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Orlando Sentinel sues FL Department of Transportation to compel "release of public records related to the state’s decision to remove a rainbow crosswalk outside the Pulse nightclub where 49 people were gunned down almost a decade ago." #DefendDemocracy www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/12/23/o...

"he Terminal Expansion project at Southwest Florida International Airport is facing renewed scrutiny, this time from the Lee County Clerk of Courts" #DefendDemocracy www.gulfshorebusiness.com/lee/expandin...

"[H]e’s bullying our local governments, creating fictitious formulas, and now he wants to overreach even more by putting a clause in there about removing elected local officials.” #DefendDemocracy floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/18/n...

"Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Thursday he wants lawmakers to establish standard practices for city and county budgets to allow the public more scrutiny." #DefendDemocracy www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/12/18/f...

"A judge on Thursday cleared the way for Miami Dade College to give up prime downtown land to be used for Donald Trump’s presidential library, tossing a case that alleged the college broke state law" #DefendDemocracy www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

Lawmakers in Tallahassee are quietly working on a measure that would give the sugar industry more ammunition to threaten Everglades advocates, news outlets and others with defamation lawsuits. #DefendDemocracy jasongarcia.substack.com/p/florida-po...

"[A]s the facts continue to be revealed about how Gov. Ron DeSantis took public money and used it for campaign purposes, there are no two ways about it: This was grossly improper, possibly illegal, and there should be hell to pay and taxpayers to reimburse." #DefendDemocracy

Marceno, after months of near-dormancy, has been raising his profile since the federal case against him was closed. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/unreported-g...

The push by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo to repeal some of the state’s vaccine requirements kicked off Friday. #DefendDemocracy floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/12/f...

New analysis estimates that eliminating property taxes "could drive statewide home values up by 7% to 9%, a jump that would benefit current homeowners but make it even harder for first-time buyers to get into the market." #DefendDemocracy www.news4jax.com/news/local/2...

"Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed" #DefendDemocracy www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

Once "a beacon of government transparency," now "Florida government is growing ever darker, and the clouds of secrecy are spreading throughout the United States, even into our local governments." #DefendDemocracy www.news-journalonline.com/story/opinio...

With the latest measles outbreak making headlines, sparks are likely to fly Friday at the first public airing of surgeon general Ladapo’s plan to repeal four mandates on school-entry vaccines now and bring about the repeal of seven others later. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/school-vacci...

"Andrade says the figures the state repaid don't add up...He has been outspoken on the issue, saying the money was illegally diverted away from the state's coffers to campaign for DeSantis' initiatives." #DefendDemocracy weartv.com/news/local/andrad...

Florida universities are cutting 18 degree programs, citing underperformance in producing graduates -- but the criteria they're basing that decision on may be arbitrary. #DefendDemocracy www.fsunews.com/story/news/2...

"Two St. Lucie County commissioners broke county rules and risked eroding public trust when they appointed each other’s family members to citizen advisory boards, according to at least four government watchdogs." #DefendDemocracy www.tcpalm.com/story/news/lo...

#DefendDemocracy www.floridatoday.com/story/n...

"I feel cheated," said Cetola, who was one of a half dozen parents who told CBS News they had signed up their kids to attend. "These kids were cheated, and it’s heartbreaking." #DefendDemocracy projects.cbsnews.com/2025/fl...

Four proposed constitutional amendments aimed at reducing property taxes for homeowners continued moving forward Tuesday in the Florida House, despite concerns about how they could hit funding for local services. #DefendDemocracy www.orlandosentinel.com/2025...

Florida’s tax system is the most regressive in the nation: low-income residents pay 13% of their income in taxes, while the wealthy pay under 3% of their income. Eliminating property taxes would only deepen this inequality. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/eliminating-...

Following accusations of violating Florida’s Sunshine Law, the Miami Dade College Board of Trustees will retake a vote on the land transfer for President Trump’s library -- but they're limiting public comment. #DefendDemocracy www.wlrn.org/news-in-brief/2...

In "a remarkable resurrection of the case," federal judges revived the securities fraud investor lawsuit against Florida Power & Light parent company NextEra #DefendDemocracy jaxtrib.org/2025/11/28/resur...

Pensacola Republican Rep. Alex Andrade is seeking to put teeth back into Florida’s public records law and require state and local governments to respond quickly to records requests. #DefendDemocracy www.pnj.com/story/news/polit...

Lawmakers rubber stamp false report about key transparency law despite $6 billion in missing contracts #DefendDemocracy www.floridabulldog.org/2025/11/lawm...

