July Newsletter: 2025 Legislative Check-in

This week, in our August newsletter, we go over a few local headlines, from Orlando's crosswalks to the Everglades detention center. We also talk podcasts, newspapers, and plans for the rest of the year on Wait Five Minutes. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Read more about the Orlando crosswalks here. Read about the Everglades detention center closing here.   All of the music was originally composed.

As the recount began for the Election of 2000, Florida would enter the national headlines. County by county, each vote was checked to confirm the correct totals. There were, however, a multitude of problems, including the infamous hanging chads (or dimpled or punctured chads) and even a South Florida riot. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Examine the troublesome ballot right here!   I do not own the rights to the clips used in this episode. Watch them in full here. CNN Election 2000: Florida Recount BROOKS BROTHERS RIOT Al Gore concedes presidential election of 2000 USA: GEORGE W BUSH ACCEPTANCE SPEECH   Besides the clips above, all the music was originally composed.

On Election Night, 2000, the final call came down to the decision of one state: Florida. What would follow would be the most infamous recount in American history. But to understand what came next, we need to go back to 1876, when Florida famously served as a turning point for yet another major American election. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   I do not own the rights to the clips used in this episode.  "Moonlight" wins Best Picture | 89th Oscars (2017) CNN: Flashback to 2000, U.S. presidential election recount "The Election of 1800" from HAMILTON Al Gore Announces Presidential Run - 1999 | Today in History USA: BUSH JR. PREPARES FOR POSSIBLE PRESIDENTIAL BID   Besides the clips above, all the music was originally composed.

In May of 1966, all three networks were flirting with the Sunshine State. From individual episodes, to shows entirely set in Florida, to a weekly show live from Miami, television had a lot to learn from Florida. This week, we explore how these shows came to our state, and what message they'd send about life in Florida.  Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   I do not own the rights to the clips used in this episode. You can watch the clips used below. Full House - For the Times FH - Jesse at Disney World Bewitched Opening Credits and Theme Song Opening Sequence - I Dream Of Jeannie I Dream Of Jeannie | Settling The Score With A Brute Tony Hits His Head And Forgets Jeannie! Divided He Falls | FULL EPISODE | S2.E33 Jackie Gleason Show Intro The Jackie Gleason Show (Final Sign Off, Feb. 28, 1970)   Besides the clips above, all the music was originally composed.

Scratched into the walls of the coquina structures, the Castillo de San Marcos holds messages from occupants long past. What the words mean, who drew them and why are questions we will never have answers to. Yet the carvings remain. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Read about the 59th Unnamed Cave here! Read the Seminole writing about internment at the Castillo here   All of the music was originally composed.

This week, Jackson Oberlink from Florida For All joins us to discuss this past legislative session, a handful of bills focused on labor in Florida, and the future in Tallahassee as Governor DeSantis nears his final year in office. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Check out more from Florida For All right here!   All of the music was originally composed.

This week is the 150th anniversary of the founding of Orlando, and to celebrate, we're explores the stories of those who have shaped us, from the founding figures, to the community heroes, to the faithful guardians of our Lake Eola swans. Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Read more about Will Wallace Harney here! Read more about Dr. William Monroe Wells here!   All of the music was originally composed. 

In 1879, the town of Orlando was dissolved, four years after it was formed. A year later, the train came to town. In the early years of the City Beautiful, the rich men who made decisions in Central Florida found themselves at odds, even as cities were formed and railroads were built.  Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   Read more about today's story here! Richard Cronin on Orlando being dissolved Longwood Historic Society on the South Florida Railroad   All of the music was originally composed.

This week, Rep. Anna V. Eskamani returns to the show to talk about the legislative session that just ended, the in-fighting within the Republican Party, her hopes for 2026, and her forthcoming campaign for Orlando mayor! See more from Rep. Eskamani right here! Pick up your copy of FLORIDA! right here! Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   I do not own the rights to the clip used in this episode.  Hello This is Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer   All of the music was originally composed.

In the 1950s, a man named Fred Rogers would attend Rollins College here in Orlando. In the years after, he would revolutionize children's television, and become a champion for public media in the United States. Contact your Senators to protect public media. Contact Rick Scott and Ashley Moody. Thank you to Chelsea Rice for her incredible design of our logo! Follow Chelsea on Instagram here!   I do not own the rights to videos used in this episode. They are linked below. Mr. Rogers on how crayons are made AFirst and last Mr. Rogers Neighborhood intro Mister Rogers - Bobby Kennedy Assassination May 1, 1969: Fred Rogers testifies before the Senate Subcommittee on Communications What do you do with the mad that you feel? Mister Rogers sings It's You I Like   Read more about Mister Rogers right here at the Fred Rogers Institute!   Besides the aforementioned videos, all of the music was originally composed.