>>This week o NewsNight, Central Florida arts organizations watch the budge fight in Tallahassee as lawmakers debat spending levels, law enforcement officials make arrest following a lengthy probe into alleged fentany trafficking, and communities continue to address issue with stormwater infrastructure.

NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mort welcome to NewsNight where we take an in-depth look at the top storie and issues in Central Florida and how they shap our community.

First, tonight, Central Florida's arts community.

The Orlando Fringe Festival has been taking place in recent day and runs through Memorial Day.

These are some pictures from this year's festival, by the way.

Last year, the Orlando Fringe and others drew attention after governor DeSantis vetoed all grant funding for arts and cultural groups throughout the state.

The governor cited adult content at fringe festivals as a reason.

The move prompted a cash crunch for arts organizations, which have been scrambling to secure other revenue sources and press the state to put funding back in the 2025-26 budget.

Well, there looks to be mone in that budget, but as we know, there's great uncertainty over the amount lawmakers will set aside as the House, Senate and the governor clash over spending and taxes.

In addition, there are new concerns over the future of tourist development tax revenues and that the scoring system the Florida Division of Arts and Culture, uses to recommend groups for funding might lead to fewer organizations qualifying.

At a recent NewsNight even at the Orlando Science Center, Melissa Fritzinger, Managing Director of the Orlando Fringe, told me this.

>>We take on the expens of venues and technicians, and we give artists a way to produce and creat with very little risk.

We take our risk on for them, and when they're able to do that, that's when art just explodes.

It just is created.

And when you talk about the folks that are, you know, in Tallahassee, in Washington, D.C., and they are making these decisions about people's livelihood and how impactful that is for everyone that live in this country and worldwide.

It's so frustratin that they don't see the benefit.

And so telling those stories and making sure that we are talking to the right folks about why it's important is the burden that we that we bear.

Corporate sponsorships are one of those things that a lot of organizations are seeing, kind of going by the wayside because of the diversity and the inclusion and that kind of thing.

So we-- >>You find corporations adjusting their behaviors because-- >>Yes.

Yeah.

And that's not just that's not just us here.

>>Of course.

>>In Central Florida, it's being done all over.

So that is one of those things that we are keenly aware of.

But we are really looking at cultivating the relationships that we currently have.

And our private donors have really stepped up for us, because they believe in who we are.

They believe in what we are doing because of our freedom of expression.

We, you know, give everybody that platform to come out and express say who you are, do what you do, what you want to do.

And because of that, we'v gotten a lot of private donors.

>>Melissa Fritzinge there from the Orlando Fringe.

A quick note we are recording this program on Thursday morning so things can change by air.

Well let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

Joining us in the studio this week, Catherine Silver.

I know you're really busy from News 6.

So thank you so muc for coming in today, Catherine.

>>Glad to be here.

Thank you for having me.

>>Always good to see you here on the program.

Nick Georgoudiou from The Community Paper.

Good to see you, Nick.

Thanks as ever for coming on today.

And Talia Blake from Central Florida Public Media morning host over there.

Thanks for coming in Talia.

>>Thanks for having me.

>>Good to see you.

Catherine.

Let me start with you.

First off, big picture, News 6 has been keeping an ey on the broader budget impasse, which of cours all this goes to in Tallahassee.

Do we have an idea of where things stand at the moment?

>>Well, we really ar at a standstill at the moment.

We know we'r heading into a holiday weekend.

We've seen memo from both the House and the Senate that lawmakers will not be back in Tallahassee discussing this budget until after Memorial Day at the earliest.

And from what we've heard, both publicly and behind the scenes, there i still a lot left to negotiate.

>>Yeah.

How are arts organizations viewing these budget discussions?

>>Cautiously optimistic is kind of the sentiment I've heard, you know last year no funding.

This year they're just glad to kind of be part of the conversation.

But there's still a lot of concern there.

You know, they're cautiously optimistic.

