Free Republic

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just signed a bill that makes sanctuary cities illegal in his state. News 13 reported that getting this legislation passed was one of the governor’s top priorities. He challenged the Florida Legislature to present him this legislation and he signed it at 11 a.m. Friday. The new law goes into effect in October. Senate Bill 168 will enforce one of the toughest bans on sanctuary cities into law, requiring local law enforcement to fully comply with federal immigration agencies.

America's interstate highway system, launched more than 60 years ago, now carries far more vehicles than it was originally built for and is in dire need of repairs and improvements. The U.S. has "taken a generation off" from investing in infrastructure, says Brian Pallasch, director of government relations at the American Society of Civil Engineers. And with Americans driving more than ever before, that's leading to problems like frustration-inducing congestion and costly car repair bills. "The roadways that we drive on every day put quite a toll on our vehicles," Pallasch tells Here & Now. "The average driver ... faces...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed into law the toughest sanctuary cities bill ban in the nation, keeping a campaign promise despite apoplectic, snarky media coverage. DeSantis today signed Senate Bill 168 requiring Florida law enforcement officials and governmental entities to honor federal “immigration detainer” requests that ask a law enforcement agency to detain someone on probable cause that they can be removed from the country under federal immigration laws. That is, they are here illegally and will be sent home. Because law enforcement is holding them, that means they either have or are accused of committing crimes beyond illegal...

"The founders never envisioned a professional political class," said Rooney, in an appearance Saturday on Fox News. The proposal would set members of the House to three terms and senators to two terms. Presidents are limited under the 22nd Amendment to two terms, while Supreme Court justices enjoy lifetime appointments. "This is a much better way than having these entrenched politicians who are too aligned with special interests over a period of years. I would say 18 years is plenty of time to serve your country in," he said, referring to the total time someone could spend in Congress if...

Washington (CNN)Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Republican Rep. Francis Rooney proposed a Constitutional amendment on Thursday that would impose term limits on members of both houses of Congress. The amendment, co-sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and David Perdue (R-Ga.), would restrict senators to two six-year terms and House members to three two-year terms. A similar amendment was proposed by Cruz in January of 2017. "For too long, members of Congress have abused their power and ignored the will of the American people," Cruz said. "Term limits on members of Congress offer a solution to the brokenness...

Pageant veteran Madison Anderson, representing Toa Baja, was crowned the new Miss Universe Puerto Rico in glittering finale held June 13 at the Centro de Bellas Artes de Santurce in San Juan. The 23-year-old marketing and public relations student bested 27 other candidates for the right to represent the Caribbean island in the next edition of the Miss Universe competition. ~ Snip ~ Anderson was born and raised in Orlando, Florida to a Puerto Rican mother and American Father. Before joining Miss Universe Puerto Rico, she was first runner-up in Miss Florida USA 2019. In 2016, she represented Puerto Rico...

Mayor Bill de Blasio secured a coveted spot for the first Democratic presidential primary debate later this month — despite his failure to get at least 65,000 donors. The Democratic National Committee released the list of the 20 candidates who will partake in the back-to-back debates on June 26 and 27 in Miami. The four contenders who did not make the cut are Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, retired Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and Miramar, Fla., Mayor Wayne Messam. NBC is expected to announce the lineup for each night on Friday morning. NBC will randomly select 10...

Daphne Police are looking for the man who robbed a Waffle House on Hwy 90 at gunpoint. Photo courtesy: Daphne Police Department. ================================================================= The Daphne Police Department is looking for the person who robbed a Waffle House at gunpoint. It happened around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday at 6781 Hwy 90. Police say the suspect walked into the restaurant, and fired a shot into the ceiling. The man is then accused of taking cash from the register, and car keys from a customer. He ran off after he wasn't able to take the car. Daphne Police tell Channel 3 the car was...

AUBURNDALE — Florida has one of the world’s most famous asphalt ovals in the Daytona International Speedway. A slightly smaller track recently completed in Auburndale won’t draw massive crowds for races, but it’s part of a project that could hasten the day when self-driving vehicles take over the roads. Crews finished laying asphalt for the 2¼-mile oval — phase one of SunTrax — in early May, and construction will begin in the coming months on infield elements designed for the development and testing of connected and autonomous vehicles. The second phase of SunTrax, a project overseen by Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise...

The U.S. Senate confirmed two Florida judges to lifetime positions on Wednesday, the latest effort by President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to fill vacancies and reshape the federal courts. Rodney Smith and Thomas Barber were confirmed by the full Senate after the judiciary committee recommended them with support from Republicans and some Democrats. Both of their nominations were supported by Sen. Marco Rubio and former Sen. Bill Nelson, and they were renominated by Trump early this year. Smith was confirmed by a 78-18 margin while Barber was confirmed by a 77-19 margin. Smith, who has worked as a lawyer...

