Florida Gov’t Weekly Roundup: A Week On The Battlefields
December 7, 2013
You could be forgiven for looking around and wondering whether you’ve stepped back in time a year or two — or even further.
The gambling discussions that have tied the Florida Legislature in knots over the last several years keep coming up. Gov. Rick Scott and Secretary of State Ken Detzner are still tangling with elections supervisors over voting procedures.
And, at least in one corner of the state, Union soldiers are still the least popular people around.
On most of the issues, there at least appears to be some movement. Suggestions by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, on how to move gambling legislation forward might help prod his reluctant chamber to action. And Detzner and Pinellas County Superintendent Deborah Clark have defused their conflict over where absentee ballots can be returned in an upcoming congressional special election.
As for the Civil War? In some ways, it’s still raging 150 years after it was fought for the first time. Why would it end now?
PLUGGING THE ‘DRIP, DRIP, DRIP’ OF EXPANDED GAMBLING
With the Senate seeming to gear up for gambling legislation next session and some House members reluctant to expand gambling, Weatherford suggested a new idea this week that could provide cover to some lawmakers: a constitutional amendment.
In an interview Monday with The News Service of Florida, Weatherford said he wants to put a proposal on the 2014 ballot that would let voters decide if they should weigh in on future expansion of gambling.
While the details are still being crafted, the amendment would set in stone any changes lawmakers agree to during the 2014 session and require statewide approval of any future gambling expansion. Like other constitutional amendments, the proposal would require 60 percent approval by voters to pass.
Weatherford said it’s part of the “holistic look at gaming” the Legislature is undertaking that includes a swath of issues from casino-style resorts to blackjack at South Florida tracks to getting rid of greyhound racing altogether.
“I have become over the years very concerned with the drip, drip, drip expansion of gaming that’s taken place in the state of Florida. I am certainly warming up to the idea of having a constitutional amendment that would require all future expansion to go before the voters. I’m very, very intrigued by that concept,” Weatherford said.
Weatherford’s proposal would be linked in theory to a comprehensive gambling bill that could include a rewrite of the state’s gambling laws and regulations, the creation of a gambling commission and, possibly, a kitchen-sink of elements sought by existing race tracks and frontons as well as destination resorts coveted by out-of-state casino operators.
The idea could also spark a lobbying frenzy, given the increasing difficulty of getting any expansion of gambling through if the amendment passed.
“There’s no question that if everyone believed any future expansion after the 2014 session required a statewide vote, all the gaming interests would do whatever they could to try to include anything they could in the comprehensive legislation,” said lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who represents Las Vegas Sands, one of the casino operators pushing lawmakers to approve at least one convention-style hotel and casino in Broward or Miami-Dade counties.
But enshrining the new laws so quickly into the constitution could be problematic. Any mistakes would leave lawmakers scrambling to get a fix through the Legislature — and hoping that voters would approve it.
Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter, R-Naples, said he has heard of Weatherford’s constitutional amendment idea but not spoken with his House counterpart about it yet. Richter said the constitutional amendment should remain separate from the overall gambling package.
“I don’t think that initiative should draw the attention away from or to the objective to come up with something responsible for the state of Florida in the gaming arena,” he said.
DON’T CRITICIZE IT, LEGALIZE IT?
Of course, a constitutional amendment also has to gain the approval of the Supreme Court to get on the ballot — a bar that supporters of an initiative to legalize medical marijuana are trying to clear. Justices considered on Thursday whether the proposal would make it too easy to get one’s hands on weed.
“The way I read it, it would seem to be if a student’s just stressed over exams, and they go in and see a doctor, and they said, ‘I’m really stressed out.’ (The doctor says,) ‘Well, I’ve got something I can help you with,’ and prescribes marijuana. Wouldn’t that be included in this?” said Chief Justice Ricky Polston.
Supporters disagreed and said some open-ended language was meant to leave the ultimate decision of what could be treated with marijuana to doctors.
“The sponsors were focused on two things: the patient and how best to make that determination for a patient, which is very much focused on physician decision,” said Jon Mills, representing the amendment’s backers. “So a list (of conditions) alone would not be adequate.”
