Podcasts about hernando county

Happy Teacher Appreciation week! This has been a whirlwind of a year and I address that briefly in the opening if you want to skip that, just to 3:00 minutes in.  In this episode, we sit down with Jaime Suarez, the 2025 Florida Teacher of the Year. A dedicated mathematics educator at Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics in Hernando County, Jaime shares her journey from classroom teacher to state ambassador for education. As the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education, Jaime discusses her mission to elevate the teaching profession and advocate for educators across Florida. Tune in to hear her insights on mentorship, leadership, and the transformative power of education. Note: For more information on Jaime Suarez's achievements and her role as Florida's Teacher of the Year, visit the Florida Department of Education's official announcement.

In the 1970s and 80s, the quiet towns of Weeki Wachee, Florida, and Watsonville, California, became the unlikely settings for a horrifying series of crimes. The story begins with Billy Mansfield, Jr., a convicted serial killer currently serving multiple life sentences, whose crimes shocked the nation. But Billy wasn't alone; his father, William Mansfield Sr., a convicted child molester, and brother, Gary Mansfield, were also deeply entangled in the family's dark history. The crimes discussed in this episode raise chilling questions about the full extent of their horrific actions as we explore the twisted family dynamics and shocking discoveries. This episode concludes with an exclusive interview with Warren Skeels, the director of the upcoming film The Man In The White Van, based upon Mansfield, Jr's crimes and premiering December 13th, 2024.If you are interested in bonus content for our show or in getting some Coffee and Cases swag, please consider joining Patreon. There are various levels to fit your needs, all of which can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/coffeeandcases

TOP STORIES - Florida man arrested in deadly golf club attack, FEMA approves $76 million more for Tampa Bay area, Santoro's Thanksgiving pizza is the holiday sensation sweeping Tampa Bay, Florida officials find 7-year-old missing boy dead, Metropolitan Ministries sees 23% decline in donations ahead of Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day football games, Hillsborough family awarded millions after child injured at Busch Gardens, Treasure Island continues to process permits over Thanksgiving weekend, Tampa police warn of local QR code scam, Hernando County jeweler arrested for selling crack-cocaine out of shop, 'potato cartel' accused of conspiring to spike frozen potato prices, guide to Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade

Episode 125 Doe ID: Peggy Joyce Shelton On July 19, 1972, the body of an unidentified woman was found by a young boy in Hernando County, Florida off of State Road 50 and High Corner Road in Brooksville. She had been dead for a few months. It was immediately clear to investigators that she was a murder victim who had been strangled to death. The victim was described as between 30 and 40 years old, approximately 5 feet tall, weighing between 125 and 145 pounds, with short brown hair, and they noted she had only six upper and six lower teeth. Police were searching for a mysterious White 1961-1962 Ford Fairlane that they may be connected to the murder. Police didn't have much else to go one other than the bedspread her body had been concealed in. It was described as  a “Pineapple Damask” print, and it had three square corners and a rounded corner. The case went cold and the Jane Doe was buried in a Pauper's grave. Decades later, police felt that they could ID their 1972 Jane Doe using forensic genetic genealogy. They exhumed her body, but was in very poor condtion, and they were worried that they would not be able to extract a DNA profile. After much effort, they were able to obtain a file and finally identified the Jane Doe as Peggy Joyce Shelton. When they looked into Peggy's background, they realized that her husband, Jerry Lee Fletcher, was connected to a motel that used bedspreads like the one Peggy was found in. It turns out that he never reported his wife missing. When police looked at his background, they found evidence of other victims with similar MO, and came to realize that he may have been a serial killer. Fletcher died in prison in 2014. Peggy Joyce Shelton finally has her name back, and this is her story.  To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply  visit our channel page on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a Patreon subscription. For all things DNA: ID, visit the show's homepage Visit this link to buy DNA ID Merch

Hurricane Milton made landfall nearly two weeks ago- and for some- the disaster isn't over. Flooding is still causing big problems after the storm dumped more than a foot of rain in some parts of the greater Tampa Bay area. in Hernando County the Withlacoochee river is just starting to go down, but it's going to take some time for flood waters to recede. Hernando County emergency manager David DeCarlo explains how people near the Withlacoochee river are dealing with the floodwaters, and what the county is doing to help.

Hurricane Milton made landfall nearly two weeks ago- and for some- the disaster isn't over. Flooding is still causing big problems after the storm dumped more than a foot of rain in some parts of the greater Tampa Bay area. in Hernando County the Withlacoochee river is just starting to go down, but it's going to take some time for flood waters to recede. Hernando County emergency manager David DeCarlo explains how people near the Withlacoochee river are dealing with the floodwaters, and what the county is doing to help.

This week the entire gang is back together to discuss an article Sarcastro found about the wishes of a man who donated 1,300 acres of land to a Boy Scouts of America (soon to be Scouting America) troop in Hernando County, Florida with the wishes that the Scouts would never sell it or use it for commerical use otherwise the land ownership would go to the County.  It sparks a very lively debate with Commando and Fatty regarding what should happen with the land.   Commando makes a poor choice to eat at a popular fast food chain just hours before recording the episode.   Intro and Outro music written and performed by Andrés Rodríguez (Androzguitar).

TRENDING - Megyn Kelly has some harsh words for Kaitlan Collins, James Carville thinks the debate will be 'a train wreck,' Swifties for Kamala group raises $140,000, Trump drops another series of Trump Cards, and Hernando County is dealing with a school bus fiasco.

NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann joins Ryan Gorman and Dana McKay with some of Today's Top Stories - The Michigan water park shooter may have planned other attacks, Hernando Sheriff says teens kicking doors is 'like encouraging somebody to play Russian Roulette', a 71-year-old Tampa woman shoots her roommate because he didn't clean up after himself, two men have been arrested in connection with the deadly SoHo shooting, state rests in Zephen Xaver case after emotional day of victim impact statements, and a massive hole opens up in Hernando County.

Forecasters are predicting an extremely active hurricane season, with 23 named storms and 11 hurricanes, including five major hurricanes. We talk with Megan Borowski, the interim chief meteorologist and director of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network about the season ahead. Also joining the show to discuss hurricane preparedness are Tim Dudley, the Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director, Mary Burrell, Whole Community Engagement Program Lead for Pinellas County, and David DeCarlo, the emergency manager for Hernando County.

Forecasters are predicting an extremely active hurricane season, with 23 named storms and 11 hurricanes, including five major hurricanes. We talk with Megan Borowski, the interim chief meteorologist and director of the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network about the season ahead. Also joining the show to discuss hurricane preparedness are Tim Dudley, the Hillsborough County Emergency Management Director, Mary Burrell, Whole Community Engagement Program Lead for Pinellas County, and David DeCarlo, the emergency manager for Hernando County.

In this conversation, the hosts discuss a recent cybersecurity incident in Hernando County, where there was a disruption in the county's information technology services due to a potential ransomware attack. The county has been tight-lipped about the incident, which raises concerns about the safety of people's information. The hosts emphasize the importance of investing in cybersecurity and suggest that local governments should consider migrating to state-approved cloud services for better protection. They also discuss the need for federal involvement in providing cybersecurity solutions and the potential challenges in implementing such measures. Article: County Remains Tight-Lipped about Cybersecurity Incident https://www.hernandosun.com/2024/04/12/county-remains-tight-lipped-about-cybersecurity-incident/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR05R9--b92VNj5yIpEImOh8q4Dzw0_YygiVqxCOtWmZH-9eU63r_vECPQk_aem_AdMGbAGamMXu8UCPQ2pa9Q0L8zJY0v4hd6NQisSCxaLNZz62eZvFhzlJtVGnIoNQRxgRHU6_TCARq31EUO3hrGzu Please LISTEN

Did you make it to the NAFA 24 Institute & Expo last week? The Fleet Success Show did. Co-host Facundo was joined by fleet managers from two of the 100 Best Fleets in America, Hernando County and Porter County. They cover a lot of ground in this 45-minute episode. Tune in to find out how they spied on 20 of the top fleets, what new technologies everyone is talking about, what the biggest challenges are facing the industry, and how they both managed to land their fleets a spot on the 100 Best Fleets list.Have feedback on the show? We'd love to hear it! Send us your comments, questions, and feedback anywhere on social media @FleetSuccess, or send us an email at podcast@rtafleet.com.Want a copy of “The Fleet Success Playbook”?  Reserve your copy today!Don't forget to share the show with your colleagues and friends, and of course, subscribe to "The Fleet Success Show" anywhere you listen to podcasts!

To get a gallon of the freshest olive oil, you could grab your passport, pack a suitcase and fly more than 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from the Sunshine State to Tuscany.Or you could drive to Brooksville—as in, Brooksville, Florida. The quiet Hernando County town is prized for its bike trails and camping sites. Brooksville is also home to The Olive Grove—yes, that's the official name. It's a property owned by husband and wife Cambren and Dede Davis.The Zest's host Dalia Colón and brand manager Alexandria Ebron recently visited The Olive Grove for a tour. As you'll discover if you visit, olives are only the beginning. In addition to selling freshly pressed olive oil and other olive products, The Olive Grove is also an event space, concert venue, Airbnb and farm. If you're lucky, you just might get to name one of the resident chickens.The Davises' property is among a growing number of olive groves in the Sunshine State. To learn more about the challenges and opportunities of olive oil production in Florida, check out Dalia's article in the summer 2024 issue of Forum, the magazine of Florida Humanities. Related episodes: Conscious Cuisine: Rocky Soil Family Farm on How to Reconnect with Your Food “Now Food Doesn't Have to Travel”: Hyperlocal Agriculture with lemonGRAFT Founder Zach Correa Florida Fruit & Vegetable Gardening 101

It has been a while since we featured incident audio! This week, we take you to two different incidents in Hernando County (FL): a kitchen fire and a residential fire with a defensive shift. You will hear how this department has integrated Blue Card into its operations in a short period of time!      This episode features Josh Blum and John Vance.We want your helmet (for the AVB CTC)! Check this out to find out more here.Sign up for the B Shifter Buckslip, our free weekly newsletter here. Shop B Shifter and get the re-issued Fire Department Customer Service book here. Register for the 2024 Hazard Zone Conference here.All of our links here. Please subscribe and share. Thank you for listening!This episode was recorded on April 8, 2024.#HernandoCounty #Brunacini #Audio #IncidentCommand #FireDepartment #Firefighter #Leadership #MrsSmith #IncidentAudio #FireChief So, gear up, tune in, and get ready to stoke the fires of knowledge with us on the B-Shifter podcast.

Concerning business updates and new federal resources in the ever-shifting world of school bus electrification. Hypnosis, mind expansion, and trance-formation! Speaker and entertainer Wayne Lee previews his keynote session at STN EXPO Indy on elevating performance in both one's personal life and workplace. Paul Hasenmeier, fire chief for Hernando County in Florida, talks about his new book “School Bus Extrication,” his STN EXPO Reno emergency response session, responding to electric school bus fires, collaboration between school transportation and first responders, and lap/shoulder seatbelt recommendations. Read more at stnonline.com/tag/stn-expo.

NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann runs through today's top stories, including two suspects charged in the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting, a Hillsborough County teacher arrested for punching a student with autism, a surge in calls to Florida's gambling addiction hotline, a Senate tax plan proposal with relief for property insurance premiums, the discovery of a mortar in Hernando County, and lots more!

Detectives in Hernando County are trying to piece together what led to two men being found dead in a backyard, a bill to restrict what types of flags can be flown at schools and government buildings is moving ahead in the Florida legislature and SpaceX is set to try again today to get the latest all private astronaut mission off the ground from Cape Canaveral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Florida Matters revisits parts of the greater Tampa Bay region that are still rebuilding one year after Hurricane Ian. WUSF journalists report on the lingering aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Sept. 28 last year, carving a destructive path through Southwest Florida and dumping flooding rain on a wide swath of the state. Stephanie Colombini talks with health care advocates in Sarasota about Hurricane Ian's impact and lessons for the future. Cathy Carter takes us inside the historic Venice Theater as the theater company works to restore the community landmark. And Kerry Sheridan explores what Ian revealed about communicating the risk posed by hurricanes and why evacuation warnings are sometimes ignored. We also check in on one community that was affected by Hurricane Idalia nearly a month ago. Some Hernando County residents were faced with a big cleanup after their homes and businesses flooded in the hours after the storm passed. We speak with county administrator Jeff Rogers about how the county is coping.

Florida Matters revisits parts of the greater Tampa Bay region that are still rebuilding one year after Hurricane Ian. WUSF journalists report on the lingering aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which made landfall on Sept. 28 last year, carving a destructive path through Southwest Florida and dumping flooding rain on a wide swath of the state. Stephanie Colombini talks with health care advocates in Sarasota about Hurricane Ian's impact and lessons for the future. Cathy Carter takes us inside the historic Venice Theater as the theater company works to restore the community landmark. And Kerry Sheridan explores what Ian revealed about communicating the risk posed by hurricanes and why evacuation warnings are sometimes ignored. We also check in on one community that was affected by Hurricane Idalia nearly a month ago. Some Hernando County residents were faced with a big cleanup after their homes and businesses flooded in the hours after the storm passed. We speak with county administrator Jeff Rogers about how the county is coping.

Beth Rousseau reports from Hernando County, just north of Tampa, as the Gulf Coast prepares for landfall from Hurricane Idalia.

The fear, loathing and bigotry of Ron DeSantis's culture war against the LGBTQ community has sparked a national debate, and for many on the reactionary right, a national reckoning. But an entirely different narrative is emerging in the form of resistance: Even parents in deep red Hernando County, FL ( north of Tampa ,) are rising up and declaring that they've had enough, as a recent contentious school board meeting attests. And as Pride month 2023  begins, there are glimmers of hope that acceptance and love may yet win the day. Happy Pride!

NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann runs through today's top stories, including reports of Chris Christie announcing his 2024 presidential campaign next week, a school board meeting in Hernando County over a teacher playing a Disney movie with a gay character for her class, and the House Rules Committee advancing the debt limit deal ahead of a final House vote.

Wait til you hear what this Hernando County teacher said out loud. It's episode #391 of The ANEZ SEZ podcast...

Ryan & Dana run through events, birthdays, and national holidays for May 19th. Plus, an update on the Hernando County schools Disney movie controversy, new details on an NYC 'Karen,' a local pride event canceled, Montana's ban on TikTok, renewed concerns over Senators Dianne Feinstein and John Fetterman, and outrage over Starbucks' new ice.

A Hernando County, FL parent is upset about a Winding Waters K-8 school fifth-grade teacher showing her students a pro-LGBTQ Disney movie. The parent, Shannon Rodriguez, protested fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee's decision during a local school board meeting. Grevi Geovani Rivera Zavala, a 29-year-old illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested and charged with the first-degree rape of a teenage girl late last week. According to WFSA 12 News, Zavala allegedly raped the girl in the women's restroom of a restaurant. Police allege that the illegal alien forced the girl into a bathroom stall, held her down, and raped her in a completely random attack. Arabella Advisors, a massive Democrat-linked consulting firm, recently laid off 10% of its workforce due to the worsening economic climate, Politico reported Wednesday. Plus more on today's show.

Ryan & Dana discuss students in Hernando County being interviewed by state officials over the Disney movie they were shown featuring a gay character. Plus, a massive brawl broke out at Disney, Montana banned TikTok, updates on the Lori Vallow and Bryan Kohberger stories, and notable events, birthdays, and national holidays for May 18th.

Ryan & Dana discuss the Hernando teacher under investigation for showing a Disney movie with questionable content to her class, Sports Illustrated's decision to feature a trans woman on their swimsuit edition cover, and Newsradio WFLA National Correspondent Erin Real provides an update on the debt ceiling negotiations.

Ryan & Dana discuss a Hernando County teacher in trouble over a Disney movie, the latest on the border & immigration crisis, Martha Stewart's appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated, a study showing TikTok and YouTube can make you lonelier, Taylor Swift yelling at a security guard while performing, and notable events, birthdays and national holidays for May 16th.

Welcome to episode 21 of the ALF Boss podcast, where we bring you informative discussions about the ins and outs of assisted living operations. In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Karen Livio, a seasoned ALF industry professional with over 20 years of experience  Currently the administrator of Cobblestone Manor and Mariner Palms assisted living. Together, we explore the unique challenges faced by smaller ALFs, and discuss strategies for successfully managing multiple tasks across all departments. We also examine the ongoing staffing crisis in the industry. Karen shares her insights on the current state of the market in the Hernando County area, reflecting on how much it has changed over the years and what that means for ALFs in the region. Whether you're an ALF owner, operator, or simply interested in learning more about the industry, this episode offers valuable insights and practical tips for managing and thriving in the challenging world of assisted living operations. Join us on the ALF Boss podcast for another engaging discussion.

Joe Biden launches his feeble 2024 campaign by blasting Americans. Senator Ted Harvey is here from www.stopjoe.com to break down the disaster know as Joe Biden.   Moms for Liberty Chapter Chair for Hernando County, Monty Floyd is here. They have made national news for uncovering police reports.  A trans-identifying teacher there said she had thoughts of shooting students and harming herself.  Parents are upset.    Cherise Trump from Speech First is back on the show with breaking news and to discuss the fight for Title 9. Women are under attack by the left. Again.   Even Nierman is on the show to discuss his explosive book :The Cancel Culture Curse" from rage to redemption in a world gone mad. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-buff-show/support

