Silas Morgan
@SilasMorgan1128
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Reporter @OrlandoSentinel || @UFJSchool alumni || @Politico Journalism Institute ‘24 II Bylines in @MiamiHerald, @TB_Times, @SunSentinel
Joined September 2022
Yesterday, I graduated from the @UFJSchool. Before I start my job at the @orlandosentinel in June, I will be attending the @politico Journalism Institute in Washington, D.C.
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I’m happy to announce I will be a breaking news/criminal justice reporter at the @orlandosentinel when I graduate from the @UFJSchool in May!. Thank you to Bert Robinson for this incredible opportunity! Thank you to @tbridis for your mentorship with @FreshTakeFla.
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@KalosKaiAgath0s @DocKay37 @HOTDNewsHBO Rhaenys: Your ex is stealing the crown. Rhaenyra: Criston or Alicent?. Rhaenys:
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Today was my first day at the @orlandosentinel. I am grateful to have returned to my hometown paper after my internship. My first story today was about a tragic and disturbing case. It reminded me of why we write about such cases - to keep the community informed, aware and safe.
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I’m happy to have tied for 1st place in the Florida Society of News Editors journalism contest college category for enterprise writing! @fsne. Shoutout to my classmate @LorenMiranda13 who tied with me! And thank you to my instructors at @UFJSchool who helped me.
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I’m honored to have been awarded the Sharyl Attkisson Investigative Prize by the @UFJSchool for my work in the @FreshTakeFla program. I nominated my stories on the residencies of state Reps. Mike Redondo (R-Miami) and Bruce Antone (D-Orlando).
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I am especially grateful for the award’s accompanying $3,000 cash prize which will go towards my vert first car.
I’m honored to have been awarded the Sharyl Attkisson Investigative Prize by the @UFJSchool for my work in the @FreshTakeFla program. I nominated my stories on the residencies of state Reps. Mike Redondo (R-Miami) and Bruce Antone (D-Orlando).
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My first full-time story at the @orlandosentinel. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Stephan Sterns, the prime suspect in the February killing of 13-year-old Madeline Soto. Sterns had previously been charged with first-degree murder.
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I’m happy to have received the H.G. “Buddy” Davis Award for Promise in Reporting and Editing from the @UFJSchool. Thank you @tbridis for nominating me!.
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I’m honored that I was chosen to moderate a panel of two reporters I am big fans of - @joshgerstein and @alexbward! Thank you both for speaking to our cohort at the @politico Journalism Institute! . Unfortunately, I am mid-blink in the only photo taken 😂.
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I’d like to thank my amazing instructors at the @UFJSchool’s @FreshTakeFla program: @tbridis, @meyer0656 and Gregg Birnbaum. The published work I produced in the program is what allowed me to be accepted into PJI. I am very grateful for their guidance.
Congratulations to @SilasMorgan1128 of @FreshTakeFla @UFJSchool for his selection in 2024 class of Politico Journalism Institute in Washington later this summer
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There was no better place to be - besides the courtroom itself - when the Trump verdict was announced yesterday than @politico’s newsroom in Arlington, Virginia. I’m loving my time in the Politico Journalism Institute so far.
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BREAKING: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis just issued an executive order declaring most of Florida’s counties under a state of emergency due to the tropical wave off the coast that may form a tropical depression.
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I’d like to thank @GabrielleRusson and @Poynter for featuring me in an article about the work I did for @FreshTakeFla at the @UFJSchool. We spoke about my investigations into the residency of two Florida state reps., Bruce Antone and Mike Redondo.
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The story for Fresh Take Florida and published in the @MiamiHerald was a look into the legal residency of newly elected state rep. Mike Redondo (R-Miami) in HD118. His former opponent sued to have Redondo removed from office as a result of our reporting.
I’m happy to have tied for 1st place in the Florida Society of News Editors journalism contest college category for enterprise writing! @fsne. Shoutout to my classmate @LorenMiranda13 who tied with me! And thank you to my instructors at @UFJSchool who helped me.
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BREAKING: Former Florida state lawmaker Joe Harding, sponsor of the “Don’t Say Gay” law, has been sentenced to 4 months in prison for defrauding the federal government of $150,000. He will have to surrender himself into custody on Jan. 29th.
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@ByJeffWeiner @orlandosentinel Congratulations! I’m lucky to have been able to work with and learn from you! Fantastic editor. 🫡.
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Made the wrong choice to watch the #UF Miami game with my family — who are Hurricanes fans. 😔🐊.
