Latest news with #KatePayne
Winnipeg Free Press
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
The Miccosukee Tribe of Florida wants to join a federal lawsuit against ‘Alligator Alcatraz'
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is seeking to join a federal lawsuit aimed at halting the construction of a new immigration detention facility in the Everglades, which tribal members consider their sacred ancestral homelands. Miccosukee leaders had already condemned the facility. But the filing Monday of a motion to intervene in the case initially brought by environmental groups signals a new level of opposition by the tribe, which is also a major political donor in the state. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration rapidly built the facility, which state officials have dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz,' on an isolated, county-owned airstrip inside the Big Cypress National Preserve, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of downtown Miami. The Miccosukee have lived on and cared for the lands of Big Cypress 'since time immemorial,' the filing reads, noting that the tribe played an integral role in pushing for the creation of the national preserve, the country's first. 'The area now known as the Preserve is a core piece of the Tribe's homeland. Today, all of the Tribe's active ceremonial sites and a significant majority of the Tribe's traditional villages (sometimes known as 'clan camps') are within the Preserve,' the filing reads. The lawsuit originally filed by the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity seeks to halt the project until it undergoes a stringent environmental review as required by federal and state law. There is also supposed to be a chance for public comment, the plaintiffs argue. As of Tuesday afternoon, the judge in the case was yet to act on the groups' requests for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida condo owners will get financial relief under a new law
Florida condominium residents grappling with the steep cost of building improvements will get some financial relief under a new bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday. The new measure gives condo homeowner associations more flexibility in how to build up their reserve funds and eases some requirements for safety assessments. Approval came the day before the fourth anniversary of the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South, which killed 98 people in Surfside in 2021. The new law goes into effect July 1 and is aimed at reforming a condo safety law passed in 2022 in the wake of that disaster. Speaking at Monday's bill signing in Clearwater, Republican state Sen. Ed Hooper said the 2022 law was meant to ensure there was never another collapse like Surfside. In retrospect, he said some of the requirements enacted were probably an overreaction, which lawmakers are now hoping to correct. 'Now it's time to make the change,' Hooper said. 'Elderly people are losing their condos because they could not afford to make the increase in their monthly HOA fees. That's just wrong.' Condo owners in Florida faced rising costs under the 2022 law, which requires condo associations to have sufficient reserves to cover major repairs. In the aftermath of the Surfside disaster, some residents were caught off guard by hefty fees levied to cover years of deferred maintenance expenses required to bring their buildings into compliance with the 2022 legislation. The mounting costs to cover renovations and build up reserve funds have strained residents in the condo haven of South Florida, especially retirees and those living on fixed incomes. Condo owners along the state's southwest coast have taken the extra hit of last year's back-to-back hurricanes, which clobbered waterfront communities in the Tampa Bay area and forced additional renovations and repairs. 'It's a full-time job for me keeping track of this,' condo owner Earle Cooper said of the repairs to his building in Belleair. 'Hurricanes just multiply the problems.' The new measure allows certain condo associations to fund their reserves through a loan or line of credit. It also gives residents greater flexibility to pause payments into their reserve funds while they prioritize needed repairs and extends the deadline for associations to complete structural integrity studies. Some smaller buildings will be exempt from having to do those analyses. 'I think that this will provide relief,' DeSantis said. 'But to the extent that there needs to be some cleanup next year when the legislature reconvenes, we got to be willing to do that.' ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Kate Payne, The Associated Press
18-06-2025
- Business
Florida officials let public universities free up millions to pay student-athletes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes under an emergency rule approved by a state board Wednesday ahead of a landmark legal settlement allowing schools to pay their players through licensing deals. The sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, going into effect July 1, allows schools to directly pay their pay their players for the use of their name, image and likeness. It's upending the way college sports have been run for more than a century and has sent universities across the country scrambling for new revenue streams in the hopes of gaining an edge — or at least keeping pace — in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive field of college athletics. Public universities in Florida, which is home to some of the country's most high-profile college sports teams, will now be able to dip into the funding reserves of campus auxiliary programs like bookstores, food service, student housing and parking in order to cut checks to student-athletes. Under the policy approved Wednesday, the funds can be issued as a transfer or a loan. 