Day: January 1, 2023

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Then-Florida Governor-elect Ron DeSantis, left, arrives with his wife Casey during an inauguration ceremony, Tuesday, January 8, 2019, in Tallahassee, Florida.

Lynne Sladky/AP Photo

DeSantis is being sworn in for his second term on January 3 in Tallahassee. 
Lots of onlookers will be watching for signs of his national political aspirations. 
Numerous events are scattered over the week, including a candlelight dinner and a ball. 

The political world will be watching Tallahassee this week as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida prepares to kick off his second term. 

The governor will take the oath of office on the steps of the Historic Capitol on Tuesday at noon, and several other events will be scattered in Florida’s capital over two days. 

Eagle-eyed viewers will be closely watching for signs of DeSantis’ national ambitions. DeSantis is a favorite to run for the GOP nomination in 2024 behind former President Donald Trump, who made his White House bid official on November 15. 

“When he gives his speech I think that speech — although it will be for Florida — may be telling his projections for 2024,” Jennifer Carroll, who was lieutenant governor under former GOP Gov. Rick Scott, told Insider. “For the inauguration, that would be the thing to look for: What is he going to say in the speech? What is going to be the delivery and the tone?”

The inauguration festivities formally kick off Monday with an intimate candlelight cocktail hour and dinner. 

On Tuesday, after the noon swearing-in on the steps of the Historic Capitol, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis will hold “A Toast to One Million Mamas,” in recognition of the 1.1 million women she mobilized in support of her husband. 

The final event of the two-day bash is the inaugural ball, which typically takes place at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. The DeSantises want guests to stay late and dance at the ball, and got a band to perform, said a person briefed on the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity. 

Five people who donated $1 million will get the “inaugural chair” designation and access to multiple inaugural events, according to a breakdown of sponsorship packages obtained by Politico. The overarching theme is “The Free State of Florida,” the Florida Standard first reported.

“The Free State of Florida” is a motto mirroring DeSantis’ 2022 campaign theme. Ahead of Election Day, his campaign ran ads titled “My Florida Story” that featured people talking about how the governor’s policies on COVID-19, when he pushed to keep schools and workplaces open.

DeSantis carried the state by nearly 20 points on Election Day against former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist. The victory was a stunning turnaround for the governor, who won his first gubernatorial race by just 33,000 votes. 

During his second term, DeSantis will have a supportive supermajority in the Republican legislature. So far, DeSantis pledged to undo sales taxes on certain items and pitched a plan to make it more difficult for teachers to enroll and stay in unions. He has called his priorities for the 2022 session his “Freedom Agenda.” 

DeSantis, 44, is currently the youngest state governor in the US, though he’s about to be unseated from that designation by Gov.-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas, who is 40. 

Over the course of his two-day inauguration, lobbying offices and law firms also are expected to have their own events in Florida’s capital. 

Officials stand on stage during an inauguration ceremony where Ron DeSantis was sworn in as Florida Governor, Tuesday, January 8, 2019, in Tallahassee, Florida.

Lynne Sladky/AP Photo

Inauguration tickets raise funds for the Republican Party of Florida 

The funds collected from ticket sales for the various official inauguration events will go toward the Republican Party of Florida. Under state law, individuals and corporations don’t have limits as to how much they can contribute to state political parties or committees. 

The inaugural chairs for the event, The Florida Standard reported, are Brian Ballard of Ballard Partners; Nick Iarossi of Capital City Consulting; Bill Rubin of Rubin Turnbull & Associates; and Jeff Hartley of Smith, Bryan & Myers. 

“Both the Governor and First Lady oversaw every detail,” Hartley told Insider of the forthcoming inauguration. “It was put together in a tight timeframe with a small staff who did an unbelievable job of pulling it all together over the holidays.”

Five donors who paid $1 million for tickets will get to attend the candlelight dinner and the ball, receive prime seats to the swearing-in, be able to take a photo with the governor, and get two tickets each to “A Toast to One Million Mamas,” according to Politico.

The toast is taking the place of what has traditionally been a tea with the first lady, according to a Republican strategist who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect invitee information. The event is expected to celebrate DeSantis’ successful endorsements of school board candidates who align with his agenda and to include members of the conservative “Moms for Liberty” group. 

Guests of the governor for various events will include conservative media influencers, three people told Insider. 

Major fundraising is typical for an inauguration, whether it be at the state or federal level. Numerous corporations that do business with the federal government also helped bankroll President Joe Biden’s made-for-TV inauguration celebrations, Insider reported.

DeSantis released a partial list of donors in 2019 that included now-political foe Disney and the private prison company the GEO Group.

This inauguration, DeSantis is considering turning down donations from Big Tech companies, The New York Times reported. 

