People moving to Florida because the governor is like Hitler, or something. Right, NPC? Startling exodus to Florida accelerating despite NY reopening after COVID restrictions New York has fully reopened after the strict restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic — but migration from the Empire State to Florida has accelerated this year, according to new data. A total of 21,546 New Yorkers swapped their driver’s licenses for the Sunshine State version during the first four months of this year — a 12% increase from the same period in 2021. The 2022 totals are 55% higher than the first four months of the last pre-pandemic year of 2019. Mayor Eric Adams has speculated that the Florida exodus would wane — and that some evacuees would return — once the city reopened. Hizzoner has addressed the Florida drain directly and even launched billboards in the state to coax erstwhile Gothamites back to their city of origin. But the end of COVID-19 restrictions and the return of full-time schooling have so far failed to stem the outward tide to cities like Miami, Palm Beach and Jacksonville, according to data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety. A total of 61,728 New York state residents switched to Florida licenses last year — a figure that will be surpassed in 2022 if current trends persist. Some observers have argued that quality of life woes have taken root in New York in place of the coronavirus and are continuing to drive flight. Tony Palm Beach County took in the most New York defectors this year so far with 2,935, followed by Broward County at 1,946 and Miami-Dade at 1,777. Migration from New Jersey to Florida has also increased this year by 9%. A total of 10,580 Garden State residents have turned in their licenses compared to 9,664 during the same span in 2021. Rounding out the tristate, official Connecticut departures to Florida this year are up by 4%, going from 3,950 in the first four months of 2021 to 4,119 this year. A total of 9,645 California residents have become formal Floridians in 2022, a marked 18% hike over the same span last year when 8,166 made the move. After New York, New Jersey, and California, Pennsylvania has had the most outbound migration to Florida this year so far with 8,412 license swaps followed by Illinois with 8,149.
As expected, state investigators in the Office of Inspector General appointed by Ron DeSantis find the claims by Rebekah Jones to be unsubstantiated. Which merely means they never dug deep enough to determine if the claims can be actually determined to be true or false with any finality. But the entire OIG Report is merely a underhanded political exercise -- which can be demonstrated by simply reading all 268 pages of it -- including the appendix contents and the response from Rebekah Jones (with deep details which make a mockery of the state's claims). Is anyone surprised? State investigators dismiss Rebekah Jones's claims of Florida fudging COVID-19 data https://www.tallahassee.com/story/n...ms-florida-covid-19-data-doctored/9953780002/ A state investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with the explosive allegations brought by Florida’s former coronavirus data expert, who had accused top state health officials two years ago of firing her for refusing to manipulate COVID-19 data to support the push to reopen Florida after months of quarantine. Specific allegations raised by former agency data manager Rebekah Jones — who gained national media attention with her sensational accusations against the DeSantis administration — were either “unsubstantiated,” meaning there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove, or “unfounded,” concluding the alleged conduct didn't occur, according to the findings. The investigation was conducted by the Florida Department of Health's Office of Chief Inspector General, Michael J. Bennett, who investigates whistleblower complaints. Bennett reports to Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel within Gov. Ron DeSantis' office. The OIG report supports the DeSantis' administration which said there were no attempts to falsify the data the governor relied on to begin reopening the state economy in April 2020 following a brief, statewide COVID-19 lockdown. Jones was fired a month later after she said she refused to falsify virus data. When she went public, DeSantis lashed out at Jones over her professional credentials and portrayed her as a disruptive employee and criminal. Jones is now a Democratic candidate for Congress, running to unseat U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach. Jones said Friday that she has not yet received a copy of the final OIG report. She plans to sue the state in federal court for wrongful dismissal now that the state investigation is complete. ""It's something that's been a life-defining experience," Jones said of her confrontation with the DeSantis administration over the COVID-19 data. "It's not something I am ever going to forget or truly every get over....In some ways it's a relief to have this thing over after two years." She added, "I don't think it was ever realistic for them to come out and be like, 'yeah, everything she said is true, we're sorry, my bad.'" DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske declined further comment, saying, "The report speaks for itself." The OIG findings, dated March 9, 2022, was first reported by NBC News late Thursday afternoon. The 27-page report and Jones's 70-page rebuttal, was obtained by USA Today Network-Florida. Jones, who was granted whistleblower status to pursue her charges, filed the original complaint on July 16, 2020, with the Florida Commission on Human Rights. It was later forwarded to the OIG. Investigators looked into four allegations raised by Jones against top health department officials only months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Those named were Courtney Coppola, the agency's former Chief of Staff; Dr. Shamarial Roberson, the former deputy secretary; Carina Blackmore, director of the agency's Medical and Health Services, within the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection; and, Patrick “Scott” Pritchard, who worked in the Bureau of Communicable Diseases, which is part of the Division of Disease Control and Health. (Article has the report inline) OIG Report can also be found at: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22040466/oig-report-rebekah-jones-final-52522.pdf The OIG Report has the following people listed on the front page: Ron DeSantis Governor Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD State Surgeon General Michael J. Bennett, CIA, CGAP, CIG Inspector General
It is time to turn the page from her. She is really out there. It would be really great if she was required to compensate the people who she smeared.
