University of Central Florida: UCF Collaborates with the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum to Annotate Seminole Tribe Archives. “The community-based research project challenges colonial stereotypes in mid-20th century Florida newspapers to provide historical accuracy and context for anyone engaging with the museum’s database.”
That’s So Tampa: Bootleggers, tourism booms and bathing suits: Decade of Change explores Florida in the 1920s. “A new digital collection, Florida Front and Center, also launches this October. Florida Front and Center is putting our state’s story front and center in the grand tapestry of U.S. history. This showcase shines a spotlight on Florida’s colonial roots, tracing back even before the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock. And don’t blink, because it also dives into Florida’s colossal post-World War II expansion and political clout.”
WGBH: Boston philanthropists launch new effort to ship Floridians ‘banned books’. “Any Florida resident who wants a book can go on the website, choose one title to order and pay $3.99 to have it shipped. Florida residents, libraries and educational institutions can order a book — or someone out of state can send a book to someone they know, with the receiver having to approve the shipment. A Florida delivery address is required for the sale to process.”
WFSU: A new virtual museum helps visitors learn about Florida’s civil rights leaders. “The first virtual civil rights museum in Florida launched earlier this month. It features civil rights leaders from the early 1900s all the way into the early 60s. Two Tallahassee natives, Jackie Perkins and Delaitre Hollinger, created the virtual museum. It tells the stories of what the founders call ‘pioneers’ in both education and civil rights. Perkins says the museum includes individuals from all walks of life regardless of race, color or religion.”
West Volusia Beacon: Quakers give away hundreds of Black-history books. “The Quakers had been collecting books for months as a response to the widespread culling of Black-history books from school libraries in reaction to the Anti-Woke Act promoted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and passed by the Florida Legislature, making it a felony to teach or lend books on Black history not vetted by the Florida Department of Education. We were hoping to get 100 books. But books kept coming. We were stunned to receive nearly 500 books in the mail, delivered by UPS, and left on doorsteps. A woman in Pennsylvania donated $100 by PayPal.”
WUSF: A massive photo archive documenting Tampa Bay area history is being digitized for the public. “The University of South Florida Libraries are digitizing nearly 80,000 photo negatives that document the life and landscape of the Tampa Bay region from the 1950s to 2010s. The images are part of the Skip Gandy Collection of Aerial and Commercial Photography and chronicle key moments in local history.”
Business Insider: The college student who tracks Elon Musk’s private jet on Twitter is now monitoring the jet used by Ron DeSantis. “The college student who tracks Elon Musk’s private jet on Twitter has decided to give Florida governor Ron DeSantis the same treatment.”
CNN: DeSantis and Florida GOP look to upend public record laws as they attempt to shield his travel and other records ahead of likely White House bid. “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his GOP allies have moved to shield the Republican leader from the state’s notoriously robust public records laws as he prepares to launch a campaign for the White House.”
Ars Technica: Florida officials deleted data, stats from dubious COVID analysis: report. “Florida health officials deleted key data and statistics from a state analysis on the safety of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, falsely making them appear unsafe for young men, according to draft versions of the analysis obtained by the Tampa Bay Times through public records requests.”
WFTS: Florida Sentinel Bulletin history in the process of being digitized at the C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library. “The Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection dates back to the 1940s. The collection highlights African American history that you wouldn’t see in other media outlets. Right now, the library is in the process of digitizing all of the items to make them more accessible to the community.”
WFLA: Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state. “Florida Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Lake Mary) wants bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and other members of the Florida executive cabinet or legislature to register with the state or face fines.”
Bleeping Computer: Florida hospital takes IT systems offline after cyberattack. “Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) has taken its IT systems offline and suspended non-emergency procedures following a late Thursday cyberattack. While all its network systems were taken online, TMH says this attack only impacted some of them.”
University of Central Florida: UCF Researchers Help Restore the Lost History of Indigenous Prisoners in St. Augustine. “During the Plains Wars of the mid-1800s, thousands of indigenous peoples were forced from their homelands. Dozens of their leaders and warriors were imprisoned over a thousand miles away from home in Fort Marion (now known as the Castillo de San Marcos) in St. Augustine, Florida. Today, UCF researchers are collaborating with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, the National Park Service, the Florida National Guard and Flagler College to help restore the lost prisoners’ experiences for their descendants and the public.”
City & State Florida: Francis Suarez, un(block)chained . “Suarez’s championing of cryptocurrency outfits like FTX is emblematic of his tenure as Miami’s top elected official. Entering the second year of his second term, critics say Suarez, a Republican, is more concerned with elevating his national profile and fueling his presidential ambitions rather than tackling the city’s wealth gap, crumbling public infrastructure and affordable housing crisis.”
TechCrunch: Florida state tax website bug exposed filers’ data. “A security flaw on the Florida Department of Revenue website exposed at least hundreds of taxpayers’ Social Security numbers and bank account numbers, a security researcher found. Kamran Mohsin said the security flaw — now fixed — allowed him, or anyone else who was logged in to the state’s business tax registration website, to access, modify and delete the personal data of business owners whose information is on file with the state’s tax authority by modifying the part of the web address that contains the taxpayers’ application number.”
