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Florida doesn’t have any scheduled executions on the books and is in the midst of it’s longest stretch without one since the Governor’s first year in office. As Matt Galka tells us, inmates on death row continue to appeal, with another death penalty debate brewing.

This 2008 video from a St. Petersburg convenience store captured the murders of two people at the hands of Khadafy Mullens.  A judge sentenced Mullens to death for the crimes in 2013.  His lawyer made his appeal to Florida’s Supreme Court Thursday.

Mullens is one of 395 inmates on Florida’s death row, second only to California. Charles Grover Brant is another.  He admitted to killing his neighbor in Hillsborough County and was sentenced to death in 2007. His appeals attorney argued his previous counsel failed him.

“He was born with a bad brain because of lack of pre-natal care, and his lawyers failed to investigate his case,” said attorney Marie-Louise Samuels Parmer.

The state hasn’t carried out an execution since January. They were temporarily on hold while a decision was made on the legality of lethal injection drugs.  The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the drugs use in June, and a circuit judge in Florida did the same earlier this week. Brant’s lawyer still says the death penalty in the state needs a review.

“We have a huge death row population, it’s a tremendous burden on the tax dollars, it doesn’t deter crime, and I think it’s something that we really should take a look at,” she said.

Florida’s current Governor is tied with Jeb Bush for most executions under a Governor’s watch since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

The United States Supreme Court will consider a case in its next term on whether or not juries need to be unanimous when recommending a death sentence. Currently, a unanimous decision is not required.

One of three state troopers reviewed under a special overtime program to deter speeders has been found to claim overtime for hours spent at home or eating, But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, some of those being disciplined say they were following an unwritten rule that’s been in place for decades.

More than 900 troopers participate in the SOAR program…which is designed to pay 8 hours of overtime a week to crackdown on speeders or help stranded motorists. Internal investigators at the patrol choose the top three SOAR earners from each district. Of the 36 cases reviewed, three were fired, four retired, three were suspended, one was reprimanded and another is facing termination after claiming overtime for working from home or while eating. Capt. Nancy Rasmussen says discipline was based on the sererity of the infractions.

“Some were sitting at their houses longer and it was a continuos issue, then they were disciplined more than, you know, the ones that just went to the restaurants for a few minutes or whatever. So it was based on what their egregious activities were on the program” says the FHP Spokesperson.

Troopers were sited for turning off their automatic locating devices or failing to call in when they were taking dinner breaks.

The Police Benevolent Association says it won’t talk about the troopers in this report because it doesn’t talk about pending litigation.”

Attorney Sid Mathew represents two of the 12 being disciplined. He says both were following long standing unwritten rules and that no one was goofing off on the states dime.

“They paid overtime for 20 years for meal breaks, and now all of a sudden, they are changing their policies” says the labor attorney.

The FHP says the actions taken will not impact increased presence on the highways  this holiday weekend.

The FHP says there are no unwritten rules. But attorneys say if they are changing policies, Troopers must be told in advance.  In June, after some of the disciplinary actions had already been started, the FHP issued a memo saying no one was authorized to work from home.

Emails show the Governor’s office changed a press release involving investigations into Planned Parenthood, and as Matt Galka tells us, the healthcare group says the changes show the Governor was only trying to play political games.

Viral videos from another state sparked outrage over Planned Parenthood’s alleged fetal remains practices.  The videos caused Governor Rick Scott to call for an investigation into clinics in Florida.

The investigations found the 16 facilities didn’t participate in fetal remains deals.  An early August press release originally obtained by Politico Florida intended to make that clear.  The line “However, there is no evidence of the mishandling of fetal remains at any of the 16 clinics we investigated across the state,” appeared in the version the Agency for Healthcare Administration wrote.  But once it went through the Governor’s office, the line disappeared.

Planned Parenthood spokesman Damien Filer said this confirms what the healthcare provider has been saying all along.

“From the beginning, our take on this has been the motivations were political, because we couldn’t understand what else they would be,” he said.

When asked if his office was trying to make Planned Parenthood look bad, the Governor was non-committal.

“The agency, our state Agency for Healthcare Administration, they’re responsibility is to make sure everyone who does healthcare in our state does it right, so what I asked them to do is just go look at it, make sure Planned Parenthood and their facilities are compliant with the law, and that’s what they’re doing,” said Gov. Scott.

The investigation originally found three clinics to be performing abortions outside their licensed time frame to do so, a claim Planned Parenthood disputed. The violations were eventually dropped.

