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Danny Burgess endorses Taylor Yarkosky for HD 32

Another sitting lawmaker has endorsed Montverde Republican Taylor Yarkosky as his pick in the race to succeed Rep. Anthony Sabatini in House District 32.

The latest nod comes from Sen. Danny Burgess, who called Yarkosky “an honest, humble, and thoughtful leader” in a Monday news release.

“He is a principled conservative who will work tirelessly every day to improve the lives of his constituents and people across our state. I am proud to endorse him and give him my full support and I look forward to serving with him as a colleague in the state legislature,” Burgess said.

First elected to the Senate in 2020, Burgess serves as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He previously served as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs under Gov. Ron DeSantis after serving two terms in the state House.

Ron DeSantis committee has raised nearly $5M in August

While Gov. Ron DeSantis technically hasn’t filed for reelection, a political committee supporting his ambitions has raised more in August than those supporting his Democratic opponents have brought in all year.

Friends of Ron DeSantis reported raising $4.92 million from Aug. 1 through Friday. By comparison, Friends of Charlie Crist and Florida Consumers First, committees respectively supporting Democratic candidates Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried, raised a combined $3,249,970 this year through the same date.

And that’s before the close of the month. There’s a possibility the total intake for the committee (dating back to before DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign) could exceed $100 million this or next month.

The bottom line? Even after paying $682,920 in bills this month, the committee sits on $52,604,242 in cash on hand.

COVID-19 Cases In Young Children Continue To Climb In Florida

The surge began as students returned to their classrooms earlier this month. Schools in the greater Tampa Bay region have seen thousands of students test positive for coronavirus, and even more have been sent home to quarantine because they were exposed to the virus.

Then, last week, the state reported that more children under 12 tested positive for COVID-19 in Florida than any other age group.

Children's hospitals like Johns Hopkins All Children's in St. Petersburg have seen a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases among children, said Dr. Allison Messina, Chief of Infectious Diseases at All Children's.

"To give you an example, in June I think we diagnosed a total of 12 cases,” Messina said. “By July, that was about 180 and in August — and we're not even done counting yet obviously — I think we're already around 400 or more."

First responders would get extra benefits for COVID-related disabilities or death under proposed law

Florida lawmakers next year will consider a proposal that could lead to increased benefits for first responders who suffer disabilities or die because of COVID-19.

Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, R-DeLand, filed the proposal (HB 53) on Friday for consideration during the legislative session that will start in January.

The bill would expand an existing law dealing with first responders such as law-enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics.

Under the proposal, first responders who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or infectious diseases that result in total or partial disability or death would be “presumed to have a disability suffered in the line of duty.” The infectious diseases covered by the bill would involve conditions tied to declared public health emergencies.