It still surprises me that one of the biggest stories of last year in Florida was Gov. Ron DeSantis vs. Disney and that DeSantis not only won, but he crushed them. Earlier this month, we got our first look at what the changes to the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the special district created in 1967 and signed into law by then Gov. Claude Kirk Jr. The district created a special taxing district for the Walt Disney World Resort and allows it to oversee its own development without outside approval from county or municipal governments.

It’s hard for me to believe, but I have lived in Northwest Florida for more than 20 years now. I moved down here from Indiana back in November 2002. At the time, my best friend and his girlfriend, now his wife, moved to Okaloosa Island to take jobs at some local newspapers. I wasn’t happy at the newspaper I was working at, so I put in my notice and moved down here with the intentions of being a beach bum for a year or two before I expected to move back to Indiana and figure out my next career move.

We live in a strange time in American history. Despite all the advances we’ve made medically, scientifically and technologically, we seem more divided as a nation than we have in a long time.