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How Florida officials are cracking down on speech around Charlie Kirk

About an hour before Charlie Kirk was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound, Karen Leader, a Florida Atlantic University art history professor, had logged on.

Leader was following the news of Kirk’s shooting on the social media site X. It didn’t look good for Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA. Leader quickly reposted a message condemning the shooting.

Then, Leader saw a narrative begin to form on her timeline about Kirk’s life. She saw posts painting Kirk as a noncontroversial free speech champion. The professor saw evidence to the contrary, and she wanted to weigh in.

She reposted an account that noted Kirk’s take on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which he called a “mistake,” and his pro-gun rights stance. The next day, while conservatives mourned Kirk’s death, Leader amplified numerous other posts critical of the activist, and a few clips of Kirk’s more controversial statements, along with the commentary, “This was Charlie Kirk.”

'The kind of leader Florida needs’: Rob Long adds Associated Industries of Florida nod to House bid

Include the powerful, pro-business Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) lobbying group to the list of backers for Delray Beach Commissioner Rob Long in the House District 90 Special Election.

In a new, ringing endorsement, AIF President Brewster Bevis said his group is “proud to stand with him in this race.”

“Rob Long is the kind of leader Florida needs — someone who has shown he will work with anyone, whether they are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, to find common-sense solutions that help Florida families,” Bevis said in a statement.

“From lowering costs to creating innovative, high-paying jobs, Rob understands what it takes to build a strong, pro-business economy that works for everyone.”

The new nod is notable, considering Long is a Democrat and AIF most often endorses and donates to Republican candidates.

Over 160,000 apply for Florida black bear hunt, wildlife officials say

Florida’s first bear hunt in a decade drew more than 160,000 applicants for a far more limited number of permits, including from opponents who are trying to reduce the number of bears killed.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will award 172 bear hunt permits by random lottery for the December hunt, down slightly from the 187 permits initially proposed. The permit allows a hunter to kill one bear in areas where the bear population is deemed large enough.

Florida has an estimated 4,000 black bears, wildlife officials say.

Applications were taken from Sept. 12 through Monday. Wildlife commission spokesperson Shannon Knowles said in an email Tuesday that the agency received 163,459 applications, adding that it does not have records of how many applications it got for the 2015 hunt, which resulted in more than 300 bears killed in two days.

“We will collect and evaluate data that will be used to shape future hunts, such as the number of unused permits and hunter success,” Knowles said.

Economists discuss possible impacts of eliminating property tax on governments, large and small

As the Legislature explores the future of property taxes in the state, tensions continue to swirl around whether local governments manage money the way state lawmakers would like.

“We need to rename this ‘Truth in Millage’ and ‘rollback rate’ to something else, because there’s no truth and it doesn’t feel like anything rolls back,” said Rep. Yvette Benarroch, a Marco Island Republican.

It was a theme that came up as lawmakers received an hours-long briefing on the significance of property taxes to local governments of various sizes.

Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Palm City Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on Property Taxes, called the application and exclusion from certain tax exemptions unfair. He also noted that many homeowners can still see their own property tax payments go up even when local governments vote to lower tax rates.