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Keith Morelli - page 2

Keith Morelli has 16 articles published.

With a 38-year career in journalism behind him, Keith Morelli now writes about medical marijuana and the politics of pot in Florida. He began his career as a news editor with a weekly paper in Zephyrhills and his last gig was with The Tampa Tribune, which folded unceremoniously in May. While there, Morelli was general assignment reporter for the Metro section, writing a wide variety of pieces ranging from obituaries, to crime, to red tide, panthers and city government. In between those jobs, he spent nine years as a bureau chief for the Ocala Star-Banner. [email protected]

Florida records birth of first baby with Zika-related birth defects

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The first case of microcephaly, a birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads and incomplete brain development, has surfaced in Florida. The defect is caused by the Zika virus, which was contracted by the mother while in her native Haiti, authorities said. Officials with the Florida Department of Health confirmed the case Tuesday morning. The newbornā€™s mother came to Florida to deliver her baby, officials said. The department is working with the family to get the…

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Insurer files protest with state over HMO bids

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A health and life insurance company has filed a protest with the Florida Department of Management Services, which recently rejected bids to provide HMO benefits to the stateā€™s employees. Aetna Life Insurance Company hand-delivered a copy of the protest to the state earlier this month and posted a $3.1 million protest bond, according to a letter from the insurerā€™s attorneys, Foley & Lardner of Tallahassee. The state began its procurement process in September seeking bids to provide its employees with…

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Vote No on 2 web ad warns of ‘budtenders,’ urges voters to reject medicinal pot

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The campaign to convince voters to reject Amendment 2, the medical marijuana measure on Novemberā€™s general election ballot, released the fourth in a series of online video advertisements Monday. In announcing the ad, Vote No on 2, the campaign sponsored by Drug-Free Florida Committee, said the ad is ā€œsetting the record straight on what Amendment 2 really means for Floridians.ā€ Titled ā€œBudtender,ā€ the ad says dispensers of medical marijuana in Florida would have no medical education or training of any kind. ā€œThis…

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Gulf Cost snook fishery finally rebounds from devastating 2010 cold snap

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The number of snook along Floridaā€™s Gulf Coast finally is where it was before a devastating freeze in January 2010 decimated the population, forcing the state to impose an unprecedented ban that hit hard the charter fishing and tourism industry from Tampa Bay south. Snook, widely considered Floridaā€™s most popular nearshore game fish that drew sport fishermen from all over the world, are back in robust numbers along the stateā€™s Gulf Coast, where the population took a big hit six…

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As support mounts for Orlando victims, undercurrent of hate surfaces on social media

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With the outpouring of support in Orlando, Florida, the nation and the world over the massacre of 49 innocent victims inside a nightclub over the weekend, an undercurrent of hatred and ignorance bubbled to the surface across the social media spectrum. The vitriol stretched the First Amendment right of everyone in this country to freedom of speech and expression which at times has had to bite its lip over unpopular speech to preserve that right. To be sure, most of…

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Florida Health Department update on medical pot ā€“ long on jargon, short on new info

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An update offered by the Florida Department of Health on the approaching availability of medical marijuana was rife with technical and legal language, but really broke no new ground other than to further emphasize the strictness of rules and regulations regarding the use of pot by patients with various medical problems. The main thrust delivered by Christan Bax, director of the DOH Office of Compassionate Use, was that the transition to cannabis from contraband to a legitimate medical treatment is…

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Equality Florida raises $1.6M on GoFundMe page for Orlando shooting victims

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Equality Florida, the stateā€™s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, has raised more than $1.6 million over a single day in a GoFundMe account set up Sunday for the survivors and families of victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando over the weekend. Forty-nine club patrons and the gunman were killed and 53 wounded in the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States. Pulse, a gay club, was packed early Sunday morning when the…

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