Free Republic

Kyle Tate is charged with grand theft and criminal mischief... A Palm Bay, Florida Homeowners Association board member was arrested last month after allegedly pulling a gun on three kids fishing at a lake in his subdivision, taking their equipment and throwing the rods, reels and tackle into the woods.. Police charged 57-year-old Kyle Patrick Tate with criminal mischief and grand theft as a result of the incident. A court affidavit filed in Brevard County, Florida alleges that on April 14, officers with the Palm Bay Police Department were dispatched to a suspicious incident at Stillwater Lakes, a subdivision owned...

A Florida bill, the Heartbeat Protection Act (HPA), went into effect on Wednesday, which increases protections for the unborn after six-weeks, as opposed to the state’s previous 15-week rule. The HPA initially became law in April 2023 as part of the Florida Supreme Court’s decision that abortion is not a given right under the Constitution. That decision was key in upholding the 15-week law, and only a month later, proved relevant to the six-week law. Several Democrats have made their opposition to the bill known. For instance, Vice President Kamala Harris claimed the law was “extreme,” blaming former President Donald...

Florida's Republican-controlled legislature has passed a measure to replace mentions of “climate change” in many state laws and has sent it to GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis for him to sign into law The bill, which focuses on energy security, removes all explicit mentions of climate change, according to Scripps News, and directs the state only to “promote the cost-effective development and use of a diverse supply of domestic energy resources.” The bill also eliminates guidelines for the government to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions from fossil fuels, and it prohibits new wind energy construction within a mile of Florida’s...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill banning lab-grown meat in his state Wednesday, in what he described as an effort to “save our beef.” “Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals,” DeSantis said in a press release Wednesday. “Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef.” The bill, S.B. 1084, makes it “unlawful” for people to “manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for...

On March 8, 2024, the Florida legislature overwhelmingly voted for the HB0087: Taking of Bears. The Bill restores the ability of people in Florida to protect themselves, their pets, and dwellings from Florida black bears, which were administratively taken from them in 2012. The population of Florida black bears has skyrocketed, along with complaints and damage done by bears, particularly in Northern Florida.Florida legislative procedures require the governor to sign bills (after the legislature adjourns) within 15 days, or they become law without his signature. The timing starts when the governor receives the bill from the legislature.SECTION 8. Executive approval...

America’s academic leaders seem powerless only because they’ve spent decades promoting the ideologies now on such brutal and ugly display.The scenes unfolding at America’s most prestigious colleges are horrific. Antisemitic mobs preaching genocide — at times crossing the line into actual violence — have rendered campuses unsafe for Jews. Faculty members cheer them on, advocating for full-on pogroms.Top administrators flounder. Columbia had protesters arrested and suspended, then stood dumbfounded as a larger, more belligerent wave took their place. Unable to guarantee the physical safety of its students, the school moved all classes online. Copycat mobs on campuses across America formed...

Call it pinko talent development, but we can still learn from it When Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbot proposed legislation making particular radical tactics crimes — many of them felonies — carrying mandatory jail time, much commentary, positive and negative, focused on DeSantis’ proposal (previously made by other jurisdictions) that a driver fleeing from safety from a mob should not be liable for injury or death caused by hitting someone with his car. That proposal was especially popular with those who, beyond supporting the right to physical safety and self-defense, fantasize about breaking radical Lefty movements...

New York, California, Georgia, Texas, and Nevada also received migrant flights. The House Homeland Security Committee subpoenaed documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday detailing a list of 45 cities that thousands of paroled migrants flew into in the past two years via a controversial immigration program. The DHS established the immigration policy in October of 2022, which was intended for Venezuelans to enter the country legally as long as they had an American sponsor, and passed a vetting process. It was later opened to migrants from Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The program did not secure the...

A law that restricts abortions at six weeks of pregnancy — which is often when a fetal heartbeat can be detected — is set to take effect in Florida on Wednesday. The six-week abortion restriction is going into effect after the Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling on April 1 upholding the state’s 15-week abortion restriction. The court’s decision to allow the 15-week limit to stand cleared the way for the state’s six week abortion limit to take effect. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the six-week Heartbeat Bill in April 2023, which contains exceptions for rape, incest, and the...

