Free Republic

Florida has a new heartbeat law that protects babies from abortions starting at 6 weeks when their heartbeat can be detected. However, a new undercover campaign has caught abortion businesses in the state paying women to seek abortions in other states. Recent undercover audio has demonstrated that abortion centers in Florida are not killing babies after a detectable heartbeat (around 6 weeks), but instead are paying women to get out-of-state abortions, as the pro-life group Created Equal informed LifeNews today. According to reports from Florida sidewalk counselors, the volume of women seeking abortions in Florida has not decreased since the...

A 400-man riot broke out at a Florida skate park after the venue canceled a planned after party at the last minute. The large brawl erupted Saturday night in the parking lot at Astro Skate in the Tampa Bay Metropolitan area after frustrated party organizers put out a call online encouraging people to 'riot' and 'confront law enforcement' at the skate park.

SARASOTA, Fla. — Auburn’s running back Brian Battie is on a ventilator and is in critical condition after a weekend shooting in Sarasota, Florida, that killed his brother. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday at the Tallywood Centre Plaza. Battie was among four victims who were transported to area hospitals. His brother, Tommie L. Battie IV was pronounced dead at the scene, ESPN reported. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune and WFLA reported that Brian Battie was shot in the head with sources saying on Saturday that he was able to open his eyes and...

Florida law enforcement officials arrested 23 juveniles and six adults after a wild brawl erupted outside a Brandon skating rink when a party was canceled on Saturday night. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call from an off-duty deputy at Astro Skate at about 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, requesting help with a large crowd that was fighting in the parking lot. Investigators learned the fight broke out after a planned party was canceled when the individuals hosting the private party failed to hire an off-duty deputy for the event, which Astro Skate requires. Since the requirement...

Hundreds of nursing homes in Florida have been forced to shut their doors over the past five years because of the soaring cost of commercial property insurance in the state. In the five-year period ending in 2023, an average of 146 nursing homes or assisted-living facilities in Florida have closed each year, according to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration. During that same five-year period, commercial property insurance premiums rose 125% in Florida. Last year alone, annual premiums rose by around 27% in the state, according to Bloomberg News.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he supported mass deportation of illegal immigrants because the numbers call for something dramatic. Host Kristen Welker said, “If reelected, Donald Trump said he is willing to put migrant detention camps and to deport more than 11 million undocumented immigrants, and it would be the largest deportation plan in American history. Do you support that plan?” Rubio said, “Eleven million, that was the number ten years ago. We’re talking upwards of 25 to 30 million.” He continued, “The answer to your question is yes. We cannot absorb 25,...

Harrowing video captured the moment gang members with automatic weapons opened fire in a south Florida neighborhood in what police say was a targeted attack that left locals ducking for cover in the middle of the night. Footage from a neighbor’s security camera shows a group with weapons standing on a residential street in Miami Garden just after midnight Wednesday beginning to shoot as a silver Nissan approaches. At least three hooded figures can be seen crouching on the ground waiting to ambush the approaching car — then rapidly firing at the vehicle as it drives past. Neighbors said they...

CBS New Polls conducted by YouGov May 5-16. AZ (1193 LV): Trump 52, Biden 47; FL (1181 LV): Trump 54, Biden 45

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed Wednesday that he was saving his state from 'radical green zealots' by removing references of 'climate change' from the state's energy policy and banning offshore windmills. DeSantis, a failed 2024 presidential hopeful, signed into law a bill that additionally gives preferential treatment to natural gas companies and scraps a requirement that state-purchased vehicles are fuel efficient. With 8,346 miles of shoreline and water surrounding three of its side, Florida is the most vulnerable or close to being the most at-risk state when it comes to climate change impacts, according to a number of metrics. 'The...

Higher education isn’t daycare. Here are the rules we follow on free speech and public protests. First, universities must distinguish between speech and action. Speech is central to education. We’re in the business of discovering knowledge and then passing it, both newly learned and time-tested, to the next generation. To do that, we need to foster an environment of free thought in which ideas can be picked apart and put back together, again and again. The heckler gets no veto. The best arguments deserve the best counterarguments. To cherish the First Amendment rights of speech and assembly, we draw a...

