Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 8.31.21

By Peter Schorsch    

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried will hold a statewide moment of silence Wednesday for Floridians who have died from COVID-19.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that 44,553 Floridians have died with COVID-19 as of Monday, a rate of 207 per 100,000 residents.

“I invite all of my fellow Floridians to join me for this moment of silence honoring the memory of the nearly 45,000 lives lost across our state due to COVID-19,” Fried said. “No matter where you are or what you’re doing, we can all come together to pause and observe a moment of reflection and remembrance, uniting as a state to pay our respects to the victims of this virus.”

The moment of silence will come after Fried holds a news conference to announce updated COVID-19 data. The moment of silence will take place at 11:45 a.m. in the Capitol. Both events will be livestreamed on the Agriculture Department’s Facebook page.

The only Democrat to win a statewide election since 2012, Fried is a candidate for Governor hoping to deny Gov. Ron DeSantis a second term. Late last month, she began hosting frequent COVID-19 briefings, citing a “void” of data from the DeSantis administration.

The number of people dying of COVID-19 in Florida worsened last week as the state set another record Friday. That week’s report tallied 1,727 new deaths acknowledged since the week prior.

With that report, Florida has averaged reporting more than 200 new COVID-19 deaths per day over a three-week stretch of August — the worst period of mortality seen in the Sunshine State’s entire 18-month coronavirus pandemic.

That level also means that in recent weeks COVID-19 might be the leading cause of death in Florida.

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“Personnel note: Nikki Fried promotes three more inside Ag Department” via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics — A week after promoting two people and hiring a third, Fried announced Monday three additional promotions in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Florida continues to face major agricultural, public health, and economic challenges that require successful engagement with state and federal lawmakers and agencies,” Fried said in a statement. Carlos Nathan has been promoted to Director of the department’s Office of Legislative Affairs. Taking Nathan’s place as Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs is Pamela Añez Krivočenko. Anthony Pardal, who has served as Assistant Director of Administration for the Office of Federal Affairs, will now be its Deputy Director.

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Scoop from inside Fried’s campaign — Finance director Stefanie Sass is exiting the campaign for a TBD position with the Joe Biden administration. “It’s been a privilege and an honor to work with the only female, Jewish Agriculture Commissioner elected to statewide office. I’m excited for her work and service to continue. I’ve been offered an opportunity with the Biden administration that I’ve decided to accept. I’ll be able to share more details soon.”

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@KejeraL: hot girl summer is over. the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters

Tweet, tweet:

—@JeromeAdamsMD: The lack of a national and local/school-based testing strategy -along with less than ideal vax uptake and no or late to the game masking- are gonna make it hard to slow the delta variant, and much more likely that schools will be forced to go virtual.

—@djrothkopf: More people have died of COVID in Florida in the past two weeks than U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan in 20 years.

—@SenileDonDraper: And then Roger said “I bet you can’t sell horse dewormer to people who mostly wear red hats.” Just threw down that gauntlet. Excuse me while I piss the letters “I BET I CAN” on his grave. Draper plays the long game.

Tweet, tweet:

—@GNewburn: It doesn’t matter what post hoc statutory interpretations even a bill’s author conjures (for any number of reasons, among them that such interpretations are often based on immediate political concerns rather than good-faith analysis). What matters is the law’s text.

—@MattHaig1: Skimming through social media is exhausting. You switch from the bad news to the bad views to the random troll to someone telling you that you are amazing to seeing your first girlfriend’s twelve-year-old child and the aunt who still thinks COVID is a hoax. All before breakfast.

—@Tbridis: So long, and thanks for excellent and entertaining Capitol insights over years, @RadioRicko. Your @Fla_Pol Sunrise podcast has been recommended daily listening for our @FreshTakeFla journalism students