Central Florida singer/songwriter Ivy Hollivana’s music is a seeming study in opposites, deftly balancing pop and experimental sensibilities, a classical vocal style with alien electronic arrangements. Earlier this month, Hollivana released her ethereal new album LOVERDIAMOND, a record that emanates hope and compassion, much needed at this particular moment in time. To accompany the new…
A new federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study shows that Hispanic, Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native children accounted for 78 percent of COVID-19 pediatric deaths. Also, 75 percent of the children who died had at least one underlying medical condition. The report is based on information that 47 health jurisdictions, including the Florida…
Orlando Legals Legal Public Notices ADVERTISEMENT FOR PROPOSALS Date: August 26, 2020 Request for Proposal: RFP-025-C-2020 (P) Pursuant to Chapter 23, Title 31 of the Virgin Islands Code, the Department of Health, Division of Behavioral Health, Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Services Office is requesting proposals from Qualified and Licensed Adult Step-Up, Step-Down (ASUSD) Mental Health…
Spending more than $9 million to keep 5,200 acres across five counties from development and replacing the chief judge of the state Division of Administrative Hearings are on tap for the first in-person Florida Cabinet meeting in more than seven months. An agenda released Tuesday for the Sept. 22 meeting doesn’t include a request by…
The Orange County Library System’s Melrose Center is bringing back their annual Melrose Film Festival starting this Friday, Sept. 18 – though this year the Festival is happening virtually. The Film Festival will feature 75 films from over 20 countries. Categories in the fest are animated shorts, documentaries, micro shorts, music videos and short films. The…
It’s no secret that one of the main reasons Orlando lacks the mass transit that most decent tourist destinations have is because of the abundant tax revenue from rental cars. With the world still hesitant to travel back to one of the leading COVID-19 hotspots, however, many rental cars have sat unused for months. Now, new…
Starting in early October, Old Town in Kissimmee will be celebrating the Halloween season with some retro entertainment that’s been coming back into vogue this year: drive-in movies. Every Sunday night in October, Old Town will be showing a quartet of mostly family-friendly yet spooky – the opening sequence of Wes Craven’s meta-slasher film Scream still…
Florida restaurant chain Kona Poké announced the upcoming opening of an “Express” location at Orlando’s Quantum Leap Winery set for later this year. This soon-to-be-opened Express will be Kona’s third Central Florida outpost, joining full-service locations in Lake Mary and Sanford, and the first location near downtown and Mills 50. Though a more stripped-down affair…
In a surprise twist, Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights will return in the flesh this year … kind of. On Monday night, Universal broke the news that two of the haunted houses planned for this year’s HHN pre-coronavirus will open to the public for daytime scares at very limited capacity. Further, this opening will be…
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried wants the state to be more open about how it plans to spend federal stimulus money received because of the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, Fried requested a full accounting of federal “CARES Act” money the state has received so it can be discussed…
Averting a possible constitutional showdown, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday appointed Jamie Grosshans, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal, to serve on the Florida Supreme Court. DeSantis’ appointment, announced at a 5 p.m. news conference, came hours after he defied a noon deadline mandated by the Supreme Court to name a justice.…
Floridians will cast their ballots in the November 3rd general elections for federal, state, county and district seats. They will choose among state attorney candidates whose policy platforms, if elected, will help shape local criminal justice policies and procedures. It’s an opportune time to shine lights on Florida’s direct file process and its disproportionate impact…
Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said in a television interview aired Monday that he is bisexual, as he continues to re-enter the public spotlight after a March incident in which he was found intoxicated in a Miami Beach hotel room. Gillum said on the “Tamron Hall Show” that he doesn’t “identify as gay, but…
Since first being introduced in the mid-1990s, alpine coasters have proven to be a popular offering at many smaller attractions. The rides provide a custom-designed, coaster-like experience at a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately, part of that cost-cutting is thanks to their use of the naturally hilly terrain. The lack of natural hills or powered…
