Governor Rick Scott today kicked off his four city “Honoring Florida Veterans” tour in Panama City this morning and awarded 49 Florida veterans with the Governor’s Veterans Service Medal for their service to Florida and the nation. The Governor also highlighted funding included in the Fighting for Florida’s Future budget that supports active military, veterans and their families. The Governor will also be stopping in The Villages, Cocoa and Wauchula during his tour.
Governor Scott said, “This week, we celebrated America’s independence and the freedom that we enjoy because of the brave men and women who have served our country. It is important that we continue to appreciate and honor the members of our Armed Forces not just on holidays, but every day. I’m incredibly proud to recognize these American heroes who dedicated their lives to our great nation and present them with the Veterans Service Medal today.”
Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said, “As we celebrated Independence Day this week, we must never forget the service and sacrifice of those who have courageously served our country. It was an honor to join in recognizing these brave men and women.”
The Governor highlighted the following Florida veterans at today’s ceremony in Panama City:
Staff Sergeant William Yaeger Brookes
Staff Sergeant William Brookes enlisted in the Florida Army National Guard in 2002 and later attended Airborne, Air Assault and Pathfinder specialty training schools. During his 15 years of military service, he held multiple positions in the 1-153rd Cavalry Squadron of the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team including rifleman, machine gunner and team leader. Staff Sergeant Brookes also supported deployments to Afghanistan, Kuwait and Guatemala and was recognized with the Combat Infantry Badge. Following his active duty, Staff Sergeant Brookes continues to serve the state as a Florida Wildlife Commission law enforcement officer.
Sergeant Tyler Smith
Sergeant Tyler Smith began his military career in 2006 as Calvary Scout in the Florida Army National Guard. He has served in many roles and leadership positions including, Cavalry Scout, Cavalry Vehicle Driver, Improved Target Acquisition System (ITAS) Gunner, and Team Leader in A Troop of the 1st Squadron 153rd Cavalry Regiment and his current job as a Florida Army National Guard fleet mechanic. Since enlisting 11 years ago, Sergeant Smith has deployed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn supporting Operations in Kuwait, Africa and Iraq, and has served in nearly every state activation.
Maxine McIlroy Mann
Maxine McIlroy Mann was born in Wichita, Kansas and joined the World War II women’s branch of the United States Naval Reserve, known as the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) after its founding in 1942. Maxine attended boot camp in Chicago and became a life guard for the Navy. Following her military service, Maxine went to college and became a Certified Flying Instructor. Currently, she resides at Clifford C. Sims State Veterans Home in Panama City where she enjoys spending her time as an artist.
37 Florida Schools Awarded HealthierUS School Challenge Designation in June
Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam today announced that 37 more Florida schools earned HealthierUS School Challenge designations during June. Under Commissioner Putnam’s leadership, the number of certified HUSSC schools has increased from 27 schools in 2012, when the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services assumed responsibility of the state’s school nutrition programs, to today’s 313 schools.
The HealthierUS School Challenge, a joint effort with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the United States Department of Agriculture, is a voluntary certification initiative that recognizes schools’ efforts to improve food and beverage options, offer nutrition education and promote physical activity. Schools must meet specific criteria, such as providing smarter snacks and opportunities for physical activity.
“A healthy lifestyle is the foundation for academic success, and these schools have gone above and beyond to give their students the fuel they need to excel in the classroom,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam.
In an effort to expand the program, the department offers many resources to help school districts earn HUSSC certification, including specialists throughout the state to provide personal, hands-on support. The department continually works to certify and recertify schools, as schools must re-apply for their HUSSC status every four years.