We reached out to the Governor’s communications team asking why exactly the line saying there was no evidence of fetal remains violations was taken out. Communications Director Jackie Schutz responded “our office often works with our agencies on materials,” and that the document was a working draft.

Wednesday is often called over the hump day, a chance to start celebrating the coming weekend. The drinking age in Florida is 21, but 18 year old’s are allowed in bars. It’s gotten three FSU football players in hot water, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, keeping underage people out of bars has always been a heavy lift for lawmakers.

Jameis Winston, Dalvin Cook, and D’Andre Johnson,  were all investigated after allegations from women in bars. All three players were 19 at the time.

Winston was accused of raping a co-ed. Cook and Johnson were accused of punching women. There is video of only one of the incidents…Johnson’s punch…but before the punch a band on his arm suggests he is old enough to drink. State Attorney Willie Meggs, who has been involved in all three cases, questions the wisdom of being underage in a bar.

“It makes absolutely no sense to me, so it would strike me they ought not be allowed in the place” says the retiring State Attorney.

Cook was acquitted by a jury and is back on the team. The police report shows a 19 year old witness was so intoxicated, police had trouble understanding her. In court, Cook’s accuser, Madison Geohegan, was asked about her friends drinking.

They didn’t ID us.”

Q:They didn’t ID?”

“No” she said under oath.

It’s been more than 25 years since lawmakers looked at trying to keep everyone under 21 out of a bar. Just about every proprietor in the state complained, and the idea died a very quick death.

Dave Ericks owns one of the state Capitol’s best known watering holes.  “And it’s part o the experience. You’re, lets say, dating a 21 year old, and you are 19 or 20 and you couldn’t go somewhere with them, it just wasn’t right” says Ericks.

And Ericks says there are heavy penalties for serving underage drinkers. Bars could lose their license.

In a statement today, the state says it has made more than 100,000 visits to places that sell alcohol, arresting 1843 people for selling to minors over the last three years.

Test scores from this spring will count says the State Department of Education after a new report ordered by lawmakers has been released. But as Mike Vasilinda tells us, school superintendents say the report points out too many problems to ignore.

After thousands of students were unable to take standardized tests this past spring, state lawmakers ordered a study to see if the Florida Assessment Test was valid. With report in hand, Commissioner of Education Pam Stewart says scores from the spring tests will count.

“The first thing I would say is there were eight conclusions, and I think that it came back positively in all eight areas” Stewart told reporters.

As a group, Florida’s school Superintendents has a completely different interpretation of this report. They’re calling foul.

The report shows one of every three questions asked of third graders on the test designed in Utah does not cover standards taught in Florida. On Algebra one, the report says one in five questions is beyond Florida Standards.

Sen. Bill Montford says  the Department needs to rethink its use of the test.

Q:”So you thin that their conclusions that everything is fine for the most part, are erroneous?”

“I think they’re not accurate. That’s correct. And when you look at the report itself says it did not meet the normal rigor expected of high stakes assessment. And that in itself should draw some serious questions.

Q:”:And the line before that said  the problem is so big we’re not sure how big it is?”

“That’s Correct” says Montford.

One of the reports conclusions is that tests given with paper and pencil were accurate, but tests taken via computer were suspect.

The Department says decisions on using the scores for advancement, graduation or placement will be left up to local districts.

While standing behind the test results, the Department of Education did say it would pursue monetary penalties against test contractor AIR for delays in administering the test.

Florida Supreme Court Justices asked tough questions today about the intent of a proposed constitutional amendment that would let businesses install large solar arrays on their roof tops and then sell extra power to their neighbors. The measure is opposed by all of the states big power generators, and after the hearing Steven Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said utilities will stop at nothing to defeat the amendment.

“We’re trying to speak on behalf of the people. We’re trying to speak on opening up the Sunshine State to allow the sun to shine, to give people choice. And the big monopoly utilities have an unlimited budget and they’re going to do everything they can to hold people back, They’re going to roll out all kinds of dirty tricks, they’re going to roll out all kinds of fat cat attorneys, and all these other kinds of things” says Smith.

So far the group has collected about one tenth of the signature it needs to get on the ballot…but first the court must decide if the ballot summary seen by voters is accurate.

