The Summation Weekly - April 24, 2024

SERVING THE FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT THE

PENSACOLA’S NEW SKATE SHOP

ARTIST BEAR WALKER CARVES HIS NICHE

By Nicole Willis

If you’ve driven along East Wright Street anytime in the past few months, you have more than likely noticed the freshly painted black building simply labeled “SKATESHOP.” The mystery of this building has come to an end, as local woodworking artist, Bear Walker, has announced that the building will serve as his first official storefront.

Walker has built a career combining his love for pop culture and skateboarding culture with his passion for art by intricately carving and handcrafting pop culturethemed skateboard decks. From Pikachu to Spiderman, Walker handcarves the images of a slew of pop culture icons into wooden skateboard decks. Walker will now be sharing his designs at his new storefront in downtown Pensacola.

Located at 410 E. Wright St. in the former home of Pure Health CBD, Bear Walker Skateshop sits only a short walk away from the Blake Doyle Skatepark. The shop’s location fills a retail gap in the community, serving as the perfect spot for skaters to pick up gear, browse new decks and chat with fellow skaters.

Despite opening his first shop in Pensacola, Walker did not get his start in the area. He began his artistic career in Charleston, SC,

where he worked for a wooden sign company fresh out of college.

“I was making these high end wooden signs and carving on them every day. Eventually, it led to the inspiration of using carvings on skateboards to function as the grip. I just made one for myself, and then people started asking where I got it from. That’s when I realized I could potentially make a business out of it,” Bear Walker, CEO and creative director of Bear Walker Industries explained.

After struggling to get his business off the ground in South Carolina, Walker moved to Fairhope, AL, where his family is also from. Knowing that he had a good thing going, he decided to give his business idea another shot, this time in a different area. Headquartered in Daphne, AL, Walker began making and selling skateboards along the Gulf Coast and online through his website.

He achieved both local and national success, receiving coverage from TIME magazine and The New York Times. Walker’s portfolio also boasts collaborations with globally known franchises like Pokémon, Marvel, DC Comics and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“We work really heavily with Pokemon. We’ve been doing drops from them for about five years now. They have us do their skateboards for their world championship

events every year. Last August, they flew me to Japan and I did a signing and a drop there; it was super dope,” Walker said. “We also work with Marvel, DC and the Ninja Turtles. Honestly, most pop culture stuff we have a hand in now is pretty fun.”

Today, Walker still builds his boards in Daphne, but decided to open up his first storefront in Pensacola. He plans to open up many storefronts in the coming years and cited the city’s culture, people and proximity to the bustling Blake Doyle Skatepark as the reason why Pensacola is the perfect place to get started.

“There just seems to be a really cool crowd here [in Pensacola]. I wanted somewhere close to home, but somewhere that also fit the vibe of what I was going for,” he explained. “When I heard about the skatepark, I started putting plans in the works. Our shop is positioned directly between the skatepark and the Bay Center, so I thought it’d be a perfect place to do this.”

Walker’s skateshop will, of course, display and sell his handcrafted skateboard decks, as well as apparel, skating accessories and more. The shop will go beyond skate-related items, though. In addition to selling custom skateboard decks, Walker also creates guitars that follow the same pop culture theme as his decks. Some of

his hand-carved guitars will also be up for grabs at the new shop. Walker emphasizes his love for pop culture, streetwear and his desire to share this love through his shop.

“We carry high-end, pop culture, limited edition collectibles,” he said.

“We’re going to be doing drops of Nikes and stuff like that when there’s limited edition drops of those. We’re treating the storefront like a pop-up shop; every time we have a new drop coming, or if there’s some really cool thing happening in the pop culture or streetwear industry, we will do a small drop at our store and hopefully be the hub for hype in Pensacola.”

Whether you’re a seasoned skater looking to pick up a standard popsicle deck or an art collec-

tor and pop culture fanatic looking for a beautiful, intricately designed art piece, Bear Walker Skateshop has something to impress every eye. “My main goal and the stuff that I like to make is something that’s very artistic and beautiful, but also has a really functional side to it as well,” Walker said.

