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Entrepreneur and philanthropist Rick Kearney donates $100,000 to support Florida Competitive Workforce Act

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Florida FL competes

This marks the largest single donation to the cause
of modernizing the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992

Tallahassee’s Rick Kearney, one of Florida’s most respected entrepreneurs and philanthropists, today donated $100,000 to Florida Competes, the coalition of businesses committed to passing the Florida Competitive Workforce Act, which aims to include anti- discrimination protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This is the largest single donation to date supporting Florida Competes.
“This contribution reflects my longstanding commitment to LGBT equality and serves as an investment in improving Florida's reputation for equality and inclusion,” said Rick Kearney. “I’m proud to stand with Florida's business leaders to advocate for equality for all, by adding these overdue protections to Florida's civil rights statute.”
Senate Bill 666 and House Bill 623, were filed last week by Sen. Jeff Clemens (D-Lake Worth), Rep. Ben Diamond (D-St. Petersburg) and Rep. Rene Plasencia (R-Titusville). The bipartisan effort promotes economic growth and attracting the best-educated workforce in the nation to Florida by ensuring equal protections for LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations.
“We appreciate those who embrace corporate policies of inclusion and respect for all people regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation. Thank you to Mr. Kearney who has made such a generous donation to move this cause forward in our state,” said Florida Competes spokesperson Christina Johnson. “I hope this largest-ever single donation prompts other business leaders to step forward in support.”
Florida Competes includes 10 Fortune 500 Companies: AT&T, CSX, Darden Restaurants, Marriott, NextEra Energy, Office Depot, Raymond James, Tech Data, Walt Disney World Resort and Wells Fargo; 30 large businesses including Akerman, AmericanAirlines Arena, Bank of the Ozarks, Bilzin Sumberg, Carlton Fields, Carnival Corporation, Chamber SOUTH, Coconut Grove Business Improvement District, Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, DTCC, Florida Apartment Association, Florida Blue, Florida Realtors®, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association, Haskell, HSN, Miami Heat, Mis en Place, Orlando City, On Top of the World Communities, Pointe Group Advisors, Pop Yachts, Rollins College, South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, University of North Florida, University of South Florida Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity, and Winn Dixie; and more than 450 small businesses in the state.
Rick Kearney is Chairman and CEO of Mainline Information Systems, Inc. in Tallahassee. A leader in economic development in the community, he served as a member and chairperson for ITFlorida. His vision and work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Tallahassee Distinguished Leader of the Year Award; the Jim Moran Enterprises 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year award; the inaugural Ethics in Business award from the Tallahassee Rotary Club; the Entrepreneur of the Decade award from the Jim Moran Institute; and Philanthropist of the Year by the Northwest Florida Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
About Florida Competes
Florida Competes, formerly known as the Florida Businesses for a Competitive Workforce coalition, is a 501c(4) whose mission is to support passing the Competitive Workforce Act, which would modernize state law to include anti-discrimination protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The coalition believes that the Competitive Workforce Act will make Florida more competitive in the national and global marketplace in much the same way companies have benefited from adopting anti-discrimination policies. For additional information, please go to www.FloridaCompetes.com or visit the coalition on Twitter or Facebook.

