Latest news with #CoreySimon
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cape San Blas beach restoration project left out of Senate Bill
GULF COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Cape San Blas residents used to have 350 feet of beach, before hurricanes, tropical storms, and winter storms eroded most of it. Two homes have already been condemned and 30 more are at imminent risk. If more homes are condemned, residents fear the state road could be next, which is the only way on and off the cape. 'The road is about to be washed out. These homes are falling in, and we don't even get a dime. And we just want answers. And we know, you know, we're calling people hundreds of people call and just nobody's communicating with us as to what happened,' Coastal Community Association Board Member Kelly Mills said. Before this year's legislative session, residents met with their State Senator Corey Simon and State Representative Jason Shoaf. Both said they would submit appropriation requests for the last $10 million needed for the beach renourishment project. Both kept their word. But as the 60-day session progressed, something happened to the requests. 'Well, as they bargained back and forth, Jason put in the $5 million, and we were told that was going to be accepted,' Mills said. The news about the Senate's version of the budget is not as promising. Residents don't understand what happened with Senator Simon. Callaway's renovated community center reopens for residents 'He allocated $0 to our beach renourishment. Whereas Jason Shoaf, who said the same, he allocated $5 million, and without Corey Simon's $5 million. I think it's my understanding I could be wrong, but it's my understanding that we won't get the funding,' Sunrise Sunset Townhomes HOA President Michelle Massingill said. Both Senate and House members have been in conference committee this week, trying to agree on a single budget to send to the governor. There's still a chance the project could receive some funding, but residents are now looking for other solutions. 'We have reached out to Neil Dunn's office, and he's been very helpful, but he's getting mixed communication with the county. And so he's just trying to. You know, they say they can't help us unless the county asks for help,' Mills said. Gulf County is not eligible for federal funding due to the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. COBRA restricts funding in undeveloped coastal areas. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Florida Senate holds moment of silence for FSU shooting victims
With a brief, heartfelt comment from Republican Sen. Corey Simon, the state Senate on Wednesday held a moment of silence for the victims of last week's shooting at Florida State University. "Last Thursday, my FSU family … sorry, I knew this day was coming," Simon, an FSU graduate who starred on the Seminoles' 2000 national championship football team, said as he choked with emotion, "was rocked by senseless violence on our campus, six students being shot and two adults being killed." "Today, I rise and ask for a moment of silence for my Seminole family as we mourn those lost and the lives changed forever," Simon said. As Simon broke down, the Senate briefly recessed. Senate President Ben Albritton called Simon's comments "beautiful and the best the Florida Senate has to offer." Phoenix Ikner, a 20-year-old student, opened fire April 17 with a handgun, killing a university dining coordinator and a vendor and injuring six other people, according to authorities. Ikner was shot and captured after confronting police officers. FSU students demand action FSU students have handed out fliers to lawmakers this week and marched to the Capitol to call for tougher gun regulations. Logan Rubenstein, an FSU junior from Parkland who was in eighth grade in 2018 when a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, called the latest shooting a failure of lawmakers as "this keeps happening." "This issue is not going away, as much as you want to hide from it. As much as you want to shrug it off, it keeps happening. We can't let that continue," Rubenstein said. The governor released a 47-second video to thank law enforcement officers and vowed the shooter "will be brought to justice." DeSantis and the first lady visited Tallahassee Memorial Hospital after the shooting, according to his schedule.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida Senate OKs ban on oil exploration and drilling near the Apalachicola River
Photo taken from the website The Florida Senate has joined the House in passing a bill (HB 1143) banning oil exploration and drilling near the Apalachicola River in Northwest Florida. North Florida lawmakers filed the bill after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection permitted an exploratory oil well near the Apalachicola River in Calhoun County last December. Throughout the legislative session, the bill sponsored in the Senate by North Florida Republican Corey Simon (SB 1300) did not match the language of the House proposal filed by Republican Jason Shoaf and Democrat Allison Tant. On Wednesday, however, the Senate took up and passed the House version with an amendment prohibiting drilling, exploration, or production of oil, gas, or other petroleum products in counties designated as rural areas of opportunity that are 10 miles near a National Estuarine Research Reserve — meaning Gulf, Liberty, Franklin, and Calhoun counties. The original House bill would have extended these protections to Guana Tolomato Matanzas in Ponta Verde Beach and Rookery Bay in Naples. Those are not included in the bill passed on Wednesday in the Senate. The proposal also calls for the DEP to apply a 'balancing test' when a permit application is submitted in areas within one mile inland from the coast or other bodies of water. The test must include the community's conditions, hydrological connections, uniqueness, location, fish and wildlife use, time lag, and the potential cost of restoration in case of an explosion, blowout, or spill. 