Page 7 - Florida Sentinel 5-17-16 Online Edition

Progress Made On Issue Of Gun Violence Epidemic
Opponents Demand Republican Senate Candidate Apologize To President
Florida Republican U. S. Senate Candidate, Carlos Beruff, has refused to apol- ogize to President Barack Obama for calling him “an animal” who has been trying to turn America into just an- other country.
Since the video of Beruff’s remarks became public Sun- day, both Democratic and Republican candidates in the Senate race have spoken out against the Manatee County homebuilder for stepping over the line for calling the President an animal.
Democratic U.S. Repre- sentative Patrick Murphy from Jupiter, Florida, said the statement by Beruff was not only offensive, but ex- tremely disrespectful to the President.
However, a spokesperson for Beruff, Chris Hartline, attacked Murphy and de- fended Beruff by saying “when liberals like Con- gressman Patrick Mur- phy cannot defend their view, they resort to name calling and the politics of racial division.
CARLOS BERUFF .....referred to President Obama as an “animal.”
Hartline said the people who are owed an apology are Murphy and other politi- cians who have been aiding the present in making Amer- ica weaker.
Beruff alleged President Obama has been destroying the military and that he has a plan to make America “just another country.”
“Unfortunately, for seven and a half years, this animal we call President because he’s an animal, OK, has surgically and with thought and very smart, intelligent manner, destroyed this country and dismantled the military under not one, not two, but three defense secretaries,” Beruff said.
Pinellas County Republi-
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
can U.S. Representative, David Jolly, took issue with Beruff and said, “like many Americans, I believe with the strongest conviction that the President’s policies the last seven years have weakened our leadership on the world stage and has weakened us economically at home, but re- ferring to the President of the United States as an ‘animal’ is an alarming insult of ques- tionable intent and has no place in American politics. Carlos should immediately apologize.”
A group led by Margie Bellware attended a meet- ing in February in Tallahassee and are happy to report that there has been progress made in dealing with the gun vio- lence epidemic.
Governor Rick Scott
signed SB 12 that requires communities – health professionals, together to develop a local plan for mental health and substance abuse treat- ment.
“The goal is to create a sys- tem so that no matter how someone enters the system, they get immediate access to the right kind of care and fol- low up,” said Ms. Bellware.
Bills dealing with gun vio-
lence that are still pending are
H. R. 39026 – Gun Vio- lence Research Act of 2015; to amend the Pub- lic Health Service Act to provide a better under- standing of the epidemic of gun violence. This bill was referred to the House Committee on En- ergy and Commerce.
The other bill is H. R. 3830 – gun violence in our neighborhoods act of 2015 intended to reduce gun violence, increase mental health counsel- ing, and enhance the tracking of lost and stolen firearms. This bill was referred to the sub- committee on Health.
Attorney General Asks Frontier To Improve Customer Service
TALLAHASSEE --- Attor- ney General Pam Bondi has been in contact with Frontier Communications Corpora- tion, and sent a letter to the company requesting better cus- tomer service for Floridians.
Frontier acquired Verizon Communications wireless properties in parts of Florida earlier this year. Since then, more than 100 con- sumers have contacted the At- torney General’s Office with complaints about internet, se- curity, phone and television services.
“The problems created dur- ing Frontier’s acquisition of Verizon are leaving some Florida seniors without the se- curity services they paid for, and to complicate matters, without telephone service, many of them may not even be able to dial 911 in case of an emergency,” Attorney Gen- eral Bondi said.
“I asked Frontier to do the right thing, fix these problems as soon as possible, and issue refunds to all consumers who have experienced an interrup- tion in their services, without the customer having to request a refund.”
Consumers have also com-
plained about being placed on hold for up to two hours and poor customer service once they do reach a Frontier repre- sentative. Many report receiv- ing higher than expected fees when trying to cancel accounts.
Following up on conversa- tions last week with company representatives, Attorney General Bondi sent a letter demanding better service for all Frontier customers in Florida.
From March 29, through May 9, of this year the Attorney General’s Office received 128 complaints about Frontier. The office forwarded each of the complaints to the company, and so far, the company has been responsive to at least 56 of these complaints.
The company recently set up an email address and phone number in an effort to better assist customers. To reach the company, email Consumer.Af- fairs@FTR.com or call (800) 921-8101.
Any Frontier customers ex- periencing problems should also file a complaint with the Florida Attorney General’s Of- fice by visiting MyFloridaLe- gal.com or calling (866) 9NO-SCAM.
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7
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