2017 bay scallop season in Dixie and Taylor counties set

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The 2017 bay scallop season for Dixie County and parts of Taylor County will be open from June 16 through Sept. 10. This includes all state waters from the Suwannee River through the Fenholloway River. These changes are for 2017 only and are an opportunity to explore regionally-specific bay scallop seasons.
These changes were discussed at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) meeting on Feb. 8, where staff was directed to work with local community leaders on selecting potential 2017 season dates and to adopt changes by executive order.
At the Feb. 8 meeting, staff also updated the Commission on the status of bay scallops in St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County, and set a July 25 through Sept. 10 recreational bay scallop season off Gulf County, including all waters in St. Joseph Bay and those west of St. Vincent Island in Franklin County, through the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County.
A prolonged red tide event in late 2015 negatively impacted the scallop population in St. Joseph Bay, which led to modified local scallop regulations for 2016 that included a shortened season and reduced bag limits. FWC researchers conducted a scallop restoration project last year within St. Joseph Bay to help speed the recovery of the scallop population. These efforts have been going well and the scallop population has shown signs of improvement. Staff will conduct similar restoration efforts in 2017.
All other portions of the bay scallop harvest zone will be open from July 1 through Sept. 24. This includes all state waters from the Pasco-Hernando county line to the Suwannee River Alligator Pass Daybeacon 4 in Levy County and from north and west of Rock Island near the mouth of the Fenholloway River in Taylor County through the westernmost point of St. Vincent Island in Franklin County.
Bag and vessel limits throughout the entire bay scallop harvest zone will be 2 gallons whole bay scallops in shell or 1 pint of bay scallop meat per person, with a maximum of 10 gallons of whole bay scallops in shell or 1/2 gallon bay scallop meat per vessel.
At the December 2017 Commission meeting, staff will review public feedback on these changes and make a recommendation for future management. To submit your feedback on bay scallop regulations, visit MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments.
For more information on these changes, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings,” then click on the link below “Next Meeting.”
For information on bay scallop regulations, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” “Recreational Regulations” and “Bay Scallops.”

Alan Abramowitz Reappointed as Executive Director of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office

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Lori Duarte-Roberts, Chairperson of the Florida Guardian ad Litem Foundation Board of Directors, announces Alan Abramowitz is reappointed by Governor Rick Scott as the Executive Director of the Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office.   
Over 10,000 Floridians volunteer for the Guardian ad Litem Program, an organization whose mission is to advocate in court for the best interests of abused, abandoned or neglected children.  Today, Governor Scott announced the Program will continue to be led by one of its own volunteers, Alan Abramowitz, who has himself served as a guardian ad litem (GAL) volunteer for more than 10 years.
“I am honored to serve Governor Scott, my professional colleagues and especially our 10,000 active volunteers as Florida Guardian ad Litem Office’s Executive Director,” said Abramowitz. “I have the best job in the world because every day there is a chance to make the life of an abused or neglected child better.”
Since Abramowitz’s initial appointment six years ago, the GAL Program has grown from 5,000 to more than 10,000 volunteers now representing the best interests of over 25,500 of Florida’s most vulnerable children.  Under his leadership the GAL Program has also championed legislation focused on the best interests of children being adopted, promoted normalcy in the lives of foster children, worked to enable teens in foster care to get driver licenses, and developed training to improve legal advocacy statewide, including specific initiatives on advocacy for children with disabilities.
“He gets it,” said GAL Foundation Chairperson Duarte-Roberts. “Alan has a keen awareness of how advocacy for children can make their lives better, and he brings an unbridled enthusiasm to the job and more energy than you can imagine.”  Wansley Walters, Chairperson of Florida’s Children and Youth Cabinet, also gave her endorsement. “Alan represents the best of the best when it comes to working for children. He is the perfect combination of a great mind, strong will, and a gentle heart. The state of Florida is lucky to have Alan continue to head our Guardian ad Litem Program.”
“I am inspired by the dedicated citizens from every walk of life who spend their free time advocating on behalf of children” said Abramowitz. “I’m motivated every day by our talented and committed GAL staff who work to ensure children live in a safe, permanent home.  Most of all I am inspired by the children we serve.  In what is certainly the darkest hours of their lives, they show resilience, hope and strength.”
To learn how you can advocate as a GAL for an abused or neglected child visit: www.GuardianadLitem.org or call 1-866-341-1GAL [425]

ICYMI: Florida Politics: "Jeff Atwater wins first round of $1 billion bonds fight with feds"

