Florida
Hundreds apply for restitution for abuse suffered at Florida reform schools
Hundreds of people who say they suffered physical or sexual abuse at two state-run reform schools in Florida are in line to receive tens of thousands of dollars in restitution from the state, after Florida lawmakers formally apologized for the horrors they endured as children more than 50 years ago.
At its peak in the Jim Crow 1960s, 500 boys were housed at what is now known as the Dozier School for Boys, most of them for minor offenses such as petty theft, truancy or running away from home. Orphaned and abandoned children were also sent to the school, which was open for more than a century.
In recent years, hundreds of men have come forward to recount brutal beatings, sexual assaults, deaths and disappearances at the notorious school in the panhandle town of Marianna. Nearly 100 boys died between 1900 and 1973 at Dozier, some of them from gunshot wounds or blunt force trauma. Some of the boys’ bodies were shipped back home. Others were buried in unmarked graves that researchers only recently uncovered.
Ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, the state of Florida received more than 800 applications for restitution from people held at the Dozier school and its sister school in Okeechobee, Fla., attesting to the mental, physical and sexual abuse they endured at the hands of school personnel. Last year, state lawmakers allocated $20 million to be equally divided among the schools’ surviving victims.
Bryant Middleton was among those who spoke publicly in 2017, when lawmakers formally acknowledged the abuse. Middleton recalled being beaten six times for infractions that included eating blackberries off a fence and mispronouncing a teacher’s name after being sent to Dozier between 1959 and 1961.
“I’ve seen a lot in my lifetime. A lot of brutality, a lot of horror, a lot of death,” said Middleton, who served more than 20 years in the Army, including combat in Vietnam. “I would rather be sent back into the jungles of Vietnam than to spend one single day at the Florida School for Boys.”
Allegations of abuse have hung over the Dozier school since soon after it opened in 1900, with reports of children being chained to the walls in irons. When then-Gov. Claude Kirk visited in 1968, he found the institution in disrepair with leaky ceilings, holes in walls, no heating for the winters and buckets used as toilets.
“If one of your kids were kept in such circumstances,” Kirk said then, “you’d be up there with rifles.”
Florida officials closed Dozier in 2011, following state and federal investigations and news reports documenting the abuses.
As the men who were victimized at the schools wait for restitution, their resilience is being honored in the new film “Nickel Boys”, which was adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Whitehead has said Dozier served as the model for the book, which he hopes raises awareness “so that the victims and their stories are not forgotten.”
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Plans for a new Wawa to open in Port St. Lucie were approved.
A new Wawa fuel station and convenience store will open in Port St. Lucie now that the plans have been approved.
The Wawa will be at the corner of Village Parkway and Becker Road in front of the Lowe’s which is expected to open in the summer of 2026, according to the city’s website.
The plans for a Wawa convenience store and eight fuel pumps were submitted to the city Dec. 3, 2025.
What will go in Port St. Lucie’s Southern Grove?
The plans for the Shoppes at Southern Grove show there will be a new Lowe’s store and six additional outparcels.
The six additional outparcels include the following:
- Gas station: 5,915 square feet
- Outparcel A: 1.2 acres
- Outparcel B: 1.14 acres
- Outparcel C: 1.83 acres
- Outparcel D: 1.04 acres
- Outparcel E: 1.02 acres
Olivia Franklin is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com, 317-627-8048 or follow her on X @Livvvvv_5.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Five Florida Panthers players and five staff members will represent their home countries at the upcoming 2026 IIHF World Championship, taking place May 15 through May 31 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. Games will be broadcast on NHL Network in the United States.
Marek Alscher, 22, will represent Czechia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time. He previously played for his home country at the 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship, skating in seven games to help the Czechs capture the bronze medal over Finland. Alscher made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, notching three assists over four games played. He also skated in 52 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, recording 11 points (3-8-11).
Aleksander Barkov, 30, missed the 2026 Winter Olympic Games due to injury but had been named to Finland’s preliminary roster in June of 2025. He previously earned a bronze medal at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games alongside current Panthers assistant coach Tuomo Ruutu, and earned a silver medal representing his home country at the 2016 IIHF Men’s World Championship. At the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, Barkov served as captain of Finland.
