Orlando

Orlando city attorney recommends new election date: November 3, 2015

Published

11 years ago

April 17, 2015

ORLANDO, FL APRIL 15, 2015 – Statement by Orlando City Attorney Mayanne Downs: Our community has celebrated great achievements that were the result of breaking jurisdictional boundaries and forming non-partisan partnerships, from the UCF Medical School, community venues to SunRail. Political affiliations don’t fill potholes, pick-up garbage or maintain parks. The City Charter requires a non-partisan election and we believe this is a core value for our government and our community. For these reasons, we strongly believe that local government elections should remain as non-partisan as possible. We are not alone — 77% of municipal elections nationwide are nonpartisan.
Recently the Florida Legislature moved the date of the State’s partisan Presidential Preference Primary from January to March 2016. With this change, the Orange County Supervisor of Elections requested the City to consider changing the City’s April election date for Mayor and Commissioners. Their concern and ours as well is voter confusion because of the close dates resulting in absentee ballot overlap and precinct confusion.
Eighty percent of American cities today hold their general elections on different days than state and national elections. Following this model, City staff evaluated alternative dates for the City election. Moving the date to later in 2016 would extend the term of current elected officials, which is something we consider very carefully. Concerns raised by the Supervisor of Elections Office related to absentee ballot overlap and precinct confusion would still exist if the election were held earlier in 2016.
Given these factors, as the City Attorney, I am recommending that the City of Orlando elections be moved to the more traditional voting month of November 2015, to be held in odd years which do not conflict with state or federal elections. This makes November 3, 2015 the date for the upcoming election cycle. This recommendation will go before City Council on Monday, April 20, 2014.
While this new date shortens the terms of incumbents, changing the City’s election to the first Tuesday in November will ensure that our election doesn’t conflict with the State’s partisan Presidential Preference Primary, eliminates potential confusion for voters, prevents election overlap and ensures our local elections remain non-partisan.
– Mayanne Downs, City Attorney

Florida National News:
• Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is up for re-election, including three commissioners: District 2’s Tony Ortiz, District 4’s Patty Sheehan and District 6’s Sam Ings.
• Orlando City elections are currently set for April 5, 2016. But the state Legislature recently shifted Florida’s primaries from March 1 to March 15, putting the statewide vote less than three weeks before Orlando’s vote.
• Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles asks the city to reschedule.
• The City Council must approve the changes, including changes to the city charter.

Golf

Russell Henley Wins Red Cardigan at 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational

Published

1 year ago

March 9, 2025

Mike Brodsky

Russell Henley wins the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational (Photo credit: Mike Brodsky, Florida National News)

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN Sports) – Russell Henley wins his first red cardigan at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, today, along with $4 million of the $20 million prize pool. The red cardigan was first awarded in 2017, in memory of Arnold Palmer who passed the year before. This is Henley’s fifth win on the PGA Tour.

Russell Henley is greeted by his family on the 18th green after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Photo credit: Mike Brodsky, Florida National News)

Henley finished at 11 under par for the four day tournament, carding a 70 today. Collin Morikawa finished in second place at 10 under par. API defending champion, Scottie Scheffler, finished today at 4 under par, tied for 11th place.

Scottie Scheffler tees off at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Photo Credit: Mike Brodsky, Florida National News)

This coming week, the top golfers head to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, for The Players Championship. The winner will walk away with $4.5 million of the $25 million up for grabs. This is the PGA Tour’s largest regular season purse. Stay tuned to www.FloridaNationalNews.com for more.

NFL

UCF Hall of Fame Inductee Shaquem Griffin Launches Search For Greatness Combine With Joey Grant and GMTM

Published

2 years ago

October 30, 2024

Mike Brodsky

UCF Hall of Fame Inductee Shaquem Griffin Launches Search For Greatness Combine With Joey Grant and GMTM

Former UCF football players Shaquem Griffin and Joey Grant have partnered with GMTM to launch their Search for Greatness Combine at UCF on Saturday, November 9th. They’re giving local athletes a chance to showcase their talents and explore new sports opportunities. Griffin will be inducted into the UCF Hall of Fame on Saturday, November 2nd, during halftime of the Arizona vs. UCF football game. He is remembered for his tenacity, setting an NFL Combine record with the fastest 40-yard dash by a linebacker, and playing four seasons in the NFL, overcoming the challenge of only having one hand. He is now training to make the USA Paralympic Track and Field Team and hopes to compete in the 2028 Olympics. Joey Grant, the co-founder and CEO of GMTM, is a former UCF team captain, playing mostly Center for the Knights from 2011-2015.

Participation at the upcoming combine is free and invite-only, targeting athletes over the age of 18. To be considered, athletes must submit a highlight video via GMTM’s platform, showcasing their athleticism. GMTM will evaluate submissions and invite the most promising athletes to participate in the combine. The goal for this year’s event is to get 1,000 athletes to submit videos and be part of the combine process. Athletes chosen will receive personalized invites with further instructions, including event time slots and details. The athletes will be evaluated for their key athletic traits, to identify opportunities for them across multiple Olympic sports or professional sports programs. To learn more, or to apply for the combine, visit: https://gmtm.com/articles/the-search-for-greatness-at-ucf-with-shaquem-griffin-what-you-need-to-know.

Florida National News spoke with Shaquem and Joey about the combine, college football in the era of NIL and the transfer portal, and Griffin’s hall of fame induction. You can watch the full interview here:

Shaquem Griffin and Joey Grant interview

Stay tuned to www.FloridaNationalNews.com and www.FloridaSportsChannel.com for more.

Florida

Scottie Scheffler Wins Second Red Cardigan at 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2024

Mike Brodsky

Photo credit: Mike Brodsky, Florida National News

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN Sports) – Scottie Scheffler wins his second red cardigan at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, today, along with $4 million of the $20 million prize pool. The red cardigan was first awarded in 2017, in memory of Arnold Palmer who passed the year before. Scheffler first won the API in 2022.

Scottie Scheffler wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational. (Photo credit: Mike Brodsky, Florida National News)

The number one ranked golfer in the world, Scheffler finished at 15 under par for the four day tournament, carding a 66 today. Wyndham Clark finished in second place at 10 under par. API defending champion, Kurt Kitayama, did not make the cut, this weekend, finishing 7 over par after the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday.

This coming week, the top golfers head to TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, for the 50th anniversary of The Players Championship. The winner will walk away with $4.5 million of the $25 million up for grabs. This is the PGA Tour’s largest regular season purse. Stay tuned to www.FloridaNationalNews.com for more.