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“Jeff Atwater wins first round of $1 billion bonds fight with feds”
Florida Politics
Story by Jim Rosica
February 9, 2017
Click HERE to read the full story.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater has scored a preliminary win in his fight against the federal government over U.S. savings bonds he holds as unclaimed property.
The U.S. Treasury has agreed to redeem “just over 1,000 bonds, worth a little more than half a million dollars, excluding accrued interest,” Atwater spokeswoman Ashley Carr said Thursday.
…
In November, Atwater sued the feds for that amount, saying they had refused to make good on matured U.S. savings bonds he holds as unclaimed property.
…
“The bonds they’ve agreed to redeem are those in our physical possession and bonds for which we had records and had previously returned to the U.S. Treasury,” Carr said. Atwater’s office plans to give the proceeds from the bonds “to whom they belong, or their heirs.”
“We’re a long way from the finish line, but it’s a win worth celebrating,” Carr said.
The Department of Financial Services, which Atwater heads, is holding thousands of “unclaimed, matured savings bonds that were originally registered to individuals with last-known addresses in the State of Florida,” his suit says. Some of the bonds date back to the 1930s.
…
Florida’s piece is one small part of the pie: “… over $19 billion in matured, unredeemed U.S. savings bonds remain outstanding nationwide,” Atwater has said.

People First Launches Enhanced Job Site to Recruit Top Talent

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Recently, the Department of Management Services’ People First team deployed a new platform to attract talented candidates to the state’s workforce. This new job site offers enhanced navigation tools and includes custom, agency-branded pages for state agencies to market their unique employment opportunities to candidates.
“Working for the State of Florida means being responsive to the issues impacting the taxpayers of our state while using innovative approaches to create efficiencies,” said DMS Secretary Chad Poppell. “The new People First recruitment site is aimed at recruiting top-tier talent from across the country to enhance Florida’s workforce and to engage individuals who are committed to providing exceptional service to Floridians.”
To date, more than 612,000 people have visited the new job site, more than 34,600 candidate profiles have been established and more than 49,500 applications have been submitted for job vacancies. Candidates can now search for openings by keyword, location (postal code and region), career opportunity and agency, making the process easier and more productive for individuals searching for employment with the state. Candidates also can establish alerts to direct the system to email them when job vacancies that match their custom criteria are posted.
To view the State of Florida’s new talent recruitment site go to https://jobs.myflorida.com.

DSC librarians fighting fake news with “CRAAP”

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Testing if it is: Credible, Relevant, Authoritative, Accurate, has Purpose

It seems to be coming from everywhere, these days: a mind-bending proliferation of so-called fake news, spread like wildfire over the Internet and social media.2.9.2017 dsc craap
Such intentional disinformation can be especially damaging to vulnerable populations such as minorities, non-majority religious groups, immigrants and various marginalized populations. With what seems to be increasing frequency, it is being used to reinforce stereotypes, misrepresent cultures and belief systems and seed divisiveness.
But Daytona State College’s force of librarians has been helping students dig through all the CRAAP in order to get to the truth, for years.
No crudeness intended here. CRAAP is a time-tested process to evaluate the validity of just about any information source, especially those found on the Internet. There’s even a song about it. And while its origins are in academia, the CRAAP test is a useful tool that can help anyone decipher truth from fiction in any forum.
“The idea of using what we do as librarians to help fight fake news is part of our mission to promote information literacy,” said DSC Librarian Dustin Weeks. “The CRAAP test has been around for a long time. Our instructors know it well and use it to help students find and evaluate information that is reliable and credible.”
The CRAAP test was first developed years ago by librarians at California State University who wanted to help students successfully find and evaluate sources for their research. And while the test has seen many variations over the years, by and large, if a source of information is totally CRAAP, that’s good because it means it’s “credible, relevant, authoritative, accurate and has purpose.”
“These are the types of things you want to check for, regardless of whether your source is a book, an article, a website, a blog or a social media post,” said Cheryl Kohen, DSC’s technology services librarian.
DSC librarians teach a one-credit hour online course called Introduction to Internet Research, which is essentially everything you need to know about the CRAAP test and more, Kohen added. The course uses a statewide curriculum adopted by all 28 institutions in the Florida College System and customized to fit each institution’s focus.
DSC also helps assure new students’ success by teaching the CRAAP test in its required Student Life Skills course for beginning associate of arts students.
Daytona State librarians have created their own resource tools, as well. These are web-based InfoGuides on wide-ranging topics and academic disciplines that contain valid articles and Internet sources. “We link to sources that will give you credible information,” Kohen said, noting that the guides mitigate some challenges students face in a digital world where disinformation can be propagated so readily.
“Information literacy has always been important,” Kohen said, “but especially today, it’s critical for students, and people in general, to be aware of their sources and to fact check the credibility of the information they’re receiving.”

