Partisan school board races
This week’s primary election had school board races across the state.
These races are currently nonpartisan, but that could soon change. In November, Florida voters will be asked whether to change the state’s Constitution to require partisan school board races.
Guests:
- Andrew Atterbury, education reporter for POLITICO's Florida bureau.
- State Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myers.
DNC fact check
The Democrats finished up their national convention this week after four days and nights of speeches. We checked in with our partners at PolitiFact to rate the truthfulness of a few claims by Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Guest:
- Samantha Putterman, Florida government reporter for PolitiFact.
Environmental news
This week, The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced plans to make over wilderness in state parks with golf courses, lodges and pickleball courts. The proposal has drawn swift backlash from conversationalists who say the plans violate state law and threaten Florida’s natural beauty.
The blistering summer heat wave that hammered South Florida last year wiped out the last wild stands of its iconic elkhorn coral in the Lower Keys, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week.
A federal judge has struck down a Trump-era assessment that would have allowed oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to continue without adequately protecting endangered species. That includes the planet’s last remaining rice whales.
A group of scientists and volunteers meet regularly to track Southwest Florida frog numbers. They do so by listening carefully.