Florida lawmakers showed their willingness to crack down on third-party organizations who break the law when registering voters — and in response, the groups have significantly slimmed down their operations in the Sunshine State, according to a report from WUSF. Florida’s legislature passed SB 7050 in 2023. The law increased fines on third-party voter registration groups who deliver a registration application after the deadline, return incorrectly filled out registration forms, alter a voter’s registration form, or deliver applications to the wrong counties. The law also prohibited third-party groups from pre-filling registration forms and harvesting voters’ data from their registration forms....

A stricter abortion law is set to take effect in Florida on Wednesday — dropping the state’s 15-week ban to a six-week ban — and it will likely affect thousands of people seeking abortion care within the first month alone. Florida has become a key abortion access point...

A fight involving several students at Miami Norland Senior High School in Miami Gardens Monday afternoon escalated to shots fired and 5 people injured, including 2 teenagers. Miami Gardens Police said they responded to an

President Donald Trump met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday, Trump noted in a post on Truth Social. "I am very happy to have the full and enthusiastic support of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. We had a great meeting yesterday, arranged by mutual friend Steve Witkoff," Trump said in the post, adding that the meeting took place in the Sunshine State at the Shell Bay Club. "The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Also discussed was the future of Florida, which is FANTASTIC! I greatly appreciate Ron’s support in taking...

Florida’s new heartbeat law will take effect on Wednesday that prohibits abortions on unborn babies who have a detectable heartbeat at 6 weeks. Unborn children who can feel pain will remain protected and a law protecting babies with a heartbeat will go into effect on May 1. The pro-life law will save thousands of babies from abortions and end Florida’s status as an abortion destination in the southeast. Florida is surrounded by states with pro-life laws in effect that protect babies and help women and the abortion industry has been directing customers to Florida for abortions instead of helping women...

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) said he was “shocked” at how highly classified the documents that President Joe Biden was keeping at his Delaware home were, arguing that they were “eyes only” for the president and vice president. While appearing on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Waltz addressed the classified documents Biden had at his home, with the representative pushing back against claims that the information contained in these documents was from the Cold War era. He contended that instead, the documents’ information was both “recent” and “relevant” and that the documents had many code words that even...

nald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Getty Images CNN — Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met for several hours in Miami on Sunday, according to a source close to Trump. The meeting — their first conversation since DeSantis dropped out of the GOP primary in January — was arranged through Steve Witkoff, Trump’s longtime friend and luxury real estate developer, at the request of DeSantis, according to the source.

Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM... HAVANA -- Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, but when it was almost his turn, the cash ran out. He angrily hopped on his electric tricycle and traveled several kilometers to another branch where he finally managed to withdraw some money after wasting the entire morning. “It shouldn’t be so difficult to get the money you earn by working,”... Fonseca is one of an...

The Sunshine State is now welcoming chaplains into public schools, but Satanists need not apply. On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill into law allowing chaplains to volunteer to offer counseling at public and charter schools. However, the Catholic governor warned that Satanists would not be accepted into the program, as some Christian and conservative groups had feared. “Now some have said if you do a school chaplain program that somehow you’re going to have Satanists running around in all our schools,” DeSantis said in a press conference. “We’re not playing those games in Florida. That...

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) abruptly announced on Friday that he will not seek reelection, after initially planning to run for another term. Posey’s announcement — if made earlier — could have easily attracted a spirited Republican primary, with politicians from the state’s Space Coast region already eyeing the seat once Posey retired. Florida’s 8th congressional district is a solid Republican seat. Instead the 76-year-old incumbent’s announcement came shortly after qualifying officially ended and after his hand-picked replacement — former state Senate President Mike Haridopolos — had already quietly jumped into the race. In a statement posted online,...

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) daughter criticized Democrat judges for giving out harsh sentences to January 6 defendants. Alexandra Pelosi was caught slamming the “liberal” judges who are “out for blood” as they hand out lengthy prison sentences while other J6 protestors get hit with just a fine or probation. “I think I learned in kindergarten that justice is supposed to be fair. A judge is supposed to be the same, and they’re not supposed to be political,” Alexandra said. “And now it’s like one judge you get really makes a difference because some judges are giving probation and...