Rebekah Jones is running for the U.S. House in Matt Gaetz's district. She is running against Margaret ("Peggy") Schiller in the Democratic primary being held on August 23rd. Margaret Schiller is a lawyer associated with multiple Democratic organizations and has the support of the local party (generally). IMO Rebekah Jones with no history of involvement in the Democratic party is unlikely to win the primary. The reality is that Rebekah Jones would not be a good politician. IMO she is impulsive, an introvert, sees things only in right / wrong with no middle ground, seems to have a form of ADHD, prefers to not speak publicly, and also appears to have a host of other problems. She is merely running for office because "she was wronged" and the district of DeSantis' troubled buddy Matt Gaetz is an appropriate place to drive her revenge. Rebekah Jones has not focused on policy vision to aid the people of Florida's 1st Congressional District-- her campaign website focuses on her being a whistleblower who took on Ron DeSantis. IMO the traits that make Rebekah Jones a good deep-detailed GIS data scientist are also the same traits that undermine her ability to effectively team with others to drive an common agenda. However the one thing that Rebekah Jones does do well is to document the hell out of things. She is also a "pack rat" who saves everything both electronically and on paper -- and spends hours compulsively mulling over the material. In her response to the Florida Inspector General (which was a rigged political exercise to clear the DeSantis administration) Rebekah Jones clearly delivered the goods. She demonstrated with reams of documentation that her complaint was valid and the assertions make by the Florida state government are incorrect. To the point where the state IG office was forced to merely to claim that her allegations were unsubstantiated rather than truly making any judgment (to preserve their own future careers & for legal protection). She also set to table very well (according to the opinions of lawyers) for an unjust dismissal case with damages. It will be the state of Florida using tax payer money to defend against the upcoming suit and eventually a significant payout. The idea -- based on the documented evidence -- that Rebekah Jones will be paying anyone for smearing them is laughable.
The NPC weeping and gnashing teeth over yet another failed prediction - putting his chips on a horse that was so very obviously a fraud merely because it backed the hope that DeSantis could be doing something dirty. What. A. Fucking. Clown. Ahahaha....
Spread unfounded COVID ‘disinformation’ Attacked real epidemiologists who noted this Was booted from Twitter Faces a felony computer crime charge Faces a stalking charge Is running against Rep. Matt Gaetz
Let's see how the Covid resurgence -- which DeSantis is ignoring -- is going in Florida. Half of Florida at ‘high’ risk of COVID; infections keep climbing The COVID-19 pandemic by the numbers in Florida covering the period of May 21-27: https://www.tampabay.com/news/healt...-high-risk-of-covid-infections-keep-climbing/ Florida’s average daily COVID-19 cases climbed another 11% in the past week — the 10th consecutive week that infections have gone up. Hospitalizations jumped another 21% over the same seven-day period of May 21-27. That means 10 counties, containing nearly half of the state’s 22 million residents, have “high” community levels of COVID-19, according to federal guidelines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that residents wear masks in public indoor settings in Alachua, Broward, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties. The CDC classified Tampa Bay and South Florida as “high” areas risk on Thursday — a week after the data shows those counties already had reached that level.Due to a data error, eight Florida counties that should have been declared at “high” risk of COVID-19 under CDC guidelines insteadappeared as “medium” risk on the agency’s website since May 19. The CDC first acknowledged that four South Florida counties had been mislabeled in a footnote at the bottom of the website, the Miami Herald reported. The Tampa Bay Times reported May 23 that Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties also had been misreported. The White House announced Thursday that the antiviral treatment Paxlovid may soon be available at COVID-19 testing sites across the U.S. However, there may be a larger problem: The federal government can’t keep track of how many doses have been shipped and how many people have been treated with the drug, according to Kaiser Health News. Paxlovid isn’t the only drug facing supply-chain woes. The preventative antiviral Evusheld has been so poorly rationed that it is nearly impossible to get in some states, while doses languish on pharmacy shelves in others, Marketplace reported. (More at above url)