Jimmy Rosilio

Florida House panel approves term limit for county commissioners

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee voted unanimously in favor of a proposal early Friday that would enforce a 12-year term limit for county commissioners. The bill passed after amending the restriction from eight years to 12. 

County officials –  including many commissioners – spoke against HB 57 in the meeting. The officials believed the people in each county should decide the term limits for their commissioners, not the state government. 

“House Bill 57 gives nothing, nothing at all, to the voters that they don’t already have. It only takes away from them,” said Wakulla County Commissioner Ralph Thomas. “House Bill 57 is an in-run on the will of people.” 

However, members of the panel pointed to the history of term limits for public officials in Florida. The power of incumbency influenced the decision, as well. 

Republican Representative Jeff Holcomb spoke from his perspective as a former county commissioner. “I’ll be flat-out honest with you. When you’re an incumbent, you have a big advantage. I know donors who donated to me but they said they donated to the commissioner that I opposed, who was an incumbent. They gave him money anyway because there was a fear of retribution.” 

In the middle, two Democrats on the panel expressed hesitancy with the bill. “I’ll be honest, I am torn on this bill and, candidly, others that unilaterally impose term limits because I can argue both sides of it,” said Dan Daley. “I believe, in part, you have term limits every time you’re on the ballot. I also understand the power of incumbency and something like 90% of incumbents getting reelected.” 

Elsewhere, a Florida Senate subcommittee advanced a bill outlining an eight-year term limit for county commissioners. Simultaneously, the House’s version of the bill will advance to its next committee stop. 

State legislature discusses cost of tax breaks on affordable living spaces

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The state Revenue Estimating Conference considered the cost of HB 1299, a proposal regarding affordable living spaces, on Friday. The bill allows cities and counties to give tax breaks to people with accessory dwelling units on their property.

These accessory dwelling units are attached living areas, sectioned-off parts of a home or something like a guest house. The space needs a fully operating kitchen and bathroom to qualify.

The discussion at the Impact Conference centered on how this housing would impact the value of the property and its effect on taxes. They projected a loss of $781 million in tax revenue if these living spaces make up 35% of the property value.

Ultimately, the real figure will depend on how local governments enact the exemptions. Until then, HB 1299 will continue moving through the Florida Legislature.

Newsome Bests Durant in Stunning Fashion

Shock. Horror. Disgust. Rage. Suffering. 

Faces in Durant’s stands displayed all these emotions (and likely more) after a sucker punch loss to Newsome Friday night. 

The reaction was understandable. In the final three minutes of play, the home supporters witnessed the most unlikely comeback against their team. 

Nearing the end of the fourth quarter, the Durant Cougars held a 19-10 lead and had not allowed a score since the beginning of the first quarter. Newsome needed to pass after receiving a punt and that doesn’t jive well with their flexbone, run-heavy offense. They slowly got down the field, but a sack from defensive lineman Caleb Waters left the Wolves staring down third and 15. 

An incompletion on the play set up fourth and 15. Home fans prepared themselves for the coming celebration. Instead, Newsome quarterback Noah Guenther found receiver Clayton Brown on a deep sideline throw for over 30 yards, setting up a first and goal at the one.  

After another sack on the following play, Guenther looked to Brown once again and he made a highlight reel touchdown catch over his defender. The receiver hauled it in despite contact that drew a penalty. A roughing the kicker call on the completed extra point made the scoreline 19-17 with Durant holding on to the lead. 

This is where things got weird. The penalty on the touchdown and the roughing the kicker on the extra point were enforced on the kickoff. This led to a puzzling image where Newsome kicked off on the opponent’s side of the 50. Durant got control of the low kick in the shadow of their endzone. 

The drama did not stop there. 

Durant’s first kneel brought out Newsome’s last timeout. Two more kneels and the game is over. On the following play, an offensive lineman got called for a personal foul and the clock stopped. 

Suddenly, the game was not over. 