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Friday, April 14th, 2023. Fight Laugh Feast Magazine Our Fight Laugh Feast Magazine is a quarterly issue that packs a punch like a 21 year Balvenie, no ice. We don’t water down our scotch, why would we water down our theology? Order a yearly subscription for yourself and then send a couple yearly subscriptions to your friends who have been drinking luke-warm evangelical cool-aid. Every quarter we promise quality food for the soul, wine for the heart, and some Red Bull for turning over tables. Our magazine will include cultural commentary, a Psalm of the quarter, recipes for feasting, laughter sprinkled through out the glossy pages, and more. Sign up today, at fightlaughfeast.com. https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-dairy-explosion-leaves-least-18000-cattle-dead-person-critically-injured Texas dairy explosion leaves at least 18,000 cattle dead, 1 person critically injured Approximately 18,000 cows were killed, and one person was critically injured, in an explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle on Monday. The Castro County Sheriff’s Office confirmed with Fox News Digital that the cows were in a holding area before being brought in for milking when the blast occurred at the Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt. Very few cows in the holding area survived, officials told local outlet KFDA. Police said they received eight calls just before 7:30 p.m. Monday about an explosion and fire. Callers said some employees were trapped inside the milking building. When law enforcement officials arrived at the dairy farm, they determined only a woman was trapped in the dairy building. Officials said the trapped individual was rescued from the building and airlifted to UMC Hospital in Lubbock for treatment. Lubbock is located about 80 miles from Dimmitt. Officials said all the other dairy employees were accounted for and were safe. The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/legal-abortions-fell-post-roe Legal abortions fell 6% in six months after Supreme Court overturned Roe Legal abortions in the United States dropped more than 6% in the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade , a testament to the new rules and regulations that now vary from state to state. A new report released by the Society of Family Planning, called the "#WeCount" report, determined that there were 32,260 fewer abortions from July to December 2022 when compared to data taken in April and May. In the months post-Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade in June, there were an average of 5,377 fewer abortions per month. Telehealth abortions provided through virtual clinics have increased every month since pre-Dobbs in April, and by December, the appointments represented 9% of all abortions across the six months post-Dobbs. The organization found that the effect of the Dobbs decision is based on state abortion policies. States with bans in place witnessed a total of 43,410 fewer people cumulatively having abortions. On the other side, states that permitted abortion access following the end of Roe v. Wade saw a total of 11,150 more people who had abortions. By Dec. 31, 13 states had banned abortion with almost no exceptions, and Georgia imposed a six-week ban. In Georgia, the number of abortions decreased by 40%, according to the report. Florida saw 1,200 more abortions in the months post-Dobbs because state law currently permits abortions up to 15 weeks. The Sunshine State is inching closer to a six-week ban after the state Senate passed the legislation , sending it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, and eventually Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) desk, where he is likely to sign it. The Dobbs decision also pushed thousands of women to travel long distances to obtain abortions if their home states had restrictions. The report showed that the number of abortions increased significantly in states that have solidified abortion access and are located near states with bans, the largest increases occurring in Florida, Illinois, and North Carolina. Abortions declined significantly in places where the courts overturned proposed bans, such as Arizona and Ohio. Several clinics in Arizona, which allows abortions up to 15 weeks, temporarily shut down while the court determined whether the near total ban that predated Arizona's statehood could be enforced. Eventually, the court ruled that the 15-week ban overruled the near-total ban and went into effect in December 2022. The number of abortions per month in Arizona dropped 85% to 230 between April and July and shot back up to 870 by December, according to the report. In Ohio, a six-week ban went into effect after the Dobbs decision. In that time, the number of abortions dropped 62% from before Dobbs to 790. However, a judge halted the six-week ban, and abortions are now legal up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. The number of abortions now sits at over 1,400 per month. Pro-abortion activists in Ohio created a committee in December to explore putting abortion on the ballot , and in March, the Ohio Ballot Board certified the language of the proposed ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion in the state constitution. https://www.politico.eu/article/euco-eu-crosses-into-the-border-fence-game-migration/ EU vows more cash for frontier policing as border fence debate revives The EU that once largely dismissed border walls as a crude Trumpian solution is vowing to channel “substantial” funds into frontier guards and surveillance equipment, as countries ramp up calls for help paying for their border fences. For several hours at an EU Council summit on Thursday, the only show in town was Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Then the Ukrainian leader left, and a well-worn clash over migration instantly returned. There were stark signs that the bloc’s stance is hardening. Well into the early hours of Friday morning, EU leaders made proposal after proposal, all seeking to stem the rise in people arriving to the Continent outside legal channels. Some wanted Brussels to help pay for border fences. Others stressed a focus on returning rejected asylum seekers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at one point tried to calm passions, according to one official familiar with the discussion. Did the EU want to turn itself into a fortress? Walls, simply put, do not work, he said, pointing to the U.S.-Mexico border, where a fractious debate over a wall hasn’t abated crossings. Ultimately, however, Scholz and the other EU leaders did back more stringent EU border control methods — an indication of how the EU has toughened its stance on the subject since the apex of the 2015-2016 Syrian refugee crisis. Border fences, especially, were once anathema in much of Europe, treated as a blunt instrument meant more for show than practical use. But a growing coalition of EU countries has now built such barriers, with some wanting Brussels to help pay for more. And while EU officials won’t cross the red line into fence funding, they usually agree to fund surveillance technology and border guards. As EU leaders went round and round, Austria led the pack in pushing for more border resources from Brussels. The country has experienced an increase in migrants arriving through the Western Balkans, often crossing from Serbia into Hungary and then into Austria. At Thursday’s summit, the country got its preferred language into the final statement, which implores the Commission “to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and means” to help countries bolster their “border protection capabilities and infrastructure.” The statement specifically referenced “surveillance, including aerial surveillance, and equipment.” After the leaders broke up around 3 a.m., Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer lauded the result, which may be the EU’s strongest language yet on the issue. Bulgaria has been a particular focus for Austria. It wants the EU to help reinforce a fence between the EU border country and Turkey, a project it pegs at €2 billion. But the Commission has cautioned that it only has €3 billion left for all fence-related projects, according to multiple diplomats. Austria was not the only country stumping for more border funding. A clutch of countries including Hungary, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Greece signed a letter backing tougher border measures on the eve of the summit. The missive echoed a similar letter from October 2021 that saw 12 member states asking the European Commission to let EU cash go toward border barriers. Von der Leyen, who opposes the EU entering the fence-funding business, said after the meeting that leaders had only agreed to use EU money for infrastructure like cameras, watch towers and vehicles. She even made a point of mentioning that an existing fence the EU was looking to rehab “doesn’t function” since it doesn’t have adequate personnel and surveillance equipment. The effort is part of a series of “pilot projects” von der Leyen said the EU would launch to illustrate, among other things, how an ideal border would process asylum seekers. https://www.conservativereview.com/trans-teacher-allegedly-threatened-to-shoot-students-and-parents-say-the-middle-school-failed-to-notify-them-2659853038.html Trans teacher allegedly threatened to shoot students, and parents say the middle school failed to notify them Parents with children attending Fox Chapel Middle School in Hernando County, Florida, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that school officials failed to notify them after a transgender teacher allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students. Assistant Principal Kerry Thornton and guidance counselor Kimberly Walby contacted the middle school’s resource officer on March 24 to file an incident report regarding a teacher allegedly expressing thoughts about suicidal ideation and possibly shooting students. The report, obtained by Moms for Liberty’s Hernando County chapter, stated that Alexander Renczkowski, a biologically male teacher who identifies as female and goes by the name Ashlee, had confessed to having “bad thoughts” but denied threatening to harm students. According to the report, the teacher stated that “she does not want to harm herself.” Authorities then confiscated three firearms and ammunition from Renczkowski’s home, the report noted. After conducting a threat assessment, Hernando County School District’s mental health coordinator, Sandra Hurst, found that the teacher did not meet the criteria to be involuntarily institutionalized for mental illness under Florida’s Baker Act law, the report added. Renczkowski was reportedly allowed back into the classroom the next day. Several parents told the DCNF that they learned about the incident from a local reporter, not the school. According to the parents, the school did not contact them until 17 days after the report was filed and the news had already circulated. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Wednesday about the March incident. “On 03-24-23, the HCSO was notified of, and did investigate, an event at Fox Chapel Middle School,” the sheriff’s office said. “The investigation revealed that no criminal offense(s) occurred; therefore, no arrest(s) could be made. Further, deputies found that the individual did not, at that moment, meet the required criteria for involuntary commitment under the Baker Act.” The sheriff’s office noted that the teacher cooperated with law enforcement to hand over all firearms. The Hernando County School District, Fox Chapel Middle School, and Alexander Renczkowski did not respond to requests for comment, the DCNF reported. https://dailycaller.com/2023/04/12/south-korea-ammunition-biden-administraiton-ukraine/ US Gets 500,000 Artillery Shells On Loan From South Korea To Fill Plummeting Stocks The U.S. reached an agreement last month to obtain 500,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery shells on loan from South Korea, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a South Korean newspaper. U.S. stocks of the 155 mm round, which see a high level of consumption on the battlefield in Ukraine, have fallen to critically low levels, and the Biden administration sought artillery ammunition from South Korea in March, according to documents seen by the DCNF. South Korea will “lend” the shells to the U.S. rather than selling to avoid the possibility of those shells being delivered to Ukraine in a future assistance package, thereby violating a South Korean policy against supplying lethal items to countries at war, the DongA Ilbo outlet reported, citing government sources, according to Reuters. South Korea’s defense ministry told Reuters that Seoul and allies are exploring a variety of ways to provide Ukraine with much needed munitions but did not speak to specific discussions or agreements. The U.S. for the first time struck a deal with South Korea to purchase 100,000 155 mm rounds for ultimate delivery to Ukraine in November. Routing the deal through the U.S. allowed South Korea to avoid complicity in Ukraine’s attacks on Russian forces, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The shells will primarily serve to backfill U.S. stockpiles, DongA Ilbo reported, according to Reuters. News of the agreement comes after leaked Pentagon documents from March described a conversation between two South Korean national security officials about potentially routing artillery through Poland — alarming officials and prompting Seoul to confront Washington about the disclosure, Reuters reported. The South Korean president’s office affirmed the leaked documents would not damage relations with the U.S., The New York Times reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup agreed in a phone call Tuesday that “quite a few of the documents in question were fabricated.” So far, the country has declined to provide overt military assistance to Ukraine, citing its own precarious security situation as its northern neighbor has not relented on threats against Seoul’s sovereignty, according to Reuters. However, Seoul is one of the U.S. key allies in Asia and a large ammunition producer. The U.S. has sent more than 1.5 million 155 mm shells for the Howitzer system to Ukraine, as well as an additional 6,500 GPS-guided rounds, according to a fact sheet that was accurate as of April 4. For comparison, the U.S. produces about 15,000 rounds per month, the NYT reported.

In the 7a hour, NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Chris Trenkmann runs through today's top stories, including the Taylor Swift frenzy and takeover of Tampa Bay ahead of her three sold-out shows at Raymond James Stadium. A video of a Tampa road rage incident goes viral while charges were dropped following another road rage incident. Parents in Hernando County want a teacher removed after she allegedly threatened to harm students and herself. Tampa Bay Business Journal Real Estate Editor Ashley Kritzer discusses the industrial park in Ocala being built by the owners of the Kansas City Chiefs. 911 calls from the shooter's mother and people at the scene of the Louisville mass shooting are released. Prince Harry is set to attend King Charles' coronation without Meghan, who is staying behind.

This week Karl and Vinnie determine who is the creepiest Mall Santa of all time: In WATC we finally learn "Why We Drink": In the Scum Parade we meet a bad friend, and we learn that Florida is not a great place to be if you are a dog. Florida woman arrested after cops find bug infestation, feces, trash, 300 loose rodents, child in her home (yahoo.com)Sheriff: Joke lands Hernando County man in jail on child porn charges (mysuncoast.com)Man arrested after having sex with neighbor's dog and wreaking havoc in Clearwater neighborhood - IONTBFlorida man breaks into home, kills family puppy: cops (nypost.com)

Bay News 9 anchors Rick Elmhorst and Roy De Jesus talk about DNA technology and how genealogy and a dogged investigation helped identified remains unearthed from a litter-strewn Hernando County backyard 40 years earlier.

In this episode, FSA speaks with the new president of the Florida Sheriffs Association, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis. Learn about what makes Hernando County great, why Sheriff Nienhuis began his career in law enforcement and public safety initiatives he has planned for the near future. We also take listener questions!

Hernando County Commissioner Jeff Holcomb has served the community for 8 years and served as the Chairman of the H.C. Republican Executive Committee from 2018-2020. More than that, Mr. Holcomb is a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Navy Reserves. He spent his time fighting ISIS and was part of the Combat Ops Team planning daily air missions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan where he earned a Navy Commendation Medal. Jeff joins Jackie and Scott Campbell to discuss his life post Military and what lead him to serving the community. They detail the struggles every American is suffering from daily and his plans to help. For more information on Jeff Holcomb, visit www.JeffHolcomb.org and to reach out to the team at Campbell and Company call 727-334-0024 or visit www.mycampbellandco.com

Ryan, Aaron, and NewsRadio WFLA Anchor Read Shephard discuss the potential impact of Agatha/Alex on Florida, a deadly gator attack in Largo, and a shooting in Hernando County.

Monty, an ex-college auditor runs for Hernando County, FL School Board to end the indoctrination and nonsense that public schools are using to attack your children. He discusses his plans to unseat current school-board member "Socialist Susan" and he also discusses how schools are using diversity and equity, gender confusion studies, anti-American curriculum lies and marxist programing of children. See how schools are destroying the family unit by normalizing sex to elementary kids, allowing pornographic books and discussing race division. Monty also touches on elevated teen suicide, corrupt teacher's unions and his recent run in with furries.-------------------------------------SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS FOR THIS SHOWGet accurate, honest and true news by reading The Epoch Times.   Visit: www.IReadEpoch.comEnter promo code GRIT and get your first month for just $1.-------------------------------------STAY IN THE LOOP AND UP TO DATEVisit Website https://patriotswithgrit.com/Help Support Patriots With Grit https://patriotswithgrit.com/donate/Recommend Patriots To Interview https://patriotswithgrit.com/recommend/Grab Some Fun Merch https://patriotswithgrit.com/shop/-------------------------------------SUBSCRIBE TO PODCASThttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/patriots-with-grit/id1615813244-------------------------------------HANG OUT WITH US ON THESE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMSRUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-1011237YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/channel/UCPq8tmHN8_Mn1M_wHs8xYiQFACEBOOK Page: https://www.facebook.com/patriotswithgritCLOUT HUB: https://app.clouthub.com/#/users/u/PatriotsWithGrit/postsTELEGRAM: https://t.me/PatriotsWithGritLINKS TO ALL SOCIAL MEDIA: http://patriotswithgrit.com/links/-------------------------------------

Hernando County is home to some dark history here in Florida. Learn how Brooksville got its name and why a cane is a dangerous weapon. Alexandra shares some of this Florida history with us this week. See you next time for some scary stories. Comedy Historical & Ghost Tours: Book Now Instagram, Youtube, Website. Tell Us Your Stories of FL: alexandra@thisisimprov.com "LEGENDS POD" --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Be a premium member, your mom likes it! The crew is joined by a close friend and lover of shrimp JC. The crew opens up debating what has divided the internet over the past week. Florida Man takes us to Hernando County with a man just needing some help. The next matchup of our Most Annoying Celebrity Alive Bracket is between #5 Skip Bayless and #12 Bono. Jose reminds the crew where they messed up last week.  Chris gives the crew an interesting Would You Rather and the crew round out the episode with trivia. Thanks to Josh for the voice nugget and Jamie for educating us about agate rocks! Grab your drink and enjoy! Cheers!       Chris's Favorite Moments * 6:15-6:28 Chase doesn't get it  *10:12-10:28 Best waffles in the state *24:50-24:05 Chase's Superpowers  3*7:40-38:00 Chase is Team Bono *43:15-43:45 Would it Hurt?  56:00-56:15 The Wrong Tea 57:00-57:14 I Don't Speak Stupid 63:40-63:57 Don't Touch the Button! CuptoCupLife.com Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube   Email the podcast if you want to be a guest or sponsor an episode!

