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Florida Supreme Court justices urged to decide abortion content issue

Thu, 02/08/2024 - 17:11

TALLAHASSEE — An appeals court Thursday asked the Florida Supreme Court to take up a potentially far-reaching issue about minors who seek to have abortions without notifying and getting consent from parents or guardians.

The request, known as certifying “questions of great public importance” to the Supreme Court, came after a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal last month dismissed an appeal by a minor seeking a waiver from a parental notification and consent requirement in state law.

The Jan. 3 ruling appeared to be a first of its kind because the panel said it did not have legal jurisdiction to decide the case. The ruling said the case lacked a necessary “justiciable controversy” because it did not have an “adverse party.” Such an adverse party could have been a parent or guardian of the minor.

“This appeal comes to us with only the minor’s interests presented to the court,” said the ruling, written by Judge Lori Rowe and joined by Judges Thomas Winokur and Brad Thomas. “And without representation of the interests of the parents — the parties whose rights are directly implicated under the parental notification and consent law. Indeed, the appeal comes to us with no appellee (a respondent in an appellate case) at all. Under these circumstances, there is no justiciable controversy for us to adjudicate.”

Rowe acknowledged that the ruling departed from how appeals courts have handled such cases in the past, when the courts have issued rulings about whether waivers should be granted.

Lawmakers included a process in state law for minors to seek waivers in circuit courts and, if they are unsuccessful, to go to appeals courts.

In a two-page order Thursday, the panel asked the Supreme Court to decide, in part, whether an appeals court may “exercise appellate jurisdiction over a trial court’s ruling denying a judicial waiver under (the state law) in the absence of an adverse party in the appeal?”

The order also said the Tallahassee-based appeals court denied a request for a hearing before the full court in the case — what is known as a rehearing “en banc.” It did not provide an explanation.

The minor in the case, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, went to the appeals court after Leon County Circuit Judge Lance Neff turned down her request for a waiver.

The Jan. 3 ruling did not provide details about the minor, such as her age, or the reasons that Neff ruled against her. A concurring opinion by Thomas, however, said the minor received assistance from her boyfriend and his mother in seeking to have an abortion without her parents getting notified.

Records and court proceedings in such cases are confidential.

While he agreed with the main ruling, Thomas’ concurring opinion indicated he thinks parents’ rights are being violated.

“Without notice and without an opportunity to be heard, the minor’s parents are deprived of the most fundamental liberty interest recognized in law: the fundamental right to care for and raise their daughter, to advise and counsel her regarding this decision,” Thomas wrote.

Florida voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment that cleared the way for the Legislature to pass a law requiring that parents or guardians be notified before minors have abortions. Lawmakers in 2020 added to that with the consent requirement. The law has retained a waiver process.

The notice-and-consent issue has long been controversial, with supporters of the requirements saying minors are not mature enough to make abortion decisions. But opponents have argued, for example, that some minors could face issues such as abuse if their parents found out they were pregnant.

Waiver cases reaching appeals courts are relatively rare. But a different panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Dec. 15 took up and ruled in such a case, rejecting a waiver request from a Calhoun County minor.

Employee attacked, forced into car at business in Deerfield Beach

Thu, 02/08/2024 - 17:08

A man attacked his fiancee at her job Thursday in Deerfield Beach, forced her into a car and drove away with her before dropping her off at a hospital, WTVJ-Ch. 6 reported.

Deputies were called about a kidnapping near the 2001 block of West Sample Road shortly before 10 a.m., the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. They issued a be-on-the-lookout alert and canvassed the area.

At some point, the attacker dropped the employee off at a hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said. They did not identify the employee or the “subject” or their relation to one another aside from saying the employee knew the attacker.

Deputies found the attacker “a short time later” and the person was taken into custody, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Employees of a massage school told Ch. 6 that a man came into the business’s lobby and forced his way toward his fiancee. He then forced her into a car and drove away, the TV station reported.

Ch. 6 reported that deputies found the man at a gas station on North State Road 7 in Margate.

The Special Victims Unit is investigating. The Sheriff’s Office has not released further information.

Nevada jury awards $130M to 5 people who had liver damage after drinking bottled water

Thu, 02/08/2024 - 17:04

By KEN RITTER (Associated Press)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury has awarded about $130 million in damages in a lawsuit filed by five people who suffered liver damage after drinking bottled water marketed by a Las Vegas-based company before the product was recalled from store shelves in 2021.

The Clark County District Court jury awarded more than $30 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs including Myles Hunwardsen, a Henderson man who underwent a liver transplant at age 29. The jury levied another $100 million in punitive damages.

The verdict reached Tuesday was the second large-sum award in a negligence and product liability case involving AffinityLifestyles.com Inc. and its Real Water brand, which was sold in distinctive boxy blue bottles as premium treated “alkalized” drinking water with healthy detoxifying properties.

In October, a state court jury awarded more than $228 million in damages to several plaintiffs including relatives of a 69-year-old woman who died and a 7-month-old boy who was hospitalized. Both were diagnosed with severe liver failure.

“We want to send a message to food and beverage manufacturers that they should be committed to quality assurance,” Will Kemp, a lawyer who represented plaintiffs in both trials, said Thursday.

Kemp said several more negligence and product liability cases are pending against the company, including one scheduled to begin in May stemming from liver damage diagnoses of six children who ranged in age from 7 months to 11 years old at the time.

Affinitylifestyles.com was headed by Brent Jones, who served as a Republican state Assembly member from 2016 to 2018. Kemp said Jones has declared bankruptcy and moved out of the state. Telephone calls to Jones on Thursday rang busy and an email request for comment was not answered.

Other defendants in the case reached confidential settlements before trial, including Whole Foods Market and Costco Wholesale, which sold the water, and testing meter companies Hanna Instruments and Milwaukee Instruments. Terrible Herbst, a convenience store chain, reached a settlement during the trial.

At trial, jurors were told that tests found Real Water contained hydrazine, a chemical used in rocket fuel that may have been introduced during treatment before bottling.

Real Water attorney Joel Odou argued that the company was unintentionally negligent, not reckless, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. He said the company didn’t know hydrazine was in the water and didn’t know to test for it.

The water the company used was from the Las Vegas-area public supply, which mainly comes from the Lake Mead reservoir behind Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the region’s main public supplier, monitors and tests for 166 different possible contaminants, spokesman Bronson Mack said Thursday. Hydrazine is not among them.

Mack noted that the water authority was not a defendant in the lawsuits and said the area’s municipal water supply meets or surpasses all federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards.

Real Water was sold for at least eight years, primarily in Central and Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Utah. It was also promoted on social media and sold online.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Las Vegas-based Clark County Health District issued public warnings beginning in March 2021 not to drink or use the product, and ordered it pulled from store shelves.

Living the dream: UF golfer Ian Gilligan, Gators bound for Augusta National Golf Club

Thu, 02/08/2024 - 17:04

GAINESVILLE — What Florida golfer Ian Gilligan thought was a typical team meeting instead became a dream come true.

A trip to play Augusta National Golf Club also represents an act of generosity, kindness and kinship he’ll never forget.

As players and coaches congregated after a qualifying round Wednesday, Matthew Kress stood up and offered Gilligan his coveted spot. He will now be among six UF golfers who’ll join coach JC Deacon to tee it up Friday at the home to the Masters and a club as exclusive as any on Earth.

“I was in shock. I did not expect that at all,” Gilligan told the Orlando Sentinel. “I feel like I don’t even know if I should take the spot. I feel bad. He obviously earned it.

