Your Florida Daily: Students walk out after staff shakeup over trans athlete, onePulse questioned by county leaders

ORLANDO, Fla. – Dozens of students took part in a walkout at a South Florida high school on Tuesday.

The protest happened at Monarch High School in Broward County one day after their principal was removed as state officials look into allegations of a transgender student being allowed to play on a girls’ volleyball team.

If true, the action is a violation of a state law passed in 2021 that bars biological males from playing on public school teams intended for biological females.

Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata says he immediately notified the state after learning about a complaint about the trans student athlete last week.

“I received a call from a constituent, uh, that that there could be some factors that were not appropriate for girls’ volleyball,” Licata told reporters.

On Monday, the school district reassigned the principal, the assistant principal and two other staff members while the investigation continues.

Orange County leaders question onePulse official, call for audit

The onePulse Foundation, created after the massacre that killed 49 people at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, is now explaining what went wrong as Orange County leaders consider launching an investigation into the organization’s finances.

The onePulse Foundation ultimately raised about $20 million over the past seven years.

“One thing I hear consistently is, ‘What’s happened to the money? Where did the money go? Where did the money go?’” said Commissioner Mayra Uribe at a discussion Tuesday.

Some elected leaders are calling for an audit to better understand how that money was spent. But one of the foundation’s leaders says a big challenge was getting more money.

“What we were starting to find out was that people, corporations in particular, had very little interest in donating toward a memorial and just as little to a museum,” said onePulse vice chair George Kalogridis.

He said the cost to build a memorial and museum went up, with many feeling that the nightclub owners, Barbara Poma and her business partner, should donate Pulse.

Last month, the city of Orlando agreed to buy the Pulse nightclub property for $2 million and take over the job of building a memorial.

That decision ultimately prompted the onePulse Foundation to dissolve.

Florida novelist Tim Dorsey dies at 62

A revered Florida author has died.

Tim Dorsey, a newspaper journalist-turned crime-comedy novelist, published 26 popular books and was admired for his clever observations and satirical pokes at the weirdness of Florida.

Dorsey found lasting fame as the creator of the crime-comedy novel series starring Serge A. Storms, an energetic fan of Florida history and an ingenious serial killer.

He was part of a trio of former newspapermen from Florida — including Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen — who found a rich vein of absurdist humor in the state.

He was 62.

Random Florida Fact

Tallahassee is home to the largest magnetic research facility in the world.

A large sprawling building near the state capitol houses some of the most powerful magnets in the world along with the researchers who use them.

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory powers a world-record 45 tesla hybrid magnet generating a yearly electricity bill approaching $8 million, marking the lab as the largest user of power in the region.