In this episode, Dr. Maria Scunziano-Singh, also known as Dr. Maria, guides us through her integrative approach to medicine using both traditional practices and naturopathic medicine. Originally from New York, and practicing in Hernando County, FL for the last 25 years, she discusses the development of her practice, Access Healthcare, alongside her husband, Dr. P Singh, and the lessons that Managed Care has taught them in regard to quality patient care. Brilliant as she is, Dr. Maria's a teacher and a consultant at the WellCome OM Integral Healing and Education Center located in Spring Hill, Florida, that she founded in 2019. In addition to receiving a Telly Award and several Florida's Top Doctors nominations, Dr. Scunziano-Singh is active in several professional and academic organizations, including the American College of Physicians, the Florida Medical Association and the College for the Advancement of Medicine. She is proud to serve her community, and looks forward to providing a broad range of supportive and integrative health care services for years to come. You will not want to miss this episode, as I explore with Dr. Maria Scunziano-Singh, the various holistic treatment methods and how we as physicians can stay educated. Show Notes

As dawn broke on Oct. 28, 2020, investigators in Hernando County, Florida, began searching a cluttered six-acre property belonging to the Mansfield family. They brought in heavy equipment and a team of forensic anthropologists to sift through the soil. After several hours, they announced they had found human remains.   This episode is sponsored by Pod Decks. Pod Decks are unique interview questions and episode starting prompts in the palm of your hand. So whether you are a new podcaster or existing broadcaster looking to grow you audience or get more engagement you're going to want to check out poddecks.com and use Promo Code Larry21 for 10% off your first purchase. Follow Us on Social Media Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/truecrimens IG: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimeneversleepspodcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/truecrimeneversleepspodcast Support The Show by Buying Us a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tcns Join Our Patreon: https://patreon.com/truecrimeneversleeps Equipment We Use From Amazon: USB Lavalier Lapel Microphone: https://amzn.to/3sX7eb9 Tzumi ON AIR Reverb PR O: https://amzn.to/3jiyhuc

Jimmie Todd Smith (born October 12, 1965) is a former Citrus County Commissioner and former member of the Florida House of Representatives for the 34th District, which includes Citrus County and northern Hernando County, elected in 2012. He also was a House member representing the 43rd District from 2010 to 2012. He is a Republican and U.S. Army veteran. He is now the Coalitions Director in Florida for Concerned Veterans of America. #politics #republican #democrat #libertarian #news #florida The Yard Sign is a weekly political podcast presenting a different perspective on the week's local, state, and national news and politics. In addition to the revolving cast of panelists, The Yard Sign will feature political candidates, subject matter experts, and elected officials. T he Yard Sign is The Most Important Irrelevant Political Podcast based out of Florida featuring young professional conservatives discussing the political news of the day. The show airs weekly on Mondays at 7pm. Visit our website: http://theyardsign.com Like The Yard Sign on Facebook: http://facebook.com/theyardsign Follow The Yard Sign on Twitter: http://twitter.com/theyardsign Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFit1jbe16x5TlfMr0P9y9A

Tom Kelly continues his “Walk About” in Hernando County.  He discusses how performing in Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs was reinvigorating and how Kunal Arora was inspiring on Tim Dillon's Podcast. Tom's new vacation revelation “I'm only doing things that come easy to me.” Show Links: Tim Dillon Show Kunal Arora Weeki Wachee State Park

Tom Kelly flies to Tampa on a Delta airlines flight and encounters infant triplets. Hear about Tom's encounters in Hernando County, Weeki Wachee Springs, and St Pete Beach. But most importanly, hear strong opinions about what happened on a plane loaded with infants.

Weeki Wachee was a city located in Hernando County, Florida, with a total population of just 12 people. While the city may be no more, the Weeki Wachee Preserve and the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, are still running strong. Drawing in people from all over the United States. As Weeki Wachee Springs is one of those old Florida tourist attractions, that many visited from the 1940s through the 1960s. Because it includes water rides, animal shows, manatee watching, and of course, their most famous attraction, the one that literally built the small city, the Mermaids of Weeki Wachee.[FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA & MORE]TWITTER: www.twitter.com/SouthernOddPodINSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/SouthernOddPodJARED'S TWITTER: www.twitter.com/jared_ordisJARED'S INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/jared.ordisORDIS STUDIOS PODCAST NETWORK & WEBSITE: www.ordisstudios.com[ADDITONAL INFORMATION]Questions or Business Inquiry, Email Us @ ordisstudios@gmail.comResearched was used for this episode of Southern Oddities, and we couldn't have made it possible without the journalism and dedication from these awesome sources of information: Roadside America [Tip 307] Roadside America [Story 2068] Visit Florida [Weeki Wachee Mermaid Show] Roadtrippers [Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaids] Florida Backroads Travel [Weeki Wachee Springs] Florida State Parks [Weeki Wachee] Wikipedia [Weeki Wachee, FL]"Southern Oddities" is created & produced by Jared Ordis, an Ordis Studios production. This show is part of the Ordis Studios Network Copyright © 2021 by Ordis Studioswww.ordisstudios.com

Join the Boozy Bitches as they discuss the paranormal in Florida.  From Port St. Lucie's Devil Tree to Hernando County's May-Stringer House to Estero's Hollow-Earth Cult, we discuss them all.  With a cocktail, of course.  Connect with us on Instagram>>>  https://www.instagram.com/boozybanterwithfriends/or on our website  https://boozybanterwithfriends.com

Achilles got to sit down with longtime friend, Sophia Watson of the Suncoast Technical Education Center (or SunTech), to discuss the exciting programs they specialize in. Founded in 2013 SunTech specializes in developing and promoting innovative programs for students to meet the evolving needs of the community of Hernando County. For more info about SunTech or their many programs check out their website: https://sunteched.edu/ The Place for All Things Automotive is ready to welcome you. For more details about us or to register for any events visit www.leadfootcity.com. Listen in to Lead Foot Radio : https://leadfootcity.com/blogs/lead-foot-radio Lead Foot City is proudly located on the Florida Adventure Coast at 17109 Old Ayers Road, in beautiful Brooksville, Florida, 34604.

Join us for a humorous take on Florida news as we check in on oddball headlines from around the Sunshine State.In Hernando County, a Florida woman sent in her winning Florida Lottery ticket -- and the ticket got lost in the mail. In Boca Raton, a barber stressed out by COVID-19 argues with two customers and pulled a gun on them. In West Palm Beach, mayor Kevin James put the squash on 2020 -- by taking a mallet to some squash at a special event. Thanks Mr. Mayor! Finally, a Marion County man broke into a neighbor's home and threw his Bible at the neighbor, because you know, God made him do it.Veteran journalists Cory and Kirsten O'Donnell may not be comedians, but they easily find the comedy behind Florida's headlines. See more episodes on our website, FloridaFreakshow.com.Like what you hear?Make sure to follow our virtual freak show on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Subscribe to Florida FreakshowApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XA1fuqSpotify: https://spoti.fi/2XA5BBAStitcher: https://bit.ly/frkshw-stitchrGoogle Podcasts: https://bit.ly/frkshw-googlOvercast: https://bit.ly/2XxbgZ9Pocket Cast: https://pca.st/fs6x8u9giHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/2XAkxzH

Krystal and Brian with Boys & Girls of Hernando County join Achilles to talk about what the Boys & Girls Clubs do and how they impact so many lives every day. The chat leads right in to events and the annual Halloween Monster Car show hosted at Lead Foot City Oct. 24th Learn more about Boys & Girls Clubs at BGCHernando.org The Place for All Things Automotive is ready to welcome you. For more details about us or to register for any events visit www.leadfootcity.com.

Hernando County Administrator Jeff Rogers joins Achilles on Lead Foot Radio to discuss the future outlook for Lead Foot City and the impact a service oriented team has on a business. He got to take the drift karts for a ride and is really proud of the manufacturing facility he saw during the tour. The Place for All Things Automotive is ready to welcome you. For more details about us or to register for any events visit www.leadfootcity.com.

