{"id":328077,"date":"2026-07-03T04:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/328077\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T04:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T04:53:14","slug":"last-call-for-7-2-26-a-prime-time-read-of-whats-going-down-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/328077\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Call for 7.2.26 \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

As Floridians stock up on fireworks ahead of the Independence Day weekend, here\u2019s one statistic that should offer at least a little comfort: if a home catches fire, it\u2019s less likely to have been on purpose than anywhere else in the country.<\/p>\n

A new analysis of FBI crime data found Florida has the nation\u2019s lowest rate of residential arson during July, averaging just 17.8 incidents statewide each year over the last five Julys \u2014 about one for every 586,000 homes.<\/p>\n

The report also found Florida\u2019s July residential arson rate is roughly one-sixth the national average, despite the state having the country\u2019s third-largest housing market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The study, conducted by Besroi Roofing and Siding using FBI Crime Data Explorer records from 2021 through 2025, ranked all 50 states by July residential arson rates. Florida edged out New Jersey for the top spot and dramatically outperformed neighboring Georgia and Alabama, where residential arson rates were roughly four and 10 times higher, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The timing is fortuitous, with millions of Floridians expected to celebrate the Fourth of July with backyard barbecues and fireworks. Still, it\u2019s not a license to get reckless.<\/p>\n

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and the Florida Forest Service spent the lead-up to America\u2019s 250th reminding residents<\/a> that even though drought conditions are easing, wildfire season isn\u2019t over and fireworks should be used responsibly.<\/p>\n

While the Forest Service and firefighters across the state are undoubtedly happy Florida Man won\u2019t intentionally set his home ablaze this weekend, they\u2019d prefer nobody accidentally does it either.<\/p>\n

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

\u2014\u201dAt the Great American State Fair, a battle for souls is underway<\/a>\u201d via Michelle Boorstein of The Washington Post<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dA firm run by Donald Trump allies is organizing the 250th. Their fee? Unclear.<\/a>\u201d via David A. Fahrenthold and Andrea Fuller of The New York Times<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dAre MAGA and MAHA heading for divorce?<\/a>\u201d via Katherine Eban of Rolling Stone<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201d\u2019Pump and dump\u2019: How Trump made $636 million \u2014 and left his supporters holding the bag<\/a>\u201d via Rebecca Crosby of Popular Information<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201cInside Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 legislative legacy: 8 years, more than 2,000 bills<\/a>\u201d via Gary Fineout of POLITICO<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dIncoming legislative leaders endorse Blaise Ingoglia, Wilton Simpson, James Uthmeier<\/a>\u201d via Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dFlorida\u2019s reading, math scores look promising. Experts say wait and see<\/a>\u201d via Steven Walker of the Orlando Sentinel<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dProud to be an American? Many say not so much in new Gallup poll<\/a>\u201d via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dThere\u2019s a new type of pollution in the Hillsborough River. The cause? Car tires<\/a>\u201d via Max Chesnes of the Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

\u2014\u201dInside the luddite festival harnessing Gen Z\u2019s rage against Big Tech<\/a>\u201d via Vittoria Elliott of WIRED<\/p>\n

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

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

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

\u201cThe Florida College System is open enrollment \u2014 it\u2019s not like there\u2019s students waiting in the wings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Florida Policy Institute analyst Alexis Tsoukalas, questioning the ban<\/a> on undocumented students at state colleges.<\/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

Byron Donalds\u2019 gubernatorial campaign is adding a Big Chief<\/a> to the cocktail menu after locking in an endorsement<\/a> from CFO Blaise Ingoglia.<\/p>\n

Round Twos<\/a> are Orlando-bound after Universal Orlando CFO Tracey Stockwell and a couple of others were reappointed<\/a> to the Valencia College Board of Trustees.<\/p>\n

Start distributing all the Red White & Blues<\/a> you can get your hands on \u2014 recent polling<\/a> shows Floridians need a patriotism booster ASAP.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

Argentina faces Cape Verde in knockout round<\/p>\n

The defending champions, Argentina, face Cape Verde in the knockout phase of the FIGA World Cup on Friday (6 p.m. ET, FOX, Telemundo).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Led by Lionel Messi, Argentina swept through the group, winning all three matches. Messi scored six goals in three matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Argentina is trying to become the first team to repeat as World Cup champions since Pele\u2019s Brazil side successfully defended in 1962.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cape Verde drew all three matches in the group stage, including 0-0 finals against Spain and Saudi Arabia. Goalkeeper Vozinha has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament. The 40-year-old has a pair of clean sheets in the island nation\u2019s first World Cup appearance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The winner of the match will advance to the Round of 16 to face the winner of Friday\u2019s Australia-Egypt matchup.\u00a0<\/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 As…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71789,"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-328077","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\/328077","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=328077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}