Ep. 5445: Shape The Future.com

This is the full episode of The Morning Show with Preston Scott for Thursday, September 4th.

Our guests today include:
- Steve Stewart 
- Dr. Steve Steverson
- Ricy Dixon 



Follow the show on Twitter @TMSPrestonScott. Check out Preston’s latest blog by going to wflafm.com/preston. 
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Welcome on in, friends, and welcome. How are you. I've
been up for a while now, I mean I've been
up several hours, longer than I normally would be up
by now. I just tell me. It was a little upset,
and so I woke up and just stayed up, much

(00:39):
to the chagrin of my sweet wife doing sorry, gotta
be up this. Yeah, So anyway, I am bright eyed
and bushy tailed. He's Jose over there in Studio one A.
I am here in Studio one B. Let's start with
some scripture Matthew seven again, red letter stuff. Jesus said,

(01:04):
enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide,
and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and
those who enter it are many. For the gate is narrow,
and the way is hard, that leads to life, and
those who find it are few. There's an old expression

(01:28):
that says something like, if it were easy, everyone would
do it. Here's the thing everyone can if everyone chose
to this verse from the words of Jesus. Jesus spoke
these words. This blows up the whole predestination Calvinist theology

(01:53):
right there. Those who find it, what would be the
point of looking if you're determined, you have no say,
and whether you're a Christian or not, those words become
stupid and pointless and borderline cruel. See, you and I

(02:17):
have a choice to make in our life. And if
you're fortunate and you ignore that opportunity when it comes
to you the first time, it comes again, and it
comes again, and it comes again, Like the searching for

(02:38):
that one lost sheep. God's looking for those who have
not answered, who have not responded, who have not chosen
to find that path. That's why it annoys me when
you know, you listen to some of the radio program

(03:00):
I mean that George Nori does, and he sort of
makes it sound like Jesus is just one of the gang. Yeah, hey,
that it's all good. It's all good, the late Pope.
Many paths lead to goether, know they what did Jesus
just say? No, they don't. There aren't many paths, aren't

(03:21):
many ways. That's heresy, and it's a dangerous theology to
believe that you have no say in your salvation. Of
course you do. It's your choice. For God so loved
the world he gave his only son that whosoever you

(03:41):
want to find it, you want to you want to
walk that path. It's narrow, it's not easy, but it's simple.
It is simple anyway. I you know, I I received
a tad bit a pushback when I talk about Calvinism.

(04:06):
There are some people that I know love Jesus that
are sadly trapped in Calvinists thought, and they don't understand
the dangers of it to people. It is a dangerous theology.
I have dealt with those that have been ensnared by

(04:28):
that idea of what difference does it make whatever I do,
I'm either going to Heaven or I'm going to hell.
I have no say in the matter because it's predestined.
It's nonsense, that's rubbish, and the scriptures that refute it
are literally hundreds. So this verse just stood out because

(04:51):
red letters, Baby, ten past the hour, come back. Let's
take a peek inside the American Patriots Almanac. We have
a busy show at as always, every show is busy,
but today we will sit down and have a long
visit with the Secretary of Corrections for the State of Florida.
Ricky Dixon will be joining me. Got Steve Stewart will

(05:13):
help you with your pets, So stick around. It'll be interesting,
It'll be fun. The Morning Show with Preston Scott.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Those serving communities as law enforcement officers and first responders,
I say you are all essential workers. Welcome to the
Morning Show with Preston Scott.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Eleven past the hour. September fourth is our date show
fifty four forty five. It's five four four five. This
is no matter what's where you got? Who's five or
four five or anyway. Henry Hudson sixteen oh nine explores
New York Harbor before sailing up the Hudson River. Inn't

(06:20):
that interesting that the river title goes back to sixteen
oh six when Hedri Henry it wasn't. I doubt it
was called the Hudson River. Then it was probably called
something by the Native Americans. I don't know. Anyway, we

(06:40):
named it seventeen eighty one Spanish settlers found Los Angeles.
Don't you wish they could take it back? Eighteen eighty six,
after years of fighting white settlement, APACHE leader Geronimos to
US troops in Arizona that that is part of the

(07:04):
saga of this country. That makes me sad, how this
country handled the Native Americans, And to this day it's
sad like we're trying to erase their history, and we're
disguising it as political correctness. Eighteen eighty eight, George Eastman

(07:29):
patents the Kodak camera, the first to use film roles.
When eighteen eighty eight the Kodak camera Good out of Town.
Nineteen fifty one, the first coast to coast telecast. President
Truman speaks at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco,

(07:53):
And in nineteen fifty seven, Arkansas Governor Orville Faubus Okay
calls out the National Guard to keep nine black students
from entering all white high school, and little Rock, I
will bet the farm he was a demo crat. Let's

(08:16):
hold that story for just a moment. What else do
we have today is National Spice Blend Day. I have
unbelievable admiration for chefs who know that spice goes with

(08:37):
that spice, which goes with that spice, and that spice
and that spice and it pairs perfectly with that protein.
How I know a lot of its trial and error.
I know that, But that's to me a skill that

(08:58):
is an unbelievable skill, and I don't know if it
can be learned by everybody. It's like, not everyone has
the same eye for art and design and color, composition, writing, singing,
music playing. I don't think. I don't think everybody has

(09:20):
a gift for mixing spices. It's a national macadamia nut day,
national newspaper carrier day. Boy, there's a dying breed. Anyone
around my age, I would say a lot of you
carried a newspaper at some point in time, delivered newspapers

(09:42):
in your neighborhood. I did National Wildlife Day. So there
you go, all right, sixteen past the hour, come back,
keep rolling here? Did you know I was right? Of

(10:09):
course you did. Orville Faubus, governor of ar Kansas, would
not allow blacks to attend schools, defied the Civil Rights Act,
and was a proud member of the Democrat Party. Time

(10:36):
and time again, the Democrats are shown to be wrong.
It's a it's a long tradition. Had a buddy of
mine say we need to have lunch. Democrats are wrong

(10:58):
on everything, yes, m hmm yeah. Next, No, I can't
find a policy they're right about. Maybe there's some small

(11:19):
little things somewhere, but on the things that matter, they're
just wrong. And history shows they've been wrong a long time.
You know, I'm not making this up. Did you know
Thomas Chippendale from the eighteenth century. You hear the name Chippendale,

(11:44):
You're thinking the dancers, You're thinking, Hey, No. He was
a cabinet maker who combined furniture styles of his era
to create a new style known as Chippendale. He also
designed the homes of the British elite. He died in

(12:04):
seventeen seventy nine. See, I hear Chippendale, and I'm thinking,
I'm thinking the dancers. I'm thinking the guys that you
know and whatever. Don't forget. Have you gone to the
website to fill out the survey Shapethfuture dot com. Yesterday

(12:29):
we had a marvelous visit with Genevieve Wood of the
Heritage Foundation, and Heritage is bullish on America right now.
I'm not there. I know how bad things could have been.
I know that Donald Trump has made America better than

(12:52):
it would have been. But I have concerns, and I
would hope you do too. We can't just well, yeah, boy,
got that over with, and not think that, for example,
in a year and a half, well less than that,

(13:16):
think about this in a year and two months, we're
gonna be electing the midterm congress. What's it going to
look like, we're gonna be electing a governor. I mean,
we have no time to just sit. I think that

(13:38):
America is positioned better than it would have otherwise been
by a long, long, long way. That said, I don't
share the overarching overall optimism of the Heritage Foundation. I don't,
And so I will be spending some time on that

(13:59):
survey because she's that there are some essay questions. Count
me in. When I was a kid taking tests, all
I wanted was multiple choice. Come on, let's go, let's
go get it over with. But now, oh, give me
those essay questions. Yeah, let's share some thoughts. It's funny

(14:23):
how things change. But the website is shapedthefuture dot com,
and they're asking you whether you agree with my perspective
on things or not, it doesn't matter. They're asking you
to take the survey. Let them know what you think.

