In Florida, jails are over capacity as hundreds of people sleep on floor beds. Some are held for months on non-violent misdemeanor charges. Public officials point to a recent bail reform law and wonder if it needs to be changed Tampa Bay Times tampabay.com/news/pinellas/…

NEW: Months before Florida's controversial state park plans were unveiled, the cabinet quietly OK’d giving 324 acres of state forest to a golf course company in a land swap With Emily L. Mahoney: tampabay.com/news/environme…

On today’s front page: The quiet attempt by Florida’s top officials to swap state forest land to a luxury golf course company With Emily L. Mahoney: tampabay.com/news/environme…

NEW: For more than 8 hrs, CEO Archie Collins was questioned as TECO's $445M rate hike request was essentially put on trial. TECO records showed it knew residents struggled with bills last year. Collins said affordability is “such a subjective term." tampabay.com/news/business/…

NEW: DeSantis says Florida will go ‘back to the drawing board’ on state park plan, breaking his days of silence on a controversy that has struck a nerve in the state and reversing his office's previous position. w/ Max Chesnes tampabay.com/news/florida-p…

Congresswoman from South Florida responds to DeSantis' comments today by calling for an inspector general investigation:

DeSantis said of the plans: "It was not approved by me, I never saw that." Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, said DeSantis deserves credit for reversing course. He also said: “The governor ultimately is responsible for everything his agencies do, & he’s a very hands-on governor.”

Still a lot of unanswered questions on this saga, so if you have information you’d like to share, please do. My DMs are open for tips + requests for my Signal #

Rep. Carolina Amesty indicted on forgery charges following Orlando Sentinel investigation. orlandosentinel.com/2024/08/29/car…

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said a proposal for building golf courses and hotels in state parks was “half baked” and “not ready for prime time.” The initiative was not an undeveloped idea; it had plans, documents and planned public meetings. politifact.com/factchecks/202…

NEW: Lawyers spent a week drilling into TECO’s requested rate hikes, with days so long they took swigs of room-temp cold brew to stay sharp. During questioning, TECO confirmed its proposal would shift millions of costs from big companies to residents: tampabay.com/news/business/…

“Gaddis said the directive was coming straight from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, and that the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Cody Farrill, was the liaison between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection senior leadership and the gov’s office.”

One expert witness, in an exchange about tax credits, said he viewed the stakes this way: “If Tampa (Electric) gets away with it, as we all know, Florida Power & Light will get away with it and as we all know, Duke will get away with it. They all watch each other.”

New: In a move that supporters of Florida's abortion amendment fear could be “political interference,” Ron DeSantis administration is examining tens of thousands of petitions for "suspected fraudsters." w/Lawrence Mower Romy Ellenbogen tampabay.com/news/florida-p…

NEW: In a letter to DeSantis, five Democratic members of Congress demanded a formal investigation into plans to build golf courses, hotels and more on state parks, plus the release of public records documenting how those plans were hatched. w/ Max Chesnes tampabay.com/news/environme…

NEW: Days after a state worker was fired for disclosing info about the state park plans, the DeSantis admin released personnel files detailing issues from a previous state job. AHCA released the files without being asked, an unusual step. w/ Max Chesnes tampabay.com/news/environme…

New: Florida residents felt shaken after DeSantis' election crime police knocked on their doors to question the validity of their signatures on petitions that helped get the abortion amendment on the ballot. w/Romy Ellenbogen Lawrence Mower tampabay.com/news/florida-p…

As noted in the story, leaking personnel files has been a trend with DeSantis' administration. Also a trend: Refusing to release records requested by journalists and the public.