>>Yeah.

There seems to be a discrepancy between the House and the Senate.

There's more money for the arts on the Senate side, for sure.

The Orlando Fringe, Nick, which is is happening right now, is kind of central to that debate over over arts funding last year.

Before that veto from the governor, though, the Fringe had seen a drop off in attendance, the the art space as well downtown on Church Street are closed.

And I wonder what factors are at play here according to the Fringe, and what changes are being made in response.

>>Yeah, so they've tried t address it as much as possible.

The art space downtow was really, not in the greatest shap when they, got it, even though they weren't payin much rent.

There wer a lot of maintenance issues, so they just couldn't keep up with the upkeep, of the facility.

So looking at what they did in 2025 versus 2024, when they lost about 26% of, ticket sales from 2023 to 2024, they've consolidated, the locations.

So everything is within walkin distance around Loch Haven Park and the Loch Haven cultural centers.

They have actually eliminate some of the shows, which seems counterintuitive, bu when you have go from 140 shows, maybe too much potential for, overwhelming audience and participatio down to 110, that helps as well.

Matt Pal from the Orlando Sentinel wrote a really good stor about all the different changes they're making in order to help bring people back to the Fringe Festival and to a very important economic driver in Central Florida.

>>Yeah, it's certainly a balancing act for the many arts organizations, including the Fringe.

News 6 reported that, arts groups say that Orange Count has stepped up a lot to fill in the void that's been left, in state funding just in general since last year's veto.

But a lot of that money for the arts, right, comes from tourist development tax dollars.

And I know that all of our newsrooms have been covering this discussion about wha should happen to TDT revenues.

The future of that source is certainly uncertain.

>>Yeah, absolutely.

And we've heard from local arts groups who sa it could be a crisis for them.

I mean, we know this year there was about $30 million of those tourist tax dollars that was funneled into groups like the Philharmonic, the Winter Park Playhouse, when you look big picture last year, there was about 350 million TDT dollars in Orange County.

So that 30 million that goes into those smaller art groups is a small piece of that full amount.

But for their budgets, it's huge.

I mean, in some cases, it's 15% of their budget comes from a TDT dollar.

So if they have to reform, it's going to be a big change moving forward.

>>And of course, just to remind viewers, of course, the governor and legislators are looking at possibly tapping those tourist development tax dollars to go for property tax relief.

Local governments fund the arts I guess, in part because, as you alluded there, the economic impact is substantial.

>>Yeah.

One of the most recent stories about it, from a study from the Americans for the Arts, said, in fiscal year 2022 was an impact of around $265 million, just in Orange County alone.

And that includes things like Dr. Phillips Center, you know bringing in the Broadway shows and things of that nature.

So while Fringe is a little bit smaller, maybe an impact of what they said was around $4 million.

There's still an economic to it that is so much broader.

So many different people come to town to do their shows and try it out.

It's the beginning.

It's the oldest Fringe festival in the US-- >>Yeah.

That's surprising.

I didn't realize that.

>>And it's the beginning - Tampa in Orlando are the beginning of the Fringe circuit for a lot of performers, including performers here in town.

They spend the summer going up the East Coast through Canada, all the Fringe festivals down through California at the end of the summer.

So there are people who are doing their shows and making their livelihood off of this as well.

We heard Melissa Fritzinger refer there, to the anti DEI push on the, on the federal and the state level.

And that's leading to some sponsors, pulling out.

In addition, Central Florida Public Medi has reported the Orange County has stopped, issuing some DEI-related grants.

What are you guys hearing there?

>>Yeah.

So it looks like they cancele about $200,000 worth of grants.

And these are grants for people and programs for outreach and for people with disabilities.

So we're talking like Orlando Science Center, the Orland Ballet, the Orlando Opera, and the county is sayin that they did it so that way basicall they can get in compliance with things that are happenin at the state and federal level.