(14:45):
I haven't looked at it yet. I'm gonna do it.
I've saved you know a photo here of one of
the billboards they're pushing out America's best days are ahead
of us. Maybe maybe maybe not? They could be. I

(15:07):
think part of this is a requisite revival that needs
to happen in this country. And I'm not talking about Oh,
Praise the Lord of tent meeting, I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about a deep, heartfelt people living like Christians

(15:28):
seven days a week, not Sunday morning, not Wednesday night,
all week long, not being perfect, but taking on the
responsibility of being a true ambassador for Christ. I am
I'm certain that that is a requisite to be able

(15:51):
to say America's best days are ahead of us. It
is not possible for America's best days to be ahead
of us apart from the hand of God. It's just
not And if you think otherwise, you are making the
same mistake that the Bible records over and over and
over and over and over and over and over, history
records what happens when people turn their back on God.

(16:14):
Saying twenty seven minutes past the album Shapethefuture dot Com,
Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Show with Preston
Scott Steve Stewart. Just a little bit, you know, wait,

(16:43):
doctor Steve Steves sit next hour, Pools and your pets
m making sure you understand the challenges that a pet
being in your pool may provide We've got Ricky Dixon,

(17:08):
Secretary of Corrections for the Department of Corrections for the
State of Florida, joining me in the third hour Big
Stories in the press box. Speaking of the state of Florida,
Surgeon General announced in the end of all vaccine mandates
for the state. I have no problem with it. I

(17:32):
have no problem with you choosing to have your children
vaccinated if that's what you want. I think he is reasoning.
Who am I to tell you what you should put
in your body or your child's body. Government should have

(17:54):
no say in that none. There are vaccines that have
not been properly vetted and researched. There are others that
I personally would have no problem giving to my children
our grandchildren if I were a parent, But there are
others that, No, we don't need to vaccinate our kids

(18:15):
for things that involve sexual activity when they're adults. No, anyway,
I think it's a good choice. I don't know if
you heard on the subject of healthcare. Did you hear
about the hot mic moment with Vladimir Putin and Jinping

(18:36):
Gee of China? Putin gi and North Korean leader Fat
Boy Kim Jong un massive World War two military parade,

(18:57):
G said through a Russian translator, Earlier people rarely live
to seventy. These days, seventy, you're still a child. This
is what he's saying on the platform. As biotechnology advances,
human organs can be continuously transplanted, allowing us to become
younger and younger, perhaps even achieve immortality. Predictions are that

(19:20):
in this century there's a chance of living to one
hundred and fifty. This, this buttress is what people have
been concerned about for a long time in China organ harvesting,

(19:44):
that they are in fact forcing people to relinquish organs
for the purpose of developing this, whether it's the wigurs,

(20:11):
Falan Goong practitioners. I mean, there are long standing concerns
of the black market organ black market playing parenthoods, selling
baby organs for the purposes of cultivation to China. I
don't know, I know they're harvesting baby organs. And then,

(20:39):
just to show the despicability of some on the left,
who shows up to protest and heckle at a memorial
for the people that died in the victims of the
shooting in Minneapolis. Who does that? People on the left.

(21:01):
That's just despicable. Protect our kids. You're a coward, they
said to jd Vance and his wife as they arrived.
Tim Walls, for his part, is calling a special session
to put more gun control in place in Minnesota because

(21:24):
Minnesota being one of the most restrictive states in the nation.
Their gun control worked so well in Minnesota, and as
restrictive as it is, you know who's going to be targeted,
law abiding gun owners. Leftists. Yeah, forty minutes past the.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
Out stop right there, working on my survey. Told you

(22:25):
I loved essay questions.

Speaker 1 (22:28):
Some other things in the news here this morning on
the Morning show with Press's cut. You go, what what
are you talking about? Shape the Future dot com? Just
type in when you type in the U R L
shape the Future dot com, all one word, Shape the
Future altogether dot com. You'll be taken there. Like all surveys,

(22:51):
it's not they don't give you as many options as
I think they should on some of the things. But
the essay questions, Man, go to town there they want
your intel. Go to town. Some other news warning we've

(23:13):
talked about the ding Dong ditch prank. Kids will ring
a doorbell and then flee they think it's funny. It's
not funny, it's stupid. And what's an eleven year old
doing out late at night doing this? But at the
same time, even if you're annoyed, you can't pull your

(23:38):
gun and shoot a kid who's eleven years old, who's
not anywhere near you, not remotely a danger to you,
not arm, not nothing. You can't shoot a kid like that.
And forty two year old man shot and killed an
eleven year old boy playing a stupid prank in a neighborhood.
The boy was nowhere near the home when he was shot.
He was fleeing. He had done the prank. It's a

(24:02):
stupid prank, but it shouldn't cost a kid his life.
That's being stupid and reckless As a gun owner. Now,
I have no idea if he was allowed to have
a gun. Forty two year old dude, no idea. What
I know is he has no self defense claim whatsoever.

(24:23):
He is going to prison and he should. That's reckless.
At the same time, man, I'd love to have a
word with the parents. What are you doing? What are

(24:48):
you doing having an eleven year old out. I'm not
guessing this happened in the middle of the day. But anyway,
another story, Texas, Texas story again just it just makes

(25:10):
you shake your head. Texas man forty six year old
Sean O'Donnell facing murder charges in the death of his friend.
We don't know if there was alcohol involved, drugs involved,

(25:34):
We don't know. Story's not saying yet. What we know
is that he and his friend we're allegedly taking turns
shooting each other. I don't know the distance, I don't

(25:55):
know anything other than the fact that his friend was
shot in the head. So he's going to face murder charges.

(26:20):
Forty six minutes after the hour, I got nothing better.

(26:43):
So we're moving the Space command from Colorado Springs to Alabama. Okay,
I see you. Alabama. Got to get Senator Tubberville on

(27:05):
the show to talk about that. You know, he's running
for governor. Man, I don't want to lose him in
the Senate, but he wants to be the governor of Alabama.
He's got a good shot if Alabama fans can forgive
him for coaching at Auburn. But he'll say, as he

(27:30):
said on this program, Hey and I'm not coached at Auburn.
You'd never gotten Nick saban at Alabama. There might be
some truth to that, but it's an interesting decision. Now
if you look at Colorado, Yeah, if I could, I'd

(27:53):
move the Rocky Mountains out of Colorado. Colorado's a trash
been now beautiful state, but politically it is a wasteland.
It's it's it's just it's desolate, and it's a shame

(28:14):
because it is one of the most beautiful states in
our Union, just gorgeous, and it has been the home
of the Air Force, the United States Air Force Academy.
I broke down right in front of it, blew attire
right off, now, wheel off my car, A wheel sheared

(28:34):
off my car right in front of the Air Force Academy.
Had to call a buddy of my dad's to come
rescue me. That those were the days that you could
take your car to a gas station and they had
service base, the roll up garage and all that. So

(28:54):
I found myself in a hotel for a couple of
days while my car got fixed good enough to drive
at the rest of the way. I was a nervous
wreck driving at the rest of the way. But anyway,
Space Command move into Huntsville. Huntsville, I think that's how
they say it. There Huntsville, They've already got the Marshall

(29:17):
Space Flight Center there in Huntsville. They've got Blue Origin
factory there, They've got contractors like Lockheed Martin. So yeah,
there you go, Bye bye to Colorado. Hello Alabama. And
the president of George Mason University, Gregory Washington, is refusing

(29:39):
a federal directive to issue a public apology for what
the government investigated and found was unlawful DEI practices. According
to Campus Reform, late August, the Department of Education's Office
for Civil Rights concluded GMU was in violation of titles

(30:00):
of the nineteen sixty four Civil Rights Act by using
race as a determining factor in hiring faculty and promotions,
and rather than comply, the president, Gregory Washington, published a
statement rejecting the directive, writing that is university's DEI programs
are designed to expand opportunity and build inclusive excellence, not

(30:22):
to exclude or advantage any group unlawfully. Well, of course,
it's unlawfully excluding a group. Any time you show preference
to any race, you are excluding others. Why is it
so hard for people to understand that? Why is it

(30:46):
so hard for some to understand that anything that favors
one group over another is racist, is bias. I mean
you literally have to suspend your brain. All right. Steve

(31:11):
Stewart will join us next from Tallassi Reports. Stay with us,
and it's the second Hour. Thursday's always fun around here.

