Connect with us

Politics

Another cynic’s guide to Halloween safety, brought to you by Florida Politics’ now much older, but still very snarky mom

Published

on


With Halloween landing on a Friday this year, trick-or-treating safety is more important than ever.

Unlike Halloweens that fall on, say, a random Tuesday, this year’s festivities won’t just be kids trolling neighborhoods for the biggest candy stash possible. Instead, grown-ups with no work the next day will be shutting down neighborhood blocks and partying their little sexy nurse and jacked doctor booties off.

With that partying comes an influx of drunk driving and any number of potential risks to the little ghouls, goblins, Avengers and Disney Princesses.

And that’s why organizations such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) offer safety tips each year for the holiday.

My kids are all grown now (one is even getting married!), and their trick-or-treating days, much to my horror, are long gone. But several years ago, when they were still very much into schlepping pillow cases around our neighborhood and several other adjoining neighborhoods (those girls really maximized their haul back in the day), I took a gander at the FDLE’s safety tips and felt a little, well, insulted.

What resulted was a recap posted for you, fine readers, absolutely making fun of the no-brainer “tips” offered to parents whom FDLE must have assumed were allowing their children the other 364 days of the year to run with scissors, play in traffic and swim during thunderstorms. (Fun fact: I started my career as a mom as a literal teenager and never did any of those things.) It was titled, “A cynic’s guide to Halloween safety, brought to you by Florida Politics’ snarkiest mom.” It even includes a dated reference to Bird Box (IYKYK).

I say all that as a preamble to this: The tips FDLE offered six years ago are THE EXACT SAME NOW. So in that spirit, we at Florida Politics have decided to just regurgitate my snark from what feels like a lifetime ago. I’ve even recycled the same very awesome, very funny, possibly inappropriate photo of a creepy white van emblazoned with the words “free candy.” You’re welcome.

___

With kids hitting the streets in droves on Friday evening, looking for their yearly sugar fix, it seems the best time of year to remind parents of some pretty basic safety precautions.

No, that’s not to warn against nefarious grown-ups slipping pot into Halloween baskets. No one is going to do that.

Instead, the FDLE is reminding parents and caretakers to, well, be careful.

“Know where your children are, who they are with, and how to contact them,” the agency said in a press release, offering sage advice that should be followed every day of the year.

In one of its particularly poignant pieces of advice, the FDLE suggests parents “teach your child their name.”

No really. That’s a tip. So if you’ve been Bird Boxing your kid by calling him “Boy” or her “Girl,” you might want to get formal with that first name, like yesterday. Even Sandra Bullock eventually got with the program, amirite?

The state’s chief law enforcement agency is also reminding parents not to let their youngsters wander unsupervised. That’s important to remember because, while it might be OK to let young children wander the streets unaccompanied the other 364 days a year, on Halloween, they knock on strangers’ doors to ask for candy — totally different ball game.

“Set clear limits on where your children can trick-or-treat and what time they should be home,” the FDLE recommends.

Now might be a good time to subtly warn children about the creepy guy on the block, who, if Hollywood is correct in its dramatic interpretations of scary movies, is probably just a really nice old guy who’s only lonely and awkward.

Parents should also be wary of costumes that are too obtrusive. The FDLE recommends avoiding costumes that include masks that obscure vision or accessories that dangle and pose a tripping hazard. Sorry, inflatable dinosaur moms and dads! (Addition from the future here: Or your leftover No Kings protest inflatable frogs.)

In what is actually sage advice, the agency also suggests a quick refresher on traffic safety — look both ways before crossing the street, only cross at designated crosswalks and stick to the sidewalks where possible. They also recommend wearing brightly colored clothing to remain visible to motorists, or carrying a flashlight if that doesn’t go with your kid’s zombie theme.

FDLE also offers another useful tool that doesn’t insult your intelligence as a parent. The agency provides a free mobile app available on the App Store or Google Play that can notify parents of registered sex offenders’ locations.

And with all this useful safety information, get out there with your pillow cases and make sure to only steal a few of your kids’ good pieces of candy. Hey, it’s a great way to teach them about taxes!

If you’d like to read the FDLE’s non-sarcastic safety recommendations, they can be found here.



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Austin Rogers considering a run to succeed Neal Dunn in CD 2

Published

on


The Panama City currently serves as Rick Scott’s General Counsel.