So they're really just kind of doing it out of an abundance of caution is what they're saying.

So that way they don't see funding loss in other areas.

>>Yeah.

There's also a matte of course, of federal funding.

Catherine, what are we seeing from the Trump administration when it comes to the arts?

>>Well, the name of the gam with DOGE has been cuts, right?

For so many departments.

And we know that in March, the department pulled grants.

They laid off staffs and organizations that support a lot of these state councils that in turn support our local museums, libraries and groups like that.

Florida Humanities, we know, for example, was set to receive just under $2 millio before their funding was pulled.

So there certainly is a trickle down effect here.

>>So even though we may see some funding in the state budget this time around, still a lot of uncertainty for arts groups in our community.

We'll put a link to the Orlando Fringe on our website.

You'll also find the full NewsNight Conversations episode on arts funding that we did at the Orlando Science Center in April.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

Okay, next tonight, could there be a viable third party or independent candidate in next year's Florida gubernatorial race?

Former Democratic State Senator Jason Pizzo says he plans to run for the state's top job with no party affiliation, and Florida trial attorne and one time donor to Democrats John Morgan has teased a potential run under a third party banner.

Meanwhile, former Republican Congressman David Jolly is said to be weighing a run for governor as a Democrat.

NewsNight asked political scientist Michael Binder about it all this week.

>>As you get more candidates you get more uncertainty.

It looks like there's goin to be a Democratic candidate.

Democrats are are really stron at nominating former Republican as their party nominees, which, as we saw in 22, doesn't always lea to good turnout for Democrats.

But if you throw in a third party candidate like a John Morgan, somebody who's got some name recognition across the state and somebody who has a giant checkbook to really bolster their campaign efforts, you would imagine tha it would chip away not only from the Democratic vote, but from some Republicans as well, that are maybe a little bit disillusioned.

But if you're looking for John Morgan to win, that is really, really a steep hill to climb.

And it would take, a real confluence of events for something like that to, to actually come to fruition.

But he could certainly run and wreak havoc.

>>Michael Binder there fro the University of North Florida.

Okay Catherine News 6 spok with John Morgan just this week.

What did you guys learn?

>>Well, when we have spoken to him, he's, of course, reiterated that wish for a new political party in Florida.

A lot of times he talks about extremes and how he wants to find middle ground, because so much of the political landscape right no is either far left or far right.

So his intention is really to find that more central alternate group for people.

And that's what he said he hopes to be able to do.

>>And that's something we've heard also from from Jason Pizzo, the former Democratic Senate leader, and of course, John Morgan has said he thinks that Jason Pizzo is making a mistake by running as a no party affiliation candidate.

Morgan has a long history, Nick, right, of political activity and taking positions on issues in Florida.

>>Yeah, so he's had a brush with running in the past, but this is probably his most serious, initiative so far.

He really gets behind, candidates in the past up until around 2017, when he left the Democratic Party.

But when it comes to ballot initiatives is where he really throws in his own money, his influence and, his connections.

>>Marijuana right?

>>Marijuana, not only medicinal, but this last year or 2024 with the recreational and the minimum wage as well.

He was a big proponent for the $15 minimum wage ballot initiative.

>>He' been pretty outspoken on that.

As for Jason Pizzo, Talia, he told Miami CBS station, that he'll run for governor as an NPA candidate.

Of course, after leaving the Democratic Party.

What more do we know about his plans?

>>Right.

So he says he wants to give a voice to Florida's NPA voters-- >>Of which there are many.

>>Which there are many.

But he did say that he's not officially going to enter the race until about September, so time will still tell.

A recent statewide poll when he was still a Democrat, of Democratic voters kind of had him at the top for someone that they would choose as their next governor.

So time will kind of tell, because obviously not a Democrat anymore.

So we'll kind of see where that goes.