(31:35):
It's a show fifty four to forty five of the
Morning Show with Presto Scott. Hello, friends, ruminators, ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls, males and females only. We welcome you
to the Second Hour. Jose, can you see in Studio one.
Am here in Studio one B, and I am joined
by the executive editor of Tallassi Reports. He's shutting down

(31:57):
the phone lines as we speak because he's constantly a
news hound, constantly getting tips, constantly getting calls, constantly getting stories.
You're to talk with us, is Steve Stewart? Hello, Good morning,
preston crime numbers.

Speaker 4 (32:11):
Yes, and it'll be in our newspaper that's going out
actually being printed this morning.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
Come on, come on. Yes.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
So we tracked the crime numbers at TPD Incident Reports,
as I always like to do. The qualifiers. We're not
looking to track every crime. We're looking for trends. The
trend for year to date compared to last year is
down significantly thirty percent on property crimes violent crimes. However,
as you will see in the article if you read it,
is that there's some emerging concerns and we're able to

(32:41):
look at daily numbers and weekly numbers and monthly numbers,
and over the last couple of months we've seen this
change in robberies, which is a violent crime, and they
have reared their ugly head.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Again and now we're at twenty twenty four levels. Are
they in certain zip codes?

Speaker 4 (32:57):
We've got to look into that these numbers are fresh,
which are through.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
August, and so that's one of the things we'll look into.

Speaker 4 (33:03):
But this usually involves a weapon, are physical violence, you know,
and so these are an indication of I would argue
in quality of life because it involves you know, someone
that you don't know, and that is a concern. The
other thing is the increase in auto burglaries, which we
had got a huge handle and auto thefts and burglaries
really are the majority of the property crimes, but the

(33:25):
auto burglaries have spiked over the last couple of months.
Again near to date down but if they keep at
this current rate that we're gonna it's gonna have a
huge impact. Now it's the end of the summer, so
is that we're going to see a change there, But
still you're comparing it to the summer of last year
and it's at that level. That suggests then that with
regard to auto burglary, we're dealing with primarily young people

(33:49):
that should be or would otherwise be in school. That yeah,
that would be the argument, but you know, it sort
of cuts across what we had argued, or I had argued,
is that there had been some detern effect on people
getting caught.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Because of the use of.

Speaker 4 (34:01):
Of some technology and stuff. Because if you're back to
where you were last year, then it really hasn't had
much of a much of effect. So those are two
things to keep an eye on again, the broad headlines
and that crime is down overall, but we'll have to
keep an eye on that.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Our police law enforcement agencies in town saying hey, keep
your cars locked or these forcable break in auto burglary things.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
I mean that the I think if you look at
the PR messaging over the last couple of years, is
about locking your car for a lot of different reasons.
Obviously burglaries of guns and so yeah, I mean you
would the burglaries are you know, you see films of
people going through parking lots and busting windows out, and
so again it's just it's sad that it's reached that level. Again,
I thought we were on a downward trend because of

(34:49):
against some of the efforts that were in place.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
We'll keep an eye on it. Again.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
You know, two months doesn't make a you know, a
long term trend, but it does raise, especially with robberies.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
And so we'll keep an eye on that.

Speaker 4 (35:01):
I mean segueing into the topic that is with lcs
Leon County schools. You know, we went through this rash
of the last week or so of guns in schools
and this isn't I mean, it's different schools. I mean
it was Godbee, it was Rickords, it was Lincoln, and
then there was guns at gene Cox Stadium. And so
now Superintendent Hanna had said, look, I've seen enough. He

(35:23):
had put the brakes on metal detectors last year and
tried some other things, and he's concerned. And so they're
going to start putting metal detectors in high schools, which
is you know has all kind of you know, ramifications.
A couple of problems here is that if you the
ones that are being caught, can you imagine the ones
that were missing. I think that's the issue for officials

(35:45):
and that they're concerned about. And these are teenagers that
are carrying guns that you know, they're saying they're carrying
it for protection, which leads to another host of problems.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Yeah, and so.

Speaker 4 (35:58):
Overall again, I think that the new police officers and
the new technologies have an effect, you.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
Know, crime, the broad numbers of crime.

Speaker 4 (36:06):
But there are still these pockets that I think are
very difficult to get at because some of them are
culturally based and other things.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
That deterrens are just aren't working. Steve Stewart with us
from Tallaski Reports. You heard the paper is being printed
and coming out. You can subscribe go to Tellassireports dot com.
City Commission met last night. We'll talk about it next.
This is the Morning Show with Preston Scott. Steve Stewart

(36:44):
with me from Tallassi Reports and City Commission meeting last
night had to be a lot of fun.

Speaker 4 (36:50):
Look, I took the time to watch the whole four
hour meeting because you know we're right telling you the newspaper.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
Yeah, and yeah, I couldn't do it. No, I wouldn't
bet on something I need to do on a regular basis.

Speaker 4 (37:01):
We go back and look at the tapes and stuff,
but it really gives the tone of what's going on.
And so, first of all, a couple of things. You know,
they gave a report on the speed zone ticket program.
Can I ask you a question.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
It's just I know people need to slow down, but
are we really four hundred thousand dollars on these things?
And how long that?

Speaker 4 (37:25):
Well, so the point on this is that was two
cameras over a three month period.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
That's insane. Yeah, And there's a couple of things here.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
The money is I think everybody gets everybody's attention from
what gets my attention to the number of people that
can't follow basic rules.

Speaker 1 (37:40):
I mean we're talking about a grace period here of over.

Speaker 4 (37:42):
I mean you're talking about a thirty mine hollars speed limit, okay,
and you can go ten over that's forty that's when
the lights are flashing.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
So I mean I think there is an issue. Who
are the money? The money? If you'll go to Toddsworths
dot com, we.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
Have a story up in show where it's distributing what
is going to But now starting September eleventh, these they're
gonna to be turned back on in like ten locations.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
And so what's interesting about the discussion. There was discussion
about that.

Speaker 4 (38:07):
But the progressives who want to fight against everything are
arguing against these things. It's weird how they talk about
pedestrians safety. You know, we need to redesign roads and
get cars off streets, but here's something when you're actually
trying to do something that is related to having an impact.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
And the issue here in chief Revel talked.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
About this is the hope is that we get this
down to where there's no infractions, you're not collecting any money.

Speaker 1 (38:31):
They sense that they've.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
Already seen it at the two locations where they're put
in and they will report these numbers. They actually reached
out because this is a media thing also because you
want to let people know what's going on. They've reached
out to all the media partners, including Talents Reports. They're
sitting us stuff every week and they really want us
to print it every week so that people can see, Look,
this is a serious thing.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
You need to slow down.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
And so we'll see how that goes I you know, again,
to see somebody blowing through school zones in the morning
or even just speeding down these streets, you know, are
troublesome because it goes back to the whole thing of
you know, we don't have rules against cell phones and cars,
so you got to somehow enforce some laws. And going

(39:14):
through COVID when nobody was pulled over, we're starting to
see a little bit more traffic enforcement on the streets,
so we'll see how that works out. Another issue was
they voted on a residency requirement press and this is
very interesting. There wasn't one in the Taal has the
election code you could run for mayor and only have
lived here in the city for three months. So they

(39:37):
changed the code, but the timing was such that if
you weren't paying attention because it was like a month
before the year, the new rule was you had to
live here a year.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
And some people got caught up in that.

Speaker 4 (39:48):
And are a couple people that had signed up to
run for mayor and city commission but didn't live in
the city for a full year. They met and there
was a lot of sympathy for that, and they were
going to change the code. But last night over the
vote was four to one. Daily in the minority said, look,
we created this ordinance, it was noticed properly, the process
was sound. We can't grandfather people in because we'll have

(40:10):
people fighting in here to redo ordinances because of you know,
specific beasts. So they stuck to their guns on that,
which I thought was very very interesting. The other issue
on this was the budget they had to vote to this.
There's two public hearings on a one point two billion
dollar budget to establish the milite rate and the spending

(40:31):
on capital projects.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
And the fire service fee.