Whatever happens at the court, Orlando attorney John Morgan — who has shelled out more than $1 million so that his “army of angels” could bring pot to ill Floridians — said his side would eventually win the battle.
“Everybody here knows that one day medical marijuana is going to be legal in Florida,” he told reporters after the court heard oral arguments. “We all know that. … Is it going to be 2014 or ‘24? It’s going to happen.”
BALLOT BOX BATTLE
The relationship between Scott and local elections supervisors has been rocky at best ever since an election overhaul approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature and signed into law in 2011.
Detzner was ranking elections supervisors, but later dropped the idea after the independent-minded officials complained. There was the flawed attempt to purge suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls, abandoned last year after more outrage from supervisors but revived by Detzner this year.
And added to that list was a Nov. 25 directive by Detzner essentially ordering supervisors to stop providing secure boxes at early voting sites where voters could drop off completed absentee ballots.
“Supervisors should not solicit return of absentee ballots at any place other than a supervisor’s office, except for the purpose of having the absentee ballots cancelled if the voter wants to vote in person,” Detzner wrote in the directive.
One supervisor overseeing an important special election said, in so many words: No.
Clark, the Pinellas County supervisor, said this week she didn’t plan to follow Detzner’s order in the special election to choose a successor for the late Congressman C.W. Bill Young. The primary is scheduled Jan. 14, while the general election is set for March 11.
In a letter to Detzner, Clark laid out the security procedures that her office uses at the locations where voters can drop their ballots.
“They are specifically directed at ensuring the sanctity and integrity of both the ballots and the election,” Clark wrote. “Given my firm belief that my use of drop-off locations for absentee ballots as set forth herein is in full compliance with the law, I plan to continue using them, including in the impending special primary election.”
Eventually, Detzner agreed not to go to court in an effort to force Clark to follow the directive.
“Again, as we discussed earlier, we believe that your quick work to amend your voting security procedures is essential prior to a single-county Special Election for Congressional District 13,” Detzner wrote in a letter to Clark dated Tuesday. “I do not see the need for any further legal action at this time.”
OLD TIMES THERE ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
Meanwhile, the state parks system was taking fire over a proposal to add a Union monument to the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park near Lake City. A public meeting at the Columbia County School District Auditorium drew a rousing rendition of “Dixie,” the waving of a large Confederate flag by an African-American opponent of the monument and at least one call for the Legislature to intervene.
The chorus of the song about the land of cotton was led by H.K. Edgerton, the black man who called Union soldiers rapists and wielded the Stars and Bars like a conductor’s baton as the audience sang.
Speakers blasted the proposal as disturbing hallowed ground in a rural community where most families stay for generations.
“Men died there. Let their spirits rest in peace,” said Nansea Marham Miller, who is descended from a Confederate soldier who died at Olustee. “Let my grandfather rest in peace.”
The park — in the Osceola National Forest, 50 miles west of Jacksonville — was the site of a four-hour battle on Feb. 20, 1864, in which Union forces were routed by Confederate troops.
Last February, the Department of Environmental Protection received a proposal from the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to add a memorial specifically for Union officers and soldiers. The agency vetted the proposal and scheduled Monday’s public hearing to discuss possible locations at the park for the memorial.
Residents were not in a talking mood.
House Judiciary Chairman Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, suggested getting the matter “off the table” by means of a bill that he would sponsor.
“I can do a very simple proposal to the Legislature that we protect all monument sites,” Baxley said to cheers and applause.
But Mike Farrell, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a descendant of a soldier who died at Olustee, said he’s been a historical exhibitor at the park for years and proposed the new memorial as a result.
“I always have the visiting public approach me and ask me where the Union monument is on the battlefield, and I often tell them, ‘There isn’t any,’ ” Farrell said.
STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments about whether voters should be able to cast ballots next year on a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Putting a Union monument at Olustee would be like placing a memorial to Jane Fonda at the entrance to the Vietnam memorial.”–Leon Duke, who spoke at a public hearing on a proposal to place a monument to Union soldiers at the site of the biggest Civil War battle fought in Florida.
by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Early Christmas: Church Donates To Replace Stolen Molino Park Elementary Tech Items
December 6, 2013
Christmas came early for Molino Park Elementary School Thursday, thanks to the generosity of Aldersgate United Methodist Church and numerous people in the Molino community.
