Hometown Congresswoman Val Demings was not included in the list of politicians endorsed by former President Barrack Obama. On Wednesday Obama’s office released a list of 81 politicians that the former president is endorsing in the upcoming mid-term elections. Whether Demings will be included in a future batch of endorsements is unclear. There were no Florida politicians on the list. Recently Demings has fallen into disfavor with some black people and progressive for her decision to co-sponsor the Blue Lives Matters bill that calls for federal prison time against some people who have encounters with police. Demings, a Democrat, teamed up with arch-conservative Republican Congressman John Rutherford of Jacksonville, to sponsor this bill. She was the only Democrat to sponsor the bill that has been widely criticized by civil liberties groups as excessive and unnecessary. The Blue Lives Matter bill is seen as an attack on the Black Lives Matter movement that has been fi...

Early voting in the Orlando District 5 City Commission election begins Monday (Oct. 30) and continues through (next Sunday) Nov. 5 th . The only place you can go to vote early is the Orange County Election Supervisor’s Office, 119 E. Kaley St., just off Orange Avenue. The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Be sure to bring state-issued photo ID to vote. Early voting is offered as a convenience, so people won’t have to worry about unexpected emergencies that might prevent them from going to the polls on Election Day – Nov. 7. Regina Hill, the incumbent, is being challenged by Jibreel Ali, Ericka Dunlap, Sarah Elbadri, Betty Gelzer, Cynthia Harris and Ondria James. Click here to see the closing comments offered by candidates during the final candidate debate at Frontline Outreach. For more news, click http://www.32805OrlNews.com

Hopefully no one gets sent to jail in the spirited political race currently underway in Orlando City Commission District 5. We’ve heard reports of candidate signs being vandalized and stolen. In some cases, unknown perpetrators have trespassed on private property to steal signs. Stealing signs isn’t campaigning. It’s a crime and it can backfire and hurt the candidate being supported by the perpetrator. That happened back in the early 1990s when one sheriff candidate’s stolen signs were found in the possession of another candidate’s supporters. The supporters who stole the signs were arrested and the candidate they supported lost the election – in part because of the bad publicity regarding the stolen signs. In addition, Orange County Elections Supervisor Bill Cowles said he and his staff take election laws seriously. They check signatures on all ballots submitted and on the envelopes absentee ballots are returned in. If they hear reports of ballot brokers tricking voter...