Florida Supreme Court: Regular weekly opinion release, 2/9/2017, 11 a.m. ET

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Filings for the Florida Supreme Court
February 9, 2017

SC10-2363 – Rasheem Diquoine Dubose v. State of Florida
SC11-2403 & SC12-2465 – Brett A. Bogle v. State of Florida & Brett A. Bogle v. Julie L. Jones, etc.
SC15-1477 – Richard Debrincat, et al. v. Stephen Fischer
SC15-1662 & SC16-224 – Enoch D. Hall v. State of Florida &
Enoch D. Hall v. Julie L. Jones, etc.
SC15-2389 – State of Florida v. Adrea Vernique Wiley
SC16-1184 – In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases – Report 2016-05
SC16-1185 – In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases – Report 2016-06

Commissioner Adam Putnam Joins First Responders to Kick-off 2017 Florida State Fair

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Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi and first responders, today kicked-off the Florida State Fair with the annual “flip the switch” ceremony, turning on the fair’s lights for the first time this year. 2.9.2017 Florida State Fair
Opening day is “Salute to Heroes” day, and it continues the longstanding tradition of welcoming active duty military, veterans and first responders free of charge in recognition of their service to Florida and the nation.
First responder and law enforcement agencies present during the “flip the switch” ceremony included:

  • Florida National Guard
  • Florida Highway Patrol
  • Hillsborough County Fire Rescue
  • Tampa Fire Rescue
  • Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
  • Florida Forest Service
  • Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement

Many new attractions are making their first national appearance at the Florida State Fair, as Florida is home to the first state fair of the year. The fair unveiled the largest traveling Ferris wheel, the Midway Sky Eye, in its North American debut. It boasts a height of 155 feet, and riders can see farther than 15 miles when situated at the top of the wheel. Other additions to the Florida State Fair include the Street Fighter 360 and the New Super Slide, which stands 60 feet tall and 180 feet long.
The Florida State Fair also showcases Florida’s livestock, poultry and fresh produce. More than 5,000 animals will be shown in competitions throughout the fair, with more than 1,500 FFA and 4-H participants. Fairgoers have the opportunity to learn about Florida’s agricultural process from numerous educational activities, such as orange juice tasting, hydroponic demonstrations and meal planning.
This year marks the 113th anniversary of the Florida State Fair. The first Florida State Fair was held in 1904 near Henry Plant’s Tampa Bay Hotel, which is now the site of the University of Tampa, and it moved to its current location in 1977.
For more information about the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FreshFromFlorida.com. For more information on the Florida State Fair, visit FloridaStateFair.com.
Photo caption: Commissioner Adam H. Putnam, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chairman of the Florida State Fair Authority Doyle Carlton with first responders to “flip the switch” for the 113th Florida State Fair.

Statement on the House Civil Justice Subcommittee’s Vote on HB 19 from Florida Planned Parenthood

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Statement on the House Civil Justice Subcommittee’s Vote on HB 19 from Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates Executive Director, Laura Goodhue:
“This bill is yet another attack on access to safe, legal abortion care. This dangerous bill is a blatant attempt to intimidate and shutter safe and law-abiding abortion providers.
“House Bill 19 attempts to intimidate physicians who perform legal abortions, a procedure with an incredibly high safety record, by increasing their exposure to frivolous lawsuits. It would significantly increase the risk physicians face in providing safe and legal abortion care.
“The real motivation behind this flawed bill is political, not because it is what’s best for women. The fact is, this bill would give extremist organizations — whose sole mission is to stop abortion providers — one more vehicle to go after doctors and tie up the court system, without the constraints of the established medical malpractice legal system in Florida.