Five of today’s top Florida political stories at your fingertips:

Florida frat suspended after allegedly harassing veterans — A University of Florida fraternity has been suspended after reports that some of its members harassed wounded military veterans vacationing recently in Panama City Beach. The Gainesville Sun reports that Zeta Beta Tau fraternity has been charged by the university with offenses including yelling and spitting at vets last weekend. UF said the university has charged the fraternity with “causing physical or other harm, obscene behavior, public intoxication, theft and damage to property.” Read more

Pete Williams mulls over challenging Gwen Graham in 2016 – A major Republican challenger is considering a run against U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, D-Fla., expected to be a top target for the GOP in 2016. Pete Williams, who lost to longtime State Attorney Willie Meggs by a very narrow margin in 2012, is considering challenging Graham in 2016, sources close to the Leon County Republican tell Sunshine State News. Williams is a prominent figure in Tallahassee, having served as inspector general at both the Florida Department of Education, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Agency for Health Care Administration having been named as a statewide prosecutor by then Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist from 2003 until 2007. Read more

Jeb Bush does South Beach: Eats burger created by semi-retired drag queen – After he had worked a 12-hour shift Saturday working at Burger & Beer Joint on Miami Beach, Tommy Strangie, waiter and semi-retired drag queen, got a special request from his boss: Design a burger to serve Sunday to an important guest who’s on the Paleo diet, which shuns dairy, starch and refined sugar.His boss didn’t tell him the guest’s name. But Strangie, who about once a year still steps out as alter ego Shelley Novak, figured it was Jeb Bush. Read more

Can health care pass when Medicaid is bogging down the session? – Health care financing isn’t the only unresolved issue heading into the last week of the 2015 Legislative Session. A significant amount of health care policy — from what role advanced registered nurse practitioners should have in an ever-evolving delivery system to whether doctors should be allowed to override insurance companies and HMOs as they struggle to hold down health care costs — is still outstanding. Read more

Florida man jailed on IRS bomb threat charge — A South Florida man who told the FBI his name is “Squirrel” is charged with threatening to blow up the Internal Revenue Service building in Miami. Prosecutors say 53-year-old Morris Whitehead faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. Whitehead has been jailed since his arrest last week and court records did not list an attorney for him. Court papers show someone called the FBI Monday to say the IRS building would “go up in smoke” in two hours. Read more

ICYMI: Fla. sheriff won’t cower; condemns ‘thug culture’ in black community 

For more Florida political news, visit BPR’s FLORIDA NEWS page

• Author
• Recent Posts

Cheryl Carpenter Klimek

Administration
[email protected]

Latest posts by Cheryl Carpenter Klimek (see all)

• Florida Five: DWS draws serious primary opponent, Legislators haul in $28.5 mil. pre-session - January 18, 2016
• Florida Five: Trump’s ‘Freedom Kids’ take Internet by storm, Miami seeks help with Cuban migrants - January 15, 2016
• Florida Five: Trump rallies ‘noisy as hell majority’ in Fla., Senate passes historic water bill - January 14, 2016

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.