Jones

“We’re not asking for anything that other people don’t already have. We’re not asking for anything special,” said Brenner while sitting at his kitchen table in late 2014.

Brenner and Jones had already been married in Canada but until January of last year, Florida didn’t recognize their union. Brenner’s laws suit helped pave the way for change. A federal judge overturned the ban on same sex marriage January 5th of 2015, and couples started getting marriage licenses on the 6th.

“It seems like almost on a daily basis we find something new that’s making our lives the same as anyone elses, but for us it’s a big difference. A big change,” said Brenner.

One year later, what seemed almost impossible in Florida is run of the mill.

On the first day marriage licenses were granted to same sex couples, there were a few protests, but little problems. And one year later, Brenner says everything feels normal.

“The sky didn’t fall, and there are no major thunderbolts coming out of the sky in our direction, so I think it’s pretty much been what we were hoping for,” he said.

It’s nearly impossible to tell how many same sex couples were wed in Florida last year, spouse gender isn’t tracked in the state.

The U.S. Supreme Court made same sex marriage legal throughout the country on June 26^th of last year.

Florida gun sales were up 14 percent in 2015, eclipsing the record set following the Sandy Hook shootings. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the state’s background check system also turned down more than 11 thousand would be gun buyers.

More than 137 thousand people sought to buy guns in December alone. The year saw a record 885 thousand background checks conducted, up more than 109 thousand from they year before.

Sales spiked following the San Bernardino shootings and Marion Hammer of the state’s NRA chapter says the record sales are due in part to people realizing police can’t be everywhere.

“And when the White House starts talking about gun control, and banning guns, People start to get serious about their own protection” says Hammer.

Here in Florida, State Senator Arthenia Joyner has introduced legislation that would close the so called gun show loophole. It would require all sales to go through a licensed firearms dealer, which triggers a background check.

“No one should be exempt from the background check” says Joyner.

And while a record number of people did buy a gun, more than eleven thousand didn’t pass a background check and were turned down.”

The NRA remains opposed to ending casual sales between individuals.

“You don;’t have to be a licensed car sales man or car dealership to sell a private vehicle to a neighbor or a friend or child” says Hammer.

The gun show legislation has been referred to three committees, including one chaired by one of the states most ardent gun rights supporters.

Federal law makes it crime to sell a weapon to someone you should reasonable know can’t own a gun. About 1300 people who were originally turned down by the firearm background check program were able to successfully appeal the decision.

A Tallahassee pastor is calling for calm as the public awaits dash cam video of a panhandle woman who died as police escorted her from a rural hospital just before Christmas. The City of Blountstown’s Police Chief has given the video to the city attorney who is waiting for Barbara Dawson’s family attorneys to pick it up. Reverend RB Holmes of Tallahassee says the video is important to understand what happened.

“I think it’s very important as it relates to transparency. My involvement is to make sure that we maintain peace. That we find the truth in this situation. And the chief has been above board on this” Holmes told reporters.

57 Year old Dawson collapsed as police escorted her from the Calhoun-Liberty hospital which she refused to leave because she said she was not feeling well. An autopsy showed she died from a blood clot in her lung.

More than 13,000 rape kits remain untested at police departments around the state according to a newly released survey from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As Matt Galka tells us, clearing the backlog will take time and money.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says 9,400 of the more than 13,000 backlogged rape kits around the state should be tested. The numbers are part of a new report released by the FDLE documenting the state’s rape kit problem.

The Governor says he’s committed to finding a solution.

“In my budget we have $8.5 million to reduce that backlog that was created by local law enforcement asking FDLE to do more, this looks like there will be more money needed and I will work with the legislature to make sure that happens,” said Gov. Rick Scott (R-Florida) during a jobs event.

FDLE estimates that it could cost anywhere from $9 to $32 million dollars to test the kits they’re responsible for, and it could take up to 9 years.

Spokesmen for the Department said they didn’t want to go on camera, but rather let lawmakers review the results and take the next steps.

Sexual assault advocate Meg Baldwin says there’s a lot of positives in the report but the numbers are alarming.

“Having the information about the attackers in a national database means that more attackers can be prosecuted, more victims get justice, and attacks in the future are deterred,” she said.

The Attorney General’s office has been pushing to clear the backlog.

