TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Citing health issues, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears said he will step down from his post this month. Ron DeSantis in December 2018, said in a letter to the governor Friday that he has “been dealing with health issues” for the past two months. “It is in the best interest of my health, my family, and the department that I focus my full attention on getting well,” Beshears wrote. From ‘Deregathon’ to passing the most comprehensive regulatory reduction bill in recent history, I believe our efforts will have a significant and long-lasting impact on our great state,” Beshears wrote in Friday’s resignation letter. But, departing from ordinary regulations, Beshears did not require that a minimum amount of bar owners’ sales come from food.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Law enforcement officials have been asked to investigate a potential breach of the computer network of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The agency announced Friday it has limited operations due to “malicious activity on state-owned technology assets” that occurred Wednesday. It has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to review the security matters. A news release from department Secretary Halsey Beshears said the agency took steps to prevent the compromise of data and that the measures to protect the network will require temporary outages through Monday. “These system limitations are anticipated to continue until all systems and system functions are cleared for access by users,” the release said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Drinks can flow at establishments where alcohol licenses were pulled this summer when the state cracked down on violations of coronavirus rules. Nine alcohol license suspensions issued by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation between June 22 and Aug. 10 have been lifted, department spokesman Patrick Fargason said in an email Tuesday. “As of Friday, October 2, 2020, all nine (emergency suspension order) cases have been resolved through a final order; therefore, the nine ESOs that were entered have been vacated, and the suspensions have been lifted from each license,” Fargason said. The order was lifted on June 5 in all but South Florida, which faced the strongest outbreaks of the virus. The suspensions --- some of which drew heavy publicity --- started with The Knights Pub in Orlando on June 22.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is praising the Governor’s move to Phase 3, allowing restaurants to operate at 100% capacity as “science-based.”However, the association expects members to take a cautious approach to a return to normal. Florida restaurants were hit harder by the COVID-19 shutdown than any other industry. Over the weekend, state regulators were watching restaurants, bars and breweries after the opening order filed Friday. They tip-toed back into in a lot of different ways, they were doing the right thing,” said Florida DBPR Secretary Halsey Beshears. The Governor’s order does allow counties to order restaurants to operate at less than 100%, but it must be at least 50%.

During the three weeks bars were allowed open in June, the state relied on complaints it received and then sent agents to investigate for violations. “You know, some bar owners are gonna open up regardless. To help limit contact, customers at Burroughs' business will scan a code attached to every table. A total of nine licenses were suspended during the three weeks bars were open in June. The state’s top regulator wouldn’t speculate on whether stronger enforcement this time will result in more suspensions.

News of Beshears' decision quickly spread on social media, drawing cheers from bar owners desperate to get the libations flowing again after waiting on the sidelines for months. Jacob Weil, a lawyer who represents bar owners suing the state over the shutdown, said he is glad DeSantis is allowing proprietors to reopen. Bars and craft breweries were among the businesses ordered to go dark in March by DeSantis in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness known as COVID-19. Bars in all but Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were allowed to start serving indoors again in early June. “We saw some outbreaks linked to bars in Florida,” DeSantis said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Halsey Beshears, the state’s department of business secretary, said Thursday night that Florida will be rescinding an emergency order directed at bars. On Monday, all bars in the state will be allowed to reopen at 50% occupancy for onsite consumption. Starting Monday, all bars will be reopened at 50% occupancy. Ron DeSantis said he hoped to soon give Floridans the “ability to have some enjoyment in their life” by soon lifting on-site drinking restrictions. The restrictions on bars and breweries have particularly affected establishments that don’t serve food.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Halsey Beshears, the state’s department of business secretary, said Thursday night that Florida will be rescinding an emergency order directed at bars. On Monday, all bars in the state will be allowed to reopen at 50% occupancy for on-site consumption, he posted on Twitter. Starting Monday, all bars will be reopened at 50% occupancy. Ron DeSantis said he hoped to soon give Floridans the “ability to have some enjoyment in their life” by soon lifting on-site drinking restrictions. The restrictions on bars and breweries have particularly affected establishments that don’t serve food.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Florida bars will be allowed to reopen at 50% capacity starting Monday, state officials announced Thursday. Ron DeSantis, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Halsey Beshears issued an emergency order rescinding a previous order that halted the sale of alcohol at bars, an agency news release said. Only Texas with an average of 117 deaths per day over the past week has a higher number. Also, Florida had 36,541 new claims for unemployment benefits last week, a 25% drop from the previous week, according to figures released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor. Florida officials told the federal labor officials that the drop was due to fewer layoffs in agriculture, construction, manufacturing, trade and service industries.

Ron DeSantis said he hopes to give Floridians the ability to have some enjoyment in their life by soon lifting on-site drinking restrictions imposed on bars and craft breweries since late June. And lets get the state thriving again.Meanwhile, DeSantis backed a Palm Beach County request to move into the second phase of economic recovery efforts. Today were moving Palm Beach County into Phase 2, DeSantis said without further details. The restrictions on bars and breweries have particularly affected establishments that dont serve food. Health and safety is obviously number one for everyone right now in the state of Florida.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Brewery owners in St. Petersburg said they are slowly starting to see more customers come back months after they were forced to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Everyone else is up and running,” DeSantis told a group of brewery owners during a round table discussion on Thursday. But, departing from ordinary regulations, Beshears did not require that a minimum amount of bar owners’ sales come from food. The restrictions on bars don’t make sense, she said. “Life is back to normal for everyone but us,” said Miracle, who’s among a number of bar owners suing the state over the closures.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Alcoholic beverage licenses of four establishments were suspended by the state Tuesday because of violations of rules aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. The state agency reported the businesses exceeded a 50% maximum indoor capacity limit and served alcohol to patrons who were shoulder to shoulder in bar areas. Department Secretary Halsey Beshears on June 26 prohibited the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption at businesses that derive more than 50% of their gross revenue from the sale of alcohol. The move essentially closed most bars and nightclubs, though establishments could remain open if they had enough revenue from food sales. Beshears has held private meetings recently with craft-brewery and bar owners to discuss ways for the businesses to reopen.

