On June 1, Judge Robert Plaines released Aaron Glee Jr., 49, on a $2,500 bond for his alleged aggravated assault on a woman May 29, 2020 at 4:44 p.m., according to court records. His reported address, according to the Arrest/Probable Cause Affidavit, was 2110 Monday Rd., Tallahassee.

According to the affidavit, Glee was arrested on May 29 for an alleged aggravated assault that occurred earlier in the afternoon at the intersection of S. Blair Stone Rd and Kay Ave.

According to the affidavit, when police arrived on the scene at 4:44 p.m. Glee was standing over a female, kicking her in the abdomen as she lay on her side on the S. Blair Stone Rd. sidewalk.

According to the affidavit, the alleged victim told police Glee asked her for a sexual favor and when she refused, he became angry, shoved her to the ground and began kicking her.

Glee told police he “helps the homeless” and brought the alleged victim food and drinks in the past. Glee told officers the woman offered Glee sexual favors and he purchased liquor to give her. He said she changed her mind about the sex act. He denied kicking or hurting her.

Glee was also arrested on May 28 for allegedly punching a man after an argument “regarding racial differences” at a bus stop on the corner of S. Magnolia Dr. and Governor’s Square Blvd.  He was charged with battery touch or strike

Salau was last seen on June 6. Sims was last seen on June 11. They were both found dead on Saturday, June 14 on Monday Rd. Glee was arrested sometime after that.

Around 5 p.m. Saturday, protestors, reportedly motivated by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd and over several recent officer involved shootings in Tallahassee, again took to the Tallahassee streets.

Protestors were met by rows of state and local police in riot gear near the Governor’s mansion on the corner of N. Adams And Georgia Street. The crowd chanted “No Justice, No Peace” in front of the stoic law enforcement officers.

The crowd then moved up Georgia to Monroe Street. Within seconds the air filled with the sound of shattering glass as a rock or brick was thrown through one of the large windows of Envision Credit Union at 600 N Monroe St.

Protestors ducked and flinched defensively. One man jumped right out of his flip flops as he ran to the sidewalk to get away from the commotion. Several local protestors took this perceived escalation toward violence as their cue to go home. Most of the crowd re-organized in the middle of Monroe to start its march toward the Capitol.

Those protestors were an equal mix of black and white. Some were young college kids, who seemed like they were just having fun. Some were solemn and concerned with the recent uptick in recent violence. Reportedly, there were also members of Black Lives Matters, several out-of-towners, and random spectators.

The crowd was now very close to where, earlier Saturday, a truck drove through the protestors, hitting several protestors, but not seriously injuring anyone. The driver was immediately taken into custody by Tallahassee Police.

As the crowd again passed alongside a former credit union building, located less than a block further along the route, another loud crash filled the air as someone threw another rock or brick through another window.

A Tallahassee police patrol car rounded the corner as the last shards hit the ground. A WCTV camera and reporter were stationed on the corner, just yards from the broken window. The reporter was joking and laughing with protestors just before the window was hit.

The rock/brick throwing incidents were reported to state troopers gearing up in the parking lot behind the former credit union.
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“These developing countries have literally almost nothing, yet you can see things happening for them,” she said, “And I think, wow, imagine what we could do with what we have (in Leon County).”

Brown, who is running for the Leon County Commission At-Large Seat, said, “When you witness successful programs that provide a hand up, not a hand out in developing countries that have so little, you realize that we have no excuse. We have to do better.”

Leonvotes.org currently lists seven candidates for the seat currently held by Mary Ann Lindley.

Brown, a third generation Tallahassean, is President and CEO at Tallahassee-Leon Federal Credit Union and an adjunct professor at Flagler College.

She points to a reputation as a turn-around CEO, rescuing financial institutions in trouble and her time traveling the world, volunteering her time consulting with financial regulators, individual institutions, and small business owners as qualifications which uniquely qualify her to sit on the County Commission.

She has a master’s in business administration and multiple international certifications in Development Education.

