Florida
Florida Chabad synagogue and community center set aflame in arson
The Florida Las Olas Chabad Jewish Center was ravaged by a fire in an act of arson early Saturday morning, causing damage to the synagogue, Hebrew school, and community center, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue and Las Olas Chabad said.
The Chabad Center said in statements on Sunday night that the fire was deliberately and intentionally set.
“It was a clearly targeted attack on our facility and our Community,” said the Chabad.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that police were not investigating the incident as a hate crime. The alleged arsonist, Scott Hannaford, 50, was a transient who had previously trespassed on the property, according to the report. Hannaford has been charged with arson, criminal mischief, and possession of cocaine.
The Fort Lauderdale Police did not immediately respond to The Jerusalem Post‘s requests for comment.
Fire Rescue said on Saturday on social media that the fire started with a vehicle next to the building and which later extended into the facility.
Chabad center seeks to raise a million dollars
Las Olas Chabad said that just on Friday night, as the Jewish Sabbath began, they “sat in the shul surrounded by our Hebrew School students and families, we were filled with pride! We were horrifyingly awakened Shabbos morning to the news of the Shul burning!”
The Jewish Center said it was saddened that the center was established ten years ago and was damaged, leaving no home for its various community projects.
“The loss that we feel right now isn’t just a loss of property but a loss to all those who count on us,” said the Chabad.
Las Olas Chabad seeks to raise a million dollars to rebuild the center.
“Despite the tremendous setback this will cause, we will rebuild our home!” said the Chabad.
Florida
Flordia’s 6-week abortion ban means Louisiana women will have to travel farther, wait longer
The state of Florida, a recent haven for women in the Deep South seeking to terminate their pregnancies in the post-Dobbs era, will ban abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy starting May 1, further narrowing access to the procedure for Louisiana residents.
Nearly 1,200 Louisiana women traveled to Florida for abortions in 2023, roughly three times the number who sought the procedure there two years earlier, according to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. Louisiana residents made up about 15% of Florida’s 7,736 out-of-state abortions last year.
The ban may be temporary. While upholding the 6-week abortion threshold earlier this month, Florida’s Supreme Court also ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion “before viability,” which is typically around 24 weeks, would be on the November ballot.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Louisiana residents will have to travel farther and wait longer to get appointments in states other than Florida. The closest states are North Carolina, which offers abortions up to 12 weeks; Virginia, which allows the procedure until the third trimester; Illinois, which offers abortion until viability; and Kansas, where abortion is legal until 22 weeks.
“That inundates them,” said Kendra Smith-Parks, communications manager at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in New Orleans. “Right now, we’re one of the most restricted regions, and patients are left with fewer and further options.”
Louisiana residents seeking Florida abortions skyrocketed
Even as Florida tightened the window in which women could get abortions, Louisiana residents continuing seeking them there in increasing numbers.
In 2021, 380 Louisiana residents traveled to Florida to terminate their pregnancies, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. In 2022, when the abortion ban in Louisiana came down mid-year, the number rose to 910. Then in 2023, the first full year after the near-total ban was enacted, 1,191 Louisiana residents received abortions in Florida, which provided the procedure up to 15 weeks.
Although Florida requires two visits 24 hours apart before an abortion will be performed, the distance and familiarity made it an easier option than flying to a state with less cumbersome requirements for some Gulf South residents.
“A lot of people we’ve spoken to coming out of Texas and Louisiana, some of them have never flown,” said Smith-Parks. “Some are undocumented and are afraid of being detained.”
From June 2022 to January of this year, Planned Parenthood Gulf South has spent about $870,000 assisting around 2,000 women with abortions. With Florida no longer an option for most, Parks said costs the organization paid for, such as gas, flights and childcare, will be more expensive.
The distance also will likely influence whether some choose to continue an unwanted pregnancy, said Michelle Erenberg, executive director of Lift Louisiana, an abortion rights advocacy group.
“Louisiana is honestly the worst-positioned state in the entire country when it comes to abortion access now,” said Erenberg. “The number of states to traverse in order to find a state in which they can access legal abortion is just monumental and will be insurmountable.”
To get an abortion in Florida after May 1, patients would need to find out they were pregnant in the fifth week of pregnancy, which might be one week after a missed period.
Increased funding for crisis centers
Alongside the six-week ban, Florida is giving $25 million to the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, a group of crisis pregnancy centers that counsel women not to have abortions and may offer supplies like diapers and strollers, though some such centers have been found to provide inaccurate or misleading information about abortions. Unlike Louisiana’s law, Florida’s law allows for exceptions for rape and incest up to 15 weeks, but requires an accompanying police or medical report.
Louisiana lawmakers voted to increase funding for similar centers from $1 million to $3 million starting July 1.
Anti-abortion groups pointed to the crisis centers as a resource for the potential additional pregnancies and births that may occur in the state as a result of Florida’s ban.
“Our hope would be that the 1,200 women would look to Louisiana’s local services,” said Sarah Zagorski, director of communications for Louisiana Right to Life, adding that findhelp.org, a site can help families during and after pregnancy.
Florida
Breaking down the 49ers taking Florida State CB Renardo Green at No. 64
The San Francisco 49ers made their second selection of the 2024 NFL Draft, taking Florida State cornerback Renardo Green with the No. 64 pick after trading back one spot with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Green, a 6’0, 186-pound receiver who put up 13 pass breakups and an interception in 2023, has a versatile background, having played outside, in the nickel, and even at safety during his collegiate career.
