By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE — In one of his first acts after taking office, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday made a historic appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, naming appellate Judge Barbara Lagoa as the high court’s first Cuban-American female justice. DeSantis’ selection of Lagoa, the daughter of Cuban émigrés, […]
It is hard to evaluate an elected official’s fitness for office. The nature of our political system has evolved not to get the best and brightest, but to get the most obstinate, most malleable, or most likable. John Adams, eventually to become our second President, saw and lamented the rise of the two-party system, set […]
A nomination that was thought to be dead by many, was resurrected and Lawrence Keefe was appointed as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Keefe, a lawyer from Fort Walton Beach, was approved by a voice vote in the US Senate during the waning hours of the 115th US Congress. The position […]
Dr. Erwin Jackson believes the Tallahassee City Commission violated Florida’s Sunshine Law and has filed a lawsuit with the Second Judicial Circuit Court in Leon County. Dr. Jackson told TR that “given the millions of dollars our city government spends on legal advice it is disappointing they can’t devise a selection process that conforms to […]
Payment records show that recently appointed City Commissioner Dr. Elaine Bryant was a paid City of Tallahassee vendor from at least 2015 through 2018. The records of payments are shown below. TR has requested records previous to 2015. The records show that during this period, Dr. Bryant was paid $27,700 through 23 payments ranging in […]
After hearing approximately thirty citizens during the public input section of the city commission appointment process and hearing five minute presentations by each of the nine applicants, the City Commission voted to appoint Dr. Elaine Bryant. During the citizen input and applicant presentations, no questions were asked by Mayor Dailey or the City Commissioners. City […]
Patti Smith, a small business owner in Thomasville, Georgia, told Tallahassee Reports that city commission candidate Tabitha Frazier used foul language and threatened her business after she asked that Frazier’s children stop climbing on the store’s furniture. The altercation escalated to the point of Ms. Smith calling the Thomasville Police Department. A criminal trespass notice […]
When asked about my disappointment with not being selected for appointment to the city commission seat I once ran for, I said that’s not the end of the story. I still have to go to church with some of these people! As I get older, I realize that loss is a significant part of life, […]
Based on votes by the current city commissioners and the nomination process, Tabitha Frazier is the odds on favorite to be selected on December 31st to replace Scott Maddox on the Tallahassee City Commission. Frazier was the only applicant to receive support from three city commissioners. They were City Commissioners Jeremy Matlow, Dianne Williams-Cox, and […]
There are many movies this time of year that my family enjoys watching. Home Alone, Die Hard, A Christmas Story, and many others. I always watch It’s a Wonderful Life, and The Wizard of Oz. There is an underlying theme in these films that we may not fully comprehend. Each deal with facing fear, standing down […]