During her run for the Tallahassee City Commission, which she lost to Jeremy Matlow, Brown identified economic vitality, crime, and brand as priorities. She believes improving Tallahassee’s economy will influence the crime rate. Improving the economy and crime problem will allow the city to improve its tarnished brand image.

“I am excited to bring my experience and understanding of more than just how to run a business, how to manage multi-million-dollar budgets, and the intricacies of bond ratings. I help people every day in Leon County work toward their financial dreams. I see the struggles that working families have to make ends meet and I will work tirelessly to bring training and employment opportunities to Leon County – assuring that all boats rise.”

TR reported on March 29, 2019, that Godby High School had the highest number of homeschool students in Leon County with 231. Previously, TR also published a report that showed 33% of homeschool students were not in annual compliance.

According to the Florida Department of Education’s (FDOE) Accountability Coordinator Ashlie Kraft, if a student is withdrawn from a traditional high school, like Godby, into homeschooling, the traditional high school’s graduation rate is not adversely affected if that student never graduates.

However, according to Shelly Bell, Director of Career, Technical and Adult Education at LCS, if a  student is withdrawn to seek his GED, it does adversely affect the high school’s graduation rate. 

In a February 27, 2019 Tallahassee Democrat story, LCS Spokesperson Chris Petley stated that Cobi Mathis,  a teenager who was shot and died on February 25, 2019 in a day care parking lot  “was a student at Godby up until January when he disenrolled and went into homeschool.”

However, Mathis’s mother, Varshawndyna Pleas, says she never considered homeschooling and she withdrew him in mid-February to attend Lively to get his GED. 

Pleas was referring to Adult and Community Education (ACE), located on Lively’s campus.

Pleas said she wanted her son to remain at Godby and graduate, but he wanted to get his GED.

“Cobi was never homeschooled,” Pleas said.

“I didn’t want him getting a GED.  I told him ‘You’re going through a rough patch now but what about later when you’re older and want a career and all you have is a GED?’” she said.

She said Mathis had attendance problems and so she reluctantly agreed to “transfer” him to Lively. She said the high school never pressured her to withdraw Mathis. It was his idea.

Pleas said Mathis was attending Godby just a week or so before he was to attend Lively. She said he was withdrawn after a school holiday, which, according to LCS’ 2018/2019 academic calendar was Presidents Day on February 18th.

“Cobi  was supposed to start at Lively the day he was shot (Feb. 25th),” Pleas said.

Bell confirmed that a student could withdraw from high school and be in ACE on Lively’s campus a week later, if the student attended orientation during that week.

Tallahassee Reports contacted Petley about the discrepancy between his statement and Pleas’ recollection. 

Petley said although it is LCS’s policy to not disclose where students attend school, (It is not public information,  per FDOE), he confirmed the information in the above statement to the Tallahassee Democrat because the reporter already knew Mathis attended Godby. Petley said he believed he (Petley) originally got the information for that statement from the Godby principal. 

TR then asked Petley to double check the date Mathis was “disenrolled” and if he was withdrawn to homeschool.

Petley said according LSCs student information system Mathis was withdrawn the first week in February, not January and acknowledged his mistake in saying in the Tallahassee Democrat story it was in January. That date still conflicts with Pleas’ recollection.

Petley, again confirmed Cobi Mathis was withdrawn to homeschool.

Tallahassee Reports is seeking more information from LCS.

In June, Jessica Lowe became the new principal the Success Academy At Ghazvini Learning Center, an alternative school serving grades six through 12, located at 854 Blountstown Street.

Success Academy takes students, either through parent application or school recommendation, who are overage for their grade and puts a curriculum in place for them to catch up to the right grade level. It also works with students to fill in instructional gaps they experienced, often from being moved from place to place.

The approach Lowe is using at Success to address the needs of struggling students is a pilot program for Leon County Schools. Success is now a trauma-informed care school.

What does trauma have to do with children falling behind in school?

The National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence found that one out of every four children attending school were exposed to a traumatic event that can affect learning and/or behavior.

