George Texs blog

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in addition to replacing the greatest quarterback of all time, are tasked with addressing the status of 26 free agents this offseason, including 10 starters. Due to a lack of significant cap space — currently hovering just over $3 million, per Over the Cap — it won’t be easy, if even possible, for the Bucs to bring all 26 players back, or even all of their first-teamers who are set to hit the market. AllBucs is creating profiles for each of Tampa Bay’s imminent free agents for the 2022 offseason. Already touching on two integral pieces of the offense and defense in wide receiver Chris Godwin and cornerback Carlton Davis III next up is an unexpected postseason hero during the Buccaneers’ quest for a Super Bowl in 2020: Running back Leonard Fournette . We’ll discuss the value each player provides the team and try our best to predict whether or not Tampa Bay will prioritize bringing them back. RB Leonard Fournette 2021 sta...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that nearly 16,000 student borrowers would receive millions in loan repayments, after the department found that four private for-profit institutions made misleading claims about their job placement rates. “The Department remains committed to giving borrowers discharges when the evidence shows their college violated the law and standards,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “Students count on their colleges to be truthful. Unfortunately, today’s findings show too many instances in which students were misled into loans at institutions or programs that could not deliver what they’d promised.” Cardona said this was part of the Department of Education’s targeted borrower defense policy, which provides relief to students who are found to have been defrauded. The four institutions include DeVry University, which is based in Illinois, but has 40 locations in 18 states; Westwood College, b...

To keep up with the latest local news subscribe to our TV20 newsletter HERE and receive news straight to your email every morning. GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – Another high rise style apartment complex near the University of Florida could be approved by Gainesville City Commissioners. Commissioners unanimously voted on Thursday to adopt a title reading of an ordinance changing the zoning of part of Old Archer Road from residential multi-family to planned development. The group “EDA” wants to build a 7-story mixed use development on the land. Representatives with EDA say there are eleven abandoned houses on the land that are already set for demolition. Copyright 2022 WCJB. All rights reserved. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. The post Gainesville City Commissioners vote to approve rezoning of Old Archer Road first appeared on Daily Florida Press .

Gainesville Police Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish said the current job field for recruiting and hiring officers is different than he’s ever seen before. Parrish currently has seven openings at the department at a starting pay of $21.22 per hour. Including holiday pay, the salary is $48,091.68. The agency has 102 total officer positions. The police chief said law enforcement has been no different than any other business, where bosses are having to compete with pay and benefits for top talent. “For previous generations, a career would be a career at the Gainesville Police Department,” Parrish said. “A career for a law enforcement officer today is a career in law enforcement. It could be 10 different agencies over that 25 or 30 years. “ Not all applicants are chasing dollar signs, as some agencies have tried to attract officers with covering family medical insurance while offering lower hourly wages, Parrish said. Parrish said he was happ...

dr Larry Robinson For the 2022 Florida Legislative session, Florida A&M University has prioritized securing financial support to cement our gains in student success even in the face of a relentless pandemic. For the third consecutive year, FAMU is the highest-ranked public Historically Black College and University, according to US News & World Report 2022 Best Colleges ranking of Top Public Universities. We rose to 104 among Top Public Universities, up from No. 117 a year ago. As a leader within the State University System in affordability and providing access to first-generation and low-income students, FAMU jumped seven places to be ranked No. 13 on the US News & World Report Social Mobility Index – the truest measure of how a FAMU education transforms the economic trajectory of our students and their families. We continue to be the leading producer of African American graduates in several disciplines at the baccalaureate, professional and graduate l...