A 35 year old man is in custody in the state Capitol tonight. Antoine Warren was driving on the FSU Campus late Monday when he approached a young woman and asked if she was waiting for an Uber driver. The woman got into his car, but after driving aimlessly, the man tried to assault the woman. She escaped and he was later arrested. FSU Police Chief David Perry isn’t sure if Warren is responsible for at least a half dozen near campus abduction attempts in as many months.

“Warren was taken into custody and transported to the Leon County Jail and charged with kidnapping with the intent to commit a felony. There is no evidence at this time that Warren has ever worked for Uber or representative of Uber. At this time, warren has not been linked to ongoing attempted abductions in the area” says the FSU Police Chief.

Police say the are checking with other victims and running evidence at the Department of Law Enforcement to see if Warren was involved in other attempted abductions.

Hundreds of public officials across Florida are about to be fined twenty-five dollars a day because they have failed to file required financial disclosure information. The information was due July first, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us the grace period to file the financial snapshot for almost a thousand people who have yet to file ends tonight.

Governor Rick Scott has a net worth of 147 million. We know, because Scott is one of 38 thousand public officials required to disclose how much money they made in the previous year, what they own and what it’s worth. The form is due on July fist  but fines don’t kick in until September.

“With the Florida Commission on Ethics.”

“This is about her disclosure”  is how phone concersations sounded as the entire ethics commission staff spent a day calling the 1300 who were still late. Executive Director Virlindia Doss says they would rather not fine people. “We would much rather get people to file than to fine them at the end, collect those fines, or even prosecute them for failing to file” says Doss.

The filing requirements have been in place since the late 1970’s. There were eight elected legislators who had not filed by Monday morning.

It’s not just public officials who have to file, it’s also people who have the authority to spend more than twenty thousand dollars of your tax money.

The disclosure is one of the main ways  to know if someone is profiting from their service said Chris Anderson between phone calls.

“You have somebody on the zoning board and they disclose they own a particular piece of property at a certain location, and you might say, aha..no wonder they are taking this position toward this rezoning change that’s right down the road from their property/

Those who don’t file by the end of the day Monday face a 25 dollar a fine starting Tuesday morning

“You mailed it yesterday. Very Good wa the response to one official on the other end of the line.

The fine is capped at 1500 hundred dollars…which takes 60 days to accumulate.

The day began with 987 people who had yet to file. 67 were constitutional officers, another 230 were from state boards, and just over 700 local officials had yet to disclose their finances.

Watching and waiting. That’s what state officials and Floridians are doing as all eyes are on Tropical Storm Erika and it’s still to be determined path towards Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, the Governor has already issued a state of emergency.

The effect Tropical Storm Erika will have on Florida is still very unclear.  The state’s Division of Emergency Management center continued to buzz Friday, but didn’t provide many details about preparations.

The State’s Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee remained at activation level 2 Friday but declined to give any further comment on-camera

We were shut out and told to reference the Governor’s meeting in Miami Friday morning.

“Right now we don’t know how much rainfall we’re going to get, the storm tracks west, which means we’re probably going to get more rainfall, again we don’t know yet. That’s probably one of our biggest risks,” said Governor Rick Scott after his South Florida briefing.

The Red Cross is gearing up. Shannon Tyler says Centers in the North, Central, and Southern regions are making preparations.

“All three have stood up and are actively calling volunteers, and getting volunteers to let us know their availability in the event that we need. We’re putting shelters on standby across the state,” said Tyler.

Tyler says even if the storm turns out to be nothing, situations like this are still good reminders for people who may have forgotten just how devastating they can be.

“Everyone needs to be self sufficient for up to 72 hours in the event of any kind of large disaster…that means water, food. It’s important not only to have a plan but to share your plans with families,” she said.

The storm is being blamed for deaths in the Caribbean as it continues to thrash the island region.

The state of emergency helps Florida when it comes to seeking assistance from other states or the federal government. The National Guard has been activated as long as the storm threat remains.

A small panhandle dairy 50 miles west of the State Capitol has been fighting the state for three years over whether or not it can sell it’s skim milk without being forced by the state to add vitamins to the milk. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, A federal judge may soon make the call.

Ocheese Creamery started selling milk wholesale and directly to the public five years ago.

“This is actually where the milking takes place up here” says Pierre Wesselhoft, the son of the owners.

Its a niche dairy…using low temperature pasteurization “We think this makes a better product.”

And even bottling in glass bottles. “There’s no possibility of things to leach into the milk you don’t want there” says Wesselhoft.

