Welcome to Florida

Was it simple incompetence or something more sinister which cost Florida the chance to receive millions of dollars in federal funding to apply toward residential solar power.

Our guest this week is Rebecca Renner who's new book "Gator Country: Deception, Danger, and Alligators in the Everglades" tells the story of an undercover Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sting to catch gator poachers.

Rebecca will be featured in this year's Miami Book Fair.

Thanks to Windstorm Products for supporting "Welcome to Florida" as well as all of our Patrons at Patreon.com/WelcometoFlorida where there's a new BONUS podcast episode exclusively for patrons where we here from a Florida legend about a Florida legend.

Manatees in Florida could be placed back on the Endangered Species List.

One of the greatest miscarriages of justice in America occurred in Port St. Joe, Florida in the case of Freddie Lee Pitts and Wilbert Lee. The two Black men were convicted of a double homicide despite no physical evidence, no credible eyewitness, confessions forced via police torture, and a subsequent confession shortly after from the actual murderer.

The pair were eventually pardoned after serving 12 years. Spearheading the pardon was a Miami Herald journalist Gene Miller, and our guest this week, Pitts and Lee's defense attorney at appeal, Phillip A Hubbart. Hubbart is the author of "From Death Row to Freedom: The Struggle for Racial Justice in the Pitts-Lee Case" which he will be discussing at the 2023 Miami Book Fair.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products.

Valerie Vande Panne fills in again for Chadd Scott on this episode and she and Craig start off by discussing a limited-run TV series put out by Conservation Florida about the state's environmental problems called "Protect Our Paradise."

Find Valerie and follow her work on her Substack page.

This episode's guest is William McKeen, author of "Mile Marker Zero: The Moveable Feast of Key West," which details the cultural, anti-establishment peak of the city in the 1970s which featured an upstart musician, Jimmy Buffett.

"Welcome to Florida," as always, is presented by Windstorm Products, the No. 1 online retailer of hurricane hardware.

Valerie Vande Panne filled in for Chadd Scott on this episode of "Welcome to Florida." She and Craig began by discussing his latest Florida Phoenix column on airboats.

Keep up with Valerie on Substack.

This episode's guest is Craig Allen, author of "Univision, Telemundo, and the Rise of Spanish-Language Television in the United States." Both networks were headquartered mere miles from each other in Miami for decades.

"Welcome to Florida," as always, is presented by Windstorm Products.

Why reinstituting a bear hunt, which failed ignominiously in 2015, is not the solution for increased human-bear interaction in Florida.

In this episode we discuss the ghost orchid with longtime Fakahatchee Strand Preserve park biologist Mike Owen.

"Welcome to Florida," as always, is presented by Windstorm Products and windstormproducts.com the No. 1 online retailer of hurricane hardware.

Ron DeSantis wants MORE fossil fuels and fewer regulations on fossil fuel companies.

The Florida Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville possesses one of the largest, most comprehensive and finest collections natural history in the world. Heather Dewar's gorgeous coffee table book, "All Things Beautiful: Wonders from the Collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History" celebrates the collections and shares the museum's history. She joins us to discuss both.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products. Visit windstormproducts.com to learn how to better protect your home from the effects of hurricane wind damage.

This episode begins by remembering a legend in Florida journalism.

Had a development for the Big Bend area of Florida been proposed in recent years, it would have been approved, and the recent hurricane damage there would have been much worse.

Our guest is Paul George from the History Miami Museum who tells us all about the founder of Miami Beach, Carl Fisher.

The biography Craig mentioned is "Castles in the Sand" and the documentary we mentioned is "Mr. Miami Beach."

Here's more information on the Brightline train.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products. Protect your home from the effects of hurricane wind damage with the expertise and hurricane hardware available at windstormproducts.com.

A closed meeting in Israel resulted in Ron DeSantis allowing a foreign company to disperse its supposed miracle cure for blue green algae in waters across the state without the product previously being tested for potential negative environmental or human health effects.

Our guests this episode are Vickie Oldham,  president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition and founder of the Newtown Alive trolley tours in Sarasota, and Brenda Watty, a member of the Marvelettes Motown group who lives in Sarasota and performs on the tours. They join us to discuss African American history in Sarasota.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products. Visit www.windstormproducts.com to find the hardware and knowhow you need to protect your home from the effects of hurricane wind damage.

This episode begins by paying our respects to Jimmy Buffett and his conservation work in Florida.

Our guest is Florida Keys historian Brad Bertelli who tells us all about conch, the gastropod, conchs, the people, and the Conch Republic, better known as the Florida Keys. His Florida Keys history Facebook group is a wonderful resource and community for lovers of the Keys.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by WindstormProducts.com, the world's largest online retailer of hurricane hardware.

Jacksonville used to stink. Literally. Bad. That was a result of paper mills. What turned Jacksonville around serves as a model for how the state can solve its toxic algae bloom crisis.

The Castillo de San Marcos is one of the top tourist attractions in St. Augustine. The Spanish fort at one time served an important military purpose for Spain's colonial ambitions in North America. Our guest for this episode is a historian and researcher specializing in the Colonial period in the Southeast and Spain's presence there, Susan Richbourg Parker.

We mention the Native American prisoners of war sent to the fort, which had been renamed Fort Marion by the United States, and its connection to the tragic legacy of Indian boarding schools. You can read more about that here.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by WindstormProducts.com. Windstorm Products has the hurricane hardware and knowhow to help protect your home from hurricane wind damage.