News By George Miller, 5-3-24 The Florida legislature passed CS/HB 1291 — Educator Preparation Programs, just signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. It was designed to combat some of the so-called “Woke” intrusions into public education, but was written so as to take a balanced approach to filter out inappropriate teachings of any ideology. Bill Summary by Legislature The bill modifies requirements for courses and instruction in initial teacher preparation programs, educator preparation institutes, professional learning certification programs, and school leader preparation programs to specify that s ..read more

Press Release By Eagle Forum 05-03-24 This week, 49 members of the U.S. Senate signed a letter to President Biden opposing the administration’s secretive plan to sign onto two instruments drafted by the World Health Assembly that will, in effect, make the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus – the dictator of U.S. public health. Eagle Forum applauds the Senators for taking a strong stand for our national and personal sovereignty. This powerful joint congressional letter, spearheaded by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and signed by every Republican Senator, d ..read more

Opinion By Karen W Siegemund 05-03-24 How do you convey the experience of a city awaiting doom? How do you explain that here was a city which was about to be over-run, conquered, and in danger of being completely destroyed, but wasn’t, at least not completely. Fifty-plus years later, it’s easy to conjecture that, indeed, the inevitable doom didn’t happen. However, at that time, nobody knew what might actually happen. The worst of the air attacks were over. Downtown Berlin had, for all practical purposes, ceased to exist. Many other parts of the city were destroyed, but the telephone system, el ..read more

Opinion By Dave Scott, 5-3-24 Former Fernandina Pride President Genece Minshew (pictured above) has “come out of the closet” in her third run for a Fernandina Beach City Commission seat, registering as a Republican. “Hey donors I’m a Republican now!” Minshew, abandoned City Commission candidate Tim Poynter’s campaign, where she was serving as treasurer, to embark on her third attempt to secure a Commission seat. She has also abandoned whatever political organization she was registered as prior to April 23. Minshew filed to run for Seat 2 on Wednesday, April 24. The day before, Tuesday, August ..read more

Opinion By Steve Nicklas, 4-22-24 Florida gets as many accolades each year as days of sunshine. And its outlook is blindingly bright, like a sunny summer day. In a normal year, Florida enjoys 240 days of sunshine. Only Arizona gets more sun, but it’s far behind in accolades. Would you prefer a beach with a palm tree, or a desert with a cactus? In the latest sun splash of recognition, Florida is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in higher education, according to U.S. News & World Report. And locally, the Jacksonville area has the second-hottest job market in the country, with record growth, accordin ..read more

News/Education By Michael Hernandez, 5-2-24 FERNANDINA BEACH, FL—Jack Knocke, Nassau County Executive Director of Citizens Defending Freedom (CDF), has filed an objection against the county school district re: the Savvas World History textbook up for adoption by the Nassau School Board. The Nassau County School Board is also considering the adoption of Savvas US History and Science textbooks. Knocke filed the textbook objection before the April 28 deadline. A public hearing on this is scheduled for May 23. A Citizens Defending Freedom press release (4/27) claims “several references to world hi ..read more

Opinion By Larry Sand 05-01-24 Anti-Semitism on campus and DEI evangelism are cut from the same cloth. It’s no secret that the nation’s college campuses are ground zero for the current outpouring of Jew hatred. At Columbia, a mob recently taunted Jewish students, telling them to “go back to Europe” and “you have no culture.” At Yale, a Jewish student was stabbed in the eye with a flagpole. As Ben Shapiro explains, this enmity has been fostered by left-wing college administrations for two generations, which believe in “the intersectional hierarchy of victimhood, in which Muslims ..read more

Opinion By Sherian Wilsher-Berteau 05-02-24 We’ve all heard it said ”You’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts”.  From some of the recent letters and articles I’ve read in the News Leader, some may need reminding of that. Recent articles and letter to editor makes it sound like Citizens Defending Freedom are the only people concerned about alternative lifestyle, sexually explicit, not age appropriate books available in our tax-payer funded, public school libraries. It’s made to sound like CDF wants to just Willy-Nilly BAN  BOOKS and restrict learning ..read more

Press Release By Congressman Aaron Bean 05-01-24 While the House of Representatives was out of session this week, I continued my fight to defend Jewish students across America. I joined Representative Michael Lawler to introduce H.R. 6090, the Antisemitism Awareness Act. This bill would require the U.S. Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination law. While university leadership across the nation fails to protect their Jewish students from the flagrant antisemitic ..read more

Opinion By Jeff Childers 05-02-24 Good morning, C&C, it’s Thursday! This morning’s jam-packed roundup of everything you need to know includes:  controversial new OMG exposé video blows the CIA’s socks off; Governor DeSantis bans fake lab meats from Florida markets; New York arrests three hundred radicalized student agitators; first criminal recommendation against covid architect comes from the House Covid Committee; new Hersh tell-all suggests Team Biden is even dumber than they look; House rushes through new antisemitism bill, but is it helpful?; the Matrix glitches, perhaps for goo ..read more