DOUBLE JEOPARDY = Florida News Investigation / Public & Government Accountability Reporting

My fellow citizens — my family — We need to talk.  Not as Democrats. Not as Republicans. Not as left or right, red or blue, this side or that side.  We need to talk to each other according to what we actually are underneath all of it: as *we, the people.*  For too long, we have let politics divide us.  Not just cause us to disagree with each other — flat *divide* us.   It divided my Mom with my Grandmother and Uncle....especially around the holiday get-togethers. It caused the most damage between me and my mom; mostly over her handing me a pre-filled ballot and requiring me to show my 'Just Voted' sticker same day to avoid her 'wrath'! I really never listened as a kid, as a pre-teen..then she parted ways with me around 15.......and I never really caught up with her again until years later, about 300 miles north of where we parted...Polk County. After catching up and making up with my Mom, the years moved on. I stayed in an apartment attached to my mom's house. I...

A quiet but seismic shift is underway in the Florida real estate market.  For decades, condominiums served as the premier entry point for first-time buyers, retirees, and those seeking affordable housing.  However, a major regulatory overhaul from mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is effectively turning the tide, redirecting a massive wave of buyers away from dense shared communities and straight into the rapidly growing single-family developments like those being built in Polk County.  The Death of the "Streamlined" Condo Loan The catalyst for this shift is the permanent retirement of the "Limited Review" process for established condominium projects.  Historically, this streamlined review allowed buyers putting down larger down payments to bypass a deep dive into an association's financial health.  Under the new mandate, nearly all established condo projects must undergo a rigorous Full Review.  Crucially, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have raised th...

LEGAL DISCLAIMER:  I am not an attorney or legal expert. This article is intended for informational and commentary purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.  Federal and Florida firearms laws can be complicated and may change.  Anyone with questions about how these laws apply to their particular circumstances should consult a qualified attorney. Picture this: You're driving down a Florida highway, windows down, enjoying the freedom that comes with Florida's permitless concealed-carry law. Your legally owned firearm is inside your vehicle. You are a permitless concealed carry individual and a law-abiding citizen. Then your GPS suddenly chirps: "In 500 feet, prepare to enter a federal school zone." Okay, maybe your GPS doesn't actually say that. But perhaps it should ... Because somewhere ahead, sitting behind a fence and possibly hundreds of feet away from the highway, is an elementary, middle, or secondary school. And according to federal law, an in...

When “Free for the Picking” Became “Show Me  Your Papers! ” There was a time in Florida when a person looking across a field of saw palmetto bushes might have seen exactly what it appeared to be: a lot of bushes with a lot of berries. Back then, if law enforcement discovered you in a field of saw palmettos, you might at most, get trespassed. But get caught in an orange grove or be caught with oranges you picked, back then and currently, you could be facing a third degree felony. But saw palmetto berries, priced back then at about 20 cents a pound, were not a priority for law enforcement. Today, Florida sees something else....a regulated commercial commodity. And depending upon where you pick, whose land you're standing on, whether your paperwork matches that particular property, and what happens to the berries afterward, that innocent-looking berry can become the centerpiece of a criminal investigation. Welcome to Florida's newest seasonal cottage industry: Illegal Palmetto Ber...

As I get closer to senility in my 60's, I've found myself thinking about something that never really interested me back in high school civics class...Politics. More specifically...Why do Democrats and Republicans seem to dislike each other so much? Growing up, there were always disagreements between the parties. Republicans blamed Democrats. Democrats blamed Republicans. Elections came and went. But it never seemed quite like it does today. Today, politics often resembles less of a disagreement over policy and more of a decades-long family feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys—except with television cameras, social media, and enough campaign emails to fill several lifetimes. That curiosity led me back to the writings of one of America's Founding Fathers...James Madison. And what I discovered surprised me.... Wait... Are We a Democracy? For years I've heard politicians proudly proclaim: "We're a democracy." We've heard about protecting democracy...Exp...

Serious reporting with a smirk — because when a Bill being put in front of the Florida Legislature proposes putting together a task force to analyze Florida citizens “ patterns of life ,” the punchline may be a bit overdue. Florida lawmakers have proposed creating a permanent, statewide counterintelligence machine inside Florida Department of Law Enforcement — pushed in the House by Danny Alvarez ( HB 945 ) and mirrored in the Senate by Jonathan Martin (SB 1712).  The bills would stand up a unit designed to detect and “neutralize” threats from what the text calls “ adversary intelligence entities ,” with powers that stretch from analyzing patterns of life to making arrests.  Here’s the short version of what the legislation would do, and why civil-liberties groups are not exactly RSVP-ing “yes” to the launch party. What the bills propose (plain English) • Mission & placement: Create a Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Unit inside FDLE to address forei...