Miami private school owners David and Leila Centner made national headlines in 2021 for taking hard-line, uninformed anti-vaccine stances during the pandemic.

They said they wouldn’t employ teachers at their Centner Academy who got the jab and told parents their vaccinated kids would have to stay home for a month to ensure they were “healthy and symptom-free.”

Now they’re starting a podcast called “ERASED!” to tell their story and hear from other “cancel culture victims” such as former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, political strategist Roger Stone, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and pizza magnate “Papa” John Schnatter.

“We’ve seen firsthand how false narratives destroy lives,” David Centner said in a statement.

“It’s not just celebrities and politicians who have to worry about cancel culture; anybody can be targeted.”

A news release about the podcast, set to debut April 7, said the Centners were the targets of “false and malicious smears on multiple occasions in recent years, starting when they resisted mask and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

A message the Centners sent to parents about barring teachers from working at their school is still on Centner Academy’s website. It reads, in part:

“(We) ask any employee who has not yet taken the experimental COVID-19 injection, to wait until the end of the school year. We also recommended that all faculty and staff hold off on taking the injection until there is further research available on whether this experimental drug is impacting unvaccinated individuals. It is our policy, to the extent possible, not to employ anyone who has taken the experimental COVID-19 injection until further information is known. … (It) appears that those who have received the injections may be transmitting something from their bodies to those with whom they come in contact.”

Reports about a second message the Centners sent about their policy for vaccinated students quoted it as saying: “(If) you are considering the vaccine of your Centner Academy student(s), we ask that you hold off until the Summer when there will be time for the potential transmission or shedding onto others to decrease. … Because of the potential impact on other students and our school community, vaccinated students will need to stay at home for 30 days post-vaccination for each dose and booster they receive and may return to school after 30 days as long as the student is healthy and symptom-free.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s page dedicated to myths and facts, vaccine shedding refers to “the release or discharge of any of the vaccine components in or outside of the body, (but it can only occur) when a vaccine contains a weakened version of the virus. None of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain a live virus.”

The Centners ultimately canceled their plan to send vaccinated students home from their K-8 campus after then-House Speaker José Oliva threatened to pull state funding. Oliva called the 30-day stay-home order an “unreasonable, unnecessary and unduly burdensome amount of time.”

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Senate President Ben Albritton says he is open to considering dueling approaches regarding cutting taxes for Floridians proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Daniel Perez.

But in a newly issued memo, Albritton says he is hesitant to push through a permanent tax cut right now, instead warning lawmakers to act cautiously and avoid a budget shortfall.

“We owe it to taxpayers to get this right,” Albritton said.

“At this point, I believe it is prudent that a final tax cut package of this size be predominantly nonrecurring, while permanent tax cuts are explored during the interim.”

Albritton issued the memo as Republican leaders are at odds over taxes at the halfway point of the Session.

DeSantis advocates abolishing property taxes, while Perez is calling to cut the state sales tax from the current 6% to 5.25%.

“For our part, the Senate has a lot to consider. In my view, we should be open-minded to an ‘all of the above’ approach,” Albritton said in the memo.

“Cutting taxes now does little good if they have to be raised two years from now to address budget shortfalls. No one wants a repeat of the Great Recession, and we’ve done our best to avoid that by reigning in spending, paying down debt, and setting aside significant reserves. There are cumulative impacts to every tax cut. We need to do our due diligence and understand those impacts, combined with the projected budget shortfalls already on the horizon.”

Albritton nevertheless took an even-handed approach in the memo. And in a statement to social media, Albritton expanded on his desire to work with the House and the Governor on a compromise.

“On tax relief, I like immediate relief for property owners in advance of an amendment for voters to consider. I also like immediate relief for Floridians who rent, as well as those who own property, via the sales tax. Both are big ideas, worthy of our consideration,” Albritton said.

But in his memo, he spotlighted programs that could be affected if the state slashes revenue sources too aggressively.

“Cutting waste and inefficiency plays an important role in responsible spending; however, there is a cost associated with maintaining our transportation, clean water, and health care infrastructure, ensuring universal school choice for every family, hurricane response and recovery, and of course public safety,” Albritton said.

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After two decades in South Florida politics, including three separate stints as the Mayor of Surfside, Charles Burkett is setting his sights higher.

He’s gearing up to run for Governor, and he says he plans to put policy — not political posturing — at the forefront of his campaign.

“The Governor’s race is going to come down to ideas, (each candidate’s) platform and what their backgrounds are,” he told Florida Politics. “I think we each have a story to tell.”

Burkett, a 64-year-old real estate investment and management executive, was born and raised in Miami Beach and worked as a construction laborer until he attained a degree in finance from the University of Miami. He bought his first property in 1983. Today, he owns and operates the Burkett Companies, which does business in multiple Florida counties and several states.

While in Miami Beach, Burkett served on several local boards, including the Noise Abatement Board, Code Enforcement Board and Miami Beach Housing Authority, which he chaired.

He moved to Surfside in 1996 and was first elected Mayor a decade later, serving until 2010. He won the office again a decade after that and served from 2020 to 2022, during which he led the small, beachside municipality of fewer than 5,500 residents through the COVID pandemic and saw national exposure following the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo.

He lost his re-election bid in 2022 by just 35 votes, placing third in a three-way contest. Some cited unrest at Town Hall as the reason for his ouster. But two years later, voters liked his anti-overdevelopment platform more than the incumbent Mayor’s and sent him back to the town’s top office.

Burkett has been mulling a gubernatorial run since. He said as much on one of his websites, TeamSurfside.com: “(Like) all red-blooded, patriotic Americans, I love our Country, and want the best for it and our citizens. When my service to Surfside is complete one day, I plan to run for Governor and hope that I can bring the passion and love I have dedicated to our beautiful hamlet on the beach, to all the citizens of Florida.”

On another website of his (AmericaWantsBetter.org), Burkett outlines Florida-specific priorities likely to be part of his campaign platform. Among them: enforcing immigration laws, cutting taxes, limiting gambling to what’s currently allowed in the state, limiting housing development until more public transportation is available and supporting environmental stewardship.

State records show Burkett, who hasn’t yet filed to run, is registered to vote without party affiliation. He was previously registered with the Independent Party and Republican Party. But he thinks he “might be forced to pick a side” between Democrat and Republican to have a chance at winning, and he doesn’t sound keen on choosing the former.

“I don’t think I could go Democrat because the road they’ve been going down these days isn’t the John Kennedy party my family used to root for,” he said.

Burkett added that he doesn’t think Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who officially entered Governor’s race last month, is “a bad guy.” And Burkett said the Congressman likely has an advantage over First Lady Casey DeSantis, who hasn’t filed but is rumored to considering a run, because President Donald Trump has endorsed Donalds.

“My (campaign) is not going to be hostile,” Burkett said. “I’m going to put my positions out there, and if voters think that’s something they want, that’s fine. If not, that’s OK too.”

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