According to the Treatment and Services Adaptation Center (TSAC), a website supported by respected authorities in the areas of school trauma and crisis response, symptoms resulting from trauma can directly impact a student’s ability to learn.

The website explained, “Students might be distracted by intrusive thoughts about the event that prevent them from paying attention in class, studying, or doing well on a test. Exposure to violence can lead to decreased IQ and reading ability. Some students might avoid going to school altogether.”

In a trauma-informed school, administrators, teachers, staff, etc. are prepared to recognize and respond to those who have been impacted by traumatic stress. Students are provided with clear expectations and communication strategies to guide them through stressful situations.

“The goal,” according to TSAC, “is to not only provide tools to cope with extreme situations but to create an underlying culture of respect and support.”

Lowe’s teachers are trained in restorative practices and nonviolent communication techniques.

She said, “We tend to have students that maybe didn’t fit in the traditional school model and may have behavior problems. We trained our teachers in nonviolent communication so that they can diffuse situations more swiftly and the student can be engaged and brought back on task.”

She also brought in the Makerspace concept which is a tool for students that feel overwhelmed or are dealing with trauma. They can go to a little corner of the library set up as a cooldown area. Students play with fine motor manipulatives and things designed to keep their minds busy so that they can calm down and tell a teacher or administrator what’s going on. For instance, they may be homeless or experiencing teen dating issues.

“Our new leadership team puts an emphasis on being consistent but caring,” she said. “That’s our message, be consistent but show them that you care about them. It changed discipline numbers because we’ve been able to show empathy with the students and de-escalate issues that may arise and help them re-engage so that they can get the classes done.”

This is Lowe’s 16th year in education. She started out as a language arts and social studies teacher at Deer Lake Middle School. She quickly rose through the ranks, first as the project manager for the superintendent of schools and then as an assistant principal. Lowe opened the first virtual school in Leon County and remains as its principal. She oversees the homeschool office for the district as well. She also oversees the graduation rate for each high school, and credit recovery at all 16 middle school and high school sites.

She appreciates the support she’s received from the Leon County School District.

“I have a heavy emphasis on trauma-informed care, and I believe in it,” Lowe said.  “I learned as a teacher, if you show students you care about them, they will care about you. I have seen such a return on investment when you invest in them and actually do things that they’re interested in and pay attention to what’s going on at home. You affirm with your discipline as well, but you give them Grace when Grace is needed.”

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For the last two consecutive years it’s received a D grade from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), but its new principal, Delshuana Jackson, is confident she can turn it around and guide it to safer waters.

Jackson has a record of success and believes her experience can benefit struggling Bond Elementary. Jackson transferred to Bond from Havana Magnet School in Gadsden County. Like Bond, Havana Magnet is a Title 1 school. Unlike Bond, Havana Magnet received an A this year from FLDOE and was named a National Title I Distinguished School. It was one of only two schools chosen in Florida, and the first school ever in Gadsden County so honored.

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Last year, student achievement scores were very low at Bond, ranking in the bottom 300 of Florida schools, with the percentage of students who received a passing score in English Language Arts at only 23 percent (the lowest in the Leon County School District) and Science at a dismal 19 percent (the second lowest in the district). Math was better at 49 percent.

Only on the job since mid-July, Jackson said there is a lot left to evaluate and may plans to make. She said, though, the teachers seem excited and determined to do whatever it takes to keep Bond from being a D school again next year.

“Many of them (the teachers) are excited,” she said, “but you know, they are dealing with the unknown with me as a new principal.  I’m hopeful that that I’ll be able to build relationships by working alongside them and getting the job done.”

“I have 20 years working with Title 1 schools. We must overcome these scores. I have to be optimistic because, ultimately, I’m the one that guides this ship. We will work with the mindset we are an A school. We will roll up our sleeves and get to work and there is a lot of work to do,” Jackson said.

She also asked that the community continue its support of the school, “It is all hands on deck.”

Journalists, political hacks and interested citizens packed the Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee Tuesday morning to hear former Tallahassee mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox and Paige Carter-Smith, former head of the Downtown Improvement Authority, plead guilty to charges stemming from a two-year FBI investigation into political corruption in Tallahassee.

