Defiant Cubans, acclerating Surfside search, COVID cases soar again, and is it becoming Trump v. DeSantis?

It’s Monday, July 12, and the cascade of tumultuous news keeps coming.In the last 24 hours, thousands of Cubans protested against the communist regime. The rare public demonstration, which was met by the Cuban government with a combat order, unleashed a wave of support in Miami as hundreds of vehicles snaked their way across the city Sunday in solidarity with the protesters.

Cuba’s protests came amid shocking new developments in the assassination case of Haiti’s president Jovenel Moïse. Two Haitian Americans from South Florida were arrested— because isn’t there always a Florida connection? But more intriguing is the alleged plot to install Haitian doctor Christian Emmanuel Sanon as the next president using staff he allegedly recruited through Doral-based CTU Security.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Finishing Surfside recovery early: The confirmed death toll from the Surfside condominium collapse rose to 90 Sunday, with 31 people feared lost under the rubble. Search strategies shifted and recovery efforts accelerated on July 7 when Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced that there was no hope of finding anyone alive in the debris from the 13-story oceanfront condominium. Alan Cominsky, Miami-Dade’s fire chief, said Sunday there’s been enough progress that they now expect to finish the recovery effort as soon as July 22.

Vaccinated commissioner tests positive:In a haunting juxtaposition, the chairman of Miami-Dade’s county commission Jose “Pepe” Diaz, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday after experiencing flu-like symptoms. He was fully vaccinated. The 60-year-old Diaz had been a frequent presence in Surfside and the high profile breakthrough case prompted a wave of planned tests for senior county leaders and raised questions about exposure at the Surfside command center.

The pandemic isn’t over: While the odds are low of contracting COVID-19 virus after vaccination, they aren’t zero. Researchers say new variants may be more effective at infecting vaccinated people.

Also last week, the Florida Department of Health on Friday announced 23,747 new resident cases of COVID-19 and 172 deaths since July 2, more than double the number of new cases reported a month ago.. As new cases have been steadily increasing, so have the percentage of people testing positive. The seven-day percent positivity rate increased from 5.2% to 7.8%.

Increase in hospitalizations? Is the surge in cases leading to a worrisome increase in hospitalizations in any pockets of Florida? We don’t know. Gov. Ron DeSantis declared victory over the virus and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration stopped reporting the number of patients hospitalized with a “primary diagnosis of COVID” in May.

Is prevention a thing?After the governor’s reluctance to talk about preventing COVID, a question now emerging is what will he do to prevent future tragedy in the state’s thousands of aging condominiums? State legislators, structural engineers and insurance agents have suggested that it’s time for the state to update its laws, particularly for high rises in coastal areas, to prevent a future tragedy.

Asked if he supports changes to require buildings to undergo reinspection and certification to assure their structural integrity, the governorwould not say. Regarding Champlain Towers South, he hinted he thinks it’s unique: “I can just say, just having talked with people who’ve been on the scene — people who’ve done stuff — I think this building had problems from the start,” DeSantis said. “Let’s just put it that way.’‘

Condo owners are worried: Second to the grief that South Floridians feel for those who died in the Surfside collapse and their families, a feeling of uneasiness has washed over some residents living in older, waterfront condo towers. They are now sounding the alarm about what they fear may be potentially perilous conditions in their buildings.

Insurers want assurance: Condo owners are not the only ones worried about the structural integrity of their buildings in the wake of the Surfside condo collapse. Insurance companies that cover condominiums have sent letters to owners of buildings 40 years and older in South Florida asking for proof they passed inspections or they will lose coverage.

Structural engineers and architects say the tragedy should serve as a catalyst to update Florida’s dated building inspection laws — especially in coastal communities where rising water tables pose increasing threats. They have convened a task force to make a proposal. The Florida Bar is putting together a similar task force.

Grand jury to investigate: Miami-Dade’s grand jury has agreed to investigate the broader issue of building safety after the deadly collapse of the Surfside condo, the State Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

The grand jury will issue “recommendations to prevent such a disaster from occurring again, not just in Surfside, and not just in condominiums, but in all buildings and structures in the coastal, intercoastal and surrounding areas of our county, state and nation,” State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rethinking condo reserves: A loophole in Florida law allows condominium associations to waive the rule that their boards set aside adequate cash reserves to pay for needed building improvements. Now it is raising concerns about whether maintenance is being dangerously deferred, especially in the state’s most aging high-rises.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Is Trump the governor’s problem? Former President Donald Trump easily won the 2024 GOP presidential nomination poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) gathering on Sunday in Texas with 70% of ballots cast in an anonymous straw poll. That’s a significant improvement from the 55% support he won in a similar straw poll at the group’s annual conference in Orlando in February. Back then, DeSantis walked away as the clear favorite among Trump alternates and he remains a favorite. But with Trump in the race, “DeSantis came in a distant second, at 21%,’’ Fox News reported. “No one else among the 19 potential 2024 Republican White House contenders topped 1%.”

Straw poll favorite:Without Trump, DeSantis remains the favorite at 68%, according to results announced by CPAC on Sunday afternoon.

In the last two weeks as DeSantis’s public profile was focused on the tragedy in Surfside. Aside from his news conference to announce his plan to deploy officers from Florida to the southern border, DeSantis put a pause on is culture wars agenda. Trump rejected DeSantis’ request that the former president postpone a July 3 rally in Sarasota in deference to the victims in Surfside. DeSantis didn’t attend.

Capitol Police investigate Florida: Six months after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Capitol Police will open a field office in Tampa to investigate threats to members of Congress because, the agency says, “Florida and California are where the majority of our potential threats are.” The USCP field offices will be in the Tampa and San Francisco areas and are part of the agency’s effort to boost recruiting, training and equipment for officers.

Too good to be true?More than 23,000 entries were submitted across Florida to obtain a coveted liquor license, and Pete Antonacci, the former Broward elections chief, former Rick Scott and Jeb Bush advisor, and now the state’s chief administrative law judge, won one in Pinellas County.

No sure bet for sports betting:The smooth sailing theSeminole Tribe of Florida had as it negotiated a new gambling compact with the state hit a rough patch last week. Magic City Casino sued, alleging that the sports betting component in the deal is based on “legal fiction” that violates federal law because it allows sports betting outside of tribal lands. We will be seeing more on this soon.

Stay well and we’d love to hear from you. Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief Mary Ellen Klas curates the Politics and Policy in the Sunshine State newsletter. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please drop me a note at meklas@miamiherald.com.

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