During Pensacon weekend, Bear Walker Skateshop capitalized on the pop culture-obsessed crowd and hosted the soft launch of the new shop. The skateshop’s official grand opening was March 23. For updated shop hours and more information, visit bearwalker.com.

To check out Walker’s work, follow @bearwalkerofficial on Instagram and Facebook. ■

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The Summation Weekly, a publication of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association (ESRBA) produced in partnership with Ballinger Publishing, offers highly competitive insertion rates and a way to indirectly support your local bar association.

The Summation Weekly is a subscription-based community newspaper circulated to ESRBA members and made available to the general public throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The publication satisfies Fla. Stat. 50.031, which governs the requirements for publication of legal notices. In addition to the published weekly newspaper, The Summation Weekly website –www.summationweekly.com satisfies Fla. Stat. 50.0211, which requires all legal notices to be made available online and on the state registry – www.floridapublicnotices.com. Ballinger Publishing manages the day-to-day operations of the publication. Darien Hardy is the contact person for legal notices. She can be reached at legals@ballingerpublishing.com or 433-1166, ext. 25. Thank you for your support. Choosing The Summation Weekly generates non-dues revenue that helps subsidize programs and services provide to members of the EscambiaSanta Rosa Bar Association.

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CITY OF PENSACOLA NEW PARKING RATES GO INTO EFFECT MAY 1

Pensacola City Council approved a resolution Thursday evening, April 11 authorizing the increase of city-owned parking rates from 50 cents an hour to $1 an hour beginning Wednesday, May 1.

With the passing of this resolution, Parking Management estimates a revenue increase of more than $240,000 with plans to reinvest the additional revenue into the city’s municipal parking products — improving customer experience, payment technology and parking equipment. The city’s most recent rate increase occurred in 2007, with rates increasing from 25 cents an hour to 50 cents an hour.

“The number one biggest concern from the 2023 Parking Survey was the limited amount of available parking spaces during weekend nights,” Mayor Reeves said. “Well, this is also the time when city parking is free. With the increase of visitors and traffic to our

downtown, plus the fact that rates haven’t been raised in almost 20 years, it’s time to balance supply and demand.”

According to the city’s 2023 parking consultation, Pensacola city-owned parking is significantly below the average cost of similar cities and should average a base price of $1.69 an hour for parking. However, city staff determined a smaller increase of 50 cents to be a more feasible option for city residents and visitors.

Following the 2023 parking survey and consultation, city staff and administration began implementing a strategic parking plan for the 2024 year beginning with the April 1 transition to the ParkMobile app — improving the technological user experience of parking in city-owned spaces downtown. The May 1 rate increase is the next step in that plan.

For more information on City of Pensacola parking, visit cityofpensacola.com.

LAKEVIEW CENTER RECEIVES

$25,000 SAPPHIRE AWARD FROM FLORIDA BLUE FOUNDATION

Lakeview Center was honored to receive the Sapphire Award, along with $25,000 from the Florida Blue Foundation.

Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Florida Blue, presented the 2024 Sapphire Awards during its annual two-day Community Health Symposium. This year’s event focused on local solutions designed to address critical health issues affecting Floridians and attracted 700 people from the health care, government, higher education, and nonprofit sectors. The event featured national and statewide speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities focused on improving health at the community level.

Lakeview Center was among nine award recipients recognized at the Symposium for doing exemplary work in the local community to improve health outcomes and increase access to health care services and support.

“Thousands of people who struggle with mental health and substance abuse issues in Northwest Florida cannot afford access to the care they need – which is why this support from the Florida Blue Foundation is so paramount,” said Allison Hill, CEO of Lakeview Center’s parent company, LifeView Group. “As Northwest Florida’s most comprehensive provider of behavioral health care, with more than 60 programs from Escambia to Walton County, Lakeview Center offers a continuum of mental health care from crisis support and outpatient treatment to community-based care and residential programs. The Florida Blue Foundation shares our mission of ‘helping people.’ This award is an honor and a testament to the work our team members do every day, serving people in need.”

