First Read for Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022

Good morning. It's Tick Tock Day, dedicated to finishing your 2022 to-do list. Add this item: Buy a new Florida-themed 2023 calendar. 

FIRST UP

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday tapped two doctors to sit on the state’s Board of Medicine, which was in the news last month for banning treatments such as puberty-blocking medications, hormone therapy and surgery to transgender people younger than 18. Both appointees specialize in pediatric medicine.  

Dr. Gregory Coffman is a pediatrician at Orlando Health Physician Associates, according to a press release from the Governor’s Office. “With over 28 years of experience, he currently serves as co-vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics for the Orlando Health Physician Association.” He’s also an Air Force veteran who received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida and his M.D. from Emory University. 

Dr. Matthew Benson is a pediatric endocrinologist for Nemours Children’s Health, the press release said. Endocrinologists treat patients who have problems with hormones. “He is a current member of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research as well as the Pediatric Endocrine Society,” the release added, receiving his undergraduate degree from Pensacola Christian College and his M.D. from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 

Coffman and Benson must be confirmed by the Florida Senate, in which Republicans now hold a more than two-thirds supermajority. 

– Jim Rosica 

FROM CITY & STATE 

* We took a look through our growing archive and pulled out our 10 most read stories of 2022. Some may surprise you. 

* From abortion to Big Tech to guns, Florida heads into 2023 with courts weighing high-profile legal fights.

THIS MONTH’S MAGAZINE

The Florida Women Power 100

* Who are the most influential women in Florida politics and government? City & State Florida's Women Power 100 identifies the most important government officials, high-powered lobbyists, leaders of the worlds of business, nonprofits, strategic messaging and social justice in the arena of Sunshine State politics and policy.

 ▶ Read This Month's Issue

NEW THIS MORNING

* The culture war over drag queen shows descended on an Orlando venue after the state warned the venue it could face punishment if it were to allow children into the performances, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

* Two years ago as Miami Shores mayor, Crystal Wagar led the charge in hiring The Southern Group to lobby on the village’s behalf. Now a council member, Wagar recently landed a gig with the same firm, which is against state law, Florida Bulldog reports.

* Southwest Airlines’ operational meltdown again filled South Florida’s major airports with frustrated passengers as the beleaguered carrier resumed the cancellation of a majority of its flights, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. 

* The final report from the House Jan. 6 committee released last week showed extremist groups from Florida formed an alliance and traveled to Washington, D.C. to attack the U.S. Capitol, the Florida Phoenix reports.

* Tampa Bay Times journalists unveiled their list for the top 10 Florida news stories of the year, the newspaper reports.

More news below …

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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* An entity linked to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has paid $23.75 million for a penthouse in Palm Beach, setting a new record for the sale price of a condominium in that city, the Palm Beach Daily News reports.

* The Orlando Sentinel interviewed a former member of one of the white supremacist hate groups that organized the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017 about the danger and difficulty she faced in escaping the group, the newspaper reports.

* The long road to a new map of Jacksonville City Council districts could go right up to the brink of candidate qualifying as the city urges a federal appeals court to put in place boundaries that the council recently approved, the Florida Times-Union reports.

* The U.S. Border Patrol said law-enforcement officers detained 24 Haitian migrants in Palm Beach Shores after a boat involved in a smuggling operation arrived on shore, the Palm Beach Post reports.

* Even before its Boca Raton and Aventura stations opened, Brightline's ticket revenue more than doubled last year, with an increase by 280%, the South Florida Business Journal reports.

* Vehicle strikes were again the top killer of the endangered Florida panther in 2022, accounting for 25 of the 27 recorded deaths, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. 

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DESANTIS WATCH 

The governor had a call with Chief of Staff James Uthmeier, and meetings with Deputy Chief of Staff Alex Kelly, Policy & Budget Director Chris Spencer and Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Strickland, according to his official schedule for Wednesday. 

2024 ROUNDUP

* Jan. 6 committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson said in transcripts that then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows regularly burned documents during the transition period before Biden’s presidency, CNN reports.

* Trump paying very little taxes over the last several years is the fault of Congress, as the former president benefited from every tax loophole that lawmakers have made available to real-estate businesses, the Wall Street Journal’s Jay Starkman writes. 

* As a letter from some F.B.I agents allege bias against conservative agents, Trump’s supporters have stepped up their criticisms of the agency as it has assumed the lead in an array of investigations of the ex-president, the New York Times reports.

* Trump’s foes are right to fear a repeat of 2016 because there are so many ways the primary could turn out badly for them, the Washington Post’s David Byler writes.

ANALYSIS & OPINION 

* In the many and varied ways the taxpayers of Miami-Dade County have been betrayed by their leaders over the years, one stands out: the failure to build the North Corridor extension of Metrorail, promised for 40 years, the Miami Herald editorial board writes.

* Of the pressing items on returning Disney CEO Bob Iger’s “to-do” list, perhaps nothing is more critical than correcting his one big failure, naming Bob Chapek as his successor, Russ Bredholt writes in the Orlando Sentinel. 

* Andrew Gillum’s and Pam Bondi’s embarrassing behavior should put them on the naughty list this year, making clear voters never should have elected them in the first place, the Orlando Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell writes. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: To Charlie Dudley, managing partner of Floridian Partners … to Pinellas County Commissioner and former state Rep. Chris Latvala … to former Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera … to Andrew Skerritt, assistant director of media relations at Florida A&M University. 

ON THE MOVE: Alan Keesee departs as CEO of HCA Florida Capital Hospital to become CEO of HCA Florida Ocala Hospital, which includes responsibility for the HCA Florida West Marion Hospital campus. 

Jaylene Kennedy announced that she started a new position as a legislative correspondent for U.S. Rep.-elect Cory Mills, R-Fla. 

Michelle Marchante moves from the breaking news beat to become the new health reporter at the Miami Herald. 

Rick Oppenheim announced the sale of RB Oppenheim Associates (RBOA) – Tallahassee’s oldest continuously operating public relations firm – to Michael Winn, who has served as its executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the past 12 years. Winn will assume Oppenheim’s role as president and CEO. Oppenheim, who turns 71 in January, founded the firm in 1985, he said in a press release. 

Kortney Wesley, formerly the district director for U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla., is taking a new position as director of government affairs for Duval County Public Schools. 

IN MEMORIAM: Jim York – who was a Florida Department of Law Enforcement commissioner, Orlando’s police chief, a deputy attorney general and an administrative law judge – died Tuesday, according to Legacy.com. He was 83. 

Have a birthday, career change, birth, death or life event to announce? Email us: editor@cityandstatefl.com. 

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YOUR MESSAGE HERE: City & State First Read is the must-read morning roundup of Florida politics and government. Reaching thousands of subscribers each morning, it's the most effective and targeted digital ad venue to get your message in front of city and state elected officials, agency and industry leaders, and the staff, advocates, media and operatives who drive the issues of the day – all by 7 a.m. each weekday. For advertising information, please email: advertising@cityandstatefl.com

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KICKER

“Drag is fun and freeing and frankly this is nothing more than using queer culture as a stepping stone to (political power).”

– Kaity Danehy, co-founder of Women’s Voices of SW Florida, via the Orlando Sentinel, after the state warned an Orlando venue that it could face punishment if it were to allow children into a drag show.