Organizers of a drive to have a proposed assault weapon ban constitutional amendment on Florida’s 2020 ballot said they have topped 100,000 signatures and expect to get a review of ballot language by the Florida Supreme Court any day. Ban Assault Weapons NOW and the League of Women Voters of Florida joined with Democratic state Reps. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Anna Eskamani and U.S. Rep. Darren Soto Monday to announce they’ve reached the point where they expect the review. They also vowed that final approval Friday of HB 5, which restricts citizen initiatives to get measures on the statewide ballot,...

Palm Beach Gardens, FL – A Florida television anchorwoman who taunted police and made racist comments during her drunk driving arrest in December was welcomed back to work after the charges against her were dismissed (video below).(snip) Salley was pulled over on Alternate State Road A1A by Palm Beach Garden Police Officer Cameron Carver at approximately 10:20 p.m., after he spotted her driving without taillights, The Palm Beach Post reported. After Officer Carver notified Salley that she appeared to be driving with only her daytime lights activated, she turned her nighttime lights on and began playing with her cell...

Pulse owner Barbara Poma has established a nonprofit to open a memorial and museum at the site. About $14 million has been raised for the $50 million project. The permanent memorial and museum are scheduled to open in 2022. ORLANDO — Only days before the third anniversary of the worst attack on gay people in the U.S., members of central Florida’s congressional delegation said Monday they were introducing legislation that would designate as a national memorial the gay nightclub where 49 people were massacred by a supporter of the Islamic State. U.S. Reps. Darren Soto and Stephanie Murphy, both Democrats,...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Imagine not being able to pay cash for some of the toll roads you use every day. It's already happened in and around Miami and near Tampa, but now it is going to be happening in Central Florida. The Florida Turnpike Enterprise confirmed that all Florida's Turnpike roadways are going to all-electronic tolling in a 70-mile stretch from Osceola County to Sumter County by next summer. According to FTE, the project will take place on Florida's Turnpike from Kissimmee Park Road at milepost 239 to I-75, which is at milepost 309. "They're going to continue on the...

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has a grand plan to expand I-4 well beyond the cones and lane shifts that drivers in Central Florida face today. However, those plans could be changing, in part, because of the lengthy delays of the current “I-4 Ultimate” expansion and the lack of answers being given to Congress about why it is taking so long. The I-4 Ultimate project was scheduled to be finished in 2021 with two toll lanes running in each direction down the center of the interstate from Kirkman Road south of Orlando to the Longwood rest area in Seminole...

Despite pleas from two former state governors and at least 90 environmental and community groups and businesses, Gov. Ron DeDantis on Friday signed a multibillion-dollar plan to build long stretches of toll roads across undeveloped sections of the state. The legislation has been labeled “the worst environmental bill in twenty years.” And the Florida Sierra Club has warned of pristine areas becoming urban sprawl, where “subdivisions and strip malls will proliferate and the natural resources that bring visitors to the state will be overused and overrun.” DeSantis approved the bill anyway. The announcement came not from the governor’s press office...

Hillary Clinton will win the key swing state of Florida thanks to the Latino vote, a Univision News election forecast predicts. Without Florida's electoral votes, Trump can't win in November. Donald Trump will lose the election in Florida - the swing state with the most electoral votes - because most Latinos won't vote for him, Univision News predicts. As a result, it's virtually impossible for him to win the White House due to the electoral college system, according to a a Univision data analysis of the key five swing states expected to determine the outcome in November. The forecast, based...

Former NFL star Kellen Winslow Jr., 35, was convicted on Monday of raping a 58-year-old homeless woman in Encinitas last May by a jury in Southern California. Winslow was also found guilty of indecent exposure toward the woman and of lewd conduct. But the jury remained deadlocked on six other felony charges, including two more counts of rape involving a 54-year-old hitchhiker last year and an unconscious 17-year-old girl in 2003.

“You’re here as a prop. You’re functionally here as a prop because they can’t impeach Donald Trump”: Hand it to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for cutting to the heart of John Dean’s testimony Monday before the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Jerry Nadler has to put on a show of pursuing President Trump because the party’s left wing demands it. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t let Nadler go to impeachment hearings because she knows the broader public will see it as a partisan outrage. Pelosi’s bid to appease the extremists runs to quotes about how she wants to see Trump “in...

Left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer’s Need To Impeach group announced Monday that they are targeting 12 incumbent Democrats because they haven’t come out in support of impeaching President Donald Trump. Need to Impeach is targeting Democrats who have not publicly called for the president’s impeachment or for an inquiry into the matter. Their targets include Democratic politicians who represent prominent leadership and who hold leadership positions on key House committees, lawmakers and representatives from key voting districts. Of the most prominent names are presidential candidate and California Rep. Eric Swalwell; House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina; House Oversight Committee...