A man died after falling from the I-Drive Starflyer attraction early Monday morning. Orange County Fire Rescue were called to Icon Park around 8 a.m., where an employee had fallen off the Starflyer during a safety check. The worker was 200 feet up when he fell, reports Fox 35. The man was taken to the…
No other company has mastered the art of cross-promotion like the Walt Disney Company, and that fact will be readily apparent on Disney+ in the coming years. Disney’s entrance into the streaming wars last year marked a new chapter for the industry, now slightly more than a decade old. First announced in 2017, just ahead…
A visit to the UCF campus by conservative internet personality and gun rights activist Kaitlin Bennett turned into a full-blown student protest event on Thursday morning. Bennett is best known for going viral in 2018 by posing with an AR-10 rifle at her college campus in her graduation pictures. The Kent State University grad then…
Florida continues to see declines in first-time unemployment claims, even as the state braces for permanent layoffs over the next few months of workers —- many in tourism and hospitality jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor announced an estimated 36,541 first-time unemployment claims in Florida during the week that ended Sept. 5, while 884,000 new…
A new Commonwealth Fund analysis ranks Florida’s health system among the worst in the nation, finding, among other things, that the state spends $19 a person on public health, or about 51 percent of the national average, and has more children without a “medical home” than any other state. Also, the report released Friday shows…
Florida is reaching out to more than 2 million unregistered voters and urging them to register by the state’s Oct. 5 deadline. The Department of State announced Friday it was sending out postcards to about 2.2 million people who appear eligible to vote but are not listed on Florida’s voter rolls. The state is doing…
State legislative budget chiefs anticipate “short-term challenges” during the next legislative session as economists project a $2.7 billion shortfall because of the coronavirus-fueled recession. The shortfall would be in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, which will start July 1. Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research, told members of the Joint…
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the state of Florida can prevent ex-felons from voting if they owe court costs or other financial penalties, even if they are too poor to pay them. In a 200-page ruling, the court spelled out its 6-to-4 decision, overturning a lower court ruling that had blocked the…
It’s always a pleasure to match our readers with events that we think are relevant to our present moment, so with that in mind, you should know that Milk District Bar the Nook on Robinson is hosting an outdoor event next week with a satisfying and simple premise: scream at the sky until you go…
In a rebuke to Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Supreme Court on Friday unanimously rejected his selection of a circuit judge to serve on the Supreme Court and gave the governor until noon Monday to appoint another candidate from a list of nominees offered early this year. DeSantis’ appointment of Palm Beach County Circuit Judge…
Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he wants to make permanent a change that has allowed restaurants to sell carryout alcoholic beverages during the coronavirus pandemic. DeSantis included what he calls “alcohol to go” in a March executive order to help provide a source of revenue for restaurants, which have been forced to scale back their…
The Orlando Film Festival has selected the documentary Disarm Hate as part of its slate of films for this October’s fest. Disarm Hate is a doc and travelogue that follows a group of LGBTQ+ activists on an RV journey from Lost Angeles to a massive gun-control rally in Washington D.C. in the aftermath of the…
Yes, the parent company of Fuddruckers has announced plans to liquidate. But no, that doesn’t necessarily mean the three Orlando-area locations will close. “WE ARE OPEN!” is the message being pushed hard on Fuddruckers’ website right now (see photos above and below), even though the board of directors for Luby’s, Fuddruckers’ Houston-based parent company, voted…
Good morning, artists! We got a message from Orlando Fringe HQ today that we wanted to pass along — they are looking for input from theater artists far and wide to assess the festival’s inclusivity. Orlando Fringe is on a mission to gather information from artists in our community and around the world. Whether or…
Bars and breweries in Florida will be allowed to reopen effective this Monday, Sept. 14, at 50 percent capacity, via the (electronic) mouth of Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears. DBPR head Beshears tweeted on Thursday night – policy via Twitter sure is fun – that the Executive Order that closed down Florida bars since the…
