Sunrise

Florida didn’t just break the record for newly reported COVID-19 cases — we smashed it. The Department of Health added another 5,500 confirmed cases Wednesday; that’s 1,400 more than the previous record set Saturday.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Gov. Ron DeSantis has been doing his best to downplay the significance of the new cases. But people in the north are noticing Florida’s spike in COVID-19 cases. Governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have each signed emergency orders imposing a 14-day quarantine on anyone traveling there from Florida, as well as from eight other states that have seen a surge in coronavirus infections.

— Coincidentally, in the early days of the pandemic, Florida did the same thing to travelers from New York. Now, their numbers are going down while ours are going up. As they say, payback is a b***h.

— Officials at VISIT FLORIDA are making plans to lure tourists back to the Sunshine State, starting with a $13 million marketing plan targeting Floridians an urging them to consider staycations. They’re also asking the Governor and Legislature to double its $50 million budget.

— The pandemic has spawned a whole new series of scams; Attorney General Ashley Moody says there’s a new one making the rounds — con artists claiming the government will pay you to stay inside.

— DeSantis holds a ceremonial signing for the teacher pay bill he championed in the Legislature; he says there’s enough money to move Florida to the Top 5 in starting pay for teachers. He insists he will not make any reductions in the pay plan because of COVID-19.

— The battle over a congressional seat in Miami moves to a Tallahassee courtroom. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez faces a lawsuit from a fellow Republican claiming the Mayor should be barred from the primary, because his name was misspelled on the check used to pay the official qualifying fee.

— Checking in with a Florida Woman who is suing her neighbor over a paternity test — for a goat.

Florida’s Department of Health reports almost 3,300 new cases of COVID-19 — driving the total to more than 103,000 since the pandemic began.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:/br>

— Florida has begun cracking down on bars and restaurants that are ignoring social distancing and capacity limits during the pandemic. An Orlando pub has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first bar in Florida to have its liquor license suspended for violating the Governor’s order./br>

— Gov. Ron DeSantis holds another news conference to talk about the state’s efforts to contain coronavirus. But Senate Democrats are giving him bad reviews, saying he’s not doing enough. Their biggest concern is his refusal tissue a statewide order requiring the use of protective masks. DeSantis says that’s not going to happen./br>

— Leaders of the state universities have presented their plans for what they hope will be a safe reopening of Florida’s higher education system. Each of the state’s 12 universities developed its own plan and they’re endorsed by the State Surgeon General./br>

— Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee says the election system is preparing for the worst this year. Lee tells Sunrise they’ve spent millions hardening security of local networks and training election workers to prevent hackers from getting in./br>

— And a story of the Florida Man who steered a very expensive boat into four channel markers before dumping it over an oyster bed./br>

Florida has reached another grim milestone in the fight against COVID-19; we’ve now had more than 100,000 cases. And the death toll has reached 3,266, averaging more than 29 fatalities per day since the first deaths were reported on March 5.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested migrant farmworkers were spreading coronavirus. A lot of Latinos are saying the Governor should apologize for trying to blame people considered essential workers — and couldn’t get protective gear.

— Advocates for seniors are also blasting DeSantis for saying the recent spike in COVID-19 cases isn’t as bad as it seems because most of the victims are young adults. People in nursing homes are still in danger, they say, and shouldn’t write them off in the rush to reopen.

— Rep. Dianne Hart, a leading voice in the legislature for prison reform, says why she is urging the Department of Corrections to fire the guard who beat an inmate at Lake Correctional Thursday. The prisoner died the next day.

— The latest in Florida man, who fought his way into Walmart without a mask because, well, it’s Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the media — and the public — to stop focusing all its attention on the huge spike in COVID-19 cases over the past week.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— What it actually means: We’ve now had so many new cases that even DeSantis admits we have community spread of coronavirus. However, he says it’s not that bad, because most of the new victims are young adults, who are far less likely to die than seniors.

— Despite the surge of cases, The Governor is refusing to impose any sort of statewide mandate for the use of protective masks in public. Nevertheless, he says local officials are free to do so. And they are.

— Also, DeSantis believes the state will get serious about cracking down on those bars and restaurants that pack people, refusing to honor capacity limits intended to ensure social distancing.

— Florida’s jobless rate in May hit 14.5% — the highest on record. There are now 1.4 million Floridians on the official unemployment list. On the plus side, the state added more than 180,000 jobs in May. Although, more accurately, the state recovered those jobs. They are not “new.”

— A check-in with Florida Man, who decided to show off his assault rifle to a friend without checking the chamber first. “What, are you going to shoot me?” the friend asked. You can guess the rest.

Florida just set another record for COVID-19. The Health Department reported 3,207 new cases of coronavirus Thursday — shattering the previous record set Monday.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Over the past week, Florida has recorded more than 17,000 new cases of COVID 19. Maybe that’s why some experts are saying we could be the next epicenter of the pandemic in America.

— Remember when Gov. Ron DeSantis blamed New Yorkers for bringing coronavirus to the Sunshine State, imposing a quarantine? After reviewing the latest stats, the New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is now considering a quarantine for anyone visiting from Florida.