>>I mean, are the Democrats do we think, Nick, concerned that an independent or a third party candidate, it'll help basicall lock in another Republican win, whether it be Byron Donalds or Casey DeSantis or any of the other names have been mentioned?

>>Yeah.

If you look at the registered voter in Florida, 40% are Republicans.

So they've got a good stronghold there.

Around 30% are registered Democrats.

So that does leave around 30, 29 to 30% as independent or what appear to be independent.

It may just be a lot of people who don't want to put their party affiliation next to their name, so they would have to whatever this is, whether it's a NPA or just running as an independent, or a new party, I should say, they would have to pull from the Democrats and the Republicans to win.

And the concern is, since they were most recently affiliated with the Democratic Party, they would probably pull from there.

>>Well, of course, this is an election that's taking place next year.

So a lot of time for all of this, to shake out for sure.

Be sure to join us on social media, we're at WUC TV, on Facebook and Instagram.

You'll also find us @NewsNightWUCF on X.

Okay, next tonight, law enforcement officials said this week that dismantled a major dru trafficking organization following a monthslong effor dubbed Operation Burn Baby Burn.

>>This drug traffickin organization is responsible for importing pounds and pounds of fentany and cocaine into our community.

And so our narcotics agents worked extremely hard, to identify this organization and take them down.

>>Our administration over the past few years has made combatin the fentanyl crisis a priority.

We've passe numerous pieces of legislation that the governor has signed to increase penalties where these traffickers dangerously expose law enforcement to fentanyl, there are second degree felonies now, for that.

If you are trafficking fentanyl and somebody somewhere dies and it could be tied to you, you are liable for a first degree felony and you're going to go away for a long time.

>>Florid Attorney General James Uthmeier.

Catherine, News 6 has covere the fentanyl crisis extensively.

Of course, as I think, we all have.

And that announcement this week from the sheriff as well, and the attorney general what more do we know about this, suspected fentanyl trafficking operation?

>>Well we know that the investigation actually started in September and only this week did we learn that they had arrested nine people for some role i that huge trafficking operation.

They told us that the group was importing fentanyl from California in Mexico and then cocaine for Puerto Rico.

And they actually seized about $1.5 million worth of drugs in this bust.

>>Central Florida Public Media, of course, has covered the fentanyl issue extensively as well.

A lot, was made during that press conference, that we just watched about an FDLE funding program that was approved in 202 to tackle fentanyl, specifically remind us what the SAFE program is.

>>Right.

So it's basically just like you said, it provides funding to all these local law enforcement.

So that way they can combat fentanyl.

And it provides fundin for a bunch of different things, whether it's overtime, travel costs, equipment, supplies, training, anything that they need to conduct an investigation to combat, you know, this fentanyl activity that we're seeing, that's all included in the SAFE program.

>>I want to talk a bit about some of your reporting, Catherine, the attorney general that kind of alluded in that clip that we just played that there have been cases in the past, were indictments have been handed down against suppliers of fentanyl based on deaths that it's believed, that the drugs that they supply might have caused.

Have prosecutor sort of become more aggressive when it comes to this kind of prosecution, do we think?

>>We certainly believe so.

And they they've told us that that is their goal.

Right.

Rather than going after the low level dealer, they want to go for the top dog, the supplier, because hopefully if they can prosecute those cases successfully, that they can have that bigger impact when it comes to reducin the amount of these tragedies.

So the question is, a lot of times we see that really serious charge at the beginning, and then you have to see how it plays out in court and whether or not they can make that stick, or if it ends up pleading down to a lesser charge or.

>>Going back, take a take a step back a minute.

I mean, going back decades, Florida has been a hotspot for opioid addiction that kind of transformed into the fentanyl crisis that we saw.

There was a proliferation of pill mills, right, that happened in this state.

I remember covering tha like, gosh, about 20 years ago.

I mean, how successful have eradication efforts been in Florida in recent years?

Do we know?

Can we get a handle on that?