Schools can apply for four different levels of designation: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Gold Award of Distinction. The following schools were recently awarded HUSSC designation in June:
Alachua County Public Schools
- Alachua Elementary School (Bronze)
- Archer Elementary School (Bronze)
- C.W. Norton Elementary School (Bronze)
- Lake Forest Elementary School (Bronze)
- M.K. Rawlings Elementary School (Bronze)
- Newberry Elementary School (Bronze)
- Stephen Foster Elementary School (Bronze)
- W.A. Metcalfe Elementary School (Bronze)
- William S. Talbot Elementary School (Bronze)
Martin County School District
- Bessey Creek Elementary School (Bronze)
- Citrus Grove Elementary School (Bronze)
- Crystal Lake Elementary School (Silver)
- Felix Williams Elementary School (Bronze)
- Hobe Sound Elementary School (Silver)
- Jensen Beach Elementary School (Bronze)
- Palm City Elementary School (Bronze)
- Sea Wind Elementary School (Silver)
Putnam County School District
- Kelley Smith Elementary School (Silver)
- Middleton-Burney Elementary School (Silver)
Santa Rosa County School District
- Bagdad Elementary School (Gold)
- Benny Russell Elementary School (Silver)
- Berryhill Elementary School (Silver)
- Chumuckla Elementary School (Silver)
- East Milton Elementary School (Gold)
- Gulf Breeze Middle School (Bronze)
- Holley Navarre Intermediate School (Silver)
- Holley Navarre Middle School (Bronze)
- Holley Navarre Primary School (Silver)
- Jay Elementary School (Bronze)
- Oriole Beach Elementary School (Bronze)
- Pea Ridge Elementary School (Silver)
- SS Dixon Intermediate School (Silver)
- SS Dixon Primary School (Bronze)
- Thomas L. Sims Middle School (Bronze)
- West Navarre Intermediate School (Bronze)
- West Navarre Primary School (Bronze)
- W.H. Rhodes Elementary School (Gold)
For more information about the HealthierUS School Challenge Initiative and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FreshFromFlorida.com.
Southwest Florida blue crab trap closure starts July 10, followed by Big Bend trap closure
Recreational and commercial blue crab traps in state waters from the Palm Beach-Broward county line to the Pasco-Hernando county line must be removed from the water before July 10, the first day of a 10-day trap closure. This closure will give groups authorized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) the opportunity to identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from the water.
Traps may be placed back in the water in this area starting on July 20. Until then, blue crabs may be harvested with other gear, such as dip nets and fold-up traps. Blue crab harvesters may also use standard blue crab traps during the closure if the traps are attached to a dock or other private property.
Lost and abandoned blue crab traps are a problem in the blue crab fishery because they can continue to trap crabs and fish when left in the water. They can also be unsightly in the marine environment, damage sensitive habitats and pose navigational hazards to boaters on the water.
The closure is one of three regional, 10-day blue crab trap closures that will occur in 2017 on the Gulf coast of Florida. While state waters extend to 9 nautical miles offshore in the Gulf, the blue crab trap closures include only state waters extending to 3 nautical miles offshore. Coastal waters from Hernando through Wakulla counties, including all waters of the Ochlockonee River and Bay, will close to traps July 20-29 (see map). There are six regional closures total: three in even-numbered years on the east coast and three in odd-numbered years on the west coast.
More information regarding the FWC’s trap-retrieval program, blue crab trap closure dates, regulations and cleanup events is available online at MyFWC.com/Fishing (click on “Saltwater Fishing” then “Trap Retrieval/Debris Removal”). For additional information, contact the FWC’s trap retrieval coordinator, Pamela Gruver, at 850-487-0554.
Thousands of Floridians oppose seismic airgun testing and drilling off Florida’s coast
Progress Florida and Environmental Action delivered more than 7,000 petitions from Floridians urging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to deny permits for seismic airgun surveys – the first step toward offshore drilling – in protected areas of the Atlantic Ocean, including along the Florida coastline.
The petitions were submitted to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service public comment record that was to close today but has been extended until July 21. Additionally, the petitions call upon U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to oppose President Trump’s reckless plan to open up the South Atlantic Planning Area, including large swaths off the Florida coast, to seismic testing and potentially oil and gas drilling. More than 120 east coast municipalities formally oppose offshore drilling and seismic air gun blasting activity off their coasts.
“Oil drilling poses a tremendous risk to Florida’s fragile coastal environment and our tourism-based economy,” said Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo. “Floridians are unified against dirty, dangerous oil drilling and in favor of clean, renewable energy like solar power which will save consumers and businesses money today and protect our coastal waters, beaches, and economies for tomorrow.”
Seismic blasts have a devastating effect on turtles, dolphins and whales, which depend on sound to find food, mate, navigate, avoid predators, take care of their young and survive. “The noise from seismic air gun blasts is so loud that it can be heard up to 2,500 miles from the source, devastating marine life, harming fisheries and coastal economies,” added Ferrulo. Five applications for Atlantic seismic air gun surveys are currently pending after Trump reversed the Obama Administration’s rejection of seismic airgun surveying off the Atlantic Coast.
Offshore drilling is the slowest, dirtiest and most expensive way to generate energy. According to the federal Mineral Management Service, hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed 113 oil platforms, damaged 457 pipelines, caused 124 spills totaling 741,000 gallons of oil including six spills of 1,000 barrels or greater. And that was all before BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster wreaked havoc on the waters, wildlife, and local communities throughout Florida’s Gulf region.
