Piney Point poses âunreasonable riskâ for Manatee jail inmates, A.C.L.U. argues
Officials say the jail is prepared if the old phosphate plant is breached, but an emergency petition filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit argues the inmates should be released or relocated.
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Aerial view overlooking the site of the Piney Point wastewater release on Sunday, April 4, 2021 in Palmetto. [ LUIS SANTANA | Times ]
Updated 1 hour ago
PALMETTO â When it became clear Saturday that the old Piney Point phosphate plant was in danger of imminent collapse, officials raced to evacuate about 315 nearby homes that risked being inundated by a 20-foot wastewater flood. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in three surrounding counties.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
A Florida Republican attorney has resigned from a state commission in protest after a law enforcement raid on the home of a former Department of Health employee who said she was fired after refusing to manipulate coronavirus data.
A longtime member of the 12th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission, which nominates judges to fill vacancies on the bench in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties, Ron Filipkowski is a registered Republican who was reappointed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But, in his resignation letter, Filipkowski wrote, “I have been increasingly alarmed by the Governor’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”