“If it can put just one rapist, one serial rapist away, which we’ve already done, then it’s worth it,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The report states that 41% of the untested kits weren’t submitted because victims didn’t proceed with the investigation.

January 1st means new laws, and for Florida there aren’t many. But as Matt Galka tells us, one prominent new rule looks to crack down on human trafficking.

Curbing human trafficking has been a priority for Florida elected officials all year.  Lawmakers heard from survivors like Katarina Rosenblatt.

“In Miami at 13 I first was recruited at a hotel, and I escaped, and then I was recruited again at my middle school because I still had the vulnerabilities of coming from an abusive home,” she told a House committee.

And Attorney General Pam Bondi held summits across the state.

When the New Year starts – a new law will come into effect again designed to help crack down on human trade. Rest areas will now be required to display signage with human trafficking hotline help numbers.

Florida’s Department of Transportation is responsible for putting up the signs across the state.

This rest area on Interstate 10 near Monticello already had theirs up. The signs are supposed to be in both English and Spanish and also have text numbers.  Bondi has said in the past that truck drivers will be key in helping to fight trafficking.

“The truckers, where do you take a little girl to traffick her? A truckstop. And the truckers have now partnered with us and they are our eyes and ears calling in suspicious reports of human trafficking,” she said.

Strip clubs and massage parlors will also be required to post the signs. Failure to comply doesn’t come with a state penalty – but county commissions could impose fines of 500 bucks.

Playing on the swingset, kickball, maybe a game of tag…all of the games staples of recess during school. As Matt Galka tells us, some lawmakers want to make sure young kids aren’t missing out on the classroom break.

It’s a dreary day in Florida’s capital city, but the weather didn’t stop kids from having fun down the street.

Parents like David Brickler say Sky Zone trampoline park is a great place to bring the kids to get them out of the house during a school break.

“If you have a rainy day and they’re stuck at home and all they can do is video games or television or even reading a book, it’s not as good as having a time of intense physical activity,” said Brickler.

Lawmakers want to make sure the activity keeps going during school days, too. A bill has been filed that would mandate 20 minutes of recess for elementary schools. The hope is that an activity break helps kids better perform in the classroom.

2nd grader Taylor Snyder says she loves recess.

“I like to run and play,” she said.

And Dad Matt Snyder is fully behind the bill.

“A lot of kids now a days are so glued to their X box or their playstation or stuffing their face with chips all day…it aint like it was when I was a kid,” he said.

Long time educator and State Senator Bill Montford is also warming to the idea.

“I think we’ve gone too far, our student’s days are just jammed packed with academics. Every minute seems to be scheduled. The students need some creative time on their own,” he said.

Montford sits on the committee that will review the bill first when legislative session begins next month.Some elementary schools across the state have opted to get rid of recess in favor of more test prep.

Some poisonous slithering animals put some Floridians on high alert this past fall, and now state officials are in the process of reacting. As Matt Galka tells us, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission could be planning some changes to the rules permitting residents to own poisonous reptiles.

You can find plenty of scaly animals at Carol’s Critters near the state capitol. Owner Carol Hoover says the snakes can be pretty popular, but none of them are venomous.

“No we don’t carry venomous, you need special permits for venomous, we don’t have the proper setup. They are behind locks, venomous need to be behind locks, but we do not carry them,” she said.

You need a permit to own venomous reptiles in Florida.  But fish and wildlife officials could be considering a change. It comes after scares in both Orlando and Fort Myers where poisonous cobra’s escaped from their owners.

Fish and wildlife officials may even consider banning the reptiles altogether. Hoover, who used to own venomous reptiles herself, isn’t sure that’s the answer

“If you ban it then it makes it even more desirable, and people will obtain them illegally and own them anyhow,” she said.

The state’s fish and wildlife conservation commission plans on contacting permit holders for their input.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…you know the song. But did you know that the winter classic has some roots in Tallahassee. Our Matt Galka takes us to the church in Florida’s capital city that claims to have the organ the song was first composed on.

There’s no snow to dash through…but that wont’ stop the familiar tune of jingle bells from filling the air…and the jingle may have all started with this organ.