"The co-sponsor of the bill that allows Florida universities to conduct their presidential searches in private says it's being manipulated by bad actors to put favored candidates in power." #DefendDemocracy www.pnj.com/story/news/local...

A private school in Brooksville should be barred from access to state school vouchers after its operator admitted it wasn’t educating students the state paid it to teach, an administrative judge recommended Wednesday. #DefendDemocracy floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/2...

"Voters across every age group and every region of the state are signaling the same message: removing these standards goes too far, puts children at risk, and undermines Florida’s public health. " #DefendDemocracy floridapolitics.com/archives...

Pediatricians say that if childhood vaccine mandates are repealed and vaccine uptake plummets, community wide immunity will dissolve, and communicable diseases such as measles, polio and Hib will be free to resurge. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/fl-pediatric...

"Check the numbers...they are fictitious. Made-up. Phony. False," says Broward County Democratic County Commissioner Steven Geller, criticizing FL CFO Ingoglia’s claim of the county's $189 million in "wasteful spending" in the past 5 years. #DefendDemocracy floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/23/c...

"Florida Power & Light, the monopoly power company that has long had a stranglehold on state politics, just got permission to raise electricity rates — again." #DefendDemocracy jasongarcia.substack.com/p/florida-ju...

“The house shook like a pirate ship on rough open seas,” recalled Robert Dixon, one of the homeowners affected. “I immediately went out to look at the walls, and I saw cracks.” #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/billionaires...

State Rep. Alex Andrade, the Pensacola Republican who led a probe into the Hope Florida initiative, has filed a sweeping bill that takes aim at tactics used by the DeSantis administration to thwart public inquiries. #DefendDemocracy

Favoritism towards Jeffrey Epstein began in a Florida grand jury room, where prosecutors downplayed his crimes. Now, another round of secretive grand jury proceedings may begin in South FL, targeting political figures who have angered Trump. #DefendDemocracy www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/19/e...

An audit on the Florida Department of Education's Family Empowerment Scholarship for the 2024-25 school year found a "myriad of accountability challenges," with millions of dollars in overspending #DefendDemocracy www.tallahassee.com/story/news/l...

The homestead property tax repeal being considered is "the policy equivalent of removing a load-bearing wall with no structural review and simply assuming the building will absorb the strain." #DefendDemocracy

"Over the last few years, Florida has gone from being the Sunshine State to the Political Patronage State." #DefendDemocracy www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/18/m...

In small Florida counties, eliminating property taxes could cause a collapse of basic services -- everything from roadwork to fire departments. Read the third article in our Power Play series to learn more. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/for-these-fl...

The Mobile Fortify app continues to enable ICE & Border Patrol agents to photograph anyone in public without their consent or ability to refuse. And if the image doesn’t match an immigration record, agents can forcibly gather fingerprints, too. #DefendDemocracy www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/11/14/i...

Are high property taxes truly a problem that needs fixing? Read the second installment of our Power Play series, investigating the motivations and repercussions of the push to eliminate property taxes. #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/property-tax...

“Here we have the man who’s supposed to be defending our law and defending our rights under the law working to narrow that right of access,” [Trident publisher Barbara] Petersen said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Read more at: www.miamiherald.com/news/politic... #DefendDemocracy

Election Day was yesterday, but for millions the outcome may have already been decided. Last year we exposed how “ghost” write-in candidates are used to close FL primaries. It’s a legal loophole & a quiet form of disenfranchisement. Read more: floridatrident.org/trident-anal... #DefendDemocracy

"Two almost identical homes in Tampa illustrate the tax disparities created by Save Our Homes. One property owner pays 50 percent more in property taxes. The difference: the higher taxed home was purchased last year while the other 30 years ago. " #DefendDemocracy floridatrident.org/save-our-hom...

Today we're kicking off FLCGA’s #NewsMatch campaign! Donate by 12/31 and your gift will be DOUBLED. There’s never been a more critical time to stand up for nonprofit newsrooms – please support FLCGA & the Florida Trident today: www.flcga.org/donate #DefendDemocracy #TeamTrident

Editorial: Florida CFO’s overspending claims ignore necessity of local rule #DefendDemocracy

"Uthmeier’s stint at the private practice...raises ethical and legal questions about the Republican attorney now running for the job of Florida’s top prosecutor." #DefendDemocracy

"Sarasota County Schools has drawn up a sweeping plan to shrink its empty classroom space — and, in the process, try to shield itself from a new state law that allows charter schools to move into underused public campuses." #DefendDemocracy suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-sch...

Ron DeSantis and Florida Cabinet members voted to give a campaign donor $83 million for 4 acres of barren land in the most recent case, where records show lobbyists wrote legislation that compliant politicians then passed. #DefendDemocracy