After a lengthy and tense discussion, Maddox and Carter-Smith finally pleaded guilty to three of the 44 federal charges they were facing from a federal indictment. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the other 39 charges facing the pair.

During the hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle asked Maddox and Carter-Smith if they read the Statement of Facts (SOF) for the first charge (Count 20 in the Federal Indictment) and agreed the information was true and they were guilty of the charge.

Maddox seemed to balk.

“I don’t believe the (SOFs) constitutes a crime,” said Maddox. “Everything in the (SOFs) is true, but additional facts are not included. There are things in the (SOF) that are different from what I pleaded to.”

At that point, Judge Hinkle went through Count 21, which was mail fraud by email between Company B, believed to be the ride-share company, Uber, and Maddox and Carter-Smith

 According to the indictment, in 2015, the Tallahassee City Commission considered amendments to a local ordinance that would affect Uber’s future profitability in Tallahassee.  An Uber representative met with Maddox to discuss the ordinance. Maddox told the representative Carter-Smith could help Uber obtain a favorable result on the ordinance.  Uber then agreed to pay Carter-Smith and her lobbying company $5,000 per month.

On March 25, 2015, during a City Commission meeting, Maddox moved to delay the vote and the Commissioners, including Maddox, voted unanimously to do so. In the months following, Maddox voted for several amendments to the ride-share ordinance and then participated in the final vote to adopt the new ordinance. Between May 7 and October 15, 2015 Uber paid Governance $30,000. Over that same period Governance paid Maddox, approximately $40,000.

Maddox told Judge Hinkle, he would not have offered the amendment without Paige Carter-Smith’s involvement, but he would have supported the unanimous City Commission vote without her involvement.

Carter-Smith told the judge she received $30,000 from the ride-share company and they did assume by hiring her they would have Maddox’s support, but “I did not tell them they were paying for a vote.”

The judge warned Maddox and Carter-Smith he would not accept their guilty pleas if he thought they did not admit their guilt. Finally, he said, “I’m asking if there was any solicited payment for votes. Both of you have danced around it. Now is the time to tell me did you take money for official action or not?”

After a brief huddle with attorney’s Maddox said, “Your honor, I agree to plead guilty.”

The judge pressed him further, “Did you take money to vote?’

Maddox responded, “Yes.”

The judge turned to Carter-Smith, “Did you?”

“Yes,” she said.

Maddox and Carter-Smith also pleaded guilty to Count 23, taking $10,000 through the U.S Mail, from a front company for the FBI.

With Count 41, they pleaded guilty to making false statements on a tax return, through an improper sale of property between Maddox and Carter-Smith in which Maddox, according to the indictment, improperly claimed losses with the IRS and for use of a credit card which Maddox did not report as income.

Maddox and Carter-Smith face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines and restitution for Counts 20 and 23. Count 41 carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, three years of supervised release and $250,000 in fines.

The judge mentioned a Supplemental Government Cooperation Agreement. He said it was sealed and would not be part of the public record.

He said the government can file later whether Maddox and Carter-Smith cooperated “substantially.” If so, the judge advised the pair they may receive a lighter sentence, but all 44 charges would be part of sentencing consideration.

He then asked Carter-Smith again, “How do you plead?”

She said, “Guilty.”

Maddox said, “Guilty”

And the judge said, “Because you are in fact guilty?”

Maddox said, “yes.”

Judge Hinkle then accepted their pleas. Sentencing is November 19, 2019.

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For the 2017-2018 school year, Pineview received an F from the FDOE in overall performance.

A new principal and assistant principal took over leadership of Pineview at the end of that school year and now, one year later, Pineview leapt from a low F school to a solid C.

“We still have a long way to go,” said Pineview’s new principal Carmen Conner, “I recognize that, but I’m super-duper excited about what we accomplished.”

Conner credits the dedication and efforts of her entire team for this improvement.

