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Florida's attorney general targets a restaurant over an LGBTQ Pride event

Florida's attorney general targets a restaurant over an LGBTQ Pride event

Yahoo4 days ago
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida's statewide prosecutor has subpoenaed records of a popular restaurant after it hosted an LGBTQ Pride event last month that the prosecutor's office says was open to all ages, even though a recent state law that restricts venues from admitting children to 'adult' performances has been blocked by courts.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed in a statement Tuesday that the event at the Kilted Mermaid in Vero Beach had 'adult, sexualized performers in front of children." His office on Tuesday did not respond to repeated inquiries asking which laws may have been violated.
The subpoena issued earlier this month asks for copies of guest lists, reservation logs, surveillance video and contracts identifying performers.
The owner of the Kilted Mermaid, Linda Moore, is vice mayor of Vero Beach, which is located on the Atlantic Coast, more than 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach. Moore did not immediately respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.
Florida's Protection of Children Act, also known as 'the drag show ban,' was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. It sought to punish venues for allowing children into what it called 'adult live performances.' Though it did not mention drag shows specifically, the sponsor of the legislation said it was aimed at those performances.
Venues that violated the law faced fines and the possibility that their liquor licenses could be suspended or revoked. Individuals could be charged with a misdemeanor crime.
The law was challenged in 2023 by the Hamburger Mary's restaurant in Orlando which regularly hosted drag shows, including family-friendly performances. The restaurant claimed the Florida law violated First Amendment rights by chilling speech.
In May, a three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to back a lower court's preliminary injunction that described Florida's law as overly broad and vaguely written. The case now returns to the Middle District of Florida for trial.
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Rick Huether, CEO of the Independent Can Company. Eric Kayne for NBC News Checkbook Chronicles Kicking the can down the road on tariffs won't work for this Maryland manufacturer Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June.
Rick Huether, CEO of the Independent Can Company. Eric Kayne for NBC News Checkbook Chronicles Kicking the can down the road on tariffs won't work for this Maryland manufacturer Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June.

NBC News

time23 minutes ago

  • NBC News

Rick Huether, CEO of the Independent Can Company. Eric Kayne for NBC News Checkbook Chronicles Kicking the can down the road on tariffs won't work for this Maryland manufacturer Independent Can Company has raised prices twice this year already after Trump imposed 25% duties on steel in March, and then doubled them in June.

July 26, 2025, 7:15 AM EDT By Emily Lorsch When Rick Huether strolls the floors of his four manufacturing plants — two in Maryland and two in Ohio — employees' typical greetings such as, 'Hey, how's the family?' have been increasingly replaced with, 'Hey Rick, should I be looking for a job somewhere else?' Huether, the CEO of Independent Can Company, has had to raise prices on customers twice this year and it's the third time since President Donald Trump's first term. 'It's frustrating,' Huether said of the Trump administration's ever-evolving tariff agenda, which now includes 50% import taxes on the foreign-made steel his company relies on. 'I can't run my business the way I want to run it.' Huether, a Republican, said he shares the administration's goal of reinvigorating American industry. 'We want to bring as much manufacturing back to this country as you can. 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Emily Lorsch Emily Lorsch is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.

Comic-Con goes interstellar with 'Project Hail Mary,' 'Star Trek' updates
Comic-Con goes interstellar with 'Project Hail Mary,' 'Star Trek' updates

San Francisco Chronicle​

time37 minutes ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

Comic-Con goes interstellar with 'Project Hail Mary,' 'Star Trek' updates

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The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next
The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next

Los Angeles Times

time37 minutes ago

  • Los Angeles Times

The House is looking into the Epstein investigation. Here's what could happen next

WASHINGTON — A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes, working to subpoena President Trump's Department of Justice for files in the case and hold a deposition of Epstein's jailed accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. The Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee acted just before House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent lawmakers home early for a monthlong break from Washington, a move widely seen as attempt to avoid politically difficult votes for his GOP caucus on the Epstein matter. The committee's moves are evidence of the mounting pressure for disclosure in a case that Trump has unsuccessfully urged his supporters to move past. But they were also just the start of what can be a drawn-out process. 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They have also proposed a list of document demands, including the prosecutorial decisions surrounding Epstein, documents related to his death, and communication from any president or executive official regarding the matter. Ultimately, Republicans who control the committee will have more power over the scope of the subpoena, but the fact that it was approved with a strong bipartisan vote gives it some heft. The committee chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), said he told the speaker that 'Republicans on the Oversight Committee were going to move to be more aggressive in trying to get transparency with the Epstein files. So, we did that, and I think that's what the American people want.' Comer has said he is hoping that staff from the committee can interview Maxwell under oath on Aug. 11 at or near the federal prison in Florida where she is serving a lengthy sentence for child sex trafficking. In a congressional deposition, the subject typically has an attorney present to help them answer — or not answer — questions while maintaining their civil rights. Subjects also have the ability to decline to answer questions if they could be used against them in a criminal case, though in this instance that might not matter because Maxwell has already been convicted of many of the things she is likely to be asked about. Maxwell has the ability to negotiate some of the terms of the deposition, and she already conducted two days of interviews with Justice Department officials this past week. Democrats warn that Maxwell is not to be trusted. 'We should understand that this is a very complex witness and someone that has caused great harm and not a good person to a lot of people,' Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told reporters this week. Committee Republicans also initiated a motion to subpoena a host of other people, including former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as former U.S. attorneys general dating back to Alberto Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush. It's not clear how this sweeping list of proposed subpoenas will play out, but Comer has said, 'We're going to move quickly on that.' Trump has often fought congressional investigations and subpoenas. As with most subpoenas, the Justice Department can negotiate the terms of how it fulfills the subpoena. It can also make legal arguments against handing over certain information. Joshua A. Levy, who teaches on congressional investigations at Georgetown Law School and is a partner at Levy Firestone Muse, said that the results of the subpoena 'depend on whether the administration wants to work through the traditional accommodation process with the House and reach a resolution or if one or both sides becomes entrenched in its position.' If Congress is not satisfied with Bondi's response — or if she were to refuse to hand over any information — there are several ways lawmakers can try to enforce the subpoena. However, that would require a vote to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress. It's practically unheard of for a political party to vote to hold a member of its party's White House administration in contempt of Congress, but the Epstein saga has cut across political lines and driven a wedge in the GOP. Ultimately, the bipartisan vote to subpoena the files showed how political pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to disclose the files. Politics, policy and the law are all bound up together in this case, and many in Congress want to see a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation. 'We can't allow individuals, especially those at the highest level of our government, to protect child sex traffickers,' said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a committee member. The Trump administration is already facing the potential for even more political tension. When Congress comes back to Washington in September, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to advance to a full House vote a bill that aims to force the public release of the Epstein files. Groves writes for the Associated Press.

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