The Florida Blue Foundation introduced the Sapphire Awards in 2005 to recognize excellence and innovation in community health leadership and programs across Florida. Since then, the Foundation has given out 148 Sapphire Awards, totaling $7.5 million. For information about mental health services available at Lakeview Center, call 850-469-3500 or visit eLakeviewCenter.org.

About Lakeview Center Lakeview Center provides comprehensive behavioral health care to adults and children with mental illnesses, drug and alcohol dependencies and intellectual disabilities. Across Northwest Florida, our services range from residential treatment to outpatient counseling, psychiatry, trauma care, treatments for substance misuse and 24/7 support for those with serious mental illnesses. Learn more at eLakeviewCenter.org.

About Florida Blue Foundation Florida Blue Foundation enables healthy communities by making grants, building coalitions, and embracing solutions that create a meaningful impact in our communities. More than 8 million Floridians have received services as a result of our community investments since its founding in 2001. Florida Blue Foundation is committed to improve health equity by impacting food security, advancing mental well-being, growing healthy communities, and addressing health disparities. Florida Blue Foundation is a trade name of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation, Inc., an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit FloridaBlueFoundation.com.

The United Way of West Florida invites law groups to compete in our 3rd Annual Battle of the Barristers Fundraiser on May 22, 2024, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Seville Quarter.

Our quiz master will test these legal eagles on their knowledge with fun and unique trivia questions during this fundraiser for United Way of West Florida. This event is an opportunity for attorneys and law firms to display their knowledge outside of the courtroom over a little friendly competition.

The winning team will receive the United Way of West Florida traveling trophy for the year, and all the bragging rights that come with it. The last two years’ winners were Clark Partington Attorneys at Law and Moorhead

Law Group. Prizes will be awarded to 2nd, 3rd, and other miscellaneous categories, such as most spirited.

Team registration is $600 per team with teams will consisting of four members. The price includes food and drink tickets. Registration closes May 13, 2024. Please visit www.uwwf.org /bob to learn more about the event or to sign up for your team. Event sanctions can also be purchased at this site to hinder your opponents and advance your team.

For more information, please reach out to the Battle of the Barristers Event Coordinator and Individual Donor Manager, Nikki Fisher at nikki.fisher@uwwf.org.

ESCAMBIA COUNTY INSTALLS FOUR NEW PLAYGROUNDS AT COUNTY PARKS

Escambia County Parks and Recreation has installed four new playgrounds at several neighborhood and community parks throughout the county, providing additional play and recreational opportunities for Escambia County residents and visitors.

The new playgrounds offer a variety of play features for children of all ages to enjoy, including slides, climbing structures, interactive games, musical instruments, and more.

New playgrounds have been added at the following parks in 2024:

• Garcon Bayou Nature Park, 55 Doug Ford Drive - Installed January 2024

• Harvester Homes I, 430 Belmont Ave.Installed February 2024

• Lakewood Park, 670 Lakewood RoadInstalled January 2024

• Westernmark Park, 751 Massachusetts Ave. - Installed March 2024

Escambia County Parks and Recreation also added new playgrounds last year at the following locations:

• Aero Vista Park, 120 Marine Drive –Installed July 2023

• Avondale Park, 5809 Vestavia Lane –Installed August 2023

Escambia County Extension Services, 3740 Stefani Road – Installed June 2023

• O’Connor-Colling Community Park, 552 Batten Blvd. – Installed June 2023

Lexington Terrace Regional Park, 900 S. Old Corry Field Road – Installed July 2023

Parks and Recreation has also installed several additional park improvements recently, including a swing set at Garcon Bayou Nature Park and a new shade sail at the Extension Services playground. All of the new playgrounds replaced existing playground equipment that was outdated, with the exception of Extension Services, which did not previously have a playground.

“We are excited to have these playgrounds completed in time for spring and summer, and I have no doubt that children and families throughout Escambia County will enjoy these new amenities at our parks,” Parks and Recreation Director Michael Rhodes said. “Our Parks and Recreation team is always working hard to improve the park experience for county residents and visitors, and I’m excited to see these playgrounds put to good use in the upcoming spring and summer season.”

