Free Republic

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.—Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody issued an advisory opinion on Sept. 3 on whether school districts could legally depart from state law and emergency rules to require children to wear masks in school. The opinion was in response to an inquiry from the Suwannee County School District as to whether the district could legally opt out of the state law and emergency rules. “It is my opinion that the District must comply with Rule 64DER21-12 (pdf) and any other applicable authorities unless and until the judiciary declares them invalid,” Moody wrote in an advisory opinion in response to...

At his campaign style speech in Sarasota, Florida, 45th President Donald Trump mentioned Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force Veteran slain on January 6, for the first time publicly. President Trump revealed that he met with Babbitt’s grieving family, and also asked why so many January 6 protesters are still in jail, and slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for refusing to fight for them. While discussing “weak” Republican leaders like McConnell, President Trump suddenly changed the subject. “And by the way, who shot Ashli Babbitt? Who shot AShli Babbitt? Who? Who shot Ashli Babbitt? We all saw the hand, we...

VIDEO The occasional downpours of rain did not deter the YUUUUUGE outpouring of crowds for the President Donald Trump rally in Sarasota FL on July 3, 2021. Here are a few random scenes of that rally that will give you an idea of the incredible enthusiasm for the President.

MAGA Trump 4th of July rally celebration, about to get underway...folks gathering early. Hope the weather holds up decently. Post your comments and photos!!! Go Trumpie!!!

When is Donald Trump's rally in Sarasota, Florida? Donald Trump will be addressing the public at a rally on Saturday, July 3, 2021. The rally will take place at the Sarasota State fair grounds at 8pm ET, however, doors will open at 2pm. You can only register for a maximum of two tickets for the event and it is only on a first come first serve basis. In a statement a Trump spokesperson said: "President Donald J. Trump...will hold a major rally in Sarasota." "This Save America rally is co-sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida and marks President Trump’s...

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis never asked former President Donald Trump to postpone a rally in Sarasota scheduled for Saturday, his office told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday. “Governor DeSantis is focusing on his duties as Governor and the tragedy in Surfside, and has never suggested or requested that events planned in different parts of Florida — from the Stanley Cup finals to President Trump’s rally — should be canceled,” DeSantis’ office said in the statement to the DCNF. “He wants all Floridians to enjoy the holiday weekend and celebrate Independence Day however they choose, while keeping the Surfside...

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Former President Donald Trump will be holding a rally at the Sarasota Fairgrounds on July 3. The event is free, but you must reserve tickets via his website.The rally is co-sponsored by the Republican Party of Florida and Save America. The event will take place at 8 p.m., but doors open at 2 p.m.You must register for tickets via this website. You may only register up to two tickets per mobile number per event. All tickets are subject to first-come, first-served basis. The fairgrounds are located at 3000 Ringling Blvd.State Sen. Joe Gruters, who is also...

Ivanka Trump on Tuesday held a rally in Sarasota, Florida for her father Donald Trump. Ivanka is speaking at Nathan Benderson Park and the line to get into the event was massive.

A Florida man who requested a mail-in ballot for his wife who died in 2018 said he just "wanted to test the system,” according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said the local supervisor of elections contacted them on Sept. 17 about possible voter fraud after they received a request for a mail-in ballot for Ursula Wiggins, who has been dead for two years, and noticed that the signature on the form didn’t match the signature on her prior voter registration records. A search was conducted that showed the woman’s address was the same as her husband’s, Larry Wiggins,...

President Trump will participate in the arrival of the Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi at the White House. (Answers questions about Bannon probe first part of video)

The FBI agent who led the post 9/11 investigation of Saudis who moved out of their Sarasota-area home under suspicious circumstances two weeks before the 2001 al Qaeda attacks urged the FBI to seek information from the CIA about whether they assisted the terrorist hijackers. That’s among the final disclosures the FBI made recently to conclude a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by Florida Bulldog in 2012 seeking records of a bureau investigation that was once so secret its existence was withheld from both Congress and the 9/11 Commission. News that the FBI agent who led the probe...

