{"id":316332,"date":"2026-06-23T00:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/316332\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T00:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:56:14","slug":"last-call-for-6-22-26-a-prime-time-read-of-whats-going-down-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/316332\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Call for 6.22.26 \u2013 A prime-time read of what\u2019s going down in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Call \u2013 A prime-time read of what\u2019s going down in Florida politics.<\/p>\n

\u2014 First Shot \u2014<\/p>\n

The Ron DeSantis administration has begun dismantling the Everglades immigration detention center known as \u201cAlligator Alcatraz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contractors were instructed on Monday<\/a> to begin a full demobilization of the controversial facility after its remaining detainees were transferred out last week. Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie also told vendors to begin winding down the site, with \u201csignificant progress\u201d expected by Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The development prompted renewed criticism from Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman, who argued the closure validates concerns Democrats raised throughout the facility\u2019s operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlligator Alcatraz has been a moral, environmental, and economic failure, just as we predicted it would be,\u201d Berman said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m happy to hear reports of its impending closure, but the damage to Florida has already been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berman accused the administration of wasting nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds while alleging that detainees were mistreated and that due process was denied. She also pointed to environmental concerns surrounding the Everglades site and called the detention center a \u201cdamaging political stunt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney General James Uthmeier, who championed the project, said Monday<\/a> the site had accomplished its purpose now that \u201cthe federal government is resourced and standing up its own mission using its own authorities, (the site) is no longer necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the long-term goal is for the property to return to protected Everglades land rather than continue operating as a commercial airport, while a spokesperson for his office said the plan is for \u201cnothing to be there ever again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Evening Reads \u2014<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201cHow Donald Trump\u2019s fragile agreement with Iran is shaping the Midterms<\/a>\u201d via Tim Balk and Bayliss Wagner of The New York Times<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dAs Reflecting Pool paint peels and Trump blames vandals, authorities make arrests<\/a>\u201d via Mariana Alfaro, Noah White, Liam Bowman and Grey Battle<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dThe Democratic Party has never been weaker. This may be a good thing.<\/a>\u201d via Matt Bai of Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dMicrosoft\u2019s Satya Nadella: We can\u2019t let AI giants eat the economy<\/a>\u201d via Bradley Olson and Tina Li of The Wall Street Journal<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dSome electricians think building data centers is for sellouts<\/a>\u201d via Caroline Haskins of WIRED<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dWhy we don\u2019t actually want a world without mosquitoes<\/a>\u201d via Jonquilyn Hill of Vox<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201d\u2018All sideshows:\u2019 Bullhorn, prosthetic leg and upset in Florida GOP Governor\u2019s race<\/a>\u201d via Jeffrey Schweers of the Orlando Sentinel<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201cWhat comes after \u2018Alligator Alcatraz\u2019? Uthmeier hopes for a protected environmental area<\/a>\u201d via Liv Caputo of the Florida Phoenix<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dCottage cheese is in, chips are out \u2014 and Ozempic is just one reason<\/a>\u201d via Lauren Kaori Gurley and Federica Cocco<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dHow remote work has helped a generation of working parents<\/a>\u201d via Claire Cain Miller of The New York Times<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Quote of the Day \u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because something\u2019s on a shelf in a store doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Attorney General James Uthmeier, adding more 7-OH products<\/a> to a list of banned substances.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Put it on the Tab \u2014<\/p>\n

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.<\/p>\n

Now that gas prices are finally falling<\/a>, use that extra cash to order yourself a Good News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Send a No. 4<\/a> to St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, whose re-election campaign fundraising trailed<\/a> three of his challengers.<\/p>\n

Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback is ordering a Muted<\/a> for the federal Judge demanding<\/a> he disclose financial information.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Breakthrough Insights \u2014<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tune In \u2014<\/p>\n

Rays open series against Royals<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Rays open a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Tropicana Field tonight (6:40 p.m. ET, Rays.TV).<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay has slipped to second place in the American League East, two games behind the division-leading New York Yankees. The Rays have lost six of the last nine games, including dropping five of six on a recent West Coast swing to the Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n

Seven games shy of the midway point of the season, the Rays have the second-best record in the American League despite outscoring opponents by just eight runs in all games. By comparison, the American League West-leading Seattle Mariners, who are one game over .500, have outscored opponents by 17 runs. The Yankees have outscored opponents by 112 runs.<\/p>\n

The Royals have lost six of the last 10 games and 15 of the last 25 games to fall into the basement in the American League Central division.<\/p>\n

Drew Rasmussen (6-3, 2.59 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rays. The 30-year-old right-hander is tied for seventh in the American League in earned run average. He is scheduled to be opposed by Michael Wacha (4-5, 3.64 ERA).<\/p>\n

The series is the first meeting between the two teams. They will meet again in Kansas City for three games June 30-July 2.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last Call \u2013 A prime-time read of what\u2019s going down in Florida politics. \u2014 First Shot \u2014 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19740,72317,4832,28,30,29,19741,4833,19742],"class_list":["post-316332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-breakthrough","tag-breakthrough-insights","tag-featured-post","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-political-news","tag-florida-politics","tag-last-call"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}