“Well it’s called the jingle bell organ. And it’s called that because it’s associated with James Pierpoint who wrote “one horse open sleigh.” And it’s the only instrument he had available when he wrote the piece,” said Betsy Calhoun.

Calhoun is the director of music at St. John’s Episcopal church in Tallahassee where the organ resides.  But before it got to the church, it was donated to Florida State University in the 1940’s

“Nothing was ever done with it and it languished in the basement for years,” she said.

Until a doctoral student found it and did some research and traced it back to Pierpoint in the 1850’s. Calhoun’s husband was the student’s professor.

“Michael Corzine, who is my husband, came home and said I have no place to put this organ because we have no room for it. Well I said “I have a great idea, what if you let us have it on permanent loan at St. John’s in our chapel,” said Calhoun.

FSU music students still practice on it. And as for the historical accuracy of it being the jingle bell organ…

“Whether or not really jingle bells was composed on it, we can’t say for certain, but we like to claim it that way,” said Calhoun.

And that story sounds just fine to me.

The song was published in Savannah Georgia in 1857…but Medford, Massachussetts also claims to be the origin of “Jingle Bells…they say Pierpoint wrote the song there in 1850.

There are sure to be plenty of tech gadgets under Christmas trees around Florida this year, but as Matt Galka tells us, the state’s Attorney General is telling parents to stay sharp about what their kids may be doing online.

Ciara Godfrey and her son are doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Godfrey says she monitors her son’s gaming habits.

“Oh yes, I’m in the room with him,” she said.

Florida attorney general Pam Bondi is hoping more parents take that approach this holiday season. Video games take up a lot of the downtime some kids have over school breaks, and the attorney general’s office says parents need to watch out for online predators.

“Devices with internet access are popular gifts, particularly gaming consoles. A lot of games have internet technology, and predators know this, they can use that technology to talk to a child and try to set up a face to face meeting,” said Whitney Ray, a spokesman for the Attorney General.

And it’s not just video games. Smart phones and tablets are already in plenty of kids hands. Almost 9 out of 10 teens have access to a device with the Internet.

“We always say your child’s privacy is not worth their safety,” said Ray.

Bondi’s office launched their own social media campaign with tips for parents on how to keep their loved ones safe this holiday season.

For tips on keeping your child safe, you can visit www.safeflorida.net.

The State office that processes unemployment claims raised eyebrows when it said it wants three point five million to investigate false claims, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the point isn’t who should be investigating, but that someone should.

In the last year, as many as one in 8 unemployment claims…have been fraudulent says  Jesse Panuccio, Dept. Economic Opportunity Exec. Dir.

“It’s this identity theft based fraud, and we’re talking about billions of records being stolen every year” says Panuccio.

A tour of the dark web shows just how easy it is to buy someone’s identity.

Q:“So that could be me there for forty-five cents?”

“That’s right”

For a buck and a half a piece, we found sites offering some’s complete credit history, bank balances, and everything else in a mortgage application. Another site apparently hacked a bank, and for twelve and a half dollars apiece, you can even get bank login information.” John Sacco works to prevent fraud at DEO.

“The marginal cost of filing a fraudulent unemployment claim is very small for them, so, if they file 100 claims and one of those pays out, even if its just for a few weeks, it’s potentially worthwhile for them to continue that activity” says Sacco.

DEO sent a ripple through he legislature when it asked for three and a half million dollars to set up a unit with police powers, but Panuccio says if not them, who?”

“When you put unemployment fraud up against other crimes; murders, assaults, and things like that, you know, monetary crimes sometimes take a back seat.

Ironically, one of the ways to fight this high tech crime is old technology. DEO is simply picking up the phone and asking employers if that person ever worked there.

DEO declined to discuss other fraud prevention measures. In the last year, it has detected 135 thousand fraudulent filings worth almost half a billion dollars.

With every scheme that’s broken, a new one pops up, which is why DEO also is asking to have a unit to do nothing but hack their system looking for ways to cheat.

Florida’s 28 State and Community colleges are asking lawmakers for 74 million dollars to beef up security across the state. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, only a few of the campuses have a sworn law enforcement presence.

Tis the week before Christmas and across the state, college campuses are all but empty and closed…But despite the calm, here at Tallahassee Community College, police officers remain alert. We asked TCC Police Chief Chris Summers “How many officers do you have?”. “Including me, make twelve” he responded.