The last kneel down went off successfully, but Newsome still had seven seconds on the clock. Durant quarterback/punter Michael Ryan kicked the ball from the back of the endzone and the returner, with plenty of green ahead of him, called for a fair catch. 

Then came another befuddling sight for fans. The Wolves came out in kickoff formation. The ball rested on a tee as players flanked their kicker on either side. Durant’s defense hurried into receiving formation and no players were within ten yards of the line of scrimmage. The kick went through the uprights on an untimed down and Newsome was up 20-19. 

All of this was legal. While niche, a team can opt to make a free-kick attempt instead of running a play, as long as it follows a fair catch. If that kick passes through the uprights, it counts as a field goal. 

Due to the untimed down, seven seconds remained on the clock. The Cougars controlled the squib kick and began a lateral play. Players sent the ball to one another and back until a player was brought down and the refs blew the whistle. Durant players and fans were not convinced Newsome completed the tackle as the player twisted out and ran it into the endzone. 

That brings us back to where we started. Ten points in three minutes is not unheard of – especially in high school football – but there were a few more confusing paths to get there. To put this in perspective, the game started with a kickoff return touchdown, but the dramatics at the end made that play hardly worth mentioning. 

Additionally, 19 points is a hard score to achieve. Durant head coach Claybo Varnum elected to go for a conversion after two of the Cougars’ three touchdowns. The second opportunity would have put them up 13 to 10. Hindsight is 20/20, but these are the decisions that end up costing teams, the journey the Cougars took on their loss just made these calls sting even more. 

Despite the results, Durant players performed very well on both sides of the ball. 

Ryan found his receivers Damari Styles and Chris Langford often in the match to the tune of 127 yards and a touchdown. The duo made a great one-two punch. 

Styles was lethal after the catch. He would haul in bubble screens, and it almost always took more than one tackle attempt to bring him down. Langford, on the other hand, used his large frame to his advantage, consistently out bodying his opponents. People talk about how unreliable the goal line fade has become, but when Durant ran the play to Langford at the end of the first half it looked unstoppable. He took the ball right off the opponent’s helmet in an old-fashioned Moss-ing. 

Emmanuel Lee impressed again. He notched 85 yards on 16 carries and always threatened to take it the distance. It was no surprise that he eventually did take a rush 35 yards to the house in the second half. 

Durant can take good things away from this loss, but it will be hard to forget just HOW unusual a loss it was.

State of experimental music in Tampa Bay

TAMPA – A shroud of smoke cloaked the stage at The Ground in Miami. Openers Duun and Sleepy C finished their DJ set and concertgoers turned in anticipation for the main act. Unceremoniously, Tim Hecker walked onstage, said nothing and began the performance. The electronic veteran appeared to the audience only as a silhouette during the concert. Music took over the club as bass swelled in people’s chests and high-pitched melodies etched themselves into the ears of anyone who dared not wear headphones. People stood entranced as Hecker performed his new album, “No Highs,” in full.  

Unfortunately for experimental fans in Florida, it had been a long time since Hecker came to the state. Experimental electronic artists often snub Tampa Bay, especially. If they go to Florida, the artist might stop in Miami and skip the rest of the state. This hurts the Tampa music fan because, for many people, abrasive genres like punk, noise and metal seem undesirable until they feel its energy in a live setting.   

“There’s a hypnotic element to it that you have to experience to put into words. It’s something everyone should experience,” said concertgoer Jesse Denis of seeing genres like ambient, drone, and minimalism. “It’s just an interesting dynamic to have such minimalistic sound that draws you in and surrounds you, surrounds the space around you.”   

A big reason artists do not come to Florida is geography. The state as a whole is not a convenient stop for any musician on tour. Hooch and Hive manager Dean Rosenberger said “Generally speaking, the reason acts avoid Florida is money. Period. That’s what it boils down to.”   

