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Free Face Masks for Polk County Residents

Free Face Masks for Polk County Residents
Residents who need facial coverings to help protect themselves and others from spreading the COVID-19 virus may get them free at numerous sites throughout Polk County.
The Board of County Commissioners, which purchased the masks for residents from funds available from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant, is providing disposable three-ply ear loop masks free to the public.
Residents may receive up to three masks per person. You may also pick up masks for a family member or someone unable to pick up for themselves. These masks are reusable until they become damaged, dirty or wet.
Distribution locations in municipalities will set their own hours when they are open to dispense masks. Those participating governments and organizations will announce their times and locations via their websites, social media and news releases. Residents should direct questions regarding hours to their local sites.
The mask distribution sites operated by the county include:
County Administration Building
Communications Division-First Floor
330 W. Church St.
Bartow
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Parks & Natural Resources
Johnny and Freda Brooks Eloise Resource Center
710 Snively Ave.
Eloise
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Mary Norma Campbell Resource Center
2226 Karen St.
Lake Wales
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Medulla Resource Center
1049 Parker Road
Lakeland
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wabash Community Center
1230 Southern Ave.
Lakeland
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Wilfred Smith Resource Center
135 Ave. Y N.E.
Winter Haven
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tourism & Sports Marketing
Central Florida Visitors Center
101 Adventure Court
Davenport
8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The June jobs report is proof the Great American Comeback is underway.

The June jobs report is proof the Great American Comeback is underway.

June’s 4.8 MILLION job addition was the largest one-month job gain in U.S. history, shattering last month’s record. The past two months, 7.5 MILLION jobs have been added.

The June Jobs report smashed a whole host of other records too:

  • The largest one-month women’s job gain in history (+2.8 MILLION)
  • The largest one-month decline in unemployed workers (-3.2 MILLION)
  • The largest one-month drop in the unemployment rate (-2.2%)

And the great news continues:

  • 356,000 manufacturing jobs added in June
  • 158,000 construction jobs added in June

This rising economic tide is lifting all boats. 404,000 jobs were added for black Americans in June and 1.47 million jobs were added for Hispanic Americans.

Despite objectively good news for millions of Americans, CNN refused to air President Trump’s press conference, preferring to talk about the Mueller Report. Seriously.

Why does CNN not want the American people to know that the Great American Comeback is underway?

Bottom Line: This V-shaped comeback is further evidence that Joe Biden’s agenda of raising taxes and enacting more regulations with his far-left Green New Deal would put the brakes on our country’s recovering economy while destroying millions of American jobs along the way.

Polk Commissioner Bill Braswell talks about face masks

Polk Commissioner Bill Braswell talks about face masks 

Reading the emails and posts I receive from the citizens of Polk County I want to make sure there is clarity in where we stand on the issue of masks. As we stated in the proclamation this week we believe the CDC guidelines should be followed as best one can. This means social distancing, sanitation, and masks. We have not made masks a mandate for several reasons. One is we believe people will make the right decisions on this issue without government intervention. Second, we do not want to subject our police force to policing the mask issue and therefore infect our police force to the detriment of the community. Third, there are some people who have issues that prevent them from wearing masks. Fourth, there will be lawsuits. Fifth, this is a long term problem that we as a society need to adjust to. People will adjust as the infection rates go up and down. We don’t need the BOCC to meet every time we have an increase or decrease and adjust public policy. We need policy that endures. Dr Jackson believes we are in a 3 year cycle of corona virus.
To these points I will say this, if I had any underlying medical condition I would wear a N95 mask all the time along with a face shield. I would only go out in public when absolutely necessary. I would have groceries and store goods delivered, no shopping. I would have no social interaction except that which I could not avoid.
We have received plenty of email and phone calls on this matter. They are running about 50-50. My political opponent believes the pro-mandate side of the debate is a large majority. He is wrong. His belief is a very loud minority is more powerful than a silent majority, we will find out on Nov 3rd. His protest rally in Bartow this week was covered by his accomplices at the Ledger. Numerous photos of the rally were shown in an online article. There were 5 people there, thats it. What this tells me is what I already believe. People know gathering in groups is not smart and they avoided his bad idea.
When I post here I like to leave people with facts so they can make good decisions. As of 8am this morning Polk has 17%(268) of our hospital beds empty. We have 12%(22) empty ICU beds. There are 138 people hospitalized with corona in Polk County.
Averaged over the last 2 weeks the daily infection rates for Polk and surrounding counties is;
Hardee County. 26.49%…………………no mandate
Osceola County 22.0%…………mask mandate since April 13
Hillsborough County 20.26% …mask mandate since Jun 23
Polk County 20.12%………………………no mandate
Orange County 17.27%…………..mask mandate since Jun 18
Pasco County. 15.61%……………….mandate since Jun 23
Lake County 11.33%………………………no mandate
Highlands County 7.84%………………..no mandate