Speaker 4 (40:36):
The Progressives put a major obstacle up and refused to
vote for the budget, and given some of the technicalities
of needing a super majority on the milite rate, they
basically had to go through forty five minutes of technical
ordnance talk to get to a posture to where they

(40:56):
could actually move forward again Reman of what you see
and of these other progressive cities just putting you know,
just putting up down upper roadblock because they are in
disagreement of how the fire service fee issue is being held.
So in two weeks we'll have to see where the
Progressives are on this. But they need their votes to

(41:17):
get the specific numbers that the city staff want to
run the budget. So overall, and we'll talk about another
issue in the next segment. The tone at the meeting,
Preston and again, I watched it for four hours. Newfound
respect for Mayor Daily, Curtis Richardson and Diane Williams Cox.
The progressives are putting up obstacles at every turn. Mayor

(41:42):
Daily took an opportunity to actually lay out some facts
on some arguments that the progressives were making. They're misleading
the voters, I mean, basically lying, and it is a
it's a difficult issue to watch.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
We're going to talk more in a moment here with
Steve Stewart of tell Act. She reports. Steve Stewart with
me from Tallash reports. I don't think combat pay is offered,
but it ought to be given for watching City Commission meetings.

(42:18):
That hurt my head. No, but you know, the look
it is.

Speaker 4 (42:23):
I can't imagine sitting up there as an elected official,
but it's very it's very instructive of sort of what's
going on. And you know, I talked about the new
respect for Mayor Daily, and I don't watch all these meetings.
The issue we're going to talk about the two eighty
seven g and I know this is in the weeds,
but it actually again shows you where we're headed.

Speaker 1 (42:42):
Explain what it is.

Speaker 4 (42:43):
It's an agreement that Reese, God and Chief Revel signed
with the federal government to participate in the enforcement of
federal immigration law.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
And so which Oh, by the way, the overwhelming majority
of people in this country, including Democrats, agree with. Right.
Know what. What this has become is that signal this agreement.

Speaker 4 (43:04):
Cities are trying to get out of it because it's
a reflection of them, you know, helping out the federal
government with these immigration policies. The problem is this is
that that the city signed it because they felt like
they needed to. And plus the requirements that the federal
government is asking for is minimal. It is it is
they have to train one police officer out of four

(43:24):
hundred sworn officers to help put in data into a
federal database when illegal I mean when immigration laws are
violated and someone is arrested. It used to be that,
you know, the Feds had to deal with it, but
now they've got a trained officer that goes into this database.
The resources are minimal, and then they even get some
money from the state to do this. So it's it's

(43:47):
really it is not an issue from the resource standpoint,
and and so, but the progressives, they Porter and Mattlow,
see this is an opportunity to elevate this state capital
and they're fighting against this. They don't they fighting against it,
they don't want to be part of it, and in
the process they're misleading the voters.

Speaker 1 (44:07):
And commission Mattlow.

Speaker 4 (44:09):
Is talking about how we can't afford to have resources diverted.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
To a federal task.

Speaker 4 (44:15):
And so last night, when I had mentioned that we
had a newfound respect for Mayor Daily, he went through
three or four steps to explain to who anybody was
listening that first of all, we are not using resources
to do this. And the second thing detailed exactly what
this officer was doing, which is very minimal, Okay, And

(44:39):
you know it gets that type of attention to detail
when a colleague is misleading voters, I think is something
that it gets tiring to have to do it night
after night, But I appreciate that he took the opportunity
to do that. It'll be interesting to see how this
story is written up in the local media outlet.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Given that he took the time to do that, what
was the end result because they had been considering, reconsidering
the agreement. Blah blah blah blah.

Speaker 4 (45:08):
This is this is one of these issues that progressives
want to hang on to every meeting.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
This is like the fourth meeting, this has been been discussed.

Speaker 4 (45:15):
Commissioner Mattlow never did not have the courage to say,
you know, to take a vote to go ahead and
end the agreement because he wasn't gonna win. And Mayor
Daily and UH Commissioner Diane Williams Cox and Commissioner Richardson
said listen, you know, we're not gonna we're not gonna
deal with this until after we get more direction from
the courts because there's a case going on South Florida

(45:35):
and South Florida and so again it'll be back at
the next City Commission meeting to talk about and to
you know, to try to inflame people in this community.
And just on the heels of that, Commissioner Jack Porter,
you know, wanted a proclamation, you know, basically slamming the
federal government for enforcing immigration law and how they're and

(45:58):
how they're doing it. And again Mayor Daily said, you know,
I'm not going to support this. My personal views on
this I have talked about, but I'm not going to
head down this rabbit hole. That leadership led to a
three to two vote that defeated that proclamation. And again,
this is and I can't say this enough for your listeners,
this is where we're headed with the progressive wing of

(46:21):
the City Commission. This is they're more interested in art
on streets and this immigration policy that has basically no
impact than they are on kids carrying guns and schools
and other issues that we actually have. And that's the
biggest takeaway there is they want to get elected so
they can hold up Tallahassee as symbolic to this progressive ideology.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
And I'm telling you you're hearing it right here. That's
what they want.

Speaker 5 (46:48):
This is.

Speaker 1 (46:50):
One election away and has been for two election cycles
now of Tallahassee moving to become Portland of the Southeast.

Speaker 4 (46:58):
And the ironic thing is that the fifty to fifty
part of this city, the northeast, is going to be
financing all these uh these efforts because we have no
representation and no one to speak out against it.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
Southeast Northeast southwest, northwest, central, you divide it up, but
we have no districts in the city none.

Speaker 4 (47:20):
And you can't you can't do what daily. You can't
have somebody up there because daily, you know again, took
the time to go through this step by step. That
was That's what needs to happen every meeting.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
Yeah, thanks a Z always, thank you, Steve Stewart, get
the paper, subscribe. Be a supporter of investigative reporting, you know,
the kind that actually covers the story as it's happening,
as opposed to you know, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, twelve,
fifteen days later or not at all. Tell Userreports dot com.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
Ing Joe with Preston Scott's what what are you doing?
On Freedom on US Radio one hundred point seven. Tell
Them UFLA.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
Thirty six minutes past the hour. Secretary of Corrections Ricky Dixon,
a half hour from now for the Sunshine State Doctor
Steve steveson in just a few minutes. But first, the
big stories in the press box. So Florida Surgeon General
has announced that vaccine mandates are over in the state.
Don't know when, I cannot find a time frame that

(48:27):
has been offered. Don't know if that'll if it'll be
phased in. I have no idea. Obviously, the big problem
we face is on our borders. All the more reason
to control what comes into our country. The few cases
of measles that have popped up, that is largely due
to the southern border. It just is. There are some

(48:52):
vaccines that have caused injuries that we have mandated. There
are other vaccines that have been mandated that we don't
know anything about. Out Do they contribute to autism? I
don't know, but neither do they. The overarching issue that
I completely agree with is this one quoting the surgeon

(49:16):
General of Florida. Who am I or anyone else to
tell you what you should put in your body? Who
am I to tell you what your child should put
in their body? Thank you? Yeah, I'm with you. I

(49:38):
know there's going to be some pushback from some It's okay.
There are people that still walk around with masks. I
don't know what to say. There are hypochondriacs that were
literally created during COVID. Don't know. If you've heard about

(49:58):
the hot mic moment, Putin and Ge together with the
North Korean dictator, Mike picked up them discussing organ transplants,
and the idea of living passed one hundred and fifty
years of age through just replacing organs. Well, you've got

(50:19):
to have donors willing to give them, so, of course
the only people everyone's going to have access to that technology.
I'm sure if that's the way you want to go,
I'm not. You know, look, there's a time and a
place for an organ transplant, But to just have organ
transplants for the soul's sake of living or creating some

(50:40):
level of what you think is immortality, that is so
beyond immoral. It's crazy. Anyway, it was caught on microphone.
And then lastly, wowsers, what does this say about you
if you decide to protest at a church memorial for

(51:01):
people who were shot and killed? And this is what
people on the left do. And then the governor of
Minnesota is going to call a special session, one of
the most gun restrictive states in America, is going to

(51:24):
call a special session to make the state even more restrictive.
How those restrictions work out, they don't work. And oh,
by the way, they're an affront to the Second Amendment.
Forty minutes past the hour, we're going to come back
talk about our pets. Doctor Steve Steverson is standing by.