Conner transferred from Roberts Elementary to Pineview three weeks before the last day of school in 2018. She was joined by a new assistant principal, Oronde McKhan, formerly a guidance counselor at Gilchrist Elementary. She said other than a few teachers who transferred to different cities, the teaching staff stayed on board.

“We (Conner and McKhan) started off by developing relationships with our teachers and I think that was a big part of what made everything work,” Conner said.

 “We developed relationships with our teachers and provided them with everything and more than they needed and that trickled down to the students,” Connor said.

From there, they developed an EPIC plan.

“EPIC is an acronym for how we attacked any curriculum that we put in front of our students,” she said.

They set high expectations (E), carefully planned (P) the instruction imparted to the students, and then implemented (I) the plan. Then they either completed or corrected (C) the plan based on its success.

It sounds like a simple plan, but the results were dramatic. Math improved from 33 percent proficiency to 47 percent. Reading proficiency went from 25 percent to 32.

But the big leap was in the gains children, especially the children who scored the lowest, made in their overall learning.

“Last year 33 percent of our students made learning gains, but this year 57 percent made learning gains,” Conner said, “It’s gratifying. Our students are learning and it’s measurable.”

Pineview, located on the Southside of Tallahassee, is a Title 1 school, meaning over 40 percent of the students are considered low income. Conner said kids in Title 1 schools are just as smart as any other kids. They just have a different set of circumstances to deal with.

She said most of the students at Roberts Elementary, located in Tallahassee’s more affluent northeast side, attended preschool. The parents of children in Title 1 schools cannot afford preschool or simply can’t work out the logistics of sending the child to a half day of school when the parent is working all day. The children’s lives are also more transient with children sometimes living with grandparents or moving constantly for parents’ employment opportunities.

As a result, Conner said, the low-income student is often as much as two years behind the more affluent children, before they even walk into Kindergarten.

She said another problem that she didn’t see at Roberts is absenteeism and tardiness. She said if the weather is cold or rainy, many students are absent from Pineview. Many of the children walk as much as two miles to school each day. She said a bus stop was added this year that significantly increased attendance. She said adding some of the kids’ favorite activities first thing in the morning motivated kids to try harder to be on time.

Conner is very proud of the strides made this year and said Pineview will push further forward in the upcoming school year.

“I still smile about it (Pineview’s improvement). I still get excited about it, every time I think of it,” she said.

Also, there were no questions by School Board members at the meeting related to the appointment.

The FDOE investigation – first reported by Tallahassee Reports – was started after an internal investigation by LCS concluded that Solz had an “inappropriate relationship with a married teacher” that he supervised.

LCS also found Solz had violated school policy with regards to the use of school resources.

Dee Dee Rasmussen, the Board’s vice chair and District 4 representative, said the  appointment and employment of school officials, such as principals, are solely at the discretion of the LCS superintendent, Rocky Hanna. 

She said board members’ only grounds to vote against an appointment by Hanna is “if there are legally sufficient grounds to do so, and, to the best of our knowledge, that doesn’t exist at this time.”

However, LCS did confirm an FDOE investigation was ongoing.

In a response to a public records request by Tallahassee Reports, dated July 15, 2018, LCS Technology & Information Services’ Julie Jernigan said, “We cannot release any information while the DOE investigation has not concluded.”

Rasmussen said she met with legal counsel in the past about this matter but not immediately prior to the vote.

“We didn’t have sufficient grounds to vote against his appointment,” Rasmussen said.

She continued, “It is important to note, he did self-report. He was disciplined and removed from his position for some time (since September 2018). On the advise of legal counsel, we did not have any legal grounds to vote otherwise.”

District 1 board member Alva Striplin declined  to comment on the matter, other than to say it was an unanimous vote and standard procedure. 

District 5’s Georgia “Joy” Bowen, simply said it was completely the prerogative of the superintendent. Other board members were unreachable for comment.

Rasmussen suggested questions about Solz’ appointment were best answered by Hanna.

Tallahassee Reports plans on reaching out to Superintendent Hanna.

One FAMU alum is asking that question and recently sent her concerns to a list of 40 Florida law makers. She calls for an investigation into FAMU’s attempts to expose a rape victim’s identity in public.