DeSantis himself has become a prolific fundraiser who shattered records for a gubernatorial campaign, according to the money-in-politics nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets. His political action committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, raised nearly $206 million as of November 2, according to the Florida Department of State Division of Elections. 

During Tuesday’s ceremony, DeSantis is expected to appear alongside his wife and Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez.

Other top Florida officials also tend to appear at the inauguration, including the attorney general, the chief financial officer, and the commissioner of agriculture. 

The 2023 gubernatorial inauguration is the same day as the start of the new Congress up in Washington, DC, so not all of the Florida delegation will be attending. 

“I support Governor DeSantis and am honored to have been invited to his inauguration,” GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida told Insider. “Unfortunately, I have other pressing business in Washington on January 3rd.”

Emails inquiring about attendance were sent to the offices of other Republican members of the Florida delegation, including now-Sen. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio, as well as Reps. Byron Donalds and Brian Mast, were not answered in time for deadline. An email sent to a representative for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush also was not met with a response. 

Then-Florida Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis, right, and his wife Casey wave to supporters as they walk onto the stage after he was declared the winner of the election at his party Tuesday, November 6, 2018, in Orlando, Florida.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP Photo

Every inauguration has a different focus and events

DeSantis’ 2019 inauguration had roughly 3,000 guests in attendance, according to The Naples Daily News.

That inauguration included an appreciation event for military veterans and first responders at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum and a legislative luncheon at the state Capitol. The event was a nod to DeSantis’ experience given that he is a veteran who was a lawyer for the Navy. 

The events from the last inauguration also included a breakfast at Goodwood Museum in Tallahassee to recognize Nuñez as the highest-ranking Hispanic woman elected in Florida history.

When DeSantis was first sworn in in 2019, he and his wife opted not to hold a traditional inaugural parade. Instead, they held their son Mason’s baptism at the governor’s mansion with water they collected from the Sea of Galilee during a trip to Israel, according to The Tampa Bay Times.

“The pomp and circumstance is fine, but ultimately this is about putting the pedal to the metal,” the governor told the Associated Press about opting not to have a parade. 

There will be no parade in Tallahassee in 2023, either. The inauguration for Scott — who was DeSantis’ predecessor in the governor’s mansion, did include a parade. Asked by Insider to talk about Florida inaugurations, Scott smiled as he recounted his first swearing-in over a decade ago.

“It’s fun. We had a parade,” Scott said in an interview on Capitol Hill of the official celebrations he partook in.

The only low point that stuck out was a minor technical difficulty. “I walked out to use a teleprompter and it didn’t work,” Scott said of the communications snafu.

Scott said he kept things low-key after his swearing in. 

“They had a ball … but we didn’t have one,” he said, adding, “Every inauguration is different.”

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A rescue team dog, like this one, found the skier over two hours after the avalanche occurred.

AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

A father and son went skiing in Breckenridge, CO Saturday and got caught in an avalanche. 
The father was able to free himself and called 911, but his son was found dead two hours later. 
Deadly avalanches are becoming more common as a result of climate change. 

A father was unable to help rescue his son after the two were swept up in an avalanche while skiing in Breckenridge, Colorado. 

The two had been backcountry skiing at some 11,600 feet, when, at 1 p.m., packed snow cascaded down the side of the mountain, partially burying the father and fully burying the son, according to a Colorado Avalanche Information Center report released Sunday. 

The father was able to free himself and searched for his son to no avail. He moved to find cell service and called 911, but his son was found dead by a rescue dog at 3 p.m. after authorities arrived, the report stated. 

The site of the avalanche.

Colorado Avalanche Information Center

The two skiers’ names were not publically released, but the Denver Post identified them as father and son. 

The son was one of two to die this season in an avalanche, according to the information center. 

Deadly avalanche accidents in Colorado are bound to become more common in the changing climate, director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center Ethan Greene told CBS in November, because there is greater fluctuation in temperature throughout the ski season, so there are more “rain-on-snow” events even during the coldest months of the year, making avalanches more likely. 

While avalanches used to be common for a specific and narrow period of time each year, they are now happening throughout the season, according to CBS’ report. 

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People look at literature for sale at the Boulder Public Library.

Jeremy Papasso/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images

A Boulder, Colorado library closed after testing revealed meth contamination in the bathrooms.
After a spike in reports of people smoking in the bathrooms, several employees got sick.
The contaminated areas require professional clean-up and the bathrooms may never reopen, the city said.

A public library in Boulder, Colorado closed after testing revealed methamphetamine contamination in bathrooms and seating areas.

The library first closed on December 20, 2022. In a Wednesday update, the City of Boulder said that further testing had identified “nearly all” the contamination was on the surfaces and in the air ducts of public-facing bathrooms. Meth was also found in some high-traffic seating areas, according to the statement.