What kind of player is Green and what does this selection mean for the 49ers?
Green’s profile
Green is a 49ers type of cornerback; he’s a press-man corner with ultimate physicality and has the type of frame that they covet at the outside cornerback position.
In college, Green went up against the top competition, impressing against LSU’s elite core of receivers, and holding his ground against star Malik Nabers.
Now, Green ran a 4.49 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, but doesn’t play with elite deep speed. That might be the only detractor to his game.
As a physical player, Green is able to slow receivers down by winning at the line of scrimmage as a press corner, while his agility and change of direction impress me for a player of his physical profile, allowing him to keep with receivers as they run a variety of routes.
He’s exactly what the 49ers like in a cornerback and is a willing run defender, showcasing aggressiveness in that department.
Moreover, Green’s versatility is key, as he can play a number of roles for the 49ers, similar to fellow cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, which San Francisco covets.
For the second consecutive pick, the 49ers went with a player who fits what they covet, choosing a cornerback after getting a receiver in the first round.
Evaluating the pick
For the second consecutive pick, the 49ers chose fireworks, as they traded back one spot from No. 63 with the Kansas City Chiefs, getting back No. 173 and giving up No. 211.
Now, considering the trade specifically, the 49ers got great value for a one spot move, knowing that the Chiefs were likely targeting an offensive tackle with BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia still on the board.
Following the Green selection, insider Jordan Schultz revealed that the 49ers were thinking about an offensive tackle, but their top players were off the board, hence the selection to go with the Florida State product instead.
While I would have preferred Suamataia, given the need for an offensive tackle, be it for 2024 or the future, it feels that San Francisco did not have the BYU lineman high on their board, as they allowed Kansas City to move up and grab him.
Their guy could have been Washington’s Roger Rosengarten, who was taken one spot ahead of them by the Baltimore Ravens, or a bevy of other tackles who went in the 50s.
While he wasn’t my top available player, Green is still a great choice who, once again, fits what San Francisco wants to do as they went with a BPA approach.
More importantly, there is an avenue for Green to compete early on, as he could slot in at one of the starting corner spots should he win the job in camp or even play in a multitude of roles as a reserve.
What it means for the 49ers
Cornerback was a position to watch for the 49ers heading into the draft, as all five of their top players are scheduled to be free agents following the 2024 season.
Now, San Francisco should extend one of their top players, but nonetheless, there was a need for corner in the future, and the 49ers addressed that with Green here at No. 64.
Green should be an outside cornerback in the future, solving a key issue for the 49ers and providing them some flexibility as they look into potential extensions for either Charvarius Ward or Deommodore Lenoir.
I wouldn’t be surprised if San Francisco looks to even double-dip at cornerback in the later rounds, but the choice to go with the skill position players over an offensive tackle is certainly interesting.
Now, with the depth, or lack thereof, at offensive tackle in the later portion of the draft, I thought it was intriguing that the 49ers went with a cornerback, given the depth at that position in the third round, but it’s a good sign that they chose to go best player available, rather than falling in love with a specific player or position.
With receiver and cornerback off the board, the 49ers could look to target the interior offensive line in the third round, although there should still be a ton of talent available at their next selection.
One other thing? I wouldn’t be surprised at a trade up in the third round, as the 49ers now have another asset following their trade with the Chiefs, and they have a bevy of fourth-round picks at their arsenal.
Florida
13 Florida candidates file to run for U.S. Senate nomination • Florida Phoenix
There are 13 Floridians vying to win the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Republican incumbent Rick Scott.
That’s after the qualifying period for all federal candidates, which ended Friday at noon.
Leading the pack is Scott, who narrowly won the seat six years ago against then 18-year Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. He will face two candidates in August: businessman Keith Gross and John S. Columbus.
On the Democratic side, while former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has dominated news coverage in the past few months, she still will have to defeat four other challengers to get a chance to face off against the GOP candidate in November.
In addition to Mucarsel-Powell, the other Democrats in the race are Stanley Campbell, Rod Joseph, Brian Rush and former Congressman Alan Grayson.
Rush served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1986-1994. He ran and finished a distant second to Val Deming’s in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2022.
Grayson is a former star in Florida Democratic politics who hasn’t been in public office since 2016. He represented a Central Florida congressional district from 2008-2010, and again in 2012-2016. But he has lost his last three races – the 2016 Democratic Senate primary against Patrick Murphy; the 2018 Democratic primary in Congressional District 9 to Darren Soto; and the Congressional District 10 primary against Maxwell Frost in 2022.
Grayson says that while the establishment believes that Mucarsel-Powell is the favorite, he begs to differ, saying that there haven’t been any polls of the Democrats in the contest.
“I think that what the establishment is doing is covering up the fact that I’m the only candidate with any statewide recognition,” he says. “I’m definitely in it to win it.”
He says he can do so by concentrating his resources on voter-registration efforts.
In addition to the major political party candidates, there are five other independent and/or third-party candidates who have filed for the U.S. Senate seat.
Three of them are non-party-affiliated candidates: Shantele Renee Bennett, Ben Everidge and Tuan TQ Nguyen. Libertarian Feena Bonoan and write-in candidate Howard Knepper complete the list.
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