“I was like, ‘You shouldn’t do this,’ but he was insisting.”

Florida golfer Matthew Kress plays a tee shot at the NCAA Men’s Golf Division I Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., site of the Gators’ national championship win last year. (Christian Petersen/Getty).

Kress will remain in Gainesville, without a hint of regret while Gilligan enjoys the round of a lifetime five years after he faced his own mortality.

“Everyone’s told your whole life you got to make a difference in someone else’s life — you got to try to help other people,” Kress told the Sentinel on Thursday. “We all hear that message, but I think very few people act on that.”

The opportunity arrived earlier this week at breakfast when Kress learned from another teammate Gilligan had requested a round at Augusta National from the Make-a-Wish-Foundation during his lowest, darkest time as a 15-year-old diagnosed with lymphoma.

Kress immediately recalled his experience from the Gator Good Guys Invitational on Jan. 20, an annual tournament at TPC Sawgrass to help raise money to fight cancer.

“They’re telling us about how they make these kids dreams come true,” Kress said. “And I was like, ‘Well, I am playing Augusta and he’s not. That dream still hasn’t come true.’ So by a simple decision, I can make that dream come true.

“So why not?”

Florida golfer Ian Gilligan, at TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville on Jan. 29, transferred to the Gators from Long Beach State after making the 2023 second team PING All-American. (Courtesy of UAA Communications)

The chance to play Augusta National doesn’t come often.

In the Gators’ case, it helps club chairman Fred Ridley is a UF graduate, member of the 1973 national championship team and a current Board of Trustees member.

Gilligan, though, is new to the Gators. He transferred in August 2023 from Long Beach State, where he was Big West Freshman of the Year and Big West Golfer of the Year during his two seasons.

The 20-year-old from Reno, Nev., will be key as the Gators push to defend their 2023 national title.

A round at Augusta National is an unexpected bonus thanks to Kress.

“That’s just super cool of him to do that,” Gilligan said. “Obviously you want a teammate like that. When someone does that for you, it’s something that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.”

Florida golfer Ian Gilligan (right) is greeted by Gators assistant coach Dudley Hart after finishing runner-up in the Sea Best Invitational on Jan. 30 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. (Courtesy AA Communication)

Fifth-year senior John Dubois of Windermere, a key cog in the 2023 title team, is equally excited to tee it up Friday. He and the Gators visited the prestigious venue in April and watched a Monday practice round.

Friday will be a far different experience as the club ramps up for the Masters in two months.

“Now it’s going to be quiet,” he said. “There’s not going to be a single divot out there. It’s just going to be like, hold your breath and how beautiful it is.”

While Kress will miss out on the round, he’ll walk away with an experience unlike any other.

When he found out about Gilligan’s wish, Kress got his father’s phone number from Deacon to learn more.

“I’m like, ‘Hey, this is what I’m hearing, is this story accurate? I don’t want to make stuff up,’” Kress recalled. “He was like, ‘It’s completely true. We just never made it happen because of COVID and then Augusta National being Augusta National.’”

Florida golfers (left to right) Yuxin Lin, John DuBois, Ricky Castillo, Matthew Kress and Fred Biondi pose with the 2023 national championship trophy at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., in May. (Christian Petersen/Getty)

One day, Kress will get his own chance.

“If it’s the last thing I ever do, he’s going to play Augusta National,” Deacon said.

Hearing his coach’s vow, Kress said he plans to get there on his own.

“I hope I will be playing in April someday,” he said. “Hopefully [the invitation] comes in a nice white envelope.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com

Takeaways from the special counsel’s report on Biden’s handling of classified documents

Thu, 02/08/2024 - 16:09

By AAMER MADHANI, STEVE PEOPLES and COLLEEN LONG (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special Counsel Robert Hur on Thursday released his long-awaited report on President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, and it’s not great news for the president on multiple fronts. The report concludes that no criminal charges against Biden are warranted, a key difference from Donald Trump’s situation. But it also says there was evidence that Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed highly classified materials when he was a private citizen. And it highlights his confusion and “significantly limited” recall of events related to the documents.

Some takeaways from the 345-page report:

Biden can breathe easier knowing he won’t face criminal charges for his handling of the documents. But the Hur report nonetheless does damage to Biden’s case that he brings normalcy to the presidency after the chaos of Trump’s tenure.

Images of federal agents finding a classified Biden memo on Afghanistan from his time as vice president stashed in his Delaware garage work against the Democratic president’s argument that he’s a more competent chief executive and a more careful steward of the nation’s secrets than Trump.

Trump is under criminal indictment for knowingly hanging on to to classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and resisting turning them over, perhaps the most damning — and stickiest — of the four criminal cases against him. Biden, for his part, faces no charges.

Weeks after the FBI searched Trump’s private residence and turned up classified documents, Biden slammed his predecessor as “totally irresponsible.”

As Biden ramps up his 2024 reelection campaign — and his case against Trump — he’s not likely to try that argument again.

The 81-year-old Biden was already dogged by questions about whether he’s too old to serve a second term. The special counsel report will hardly be helpful to Biden on that count.

Hur noted that “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited” in interviews with the special counsel office as well as with a ghostwriter that Biden worked with.

In his interview with the special counsel’s office, Hur writes, Biden twice appeared confused about when his term as vice president ended. The report notes that Biden, who speaks frequently about his son Beau’s death, could not remember “even within several years” when he died.

“And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him,” the report said. “Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.”

Polls have shown that many Americans, including Democrats, have concerns about Biden’s age. He would be 86 at the end of his second term if reelected.

Biden was absolved of criminal behavior, but it’s Trump who may benefit.

The Republican former president, who is on a glidepath to his party’s nomination this year, has been charged with dozens of felony counts related to his handling of classified materials stored at his Florida estate after leaving the White House. Trump has been crying foul on the campaign trail for much of the last year, noting that Biden had also stored classified materials in his garage.

Thursday’s report will have little bearing on Trump’s legal case, but it makes his political argument stronger.

There are, of course, stark differences between how Trump and Biden navigated their classified document cases. Biden cooperated with authorities. Trump fought them to the point that the investigators had to get a court order to search his home in Florida after he repeatedly rebuffed requests for the documents.

Still, Trump can now cite special counsel Robert Hur’s finding that Biden retained and disclosed highly classified materials. And Trump can at least muddy the Democrats’ argument that he alone represents a threat to democracy. Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller simply shared a smiley face in one social media post responding to Hur’s report.

But Trump still has another important hurdle: special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation in Washington that charges Trump with crimes for his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The parallels are striking.

An embattled candidate Trump was struggling under the weight of mounting political crises on the eve of the general election that year when federal investigators made an unusual announcement about his Democratic opponent’s handling of classified documents: Hillary Clinton’s emails.

In late October of 2016, FBI Director James Comey announced that Clinton would not face criminal charges in an investigation into her handling of State Department emails on her private server after having castigated her months earlier for being “extremely careless.” It was a legal victory for her. But the politics were bad for Democrats.

Some are convinced that Comey’s decision to criticize Clinton so openly — even while ruling out criminality — ultimately enabled Trump’s victory.

The timing is dramatically different this time.

Comey’s announcement was just 11 days before the 2016 general election, while Thursday’s comes nine months before Election Day 2024. That gives Biden’s campaign a lot more time to do what Clinton could not — convince voters that the legal victory is what matters.

During his interview with special counsel investigators, Biden was “emphatic’ that his notebooks were “my property.”

“Every president before me has done the exact same thing,” he said.