The city said these areas would require professional clean-up, and the furniture in the seating areas may be replaced with something that can be cleaned regularly.

“It is not yet clear if, and when, public restrooms will be brought back,” the update said.

The library building could reopen on Tuesday at the earliest.

“This is truly a sad situation and represents the impact of a widespread epidemic in our country,” David Farnan, the city’s library director, said in a statement.

Crystal Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth).

REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

The city first ordered testing after a spike in reports of people smoking in the library’s public restrooms, and two incidents where employees reported symptoms consistent with exposure to meth. Medical staff evaluated and cleared those employees, Farnan said.

Symptoms of meth exposure include nausea, vomiting, headaches, confusion, and respiratory irritation.

“Meth contamination is not primarily transmitted through air. The issue is the residue on surfaces that individuals can come into direct contact with, through touch, and then transmit on their skin and clothing to other surfaces,” the update said.

According to the city, risk of serious health effects from one-off exposures is low.

“Nonetheless, the results in the impacted areas are troubling,” the update said.

The city said it was awaiting a full report and results from the contractor it hired for environmental testing. With that information, the city said it would confer with its health department to plan clean-up and reopening, and release the results within a week.

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A Russian Su-25 at its base after being struck by a man-portable air-defense missile over Ukraine in March 2022.

Russian Ministry of Defense

Russia’s air force has struggled in combat over Ukraine
It entered the war lacking fully trained pilots and used the ones it has poorly, a British think tank says.
Other decisions by Russian commanders are setting the air force up for future problems.

The Russian air force lacks fully trained pilots and has made poor use of the few good pilots that it has, according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

“Ukrainian assessments concluded that given limited flight hours and the practice of training being delivered in units, the VKS entered the conflict with fewer than 100 fully trained and current pilots,” the report said, referring to the Russian air force by its initials.

But Moscow is doing something even more dangerous for the long-term health of Russian airpower. It is committing instructor pilots to battle, which means that pilots being trained now and in the future will have fewer experienced mentors.

A Russian pilot at the Army 2022 forum near Moscow in August.

avel Pavlov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

“The mobilization of trainers from their flying schools to frontline formations has also hampered the ability to generate new pilots,” according to the report, which covers events between February and July. “The Ukrainian military has noted a rise in both very young and very old pilots in the VKS, with ageing pilots returned to frontline service.”

It is normal practice in many air forces for experienced pilots to be rotated from frontline duties to training units, where they can pass expertise to rookies. One reason Nazi Germany lost World War II was because a desperate Luftwaffe committed its instructor pilots to combat operations, which led to a progressive decline in pilot quality.

Russia, too, is relentlessly committing its experienced pilots to combat.

“With a military culture that assigns the most dangerous missions to the most experienced crews, attrition in the VKS has fallen disproportionately on this cadre, reducing the overall effectiveness of the force and its ability to train new pilots,” the RUSI report says.

That’s one reason Moscow has sought the return of veteran pilots in negotiations over prisoner exchanges with Ukraine.

The tail of a downed Russian Su-25 attack jet on display in Kyiv in May.

Aleksandr Gusev/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

It is possible for an air force to have well-trained pilots but otherwise be hobbled by obsolete aircraft or lack of spare parts. However, an air force that lacks qualified pilots is likely to have other problems.

Sure enough, the RUSI report pointed to issues with Russian ground crews. Among the most glaring was a failure to remove covers from aircraft sensors prior to combat operations over Ukraine — “an easily avoided mistake which has a severe impact on effectiveness and should be considered negligence. This suggests challenges in discipline and junior leadership among maintenance crews in the VKS,” the report says.

Another sign of poor discipline is the habit of stacking munitions next to aircraft parked at Russian air bases. With Ukraine now using drones to strike airfields hundreds of miles inside Russia, the failure to store ammunition safely could mean the loss of more precious aircraft and pilots.

How badly are all these problems undercutting Russian airpower? RUSI believes they have “corresponded with a significant reduction in the scale and complexity of VKS air operations over Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.”

An Su-57 fighter jet takes off the 15th MAKS air show in Russia in July 2021.

Mihail Siergiejevicz/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Still more ominous are the implications for future Russian air operations over Ukraine. With a peace treaty or ceasefire appearing unlikely in the near future, the war could drag on for years, which may mean Russia will wage a protracted air campaign.

Long air campaigns – including the Battle of Britain, the Allied bomber offensive over Germany, and the US bombing of North Vietnam – required careful management to avoid wearing out aircraft and aircrews.

Russia needs to maintain a flow of properly trained pilots, as well as competent and disciplined ground crews. If it squanders its pool of veteran pilots for short-term gains, the skies of Ukraine will become even more unfriendly for Russian airpower.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master’s in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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