INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — It remains business as usual along Indian Rocks Beach heading into the Labor Day holiday, but head south onto the tip of Pinellas County and beyond, and red tide is still prominently in play. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, along with Pinellas County officials, walked the beach to monitor a beach nourishment project. Crist also spoke about the high concentrations of red tide, now detected about 10 miles off the southern Pinellas coast. Crist said that raises con...
Read more
ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - Jacqueline Dixon calls it a double-barreled problem. "Florida is being beset by two different algal blooms," Dixon said. One is red tide; the other is the blue-green algae. Both were part of the roundtable discussion hosted by Congressman Charlie Crist at the University of South Florida's Marine Science Laboratory. Rep. Crist explained the difference. "It's an annual event, I'm talking about the red tide, and just a matter of temperature and currents that determine whe...
Read more
After losing his legs fighting with his Marine Corps unit in Afghanistan in 2010, Paul was put on a steady regimen of OxyContin, a potent, highly addictive and, back then, heavily prescribed opiate. After years of intense rehab — as soon as he was physically, mentally and emotionally strong enough — he weaned himself off a daily pharmaceutical cocktail (which also included Ambien, Methadone, Seroquel, etc.) in part by replacing those concentrated chemical compounds with consuming marijuana four ...
Read more
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist was in Largo on Wednesday to introduce legislation that would protect federal employees who use medical marijuana in states where it is legal. Those employees can now be fired for using the drug, which is still against federal law. Crist held a roundtable discussion with members of the cannabis industry and veterans who take marijuana to help with PTSD and other medical conditionss. The bill prohibits the federal government from firing employees or denying employment to s...
Read more
Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist announced a new bill Wednesday that would allow veterans to be treated with medical marijuana without getting canned from federal government jobs. Crist introduced H.R. 6589, also known as the “Fairness in Federal Drug Testing Under State Laws Act,” during a roundtable discussion with veterans and cannabis industry representatives in Largo. “Medical marijuana is an issue of compassion, and in the veterans’ community, access is even more important as more and mo...
Read more
LARGO (FOX 13) - A new push has been announced to protect veterans and federal workers who use medical marijuana. Wednesday, Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL) announced a bipartisan bill that would make it illegal to fire or deny employment to federal workers who are prescribed cannabis, while allowing military veterans more treatment options. Medical cannabis treatment is legal in Florida, however, even with a prescription, someone can be fired or denied employment if cannabis comes up on a dru...
Read more
The Senate on Tuesday voted to renew the National Flood Insurance Program hours before it was set to expire during the height of hurricane season. The House passed a temporary extension for the program last week, authorizing it only through November, and the Senate followed suit Tuesday. Critics of the National Flood Insurance Program say it needs structural changes, not short-term extensions. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson speaks with Rep. Charlie Crist (@RepCharlieCrist), former governor of Flori...
Read more
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., got his proposal offering U.S. support for defending Israel from drone attacks across the finish line in the U.S. House. Back in February, Crist and U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., teamed up to bring out the “United States-Israel Joint Drone Detection Cooperation Act.” The bill authorizes the White House “to enter into a cooperative project agreement with Israel to counter unmanned aerial vehicles that threaten the United States or Israel.” Crist’s office noted d...
Read more
This week, a congressman from Florida helped get a bill having the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) install on-site medical waste treatment systems in its facilities through the U.S. House. At the end of May, U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif., unveiled the “Department of Veterans Affairs Creation of On-Site Treatment Systems Affording Veterans Improvements and Numerous General Safety Enhancements Act” (VA COST SAVINGS Enhancements Act) with U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., as the main cosp...
Read more
Five Democratic members of Congress called on Friday for the Justice Department to investigate a case in which a Florida man who shot and killed another man during an argument over a parking space was not arrested or charged by the sheriff’s office. The sheriff of Pinellas County cited Florida’s so-called Stand Your Ground law in declining to charge Michael Drejka, who the authorities say shot Markeis McGlockton last week in the parking lot outside a convenience store in Clearwater, Fla. Mr. Dr...
Read more
