James Call - page 26

Reggie Fullwood built an early lead among absentee and early voters and held on to capture the Democratic nomination for Florida House District 13 seat. A general election is scheduled in February. Fullwood captured 63 percent of the vote in a race against Jacksonville City Councilman Johnny Gaffney. Unofficial results showed with 48 of 48 precincts reporting, Fullwood had 3,547 votes to Gaffney’s 2,014. According to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections office, 6,567 participated in the election. Gaffney would…

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Gov. Rick Scott continues to assemble his management team for a second term. Tuesday, Scott named Rick Swearingen as interim Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Swearingen has been at FDLE since 1984, serving as Director of the Capitol Police since 2013 and as the Special Agent in charge at the governor’s mansion for three years before that. “With over 30 years of service at FDLE, Rick has dedicated his career to protecting Florida families and making sure…

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The Department of Health announced Tuesday Patricia Nelson is the executive director of the Office of Compassionate Use. Nelson has been the deputy director of the Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform in the Governor’s office. Nelson will lead the department’s effort to construct a regulatory framework for the implementation of the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014. Lawmakers directed DOH to have regulations in place by Jan. 1, 2015 for the growing, processing and dispensing oil from marijuana…

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Medicinal marijuana advocates Wednesday will get a rare opportunity to question the Secretary of the Department of Health.  John Armstrong will chair a public meeting of the Statewide Drug Advisory Council and marijuana is on the agenda. Kevin Bist is scheduled to deliver an update on the Office of Compassionate Use. The law creating the Office also directed DOH to have a regulatory framework in place by Jan. 1, 2015  for the growing of marijuana and the processing and dispensing…

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Ken Lawson will remain as Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Gov. Rick Scott announced Tuesday.  Lawson, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, joined the Scott administration in 2011 and the governor praised his streamlining the permitting process and reducing regulations. “Under his leadership at DPBR, we have cut professional license wait times from 41 days to an average of two days,” said Scott.  “Ken has played an integral role in creating a business climate conducive to growth…

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As of noon Tuesday, 711 voters in a Jacksonville Florida House District had shown up at the polls for a Democratic primary for the House District 13 seat. The contest pits former Rep. Reggie Fullwood against Jacksonville City Councilman Johnny Gaffney. A special elections was required when Fullwood failed to properly file paperwork to be a candidate. When Fullwood missed the deadline no candidate had qualified for the November ballot. Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland predicted 6-percent of…

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The Department of Health has confirmed that Linda McMullen is no longer director of the Office of Compassionate Use. As we first reported Saturday, communications director Nathan Dunn said Tuesday that McMullen has been reassigned to the department’s Prosecution Services Unit. McMullen was appointed the office’s first executive director in July and was charged with developing regulations to implement the Charlotte’s Web law.  A proposed rule filed in August was ruled invalid in November by administrative Judge David Watkins. The…

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