(51:46):
Pause for thought is next?

Speaker 2 (51:50):
It's the Morning Show with Preston Scott. How beautiful are
the mornings?

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Oh yeah, I probably should have tackled this topic sooner,
but better late than never. Doctor Steve Steverson joins me
pause for thoughts here in the Morning Show with Preston
Scott from the Bradfordville Animal Hospital. As I just mentioned, Steve,
we might I probably should have gone ahead and tackled

(52:29):
this at the beginning of the summer, but better late
than never. What are some basic guidances for our pets
and our pools?

Speaker 7 (52:40):
Yeah, no, Preston. The swimming is great exercise. We see
dogs in here with orthopedic problems quite frequently, and one
thing you'll recommend if the an has a pool is
to allow your doctor to swim because it's such a great,
non impact, bevariant exercise for them. So pools are great
for your pet. The question we always get is ken
my dog or my cat drink the pool water? And

(53:04):
the answer is, basically, it's okay if it's in small quantities.
You know, we have chlorine based balanced pools, we have
salt water pools, and both of them. Your dog can
drink a little bit out of it, or even your cat,
but if that's their only source of water, that's a problem.

(53:24):
If they drink too much of either of those types
of pools, that can create all kinds of imbalances in
their body, electrolyte imbalances especially, that can create some serious problems.
So you want me sure they drink it in small quantities.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
What about Can I ask you a quick question, what
about salt pools?

Speaker 7 (53:41):
Yep, So salt pool pools are fine if the dog
wants to drinks in that water or the cat, like
I said, in small quantities, you're okay. But if they're
drinking too much of it, that's salt and balance that
it creates in their body is very a very serious problem. Yeah,
and so make sure. I'd suggest you get a fresh
water bowl your dog and put it out on pool
deck somewhere in the shade where the dog has some

(54:04):
freshwater drink. Probably prefer that over the saltwater in the
pool or the chlorine that chlorinated water in the pool
to begin with. So make sure that on your back
deck where your pool is, you have other sources of
clean fresh water, not chlorinated water from the pool. That
being said, a balanced, clean clear pool is much better

(54:25):
water for your dog to drink than dirty pond water
that is full of allergy and all kinds of other microorganisms. So,
relatively speaking, water in your pool, if your pool is
nice and clean and clear, is okay.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
I'm curious, are there some breeds I've always felt like
there are some breeds of dogs they just don't enjoy
being in water. And as much as you mentioned the
exercise component of this, are there just some breeds it's
best to not get them in the water at all
because of their aversion to it. Whether it's nature or nurture,

(55:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (55:03):
Yeah, to some of you, there are some breeds that
don't like obviously, like a lot of your your inglish
bulldog and I don't like water very much. Some of
your terriers don't. Some dogs love water, and you know,
everything's of a labor retriever wasting water. We see some
some labradors that don't like water. Oddly enough, really there's

(55:23):
an individual variation as much as there's a reed variation,
and who likes and doesn't like water. One of the
suggestion if people haven't thought of this is if you
have a vinyl lined pool and you want to get
your pet in the pool, make sure and teach them
where the steps are so they'll go up and down
the steps. They don't try and to go and climb
out on the side, and your nails destroy the liner

(55:43):
of your pool. So make sure that you repeatedly teach
them those steps so that they will know if they
have a falling pool or they jump in, don't know,
to go out on the steps and not mess up
your pool liner.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
Should I even bring up that, I'm always I'm always
accused of hating cats. I don't hate cats. I'm just
not a fan of them. For me personally, I'll never
be mean to a cat.

Speaker 7 (56:03):
In my life.

Speaker 1 (56:04):
But should cats even be in this discussion cats and pools?

Speaker 7 (56:09):
You know, it's a it's a rarity. I do have
one or two patients, one or two cats that will
get in the pool, but that's an extreme rarity. Most
cats would prefer not to not to get wet and swim,
So yeah, that's kind of hard to put a cat
in a pool. I wouldn't recommend taking the track the
pool and those where you sleep, so I would do that.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
Doctor Steverson thank you.

Speaker 7 (56:33):
Oh, absolutely question.

Speaker 1 (56:34):
I appreciate it. Sir, Doctor Steve Steverson with us this
morning from the Bradfordville Animal Hospital as we talk about
our pets in our segment twice a month, pause forethought,
See what we did there? Yeah, deep thinkers, the staff
of The Morning Show with Preston Scott. We come back.

(56:56):
We've got a road trip suggestion for you, and then
we'll get you ready for our third hour with the
Secretary of Corrections for the State of Florida, Ricky Dixon
joining me here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott.

Speaker 2 (57:13):
Guy, do what you're talking about, what you will be
talking and most importantly, what you should be talking about.
It's The Morning Show with Preston Scott.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
Fifty one minutes past the hour. It is the Morning Show. Hey,
if you've not been to my blog page lately, let
me just give you a snapshot of what's there all right.
For example, I just posted this morning an update on
Boston Dynamics Spot If you don't know, spot Spot is

(58:01):
the Boston Dynamics Dog, if you will, a robotic dog.
It is a fascinating look at where the technology is
right now and the steps it took to get where
it is right now. I will remind you robotics are
advancing at the speed that they are advancing in part,

(58:23):
not in total, but in part because of illiberal pushes
on minimum wages, mandating them and forcing businesses to automate
when they otherwise might not have yet. It's ushering the
technology that will cost people jobs faster. Another thing I've

(58:47):
got is behind the scenes of a US Space Force
launch at Las five rocket and all I mean literally
behind the scenes how it all happens. We've got a
Monday message. I've got a nineteen thirty one black and
white home movie of a roadie to Florida and up
the East Coast nineteen thirty one. I'm just saying the

(59:10):
blog page is loaded with really unique and interesting content.
And speaking of road trips, Gellette Castle State Park, East HadAM, Connecticut.

(59:33):
If the name sounds familiar, this particular Gellette had nothing
to do with shaving, everything to do with the stage.
If you're a theater buff, you may recall the name
William Hooker Gillette eighteen fifty three to nineteen thirty seven.

(59:54):
An American actor who delivered a memorable performance is Sherlock Holmes.
If equally versed in castles, you might know of the
Gillette Castle. He built it himself. It is a fortress
high up on a bluff overlooking the Connecticut River. Now,

(01:00:15):
when Gillette died, his will stipulated that the castle nineteen
nineteen would not fall into the hands of any quote
blithering saphead who has no conception of where he is
or with what surrounded. In nineteen forty three, the actor
got his wish when the state of Connecticut took possession

(01:00:37):
of the property and christened it Gillette Castle State Park.
Since then, millions of visitors have gawked at the castle
stone exterior, admired the woodwork of the southern white oak,
fourteen dissimilar doors leading inside, and a man who created
uniqueness and creativity above all else. It's a fast pace

(01:01:02):
I've looked. I mean, it's a website because it's a
state park. So yeah, Jellette Castle State Park, East Adam, Connecticut.
And so there's your road trip suggestion. Here on Thursday,
here in the Morning Show with Preston Scott. All right,
when we come back after the news at the top

(01:01:23):
of the hour, we've got Ricky Dixon joining me. He
is the Secretary of Corrections for the Department of Corrections,
you might not be aware of the transformation that is
happening inside Corrections. And I think it's important to note
it's not the Department of Prisons, though incarceration is part

(01:01:48):
of the function. It is the Department of Corrections. Sadly,
I think one of the challenges that we have across
the country with recidivism is not enough people understanding that
most of the people in prison most are gonna come

(01:02:10):
back out. So are we releasing a bunch of bitter
people that don't have any skills and aren't prepared to
re enter society. Are they just gonna reciivate and head
right back into prison, or are we doing things while
they're incarcerated to give all of us the best chance
of success. We're gonna talk about all of that and

(01:02:33):
more next. Ricky Dixon joins me here on the Morning
Show with Preston Scott. Here it is. We are now

(01:02:58):
into the third hour of the Morning Show with Preston Scott,
and it's the final hole of the show at least
for today Thursday. And Jose's over there in Studio one A.
I am here in Studio one B, and I'm pleased
to have with me. I'm going to go ahead and
say it a friend. He's a friend at this point. Now,
over the years, I've had a bit of an evolution.