The statement had echoes of former president Donald Trump, who has been charged with illegally possessing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after he left office.

“Under the Presidential Records Act, which is civil not criminal, I had every right to have these documents,” Trump has said.

Sounds similar, but there are some differences. Trump was arguing that large swaths of presidential records were his personal property. Biden was making a specific claim about personal writings, for which there is legal precedent.

Investigators said that Biden mentioned that former President Ronald Reagan kept diaries in his home and that contemporaneous evidence from the investigators suggested that Biden believed he could keep the notebooks at home.

That’s true. Reagan left the White House in 1989 with eight years’ worth of handwritten diaries though they contained top secret information, investigators said. Those documents came up during criminal litigation in the late 1980s and were referred to by the justice department as “personal records.”

Trump, though, has been accused of purposefully hanging on to boxes of documents even after National Archives requested they be returned, forcing FBI agents to come to his estate to take them. The documents were military secrets and details of the U.S. nuclear capabilities that prosecutors argue he sought to keep as mementos, prosecutors said.

The special counsel’s report takes what seems at times gratuitous aim at Biden’s memory and mental capability as it lays out the ways in which the president could mount a hypothetical defense had he been charged with a crime.

It reports: “We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Why so harsh? The Justice Department is in a precarious position, investigating Biden, his son Hunter and also Donald Trump on separate accusations, all during the 2024 presidential campaign. Trump has repeatedly claimed that federal investigators are out to send him to jail for political revenge. And Attorney General Merrick Garland has taken great pains to insulate the department from Trump’s attacks and demonstrate prosecutorial independence.

As such, he selected Robert Hur, a Republican former U.S. attorney appointed by Trump to oversee the investigation into whether Biden mishandled classified documents. The appointment came amid special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents and the former president’s role in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The dings at Biden’s memory were blasted as cheap, false shots by Biden’s attorney and White House lawyers, who said the report uses prejudicial words to describe “a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack of recall of years-old events.”

___

Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press Writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

General Daily Insight for February 08, 2024

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 22:07
General Daily Insight for February 08, 2024

Our tolerance for frustration may be low today. When the driven Capricorn Moon unites with active Mars, we’ll be apt to charge full speed ahead. The forceful Sun then squares upsetting Uranus at 5:46 am EST, so we could respond to any roadblocks in messy ways. After Luna moves into idealistic Aquarius and conjoins manipulative Pluto, we might struggle to admit that life doesn’t always seem fair. Still, accepting that should cause far fewer problems than forcing the facts to fit our desires would.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Power struggles in a friend group or organization you belong to could easily escalate out of hand at any moment. As the blazing Sun in your social zone jabs at disruptive Uranus in your values sector, a provocation might lead you to an unexpected realization about your self-worth. Ask yourself if you’ve been expecting your pals to provide a form of validation they’re not equipped to give you. Figure out what you need to do for yourself, then see what’s still a problem after that.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Standing up for your beliefs could seem particularly important today. As you throw yourself into a confrontation with an authority figure, however, you might realize that there’s more to the situation. You can’t force everyone to agree with all of your personal views, but you can legitimately state that you don’t want to be pushed around. If you were treated respectfully overall, you’d probably be willing to give the other person space regarding some of the details. Go after what’s really worth fighting for.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Finding comfortable boundaries with someone else could be a challenge at present. Although you might think reviewing the rules would solve the problem, it’s potentially not that simple. As the straightforward Sun in your legalistic 9th house clashes against subversive Uranus in your 12th House of Secrets, the person in charge on paper probably isn’t who calls the shots in practice. Are you more concerned with getting an outcome that’s fair or one that’s functional? You may need to prioritize one of the two.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Conflict in a close relationship may leave you confused about your next moves. Should you dig deeper into your bond or come up for air? Both approaches are probably necessary to some extent. While the vibrant Sun in your intimacy zone conflicts with unpredictable Uranus in your social sector, you’ll have to be careful when you choose a confidant due to privacy issues. That said, the right outside perspective should give you effective strategies for unsnarling any situation with another companion.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Pushing back against others who won’t do a routine task your way could currently be tempting. You probably need more control over something in your life, but this does not have to be it. Whatever you’re really looking for may seem unattainable because someone else is blocking you from your ideal path. Although you might not be able to conclusively solve a specific problem right now, being aware of what’s going on should help you rein yourself in before you create additional trouble.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Your need to express yourself could be strong right now. Even so, picking fights over routine tasks is not the wisest way to get the validation you crave. While the status-conscious Sun in your productivity sector tangles with innovative Uranus in your philosophical 9th house, you may be correct that updating some rules or processes would allow you to achieve a better outcome in your work. Still, make an effort to withdraw your ego from any push for change — stay centered on results.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Feeling irritable recently could be a sign that you need more personal space. While the energetic Sun in your expressive 5th house pushes independent Uranus in your intimacy sector, you may find it easier to work through personal matters when others aren’t breathing down your neck. No matter how much you love anyone else, there are certain things you can only do for yourself. Recognizing this and proactively backing away from the people around you should reduce the likelihood of a messy confrontation.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Petty bickering could currently reveal a valid relationship problem that needs to be addressed. The minor provocation that set off the fight probably isn’t the real issue! You may be looking for security, while the other person is possibly prioritizing their freedom and independence. Remind yourself that people can simply have different needs at a given time without that being an attack against anyone. If you choose to see the situation that way instead of feeling defensive, you’ll improve your chances of finding a solution.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Talking a big game might result in you having to take on more work without warning. You may think you can look good in the moment by agreeing to something that you don’t really intend to do. Unfortunately, as the proud Sun in your communication zone agitates surprising Uranus in your responsible 6th house, you probably won’t be able to get away with ditching the duty! While you apply your nose to the grindstone, try to think through what motivated you to boast.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Making more money could feel quite urgent. It may not only be about having a little extra to pay your bills — your self-worth might also seemingly be at stake! While the vain Sun in your finance zone stirs up volatile Uranus in your speculative 5th house, you could find a get-rich-quick scheme tempting. With your emotions stirred up, though, you’re at risk of missing something crucial as you evaluate the opportunity. Come back to the idea when you’re feeling calmer.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Trying to hold back feelings of frustration could make them seem especially overwhelming in the moment. You may fear that asserting yourself runs the risk of threatening something you rely on for security. You probably can’t suppress your concerns forever, though! As the lively Sun in your sign conflicts with unstable Uranus in your 4th House of Roots, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing choice. Exchanging some protection for breathing room in a planned way should net you the best of both worlds.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

A fresh tiff on social media could have deep roots. Your reaction might appear out of proportion to the comment that provoked it, but there’s probably a long backstory that isn’t known to all onlookers. While the illuminating Sun in your 12th House of Secrets goads outrageous Uranus in your communication sector, spilling the dirt has the potential to clear your name. On the other hand, it may inflame the ongoing conflict further, so make sure you’re up for that challenge.

Marianne Williamson suspends presidential campaign, ending long-shot challenge to Biden

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 20:12

By Will Weissert, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson on Wednesday announced the end of her long-shot Democratic challenge to President Joe Biden.

The 71-year-old onetime spiritual adviser to Oprah Winfrey contemplated suspending her campaign last month after winning just 5,000 votes in New Hampshire’s primary, writing that she “had to decide whether now is the time for a dignified exit or continue on our campaign journey.”

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Williamson ultimately opted to continue on for two more primaries, but won just 2% of the vote in South Carolina and about 3% in Nevada.