— While the new cases pile up, reopening efforts continue. DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran have a plan for the safe reopening of schools in August, but the people who run local schools have the final say.

— Today starts a mandatory face mask rule in St. Petersburg, beginning at 5 p.m. Orange County’s Mayor signed a similar order that takes effect tomorrow.

— You can now get a lap dance in Miami Dade. Five strip clubs reopened … more are on the way.

— A big win for the DACA Dreamers: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump’s plan to terminate the program designed to help immigrants brought here by their parents when they were just kids who have lived in America most of their lives.

— And the latest with Florida Man, who really didn’t want to send those dick-picks to a 10-year-old girl; he said he was just trying to be nice.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says there’s no going back on his plan to reopen the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. But if the Governor won’t act, Saint Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman says local officials will have to pick up the slack.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Kriseman says he’ll issue an order Friday mandating the use of face masks by employees at businesses that deal with the public. That includes bars, restaurants and gyms.

— State health officials reported 2,610 new cases of coronavirus Wednesday, the second-largest daily increase since the crisis began. There were 25 more fatalities and the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Florida is at least 3,110.

— Florida Democrats are teeing off on Donald Trump, saying he failed at every step of the way in responding to coronavirus.

— Democrats are also directing some of their ire at DeSantis because he’s following Trump’s playbook.

— The COVID-19 crisis is having a major impact on Floridians who just graduated high school. The head of the Florida College Access Network says some of the kids are delaying plans to attend a university while others are opting for cheaper colleges or staying closer to home.

— Checking in with Florida Man, who was busted for child pornography — and that’s not the most disturbing part of his story.

Members of a group called Physicians for Social Responsibility are calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to make face masks mandatory for people gathering in public places. Three of those doctors explain why.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— The doctors’ call to “mask up” came as Florida shattered the one-day record in COVID-19 cases … adding 2,783 on Tuesday. There have now been at least 3,085 fatalities in Florida — 55 more than the day before. Sunrise hears from both the Governor and the chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

— Donald Trump issues an executive order on police standards, responding to Black Lives Matter protests. Orlando-area Congresswoman Val Demings welcomes the idea of a national database of bad cops, but it’s not mandatory. Critics say the executive order is only window dressing for the campaign.

— The latest in Florida Man, who quit his job at Publix after being told he could not wear a protective mask with the letters BLM.

Federal courts have been making life remarkably interesting for Florida politicians.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— For starters, Monday’s decision from the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender persons in the workplace is equivalent to sex discrimination … making it illegal under federal law. State Rep. Carlos Guillermo-Smith offers his take.

— Next, a federal judge in Tallahassee who ruled against the state in a case involving the voting rights of former felons refuses Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request to put his decision on hold while the case is being appealed in the Atlanta circuit court.

— While we’re talking about the 11th Circuit Court, they’ve just rejected an appeal from a state lawmaker who tried to get out of a lawsuit by claiming he has both legislative and sovereign immunity. The court ruled Rep. Chuck Clements is not protected in this case, allowing the lawsuit to continue.

— The Florida Department of Health reported 1,758 new cases of COVID-19 Monday — a slight improvement compared to the Saturday and Sunday, when we added more than 2,000 new cases per day.

— Checking in with Florida Man, who went for the trifecta: public racism, public sexism and public urination.

Florida’s daily increases in COVID-19 cases are looking a bit less like a spike and more like a new reality. Time will tell.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Gov. Ron DeSantis says don’t blame the increase on how the state is reopening Florida for business. It’s the result of more testing, he says. Many of the new cases are being discovered in migrant worker communities, prisons and old age homes.

— The rising number of COVID-19 cases hasn’t dampened DeSantis’s enthusiasm for the Republican National Convention coming to Jacksonville in August. And without a trace of irony, he says recent police brutality protests have shown people can gather in large crowds without creating new outbreaks.

— A new law in Florida that says college athletes can make money off their names, images and likenesses. DeSantis says it's all about fairness, and he’s also hoping this will lure blue-chip athletes from other states and keep homegrown talent at home.

— Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried says during these days of unrest and upheaval, this is a good time for White people to simply listen.

— Checking with two Florida Men, one whose arrest report reads like something from a video game. The other Florida Man — and woman — square off over the lines at a thrift store.

Florida education officials say they have a plan for the safe reopening of public schools. Sunrise hears from both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.

Also, on today’s Sunrise:

— Florida hits a record for coronavirus: 1,698 new cases reported Thursday — the biggest one-day increase since the pandemic began. There have now been more than 69,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. The Department of Health is also reporting 47 new deaths and the total number of fatalities in the Sunshine State stands at 2,938.

— Months before Thanksgiving, Florida TaxWatch found 180 turkeys in the new state budget, which they call on DeSantis veto since they got there through some sort of “hanky-panky” and not through the regular appropriations process.

— Two state lawmakers from Tampa — Sen. Janet Cruz and Rep. Dianne Hart — say they’ve begun work on three bills to respond to the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations by Black Lives Matter.

— A deep dive into some of the racial inequities COVID-19 has exposed in Florida. Blacks and Latinos are paying a much higher price during the pandemic.

— And one man and two women who are doing their best to live down to the standards set by Florida Man.