Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 12.9.21

By Peter Schorsch    

Good Thursday morning. We must begin with sad news from yesterday.

The billionaire daughter of the Publix Super Markets founder has died after having early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, the company announced Wednesday. Carol Jenkins Barnett was 65.

Barnett died Tuesday night at her home in Lakeland, Florida, Publix said in a news release. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2016.

Barnett was one of seven children of Publix founder George W. Jenkins, who died in 1996. According to Forbes magazine, her net worth was estimated this year at $2.1 billion.

Barnett began working as a cashier at Publix in 1972, eventually serving on its board of directors for 33 years, the company said. She was known in Lakeland — where Publix is based — for her philanthropic work, including financial support for the United Way, the founding of Bonnet Springs Park in Lakeland, a pavilion for women and children at Lakeland Regional Health and many other organizations.

“The Publix family is deeply saddened by the loss of a great humanitarian and community advocate,” said Publix CEO Todd Jones. “Carol had a generous heart and compassionate soul. Her efforts will continue to improve the lives of others for generations.”

Barnett is survived by her husband, two sons and three grandchildren. A memorial service is planned for Saturday in Lakeland.

Dominic Calabro, Florida TaxWatch mourn Carol Jenkins Barnett — FTW President and CEO Calabro issued a statement Wednesday praising Barnett’s philanthropic work and offering his condolences to her family. Barnett had deep connections to FTW. In addition to serving as a former vice-chair, her father, George Jenkins, was one of Florida TaxWatch’s six founders and her husband, Barney Barnett, is a past chair. “Carol’s philanthropic work emphasized the paramount importance of early childhood learning and she dedicated her life to bettering the education of youth in Florida. Her advocacy and philanthropy had a direct positive impact on the children of Florida and the taxpayers of this great state,” Calabro said.

After that sad news, here are a couple of items to cheer you up.

 — Tom Brady is Sports Illustrated’s 2021 Sportsperson of the Year: It’s not the first time. Brady, often referred to as the GOAT (greatest of all time), won the nod for the first time 16 years ago. Since then, he’s amassed seven Super Bowl titles, including the most recent one last year leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Before that, he spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, where he helped the team win 17 division titles — including 11 consecutive — play in 13 AFC championship games and nine Super Bowls and win six Super Bowls. He was just 25 when he claimed his first Sportsperson of the Year title. Now he’s 44 and still showing fans he can dominate on the gridiron, playing with and against players much younger. Read more about why Brady stays at it in this rundown from the Tampa Bay Times.

 — Rock out this Christmas with 2021’s best new holiday jams: Tired of the same tired Jingle Bells? A.V. Club has you covered with a dozen new holiday-themed tunes to jazz up your holiday spirit. You can go with a fresh take on a classic sound with Chase Cohl’s “Christmastime And You” or get classy and a bit romantic with José James’ jazzy “Christmas In New York.” Feeling nostalgic for the previous Christmas music-free ABBA? They’re on the list. Or infuse a bit of poppy country into the mix with Pistol Annies’ “Snow Globe.” The supergroup includes Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley. Also on the list is Brian Fallon’s fingerpicking guitar rendition of Joan Baez’s “Virgin Mary Had One Son,” which A.V. Club describes as a “form of barroom Americana that allows Fallon to better showcase his whiskey-and-honey croon.” See the rest of the list here, complete with music videos for each song.

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Former Chief Deputy Attorney General Patricia “Trish” Conners has joined Stearns Weaver Miller’s Tallahassee office as a shareholder in the firm’s Antitrust, Competition & Consumer Protection group.

Conners is a renowned litigator and creative legal strategist specializing in antitrust and competition policy and enforcement. Her experience also includes exposure to a wide variety of government and regulatory matters.

For 36 years, she served in various senior executive positions in the Florida Attorney General’s Office, including as Chief Deputy. In this role, she supervised over 1,100 employees and engaged in a wide array of matters, representing the State of Florida on both sides of the “v.”

As Deputy Attorney General for Enforcement, she oversaw the Office’s Antitrust and Complex Enforcement, Civil Rights, Consumer Protection, False Claims, and Lemon Law Arbitration Divisions. She has extensive experience advising seven Florida Attorneys General on various enforcement, litigation, and policy issues.

During her tenure, Conners regularly interacted with opposing counsel, private plaintiffs’ counsel, other state attorneys general and counterparts at the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Justice and European agencies. She also served as a mentor to dozens of young lawyers and support staff.

In October 2020, the Florida Attorney General’s Office established the “Trish Conners Award,” presented annually “to recognize the [Office of Attorney General] lawyer who exemplifies excellence, professionalism, and demonstrated dedication to the mission of the Department of Legal Affairs.”

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@POTUS: Today, I signed an executive order directing the federal government to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

—@SenRickScott: Now imagine if (Joe) Biden would have done the right thing and called for the @Olympics to be moved out of Communist China? When America acts, the world follows.@POTUS is wasting his position with weakness and appeasement toward the world’s dictators.

—@GovRonDeSantis: Florida has some of the best cancer care centers in the nation. I’m proud of @FLCaseyDeSantis for fighting for cancer patients. In Florida, we are proposing historic funding for cancer research and care.

Tweet, tweet:

—@CarlosGSmith: Florida nursing homes need to be transparent and accountable. The revenue that keeps them open is OUR TAXPAYER MONEY!!!

—@fineout: Well, here we go: @GovRonDeSantis will roll out his full budget recommendations to Fla. Legislature tomorrow morning at the state Capitol. #SessionIsComing

—@VessOnSecurity: 1970: We’re going to build a global network that can withstand a nuclear war. 2021: AWS is down and my coffee machine doesn’t work.

—@ByPatForde: Louisville’s third Board of Trustees meeting in three days is at the top of the hour. The belief is that the way has been cleared for Vince Tyra to become the AD at FSU, and people may actually be able to talk about it. Our long national nightmare is approaching closure.

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