Sarasota County-operated beaches will be available for limited use or essential activities; walking, running, fishing, and swimming, beginning Monday, April 27 with the following restrictions: No congregating and visitors must practice social distancing. No lounging, coolers or alcohol, umbrellas/towels/chairs, etc. No access to parking lots, concession stands or playground.

Vice President Mike Pence’s office said he did not have contact with a Florida student who was later quarantined for the coronavirus while visiting the student's school, Bloomberg News reported. The vice president on Friday reportedly shook hands with the male student’s classmates at Sarasota Military Academy. The student was later quarantined along with his mother, who came in contact with a patient who tested positive for coronavirus “in her professional role” at Sarasota Doctors Hospital, according to the school’s Facebook post.

[video] Around 12:15pm, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium was responding to an injured turtle & noticed a raccoon stranded on a channel marker! Our Marine Patrol, FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Mote Marine Laboratory & Longboat Key Police Marine Patrol worked together to capture (twice!) and release the furry friend!

SARASOTA, Fla. — The iconic kissing statue, known as the "Unconditional Surrender" statue, in Sarasota was vandalized less than 24 hours after the passing of the World War II veteran who was identified as the "kissing sailor" in the famous photo that inspired the sculpture. The 26-foot tall statue is located on the Sarasota Bayfront near Marina Jack. Sarasota Police Department says at approximately 12:53 a.m. on Tuesday, officers were dispatched to the intersection of North Gulfstream Avenue and Bayfront Drive for a report of an unknown person spray painting the statue. When officers arrived on scene, they found the...

Former FBI Director James Comey said Monday there is "zero chance" Hillary Clinton will be prosecuted for her emails. "There is zero chance, zero chance, on the facts in the Hillary Clinton case, that she would be prosecuted," Comey said during a town hall lecture in Sarasota, Fla. "You are out of your mind if you don't think the FBI wanted to make a case if we could. The facts weren't there. Period. Full stop." [Snip] Comey, who has been on a book tour for his life memoir A Higher Loyalty, during which he has repeatedly condemned Trump, lamented his...

A parent who sent an email critical of the Florida school superintendent who implemented a radical transgender policy that strips away parent rights, found officers from the school district’s brand new police force at his door the next day. This is a fairly shocking level of intimidation, and certainly at least some parents must have got the message: Shut up, sit down and let us handle your children. Or else we may come knocking. We wrote about this radical policy last week, but confess we did not see this tactic coming. The essentials are this: At the recommendation of the...

Bronough Street, we have a problem. That problem for Democrats is that Republicans have figured out early voting. The one “ace up the sleeve” for Democrats in Florida has been offset by an aggressive early voting campaign by Republicans. In fact, 7,152 more Republicans have voted early compared to Democrats. When Democrats make small gains in Broward, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and, yes, Duval Counties, Republicans are making significantly larger early vote gains in Sarasota, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and almost every other Republican-leaning county in the state. Remember when I said at the beginning of the election that the Florida Panhandle was...

A Saudi Arabian accused of associating with several of the September 11 hijackers and who disappeared from his home in the United States a few weeks before the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, is in London working for his country’s state oil company. Abdulaziz al-Hijji and his wife Anoud left three cars at their luxurious home in a gated community in Sarasota, Florida — one of them new — and flew to Saudi Arabia in August 2001. The refrigerator was full of food; furniture and clothing were left behind; and the swimming pool water was still...

The deteriorating state of the American left and the Democratic Party was on vivid display again in a recent, ugly controversy in Florida that Democrats initiated, then tried to shrug off and finally back-tracked on after media coverage exposed it. A Democrat running for local government office posted on Facebook about an issue facing voters in November. Joe Gruters, the chairman of the Republican Party of Sarasota, a state representative and the co-chairman of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Florida, responded to the issue. One of the first responses to his comment was this: “..you never did answer my question...