The Tallahassee Reports Daily Briefs: Thursday, February 15, 2024

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LOCAL NEWS

At the February 21, 2024 Tallahassee City Commission meeting, elected officials will receive an update on a police investigation related to Leon County Commissioner David O’Keefe’s actions at the construction site for the new Tallahassee police station.

See video of O’Keefe jumping fence here.

Dozens of adults with intellectual and cognitive disabilities now have a Tallahassee home to call their own. The ribbon cutting for the Independence Landing community at Southwood took place the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The Leon County Commission is planning on approving $126,000 to construct and install 11 new welcome signs. Leon County Commissioner Christian Caban said the money will come from available dollars in the county’s tourism balance.

LOCAL SPORTS NEWS

The Florida High and Maclay boys soccer rivalry has not disappointed this year. Game one resulted in a draw, Maclay won the district title in their second match-up, and round three took place Wednesday night in the Class 3A regional finals, with the winner advancing to the state final four.

The fifth-ranked Florida State softball team (4-1) is set to make their annual trip down to Clearwater, Fla., this week as the Seminoles will take on four ranked opponents in four days at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational. The Seminoles will take on No. 9 Stanford on Thursday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU.

FLORIDA NEWS

State Attorney Andrew Bain of the Ninth Judicial Circuit (Orlando) announced the creation of the Violent Crimes Unit on Tuesday in a push to further crack down on crimes like attempted murder, kidnapping, carjackings, home invasions and armed robberies. Bain replaced former State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Democrat who was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August 2023 over dereliction of duty.

The Florida Senate passed legislation Wednesday to help pay for the swim lessons of low income families. It applies to children of families who earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level. Hutson’s bill requires the state establish a network of swim lesson vendors, at least one per county, that provides access to the program.

Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed that Florida will “reject” the Biden administration’s effort to rewrite Title IX, which DeSantis warned will “gut” protections for girls in women’s sports. “The Biden administration is plunging ahead with a radical rewrite of Title IX, seeking to impose gender ideology on K through 12 schools all across the country,” DeSantis said. “This will gut protections for girls and for women.”

NATIONAL NEWS

At least one person was killed and 21 others were wounded after a shooting broke out near Kansas City’s Union Station following the conclusion of the Chiefs’ celebratory Super Bowl parade. As of this writing, 15 victims had life-threatening injuries, with two in critical condition; eight of those wounded were children.

Should District Attorney Fani Willis be removed from the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump because of her personal relationship with a special prosecutor? Lawyers were set to battle over the question during a hearing in Atlanta on Thursday.

Scientists develop “meat rice,” where grains of rice act as scaffolding for cultured meat; high-protein dish can be prepared like traditional rice, may find use in food insecure communities, military deployments, and more (More).

US stock markets close up (S&P 500 +1.0%, Dow +0.4%, Nasdaq +1.3%), lifted by Uber, Lyft, and Nvidia shares (More).

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