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.
Florida
Tallahassee gas prices rise due to Iran war; how to find cheapest pump prices
If you’re kicking yourself for not filling up your vehicle over the weekend or earlier this week, you have good reason.
Gas prices have been going up steadily — sometimes sharply — since the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran started Saturday, Feb. 28.
In Tallahassee, prices have jumped 26 cents from last week with an average gallon of gas currently sitting at $3.08, according to AAA. The highest price on record in Florida’s capital city was $4.84 a gallon in June 2022.
Since Monday, March 2, Florida gas prices have jumped almost 36 cents for a gallon of regular, according to AAA.
The war is spreading throughout the Middle East and at least six U.S. soldiers have been killed, including one from Florida.
➤ Live updates: Senate won’t check Trump’s war
Here’s what you should know as the war with Iran continues.
Florida not alone in worrying about rising gas prices
Gas prices surge as Iran war closes Strait of Hormuz
Gas prices rise as Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz threatening oil supply and raising fears of global economic fallout.
Gas prices were already rising before the attacks on Iran began Feb. 28. It’s a regular seasonal swing as spring arrives, according to AAA.
➤ Americans fret over gas prices as Iran war widens
Iran has retaliated with missile and drone attacks that have now killed at least six U.S. servicemembers, including one from Florida.
➤ Florida Army Reserve captain killed in Iran war
Analysts said the war will likely drive up prices by an additional 20 to 30 cents per gallon, partly due to supply issues and partly due to global uncertainty.
Here’s a look at gas prices per gallon of regular provided by AAA this week:
- March 5: $3.251
- March 4: $3.19
- March 3: $3.061
Compare to:
- Week ago: $2.983
- Month ago: $2.891
- Year ago: $3.107
What’s average price of gas in Florida?
AAA posted the average price in Florida on March 5 was $3.241, slightly less than the national average of $3.251.
Here’s a comparison of the daily average price of a gallon of regular this week as provided by AAA:
- March 5: $3.241
- March 4: $3.198
- March 3: $3.068
- March 2: $2.883
In comparison:
- Week ago average: $2.940
- Month ago average: $2.882
- Year ago average: $3.084
Will Florida gas prices keep going up?
The national average price of gas is “likely to move toward $3.10 to $3.15 (per gallon) within one to two weeks … and to $3.20 to $3.25 within two to three weeks,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis with GasBuddy, on March 1.
On March 2, DeHaan said he expected gas prices “at average stations” nationally to increase by 10 to 30 cents in the coming week.
President Trump: Oil prices may be high ‘for a little while’
President Donald Trump told reporters March 3 oil prices may be high “for a little while.”
As soon as the war ends, “these prices are going to drop, I believe even lower than before,” Trump said.
In a post on TruthSocial March 3, Trump said: “If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible. No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.”
How can you find the cheapest gas?
Whether you’re traveling or at home, gasbuddy.com offers information to find the cheapest prices for gasoline.
Enter your state, city or ZIP code to find the Top 10 gas stations and cheap fuel prices.
Cheryl McCloud is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
Florida
Florida college Republicans group chat reveals racist texts: ‘Avoid the coloreds like the plague’
It only took three weeks for a group chat for conservative students at Florida International University (FIU) to become a place where participants eagerly used racist slurs, prompting widespread condemnation from community leaders.
Abel Alexander Carvajal, secretary of Miami-Dade county’s Republican party and a student at FIU’s College of Law, reportedly started the chat after the killing of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, in September 2025.
But on Wednesday, the Miami Herald published leaked WhatsApp conversations in which the college Republicans made racist, sexist, antisemitic and homophobic comments, including variations of the N-word used more than 400 times. Knowledge of the chat’s existence was revealed on the same day that Republican lawmakers in Florida pushed forward a bill to rename a one-mile stretch of road alongside FIU in honor of Kirk.
William Bejerano, who the Herald noted once tried to start an anti-abortion group at Miami Dade College, was the most prolific user of the N-word. Using the slur, Bejerano called for dozens of acts of extreme violence against Black people, including crucifying, beheading and dissecting.
Dariel Gonzalez, then the College Republicans’ recruitment chair, who has recently applied to become a GOP committee member, responded to the calls for violence by saying: “How edgy.” He repeatedly used “colored” to describe Black people, including writing: “Ew you had colored professors?!” and “Avoid the coloreds like the plague,” according to the Herald.
Carvajal, who was appointed to a two-year role on the city of Hialeah’s planning and zoning board earlier this year, confirmed to the paper that the group chat was his doing, but he denied knowledge of the problematic comments until the publication contacted him about its logs last week.
“It’s been five months since this was sent and this is the first time I’ve seen this message,” Carvajal told the Herald.
“I guess to an extent, I bear some responsibility, cause I created a chat. But if I had seen this at the moment, I would have removed [Bejerano] from the chat. I probably would have even blocked his number.”
The Herald found that Carvajal had deleted 14 messages sent by other participants in the chat and 42 of his own messages before the publication obtained the chat’s logs.
He also participated in some of the racist discussions. While referring to a Black student who allegedly left FIU’s College Republicans after a member of the group “called her a [N-word]”, the Floridian reported that Carvajal wrote: “Why didn’t miggress leave?” Elsewhere in the chat, the publication reported that Carvajal used “Miggress”, “Migglet” and “Migger” to refer to Black women, Black children and Black people, in general.
At one point, Gonzalez wrote: “You can fuck all the [K-word, a slur for Jewish people] you want. Just don’t marry them and procreate.”
Ian Valdes, the Turning Point USA FIU chapter president, responded, “I would def not marry a Jew,” before changing the group chat’s name from “Uber [R-word slur for disabled people] Yapping” to “Gooning in Agartha”. “Gooning” is a gen-Z slang term for male masturbation, while “Agartha” is a mythical white civilization promoted by Heinrich Himmler, one of the most powerful leaders in Nazi Germany next to Hitler.
Gonzalez reportedly described Agartha to the group chat as “Nazi heaven sort of”.
Kevin Cooper, the first Jewish chair of the Miami Dade Republican party, condemned the group chat in a statement published to X and called for Carvajal’s resignation.
“The majority of our board voted to request Carvajal’s resignation. We have commenced removal proceedings and look forward to resolution from the Republican Party of Florida,” he wrote.
That call was echoed by Juan Porras, a Republican state representative and Miami-Dade GOP state committee member, who said in a statement: “Leadership carries responsibility. When someone in a leadership role engages in this kind of behavior, it damages the trust placed in our party by voters across Florida. For that reason, I am asking the Miami Dade Republican party secretary to step down from this position.”
In a joint statement, Florida Republican state senators Alexis Calatayud, Ileana Garcia and Ana Maria Rodriguez denounced the chats and called for the expulsion from party leadership of its participants.
“The individuals in the group chat have exposed how profoundly misaligned their beliefs are to the views of the Republican party of Florida,” their statement said. “We call for the immediate expulsion of the individuals disseminating from any level of leadership of the Miami-Dade Republican Party … We will not tolerate bigotry or discrimination.”
Multiple leaked group chats from young Republicans have created controversy in recent years.
Last year, Politico published messages from a group chat of more than 100 conservatives across the country in which users also made racist and antisemitic comments. In 2022, a Young Republican group chat from North Dakota was revealed as a cesspool of homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric.
Florida
Federal judge blocks DeSantis executive order declaring CAIR a 'terrorist organization'
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Wisconsin4 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts3 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Maryland5 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida5 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Oregon7 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling