Bill of Rights Sanctuary County' ordinance on hold in Brevard for now
An ordinance proposing to designate Brevard as a "Bill of Rights Sanctuary County" was removed from today's Commission meeting agenda. Commissioner Rob Feltner postponed the item, stating he intends to reintroduce it after revisions are made to tailor it more specifically to Brevard County.
The ordinance aims to establish "a right to be free from the commanding hand of the federal government" and recognize "the right to refuse to cooperate with federal officials in response to unconstitutional federal measures."
The proposal is supported by a conservative group called Truth Fest, known for hosting events on the Space Coast where conspiracy theories, such as claims of imminent martial law and apocalyptic warnings linked to eclipses, are discussed.
Conservative Republican White to run for Florida House seat being vacated by Mayfield
Conservative Republican leader Bob White announced Monday that he is running in a special election for the soon-to-be-vacant Florida House District 32 seat in Central Brevard County.
Currently, District 32 is represented by Republican Debbie Mayfield, who revealed last week that she will be seeking to reclaim her former Florida Senate District 19 seat in a special election. The seat, now held by Republican Randy Fine, became available after Mayfield could not run for re-election due to term limits.
In announcing his candidacy for the Florida House seat, White, a resident of Suntree, described himself as "a dedicated advocate for liberty and constitutional principles." White has a long history in conservative politics, serving as chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Brevard County for 16 years (2007–2023) and as Florida chair of the Republican Liberty Caucus since 2015.
Additionally, Brevard School Board Vice Chair Matt Susin is reportedly considering entering the race for the House District 32 seat, according to both White and Brevard County Commissioner Thad Altman, who represented the district from 2016 to 2024.
City of Palm Bay Awarded $100,000 Grant from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA has chosen the City of Palm Bay to fund an Action Plan for “the compound” incorporating sustainable development considerations to encourage catalytic moves to stimulate economic growth. The Technical Assistance provided by EPA Region 4 is valued at $100,000, with no match required by the City.
Data collection and information related to “the compound” began in November. Key entities will discuss the future of transportation access, stormwater, and utilities. The end goal is to identify opportunities and a path for fostering strategic development of “the compound”.
A UF Study Wants to Help People Better Identify Deepfakes
It's starting to get harder for humans to detect audio deepfakes.
A new study from the University of Florida Department of Engineering.
is looking to identify them.
It tested 12-hundred humans to identify whether an audio message was real or a deepfake.
They were 73 percent accurate... but had a hard time with foreign accents.
Patrick Traynor is a UF professor and the lead investigator of the study.
“We hope to learn how to effectively train human beings so that we're not just raising alarms. We're actually giving them the necessary skills to detect deep fakes to be part of a pipeline at stopping this kind of source of misinformation.”
According to Deep Media, a media intelligence company, at least 500 thousand video and audio deepfakes were shared on social media last year.
More: www.floridatoday.com