Message from County Commissioner Bill Braswell Regarding COVID-19 and Polk County

Message from County Commissioner Bill Braswell Regarding COVID-19 and Polk County

July 1, 2020
Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit down one on one with Dr Joy Jackson the Director of the Department of Health here in Polk County. I would like to share our conversation with you.
Dr Jackson is very concerned because as we all know our numbers are trending upwards. That said, she knows this up and down cycle will continue for the foreseeable future. I think that is something most people do not want to accept. This is not going to be “fixed” this year or even next year. This is a virus that does not and will not have a cure. Viruses are never cured. The solution is an effective vaccine or herd immunity. Those are the only 2 choices.
Let’s talk about option 1, a vaccine. It may or may not happen. She was far more optimistic about this than I am. Why am I not optimistic, there is no vaccine for AIDS and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent trying to find one. It took 35 years to develop a yet unproven vaccine for Ebola. Influenza has a vaccine and still 30,000 – 60,000 Americans will die from it and up to 600,000 people globally. So even if there is a vaccine there is no promise of how effective it will be or how long it will last.
Option 2 is herd immunity. This occurs when a large percentage of the population has been infected with the disease and recovered. As future outbreaks of the disease occur it has nowhere to spread because all of the people that it is passed to are immune. For this to happen most of you reading this post will need to get the disease. This is a scary thought but it is the situation we are in. You, me, our children and grandchildren will all most likely become infected at some point with Covid19. I don’t know how to say it any plainer.
The issue that we as a community have to deal with is this, we need it to spread slowly. There is no doubt it will spread. If it moves at a manageable pace, we can avoid overwhelming our hospitals. If it ramps up and moves quickly the hospitals will not be able to handle it. We do not want to be New York City.
Up until the last few days we had not seen a spike in hospitalizations, ICU usage, or ventilator needs. That has changed. We have been averaging 3 or 4 people on a ventilator for the last 6 weeks. As of yesterday, we had 16. As I write this our county has about 13% of our hospital beds available. I don’t think that is a big concern because a lot of that is a result of elective surgeries. What is a concern is at 7pm tonight Polk County only has 16 ICU beds available. These are real people getting very sick.
From the first time you heard of this virus the terms social distancing and washing your hands were seen as the best way to slow it down. That advice came from centuries of experience. We were told to flatten the curve. That has been and will continue to be the goal. Face masks have been added to the advice. This is controversial and there are plenty of arguments for both sides. How well they work depends on what they are made of and how they are worn. When Dr Jackson and I discussed this topic, her advice was whatever we do we will most likely need to do it for at least 3 or 4 years. Let that sink in for a moment. That should give you an idea of where we are in the timeline of this disease.
I expressed my frustration with our system that does not allow you and I to know more specific information about where the hotspots are and how they are spreading. Only the courts can change that. All of us will be days or even weeks behind in knowing where we should have avoided. Family gatherings have been a major source of spreading. We now have workforce issues causing rapid spread. Groups are not a good idea. Personally, I think social distancing will be the primary factor in reducing the spread.
Another topic we discussed was the age of the current positive cases. It continues to trend lower. Half of the positives in Polk are under the age of 35. While most young people will be able to handle the virus, they will still get sick. Some will get very sick.
Going forward there is no one answer to this problem. It will spread no matter what we do. It cannot be stopped. It can only be slowed down and that should continue to be our goal. It is important that regardless of your politics on this issue you acknowledge it is real. It can make you very sick and it can be fatal to some. Dr Jackson confirmed what I have posted here in the last few days about who is most at risk. Otherwise healthy people with type 2 diabetes are dying from this disease at an alarming rate. People with lung issues like COPD are also seeing high rates of mortality. If you fall into one of these categories you will need to be extremely careful.
Our county has been tracing each and every positive since day one. We now have 45 individual tracers but as the cases ramp up they are falling behind. Tracing gives us a slight head start on preventing an otherwise unknown positive individual from further spreading. We are averaging 1400 tests per day. Unfortunately, we are also averaging over 16% positives for the last 7 days. Just 2 weeks ago we were around 4%.
As responsible citizens it is up to you to do what you can to slow down the spread. There are many people who simply cannot afford to stay home to avoid exposure. Their bills must be paid. Others are not going to wear a mask even if it is mandated. I see no purpose in exposing our police officers in enforcing such a mandate. I am hearing stories daily of people not wearing masks harassing people who are wearing masks and vice versa. I find that behavior very bizarre.
The bottom line is this, you must accept responsibility for your own actions. Protecting your family should be your primary motivation. Do what you need to do. Comply with CDC, the Florida Surgeon General, and Dr Jackson’s guidelines, Socially distance, wash your hands regularly, and use a mask when social distancing is not an option if it is practical.
I will keep you posted as things change.

