Florida is a mess August 23, 2026

It was a long and draining week for me, personally, so I was a day behind on this when I found out that a child who attends my youngest child's school took their own life last night. I'm not ok.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington DC in February of 1968.

Table of Contents

Finite Disappointment

Florida Gonna Florida

Historic Interlude

Infinite Hope

Bear the History Hound Finds

Finite

Disappointment

A child who attends my kid's school took their own life last night. The sheriff's department talked to teachers all day, a floor of the school was closed. That's all the information I have at the time I pressed schedule on this.

Again, I'm not ok. My kid isn't. The school isn't. I'm just so heart broken.

Florida

Gonna Florida

If you read one thing this week...

This is a thoughtful and powerful piece. I can't recommend it enough.

Another Floridian Arrested For Trying to Vote

You may think I'm some sort of liberal or Democrat or something because while I try to be a little circumspect about it, I'm clearly not a fan of Trump or DeSantis. Really, I actually sort of hate labels, hate ideological fealty above common sense even more and I very much think everyone should be able to vote and should vote. I don't care who or what they intend to vote for. So this clip, which is pretty emblematic of Florida, is infuriating. Spoiler alert, the woman trying to vote in the Republican primary is a middle aged white woman. I assume they treated her better than others, but you know what happens when you assume. That said, the Supervisor of Elections was correct that Florida is a two party consent to record state, though the public space argument she makes puts it in a murky area.

Free State of Florida, if you can Afford to Buy a Politician

STOP. If you think just because you don't live in Florida this doesn't apply to you, think again. A judge followed the law this year and delayed, briefly, a contested handover of prime public real estate to the Trump Library project. This library will sit across the street from the arena where the Miami Heat play, which itself sits on the waters of Biscayne Bay on what was once Miami's last public beach. Prime real estate.

Because the veteran judge had the audacity to follow the law in a way that temporarily delayed the transfer of the land long enough that a legally required public hearing could be held, she was primaried out by a person with barely more legal experience than anyone reading this. Unless, of course, she has less experience than the reader, because that's a very low bar. The Miami Herald Editorial Board, which includes at least one quite conservative editor, was incensed and rightly so.

So how does this apply to you in California? Oregon? Indiana? This happened not because of political will from some, but because someone bought themselves an election to punish a judge who followed the law. Do you really think your local elections are immune to this just because this is Florida? Florida IS the blueprint for anti democratic (small-D) efforts. The rest of the country's anti-democracy efforts regularly pattern themselves after Florida.

This may have impacted one small race in a corner of the country but it is indicative of what can happen anywhere right now. Best way to stop it? Be engaged, vote and make sure your vote was counted.

Florida May Be Getting Tired of Corruption, Finally

There's no doubt about it. Trump won Florida three times. Trump crushed Harris in Miami-Dade County, which Joe Biden carried in 2020. But, as Josh Ceballos points out, there are signs that the Trump brand, along with the accompanying cronyism, may be wearing thin on Florida voters. That and $4 gas.

Historic

Interlude

40 years ago Miamians got up to a dire warning: Lake Okeechobee, the literal heart of South Florida's ecosystem, could be dying. Forty years later and while the lake isn't dead yet, it's not doing well, at all.

While the current drought has counterintuitively brought wildlife back to Lake Okeechobee, the toxic algae is very much a problem as this 2025 article points out:

Toxic algae threat in Florida and the Lake Okeechobee connection

Toxic blue-green algae, which can sicken humans and kill animals, has been surfacing in lakes and ponds throughout Florida.

FOX 13 Tampa BayCraig Patrick

There are several others from the last month on Lake O's toxic algae problem, but they are all paywalled, so I'm not including them. While governors from Bob Graham (D) to Ron DeSantis (R) have done much to help the environment in Florida, "Big Sugar" a thing most Americans don't know is a thing, still dominates Florida and is still a major albatross around the neck of the state.

‘Not even close’: Clean-up of Everglades water polluted by Big Sugar struggles to keep up

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the massive Everglades restoration project dissected in the WLRN podcast Bright Lit Place is the water polluted by phosphorous and other nutrients that run off from sugar cane farms.

WLRNTim Padgett

Infinite

Hope

Unite 355!

The people at Unite 355! a labor union here in South Florida wanted to hear from the community what is keeping the community up at night. The community told them the high cost of living and the treatment of immigrants in our community are the two most pressing things keeping them up at night. So Unite 355! a bunch of other unions like SEIU 32BJ and community organizations like People Acting for Community Together got together to talk about it. Arianne Betancourt, whose images and stories appeared in many of the prayer vigil across from the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" recaps was their to tell her father's story.

The whole thing was in Spanish, which I don't understand. But I did understand when the community comes together it is a beautiful thing.

The next day, Sunday, I attended the German language service at my church. I don't speak German either, but, again, I felt the warmth and power of community and diversity.

Miami-Dade County is an incredibly diverse place and its that diversity that makes it great. Being just another member of that beautiful, diverse, inclusive place gave me a lot of hope.

Bear

The History Hound Finds

Ten most legendary shows at Miami Marine Stadium

As the landmark moves toward restoration, revisit 10 legendary concerts featuring The Who, Queen, Van Morrison and more.

Miami New TimesDavid Rolland

Finland tried to end homelessness. What can we learn from its runaway success – and recent failures?

The Housing First policy led to the number of homeless people in Finland dropping by half. Those with firsthand experience explain why it worked

The GuardianMiranda Bryant

Tech billionaires want Christians to believe in AI

For Peter Thiel and JD Vance allies, the tech right is framing AI as a moral—even divine—mission.

Mother JonesKiera Butler

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