Usually, after an election, Tallahassee turns into the sleepy southern town it really is. Political exhaustion prompts lots of people to take a few weeks off. And other than the cardiac arrests caused by the way Florida State University has so far won all its games this season, Florida’s Capital City has recently been a fairly sedate place. But that tranquility was shattered in the early morning hours of November nineteenth and again on November twenty-second. Lynn Hatter reports those two tragedies, which left two people dead and several others hurt, have shaken the city to its very core.
Florida’s Department of Corrections has a long and often troubled history. Persistent problems within the agency have led to a virtual revolving door in the secretary’s office. The most recent resignation came this week and Governor Rick Scott has yet to name a permanent successor. Meanwhile, as Sascha Cordner reports, a growing number of stakeholders, including advocacy groups and state lawmakers, want to see significant changes made starting with the 2015 lawmaking session.
With President Barack Obama’s announcement of an executive order on immigration receding in the rear view mirror, it’s worth asking what his action will mean for the Tallahassee community. As Nick Evans reports the impact could be far broader than one might imagine.
The state’s retailers are expecting a jolly good shopping season. The Florida Retail Federation is predicting a 5-percent sales increase over last year. And Regan McCarthy reports experts say that’s thanks to an extended shopping season and more tourists.
There are just some elements of the year-end holidays that even transcend the word “tradition”. These have become so tightly tied to the season that it’s nearly unimaginable that this time of year could go by without them. Such is the immortal Tchaikovsky ballet, “The Nutcracker Suite”. From member station WQCS in Fort Pierce, Jill Roberts takes a look at this enduring cultural phenomenon.