To learn more and view a map of Escambia County’s many parks, playgrounds, and community centers, please visit the Escambia County website.

VOLUNTEER SOUGHT FOR THE DISABILITY AWARENESS COMMITTEE

Brandon, Fla. – PRIDE Enterprises (PRIDE) broke ground Thursday, April 11, 2024, on their tiny home program at Century Correctional Institution in the Florida panhandle. PRIDE President Blake Brown, Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) Secretary Ricky Dixon and State Senator Doug Broxson attended the event. Also in attendance was State Representative Michelle Salzman, FDC Regional Director Angela Gordon, Century Correctional Institution Warden Kelly Watkins, Pensacola State College President Dr. Ed Meadows and PRIDE board members, including Chairman James Reeves, Vice Chairman Carlyle Holder and board members Alan Garey and James Upchurch, as well as PRIDE executive team members.

“This new PRIDE industry will produce tiny homes that will be built by trained and certified inmates in a manufacturing environment,” said Brown. “Most of these homes will be sold in the region to help meet the growing need for affordable housing in the region.”

The impetus for this program came from PRIDE Board Chairman James Reeves, who envisioned expanding operations into the Panhandle. “Chairman Reeves saw a great need for more affordable housing in the Panhandle and as a result, in 2023, he guided PRIDE staff and the board to adopt a plan to move forward with a PRIDE business at Century Correctional Institution,” said Brown. “He cleared the way for PRIDE, working with the Florida Department of Corrections and State

Senator Doug Broxson to acquire funding for additional security at Century Correctional Institution to support this new program.”

In order to start the tiny home program, PRIDE submitted a request to Triumph Gulf Coast, seeking financial support for the training needed to certify selected inmates. In January 2024, Triumph Gulf Coast approved a grant to reimburse PRIDE for the training and certification services that will be provided by Pensacola State College.

“What started out as an amazing vision is becoming a reality, as we break ground on this program that will make a positive difference in the lives of the inmates that participate in it,” said Brown. “Each inmate in the program has made a commitment to stay in the eight-county region when they reach the end of their sentence, so they can continue to make a meaningful difference in the area by using the skills they obtained in the work program.”

PRIDE is also allocating money from its own capital reserves to build a new facility at the Century Correctional Institution to house the tiny home production facility. The facility, when completed, will have 11,250 square feet of floor space. PRIDE plans to set the facility up in a lean, one-piece-flow format to produce the tiny homes in the most efficient manner. Plans are to complete the facility by mid-

with the production of tiny homes begin-

minutes. The purpose of the committee is to make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners regarding issues relating to the disabled community and any other issues requested by the board. The committee is composed of seven voting members, and all members of the committee must be electors of Escambia County. Each commissioner on the Board of County Commissioners appoints one member to the committee, and each member serves concurrently with his or her appointing commissioner’s term. The board collectively appoints two at-large members, who each serve a four-year term. There are four meetings scheduled each year on the third Wednesday of the month. Meetings begin at 3 p.m. and typically last until 5 p.m. Special meetings may be scheduled if needed. There is no travel required.

SCAM ALERT: FRAUDULENT MESSAGES POSING AS SUNPASS

website in an attempt to collect information. Do not click any links in the fraudulent text messages. These messages are not sent by SunPass or Escambia County. SunPass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or to take immediate action on their account. Messages from SunPass will

mation or action regarding their account balances or fees owed.

Anyone who has received a scam text message, call or other form of communication should report it to the Federal Trade Commission. Visit reportfraud.ftc.gov to report scams or fraud to the FTC online.

DESANTIS SIGNS COMMUNISM HISTORY BILL

RYAN DAILEY NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE — Flanked by veterans who served in the Bay of Pigs invasion, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a measure that will lead to the history of communism being taught in grades as low as kindergarten.

The governor, standing behind a placard that read “anti-communism education,” touted lessons that will be required under the bill.

“We’re going to tell the truth about communism in the state of Florida. We’re going to tell the truth about the evils of communism,” DeSantis said at the Hialeah Gardens bill-signing event.

State lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the measure (SB 1264) during the 2024 legislative session that ended last month. Under the bill, lessons on the history of communism will be added to required instruction in public schools starting in the 2026-27 school year.

The lessons would have to be “age appropriate and developmentally appropriate” and incorporate various topics related to communism, including the “history of communism in the United States and domestic communist movements” and “their histories and tactics.”

“Atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism,” also would be required as part of the lessons. Additionally, the curriculum would have to include a comparative “discussion of political ideologies, such as communism and totalitarianism, which conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy essential to the founding principles of the United States.”

State Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. acknowledged that the lessons would be “spread across” all grades. The state education department will be tasked with drawing up academic standards for the lessons.

“All of this will be spread across the curriculum, K (kindergarten) through 12 (twelfth grade). And it will be done in a manner that is age-appropriate, like we do with all of our standards,” Diaz said Wednesday.

DeSantis signed the bill on the 63rd anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and was joined at the bill-signing event by people who fought in the invasion in an attempt to overthrow the Fidel Castro regime.

Rafael Montalvo, president of Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, was among the people who addressed the crowd at the Hialeah Gardens Museum. The museum features a building funded through the Florida Department of State that was constructed to honor “the noble efforts of the 2506 Assault Brigade during the Bay of Pigs Invasion.”

“The most important fight against communism is the one that’s done in the schoolrooms,” Montalvo said. “That’s where the battle is happening right now. And this is going to be a tool that’s going to give us the victory in that area.”

Florida’s public-school students currently can encounter lessons on communism in high-school social studies classes and in a seventh-grade civics and government course. A high-school U.S. government class that is a requirement for graduation also includes 45 minutes of instruction on “Victims of Communism Day.”

Florida also previously had a course titled “Americanism vs. Communism,” which was required for public high-school students between 1961 and 1991.

With the state set to bolster its communism history offerings in schools, Diaz highlighted how anti-communism sentiment is strong in South Florida.

The measure authorizes the education department to seek input from “any individual who was a victim of communism or any state or nationally recognized organization dedicated to the victims of communism,” as it crafts standards for the curriculum.

Diaz said he wants other students throughout the state to learn about the history of communism from people who experienced it directly.

“Unfortunately not everybody across the state has that opportunity from their family or from others who saw it firsthand, who fought it firsthand.” Diaz said.

STATE APPEALS IN WETLANDS PERMITTING FIGHT

JIM SAUNDERS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE — Florida has quickly launched an appeal after a U.S. district judge rejected a 2020 decision by the federal government to shift permitting authority to the state for projects that affect wetlands.

Attorneys for the state filed a notice Monday that is a first step in challenging the decision by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The notice also said the state will seek a stay of Moss’ decision while the appeal plays out. As is common, the notice did not detail arguments the state’s attorneys will make in the appeal.

The Washington, D.C.-based Moss on Friday issued a final judgment on almost all issues in the case. That came after a February ruling in which Moss vacated the transfer of permitting authority because he said federal officials had not followed required steps before making the 2020 decision.

The case has been closely watched by business and environmental groups, with the state saying in a court filing that Moss’ February ruling could affect “pending permit applications for roads and bridges, hospital construction projects, school buildings and facilities, affordable housing, military base projects, power grid reliability projects (including construction of new power generation facilities and transmission lines), and various projects necessary to improve water quality in the Everglades, just to name a handful of examples.”

The state sought a partial stay of Moss’ Feb. 15 ruling, but the judge wrote Friday that a stay would be “neither workable nor desirable.” He also wrote that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is prepared to review permits, as had been the case before the authority was transferred to the state.

Moss anticipated the appeal, saying the final judgment would help clear the way for the dispute to move forward.

“Although the court’s (Moss’) decision is unlikely to result in the dire consequences that Florida proffers — as noted … the Corps stands ready, willing, and able to issue … permits in Florida, as it did for decades before the EPA approved Florida’s assumption application and as it does in 47 other

DESANTIS SIGNS BOOK REVIEW, CHARTER SCHOOL CHANGES

RYAN DAILEY NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE — After more than 1,200 objections were filed to school-library books and other materials last school year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will limit challenges by some people.