'Athletic departments are already currently recruiting student-athletes for fall 2025, and they need clarity on the available funding to retain and recruit the best talent for their rosters,' said Alan Levine, vice chair of the board of governors, which oversees Florida's state universities. 'If the universities cannot react to the settlement immediately, there will be irreparable harm to the athletic programs and to the financial welfare of our institutions." Florida's emergency rule goes into effect immediately and will last 90 days, at which point the board of governors can reassess the issue. Other schools are also taking actions because of deficits in their athletic departments. Last week, University of Kentucky trustees approved a $31 million operating loan for the athletics department as it begins making direct payments to athletes. Meanwhile, Louisiana is poised to hike taxes on sports betting to pump more than $24 million into athletic departments. And Arkansas this year became the first to waive state income taxes on payments made to athletes by higher education institutions. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Toronto Star
18-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Florida officials let public universities free up millions to pay student-athletes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes under an emergency rule approved by a state board Wednesday ahead of a landmark legal settlement allowing schools to pay their players through licensing deals. The sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, going into effect July 1, allows schools to directly pay their pay their players for the use of their name, image and likeness. It's upending the way college sports have been run for more than a century and has sent universities across the country scrambling for new revenue streams in the hopes of gaining an edge — or at least keeping pace — in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive field of college athletics. Public universities in Florida, which is home to some of the country's most high-profile college sports teams, will now be able to dip into the funding reserves of campus auxiliary programs like bookstores, food service, student housing and parking in order to cut checks to student-athletes. Under the policy approved Wednesday, the funds can be issued as a transfer or a loan. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'Athletic departments are already currently recruiting student-athletes for fall 2025, and they need clarity on the available funding to retain and recruit the best talent for their rosters,' said Alan Levine, vice chair of the board of governors, which oversees Florida's state universities. 'If the universities cannot react to the settlement immediately, there will be irreparable harm to the athletic programs and to the financial welfare of our institutions.' Florida's emergency rule goes into effect immediately and will last 90 days, at which point the board of governors can reassess the issue. Other schools are also taking actions because of deficits in their athletic departments. Last week, University of Kentucky trustees approved a $31 million operating loan for the athletics department as it begins making direct payments to athletes. Meanwhile, Louisiana is poised to hike taxes on sports betting to pump more than $24 million into athletic departments. And Arkansas this year became the first to waive state income taxes on payments made to athletes by higher education institutions. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Winnipeg Free Press
18-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Florida officials let public universities free up millions to pay student-athletes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes under an emergency rule approved by a state board Wednesday ahead of a landmark legal settlement allowing schools to pay their players through licensing deals. The sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, going into effect July 1, allows schools to directly pay their pay their players for the use of their name, image and likeness. It's upending the way college sports have been run for more than a century and has sent universities across the country scrambling for new revenue streams in the hopes of gaining an edge — or at least keeping pace — in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive field of college athletics. Public universities in Florida, which is home to some of the country's most high-profile college sports teams, will now be able to dip into the funding reserves of campus auxiliary programs like bookstores, food service, student housing and parking in order to cut checks to student-athletes. Under the policy approved Wednesday, the funds can be issued as a transfer or a loan. 'Athletic departments are already currently recruiting student-athletes for fall 2025, and they need clarity on the available funding to retain and recruit the best talent for their rosters,' said Alan Levine, vice chair of the board of governors, which oversees Florida's state universities. 'If the universities cannot react to the settlement immediately, there will be irreparable harm to the athletic programs and to the financial welfare of our institutions.' Florida's emergency rule goes into effect immediately and will last 90 days, at which point the board of governors can reassess the issue. Other schools are also taking actions because of deficits in their athletic departments. Last week, University of Kentucky trustees approved a $31 million operating loan for the athletics department as it begins making direct payments to athletes. Meanwhile, Louisiana is poised to hike taxes on sports betting to pump more than $24 million into athletic departments. And Arkansas this year became the first to waive state income taxes on payments made to athletes by higher education institutions. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
