Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 11-3-15 Edition

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Police Searching For Missing Adult
State Rep. Proposes Witness-Protection Exemption
Police are searching for a 35-year-old Riverview man. Police are asking members of the community to help locate him.
Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office Investigators said Gift Bless Smith, of Riverview, was last seen at his residence around 1:30 a.m., on Friday. After he had not left his room, his family entered his room around 1 p.m. and dis- covered him gone.
Detectives said Smith has
GIFT BLESS SMITH ... Reported missing last Friday
a diminished mental capacity and may not be able to find his way back home.
Smith is described as a Black male approximately 5’5 inches tall. He weighs about 170 pounds and was last seen wearing a black hoodie and was in possession of a black back pack.
Anyone with information pertaining to Smith’s where- abouts are asked to contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at (813) 247-8200.
State Representative Edwin Narain, D-Tampa, has filed legislation to protect witnesses from being harassed and retaliated against by crim- inals when cooperating with the police. HB 475 provides an exemption from public records for the names of witnesses to a felony.
“Members of the commu- nity who are trying to improve their neighborhoods by coop- erating with police officers should not have to live in fear of reprisals or repercussions from criminals,” said Rep. Narain.
“It's a shame that children have been murdered with mul- tiple witnesses and people are afraid to come forward. This bill addresses that concern by protecting the witness’ identi- fying information from release. It's time to end the ‘stop snitch- ing’ culture and this bill aims to do that and empower commu- nities again.”
ED NARAIN State Representative
House Bill 475 applies to each witness until the conclu- sion of the prosecution or the expiration of the statute of lim- itations period for the felony, whichever occurs first.
If the felony has no statute of limitations period, the ex- emption applies until the con- clusion of the prosecution of the felony or 10 years after the commission of the crime ob- served by the witness.
State News
State News
Florida Students Shine On National Report Card
Hispanic students con- tinue to outperform the na- tion in grades 4 and 8
Florida Education Com- missioner Pam Stewart an- nounced Florida’s results on the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading and Mathe- matics assessments. The re- sults show that Florida’s fourth grade Hispanic stu- dents continue to have the na- tion’s highest percentage of students performing at or above Basic and at or above Proficient in reading.
Continuing the trend, Florida’s fourth grade low-in- come students also have the country’s highest percentage of students performing at or above Basic in reading and the highest average scale score in reading. Hispanic fourth graders also earned the na- tion’s highest average scale score in reading and the high- est percentage at or above Proficient in mathematics.
On grade 4 reading, no states scored significantly higher than Florida’s African American and Hispanic students, and only three states scored significantly higher over- all.
No state scored signifi- cantly higher on grade 8 reading than Florida’s African American and Hispanic students.
Florida’s Hispanic stu- dents outperformed their na- tional peers in both grades 4 and 8 reading at or above Basic and at or above Profi- cient.
In grade 4 reading, nearly all Florida subgroups per- formed better than their na- tional counterparts in the percentage of students scoring at or above Basic.
Students considered as economically-disadvantaged, and students with disabilities outperformed the nation at or above Basic in grade 8 read- ing.
Florida’s Hispanic fourth grade students led the nation with 71 percent scoring at or above Basic and 34 percent of Hispanic 4th graders scored at or above Proficient.
In Mathematics, in grade 4, most subgroups performed better than their national peers scoring at or above Basic. Hispanic students, eco- nomically-disadvantaged stu- dents, and students with disabilities outperformed the nation scoring at or above Proficient.
Florida’s Hispanic stu- dents and students with dis- abilities have the nation’s second highest average scale score in grade 4 mathematics.
For both 4th and 8th grade African American and His- panic students, no state has a significantly higher scale score than Florida.
For more information about Florida’s 2015 NAEP reading and math perform- ance, visit The Nation‘s Report Card.
Florida Highway Patrol Hopes To Collect 6 Tons Of Food For Needy Families
This week, the Florida De- partment of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles launched their annual “Stuff the Charger” Thanksgiving food drive. The agency will collect non-perishable food donations for Florida families through November 7, 2015.
The agency is working in partnership with food banks across the state.
Col. Gene Spaulding,
Director of the Florida High- way Patrol said, “The men and women of the Florida Highway Patrol are committed to help- ing the residents of Florida.
“The Thanksgiving holiday is about coming together with family and serving those in need, which is why the mem- bers of the Department are
working for this very meaning- ful food drive.”
Last year, the department collected more than three tons of food for families throughout Florida. With the help of Floridians across the state, the department has set a goal to double that total this year.
The Department will be ac- cepting non-perishable food donations at each FHP troop headquarters across the state to include General Headquar- ters in Tallahassee and driver license offices in Volusia, Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
For a complete list of drop off locations, visit: http://www.flhsmv.gov/florida -highway-patrol/stuff-the- charger-food-drive/
Florida Supreme Court
Schedules Hearing On
Medical Marijuana
The Florida Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing to see if the proposed new amendment for medical marijuana is compliant.
The hearing has been scheduled for 9 a. m., December 8th, and will give interested parties the opportunity to present their arguments for or against the amendment that aims to get med- ical marijuana legalized in Florida.
Last month, the effort to get the amendment on the ballot was still more than 600,000 sig- natures short that needed to be validated by the Supervisor of Elections and the Florida Supreme Court.
If the amendment makes it to the ballot, the effort will be put back into the hands of the vot- ers in 2016. If it passes with a 60% majority vote Metro Orlando can expect a $140 million indus- try from medical marijuana.
Last year, the effort failed after getting 58% of the vote. Nationally, the market for legal medical marijuana is expected to be worth
about $10.2 billion in a few years.
A recent survey has revealed that for the first
time in history, the majority of people in the United States support the legalization of mari- juana. About 53% of Americans support the le- galization of marijuana, and 57% would not be bothered if a business that sells marijuana opened in their neighborhood.
Elected Officials Push For New Penalties For Violating Fair Districts Amendments
TALLAHASSEE --- Seeking to ensure that lawmakers drawing new legislative district lines not only adhere to constitutionally- defined redistricting requirements, but face penalties for violating them, Senator Darren Soto (D- Orlando) and Representative Dwight Dudley (D-St. Petersburg) filed SB 6-C and HB 3C. This legislation is in response to the recent battles following the Legis- lature’s redistricting of both Congressional and state Senate seats, both of which were successfully challenged as unconstitutional.
Under the legislation, those found to have violated the Fair Dis- tricts Amendments could face penalties up to $5,000, as well as censure, reprimand or expulsion from the legislature. The bill has been filed for the 2015 C Special Session which began Monday.
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