“I hope future candidates will take what works for them, drinking from the well of information we prepared,” Williamson wrote in announcing the end of her bid. “My team and I brought to the table some great ideas, and I will take pleasure when I see them live on in campaigns and candidates yet to be created.”

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips is the last nationally known Democrat still running against Biden, who has scored blowout victories in South Carolina and Nevada and easily won in New Hampshire — despite not being on the ballot — after his allies mounted a write-in campaign.

Biden is now more firmly in command of the Democratic primary. That’s little surprise given that he’s a sitting president, but it also defies years of low job approval ratings for Biden and polls showing that most Americans — even a majority of Democrats – don’t want him to run again.

Williamson first ran for president in 2020 and made national headlines by calling for a “moral uprising” against then-President Donald Trump while proposing the creation of the Department of Peace. She also argued that the federal government should pay large financial reparations to Black Americans as atonement for centuries of slavery and discrimination.

Her second White House bid featured the same nontraditional campaigning style and many of the same policy proposals. She struggled to raise money and was plagued by staff departures from her bid’s earliest stages.

She tweaked Biden, an avid Amtrak fan, by kicking off her campaign at Washington’s Union Station and campaigned especially hard in New Hampshire, hoping to capitalize on state Democrats’ frustration with the president.

That followed a new plan by the Democratic National Committee, championed by Biden, that reordered the party’s 2024 presidential primary calendar by leading off with South Carolina on Feb. 3.

Williamson acknowledged from the start that it was unlikely she would beat Biden, but she argued in her launch speech in March that “it is our job to create a vision of justice and love that is so powerful that it will override the forces of hatred and injustice and fear.”

The DNC isn’t holding primary debates, and Biden’s challengers’ names may not appear on the Democratic primary ballots in some major states.

A Texas native who now lives in Beverly Hills, California, Williamson is the author of more than a dozen books and ran an unsuccessful independent congressional campaign in California in 2014. She ended her 2020 presidential run shortly before the leadoff Iowa caucuses, announcing that she didn’t want to take progressive support from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was ultimately the last candidate to drop out before Biden locked up the nomination.

In exiting this cycle’s race she wrote Wednesday that “while we did not succeed at running a winning political campaign, I know in my heart that we impacted the political ethers.”

“As with every other aspect of my career over the last forty years, I know how ideas float through the air forming ever new designs,” Williamson said in an email to supporters announcing that she was no longer running. “I will see and hear things in different situations and through different voices, and I will smile a small internal smile knowing in my heart where that came from.”

Winderman’s view: A Heat victory as simple as a motivated Butler when needed

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 19:57

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Wednesday night’s 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs:

– It was a game that crystallized the Jimmy Butler experience.

– Doing enough most of the way to keep it competitive.

– Then take charge as needed.

– Sort of like his approach with the regular season and playoffs.

– So this time, no rest at the start of the fourth quarter.

– Not necessarily because of Erik Spoelstra’s new rotation.

– But because there only was a one-point lead at that stage over a 10-win team.

– Butler at his most energetic remains, by far, the Heat’s most significant asset.

– And by doing it on the second night of a back-to-back set, it shows he has energy in reserve.

– While also aware the Heat now are idle until their Super Bowl Sunday home game against the Celtics.

– Jimmy Butler as closer?

– Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

– The Heat for the second consecutive game opened with a lineup of Bam Adebayo, Caleb Martin, Butler, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier.

– Inactive for the Heat were Haywood Highsmith, Dru Smith and two-way players Jamal Cain, RJ Hampton and Cole Swider.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. played as the Heat’s first reserve, with Butler first out for the Heat.

– That was followed by Josh Richardson and Kevin Love entering together.

– With Duncan Robinson then entering and Butler returning, for the second straight night pairing Butler with four reserves at the end of the opening period.

– Butler extended his streak of games with at least one steal to nine.

– Butler also extended his career-best streak of games with at least one 3-pointer to 10.

– Spoelstra spoke pregame of Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama.

– “You certainly see the highlights, it seems like every single day,” Spoelstra said. “And he’s in an environment and a program where all the fundamentals, all the intangibles that lead to winning, those things are being stressed, day in, day out.”

– Spoelstra added, “So you definitely see improvement. It’s on both sides of the floor. He can really impact the game defensively, just at the rim and changing what you do.”

– Spurs coach Gregg Popovich then spoke of the Heat’s addition of Rozier.

– “He’s a seasoned pro,” Popovich said. “He’s a known scorer. He can score in a lot of different ways. He plays with passion. He can really heat up and add to the tool box Spo can use. That experience and that skill is going to help them.”

– To Spoelstra the focus going in was the same as it ever was.

– “We’re focused on our defensive identity and committing to making things as tough as possible for 48 straight minutes,” he said. “We’re showing more consistency there, but we need to do more.”

– At halftime, a group of  over 200 adult Black men, including  Heat players, coaches, employees, local media personalities, and other citizens, locked arm and arms gathered at center court while a spoken-word piece was performed to honor the 162 Black men pivotal in Miami’s incorporation on July 28, 1896.

– The event, as part of the Heat’s commemoration of Black History Month, commemorated Miami attaining official city status on that date, with 162 Black men crucial to meeting the required voter count, as Florida law mandated 300 registered voters for incorporation.

– The “Miami 162” participated in the election, most having immigrated from the Caribbean while others were former slaves that had migrated to South Florida. The “Miami 162” constituted 44 percent of the eventual voters who helped establish Miami as a city.

Jimmy Butler’s triple-double powers Heat past Wembanyama, Spurs 116-104

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 19:55

MIAMI — Through all the unevenness of what now is a 28-24 record, the given for the Miami Heat has been beating up on the bad.

So now make it a 19-7 record against teams with losing records after Wednesday night’s 116-104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Kaseya Center.

With Jimmy Butler stabilizing the Heat late, with Bam Adebayo holding his own in his matchup against Victor Wembanyama and with Tyler Herro keeping the Heat afloat through the first three periods, the Heat made it four victories in their last five games.

“That was a good defensive game overall,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We’re starting to building a little bit more consistency on that end.”

Herro led the Heat with 24 points, with Adebayo closing with 20. Butler made it a triple-double night with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

“There were a lot of contributions through the course of the game,” Spoelstra said.

It was Butler’s 15th triple-double with the Heat, including playoffs, the 19th of his career.

“I don’t think we played our best version,” Butler said, “but we won.”

Wembanyama, in his Miami debut, finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as the Spurs fell to 10-41.

The Heat closed with 29 assists to 11 turnovers.

“We were just taking care of the ball and making good passes,” Herro said.

The Heat now are idle through Thursday’s NBA trading deadline until their Super Bowl Sunday home game against the Boston Celtics, with a decidedly difficult run to the All-Star break. Following that game against the Celtics, there will be road games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.

The turnaround comes in the immediate wake of the Heat’s seven-game losing streak.

“I think we’ve just really rallied around each other, and just being positive,” Adebayo said. “I feel like that’s helping us in a big way.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Wednesday night’s game:

1. Closing time: The Heat led 32-31 at the end of the opening period, 53-51 at halftime and 78-77 going into the fourth quarter.

From there, largely playing in transition, the Heat then moved to a 96-85 lead with 6:34 to play on a Jaime Jaquez Jr. transition layup off a Duncan Robinson steal.

The lead then moved to 100-87 with 4:24 to play on a Caleb Martin 3-pointer, with a pair of Butler free throws later pushing the advantage to 15.

“We just had to kind of slow the game down a little bit,” Spoelstra said, “and Jimmy can do that as well as anybody in this league.”