The wide-ranging bill (HB 1285) also includes making changes designed to ease the process of charter schools taking over operations at traditional public schools that lag in performance.

The part of the measure dealing with book challenges came after the Republican-controlled Legislature and DeSantis in the past two years approved measures that ramped up scrutiny of library books and classroom materials. It also came after highly publicized disputes about removing books.

More than half of the 1,218 book objections during the 2022-2023 school year occurred in two counties, Clay and Escambia, according to a Senate staff analysis. The objections resulted in the removal of 186 books in the two counties.

The bill will require that any “resident of the county who is not the parent or guardian of a student with access to school district materials may not object to more than one material per month.”

During a media event Monday, DeSantis said that some people who filed mass objections to books made a “mockery” of the process.

“The idea that someone can use the parents’ rights and the curriculum transparency to start objecting to every single book, to try to make a mockery of this, is wrong. And you had examples where books were put under review that are just normal books that have been in education for many many years,” DeSantis said.

Using the example of Escambia County, DeSantis said the county “had a lot of books that should not have been under review” and said instances of mass book objections came “from all ends of the political spectrum.”

“There’s some people that really think all these books that have been in school are inappropriate. There’s other people that know that they’re appropriate, but are trying to act like Florida does not want these books in,” DeSantis said.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said Monday that the new limit on book challenges will help school districts in reviewing objections.

“That will make the process easier for the district to get through, because you can actually review the book in a timely manner,” Diaz said.

mance criteria, the school is given two years to improve to a C grade under what’s known as a “turnaround plan.” If the school’s grade doesn’t make such an improvement, one option is for the school to close and reopen as a charter school.

The bill signed Tuesday will speed up the process of converting traditional public schools to charter schools under such circumstances, in part by giving districts a deadline to execute charter contracts. For schools reopening as charters, districts would have to execute contracts by Oct. 1 of the following school year, and charter organizations would assume “full operational control” by July.

Speaking Monday at a Pensacola school that was taken over by a charter operator after lagging in performance, DeSantis said the transition “took forever.”

“That’s not what we want to be happening, where this stuff takes forever and a day. I mean, if you have a school that is getting F grades, we need to remediate very quickly. If you drag your feet for three or four years, those are three or four years of students that are not getting the type of education that they should be getting,” DeSantis said at Warrington Preparatory Academy.

Changes in the bill also include requiring charter operators that take over traditional public schools to serve the same grade levels as the traditional schools did, “at its current enrollment or higher,” but also give charters the option to offer additional grade levels.

The law also will direct state education officials to create a “classical education teaching certificate.” The certificates would only be valid at classical schools, and to obtain them applicants would have to meet most — but not all — requirements that traditional public-school teachers would have to meet.

Applicants for classical education certificates would be exempt from meeting requirements that they “demonstrate mastery of general knowledge,” “demonstrate mastery of subject area knowledge,” or demonstrate “mastery of professional preparation” and education competence.

The state has 18 classical charter schools in nine districts, according to the bill analysis.

“We have such a growth in the classical space, and those classical teachers have to be different,” Diaz said. “And so, we want to be able to have certification for those teachers that are going into a classical model where the most important piece is, yes, they have a license, but what is the professional development attached to that?”

states — Florida nonetheless has a legitimate and substantial interest in obtaining prompt appellate review of a decision and order that set aside a program to which it has devoted extensive time and effort,” Moss wrote. “Florida may or may not prevail on appeal, but there is no just reason to delay its ability to seek review.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the transfer of the permitting authority to the state in December 2020, about a month before former President Donald Trump’s administration ended. The move made Florida only the third state, after Michigan and New Jersey, to receive the permitting authority, Attorneys from the Earthjustice legal organization filed the lawsuit in 2021 against the federal government on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper and St. Johns Riverkeeper.

The state later intervened, and groups such as the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and the Association of Florida Community Developers have backed the state’s position.