Three years ago, the state ordered Ocheesee to stop selling skim milk…unless it agreed to add vitamin A back into what is already a natural product. Ocheesee says its customers want no part of added vitamins.

“Let us make our product. Say what it is, Natural skim milk with nothing added to it, and let us sell it like that, and they want to say, no, you can’t do that, so..” says Pierre.

Now its a case of David battling Goliath. Ocheesee is suing in Federal Court. They argue the state can’t make the dairy call its milk “imitation skim milk” because it isn’t.

On any given day, this dairy is milking a hundred cows a day. Each one producing five gallons of milk.

Ironically, Ocheesee is allowed to use the skim milk it can’t sell to make yogurt or cottage cheese. “It’s sort of silly” says Wesselhoft. “We can make yogurt from it. All we do is add culture to the skim milk so we can sell that yogurt and its safe for people to eat and we don’t add vitamin A to the yogurt.”

Until the case is resolved, OCheesee will keep skimming it’s milk to make cream and butter, and will keep dumping as many as 400 gallons of drinkable skim milk each week onto its fields as fertilizer.

Not all states require the vitamins removed from milk in the skimming process to be added back in before it can be sold. A ruling from the Federal Courts is expected in about a month.

State officials are tracking Tropical Storm Erika as it makes it’s way potentially toward Florida. As Matt Galka tells us, it could turn into a hurricane, and the Governor says after all these years of Florida being hurricane-free, people still need a plan.

Emergency management officials briefed Governor Rick Scott on the latest information for Tropical Storm Erika Thursday.

The storm could intensify and become Florida’s first hurricane in a decade.  Governor Scott says Floridians shouldn’t get complacent after 10 years of no hurricanes.

“You have got and stop and say to yourself “I know I want to do all the fun things this weekend,” but just get ready for this. Hopefully this will not be a big problem, but we live in a peninsula, so lets get prepared,” said Gov. Scott.

The state’s Emergency Operations Center sits at Level 2 activation – a step below the level that is used when hurricanes or strong storms are imminent.  There’s still uncertainty for the storm’s path. And while it could be the first hurricane during the Governor’s time in office, he says he’s no stranger to the storms.

The Governor was running a hospital chain in 1992 when Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida.

“We had a hospital, basically, completely demolished. We had 500 employees without homes, we had to handle patients for hours, but we had a complete team there, we got our hospitals back open, and we did a good job,” he said.

Millions of people moved to the state since the last hurricane hit. Officials say they’re guiding local efforts.

“Our regional coordinators are out throughout the state, in those county emergency operations centers, interacting direclyt with their county emergency management counterparts. I’ve communicated with our folks at FEMA, we have representatives from DHS here in the EOC, so all levels of Government are engaged at this point,” said Emergency Management Director Bryan Koon.

The main message: Florida won’t be hurricane free forever, so everyone should always have a plan in place.

Former Florida Co workers of Virginia Shooter Vester Flanagan got together last night to share stories and support. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, for one of those co workers, it is a feeling of but for the grace of god she was not also a victim.

Tallahassee TV-40 Alumni who worked with Vester Flanagan circulated a photo collage on social media. Of the 30 or so group photos, Flanigan appears in just four…and is smiling in only one.

Nancy Dignon was a meteorologist at the Tallahassee TV station and is still chilled by a run in with Flanagan following a weekend news cast.

“I had just kinda mentioned to my producer, It was a mistake. It shouldn’t have been opening arguments. It should have been opening statements. And he overheard me and came over and started yelling at me, and he was a pretty intimidating guy, and as he’s yelling at me that I’m not his news director or anything, I couldn’t think of anything to say but you can;’t talk to me like that. And he..and as you said, he wanted to take it outside, and I was…stunned” says Dignon, who now teaches at a Community College.

Flanagan spent just a year on TV here. He contract was not renewed, in part because of his run in with Nancy Dignon.

Dignon says that for those who are used to being in front of a camera, telling other people’s story, the hideous crime hits too close to home.

Q:“You’re wearing dark glasses. It’s been a tough couple of days?” We asked.

“It’s probably the most difficult day and a half of my life. You know…for a lot of other folks I worked with its a tough time, and it’s tough to process all this, I think.”

Many who worked with the former anchor refuse to mention his name as they soothe each other’s fears on social media.

Flanagan filed a lawsuit against the Tallahassee station after his contract was not renewed alleging racial discrimination. None of the former employees say they ever saw race based discrimination, but say Flanagan was shunned because he was difficult.”

