Court upholds anti-drag law.
It took three years and a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Ron DeSantis has prevailed in his defense of the “Protection of Children Act,” which bans “lewd” drag performances in front of children. In an 8-5 opinion handed down Tuesday, the US Court of Appeals ruled the law was constitutional, while those on the dissenting side criticized the measure as overreach. The law threatens fines, loss of operating licenses, and criminal penalties against venues that allow kids at drag shows. The Orlando restaurant, Hamburger Marys, hosted drag shows including “family friendly” performances to which children were invited. Its parent company filed the underlying lawsuit seeking to bar DeSantis from enforcing the law.
Property tax measure needs a re-write.
A County Circuit Court judge has ordered a Rewrite of the Property Tax Measure to be included in November’s election. WFIT’s Terri Wright shares details of the ruling.
A Leon County judge has ruled that the ballot title and summary for Florida’s proposed property tax amendment are misleading and contain political rhetoric and must be rewritten before appearing on the November ballot. Judge David Frank wrote that “voters are entitled to a fair, clear, accurate, and non-misleading ballot statement” to help them make an informed decision.
If the decision is not appealed, Attorney General James Uthmeier will have 10 days to revise the ballot summary in line with the court’s instructions.
Brevard school bus cameras caught nearly 18K vehicles.
In the first year of operation, cameras mounted on Brevard’s school busses caught nearly 18,000 motorists illegally passing the stopped busses. The Brevard County Sheriffs Office reviews video footage and sends out violation notices. So far, the school district has collected $1.3 million in fines.
Cape Canaveral considers tripling property tax rate.
The City of Cape Canaveral will consider tripling the property tax rate in an effort to fix a $4 million budget deficit. Public input will be heard at a meeting on September 3rd, with a final vote scheduled for September 15th.
SpaceX lost $500 million in the last quarter.
SpaceX released its first quarterly earnings report since becoming a publicly traded company. It lost more than half-a-billion dollars over the three months that ended in June. That was an improvement over the same period a year ago when it lost $1 billion. The losses are thought to be the result of huge investments in AI technology.
Meanwhile, some SpaceX employees can begin selling their stock, starting tomorrow. Early hires and insiders will be eligible to sell nearly a billion shares of SpaceX stock. The selloff may result in a large number of early hires leaving the company as they cash out.
Barnes Blvd to close for four days.
Here’s a traffic note: Barnes Boulevard in Rockledge will be closed to through traffic from August 8th through the 11th, that’s Saturday through next Tuesday. The reason is maintenance of the railroad track.
Florida’s immigrant detention camps cost $1 billion.
CBS News Miami reports that operating the immigrant detention camps in the Everglades and Baker County cost taxpayers more than $1 billion dollars. The state paid over $3,500 a day per detainee, more than 20 times the national average. The state dipped into the Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to finance the anti-immigrant operation.