“Opening our coasts to destructive drilling would do little to make us energy independent, but it would threaten our beaches with pollution and oil spills and could destroy our multi-billion dollar tourism and fishing industries,” added Ferrulo.
Those wishing to comment on the seismic testing applications can find instructions on how to do so here.
Undersea Life Holds Promise for Killing Tuberculosis
A team of researchers at the University of Central Florida has discovered a potential new weapon in the fight against tuberculosis, and it lives in the Little Mermaid’s realm.
UCF graduate student Carolina Rodrigues Felix led the study in UCF Assistant Professor Kyle Rohde’s lab. Through a partnership with graduate student Amy Wright of the Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, the team screened 4,400 chemical extracts derived from extracts of sponges and other marine organisms to see if they could kill the dormant tuberculosis bacteria. Tuberculosis is a highly contagious disease that is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
“To our knowledge this is the largest marine natural product screening on TB and the only one that focused on dormant bacteria,” Rohde said.
The team identified 26 compounds that were active against replicating tuberculosis bacteria, 19 killed dormant bacteria including seven that were active against both.
“There were some that actually killed the dormant bacteria better than the replicating bacteria, which is a novelty,” he said, “as existing drugs are better at killing replicating bacteria.”
Findings of the study published in June in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which is published by the American Society of Microbiology. The National Institutes of Health funded the study.
Tuberculosis, an infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs, is spread from person to person through the air. Globally, there are about 10.5 million new cases and about 1.5 million deaths reported each year.
“One of the biggest problems is the lack of effective treatments,” Rohde said. “Tuberculosis is very difficult to treat and in most cases, takes six to nine months of taking at least four drugs daily. And most patients don’t stick to their drug regimens for six to nine months because they have undesirable side effects, or they stop taking it when they feel better.”
Tuberculosis bacteria have thick cell walls that drugs have difficulty penetrating. The bacteria also express proteins that make it resistant to treatment. And the bacteria can hide within the immune system and become dormant, only to reappear after treatment ends. “Most of the drugs we have only kill bacteria that are trying to replicate,” he said, “so we need drugs that can kill those dormant ones.”
Scientists have been isolating marine natural compounds from sea sponges and other marine organisms to find treatments for diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis. Rohde said many of these compounds are not in the sponges themselves, but are made from microorganisms such as fungi or bacteria that live on the sponges.
Rohde and his team plan to purify and further isolate the individual compounds in these extracts to identify which ones have antibacterial properties. So far, they have identified five pure compounds with verified antibiotic potential against tuberculosis.
“Once we’ve identified these compounds, we want to study them to understand how they work,” Rohde said. “That way if the compound turns out not to be a great drug for use in humans as is, at least we would have identified a new target for antibiotics. Alternatively, we could work with chemists to modify the drug to improve its clinical usefulness.”
Governor Scott to Kick Off “Honoring Florida Veterans” Tour
MEDIA ADVISORY
This week, to honor our nation’s veterans, Governor Rick Scott will kick off the four city “Honoring Florida Veterans” tour. Tomorrow, July 6 he will visit Panama City and The Villages to honor veterans with the Governor’s Veterans Service Medal.
This tour will also highlight the Fighting for Florida’s Future budget that includes more than $60 million in total funding to support active military, veterans and their families.
WHEN: 9:00 AM CDT
WHERE: Florida National Guard Armory
3121 North Lisenby Ave.
Panama City, FL 32406
WHEN: 3:00 PM EDT
WHERE: Eisenhower Recreational Center
3560 Buena Vista Blvd
The Villages, FL 32163
*The Governor will also make stops Friday in Cocoa and Wauchula. Details on times and locations will be announced tomorrow. *
Yulee man wins top prize playing MONOPOLY $2,000,000 FLORIDA EDITION Scratch-Off game
Sydney Smith poses with his wife and oversized check after claiming a top
prize in the MONOPOLY™ 2,000,000 FLORIDA EDITION Scratch-Off Game.
The Florida Lottery announces that Sydney Smith, of Yulee, claimed a top prize in the MONOPOLYTM $2,000,000 FLORIDA EDITION Scratch-Off game at Florida Lottery Headquarters in Tallahassee. He chose to receive his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $1,540,000.00.
Smith purchased his winning ticket from Circle K Gas Station, located at 850378 U.S. Highway 17 in Yulee. The retailer will receive a $4,000 bonus commission for selling the winning Scratch-Off ticket.
The $10 Scratch-Off game, MONOPOLY $2,000,000 FLORIDA EDITION, launched in July 2016, and features more than $151 million in prizes, including eight top prizes of $2,000,000! The game’s overall odds of winning are one-in-3.45.