2.  More of same: A night after Spoelstra reworked the Heat rotation, it was the same substitution pattern.

That had an opening lineup of Adebayo, Butler, Herro, Terry Rozier and Martin.

From there, Jaquez, Kevin Love, Josh Richardson and Robinson entered off the bench, with Butler cycling back into the mix to play with those four at the end of the first period and start of the second.

Butler for the second consecutive night was on the court to start the fourth quarter, a dramatic switch from Spoelstra’s previous approach.

“He definitely just stabilized things,” Spoelstra said.

3. Takeover time: Butler seemingly said enough was enough at the start of the fourth quarter, when he scored seven points in the first 3:04 of the final period after scoring eight total points to stage.

Then, after a timeout,  he hit Adebayo with a transition alley-oop pass for a basket that put the Heat up 10.

Butler’s fourth-quarter surge included a 3-pointer, extending his career-best streak of games with at least one to 10. He closed with nine points and six assists in the 9:34 he played in the fourth quarter.

Butler shot 5 of 12 from the field, but was 6 of 6 from the line.

“Whatever the squad needs,” Butler said. “We’re back to having fun again.”

He also had three steals and a blocked shot.

“He was so active defensively,” Spoelstra said. “He basically was a one-man zone.”

4. Middle men: In the featured matchup in the middle, Adebayo was up to 10 points before being forced to the bench with his second foul 8:26 into the opening period.

Adebayo shot 5 of 6 in the first period, with his only miss being a shot that was blocked by Wembanyama.

Adebayo and Wembanyama each had 12 points at the intermission.

Adebayo then was called for his fourth foul with 6:38 left in the third period. He closed 10 of 14 from the field, with five rebounds.

Wembanyama shot 7 of 13.

“That guy’s crazy, how talented and big he is.” Spoelstra said of the versatile 7-foot-4 big man.

“He’s going to be great in this league,” Adebayo said.

5. Herro ball: Herro was up to 20 points by the midpoint of the third period, in one of his more efficient performances.

The effort came amid solid playmaking as he works his backcourt chemistry with Rozier.

“I think you’re going to see Tyler and Terry build an even better connection with more games,” Spoelstra said. “But you see the speed, quickness and skill that they both have.”

Herro closed 10 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 7 on 3-pointers. He also had seven assists and six rebounds.

“My teammates set me up to get me going,” Herro said.

Questionnaire: William Joseph, candidate for Lake Worth Beach mayor

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 18:21

Name: William Joseph

Age: 53

Website: williamforMayor.com

What distinguishes you most from your opponent(s)?
My opponents have been in Office for years they never done anything for the community, my opponents don’t any solution for problem in the City. I, William Joseph, I am in the middle in the community we always share the vision from where we are and where we supposed to be that is the different between my opponents.

List in reverse chronological order, starting with most recent, colleges and universities attended with years of attendance and degrees held.
Centurion-2001 Investigation
U.S Cobra-2003 Bail Fugitive recovery

List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
I am a Private Investigation for over 19 years.

Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details and disposition.
No

Have you ever been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
No

Would you have supported the firing of former City Manager Carmen Davis, and why?
No, I didn’t agree for firing former City Manager Carmen Davis. The reason why she was there for only 2 years they didn’t gave her time to fix the City of Lake Worth Beach.

Do you support or oppose a proposed state law that would make panhandling a crime, subject to 30 days in jail, and why?
Yes I supported for the safety of our community.

What changes are needed to improve regulation of short-term vacation rentals?
Ability Insurance and Background check for the safety of the community.

 

Questionnaire: Betty Resch, candidate for Lake Worth Beach mayor

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 18:16

Name: Betty C. Resch

Age: 73

Website: bettyreschformayor.com

What distinguishes you most from your opponent(s)?
It is easy to distinguish me from my opponents in many ways. I bring a professionalism to the dais that has served the city as well as myself well. I conduct myself with decorum and expect the same from the commissioners. When Andy Amoroso was on the commission, he sat idly by when the former mayor and a commissioner “went off the rails.” He did nothing to try to reclaim order.
I am extremely accessible to my residents, my email and cell phone are well known and well used. One of the reasons I ran in 2021 was due to the lack of transparency and responsiveness from the mayor.

I brought a fresh and positive attitude to the role of mayor. For example, when we needed to paint a water tower which is visible from I-95, it was my idea to paint it like a beach ball. It has attracted a lot of positive recognition. It is used by WPBF as their opening clip for the news, and we won 8th place in a national contest of water tower design! That is an example of the kind of innovative thoughts I have brought to the city to promote a more positive perception by the public.

Lake Worth Beach has been a part of my life since Christmas of 1967, when my grandmother moved into her home at 202 South E Street. I moved here permanently in 1979. I was the city attorney from 1993-1998, and have a unique perspective of how a city runs. Being a downtown lawyer, I have been involved in the lives of many of our residents. I’ve been involved in Lake Worth High School, and am on a Leadership Committee, reaching out to the students there.

List in reverse chronological order, starting with most recent, colleges and universities attended with years of attendance and degrees held.

List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
Solo practice attorney in Lake Worth Beach, 1998 – present.
Town attorney Lake Park from 1998-2001
City attorney of Lake Worth from 1993-1998
Assistant State Attorney, prosecuting Crimes Against Children from 1988-1993

Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details and disposition.
I have never been a party to a lawsuit.

Have you ever been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
I have no criminal record.

Would you have supported the firing of former City Manager Carmen Davis, and why? 
I did not support the firing of the city manager. I believe that the commissioners who were
apparently so unsatisfied with her performance should have given her an indication of their
dissatisfaction during their one-on-one meetings. I had my own frustrations with some level of
things not getting done, but was working with her on those issues. I felt the way that they
handled it was at best unkind and honestly, it was brutal and unnecessary.

Do you support or oppose a proposed state law that would make panhandling a crime, subject to 30 days in jail, and why?
Panhandling is an unfortunate consequence of todays economic climate. Having panhandlers on
the side of the road makes people uncomfortable and is a bad visual for the city. I don’t know if
any state statute would survive a constitutional challenge. Should it be an offense punishable by
jail? That sounds harsh. Perhaps being restricted from the city if one got a citation would be a
better solution.

What changes are needed to improve regulation of short-term vacation rentals?
Short term rentals, like everything else in life, has pros and cons. I believe that there is a place
for them. We have no alternatives in Lake Worth Beach if a visitor wants to stay in town. I had
visitors over the holidays from London, and if they did not stay in a short-term rental, there
would have been no alternative for them to stay in the city.

If we were able to restrict the number and placement of them, it would be helpful.
Enforcement of them is quite difficult. If we could register them as such, and have some
regulations, for example, cameras in the yards so that the owner could monitor activities, that
would be helpful. If the ordinance was able to be effectively enforced, yes, it would open up
more opportunities for folks to live here, but there is no guarantee that it would be affordable.
With the rising home prices, it would be unrealistic to think that with the high carrying costs,
those units would be affordable.

Questionnaire: Andy Amoroso, candidate for Lake Worth Beach mayor

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 18:08

Name: Andy Amoroso

Age: 60

Website: AndyForMayor24.com

Would you have supported the firing of former City Manager Carmen Davis, and why?
I have never worked with her. I found it to be heartless to fire someone two weeks before Christmas. After you just given her a raise. In my opinion, giving someone a raise tells them they are doing a good job.

Do you support or oppose a proposed state law that would make panhandling a crime, subject to 30 days in jail, and why?
I do not support a ban. The ALCU has found that banning of panhandling is against someone’s free speech and unlawful. However I feel it is unsafe for someone to panhandle after dark.

