Mayfield to return to Florida Senate.
Republican Debbie Mayfield defeated Democrat Vance Ahrens in yesterday’s special election for the Florida Senate seat in District 19. Voter turnout was light, with only about 17% of eligible voters casting ballots. The election was closer than anticipated. Mayfield garnered 54% of the vote versus 45% for Ahrens. District 19 covers all of Brevard County, south of Titusville.
Axiom mission delayed by oxygen leak.
The private Axiom astronauts are stuck on Earth as SpaceX troubleshoots an oxygen leak in its Falcon 9 booster. The crewed launch to the International Space Station was scheduled for this morning. Teams are working on a fix to the rocket, and will announce a launch date when ready.
In other space news, an environmental review revealed that SpaceX may attempt up to 76 launches a year from its massive Starship spacecraft. A draft environmental impact statement suggests Starship launches from the Cape would have few significant environmental impacts, despite potential noise issues. It would take off and land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Both the US Air Force and FAA are conducting environmental reviews of the impact of flying Starship and its Super Heavy booster from the Cape. Three public meetings are scheduled on the draft documents, July 8th in Titusville, July 9th in Port Canaveral, and July 10th in Cocoa.
Online “deepfakes” now illegal.
A bill was signed into Florida law yesterday requiring social media platforms to delete deepfakes, or AI-generated sexual depictions of people created without their consent. Brooke’s Law, named after the Jacksonville teen who spearheaded the proposal, also requires platforms to create by Dec. 31 a process for people to submit requests to remove the sexually explicit content. Meanwhile, Governor DeSantis criticized Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” for a provision prohibiting states from regulating AI.
Brevard school board hears pleas for reinstating teacher.
For the fifth time in a little over two months, community members have asked Brevard's school board to reinstate a high school teacher who was ousted after using a student’s chosen name without parental permission. Supporters of Melissa Calhoun, a former teacher at Satellite High, spoke at multiple points during yesterday’s school board meeting, to no avail.
USSSA settles lawsuit filed by two former executives.
The Viera-based amateur sports organization USSSA has settled a federal lawsuit that was filed in 2023 by two former executives. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. They had contended that they were illegally fired after they made allegations of impropriety against the company's then-CEO, Donald DeDonatis. USSSA is based at the Space Coast Complex in Viera, and sanctions more than 35,000 events in 47 states.
Florida ranks 6th in US for expired vehicle tags.
It’s illegal to drive in Florida with an expired registration. But yet there were 692,000 expired tags on the road in the state at the start of this year. That puts Florida at #6 in the nation with the most expired vehicle registrations according to CarFax. Driving with an expired tag can get you a fine and a possible court appearance. Here’s a tip; although your decal lists year and month, your car registration actually expires at midnight on your birthday.