Takisha Richardson is a Florida A&M graduate and prominent civil rights attorney. She represents a former student who alleges she was raped three times in two years while attending FAMU and that the university failed to adequately investigate the claims, failed to protect her from exposure to the alleged rapists after each incident and failed to impose any significant consequences on the alleged rapists.

The alleged victim filed the suit, in September 2016, using only her initials, invoking what Richardson called “her right to anonymity as a rape victim under Florida law.”

Attorneys for FAMU are filing motions, trying to force the alleged victim to be identified against her wishes.

The federal judge has twice ruled against FAMU’s motions stating there is “absolutely no public interest in outing a rape victim in a Title IX case.”

After ruling against FAMU the second time, the judge wrote, “FAMU does not seem to acknowledge the severity, seriousness, sensitivity, or personal nature of rape allegations.”

Undeterred, FAMU’s attorneys filed a third motion on April 26 to expose the plaintiff’s identity. That motion is pending. The trial should begin soon.

Richardson said in an interview with Tallahassee Reports, “FAMU’s conduct in filing these (repeated) motions and appeals leads me to believe there isn’t empathy for providing the best necessary course of action for their students in the aftermath of being victimized on their campus.”

When asked why, in her opinion, FAMU is fighting so hard to identify the alleged victim, Richardson said, “It appears to be an attempt to intimidate and thwart other students from coming forward in these types of incidents.”

A press release prepared by Richardson and Michael Dolce, both of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll law firm, said, “The school’s legal machinations not only risk causing mental health harm to a rape victim but could also have a chilling effect on the willingness of future rape victims to report crimes.”

As a FAMU graduate, Richardson said she was “disappointed and disheartened” by their actions in this case.

This is the second time FAMU appears tone deaf on the topic of sexual assault recently. In April, FAMU was criticized by the founder of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke. Burke visited FAMU to discuss combating campus sexual harassment and assault. The panel discussion was cut short when Burke began reading a commitment for a program she hoped to implement on FAMU’s campus.

According to the Famuan (FAMU’s student newspaper), a FAMU employee stopped Burke from reading the commitment aloud because the administration hadn’t reviewed it yet. The Famuan quoted Burke as saying, “FAMU has been so antagonistic. And, I don’t know what they are hiding.”

FAMUs attorney in the Title IX case, Hayes Hunt, of the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania law firm, Cozen O’Conner, in an interview with Tallahassee Reports, was dismissive of Richardson’s concerns.

“The jury has a right to know the plaintiff’s name. It’s just due process in an American jury trial,” he said.

Evidently, just because a victim is assured confidentiality by FAMU when reporting a sexual assault crime, that victim should not expect the same confidentiality if the case becomes a civil lawsuit.

“It’s different than anonymity at the time of the incident than when a plaintiff is looking for a cash settlement,” Hunt said.

In a motion for the plaintiff to be referred to by her full name at trial, Hunt said, in short, that keeping her anonymity was unfair to FAMU because It implies that the plaintiff is a victim, because it implies the plaintiff was or is a minor (which she is not) and because all parties in the suit will endure negative public scrutiny, yet she is the only one allowed to use a pseudonym.

Richardson and Dolce’s letter to legislators calls for an investigation into FAMU’s attempts to expose a rape victim’s identity in public. It was sent to more than 40 members of the Florida Senate and House of Representatives. Recipients of the letter were chosen based upon their leadership positions involving oversight of the state public education system and prior efforts to combat sex crimes and support survivors.

The letter said, “[W]e ask that all efforts be made to ensure that any future rape victims can report the crimes they have suffered without fear that, one day, FAMU or other state institutions will take steps to strip them of their privacy and expose their status as survivors in public when they wish to maintain their confidentiality.”

Read the full letter here.

Was the main-stream media complicit? Was there a cover-up?

Penny Herman, a former mayor and member of the City Commission, said she first sounded the alarm about Maddox in 1996, when she was still on the commission. She was concerned about a building he was pushing the City to buy on Adams Street.