(01:03:20):
I am obviously a very conservative minded person and absolutely
believe tough on crime and all of that. But over
the last probably ten to fifteen years, I've come to
recognize some realities and this gentleman's helped me to learn
a lot of things about corrections and about the prison

(01:03:40):
system and what works and what doesn't work. And I'm
really honored that he's a friend. Ricky Dixon is the
secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections and joins me
in studio this hour. How are you good?

Speaker 5 (01:03:54):
Proud to be a friend too, and glad to be
with you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
I bet you hear that that people us kind of
get to a place where they're going. Yeah. I was
wrong about.

Speaker 5 (01:04:06):
Some things all the time.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
What do you think is the biggest misconception about your
line of work?

Speaker 5 (01:04:15):
I think it depends on which side of the isle.
You know, Folks wrong. We I think we have to
do a better job in the profession of educating the public.
You know, we deal with the families of of inmates
and their perspectives about the systems. We deal with the
extreme tough on crime crowd and their perspective of the system,

(01:04:35):
the victims of crime of their perspectives. But we we
have to blend all of those you know, experiences and
try to do the best job we can at explaining
them all the perspectives to the individuals associated with the system.
I'll give you an example. The you know, I'm very
conservative as well. I'm very very tough on crime minded.

(01:04:57):
I think that it's a lot like raising kids. Being
being heavy handed somewhat so to speak, causes behavior change
in positive ways in society and within the prison system.
But not to realize that, as I've shared before on
this program, that eighty five percent of them we'll be
back out on the street one day. And just to
pride ourselves on the public safety perspective in the sense

(01:05:19):
that we keep them behind the fence in clear count
every day, that's not enough. If we really care about
public safety, we have to put out a better product,
a more educated individual, a you know, hopefully one that
doesn't come back to prison and be a burden on
society but contributes to it. And most of all, as
I've shared before, when they come back, there's usually a
victim associated with that. So that's the message to our

(01:05:43):
correctional staff to those in that crowd. Now the others,
you know that, the inmate families and those I certainly
understand their perspectives. They're a victim as well in some
aspects when their loved ones go to prison, But it's
a I always want to represent the correctional staff as
well and remind people what they deal with. They don't

(01:06:05):
so many people don't understand the population and the complexity
and the and the violence and the problems that happened
down in those settings. We have a volunteer population who
are amazing and educators. They see those individuals at the
best of times in the chapel and education buildings, not
a two am in a housing unit, when they're in
congregate settings and they're even in some cases more violent

(01:06:27):
because they're compressed together with other men, and so they
don't get to see that aspect and that part of
this and understand why correctional staffs can sometimes be a
little jaded in dealing with the population. So try and
trying to I guess bring all that in for landing
and make sure that everybody understands the holistic way we

(01:06:48):
should view the profession with respect to to all those
attitudes and opinions about our system.

Speaker 1 (01:06:55):
And it's a NonStop triage system that's underway. I mean,
and perhaps that's a term that might not apply, but
the way that I apply it in this setting is
when an inmate comes in, you've got to kind of ascertain, Okay,
what am I dealing with here? Your staff has to
figure out does this person what kind of attitude do
they bring it into the facility. But yet that can

(01:07:18):
change in six months, it can change in a year,
it can change in five years. So there's this constant
need to reevaluate everybody that's in the population inside the
walls of a correction facility because some of them, quite frankly,
they kind of have an epiphany and they realize, Yeah,
this wasn't working. I got to do things differently.

Speaker 5 (01:07:39):
That what you're describing is what I'm probably most proud of.
One of the things I'm most proud of about our
system that I think we've done wrong for decades, and
I think most systems don't get this right. We've just
viewed a prison as a prison, and we've had not
only different custody levels in these prisons from the highest
to the lowest, but different behavior patterns in these prisons
all mixed together. So you take the guys that really

(01:08:00):
want to improve and work on self betterment, and they're
mixed in with people who absolutely do not. So in
recent years, we've done a much better job of categorizing
these individuals into the ones that want to be around
like minded folks that want to concentrate on education, religious programming,
whatever it may be, and isolating those that would cause

(01:08:22):
problems or distract or assoult others. That's trying to do better. Now,
that comes with some complexities and some danger levels that
you have to mitigate by good population management strategies, But
just that categorization has helped us so much in getting
like minded individuals together that can really concentrate on self betterment.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
Department of Correction Secretary Rick Addiction with me, it's eleven
past the hour. More to come here on the Morning
Show with Preston Sky all Right, twelve past the hour

(01:09:04):
and Correction Secretary Ricky Dixon with me. Florida has found
its way to becoming a bit of an example setting
state when it comes to corrections. What has happened and
why is that?

Speaker 5 (01:09:21):
Well, we set out early on several years ago to really,
with a great deal of intent, try to become a
national leader in corrections. I've been going to national conferences
for over ten years.

Speaker 1 (01:09:32):
Can I ask you to define what you think that means?
To say a leader? What does that mean in that field?

Speaker 5 (01:09:38):
Everything from innovation to best practices, to the things that
the metrics that would identify a system as doing well
to stand out in those areas. And we knew that
relationships were important, then we focus certainly on relationships here
in the state shares's associations to our cent and House members,
and I think we've done a better, much better job

(01:10:00):
in state and that's benefited us tremendously. But nationally and
as well, we have really started engaging with other states
to see where we don't need to reinvent the wheel,
and we've picked up some really good practices from other
states as well. But we've engaged ourselves with the American
Creational Association, the Correctional Leaders Association, which is my counterparts

(01:10:22):
from around the country. And when I would go to
those conferences ten years ago, people would literally pat us
on the back and say so sorry for the troubles
you're having. In Florida. We had a bad reputation. Okay,
not of our owndoing. I think it was just the
resource deprived to such an extent that it was reflecting
not just in our state, but people recognized it. It's

(01:10:43):
exactly the opposite. Now we have people coming from all
over the country to Florida and in certain parts of
the world to look at how we do business, which
is very flattering to our many women that do this
and our leaders, and and we've been able to share
a lot of best practices around the country at these
conferences and us again with so much interest that people

(01:11:05):
are coming to kind of see the way we do business, innovation,
rolling out new ways to do business. I'm really excited
about where this profession's going over I say five to
ten years, and maybe two to three with just how
rapidly artificial intelligence and AI and things like that is
going to impact our agency. We have to proceed with
caution with that those technologies comes risks, but we're in

(01:11:26):
the risk reward business and we have to really evaluate
what benefit we get versus potential risk in the system.
And I think we're already employee utilizing some technology that
I think is going to change the game.

Speaker 1 (01:11:39):
And corrections. Corrections obviously is the underscored word here. It's
not just about incarcerating dangerous people. It's about helping those
that are going to be returned to society, be corrected
and to have a path towards success. In preference, sorry,
in ahead of our next segment, what would be the

(01:12:03):
one thing that you think is singly the most important
thing that you're working towards to change that outcome.

Speaker 5 (01:12:10):
Well, we talk often about the programs excuse me, and
the education and all that, and it's important, but before
you before you carry out those functions, you have to
identify risk and needs. You have to evaluate the individual
to see where the best use of your resources are.
And so that when I speak of innovation, that's one
area we're improving. We take in twenty seven thousand inmates

(01:12:32):
a year, twenty five to twenty seven thousand in our system.
That's a lot of PEP and we have to evaluate
every one of them, and we have a human being
sitting in front of them, each one of those at
our reception centers, interviewing them and we've just applied some technology.
They'll do that through AI and we've we're finding we
believe that the individual will maybe even speak to the

(01:12:53):
artificial intelligence system better and more honestly than an individual. Now,
our human assets are are tremendous and will never they'll
never be out.

Speaker 1 (01:13:02):
Of Well, they have to evaluate, they have to informally
evaluate that.

Speaker 5 (01:13:05):
But you could argue, well, we should have a human
being doing that, But twenty seven thousand, I go back
to the numbers.

Speaker 1 (01:13:12):
How what's the quality control.