All four Florida House incumbents in Polk County face challengers for November election

Challenges set for Polk legislative races

All four Florida House incumbents in Polk County face challengers for fall election as qualifying deadline passes. Term limits create opening for other local seat.

June 15, 2020  LAKELAND ― All four of Polk County’s state representatives seeking re-election will face at least one challenger this fall.  Friday was the deadline to qualify for Florida Legislature elections, and all four incumbents have drawn opposition. Meanwhile, six candidates have qualified to compete in Florida House District 42, which is open as Rep. Mike La Rosa faces term limits.

Rep. Sam Killebrew, R-Winter Haven, has one challenger as he seeks a third term in District 41, which covers northeast Polk County. Jared West, a Democrat from Davenport, has qualified for the election.  West, 30, is an Indiana native who has lived in Central Florida since 2012, according to his campaign website. West said he has worked for Walt Disney World, an engineering company and as a contractor with the United States Small Business Administration. His resume includes volunteer work for Young Democrats of America and nonprofit groups.  West had collected $2,495 in contributions through May 31, according to the Florida Division of Elections. All of the money came from individual donors.  Killebrew, 75, has gathered $51,507 in contributions, most of it from political-action committees. Killebrew’s donors include Amscot, Duke Energy, Florida Blue, Florida Phosphate and Walt Disney Travel Co.

Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland, faces two challengers as she seeks a fourth term in District 40, which covers the greater Lakeland area. Two Lakeland residents ― Jan Barrow, a Democrat, and Emily Michie, with no party affiliation ― have qualified to run.  Burton, 62, has a significant financial advantage, having collected $121,400 in contributions. The bulk of the money comes from committees representing the likes of Associated Industries of Florida, Cemex Materials, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dosal Tobacco Corp., Duke Energy and Gilead Sciences, and fewer than 10 of Burton’s 144 contributions appeared to be from individuals.  

Barrow, 58, hasn’t held office before. She has collected $12,468 in contributions, with $750 from the Florida Democratic Party and the rest from individuals. Michie reported only a loan of $1,100 from herself.

Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City, faces a challenge from Democrat Chris Cause of Loughman as she seeks a second full term. Tomkow, 24, represents House District 39, which includes northern Polk County and a small section of Osceola County.  Tomkow has amassed $84,481 in contributions from likes of Aetna, Anheuser Busch, AT&T, Dosal Tobacco, Duke Energy and the GEO Group. Only four of her 99 contributions appeared to be from individuals.

Chris Cause, 46, is a teacher who announced his campaign about a year ago. He has gathered $6,474 in donations, all from individuals.  Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade, has drawn two Democratic challengers, James Davis of Bartow and Eric Bautista of Arcadia. Bell, 58, is seeking a second term in District 56, which covers southern Polk County, Hardee and DeSoto counties.

 

This article originally appeared in the Lakeland Ledger on June 15, 2020

Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected as the new host city to celebrate the renomination of President Donald Trump.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Thursday that Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected as the host city to celebrate the renomination of President Donald Trump.

“We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville,” McDaniel said. “Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trump’s heart as his home state, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020. We look forward to bringing this great celebration and economic boon to the Sunshine State in just a few short months.”

McDaniel said the event would be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which holds 15,000 people. She said more details would be released in the coming weeks.

The move comes as Trump clashed with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper about holding the convention in Charlotte amid coronavirus concerns.

The party’s more mundane business, including discussions over the platform, will still be held in Charlotte because of contractual obligations.

The RNC had spent the last week scouting locations after Cooper rejected Trump’s demand that the convention be allowed to take place Aug. 24-27 without social distancing measures.

The Jacksonville area is one of the state’s most populous, with 1.5 million residents, but it doesn’t have the glitz of Miami or the worldwide familiarity of Orlando. The community has tilted from the solidly conservative bastion it once was to the more politically diverse place it now is. While the area’s population is still mostly white, 21% of its 1.5 million residents are black and 9% are Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Florida is honored to host this special event where we will celebrate the re-nomination of President Donald J. Trump,” DeSantis said. “Jacksonville is a great city that will showcase Florida’s energy, facilities, entrepreneurship and commitment to bring together the delegates of the Republican Party at a historic time in our nation’s history.”