Join us for a humorous take on Florida news as we check in on headlines from around the Sunshine State.In Jupiter, we find a wanna-be dad looking to score some Father's Day brownie points. We also pay a visit to the best little whorehouse in Hernando County, and meet the politician who runs it. Speaking of politicians, we check in on some nonverbal communication issues during a Surfside commission meeting. We'll discover one man's poor choice of a retirement plan in Hudson. And finally, we plant our freak flag in Pensacola, where we might just have a new land speed record for Florida crimes committed per hour.Veteran journalists Cory and Kirsten O'Donnell may not be comedians, but they easily find the comedy behind Florida's headlines.Like what you hear? Make sure to follow our virtual freak show on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Today we celebrate the birthday of the English Statesman who created “Garden walks” and the birthday of a man who is remembered by Muhly grass. We'll learn about the man memorialized by a plant name that misspells his last name, and we'll also learn about the disastrous freeze for Florida growers that happened in the mid-1980s. Today’s Unearthed Words feature poetry and quotes that teach the lessons we can learn from winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shares terrific essays on the benefits of gardening. I'll talk about a garden item that can definitely come in handy for gardeners, and then we’ll wrap things up with the story of a botanist who recognized that new species can always be discovered, even in areas previously explored. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Curated Articles The Wardian case: Botany game-changer | Kew From @kewgardens The Wardian case: Botany game-changer: It's incredible to think that the Wardian case was invented by British doctor and amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in 1829 by complete accident...   Gardens: Winning ways for winter Oodles of great tips for designing a Winter Garden from Anglesey’s assistant head gardener David Jordan: One of Jordan’s favorite combinations is the shaggy-barked paperbark maple teamed with the variegated evergreen shrub Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ and the pink, scented blossoms of Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn.’ At Anglesey, the euonymus is cloud-pruned in summer to create a sinuous shape, but as Jordan points out, “It has adventitious roots, so you could grow it up the walls of a house and have it as a backdrop.” Jordan also recommends the crab apple tree Malus ‘Evereste’ as a centerpiece to a winter border. “You get long, persistent fruit, and you can underplant with dogwood in red or orange that works with the color of the fruit. Underplant with snowdrops, then daffodils, and this takes you through to May when you get the flowers – that gives you a long window of interest.” The winter garden recipe runs something like this: a tree with colorful or tactile bark – try Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula), paperbark maple (Acer griseum) or Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree – acts as an anchor for the rest of the planting; then add a mid-level shrub with scented flowers, colored stems or attractive leaves (dogwoods, euonymus, daphnes, viburnums or sarcococcas); finally, there’s the option of a low-growing ground cover (snowdrops and hardy cyclamen, or foliage such as bergenias or pulmonarias).   Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1561 Today is the birthday of the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon. Francis wrote a splendid essay called “Of Gardens.” The essay contains many quotable thoughts on gardening - although the opening line is the most quoted. “God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man; without which, buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks; and a man shall ever see, that when ages grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as if gardening were the greater perfection. I do hold it, in the royal ordering of gardens, there ought to be gardens, for all the months in the year, in which several things of beauty may be then in season.” In 1606, Francis introduced “Garden Walks” as a concept at Gray's Inn field. Bacon lived at Gray’s Inn, and during that time, the Inns were putting gates and fencing around their land to provide greater privacy and security. It was in the gated field at Gray’s Inn where Bacon created his walk. People were enthralled with the idea. Along the walk, Bacon added flowers and trees like Violets and Primroses, Cherry Trees, and Birch. This whole notion of strolling through a pleasure garden was the 16th century equivalent of the modern-day habit of walking in a shopping mall for exercise. In 1594, Francis Bacon said a learned man needs a garden, library, laboratory -- and a "goodly, huge cabinet" (of curiosities). And, Bacon said, "As is the garden - such is the gardener. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds."   1785Today is the day the American Lutheran Pastor and botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg was made a member of the American Philosophical Society. He was always referred to by his second name Heinrich. The Muhlenberg family was a founding family of the United States, and Heinrich came from a long line of pastors. His father, Pastor Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, was known as the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America. His brother was a major in the Revolutionary War, and his other brother was a Congressman. Muhlenberg’s personal journals are a treasure trove of his thoughts on botanical self-improvement. He would write: "How may I best advance myself in the knowledge of plants?” And, Muhlenberg would set goals and reminders to challenge himself, writing: “It is winter, and there is little to do . . . Toward spring I should go out and [put together] a chronology of the trees; how they come out, the flowers, how they appear,. . . . I should especially [take not of] the flowers and fruit.” The grass Muhlenbergia was named for Heinrich Muhlenberg. Muhly grasses are beautiful native grasses. They offer two incredible strengths in their plant profile: drought tolerance and visual punch. Muhly grasses are easy-going, and they grow equally well in harsh conditions and perfectly manicured gardens. The Muhly cultivar ‘White Cloud’ offers gorgeous white plumes. When the coveted Pink Muhly blooms, people often stop to inquire as to the name of the beautiful pink grass. Then, Lindheimer’s Muhly makes a fantastic screen, and Bamboo Muhly commands attention when it is featured in containers. All Muhly grasses like well-drained soil and full sun. If you plant them in fall, be sure to get them situated and in the ground at least a month before the first frost. And here’s an interesting side note: Muhlenberg also discovered the bog turtle. In 1801, the turtle was named Clemmys muhlenbergii in his honor.   1818Today is the anniversary of the death of the American physician Caspar Wistar ("Wiss-Star"), the Younger.  His grandfather was also Caspar Wistar, so the Younger distinction helps people tell them apart. Wistar was a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1777, Caspar Wistar treated the wounded during the battle of Germantown and decided he would pursue medical training. Wistar had some pretty impressive friends: his best friend was probably Thomas Jefferson, and his most famous botany friend was probably Alexander von Humboldt. During his life, every Sunday Night, Wistar would hold a salon - an open house - at his home on the corner of Fourth and Locust Street. His friends would stop by - along with any members of academia, or the elite or high society, along with other accomplished people who happened to be in Philadelphia that evening. They all knew that Wistar's house was the place to go to meet up with the best minds of the day. The botanist Thomas Nuttall named the genus Wisteria in Caspar Wistar's honor (some people say Wistaria to reflect the proper spelling of Wistar's last name. Either is fine because guess what - the misspelling is preserved for all time under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature). It's like one of my kid's birth certificates - it can be amended, but the original is wrong and will be until the end of time. Wistar died of a heart ailment unexpectedly on January 18, 1818. His final utterance was: "I wish well to all mankind." After Wistar died, his friends continued holding Wistar parties for a core group of 50 members. They would each take turns hosting, and the kept the tradition going for another forty years. Today, Wistar ("Wiss-Star")is the name of The Wistar Institute, the nation's first independent biomedical research center. Today, they focus on cancer, infectious disease & vaccine research to benefit human health.   1985 Record-breaking cold temperatures damaged 90% of Florida's orange and grapefruit crop. Newspaper accounts sounded grim saying: “A nightmare for citrus growers...The fourth killer cold wave in five growing seasons seized Florida's 760,000-acre Citrus Belt on Monday with an icy grip that growers said froze millions of oranges and could destroy thousands of acres of trees already weakened by the disastrous Christmas 1983 freeze. Shocked by lows that fell to the low- and mid-teens throughout the northern two-thirds of the orange belt by Monday morning, growers said the latest in the string of freezes undoubtedly would end the careers of many of the state's 30,000 citrus growers. "It's a nightmare come true: back-to-back 100-year freezes," said Marion County citrus-man John Futch. A 100-year freeze is expected to occur only once every century. All-time low-temperature records were set across the state early Monday, including 19 degrees in Orlando and 17 degrees in Daytona Beach. Farmers as far south as Naples lost fruit and vegetable crops to the numbing cold. Citrus experts with Florida Citrus Mutual, the state's largest growers' organization with more than 15,000 members, said the low temperatures Monday rivaled "Between last night and tonight, I don't think there'll be a tree alive in Hernando County when this is over," Dr. William Croom said Monday morning after surveying his 104-year-old, 110-acre grove on Powell Road. "I'm not going to replant. I'll be 65 in March. That's just too late in life" to start over. As the temperature fell to 15 degrees, Croom's grove foreman, Barney Parrott, and three other workers lighted 300 oil-fueled stack heaters among trees in an 8-acre section in an effort to salvage the healthiest portion of his grove. "We'll be back out tonight, although I don't know if it'll do any good," he said Monday.   Unearthed Words Today’s words are about the lessons we can learn from winter.   Spring passes, and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes, and one remembers one’s perseverance. — Yoko Ono, Japanese-Multimedia Artist, Widow of John Lennon   People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy. — Anton Chekhov, Russian Playwrite & Writer   One kind word can warm three winter months. — Japanese Proverb   “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” — John Steinbeck, American Author & Nobel Prize Winner   To shorten winter, borrow some money due in spring. — W.J. Vogel   If there were no tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would be no summer. — St. John Chrysostom ("kri-SOSS-tum"), Bishop of Constantinople   "Nature has undoubtedly mastered the art of winter gardening, and even the most experienced gardener can learn from the unrestrained beauty around them." — Vincent A. Simeone ("Sim-EE-OH-nee"), Horticulturist   Grow That Garden Library By Pen & by Spade by David Wheeler This book features thirty-three essays From David Wheeler's passion project known as Hortus magazine (Which I just subscribed to). Hortus provides expert information on plants and gardening, with articles focusing on gardens around the world. The essays explore the various benefits of gardening. They are written by multiple writers who share personal stories and lessons from the garden. This book features essays from Robert Dash (who examines the overlap between gardening and poetry), Rosemary Verey (who shares thoughts on the courtyard gardens of Charleston), Hermia Oliver does the same with Flaubert's gardens; And, Dennis Wood reveals the joy of gardening after retirement. These essays are an excellent source of good gardening advice: how to plant a scent garden ("Stick to a sunny, sheltered spot," advises Stephen Lacey), how to grow blue-hued gentians (seek out an acid soil, counsels Stephen G. Haw). This book came out in 1991. You can get a used copy of By Pen & by Spade by David Wheeler and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $1.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Esschert Design Garden Tool Belt, Gray & Green, $13.18 Adjustable green and gray garden tool apron. Deep pockets, adjustable belt, and compartments for markers make this apron a must for every busy gardener. Tool Belt 13; 26 Inch 1; 482 Inch 13; 26In Perfect For Use In The Garden Or Yard Grey And Green Canvas Tool Belt With Plastic Clasps   Today’s Botanic Spark 1917 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Presbyterian minister, writer, and an American botanist Ellsworth Jerome Hill. Ellsworth was born in Leroy, New York. When Ellsworth was only 20 years old, one of his knees stopped working, and the doctor suggested he study botany. Ellsworth wood crawl from the house to the orchard, where he would pick a few flowers and then crawl back to the house to identify them. And the following year, Ellsworth moved to Mississippi, where it was warmer, and he used two canes to assist with walking. By middle age, Ellsworth met and married a young woman named Milancy Leach - who would become his indispensable helpmate. When he was lame, or when he didn't have the strength to complete all of his tasks as he collected specimens, Milancy would step in and finish the work for him. By the time he was 40, Ellsworth had put his lameness behind him. In the back half of his life, he seemed to be able to manage his physical challenges and, with Milancy’s help, had learned how to cope with the symptoms. In a touching tribute to Ellsworth after his death, the botanist Agnes Chase rote: “Most of these collections were made while he walked on crutches or with two canes. He told me that he carried his vasculum over his shoulder and a camp stool with his crutch or cane in one hand. To secure a plant, he would drop the camp stool, which opened of itself, then he would lower himself to the stool and dig the plant. He recovered from his lameness but often suffered acute pain from cold or wet or overexertion. But this did not deter him from making botanical trips that would have taxed a more robust man – in the Dunes, I have seen him tire out more than one able-bodied man. “ It was Ellsworth Jerome Hill who said, "In studying the flora of a restricted region, no matter how carefully it seems to have been explored, one is frequently surprised by new things...  No region can be regarded as thoroughly explored until every acre of its wild areas at least has been examined. Some plants are so rare or local or grow under such peculiar conditions that a few square rods or even feet may comprise their range."

An origin story based on a famous legend which people claim is fact and not folklore. A television show responsible for creating and spreading urban legends. Two nights with a guitar, a candle, a book, and an idea. Tripping on Legends explores the famous case of the Woman of Highway 50, a story once told on Unsolved Mysteries, remembered a decade later by a songwriter, and remembered two decades after that when this whole Legend Tripping gig got started. Who was the woman who saved her son after her death, and why does the story refuse to die. You can view the Paranormal Witness episode at: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl3oef Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at ((813) 418-6822. You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com. A new project is starting and will be announced next week, so if you have any information on odd stories or lost history from Lake, Sumter, Pasco, or Hernando County, let us know. Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegend Twitter: @SpookyBalzano Instagram: @SpookyTripping

An origin story based on a famous legend which people claim is fact and not folklore. A television show responsible for creating and spreading urban legends. Two nights with a guitar, a candle, a book, and an idea. Tripping on Legends explores the famous case of the Woman of Highway 50, a story once told on Unsolved Mysteries, remembered a decade later by a songwriter, and remembered two decades after that when this whole Legend Tripping gig got started. Who was the woman who saved her son after her death, and why does the story refuse to die. You can view the Paranormal Witness episode at: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xl3oef Feel free to call our new phone number during our lives shows to get involved, share a legend you’ve heard, or to just ask a question at ((813) 418-6822. You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com. A new project is starting and will be announced next week, so if you have any information on odd stories or lost history from Lake, Sumter, Pasco, or Hernando County, let us know. Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegend Twitter: @SpookyBalzano Instagram: @SpookyTripping

