The Tallahassee Reports Morning Briefs: Monday, Feb. 27

LOCAL NEWS

City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow voted against two proposals that provided a plan to increase the number of affordable housing units in Tallahassee – find out why.

The Children’s Services Council of Leon County (CSC) seeks to engage community volunteers to serve as members of various evaluations teams to help select entities and programs to receive funding from upcoming application opportunities.

Late last week, TPD arrested 23-year-old Keith Ford who is being charged with second-degree murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon. The incident occurred at the 2200 block of South Meridian Street. Ford is accused of pointing a firearm at four men in a vehicle in an attempted robbery at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19. The three passengers fled the car safely, but the driver was shot and died of his injuries at a hospital.

FLORIDA NEWS

This weekend former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried was elected chair of the Florida Democrat Party and Republicans were quick to express their satisfaction. “Before Nikki Fried can address the 19.4% shellacking at the ballot box and the runaway 650,000 net voter registration gain for Republicans under Ron DeSantis, she is going to have to start by convincing the 65% of Democrats who rejected her just months ago,” said newly elected Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler. 

Florida lawmakers Sen. Alexis Calatayud and Rep. Demi Cabrera filed companion legislation that would lift Miami-Dade County’s 33-year-old pit bull ban. The legislation says that behavior, not breed, should determine where dogs can go. The proposed bill, however, does not prevent cities or public housing entities from putting restrictions on dogs that have bitten or attacked people or domestic animals. However, as recently as 2020, one study determined that in the United States, pit bulls were the breed guilty of 72 percent of human deaths by dog attack. 

SPORTS

Over the weekend, FSU baseball took two games out of three in their road series against the No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs. Game one was a blowout for the FSU offense, 10-1, game two was a tight, high scoring affair 10-8, and game three the FSU offense was stifled in a 3-2 loss. Seminole Jaime Ferrer is on  20-game hit streak which is the longest of his career and the longest for any active Seminole. 

FSU men’s basketball, likely not going to see deep postseason action, are coming off a huge buzzer-beater three from Matthew Cleveland to take down the Miami Hurricanes 85-84 on Saturday. Now, the Noles play host to the North Carolina Tar Heels tonight at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN. The Seminoles’ will celebrate the career of senior Cleveland Yates, who was a member of Florida State’s 2020 ACC Championship team.

TALLAHASSEE WEATHER