The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Thursday, January 11, 2024

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LOCAL NEWS

On Wednesday, the Leon County School Board approved Superintendent Hanna’s recommendation to hire Wagstaff & Cartmell and four firms as co-counsel to represent the Board in a lawsuit against social media companies

Several local school districts in the Big Bend area received a bomb threat Wednesday morning. According to Leon, Taylor, Wakulla, Lafayette, Gadsden and Madison County school districts, the threat was made through an email.

The Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce networking event, Business After Hours, will be hosted by Jeri’s at Market Street on Thursday, January 11, 2024 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM EST. Register here.

LOCAL SPORTS NEWS

On Wednesday night, the Chiles Timberwolves boys soccer team defeated the Leon Lions 1-0. The lone goal was scored by freshman Salvatore Giove.

Florida State football landed Oregon State defensive end Sione Lolohea in the transfer portal. He was named Second-Team All-Pac 12 after recording a career-high 47 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 2023.

Florida State linebacker DJ Lundy withdrew his name from the transfer portal and announced he is returning to Tallahassee. He initially committed to Colorado on Christmas Day. Lundy is currently tabbed to be Florida State’s most experienced linebacker on the roster with Kalen DeLoach and Tatum Bethune moving on.

FLORIDA NEWS

The Florida Senate unanimously passed three bills on Wednesday by Sen. Cory Simon, R-Tallahassee, all with the intention of deregulating public schools and public school district administrative procedures and requirements. The bills, SB 7000, SB 7002 and SB 7004, were all part of an education deregulation package that is intended to allow more freedom and opportunities for teachers and administrators to do their job without interference form state requirements. The legislation is set to move to the House for consideration.

The father of Gabby Petito testified Wednesday on a bill that could bring an assessment program to Florida and possibly prevent domestic violence homicides. Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, filed SB 638, which passed favorably 8-0 through the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted that he is going to be recruiting “a bunch of people from Tallahassee” to be with him in Iowa. He said that members of the Florida Legislature, the administration, and former people in the administration will be there.

NATIONAL NEWS

Former Gov. Chris Christie (NJ) drops out of GOP presidential primary, just ahead of Monday’s Iowa caucuses (More).

University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban announced his retirement yesterday, stepping down after 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide. The news came 10 days after a 27-20 playoff loss to Michigan, in what became his final game at Alabama.

At least 12 people have died and over 130 prison workers have been held hostage amid widespread gang violence—including a brief takeover of a live TV station—in Ecuador sparked by the weekend prison escape of a high-ranking gang leader. The nation’s new president, Daniel Noboa, announced a 60-day state of emergency in response. 

US financial regulators approved yesterday the creation of exchange-traded funds based on bitcoin, a move that allows mainstream investors to invest in the cryptocurrency via their regular brokerage accounts. The decision is expected to significantly increase the number of investors holding bitcoin.

Markets close up (S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq +0.8%), with investors expecting positive data on inflation to be released later this morning (More).

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