Herman recalled, “I was concerned enough that I went to commercial realtors to ask if they thought the deal, the numbers and what the commission was doing made any sense. They said, ‘absolutely not.’”

She said while she never filed a formal complaint, she publicly voiced her concerns with the Commission.

In 2012, after Maddox announced his desire to return to the City Commission, Herman went on the Preston Scott Show in early June 2012, to discuss Maddox’s latest land deals. She also expressed concerns over Maddox’s lack of disclosure of his associations and business interests.

Scott dedicated almost an hour to his interview with Herman.

She said she was disappointed her allegations weren’t seen as legitimate warnings. Instead, she said she was put into a political box and marginalized along with Erwin Jackson, a local business man who repeatedly called out local politicians’ questionable dealings.

“People didn’t take it on face-value, that through my experience as a Realtor and having served on the City Commission with Maddox that I thought there was something wrong here.”

“It was hard not to see some glaring red flags,” she continued, “I think there were a lot of people in this community that knew things were not on the up and up and looked the other way.”

Preston Scott puts blame squarely with the local establishment media. “The Tallahassee Democrat has a long-standing pattern of being friends (with the politicians they’re covering.) They want the interview so badly they don’t ask the tough questions. They sit on the boards with the politicians and lobbyists. They’re simply too close.”

He said the same is true with WCTV and WTXL. Former mayor John Marks’ wife is an on-air personality on WTXL. Gary Yordon, a long-time friend and business partner of Maddox, hosts a weekly show on WCTV. Scott points to an email showing Maddox’s assistant asked Yordon to intervene following WCTV reporter Andy Alcock’s story on Herman’s allegations.

Alcock said Maddox called WCTV’s general manager several times to complain, because he didn’t like the coverage he was getting.

“When I questioned Maddox’s residency (before the 2012 election) and how he made so much money in real estate, the first thing Maddox did was call my boss, Triston Sanders. We had a conference call. He tried everything in his power to kill my stories.”

Alcock said, while he was working on a story on Maddox’s relationship with Allied Veterans (a supposed charity found to be a gambling operation), Maddox took WCTV news director Stan Sanders (no relation to Triston) out to dinner to “schmooze him.” Sanders killed the story.

 “It finally got to the point where Maddox wouldn’t do an interview with me,” Alcock said.

He said despite Maddox’s intimidation tactics, Alcock never felt pressure from WCTV management and denied rumors that his contract was not renewed due to his aggressive coverage of local politicians.

Alcock said Maddox’s carrot and stick strategy was applied to other media outlets as well. The Tallahassee Democrat’s editor in 2012, Bob Gabordi, and Maddox were good friends, walking together weekly. “Gabordi undermined his own news people in his editorials,” offering excuses for Maddox’s behavior, comparing Maddox’s real estate dealings to what “many smart business people were doing…”

Preston Scott also talked about how Maddox tried to influence news.

Scott said Maddox habitually tried to kill negative stories about him. Maddox reportedly told Scott’s general manager he’d pull all advertising as long as Scott was on the air.

Andy Alcock said Tallahassee’s relationship between the media and local government was “incestuous.”

“It’s a small city. (The media’s) advertisers are the same people they’re covering. As a result, local politicians weren’t used to aggressive investigative reporting and didn’t expect vigorous questioning.”

Alcock said you can’t blame the local media for Maddox’s indictments. “There were stories. Nobody’s to blame.”

Scott disagreed, “You had key people connected to local government involved in one way or another with media outlets. They can deny it all day long, but where are the stories? Every single one of those business dealings and decisions made by the commission (and investigated by the FBI) were all questioned on my show. No one can claim we didn’t say anything.”

“Steve (Stewart) and Tallahassee Reports were pushing out stories based on the public record. There are questions that should have been asked (by other media). I maintain, if the (mainstream) local media had done its job, there probably never would’ve been a need for an FBI investigation, because they would’ve been held accountable by the media. But when you are too close, too friendly with the people you interview that’s what happens,” Scott said.