Just days before school started last August, the school was the victim of a burglary and vandalism. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of electronics were stolen from throughout the school, including Apple computers, iPads, Wii gaming systems, cameras and more. Many of the stolen items, including computers and iPads, were burned by the suspects.
The Escambia County School District is self insured up to $100,000, with the school responsible for paying for 20 percent of allowed losses. Molino Park was left 26 computers short because the school district will not replace computers over seven years old.
Thursday, Aldersgate presented Molino Park with a check for $2,868.89, which was in addition to an $810 donation made in September. The church and its members worked hard to raise the funds, earning the money through pulpit appears, special offerings, their monthly United Methodist men’s breakfast, three Wednesday night family dinners and through donations at the church’s Back to School Bash in September.
“This money will assist us tremendously in replacing some of the technology lost,” aid Molino Park Principal Alice Woodward.
“When we learned about the break-in, we wanted to do everything we could to remedy the situation so that the children of our community would not have to suffer from lack of computer equipment through no fault of their own,” said Rev. Alan Gantzhorn of Aldersgate. “Our church is committed to doing what it can to make our community a better place.”
Aldersgate UMC, and Molino’s Highland Baptist Church, are both Partners in Education with Molino Park. And Molino Park has been a mission focus for the Aldersgate for the past three years.
“I want to thank everyone that has contributed to our losses, partners Aldersgate and Highland, community donations, our PTA and parents,” Woodward said. “Your donations have assisted with covering part of our 20 percent as well as purchasing some iPads to replace some of the older computers that were not replaced. Your support keeps us going.”
Five people — two adults and three juveniles — were arrested in connection with the burglary and vandalism. They are all awaiting trial.
Pictured top and bottom: These photos show empty spots were computers were stolen from Molino Park Elementary School. Pictured inset: Aldersgate United Methodist Church Rev. Alan Gantzhorn presents a check to Molino Park Elementary School Principal Alice Woodward Thursday. Submitted and NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Touart Removed From County Administrator Candidate Pool
December 6, 2013
Interim County Administrator George Touart won’t be named Escambia County’s permanent administrator. Thursday night, the county commission voted 3-2 to remove Touart from the pool of candidates being considered for the job.
On a motion made by District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry, the commission voted 3-2 to remove Touart from the list of 16 candidates presented by a national search firm hired to help find a new administrator. Barry, Lumon May and Grover Robinson voted in favor of the motion, while Gene Valentino and Wilson Robertson voting against.
“I’m just ready to get somebody in here that’s a permanent administrator that will move Escambia County forward,” Robinson said, after saying Touart was not ever meant to be the permanent administrator. “Somebody that will begin to unify both this board and the citizenry…I think it is important that we find that leader and bring that leader forward.”
“Are y’all afraid George might make the top five?” Robertson asked his fellow commissioners. “Are y’all afraid the citizens (advisory committee) don’t have enough sense to make a decision on the top five. Why have we got to single out and exclude anybody?”
The list of 15 semifinalists will now go to a citizens advisory committee and the consulting company to be narrowed down to a list of five. Those five candidates will be vetted with proper background checks and the finalist list presented to the commission at their January 9 meeting. Commissioners hope to have the new administrator in place by February.
The commission’s 3-2 vote also prohibits Touart from making any senior level staffing changes without board approval during the remaining days at interim administrator.
Pictured top: District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry Thursday night. Pictured bottom inset: George Touart.
Escambia Man Convicted Of Molesting 10-Year Old
December 6, 2013
A 51-year old Escambia County has been convicted of sexually molesting a child.
Ricky Paul Lombardi was convicted by Escambia County Jury of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12.
The charges stemmed from a 10-year-old victim who awoke on the couch with the defendant’s hand in their pants. The victim immediately ran into their mother’s room, woke her up and told her. The defendant was living in the house as a friend and tenant, but has no relation to the victim. The mother reported the incident the next morning. The child gave consistent disclosure to law enforcement and to the Child Protection Team.
