Free Republic

A Florida lawmaker is considering legislation that would cut funding for school districts that implemented mask mandates despite a recent executive order, the Tampa Bay Times reported Monday. State Rep. Randy Fine, who chairs the PreK-12 Appropriations subcommittee, proposed a move that would punish the dozen districts that mandated masks, the Times reported. He said the school districts should have $200 million taken away and given to the 55 other districts that adhered to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order. DeSantis passed an executive order banning mask mandates in schools as part of a “Parent’s Bill of Rights” that he signed into...

The Republican-led Florida Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would eliminate a special tax district that has allowed Walt Disney Co. to govern the land where its theme parks sit, as lawmakers target the company for opposing legislation restricting classroom instruction on gender and sexuality. The measure still needs to pass the GOP-led House, which is expected to approve it. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who called for lawmakers to consider such a bill in a special session he convened this week, has made clear he would sign it. The measure potentially delivers a blow to the company’s operations in the...

The Florida Senate passed on Wednesday legislation to end Disney’s special tax and governing jurisdiction. The Senate passed S. 4-C, which is the legislation that would dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, otherwise known as the special tax and governing jurisdiction for the Walt Disney World Resort. The legislation passed with 23 votes in favor of the bill, and 16 against the bill. The Florida legislature authorized the special district in 1967 to boost economic development and tourism; however, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Florida Republicans proposed the legislation to eliminate the special district after Disney has continued to oppose...

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s ties to a leading anti-Israel group are generating scrutiny among Jewish voters, particularly in Florida, a perennial swing state populated by a large number of staunchly pro-Israel voters. As California’s attorney general and then as U.S. senator, Harris forged a relationship with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), one of the nation’s top anti-Israel groups and advocates for boycotts of the Jewish state. CAIR advised Harris on community issues during her time in California politics, and she later offered the group her "gratitude and admiration" in a 2018 personal letter to the group. Harris’s association...

Rep. Randy Fine I got jumped by a Nazi in Florida. On video.Two weeks ago. In Ron DeSantis’ Florida, that’s no big deal. I’m a target; I am the only Republican Jew elected to the Florida Legislature, and you will find few people in the Legislature who have championed DeSantis more. I endorsed him before he was the Republican nominee for Governor. I was his Jewish Outreach Chair. I carried his bills to take on Disney, and end child mutilation in the name of fake gender “science.” Every piece of legislation you hear him talk about regarding Jewish issues is...

State Rep. Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican legislator in Florida, has switched his support from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to former President Donald Trump, contending that the governor has not demonstrated enough action to combat antisemitism.Fine began his op-ed, shared on social media as well as in the Washington Times, by telling readers that he was jumped by a Nazi two weeks ago in the Sunshine State, explaining he was a “target” as “the only Republican Jew elected to the Florida Legislature.”“And you will find few people in the Legislature who have championed Mr. DeSantis more,” he wrote.Fine noted his...

State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) has become the first GOP lawmaker to break with DeSantis. That’s after nearly the entire Republican legislative caucus backed the governor for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination. In a 637-word opinion article, posted this week in the Washington Times, Fine said he was switching allegiance to former President Donald Trump after DeSantis' inaction on antisemitism. Fine shared his grievances with us on Tuesday..... "Look — Gov. DeSantis says all the right things but a lot of times the action isn't behind it, and President Trump sometimes says the wrong things, but the actions are...

WEST MELBOURNE, Fla. - A man from Melbourne was arrested after he unsuccessfully robbed a Wendy's and a bank, according to police. Daniel Jeconiah Gibbs was nabbed Tuesday for the double attempted robbery on August 5. He was taken into custody by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, but the Palm Bay Police Department is also expected to bring more charges toward Gibbs. The alleged robbery attempts happened August 5. Gibbs walked into a Wendy's at 135 Palm Bay Road and approached an employee behind the order counter, police said. Gibbs displayed what employees believed to be a gun in his...

Palm Bay City Council member Pete Filiberto was arrested Saturday night on charges of riding his motorcycle while impaired and carrying 10 grams of cocaine in his shoe, court records show. Filiberto, 34, elected to office in 2022, was charged with possession of cocaine, reckless driving, DUI alcohol, no motorcycle endorsement, and refusing a DUI test, according to News 6 partner Florida Today. The powdered cocaine was found after Filiberto was taken to the police department’s holding cell and ordered to remove his shoes, arrest records show. Court records show that the arrest was Filiberto’s third on DUI charges. Palm...

A Florida burglary suspect told police that he’s stolen a number of inflatable pool toys so he could have sex with them instead of raping women, a report said. The suspect, 35-year-old Christopher William Monnin, allegedly broke into a number of homes in the city of Palm Bay in Brevard County that have private pools and stole the inflatables, the Miami Herald reported, citing a police report from the sheriff’s office.

It was about 11 p.m., an hour before the end of Emelia Holden’s waitress shift late last month, when she felt the hand grab her backside. Holden, 21, had just finished taking a customer’s order and placing a stack of menus on an unoccupied table in the small restaurant, Vinnie Van Go-Go’s pizzeria in Savannah, Ga. At first she thought it might have been her female co-worker, she recalled to local CBS affiliate WTOC. But as she turned around, she saw that it was a customer walking past her, a 31-year-old man police later identified as Ryan Cherwinski of Palm...

Palm Bay, Florida -- A 19-year-old Palm Bay woman faces charges after police said she beat a man with a wooden nut cracker, then slapped and bit him following an argument over messages left on her cell phone. Brianna Del Rio was charged with battery after police were called to a residence in the 1800 block of Plantation Circle to investigate a disturbance. Police officers arrived to find a man identified as Del Rio's boyfriend with cuts on his face and a bite mark on his side. Del Rio will have an Aug. 24 hearing on the charge. Police said...

PALM BAY, Fla. -- A local bank customer was hailed as a hero Thursday night for taking down a man who said he was down on his luck and he decided to commit a robbery. Floyd Francis gave up instantly, police said, and he was taken to the Brevard County Jail. "I drew my gun on him and put him down," Ruben Torres said. In a hand-written confession, Francis said he tried to rob the Space Coast Credit Union in Palm Bay because he needed money. He wrote, "I make music for a living, but tings not working out right...

Victims of Iraq Suicide Bombing Mourned .c The Associated Press Army soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq were remembered by their families as heroes in the fight for freedom. Sgt. Eugene Williams, 24, of Highland, N.Y., one of four soldiers killed in Saturday's attack, had a 3-year-old daughter and was going become a father again in June, his wife said Monday on NBC's ``Today'' show. Fighting back tears, Brandy Williams said she would tell her children that their father gave his life for his country, ``and that even though he's not here, he loves them with all his...