>>Yeah, I think recently especially, what we saw is a high in 2021, both nationally and locally, in overdoses and fatal overdoses.

And according to the CDC the Centers for Disease Control overdoses fell from 202 to 2023, about 1.5% nationally.

In Florida, that was about 5.9% of fall.

And then locally Seminole County dropped 27.2%, Orange County dropped around that average of 6%.

Osceola County saw an increase, but overall, they're seeing a decrease in overdoses and, overdose fatalities.

>>It's a pretty significant decline, isn't it, Catherine?

I mean, I know that certainl it seemed like a few years ago we were covering this, this the opioid crisis particularly extensively.

That seems to have faded away a little bit.

>>Yeah especially in Seminole County, which is one of the areas I spend a lot of time there.

I live there, I speak with the sheriff and he has made it his missio there to really go after this.

And I mean, a lot of times when we speak to him and other entities as well, I think Narcan plays a huge role.

They are always pushing that an reducing the number of deaths.

>>The overdose reversal drug.

That's right.

Just last month, the governor signed a bill into law.

Right, Talia, that require fentanyl testing in hospitals, in overdose cases.

That's going to come into force on July 1st.

How will that work?

>>Right.

So this is known as Gage's law.

And basically hospitals will have to include fentanyl in their standard drug screening for panels for patients showing who show signs of overdose already.

And if fentanyl is detected they have to do a confirmation test.

And then they also must documen this in the patient's records.

This is named after a Florida man, Gage Taylor who died about three years ago after unknowingly consumin a substance laced with fentanyl.

They thought he was just going through a regular overdose.

Turns out there was fentanyl in his system.

So this is kind of like a safety net for people who might be experiencing overdose to kind of get that extra step and get that test.

>>And then Narcan can be administere because of course a lot of drugs now, stree drugs are laced with fentanyl.

So that can cause a real problem in the hospitals.

We've put a link up on our website to the Florida SAFE Program page.

You'll also find it at wucf.org/newsnight.

Okay.

Finally tonight stormwater infrastructure.

In Oviedo, the City Council this week voted to borrow $9.5 million to address stormwater issues.

Residents in Oviedo have already seen a rate hike to pay for improvements.

It joins other cities throughout the state that are taking steps to mitigate flooding during storms, and News 6 has been covering this stor extensively, particularly you, Catherine, there in Seminole County.

What did we hear fro the council in Oviedo this week?

>>Well, they did decide to go ahea and borrow about $9.5 million.

That will go towards addressing what they say, they have a list of 8 different stormwater projects.

I mean, that' a lot of infrastructure work to do-- >>I a relatively small county.

>>Especially Oviedo.

>>Yeah.

>>Right?

Those are some of our smaller cities in Seminole County.

So basically, the action from the county, the council this week was the final step.

They had already passed that stormwater hike earlier this year.

This is part of that.

This is the amount of money they needed to borrow to address all of those projects.

Now, at the same time, rather than trying to wait and prioritize these certain things now and making other people wait.

>>What was the extent of that, that rate hike, in Oviedo and have have local residents responded to that increase and also to the flooding that complained, those those neighborhoods?

I know that you've spoken to to residents who've suffered during hurricanes and heavy rains.

Do they understand the nee for that rate hike do we think?

>>I think a lot of them do understand.

We hear that when I when we meet them and we speak to them, and also when they talk to the council directly, a lot of times people go to these meetings because they have experience They've flooded not only once.

A lot of times, they flooded multiple times and they have been desperate for some sort of project, something to be done so that it doesn't happen to them again in the future.

So no one wants to pay more in their bill.

But when you look at the overall impact on what you see in your botto line, it's usually small enough that it's worth it to pay i just to get the projects done.

>>I mean, I think the previous time, not the previous time, but a previous time we were on the show, we talked about Orlo Vista, right a couple of years ag in the improvement work there.

This stormwater issue isn't unique to Oviedo right?