The victim’s clothing was collected. After testing, the defendant’s DNA was located inside the child’s underwear.
Judge Jan Shackelford scheduled sentencing for December 19. Lombardi faces a minimum sentence of 25 years state prison to be followed by lifetime probation and a maximum sentence of life in state prison. The defendant had a prior conviction for lewd and lascivious molestation in 1993.
Florida Supreme Court Hears Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative Debate
December 6, 2013
The Florida Supreme Court tried Thursday to cut through the smoke surrounding a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana, with justices set to issue an opinion on whether the ballot initiative can go before voters in 2014.
During oral arguments between supporters and opponents of the measure, the court’s two most conservative justices seemed openly hostile to the proposal. But the fate of the measure could be decided by whether the five more liberal members of the bench decide to back the amendment or not.
The idea of medical marijuana technically isn’t at issue in the case. Instead, Attorney General Pam Bondi, legislative leaders and medical, law enforcement and business groups argue that the ballot title and summary that would appear on the ballot could deceive voters about the scope of the amendment.
They say the ballot language, written by United for Care: People United for Medical Marijuana, wrongly suggests that only people with “debilitating diseases” could get the green leafy substance. Instead, doctors would have a much freer hand to prescribe pot.
Chief Justice Ricky Polston, one of the more conservative members of the bench, appeared receptive to that argument.
“The way I read it, it would seem to be if a student’s just stressed over exams, and they go in and see a doctor, and they said, ‘I’m really stressed out.’ (The doctor says,) ‘Well, I’ve got something I can help you with,’ and prescribes marijuana. Wouldn’t that be included in this?” Polston asked.
Supporters of the proposal deny that the language is that sweeping. Instead, they say, Florida doctors would have to weigh the risks of the medication against the benefits to the patient.
“The sponsors were focused on two things: the patient and how best to make that determination for a patient, which is very much focused on physician decision,” said Jon Mills, representing the amendment’s backers. “So a list (of conditions) alone would not be adequate.”
The amendment is the brainchild of Orlando attorney John Morgan, who says he has poured $1 million of his own money into the effort. The Florida Division of Elections says it has verified 136,458 of the 683,149 signatures that the measure needs to be placed on the ballot for 2014.
Much of the discussion centered on the difference between “debilitating diseases,” which will appear in the ballot summary, and “debilitating medical condition,” the term that appears in the amendment.
“You don’t even have to have a disease to get marijuana under this amendment,” said Solicitor General Allen Winsor, who argued the case for opponents Thursday.
But while Justice Barbara Pariente suggested that the amendment might be imprecise, she seemed skeptical about the idea that the ballot language was misleading.
“It seems that the problem may be in the drafting of the amendment, as opposed to in the title and summary,” she said. “How do we deal with that?”
Lawyers and the justices also tangled over whether the ballot statement that the amendment “[d]oes not authorize violations of federal law” might suggest that possessing marijuana would not be a violation of federal law, something that is false. Mills suggested that it was instead making clear that the state amendment would not change whether pot was illegal at the federal level.
“It’s obvious that the state of Florida cannot change federal law,” Justice Charles Canady retorted. “Wouldn’t you think that that’s obvious?”
Speaking with reporters after the session, Morgan expressed confidence that he would be able to gather enough valid signatures by the Feb. 1 deadline to make the ballot if justices approved the language. And he said that no matter the outcome of the case, victory is inevitable.
“Everybody here knows that one day medical marijuana is going to be legal in Florida,” he said. “We all know that. … Is it going to be 2014 or ‘24? It’s going to happen.”
story by Brandon Larrabee, The News Service of Florida
Pictured top: Attorney John Morgan speaks to reporters outside the Florida Supreme Court after justices heard arguments on whether to allow a constitutional amendment regarding medical marijuana on the Florida ballot. Morgan is backing the amendment push. Photo by Brandon Larrabee, NSF, for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge. Pictured inset: Marijuana grown illegally in Molino. NorthEscambia.com file photo, click to enlarge.