In Episode 107 of Florida Men: The Official Podcast of Florida Man, Florida Man sunbathes on his neighbor’s roof—at night, Florida Man practices for a Triathlon with a little help from Hernando County’s finest, Florida Woman starts up a unique type of business with her mom, and this whole Florida Man thing finally jumps the shark.This Episode's Florida Men and Women:• Tessa Lilly• Stephen Michelena• Karen Morris• Joni Eitzmann• Lisa Edelstein• Gary Francis Molloy• Cody PierceNews Sources:Florida Woman Tried To Pass Off Meth As Makeup Through Courthouse Metal Detectorhttps://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-florida-woman-tried-to-pass-off-meth-as-makeup-in-metal-detector-20191107-umq33rwq55bprowqhiv3u5mzpa-story.htmlHalf-Naked Florida Man Comes To On A Neighbor’s Roofhttps://www.nbc-2.com/story/41262176/cape-coral-man-winds-up-on-roof-in-underwear-with-no-memory-of-how-he-got-thereFlorida Man Jumps Off His Surfboard, Lands On A Sharkhttps://www.wbaltv.com/article/florida-man-lands-on-a-shark-after-jumping-off-his-surfboard/29629887County Orders Florida Woman to Give Up Her “Emotional Support Chickens”https://www.nbc-2.com/story/41042220/lee-county-woman-fights-claw-and-beak-to-keep-her-chickens-as-emotional-support-animalsFlorida Woman and Her Mother Start New Business Cuddling Strangershttps://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/professional-cuddling-studio-opens-in-jacksonville/1003850111Florida Teacher Accused Of Being 'Highly Intoxicated' At Schoolhttps://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/pinellas-county-teacher-arrested-after-allegedly-showing-up-to-school-highly-intoxicatedFlorida Man Becomes Triathlete While Eluding Policehttps://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/florida/os-ne-spring-hill-airboat-arrest-20191031-cd2f7ywt45dpfiq65kdb7m6w3u-story.htmlPatreon Exclusive Story: Florida Man Asks Police To Remove Mugshot From Facebook After Theft, Only For Them To Replace It With Booking Photohttps://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-asks-police-remove-mugshot-booking-photoAll The Social Thingys:Leave a Voicemail1 (567) 432-9674Subscribe to Florida Men on your favorite Podcast Apps:https://link.chtbl.com/FloridaMenPodFlorida Men on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdTHFnwTdoLdyNL09COYNZgFlorida Men on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/FloridaMenPodFlorida Men on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/FloridaMenPod/Florida Men on Instagramhttp://instagram.com/FloridaMenPod/Florida Men Storehttps://floridamenpodcast.com/shop/Join Florida Men on Patreonhttp://patreon.com/FloridaMenFlorida Men Tip Jarhttp://paypal.me/floridamenFlorida Men Wish Listhttps://tinyurl.com/FLMenAmazonGet on the Florida Men mailing listhttps://mailchi.mp/1aeced61a8f0/florida-menFlorida Men Podcast Websitehttp://floridamenpodcast.com/The Ballad of Florida Man was written and performed by The Florida Men and is used with permission.© 2019 Florida Men The Podcast. All Rights Reserved.

Mass transit in Tampa Bay's densely populated big cities grabs the headlines. But there's a case to be made that transportation has even more of an impact on people living in rural areas.This week on Florida Matters, Ron Pianta, planning and zoning director for Hernando County -- along with Dave Hutchinson, MPO executive director of Manatee and Sarasota -- joins Tom Phillips, executive director of the Citrus Connection in Polk County, to talk about the issues and solutions in our rural areas.Florida Matters airs on WUSF 89.7 Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.  It's also on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9 on Mondays at 10 p.m. 

Mass transit in Tampa Bay's densely populated big cities grabs the headlines. But there's a case to be made that transportation has even more of an impact on people living in rural areas.   This week on Florida Matters, Ron Pianta, planning and zoning director for Hernando County -- along with Dave Hutchinson, MPO executive director of Manatee and Sarasota -- joins Tom Phillips, executive director of the Citrus Connection in Polk County, to talk about the issues and solutions in our rural areas.   Florida Matters airs on WUSF 89.7 Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.  It's also on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9 on Mondays at 10 p.m.

Mass transit in Tampa Bay's densely populated big cities grabs the headlines. But there's a case to be made that transportation has even more of an impact on people living in rural areas.   This week on Florida Matters, Ron Pianta, planning and zoning director for Hernando County -- along with Dave Hutchinson, MPO executive director of Manatee and Sarasota -- joins Tom Phillips, executive director of the Citrus Connection in Polk County, to talk about the issues and solutions in our rural areas.   Florida Matters airs on WUSF 89.7 Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 7:30 a.m.  It's also on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9 on Mondays at 10 p.m.

Two years after Parkland, Florida government, political and education leaders continue to debate the best ways to keep schools safe from violence. The state's Public Safety Commission, convened in the aftermath of the deadly attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, is about to issue a new set of recommendations. How individual districts choose to address the issues remains distinctly local. In Hernando County, the far north exurbs of Tampa, officials have long sworn by having trained law enforcement officers in the schools. Until one day the school district administration came up with a different idea. What comes next? Hernando County education reporter Jack Evans discusses the ongoing discussion with Jeff Solochek in our latest Gradebook podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ryan, Morgan, and Felix discuss more threats of violence across Florida and Hernando County teens who messed up​ a gun sale on a high school campus.

They call it the Legend of the Dead Man’s Oak, but the biggest mystery might just where the damned and haunted tree may be. Christopher Balzano and Natalie Crist get into one of the more well-known haunted urban legends of Central Florida, the Dead Man’s Oak. Said to be the site of a headless horseman and his ghostly stead, no one can quit agree on where the tree is located or why the man is trapped on the earth. After getting into some of the different versions of the story and potential location of the tree, the Tripper dig deeper into the meaning of headless ghosts, including a look at the Dullahan and Crom Cruach. You can contact us with questions, comments, and your favorite legend or tidbit of folklore at spookytripping@gmail.com. We’ve started a more in depth look into the Swamp Witch story of Hog Island and some of the lore in the surrounding counties, especially Sumter and Hernando County. If you have any information on odd legends there, let us know at spookytripping@gmail.com. Here’s the episode, There's More Than a Swamp Witch on Hog Island to get a feeling for what we’re talking about: https://triplegend.hipcast.com/deluge/triplegend-20181104102811-3268.mp3 We’re still knee deep in the #hauntedlove project, so we’re especially looking for ghost stories with a love twist. Keep visiting the site for the trip log of our travels and other urban legends at: www.trippingonlegends.wordpress.com Follow us at: www.facebook.com/trippingonlegends And check out our YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoIYDkaFmnpHovYhYdfTNaw Twitter: @SpookyBalzano Instagram: @SpookyTripping

It's been a disturbing truth across Florida and the nation: School districts have disproportionately disciplined black students. Hernando County school officials noted the data in their district, and decided to do something about it. They launched a pilot project on three campuses to improve educators' approach to student discipline, without simply ignoring situations, and so far have been satisfied enough with the results to expand the effort to three more schools. Hernando County education reporter Jack Evans joins Jeff Solochek to discuss the program's intentions and implications. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A suspected drug dealer gets indicted for murder after his client dies from an overdose, and serial killer Mike Kaprat terrorizes a Tampa suburb by raping and killing elderly women from Brookridge to Spring Hill. Special guests: Chief Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway, Hernando County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Kraft, retired Hernando County sheriff's detectives Carlos Douglas and Craig Baxley, former Tampa Bay Times reporter and columnist Dan DeWitt.

Florida's Hernando County school district is proving that not only the biggest systems suffer from politics and infighting. After years of internal disputes, and growing discontent within the general public, the board recently fired superintendent Lori Romano on a 3-2 vote, accusing her of ineffective leadership and other shortcomings. Romano turned around and demanded a hearing where she wants to prove otherwise, as a new district leader tries to cool tempers back down. Hernando County education reporter Megan Reeves joins Jeff Solochek to discuss what's happening in the small, semi-rural district north of Tampa. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two elected officials - a west central Florida county commissioner and a South Florida mayor - have been charged with felonies, and 22 years ago, a gang of misfits called the Lords of Chaos kills a high school band teacher on his front doorstep in Fort Myers. Special guests: retired prosecutor Randy McGruther, former Fort Myers News-Press reporter Peter Franceschina, retired News-Press columnist Sam Cook

A Valentine's Day high school massacre in Parkland resulted in the deaths of 17 people; and it's the 25th anniversary of the 1993 murder of 12-year-old Jennifer Odom, who was abducted from her bus stop in Pasco County and found dead a week later in an orange grove in Hernando County. Special guests: Sun-Sentinel reporter Anne Geggis, Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis, homicide detective George Loydgren, retired homicide detective Carlos Douglas, former Hernando County commission chair Tony Mosca, Odom's classmate and friend Jessica Floyd

A Kissimmee woman was slain in an apparent murder-for-hire plot that didn't go as planned; a Florida man gets 40 years for having sex with underage girls at his Haitian orphanage; John Kalisz shoots four women in Hernando County and kills a sheriff's deputy in Dixie County. Special guests: Pete Magrino, assistant state attorney; Col. Mike Maurer, of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office; Suzie Greif, victim's daughter.

An infamously elusive mail fraud suspect finally caught after five years, an Edgewater man tries and fails to carjack one woman only to violently attack another, and a man who has been sentenced to death twice in the death of a Hernando County woman in 1985 had his verdict overturned by the Florida Supreme Court - but prosecutors are seeking to put him back on death row. Special guests: Former Tampa Bay Times reporter/columnist Dan DeWitt, defense attorney Martin J. McClain

