Florida spent $60,000 on new highway welcome signs that feature a campaign slogan used by Gov. Ron DeSantis in speeches and on merchandise.

Signs welcoming visitors to “The Free State of Florida” now stand at 24 locations along highways and at two welcome centers, said Michael Williams, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, in an email.

Williams did not answer questions about who decided to erect the new signs, which he said were created in-house at a department facility in Lake City. The state disclosed the cost of the signs, which were unveiled in a DOT news conference last week, in response to a public records request from the Orlando Sentinel.

The department was reviewing its messaging and “took the opportunity to offer a refresh of the signage, including now offering ‘Hurry back’ signage as motorists leave Florida,” he wrote.

The signage, he added, was “not unique to Florida as many states choose to offer a friendly message to drivers who are excited and look forward to crossing state lines when they travel.”

Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami, said such a politically charged welcome to visitors was unusual.

“I’m certainly not familiar with anything like this,” Koger said. “Most of the road signage I’ve seen is based on ordinary state slogans. Drive into Georgia, and it’s the Peach State. When I drive into Montana, it’s Big Sky Country.”

The phrase “Free State of Florida” dates back to at least 2021, when conservatives began using it to describe DeSantis’ opposition to most COVID-19 restrictions. DeSantis then began using variations of the phrase himself, including in a 2022 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in Orlando and in his 2023 inaugural address.

In his 2022 State of the State address, in which he called Florida “the freest state in the United States,” DeSantis said the state was “the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions.”

Since then, the phrase has been repeatedly turned into political merchandise, including a $25 “Free State of Florida” Christmas mug available at the DeSantis campaign’s website beginning in 2022 and a “Free State of Florida” flag featuring DeSantis’ face available from the Bay County GOP for a $20 donation.

The new signs are “using the resources of the state to promote Gov. DeSantis’ brand, because it’s a phrase that’s associated with him,” Koger said.

“It’s not surprising,” he added. “He’s been using the resources of the state to promote his brand since he became governor, so it’s a continuation of that pattern. But it’s another piece of evidence that he doesn’t see a line between his own political interests and the best interests, the long-term interests, of the state of Florida.”

Asked about the appropriateness of the slogan on state signs, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez told WFLA, “We continue to stand by the ‘free state of Florida.’ We believe that we provide freedom. Freedom for the right to life, of course, for those babies. We continue to stand by freedom of opportunity. That’s something the governor prides himself on.”

Ironically, Florida’s state lines were the scene of a COVID-era DeSantis policy at odds with his later stance.

In March 2020, DeSantis ordered a two-week self-quarantine for anyone arriving in the state from the New York City region, which was experiencing an infectious wave at the time. That included highway checkpoints at the Florida border, many of them near the current “Free State of Florida” signs.

©2024 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.

STEWART AIRPORT – New York Stewart International Airport will expand its service again later this year with the addition of a new route to Vero Beach, Florida, served by Breeze Airways beginning in November.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Newburgh area airport, announced the new service.

The twice-weekly service to Vero Beach will operate on Thursdays and Sundays beginning Nov. 21.

Port Authority said this will build on Breeze Airways’ previously successful service from Stewart, which includes routes to Orlando and Fort Meyers in Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina.

“We’re thrilled to see Breeze Airways offer even more service at New York Stewart, giving travelers more warm weather destination options just as this region experiences the cooler seasons,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a statement.

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“We’ve seen tremendous demand from New York to Vero Beach in the last couple of years,” said Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman in a statement. “So I’m thrilled to announce today that we’re adding service from New York Stewart, joining flights to the popular Treasure Coast from Long Island-Islip, Westchester, Hartford and Providence.”

Port Authority says New York Stewart is an economical, convenient alternative to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan region’s other airports, offering minimal wait times at security, seamless border and customs checks and simple baggage claims.

The airport’s other offerings include nonstop daily service to Reykjavik, Iceland, with connections to dozens of popular cities in Europe via PLAY Airlines; service to Orlando-Sanford, Punta Gorda and St. Petersburg-Clearwater in Florida and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina via Allegiant Airlines; and seasonal service to Vagar via Atlantic Airways, the nation’s first and only nonstop service to the Faroe Islands.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayo Clinic is again ranked the No. 1 hospital in Florida and the Jacksonville metro area in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” 2024-2025 rankings. Mayo Clinic in Florida has ranked No. 1 in the state of Florida for eight of the past nine years. Mayo Clinic in Florida also made impressive gains in the publication’s national rankings and is ranked in 10 specialties nationally.

“We are humbled and honored to once again be ranked as the top hospital in Florida by U.S. News & World Report,” says Kent Thielen, M.D., CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. “Our outstanding teams are dedicated to continuing to push the boundaries of medicine while providing the highest quality care to each of our patients.”

Mayo Clinic in Florida ranked nationally among the top 50 hospitals in these 10 specialties:

U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” specialties are measured on factors such as patient experience, patient survival, discharge outcomes, nurse staffing, advanced technology, patient services and reputation with other medical experts. The remaining three specialties – ophthalmology, psychiatry and rheumatology – are measured on reputation only.

Mayo Clinic in Florida provides diagnosis, medical treatment, surgery and care for more than 164,000 patients each year in 50 specialty areas. Mayo has about 10,000 staff members in Florida and has a total economic impact of more than $4 billion annually on Florida’s economy.

In 1986, Mayo Clinic brought its team approach to caring from Rochester, Minnesota, to the Southeast when it opened a clinic in Jacksonville. Today, the 602-acre campus offers a medical destination for patients who travel from all 50 states and more than 80 countries.

Mayo Clinic’s global destination for hope and healing began as a single-physician medical practice in 1864. Today, Mayo Clinic’s mission remains steadfast, with more than 80,000 staff members at all its sites providing expert, compassionate care to more than 1.3 million patients from every state and 130 countries each year.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is top ranked in more specialties than any other hospital and has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as an Honor Roll member. Mayo Clinic has been on this list since it was first published in 1990. Mayo Clinic also has been ranked No. 1 in the state of Minnesota since 2012, when U.S. News first published state rankings.

Mayo Clinic in Arizona is ranked No. 1 in the Phoenix metro area and the state of Arizona and has held this ranking for 12 consecutive years.

U.S. News & World Report “Best Hospitals” rankings list analyzes data for 5,000 medical centers to determine the rankings.