Takeaways from Tallahassee — All pets go to heaven

Florida politics, campus milestones, community traditions and October sports converge. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

From: Extensive Media Enterprises Come on up — crawl, slither, or even hop — for a moment the whole family will cherish. Even the family pet. Today, Secretary of State Cord Byrd is inviting the whole Tallahassee community to bring their animal friends to Mission San Luis, the beautifully reconstructed 17th-century Spanish and Apalachee living history museum managed by the Florida Department of State, for the 22nd annual Blessing of Animals. All pets on leashes or in carriers are welcome from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and admission is free. "The Department is pleased to host this pet-friendly event each Fall on the grounds of Mission San Luis. Held in a reconstructed 17th-century Spanish church, this event is a long-running Tallahassee tradition that honors the site's unique story and its place in Florida history,” said Byrd. The blessing of the animals occurs near the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order and the patron saint of animals, who believed that all animals should be treated with dignity and respect. After all, they are God’s creatures too, and in the creation story, they were created on days five and six. You’ve probably seen him in a book or at a museum, as St. Francis is one of the most venerated figures in Christianity. In art, he is often shown with animals, wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist. The rope’s three knots symbolize poverty, chastity, and obedience. St. Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228, so yeah, he’s been around for a minute. Blessing of Animals, 2025. Image via Florida Department of State. Families who make their way down to Mission San Luis today will have their pets blessed by local clergy members in a reconstructed 17th-century church built on the very site where the original church stood more than 300 years ago. Participants will receive certificates and online photos of the blessing and their pets as a memento. If they walk around the property, they will find themed photo stations for more opportunities to take special photos with their pets. Animal organizations will also be on site, sharing information on the important work they do to support animals in Tallahassee and the surrounding communities and accepting donations of pet food and supplies for animal shelters. It’s not just blessings and holy water: The event will be fun for the kiddos, featuring pet-themed crafts and, of course, the staple living-history interpreters stationed around the Mission to answer questions about the area's history. And if you get a little peckish during all the animal fun, food vendors E's Weenies and The Copper Drip will have food and drinks available for guests to purchase. The event is being put on by Friends of Florida History, Inc., the Mission's citizen support organization, and by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts. All guests are asked to use the entrance at 2021 Mission Road as construction is occurring at the site. For more questions or information, visit MissionSanLuis.org or call (850) 245-6406 — and prepare to be bow wow WOWed. ___ Coming up, the usual assortment of news, intel, and observations from the week that was in Florida's capital city by Peter Schorsch, Drew Wilson, Drew Dixon, Liam Fineout and the staff of Florida Politics. But first, the "Takeaway 5" — the Top 5 stories from the week that was:   Take 5   War on terror? — The Florida Cabinet has approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa as terror groups under a new state law. More than 90 federally designated foreign terrorist organizations will also be on that state list, including the Sinaloa, Noreste, and Golfo cartels, Tren de Aragua and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The designations carry the full force of state law 30 days after publication, though at least one legal controversy remains: CAIR is already challenging the designation in court, alleging violations of the First and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution. HB 1471 created the authority for a formal designation process through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which recommended the designations ahead of the Cabinet’s meeting Tuesday. Overstep — U.S. District Judge David Leibowitz threw out a charge against Chelsea Michelle Ann Cox, a Florida resident accused of voting despite lacking U.S. citizenship. In a 31-page opinion, Leibowitz concluded that a federal prohibition on non-citizens voting couldn’t support Cox’s prosecution because the U.S. Constitution generally leaves voter eligibility to the states. Prosecutors accused Cox of knowingly voting in Broward County on Oct. 29, 2020. They filed a misdemeanor charge against her five years later. Cox is Jamaican, according to Reuters, and allegedly overstayed a tourist visa, using a fraudulent U.S. Virgin Islands birth certificate to obtain identification and register to vote. The case hinged on a 1996 federal law that generally bars noncitizens from voting in elections involving federal offices. Billions, with an S — Gov. DeSantis visited Miami for an event highlighting a new Florida campus for Carnegie Mellon University, one of the nation’s pre-eminent research institutions. Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin has donated $2 billion to jump-start the satellite campus in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. Griffin is donating another $1 billion to bolster the school’s operations in Pittsburgh, where the computer-science arm will be renamed the Kenneth C. Griffin School of Computer Science. The Miami facility will focus on subjects ranging from biological discovery to national security, along with what a press release calls “energy and climate resilience,” and “advanced manufacturing and industrial transformation.” Higher caps … — U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds pledges to review Florida’s sovereign immunity caps if elected Governor in November, potentially revising a threshold last set in 2010. In cases of government negligence, limits currently restrict what local governments can be forced to pay out. Those figures are $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. Even reviewing the issue represents a meaningful break with DeSantis. Earlier this year, DeSantis vetoed a measure (HB 145) sponsored by a key Donalds ally, Rep. Fiona McFarland of Sarasota, which would have increased the caps to $350,000 per person and $500,000 per incident. Those numbers were lowered in bicameral negotiations to pass the bill, but they weren’t enough for DeSantis. He argued at the time that the current system “disincentivizes frivolous lawsuits.” Or lower ones? — Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly says if he’s elected, he’s going to ensure that insurance companies can’t move profits out of Florida while imposing higher rates on policyholders. The money is significant, according to Jolly’s campaign and reporting. Between 2017 and 2019, property insurance companies booked $1.3 billion in affiliate net income, while claiming $432 million in losses in the Florida market. Jolly says he’d be willing to cap transfers to related companies at 20%, mirroring legislation championed by Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith that stalled in the Legislature, even as a companion bill requiring proof every three years that affiliate fees were “fair and reasonable” passed the House.   