Sex Crimes Kids  Bauer Crider & Parry Podcast Brad: Alright, you are listening to the FloridaDefense.com Podcast. We are speaking to St Petersburg Sexual Battery Defense Lawyer Mike Kenny at the Bauer Crider & Parry Law Firm. Mike, how are you? Mike: I'm very well. How are you doing? B: I'm doing well. Today we're going to be talking about sex crimes versus kids but I want to just kind of throw out there I know you guys have multiple offices. You kind of cover a wide area there in the Tampa, the greater Tampa area. Could you mention kind of, well first of all, let's talk about the offices that you have and then some of the other areas that you target. M: Well, we have an office in Hillsborough County, and that office is actually right across the street from the courthouse on Twiggs Street in Tampa. So that office is kind of designed for our Tampa clients and our Tampa type cases which covers anything from Plant City, Wesley Chapel, New Tampa, obviously the entire Tampa area. We have an office in Clearwater, and that's kind of more of our Pinellas County office and obviously it's gonna cover all of your cases throughout Pinellas County which will be Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, St Petersburg, St Pete Beach, Largo, Tarpon Springs, you've got Pinellas Park, Kenneth City, obviously Pinellas County is a large area and we definitely cover a lot of cases throughout the county there. We have two offices in Pasco County. We have one in Port Richey and one in Trinity Florida. Obviously our Pasco County reach covers New Port Richey, Dade City, Port Richey, Holiday. The Port Richey office also covers Brooksville cases which I tend to handle on a repeat basis and the main area in Hernando County that I cover is going to be Brooksville and obviously then we have our Trinity office. Our Trinity office also covers, because we do a lot of work in Pasco County, covers the same places in Pasco County, New Port Richey, Port Richey, Holiday, Dade City, Hudson. B: Great. So you guys are pretty much all over the place in the Tampa area with four different offices to choose from.  M: Sure.  B: Well, let's - Mike, let's go ahead and jump in. Let's talk a little bit about sex crimes versus kids or versus a child and I'll just kind of if you can kind of just give us an overview of that. M: Alright, well, so there's two types of sex crimes, or two categories of sex crimes involving children. And there's actually, now that I think about it there might actually be even three if you want to kind of divide it up even further. But the sex crimes are initially the battery - whether or not there's a sexual battery. Battery, as I talked about in a previous podcast talks about essentially penetration. That's what you're looking for. Sexual battery is defined as oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by or union with the sexual organ of another or the anal or vaginal penetration of another by any other object. So that's kind of what you look for if you're talking about was it a sexual battery or not? And there's other types of crimes and crimes that don't involve penetration but involve touching - that's where you get the term molestation.  3:46 (skipped per Brad's request) 3:54 But those types of crimes are crimes that don't involve any type of sexual battery, whether it be penetration of the mouth with a sexual organ or the penis or vagina. So in that set of circumstances, you've got that category and then the next category is the age. Obviously, as we talked about before, the age of consent for sexual activity in Florida, generally speaking, is 16 years old. So the key age that we look for in a sexual battery case is the victim has to be 15 or younger. So if the victim is under the age of 15, that becomes a crime if there is either a molestation or there is a penetration, sexual battery type situation. So if you have a scenario where there has been alleged sexual activity like actual intercourse between someone over the age of 15 - and that could be 16, 17, 18, whatever, you don't even have to be an adult, but someone over the age of 15 having sexual intercourse with a 15 year old, that is a lewd or lascivious battery. And that's a specific crime that addresses sex of a person younger than 16 - basically 15 and older than 12 - it's a lewd or lascivious battery. If a person, this is the next category that I was going to talk to you about - this third unique category. If a person who is a victim of a sexual battery is under the age of 12, that in Florida is defined as a Capital Sexual Battery. Years and years and years ago that crime was punishable by death. Now it is obviously punishable by life in prison without parole. So if a person is convicted of a sexual battery, there is no other option for that person other than a life in prison type sentence. So the age matters very much because it completely changes the term of years a person might be facing and the severity of sentence the person might be facing. If a person's under 12 and it's sexual intercourse, it's gonna be a life imprisonment sentence if they get convicted. If a person's under 15, it's gonna be much less significant, it's not even gonna be a life sentence at all. The next question or category of concern is the molestation type charges. A lewd or lascivious molestation can happen above or under the clothing so situations where a person is fondled over their shirt, for instance, that can qualify as a lewd or lascivious molestation.  B: Mike, can I jump in real quick there. That is similar to - you said that you don't necessarily have indecent exposure there in Florida, but that's kind of what that's referring to, is that correct? M: No, that's another unique, it's not really a crime where there's contact with another person, but in Florida, obviously everyone can imagine there's crimes that involve people exposing themselves to other folks. In Florida that's called a lewd or lascivious exhibition. A lewd or lascivious exhibition, the key phrase there is lewd or lascivious, that the person is exposing him or herself in a lewd or lascivious manner, which means of a sexually oriented nature. For instance, give you an idea, a guy who's driving on a long trip and had a lot to drink beverage wise and needs to get out of the car and use the facilities of the forest, that person is not committing a lewd or lascivious exhibition if he gets caught by police urinating on the side of the road. Now, there is another crime for that. That's generally speaking a disorderly conduct type crime, but there's also a crime called exposure of sexual organs. That's a misdemeanor and it's not a sex related crime per say, you don't have a sexual registration requirement or anything like that, but exposure of sexual organs comes up when a person's (obviously sexual organs being a penis or a vagina) are exposed and there's nothing about the act in and of itself that shows it's of a sexually motivated manner. There isn't any talk about sex, there isn't any fondling. There isn't anything that would indicate other than the person is exposed. So that's a misdemeanor. But if a person exposes himself and exposes himself to a person under the age of 16, that's when you start to get into the lewd or lascivious exhibition problem. That's when you get to the felony aspect of it. It has to be both an exposure and it has to be an exposure in front of a person under the age of 16, you need a witness to it who is under the age of 16, and it has to be again, of a lewd or lascivious manner. So it's got to be something that is sexually oriented and I'm sure we don't need to go over every single scenario where that could be, but some unique cases have come up where there have been cases that have been litigated and actually gone up to appellate courts where a person fought a lewd or lascivious exhibition conviction because he or she answered the door and he happened to be naked from the waist down and there happened to be some children who were at the door. Some discussion about those cases talked about how he might have been in his own home but he clearly knew that there was children coming to the door to sell something. Sell raffle tickets, girl scout cookies, and even talked about whether or not there was - the sexual organ itself was flaccid or not. So there's a lot of things that the court looks to to describe the intentional exposure of a sexual organ designed to be in a lewd and lascivious manner.  B: Alright, one thing we didn't talk about is child pornography, which is obviously a sex crime versus a kid, right? Might be a whole another podcast, but is there anything that you want to touch on that? M: Well, the and we kind of had a podcast before talking about computer crimes, but the issue of possession of child pornography that the basic idea behind it is the person either has an image either on paper - tangible like he can hold it - or he or she has it in his computer and they're images of children. And they're not photographs of baby pictures, right? I'm sure everybody has a baby picture somewhere of his or her own child. But these are photographs that have the children in a sexually provocative manner. It's not just a naked child, but it's a child in a sexually oriented fashion. A lot of these images that get caught and punished are horrible images of children involved in sexual activity with other children or even adults. So it's not something where someone can get in trouble just for having a naked picture, because that's not necessarily pornography. Pornography has to have a sexual element attached to it. The sex crimes that we were talking about where we have the under 12 which is a life felony if it's a sexual battery. If it's not a sexual battery but a molestation, which is a hand touching the chest or the buttocks or the sexual organ of the other person, those are molestation type cases. And if the person is under 12 in that case, but it's not a sexual battery, it's still a life type felony. When I say a life type felony, those cases are punishable by 25 years to life. So the idea here, is the legislature is very hard on sex crimes to begin with and the laws are very strict, but they are even more severe when the children become of such a young age that we're talking 10 or 11 years old - anything under 12. As a prosecutor, I prosecuted tons of capital sexual battery cases. I went to trial on several and those folks who got convicted are still sitting in prison and they're going to spend the rest of their lives in prison. So the penalty is severe. That's why, if you find yourself accused of something this horrific, the first thing you're gonna want to do is make sure you find yourself a lawyer who you trust and a lawyer who you believe has got the ability to defend you. Because the cost is great.        B: Alright, anything else on that Mike?  M: No Sir, I think that covers it. B: You've been listening to the FloridaDefense.com Podcast. We've been speaking to St Petersburg Criminal Defense Attorney Mike Kenny at the Bauer Crider & Parry Law Firm. We will see you on the next podcast.

