COUNTY 

WTXL 

UPDATED: Leon County Commissioners discuss possible marijuana ordinance  

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — UPDATE: 9:30 p.m. Leon County Commissioners ultimately voted to accept the report on alternatives to incarceration for the possession of small amounts of marijuana and take no further action. While a motion was made to direct staff to draft a proposed ordinance providing law enforcement the discretion to issue a civil penalty for the possession of small amounts of marijuana, the idea did not have enough support to advance. 

 

WJHG 

Bay County Commissioners hope to get $11.3 million from Treasury Dept. 

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Keeping our bays pristine is a priority for local leaders. “We think we can leave the Bay in a good shape for our children when they get older and they get ready to use it,” Bay County Commissioner Tommy Hamm said. 

 

Sun Sentinel  

Florida county courts new ally in beach erosion battle: The White House 

TAMPA — Cookie Kennedy was out for a walk with a friend one day this winter when she felt a familiar dread creep up on her. As the pair strolled the north shore of Indian Rocks Beach, the small Pinellas County city where Kennedy is mayor, they were forced to weave their way through a thickening crowd of beachgoers. The land where they stood had shrunk. 

 

Florida Today 

Brevard County continues push to move legal notices onto county website  

Legal advertisements notifying Brevard County residents about upcoming meetings, zoning changes and other actions taken by the government could move online and out of print as soon as this week after a vote by the Brevard County Commission Tuesday. Earlier this month, the Commission made clear its legislative intent to move forward with the plan, citing a cost savings of managing its own website for notices over paying FLORIDA TODAY to print them. After Tuesday’s public hearing on the matter, commissioners voted unanimously in favor of putting legal notices online. 

 

LEGISLATION 

Islander News 

Proposed bill will place 8-year term limits on county commissioners and school board members  

After the full House of Representatives approved reducing school board term limits from 12 years to eight last week, a Senate committee is pursuing a similar bill: adding both school board members and county commissioners to those limits. 

 

Florida Politics 

Communications tax cut sails through first Senate stop  

The bill would save Floridians an estimated $168.75M. A Senate panel swiftly passed legislation that would cut taxes on Florida cell phone, cable and satellite plans. 

 

Florida Politics  

Fight against opioid epidemic continues as naloxone access bill clears first committee  

A bill that would establish a framework to guide Florida’s fight in the ongoing opioid epidemic and expand access to opioid antagonists used to save lives in the event of an overdose has cleared its first committee.