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The Florida Roundup is a live, weekly call-in show with a distinct focus on the issues affecting Floridians. Each Friday at noon, listeners can engage in the conversation with journalists, newsmakers and other Floridians about change, policy and the future of our lives in the sunshine state.Join our host, WLRN’s Tom Hudson, broadcasting from Miami.

Partisan school board races, DNC fact-check and environmental news

FILE - A roll of "I Voted!" stickers are shown, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla.  A Florida man has been arrested on forgery and fraud charges after authorities say he cast a ballot for his deceased father in the 2020 election.
Wilfredo Lee
/
AP
FILE - A roll of "I Voted!" stickers are shown, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. A Florida man has been arrested on forgery and fraud charges after authorities say he cast a ballot for his deceased father in the 2020 election.

This week on The Florida Roundup, we discussed the primary results in this week’s school board races, a proposed amendment that asks Florida voters to decide whether to make school board elections partisan, claims from the DNC, a roundup of environmental news from the weekend and a Florida athlete on the Wheaties box.

Partisan school board races 

This week’s primary election had school board races across the state.

These races are currently non-partisan but that could soon change. In November, Florida voters will be asked whether to change the state’s constitution to require partisan school board races.

Guests:

  • Andrew Atterbury, education reporter for POLITICO's Florida bureau. 
  • Rep. Spencer Roach, member of the Florida House of Representatives (R-North Fort Myers). 

DNC fact-check 

The Democrats finished up their national convention this week after four days and nights of speeches. We checked in with our partners at PolitiFact to rate the truthfulness of a few claims by Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Guest:

  • Samantha Putterman, Florida government reporter for PolitiFact. 

Environmental news  

This week, The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced plans to makeover wilderness in state parks with golf courses, lodges, and pickleball courts. The proposal has drawn swift backlash from conversationalists who say the plans violate state law and threaten Florida’s natural beauty.

The blistering summer heat wave that hammered South Florida last year wiped out the last wild stands of its iconic elkhorn coral in the Lower Keys, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced this week.

A federal judge has struck down a Trump-era assessment that would have allowed oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to continue without adequately protecting endangered species. That includes the planet’s last remaining Rice Whales.

A group of scientists and volunteers meet regularly to track Southwest Florida frog numbers. They do so by listening carefully.

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