Embattled rental app Airbnb is set to begin a crackdown on ‘party house’s throughout Florida effective immediately, with Orange County and Lake County properties among the trouble spots targeted. Amid news stories of COVID party ragers around the country over the summer, Airbnb instituted an indefinite, worldwide “party” and event ban and attendance caps at rentals…
Here’s one for the Florida Man file: Casselberry police say Omar Forde, a security guard, pulled over a speeding vehicle he saw while driving home from work, which turned out to be an off-duty Orlando police officer. Forde told police he first noticed the BMW pass him along the left lane, before he began following the…
With just under two months until the Nov. 3 general election, new polls show little to no space in Florida between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. “For the record, we didn’t believe the overly rosy summer polls for Biden – who can forget Quinnipiac’s 13 percent margin for Biden in highly…
The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will open their 2020-2021 season live and in person later this month with a Sept. 26 season opener at Exploria Stadium in downtown Orlando. The season opener and Fairwinds Classics Series concert will be the Orlando Phil’s return to live performance in front of audiences after months on hold due to…
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday doubled down on his selection of Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Renatha Francis to serve on the Florida Supreme Court, intensifying political pressure in support of Francis as a controversy over her qualifications continues to swell. In an unusual move, the Republican governor held a news conference in Miramar, where…
Nearly half of former National Football League players who used opioids in 2010 continue to use them today, and nearly 60 percent of them experience moderate to severe depressive symptoms, a University of Florida study shows. Published in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the study examined the long-term effects of opioid use in…
Saying the proposal would have driven Floridians “to the hazardous black market,” Gov. Ron DeSantis late Tuesday vetoed a measure that would have banned the sale of nearly all flavored electronic-cigarette products and raised the state’s smoking age from 18 to 21. Attorney General Ashley Moody, Senate President Bill Galvano and health organizations such as…
FusionFest – the annual showcase for the many cultures and artforms that make Central Florida so vibrant – is returning to Downtown Orlando on Thanksgiving weekend. FusionFest, as with every year, promises music, film, dance, food, art, fashion, spoken word and interactive activities from all around the world, courtesy of a hard-working curatorial team. The outdoor…
Smoking is gaining popularity among Florida’s medical marijuana patients. Physicians wrote nearly 1.4 million orders certifying medical marijuana for 232,586 people between Oct. 1, 2019 and March 30, 2020 a new report released by the state shows. Members of two of the state’s medical licensing boards were set to discuss the data during a Zoom…
Leaders of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus and a non-profit group sounded off Tuesday against a proposal going before voters in November that they say will decimate minority representation in the House and Senate. Amendment 3, which seeks to overhaul Florida’s primary-election system by allowing voters to cast ballots in primaries regardless of party affiliation,…
¶ We wrote last week about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ silent, late-night extension of his statewide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures (Monday, Sept. 1) for another month. This is his fifth extension of the executive order – which is good – but in August he changed the wording of the order, allowing landlords to begin filing…
Phoenix Tears’ sinister ‘Recovery’ reignited my interest in Zoom’s theatrical potential
In 2015, Baltimore had an uprising against police violence much like those occurring around the country this summer. When it happened, we were both working at the Baltimore City Paper, an alternative weekly much like this paper – except that it no longer exists. The Baltimore Uprising was the sort of event that alt-weeklies exist…
“Who’s Dave?” I ask through my mask while staring up at the menu inside Mason Jar Provisions. I’m referring to the “Dave Dog” ($12), one of the sandwiches offered at this Thornton Park eatery that opened mid-pandemic. “That’s my dad,” says chef and co-owner A.J. Haines, whose father, I learn, passed away last November. It’s…
Is This Fascism? Part One: History might not repeat, but it rhymes
Premieres Wednesday: Get Organized with the Home Edit – Get thee behind me, Marie Kondo! Decluttering experts Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin are here to straighten up the living spaces of regular Joes and celebrities alike. But do I really want to know what Reese Witherspoon has in her crawlspace? (Netflix) The Social Dilemma –…
‘I Got a Monster: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Corrupt Police Squad.’
