Free Republic

JUST DAYS AFTER THE PRIMARY SOME BARE-KNUCKLE, HARD HITTING ADS ARE ALREADY HITTING THE AIRWAVES IN THE GOVERNOR'S RACE. ONE OF THOSE ADS FROM THE FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PARTY BLASTS DEMOCRATIC CHARLIE CRIST FOR HIS ONE CLOSE TIES TO CONVICTED PONZI SCHEMER SCOTT ROTH TEEN.

A letter released by the Charlie Crist campaign: Dear Governor Scott: Four years ago, a district court of appeals ruled Florida’s ban on gay and lesbian adoption unconstitutional. When the ruling came down, I believed it was my job as Governor to exercise the authority vested in me by the people and our Constitution. The day the judge ruled, I declared Florida’s adoption ban over. Gay and lesbian parents began adopting the children they loved immediately. It is one of my proudest moments as an elected official. Last Thursday Federal District Judge Robert Hinkle gave you the same chance to...

SunTrust Banks Inc. is shuttering its fraud-response call center group in Orlando and shedding more than 100 jobs, the bank confirmed Wednesday. Atlanta-based SunTrust, the largest bank in Central Florida, handed out pink slips to 105 employees on Tuesday. The effective layoff date is Oct. 31, according to documents filed with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. "Difficult decisions must be made to increase operational efficiencies and decrease expenses to better position the company for the future," SunTrust told employees in the layoff notice. The bank posted a $400 million profit on revenue of $2.2 billion in the second quarter,...

Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist continued his political comeback Tuesday as Democratic voters selected him as their nominee to challenge Republican Gov. Rick Scott in Florida, one of four states where voters were choosing candidates for statewide office.

In the Democratic primary, there was never any doubt Charlie Crist was going to beat former state senator Nan Rich. The next campaign against Gov. Rick Scott will be a tight race.

MIAMI — Gov. Rick Scott and his chief opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, both handily defeated opponents in their parties’ primaries on Tuesday. Mr. Crist, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat, faced the tougher challenge, against Nan Rich, a former state senator who calls herself the “real Democrat” in the race. But he easily defeated her, The Associated Press reported. With little statewide name recognition, Ms. Rich did not gain much traction in her efforts to sideline Mr. Crist. But political analysts were keeping an eye on Democratic turnout to see how much enthusiasm Mr. Crist, a moderate, has engendered among Democrats, who once...

Troy Schmidt’s jaw dropped. A few minutes before, he had been preparing to start his seventh year as chaplain for the Olympia High School football team in Florida. But now, those plans had been changed – radically changed. “I received a call from the coach,” Schmidt told me. “He said Orange County Public Schools is no longer allowed to have chaplains as a part of the football program.” Schmidt, who is a campus pastor of the First Baptist Church of Windermere, Florida, listened as the football coach explained the district’s decision to cleanse Christianity from its ranks. “I could no...

On second thought...A West Palm Beach developer has decided to call his new condo development something other than ISIS Downtown, so that it won't be mistaken as high-end housing for Islamic terrorists......

HILLSBORO BEACH — The allure of South Florida as a destination for would-be migrants was underscored by tragedy once again over the last two days as officials recovered fatalities from the sea and on the beach. "There is a lot of traffic out there right now," said Frank Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol, referring to a spike in the number of Haitians and Cubans trying to reach the U.S.

Kristina Pydynowski, Senior MeteorologistAugust 24, 2014 Tropical Storm Cristobal has taken shape and is expected to become a hurricane and impact the Atlantic beaches of the United States with hazardous conditions. Tropical Depression Four strengthened into Tropical Storm Cristobal at 6:20 a.m. EDT Sunday. Cristobal was churning near the southern Bahamas at that time. Cristobal is forecast to stay east of the U.S. this week. However the Atlantic coast will not be free of impacts from the tropical system. "Even if a tropical storm or hurricane was to stay east of the Atlantic coast of the U.S., a strong system...

As soft television advertisements now hypocritically portray US House of Representatives Democrat incumbent Patrick Murphy as the best friend a Treasure Coast family ever had, an outstanding analysis of the young single man presents an appalling revelation of who and what he really is. A staggering statistic shows that after taking office, Murphy’s yearly net worth jumped from $205,682 to $3,185,011, an unbelievable increase of 1,449% while in comparison, the American citizen’s median yearly income features a net worth decline of MINUS-0.94%. According to outstanding research and source work done by ballotpedia.org, Murphy now ranks as the “102nd wealthiest representative...

Florida Judge Deals a Blow to Democrats on Districting By LIZETTE ALVAREZ AUG. 22, 2014 MIAMI — In a blow to Florida Democrats, a state judge on Friday approved a slightly modified congressional map drawn by the Republican-dominated Legislature and decided that the 2014 election could proceed under the old map, which he had ruled unconstitutional. Two days after a sharply partisan hearing on the new map, Terry P. Lewis, a state judge in Leon County, concluded that the rejiggered boundaries for seven districts, while not perfect, “sufficiently” addressed his constitutional concerns. A coalition of Democratic-leaning voter rights groups had...

Even though the citizens of Florida voted in a 2008 referendum to define marriage as between one man and one woman in their state's constitution, yet another federal district judge has ruled that amendment is unconstitutional because it does not let Floridians marry someone of their same gender. U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle came to the same conclusion Thursday as judges from four other districts in Florida previously found. Hinkle ruled that labeling marriage as only "between a man and a woman" was in violation of 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as it does not provide a guarantee...

The cloud heading this way is almost as big as the United States, Lushine said. Thought this was out of the ordinary. The size anyhow. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/nationworld/story/5040423p-4596815c.html

For the parents of a first-grader in Florida, simply asking their son what he did on his first day of school this year was not enough.

Miami Gardens police have charged a second suspect in the death of Qualecia James, a pregnant woman who was killed in a drive-by shooting earlier this year. Police charged Gregory Medy, 18, with one count of first-degree murder of James. James, 21, was shot March 30 as she sat in the back seat of a car at Northwest 182nd Street and 32nd Avenue. Doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital delivered her baby, but he died five days later.

Rand Paul and Ted Cruz’s differing tone in response to the Ferguson riots could provide clues for the divergent trails they're forging to woo libertarian voters in 2016. Both the Kentucky and Texas Senate Republicans urged that civil liberties be protected in statements following unrest in Ferguson, Mo.. After an officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18 year old African American teen, last weekend, riots have erupted and police have been criticized for using overly-aggressive force against protesters and reporters calling for answers. Strategists say Paul struck a more provocative tone against in his TIME op-ed, calling for the...

I watched the images of police in riot gear and protesters looting stores or running from tear gas in Ferguson, Mo., this week and thought: That could have been us. What happened to Trayvon Martin isn't anything for Florida to be proud of. Neither is the state's "stand your ground" law that received so much attention in the wake of Trayvon's shooting death. But Central Florida, specifically Sanford, can take a little satisfaction in knowing that during the tense days after Trayvon was shot, this was a place where protesters peacefully demonstrated and police didn't stand in their way. People...

Slip of the tongue? Yesterday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” Hillary Clinton spoke about what she would do about licensing illegal immigrants when she is president again. Watch:

WFTV in Orlando, Florida reported Friday about a callous, violent robbery of an elderly white woman by three young black men that left the woman hospitalized with a serious brain injury and a broken clavicle. The Publix surveillance videos released to the media show rare, clear before, during and after video of the victim, the perps and the robbery. There will be no protests, no candlelight vigils, no statement by President Barack Obama, no Justice Department investigation, no visits by Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. The race ‘healers’ won’t descend on Ocoee like they are doing in Ferguson this week...