Add to your lane   On Tuesday, DeSantis made his way down to Orlando to highlight the more than $20 billion in investments to revitalize Florida’s Turnpike, which has expanded capacity along the entire 320-mile mainline from South Florida through Central Florida to I-75 in Wildwood. DeSantis also announced about $8.5 million for new food concepts, amenities, and customer services at Turnpike service plazas across the state, plus nearly $54 million to expand and improve truck parking across the system. “As Florida has grown, we have made major investments in our transportation infrastructure to reduce congestion and improve our roadways,” DeSantis said. “We’ve made significant investments in expanding lane capacity to relieve congestion all along the Turnpike. Today, I announced an additional investment to improve 19 restaurants and retail locations across six Turnpike service plazas. We will keep working to ensure that our roadways are safer, more convenient, and better-maintained than ever before.” Funds are flowing to one of Florida's top thoroughfares. FDOT’s transformational plan includes widening the entire 320-mile Turnpike Mainline from South Florida to I-75 in Wildwood. Every section of the Mainline across the state will be expanded to six or more lanes. Once it’s complete, the improvements will add more than 965 lane miles of capacity to help reduce congestion. On paper, that gives families and drivers less time in traffic on the way to Disney World. “Transportation plays a direct role in the quality of life of Floridians, connecting people to jobs, opportunities, and the communities they call home. The Turnpike System is a vital part of this, which is why we’ve made significant investments to continue expanding the Mainline,” said FDOT Secretary Jared W. Perdue. Ongoing Turnpike Mainline improvements also include the widening from State Road (S.R.) 50 in Clermont to Hancock Road in Minneola, completed in June 2026, and the widening from the Dolphin Expressway (S.R. 836) to N.W. 106th Street in Miami-Dade County, completed in February 2024. The next section from N.W. 106th Street to I-75 recently opened to traffic.   Double whammy   Gov. DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier have announced the arrests of 20 people for election fraud. Uthmeier said the busts resulted from investigations by the Office of Election Crimes and Security and the Election Integrity Unit. Most of the arrests involved foreign nationals, but about one-fifth of them were felons who were stripped of their voting rights upon conviction of crimes. Uthmeier said a dozen of the suspects have already been arrested. Officials are rounding up the remaining suspects. “If you’re going to cheat, we’re going to get you,” Uthmeier said, noting that most lied on registration forms and then voted. Both are felonies. “I view these elections crimes among the most dangerous in our country,” Uthmeier said. “It challenges our American sovereignty.” The AG and Governor rounded up a score of suspected illegal voters. DeSantis used the news conference at Palm Beach State College to promote election reforms in Florida since the 2000 debacle. That’s when the entire Presidential Election came down to several hundred votes in Palm Beach County after audits and recounts found multiple problems with ballots and vote counting. “Florida has done more than any other state in the country to ensure the integrity of elections; it’s not even close,” DeSantis said. “We’ve come a long way in Florida … and I know in 2000 nobody would have predicted that.” DeSantis said the Office of Election Crimes and Security was a key development in the evolution of election integrity when it was established in 2022. More than 100 voter fraud prosecutions have occurred since that office was founded. DeSantis acknowledged that some people are skeptical about the breadth of voter fraud in Florida. But he insisted it’s a serious issue. “I know there are other states in the country that allow violations of the law,” DeSantis said. “We believe this matters.”   Wheels on the bus   Attorney General Uthmeier has opened an investigation into the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA). Uthmeier's prosecutors issued a subpoena to interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson for records related to tuition reimbursements and internal management communications, according to a Florida Times-Union report. The probe comes after JTA laid off 194 employees to address a $39 million budget shortfall. Ferguson has told the JTA Board of Directors that Uthmeier's Office of Statewide Prosecution is seeking documents spanning Oct. 1, 2023, through Oct. 21, 2025, with additional requests extending into 2026, the Times-Union reported. Investigators are also examining JTA's relationship with a development firm that does business with the agency, including connections between outgoing CEO Nat Ford, his spouse and the firm. Jacksonville City Council Member Rory Diamond raised concerns about the probe on social media Tuesday. James Uthmeier is on the case. "Now JTA (is) hit with criminal subpoenas," Diamond wrote on Facebook. "The taxpayers, riders, and the decent people fired by JTA last week deserve answers and accountability. We've got to do better than this." JTA told Florida Politics the agency is responding appropriately to the probe. "The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has received a subpoena from the State Attorney General’s Office and is prepared to fully cooperate. The JTA remains committed to transparency and accountability and will provide information as requested throughout this process," a JTA spokesperson said. The subpoena adds to a turbulent stretch for JTA. Beyond the September layoffs, the agency is pausing its Skyway elevated people mover Nov. 2, and its autonomous NAVI vehicle service Dec. 31. JTA is also restructuring bus routes citywide, including changes to the First Coast Flyer rapid transit system, with some routes shifting from 30-minute to hourly frequencies.   Made lands   TO SEE MORE TAKAWAYS FROM TALLAHASSEE CLICK HERE