Ron DeSantis suggested Friday a further broadening of what constitutes an essential worker as he continues efforts to revive the coronavirus-staggered economy. However, bars will have to wait for bigger declines in coronavirus case numbers before they can start pouring drinks for customers again. The state Department of Health on Friday reported 7,686 new coronavirus cases, with a test positivity rate above 10 percent. That also drove DeSantis to revisit his displeasure in defining workers as essential or non-essential.When he issued an order that largely shut down the economy in April, DeSantis tried to be as broad as possible in declaring what constituted an essential worker. The definition included health care professionals, first responders, grocers and gas-station workers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Struggling to survive -- thats how many local brewery owners say they feel during the pandemic. Beshears began with separate private talks Friday afternoon in Jacksonville with groups of craft-brewery owners and bar owners. I really think that he is behind us, (but) his process is slow, Crooked Rooster Brewery owner Sarah Sheppard said after meeting with Beshears. Its just another three weeks, another four weeks, another week or two, -- (but) some breweries wont make it, Sheppard said. We need to stop this.At Fridays meeting, the owners offered ideas for online sales, beer deliveries and earlier closing times across the board.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s top business regulator said Saturday that he planned to set up meetings with bar owners to discuss how they can reopen their businesses again safely, as the Sunshine State surpassed New York State in the total number of coronavirus cases. Next week starting Friday, I’m going to set meetings throughout Florida with breweries and bars to discuss ideas on how to reopen. The Florida Department of Health reported 12,199 new cases Saturday, bringing the state’s total since March 1 to 414,511 cases. By comparison, New York State has had more than 25,100 deaths. The state health department has recorded 892 COVID-19 deaths over the past week, an average of 127 per day.

In an exclusive interview almost two weeks ago, Halsey Beshears, the man in charge of regulating bars in Florida, told News4Jax that July 16 was a potential date to decide whether to reopen bars. Were not trying to single anybody out, Beshears told NSF. The state order about bars doesnt affect restaurants that derive less than half of their gross revenue from the sale of alcohol. But while bars were allowed to start serving drinks again, the state limited indoor customer occupancy to 50 percent and allowed only table service. The state is now considering new options for bars, including moving all service outdoors and an early curfew.

Since the June 26 order, the state has received 625 citizen complaints. “So we try and go at the time we think that violation may occur.”The agency has set a date of July 16 to reconsider the bar closure order. “There was a direct correlation, we thought, from the time the governor opened the bars to the spike,” Beshears said. On the day the bar closure was ordered, Restaurant and Lodging Association CEO Carol Dover warned her members they could be next. But Beshears said it’s not an action the state wants to take.

Bars had been allowed to reopen June 5 in the second phase of DeSantis effort to revitalize the economy. What do you do?Under Beshears order, bars are allowed to sell drinks in sealed containers for off-site consumption. The number of coronavirus cases has soared in Florida this month, with the Department of Health on Sunday reporting an additional 8,530 cases. But the Florida Democratic Party in an online ad Sunday took a shot at DeSantis for his claims that Florida had a hold on the virus in May. With nearly 10,000 cases confirmed just yesterday (Saturday), it has never been more clear that DeSantis failed Florida.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Florida Department of Health on Friday morning reported yet another record increase in COVID-19 cases in Duval County, St. Johns County and statewide. The Florida data released Friday marked the ninth day in a row with an increase near or exceeding 3,000 cases. The numbers Thursday also showed record increases in coronavirus cases for both Duval and St. Johns counties for the second day in a row. Duval is up to 4,171 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 447 cases in a single day. St. Johns Countys confirmed cases were up by 83 to a total of 682.

On Friday, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation issued an executive order suspending on-site consumption of alcoholic beverages at bars statewide. Plan for Floridas Recovery;Whereas, on June 3, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order 20-139 initiating Phase 2 of the Safe. All vendors licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises who derive more than 50% of gross revenue from such sales of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Such vendors may continue to sell alcoholic beverages in sealed containers for consumption off the premises in accordance with Executive Order 20-71, Sections 1 and 2. Executive this 26th day of June, 2020, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Vacation rentals have rolled out the welcome mat in Florida again, but counties are imposing a variety of restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of COVID-19. Other counties banned visitors from areas with more than 500 cases per 100,000 residents or 700 cases per 100,000 residents. Iowa, Michigan, South Dakota, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Minnesota and Indiana had infection rates higher than 500 cases per 100,000 residents. For example, Clay Countys May 18 submission to Beshears said vacation rentals would be open to anyone who is seeking overnight accommodations." A revised plan, submitted the following day, restricted vacation rentals to Florida residents until end of Phase 1, referring to DeSantis plan to revive Floridas anemic economy.