Members of the Tallahassee Writers Association lost a bright beacon when Peggy Kassees passed away late Saturday night. She was a long-time member and a past president of TWA. There are many author friends who wanted to contribute to this memorial to her life. My own memory was many years ago when Peggy invited me over for a writing session. After getting all set up with laptop tables and cords, Peggy offered me some eggnog cheesecake she’d made. After that, we had a glass of bourbon and then well… no writing happened. Just a lot of laughter. Book review: ‘From Suffering to Salve’ poems etch a path out of pain and loss | Book Review Concerts: Darryl Tookes aims to amplify important role Tallahassee plays in music history A few years later, Peggy, fellow author Pat Spears, and I went out on my boat and rode up the St. Marks River and out into the bay. Fishing poles were along for the ride, but everyone, especially Peggy was just enjoying the day too muc...

Western leaders are warning that Russia has put in motion its plan to launch a full invasion of Ukraine, while announcing the first set of sanctions on Moscow. President Joe Biden described events now underground in Ukraine as “the beginning of a Russian invasion,” as he unveiled tough new measures to punish Moscow on Tuesday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russia is “bent” on a “full scale invasion” of Ukraine, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said “Putin has built up enough troops along the Ukrainian borders to really be able to fully invade the country.” Here’s what you need to know. What did Russia do? On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Donetsk and Luhansk — two separatist-held pro-Moscow regions of eastern Ukraine — in what the Kremlin called a “peacekeeping” mission. The move came just hours after he signed decrees recognizing the independence of the regions. Multiple US a...

Jade Powers on April 1 will become the newest curator of contemporary art at the Harn Museum Art at the University of Florida. “We are so excited to welcome Powers into the curatorial department and look forward to collaborating with her on acquisitions of global contemporary art as well as fostering her creative ideas in developing new exhibitions at the Harn,” said Dulce Román, the museum’s chief curator and curator of modern art via email. Powers will lead the development and interpretation of the Harn’s contemporary collection, located in the 6,500-square-foot gallery within the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion and adjacent Bob and Nancy Magoon Garden on the UF campus. The contemporary collection includes more than 2,000 objects of international art from major contemporary art movements by established and emerging artists from around the world. Powers was the unanimous choice of the hiring committee, which included several members of the Harn staff as well as facul...

Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Sue Dick on Wednesday asked for a show of hands for anyone who’d received an Amazon package to their home or business in the last week. Hundreds of hands rose during the Chamber’s Annual Breakfast Meeting. It was a fitting introduction for keynote speaker Sam Blatt, Amazon’s economic development policy manager — the man charged with ensuring Tallahassee’s new fulfillment center under construction is moving forward. His remarks offered a glimpse behind Amazon’s suite of services: logistics, creative content, retail and technology. Since 2010, Amazon has hired more than 59,000 employees in Florida. Tallahassee will add another 1,000 jobs once complete. Amazon operates 13 fulfillment centers statewide; Tallahassee’s facility will be the 14th. Backstory: For nearly 30 minutes, Blatt offered a glimpse behind the world’s largest e-commerce business now in Tallahassee’s backyard ...

(The Center Square)—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling on Floridians to financially help their neighbors – mostly senior citizens – impacted by two tornadoes last month. While the states and counties are working to help them, DeSantis said the federal government is not. He is asking residents capable of making a tax deductible donation to FloridaDisaster.org/Assistance . On Jan. 16, tornadoes touched down in Placida, in Charlotte County, and in Iona, in Lee County. A total of 158 homes were either totally destroyed or sustained major damage. The majority of residents impacted were seniors; 84% dependent on Social Security income to live, according to an assessment by the state. DeSantis issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency for both counties and requested a major disaster declaration from the Biden administration. Florida offered aid through its Individual Assistance program and requested assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. One ...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, a Democrat, and Warren Davidson of Ohio, a Republican, are leading a broad, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers urging the president to not send U.S. troops into Ukraine, or declare war, before receiving authorization from Congress. President Joe Biden has not dispatched troops to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and has said he does not intend to do so, but on Tuesday announced sanctions on Russia, as well as on its oligarchs. Biden also said he would move U.S. forces and equipment already in Europe to the three Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In a Tuesday letter to Biden, the House members cited Article I in the Constitution that gives Congress the power to finance and declare war, along with Article II that names the president as commander-in-chief. They noted that “the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was passed into law after multiple presidential administrations failed to receive congressional approval for...