The TCC Campus, in the shadow of the state Capitol, is one of the few that maintains a full time police force,

“And for the most part, we can see most of our population areas on campus. We exercise frequently” says the Chief.

Following shootings on campuses in Oregon, California and even Florida State. The state’s 28 colleges want an armed presence on every campus. 18 months ago, someone with a gun was reported on campus.

“We were fortunate in that nobody was injured” says Summers.

The gun carrying student was charged and kicked out of school.

“And we’ve made a few arrests for domestic battery, assault, or stalking. And the vast majority is something that began off (campus)” says Chief Summers.

What’s clear is that there isn’t an outbreak of crime at this or other college campuses, but the chief says his biggest role is intervening before bad things happen.”

The budget for a police presence at TCC runs about a million dollars a year, and if he had a wish list for some of the 74 million being sought, it would be for more officers to keep problems from growing.

The effort to allow guns on campuses spurred the request for security money, but in a statement, Michael Brawer (Braw-Er), the CFO for the Assn of Fl. Colleges says “we have come to accept that currently there is a trend for bad people to bad things in public areas, and our colleges need to be better prepared in the areas of training for active shooter scenarios for college faculty, staff and students, better threat assessment and reporting mechanisms to pre-empt situations”.

No nativity scene. No satanic response to the nativity scene. But at the Florida capitol, there’s still a holiday display “for the rest of us.” Matt Galka tells us about the festivus pole holiday display that went up in the Florida Capitol – with an LGBT twist.

South Florida blogger and atheist Chaz Stevens continued his annual tradition of putting up a “festivus pole” in Florida’s capitol rotunda.

The fake holiday Festivus was made famous by an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This is the third year Stevens has put the satirical pole up in the state house in a response to religious symbols that have been popular over the years.

“Celebrate diversity, celebrate inclusiveness. Celebrate the fact that it’s religious freedom for all, not just religious freedom for some. The point here is very simple, this is an ode to separation of church and state,” said Stevens.

He hopes plenty of people have grievances to air.

“Oh God yes, if they weren’t, we’d sit back and say ‘what are we doing wrong?” said Stevens.

The pole has a disco ball on top and a rainbow sleeve supporting gay rights this time around. It’s been made of beer cans in the past.

There was no nativity scene in the capitol this year. Tallahassee Reverend RB Holmes, who has supported the display in the past, says nobody should mock other religions.

“I’m not going to be a part of demeaning and denigrating other folks culture and causes,” said Holmes.

Stevens says his Festivus pole is expected to go up in nine state capitols around the country this year. He’s hoping to get the Festivus pole into all 50 state capitols next year. Festivus is actually celebrated on December 23^rd.

Tax cuts, education, money, and gambling. Another year of Florida legislative matters are upon us, and as Matt Galka tells us, Florida’s Speaker of the House hopes to avoid the pitfalls that doomed some of this past year’s lawmaking period.

2015’s legislative session ended with a shocking twist of political theater. The Florida House ended early – killing a few policy issues in the process.

Florida’s Speaker of the House says don’t expect those kind of fireworks this time around.

“My hope is that the 16 session will return back to some normalcy,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli.

With less than a month to go before lawmakers return to try and pass new laws, Crisafulli laid out his plans for legislative session. Tax cuts are high on the list, but the Governor is shooting for $1 billion dollars. Crisafulli isn’t ready to commit to the number.

“Is a billion dollars in full off the table? No, it’s not, the reality is, though, is we have to sit down and do the math on the proposed budget and find out where we’re going to land,” he said.

Passing a new gambling deal will also be at the forefront of the to-do list for the legislature.  The Governor inked a new Seminole Compact last week that could add $3 billion dollars of revenue to the statse. Lawmakers need to sign off as well.

“I can’t sit here and tell you for sure that, as it’s written, it has no chance. Is it unlikely? Yea, it’s very unlikely, but there are some things that members have started talking about that they want to tweak,” said Rep. Crisafulli.

Crisafulli said water policy, education reforms, and laws benefiting Floridians with disabilities will be the first ones to come out of his chamber.

While healthcare money was the main dustup that derailed 2015’s legislative session – neither the House Speaker or Senate President have indicated there would be that type of issue this time around.