City Seeks to Expand Public Meeting Notification Process

City Seeks to Expand Public Meeting Notification Process

At its retreat on January 16, 2019, the City Commission directed staff to implement a process which would expand the number of people notified of actions taken by the Development Review Committee and the Board of Adjustment and Appeals. The Development Review Committee deals with land use regulations and the Board of Adjustment and Appeals […]

Abortion Parental Consent Backed in Senate

Abortion Parental Consent Backed in Senate

By Tom Urban, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After rallying and testimony from numerous activists on both sides of the issue, a Senate panel Monday approved a proposal that would require minors to receive parental consent before having abortions. The Senate Health Policy Committee voted 5-4 to support the bill (SB 1774), sponsored […]

City Commissioner Matlow Proposes CRA Reforms

City Commissioner Matlow Proposes CRA Reforms

Citing “a lot of discussion of restoring the image of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency)”, City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow has issued a memo proposing changes to how the Tallahassee CRA conducts business. One of these changes include having the CRA Executive Director report directly to the CRA Board instead of the city manager. The CRA, […]

Lynda Bell Runs for House District 7 with Strong Pro-Life Message

Lynda Bell Runs for House District 7 with Strong Pro-Life Message

Next week Republican voters will go to the polls to choose between four candidates in the primary special election for Florida House District 7. Voters are tasked with choosing between candidates that are all running as conservatives. The candidates include Mike Watkins, Lynda Bell, Jason Shoaf and Virginia Fuller. The media buzz and campaign donations […]

House Passes $89.9 Billion Budget as Talks Loom

House Passes $89.9 Billion Budget as Talks Loom

By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — State lawmakers are ready for the big dance. The Florida House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed an $89.9 billion spending plan, setting the stage for the annual ritual of negotiating a budget with the Senate. Big picture, the House and Senate are about $400 million apart, […]

LCS to Consider $100,000 Pons Settlement

LCS to Consider $100,000 Pons Settlement

The Leon County School Board is set to vote this Monday on a $100,000 settlement with former superintendent Jackie Pons. The legal dispute is related to a Board policy that Pons believes required LCS to hire him as a principal after he lost his re-election bid in 2016 to Rocky Hanna. Board Policy 1430 states […]

Andrew Gillum Becomes Chairman of PAC with $4 Million

Andrew Gillum Becomes Chairman of PAC with $4 Million

It is official, as of March 29, 2019 former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum is now the Chairman of the “Forward Florida” Political Action Committee (PAC). Gillum lists his address as 240 North Magnolia Drive in Tallahassee. PAC’s can accept contributions or make expenditures to advocate the election or defeat of a candidate or issue. Politico […]

Tallahassee Leaders Tour Greenville Transportation Assets

Tallahassee Leaders Tour Greenville Transportation Assets

Tallahassee leaders on a fact-finding trip to Greenville, S.C. were given tours of two Greenville-Spartanburg transportation assets on Tuesday. The first tour was of the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP). The GSP serves more than 2.3 million passengers each year with access to six major airlines. Combined, these airlines offer an average of 50 nonstop daily departures with […]

Plan Could Spur More Underground Power Lines

Plan Could Spur More Underground Power Lines

By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — After hurricanes during the past three years knocked out electricity for millions of Floridians, lawmakers are moving forward with regulatory changes that could lead to more underground power lines. But it would come at a cost. A House panel this week approved a bill (HB […]

Disputed University Survey Supported in Senate

Disputed University Survey Supported in Senate

A wide-ranging higher education package, which includes a controversial mandate for an annual “intellectual freedom” survey on state university campuses, was backed unanimously by a Senate panel on Tuesday. The bill (SB 1296), sponsored by Senate Education Chairman Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, is similar to legislation (HB 839) approved by a House panel last week. […]