I mean, this seems to be something that affects not only our region, but the whole state.

>>Yeah, we saw it in Oviedo.

We saw it in Winter Springs, you mentioned, Orlo Vist where they flooded during Irma.

They flooded during Ian, these are people who lost everything, not once but at least twice.

And they were just begging Orange County to please do something.

Finally, they did get that project funded, where they ended up being able to increase the capacity of a lot of the retention ponds in that neighborhood so that hopefully the next time a major storm comes, it'll be able to handle it.

>>And of course, funding is always an issue.

Are there other places that are currently looking at stormwater fee increases to make improvements?

>>Yeah, Orange County is actually considering it right now.

The county passed an ordinance back in like the 90s, and residents haven't been paying stormwater fees since then but they did a big stormwater fee study, and they've been looking a projects that they can get done as they move into phase two.

They're looking at chargin stormwater fees now, so that way they can get these projects paid for.

Something that's been floated around is maybe like $100 per household through some type of tax, but they're still kind of figuring that out.

>>Interesting.

Lots of things to be worked out there.

I mean, there have been stormwater works in some downtown neighborhoods that that you cover, particularly Wadeview Park just south of downtown SoDo.

Residents, those in those areas say that that work itself can be a source of issues.

What have we seen there?

>>Yeah.

So they have to do the work in order to, get the stormwater to go elsewhere, but then work around them, whether it's construction on Orange Avenue that's been going on for a while.

First it was, I believe OUC was working down there, and the FDOT was working down there.

Everything is interconnected as far as a lot of the lake and the other waterways go.

So that construction there even though it's not right next to the neighborhood, may affect flooding in that area.

And that's what the neighbors or the resident of that neighborhood are saying.

>>I mean, you mentioned more than 80 projects identified in Oviedo.

What does that work look like?

>>Well, now that they have it funded, they will they will start looking at, yo know, what are the priorities?

What can they do?

When I spoke to the mayor this week, she said, you know, a lot of times if they had not funded this, they would have had to say, okay, you get to flood now, you won't flood later.

And instead of having to tell people that now they can actually start doing the work.

So the first step was the money and now the construction.

>>And of course, you you cover a lot of the - the news up there in Seminole County.

And that was one of the area that was particularly hard hit, for example, after Hurricane Ian, I guess that really taught us, didn't it, that it's not just those coastal area in our region that are at risk.

It can be a lot of inland area like the areas that you cover.

>>Yes.

I've spoken to insurance experts after Ian, who said, you know, Florida is a flood zone.

So I think Ian was a worst case scenario.

Is a lesson for a lot of people that they learn that hopefully they can make decisions moving forward to protect themselves.

>>And we've seen particularly and I think this was another thing that, that recent hurricane seasons in our region have shown is that low income areas can be particularly affected.

And that's why we've seen that play out.

>>And we have and it's really disheartening to some because when they do get flooded out, whether it's once, twice or three times, as you mentioned, you know, where is the money coming from to pay for that?

Insuranc is only going to cover so much.

FEMA funding is only going to cover so much.

And with FEMA funding facing a risk in the coming years, who knows if that it's still going to be available for some people.

And I was even talkin to one source one time who said, if the rain or the flood waters came close to your door, your house could flood in the next year or so.

So it's something that everyone could be affected by.

Well we'll see how things play out, this hurricane season, just to let you know, we'll be talking next week about the official opening of Epic Universe, which is taking place as w record this program right now.

And the US Supreme Court decision on Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans we'll hope you join us for that conversation.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks so much to Catherine Silver from WKMG News 6.

Thanks so much for coming in, Catherine.

>>Thank you.

>>Good to see you.

Nick Georgoudiou from The Community Paper.

Thanks for being here, Nick.

>>Thanks.

>>And Talia Blake from Central Florida Public Media.

Thank you all so much for being here.

Really good conversation today.

Good to see you all.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

For all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.