Speaker 5 (01:13:13):
In that when the monotony of doing that day after
day with so we think we're going to get better results.
We're waiting into it, but excited about opportunities such as that.

Speaker 1 (01:13:22):
More to come with the Secretary of Corrections Ricky Dixon
from the State of Florida here on the Morning Show
with Preston Scott. You know, in listening to the program,

(01:13:52):
especially you know business owners out there. As the Secretary said,
there are a lot of men and women coming out
of the correction system in the state, and they are
many of them really wanting to be employed and wanting
to have a chance at developing skills and a career.
But you're working before they come out, trying to help

(01:14:16):
them talk through some of the shifts that you have
tried to lead the state in inside of corrections before
someone gets out to better prepare them.

Speaker 5 (01:14:27):
Sure, just again, just to recap the numbers, eighty five
percent will be out and in about twenty seven thousand
a year. I said, come in, but they also that
many go back out into the community. So if I
were an employer, I would be considering that it's a
large number and potential potential employees. More and more employers
are recognizing that and we are trying to take advantage

(01:14:50):
of that as well to not only help the individual
be successful, but again all that contributes to them not
coming back to prison, which lowers victimization. To key ingredients
are are housing and have a house. You need a job,
and you need it very fast, not a month later,
two months later. You need you need to be ready
when you come out and have a plan. So we're

(01:15:10):
working with a great deal of intent to make sure
that we help those individuals have a plan and work
with the employers. One we're proud of the thanks to
the governor and he's been amazing in so many ways,
and the legislature and one of the things they've done
is recognized that we needed to reduce and mate idleness.
So we received over three hundred positions, which is not
easy to do in state government to add positions, but

(01:15:33):
there's a there's a risk returnal investment is tremendous. So
we have over three hundred new educators career in technical
ged prep those kind of positions across the state. That's
making a remarkable difference.

Speaker 1 (01:15:46):
Because it's not just about the men and the women
coming out if they if they recommit, there's another set
of victims. There's another set of trials, there's another set
of filling the blank and.

Speaker 5 (01:15:57):
A lot of a lot of a lot of money
associated with that. Yeah, judicial process, so correct, but absolutely.
And then what we're doing too it no cost of
state government that we're proud of. And you're familiar with
this with your former position with the Florida Foundation for
Correctional Excellence with that group, with other groups both internally,
we are reaching out to employers across the state and

(01:16:18):
as I've shared before, we're telling them, not only will
we identify individuals that's potentially moving to your area that
might be a good fit for your job, but we
will move them to you now, near to a prison
near you now, and we will allow you to come
in and offer training where they're ready to go to
work day one. So this is catching on A ten
or fifteen years ago, it would not have sold, I

(01:16:38):
don't think as well, because people had to you know,
they sh it away a little bit from those coming
out of prisons with records. But they're with the job
market the way it is now and the success that
so many.

Speaker 1 (01:16:50):
Businesses have had.

Speaker 5 (01:16:51):
We get stories all the time where these employees that
leave us turn out to be better in some cases
than the ones they hire from other places. So many
of them are so hum refer a job. They really
want another shot.

Speaker 1 (01:17:03):
They better win win.

Speaker 5 (01:17:04):
It's absolutely and it's a win win.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
I think sometimes, you know, we talk about art copying life.
I think sometimes people have this idea, and I think
at times it's been accurate. You see a movie that
involves a prison in any way, shape or form. The
prisoner gets out and the door slams behind him and
they wish them well, and that's that, and it's sort
of symbolized I think a long standing traditional idea, the

(01:17:30):
prison system, the correction system stops right there. You have
recognized and you've talked about and I've heard you talk
about it with your staff that it can't stop there.
It has to go beyond the walls of the institutions.

Speaker 5 (01:17:46):
It does have to be prepared in in advance.

Speaker 1 (01:17:48):
I need after care.

Speaker 5 (01:17:49):
And speaking of after care, one thing we're very proud
of is we have just redesigned our re entry center concept.
We only have a handful of re entry centers in
the state, and mathematically that is just not a winning solution.
We have to treat every prison as a re entry
center because they are. We release inmates every week from

(01:18:12):
every single facility in Florida, but we really haven't been
designed or set up for that to be successful. We
have these few release centers release centers that hold about
two thousand individuals, so we're not even coming close to
really being effective with those that are getting out. So
what we've done is we have or working toward proportionately

(01:18:34):
providing enough beds in each geographic area to get individuals
back closer to home within eighteen twelve to eighteen months
of release. We don't like individuals living at home their
entire sentence. There's bad things that happen when that When
that happens, but there's a there's a significant reward to
getting them back near release. And one of the primary
advantages is working with our volunteer community that come in

(01:18:58):
and mentor those individuals. Now what we've done instead of
mom and pop or some you know, church group or
civic organization come in, coming in and mentoring an individual
that's going to get out.

Speaker 1 (01:19:09):
Five hours away.

Speaker 5 (01:19:11):
Right, they're establishing relationships with individuals that's getting.

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
Out in their town where they're going to be.

Speaker 5 (01:19:16):
So they can help with reintegration into church and the
civic organizations and the housing and the jobs. So just
a lot smarter way to effectively utilize the amazing volunteers
that we have throughout our system.

Speaker 1 (01:19:29):
You've heard about some of the innovation. When we come back,
we're going to talk about some of the things still
to come, some of the needs that still exist, some
of the bridges that still need to be built, in
roads that need to be constructed, and you get the
idea more with the Correction Secretary rick AYD Dixon here
on the Morning show six minutes past. Our famous actor

(01:20:01):
Paul Walker in with us in studio here as well.
Uh joining me is Ricky Dixon. He is the sick
sorry Secretary of Corrections for the State of Florida. We've
talked about some of the innovations, some of the things
that you've managed to to uh move the state in
the direction of what are some things left to do?

(01:20:23):
What's on the to do list? If you've got the
sticky note, what's tops on that list?

Speaker 5 (01:20:27):
We we've got to continue to deal. You know, the
population is going to grow that that's no doubt of that.
As a population in Florida grows, our population in the
prison system will will grow as well. We're up about
nine thousand inmates.

Speaker 1 (01:20:41):
And that's just hard math, right, It's just hard. That's
just hard math.

Speaker 5 (01:20:44):
Okay, that's consistent with every state in the nation, and
it's and it's in Florida. It's you know that there's
been a massive growth in population and sure we see
that in our in our system as well. Some of
that growth has been post COVID. You know, we took
a we had a downturn after COVID. The population is rebounding,
also rebounding with a with a tougher individual. It appears

(01:21:05):
that the courts are tree odding the lower customy level
inmates we used to get and so we are getting
more violent INMDE and a longer term in mate. We're
dealing with health care issues like never before, the aging
population that we're dealing with, the mental health issues. So
all of that is to be considered in years and
decades to come, and we're already looking out at how
we how we best manage that. We're going to have

(01:21:27):
to find more effective, more innovative, and smarter ways to
manage the populations. We don't overburden state government, but there's
going to have to be resources addressed, such as physical
plant you know, additions to accommodate that, whether that's you know,
new new prisons in the future or or we we
do have quite a few facilities now in locations that
we've had difficulty staffing thanks to the governor and the

(01:21:50):
pay increases, we are rebounding. That's that's the reason we're
recovering in those areas. So that's helping.

Speaker 1 (01:21:55):
You mentioned the population and its growth. I'm curious is
there a nationwide there appears to be less attention on
mental health and the need for what we're traditionally mental
health hospitals where someone could be incarcerated but be treated
for their mental health issues. We know that the homeless

(01:22:18):
population and a majority of them suffer mental health issues
and eventually a lot of them end up in the system.
Are we needing more mental health hospitals or are mental
health hospitals in the future just going to be part
of an institution of prison.

Speaker 5 (01:22:35):
I think they are now in a large part. We're
kind of the mental health institutions of thirty forty years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:22:41):
Is that best practice?