Scratch-Off games are an important part of the Lottery’s portfolio of games, comprising approximately 65 percent of ticket sales and generating more than $734 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) in fiscal year 2015-16.
DBPR Unveils Business Information Portal
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) unveiled the state’s new Business Information Portal, designed to help Floridians set up and run a business in the Sunshine State. Using the new site, prospective business owners are taken step-by-step through everything from licensing a new food truck to opening the doors at a new salon or barbershop. The new site, which launched on Friday, June 30, also helps with state tax registration, licensure applications and other documentation.
Governor Rick Scott said, “Florida is the best place in the world to start a business, and DBPR’s new Business Information Portal makes it easier than ever for businesses to start and grow. The Business Information Portal gives every Floridian the guidance they need to start their company at the click of a button, empowering every entrepreneur to become a successful job creator. Over the past six years, we have worked every day to make Florida the most business-friendly state in the nation. I am proud that, working with our agencies and DBPR, we’ve been able to eliminate more than 4,800 burdensome regulations and help Florida’s business owners succeed.”
DBPR Secretary Jonathan Zachem said, “This new Business Information Portal will give prospective entrepreneurs an easy checklist for crafting their business, meeting licensing requirements and then opening the doors to their new venture. The information and assistance needed to get a business up and running in Florida is now a click away. There’s never been a better time to start your business in the Sunshine State.”
By entering a search term, the portal generates a step-by-step checklist to help prospective business owners understand local, state and federal requirements for the selected business category. The portal also features an eGuide that provides a basic overview to all the tools, tips and resources needed to open a business in Florida. The first section of the eGuide includes best practices and general information regarding different aspects of starting and operating a business in Florida. A quick reference guide is also included to walk you through the state requirements that fit most businesses. The final section contains information about state regulatory agencies and provides additional resources for entrepreneurs.
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Director Cissy Proctor said, “Florida is making it easier for businesses to succeed and grow in our state by cutting taxes, reducing regulations and enhancing our business-friendly climate. The Business Information Portal is another great resource that proves our commitment to Florida businesses and the hardworking people who are investing in our communities.”
DBPR worked closely with the following state agencies and stakeholders to develop the Florida Business Information Portal: Agency for Health Care Administration, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Citrus, Department of Economic Opportunity, Department of Elder Affairs, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Financial Services, Department of Health, Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Department of Management Services, Department of Revenue, Department of State, Division of Emergency Management, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Lottery, Office of Financial Regulation, Office of Insurance Regulation, and Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network.
The new portal can be reached at www.OpenMyFloridaBusiness.gov.
Gov. Scott: We Must Not Do Any Business with the Maduro Regime
Governor Scott today announced he will introduce an agenda item to bring before the Trustees of the State Board of Administration in August that would prohibit the State of Florida from doing business with any organization that supports the Maduro regime. More details of the Governor’s proposal will be made available prior to the August 16, 2017 Cabinet Meeting.
Governor Rick Scott said, “During the next meeting of the Florida Cabinet in August, I will bring forward a proposal that will prohibit the State of Florida from doing business with any organization that supports the oppressive Maduro dictatorship. Floridians stand with the people of Venezuela as they fight for their freedom, and as a state, we must not provide any support for Maduro and his thugs.
“On Venezuela Independence Day, we stand in solidarity with the opposition to the brutal Maduro regime, whose crimes against his own people continue daily. In fact, just today, Maduro’s henchmen violently disrupted a meeting of the opposition controlled National Assembly. This is unacceptable behavior that Florida will not tolerate.”
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Recovers More Than $250,000 for Floridians in June
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recovered more than $250,000 for Florida consumers during the month of June. Last year, the department recovered nearly $3 million for Florida consumers from moving companies, vehicle repair shops, pawn shops, health studios, telemarketers, sellers of travel and more.
During June 2017, the department:
- Recovered $250,256 on behalf of Florida consumers;
- Received 3,629 complaints;
- Initiated 230 investigations;
- Arrested 10 individuals;
- Provided assistance to 21,545 consumers through the 1-800-HELP-FLA hotline, online chats and emails; and
- Added 17,354 telephone numbers to Florida’s Do Not Call List.
As the state’s clearinghouse for consumer complaints, the department educates the public, investigates complaints and provides mediation on behalf of consumers. The department’s call center is staffed with trained analysts who can respond to questions about programs and regulations under the department’s purview, provide information on a wide variety of topics or direct callers to the appropriate government agency.
Consumers who believe fraud has taken place can contact the department’s consumer protection and information hotline at 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or, for Spanish speakers, 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832). For consumer protection information and resources, visit FloridaConsumerHelp.com.