Vester Flanagan, the man who has been identified as the shooter of a Roanoke Virginia news crew while they were live on the air this morning worked here in Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Flanigan had a rocky relationship with a Tallahassee television station and the people who worked there.

 Vester Flanagan, who used the on air name Bryce Williams worked weekends at this Tallahassee TV Station from early 1999 until he was told in February 2000 that his contract would not be renewed.

“After Flanagan was told his contract would not be renewed, he filed a lawsuit, alleging employment discrimination.”

Marie Mattox was his attorney.  “I know that he was understandably upset, based on what happened to him back at the time I represented him.  Ah, but I have not had contact with him in probably fourteen years” Mattox said from her law office.

 The station eventually settled in Flanigan’s favor.

 The news director at the time declined to go on camera but said the news was devastation. Other co workers called him an “oddball.

In a series of tweets after posting video of the shooting, Flanagan, blamed Adam Ward, the photographer he allegedly shot for going to the stations HR department. He also singled out the reporter Allison Parker for making racist remarks.  Former Tallahassee co worker Michael Walker says Flanagan could anger easily.

Q:”He got a little angrier than most people?”

“He did, again when he did, he withdrew, or he told jokes, I can’t speak to any specific confrontation that jumps out at me. There’s nothing that jumps out at me other than the normal yelling and screaming when things don’t do right” said Walker, who is now a multi-media video producer.

When told of the tweets, Walker said he was not surprised Flanagan held a grudge.

Bear hunting season in Florida will be in effect in about two months. Officials say it’s an effort to help maintain the bear population, but as Matt Galka tells us, wildlife advocates are concerned about the amount of people who have already bought a permit.

The woods could get a little more crowded in October. Nearly 1800 people bought permits to hunt the Florida Black Bear. The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently revived a week long season in an effort to control population.

But wildlife advocates aren’t happy. Laura Bevan with the Humane Society of the United States says the hunters far outnumber the quota being set by the FWC.

“We have a real concern about flooding almost two thousand people, maybe more, into the woods, to hunt bear that are not used to being hunted, and that we are going to really decimate the population,” she said.

The FWC’s quota is expected to be around 320 bears for the entire season.

Bear hunting has been outlawed in the state since 1994 because of low population. But increased numbers and safeguards has the FWC convinced the quota won’t be exceeded.

They told us in an email that bag limits and monitoring could end the season early.

Eric Draper with the Florida Audubon isn’t convinced this is best for the population, and says they should focus more on limiting contact with humans.

“If people would do a better job of managing garbage, the bears would stay in the woods where they belong, and we wouldn’t have to send hunters out there to kill them,” he said.

Permits range from $100 dollars for residents to $300 dollars for out of staters.

The season is scheduled for October 24^th and set to run 7 days.  State fish and wildlife officials are expected to discuss the quota next week in Fort Lauderdale. Permits will be available up until the hunt begins.

Nicole Nachtman, the 21 year old Florida State Student accused of killing her mother and stepfather in Tampa, was denied bail Tuesday morning. Matt Galka spoke to students living in the same dorm she was about the shocking arrest just before school started.

This video shows Florida State Student Nicole Nachtman making her first appearance in a Tallahassee courtroom Saturday. Nachtman is accused of shooting and killing her mother and stepfather in Hillsborough County. She’s being held in Tampa now, but the aftermath of her alleged crime is still being felt on campus.

Nachtman drove to FSU Friday after the alleged murders. She’s been a student at the school since 2013.

Students we caught up with were shocked that she lived in their dorm.

Cam Bradley didn’t know Nacthman, but says all the arrest was an odd start to the school year.

“It was crazy I mean, it could have happened anywhere, but the odds of it happening in my dorm is a little weird,” he said.

Camilo Alvarez says his mom sent him the story online and was shaken up.

“My mom sent me a link, she said oh did you hear about this thing that happened, I had no idea until she sent me the link,” he said.

The police report says Nacthman had heard “screaming voices” in her head urging her to commit the killings.

Katy Bloodwell had just found out about what happened when we caught up with her.

“You’re meeting a bunch of new people and you don’t know where they came from, which is interesting on its own, but it’s weird to think somebody our age has already been down that path,” she said.

Nacthman reportedly confessed the crime to other people when she arrived on campus.

Nachtman reportedly told a woman at Florida State to say that she was in her dorm room Thursday night if anyone asked.