Have a Florida condo? Can you afford a $100,000 or higher special assessment for new safety standards? After the collapse of a Surfside Building on June 24, 2021that killed 98 people, the state passed a structural safety law that is now biting owners. Not only are insurance rates soaring, but owners are hit with huge special assessments topping $100,000.

A Florida principal and self-proclaimed 'beacon of integrity and faith,' is in police custody after he was recorded choking, slapping and whipping a student with a charging cable at the private school where he worked. Dontay Prophet, 33, was imprisoned as recently as the summer of 2023 when he violated probation in relation to a separate charge of sexual abuse of a child. Prophet is the principal of the Destiny Leadership Academy in Ocala, just north west of Orlando. The horrifying footage was recorded on May 10. He was arrested just a day later. Video captured by security cameras and...

Former President Donald Trump leads President Joe Biden by twice his margin of victory in the Lone Star State four years ago in the contest for Texas’ 40 electoral votes, according to a new poll. A Marist College survey released on Tuesday shows Republican Sen. Ted Cruz leading Democratic opponent Rep. Colin Allred by six points in a crucial Senate contest as the GOP looks to recapture the majority in the chamber in November’s elections. In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Texas by about 5.5 points, the narrowest victory margin for a Republican presidential candidate in a deeply red state...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning to raise money for former President Donald Trump in the coming weeks, putting into action the commitment he made at a meeting with Trump last month to help his former rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details have not been finalized and plans could still shift in the weeks ahead. Still, DeSantis is making calls to donors while his finance team works quickly to put together a schedule that would...

Jews, who are 'tyrannical' and the 'brothers of apes and pigs' should be annihilated (...part of first paragraph deleted by my stupid browser) cording to a Florida Islamic cleric, wing “worse than the Nazis.” During a sermon at the North Miami Islamic Center in Florida in late April, Imam Di called for Allah to support “our oppressed brot well as for the total annihilation of Jews, whom he referred to as “apes and pigs” — a phrase that radical Islamists have historically used to describe Jews. “Oh Allah, annihilate the tyrannical Jews… for they are no match for You,” he...

Florida sheriffs have been making news of late for doing their jobs. I say that not as a commentary on said sheriffs, but as a sad observation that in parts of this country, violent repeat criminals rule the streets. One such Florida sheriff is Lee County's Carmine Marceno, whose hard line on criminals who think they can "play" in his county is crystal clear: My message … is clear. If you think you can deal poison and commit crime, stay clear of Lee County and all the great state of Florida. We're ready, and we will absolutely find you, hunt...

Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved legislation that would end the ability of people under 21 years of age to work in adult entertainment establishments. DeSantis signed the measure (HB 7063) in Coral Gables. That legislation was amended to lift the age limit for performers and other employees of adult establishments from 18 to 21 by absorbing another bill (SB 796). DeSantis said this legislation was part of ongoing efforts to “combat human trafficking,” contending the problem has gotten worse in recent years due to “Mexican cartels” benefiting from the “open” border.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, issued a letter on Monday calling for the state’s board of dentistry to suspend the license of a Muslim dentist who purportedly called for the “murder of Florida’s Jews,” according to Fine. “Muslim terrorists are in our midst, and one is practicing dentistry courtesy of the people of the state of Florida,” Fine said in a letter to Florida Board of Dentistry Chairman Dr. Jose Mellado. He explained how Dr. Fadi Kablawi, a dentist in North Miami, reportedly advocated for the “murder of Florida’s Jews” during a sermon he led at a local mosque in...

1 in 5 Democrats may not vote for Biden's re-election. New polling from the Florida Chamber of Commerce suggests that Democrats are guilty of wishful thinking when they say Florida’s too close to call in November. To the contrary, former President Donald Trump is set up for a decisive win in the Sunshine State, according to a phone survey of 609 registered voters: 223 Democrats, 256 Republicans and 130 others. In a two-man race, Trump leads Joe Biden 51% to 42%, with just 79% of registered Democrats saying they’ll vote for him. Trump, despite his legal woes and controversies during...

<p>A small group of anti-Israel protesters from a Florida chapter of Queers for Palestine blocked access to Walt Disney World Saturday — and were promptly arrested.</p><p>Some fed-up drivers were seen using the shoulder of the highway to go around the demonstrators — while one angry motorist got out of his car to confront them, video showed.</p>