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, a former chair of the state Republican Party, tweeted a video announcing his city’s selection for Trump’s speech. He said Jacksonville would be prepared and ready.

“What city would take on the Republican National Convention with just 75 days to pull it off?” he asked. “Probably not many. But Jacksonville isn’t just any city.”

In a statement provided by the RNC, Curry also touted the “tremendous economic impact” from hosting the event. The celebration could generate at least $100 million in revenues for the host city, perhaps more.

But Ben Frazier, a black activist with the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, said the event would be disruptive to the city during a time of racial tension and a pandemic.

“I only see this exacerbating these problems,” he said. “The mayor’s concerned about the money the city could make. We’re concerned about the lives of people here in Jacksonville more than anything else. We don’t simply need to be concerned about dollars and cents.”

Terrie Rizzo, the chair of the state’s Democratic Party, expressed concern about the gathering.

“I am deeply concerned that the impetus for moving their highest profile event to Florida was because Donald Trump wanted to give a speech to a crowd of people not social distancing — and, given his previous public events, likely not wearing masks,” she said.

“Trump is coming to Florida to throw himself a big party — but it’s looking more and more like a goodbye party to his chance at a second term in the White House,” she said.

The party’s more mundane business, including discussions over the platform, will still be held in Charlotte because of contractual obligations.

This article is a re-post from WESH2TV, the API and Hearst TV also contributed to this report.

Polk County Chooses Delegates to the RNC National Convention

June 11, 2020
Congratulations to the following Polk County REPUBLICANS that were chosen by their respective caucuses to be a delegate or alternate delegate or chosen by the RPOF as an at large delegate/alternate delegate to the GOP NATIONAL CONVENTION.
JC Martin – Congressional District 9 Delegate
Dr-Ed Shoemaker – Congressional District 15 Delegate
Amilee Stuckey -RPOF At Large Alternate Delegate
Kathryn Gates-Skipper -RPOF At Large Alternate Delegate

Jacksonville Emerges as the Front Runner to Host the Republican National Convention

2016 Republican National Convention

 

Jacksonville Emerges as the Front Runner to Host  the Republican National Convention 

June 10, 2020

According to reports by News4JAX, Jacksonville, FL is now the front runner to host the RNC Nominating Convention being moved out of Charlotte, NC. 

The head of the Republican Party of Duval County said Wednesday it’s a matter of “days if not hours” before we’ll know if Jacksonville will be the substitute host for some or all of the August convention where Donald Trump will accept his party’s nomination for a second term.

National Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said reports of a final decision were ‘definitely premature,” but she made clear that Jacksonville is the favorite now that Charlotte, North Carolina, the official host of this summer’s Republican National Convention, has balked on promising Trump a full-blown convention free from social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic.

“There’s a couple more things we need to do before we can announce that, but Jacksonville is absolutely in the front-running position,” McDaneil said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

Trump has made clear he no longer intends to hold the convention’s marquee event — his acceptance speech — in Charlotte. But much of the party’s more mundane business, including discussions over the platform, are still expected to be held in Charlotte because of contractual obligations.

“We are going to keep our convention of, the business of the convention in Charlotte. That is for sure. It’s going to be smaller and scaled-down. And then we are looking for a different city for a celebration,” McDaniel explained.

But several Republicans familiar with the negotiations stressed that no final decision had yet been made about where the convention will be move

“Several cities are still being considered,” said Emma Vaughn, a Florida-based spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. She said that convention officials were touring Phoenix; Savannah, Georgia; Dallas; and Jacksonville this week and “have been in conversations with several other potential locations.”

“While no final decision has been made by the RNC we understand Jacksonville is a front runner,” the chairperson of the Republican Party of Florida, Joe Gruters, said in a tweet. “This certainly has been generating a lot of attention and excitement. We continue to believe that Florida would be the best place for the Convention.”

Jacksonville GOP Chairman Dean Black was every optimistic the convention with thousands of delegates, media and support staff might come here.

“We are ecstatic the Republican National Committee sees what we do in Jacksonville,” Black said. “While we understand the final decision on a convention location has not yet been made, we are excited for the possibility of hosting our great President and Republican leaders. Reaching this stage of the process would not have been possible without the leadership of Gov. DeSantis, Mayor Curry, Sheriff Williams, and many others. Jacksonville holds the privilege of being the largest Republican-controlled city. We hope to show the rest of the country the benefits of Republican governance.”

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that three Republican officials confirmed that Republicans have tentatively settled on Jacksonville as the new destination for the GOP’s premier festivities.