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EXCLUSIVE: State Rep. Bruce Antone (D-Orlando) is the subject of an ethics complaint to the state ethics commission filed by his only Democratic primary opponent, Janét Buford-Johnson. My latest for the @orlandosentinel.
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I got to cover five different Florida House and Senate races last night! Here are the winners:. -Kristen Arrington: SD25 Dem.-Jose Martinez: SD25 GOP.-Erika Booth: HD35 GOP.-Keith Truenow: SD13 GOP.-Maria Revelles: HD47 Dem.-Jose Alvarez: HD46 Dem.-Michael Cruz: HD46 GOP.
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SpaceX abruptly aborted a Falcon 9 launch at Cape Canaveral at the moment of ignition Friday evening. The launch was aborted for unknown reasons and was meant to deliver 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit.
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A man had part of his arm amputated after he was bit by an alligator while swimming early Sunday in a Seminole County lake, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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In the last week of my internship @orlandosentinel, I would like to announce my first investigative story. A Tampa businessman with two relatives- including a former state lawmaker- who admitted to defrauding Covid-19 aid programs-is under scrutiny from federal investigators.
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From yesterday:. A Lake Brantley High School student was arrested Wednesday morning for bringing a stolen, unloaded gun onto campus, sending the school into lockdown.
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@_MagalyMunoz_ Me every single day lol. I chose this because I’m good at writing. Didn’t realize I have to talk to people 🤡.
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UCF Athletics spokesperson Adam Widman says Hall was never expected to join the Knights as a walk on, but Hall’s attorney Richard Hornsby says Hall joining the team was agreed upon and that UCF was willing to allow him to continue with the team if his case was resolved favorably.
Agiye Hall, a college football wide receiver who was initially expected to join the UCF Knights as a walk-on for the 2024 season, pled no contest to smuggling 40 pound of marijuana through Orlando International Airport last year.
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Happy to write my first story for @FreshTakeFla on how Florida prisons and jails are preparing ahead of Hurricane Idalia in the @TB_Times.
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@ameliaknisely When I was a kid, I would always spend hours upon hours in the space section. To infinity and beyond!
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I omitted this crucial detail in my original reporting. Fellow student journalists, this is why you always stay for commission comment at the end of the meeting.
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CORRECTION:. The Alachua County Commission rescinded the appointment of Winzoir Durr, charged with attempted homicide, to the county historical commission during its meeting Tuesday after appointing him to the position earlier in the meeting. @WUFTNews.
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T-5 days until Election Day in the Florida House 118 special election in Miami-Dade County. Voter Turnout Update (Nov. 30). 6,855 votes cast. GOP: 2,979 / DEM: 2,373 / Other: 1,503. GOP leads by 606 ballots. @FloridaGOP @FlaDems .
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The Gainesville City Commission unanimously voted Thursday to fund the partial restoration of the eight-decade-old Thelma A. Boltin Center. The building was created as an entertainment center for soldiers during World War II. It then became a community recreational center.
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They argue that both the website and television ads directing people to it amount to a “government-funded propaganda campaign.”. The complaints are the latest legal challenge filed against the state over the AHCA’s controversial website since it launched last week.
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The complaint alleges Antone doesn’t reside in his district - and that he has not done so for years. The complaint cites my investigation into Antone for @FreshTakeFla that found he listed several addresses outside of his district on various official forms over several years.
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Today was the final session of UF Health and the UF College of Nursing’s mentorship program with students at Eastside High School. Representatives from both groups spoke to students to discuss what steps they can take in the future to continue their nursing education. @WUFTNews
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BREAKING: A judge has filed a temporary injunction against Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson, who is running for re-election in the Tuesday primary, for posting signs at polling locations that could violate Florida law.
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Julie Ann Sulpizio, the mother arrested in the horrific ambush that killed a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy, was indicted Monday on multiple charges and may face the death penalty.
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An Orange County man was killed by deputies after an hours-long armed confrontation where he took his own baby hostage. He previously shot and stabbed the baby’s mother. The baby is okay. The mother is in critical condition and undergoing surgery.
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@mariaserranotv @reinagabriiv2 Two of my favorite people in Orlando news! Learning from the best!.
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BREAKING: Levy County businessman Patrick Walsh, brother-in-law of former Republican Florida state representative Joe Harding of Ocala, was sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison today for defrauding the federal government of about $7.8 million in 2020.
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Meteorologists say critical questions will be answered as the tropical wave traverses the Caribbean over the next 48 hours such as whether passing over Caribbean islands will slow it down or passing over warmer water could intensify it.