Anton Lundell, 24, will be participating in his second IIHF World Championship after earning a silver medal with Finland in 2021, where he posted seven points (4-3-7) in 10 games as a 19-year-old. He helped Finland capture the bronze medal at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games this season and previously earned gold at the 2019 IIHF U20 WJC and 2018 IIHF U18 WJC, as well as a bronze medal at the 2021 U20 WJC.
Sandis Vilmanis, 22, will represent Latvia at the IIHF World Championship for the first time in his career. He played for Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in February as well as at the 2022, 2023 and 2024 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2024 where he produced four points (2-2-4) over five games. Vilmanis made his NHL debut with the Panthers in 2025-26, logging five points (3-2-5) in 19 games with Florida while compiling 38 points (17-21-38) in 48 American Hockey League (AHL) contests with the Panthers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Matthew Tkachuk, 28, will attempt to become the first American to join the Triple Gold Club (Stanley Cup, World Championship Gold Medal and Olympic Gold Medal), as well as the first player in NHL history to win all three parts of the Triple Gold Club within a 12-month span. This will be Tkachuk’s first time participating in the IIHF World Championship.
In addition to his 2026 Olympic gold medal, Tkachuk also earned gold representing the United States at the 2015 IIHF U18 World Junior Championship and the 2014 U17 World Hockey Challenge, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 IIHF U20 WJC. He served as alternate captain for the U.S. at the 2026 Olympics and 2025 4 Nations Face-Off.
Florida will have four staff members representing the United States. Panthers Assistant General Manager Brett Peterson is serving as General Manager for the second time after holding the position in 2024. Panthers Head Equipment Manager Teddy Richards will serve as equipment manager and Florida’s Head Athletic Trainer Dave DiNapoli will work as athletic trainer. Panthers President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Bill Zito will serve on the Advisory Group.
Panthers Assistant General Manager Gregory Campbell will assist with evaluating and selecting players for Canada.
Panthers fans can stay up to date on all the Cats’ representatives at the 2026 IIHF World Championships at FloridaPanthers.com/WorldChampionship.
2026-27 Florida Panthers Territory Memberships are available now! Click here to learn more. For all the latest in Panthers news, concerts and events at Amerant Bank Arena & FTL War Memorial, sign up for ’93 Society newsletter and receive information straight to your inbox. Visit FloridaPanthers.com or SeatGeek.com for all ticketing needs.
A Martin County slaughterhouse near Lake Okeechobee could increase toxic algal blooms in the C-44 Canal, St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
There have been 81 algal blooms in the past two years within 2 miles of a proposed slaughterhouse in western Martin County, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Algal Bloom Dashboard.
The slaughterhouse will increase pollution and bring more potentially toxic algal blooms to Lake Okeechobee, whose waters sometimes are released into the C-44 Canal and flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon in Stuart, opponents say.
Chancey Bay Ranch owner Tuny Mizrachi has proposed building a 56,784-square-foot slaughterhouse on 26 acres of his 2,046-acre-property at 8401 SW Connors Highway, abutting Lake O.
5 ways a slaughterhouse can increase Lake Okeechobee pollution
The Guardians of Martin County have raised at least five concerns with the Martin County Commission:
- Meat processing facilities, though necessary, have the potential to be noisy nuisances and significant sources of disease and pollution for air and water.
- The facility would be a new source of pollution in a watershed that’s designated as “impaired” because of elevated concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus.
- The facility would be a potential new source of pollutants near one of Martin County’s lowest income and most ethnically diverse communities.
- There’s no evidence the facility has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, or plans to follow effluent limitation guidelines or conduct water-quality monitoring.
- The South Florida Water Management District has permitted the facility to withdraw 6.7 million gallons of water per year for 20 years from Florida’s surficial aquifer, despite it being subject to varying levels of saltwater intrusion, especially in Martin County. The SFWMD has designated all of Martin County a Water Resource Caution Area.
Blood, feces, oil, grease, ammonia and antibiotic residue from the proposed slaughterhouse would contribute to harmful algal blooms, including toxic cyanobacteria, Martin County Administrator Don Donaldson wrote to the DEP and SFWMD.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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