The Florida Roundup | WLRN

William Latson, the principal of Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, was removed from his post this week. The Palm Beach Post reported on an email exchange he had with a parent – he wrote he could not say the Holocaust was a factual event. Latson was reassigned to a district office job after the Post published its story. The Palm Beach County school district will likely vote on whether to renew his contract on July 24th. Palm Beach schools superintendent Donald Fennoy announced Wednesday in a video statement that he will recommend Latson be terminated. Several public officials, including Sen. Rick Scott, have also called for the same outcome. On the South Florida Roundup, WLRN’s Nadege Green filled in for host Tom Hudson. She spoke with Palm Beach Post education reporter Andrew Marra, who broke the story; state Rep. Mike Caruso, whose district includes Boca Raton, and Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Holocaust Studies education specialist for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Here’s an

It used to be that Cuban artists from the island who performed in Miami had to be ready for backlash from anti-Castro exile groups. In 1999, for example, Miami officials tried to prevent the Cuban dance band Los Van Van from performing in the city. When the band eventually got to perform, they were met with thousands of demonstrators. They were against Los Van Van and considered the group loyal to the communist government. Since then, Cuban artists have found Miami more welcoming, especially after former President Obama normalized relations with Cuba in 2014. But the issue has cropped up again recently since President Trump has been rolling back the normalization efforts of the previous administration. The city of Hialeah canceled several Cuban artists, reportedly including reggaeton star Jacob Forever, from performing at an Independence Day concert. Univision reported this week that Hialeah city commission had approved $30,000 in its budget for Jacob Forever’s performance. Meanwhile,

Two years ago, it looked as if Hurricane Irma would make a direct hit to South Florida. Hundreds of thousands of people were ordered to leave their homes. Many did and found emergency shelters with no room and gridlocked traffic. Even when storms come and go within a day, recouping costs for local governments can take months and years. Last month, Miami-Dade County learned it would be getting $119 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It’s money the county already spent cleaning up debris left over from the storm. (Add in state funds, and Dade County should get about $150 million.) This year, forecasters are predicting a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season: they’re expecting up to 15 named storms – with at least two major hurricanes. On the South Florida Roundup, host Tom Hudson spoke with South Florida’s emergency management bosses: Tracy Jackson of Broward County; Bill Johnson of Palm Beach County; Martin Senterfitt of Monroe County; and Frank Rollason of Miami-Dade

Former Broward deputy officer Scot Peterson failed to respond to the mass shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland over a year ago, and was arrested on criminal charges this week. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been investigating how law enforcement officers responded to the incident. Peterson was a school resource officer at the time of the Feb. 14 shooting, and some of the charges against him include child neglect, culpable negligence and perjury. There has been widespread criticism towards Peterson’s lack of action in confronting the shooter. “He couldn't have saved my little boy, my Alex was already gone by the time he arrived,” said father Max Schachter at Tuesday’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission. “But I know that if he had gone in, he could have saved those six people that died on the third floor and the four kids that were shot and injured." State Senator Lauren Book of Broward spoke with the South

It’s almost six months into Gov. Ron DeSantis’s first term, and the biggest shift from the Rick Scott administration has been his focus on the environment. On the campaign trail, DeSantis described himself as a "Teddy Roosevelt conservationist." He’s pushed for more funding for Everglades restoration. And he’s created two new state jobs – c hief science officer and chief resilience officer. Last month, when DeSantis named the CSO, he took a big leap from the previous administration, saying the words “climate change.” “This idea of – quote – 'climate change' has become politicized. My environmental policy is just to try to do things that benefit Floridians,” DeSantis said. But how far is the governor taking climate change policy specifically? A panel of opinion editors consider that question on the latest episode of the South Florida Roundup: Nancy Ancrum of The Miami Herald, Rick Christie of The Palm Beach Post and Rosemary O’Hara of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. WLRN: What do you