Here's a local and State News update from Florida Today and WFIT. I'm Evan Niemczyk.
Miami-Dade County Commissioners advanced an ordinance that would ban boats from anchoring for more than a month in the county’s waterways.
Ordinance sponsor Commissioner Vicki Lopez says long-term anchoring poses an environmental risk to the county, as well as a hazard for other boaters.
“we don't want people just living on the water. Uh, there are hazards. Services cannot be provided to those people properly, uh, and to ensure the safety of bo- other boaters as well as the environment."
People who live on the water say this law could threaten their way of life. People like Captain Burt Korpela, who lives part-time on his boat off Dinner Key in Miami.
That's our God-given American right to live free, and now they're preventing us from living free. They're going against our constitutional rights, telling us, "No, you can't live here. You can't anchor here, and you gotta go."
The ordinance was advanced in committee yesterday. The full county commission will hear the item again in October.
A federal appeals court has narrowly upheld a preliminary injunction blocking part of Florida's "Stop WOKE Act," a decision welcomed by many professors across the state. WFIT’s Terri Wright explains.
"A federal appeals court has upheld a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of part of Florida's "Stop WOKE Act" in university classrooms. In a 2-1 ruling, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals kept on hold the 2022 law that sought to restrict professors from endorsing certain concepts about race and sex. The majority called the state's argument a "breathtaking assertion of power," while faculty members say the law has created a chilling effect in classrooms, with some fearing they could face discipline over how their lessons are interpreted."
Leon County Commissioners considered, but ultimately voted against requiring 16- and 17-year-olds to have an adult sign for them to get a library card.
It stemmed from data that people in that age range are more delinquent on check outs than other age groups, and concern that it could leave the county unable to seek damages if they fail to return more expensive rentals, like computer equipment.
Commissioner David O’Keefe pulled the item, saying it could prevent some kids from having access to library resources.
“My fundamental objection is some 16- and 17-year-olds do not have parents that will work this out with them, and some do. And I don't want any 16- or 17-year-old who who lost a book and doesn't have the money and doesn't have parents who will clear it for them. We want them in the library. They used to give us free pizza for reading books. We ought to be we ought to be giving books to 16 year olds for free.”
After discussion, commissioners unanimously voted against the change.
A major legal hurdle has been cleared for a controversial AI data center in western Palm Beach County.
A judge has shut down an emergency request to block today's high stakes county commission vote on Project Tango –– the 202 acre hyperscale AI data center proposed for Loxahatchee.
WLRN’s Wilkine Brutus has more.
BRUTUS: The legal challenge came from a co-owner trying to halt the proposal for the hyperscale AI facility. Had the challenge succeeded, it likely would have killed the project entirely. Because Project Tango was already in progress, it bypassed the county’s recently enacted moratorium freezing new AI applications. If the developers had been forced to pull their application, this moratorium would have blocked them from resubmitting.
Instead, the heated debate goes before county commissioners today as scheduled at 9:30 a.m in West Palm Beach.
For these stories and more, visit FloridaToday.com and WFIT.org. I'm Evan Niemczyk.