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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered messages about California, New York, Illinois and President Joe Biden during a State of the State address that was more of a listing of what the governor’s done the past five years than it was a vision for the state’s future.
DeSantis, who is running for president and is expected in Iowa later Tuesday to continue campaigning ahead of next week’s critical caucuses, touted his efforts to protect Floridians from mask mandates during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, expand gun rights, restrict abortion and get rid of diversity and equity programs at state universities.
What was missing were specifics on how he will continue to lead the state in the future if he doesn’t get the presidential nomination.
“My message is simple: Stay the course. The state of our state is strong. Let’s keep doing what works,” DeSantis told lawmakers on the first day of the legislative session.
Before mentioning what he’s done in Florida, DeSantis attacked policies in liberal states.
“We are as a country in the midst of a great upheaval, and we see this throughout the land,” DeSantis said. “Cities throughout the land have decayed.”
He said residents in San Francisco, Chicago and New York have struggled with crime, homelessness and bloated government spending that’s driving people away.
“We … continue to witness a great migration of Americans away from cities and states pursuing these failed policies with Florida serving as a refuge for freedom and sanity,” DeSantis said.
But DeSantis said not everybody is welcome to seek refuge in Florida. DeSantis, who in 2022 flew dozens of migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, before they could find their way to Florida, said the state is stepping in to counter illegal immigration while the federal government has failed.
“We refuse to sit idly by while Biden’s border crisis ruins lives across the nation,” DeSantis said. “Since President Biden won’t stop the flow of illegal immigrants and dangerous drugs across the border, Florida has been forced to pick up the slack.”
And in a state that’s had the Florida National Guard deployed to prisons since 2022 because of staffing shortages, DeSantis boasted that Florida doesn’t have a lot of government employees compared with other states.
“We have set the standard for limited government,” he said. “Florida has the fewest state employees per capita and the lowest state government cost per capita in the entire United States.”
Democrats criticized DeSantis’ speech, saying it was targeted to Iowa voters rather than addressing current needs at home, like skyrocketing property insurance rates and the lack of affordable housing.
“There were no new ideas. It was a rehash of his greatest hits. When he opened up his remarks, I was wondering ‘When is he ever going to talk about Florida?’” House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said. “My God! Chicago, California, New York, D.C. — everywhere but Florida.”
The Senate and House began the largely ceremonial proceedings, with lawmakers coming together for optimistic speeches from the Republican leaders of each chamber. Flowers adorned the lawmakers’ 160 desks as Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices and former leaders gathered to wait for DeSantis.
Unlike past years, DeSantis has largely been quiet about what he hopes to achieve during the session, focusing instead on his presidential campaign, where polls show he badly trails former President Donald Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The opening of the session was also marked by stormy weather as strong winds and rain pounded the Florida Panhandle while rolling toward Tallahassee. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis skipped the ceremonies to travel to the Panama City area to view storm damage.
“I think tropical storm force winds on opening day means good luck, kind of like rain on your wedding day,” Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said. “I hope the old adage in like a lion, out like a lamb will ring true this session.”
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Entertainment
MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details in its fictionalized narrative, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.
Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, a film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. Court filings don’t say how much the officers are suing for, but the civil complaint says they’re seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.
“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.
An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. But in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people, which had been stated by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.
Although Smith and Santana aren’t named in the film, the lawsuit claims that Santana was serving as the lead detective assigned to the real case, and Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigative team. The film’s inclusion of real details about the case gives the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs, the suit said.
And this, the lawsuit claims, has given friends, family members and colleagues the impression that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts that appear in the film, which include (SPOILER ALERT) conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering the lives of civilians, repeatedly violating core law-enforcement protocols and executing a federal agent rather than making an arrest.
Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs haven’t even identified which particular character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana, so even if “The Rip” was actually about a real-life narcotics team, there’s no way to connect any of the characters to the plaintiffs.
“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted in January on Netflix. It’s currently rated 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Brevard County couple gets married in NICU after birth of premature twins
A Florida couple, told they may not be able to have children, welcomed premature twins and had an impromptu NICU wedding.
Provided by AdventHealth for Children
Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.
But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.
Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.
Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.
“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.
“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.
The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.
“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.
Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.
“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”
The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.
“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.
“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”
The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.
“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”
Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.
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