When it comes to experimental genres, the struggle worsens. Artists in ambient, noise, drone and minimalism are typically signed to independent labels. These organizations lack the cash to support a trip beyond the panhandle.    

Despite this, Tampa holds qualities that would make a trip worthwhile for experimental artists. The city’s noise scene has been around for a while and a big touring act would excite current fans and could get more listeners interested in local artists.   

“I think there are audiences for this music [in Tampa],” said USF Professor Maria Cizmic, who works in USF’s humanities and cultural studies department. “There are these anchors of people and radio stations.”    

Cizmic also pointed to the electronic composition program at USF. The people who set up the SYCOM studios on the Tampa campus came from roots in the New York avant-garde scene. Program director Paul Reller is a well-known name in the field and performed in the band Clang. USF even houses an original analog synthesizer.   

Noise music is the biggest experimental electronic genre in Tampa Bay. Artists mutilate field recordings and destroy what was once organic in them. In its most harsh form, sounds rake against the listener’s ear, while the music on the more ambient end acts as a haze falling over audiences, creating a claustrophobic lull. In concert, songs can be feats of stamina that last 20 minutes and beyond.   

Noise musician and the owner of Inner Demons Records Dan Fox spoke on the sights at a local performance. “Once you get into the really experimental stuff pretty much everything is game. People get naked, people throw stuff around. Anything can happen at an experimental show.”   

Listen to an Inner Demons release here: 

Events in these scenes allow for groundbreaking and exciting risks. Phil Sroka of MusicFestNews.com wrote that one such concert in 2018 took place in a kitchen and featured musicians plugging pans and appliances into their sound system. They used the resulting noise to perform a piece as they made and served humus to the audience. People ate it up.   

Lately, the scene dwindled. Fox said the local Tampa experimental scene did well for a while, but took a hit in 2020. Resources that built and sustained the genres have run thin.

“When COVID hit, a lot of the venues that supported the scene had to close and they did not reopen,” said Fox, who releases music under the names Loss, Fail and This is What I Hear When You Talk. “That really caused a lot of a problem.”   

The Bunker – a coffeehouse in Ybor that hosted shows -and The Venture Compound, both caused a hit to the scene when they closed. Now experimental acts are relegated to shows at houses and apartments. Even The In-Between, the house venue where the humus show took place, stopped putting on concerts earlier this year. Their last music event took place on January 12th.  

A larger act coming to town might also help bring the genre into the view of other venues. The Tim Hecker concert, while lowkey, had a decent audience show up for the performance. Approximately the front half of The Ground was full and stragglers sat on the side or hovered around the bar.   

This is not to say that noise acts will pull numbers like fellow electronic genres house, EDM, and even gothic/industrial synth music. Most videos of EDM shows at the Ritz Ybor show far bigger crowds than what Tim Hecker drew in. Noise and experimental music are not built for large clubs. They challenge people and widen their horizons. While these elements are key to the music, they also make it a hard sell to venues whose money mainly comes from ticket sales.   

Experimental music in Tampa, and beyond, act as safe spacea for marginalized identities. Inner Demons Records places great emphasis on being socially conscious. The label only permits artists who are socially liberal and the label’s Bandcamp page condemns Ron Desantis proudly and profanely.    

The owner said nothing but g thing about the artists worked with during his time at Inner Demons and left with this message: “The experimental and noise scene, in general, has some of the kindest, most open-minded, accepting humans that I have ever met. It’s just a really good scene full of really good people, in general… …It’s something that I’m proud to be a part of.”   

The LGBTQ+ community sees a lot of representation in the genre which stems from the music itself. In KJ Surkan’s paper “Noise Music as Queer Expression,” he says that noise’s atonality found itself at odds with and rejected by the general standards of mainstream music. Queer art reclaims the qualities condemned by the normative and uses it as a means to express sexuality.   

Still, experimental music remains in a tumultuous time right now in Tampa Bay. While it is clear the genre will live on, its future is uncertain.