What changes are needed to improve regulation of short-term vacation rentals?
I feel Air B&B’s are needed in the City of Lake Worth Beach, because we do not currently have a hotel. However, we should have a meeting with Air B&B owners to fine tune the rules and regulations and to send a clear message to the residents.

 

 

 

Questionnaire: Alex Cull, candidate for Lake Worth Beach mayor

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 18:02

Name: Alex Cull

Age: 32

Website: alex4mayor.org

What distinguishes you most from your opponent(s)?
I am the only individual running for Mayor of Lake Worth Beach with genuine executive leadership, and I am the only candidate who has managed projects and programs in the multi-million dollar ranges. Over my last 11 years, working at one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, and now as a Senior Strategist at Amazon Business, I have honed the skills necessary to manage stakeholders across multiple time zones to achieve results, even when those stakeholders don’t necessarily see eye to eye with each other.

Every day, I coordinate stakeholders across the world to get large projects out of the gate, while being accountable for the results of each and every one, managing a pipeline that at times reaches half a billion dollars, with programs and projects affecting millions of end users. Mayor Betty Resch and former Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso bring an attitude to the commission that would see me fired from any of my present or prior employers. While Mayor Resch and former Vice Mayor Amoroso are known for confrontation, eye rolling and inefficiency, I hope to be elected and be known as the individual who brought genuine professionalism to the deus. I hope to be known as the individual who brought a new voice, and solutions over anything else. Fresh blood, and younger eyes, are needed to modernize and bring forward the professionalism and institutional efficiency demanded. We will get nothing done if we don’t have a chair who can lead, and who doesn’t put solutions over bickering and ideology.

List in reverse chronological order, starting with most recent, colleges and universities attended with years of attendance and degrees held.
University of Pittsburgh, 2010 – 2013
Studied Bioinformatics (Now known as Computational Biology at PITT) to earn a Bachelors of Science

List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
Amazon Business – Managed Spend Strategy Leader, 2022 – Present
Brightway Insurance, Managing P&C Broker / Sales Director 2014-2022

Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details and disposition.
I am the plaintiff in a civil lawsuit against my previous employer, Rand Insurance Group, Inc dba Brightway Insurance. I am seeking damages against my prior employer for withholding approximately $32,000 of unpaid commissions and withheld 401(k) matching contributions.

Have you ever been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
Not applicable.

Would you have supported the firing of former City Manager Carmen Davis, and why?
The city manager was fired in a special meeting, drawing wide attention and many eyes. The performance of the city manager was under scrutiny for well over a year; her required performance reviews were not completed, and the majority of commissioners found themselves frustrated by the inefficiencies of the deus and called a special meeting.

What we’re leaving out of this conversation is the chain of events that lead to a special, high attention meeting that leads to the firing of a public employee. The city manager’s contracted performance reviews were not completed, and the only performance reviews on file for Carmen Davis prior to those shared during the special meeting were performance reviews she had completed herself as a self evaluation. This outlines a failure of policy, and a failure of institutional efficiency. Public leaders with a significant payroll of public funds (Carmen was making ~$200K a year) must be subject to mandated, regular, performance reviews to encourage accountability.
The chair of the commission — the mayor — is uniquely positioned to ensure that the institution that is the city government operates efficiently and addresses the demands of the commission. Our mayor’s performance has been marked by a failure to lead, to bring efficiency to our commission, and to roll her eyes at opposition rather than collaborate or bring together the key stakeholders necessary to get the job done.

It is my opinion that if we had a mayor, a chair, which drove efficiency and productivity, collaboration over bickering, time would have been made to address her mandated performance reviews. This would have given our city leadership the opportunity to consider a performance improvement plan with measurable metrics to encourage her growth as an employee of the city, the same process done in the private sector regularly and without fail. In the absence of that leadership, in the absence of duty to perform, in the absence of efficiency as a result of a chair who fails to lead a meeting, our city was again put to the mercy of a special meeting filled with dramatics.

If elected, I promise to run the commission just as I do my board meetings each and every single day at work. With collaboration, with listening, with understanding, and with efficiency. I will advocate for policy requiring established performance review mechanisms for employed city leaders that are fair, just and allow our city staff to grow. In the absence of actual metrics — which performance review mechanisms like this yield — it is difficult to comment on Carmen Davis’ firing without leaning more into opinion than fact. With that in mind, Carmen Davis left multiple applications sit, and we lost valuable candidates for much needed positions within the city. In the background, outside of public view, Carmen Davis worked with Sarah Malega to non-renew the lease of Head Start, the only publicly funded pre-k option available for our city in which the majority of children who attend public schools live below the poverty line. These are grave concerns. Given these facts, I did and continue to support the action taken by the majority of our elected body to remove Carmen Davis as city manager, and hope that we can solution moving forward to ensure a theatrical special meeting like this is driven by metrics, facts and professionalism.

Do you support or oppose a proposed state law that would make panhandling a crime, subject to 30 days in jail, and why?
I am not in favor of the proposed state law for one simple reason: It is unconstitutional, and a violation of one’s first amendment rights. This is not an opinion; this has been established by countless lawsuits, all across the United States. If this bill is passed, the state of Florida will be sued, the state of Florida will lose, the state of Florida will squander more tax dollars while doing nothing to create solutions that address the reasons why Floridians are panhandling to begin with.

What changes are needed to improve regulation of short-term vacation rentals?
There is very little to do to improve the regulation of short-term rentals without the repeal or revision of Section 509.032(7)(b), which is another action taken by the state to limit the power of local governments. The bill prohibits the city from creating additional regulations to improve the market of short-term rentals within the city of Lake Worth Beach. This leaves the city with two options: 1) We can enforce our existing ban on short-term rentals (defined as leases of 60 days or less), or 2) We can remove that ban, and have no regulation whatsoever.

Given the black and white choice, and how short term rentals proliferated after the city opted to stop enforcing these rules, it is vital that the ban on leases of 60 days or less be maintained. Unregulated short term rentals remove valuable housing stock, force locals who wish to put down roots in the town they grew up in to compete against an international market of property investors, while further damaging the charm each neighborhood brings.

If Section 509.032(7)(b) were revised or altered to allow local municipalities to pass common sense regulation, this would not be my stance, and I would prefer a means of regulation to limit them but still allow them within city limits. However, when faced with the two options of all or nothing, I choose nothing.

Questionnaire: Mimi May, candidate for Lake Worth Beach City Commission District 3

Wed, 02/07/2024 - 17:50

Name: Mimi May

Age: 48

Website: mimimay.com

What distinguishes you most from your opponent(s)?
I would like to see a prosperous Lake Worth Beach with a vibrant Downtown Business District with clean and welcoming streets, safe open spaces, and events that attract tourists to our city. I want to showcase our amazing resident artists and market LWB as a destination. In order to do that, I would like to see our Code Compliance Department enforce the City Code uniformly throughout the city. I would like to hire a Park Ranger to patrol our parks and keep them safe, clean and available for residents to use. I would like to see PBSO crack down on quality-of-life crimes. I am proud of Lake Worth Beach. I see such potential, and I want to be there to lead the city into its next chapter.