When Greg and Sugar Bull were ready to start a family, health challenges necessitated that they work with a gestational surrogate. The woman who carried and gave birth to their twins lived two states away. The pregnancy went well until the surrogate experienced high blood pressure and other symptoms of preeclampsia, which could have harmed her and the babies. Doctors ordered an emergency delivery at 34 weeks’ gestation. Both infants had to spend more than a week in the neonatal intensive care unit. It was April 2020, early in the pandemic. Unable to take a plane, the Bulls drove from their home in Huntington Beach, California, to the hospital in Provo, Utah. They had to quarantine in Utah before they could see the children in the hospital. A couple of weeks later, after the babies could eat and breathe on their own, the Bulls took them home to California. Then the bills came. The Patients: Scarlett and Redford Bull, newborn twins covered by a Cigna policy sponsore...

A judge has set an October trial date for a Miami-Dade mother accused of drowning her autistic son in a canal in 2020. Patricia Ripley, 47, faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the May 2020 killing of 9-year-old son Alejandro, who had autism and was non-verbal. Prosecutors have already announced that they’ll be seeking the death penalty against Ripley. Her attorney had previously said Ripley would plead not guilty. Miami-Dade Corrections Patricia Ripley At a brief hearing Wednesday, the judge in the case set an Oct. 24 trial date start, after Ripley’s attorney and a prosecutor said they hadn’t come to an agreement on a plea deal in the case. Police said Ripley had taken her son to a lake behind a housing complex near 103rd Avenue and Kendall Drive and attempted to leave him in the water to drown. Police said video footage confirmed that Ripley pushed her son into the water and left him there by himself. At ...

Dive into now while there is still water. The Suwannee River Water Management District recently issued a press release with the headline, “Dive in to Preserve Our Springs, Improve Water Quality.” Explaining more, it goes on to say that the district has a campaign that “brings educational resources” to residents and is “an initiative to preserve and protect those unique resources and empower the community to take ownership and pride in being stewards of the region’s natural resources.” After describing the beauty and attractions of the springs, the release mentions that they are threatened by “decreasing spring flows and excessive nutrients.” Well, we wonder why. What is causing decreased spring flows, and why are there excessive nutrients? We enthusiastically support the district’s campaign and its goals to protect springs. However, if it wants to educate, it should reveal that the springs and rivers in North Florida under its jurisdiction are dying and...

Police are investigating an early morning wrong-way crash in northwest Miami-Dade that killed one man and sent another man to an area hospital. Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue arrived at the scene on Okeechobee Road just south of Krome Avenue before 2 am Monday. According to investigators, a red Chevrolet SUV was traveling south in the northbound lanes when it struck a maroon Dodge sedan. The man driving the sedan died at the scene while the man who was driving the SUV was taken to Kendall Regional Hospital. Officials have not released the identities of either man. Investigators did not release any details, including if speed or alcohol played a role. The post Driver Killed in Wrong-Way Crash in NW Miami-Dade – NBC 6 South Florida first appeared on Daily Florida Press .

A bill that would give voters in November the option to redraw how Alachua county commissioners are elected passed a final legislative committee in Tallahassee on Monday. House Bill 1493 was approved by the State Affairs Committee — the final committee stop — after legislators heard from Alachua County officials and residents who had traveled to Tallahassee to oppose it. The next stop is the full house. Both Clemons and the bill’s detractors, which include the Alachua County legislative delegation, say they believe it is inevitable that the bill will now pass. The move follows efforts by some in rural western Alachua County, supported by Clemons, to break off and form a separate Springs County — a movement that has fizzled. While much of Alachua County, especially Gainesville, tends to vote Democratic, Republicans dominate the west, and some feel their votes are diluted in at-large voting. Historically, however, thre Alachua County Commission — while not elected in pa...