TR’s Karen Murphy reached out to former Tallahassee Democrat Editor Bob Gabordi for comments, but never received a response.

Residents of Mexico Beach are shell-shocked, devastated, tired and increasingly worried. They are worried their beautiful little area of Florida’s Gulf Coast will be forgotten by media that already moved on to the next big story, by relief workers and volunteers who must get back to their “regular” lives. Meanwhile Panhandle residents still live in tents or tarp-covered homes. In many cases there are no jobs to return to, no “regular” life at all.

As long-time residents struggle to survive day-to-day, they also struggle with fears their part of the  Florida Panhandle, lovingly referred to as “The Forgotten Coast,” may never be the same again. They are saddened the last remnants of what they call “Old Florida” are gone, literally washed and blown away. All the quirky little things that made Mexico Beach so unique and charming now sit on a giant debris pile that reaches to the sky and covers acres of land. Many residents fear Mexico Beach’s identity will be forgotten in the rush to rebuild and sacrificed to the staggering amount of money developers can wave in front of beaten down, desperate survivors.

Long-time residents defiantly say they will rebuild. They won’t sell out to the developers who are already swooping into the area, looking for bargains. City leaders swear they will stand firm and cling tightly to the strict rules that kept major developers, chain stores and tourist traps from taking over this area known for its quintessential Old Florida charm.

Residents like Chip Blackburn, the captain of a charter fishing boat, hope that’s true, but just don’t know what the future holds.

“I know they want to keep it the same,” he said, “ but money talks.”

Blackburn, who lost it all in three past hurricanes actually weathered Michael well, relatively speaking. He stayed in Tallahassee as the hurricane hit. He returned to Mexico Beach to find  water marks on his walls where four foot of water filled the bottom level of his home, but it still stood. Before the storm, he took his charter fishing boat, “Miss Mary,” up river and she too survived.

Despite these blessings, Blackburn fears it could be three to five years before he’s back in business.

The marina where he moored his boat is a colossal mess. A Jeep is halfway submerged in the canal.  Large boats sit halfway out on the bank. Lumber, trees, wires, roofs, household items, any and everything imaginable litter the waterway and the waters just off the coast.

“There’s no telling what’s trapped just under the water,” Blackburn said as he surveyed the damage.

The destruction stands in sharp contrast to a still inviting white sand beach. Where homes once perched on stilts, foolishly thinking they could survive Nature’s wrath, there is nothing but sand. The home sites are wiped clean, like a freshly shaken Etch-a-Sketch. The Gulf waters, which are once again tranquil and beautiful, show no sign of their brute force and the havoc they caused just a few weeks ago.

The fresh sea breeze can’t clear the stench of rotting food and animals. Blackburn’s brother, Mike, said for the first three weeks after the storm, the only birds were buzzards. The smell of gas is also heavy and the once shady and colorful town is now brown and barren.

“Even if they get it all cleared, where will people stay who want to go charter fishing?” Blackburn said. There are no hotels,  no rental homes, no restaurants— nothing to draw and serve vacationers.

“What worries me most is how do I keep Curtis employed if there’s no work?,” Blackburn said. Curtis Cain is Blackburn’s first mate and good friend. Cain lost absolutely everything in the hurricane and now Blackburn is worried about keeping him employed until the charters return.

He’s also scared old time residents and small business owners can’t afford to rebuild if new building codes are enforced like in other places like South Florida.

But the devastation is evidence of Mexico Beach’s complete ineffectiveness in standing up to such a powerful storm.

“It’s like living in a landfill, now,” he said.  

“We take it one step at a time. We help each other. We clean up one thing and then another and another.

“Bad stuff happens everywhere,” Blackburn said, “but we’ll clean it up.”

Like most of Mexico Beach’s residents, he’s counting on others to not forget the suffering still happening in the Panhandle and to realize what a long struggle this is. He’s counting on the toughness and resiliency of the hearty locals. He also hopes, despite deep fears and a nagging feeling of inevitability,  that promises will be kept to retain the individuality, charm and history that made “The Forgotten Coast” such a special part of Florida.