Leon County Indivisible
Activism for Busy People
Consumer sentiment in Florida declined for the third consecutive month in September, falling 1.5 points to 78.7 from a revised figure of 80.2 in August. Similarly, national sentiment declined 3.1 points. While the steepest drop was in Floridians’ willingness to purchase big-ticket items, long-term expectations for the U.S. economy also fell, reaching their lowest level in 18 months.
The legislation, to which Fort Myers Republican Sen. Jonathan Martin is filing an upper-chamber companion, would ban the posting and distribution of campaign signs and literature at colleges and universities.
It would also prohibit on-campus campaigning for or with specific candidates, activities that imply a school’s endorsement of a candidate, collecting campaign contributions and voter registration events involving candidates or political parties.
Candidate-focused forums or events would only be permissible if all qualified candidates were invited to participate in them. However, they may still be individually invited to speak in their personal capacities, without discussing campaigns or political issues.
Student newspapers would still be able to publish partisan editorials and endorsements, but they’d have to carry disclaimers stating that the opinions are solely those of the author.
The measure would also bar faculty and staff from using their school emails, offices or working hours for political advocacy.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut has taken a lead role in forcefully sounding the alarm about Donald Trump. He’s urged Democrats to use their power creatively to constrain Trump’s abuses. But in recent days, Trump’s consolidation of authoritarian power has expanded. And we’re in the middle of a government shutdown fight in which Democrats are drawing a hard line, but not for an end to Trump’s lawbreaking. Trump has responded by escalating the lawless threats toward blue America. In an interview with us, Murphy offers a lengthy indictment of all of Trump’s lawlessness, corruption, malevolence, and authoritarianism. It adds up to a bracing, extraordinary takedown: Murphy says we’re dangerously close to losing democracy, explains why other Democrats aren’t acting as alarmed, and outlines what can still be done to stave off Trump’s dictatorial designs before it’s too late
ditor’s Note: This is excerpted from a much longer story from the excellent investigative reporters are ProPublica. The big take-away from this long read is that you may not believe in climate change but your insurers do. Florida has done everything it can to squash any mention of climate change and to blame rising property insurance costs on a lack of tort reform. However, as the article points out, Florida did tort reform and the situation has gotten no better. Florida may be uninsurable at some point in the not-to-distant future. Many of us have our life savings invested in a home here. There is a gubernatorial race underway and one of the essential questions for our next governor is “Do you believe in climate change?” The issues surrounding home insurance are going to go from bad to worse unless our leadership acknowledges the truth that the insurance companies already understand. Climate change is here and it is real.
Editor’s Note: There is a lot of speculation regarding this meeting. No one really knows because there is no agenda. Will there be mass firings? Announcement of new wars in Afghanistan, Venezuela, or Greenland (OF ALL PLACES!)? A turning of the military inward against the American people? Everyone is just guessing until the meeting takes place – and given the gag order that has been placed on the meeting, we may still be guessing afterwards . The guy who accidently shares Signal chats about bombing runs with journalists is now letting terrorists know exactly where and when all of our military leadership will be gathered. Seems……unwise.
For months, the complaints have rolled in from parts of the country hit by natural disasters: The Federal Emergency Management Agency was moving far too slowly in sending aid to communities ravaged by floods and hurricanes, including in central Texas and North Carolina. Many officials were blaming Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, whose agency oversees FEMA.
But records obtained by ProPublica show how one locality found a way to get FEMA aid more quickly: It asked one of Noem’s political donors for help.
Electricity bills are climbing nationwide, rising faster than inflation in many places. The explosive growth of AI and the massive data centers behind it are driving demand and straining the grid. To explain how this hits consumers, and what can be done, Geoff Bennett spoke with Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School.
In September 2025, Casey DeSantis spoke at the University of South Florida’s cancer symposium in Tampa, before an audience of physicians, researchers, and state officials. She highlighted the state’s billion-dollar commitment to oncology and emphasized prevention through diet and lifestyle. Then, drawing on both office and survivorship, she pointed to ivermectin — an antiparasitic drug the FDA has warned against for COVID-19 and which no regulator has approved for cancer treatment — as a generic the state “should look at” for possible repurposing.
There’s been a troubling rise in rhetoric that questions the very need for programs like affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Politicians and online voices dismiss them as unnecessary or even harmful, as though America has already overcome centuries of systemic inequality. But these initiatives were never about handing out ‘unearned’ rewards. They were born to counteract deliberate exclusion—to address centuries of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and institutional barriers that shut entire groups out from opportunities.
Florida’s top health official is going beyond his push to end vaccine requirements in schools and workplaces.
In a recent podcast interview, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said he wants mRNA COVID-19 vaccines “not to be available to anyone.” He clarified that Floridians would still have access to other vaccines, but singled out mRNA shots as unsafe in his view.
Public health experts, including doctors at the University of South Florida, said mRNA vaccines have been proven safe and effective. They credit them with saving lives and preventing severe illness.
“The benefits far outweigh the risks for the COVID vaccines,” said Dr. Michael Teng with USF Health. “We know pretty clearly they’ve saved lives, especially for more vulnerable populations.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi could face a professional reckoning in her home state after a newly filed Florida Bar ethics complaint accuses her of weaponizing the Justice Department (DOJ) for political retribution.
The complaint, first flagged by the Miami Herald, says Bondi violated professional rules of conduct, politicizing her office and undermining judicial independence.
It comes from some 70 law professionals, including former Florida Supreme Court Justices Barbara Pariente, James Perry and Peggy Quince
Editor’s Note: Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly is proposing that ALL homeowner’s insurance be moved into a state catastrophic fund, saying that the fund would “remove[s] natural disaster perils from the private market would dramatically reduce property and car insurance rates, restoring affordability and price stability for millions of Floridians. ” Florida continues to top the top 10 most expensive states for homeowner’s insurance.