Greater Jacksonville has a population of about 1.5 million. Mayor Len Curry is a former chairperson of the state Republican Party, and the area is the home base of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, a key Trump ally. Florida’s prize of 29 electoral votes is considered crucial to Trump’s bid for a second term, which could factor into the party’s calculations.

The Party’s party could generate at least $100 million in revenues for the host city, perhaps more.

Reports said RNC aides are scrambling to determine whether Jacksonville has enough hotel rooms to accommodate the event, which typically kicks off the final stretch of the presidential campaign. It would take significant work to make the convention happen. Estimates show the event could draw 50,000 visitors with a potential $100 million economic impact.

The RNC said it expects about 20,000 people for the convention, and the head of Visit Jacksonville believes the city could handle the crowds.

According to our count, Duval County has 18,000 hotel rooms. Of the eight hotels downtown and on the Southbank, there are more than 2,300 rooms.

There are currently no reservations available at the Omni and Hyatt Regency in downtown Jacksonville during the week of the RNC in August.

Georgia and Florida’s governors have been courting GOP and White House officials since it became clear that North Carolina and the party were not seeing eye to eye on the convention and coronavirus precautions in the city of Charlotte.

Curry said previously the recent success of the UFC event at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena shows the city can have a large event and keep people safe from the novel coronavirus.

More than 5,000 people have signed a petition to keep the RNC out of Jacksonville. Some residents are concerned not only by the thousands of delegates and other people covering the convention but the possibility of protesters from all over America descending on the city.

Black said that shouldn’t be a concern, saying that Jacksonville will tolerate protests but won’t tolerate lawlessness.

“We’re going to show them how this is done, and if they want good governance, too, all they have to do is vote Republican,” he said.

This is a reposting of an article originally posted by News4JAX.com.

Ross Report: Great American Comeback!

June 7, 2020

Dear Friends,

As always, thank you for allowing me to bring you this brief update on what was a very productive week. Serving you and your loved ones in Congress is a privilege!

I would like to start by thanking the thousands of district residents who joined our telephone town-hall on Monday evening. These conversations are one more opportunity for me to hear directly from you! 

As we kicked off the month of June, one my top priorities remains ensuring our district, state and country quickly recover from the economic impact left by COVID-19. Having proposed the ‘Great American Comeback‘ recovery plan a few weeks back, I again hit the road and crisscrossed our district to visit with small businesses, talk to constituents, and most importantly, turn their feedback into actions in my congressional work.

As the ‘Paycheck Protection Program‘ (PPP) program was being rolled-out, I heard from small business owners and employees that they needed additional flexibility to ensure continued business operations, I took that back to Washington, and got it done. This week, President Trump signed H.R. 7010, the ‘PPP’ Flexibility Act into law, and I am proud to have lent my voice in bill negotiations to reflect what I heard in our district.

As the only Floridian on the House Small Business Committee, I have fought hard for this program, and it is working! On Friday, the Labor Department reported that our country added back 2.5 million jobs, as states have begun opening up their economies. I remain confident that getting our economy back on track can be done quickly and efficiently by continuing implementing common-sense, pro-family, pro-business policies, like the ‘PPP’. This program kept millions of businesses afloat, safeguarding job positions for employees and income revenues for American families. I have no doubt that the ‘Great American Comeback is around the corner and that the best is yet to come! 

Speaking of getting people back to work, I proudly cosponsored H.R.  7044, the ‘No Pay for Proxy Voting Act’, which would withhold pay from Members of Congress who do not return to D.C. to vote in person. This in addition to joining a lawsuit on May 27th, 2020, questioning the constitutionality of this ‘vote by proxy’ scheme. Asking the American people to safely return to work, while some Members of Congress stay home and collect a paycheck is hypocritical. It is also wrong to take the voice and vote of millions of Americans and put it in the hands of just a few members. This may sit well with Speaker Pelosi, but not with me.

On Wednesday, I led a medical roundtable at the USF downtown campus to discuss how
telemedicine can help local residents and health professionals combat the pandemic in #FL15.

On Thursday of this week, I joined Newsradio WFLA to discuss not only my small business tour, but also PHASE 2 of Florida’s reopening, which by Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday. It is important to remember that as our state takes an important step towards reopening, observing social distancing recommendations and practicing good hygiene procedures will remain important. For your convenience, you can find all the information you need regarding PHASE 2 here

As always I invite you to follow me on FacebookTwitter or visit my website where I am always posting the latest news and updates as they become available.
  
See you around the district,
Ross Spano Signature
Ross Spano
U.S. Representative, FL-15

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