Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix College professors can continue to teach hard lessons about race and sexism notwithstanding Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Stop Woke” act, his attempt to dictate how educators handle these topics. In a terse order issued Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh …
Read More »Trump Criticizes DeSantis At First 2023 Iowa Event
Robin Opsahl, Michigan Advance Former President Donald Trump, in his first Iowa stop as an official presidential candidate, took aim at a potential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump said if DeSantis joins the 2024 presidential race, his track record on ethanol and Social Security could cost him the Iowa …
Read More »DeSantis, In Iowa, Says GOP Stance In Culture Wars Will Help Win Elections
Robin Opsahl, Florida Phoenix Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told Iowa Republicans Friday that standing strong in the culture wars around issues like education, criminal justice and health care in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic will help their party win elections. DeSantis, along with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, spoke to …
Read More »GOP Lawmakers In Florida Introduce A 6-Week Abortion Ban Bill
Diane Rado, Florida Phoenix The GOP-controlled Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a 15-week abortion ban just last year. On Tuesday, lawmakers filed a bill to reduce the ban to six weeks, creating significant new abortion restrictions in the state. State Sen. Erin Grall, who has been at the …
Read More »Gov. DeSantis Plans Legislative Attack On Florida’s Undocumented Immigrants
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis has unveiled an anti-immigration agenda that would deny jobs, education, and possibly health care for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who call Florida home. If the governor gets his way with the state Legislature — as is likely — all private employers …
Read More »Hundreds March To Florida Capitol Over Rejected AP African American Studies Course
Danielle J. Brown, Florida Phoenix Hundreds of Floridians, civil rights activists and religious leaders from across the state marched Wednesday from Tallahassee’s Bethel Missionary Baptist Church to the Florida Capitol building complex in protest of efforts to “whitewash” Black history by rejecting an Advanced Placement course in high school on …
Read More »DeSantis Proposes End To Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at Florida Universities
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will completely defund diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities during a press conference Tuesday morning. DeSantis addressed what he called “DEI bureaucracies,” or departments within universities that promote diversity, equality and inclusion, which he said impose a liberal agenda on university students and …
Read More »Florida’s Black Leaders Furious About Gov. DeSantis’ Rejection Of AP African American Studies Course
Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rejection of an Advanced Placement pilot course on African American studies elicited a resounding response from a crowd of at least a hundred people gathered in the state Capitol Wednesday, praying and loudly chanting about the importance of protecting Black history taught in …
Read More »Gov. DeSantis Pushes For Repealing Unanimous Death Penalty Requirement For Jurors
Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he wants the Florida Legislature to change the state law that requires a unanimous jury to impose a death sentence. Speaking at the Florida Sheriffs Association Winter Conference in St. Johns County, the governor noted that mass shooter Nikolas …
Read More »Scholars, Lawmakers Outraged Over DeSantis’ Rejection of AP African-American Curriculum
Academics and Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily last week after the administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected a new high school Advanced Placement African-American studies course—without even seeing its syllabus—claiming it violates the state’s ban on “woke” education and “lacks educational value.” Some Republican Florida officials said they believe …
Read More »VP Harris in Florida: ‘Can we truly be free if a woman cannot make decisions about her life?’
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix In a direct challenge to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to his backyard Sunday to announce that President Joe Biden was signing an executive order designed to guarantee access to abortion rights, including abortion-inducing medications. During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee …
Read More »Judge Refuses To Dismiss Legal Challenge To DeSantis’ Asylum-Seeker Flights
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix A state senator’s legal challenge to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ asylum-seeker airlifts will proceed to trial under a ruling that a state trial judge in Tallahassee handed down on Friday. “I think we need to just hear out these issues,” Circuit Judge John Cooper said following arguments …
Read More »DeSantis Vows To ‘stand our ground’ Against ‘woke’ In Launching Second Term
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took his oath of office for a second time on Tuesday and delivered a pugnacious speech painting him as a champion of “freedom” and constitutional principles and vowing to vanquish a “woke” federal government, education unions, and “technocratic elites.” Coming off a …
Read More »Charlie Crist Pummels DeSantis’ ‘culture war’ Policies During Governor’s Race Debate
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Democrat Charlie Crist used the occasion of his only scheduled debate with Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday evening to pummel the Republican governor over his restrictions on abortion rights, for ignoring science when writing COVID and transgender policy, for sidestepping 82,000 COVID deaths in Florida, and for …
Read More »ACLU Accuses DeSantis of ‘Grotesque Abuse of Power’ for Voter Arrests
The ACLU of Florida on Wednesday condemned Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis following the publication of police body camera videos showing sympathetic officers arresting confused people—most of them Black—who believed they were eligible to vote for alleged “voter fraud.” “The body camera footage reveals the real, human impact of these anti-voter …
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