Brad: Alright, welcome to the Bauer, Crider, and Perry criminal defense podcast. We are speaking to attorney, Mike Kenny.        Mike: Hello?       Brad: Alright, how are you doing this morning, Mike?       Mike: I'm doing really well. How are you?       B: Good. Good, well you've had an interesting case, um, a few weeks back, um that we want to go ahead and talk about this morning, correct?       M: Sure.        B: Tell us a little bit about that.       M: Well, in Florida there's this statute called a sexting statute, or the texting statute, and that statute was enacted, I'm sure when I say the word "sexting" everyone probably has an image or an idea of what we are talking about. But that statute was particularly put into place because of this, I guess ostensibly there was a lot of concern about young folks sending pictures that obviously would quite frankly end up being very regrettable pictures in the future. You know, pictures of nudity to other young people, and in certain cases they get exploited and lives get turned upside down. So, before the sexting statute was enacted, and that was around 2011,  the only crimes that would capture that type of act, which is taking a picture, a sexually related picture, or a nude sexual picture and send it to another individual, the only charge available would be an exposure of sexual organs charge or a lewd or lascivious exhibition charges, and those charges can be life changing. If someone is charged with a lewd or lascivious exhibition, it's a felony, and it's something that might require a person to spend the rest of their life being marked as someone with a sex offense, and that's just not something that folks want in this world, especially when we're talking about teenagers.  So the Florida Legislature, in an effort to try to circumvent that unfortunate result decided to make a law applicable to teens only, or teens or minors only and the idea was that anyone that was caught sending a sext message, which is a message of a sexually provocative nature, or sexually related nature to another individual, and if it is a juvenile, for a first time offense, it would almost be like a noncriminal event.  You would pay a fine and have to do some community service.  So the intent was, I would say the intent was good. The intent was not to ruin the lives of kids who probably don't always have the benefit of thinking ahead. And it was a laudable attempt. But what happened was, when they wrote the statute, what wasn't considered was where they were going to be able to prosecute those types of cases.  So in the state of Florida, juvenile cases only have two places they can be prosecuted.  There's two types of courts. There's the circuit court, and the circuit court is the top trial court in the state of Florida. Then you have the county court, and that's kind of the lower trial court in the state of Florida.  For all juvenile crimes, the only jurisdiction, no matter what the crime is whether felony or a misdemeanor, is circuit court that would actually be in juvenile court. And those cases actually start off in ray or 3:41 in the interest of and it has the child's name and all that stuff is confidential.  County court is the only other court where there is a jurisdiction on a juvenile charge, but that's involving traffic violations only.  So, for instance, if a sixteen year old is driving and he's speeding and he gets a ticket and he wants to contest that ticket, he would contest that ticket in county court like any other adult would contest their ticket. That's the only time a juvenile can be in county court is if he's dealing with a traffic offense, whether it be a civil infraction, or even a DUI charge, a criminal traffic charge.    4:20 So the way this statute was written, however, it expressly tells you that a sexting first offense is not a crime.  So if it's not a crime, the problem is the circuit court, which handles all juvenile criminal matters cannot prosecute the case because it's not a criminal act.  If it's not a criminal act then the circuit court does not have jurisdiction. The other issue that comes up is the only other case it can be prosecuted in is county court, and because it is not a traffic offense, the county court does not have any jurisdiction.  And it's just the weird thing about cases in general, a court has to be granted jurisdiction by the state in order to have jurisdiction to enforce the law. And in this particular instance, although it was a well intended statute, the way it was written made it impossible to enforce. 5:21 So what I had in my particular case, a young girl was involved in a sexting charge and she received a notice to appear in county court and it was prosecuted almost as if it was like a county ordinance violation. I filed a motion to dismiss with the county court  judge explaining what the jurisdiction is of the county court and this jurisdiction is of circuit court, and how this sexting offense doesn't qualify for either.  The judge agreed and she dismissed the charge.   5:56 B: I've got kind of a quick question on the sexting.  Is there a difference on if it's text only or image only?   M: It doesn't differentiate between a text or an image.  ...The statute basically says sexting occurs is when someone shares nude or sexually explicit images with others through the use of cell phones, the internet, or any other device capable of transferring data.  It's always going to be an image but there might be some statements along with that or something that makes it sexually explicit.   B: And it doesn't have to be just a text message, it could be social media, email?   M: Correct. In this particular instance that I was involved in, I don't want to get into the details too much, but it actually involved the internet.   B: So the first offense is not a crime?   M: The first offense is not a crime.   B: The second one is?   M: The second one would be. And again, it's designed and is prosecuted not the same way as the serious felony of exposure of sexual organ charge or lewd or lascivious exhibition.  It's a little bit less serious and obviously the intent behind that is to not throw a bunch of kids in this monicker of being sexual offenders.  That was the purpose behind the statute.   7:38 B: And just to be clear, a minor is 18 or under correct?  Or under 18?   M:  Under 18.   B: Well, good. Anything else on that, Mike?   M: No, I think that the, quite frankly it was almost unfortunate. As a lawyer, you have a duty to represent your client and protect your client no matter what.  So, when you do the research and say, "well, that was a good intent and I appreciate where the legislature is coming from, but I've got to protect my client and there's just no jurisdiction to prosecute so it was dismissed. The unfortunate outcome of that is that leaves law enforcement with no other tools but the old tools that they had that this statute was enacted to prevent or go around. So it's kind of unfortunate and I'm hoping the legislature takes some effort to amend that statute to make it at least enforceable so we don't have 15 and 16 year olds who make some silly mistakes in their lives being prosecuted as sexual offenders.   B: Right, for the rest of their lives, right?   M: There are certain things that can happen that even though it's a juvenile crime, unfortunately.   8:57 (Lead out by Brad...)   1327 total words       Part 2   B: Michael you are a partner in the firm, is that correct?   M: That is correct.   B: Tell us a little about Bauer, Crider & Parry   M: Well, it's hard for me to talk about Bauer, Crider & Parry without kind of getting a little excited about it, to be quite honest with you.  I was first introduced to that firm when I was a prosecutor. I was a prosecutor for 5 1/2 years and I met one of the partners of the firm and we tried quite a few cases together. One of the things that you learn really quickly as a prosecutor is who the good lawyers are.   B: So you were on the other side of the table.   M: I was on the other side and you learn quickly who the good lawyers are and you begin to wonder about what makes a good lawyer and what makes it a good firm. I did some research in looking into the firm and eventually I was lucky enough to start working here. Bauer, Crider, & Perry is a firm that consists of five lawyers. We have Ronny Cryder and Robert Bauer, those two gentlemen are the founding partners of the firm. Then we have Curtis Crider and David Perry. And then finally you have me, Michael Kenny.  This firm has been around since 1989. They prosecute every single type of criminal matter that is prosecutable in the state of Florida. And that is the most unique thing about it is it's the only thing that we do. Meaning, you might go to other firms and other firms maybe do personal injury law, maybe other firms do some type of divorce law or family law. And that's good, but what we have learned, and what these other folks have learned before I started working here is that you do one thing great in life.  if you do one thing great, then stick to what you do great, and that's all we do.  All we do is criminal defense.  The unique thing about the firm is that each lawyer has his own pretty much area of practice.  When I say area of practice, we all cover the entire state of Florida, but there are some areas that we are more keen on practicing in.  So Curtis Cryer has a good presence in a certain area of the state, David Perry has a good presence in another area, and Ronny has a presence, Robert has a presence, and I have a presence in different areas. And that helps us work together to collectively handle criminal defense for the entire state.   2:48 B:Ok So you are more geographically than actual practice area wise?   M: Sure because I mean to be quite honest with you, when you have a firm that has different office locations, you're certainly not going to be wanting to drive or handle matters that are 10 hours away on a regular basis for two reasons.  One, it's a costly endeavor and two, you might not be as familiar in a far off area as you might be in where you frequently travel.   B: What all locations do you have?   3:26 M: Our main office is in Clearwater, Florida.  And then we have an office Paso County, in Port Richey. We have an office in Trinity, which is also in Paso County, which is where I was a prosecutor. We have an office in Hillsborough County which is directly across the street from the criminal courthouse there.  And we travel to other areas as well. Brooksville is very close to where our Paso County office is so I do a lot of work in Brooksville.    B: But you cover the entire state of Florida?   M: We do.  There are some moments where it makes sense between the client and the firm to take on a case maybe in an area that is a lot further away from where we normally would practice.  But those come on a case by case basis.  For the most part, the counties that we cover on a regular and consistent basis are Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, and Hernando County.   B: OK. 4:29 The website's Floridadefense.com correct?   M: Correct.   B: And how long have you been with the firm, Mike?   M: I've been since I left the State's Attorney's Office in 2009, I've been with the firm ever since then. So we're going on seven years almost.   B: Who was the first attorney that you met from the firm?   M: Curtis Cryder   B: ok so when you left as a prosecutor you ended up somewhat interviewing with them and hitting it off with those guys, huh?   M: You got it. I was a prosecutor for 5 1/2 years and there comes a point when some prosecutors have an idea that they might want to move out of the state attorney's office and there was really only one place that I would consider working and that was here.   B: Tell me Mike, why criminal defense? What pulls you in that direction?   M: That's a pretty good question. You kind of learn when you're going to law school what subjects you like, what subject matters you like, and I think I learned early on in law school that I enjoyed trails, I enjoyed trying cases. While I was in law school, I was on the trial team at Stetson University.  That's a school that's pretty well known for preparing litigators - the people that try cases. The one thing that gets tried, the one type of law that gets tried probably more often than any other is criminal law. Those cases are more likely to go to trial than probably any other type of law. So when I graduated law school, I became a prosecutor. The reason why I became a prosecutor is those guys are always in trial and I began to learn very quickly that for me it was a comfortable fit. I picked it up pretty well. Criminal law is something that I know generally well and I was able to succeed in trying cases.  The unique thing is that when I left, a person would ask me why did you like criminal law as a prosecutor and well, I liked it because I liked trying cases. It was an enjoyable experience. I thought I was serving the people very well. I thought I was doing what I thought was being the good guy all the time.  And it's funny, because when you leave and you kind of get on the other side and you do criminal defense, you're sort of like occasionally you have an eye opening experience. And the eye opening experience that I had leaving and doing criminal defense is that these people that I would see that would come in to hire me to represent them on criminal matters weren't just names on a file. As a prosecutor you kind of see names on a file. You see names on a file, rap sheets, and police reports.  You don't get that experience of the person.  As a defense attorney, you see this gentleman walk in and he may walk in with his wife, he may walk in with his family. But you begin to know the person and you learn very quickly that sometimes people find themselves in situations whether through faults of their own or not. We make mistakes and we try not to make these mistakes these permanent life altering mistakes. And you get a chance now as a defense attorney to help a person remove themselves from this bad life choice and you get to help them succeed as a human being.  So now I can tell you that I like criminal law because I really believe it helps the folks that come to this firm.  I believe it changes lives.     B: In working on the defense side, there's a more personal element, like you said.    M: No doubt about it. No doubt about it.   B: I think two unique things I wanted to mention, and one is you, specifically, Mike.  You worked both sides. You were a prosecutor, right? You went up against Bauer Crider & Parry.  And now you're on the other side. So can you maybe discuss a little bit on the difference in those two and which one you like better? I'm guessing it's the defense side.   8:34 M:Yeah, well, I thought being a prosecutor was one of the most rewarding jobs that I ever had. So I definitely enjoyed it. The difference between the two? It's really not different so much in the fact that the law is exactly the same. I know that any good lawyer, whether it be a prosecutor or defense lawyer, always envisions the other side's case.  Always worries about the argument that the other side is going to present, or the objection the other side is going to make when you're trying to get certain evidence admitted. So, I think it was very easy to make that transition from being a prosecutor to being a defense attorney. But I would say the differences that you typically experience are as a prosecutor it was very easy to wear the white hat and say, " I'm out there saving the day." and sometimes you overlook things. As a criminal defense attorney, it's now a decision you make has an impact on one individual. His good name may be destroyed, his liberty being taken from him, or the ultimate penalty if we have a first degree murder case. And that sits on your shoulders, I would say, more as a defense attorney than anything sat  as a prosecutor.  As a prosecutor, if things didn't go your way, you'd say, " well, I'll get him next time." As  a defense attorney, if things don't go the way you'd like for your client,  it has a very personal impact.   B: It's a heavier weight.   M: Absolutely.   B: I don't want to really pick on your competitors, but one thing that also makes you guys unique is that you say you're trial lawyers - that you're not afraid to go to trial.  Are there a lot of other criminal defense attorneys that never go to trial?   M: I think that, speaking from the perspective of a prosecutor, prosecutors begin to learn what lawyers are good trial lawyers, and what lawyers are willing to go bat for their client and fight.  And I think that does have an impact on how cases are prosecuted.  I think it does have an impact on how cases are resolved.  So there are some lawyers who probably don't like to try cases as much, and don't get me wrong, I can certainly understand how the known quantity, meaning if a prosecutor makes an offer, how that known quantity is a lot easier to get your head around than the unknown, which is what happens if you go to trial and lose. But there are defense lawyers who probably have a reputation for not trying cases as much or not wanting to try cases as much, and I believe that does have an impact on the outcome.  People learn that. People know about that. People being the ones that you're up against. It's important that they recognize that while you want to work with them to get the best result for your client, if things don't tend to work out, you want them to recognize that you are still a lawyer, and that you'll try the case.   B: I think that's good. Do you think that sometimes it might scare the client when you tell them you're a trial lawyer?  They're going, "you mean we've got to go to trial?"    M: I think there's a lot of folks who come in and when they speak to you and say, " hey i just want this thing resolved. I want to put this thing behind me. I want the best result." And you learn early on which cases are ones that are likely headed down the path of trial or not. But yeah, there are some clients that are definitely afraid of it and they should be. There are certain things about a trial that are just completely beyond your control. So that's understandable, but our job is to recognize, when you look at a case what is the best way to handle that case? When a person hires a lawyer, they're hiring a lawyer for two reasons; one, for him to defend them in court, but the other reason is for the advice.  A lawyer is not just an advocate, he's an advisor and he explains what some options might be and maybe what some of the best options might be.   B:Alright, well anything else that you want to add?   M: Well, the unique thing about our firm is that four out of the five lawyers in our firm are board certified criminal trial lawyers. I'd say that's unique because there's very few criminal trial lawyers in the entire state of Florida - there's less than 400. We're talking 380 some odd lawyers out of nearly 100,000 total lawyers and to have four of them under one roof is I would venture to say we might be the only firm that has that. That's a rare occurrence and to give you an idea, a board certified criminal trial lawyer are the only lawyers who can advertise themselves or introduce themselves as experts. The Florida Bar has very strict rules on how a lawyer is to describe himself and in order to be an expert in criminal trial, you have to have tried so many cases, you have to pass a peer review by both lawyers and judges. Lawyers that you may have had trials with. You have to pass a specific examination beyond just the entry bar examination. You have to possess the requisite amount of hours of continuing legal education. And you have to demonstrate your competence in the area that shows that you are an expert in the field. So it's a rare and distinguishing trait that lawyers work very hard to attain and I'm always amazed that we've got four under the same roof!    B: You said 380 in Florida out of 100,000  total lawyers and then 4 out of 5 of the attorneys that are partners there at the firm are board certified. Wow, that's great!  

About 70 volunteers spent a morning cleaning invasive Lyngbya algae out of Weeki Wachee Springs in Hernando County. The volunteer event was a coordinated effort by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and local rotary clubs.