Speaker 5 (01:22:43):
I'm not sure I can speak to that. I think
many of them could be served in a setting X
do you know, external to us. But the ones we
get have been convicted of a crime, so it's appropriate
that they are where they are, and we have very
robust and an effective mental health program. I'm very proud
of our team and the way they manage that difficult population.
A lot of that happens down in Lake County at

(01:23:03):
our facility, and they do very well managing those. But
along these lines, one thing we've got to address is
hospitalization and individuals going out to hospitals. It's extremely it's
very expensive, not just from a medical cost standpoint, it's
one of the most risky things we do. Taking a

(01:23:24):
convicted felling out to a hospital. The way we have
done that for years is they're all they're in traditional
hospitals up and down the state, next to mom and pop.
Not ideal. And for every individual we send out, we
send two officers with that individual. So it's very costly.
We're about ninety three percent and overtime costs associated with

(01:23:44):
outside medical so very proud of this. We are working
to put some medical modular units behind the fence and
starting to do more and more services behind our fence,
bringing doctors in instead of taking the individuals outside. Okay,
so we're going to have some twenty and forty man
infirmaries and hospital locations in behind our fence that we

(01:24:08):
can supervise with two security officers as opposed to eighty
if that's forty in hospital. Yeah, So again smart ways
to do business, a little bit of upfront calls, but
the return on investment is significant.

Speaker 1 (01:24:19):
I would imagine. So all right, forty minutes past the hour,
Take one more break, final segment with the Correction Secretary
Ricky Dixon here in the Morning Show with Preston Scott.
Final segment. We were just talking about how time just flies,

(01:24:42):
and I was sharing with the Secretary. This topic is
just too important. It just is. It impacts every single
person listening. And if you don't live in the Sunshine State,
trust me, it impacts you wherever you live, because this
is an issue in every state. It's it's just a
matter of how the issue is being tackled, and the

(01:25:03):
issue is returning inmates to the population in a successful
manner where we reduce the likelihood of recidivism. I know
that you you've talked a little bit this morning about
the staff, and you know Yeoman's work. I mean, this
is hard to put your arms around corrections in any state,

(01:25:25):
let alone as diverse as state, as large as state
as Florida is. But those people are very important at
seeing success.

Speaker 5 (01:25:32):
They are could not be prouder of the staff in
the state that the works in the Department of Corrections
and the culture of our state. We in the past
have been criticized about our culture, but I say a lot.
I'm proud of our culture. Our culture keeps people safe
and they have the staff have bought into the mission
so well. I can't say that was always the case

(01:25:52):
decades ago, but I and I can't say that every
one of the individuals that work for us have bought in,
but the vast majority get it and they understand why
we do what we do. I give a tremendous amount
of credit to Hope Gartman. She is our assistant Deputy
Secretary over institutions and her job is primarily focused on security,
and I used to be in that job and I

(01:26:13):
probably too much focused on that without enough focus on
the re entry aspect. But the way she leads that
team and make sure that we do the things we
have to do as that it relates to security, but
constantly reminds them of our obligation to focus on the
re entry and reducing hedleness. Amy Frazel is head of
our programs in reentry, and the relationship the two of

(01:26:37):
them have to respect each other's mission and make sure
that it marries up that it's complementary of our entire
goal is phenomenal. Again, couldn't be more proud of the
staff at the line level, but the leadership I don't
talk about enough either. I've got Richard coming for thirty
nine year veteran with the Department of Corrections as Deputy
secretary and just as such a heart and a maturity

(01:26:59):
about him and a wisdom that makes my job easy.
Our chief of staff is Deem fitz Gerald. He's a
retired sergeant major in the military. And Joe Winkler, as
you know of Lee's Community Correction. So never seen this
kind of team at the department.

Speaker 1 (01:27:15):
I've worked with.

Speaker 5 (01:27:16):
A lot of teams over a lot of years, but
just such a dedicated team that doesn't concentrate solely on
their area of responsibility, but has the greater mission at heart.
And so feel very fortunate to get to work with
this people every day.

Speaker 1 (01:27:30):
To businesses out there, there are certain industries that seem
to gravitate towards giving opportunities to returning citizens as we
like to call them. But the reality is there are
a lot of business owners out there that are looking
for employees. I've thought it's the best job market for
people coming out of out of corrections that I can

(01:27:53):
remember in my lifetime. They're just jobs everywhere. What would
you say to a prospective employer, so I.

Speaker 5 (01:27:59):
Would not hesitate to give them a chance that you know,
depending on what you do and the liability associated with it,
that the information about the past is very you know,
it's very relevant and very relevant. You can see that
and evaluate the past histories. But so many of them
have proven successful. It's relatively very few that get an
education and get a job that they come back. In fact,

(01:28:21):
let me say this, we have talking about success. We
have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the United
States twenty one percent. We're like number three or two,
or three or four in that category. It kind of
fluctuates back and forth. At one time we had over
a thirty percent recidivism rate, and that is the percentage
of inmates that return to prison after three years of release.

(01:28:41):
That's something to be proud of when you talk about
leading the nation. That's one of those metrics that means
we're doing something right. The programming, the education, getting them employment,
it's having an impact that it's showing in the statistics.

Speaker 1 (01:28:55):
So a job matters. And what I'll tell you, friends
is if you just email me, I'll direct you to
the right places if you're interested in learning more of
how you can take part. Mister Secretary, thanks, I appreciate
you coming in.

Speaker 5 (01:29:09):
It's been a pleasure. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:29:11):
Ricky Dixon with me this morning, forty seven minutes past
the hour, the Secretary of Corrections for the Sunshine State
and my guest here on the Morning Show with Preston Scott.

(01:29:34):
Always good to have the correction secretary in the building
to talk about realities. Who just talking about the fact.
It's just a pragmatic position one needs to take. You
just need to throw away the key. Well, the fact
is that's not going to happen. There are some that
will be in prison for life. And I'll be honest

(01:29:55):
with you, I'm not sure that everybody that's been sentenced
to life ought to be. Should someone that's never harmed
a person physically be sentenced to life. It's hard for
me to get my brain around that. But let's set
that aside for a second. When people pay their debt
to society, we have a choice. We're either gonna try

(01:30:20):
to keep a ball and chain around them forgetting that.
Well there, but for the grace of God, go I,
or we're gonna help them be successful. Now, that doesn't
mean turning a blind eye ignoring realities. It just simply
means we can either be part of trying to help
these people be successful and everybody wins, or they commit

(01:30:45):
another crime. You got another set of victims, you got
another trial, you got another and then they're back. I mean,
I'm sorry. I'm all about tough, tough on crime, but
I'm just my thought on this process has changed. Hey,
I had had someone shoot me a little screenshot here

(01:31:05):
of we might be facing a storm seventeenth eighteenth eighteenth
right now of the month, which is uh, which is
what fourteen days from now, tip of southeastern tip of

(01:31:29):
Florida could be facing a little something something. I'm just saying,
brought to you by Barono Heating and Air. It's the
morning show on WFLA. That's two weeks away. No what
that what that means is? And again it could it
cross over and end up dumping in the golf maybe?

(01:31:51):
Could it stop and go right up the coast. Maybe
could it get pushed around not come close to Florida
between now and then? Maybe? I don't know. Here's what
I do know. You got to go buy batteries. You
gotta go have transistor radio. You gotta make sure that
you got some water, some nonperishable food items, a little sterno,

(01:32:12):
ways to cook some food up if you need. I mean,
I'm just saying there's some things that you know you
can do. My thanks to the Secretary of Corrections Ricky
Dixon for joining me. My thanks to Steve Stewart for
joining me. My thanks to doctor Steve Steverson for joining me.
But mostly I want to thank you for joining me

(01:32:34):
because you are my friend. That was meaningful moment, wasn't it.
I think it was a meaningful moment. We talked about
the hot mic moment between Putin and g talking about
living till one hundred and fifty oregan harvesting. You know

(01:32:56):
that kind of thing, creepy stuff. Speaking of medical Florida
Surgeon General announces the end to all vaccine mandates in
the state of Florida. You okay with that? He little shaky,
little nervous. Huh, A little nervous in the service about
that one. Protesters on the left decides to go to

(01:33:17):
a mass for those who were killed in the shooting
of Minneapolis and protests. Yeah, because that's what you do
if you're a decent human being. All Right, Tomorrow, what's
to be Friday? Good news headlines from the B and
a whole lot more have an awesome