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The ambush is being blamed on the Sulpizio family, who allegedly lured the deputies into their home. Mother Julie Ann was arrested outside the home prior to the armed confrontation.
Lake County Sheriff’s deputy Harold Howell was released from the hospital Tuesday after being shot during a deadly ambush Friday in Lake County which killed another deputy and hospitalized a third, who remains in stable condition.
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The City of Gainesville announced Wednesday that the Gainesville Police Department’s K-9 Unit would resume limited operations after being suspended for a second time last week. The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office will be lending its K-9s to GPD to assist. @WUFTNews.
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An Orlando woman spent 21 months in jail before being acquitted by a jury last week of second-degree murder — and now her lawyer is asking the state attorney to review the Orlando Police Department’s work on the case.
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Agiye Hall, a college football wide receiver who was initially expected to join the UCF Knights as a walk-on for the 2024 season, pled no contest to smuggling 40 pound of marijuana through Orlando International Airport last year.
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Breaking:. Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried and two others on Friday asked prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against the state for a website they argue wrongly criticizes Florida’s ballot amendment that would protect abortion rights.
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@Vince_Hannity @craigtimes Publicly available records confirm he works at the jail, but did not confirm in what capacity. The mail itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We have filed a records request to learn specifics.
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“The government has repeatedly used state power to interfere with the citizen-led initiative to get reproductive freedom on the ballot and we will not allow it to continue — not on our watch,” Fried said the press release.
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During public comment, an online caller phoned in and stated Durr had an attempted murder charge against him. According to Eighth Circuit Court records, Durr has an attempted homicide charge from an in incident on Valentine’s Day.
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Santana, who was a minor at the time of the killing, still faces charges. Gunn said the State Attorney’s Office plans to keep moving forward with her prosecution.
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@amanda_rabines Thank you, Amanda! I have a big shoes to fill! Happy to be following in your footsteps.
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BREAKING: An Orlando man was arrested and indicted for making bomb threats against businesses that support Israel and attacking a solar energy facility. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray have spoken about the case.
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The attorney representing the plaintiff is an old foe of Anderson’s, Philip Kaprow, who used to be the SOE general counsel before resigning afte a falling out with Anderson, who subsequently tried to have him fired from his other county job.
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Rate of turnout:. Overall: 6.12% of the district’s 113,601 registered voters. GOP: 6.8% of the district’s 44,268 Republicans. DEMS: 8.18% of the district’s 29,633 Democrats. Other: 3.82% of the district’s 39,700 non-party affiliated voters.
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A former top staffer is suing Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, alleging he sought to force her to work while on maternity leave and fired her when she wouldn’t. The staffer was fired the day after Bain was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, battery on a law enforcement officer and three counts of battery.
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SCOOP: Orange County Jail employee Guillermo Rodriguez III was arrested Tuesday for DUI and booked into the jail. He twice refused field sobriety tests and later refused a breathalyzer.
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Orange County Property Appraiser Amy Mercado was re-elected Monday after her only challenger dropped out of the race. The challenger, a real estate attorney, had previously sued Mercado’s office for allegedly undervaluing a condo he owned in Winter Park.
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A student at Ocoee High School was arrested Thursday morning after bringing gun components onto campus. The 14-year-old male student was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m. after police received a tip he had brought a gun onto campus.
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Latest for @FreshTakeFla published in the @orlandosentinel. The election for Florida House District 35 is Tuesday in Orange and Osceola counties. Republican Erika Booth has out-raised her opponent, Democrat Tom Keen, by more than double.
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Orange County Sheriff’s deputy Thomas Boggs was arrested Wednesday for DUI in Seminole County. He twice refused sobriety tests. Breathalyzer tests after his arrest showed blood alcohol levels of .239% and 0.243%, far above the legal limit of .08%.
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Port Charlotte man was sentenced Monday to 21 months in federal prison for fraudulently selling parts to a NASA contractor working on the Artemis program and Orion rocket.
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Castor Dentel, a member of the Orange County School Board and a former member of the Florida House, tallied about 38,000 votes out of about 67,400 cast for the Aug. 20 race, according to results released by the elections office late Tuesday.
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The @OrlandoSentinel Editorial Board wrote an op-ed about my article from last week about the new nonprofit set up by former police chiefs who want to lobby Congress to pass gun reform.
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The pipeline is the only one that provides jet fuel to the airport, according to the company’s website. The Associated Press reported that the airport has a reserve supply of approximately 10 days of jet fuel.
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