'Over the last several years, the Apalachicola area has been closed to our oystermen,' Simon said on the floor of the Senate. 'And a few years back, when we had the Deepwater Horizon drilling incident, it closed down our Bay and it decimated our community. We can't have that again. Our families are trying to struggle their way back currently, and this will go a long way in making sure that the Apalachicola can return back to its former self and all that it brings back to the Forgotten Coast.' The final vote was 37-1, with only Broward County Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood opposing the measure. Louisiana-based Clearwater Land & Minerals is the company intending to drill for oil in the Apalachicola River Basin. A challenge to the draft permit is pending at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, as reported by the News Service of Florida. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida oil drilling changes backed by senate committee
Amid a battle about a plan for oil and gas drilling in Northwest Florida, a Senate committee approved a bill on Thursday that would set new guidelines for permitting such projects. The Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee unanimously backed the proposal (SB 300), filed by Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee. The bill would require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to use a 'balancing test' when considering proposed drilling permits within one mile of rivers, lakes, and other water bodies. 'This balancing test should assess the potential impact of an accident or a blowout on the natural resources of such bodies of water and shore areas, including ecological functions and any water quality impacts,' the bill says. 'The balancing test must consider the ecological community's current condition, hydrologic connection, uniqueness, location, fish and wildlife use, time lag and the potential costs of restoration.' The bill was filed after the Department of Environmental Protection last year approved a draft permit for a Louisiana-based company to drill an exploratory well in Calhoun County. A challenge to the draft permit is pending at the state Division of Administrative Hearings, as environmentalists argue the project threatens the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay. Simon's district includes the region. A House version (HB 1143), sponsored by Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, is ready to go to the full House, though it has some differences from the Senate bill. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Measure requiring DEP to apply a ‘test' before OK-ing oil drilling advances to full Senate
Entrance to the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve. (Photo via reserve website) A bill that would require the state to apply a 'balancing test' in considering proposed gas or oil drilling permits near certain waterbodies and shore areas won unanimous approval in a Senate committee on Thursday and now goes to the full Senate for consideration. The measure (SB 1300), sponsored by North Florida Republican Corey Simon, differs from its House companion (HB 1143), which would ban oil and gas drilling within 10 miles of a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NEER). There are three NEER's in Florida — the Apalachicola in North Florida, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas in Ponta Verde Beach, and Rookery Bay in Naples. The House bill sponsors, North Florida Republican Jason Shoaf and Democrat Allison Tant, have said that their legislation is a response to a decision last year by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to permit an exploratory oil well along the Apalachicola River. Wakulla County resident Hunter Levine, host of the Captain's Collective podcast, which focuses on the fishing industry, spoke before the Senate Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee on Thursday. He said that he's interviewed nearly 200 fishing industry leaders across the globe and learned from their shared experiences. 'And whether they're fishing guides or small business owners, oystermen, artists, photographers — they've all shared one common lesson, and that it's the decisions that we make today determine the opportunities that we afford others tomorrow,' he said. 'These amazing places are not an accident, they are a result. … A result of good policy and protection, something that this bill offers.' 'The possibility of potentially drilling is very concerning for my business and for the future of these farmers,' added Jeff Wren of Rattlesnake Cove Oysters. 'I appreciate Sen. Simon looking out for our way of life.' Both House and Senate versions of the legislation have cleared all of their committees and await a final vote in their respective chambers. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