List in reverse chronological order, starting with most recent, colleges and universities attended with years of attendance and degrees held.
2000-2001: M.ed Canisius College, Buffalo, New York
1992-1996: B.A. Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont

List in reverse chronological order your work history for the past 15 years.
2007-present: Teacher at School District of Palm Beach County
2017-present: Bak Middle School of the Arts
2015-2017: Palm Springs Community Middle School
2007-2015: Lantana Elementary

Have you ever been a party to a lawsuit, including bankruptcy or foreclosure? If so, provide details and disposition.
No

Have you ever been charged or convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, including an adjudication of guilt withheld? If so, provide charges, dates and terms of sentence.
No

Would you have supported the firing of former City Manager Carmen Davis, and why?
I have never worked directly with the former City Manager. I was at the meeting (and all other City Commission meetings) where she was fired. The meeting was advertised as an evaluation. The way in which she was fired was one of the most heartless and humiliating situations to put another human being into. She was not even thanked for her service or for moving her entire family here. I found that appalling. The Commission had every right to fire the City Manager, but the way it was done was inexcusable.

Do you support or oppose a proposed state law that would make panhandling a crime, subject to 30 days in jail, and why?
I think it is dangerous for people to panhandle at busy intersections and offramps. I also know that there have been legal issues with banning panhandling because of the First Amendment right to free speech. I also find 30 days in jail too heavy of a sentence for panhandling. I would be open to having a conversation about the issue if it was something the residents of Lake Worth Beach were interested in discussing.

What changes are needed to improve regulation of short-term vacation rentals?
It is the commission’s responsibility to discuss issues that are important to the residents of Lake Worth Beach. The citizens have been asking for conversations on the issue of STRs (and other issues) to be opened up to public comment and workshops for a long time. I believe it is time to open the conversation. The City can regulate the STRs in ways that allow for them to be good neighbors. The only thing the law states can’t be regulated is how many STRs there are and where they are. They are too vital to our City’s economy to ban them. Without short term rentals, there is nowhere for visitors to stay until the Gulfstream is opened.

 

FSU holds off Boston College after steal just before final buzzer

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 21:30

BOSTON — Jamir Watkins scored 10 points, Cam Corhen made a steal just before the final buzzer and Florida State held off Boston College 63-62 on Tuesday night.

Florida State opened the game on a 16-2 run and led by 11 points early in the second half before BC rallied. The Eagles pulled into ties at 52 and 54 but never took the lead.

FSU has turned former ACC commissioner John Swofford’s son into Hunter Biden | Commentary

Jalen Warley gave the Seminoles a 63-60 lead with 1:24 left. But Warley missed a 3-pointer from the corner and BC raced the other way for a layup by Devin McGlockton, off a nice assist by Jaeden Zackery, to get within 63-62 with 16 seconds left.

FSU forward Darin Green Jr. missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 10.1 seconds left. BC got it to Zackery in the corner, but Corhen poked it away from behind to deny a shot before the buzzer.

Florida State (13-9, 7-4 ACC) finished with 13 steals. Green and Corhen each had eight points.

Quinten Post led Boston College (13-9, 4-7) with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Mason Madsen added 12 points, Zackery scored 11 and McGlockton had 10. Post went over 1,000 career points.

Post and McGlockton combined to score 18 of Boston College’s 31 first-half points. The Eagles trailed by six points at the break.

Florida State returns home to host Virginia on Saturday. BC travels to play No. 9 Duke on Saturday.

Miami Heat defeat Orlando Magic 121-95 | PHOTOS

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 20:52
  • Caleb Martin attempts a three point shot as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Terry Rozier moves the ball down the court as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Terry Rozier and Josh Richardson celebrate as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • The Miami Heat bench questions a call as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler questions the referee as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Caleb Martin goes up for a score as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Fans cheer on the Heat as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler fist bumps Coach Eric Spoelstra as he steps off the court as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Tyler Herro puts up a three point shot as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler puts up a three point shot as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • The bench watches the action as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler and Duncan Robinson discuss the game as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Kevin Love and Josh Richardson argue a call as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Terry Rozier goes up for a basket as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Duncan Robinson is called for a foul against Markelle Fultz as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • The Heat bench celebrates a Kevin Love three pointer as the Miami Heat defeat the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Tyler Herro moves the ball down court as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jaime Jaquez Jr. guards Joe Ingles as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler passes the ball as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Tyler Herro moves the ball down court as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Terry Rozier goes up for a basket as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Tyler Herro goes up for a basket as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Heat coach Eric Spoelstra pleads with the referee as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

  • Jimmy Butler goes down after attempting a three point shot as the Miami Heat take on the Orlando Magic at the Kaseya Center in Miami on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

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Hurricanes will reportedly hire USF’s Matt Merritt as new running backs coach

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 20:25

The Miami Hurricanes are expected to fill the lone gap in their coaching staff, poaching someone from an in-state rival.

Miami will hire USF’s Matt Merritt to be their new running backs coach, according to multiple reports.

Merritt comes to Miami with seven years of assistant coaching experience at the college level after spending the 2023 season as an associate head coach and running-game coordinator with the Bulls. He previously served as a running backs coach at Georgia Southern for a year, James Madison for two years, Elon for two years and Ohio Dominican for one season.

Under Merritt, the Bulls ran for 182.8 yards per game, which was 33rd in the nation and third in the American Athletic Conference. At James Madison, his rushing offense was 10th in FCS in 2019.

Merritt also worked as a graduate assistant at Ohio State and as an offensive analyst at Tennessee.

Miami had a proficient running game under Tim Harris Jr. last season. UM ran for 173.2 yards per game, which was 45th in the nation. Henry Parrish Jr. led the team with 625 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns, and freshman Mark Fletcher Jr. emerged and ran for 514 yards with five touchdowns. Miami also returns Ajay Allen, who rushed for 361 yards and five scores last season.

Harris left the Hurricanes after one season to become the offensive coordinator at UCF. Harris left the Knights after the 2022 season to coach at UM.

Although the Hurricanes lost Miami native Don Chaney Jr. to Louisville via the transfer portal, they also added four-star running back Jordan Lyle and three-star running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey in their high school recruiting class.

Winderman’s view: Everyone eats in victory over the Magic, as Heat adopt new diet

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 20:00

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Tuesday night’s 121-95 victory over the Orlando Magic:

– This is where the talk of a Heat Big Three largely should be reserved as a lower-case description.

– Because for all that (regular-season) Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro provide, it is a trio that also requires ample support.

– In this one, they got it.

– Because at least during the regular season, an ensemble is what best suits the mix.

– It keeps everyone engaged on offense.

– Which also makes it easier to keep everyone engaged on defense.

– So at the end of the third period, Adebayo, Herro and Terry Rozier all had 14 points and Butler 13.

– Along with 11 from Caleb Martin, 10 from Jaime Jaquez Jr., nine from Josh Richardson and seven from Kevin Love.

– Something from everyone.

– With Everyone largely this team’s super power.

– At least until playoff time.

– When Butler very much emerges as The One.

– So, to the credit of Erik Spoelstra, a rotation reset.

– With one more game, Wednesday against the Spurs, to further polish before the nationally televised Super Bowl Sunday game against the Celtics.

– When the previous approach only led to abject failure last month at Kaseya Center.

– On a day the Heat got Duncan Robinson and Herro back from the injury report, they unveiled their 27th lineup in their 51st game.

– This time Martin started in place of Haywood Highsmith, in a lineup rounded out by Adebayo, Butler, Rozier and Herro.

– Butler’s sixth shot was the 10,000th of his career.

– For Spoelstra, having a roster that was whole and injury free presented welcomed challenges.

– “I actually had to fill out my board with all the different plans and possibilities,” he said pregame. “Yeah, hopefully it’s a good thing.”

– The Magic opened with Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr.