In the February ruling, Moss found that actions by the EPA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in approving the shift of authority violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

The ruling focused, in part, on whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service properly prepared a biological opinion and what is known as an “incidental take statement” as part of the process of approving the transfer. Incidental takes are situations in which threatened or endangered species could be killed or harmed as a result of what are allowed activities.

Moss said a biological opinion and incidental take statement did not comply with the Endangered Species Act and another law known as the Administrative Procedure Act. He wrote that because the biological opinion and incidental take statement that the Fish and Wildlife Service “issued in this case were facially and legally flawed, the EPA unreasonably relied on those documents in approving Florida’s assumption application.”

As of Tuesday morning, the federal government had not filed a notice of appeal, according to an online court docket.

Meanwhile, parts of the bill related to underperforming public schools would “add some oomph” to the state’s process of allowing charter schools to take over operations, DeSantis said.

Under state law, if a school receives consecutive D or F grades based on various perfor-

Speaking at a classical school in Jacksonville where DeSantis signed the bill Tuesday, Diaz added that education officials did not want classical certificates to carry the same requirements as school districts, “because classical schools do it very differently.”

FORMER GOVERNOR, SENATOR GRAHAM DIES AT 87

JIM SAUNDERS NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE — Bob Graham, a twoterm Florida governor who went on to serve in the U.S. Senate and was known for his work days across the state, died Tuesday at age 87, his family announced.

“As a legislator, Florida’s 38th Governor, and a United States Senator, Bob Graham devoted his life to the betterment of the world around him,” the family said in a statement Tuesday night. “The memorials to that devotion are everywhere — from the Everglades and other natural treasures he was determined to preserve, to the colleges and universities he championed with his commitment to higher education, to the global understanding he helped to foster through his work with the intelligence community, and so many more.”

Graham was one of the most-popular figures in Florida politics over the past halfcentury. After representing part of MiamiDade County in the state Senate, Graham was elected governor in 1978, winning a Democratic runoff and then easily defeating Republican Jack Eckerd in the general election.

In 1986, Graham defeated Republican U.S. Sen. Paula Hawkins and went on to serve three terms in Washington. His tenure included chairing the Senate Intelligence Committee after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But Graham was known to many Floridians for his down-to-earth persona that included work days in which he joined people in their jobs.

“While he valued his opportunities to represent others in public office, the jobs Bob Graham most loved were those he spent working alongside everyday Floridians,” his family said in the statement Tuesday. “His more than 400 workdays, in occupations ranging from construction to farming to hospitality, created

wonderful friendships across the state and forever changed his perspective on Florida and his approach to public service.”

Democratic consultant and lobbyist Steve Schale recalled Graham’s common touch in a post Tuesday night on the socialmedia platform X.

“I have so many wonderful memories of Bob — but I loved being with him when he was with everyday people,” Schale wrote. “Those work days really molded how he saw his fellow Floridians. I never saw him look down on anyone — or look over anyone’s shoulders. He was, in every sense, a good man.”

In the statement Tuesday night, Graham’s family recalled him as a grandfather.

“Bob Graham would tell people his favorite title was not Governor or Senator. It was the name his grandchildren gave him: Doodle. ‘When I’m really good, they call me Super Doodle,’ he liked to say,” the statement said. “For 87 years, Bob Graham was so much more than really good. He was a rare collection of public accomplishments and personal traits that combined to make him unforgettable. As his family, we will never forget his love for us, the love he had for Florida, the United States, and the world, and the love so many people showed him. We thank God for the gift of his life.”

Graham, who did not seek a fourth term in the Senate in 2004, was from what now seems like a distant era in Florida politics. Along with figures such as the late Gov. Reubin Askew and the late U.S. Sen. and Gov. Lawton Chiles, Graham led during a period when Democrats controlled the state’s political levers.

That began to change in the 1990s, and Republicans now dominate state politics. Graham’s daughter, Gwen, served one term in the U.S. House but lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2018.

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We are worldbuilders. We develop great minds and inspired leaders. We help children write their own story. Gulf Coast Freedom Schools nurtures the world within through a free, six-week summer literacy and cultural enrichment program for students K-8th grade who reside in Escambia County.