Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
— First Shot —
Florida State University Police Department Officer Cody Poppell, who confronted the gunman during last year’s deadly shooting on FSU’s campus, received Attorney General James Uthmeier’s inaugural “Moment of Valor” award Wednesday in Tallahassee.
The new recognition was created to honor extraordinary bravery in life-threatening situations, and Uthmeier said Poppell’s actions during the April 17 shooting exemplified the highest standards of law enforcement service.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Poppell rode his motorcycle over a sidewalk and onto campus amid the chaos to confront the shooter directly. Authorities said he fired multiple shots that brought the attack to an end and prevented further loss of life.
“Officer Poppell stepped into the line of fire to save countless lives at FSU,” Uthmeier said in a statement announcing the award.
The Attorney General’s Office announced the honor during its annual Law Enforcement Officer of the Year ceremony, which also recognized Clay County Sheriff’s Office Detective Eva Solis as the 2025 Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Officer of the Year.
Solis was honored for leading an investigation into what officials described as one of the most horrific child exploitation and human trafficking cases in Clay County Sheriff’s Office history.
The case began after a citizen discovered a thumb drive locked inside a safe at an abandoned storage unit and turned it over to law enforcement. Investigators later uncovered extensive child sexual exploitation material tied to multiple victims.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the investigation identified seven victims, rescued one child, recovered three additional victims and uncovered more than 2 million child sexual abuse material files. The suspects are now in federal custody.
Eleven additional officers from agencies across Florida were also recognized as nominees during Wednesday’s ceremony.
— Evening Reads —
—”U.S. indicts Raúl Castro for Cuba’s 1996 shoot-down of two civilian planes from Miami” via Nora Gámez Torres of the Miami Herald
—”Florida pols react to indictment of Raúl Castro” via Jacob Ogles
—”The Donald Trump paradox: What’s good for him is weighing down his party” via Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post
—”Why Trump bucked his party and made a risky bet on Ken Paxton” via Natalie Andrews, Meridith McGraw and Elizabeth Findell of The Wall Street Journal
—”It’s officially election season in Trumpworld” via Hugo Lowell of WIRED
—”Trump’s Spring revenge tour routed GOP foes. But Fall headwinds loom.” via Shane Goldmacher of The New York Times
—”The most important election is the one most Americans skip” via Caitlin Dewey of Vox
—“Winners and losers from Tuesday’s BIG Primary night” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”The hearing Kalshi couldn’t avoid” via Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics
— Quote of the Day —
“To most Cuban Americans, this is not about partisan politics, but about our blood. It’s about our moms and dads and abuelas and abuelos. It’s about prayer after prayer and Our Father after Our Father with rosary bead after rosary bead lifted up in Catholic and other houses of worship in areas with 813, 786 and 305 (area) codes.”
— Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, on former Cuban President Raúl Castro’s indictment.
— Put it on the Tab —
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Another False Alarm sounds tasty, but U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s concerns about the state’s job market aren’t coming from nowhere.
UF has been searching for a permanent President for eons, but conservative resistance to their latest pick may send them Back to the Drawing Board.
Phil Ehr should be allowed to put Glitches on the Federal Election Commission’s tab while they spend weeks figuring out how to correctly list his Q1 fundraising data.
— Breakthrough Insights —
— Tune In —
Florida Gulf Coast looks to keep NCAA hopes alive
Florida Gulf Coast faces Central Arkansas in the ASUN baseball tournament this evening in DeLand, Fla. (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
FGCU (34-20) finished second in the ASUN’s Graphite Division this season behind the top team in the conference, North Florida. The Eagles were the best-hitting team in the conference, led by Jon Embury, who hit .376 this season with 17 home runs (tied for the conference lead) and 60 runs batted in (second-best in the ASUN).
The Eagles need to win the tournament in order to secure the program’s fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Tonight’s game is a single-elimination game. If FGCU wins, they will advance to a double-elimination round and face the second-seed in the tournament, Lipscomb, tomorrow.
Central Arkansas was the number six seed this season and beat the eight-seed Stetson, the host school, yesterday 6-4. The Bears jumped out to a 5-0 lead and then held off a Stetson comeback, despite being out-hit by the Hatters 6-4.
It is unlikely that any team from the ASUN would receive an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, so winning the automatic bid is the only way for a team from the conference to advance.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
