Capital Report WFSU Public Media

On tonight’s program: A universal school voucher system for Florida is gaining traction among lawmakers. Although some worry it may not do everything for everybody; Florida’s rejection of an advanced placement course in African American studies is bringing threats of a lawsuit; Governor DeSantis is pushing for all of the state’s school board races to become partisan affairs; A noted education reporter shares her insights on what other school matters Florida lawmakers may take on during the upcoming session; And suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren still doesn’t have his job back, even though a federal judge determined Governor DeSantis broke the law by removing Warren from office.

On tonight’s program: A universal school voucher plan for Florida is becoming a flashpoint of controversy; More changes to Florida voting laws may be on the way. That’s something at least one local elections official thinks is not a good idea; We bring you the latest on a local government corruption probe in Bay County; Florida’s governor aims to rein in the practices of pharmacy benefit management companies. Small, independent drug stores are all in favor, saying those companies have just gotten too big and powerful; The needs of women military veterans is finally getting some recognition; And an upcoming event will focus on the genocide now taking place on the other side of the world.

On tonight’s program: The death of an unhoused women in Tallahassee gives a face to the issue of homelessness; Could Governor DeSantis engineer a new direction for New College of Florida?; Florida’s most recent catastrophic storms could mean Hurricane Andrew-style building code changes; Scientists are learning just how interconnected Florida’s oceans of underground fresh water really are; What does it mean to be a real “Floridian?”; And the site of the first school for Black children in Central Florida is vacant today. But there are those who want to see the memory preserved for future generations.

On tonight’s program: Governor Ron DeSantis sets out his priorities during his inaugural speech, much to the delight of his supporters and distress of his opponents; Among the governor’s aims, stripping all traces of so-called “wokeness” from Florida’s institutions of higher education; Newly enacted education policy in Florida is bumping up against at least some of the state’s older education policies; The only non-Republican on the Florida Cabinet, Nikki Fried, considers her next life chapter now that she’s out of office; And a Key West institution, the city’s longest-performing drag queen, is calling it quits.

On tonight’s program: Florida’s economy bounced back during 2022. Then why are so jobs in the state still going unfilled?; On the heels of some new Florida laws regarding what should and shouldn’t be taught in public schools, a growing number of teachers are calling it quits; While Democrats nationwide managed to avoid a bloodbath in this year’s mid-term election, the same did not hold true in Florida; If seems a major factor in Florida’s Democratic election losses was how many African-Americans simply didn’t vote; And where does all the crazy stuff we see on the Internet come from? Sometimes, it comes from US!

On tonight’s program: There’s a spirited – some might even call it knock-down-drag-out – battle over leadership of the Republican Party in Florida. But the common goal of the two combatants is political domination at all levels of government; Florida’s murky policies regarding LGBTQ young people, although not yet in effect, are already having repercussions; We get a really detailed look at what Florida lawmakers did during their lightning-fast special session last week; A noted author interviews dozens of Floridians to produce his chronicle of Cuban migration to the state; And one Florida town has come up with a bright idea when it comes to keeping traffic signals working during power outages.