Georgia Trucker Killed In Atmore
December 6, 2013
A Georgia truck driver whose big rig had broken down was struck and killed Thursday night in Atmore.
Terry Kines, 47, had gotten out of his broken down big rig when he was struck and killed by a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu, according to Alabama State Troopers, at the Atmore exit at I-65 and Highway 21.
Kines was working to flag vehicles around the disabled truck when he was hit, troopers said. Kines was from Wrightsville, GA.
The driver of the car, whose name has not been released, was not seriously injured. The investigation continues by Alabama State Troopers.
Photos: Northview Band Christmas Concert
December 6, 2013
The Northview High School band held their annual Christmas Concert Thursday night at the school. The program included numerous performances of the sounds of the Christmas season.
For a photo gallery, click here.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Century Chamber Holds Christmas Open House
December 6, 2013
The Century Chamber of Commerce held its annual Christmas Open House Thursday afternoon. Chamber members, prospective members and area residents had the opportunity to network and learn more about what the Century Chamber offers and meet newly hired Economic Development Coordinator Cindy Anderson.
Pictured top: Tri-City Ledger Publisher Joe Thomas and Lina Showalter enjoyed the refreshments at the annual Century Chamber of Commerce Christmas Open House Thursday afternoon. Pictured inset: Margie McCall (left) and the chamber’s newly hired Economic Development Coordinator Cindy Anderson. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Multiple Suspects Charged In Molino Burglaries, Stabbing Death Of Pet
December 6, 2013
Five people have been charged in connection with three “significant” burglaries in Molino last month.
Garland David McKenzie, 20, Ke’Shawn Denzel Bryant, 18, Leviticus Al Deonte Dawson, 20, Antoinette Danielle White, 22, and juvenile John David Murphy are facing a long list of felony charges including armed burglary, grand theft and criminal mischief. McKenzie, Bryant, Dawson and Murphy are also charged with felony animal cruelty — causing the cruel death pain and suffering of an animal.
McKenzie, Bryant and Dawson are charged with burglaries on Brickyard Road, Brickton Road and Oreo Drive. Murphy is charged in connection with the Brickton and Brickyard burglaries, while White is only charged in the Oreo Road burglary.
Weapons, currency, jewelry and electronics were stolen from the homes on October 10 and October 17.
Investigators executed a search warrant at McKenzie’s Pensacola home, recovering items including firearms and electronics from the three Molino homes. During an interview with investigators, McKenzie said that on October 10 he drove his van to the Lincoln Park area where he picked up Bryant, Dawson and Murphy, and drove to Molino. They found an “antique” looking house on Brickton Road, according to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report, broke the glass out of the front door and immediately began removing items including jewelry, electronics and a firearm.
During the burglary, Dawson used a knife to kill a pet caged Cockatoo bird, according to the report, for an unknown reason, according to information McKenzie provided to investigators. McKenzie told Sheriff’s investigators the group decided the Thompson Center .50 caliber muzzle loader was not an item they could sell, and it was thrown into bushes near the home. The firearm was recovered from that location.
The group then drove to another home on Brickyard Road where they committed another burglary.
McKenzie, Bryant, Dawson and White then returned to Molino on October 17 where they committed the Oreo Driver burglary, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
Additional information is expected to be released later from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and this story will be updated.
‘Charging Station’ Prompts Bomb Squad Response To Nine Mile Road CVS Phamarcy
December 6, 2013
The CVS Pharmacy at Palafox and Nine Mile Road was surrounded by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies about 2:00 Thursday afternoon after a suspicious device was found outside near a trash receptacle.
It was later determined that the object was “an improvised recharging station”, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. The device was not explosive or considered immediately harmful.
The “all clear” was given shortly after 3:30 p.m.
The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Bomb Squad also responded, with witnesses reporting that the bomb squad robot was deployed about 3 p.m. Escambia County Fire Rescue and Escambia County EMS were also on standby during the situation.
The Nine Mile Road and Palafox intersection was closed temporarily.
Pictured: The Florida State Fire Marshal’s Bomb Squad investigates a device at CVS on Palafox at Nine Mile Road Thursday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Smith, click to enlarge.