Austin Rogers may shift from advising U.S. Sen. Rick Scott to running for Congress himself. Sources close to Rogers, the General Counsel for Sen. Rick Scott, confirmed he is exploring a run to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn in Florida’s 2nd Congressional District. The Lynn Haven Republican and Panama City native has worked for Scott.

The Federalist Society member holds both a law degree and a master’s in Theology from Duke University, where he also served on the Duke Law Journal and Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

Before graduate school, he earned a bachelor’s in International Business in 2012 from Lakeland-based Southeastern University, then pursued a second degree in Theology from Wheaton College.

After clerking in the Middle District of Florida for Chief Judge Steven D. Merryday, Rogers worked for international law firm White & Chase, then took a job working on Capitol Hill.

He started work in 2023 as Senior Counsel of Oversight and Investigations for the Senate Judiciary Committee when it was chaired by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and rose to Chief Counsel within four months. He continued working for the Committee under its new Chair, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and stayed there until taking a job with Scott last July.

He has been an active bar member in Washington, where he is also a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association and active in his local church.

Dunn announced last week that he would not seek re-election at the end of his fifth term.

Rogers, if he runs, will enter a rapidly crowding Republican Party field that already posts a couple of heavy hitters.

Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power, a Tallahassee Republican, filed for the seat last week. So did Keith Gross, another attorney who previously challenged Scott in a Republican Primary for his Senate seat in 2024.



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Last Call for 1.19.26 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Published

on


Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Did Christina Pushaw break the law by asking gubernatorial candidate James Fishback to delete text messages the two exchanged in recent months?

Maybe.

Pushaw, who earns a $179,000 tax-funded salary as a senior management analyst for Gov. Ron DeSantis, all but confirmed the authenticity of texts between her and Fishback in which she appears to have written, “I need you to confirm that you deleted everything with my name on it.”

The exchange has raised questions about whether she solicited the destruction of public records, which would be illegal if the messages involved her government duties, but likely not if they were strictly campaign-related, as she says.

Fishback posted a screenshot of the exchange following a public blowup between the two after they, according to Pushaw, spoke “frequently” since October about Fishback’s campaign.

On X, Pushaw accused Fishback of deception, writing: “Thanks for proving my point that you have no qualms about lying and revealing private messages. I truly believed that we were friends, and I feel sickened and violated by this betrayal.”

Pushaw, who has worked for DeSantis as both a campaign and government staffer, says she was never paid for advising Fishback and never told the Governor about her communications with Fishback.

In a brief phone interview on Monday, she said none of her messages with Fishback touched her state job.

“I never talked to him about government business,” she said. She declined to explicitly confirm the authenticity of Fishback’s screenshots, including one that referenced her government position.

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—“Donald Trump ties Greenland takeover bid to Nobel Prize in text to Norway leader” via Ellen Francis and Steve Hendrix of The Washington Post

—”Trump’s letter to Norway should be the last straw” via Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic

—”Trump’s Greenland move is one of the dumbest political decisions I have ever seen” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—”The race to build the DeepSeek of Europe is on” via Joel Khalili of WIRED

—”Three maps tell a tale of the 2026 Midterms.” via Ashley Cai and Shane Goldmacher of The New York Times

—”Orlando Sentinel 150: Remembering MLK’s only visit to Orlando in 1964” via the Orlando Sentinel

—“Jeff Brandes: Six ideas Legislature can’t afford to ignore in 2026” via Jeff Brandes for Florida Politics

—”The Indiana-Miami CFP game is the Hollywood tangle we didn’t know we needed” via Steven Zeitchik of The Hollywood Reporter

—”‘It shaped my DNA’: The very Miami story of Mario Cristobal” via Andrea Adelson of ESPN

—”Two other Hoosiers from Miami are coming home, too — and could play a big role” via David J. Neal and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald

Quote of the Day

“I didn’t vote for this weather.”

Marc Caputo on a frigid morning in Miami.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

Even though it’s booze-free, the Duval delegation could use a Cortisol Cocktail to calm their nerves after a bomb threat landed in their inboxes.

Disney and Universal are getting an Investigators Rite, courtesy of Central Florida Democrats, who are requesting they look into a company that operates independent restaurants on their properties.