– With Fultz making his first 3-pointer of the season in the first quarter.

– Jaquez played as the Heat’s first reserve.

– Love, Richardson and Robinson then followed together.

– That nine deep left Haywood shuffled out of the rotation.

– Similar to how Nikola Jovic was shuffled out when Highsmith was inserted in the starting lineup.

– A Heat focus going in was improving the home record. The Heat entered 13-12 at Kaseya Center.

– “We’ve been saying that for a while now,” Spoelstra said. “Right now, it’s about doing whatever we had to do to take care of business.”

– Magic coach Jamahl Mosely had ample praise going in for Spoelstra.

– “Spoelstra does a great job of keeping these guys playing hard, disrupting things defensively, and changing defensive coverages, Mosley said. “So, you never know exactly what you’re going to see from the offensive side of the floor. They keep you guessing, and they keep you off-balance.”

– He added, “Offensively, they move without the basketball, they’ve got shooters everywhere, and they’ve got guys who can get to the free-throw line.”

– Multiple reports Tuesday had Jaquez confirmed as a participant in the All-Star Saturday dunk contest, something he previously hinted, along with Jaylen Brown, Jacob Toppin and last year’s winner, G League player Matt McClung.

– In addition teams were drafted Tuesday from the playoff pool for the Rising Stars event the Friday before the All-Star Game.

– Jaquez was drafted onto a team that also includes Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller, Brandin Podziemski, Jabari Smith Jr., Cason Wallace and  Bilal Coulibaly.

Heat ride rotation reset to 121-95 rout of Magic behind Butler’s 23

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 19:57

MIAMI — It probably is too early to say whether the Miami Heat definitively have found a better way.

But Tuesday night, coach Erik Spoelstra made clear it was time for a different way.

So he changed his starting lineup, altered his rotation, redefined some responsibilities and saw his team put together one of its best performances in weeks.

With Jimmy Butler leading the way, and with Terry Rozier finding his way, the Heat pushed past the Orlando Magic 121-95 Tuesday night at Kaseya Center, their third victory in the past four games.

“We were playing with much more of a motor,” Spoelstra said. “We looked fast out there, which is good to see.”

Butler, playing more as a point guard than previously this season, closed with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

“I think everybody was ready for what was going to happen,” Butler said of the revised rotation. “I like it. Guys were more comfortable.”

The Heat also got 18 points from Rozier, and 14 apiece from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

Those efforts, which helped fuel a 40-point third period, allowed the Heat to move past Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at the start of this four-game homestand that continues Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

“That’s four games in a row now,” Spoelstra said, “where we look a lot more consistent and closer to our identity defensively.”

Five Degrees of Heat from Tuesday night’s game:

1. Closing time: The Heat lead 26-19 at the end of the first period, went up 20 with 3:45 left in the second, but were reduced to a 56-49 lead at the intermission.

After Orlando closed within five early in the third, the Heat pushed back to a 24-point lead, before going into the fourth up 96-75.

Then, in continuing with the night’s theme of a rotation, reshuffle, Butler opened the fourth quarter on the court, instead of his typical bench mode at the start of the period.

From there, the Magic closed within 10 early in the fourth, before consecutive Butler 3-pointers as part of his personal 8-0 run pushed the Heat ahead 106-88.

The Heat kept it safety ahead from there.

“I was in a slump in the first half,” Butler said, “so I had to make those two threes.”

With his 3-pointers, Butler extended his career-best streak with at least one to nine games.

Butler closed 6 of 9 from the field, 9 of 12 from the line.

“Jimmy was able to, at really key points of the game, he was able to control with time, score, context,” Spoelstra said. “He can control a game as well as anybody in this Association.”

2. And another one: A game after unveiling their 26th lineup of the season, the Heat this time moved to lineup No. 27 in their 51st game.

The change had Caleb Martin opening in place of Haywood Highsmith, who had started the previous seven games.

Martin’s previous start was the Jan. 21 road loss to the Magic, with Martin apparently Spoelstra’s preferred defender against the Magic’s size.

The rest of the starting lineup remained Adebayo, Butler, Herro and Rozier.

The new starting group then moved to a 12-point lead before the Heat’s first substitution.

3. With a twist: The revised alignment in the returns of Herro and Duncan Robinson from absences had Butler exiting early and then returning to close out the first period with a reserve unit of Kevin Love, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Josh Richardson and Robinson.

Butler played as the de facto point guard in that alignment, as both Herro and Rozier sat.

That unit also started the second period.

“This is where we are,” Spoelstra said of the rotation revision. “We have basically our full contingent right now. So we’re working through things and trying to have some role definition and get a consistent rotation.”

4. The Terry tracker: Rozier did not allow his recent shooting struggles to temper his aggression, in what turned into one of his most efficient performances since joining the Heat in his trade from the Charlotte Hornets.

Playing more off the ball, Rozier stepped into his 3-pointers with confidence, playing well in tandem with Herro, and then later with Butler.

‘We’re tough to beat when we play like that,” Rozier said.

He closed 7 of 12 from the field, including 2 of 4 on 3-pointers, with seven assists and six rebounds.

“Still getting there. Still getting there,” he said. “Trying to get acclimated.

“These guys are doing a great job of making me feel comfortable. We know everything’s going to fall into place. We just gotta ignore the outside noise and stay true to ourselves.”

5. The tiebreaker: The victory not only extended the Heat’s franchise record to a ninth consecutive home victory over the Magic, but also secured a 3-1 win in the season series.

In a competitive Eastern Conference playoff race, that not only stands as a tiebreaker advantage over the Magic, but also for a potential Southeast Division title.

While a division winner is not necessarily guaranteed a playoff berth, a division championship serves as a leading playoff tiebreaker beyond head-to-head record.

“Overall,” Spoelstra said, “that’s a quality win over a very good opponent.”

Flyers top Panthers, snap Florida’s four-game win streak

Tue, 02/06/2024 - 19:48

By COLBY GUY

SUNRISE — Noah Cates scored the go-ahead goal 2:36 into the third period, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Cates’ goal was his first since Oct. 24, snapping a 22-game drought for the 25-year-old forward. He picked up a loose puck near the high slot, skated in alone and scored unassisted for what became the game-winner.

“When you don’t score for a while, you feel like you never will again,” Cates said. “To get on the board and get that confidence is big for me.”

The Flyers snapped their five-game losing streak in their first game since Jan. 27 following the NHL’s All-Star break.

“It’s the way we have to play,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “The way we’ve been successful is checking forward and not being safe. In the first period, we felt we were checking but we were letting them play. We didn’t close anybody out, we didn’t take any ice away from them, and in the last two periods, we played better.”

Travis Konecny also scored for Philadelphia, and Samuel Ersson made 20 saves.

Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers. Anthony Stolarz, who got the start to give All-Star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky a little more rest, stopped 23 shots.

Florida’s four-game win streak came to an end, as well as Sam Reinhart’s 13-game point streak, which was tied for the second-longest in franchise history.

“I didn’t like the way we supported the puck,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I thought we got stretched in the game that we didn’t need to. They flipped a lot of pucks, we couldn’t get a handle on them, we started to stretch our game out and we couldn’t generate anything because of it. We looked like we haven’t been out on the ice in about a week.”

Flyers forward Owen Tippett played his first game in South Florida since the Panthers traded him to Philadelphia in 2022. He also returned to the lineup from a lower-body injury which kept him out of the team’s past four games.

Panthers forward Nick Cousins played his first game since Jan. 2 after missing 12 games while in the concussion protocol.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Host Washington on Thursday night.

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