Someone should’ve sent an Out of Office for Attorney General James Uthmeier, because he picked an odd day to drop his latest opinion.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Miami plays for national title at home

The Miami Hurricanes try for the program’s first national championship since 2001 when they face top-seeded Indiana at Hard Rock Stadium tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Miami entered the College Football Playoff as the 10th seed and knocked off Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss to reach the finals. The Hurricanes (13-2) have benefitted from a defense that has limited opponents to 14 points per game this season. Defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. was named the ACC defensive player of the year and is a likely Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft.

Indiana (15-0) has enjoyed the greatest season in program history. In the second season under Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have not only won more games than they ever have in a season, but also more than the program ever did in two consecutive seasons combined before Cignetti’s arrival.

The Hoosiers are led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

The two programs have met twice in history, with Indiana winning the first meeting in 1964 and the Hurricanes taking the return match in 1966. The two programs have not met since.

The last time a college football team won the national championship by winning a game on its home field was the Hurricanes, who won the Orange Bowl following the 1987 season to win the program’s second of five national championships.

___

Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.





Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

James Fishback ordered to turn over Azoria stock, luxury items to pay $229K court judgment

Published

on


Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback’s legal woes are deepening.

A federal magistrate Judge has ordered Fishback, the founder and CEO of Azoria Capital, to turn over company stock certificates and a slate of luxury purchases to the U.S. Marshals Service by the end of the month as payment on a $229,000 judgment to his former employer, Greenlight Capital.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Fitzpatrick of the Northern District of Florida granted two unopposed motions by Greenlight after Fishback failed to respond by a court-ordered deadline.

It’s the latest escalation in a dispute between Greenlight and Fishback, a former analyst for the hedge fund who has made more headlines recently for his race-baiting rhetoric in the Governor’s race, allegations of grooming, multistate voter registration and public blowup with Gov. Ron DeSantis adviser Christina Pushaw.

Greenlight told the court that Fishback still owes it money under a June 2025 court order. The firm asked the court in late November to compel Fishback to surrender his stock or share certificates in Azoria Capital, Inc., a Delaware corporation Greenlight described as founded by Fishback and controlled by him at “75% or more.”

Because Fishback did not oppose the request, the court granted it and directed him to “locate, obtain, and turn over” all Azoria stock and/or share certificates to the U.S. Marshals Service by Jan. 30.

The Marshals Service, in turn, is ordered to sell the stock for the benefit of Greenlight as the judgment creditor. Fitzpatrick warned Fishback that federal courts have inherent authority to enforce orders and cautioned that ignoring the directive could place him “in danger of being held in contempt of court.”

Fitzpatrick also granted a second motion by Greenlight seeking the turnover of personal property belonging to Fishback. The firm alleged that Fishback claimed he lacked means to pay the $229,000 judgment while making more than $37,000 in debit card purchases over 16 months through a previously undisclosed JPMorgan Chase account.

The court summarized transactions at retailers including eBay, Nordstrom, Burberry, Bucherer and others, but noted it did not know what exactly Fishback purchased. Still, Fitzpatrick described the spending as “extravagant” and found that Fishback, by not responding by the deadline, waived his chance to argue the items were exempt or not personal property.

Under the order, Fishback must turn over 43 items listed in the motion paper, along with a list, to the Marshals Service by Jan. 30. The Marshals must hold the items for 30 days, allowing Greenlight’s lawyers to retrieve and sell them as partial satisfaction of the judgment.

Fishback worked at Greenlight from 2021 to 2023, after which he and the company became embroiled in a very public dispute over how he described his role there. He said he was “head of macro” for Greenlight, while the New York hedge fund insisted no such title ever existed and that the loftiest role Fishback held was as a research analyst.

Greenlight alleged that Fishback misrepresented his position to boost credibility and attract investors for Azoria. Fishback, meanwhile, argued Greenlight’s denial harmed him with potential backers and pointed to internal communications he says support his version of events.

He did, however, admit to sharing confidential Greenlight portfolio information and agreed to pay costs to resolve a separate lawsuit.

Trustees of a white-label exchange-traded fund (ETF) under Tidal Financial Group also voted in October to liquidate two Azoria ETFs — SPXM and TSLV, which together held about $40 million in assets — after Fishback admitted to sharing the information.

Between when he launched his campaign on Nov. 24 and Dec. 31, when fourth-quarter bookkeeping closed, Fishback reported raising less than $19,000 through his campaign account and nothing through an affiliated political committee.

Fishback is seeking the Republican nomination for Governor. The race’s poll-tested front-runner, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, amassed $45 million last quarter.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.